There was silence in the lobby of Luyang County Temple.
The ministers who were attending court here were all dumbfounded.
Previously, the little emperor made a "Chrysostomous Prophecy" and "said Zhang Ji was dead". It was powerful, but the possibility of being blinded could not be ruled out. As for the deaths of Li Jue and Guo Fan and Yuan Shu's proclaimed emperor, isn't it time for testing?
So everyone is still a little unsure about whether the little emperor is a god, is crazy, or is he pretending.
But today the little emperor claimed that he learned the "Meteorite Summoning Technique" from Emperor Guangwu in his dream, which can be tested immediately! The armies of Yang Feng and Han Xian are now fifty miles away from the city and will arrive tonight at the latest. If you spend some time setting up camp and building equipment, you will be able to attack the city as soon as tomorrow afternoon. The little emperor's great summoning spell doesn't work, but he can try it out!
If this works, that's fine... If it doesn't, the guy will be in big trouble!
"Your Majesty," Shang Shu Pu She Zhong Yao had already concluded that the little emperor had no "magic" at all and was just playing tricks, so he was the first to react and reported, "This matter is of great importance and there can be no mistakes. If Emperor Shizu’s method of entrusting dreams is not very effective, the consequences will be disastrous! For the sake of the Han Dynasty, your majesty, please think twice!"
Yang Biao also came to his senses and quickly reported: "Your Majesty, we don't know whether this meteorite method is effective or not. Your Majesty has a body of thousands of gold and is responsible for the rise and fall of the country. You must not take risks!"
Dong Cheng saw that neither Yang Biao nor Zhong Yao believed in the little emperor, so he also said: "Your Majesty, can you try this meteorite method first?"
"Yes!" Liu Xie said with a smile, "If it doesn't work, of course you should give it a try! However, the method taught by Emperor Shizu is not the method of summoning meteorites, but the method of falling rocks."
"What's the difference?" Dong Cheng asked.
Liu Xie smiled and said, "You will know the difference if I do it for you."
Dong Cheng asked: "I wonder when and where your Majesty plans to use the method of falling rocks?"
"Now!" Liu Xiedao, "Just do it right here!"
indoors?
A group of ministers subconsciously looked up at the roof... Wouldn't this roof be penetrated by rocks falling from the sky?
Everyone was still here worrying about the roof, and Liu Xie spoke again: "Feng Shuo, Tai Chong, go get a pair of chopsticks, a roll of hemp rope, a pair of scissors, a soup spoon, a wine glass, a large Bowl of stones!”
Feng Shuo and Tai Chong, who were standing guard outside the lobby, didn't understand what the little emperor wanted, but they didn't dare to ask more questions. They said "only" and went to the kitchen to get chopsticks, spoons and other things.
"Your Majesty," Taiwei Yang Biao dared to ask the emperor, "Are those things you want for casting spells?"
"What kind of magic?" Liu Xie glanced at this "Kansai Confucius" and said with a smile, "Lieutenant, you have misunderstood. What Emperor Shizu passed on to me was not magic, but... technology! It’s knowledge!”
As soon as he heard about knowledge, Yang Biao became interested, "I wonder what knowledge it is?"
"Yes..." Liu Xiedao, "It's the principle of leverage! This is Gongshuzi's learning. I want to use it to build an instrument called a trebuchet, which is used to throw stones to hit the enemy!"
"It turns out to be a trebuchet!" Yang Biao suddenly realized, "I have seen records of the machine firing flying rocks in "Fan Li's Art of War". It is said that the flying rocks weighed twelve kilograms and were fired by the machine for two hundred steps. I wonder if the trebuchet that Emperor Shizu passed on to His Majesty is this kind?"
"That's more powerful than this!" Liu Xieyao said, "What Emperor Shizu passed on to me is a counterweight trebuchet. The stones thrown are heavier and less manpower is consumed. With the manpower in Luyang City, it is enough Hundreds of trebuchets are used!",
Listening to Liu Xie's explanation, although no one knows what this "leverage principle" is? But they all thought it was more reliable than chanting a spell to summon big rocks, so they started talking about it.
"Hundreds of units? Are there really that many?"
"If there are hundreds of trebuchets, we can fight!"
"But time is urgent now. Will the craftsmen in Luyang City have time to build so many trebuchets?"
"We have to spend time building the trebuchet. Don't Yang and Han also have to spend time building the long ladder and ram for the project?"
"That's right... If the stone-throwing opportunity is available, Lu Yang may be able to defend Jingzhou until Liu Boyu's soldiers arrive!"
Seeing that the ministers were becoming more confident in defending the city, Liu Xie said to Dong Cheng: "General Wei, hurry up and summon a few skilled carpenters. I want to work with them to figure out how to use this counterweighted trebuchet." Production? If any of you are interested in the art of making instruments, you can come and learn more about it."
Liu Xie was quite familiar with horse gear in his previous life. After all, he saved lives and injured people at the zoo! However, he was not very familiar with the counterweighted trebuchet. He only played with it in a physics interest group when he was in middle school. It had been so many years since then that he couldn’t remember clearly. So we all have to brainstorm and study together.
Fortunately, when Liu Xie's small court was in Luoyang, in order to build the Yang'an Palace, they had to frighten the general and supervisor, and also recruited a group of skilled craftsmen from Hanoi County under Zhang Yang's rule and Nanyang County under Liu Biao's rule. Now these craftsmen are also They all ran away with the little emperor and came to Luyang.
Wu Shuo, the general master craftsman, received Liu Xie's order and immediately went to summon the craftsmen. Liu Xie took advantage of the fact that the craftsmen had not arrived yet and discussed with the ministers how to defend Lu Yang.
Of course, the first step is to find out the strength comparison between the enemy and ourselves. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle!
Therefore, Liu Xie asked Tai Lieutenant Yang Biao and Wei General Dong Cheng in detail: How many strong soldiers can Luyang City now have, how much weapons and equipment it has, how much food and grass are there, and what are the two thieves Yang Feng and Han Siam? side situation.
To be honest, Yang Biao and Dong Cheng were not all aware of these situations. For example, they knew very little about the situation on the two thieves Yang and Han. As for the situation in Luyang City, they did not know everything, and they had to ask their subordinates to inquire from time to time.
It took about half an hour for Liu Xie to roughly understand the situation.
At present, Dong Cheng, the general of the Wei, has a total of 568 troops. Although the number is not large, the equipment is pretty good. Because when Liu Biao paid tribute to the Luoyang court in July, he not only gave food and property, but also allocated a batch of black iron armor, crossbows, arrow clusters, spears, halberds and shields from the arsenal of Nanyang County. Luoyang. These weapons and equipment are now in the hands of General Dong Cheng, so all his soldiers and generals have good equipment.
In addition to the soldiers and horses of General Dong Cheng, there were more than a hundred families of ministers headed by Yang Biao, each of which could provide some strong men. The ministers of the Han Dynasty were all civil and military officials. In addition, the current times are troubled. If you don't have any martial arts skills, don't come to the court as an official. You may encounter robbers and bandits on the way and kidnap you for meat!
Moreover, those ministers are not very old, and they are all in good health... If they were old and frail, it would be impossible for them to be chased by Li Jue, Guo Fan, and Zhang Ji and still reach Luo Positive.
Among them, Lieutenant Yang Biao was already regarded as the "old man" among the courtiers. He was only in his early fifties. He was not a little old man with no power to tie a chicken, but a strong middle-aged man with a big body and a round waist. When he was not in court, That is also a man who never leaves his body with his sword (what Confucian scholars these days pay attention to is that he never leaves his body with his sword and convinces others with reason)! His son Yang Xiu and Yang Dezu are also in Luyang now. He is only in his early twenties and a energetic young man!
In addition, these more than a hundred ministers are all from aristocratic families. If you are in your hometown, who doesn't have three to five hundred soldiers and servants? Now even if he is an official in the court, there are still three or five retainers following him.
So when all the ministers and ministers gathered together, there were five to six hundred people, no less than Dong Chengren!
However, even if the two sides are added together, the more capable manpower in Luyang City is only 1,1200. As for the refugees and common people in Luyang City, although there are as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people, most of them are old and weak. The number of strong men who can be gathered to defend the city is at most 2,000 people. They are said to be strong, but in fact they are not that strong. Most of them are malnourished and skinny. They look like hungry people. They are basically just making up for the numbers.
The number of soldiers Yang Feng and Han Xian can use is about 13,000 to 4,000, which is three times as many as Liu Xie's army!
Although Baibo Yellow Turban and Yuzhou Yellow Turban are also a mob, they are much stronger than Liu Xie's soldiers. Especially the Baibo Yellow Turbans, which have long been competing with the Xiliang Army and the Southern Xiongnu in Bingzhou. They have been able to stand up to this day, so how can their combat effectiveness be so weak?
This situation is extremely serious, but it is not impossible to win.
After all, the little emperor has the "Great Summoning Technique" passed down from his ancestors!
...
"Everyone has seen the sample of the counterweighted trebuchet. Although it is only a small sample tied up with chopsticks and spoons, it is still usable... However, to build more than a hundred units, I am afraid it will take more time.
The soldiers led by the two thieves Yang Feng and Han Siam can reach the outside of Luyang City as soon as tonight. Since the two thieves were unlikely to carry siege equipment, even the long ladder had to be made on the spot. So as soon as tomorrow afternoon, Luyang will have its first battle! I wonder if you have any good strategies for defeating the enemy? "
Above the lobby of the Luyang County Temple, Liu Xie was playing with a small trebuchet tied up with chopsticks, spoons, and ropes, while discussing with his ministers how to defend the city against the enemy. To be honest, this trebuchet is not very satisfactory. It is just the simplest stone-throwing instrument. And since there is no ready-made wood in Luyang City, uninhabited houses have to be demolished to obtain wood... This is a lot of work!
Just now, Liu Xie and a group of carpenters led by the master craftsman Wu Shuo worked together to make a hand-made model, not a real trebuchet. So after some measurements and calculations, Liu Xie gave some dimensions and asked the craftsmen to use these dimensions to build a small trebuchet that could be placed on the city wall to throw stones outside the city. Finally, we will test it, and if it is still usable, we will start mass production.
No matter how fast this process is, it will still take several days to create a large number of usable trebuchets, right? How can we defend the city before this happens? If the first battle breaks out tomorrow afternoon, I'm afraid we can only build ten or eight light trebuchets placed on the city wall, which is not enough!
In addition, this trebuchet is not a city-defending artifact. How to use it to maximize its effect needs to be carefully considered.
In Luyang City today, the only "strategist" Liu Xie knows who is proficient in the art of war and good at making suggestions is Zhong Hui and his father Zhong Yao.
When Liu Xie asked questions, his eyes looked back and forth on him.
"Your Majesty!" Zhong Yao probably saw Liu Xie looking at him and felt a little guilty (he was Cao Cao's traitor who stayed in Luyang, and his mission was to bring Liu Xie into the hands of Cao Cao), and he was also a little worried that he would be betrayed by Lu Yang. In Yangcheng, he quickly took the initiative to offer suggestions, "I have a trick or two, maybe we can achieve some miraculous results."
"The bell servant shoots the fruit is mine! If you have any good ideas, please tell me quickly!" Of course Liu Xie knew that Zhong Yao was Cao Cao's man, but now this guy is also trapped in Luyang City! The sword has no eyes! If Yang Feng and Han Xian were to invade, his life might not be saved!
Moreover, it may not be in Cao Cao's interests for Liu Xie to fall into the hands of Yang Feng and Han Xian! In contrast, it was acceptable for Cao Cao for the young emperor to go to Luoyang and become the "Emperor of Luoyi" - as long as Cao Cao could defeat Yuan Shao with the help of the emperor's righteous status and the money and food support of Jingzhou Liu Biao, he could still defeat Yuan Shao. Usurper!
So Liu Xie and Zhong Yao now have a common goal!
"Your Majesty," Zhong Yao said, "Yang Feng and Han Xian are both Yellow Turban thieves, and their subordinates are also Yellow Turban thieves. These people are all superstitious about ghosts and gods, and they don't study much. Most of them don't know how to make stones. It has been around since ancient times. Your Majesty, why not... come up with a trick to pretend to be a ghost?
In addition, Your Majesty can also open the north gate of Luyang and lower the suspension bridge..."
"What? Open the north gate? Put down the suspension bridge?" Liu Xie was stunned, "Yuan Chang, are you trying to use the empty city strategy?"
"The Empty City Strategy? No, no," Zhong Yao certainly didn't know what the "Empty City Strategy" was. "What I'm doing is a trick to lure the enemy... Yang Feng and Han Xian don't have many weapons." , are also not good at attacking the city. When they see the north gate wide open, they may concentrate their elite troops outside the north gate. At that time, they will hit it with stones first, then shoot it with crossbows, and then ambush them and attack them, which will definitely cause a huge defeat. The enemy is sharp. As long as the vigor of the rebel soldiers is dampened, they can then use tricks to confuse their minds and lure their generals, and then defeat them. After all, your majesty is the emperor, and your majesty has great righteousness!"
The reason why Zhong Yao dared to offer this strategy of "opening the door to detect thieves" was actually because he knew the secret deal between Yang Feng, Han Xian and Cao Cao... The two thieves did not want to capture or kill the emperor alive at all, they only wanted Liu Biao It's just money and food sent. So when I see the emperor opening the door or lowering the suspension bridge, I won't just cheer him up blindly, I will still focus on scaring him.
This is your opportunity!
If Yang and Han don't come true, the emperor will just be pretending to be evil!
Liu Xie rolled his eyes and understood Zhong Yao's thoughts, and said with a smile: "Not only do I have great righteousness, I also have magic... I have a lot of magic!"
