Large-scale celebrations were held everywhere in Tianjing New City. A large number of people went to the streets, and there were firecrackers everywhere. Lin Qing'er, Mrs. She, Hua Jieyu and the others were in the official hall of Tianjing New City to discuss this great victory. Next to them, Zhang Xiang and Zhao Jinxi looked unhappy. They did not participate in the battle in Dagou. The opportunity to make meritorious service was gone, and they had no part in the cross-border parade. Zhao Jinxi was especially disappointed.
Lin Qing'er said, "This time Yang Peng severely attacked the arrogance of the Khitan people. It seems that Empress Dowager Xiao's hunting in Jinyang will be carried out this time. I think the Khitan soldiers in Youzhou will not be there for a long time." I will come out to hunt grass and valley. Let's see when Peng'er takes Yingzhou and Mozhou. This time he has made the Khitan people lose their temper. Haha, it makes me excited to hear it," Mrs. She said. "This time I heard about the war. Only over a hundred soldiers died, and more than five hundred were injured. How was this battle fought? You, the apprentice, are too powerful. Eight sisters, nine sisters, you will also report to Zhang Xiang's military camp tomorrow. Start as soldiers. , Yang Paifeng, you and Bamei will go there too, we can’t sit idle here, what do you think, eldest daughter-in-law.”
Lin Qing'er said, "The Dali Temple is also under construction. In this way, the eldest daughter-in-law, you will be the minister of the Dali Temple, equivalent to the minister of the Ministry of War. I will discuss it with the cabinet and report it to Peng'er for approval. From now on, the security of Tianjing New City will be handed over to the eldest daughter-in-law." , what do you think, eldest daughter-in-law?" Hua Jieyu said, "I can't say whether you are going to be given such a big official all at once." Zhao Jinxi said, "Sister Hua, there must be nothing wrong with you. You are much better than me. Hua Sister, I support you.”
Huyan Chijin, please go to the Ministry of War to help. Zhang Xiang, do you have any problems? Zhang Xiang said, "Where can we get help from Seventh Sister-in-law? That is if we burn incense. Seventh Sister-in-law, you see, you will also serve as the deputy leader of the Pioneer Group. This time, Duan Zhixian made such a huge profit. Next time we The Pioneer Group must win the next battle, and with the help of Sister-in-law Seven, let’s see what else the city lord can do.”
"Xiuying, just go to work in the Ministry of Rites. I can't do the job in the Ministry of Rites. My level is too low and I haven't read many books. You can go to my place to help first. When you are done, you will be the Minister of Rites. Responsible, don’t mess with my old bones, I can’t stand it anymore.”
"Du Jin'e, you also go to Duan Zhixian of Huben regiment. Tomorrow you will go to Dagou to report. You are also a military general. I hope you can see you in the next cross-border parade," Du Jin'e said. "Yes, mother-in-law, I will Just go report and start as a small soldier, just be in the same battalion as Yang Tong, and I can wear such a beautiful military uniform."
On November 28, all civil and military officials from Cangzhou gathered in Tianjing New City to observe Yang Peng's soldier training. Yang Peng defeated the Northern Recruitment Envoy at the gate of Dagou City, killed Ye Qi Hongguang in formation, and captured and beheaded more than 11,600 Khitan heads. Officials in Cangzhou wanted to know how Yang Peng did it. Yang Peng asked the soldiers of the Huben Regiment to demonstrate on the spot to let the officials understand how they killed the enemy.
On this day, all the military attachés and civil servants from Cangzhou gathered together and sat on the shooting range of Tianjing New City to watch the demonstration of the Huben regiment. Yang Peng had already prepared a hundred flintlock rifles that had not had time to be rifled, and asked the soldiers of the Huben Regiment to demonstrate a hundred gun volleys. There was only a crackling sound of gunfire, pieces of white smoke spewed out, and the target fifty steps away was broken into pieces. Yang Peng said loudly: "Look, everyone, with such a powerful volley of hundreds of muskets, even the Khitan cavalry rushing into the formation will be killed on their horses. If it is combined with various traps and resisting horses to defend the city, the effect will be Even better, the Khitan will leave dozens of corpses before they reach the battle." Cangzhou Lieutenant General Geng Yingjie asked: "This flintlock gun does not require a match rope? But the self-generating fire gun invented by Yang Peng?"
The next day, Luo Lizong, the newly appointed guerrilla general of the Cangzhou Battalion, came to visit Yang Peng. He was grateful to Yang Peng for sharing his head and was optimistic about Yang Peng's future future, so he came to visit Yang Peng. In the official hall of Tianjing New City, now known as the Second Hall of the General's Mansion, Yang Peng met with Luo Lizong, who was full of joy. As soon as he came up, Luo Lizong gave out a gift list worth seven or eighty taels, raised his hand and said: "It is all because of the majesty of this great victory of my virtuous brother that we can ascend to heaven. If before, I could only think about ascending to heaven in my dreams. For guerrillas, now my dream has come true!"
Yang Peng said modestly: "Brother Luo is joking, this guerrilla is the result of Brother Luo's life and work for so many years. This victory is just a matter of course." Luo Lizong seemed to agree with Yang Peng's words, laughed out loud and said: " My dear brother is really good at talking." Seeing Luo Lizong's envious look, Li Zhi smiled and said nothing.
After saying a few words, Yang Peng inquired about Luo Zhen's information and asked lightly: "Brother Luo, how is Luo Zhen?" Luo Lizong laughed when he heard this and said, "You ask Luo Zhen?" Yang Peng asked : "Yes, Luo Zhen!"
Luo Lizong said: "Brother, you don't know, the rumors about this new general are very bad. The Zhenzhou camp he was originally in charge of originally had 3,000 soldiers, but he just ate 1,200 free wages. In fact, There are only 1,800 soldiers in the army, and the ratio of empty pay is the highest in Cangzhou. Not to mention, he is still making trouble in the Gegu area, saying that a few rich families with no background are colluding with thieves and ransacking other people's homes. I robbed thousands of taels of silver."
Yang Peng said: "So he has such a bad reputation?" Luo Lizong said: "He has a bad reputation! But this man is ruthless in making money and is generous with his money. He sends money everywhere. He has a thorough understanding of all aspects of Cangzhou, so this It will be his turn as soon as the position of the second general becomes available." Luo Lizong was deeply dissatisfied with Cangzhou officialdom, so he told Yang Peng everything about Luo Zhen's past. Yang Peng asked Luo Lizong a few more questions and then changed the topic: "Let's not talk about Luo Zhen. Let's talk about Brother Luo's camp."
Whether Xu Nan will be transferred away soon or not, Luo Zhen will not make an attack in the short term. Of course, Yang Peng was not afraid of Luo Zhen's attack. So Yang Peng put Luo Zhen's matter behind him for the time being and continued to be busy with the management of the territory. In mid-October, Khitan had already left the customs and the roads were already clear. The sowing of winter wheat has begun, and the refugees gathered in the north of Dagou City have returned to their hometowns. Although the poor have nothing to live on, they can still rely on relatives and friends to borrow some food to survive for half a year. As long as I go back and sow seeds in the wheat fields, my life will be back on track next year.
Yang Peng gave each refugee a bucket of rice to make dry food for them on the way, otherwise these refugees would starve halfway. Within a few days, half of the refugees in the north of Dagou City were gone, leaving only 10,000 people. Seeing that the last ten thousand people were not leaving, Yang Peng went to the north of the city to have a look. When Yang Peng arrived in the north of the city, he found that the people left behind were all the poorest poor people, and they were all skinny and skinny. There were men, women and children, many of them with their families, huddled in the ground, looking at people with timid eyes.
Yang Peng walked around the refugee camp, and several old people walked up shakily on crutches. As soon as they walked in front of Yang Peng, these old people kowtowed to Yang Peng. Yang Peng quickly helped them up. "Lord City Lord, aren't we just living in Dagou and eating for nothing? We are really desperate!" Yang Peng nodded and said, "Don't the people have any relatives or friends that they can rely on? Can't they borrow a year's worth of food?"
The old people sighed and said: "Those of us who stayed behind are the most miserable. Either our relatives are poor or they have suffered the same disaster. Where can we borrow a year's rations? The house at home is probably also destroyed by the Khitan soldiers." It’s burned and all the food has been robbed by the Khitan soldiers. It’s a dead end if we go back!”
After several old people said this, they knelt on the ground one by one. "Please take us in! We don't need money or a house. We just need to live in this hut and have a mouthful of porridge! As long as we have porridge to eat, we will serve you like cows and horses!" Yang Peng helped these old people get up. , walked a few steps forward, and looked at these poor people again.
Most of these people are poor people with families. Because there are many people, old and young, they have the most economic difficulties. If you are a single young man with a farm at home, you can get through a year by borrowing a stone and a half of grain from someone else, and it is easy to find a place to borrow. A family with five or six people would have to borrow at least eight or nine shi of grain. In this time of war and chaos, rice prices are so high that it is difficult to borrow that much grain.
In the past few months after the Khitan soldiers entered the customs, Cangzhou was plundered and a lot of food was transported back outside the customs by the Khitan soldiers. Now Cangzhou's food needs to be shipped in from other places to meet the demand. The price of rice, which used to be two liang per shi, has risen to 4 liang and one shi. It is estimated that the price of rice will not drop in half a year. In this situation, there is not enough money to buy life-saving food.
But all the jobs in Tianjing New City are currently full, so there is no need for so many people! Li Zhi cannot keep all these people. These people don't have any skills, they just plow the land. However, Li Zhi thought again: Tianjing New City has been importing food from outside, which puts a lot of logistical pressure on it. Now that rice is expensive in Cangzhou, Yang Peng spends a lot more money every day to maintain Tianjing New City. Why not gather these together and cultivate the land?
Where can we find land for these farmers to plant? Yang Peng does know about the manufacture of some high-efficiency hydraulic machinery, which can turn dry land that cannot be irrigated by ordinary methods into fertile farmland. Those wastelands were cheap, and Yang Peng could turn them into fertile farmland after buying them. How about using these hydraulic machines to reclaim new fields?
Yang Peng thought for a while and asked the old people: "Do you know how to farm?" Those old people suddenly saw hope, and quickly walked up and knelt in front of Yang Peng on crutches, and replied: "Back to the city lord, we are all All farmers who are responsible can grow wheat! Are you willing to take us in as sharecroppers?" When the men, women, and children next to Yang Peng saw Li Zhi asking, they all felt hopeful and crawled out of their nests one by one. They all knelt down with a huff. In front of Yang Peng.
"Sir, accept us, we will starve to death if we go back!" "Sir, save us!" Yang Peng nodded, and in the excited eyes of the poor, he said lightly: "Then you just stay. Farm the land for me!”
Yang Peng replied: "This kind of fire gun is called a flintlock gun, but it has the same purpose as the self-generated fire gun." Geng Ying nodded silently. When all the generals looked at the flintlock gun, they all muttered. Xu Nan stroked his beard and asked, "How much silver does it cost to make a gun of yours?" Yang Peng replied, "Give the craftsman four taels of labor, and six taels of materials to buy the fine work." Iron and fine steel, the total cost is ten taels of silver per rod."
Hearing Yang Peng's words, all the civil and military officials took a breath. Ten taels of silver per shot was too expensive. Although this fire gun is sharp, it can only hit fifty steps. The enemy will rush over after one shot, and the number of enemies killed is limited. Moreover, when soldiers use this firecracker, they cannot carry other long weapons, and their ability to fight in close combat is greatly reduced.
Seeing that the military attachés looked down on the flintlock gun, Yang Peng took out a bayonet from his waist and put it on the gun. He said, "This gun can be equipped with a bayonet made by Su Gang for hand-to-hand combat. This bayonet costs three taels of silver." Hearing this. After Yang Peng's words, all the military attachés looked at each other with disappointment in their eyes. How inconvenient is it to attach a bayonet to a firegun? Not as direct as the spearmen.
Can this flintlock gun really defeat the Khitan cavalry? Could it be that Yang Peng was lucky, and the Khitan soldiers attacked the city desperately without knowing the details, and hit Yang Peng's gun?
Moreover, various military attaches have deeper concerns - spending money to make equipment sounds simple, but in fact it is impossible to operate it. What should I do with the money that is used to honor the gods of all walks of life? The slightest mistake in not being filial to the gods will turn into a serious crime, and there is always the danger of being imprisoned. At the risk of offending all kinds of gods, you scrimped on food and clothing to build this fire gun without a match rope? Isn’t that seeking death?
This flintlock gun doesn't look very good, at least it doesn't meet the needs of the military attache of the Song Dynasty. It's better to drink soldiers' blood and pay empty wages, pay filial piety to all the gods, and then wait for others to make meritorious deeds and share his military exploits. The officials were not interested in Yang Peng's flintlock rifle and urged him to demonstrate the crossbow.
Li Zhi launched ten powerful crossbows and fired at targets three hundred meters away, all of which broke the two-inch thick wooden board. When the officials saw this strong crossbow, they thought it was even more common, and asked, "How much does it cost to make one of these strong crossbows?" Yang Peng quoted a high price and said, "It costs six hundred taels to make one!"
After hearing Li Zhi's words, all the military attachés wanted to leave on the spot. They finally understood that Yang Peng was not here to make a fortune when he became a military attache, but to spend money! His troops are piled up with money. The bigger his official position, the more soldiers he has, and the more money he spends on this army. Not everyone has as many profitable industries as Yang Peng. Who has so much money to waste? The so-called being an official for thousands of miles is just for money! If you don't make money as an official, why do you wear this black gauze hat?
The officials became interested and soon dispersed, each riding away on horseback. After seeing off the visiting civil and military officials, Yang Peng went to the wounded soldiers camp to check on the injured soldiers.
Different from previous battles, this time Yang Peng's Huben regiment suffered casualties. Four soldiers were injured during the defense of the city. The elite Khitan army shot and wounded more than fifty soldiers. Finally, when the Khitan army charged into the battle, more than fifty soldiers were killed or wounded. Thirty-eight soldiers have died now, and there are still 73 wounded soldiers in the wounded barracks of the Huben Regiment, 23 of whom are seriously injured and may also die.
Yang Peng walked into the wounded barracks and heard the shouts of the wounded. The medical skills of the Song Dynasty were not backward in this era. At this time, the West had just discovered blood circulation, and its grasp of the properties of various medicines was far inferior to that of traditional Chinese medicine. But even so, ordinary Chinese medicine is still unable to deal with severe physical trauma. Yang Peng found several old Chinese medicine doctors in Cangzhou City, but they could only watch the wounded die one after another.
Khitan arrowheads are often soaked in horse dung, which is poisonous. If they are shot in the limbs, their limbs are often amputated, and if they are shot in the torso, they are basically hopeless. Yang Peng temporarily hired 20 women as nurses, and asked the nurses to distill high-concentration alcohol and disinfect the soldiers' wounds every day. As for surgical-level treatments such as setting bones and suturing the injured muscle tissue, none of the local doctors in Cangzhou know how to do it.
After disinfecting the wound, you can only rely on the injured person's body to recover on its own. Seeing the backward surgical skills in Cangzhou, Li Zhi secretly wanted to recruit medical talents and build a team of doctors using scientific experiments. Let doctors explore trauma treatment methods in experiments and gradually improve surgical skills - a trauma treatment team can greatly boost the morale of soldiers, and can even make soldiers who dare not fight bravely face the enemy.
Yang Peng walked into the wounded soldiers' camp and checked the wounded soldiers one by one. A wounded man whose right arm was hit by a poisonous arrow from a Khitan soldier and whose right hand was cut off by a doctor cried when he saw Yang Peng.
Yang Peng patted his back and said: "Hero! Why are you crying?" The wounded man cried: "City Lord, I have an old mother and a pair of children at home, all of whom rely on my three taels of military salary to support me. Now I My right hand is broken and I can no longer fight. My family has no money to rent a house and we are afraid that we will starve to death and freeze to death in the city!"
Yang Peng pondered for a moment and said: "Don't cry, I won't let your family starve to death!" After thinking about it, Yang Peng said: "During the six months of healing, I will give you one, two and a half yuan of silver per month. You, then give me a dou of rice every month. After your wound is better, learn to read and practice writing with your left hand. After six months, I will find you a clerical job! Although there is no high salary as a soldier, you will get two taels of silver a month. , there are still days when you can have meat for three meals!”
The wounded man was stunned for a moment, started to cry harder, and wanted to kowtow to Yang Peng. Yang Peng pressed him on the bed, smiled at him, and went to the next patient's bed. The next patient was even more seriously injured. His spine was severed by the ax of the elite Xi army of the Khitan. Although the wound gradually healed without suppuration, the lower body is now paralyzed.
Seeing Yang Peng coming, the wounded man immediately shed two tears on his face and was speechless. Yang Peng patted the wounded man on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid if you are seriously injured and lose the ability to work. I will give you a wounded person's allowance of one to two or five yuan every month, and a bucket of rice every month for your family." We can all have enough food and clothing!”
When the wounded man heard Yang Peng's words, he couldn't stop crying and just nodded his head. It took him a long time to hold back a sentence: "Thank you, City Lord!" Yang Peng turned around and said to Zheng Hui who was following behind: "Write it down and operate according to the principles I said: For the injured who can still work, the Ministry of Works will try their best to Arrange suitable jobs for them, with a monthly salary of 2 taels and meat for three meals. For those who have completely lost the ability to work, a monthly allowance of 1 tael or 5 yuan and a bucket of rice will be provided to the wounded. For soldiers who died in battle, a one-time pension will be paid Twenty taels, and then a monthly pension of one tael or five taels for thirty years."
Hearing Yang Peng's words, all the wounded soldiers in the wounded barracks started crying. Where can I find such a good city lord? In this way, there is no need to worry about being injured or even sacrificed. The wounded who were not seriously injured had to climb out of bed one by one and kowtow to Yang Peng. Yang Peng helped the wounded and said calmly: "Without courtesy, you are all heroes of Tianjing New City!"
The hydraulic machine Yang Peng wants to build is called a dragon tail car. This device is also called the Archimedes spiral tube. According to legend, it was invented by Archimedes. It is a tool that uses a spiral in a cylinder to rise and lift water. The outside of the dragon tail car is an iron shell, and inside is a long rotating shaft covered with propeller blades. The rotating shaft keeps rotating, allowing water to roll at the bottom of the rotating shaft blades, gradually raising the water level.
A bearing is installed on a joint on the rotating shaft to reduce friction. The lower rotating shaft joint needs to be extended into the water. Yang Peng used a brass ball to press on a copper sleeve, which can also reduce the friction during rotation. The main part of the waterwheel is made of wrought iron, and the inside and outside are painted to prevent rust.
This kind of water wheel has the characteristics of low effort and high efficiency. The efficiency of one person operating this water wheel is comparable to that of ten people operating a traditional keel wheel. Until modern times, this type of waterwheel has been widely used in industry to lift fluids and powders. The Song Dynasty once vigorously promoted this kind of waterwheel, but due to the complexity of manufacturing dragon-tailed waterwheels and political corruption, this kind of waterwheel was never popularized.
But Yang Peng has cannon-casting craftsmen and casting technology, and casting this kind of keel car is easy. After the cannon-casting craftsmen cast more than 80 powerful crossbows, they stopped working and were on standby, just in time to start casting this kind of dragon-tailed vehicle.
Yang Peng finished the drawings and handed them to the gunsmiths to make molds. Yang Peng explained on the spot that after a few days of tinkering, the gunsmiths cast the iron mold for the rotating blades and the outer casing, and the assembly was successful. The next step is to cast them in batches using iron molds.
The first waterwheel was quickly completed, and Yang Peng set it up on the small river to experiment with pumping water. As soon as the rotating shaft rotates, you can see gurgling water flowing out of the waterwheel. Yang Peng asked the water tanker to pump water by the river until the four acres of field were filled. It only took half an hour. In this way, one person can irrigate forty acres of farmland a day, which is much better than other water trucks.
The people watching saw the shaking water tanker pumping out the rushing water, and they suddenly became excited. The people cheered and celebrated that the city lord had invented a new thing. It is estimated that this new thing can bring a lot of new blessings to the people. The efficiency of the dragon tail truck is very important to agricultural production. When planting wheat, you need to grasp the seasons, and you need to irrigate a few days before and after certain seasons. There are bottom water, winter irrigation, first water, second water, and three water. Waterwheels are not very efficient. During the limited irrigation season, they can only irrigate a few acres of land by the river. Using inefficient waterwheels to irrigate more fields will only delay the season and greatly reduce crop harvests.
Waterwheels with high efficiency can allow more fields to be irrigated in a timely manner. Moreover, this kind of dragon tail car has another advantage, that is, it has a particularly wide range of applications. As long as the water underneath can cover the blades under the dragon tail car, water can be pumped. It doesn't matter whether it is a pond or a small river, as long as there is a little water surface. It does not require water flow speed like a drum truck, but emphasizes the depth of water entry.
The dragon tail car made by Yang Peng using casting method is six meters long and weighs 130 kilograms. It can pump the water in the river more than three meters high. The main parts of the waterwheel are cast with wrought iron, and the cost of labor and bearings is twelve taels per unit, so it can be promoted on a large scale. The more troublesome thing is that it requires regular maintenance and painting to prevent rust. It is estimated that the annual maintenance cost will be one or two silver. If Li Zhi wants to promote it on a large scale, he will probably organize a professional team to regularly maintain these dragon-tail cars. But compared to the benefits from converting dry land into farmland, the maintenance fee of one tael is not eye-catching.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
