The Shangyang Palace Royal Racecourse was built on the ruins of the Shangyang Forbidden City left over from the Tang Dynasty. This site is located to the west of Luoyang Ziwei Palace City, adjacent to Ziwei to the east and Luo River to the south. It is quite large, but the palace terrace where Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian once lived has long been gone. When Zhao Kai moved the capital to Luoyang, the Forbidden City in Shangyang had already been occupied by a group of Luoyang wealthy families to build gardens.
Of course, Zhao Kai would not tolerate them. He withdrew them all with an imperial edict, and then gave some of the gardens located in the corners to the heroes of the new dynasty. He himself occupied seven or eight large gardens in the center and a large area of woodland and wasteland. However, he did not build a palace on this land. Instead, he built a circle of walls, cut down most of the trees, and leveled the land. of various miscellaneous plants, and finally sprinkled grass seeds, built stables, and built a horse stable.
The horses raised in the royal horse farm are all Qinghai dragon stallions, also known as Qinghai Cong. It is said that they are a fine breed obtained by crossing Persian horses and local high-quality mares in Qinghai. They first appeared in the Tuyuhun era. At that time, Tuyuhun obtained Persian stallions from Central Asia and then raised them on the islands in Qinghai Lake. At the same time, every year, mares were selected to go to the island to mate with these free-range Persian horses, and the foals they gave birth to were called Qinghai horses. Although Tuyuhun was later conquered by Tibet, the tribes around Qinghai Lake passed down the methods of raising Qinghai Cong from generation to generation.
Grab, grab, grab. Although this method of raising excellent stallions on islands and then selecting mares for impregnation on the islands is very primitive, it is much better than the "ethical horse breeding" and "wild horse hybridization" advocated by the Song Dynasty civil servants. At least it can ensure that the Qinghai Cong population will be passed down from generation to generation and will not decline.
The tribes around Qinghai Lake all paid tribute to Xixia before the Battle of Lingzhou in the second year of Hongwu, so the Xixia court, nobles, and powerful men all raised some Qinghai Cong.
Xixi, dingding, Xixi. Before Zhao Kai captured Lingzhou, he obtained a small amount of Qinghai Cong from the Hehuangfan tribe. When Hongwu pacified Lingzhou in the second year, he obtained a group of Qinghai Cong from the Lingzhou clan and the Hengshan tribe. Later, Zhao Huaien and Zhao Huaiyi regained Qingtang City and Zongge City with the support of Zhao Kai, and in return they donated a batch of Qinghai Cong.
Therefore, by the third year of Hongwu, the number of Qinghai Cong in Zhao Kai's hands had reached more than 2,000. So he ordered people to select 1,000 stallions and mares that were tall and divine and of suitable age, and raised them in the Shangyang Palace Royal Horse Farm in Luoyang.
It was obviously a waste to raise only 1,000 horses at such a large Shangyanggong horse farm, so Zhao Kai asked people to circle a part of the land near Luohe as a camp and training ground for the artillery army... to avoid the artillery army. Always testing cannon outside Ziwei Palace.
In addition, Zhao Kai himself also occupied a garden in the Shangyang Palace Royal Racecourse, which he used as a palace courtyard when he inspected the racecourse and artillery troops.
And today, the purpose of Zhao Kai bringing his brother Zhao Shu to Shangyang Palace is to support him to become the "King of Pots in the Southern Song Dynasty"!
On a shooting range on the bank of the Luo River, a 25-pound large pot cannon has been placed in place. A purple-robed officer in his twenties was directing five artillery soldiers to conduct reloading training.
巘戅dingdingdingdingX戅. Seeing Zhao Kai coming on horseback, he immediately shouted "stop the team", and saw the five gunners immediately stopped what they were doing, and then lined up to welcome the holy driver.
"Isn't that Zhao Buqiu? Why did he become a cook? This is too desolate..." Zhao Shu's eyes didn't know whether he was good or bad, and he saw the man who was leading the drill from a distance. The officer was his distant brother Zhao Buqiu, but at the same time he noticed the 25-pound large pot cannon next to Zhao Buqiu.
Zhao Kai laughed when he heard this and said: "Fifth brother, Zhao Buqiu is not a cook, he is a military attache of the artillery army. Did you see the short and fat thing next to him? The full name of that thing is 25-pound large pot cannon. !”
Zhao Shu looked at the big pot from a distance and said to himself: Hot pot...it's still a big pot, isn't it still a cook? Did Third Brother bring me here to eat? It’s not even meal time yet! Don’t know what to eat?
Zhao Kai smiled and pointed at the "big pot" and said to Zhao Shu: "Fifth brother, your military power depends on it!"
Rely on it?
Zhao Shu looked at the big pot and thought to himself: Does this king have to start as a cook when he joins the army?
Zhao Kai smiled and said again: "Exploding pots is nothing...this hot pot cannon is so powerful! With it, the gold thieves' city and camp cannot be defended. With it, our fortress city can't be defended." Don’t be afraid of the Jin people using cannons to throw explosive pots! After Zhao Buqiu is King Wei Gongxian, he can be regarded as the eldest among the descendants of Taizong. I asked him to follow you to Jiangdu and bring a 25-pound hot pot cannon. If the eldest brother Before you become too stupid, I will definitely appoint you as the commander of the artillery force, and then you will be able to take control of the military."
"Third brother, do you think this pot can deal with cannons and castles?" Zhao Shu was doubtful. In his opinion, the biggest use of this big pot is to cook meat...
Zhao Kai said with a smile: "Hearing is false, seeing is believing... If you don't ask for anything, let's show King Su a 25-pound iron bullet."
"I accept the decree!"
Zhao Buqiu received the order and walked towards a pair of "picks" - the picks containing potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal, copper bowls, wooden shovels, weighing poles and weights.
What Zhao Kai planned to export to the Southern Song Dynasty was the correct formula of hot pot cannon and powdered gunpowder - that is, the "monkey version" gunpowder, not granular black powder, nor did it include the purification methods of potassium nitrate and sulfur. Of course, there will not be the most advanced black technology weapon "Casserole Cannon"!
Although it is a "monkey version", combined with the invincible navy of the Southern Song Dynasty, it is enough to start a small era of navigation.
Now that Zhao Kai himself can't reach the sea, he can only let the Southern Song Dynasty develop overseas land enclosures!
In addition, by exporting hot pot cannon, Zhao Kai can support his good brothers Zhao Shu and Zhao Buqiu - Zhao Buqiu has already become a general in the artillery army with Zhao Kai... This The first time I sent him to Jiangdu was to let him break into the enemy!
While Zhao Buqiu was busy weighing and "stirring" the gunpowder, Zhao Kai, Zhao Shu, and Zhao Zhen had all dismounted and stood behind a bunker piled with sandbags.
Zhao Kai smiled again and said to Zhao Shu: "Fifth brother, my foundation is in Luoyang. I will entrust you brothers with everything in the southeast... When the world is unified in the future, you will have a mansion." The vassal territory of the state!
In addition, I am also sure that Prince Daning will change his title to Prince of Jinling... Jinling is the capital of the Kingdom of Wu, so naturally it is the territory of Prince Daning. "
After hearing this, Zhao Shu hurriedly asked: "Third brother, will you keep the Kingdom of Wu in the future?"
Zhao Kai smiled and said: "Of course...the land of Sanwu will be Zhao Chen's feudal state in the future!"
At this time, Zhao Buqiu had already led his men to finish loading the hotpot cannon, and loudly reported to Zhao Kai: "The official, the cannon has been loaded, please give the order!"
Zhao Kai nodded and said loudly: "Fire the cannon!"
"Here!"
Zhao Kai hurriedly covered his ears and saw Zhao Buqiu using a spear wrapped around a lit fire wire to send sparks into the cannon's fire door.
Then flames spewed out, thunder and the earth shook... And Zhao Shu, the "pot king" of the Southern Song Dynasty, was immediately frightened and stunned!
...
"Guan Family, Guan Family... What a great victory! Zhang Shuye and Xue Bi have recaptured Qingliu Pass! In this battle, the New Army soldiers sacrificed their lives and went on to attack Qingliu Pass for thirteen days, killing mountains of corpses. , blood flowed like a river, and tens of thousands of them were thrown out just by exploding the pots!"
On the 30th day of the first lunar month, during the "Zhao Checkpoint" in the Southern Song Dynasty, the left Privy Councilor Zhao Mingcheng's voice full of surprise suddenly rang out in the Chongzheng Hall of Jiangdu Palace.
Just when the "King of Pots" Zhao Shu came to Jiangdu with Yu Wenxuzhong with a big fire pot, the battle of Huainan West Road had come to an end.厺厽 厺厽
Wanyan Zongbi did not expect to occupy the land for a long time, so he wandered around Huainan for a few days and robbed a lot of property. After hearing that Zhao Zhen led his troops to storm Songzhou, he was ready to withdraw.
But at this moment, Zhang Shuye and Xue Bi assembled a total of 30,000 new troops and began to storm Qingliu Pass in Chuzhou. Qingliu Pass is located in a strategic location, overlooking the Yangtze River in the south and Jianghuai River in the north. It has dangerous terrain, high mountains and deep valleys. It is the key point in the northwest of Jinling and is known as the "Key to Jinling". If Zong Bi goes south later, Qingliu Pass will be heavily defended.
But he came unexpectedly and caught the Southern Song Dynasty off guard. Such an important Qingliu Pass was lost.
However, Zongbi, who had captured Qingliu Pass, was unable to fight across the Yangtze River in one breath. In the first month of the fourth year of Jingkang, Zongbi began to decline. Although Zongbi had many soldiers and horses and strong combat effectiveness, he could not withstand the "money power" of the Southern Song Dynasty. "ah!
When the power of money meets the explosive pot, it will shake the earth!
Zongbi's explosive pots were exhausted in the twelfth lunar month, so in the battles that took place in the first lunar month, the firepower advantage was all on the side of the Southern Song Army!
However, Zong Bi was still unwilling to retreat in despair, so he simply concentrated his troops and set up defenses at Qingliu Pass, pretending to be ready to occupy Chuzhou and Sizhou for a long time, forcing Zhang Shuye and Xue Bi to concentrate 30,000 armored men. The army rushed to Qingliu Pass.
Starting from the 17th day of the first lunar month, the 60,000 troops from both sides started a fierce battle around the dangerous strategic point of Qingliu Pass. The Southern Song Dynasty army relied on its firepower advantage to suppress the Jin soldiers and fight fiercely.
The yellow-headed Jurchens and Bohai warriors among the Jin soldiers were also extremely brave, fighting hand-to-hand with the Song army with explosive pots and wooden feather arrows.
But this group of new Southern Song troops were not afraid of melee combat. Their armors were hard, their swords and axes were sharp, and their spears were like forests. They could also engage in melee combat with the help of explosive pots - they could use the explosive pots to blow up the opponent's formation and then attack. !
So on the 28th and 29th of the first lunar month, Wanyan Zongbi finally couldn't hold on any longer and had to withdraw from Qingliu Pass, handing the victory to the Southern Song Army.
And this victory almost means the end of the first Battle of Huainan! At the same time, it also means that the Jiangdong scholar-bureaucrat regime has a foothold!嘘戅戅
