His arms were shaking violently, Lu Changqing gritted his teeth and tried his best to hold himself up.
"Ninety-eight!" The soldier who counted the points said with admiration in his tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Changqing's arms lost their strength, and his unsupported body hit the ground with his head and face.
"Are you okay?" The soldier was a little worried, but because of the test rules, he did not come forward to help.
Lu Changqing struggled and moved with difficulty before turning his head so that his mouth and nose were no longer touching the ground, and then he gasped for air.
He himself didn't know how many times it was, and his face was covered with mud mixed with sweat and dust, which could not completely cover the bruises and scratches everywhere.
As for his head and body, it was also covered with mud, and the whole person looked like a pottery figurine. The Lan shirt that he had always cherished seemed worse than a beggar's clothes now.
The soldier felt a little relieved when he saw that he could still breathe. "Brother, please rest a little longer this time. Don't worry, there are only two left..."
At this time, Zhao Mengqi walked around the camp with Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu, and was about to send them out of the camp when they happened to pass by here.
What a scholar.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Mengqi was surprised again, but he actually admired Lu Changqing.
"Mr. Wu, Mr. Ma, please wait a moment. I'll go over and take a look."
He walked forward alone, squatted down and helped Lu Changqing sit up, only to find that the ground under Lu Changqing was soaked with sweat.
Immediately, Zhao Mengqi held Lu Changqing with one hand and sat down on the ground, "Okay, brother, I'm angry!"
Lu Changqing was confused. Only then did he realize that it was King Yan who was helping him up and sitting side by side in the mud. "Your Majesty...Your Highness, the student is ashamed...ashamed..."
"Don't talk, take a deep breath, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, slow down the rhythm, inhale and exhale, yes, that's it."
Helping Lu Changqing adjust his breathing, Zhao Mengqi turned around and shouted, "Be honest, add salt to my kettle and bring it over."
After taking the silver kettle, he shook it vigorously, wiped the mouth of the bottle with his hand, and handed it to Lu Changqing, "Here, drink some salt water and it will feel better. Don't worry, I'm not sick..."
Lu Changqing was stunned for a moment, then tremblingly raised his hand to pick it up.
Zhao Mengqi took a look and saw that the water and the pot weighed three kilograms. He couldn't hold it in this state, so he simply said, "Open your mouth and I will feed you."
The cold water trickled down his throat. It was obviously salty, but Lu Changqing felt an indescribable sweetness, and his heart was filled with inexplicable emotions.
After feeding for a while, Zhao Mengqi realized that this scene was somewhat "gay", and he couldn't help feeling numb. He opened the kettle and put it into Lu Changqing's arms.
"Don't drink too much at one time. Drink slowly. I gave you this kettle as a greeting gift."
Then, Zhao Mengqi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Come on, little comrade, I'm very optimistic about you."
Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu, who were not far away, couldn't help but smile at each other, with admiration in their eyes.
"A small act, but a deep bond of kindness. Your Highness is also very proficient in the way of serving as a servant, and he has mastered it at his fingertips."
"The art of recognizing people is also very good. This student has a stubborn personality, but he is good at gathering people's hearts. If he doesn't use it well, he will be a big trouble. If he uses it well, he will be a big help."
Zhao Mengqi left a word of encouragement, stood up and left, continuing to send the two veterans to the camp gate.
Before getting into the car at the door, Zhao Mengqi thought of something and said, "Xiang Ma, Xiao Wang has asked people to develop several new weapons. If you are interested, you might as well go and see them together tomorrow."
Jiankang Prefecture not only stationed a large army, but was also one of the weapons production bases at this time. Supervising the production of weapons was also one of Ma Guangzu's most important responsibilities.
So he was very interested and said, "Your Highness's new weapon is probably very unusual. I must have a look at it."
After the agreement was made, the two veterans left in an ox cart, and Zhao Mengqi continued to return to the camp to "busy".
In fact, everything was arranged. Qu Moxuan and other generals performed their duties. The sergeants of the East Guard were well-trained and the recruitment went smoothly. There was basically nothing that required Zhao Mengqi's intervention.
At the end of the day, more than 4,000 new soldiers were recruited, and many people outside the camp were waiting eagerly. They could only understand that
Come again tomorrow.
This time, Zhao Mengqi plans to recruit 30,000 people. In addition to the initial 5,000 people and the more than 1,000 people who will be recruited later, it will be enough to form three divisions. After training, the East Guards can become an army. .
Thanks to the tens of millions of money and food he could use freely, he had the confidence to recruit so many people.
The army is really a gold-swallowing beast and a bottomless pit.
A rough calculation shows that the military salary for more than 30,000 people alone costs three to four million guan a year, and the food, clothing and miscellaneous expenses are no less than 1 million guan each year, which is a daily expenditure of nearly 5 million guan a year.
The cost of purchasing ordnance and equipment is even more frightening. A full set of infantry armor cost thirty-eight guan at the beginning to travel south. Now it costs about 70 guan. Adding various weapons, the average equipment on each soldier is worth more than 100 guan. This is just infantry.
In later generations, the equipment of an individual army soldier in the beautiful country cost about hundreds of thousands of soft coins. In terms of cost, the Song Army was also similar.
To put it simply, Zhao Mengqi will spend about 10 million yuan on this army within a year, and this is without fighting.
Moreover, I am afraid that for a long time, don't expect the court to pay for this army. In essence, Dongwei is King Yan's private army.
Therefore, in addition to training soldiers, making money is still Zhao Mengqi's top priority.
…
In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Mengqi waited for Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu outside Panmen, picked them up on the boat, and sailed to Taihu Lake, arriving at their destination at noon.
Hengshan Island is located more than one mile north of Xishan Island in Dongting. It is small in area, about three miles long from north to south and a little more than one mile wide from east to west.
The island is basically mountainous. There used to be more than a dozen families living along the lake on the east side of the island, but they have been relocated.
Now this island has become Zhao Mengqi's weapons research institute, with more than 300 craftsmen and a battalion of Dongwei soldiers.
When they were still far away, they could see thick smoke billowing over the island and heard several thunders, which made Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu even more curious.
The official ship docked and found that the place was heavily guarded. Along the lake, there was a lookout some distance away, and patrolling soldiers could be seen everywhere.
After getting off the boat, the guards and soldiers who had been waiting here came to greet them.
The leading officer clenched his fist and hammered his breastplate hard, "Shi Cheng, commander of the 13th Battalion of the Eastern Guards, pays homage to Your Highness, the Great Song Dynasty is victorious!"
Shi Cheng was in the first batch of Dongwei, but to become a battalion commander, he must be the most elite talent. After all, the largest establishment of Dongwei now is the battalion, with a total of less than twenty battalions.
Zhao Mengqiping lowered his palms and touched his chest in return, "Commander Shi, thank you for your hard work, Huaxia Yongchang."
This is the new military ceremony of Dongwei. Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu have seen it in the camp. Looking at it now, they still feel a little complicated.
Wu Qian shook his head, "Although it is not in line with etiquette, it is suitable for the army. It is strong, crisp, simple and neat."
Ma Guangzu smiled and said nothing. He was more concerned about what big treasure King Yan wanted to take him to see.
Shi Cheng asked, "Your Highness, the food has been prepared in the cafeteria, do you see it?"
"No need, we ate on the boat." Zhao Mengqi waved his hand, "The sound I just heard was a cannon test?"
"Back to Your Highness, it's Chen Dagong who is testing the cannon. He has been busy all morning. He said he wanted to ensure that there would be no leaks in front of Your Highness." Shi Cheng replied bluntly.
Zhao Mengqi went straight to the point, "Then take us there directly."
Immediately, Shi Cheng opened a path and led everyone towards the center of the island, entering a mountain col.
Along the way, in addition to patrols, we also saw many sentries, and perhaps hidden sentries. All this shows that King Yan attaches great importance to the weapons being developed on the island.
As he was walking, Ma Guangzu noticed something was wrong with the road under his feet. He couldn't help but stop and stamped the road with his heel.
"Strange, why is this road surface so smooth and as hard as stone but without any trace of paving?"
Zhao Mengqi turned around and said, "Oh, in order to facilitate the transportation of new weapons, this road is paved with cement."
"Cement? What is it again?" Ma Guangzu looked confused and followed the team.
"To put it simply, it is a powdery material that is mixed with sand and gravel in proportion, watered and mixed well..."
Zhao Mengqi explained as he walked, "It would be best to use steel as the bones, but at the moment, it's too luxurious, so I'll use bamboo strips instead, which is barely usable."
Does it harden after being soaked in water?
With steel as sinews?
Ma Guangzu was a little dizzy and couldn't figure out the truth for a while, but he quickly discovered the important use of cement.
"If we build a fortress out of this thing, wouldn't it be possible to build it in ten days and make it as strong as a rock?"
Zhao Mengqi nodded, "This cement has many uses. For example, it can be used to bind bricks and stones. It is not much worse than glutinous rice. The main reason is that it is cheap and can be fired from soil and slag."
Zhao Mengqi would definitely not go into too much detail about how it was produced.
Ma Guangzu said excitedly, "With this magical thing, our city of Song Dynasty will be impregnable."
"It's not that exaggerated. No matter how strong the city is, the defenders will still be broken if they don't have enough strength. What's more, in this world, with a strong shield, there will be a sharper spear."
As they spoke, everyone came to an open space between two mountains.
Zhao Mengqi pointed to the place where a group of people were busy, "Next, we will see whether the newly made spear is sharp enough."
After a while, two spears were placed in front of everyone. To be precise, they were two bronze cannons.
One of the doors is thick and short, similar in appearance to a stone mortar, and is mounted on a hardwood base like a trough.
Of course, the wood used for this base is much thicker and stronger than the trough, and many parts are reinforced with iron parts.
Zhao Mengqi touched the barrel of the cannon and said, "Chen Dagong, please introduce it to everyone."
The so-called Chen Dagong is a craftsman in his forties named Chen Jinshan. Dagong is the professional title of Tiangongyuan. He used to work in the Qian Supervisor and later went to the Ministry of Industry and was responsible for casting bronze tripods and bells. Large ritual vessel.
He smiled innocently, wiped his hands on his clothes, and walked to the cannon. "This is a mortar. It weighs three hundred and seventeen kilograms, is one foot six inches long, and has an inner diameter of five inches. It can be fired with five kilograms of gunpowder." Twenty kilograms of stone bullets, shot to a distance of 150 feet, are just not accurate."
Although Zhao Mengqi was not satisfied with this data, he could only start like this, "Just talk and don't practice fake moves, just shoot and see."
Chen Jinshan immediately called a few assistants and started the launch work.
Seeing them stuffing a cylindrical cloth bag into the tilted muzzle of the cannon, Ma Guangzu couldn't help but wonder, "Is that silk satin? What's in it? Gunpowder?"
"Yes, it is used for firing. It is more convenient and quantitative. The gunpowder is also more compact. There is less residue after the raw silk is burned, which makes it easier to clean the chamber."
While Zhao Mengqi was answering, Chen Jinshan used a push rod to put the gunpowder package in place and asked his assistant to fill it with smooth polished spherical stone bullets.
Then, use a thin bamboo drill to poke into a hole at the tail of the cannon, and then install the match rope.
After everything was ready, Chen Jinshan came over and greeted, "Your Highness, let's go behind the wall and observe."
Zhao Mengqi nodded. This was due to his own regulations, which was to prevent personal injury caused by the explosion.
Everyone moved behind the thick cement wall and used the observation holes on the wall to look at the mortars.
A craftsman stood next to the gun mount. After hearing Chen Jinshan shouting "Light the fire", he lit the match with a thick incense stick and ran away.
The match rope was long enough, and it took a while before the sparks crawled into the ignition hole.
Then, there was thunder, and everyone saw a shadow fly out from the muzzle of the gun, rise diagonally into the air, then fall in an arc, and hit the slope less than a mile away, splashing up a cloud of smoke and dust.
In Zhao Mengqi's view, the speed of this shell was too slow, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu were already stunned from ear to ear.
"This, this is a stone cannon..."
