Chapter 129 Outside Changchun Fort
"Commander of the Changchun Guards, Ping An, pays homage to His Highness King Yan and the Governor." Ping An led the generals of Changchun Fort to greet him at the dock.
The status of Changchun Fort has been upgraded a long time ago, and Ping An has naturally become the commander. The establishment was expanded. Now he also has a full guard station under his command, with 5,600 people. Of course, Ping'an also has a guard, with probably hundreds of elite cavalry, which were specially strengthened by Feng Sheng.
Peaceful Peace belongs to Liaodong in terms of affiliation, but its roots are in Beiping. He Xi didn't interfere too much.
King Yan said: "Ping Shen."
King Yan carefully observed Changchun Fort and observed the peace. Because in King Yan's opinion, this will be his residence for a long time in the future.
According to the resolution at the Peking Conference. With Changchun Guard as the foundation, plus the three guards of King Yan, and the guard station transferred from Peiping. Changchun Dusi was established. The mission of King Yan is to establish the future Changchun capital.
It's just that King Yan's view of Changchun Fort is different from other places in the pass.
King Yan said: "I haven't seen you for a few years. General Ping moved quickly enough to build another city in Changchun Fort?"
The Fort of Changchun now became a twin-city structure.
The original Changchun Fort is now a rectangular city built on the basis of Changchun Fort. It seems to be larger than Changchun Fort, especially with the water gate where ships can enter directly.
Ping An said: "This is also a last resort. In recent years, there have been many merchants on the grassland. Although the imperial court ordered that the sale of iron, iron tools, grain and other military supplies are prohibited, other supplies are still available. Liaodong also set up checkpoints here. To guard the taxes, more and more people gathered, especially in autumn, many small tribes sold horses here. At the peak, more than 10,000 people gathered. I was afraid something might happen, so I built this city."
After safe guidance. Only then did He Xi realize what was special about this city.
This city seems to be larger than Changchun Fort, but in fact, it is more like an enlarged urn city. In the city, there is no place to climb the city wall, and it shares a city wall with Changchun Fort. The city walls can only be climbed from Changchun Fort.
In addition, the shared city wall is one foot higher than the other three walls. To reach the Changchun Fort wall from the other three walls, you need to attack from above. Not to mention, the area close to the city wall is a street and does not require any buildings to be close.
It made He Xi feel like a prison.
This is also a solution that Ping An has thought about for a long time. ,
There must be a market, or market, outside Changchun Fort. This is not something that Ping An can deny. But the problem is that building another market has great risks.
Ping An has read many military books, so he naturally knows about the Battle of Xiangyang between the Southern Song Dynasty and Yuan Youming. Although Lu Wende surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty. But his brother Lu Wenhuan was a very good guard. In the end, he died in the siege without wavering. But Lu Wenhuan was worried about one thing.
That is the north of Xiangyang City.
Just like today. Although the Southern Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty were hostile, there were still trade exchanges between them. Since there is trade. Businessmen need a place to trade.
Lu Wenhuan actually thought about it carefully and concluded that he was not negligent. It was best to identify a place not far from the city wall. However, the construction of city walls was not allowed, and it was observed very well at first. But it took a long time. Businessmen of the Yuan Dynasty said that their livestock kept running away. Hope to circle around.
Lu Wenhuan didn't think anything of it, it was just a livestock pen. However, the order was still issued that only low walls were allowed and no high walls were allowed.
But after a short period of peace, the Yuan army suddenly came to the city. Lu Wenhuan launched a counterattack when the Yuan army was not yet stable, catching the enemy by surprise. But he never expected it. Almost overnight. The market, which was originally a low wall and livestock pen, became a fortified city. Now we are very close to the city, and we almost launched the attack on Xiangyang as soon as we left the city.
Lu Wenhuan's counterattack plans were all aborted.
The whole situation fell into passivity.
Until his death, Lu Wenhuan was still brooding over his mistakes.
Past experience guide for the future. The Battle of Xiangyang was just over a hundred years ago. How could a general like Ping An, who was well versed in military studies, not know this? He was afraid that the Yuan army would repeat the same trick. After much deliberation, I finally came up with this solution. It is better to be overprepared than to make the same mistakes again.
After hearing what Ping An said, King Yan nodded and said, "That's right. It's really good to build such a majestic city in such a short period of time, and it seems to be covered with stones."
He Xi smiled and said, "Your Highness, King Yan, you don't know. This is the function of cement."
King Yan said: "Cement."
He Xi took King Yan over directly and said, "Come on, look carefully. These gaps are filled with cement."
The city built by Ping An was naturally not entirely made of cement. Because the output of Daming Cement is still quite insufficient. The method of building a city in Ping An is similar to the method of building dams in the 1970s and 1980s. Use rammed earth to lay the foundation, and then use large stones to connect them piece by piece.
The gap in the middle is filled with cement. Even in the middle of the city wall. There are also cement mortar fillings.
This city wall has a situation like this. Where the stones are joined together, there are winding and network-like patterns. It even seems to have a unique beauty.
Of course, I don’t know whether Ping An is worried about new technologies or the limitations of cement. The wall was then built shorter and thicker, as if it was feared that the wall would collapse. Don’t dare to cultivate higher.
It is precisely because of the application of new technologies. Only then did this city rise from the ground in just one year. Of course, if enough manpower is used. Building a city within a year is not a problem. After all, the construction time of Changchun Fort was also very short.
The problem is that Changchun Fort does not have enough manpower.
Not to mention how big the original Changchun Fort was. Just talking about the construction of Changchun Fort, tens of thousands of manpower were used. That's why we have this speed. Now this city is larger than Changchun Fort. The Changchun Fort and even the Changchun Guards only have more than 10,000 people. That is the soldiers and their families. Also because it's too dangerous here. Many soldiers are underage. Or the family members didn’t even come with them.
This is also human nature.
Even if everyone went into battle together, it would be impossible to complete such a task.
But with cement, things are completely different. Don't forget that when He Xi opened the canal, he used gunpowder to blow up a lot of rocks. These rocks were left useless. There is a waterway connection between the two places. The transportation is extremely convenient, although it is very hard to lay the foundation and move the stones. However, it is much easier than making the entire city wall into rammed earth.
Ping An also said: "Master He is right. If there was no cement, it would not be surprising that this city would have taken several years to be built. Cement is really a weapon for the military."
After King Yan understood how to use cement, he said to He Xi without saying a word: "How much cement is there? I want it all. Ship it all to me. When I am in Shenyang, you should let me go and see the cement factory. "
He Xi said: "Didn't you remember this? And I can't give you all the cement production. It is used in many places."
King Yan naturally refused. Bargained with He Xi under the city gate. He Xi said: "With so many people here, you also look like a prince. Don't act like a scoundrel who wants to pay."
"What's wrong with the scoundrel?" King Yan didn't care at all and said, "Don't worry about what I look like. It's true if I can ask for something. You can give it or not."
He Xi said: "Okay. One third, no matter how much I can produce, I will give you one third. No more."
King Yan said: "That's fine. Let's do this first."
King Yan knew that he had a lot of projects to do on this land, and he originally wanted to build it for several years. But with cement as a sharp weapon, King Yan felt that within a year or two, he would be able to do other things.
Naturally, the more cement production, the better.
King Yan secretly thought: "It seems that there is nothing more we can get from He Xi. However, there are other ways. For example, go to the eldest brother of the prince. Let the eldest brother of the prince come forward."
He Xi naturally didn't know what King Yan was thinking. At this moment, they ended other topics and entered the Changchun Fort under the respectful welcome of everyone. Soldiers and merchants from all over the city came to welcome him, and the scene was very grand. Of course, a different kind of eyes is indispensable.
