The light four-wheeled carriage stopped at an official door. Jingzhao Yin Lian Xixian came out of the carriage provided by the public and looked up at the plaque on it, which read the Mongolian word. The translation into Chinese is "Fire Tool Bureau".

Jingzhao Yin came, and the head of the Firearms Bureau hurriedly came out. Before he could make a polite decision, Lian Xixian said: "I came this time to see the best muskets in Dayuan and the muskets of Song State."

The person in charge looked at Lian Xixian's gloomy expression and asked cautiously: "Lian Jingzhao, but I don't know what you mean by looking at these two things?"

Lian Xixian said angrily: "The envoy of Song State, Lion, spoke loudly. Seeing his fearless appearance, I want to see what is good about Song State's muskets."

After learning such a reasonable reason, the head of the Firearms Bureau did not dare to refuse. He hurriedly sent someone to take three Mongolian-made muskets and Song Dynasty muskets, and then asked Lian Xixian to wait at the test booth next to him.

The test booth was a large yard with many targets and broken earth walls. It was not yet February, and it was chilly inside. Lian Xixian was angry and did not care about the temperature here. Not long after, a soldier carried them and came over with some guys. He put these things down on the earth platform in front of Lian Xixian. The man in charge of the musket opened the maroon and pointed to the things inside and said to Lian Xixian: "Please look at Jingzhao."

Lian Xixian looked left and right, his eyes widened. He saw that the three rifles on the left were slender in shape and the barrel looked quite thin. He felt that they were about ten kilograms when he picked it up. Although it was heavy, it was not difficult to operate. Without the official from the Firearms Bureau, Lian Xixian could determine that this kind of musket must have been made by the Song State.

The things in the Song Dynasty have always been sophisticated and durable, just like the four-wheeled carriage distributed by the imperial court that Lian Xixian rode, which was completely imitated the trophy seized by Borjijin Hao Renwanhu. The wood part of the car body was 100% made of Dayuan, and the level was quite high. The glass, wheels, frames, and enamel decorations were all imported from the Song Dynasty. Dayuan also tried to imitate it, but it was still unable to succeed.

The Dayuan musket on the right hand of Lian Xixian is a typical case of such inability to succeed and forced to imitate. With the same appearance and the same structure, the barrel of the Dayuan musket is several rounds thicker than that of the Song Dynasty musket. Because the barrel becomes thicker, the butt stock underneath has to be thicker. If the Song Dynasty can be called a musket, the Dayuan musket can probably be called a "fire pile".

After picking up a big Yuan musket, Lian Xixian felt that it was twenty kilograms, and it was very heavy. After picking it up, I looked around for a while before I began to get used to this weight. Put down the big Yuan musket and then pick up the Song musket. Lian Xixian felt that the Song musket was light and had no weight at this time.

Lian Xixian is not a military officer and has no idea about firearms, but he has a concept of carriages outside. Whether it is a large Mongolian carriage or a large Han carriage, it can be described as stupid, big, black and thick. Because the structure is made of wood, it must be strengthened and thickened to ensure durability.

The structure of the Song Dynasty carriage is made of steel, and wood is just used to make the carriage, so the entire vehicle looks extremely slender. Because it is slender, the weight is light. Because it is light, a Mongolian horse pulls the carriage and runs fast. If two Mongolian horses pull the carriage, you can even run.

Lian Xixian once felt that the thin carriage of Song State was not insulated well because he was not convinced. This was the only technology that could be compared with Song State. After getting the carriage distributed by the imperial court, Lian Xixian found that Song State used a lined insulation layer and a small charcoal furnace to add a small charcoal furnace under his feet, which effectively solved the problem of insulation and heating. Because the small charcoal furnace was designed outside the carriage, there was no fireworks in the carriage. The heat was naturally transmitted from a linen mat under his feet that he had never seen before, and roasted his feet warm and comfortable.

Thinking of such a huge gap between the big Yuan goods and the Song goods, Lian Xixian felt anger in his heart. He put down his musket, threw the inexplicable officials of the Firearms Bureau behind him, and left the Firearms Bureau without saying a word.

On the way to the palace, Lian Xixian was unable to contain his anger. He really didn't expect that the gap between the Yuan Dynasty and the Song Dynasty was so big that it could fully explain why the invincible Mongolian army suffered an unprecedented defeat in the Battle of the Yellow River.

When he entered the palace to see Kublai Khan, Lian Xixian introduced the extremely hard-working representative of the State of Song, and then made a statement, "Your Majesty, the State of Song obviously has no intention of exchanging prisoners, but just wants to disturb the Yuan Dynasty by exchanging prisoners. I went to see the muskets made by the Firearms Bureau, which were only slightly heavier than the muskets of Song. But they can also be used. There is no need to exchange for the muskets of Song."

Kublai Khan knew that Lian Xixian was a loyal minister, and after hearing this, he felt a little shaken. However, after only a moment of shaking, Kublai Khan regained his original view. He said, "There are 50,000 captured people, and these 50,000 people need to be redeemed. Then he exchanged the craftsmen, craftsmen, and my slaves, Central and Southern people, with the Song State."

"Why is Your Majesty?" Lian Xixian quickly expressed his objection, "Your Majesty, doing this is to increase the momentum of the Southern Barbarians."

After hearing this, Kublai Khan shook his head slightly. This was not an objection to Lian Xixian's words, but was not satisfied with Lian Xixian's performance. In terms of emotion, Kublai Khan often wanted to kill people because of his anger. After being a Khan for so many years, Kublai Khan himself was able to control this impulse. However, Lian Xixian still looked like he was willing to revenge, and Kublai Khan was very dissatisfied with this. This is why Kublai Khan never appointed Lian Xixian as prime minister.

But this kind of thing cannot be said, because it is useless to say it. Kublai Khan began to feel that Borjijin Haoren was becoming more and more cunning. Although this guy does have important official duties, he will not have to completely leave the negotiation chore. If he uses the gentle means that Haoren now has, he will definitely not be able to get such a sluggish level. Of course, Haoren probably understood it. If he was responsible for the negotiation, he would be criticized by guys like Lian Xixian.

"You just need to negotiate this matter with the State of Song. I want to redeem those who were captured by them." Kublai Khan directly explained his thoughts.

"...Abide by the order." Lian Xixian reluctantly accepted the orders of Emperor Dayuan.

In the next few days, the two sides negotiated the number. Because of the negative face, the result of the negotiation was very simple and crude. The Han army in the north exchanged one-to-one with the abducted Song people. As long as the Song Dynasty could send these prisoners to Zhigu Village, the two sides could exchange prisoners in Zhigu Village.

Half a month after the negotiations were reached, the second month of February was the second day of the dragon raised its head. The captured northern Han army was told that they would not be killed, and that as long as the road construction work was completed, they would be sent to the north to exchange prisoners.

"As long as you complete the earthwork work, you can be sent to the north for exchange, so I hope everyone can speed up their work and complete the workload seriously. Be more at work, it's not a big deal. If you use too much force, how can you live after you go back!" The guard told the prisoners about the work requirements.

The captives were a little confused. Since they could be asked to pay attention to their health, why not let them go directly if they were more kind and righteous? But they had questions in their hearts but did not dare to speak. If they angered these guards, the captives would not have any good results.

After that, the prisoners were divided into a team of fifty people and were taken to various areas. Zhao Taiwei ordered the construction of the southern section of the Yellow River of the Grand Canal of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Tongji Canal that cleared the old Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal of Beijing-Hangzhou was actually a project that began in the Yuan Dynasty, and part of it used the Grand Canal of Emperor Yang of Sui. Unlike the Grand Canal of Emperor Yang of Sui, the part south of the Grand Canal of Emperor Yang of Sui was inherited by the Grand Canal of Beijing-Hangzhou, while the north road of Emperor Yang of Sui's Grand Canal was called "Tongji Canal". It was from Sizhou to Suzhou in northern Anhui to enter Henan, from Shangqiu to Bianliang, and then from Bianliang to Luoshui to Luoyang.

Not to mention the situation from Luoyang to Chang'an, Zhao Taiwei hopes to restore the Tongji Canal from Bianliang to Huaihe. The major reason for the destruction of the Tongji Canal was that Du Chong dug the Yellow River. After the Yellow River went south, the canal was destroyed due to silt. At this time, Zhao Taiwei asked the Yellow River to return to the north and re-communicate the Tongji Canal.

As for the Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou, Zhao Taiwei also felt it was very necessary. Not to mention anything else, Zaozhuang has iron and coal, which is suitable as an iron smelting center, and a canal is needed from Xuzhou to Zaozhuang. If you want to effectively rule Shandong, you must effectively rule Hebei and even the territory further north in the future. The importance of the Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou is not too much.

No one opposed Zhao Taiwei's approach for the time being. Although Sima Kao was uneasy about building the Grand Canal, he felt that Emperor Yang of Sui was the leader of the king and eventually died. However, Zhao Taiwei is now in power and the little emperor has little influence. Building the canal is indeed a great thing, and there is no reason to refuse. This matter was passed like this.

After February 2, the final trial of Song Tyrant entered the final stage. Various legal efforts have also come to an end. All the evidence that both parties can produce has been listed and the defense of the evidence has also been completed. The first-instance judgment of these people is about to come out.

On the tenth day of the 10th day of the fifth year of the Republic of the Song Dynasty, Lu Dingchuan's first-instance judgment was about to be announced. Xiong Shang, the Minister of Rites of the Song Dynasty, changed into ordinary people's clothes and went to the court to listen to the verdict. Lu Dingchuan was a very representative figure among the group of Song traitors. He did not neglect his duties and did not abandon the city and fled. The matter should not be done. When the Mongolian army besieged the city, it reached an agreement with Mongolia to not massacre residents, so he surrendered to Kaicheng. Then Kaicheng surrendered.

After surrendering, Lu Dingchuan did not defect to the Mongols, but went back to his hometown. So even Zhao Taiwei said that Lu Dingchuan was not a death sentence. After Lu Dingchuan was arrested, he not only refused to plead guilty, but also insisted that he was not guilty. He said that no matter from any perspective, he was loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

Seeing his cousin standing straight in the dock, Xiong Shang felt quite moved, and a large part of it was still admired. Xiong Shang asked himself, if he was at the level of his cousin, he would definitely admit his mistakes, hoping to make a small crime. In fact, most of the trials of Song Tyrants used the same method. There were only a few people like Lu Dingchuan who insisted.

Seeing the presiding judge asked the last few questions, he continued, "Prepare the verdict immediately. Is there anything else to say between the two sides?"
Chapter completed!