The silver-haired Li Bai stood on the stone bridge with his hands behind his hands, looking at the long river of lanterns and thousands of people in the city. His expression was filled with emotion and his body was trembling slightly.
Du Fu came up from behind him and said, "What are you doing standing here? Da Fu and the others are already at the wine shop."
Li Bai: "Five years, five years in a flash."
Du Fu knew clearly that Li Bai was talking about the Hebei rebellion that began in Tianbao's 14th year.
Leaning on the bridge stone, Du Fu was not in a hurry to leave, and sighed: "In the past few years, I lived in Anxi, where the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Compared with the Central Plains, it was like a paradise."
Li Bai: "I think back to those days when we sang songs and felt happy alone. The quiet appreciation was not over, and the high talk became clear. We held a beautiful banquet, sat on flowers, flew into the wine cup and drank in the moon. Unexpectedly, it was the last light before prosperity."
Du Fu looked at the bustling crowd on the long street: "You used to be arrogant in your words and deeds, but why have you become sentimental now? Even if the Tang Dynasty is in trouble, there are always bright places, such as this Liangcheng. Isn't it prosperous?"
Li Bai nodded and said: "I came from the south, and what I saw along the way was miserable. I had long thought about the future of the Tang Dynasty. Only when I came to this Liangcheng did the hope that had been extinguished rise again... I heard You said, Anxi is much more prosperous than Liangcheng, is this happening?"
Du Fu: "I haven't been in Anxi for several years, but the people who came back from there all say this. If you don't believe it, you can ask Liu Yikuang. He is a stay-at-home man in Anxi. Although he is more upright, he is He is easy to get along with.”
Li Bai was silent for a moment, turned around and said solemnly to Du Fu: "Zimei, thanks to your outspokenness this time, your majesty moved me to the Imperial Academy."
Du Fu waved his hand: "In your matter, not only me, but also Dafu, Jiazhou, and Yan all contributed."
Li Bai: "I don't say thank you for a great favor. I should drink a lot at the banquet just to express my blessing."
Du Fu said with a smile: "That's right. The former banished immortal has always been free and easy. How could he have so many polite words?"
After saying that, Du Fu grabbed Li Bai and walked along the Lantern Street towards the lively wine shop not far away.
After the Shangyuan Festival, the Ministry of War held a military council.
Many generals in the Ministry of War, as well as military envoys, military envoys, left-behind generals, etc., all have to attend the meeting.
What surprised these people was that this time the military council was not held in the imperial city, but at a school ground twenty miles west of the city.
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi rode on horseback and walked at the front of the generals. When they came to the gate outside the school grounds, they saw a curtain hanging inside, covering the entire venue. They couldn't help but be confused.
Li Guangbi: "What are you going to do today?"
Guo Ziyi behaved steadily and did not speak a word. She came to the gate of the school grounds, got off her horse, and handed over the talisman.
A group of generals followed the corridor of the school grounds and entered the martial arts field inside. At first sight, they saw a long row of brand-new muskets placed on the wooden rack in the center.
Li Guangbi came to the wooden frame, looked at the musket up and down carefully, and said, "I have heard that the Anxi Arsenal is developing new weapons. This should be it."
After looking at the guards under the stage and seeing no one stopping him, Guo Ziyi picked up a flintlock musket.
It was easy to get, which was a bit beyond his expectation.
After taking a closer look, Guo Ziyi discovered that the main material of the whole body of the musket was elm wood, so the weight was not very heavy.
I tried to pick it up again and made some gestures. The flint was driven by a crossbow. There were markings and bayonet above the muzzle and above the magazine for aiming.
Still wanting to take another look, Guo Ziyi heard the announcement from the entrance that His Majesty had arrived.
Quickly putting down his musket and following the generals, Guo Ziyi came to the entrance of the martial arts arena and bowed to Zhou Jun who had just arrived.
Zhou Jun was wearing ordinary clothes, accompanied by Kong You, Wang Hong and Sun Aying. He first signaled to the generals to excuse themselves, then came to the stage, picked up a musket and said: "The design of Anxi's flintlock gun has been finalized.
, and started mass production, here are the first two hundred muskets shipped from the factory."
Li Guangbi asked: "This flintlock gun is somewhat similar to the Tiger Crouching Cannon. It is also loaded in the front and fired in the rear?"
Zhou Jun nodded and said: "No matter the gun, the firing principle is the same. However, this flintlock gun is suitable for group shooting. The optimal shooting range is about fifty steps."
The generals were originally somewhat interested in flintlock muskets, but when they heard the number fifty paces, they all looked disappointed.
Fifty steps, that's seventy-five meters. This range is far inferior to even the weakest step bow, not to mention the crossbow.
Seeing the expressions of the generals, Zhou Jun did not intend to explain, but just nodded to Wang Hong beside him.
Wang Hong said hello and called a soldier.
I saw the soldier with a black medicine bag hanging all over his body and a flintlock gun in his hand, coming to the edge of the martial arts field.
A pair of Mingguang armor, common in the military system of the Tang Dynasty, was fixed on the edge of the fence.
The soldier took a medicine bag from his body, first poured it into the muzzle of the musket as a primer, then sealed the warehouse tube with wax paper, and finally poured a certain amount of top medicine and iron bullets.
After doing all this, the soldier twisted the crossbow of the musket, causing the flint to be tightened and pointed at the powder port.
Finally, he aimed at the Mingguang Armor thirty steps away and pressed the trigger.
After a deafening gunshot, a muffled sound came from Mingguang Armor.
A group of people waited for the smoke to clear and came forward to take a look.
I saw a depression of twenty centimeters in diameter on Mingguang Armor's chest, and the depth of the depression was approximately more than nine centimeters.
Most of the people present were warriors who had been on the battlefield.
A piece of Mingguang Armor had a nine-centimeter dent in its chest. Almost everyone could figure out what this meant.
This kind of power is almost equivalent to that of a 20-pound flail hammer hitting the wearer's chest from the front.
Under the power of such an attack, the armor-piercing person will most likely have his sternum shattered, which may cause him to lose the ability to move and require him to stay in bed for several months, or, in more severe cases, the bones may be inserted into his chest and his internal organs may be ruptured.
All the generals took a deep breath.
Zhou Jun: "The biggest advantage of the flintlock gun is not that it is powerful, but that it is easy to train. A man with no combat experience can be on par with a veteran with only two to three days of training."
Seeing everyone's disbelieving looks, Zhou Jun said: "The flintlock can be operated by auxiliary soldiers. In this case, it will not occupy the weapons and equipment of the soldiers, and it can ensure sufficient manpower."
Guo Ziyi asked at this time: "Your Majesty, how long will it take for the flintlock gun to be fired again?"
As expected of a veteran, Zhou Jun saw the shortcomings of muskets at a glance. Zhou Jun nodded first and then said: "The reloading time of the flintlock gun is basically similar to that of the Tiger Crouching Cannon. It can only be used as auxiliary equipment and as a weapon when close to the enemy.
Breakthrough means. The Anxi Arsenal is still researching the flintlock spring. If there is a breakthrough, the loading speed of the flintlock gun can be doubled."
Guo Ziyi: "In preparation for war in the spring, Chang'an plans to march eastward. I wonder how many muskets it can get?"
Zhou Jun: "According to the current manufacturing speed, thousands of muskets can be shipped from Anxi in the beginning of spring. Chang'an can be divided into two hundred, Hehuang can be divided into two hundred, Hebei can be divided into two hundred, Qizhou (Jinan) can be divided into two hundred, and the remaining two
One hundred should be allocated to Shuo Fang."
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi looked at each other and said at the same time: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not enough."
Zhou Jun: "There are only so many at the moment. As I said just now, the muskets can only be used as auxiliary equipment at the moment."