That night, King Huan Zhao Hongxuan had dinner at the place of Prince Zhao Hongli of the East Palace. Then seeing that it was getting dark, he said goodbye to the East Palace and left the palace.
After leaving the palace, he did not return to his own Prince Huan's Mansion. Instead, he took the clan guards to his brother Zhao Hongrun's Prince Su's Mansion.
Zhao Hongxuan is in Prince Su's Mansion, so there is no need to notify him. He can enter directly by swiping his face and no one will stop him.
After all, although Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan are actually half-brothers, because they were raised by Concubine Shen Shu since they were young, there is no problem in calling them brothers.
In fact, both the government and the public regard Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan as brothers.
When Zhao Hongxuan came to visit, Zhao Hongrun was looking at several drawings from the Smelting Bureau in the study - the design drawings of the tortoise-shell chariot.
In the Sanchuan Battle of Wei and Qin, the tortoise-shell chariot, a fortress-like chariot, subverted many people's ideas about chariots.
No one expected that the turtle-shell chariot, which moved slowly and had no lethality at all, played a decisive role in that battle, especially the coordinated combat between the sword and shield soldiers, the turtle-shell chariot, and the crossbowmen.
Even Wei Ji, Lord of Lintao, who had led his army in war for nearly twenty years, was amazed by this.
Heavy infantry cleared the way, tortoise-shell chariots pressed the formation, and crossbowmen fired volleys from behind. It was by relying on this tactic that the Wei army was able to defeat the Qin army that was several times larger than itself with minimal casualties, which later contributed to the complete defeat of the Qin army, with more than 200,000 soldiers defeated.
The Qin army was almost completely wiped out in Sanchuan County.
It is precisely because of this that the tortoise-shell chariot suddenly became the favorite of the Metallurgical Bureau, and the craftsmen of the Metallurgical Bureau scrambled to improve this war weapon.
The so-called improvement is certainly not to make the tortoise-shell chariot stronger. After all, the iron plate it uses is the pinnacle of the iron smelting technology of the Wei State Smelting and Manufacturing Bureau. Even if it is forced to be modified, it will only change the shape.
The rest can't be changed.
Therefore, the improvement of the turtle-shell chariot refers to the other two aspects: lethality and maneuverability.
In terms of lethality, the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau tried to combine a tortoise-shell chariot with a serial crossbow and a Lu machine crossbow box. After all, the space inside the tortoise-shell chariot is quite large, and some arrows can indeed be stacked.
It is no exaggeration to say that if the repeating crossbow and machine crossbow box are cleverly installed on the turtle-shell chariot, once this terrible war weapon is put into the battlefield, it can definitely affect the outcome of the entire war.
The only problem is that this makes the tortoise-shell chariot carry a heavier load, and it is not enough to rely solely on the human power of the Wei soldiers inside the chariot.
Compared with its lethality, the mobility of the turtle-shell chariot is more of a problem.
In fact, this shortcoming had already been exposed during the Hangu War - movement was too slow.
You must know that at the beginning, the sword and shield soldiers, turtle shell chariots, and crossbow soldiers moved together. But gradually, the speed of the turtle shell chariots could not keep up. So that day, the Wei army's sword, shield soldiers, and crossbow soldiers ruthlessly abandoned
They took the tortoise-shell chariot and jointly pursued the Qin army, so that the tortoise-shell chariot only enjoyed glory for an hour, and then sadly withdrew from the war stage.
Regarding improvements in this area, the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau are at a loss. After all, the tortoise-shell chariot is too bulky, especially when some messy repeating crossbows, machine crossbow boxes and other items are added. If it is driven by human power,
The soldier pushing the cart will definitely vomit blood.
Therefore, a craftsman suggested using animal power, which is the strongest among large livestock, oxen.
But the problem is, cattle are more in short supply than horses in the Wei State. How can we get thousands of cattle? You know, the demand for cattle in the Wei State is only higher than that of war horses.
In the end, it was Zhao Hongrun who pioneered the idea of the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau - using a gear set mechanism.
Regarding what Zhao Hongrun said, the Wei craftsmen in the Smelting Bureau were helpless, and at this time, the Mohist craftsmen showed up.
Gears and mechanisms are not mysterious in the eyes of Mohist craftsmen. In fact, the State of Lu has many civilian facilities that use such gear mechanisms, such as waterwheels.
However, the gear set mechanism required this time is not as complicated as it is. After all, the waterwheel only needs it to rotate, which is completely different from driving a heavy tortoise-shell chariot.
But no matter what, the Wei craftsmen and Mohist craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau are still working together to study, and from time to time, they send design sketches to Zhao Hongrun, while noting the test results of the actual objects.
And when Zhao Hongrun was obsessed with thinking about the improved drawings of the tortoise-shell chariot, his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan walked into the study and called softly: "Brother."
Zhao Hongrun raised his head and glanced at Zhao Hongxuan, put down the drawing in his hand expressionlessly, and said calmly: "What's the matter, His Highness King Huan?"
As soon as he heard this, Zhao Hongxuan knew that the brother in front of him was still angry, so he stepped forward and said: "Brother, don't be angry. I am here to apologize to you."
"I don't dare to take it seriously." Zhao Hongrun turned sideways, faced his younger brother, and mocked lightly: "How can I afford His Highness Prince Huan to come and apologize in person?"
"Brother!" Zhao Hongxuan pursed his lips in shame and anger.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun's heart softened and he stopped mocking and scolded with a straight face: "I went to Northern Xinjiang and I didn't even recognize you!... I haven't learned anything else, but I'm pretty good at throwing my sleeves.
. He walked away as soon as he disagreed with you. How many people in Wei Dynasty dare to show their shame in front of me? He is your brother. If it had been anyone else, I would have beaten him to death!"
Zhao Hongxuan pursed his lips in frustration.
Although Zhao Hongrun's words were a bit exaggerated, but having said that, in today's Wei State, there are really not many people who dare to look at him like this.
It's just that the two are brothers, so Zhao Hongrun didn't care. If it had been anyone else, King Su would have been thinking of revenge.
"I wasn't... impulsive," Zhao Hongxuan explained nonchalantly. As he spoke, he poured a glass of water and personally served it to Zhao Hongrun as a token of apology.
If it were anyone else, His Highness Prince Su would not calm down so easily, but as he said, Zhao Hongxuan is his biological brother.
"Hmph." With a slight snort, Zhao Hongrun took the tea cup and took a sip, then said lightly: "Today, the mother-in-law asked you why you didn't ask Ningxiang Palace. I didn't say anything. You can explain it yourself tomorrow." After that,
, he couldn't help but glared at Zhao Hongxuan again.
Zhao Hongxuan scratched his head in disbelief. Of course he knew that the brother in front of him respected his mother-concubine Shen Shufei very much, more than he respected their father. It seems that today he Zhao Hongxuan left halfway on the way to Ningxiang Palace. This is
This brother in front of me cannot tolerate it.
"I was always afraid that my brother would say bad things about me in front of my mother and concubine..." Zhao Hongxuan said with some resentment: "Ever since I was a child, my mother and concubine believed what my brother said. Even if my brother made a mistake, I would be punished. Sometimes I really
I want to ask, is my brother the adopted son, or am I the adopted son?"
"..." Zhao Hongrun remained silent as he listened to Zhao Hongxuan's grievance-filled words.
This is the reason why he respects Concubine Shen Shu the most: Concubine Shen Shu has treated him, her adopted son, better than Zhao Hongxuan, her biological son, from childhood to adulthood, so much so that the palace cannot understand this, and some people even speculated whether it was actually him, Zhao Hongrun.
He is the biological son of Concubine Shen Shu.
Sighing slightly, Zhao Hongrun pointed to the side and said, "Bring a chair and sit down and talk."
Zhao Hongxuan moved a chair as instructed and placed it next to the desk, then sat down and looked at Zhao Hongrun.
I saw Zhao Hongrun pat Zhao Hongxuan on the shoulder and whispered: "Xiao Xuan, maybe I teased you and bullied you when I was a child, but I will not harm you. In my heart, you are my biological brother, mother-in-law, and my biological mother.
…Do you understand?”
Zhao Hongxuan nodded.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Xiao Xuan, I have carefully considered what you said to me today. What do you think?... I will accompany you to see my father tomorrow, and ask my father to
The emperor will give you a new army establishment, whether it is recruitment or training, you have the final say. I will never interfere. In addition, I can also use it as a public benefit and ask the Smelting Bureau to sell you a batch of new equipment.
...Those are regular military-style weapons and armor..."
Looking at the brother in front of him who was thinking about himself, Zhao Hongxuan felt a little uncomfortable and whispered: "Brother, I have an army..."
Zhao Hongrun frowned and said lightly: "A deputy commander..."
"It's the coach." Zhao Hongxuan interrupted his brother, then looked at Zhao Hongrun's stunned look and explained in a low voice: "After having a fight with my brother today, I went to the East Palace. His Highness the Prince said that he wanted to hand over the First Army of the North.
Gave it to me..."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun's face suddenly darkened.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongxuan quickly explained: "Brother, don't be angry, let me explain it to you."
Zhao Hongrun stared at his brother for a while, holding back his anger and said, "Say it!"
So, Zhao Hongxuan told Zhao Hongrun exactly what happened in the East Palace today, and finally added: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he does not need my help to overthrow King Yong. And I also made it clear to him
He said that I will not admit that I am a member of the East Palace Party. I only recognize his identity as the coach of the First Army of the North..." At this point, he looked up at Zhao Hongrun and said seriously: "Brother, I tasted failure in the First Army of the North.
, but it’s more important to stay. Didn’t you once say, stand up wherever you fall..."
"That's not what I said... I will only say, lie down wherever you fall." Zhao Hongrun said expressionlessly.
"Brother!" Zhao Hongxuan was a little angry.
Immediately, he looked directly at Zhao Hongrun and said sincerely: "Brother, whether you agree or not, I have already decided... But despite this, I still hope you can support me."
Zhao Hongrun looked at his brother deeply, and after a while he said calmly: "Let me think about it."
This is consent in disguise.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongxuan was overjoyed and took his brother to chat for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.
After Zhao Hongxuan left, Zongwei Chief Wei Jiao asked Zhao Hongrun: "Your Highness, do you really support His Highness King Huan in taking charge of the First Army of the North? I'm sorry to be blunt, although His Highness King Huan has just said that he will not admit that he is a party in the East Palace.
, but what he thinks and how others view it are not the same thing..."
"What can I do?" Zhao Hongrun frowned and said with emotion: "Actually, Xiao Xuan and I have quite similar personalities. We are both very stubborn and strong people. Maybe it's because we were not taken seriously when we were young..."
Having said this, he glanced at the study door, squinted his eyes and continued: "It doesn't matter whether you agree or not, the East Palace will not be around for a few days. By then, it is still unknown whether the "Northern First Army" exists... However, since the East Palace
If you dare to drag Xiaoxuan into trouble, then don't blame me for stepping on him... It's not convenient for you and me to come forward in this matter, otherwise Xiaoxuan's side..."