At the end of November, the second batch of caravans purchasing supplies from outside the mountains finally returned.
In the past nearly half a year, the caravan led by the Lin family purchased a large amount of various military supplies from all over the Great Zhou Dynasty at high prices. A large amount of gold and silver was spent on these supplies. Lin Jue's original thought was,
Purchasing supplies at all costs. Especially after going to the Liao Kingdom and seeing the powerful combat capabilities of the Jurchens and Liao people, Lin Jue felt that the Luoyan Army's armaments needed to be raised to a higher level.
The Luoyan Army's combat effectiveness is now very strong, and high-intensity training has never stopped. Even in the current heavy snow weather, nearly 100,000 Luoyan Army still carry out various drills according to the normal training plan. They even go shirtless in the ice and snow.
To further train their will and quality. However, due to the predicament in the mountains and the overall situation, the Luoyan Army's armor, weapons and other equipment are not the best. They can only be said to be barely usable. Of course, how many Luoyan Army have there?
Such firearms are also the final weapon of the Luoyan Army. However, relying on less than two hundred firearms alone can only achieve a great advantage in local battles. If a large corps fights, it may not be enough.
The large amount of materials purchased by the caravan this time was to strengthen what Lin Jue thought was the shortcomings of the Luoyan Army. The first was the number of cavalry. After witnessing the cavalry attack of the large corps, Lin Jue knew that no matter what, the cavalry
It is still the king of combat arms in this era. The Luoyan Army currently has less than 10,000 cavalry, which is difficult to compete with any cavalry from the Zhou Dynasty, Liao Kingdom and Jurchens. Of course, using a swarm of rocket launchers can be advantageous
The terrain can resist the charge of large groups of cavalry, but combat does not always rely on favorable terrain. Sometimes it is forced to confront the enemy head-on on the plains. If the Luoyan Army does not have such capabilities, it cannot be called
Because it is a powerful soldier.
Therefore, in the caravan's overseas purchases this time, the purchase of war horses and the purchase of basic raw materials such as gunpowder and iron ingots were ranked first. For this reason, one of the Lin family's caravans rushed to the northwest to connect with the previous business relationships.
Found a way. At a price 50% higher than the market price, he bought 30,000 war horses in two batches from six imperial horse farms on Xixia and Qinfeng Road. The market price of Dazhou's good horses is twenty-five taels per horse, and the Lin family caravan
The purchase price was as high as thirty-five taels. Just purchasing these 30,000 war horses cost more than one million taels of silver. This does not include supporting equipment such as saddles and bridles. It adds up to a
A huge amount of one and a half million taels.
However, all this is obviously worth it. With these 30,000 horses in place, the number of cavalry of the Luoyan Army will be nearly 50,000. This is already a considerable size of cavalry.
In addition, if the Luoyan Army wants to become more powerful, it must vigorously develop firearms. The technology of manufacturing firearms has not been able to advance before, which makes the Luoyan Valley Arsenal not only build weapons and armor, but also manufacture some swarm firearms and ammunition from existing tortoise boxes.
Apart from that, there were no other new achievements. But two months ago, Lin Jue's wish finally came true. Shen Tan personally led people into the capital and brought together the old shopkeeper and his family of the blacksmith shop in Baishengfang, the capital, which Lin Jue had always missed.
'Invited' to Luoyan Valley. The old blacksmith Zhou from Baishengfang can use a technique to clean metal with acid and etch exquisite firearm parts. Lin Jue was helped by this blacksmith shop when he was in the capital.
A large number of parts of the tortoise box were made and assembled into more than seventy tortoise boxes. This was also the weapon that helped Lin Jue escape from the capital.
The old blacksmith Zhou and his family were all kidnapped and brought to Luoyan Valley. Lin Jue went to see him in person and apologized to him. At first, the old blacksmith resisted very much. Although Lin Jue was his big customer in the capital, it was fair.
The relationship between business and sale. Now he was forcibly taken away to the mountains, which really made him very dissatisfied. But Lin Jue was very patient and ordered everyone to treat the old blacksmith with courtesy and respect. He took good care of his family.
Zhou Zhouquanquan allowed the old blacksmith and his family to live a better life in Luoyan Valley than in the capital city. Over time, the attitude of the old blacksmith Zhou also improved a lot.
Lin Jue was a bit careful. He did not urge or threaten the old blacksmith. He only asked the old blacksmith to accompany him every day to inspect and inspect the dozen or so blacksmith shops in the Luoyan Valley Arsenal. Old blacksmith Zhou had been a blacksmith all his life, and he hated the sight of others.
This craft was incompetent and wasteful. Finally, when he visited an arsenal to grind firearm parts, Old Blacksmith Zhou couldn't stand the clumsy craftsmanship of these copycat blacksmiths, so he finally guided the production himself. Lin felt that his plan had succeeded, and everyone
Laughing endlessly.
In addition to making Lu Ban laugh at Lu Ban playing with axes in front of his house, Lu Ban would definitely not be able to stand it and would personally take action to teach these ordinary ax masters a lesson. Lin Jue wanted this kind of effect, and the exciting old blacksmith finally took it upon himself to do so.
Ending. Lin Jue appointed the old blacksmith as the general manager of the arsenal's blacksmith shop, making him fully responsible for all the work of the blacksmith shop and giving him great respect. The old blacksmith finally stopped insisting and agreed to work for Lin Jue.
After all, although the other party brought his family to the mountains by forceful robbery, he did not harm himself or his family. If he really didn't know how to show appreciation, he might make them angry and kill his family.
Another thing that tempted the old blacksmith was that he saw the iron ingots arranged like a hill in the Xishan blacksmith's warehouse. There were not only ordinary cast iron ingots, but also various refined iron ingots, refined steel ingots and other raw materials. For Zhou
For an old blacksmith, he has been engaged in this profession all his life, but the types and quantities of iron ingots in front of him are so many that he has never seen in his life. To use a crude analogy, a top blacksmith sees this.
These iron ingots are as good as a pervert seeing all kinds of beauties, a glutton seeing all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas, and a drunkard seeing all kinds of fine wines from all over the world. That feeling is incomprehensible to ordinary people. So many raw materials
For him to use at will, that is definitely the greatest fulfillment in a blacksmith's life.
With the addition of Blacksmith Zhou, it is no longer too difficult to manufacture precise firearm parts using the acid erosion method. Over time, a large number of bastard boxes will be produced. The personal guard firearms camp around Lin Jue will also be produced.
True to its name.
It is not enough to have firearms like a tortoise box and a swarm of bees. The several battles between the Zhou Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, and between the Jurchens and the Liao Kingdom made Lin Jue also realize that the power of siege weapons is necessary. One by one
Soldiers and horses that can fight in the wild cannot be regarded as strong soldiers and horses. A truly strong army must have the ability to attack and conquer a city, so that it will not be helpless when encountering a high-walled city. Therefore, Lin Jue determined to restart the army.
The development work of Shenwei General Cannon.
In the past month, Lin Jue spent a lot of time discussing with people in the blacksmith workshop and gunpowder workshop how to improve the divine general cannon. Lin Jue was determined to come up with the siege cannon, which would overturn the siege cannon of this era.
The city relies on the tactics of forcibly charging the city wall, which makes all the high walls of the fortified city useless. Although the progress is not fast, it is mainly due to the inability to break through the technical difficulties of artillery shells that can land and explode. But there are breakthroughs in range and accuracy. Only
Unfortunately, it can only fire solid shells at present. However, in this case, the power of the Shenwei Cannon will be greatly reduced.
Although Lin Jue has been carefully controlling the expansion of firearms, because he is worried that once these things become mainstream and contemporary people realize their powerful power, they will have catastrophic consequences. But when it comes to a life and death situation, Lin Jue
But he didn’t care much anymore.
All in all, with the procurement of various materials in place, the arsenal is fully operational to manufacture the required equipment and materials. The entire Luoyan Army is fully prepared for war.
On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the second heavy snow fell in Funiu Mountain, making the already peaceful days in the mountains even more comfortable. The heavy snow had no impact on the soldiers and civilians in Luoyan Valley. They had plenty of food, firewood and meat.
, there is no need to worry at all. And because the New Year is approaching, there is also a festive atmosphere in the comfortable days.
Everyone in the Lin family is living a comfortable life, and only Lin Jue is busy. The girls in the Lin family have recently become obsessed with something called mahjong. Originally, this was a game that their husband, Lin Jue, thought their lives seemed a bit boring and taught them how to play.
The girls didn't think that these little bricks were any fun at first. However, soon, like many ordinary people, they fell into it and became addicted to it. Those little things with a big smile
, it was so much fun that they couldn't put it down, which they didn't expect.
Lin Jue actually regretted it. He originally felt that there were not many entertainment options these days. Many of the Lin family's wives and concubines were proficient in poetry, calligraphy, painting, music, and chess, but those things were like delicacies, and they got tired of eating them all the time. So,
He had someone make a pair of white marble mahjong tiles and teach the girls this quintessence of later generations game, just to kill time when they were bored. But who would have thought that these women would immediately indulge in it. From the church
After they started playing, the back room of the Lin family was filled with the sound of clattering mahjong tiles and the sounds of women discussing the game animatedly. Sometimes Lin Jue was ignored even when he wanted to talk to someone.
Lin Jue regretted it so much that he had no other way to stop it except a handwritten banner that read, "Small gambling makes you happy, big gambling harms your health, moderate entertainment, and a reasonable schedule" and hung it in the Nuange Mahjong room.
It snowed heavily today, so Lin Jue didn't go out. In the morning, he hugged Fang Huanqiu and slept for a while in bed. After lunch, he planned to ask the girls to see if the wintersweet had bloomed on the hillside, and to enjoy the snow scene. But let's go
Outside Dongnuan Pavilion, the clattering sound of mahjong could be heard inside, mixed with the voices of warblers and swallows.
"It's a pity. I didn't touch myself at all. It's all the princess's fault. Why did you hold my cock and not hit it? I'm so angry." That was Gao Muqing's voice.
"Don't blame me. I have a pair of chickens. How can I call you? The blame is that sister Huanqiu figured out that you wanted a chicken. She didn't want to fight even though she had one in her hand. She would rather not listen than call you. You have to go.
Blame her." came the smiling voice of the little princess.
"That's right, sister Huanqiu, I love you so much, and you actually take my cards away? Are we sisters?" Gao Muqing said.
"My husband said, there are no fathers and sons at the gambling table, let alone sisters? I can't just watch you beat me up, then Lu Wu and Princess Princess must both scold me?" came Fang Huanqiu's weak voice.
Lin Jue's eyes rolled up to the sky when he heard these words. Fang Huanqiu's little cherry mouth should be filled with poems and articles. What a pity for such a talented woman. This is his own fault.
Lin Jue entered the room. At the square table, the little princess Fang Huanqiu, Luwu and Gao Muqing, who was pregnant with Liujia, were fighting fiercely. Bai Bing, Xie Yingying and Qianqian were watching and cheering. Seeing Lin Jue come in, Qianqian hurriedly shouted: "Husband,
We are short of three and one, and it’s just the right time for us to come.”
Lin felt like his head was pounding, and he smacked his lips and said, "It seems like I have to marry someone and get a couple of mahjong tables together."
"Okay, okay, okay." All the girls nodded frequently without taking it seriously. Lin Jue was completely speechless.
"Mu Qing, it's not good for you to sit for a long time. It's not good for the baby." Lin Jue looked at Gao Muqing's bulging belly and said.
.
"Thirty thousand!" Gao Muqing played a card and turned around and said with a smile: "Don't worry, husband, the baby is very safe. As soon as I played the cards, the baby was safe. Otherwise, it would be moving and jumping around in the stomach."
Lin Jue was completely speechless.
"Who will accompany me to the mountains to enjoy plum blossoms?" Lin Jue asked.
Seven women and fourteen pairs of eyes stared at the fierce poker game and said in unison: "No!"
Lin Jue was extremely helpless. He looked at Bai Bing and said, "Bing'er is the best, go with your husband to walk in the snow to look for plum blossoms."
Bai Bing smiled and said: "Husband, please accompany me four times. I lost three hundred taels yesterday, and I want to make up for it today."
Lin Jue glanced at the banner of "Small gambling for pleasure" on the wall, and was speechless again. Later generations said that there was a saying of "football widow", and he became a "mahjong widower" today.
"That's all, I'll play a few laps with you. It seems I can't do it without giving you some punishment." Lin Jue looked at the heavy snow outside and decided to give up those elegant interests and join in the fun. This kind of weather is inviting.
It's really difficult to go out. Besides, the girls are not doing anything bad, they are just playing mahjong. And the culprit of all this is themselves, and they can't blame them. They are actually the victims. Although they are addicted to it, it is because they really have no
Whatever you do for them, since playing mahjong, some of the subtle disharmony between wives and concubines seems to have been eliminated. However, mahjong does not have no effect on the atmosphere of family life. As long as your woman is happy, you still ask for it.
So much to do.
Lin Jue's bad luck in gambling may be due to too much complacency in love. Qianqian Baibing and Xie Yingying took turns playing tricks, and both were big cards. Lin Jue was disgraced when he lost, and lost all his more than a hundred taels of silver. Still.
Lu Wu couldn't stand it and asked the maid to bring five hundred taels of silver to Lin Jue for help.
When the eight husband and wife were fighting fiercely, suddenly, there were rapid footsteps outside, and someone shouted loudly outside: "Sister, brother-in-law, something is wrong, my father is not good."
…
Under the candlelight, there was a soft sound of crying in the quiet room. Guo Caiwei was supporting the princess and standing beside the bed. Both mother and daughter were shedding tears and crying softly.
A doctor bent down to check the pulse of Guo Bing, who was lying upright on the bed. Soon he straightened up and turned around with a very solemn expression.
"How is it?" Guo Kun hurriedly stepped forward and asked.
"Little prince, let's talk outside." The doctor said respectfully.
When everyone came to the outside, facing everyone's eager eyes, the doctor sighed and said: "The princess, the young prince, the princess, the princess. I will speak frankly."
"Speak, speak quickly." Guo Kun said.
"Young prince...well...hurry up and prepare for the funeral." The doctor said softly.
"Ah?" Guo Kun and Lin Jue both took a breath and were shocked. But the princess and the little princess were already in tears.
"Young prince, Lord Ma. The prince's disease is a stroke, and it is caused by blockage and siltation of blood vessels in the brain. To put it simply, the blood vessels in the brain are broken. The congestion flows into the brain. Now the prince can no longer see
Things cannot be spoken. As the blood flows in more and more, I am afraid that I will be unable to save the day. My medical knowledge is shallow and there is nothing I can do. But even if Hua Tuo is alive, I am afraid it will be difficult to save. Hey, I will prescribe some medicine, that is
Prescriptions for dispersing blood and removing blood stasis, but I am afraid it is unlikely to be effective. If the signs are detected early, it can be treated. At most, it will only cause paralysis."
After the doctor wrote down the prescription with a pen, he bowed and left.
Guo Kun looked at Lin Jue blankly and said, "Brother-in-law, what should I do? Is my father really going to die?"
Lin Jue said softly: "Brother, don't be sad. Life and death are matters that everyone must go through. It's better to go see the prince and see if he has anything to say. I'll prepare the funeral arrangements for my father-in-law, so you don't have to worry about it.
.”
Guo Kun nodded with a pale face and said softly: "Thank you for your hard work, brother-in-law."
Lin Jue nodded and watched Guo Kun leave with heavy footsteps. Lin Jue actually understood as soon as the doctor said that Guo Bing was suffering from a stroke, commonly known as cerebral blood vessel rupture. This disease will be very rare in future generations on earth.
Treatment, not to mention in this era. Guo Bing has been pampered for so many years, and his body has become more and more obese. He also likes to eat meat and fish, and drinks excessively. All these have destroyed his body. In addition, after entering Funiu Mountain, Guo Bing has basically
Being excluded from important affairs, I'm afraid she was in a bad mood. She sighed and looked gloomy every day. The young princess told Lin Jue many times that her father was always angry and would beat and scold his servants at home under strange circumstances.
, smashing bottles and bowls, I don’t know what happened. Lin Jue certainly knew that this was the result of Guo Bing being in a bad mood because he was excluded from the copycat affairs by Lin Jue and Guo Kun, so he easily got angry and got angry easily. Long-term mood
Depression must be one of the reasons that caused his illness. But for this, Lin Jue could only say sorry.
After coming to lead Funiu Mountain, Lin Jue certainly could not let Guo Bing take the lead. Guo Bing could not achieve anything, and Lin Jue had to take the lead in all major matters by himself. Even Guo Kun had to listen to Lin Jue on many things.
.Lin Jue explained to Guo Kun, but he had no chance to explain to Guo Bing. Guo Bing was mentally unbalanced and could not resolve it, so there was nothing he could do about it.
But no matter what, Guo Bing was always his father-in-law. Although he often cheated on him, he also gave him a lot of help. At this moment, Guo Bing was about to die, and Lin Jue felt sad in his heart.
