Chapter seven hundred and twenty seventh urgent report to Chang'an
From the barren land of Guanzhong outside Chang'an City, a fast horse came from Juechen. The messenger on horseback was carrying a flag and whipping the horse's buttocks as he galloped along the official road.
He galloped outside the stable of a post station, tightened the reins suddenly, the horse neighed and raised its front hooves high, jumped off the horse and shouted: "I am reporting an emergency at the border! Change horses!"
The postmaster quickly ordered someone to lead the tired horses into the stable, put a freshly washed horse on the saddle and brought it out. He also personally brought a bowl of warm water for the postmaster to drink.
"May I ask where the messenger came from?"
"Dongshou surrenders to the city! No more words, the military situation is urgent, get on your horse and get on your way!"
The postman stepped on the stirrups and climbed onto his horse, waving his whip: "Drive!"
Chang'an was already in sight, and the horses rushed across the Longshou Canal Bridge. On the opposite side of the Chunming Gate, people were passing through the doorways on both sides. The post messenger shouted loudly on horseback: "Urgent report from the border! Let the road pass!"
The Jin Wu guards guarding the middle gate quickly moved out of the way, and the post horse went straight through the door, and then galloped for a while to the outside of the Mingyi Gate of Xingqing Palace. The post horse jumped off the horse and fell to the ground, unable to stand, and fell to the ground hoarsely.
His voice said: "Urgent report from the border!"
The commander of the Longwu Army holding a halberd at the door lowered his head and asked: "Since it is an urgent report at the border, why not send it to the official residence of Zhongshu Province in the imperial city!"
The post envoy took out the document from his arms and said weakly: "Go and report to Your Majesty that An Lushan has rebelled!"
"Help him go down and rest!" The halberd commander hurriedly grabbed the document and ran towards the palace gate. Two warriors supported the post envoy in the corridor on the side of the city gate, uncorked the rice wine bag and slowly poured wine into his mouth.
…
The old general Chen Xuanli stood outside the Dan Hall of Jiaotai Hall, his face full of anxiety. Li Longji walked out slowly with his hands behind his back and asked hesitantly: "This urgent report came from Dongshoujiang City. It should be
Is it true that the actions of people who hate An Lushan are not worthy of trust?"
"Your Majesty," Chen Xuanli took two steps forward eagerly. Suddenly realizing his rashness, he hurriedly took another half step back and crossed his hands and said, "If your Majesty has any doubts, I will send people to visit the north along the various inns. Anlu Mountain is like this."
If you are really planning to rebel, you will definitely be reported in more than one place, so please wait patiently."
The emperor lowered his head and looked at the ground with his eyelids closed, then raised his hand and waved it gently.
Chen Xuanli did not dare to say any more, crossed his hands and said "hey" and slowly backed away.
Gao Lishi stood worriedly and waved his fly whisk gently, and the palace people quickly and quietly exited the palace. He and the emperor were the only two people left in the dark hall. Li Longji reached out and rubbed his forehead as he staggered to find the bed on the steps.
? Gao Lishi hurriedly stepped forward to help him, and sat down softly with his hand supporting the armrest? His face was haggard, as if he had aged several years all of a sudden.
Gao Lishi raised his sleeves and wiped the corners of his eyes twice. Holding the whisk and bending down, he hesitated to speak: "Your Majesty..."
"You should go down too, I want to be alone for a while."
Gao Lishi made a trill from his throat: "Here." He slowly backed away with a whisk in his hand. When he reached the threshold, he turned around, looked back again, sighed quietly and left.
Li Longji rested his head on the backrest of the bed, staring blankly at the distance of the palace gate. This was the distance that he could see, but what he couldn't see was the source of crisis and storm.
…
Li Siye sent people disguised as merchants to Hedong and Hebei to spy on the news. After receiving the news, they quickly returned to Liangzhou to report to him the news of Anlushan's rebellion.
He sat cross-legged in the hall. After hearing the report from the people below, he breathed a long sigh of relief, as if he had been preparing for this moment for a long time. Now that the news suddenly came, all doubts were eliminated, and he felt relieved.
feel?
He did not spread the news to the army. The emperor's decree would come soon? But he should have prepared in advance and immediately ordered Cen Shen to be called to his side and let him sit down at his desk to draft military orders.
"Order Zang Xiye to transfer all the affairs of Hunya Peak to Lieutenant General Li Xiaogan? Come to Liangzhou to take over the right escort office of the Chishui Army Cavalry. Order Cang Cao to join the army and Kang Jianjun to go to Shicheng to transport grain and grass military supplies, and the stockpile amount should be
Enough soldiers in the fort to last for a year? Is there an external reward of sixty gold collars to the garrison of the stone castle? This money comes from my personal treasury? To reward him for fulfilling his duties and not to take it lightly. Order all armies to strengthen defense and increase patrols
Intensify your efforts, and then order Jiaocheng to guard and Baiting to guard, and station beacons along the border. The guard will not be relaxed day and night. That's it."
Cen Shen put down his pen, rubbed his hands, and asked him, "Doctor, what happened?"
Li Siye turned to look at him and smiled: "Nothing for now, send out the military order and follow me to Qingliang Temple and the artillery camp being formed outside the east gate."
…
The casting workshop on one side of Qingliangguan is in full swing, with shirtless men pouring the smelted copper and iron juice into clay molds through pottery funnels. On the other side, several craftsmen are riding on the cast cannons with frosted stones in their hands.
After polishing it carefully, another person held a long pole in his hand and inserted the sharpening stone rod into the barrel, rubbing it back and forth up and down.
Zhao Zhengyi, wearing a leather apron, followed Li Siye and explained: "Now the craftsmen are much more familiar with their craftsmanship, and it takes an average of five days to complete a Xuanwu cannon..."
Li Siye suddenly turned around and asked him: "How many artillery pieces have been tested and equipped in the artillery battalion now?"
"Well," Daochang Zhao said awkwardly, rubbing his hands, "there are only thirty-two gates."
"Too slow! Didn't you follow my instructions and separate the casting processes according to the process?"
"Pindao has followed the doctor's instructions, but there are really few craftsmen who know the technology, and there are not many foundries. Moreover, the defective rate of the barrels produced is too high. We are still stretched."
Li Siye turned around and raised his finger and said: "Recruit civilians to build foundries in Liangzhou City, and send out official documents to recruit blacksmiths throughout Hexi to join the army. I want to cast eighteen more doors for me within a month. Can I do it?"
"
Zhao Zheng bowed and asked doubtfully: "It's just that we only conduct the artillery casting in secret. If we issue an official document, wouldn't it be a big show?"
"At this point, who can care about so much?"
The Taoist priest didn't dare to ask what was going on, and immediately crossed his arms and said, "As long as there are enough people, I can definitely complete the doctor's orders!"
He nodded affirmatively, strode to the stable, took the reins of the mount from Yan Xiaosi and handed it to Zhao Zhengyi: "Let's go with me to the artillery camp's shooting range."
The four of them got on their horses and ran out of the east gate of Liangzhou to the flat shooting range of the artillery camp.
The artillery battalion is temporarily in charge of Yan Xiaosi, with 5,000 people serving the 32 Xuanwu heavy artillery. The gun body is supported on a three-foot-high wheel base, with brackets at the front and rear to maintain balance and angle. There is a decorated wooden turtle shell on the back of the artillery.
, there are snake eyes cast on the top of the muzzle. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhengyi actually made the cannon look like a turtle.
Li Siye got off his horse and told Yan Xiaosi: "Call someone to test fire a cannon."
Yan Xiaosi calmly crossed his arms and said, "Doctor, please allow Xiaosi to personally control the cannon."
Five or six gunners pushed the artillery to the gun position, and an earth slope was dug behind it to buffer the recoil. One person loaded the twister to seal the mud, two people filled the gunpowder, and the last person filled the projectile with one end of the fuse facing inward.
Pound firmly with a wooden pestle.
Yan Yaya personally stepped forward with a torch and lit the twister at the tail of the cannon. The gunners covered their ears and closed their eyes to wait.
"Boom!" Flames and thick smoke erupted from the muzzle, and the shells were thrown out and fell under the wooden sign in the distance. After waiting for nearly a breath, they exploded, blowing the wooden sign into pieces.
Li Siye put up a pergola and looked into the distance. The range should be about 800 steps. Although it exceeded the Fuyuan Crossbow, he hoped to reach a thousand steps or more.
He turned around and praised Zhao Zhengyi: "It's very good, although the fuze delay needs to be improved."
Zhao Zhengyi and Yan Xiaosi both bowed and crossed their hands: "I am a poor man, but I will do my best in the end."