Emperor Sun made his fortune from scratch

Hanzhong, Heihuling.

Since more than 2,000 Zhaowu troops fled here, He Taohan led 10,000 Qi troops to attack Heihuling day and night.

I thought it would take it in two or three days, but I didn't expect it to take ten days. Nearly 1,000 Qi troops were lost, but they were still unable to capture them.

As Li Zhao's first territory in Hanzhong, the terrain here is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the road up the mountain is full of hidden forts, trenches, arrow towers, etc.

So he proposed to Zhang Yanxia to change to surround but not fight, anyway, there is only one way down the mountain. The Qi army can't go up, and the Zhaowu army can't come down.

Zhang Yanxia quickly agreed, and he didn't pay attention to the Zhaowu Army on the Black Tiger Ridge.

The old general Liu Zhijie suggested that he should not drag on in Hanzhong for a long time, and should lead the Qi army to Shu as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will change later.

Zhang Yanxia's pressure doubled, and he trusted Liu Zhijie's judgment. Li Zhao didn't make any other moves on the surface, but secretly, there must be some scheme. Its target was either the Qi army in Hanzhong, or the Qi army in Yiling and other places.

With more than 100,000 Qi troops consuming an astonishing amount of grain and grass per day, they really can't continue to stay in Hanzhong.

Fortunately, the news from the secret agent should be able to enter Shu from the direction of Micang Mountain. This road has many dangerous valleys and steep cliffs, the terrain is high in the north and low in the south, but the distance is short, and you can enter the Shudi Plain in about half a month.

Zhang Yanxia did not delay any longer, and used 30,000 Qi troops to contain the Southern Zheng Zhaowu army, 5,000 Qi troops were stationed near Heihuling, and there were also thousands of Qi troops outside Liucheng.

After that, he hurriedly reorganized the soldiers and horses, and prepared to enter Shu in this direction.

...............................................................................................................

In Chengdu, Li Zhao was reading a letter written to him by Chang Xuan.

Chang Xuan urged him to attack as soon as possible, and said that the 100,000 Huainan army had made all preparations. As long as the Zhaowu army is dispatched, the Huainan army will immediately attack Jinling.

When Li Zhao saw this, he laughed out loud: The warships of the Huainan Army were all burned to slag, and it was difficult to swim over the river if they crossed the river with anything.

Chang Xuan guessed correctly, all the rumors in Jinling before were done by Heibing Tai.

When Chang Shaosi came to Chengdu, he immediately aroused Li Zhao's vigilance.

So he sent Hei Bingtai to make trouble in Jinling, prompting the Qi State to attack Huainan. But I didn't expect Emperor Qi Jiang Ningxian to be so tolerant and insist on not sending troops.

Li Zhao despised Jiang Ningxian even more in his heart, he was really a faint king; since ancient times, guarding the river must guard Huai, and he didn't understand such a simple truth.

Although the Qi State did not use troops against Huainan, the ministers of the Qi State were already wary of Huainan in their hearts, and if Chang Xuan wanted to sneak attack the Qi State again, it would be much more difficult. Li Zhao's plan was at least half successful.

Li Zhao, who was in a good mood, took people to the Ordnance Division.

In fact, Li Zhao had to come to the Weapons Division every ten days. In the workshop, basically every craftsman knows Li Zhao.

Sometimes he doesn't plan to do anything either, just just look around.

The craftsmen didn't know what King Qin meant, which made everyone very stressed. However, no one complained. After all, Li Zhao gave enough.

In terms of the treatment of craftsmen, there is no force in the world that is comparable to the Qin State Weapons Division.

Li Zhao was playing with a new type of repeater, when suddenly, there was a loud noise. The faces of the soldiers beside him changed greatly, thinking that there was an assassin, so they hurriedly drew their swords and protected Li Zhao.

After a while, Liu Guangyuan hurriedly walked over and explained: "King Qiyu, the sound just now was Zhang Jiancheng playing with some new things. "

Zhang Jiancheng?" Li Zhao muttered to himself. quickly reacted that the last time he was in Linqiong County, it was this person who offered him oil.

Later, when Liu Guangyuan made a large-scale production of fierce fire oil cans, he helped him a little, so he took him to the Ordnance Division.

"Interesting, take this king to see it. Li Zhao said curiously.

Liu Guangyuan said in a deep voice: "The king must be careful, unreliable front, in case of injury."

Li Zhao saw his serious face, and felt funny in his heart, it was difficult for Zhang Jiancheng to get the explosives out.

No! Li Zhao's heart moved. The loud bang just now didn't look like the sound of ordinary iron.

When he arrived, he saw that Zhang Jiancheng was completely black, and his face was gray.

Seeing King Qin, Zhang Jiancheng hurriedly saluted.

Li Zhao waved his hand, "What are you doing here? "

I put something in the tin can and set it on fire, and I didn't expect it to be like this. "

What's in the tin?"

"It's sulfur, flame salt, pine resin, and so on." Zhang Jiancheng said.

Li Zhao was puzzled: "What is flame nitrate?" "

This thing is also called saltpeter, which is very easy to ignite and can be used to ignite. Liu Guangyuan said.

Li Zhao was slightly stunned, and always felt that he had heard the words sulfur and saltpeter. Frowning, I thought hard for a long time.

Li

Zhao's heart was pounding, and he didn't expect that there would be an unexpected surprise today; although he hadn't yet made a musket and artillery, he still had some eyebrows.

"What's this thing called?" Li Zhao asked.

"I didn't think about it. Zhang Jiancheng said.

"How about calling it a 'cannonball'?"

"What are your plans to fiddle with this thing?" Li Zhao looked at Zhang Jiancheng fixedly, expecting a satisfactory answer.

Zhang Jiancheng did not disappoint him, and said: "This is the Weapons Division, so naturally I want to use this thing on the battlefield." The recipe is currently being worked on, and if it is properly blended, the shell will explode more powerfully.

"Even if the development is successful, how can the shells be thrown?"

"A catapult can be used."

Li Zhao shook his head, this was not what he wanted, "The throwing speed of the stone throwing vehicle is not fast enough, not far enough, and the accuracy is a little poor. This king has an idea, use copper or iron, make a thick and long iron pipe, put the cannonball in it, and then shoot it, what do you think?"

Zhang Jiancheng fell into deep thought, and then said: "The king's idea is excellent. However, there are two issues that need to be addressed urgently. First, the forging process of this iron pipe is complex, it must be heat-resistant, and it must be reusable. Secondly, the shell is placed in an iron pipe, and what method needs to be used to fire it.

"Take your time, don't rush. Li Zhao smiled.

Zhang Jiancheng can think of this, it's already good, and it is impossible to expect him to make it all at once.

"This iron pipe is named 'artillery' by this king. If you can get the artillery and cannonballs out, the king will reward them heavily.

Zhang Jiancheng's face was overjoyed, "King Xie, I will do my best in the future." "

Artillery is a little less difficult than muskets, and of course, there are many types of guns, which means the simplest of them. Once the artillery is successfully developed, it will be easier to make muskets again.

Before Li Zhao went back, he rewarded Zhang Jiancheng with 100 acres of fertile land, as well as a lot of gold, silver and jewelry.

Zhang Jiancheng was very excited, and swore to the sky that he would get the artillery out as soon as possible.

Li Zhao solemnly told Liu Guangyuan that this matter must not be leaked. Just in case, a black ice platform agent was installed in the Weapons Division to secretly monitor the craftsmen's every move.