Prime Minister

Chapter 934

Zhang Yue thought it was the right thing to let Shen Kuo be in charge of the military weapons supervision.But in fact there are flaws.

Shen Kuo studied bows and crossbows based on ancient books. One stone in the Warring States period was equal to one stone in the Qin Dynasty, and it was also equal to one stone in the Song Dynasty. This was a very low-level mistake.At the same time, Shen Kuo was superstitious about the formations in ancient books. For example, the formations were based on various yin and yang spells, pretending to be forced by ancient times.

Could it be that the Yang Family General’s Great Breaking Heavenly Gate Formation also has a historical basis?

Shen Kuo has many Confucian scholars' unrealistic assumptions, naive assumptions, and very imprecise self-confidence.

In fact, many places in ancient books are very vague, so Shen Kuo forced it to the ground based on his own speculation and understanding.

The more the chapter looks, the more amazing it becomes.

Moreover, Shen Kuo admired the military formation tactics of the Tang Dynasty very much and wanted to learn from them in full.But the question is, are the Khitans of the Tang Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom of today the same thing?

During the Tang Dynasty, the Khitans were nothing more than a loose tribal alliance, and their cavalry were mostly lightly-armed and loose cavalry.The current Liao cavalry is armored and sharp.

Zhang Yue and Shen Kuo chatted several times. Shen Kuo had the stubbornness of a man with a science degree, but Sheng would still understand that authority trumps reason when facing someone with a higher official position than him, so he would change whatever Zhang Yue said. What.Generally speaking, Shen Kuo is still the leader among contemporary technical officials.

Shen Kuo and Zhang Yue agreed on one thing, that a large number of bows and crossbows should be equipped to deal with Liaoqi.

Zhang Yue advocates using cavalry to control cavalry, but cavalry requires many years of effort, and bows and crossbows are still the most important thing in defensive warfare.

Now that Xixia is suing for peace and under the threat of force from the Liao Kingdom, the Privy Council has mobilized defenses in the northwest.

Thanks to Zhang Yue's pacification of Guizhang in the seventh year of Xining, he surrendered Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng, which greatly reduced the strategic pressure of the Song Dynasty in the direction of Qingtang.

Originally, Xihe Road, where 10,000+ armies were fighting constantly until the Yuanfeng period, is now in harmony. Hanfan City and the city get what they need, and there is no major battle.Afraid of the Song Dynasty and Dong Zhan, Mu Zheng bypassed the vast sea to attack the hinterland of Xixia, and Xixia also gave up their request to seek peace from the Song Dynasty.

With the capital, the Song Dynasty transferred more than half of the soldiers and horses from Xihe Road, which was originally hoarded with heavy troops, to Shaanxi Fourth Road.

At the same time, the war horses bought from Xihe Road were also supplied to soldiers and horses from all walks of life in Hebei, but it was still unrealistic to ask the cavalry of the Song Army to fight the Khitan in field battles.The chief executives unanimously decided to focus on defense and not to rush forward easily. They believed in the words of the court and the central government that the decisive victory was in the territory of Liao, so as to avoid repeating the mistakes of the battle of Gaoliang River and the battle of Qigouguan.

Since it is defense, the bow and crossbow are the first. The god-armed crossbow has a long range, and the effective killing distance can reach a hundred and twenty steps. In fact, it can be a hundred and fifty steps.However, it is written in the report of the Military Supervisory Committee that the contact distance is 120 steps.

This is also observed in historical records.

As for penetrating the iron armor beyond [-] steps, that was what Ji Xiaolan said, confusing the maximum range with the effective range.

This is also an old problem of scholars.

Or Ji Xiaolan just shoots 60 steps and can penetrate the iron armor, which is regarded as piercing the iron armor beyond [-] steps.In fact, it is quite good to penetrate the iron armor at a distance of [-] and [-] meters.

This is the rigorous data obtained by Shen Kuo's repeated practice in the Military Weapons Supervision.In fact, the Song Army had a large crossbow with a range farther than that of the god arm bow, but it was too bulky and inconvenient to operate.

The god arm crossbow is a combination of both.

However, the God Arm Crossbow is also expensive, has the disadvantage of slow shooting speed, is very afraid of moisture, requires certain maintenance, and is not suitable for use in the rainy season in the south.

After a lot of experiments, Shen Kuo wrote detailed regulations and reported them to the officials. At the same time, he improved the manufacturing process of the divine arm bow with the help of craftsmen and experts from the Ordnance Supervision.

In Shen Kuo's Zoushu, there are six virtues in the cloud bow, one is the body is small and strong, the other is harmonious and powerful, the third is long-term shooting power and unyielding, the fourth is cold and hot, the fifth is clear and solid, and the sixth is straight. .The officials ordered the Military Weapons Supervision to rush to produce a large number of god-arm bows and first-class fast-firing horse yellow crossbows to equip the armies in Hebei.

Shen Kuo also gained the appreciation of the officials. With Zhang Yue's recommendation, he was promoted from a living room clerk to a sifengyuanwailang, and his post was added to the editorship of Jixian Hall.

Of course Shen Kuo was overjoyed, because his political speculation had paid off again.

Practicality is always the rule of thumb.

Shen Kuo also knew that the previous practice of the slaves of the three surnames was wrong, so he told everyone that all this was thanks to Deputy Zhang Shu.

Before rewarding Shen Kuo, the officials asked Zhang Yue, everyone knew that Shen Kuo was repeating things for no reason, Wang Anshi advised me to be afraid and stay away, why didn't you go?

Zhang Yue's approach to officials is to employ people without using their strengths and weaknesses. Your Majesty should follow Cao Mengde's approach in employing people based on their merit.

The official said seriously: "Thank you for your loyalty."

...

Shen Kuo, who betrayed Lu Huiqing, was not only not punished but was promoted.

Many officials in Ling Dynasty saw that Lu Huiqing's situation was gone.

Cai Wenxi is also one of them.Cai Wenxi is a fellow villager of Wang Anshi and a member of the New Party.When Lu Huiqing was gaining power, Cai Wenxi once paid a visit to Lu Shengqing's house.

After Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister, Lu Huiqing successively excluded those in the court who had political disagreements with him. Like Feng Jing and Zhang Yue, they all went out one after another. Even Han Jiang wanted to see his face. It can be said that he had overwhelming power in the world for a while.

At that time, not only officials from the new party, but even many officials from the old party or the middle party also took refuge in Lu Huiqing.

Cai Wenxi maintained that she had an old relationship with Lu Shengqing and visited him at his house. Unexpectedly, Lu Shengqing became powerful but did not pay attention to Cai Wenxi, and was rejected by the boss.

Cai Wenxi was very angry because of this.

Cai Wenxi also saw the direction of the wind, and there was no doubt that Lu Huiqing had lost power.

Cai Wenxi visited Cai Que's mansion and learned from Cai Que that Wang Anshi was ill.

Cai Wenxi chatted with Cai Que, and Cai Que told Cai Wenxi that before Yuan Jiang entrusted Lu Huiqing to seek the position of governor, but Zhang Yue took the lead, which made him deeply resent Lu Huiqing.Now after Wang Anshi returned to the court, Yuan Jiang was already on Wang Anshi's side.

Cai Wenxi deliberately asked tentatively: "Zhang Duzhi, Su Ziyou returned to the court one after another, and even Shen Kuo was promoted. How long can Lu Canzheng live in the temple for upholding the righteous way?"

Cai Que said: "In the past, Lv's participation in politics was very powerful, and it was just a kiss on the thatched cottage. But now his dismissal is just around the corner!"

Hearing what Cai really said, it was in line with Cai Wenxi's judgment.

Cai Quedao said: "It is difficult for us to be admonishers and ministers at the same time. When Lu Huiqing was impeached last year, Lu Shengqing and Lu Shengqing said that as long as he stayed at home for ten days and ignored the government, the emperor would stop all admonitions. "

Lu Huiqing is also Wang Anshi's consistent way back then. Wang Anshi was called sick when he was impeached, and the emperor had to compromise in order to keep Wang Anshi.After Lu Huiqing succeeded Wang Anshi, when he was able to exert power in the government, he also relied on the trust and reliance of the officials on him.

Cai Wenxi said indignantly: "Lü Canzheng and other powerful ministers who control the government don't take the remonstrance of the court seriously. Now that Wang Xianggong returns to the court, if he can still be as proud as before? I have to impeach this thief. No!"

Cai Que smiled when he heard the words, and said in his heart, what should you do to thank me.