Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 244

Ximen Qing regained his energy when he heard the words, and hurriedly asked, "Which hero is Brother Ling Zhen talking about?"

Ling Zhen said: "Brother Ximen, you said it was a coincidence. Yesterday night, brother, I was also in that fan tower, and I was practicing with a few friends for an old friend. My old friend's surname is Huyan, and his name is "Zhao". , the ancestor was Hu Yanzan, the famous founding general of Hedong. Now he is in charge of the capital of Runing County. Recently, he returned to Bianliang, Tokyo to do business. He and I met a lot. Because he was leaving Tokyo early this morning to return to Runing County, my brother, I only practiced it for him in Fanlou yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn’t meet him. Go to Brother Ximen, otherwise I will definitely recommend Na Hu Yanzhuo to you."

When Ximen Qing heard it, he thought it was a pity in his heart, he didn't expect that by mistake yesterday, he lost a chance to get acquainted with "Double Whip" Hu Yanzhuo.Hu Yanzhuo was born as a general for generations, and he was one of the Five Tiger Generals of Liangshan in history, alongside Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Qin Ming, and Dong Ping, all of whom were unduly brave.

Now that Liang Shanbo has been beaten to a half by himself, his momentum is not as good as before. I am afraid that it will be difficult to threaten the safety of the court, and it will not attract Hu Yanzhuo to come to conquer Liangshan.In this way, Hu Yanzhuo is far away in Runing County, I don't know when and what month I will have to wait to see him again.How can it not be a pity to miss such a fierce player!

But, fortunately, Hu Yanzhuo and Ling Zhen are acquainted friends.As long as I pull Ling Zhen to my side first, I don't have to worry about not having a chance to see that Hu Yanzhuo again in the future.Hey, this meal has to be eaten bite by bite!

Ximen Qing ate the pie in one bite, feeling full.Seeing that Ling Zhen, Jiao Ting, and Tang Long had all finished eating, he got up and took Ling Zhen and the other three brothers back to his room, ordered a pot of tea, and chatted slowly.

Ximen Qing brought Tang Long to Tokyo this time mainly to exchange experience in firearms development with Ling Zhen.So as soon as he sat down, Tang Long couldn't wait to ask about the progress of Ling Zhen's research in Tokyo.

Chapter 372 Ling Zhen's Choice

Hearing Tang Long's question, Ling Zhen unwrapped the package he had brought, took out more than ten sheets of paper, spread them on the table, and showed Ximen Qing and the others the firecracker paper he had drawn.

After Ling Zhen's explanations one by one, Ximen Qing roughly understood Ling Zhen's research on gunpowder weapons.Because Ling Zhen is the deputy gunner of Tokyo Kazhanku, driven by habit, his research on gunpowder weapons focuses on artillery.

First of all, Ling Zhen used the black powder formula that Ximen Qing told him, and used the gunpowder raw materials in Tokyo's Jiazhan warehouse to secretly concoct black powder with greater explosive power and create a kind of explosive barbed wire.

In order to project this kind of explosive caltrops, Ling Zhen first used a traditional trebuchet to experiment, and found that the power was indeed greater than the fireballs and other weapons used by the Song Army before.

Afterwards, according to the idea of ​​making metal tubes and using gunpowder that Ximen Qing taught him, Ling Zhen developed a short-bodied gun similar to the mortar and "heartless" gun that Ximen Qing had seen in museums and on the Internet. A simple metal artillery with a thick tube that can fire solid stone bullets or a bag of gravel to destroy opponents' buildings or kill enemies.

Later, Ling Zhen thought about a cannon with a longer barrel.The rest of the blueprints are Ling Zhen's further whimsical ideas, but they have not been produced yet.

Ximenqing read these works of Ling Zhen, and it can be said that the things he figured out basically have the prototype of early artillery.I just instilled some superficial concepts in him at the wine table, and then it was all up to him to explore on his own. To be able to reach this point, Ling Zhen can already be said to be very remarkable.

Although Tang Long's guns were more mature than Ling Zhen's trial-produced guns, it was because Ximen Qing often studied with him and kept reminding him of the results of his improvements.

Ximenqing looked at the blueprints, and asked Ling Zhen if the two cannons originally developed were finished products, and if he could take him and Tang Long to see them.Ling Zhen blushed, and told Ximen Qing and the others that the two trial-produced cannons exploded after being fired a few times.Fortunately, I followed Ximen Qing's reminder and hid in the distance, only to escape two catastrophes.

Ling Zhen told Ximen Qing that because he had sworn to Ximen Qing at the beginning, he would never disclose the new technology that Ximen Qing told him to others before the development was successful. Even if he made a successful artillery, he would sell it to Ximen Qing. Therefore, Ling Zhen has been researching in secret all the time without telling his superiors and colleagues.

Without the material support from the imperial court, although Ling Zhen was able to quietly embezzle some materials from Jiazhan's treasury, he still fell into the predicament of lacking materials and being unsustainable.So after the two cannons exploded, Ling Zhen didn't have enough materials to cast new cannons.Those whimsical ideas behind him had no choice but to stay in the drawings and ideas.

Ximen Qing was deeply moved by Ling Zhen's words, and he thought to himself that this brother is really serious!He didn't take the designs on the table to claim credit from his boss, so he was honest with himself!

It is a waste of his firearms talent for such a good brother to stay in Tokyo alone and continue to be his deputy gunner. He should try to let him go back to Yanggu with him and develop firearms with Tang Long.With a modern person like myself reminding him, Ling Zhendang will avoid many detours and conduct research faster and better.

To put it bluntly, the Tokyo Jiazhan Warehouse is the munitions and weapons warehouse in Bianliang City, Tokyo. The main task of Ling Zhen's deputy gunner is also to fire the trumpet during the celebration, which is really not a good prospect.

Two years ago, I was just a small local tyrant in Yanggu County. Of course, it was impossible for Ling Zhen to give up his official position in Bianliang, Tokyo and return to Yanggu with him.But now he has thousands of soldiers, is rich in Dongping Mansion of Yunzhou, and his power extends to Shandong and Hebei, and he has led the crowd to defeat ten thousand Liangshan bandits. Bar!

Because he and Ling Zhen were already sworn brothers, he could speak out what he had to say, so after Ximen Qing made up his mind, he told Ling Zhen what was in his heart.

Ximen Qing told Ling Zhen that as long as he was willing to give up his official position as a deputy envoy and gunner in Bianliang City, Tokyo, and return to Yanggu with him, he could give Ling Zhen ten times the wealth.Moreover, Ling Zhen's talent is to develop firearms. After arriving in Yanggu County, he will have his own firearms workshop, and he will also have inexhaustible materials for his research and development.Ling Zhen has what he needs, and the wealthy himself can meet his needs.

Seeing that Ximen Qing wanted to invite Ling Zhen back to Yanggu, Tang Long and Jiao Ting also helped Ximen Qing persuade Ling Zhen, telling him how strong Ximen Qing's power is now, and what feat he has achieved in defeating the Liangshan bandits.

Tang Long even told Ling Zhen that he had never touched gunpowder weapons before, but under the guidance of brother Ximenqing, he had successfully made a matchlock gun.Brother Ximenqing is a scholar of heaven and man. If Ling Zhen can go to Yanggu County, under the guidance of Brother Ximen, he will be able to show his talents.

When Ling Zhen encountered difficulties in the development of firearms in the past two years, he often thought of his sworn brother Ximen Qing who inspired him, and wanted to ask him for help.

Just like "Purple Bearded Uncle" Huangfu Duan loves horses the most in his life, and his greatest wish is to train many good horses, the greatest pursuit of this "Thunderbolt" Ling Zhen in life is also to create better firearms.Therefore, it was hard for them to resist Ximen Qing's sincere invitation.

The reason why Ling Zhen was willing to give up his military position in Tokyo Jiazhanku was not for any other reason, but because in this era when Confucianism dominated, all kinds of tricks and tricks were despised by the upper class and had no future.It is indeed useless for a hero to stay in Tokyo by himself.

However, brother Ximenqing, unlike those Confucian literati, paid the most attention to skilled talents.Brothers like Tang Long, who used to have to go far away to open a small blacksmith's shop, went to brother Ximen Qing's place, but they became honored guests.

Thinking of these, how could Ling Zhen not be tempted?He immediately promised Ximen Qing that he would resign from the military as soon as possible and return to Yanggu County, Yunzhou with Ximen Qing.From now on, I will share the good and bad with Brother Ximen and all the brothers.

Ximen Qing was delighted to receive Ling Zhen's promise, and couldn't help laughing heartily.In the view of Ximen Qing, who is familiar with the historical development process of later generations, talents like Ling Zhen, Tang Long, and Huangfu Duan are the foundation of a strong army and a strong country.Obtaining Ling Zhen is far better than obtaining an enemy who wields a cold weapon and charges into battle.

Ximen Qing asked Jiao Ting to take a lot of gold and silver to Ling Zhen, and asked him to go through the resignation process and settle the affairs properly so as not to cause unnecessary troubles.The rest of the money will be used for Ling Zhen's moving expenses.

Seeing that Ximenqing was so thoughtful, Ling Zhen didn't refuse, so he put away all the gold and silver, left Gaoyang Zhengdian immediately, and went back to Jiazhan warehouse to do some sorting.

What Ling Zhen is thinking this time is not only to resign and go east, but also to bring some cronies who are familiar with firearms to go to Yanggu County together, and show his ambitions there!

Chapter 373 Being an Emperor Is Capable of Being Willful

After Ling Zhen left, Ximen Qing and Tang Long looked at each other and smiled. The main purpose of this trip to Bianliang, Tokyo was finally achieved.When the opportunity arises in the future, let's plan the return of "Golden Gunner" Xu Ning and that "Double Whip" Hu Yanzhuo!

The matter of Ling Zhen's resignation cannot be completely settled in three or two days. Ximen Qing, Tang Long, and Jiao Ting have nothing to do. They hang out in Bianliang City, Tokyo every day, enjoying the rare leisure time.

During this period, Ximenqing also thought of Ma Kuo who came to Tokyo to participate in the martial arts, and wanted to meet him for a while.But Ximenqing asked Xu Ning to inquire, and asked him to help him find it, only to find out that Ma Kuo from Dengzhou had indeed won the martial arts, but he had already left Tokyo with his new companions, and he didn't know where he was going.

Ximen Qingben was also on a whim, and he was not disappointed if he couldn't find Nama Kuo. Dengzhou and Yunzhou belong to Jingdong Road, and the distance is not very far. We will meet again in the future.

Ximenqing's only unfinished wish during this trip is to meet Li Shishi again.It's just that Li Shishi is trapped in the palace now, not as easy to see as before.

Fortunately, Ximenqing inquired about the news in Xiaoyu Street that day, and knew that Li Shishi would send a maid to take care of the old residence every two days.Maybe this court lady can be the one who connects him with Li Shishi?

Ximen Qing arranged for two shrewd and well-behaved guards to lurk in Xiaoyu Street, to observe and record the rules of maids coming to Li Shishi's old house for him.And track and explore the route of the palace maids leaving and returning to the palace.

Ximenqing made up his mind, and after a detailed investigation, he would consider whether to contact Li Shishi.

On this day, Ximenqing was watching how the medicine merchants in the capital were doing business on Mahang Street, thinking about how to join forces with Lu Junyi to gradually control the medicine business in Beijing's Daming Mansion.

Just when Ximen Qing was engrossed in his thoughts, there was a sudden noise behind him.Ximen Qing looked back, and it turned out that it was Huashi Gang who built Genyue for Emperor Daojun again.

I saw a heavy Taihu Lake stone on a special cart, probably weighing thousands of catties.In front of the cart, four oxen were struggling to pull the cart forward, and there were twenty or thirty forcemen beside the cart pushing the cart.

There were several soldiers clearing the way in front of the ox cart transporting Huashigang, and an officer behind the ox cart supervised the escort on horseback.From time to time, the officer scolded the people who drove the oxen and pushed the cart and the crowd in front of them, saying that they had missed important matters of the court and wanted to punish them all.

This bird emperor who wastes people and money for his own selfishness!Just for his artistic pursuit and seeking immortality, I don’t know how much money and manpower was spent, just to transport some strange-shaped Taihu stones and Lingbi stones from the southeastern Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions thousands of miles away, and to transport lychees from Fujian and Guangnan. Trees, coconut trees were transported from Yazhou to build this Genyue.

Standing in front of the pharmacy, Ximenqing watched the huge Taihu stone being pulled from him to the north step by step, and heard Lifu and the cows in the trailer groaning heavily. What's the use of transporting these broken stones to Bianliang City in Tokyo? .

Ximenqing didn't know that these rare stones that Song Huizong regarded as treasures really came in handy when the Jin army besieged Tokyo City.These stones were smashed by the Song army guarding the city, mixed with broken bricks and tiles, and turned into stone bombs from trebuchets.For the subjugated artist emperor Song Huizong, it is a wonderful irony.

"Brothers, I'll go to Jinglongmen to see what the royal garden looks like!" Ximen Qing said to Jiao Ting and Tang Long.

Tang Long heard the words and said: "Brother Ximen's words are exactly what I want. I have heard from Bianliang people in Tokyo these days that the Shangqing Baolu Palace in Jinglongmen is now more prosperous than Daxiangguo Temple. They often come to the Shangqing Baolu Palace! Brother is about to go to see what happened, and meet the living gods in Tokyo city."

It turned out that since February, Lin Lingsu was ordered to preach at the Baolu Palace of the Shangqing Dynasty to preach about Emperor Qinghua's night descending to the Xuanhe Palace, and more than [-] Taoist priests attended the meeting.Lin Lingsu also built the Renji Pavilion and gave water to Fu; he opened the altar of the treasures of the gods, so that the officials and the people could receive the secrets of the gods.

Song Huizong also knew how to use religion to promote himself as a god, so as to consolidate his ruling authority.He issued an order to build the Shenxiao Yuqing Longevity Palace in the whole world. Those who have no view will be filled with temples, and there will be statues of Shenxiao Gods such as Changsheng Emperor and Qinghua Emperor on the palace.

With the support of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Lin Lingsu led Taoist scriptures, corrected the sacrificial rituals of various scriptures, proofread the spiritual chapters of Danjing, and deleted the annotations;As a result, there are more and more scholars and people in the capital.

In April, Lin Lingsu was promoted to Wenzhou Yingdao Army Jiedu.During his stay in Beijing, he was awarded successively with the titles of "Kinmen Feather Guest", "Mr. Tongzhen Daling Yuanmiao", "Taizhong Doctor", "Ningshen Palace Shichen", "Ruizhu Palace Shichen", "Chong Hedian Shichen "wait.

It is said that Lin Lingsu was deeply favored by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, and he was often called into and out of the Forbidden Palace.When Huizong met Lin Lingsu, he called him "Smart Immortal" every time, and personally bestowed on him "Shenxiao Ning Temple Shichen, the leader of Yuzhen Sect", and established him as a class of Taoists and two prefectures.

Ximenqing knew that Song Huizong favored using Lin Lingsu to fool the people with religion, and his purpose was the same as using the Ximen Leopard Temple to engage in feudal superstition.Therefore, after hearing Tang Long's words, he also had some interest in Lin Lingsu, who was brazen and could boast that the emperor had descended to the mortal world as a god.You might as well listen to him talk twice about the Three Caves Taoist Scripture and the Birth of King Yuqing Shenxiao, and learn from him how to use feudal superstition to fool the people.