Chapter 215 The Power of Gunpowder
This sentence is more useful than any persuasion.
Gu Changxiao only believed that if he stayed in the rear area all year round, he could lead his troops to rescue Chang'an with peace of mind.
Jin Sui approved this decision because she didn't trust the Yan gentry either! Except for the Yan family, the other fifteen states were all fence-sitters.
Now that trade with the Northern Frontier is so prosperous, many nobles think that King Li is suppressing them.
Without King Li, they could arbitrarily force the people to switch from farming to working, expand workshops at will, and exploit manpower.
As for Chang'an, Gu Changxiao brought fish oil with him and it was no problem to drive away the Hu people. But what happened next? What if Prince Yu heard that the Hu people had fled and turned back with his troops to ascend the throne and become emperor? So after Gu Changxiao drove away the Hu people, he still had to fight a civil war, and the border city had to continue to send him troops, food, and weapons.
Rather than letting Jinsui go to the battlefield with him, it is more important to stay in the border town.
Soon Gu Changxiao called over several core personnel from the border town and confirmed that Miss Ji would stay in the border town. Cheng Yu immediately asked to go to the battlefield with the prince.
Gu Changxiao agreed. Cheng Yu's main role was not to fight the Hu people, but to deal with Prince Yu later. In dealing with the officials and nobles of the court, Cheng Yu's brain was better than Jin Sui's.
All the soldiers from the Black Feather Camp, including Heihu and Hanxing, went there, and the Northwest Army was fully armed as they had experience in dealing with the Hu people.
Only one thousand personal guards were left for Jinsui, and the rest were personal soldiers.
Gu Changxiao led 5,000 cavalrymen to go first, and Han Xing led 30,000 infantrymen to follow. Bian Jinsui estimated that these 30,000 men would fight Prince Yu when they arrived in Chang'an.
She knew the Hu people's way of fighting, which was to rob and run away, but their burning, killing and looting were even worse than those of the Tartars.
Especially for the Great Xia that had oppressed them for many years, they would definitely want to burn down Chang'an to vent their anger.
Time waits for no one. If we set out earlier, we can save more people.
In front of Li Heng and other officials, Gu Changxiao formally announced that he would rescue Chang'an, drive out the Hu people, and the person in charge of the border town would be the future princess, Miss Ji.
Upon hearing the title of future princess, Li Heng would have pulled out a few strands of his beard on the spot.
Yan Jiu's expression changed several times, but he said nothing. He just bowed and responded that he would obey the princess' orders.
Jin Sui had no objection to Gu Changxiao's statement. She was not hypocritical. She was not a female official, nor a noble. How could she make officials listen to her just because she was the boss of Ji? Without a proper identity, it would be difficult for her to manage the border town. The princess was the right identity. No one had any objection to the prince going to war and the princess staying behind.
Although she is not a princess yet, King Li said himself that she is the future princess. If he gives her the token, she will have the power to manage the border town.
In this way, Gu Changxiao led the army to Chang'an, and Jinsui stayed in the border town.
Grandpa Ling stopped the project in the east district, and the construction of the Taoist temple and the academy was postponed.
All skilled craftsmen were transferred to the Ministry of Military Industry, and other workshops were temporarily closed.
Gunpowder, fish oil, swords and guns, armor, horse feed, military rations, and medicines are the most important products currently produced.
But trade with the northern border cannot be shut down, as that would provoke resistance from the gentry, and Jinsui also does not want the border town to become an isolated one.
She discussed with Li Heng and Yan Jiu, asking them to send more people to the border town to take charge of the trade in the northern border, as she was short of manpower.
Li Heng was naturally willing, and Yan Jiu, needless to say, moved directly to the border town.
Jinsui moved into the palace because it was more convenient for officials to come and discuss matters. Li Linfeng and Jin'an did not go to the youth camp for the time being and stayed by her side to run errands.
Grandpa Ling went to the refugee camp again. He wanted to help his granddaughter monitor the reactions of the grassroots people, fearing that someone would cause trouble at the grassroots level. As a Taoist priest, he was very trusted by the people.
Jinsui wrote another letter to Liuyun, asking him to keep an eye on the northern border, in case the Hu people invaded Chang'an, as Bater also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get a piece of the pie.
When Gu Changxiao went to study, he faced two powerful enemies, the Hu people and the northern border! After he beat the enemy away, Prince Yu shamelessly came out to reap the fruits of victory. How infuriating!
The land reform strategy that Jinsui stayed up late to write was stranded again, but she knew that if Gu Changxiao won in Chang'an this time.
Then this land reform is not aimed at Yan area, but at the whole country.
Of course, if Gu Changxiao fails, this plan will become completely useless, Daxia will perish, and this land will enter a period of chaos that will last for at least a hundred years.
For the first time, Jin Sui sincerely pleaded with the gods, asking them to bless him and let Gu Changxiao win.
She was busy providing support in the border town, while Gu Changxiao was also rushing to Chang'an at a rapid pace.
On the way, I met many people who had escaped from Chang'an. After inquiring about the situation in Chang'an, I found out that there were even more people who had not escaped.
The Hu people had already occupied Chang'an City. They had no intention of continuing their attack to the south. They only wanted to empty Chang'an City, including all its property and food.
Of course, they would also rob some slaves and those that couldn’t be taken away would be burned!
Gu Changxiao thought of the old border town that had turned into a pile of black soil and burnt smoke, and couldn't imagine what the situation would be like in Daxia if Chang'an City became like that.
After further inquiries, he found out that Prince Yu had fled to Shu without even looking back. He wished he could capture Prince Yu outside the city of Chang'an and make him kneel down and apologize.
What he didn't expect was that Prince Yu fled with the Emperor but did not take the Queen with him.
What made him even more angry was that the National Temple was located in the western suburbs of Chang'an City. The Hu people came from there and knew that it was the National Temple.
They actually captured the queen and forced the city gates open. I don't know whether to say that the queen had backbone or that she was unwilling to die in humiliation at the hands of the barbarians.
After learning that Prince Yu and the Shen family had fled Chang'an without even mentioning her, she committed suicide with a hairpin.
The Hu people hung her body on the city wall. This action aroused the resistance of the gentry in the city, and they started fighting against the Hu people.
Unfortunately, because the main force was taken away by Prince Yu, after three days of resistance, the city was still breached by the Hu people.
When Gu Changxiao arrived in Chang'an, there were corpses everywhere and what was flowing out of the sewers was not sewage but blood.
The whole city was filled with wailing and crying, which could be heard even through the city walls.
When they heard that King Li was coming to help, the people in the city who had not yet escaped took up their courage and attacked the city when Gu Changxiao attacked.
Many people wanted to help him open the city gate from the inside, but they were all killed by the Hu people.
The Hu people deliberately humiliated us by throwing the bodies of the people off the city wall, just to let King Li see that the harder you attack the city, the more of your people I will kill! Gu Changxiao didn't want to use gunpowder, after all, it was our Chang'an City that was blown up.
But faced with this situation, they had to use it. When the gunpowder was thrown into the city wall, the Hu people were still laughing.
This prince of Daxia has no way to break the city. Your city walls are indeed strong enough, but after we take it, the city walls will protect us! When the gunpowder exploded in the city, the Hu people were completely dumbfounded. There was actually such a weapon in the world! When the fish fried Zuo Xianwang's soldiers, they thought it was the thunder god coming, and many soldiers knelt down and kowtowed on the spot.
Now the reaction of the Hu people was similar to that of Zuo Xian Wang's soldiers. At first they didn't even realize that this was King Li's weapon.
They really thought it was a thunderbolt or an earthquake, and ran to tell the news.
But after a series of gunpowder were thrown into the city, they exploded and killed countless Hu people.
Only then did they realize that this was the weapon of the evil king outside the city.
The Hu army was originally composed of multiple forces. They were quite united when it came to looting things, but began to shirk their responsibilities when it came to killing the enemy.
No one wants his troops to face such a powerful weapon.
If one more soldier dies, there will be one less treasure to bring back.
The reason why Gu Changxiao did not use fish oil was that he was afraid of burning Chang'an City and affecting the people who had not yet escaped.
After besieging the city for a night, he found that the number of enemies had obviously decreased, and he realized that the Hu people wanted to escape.
Immediately send out an army, let Black Tiger lead them, and chase them with fish oil firearms. Don't burn them in the city, but it's still okay to burn them to death outside the city!
We must let the Hu people know that if they dare to attack Daxia, they will die miserably like this.
They have no chance to beg for mercy or negotiate peace, only to pay with their lives!
When Gu Changxiao led his troops into Chang'an City, all the surviving people knelt on both sides of the street to welcome King Li.
Looking at the devastated Chang'an City, Gu Changxiao felt a lot of emotions. He was expelled from Chang'an on a rainy night.
But Chang'an at that time was as prosperous as a city in heaven. It was a place of pilgrimage in the hearts of countless people, the city of ten thousand cities, the capital of several dynasties, and the capital built with all the financial resources in the world - the capital Chang'an.
But now, the prosperity of the past has been buried, and there is nothing left. The inner treasury has been burned to ashes, and the streets are full of the bones of the nobles!
Corpses could be seen everywhere along the way, and it was impossible to tell whether the owners of these corpses were nobles, dignitaries, or ordinary people.
He sent part of his troops to help Hei Hu chase the enemy, and the rest organized the people to clean up the city and distribute porridge and medicine.
He only brought a group of personal guards to the palace, but what he saw was a situation even worse than that in the center of Chang'an city.
Some of the concubines and maids who were not taken away either committed suicide or were bullied to death, and some fled into dry wells and cellars.
They came out only after they heard that King Li had burned the Hu people and the city was safe.
Gu Changxiao stood at the highest point of the city wall and looked towards the west with a telescope. Sure enough, he saw a raging fire that seemed to be burning even the sky and the earth.
The screams of the Hu people were blown into the city by the wind. The people smelled the scent of fire in the air and saw the black ashes in the wind, and they could not believe it.
The Hu people who had just slaughtered them like wolves slaughtering lambs were now being burned and killed by the soldiers of His Highness the King of Li!
Some Hu people still escaped. Heihu requested to pursue the enemy outside the Great Wall. Gu Changxiao agreed and also sent the Northwest Army.
Not only did they have to pursue the enemy, but they also had to reorganize the northwestern border that was first breached by the Hu people and appease the people there.
When Han Xing arrived, he found that the Hu people had been driven away. He was a little angry. He had been running for so long, but he didn't kill any enemies. What a big deal! Gu Changxiao told him not to worry, because new enemies would arrive soon.
With the 30,000 infantrymen brought by Han Xing, Gu Changxiao felt more at ease and sent 10,000 to chase Hei Hu. The remaining two people cleared Chang'an City.
Gather the young and strong men in Chang'an as soldiers and be ready for Prince Yu's counterattack at any time.
Hearing that there were still some Hu people on the outskirts of the city, Han Xing was sent to lead people to encircle and suppress them, trying to kill all the Hu people without leaving a single one alive.
The war ended too quickly, beyond many people's expectations. Even Gu Changxiao himself found it incredible. He was not surprised that the Hu people's fighting power was too weak.
Instead, he was surprised at how powerful the gunpowder was! It actually blew a hole in the city wall, and the Ministry of Works was currently repairing it.
The killing power is much stronger than that of fish oil firearms. Fish oil firearms rely entirely on burning the enemy to death. If the enemy puts out the fire in time, the casualties are not high.
But gunpowder can kill people directly. The iron and steel scraps inside can kill people or horses instantly if they are hit by them.
With such powerful weapons, Gu Changxiao felt that he could definitely intimidate the small countries in the surrounding areas. He estimated that the Hu people also had a lot of reinforcements.
When they find out that this advance army has been killed and reduced to a remnant, and that there are pursuers, they probably won't dare to set foot in Daxia again for many years.
Heihu brought a lot of fish oil and gunpowder to chase the enemy. He asked to chase them outside the pass, and Gu Changxiao agreed.
But Heihu was very stubborn. The prince allowed him to chase him outside the pass, but did not say where to stop.
When the 10,000 reinforcements arrived, Hei Hu became even bolder. Damn it, I'm going to chase you to your hometown! You killed so many of my people, I'm going to kill them back too!
Black Tiger kept chasing like this, all the way out of the northwest border, and even recruited some troops there.
They continued to chase him and went straight to the Western Regions. They killed all the Hu soldiers along the way and robbed the Hu tribes when they ran out of food and grass.
Why can only you rob me, but I can't rob you? No one expected that the King of Li sent this foolish general to chase the enemy, and he actually tracked down an event that was recorded in history books.
The black tiger chased the Hu people all the way, and the Hu people fled all the way, and finally fled to Tianzhu, and the black tiger also chased to Tianzhu! This pursuit lasted for three years. Of course, this is a digression. Now let’s continue talking about Chang’an.
Because of the timely rescue by King Li's army, 70% of the people survived, and some of the people who had fled began to return.
Prince Yu, who received the news, was halfway on his way to Sichuan when he received news that Chang'an had been recaptured and the Hu people had fled.
He did not feel ashamed for abandoning the city and fleeing. Instead, he was excited: "Great! Which general is so brave and can drive out the Hu people?"
"It was His Royal Highness Prince Li! He marched all the way from the border town to Chang'an in a hurry. It only took him one night to break the city and the Hu people fled.
Currently, the King of Li is already rectifying Chang'an City, pacifying the people, repairing the city, and arranging troops to pursue the enemy..."
The reporter was interrupted by a tea bowl thrown by Prince Yu before he could finish his words. Duke Shen on the side immediately reacted: "No wonder the Hu people attacked the city so smoothly! No wonder the Northwest Pass failed to stop the Hu people.
It turned out to be the King of Li!"
Prince Yu's eyes lit up and he instantly understood what Duke Shen meant. This was to frame Prince Li for colluding with the Hu people and luring them to attack Chang'an City.
He wanted to use the Hu people to kill the emperor, and then pretend to come to rescue him.
Prince Yu was overjoyed: "Return to the city immediately! This time let the world see the true face of Prince Li! He is the traitor who colluded with foreign enemies!"
Unfortunately, they misjudged one thing: the people have eyes.
The nobles can no longer cover up everything and confuse right and wrong.
They also underestimated the border town's control over public opinion. They discovered that above the cities along the way, there were huge colorful cloth balls floating with countless pieces of paper falling from them.
When Prince Yu got the paper and looked at it, he was so angry that he almost fell off his horse.
It describes in plain language how Prince Yu abandoned the people in Chang'an and fled the city when the Hu people invaded.
It also describes how Prince Li rescued the city of Chang'an, and even the story of the Northwest Army, showing that the generals sent by Prince Yu were incompetent.
When the enemy attacked the pass, we abandoned the fight and fled, allowing the Hu people to march straight in and kill our people.
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