News from the mountains
Chapter 38: News from the Mountain
When Chu Huai heard about the subsequent Hongsheng cake, she smiled as if she knew a lot. Aren't these the cloud cakes and rice dumplings that students in their previous life had to eat before the college entrance examination? They symbolize high school. The day before the college entrance examination, everyone would take a bite, even if they didn't like to eat them normally.
The student probably reached a certain level, and then got a psychological hint to stop being nervous, so passing the imperial examination was a piece of cake. However, there was no such thing as psychological hint at that time, so the credit could only be attributed to Hongsheng Cake.
However, it is also good for students to eat it often. Studying requires a lot of brainpower. If you are from a poor family and cannot get enough nutrition, eating this brown sugar steamed cake can be regarded as a sugar supplement. It is better to have it than not.
That day, Chu Huaibei received a letter from the palace soldiers, saying that they had made samples in the mountains and hoped that the prince would take a look. Chu Huaibei was very excited when he received the letter. He calculated the date and found that tomorrow was the day for the personal soldiers' three-day patrol, which was just the right time for them to set off together. He was too lazy to find another excuse.
After dinner in the evening, she reported her itinerary to her mother and Hu Zhidu. She would leave the mansion for the mountains and return home in six days. It would take three days for both the patrol of the personal soldiers and the caravan to get from Youzhou to Qizhou. She would lead a team of people to travel on fast horses and arrive in two days. She would stay in the mountains for two days and then return to the barracks with the patrol of the personal soldiers.
The two nodded in understanding. The concubine reminded them to be careful and let them go back to rest.
After returning to the room, the two of them stayed together for a while. Sun Mingsi reminded them again to be careful, and then they fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next day, Chu Huaibei arrived at the military camp early. After getting ready, he took Xue Zhan with him and left the deputy general to manage the military camp. The group then left quickly.
General Guo Jun of Huaihua felt something was amiss when he saw Chu Huaibei patrolling with his personal soldiers. It was already the end of October, and in half a month they would have to start preparing for the annual patrol. There was really no need to travel at this point in time.
Guo Jun called in his confidant and sent him to follow the patrol team from a distance to prevent them from discovering them.
Chu Huaibei and Xue Zhan quickly separated from the group and headed straight for Qizhou. Guo Jun's trusted confidant, Qian Dashi, lagged far behind and saw the King of Zhenbei leading a small group of men quickly leaving, apparently heading east. It was unclear whether they were heading to Lizhou or Qizhou. Qian Dashi had no choice but to take a small road to Lizhou and ask the city guard if he had seen the King of Zhenbei coming. The guard replied that he had not seen anyone.
He originally thought that he had followed the wrong route and was about to return to the barracks to report to the general. However, he did not expect that at the tea stall outside the city where he was resting, he heard some merchants talking. On the road, he met a group of people rushing past his caravan and heading east. They looked exhausted and worried. He wondered if something had happened.
Master Qian left money for his tea on the table, then mounted his horse and headed eastward toward Qizhou. After two hours of swift pursuit, he finally spotted a group of small black dots on the distant grasslands. Why didn't the prince take the official road, but instead went around the grasslands?
Qian Dashi followed behind and saw the Zhenbei King and his group enter the mountains. After some thought, he decided not to pursue them. He was alone and unfamiliar with the mountains, so he reported the news to the general and let him make the decision. He rushed back to the barracks overnight and almost ran his beloved horse to death. Heartbroken, he personally fed it beans and brown sugar water.
"Reporting to the general, I saw the King of Zhenbei leading his men into the mountains of Qizhou, so I immediately rushed back to report to the general."
"Well, well done. The terrain in the mountains is complicated. If you go in alone, you won't be able to catch anyone and it's easy for something to happen."
"Thank you for your concern, General! I am willing to lead people into the mountains to investigate." Master Qian was deeply moved when he heard that the general was thinking about him.
"There's no rush now. Wait until Prince Zhenbei returns to the camp, then you can take people to explore. Go back and have a good rest. You've been rushing for two days and two nights. You've worked hard." Guo Jun patted his confidant's shoulder, motioning him to go back and rest first.
"Yes, General, I will return to the tent and rest now."
Master Qian bowed and took his leave. Tired after two days, he returned to his tent and fell asleep immediately.
Guo Jun stroked the paperweight, wondering whether he should pass on this unusual news first. After pondering for a while, he still didn't pick up the pen. Without personally witnessing anything, he couldn't do anything to the King of Zhenbei by bringing a small group into the mountains. Later, if he said he felt like going hunting in the mountains, it wouldn't be impossible.
Guo Jun had a hunch that this was something unusual, and he made up his mind to go and see for himself after the King of Zhenbei returned to the camp.
Chu Huaibei was in a hurry to get on the road, and the people who were pursuing them were so far away that they didn't notice that anyone saw them enter the mountains.
Chu Huaibei went straight to the ironworks after entering the mountain. After sending a message the day before yesterday, he found palace soldiers waiting on the way in. Following the palace soldiers to the open space of the workshop, he saw three large defensive weapons: a kerosene catapult, a heavy crossbow, and a Zhuge magic crossbow.
This was Xue Zhan's first time seeing this thing, but he could already guess how it would work based on its appearance. Although he didn't know its power, just looking at it was already quite intimidating.
Chu Huaibei first tested the kerosene trolley, a modified version of the catapult. While the catapult threw stones, this one threw kerosene canisters. Kerosene was placed in an iron container, ignited, and thrown. Whether the canister hit someone or spilled the kerosene mid-flight, any enemy troops caught in it would instantly lose their combat effectiveness.
The test was conducted with water, of course! The main purpose was to measure the throwing distance. To facilitate the test, the garrison soldiers had already cut down a row of trees in advance, and calculated the throwing distance of the catapult to be half as long as the original distance.
Chu Huaibei installed the kerosene tank and triggered the engine expansion, watching the tank fly out in a parabola and finally land in the dense forest behind, which was far farther than the reserved test track. Chu Huaibei went to find the landing point herself and calculated the distance. She was very surprised. Her original goal was to increase it by half, but she didn't expect it to be doubled now. The effect was significant. The Mongolian army would definitely suffer a loss if it experienced this for the first time.
Next, he tested the second heavy crossbow. The entire crossbow was made of iron, its arrows shaped like triangular pyramids with barbs. The crossbow was a two-meter-long wooden stick, three fingers thick. It could only fire one arrow at a time. This time, Chu Huaibei fired it into the gap at the end of the test track to see how far it could reach and how powerful it was.
With a "buzz" sound, the crossbow arrow broke through the air and hit a big tree outside the test road. The distance was a bit far and everyone could not see the specific situation clearly. After the arrow was shot, Chu Huaibei ran to find the crossbow arrow.
The crossbow arrow had already penetrated half of the tree, leaving only the other half still vibrating slightly. Xue Zhan's eyes widened at the sight. If this arrow had hit a person, both the person and the arrow would have been sent flying. He reached out to pull the crossbow arrow out, "Ah, I overestimated my abilities. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Highness." He withdrew his hand awkwardly.
Chu Huaibei thought that it was a triangular cone with barbs, and it would not be easy to pull it out, so he called the palace soldiers and directly cut down the tree and brought it back to the workshop.
It was time for the finale, the Zhuge Divine Crossbow. He grabbed a basket of small crossbow bolts and loaded them into the crossbow trigger, which held a hundred at a time. He cocked the bowstring, pulled the trigger, and instantly ten bolts blasted out. He continued to cock and trigger rapidly until all the hundred bolts were fired. The Divine Crossbow was perfectly crafted, though its range wasn't as far as a heavy crossbow. This weapon was originally designed to withstand close-range sieges, capable of unleashing a large number of bolts in a short period of time, a strategy that relied on sheer volume to achieve victory.
Xue Zhan's eyes lit up when he saw the magical crossbow. This one man was worth a hundred archers. "Your Highness, can I try it?" He looked at the basket of crossbow arrows next to him and looked at Chu Huaibei with anticipation.
"Sure, you can try it too. Did you learn how to use it just now?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty! I have learned it!"
Chu Huaibei gave up his position to Xue Zhan and watched him operate. Although he only watched it once, he followed her previous steps exactly. Apart from being slow, there were no other problems, especially the last two times. His face flushed red when he was winding up. It seemed that Xue Zhan needed to increase his training...
This can be regarded as an experiment using Xue Zhan. Ordinary people do not have as much strength as her. In the future, people who use this Zhuge magic crossbow must undergo strength training, otherwise they will not be able to fire a wave of crossbow arrows as quickly as her.
All three weapons were crafted with great success. Chu Huaibei rewarded each of the sixteen craftsmen with twenty taels of silver, and the thirty apprentices with two months' wages. Everyone was delighted, their two months of hard work being recognized.
Chu Huaibei led everyone into the workshop, took out the blueprints from his arms, and spread them out on the blackboard. First, there was a blueprint for a carriage. While the carriage's design was novel, it was still within everyone's comprehension. Only the springs were marked on the load-bearing axles; no one could tell at first glance what they were.
"Let me focus on this spring. It is used for shock absorption, but ordinary iron cannot meet the elasticity requirements. Iron must be refined into steel before it can be used. I have written the steelmaking method on the last page. You can go back and test it to make steel before you can continue making it." Chu Huaibei explained.
Continuing to look at the back, there's a miniature sleeve arrow. I can understand the production process, but it's too small, and the craftsmanship is greatly increased. Finally, there's a uniquely shaped knife, described in the drawings as a triangular bayonet. The blade has three blades, a concave blood groove in the middle, and the whole blade has a rotating arc that leads to a sharp tip.
As soon as the knife appeared, the five of them immediately understood that if they really succeeded, it would be the enemy's nightmare. If the knife stabbed the upper torso and broke the internal cavity, there would be no possibility of treatment.
Seeing that they had finished their preliminary inspection, Chu Huaibei said, "This miniature sleeve arrow and triangular bayonet also need to be made of steel. Ordinary iron cannot be used to make such delicate components. You should study them carefully and make samples before I go into the mountains."
Having stayed in the mountains for two days, Chu Huaibei had to rush back to reunite with the patrolling soldiers. After arranging the affairs in the mountains, he led his men back.
Back at the barracks, no one except General Guo Jun of Huaihua knew Chu Huaibei had left mid-camp. Chu Huaibei tasked Xue Zhan with selecting a 200-man archery corps and intensifying their training in preparation for the future Divine Crossbow Corps. Xue Zhan complied, wisely intensifying his own strength training. Seeing the general's diligence, the selected soldiers naturally didn't want to be left behind. The prince had promised that if they were chosen, they would receive a monthly salary increase and even more military merit on the battlefield!
After enduring for two days, Xue Zhan still couldn't hold it in any longer and asked Chu Huaibei to order a triangular bayonet. At that time, he was fascinated by the three-dimensional knife drawn on the drawing. Not only was it very lethal, but it was also very handsome. It was exactly to his liking. How could the prince be so smart that he could even draw such a weapon?
Seeing Xue Zhan's eyes full of desire for the triangular bayonet, Chu Huaibei agreed without hesitation, as it was originally intended for his trusted associates. He then instructed Xue Zhan to regularly take his men to the Qizhou area to investigate, and to kill any suspicious individuals without mercy. Xue Zhan, knowing the gravity of the situation, nodded and accepted the task.
Three days later, Guo Jun asked Chu Huaibei for permission to inspect the camps and defenses in Lizhou, and Chu Huaibei approved it. Several generals were supposed to conduct regular inspections across the six prefectures, and this time it was Guo Jun's turn to go to Lizhou.
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