Chapter 188
"Bang." The gunpowder exploded, raising a huge cloud of dust. The soldiers who were close to him were covered in dust, but he didn't mind at all. He continued to spit out what entered his mouth, and ran over to say, "Sir, this is much more powerful than the gunpowder that the Northern Army usually uses."
Lin Shuge has been helping the arsenal manufacture gunpowder outside the city of Yandu for some time now, and he has a lot of feelings in his heart. As expected of a talent affiliated with the central government, he can learn things quickly. Looking at the gunpowder he manufactured these days, Lin Shuge feels a great sense of accomplishment.
"Sir Lingcheng, we have just tested a batch of newly made gunpowder. No wonder the guards were able to defeat the Huns with it. The sound alone can scare the shit out of them." The soldier said to a man in official uniform, getting carried away with pride.
This man was Zhang Lingcheng, who controlled the military weapons. Dayan set up an armory office, and the official who managed the armory office was called the Armory Commander. During the time Lin Shuge spent with him, he felt that Dayan was full of talented people. After he drew the blueprint of the improved musket, this person pointed to the blueprint and said that it would take time to place the projectiles with the musket. If the enemy took advantage of this time to attack, they would definitely not be able to defend themselves. It would be better to use a crossbow to fire multiple projectiles continuously.
After hearing this, Lin Shuge couldn't help but sigh, isn't this the machine gun of later generations? I couldn't help but admire the brave men of this era even more. Maybe Dayan can develop more advanced weapons in the future.
Zhang Lingcheng went forward and carefully checked the width and depth of the deep pit created by the explosion. After recording them one by one, he said, "Doctor Lin, when will the Qin Mo you mentioned arrive?"
Ever since Lin Shuge told Zhang Lingcheng that Xiang Ligu could almost manufacture all the drawings he had drawn before, Zhang Lingcheng had been eagerly waiting for Xiang Ligu's arrival to start developing the automatic-firing musket.
Lin Shuge lit a candle for Xiang Ligu in his heart. Zhang Lingcheng was a very serious person and was quite like a scientific research maniac in later generations. When Lin Shuge first arrived, he discovered that the gunpowder made by the Northern Army was not pure enough and the proportions were also problematic, so accidents often occurred during explosions. Either the gunpowder was ignited but did not explode, or it exploded too early and injured people.
Lin Shuge told Zhang Lingcheng about this problem. Unexpectedly, after hearing it, this man forgot to eat and sleep for several days and nights. He would eat early when he was hungry, and personally worked on the formula. Finally, he made a gunpowder similar to the one used in the northwest.
But after hearing that Xiangli Gu had already made it and that the Northwestern garrison commander had used this kind of gunpowder in the battle against the Huns, Zhang Lingcheng naturally wanted to recruit Xiangli Gu all the time. Therefore, every day when he saw Lin Shuge, he would ask when Xiangli Gu would arrive.
"It's a long way from the northwest to Yandu. It will take at least a month." How can it be that fast? And we can't grow wings and fly here, Lin Shuge secretly complained.
Zhang Lingcheng sighed, and without even looking at the effect of the remaining explosives, he walked away with his hands behind his back. Lin Shuge was also helpless. Xiangli Gu was not there, and it was not convenient for him to use others. He decided to go and see how Zhongxuan was doing.
The northwest side of Yandu was where Xie Chen's cavalry was stationed. The Changshui cavalry had taken in many foreign soldiers who had surrendered to the Han Dynasty. When Xie Chen came to Yandu this time, he also brought some Qiang cavalry and Xiongnu cavalry who had previously returned to the Han Dynasty, and now they naturally became part of it.
Naturally, the new and old soldiers cannot be simply put together. These people have always respected the strong and no one is willing to submit to anyone else. The cavalry soldiers who were conquered by Xie Chen believed that they were only defeated by Xie Chen. This lord is now the most powerful general in the entire Great Yan. Since they followed Xie Chen to Yandu, they are naturally Xie Chen's confidants, much better than these playboys who stay in the rich and powerful.
The old soldiers were even more dissatisfied. They thought they were capable and experienced, and had guarded Yandu for so many years, so they should not be overwhelmed by a group of newcomers. However, since Xie Chen was also new here, these people could not see Xie Chen's intentions, so they deliberately picked trouble, and the two groups almost came to blows.
It was only after He Xin came to tell Xie Chen that Xie Chen set about to find out the whole story. This matter was just a matter of the east wind prevailing over the west wind, so he thought of holding a competition first to make the loser admit defeat.
When Lin Shuge arrived, the atmosphere in the entire training ground was very serious. He walked in slowly, and seeing Xie Chen with an angry look on his face, he asked He Xin who was cautiously standing beside him, "What happened?"
He Xin said: "Just now, the new and old soldiers formed two teams to compete with each other. In the end, the new soldiers brought by the adults won. The old soldiers were dissatisfied and the two sides almost fought. If it weren't for the adults' arrows to scare them, I'm afraid today..."
So that's how it is. Xie Chen noticed Lin Shuge's arrival and walked over to him and asked, "Brother, why are you here?"
Lin Shuge looked at the tense atmosphere below and said to Xie Chen, "Come closer and I'll tell you something."
Xie Chen did not doubt him and leaned over to listen. Lin Shuge told him his plan. After listening, Xie Chen smiled and said, "I know what to do."
He walked to the center of the team and said, "Since you are not satisfied with the result of the previous competition, let's compete again. Everyone, put your heels together, stand with your legs straight, and keep your upper limbs as straight as a pine tree. Stand for two hours first, and keep track of the time."
Someone in the crowd scoffed, "How difficult is that?"
Xie Chen was in a good mood: "You, add another hour."
After these words were spoken, no one dared to speak anymore. The late autumn in Yandu was not as cold as that in the northwest, but it also had a somewhat solemn and murderous atmosphere. When the cold wind blew, some people could hardly stand.
Xie Chen gave He Xin a look. He Xin walked through several lines of troops and saw a soldier moving lazily. He suddenly hit him with his knee. The man immediately fell to his knees and glared at him, "What are you doing, sir?"
Xie Chen said coldly: "If your movements are not standard, you will be punished for another hour. Those who don't do well today will not be allowed to eat."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone came out and shouted, "Captain, I don't accept it."
Xie Chen sneered: "Why are you dissatisfied?"
"Sir, the captain is from the northwest, so he probably doesn't know the training in the Yandu military camp. I have never heard of this kind of training method. I'm afraid that Sir wants to take this opportunity to punish us."
This man was the troublemaker who led the riot. As soon as he spoke, the old soldiers responded immediately and started to make a noise, saying, "Cai Xing is right. We don't accept it. Why should we be punished?"
"Zhongxuan." Lin Shuge was a little worried.
"In that case, how do you think we should compete?" Xie Chen gave Lin Shuge a soothing smile.
"I've heard that Captain General is an excellent archer. Naturally, we dare not compete with you in horseback archery. How about a competition of strength?" Cai Xing said loudly. When some soldiers heard him say that they wanted to compete in strength, they started to make a noise. It seemed that this man must have some skills and was very strong.
Xie Chen smiled playfully and nodded, "Okay, how do we compare?"
"There are two stone lions in front of the armory. The one who can lift them up is the winner. If I win, we will not participate in your training, and the soldiers you bring must be respectful to us."
When Lin Shuge heard that Cai Xing wanted to compete in strength, he immediately put his heart at ease. Others might not know Xie Chen's strength, but how could he not know it?
"Okay." Xie Chen looked calm, but his eyes were full of coldness. He glanced at the soldiers in the team who were constantly shouting and cheering. He was a man who had walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. This glance made everyone's hair stand on end. They dared not shout anymore and just looked at Cai Xing expectantly.
Cai Xing didn't pay attention to all this. He had already strode towards the armory. He shouted loudly, spat twice on his hands, and hugged a stone lion tightly with both hands. His face was red and veins on his neck were bulging.
With a loud bang, the base of the stone lion left the ground. The old soldiers cheered loudly. Cai Xing smiled triumphantly at Xie Chen, "Sir, it's your turn."
Xie Chen looked at his trembling legs and shaking arms, said nothing, walked to another stone lion, bent his legs slightly, exerted a little force with his hands, and lifted the stone lion up. To others, it seemed like he lifted the entire stone lion effortlessly.
The soldiers were dumbfounded. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Xie Chen still had strength and was lifting the weight with ease, but Cai Xing over there was already gritting his teeth and holding on.
A soldier saw Cai Xing sweating and looking blue, and he seemed to be unable to hold on, so he hurriedly said, "Old Cai, don't hold on any longer. Just admit defeat."
"I... I haven't lost yet." Cai Xing used all his strength to try to lift up again, but his body fell backwards. The huge stone lion also fell backwards with his movement, and was about to fall on him. Everyone's heart was in their throat.
With a loud bang, no one dared to look anymore.
Cai Xing closed his eyes, but the pain he imagined did not come. He opened his eyes and saw Xie Chen holding the falling stone lion with both hands and said to him, "Get out of the way."
Cai Xing didn't know where he got the strength from, but he crawled away. Xie Chen took a deep breath, exerted force with both arms, and lifted the stone lion up and put it back to its original place.
The air was so quiet that it was a little scary. Cai Xing's hands were still shaking slightly, but he said, "Thank you very much for saving my life, Captain. I'm sorry for offending you before. Now that you have saved me, my life belongs to you."
"I dare not take your life. Keep it to guard the capital." Xie Chen brushed the dust off his hands and said casually.
The other soldiers looked at Xie Chen with admiration in their eyes, as a real man should be. In an instant, all their dissatisfaction disappeared in the face of absolute strength.
Lin Shuge glanced at Cai Xing and his "accomplices" who were standing at attention very seriously, and thought to himself: "A new official must naturally subdue these old men. Cai Xing and his men are not convinced by Xie Chen's soldiers, but in the final analysis, they are still not convinced by Xie Chen."
They only heard that Xie Chen defeated the Huns and was indeed a great general, but no one had ever seen Xie Chen's abilities with their own eyes. In addition, there were new and old contradictions, and it was necessary to distinguish who was greater and who was lesser, which led to today's farce.
But it’s better to bring this matter to light as soon as possible, otherwise there will be disgusting consequences in the future.
Seeing that they were behaving well and not making trouble, Xie Chen came over, snatched the water bag from Lin Shuge and took a sip, "I will arrange the other training that my brother mentioned after we finish today's training."
"The most important thing in training ordinary soldiers is not who is strong or weak, but obedience. Since they are not obedient, then increase the amount of training every day so that they have no time to think about other things. Naturally, obedience will be the only thing in their minds." Lin Shuge said.
"Brother, what you said makes sense." Xie Chen thought for a moment and said, "How is the progress of the armory?"
"We have already made a new batch of gunpowder. By the way, Zhongxuan, in a few days you can pick a few soldiers with good performance from the training and give them some thunder bombs. With rewards and punishments, they will obey you more." Lin Shuge thought about the situation today, "Also, arrange some tasks that require soldiers to help each other. It is best to separate the new and old troops."
Xie Chen naturally understood what he meant. His eyebrows curved a few times and he felt a little itchy in his heart, but he had to endure it because there were people around him.
"Sir, sir, something happened." Lao Zhang ran over and looked at Xie Chen first, then hesitated for a long time without saying anything.
Lao Zhang was a straightforward person. He had never been so embarrassed before. He Xin said angrily, "Just say what you want to say. Why are you hesitating?"
Seeing that the three were all looking at him, Lao Zhang said, "I was wandering around the street for a while today. I was just wandering around for something, and heard the people say that Sir... Sir..."
He Xin was almost dying of anxiety, "Just tell me."
Seeing that Old Zhang looked somewhat panicked and kept staring at Xie Chen, Lin Shuge's heart began to beat wildly. Could it be that Zhongxuan's background had been discovered by others?
Sure enough, Lao Zhang continued: "The people all said that the adults' surname was not Wei. He swallowed, glanced at Xie Chen again and said: "Actually, his surname is Xie. He is the descendant of Mr. Xie, Xie Chen. ”
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