Prosperous Tang Blood Blade

I saw that under the city, Tang Jun densely arranged more than 3 horses.Although the soldiers of the Tang army did not start to attack the city at this time, there were quite a few people.

"Sure enough, it's Chen Ying'er playing tricks!" Liu Wuzhou breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, "Fortunately, I saw through his tricks in advance, otherwise I would have suffered a lot!"

"It's not right, it's not right!" Fan Junzhang pointed to the densely packed Tang army officers and men with shaking heads: "These Tang soldiers seem to be different from the original Tang army!"

Liu Wuzhou took a closer look and found that it was indeed the case.

Although Da Tao is still the Da Tao of the Tang Dynasty, less than one-third of these so-called Tang Army officers and soldiers wear Tang Army standard armor, and most of them actually wear ordinary people's clothes.Although the armor rate of the Tang army may not be [-]% like that of the right guard, these Tang army officers and soldiers don't even have Tang army uniforms.As for the weapons in their hands, they are even more varied.

Liu Wuzhou said: "Where did Chen Ying's soldiers come from?"

Fan Junzhang was also at a loss.

In fact, if Liu Wuzhou knew the source of Chen Ying's soldiers and horses, he might be so angry that he would vomit blood.

In fact, Chen Ying also felt baffled. When he captured Shuozhou, he got only three or four thousand surviving civilians in the three counties of Shuozhou.More than [-]% of these people are old, weak, sick and disabled.

However, as Chen Ying recovered the whole territory of Shuozhou, his soldiers approached the city of Yanmen Pass.At this time, a large number of people suddenly appeared. At the beginning, there were only hundreds or thousands of people. However, in just one day, more than 2 people gathered under the banner of Chen Ying's "Tang" character. [-] people.

These [-] young and strong are basically composed of the children of the six wealthy families in Shuozhou or their vassal families. In Shuozhou, the Zhao family is the first, followed by the Xu family, and the Guo, Dong, Ren, and Feng families are slightly smaller.

The Zhao family, Zhao Boying, led seven sons, a total of more than [-] young and strong, who directly joined Chen Ying's command.Xu Caifu of the Xu family led three sons with a total of more than [-] young and strong, and others such as Guo Rui led more than [-] people to join Chen Ying.

In fact, Zhao Boying, Guo Rui, Dong An, Ren Bi, and Feng Kelan took refuge in Chen Ying, not because Chen Ying expected them to, but because they were annoyed that Liu Wuzhou persecuted them too much. Seeing Shuozhou change hands, the six major families together did not hesitate to pay any price. , Help Chen Ying gain a firm foothold in Shuozhou.

Chapter 51 trebuchet does not do this

Chen Ying looked at the young men led by Zhao Boying, Guo Rui, Xu Caifu, Dong An, Ren Bi, and Feng Kelan. Most of these young men were dressed in rags and looked hungry. He said in his heart, "Fathers and brothers in Shuozhou, you are in Huzhou. Among the captives, Huaxia is not forgotten, and such loyalty has shined through the history, this general manager promises to everyone, that he will definitely ask His Majesty Chang'an Emperor for credit for you."

Luo Shixin, Liang Zan and other generals hurried forward to help everyone up.Zhao Boying, Guo Rui, Xu Caifu, Dong An, Ren Bi, Feng Kelan and others all thought in their hearts: "This group of soldiers from the Tang Dynasty are not aggressive at all, but very friendly. But Shibi Khan They even died at their hands."

The more modest Tang Jun behaved, the more awed Shuozhou elders became.

Chen Ying led the soldiers of the Lingzhou Army and nearly [-] civilians to show off their power under the city of Yanmen Pass, and then withdrew the troops and returned to the camp.

Chen Ying hosted a banquet in the big tent of the Chinese army in honor of the family elders and core backbones, about a hundred people in total.

Occupying Shuozhou, Chen Ying seized a lot of supplies.Especially in the treasury of Shuozhou City, there are more than [-] shi of grain alone, and more than one-third of it is old grain for many years, which has already begun to go moldy.As for the Turkic tribes raided along the way, millions of cattle and sheep were seized.

Chen Ying was not a stingy person in the first place, but now seeing these miserable young men, his heart moved inexplicably.

Anyway, Chen Ying is not stingy when it comes to generosity to others. Except for the elders and core backbones who can enter the big tent to participate in the banquet, Chen Ying is not stingy with ordinary young people.Sheep were killed one by one, skinned, and chopped with a big knife. The large pieces of mutton, about one catty a piece, were thrown into the military cauldron without washing, poured water and salt, and then the fire began to boil.

In this day and age, eating meat is a very luxurious thing.Many people may not be able to eat a little meat a year.

As for the big tent, it looks different.The roasted whole lamb is full of aroma.Before the banquet started, there was a sound of swallowing saliva from inside the big tent.

Zhao Boying, with gray hair and beard, smiled embarrassedly: "I haven't seen meat for more than a year, and the general laughed at me!"

"The emperor is not short of starving soldiers." Chen Ying said with a smile: "Everyone who joins the general manager and welcomes the master of the Tang Dynasty, this loyalty alone is enough to be respected. You don't have to be polite, everyone has a share. Shuo There are still more than 5 shi of grain in Zhoucheng, and there are [-] young and strong, one person counts as one, try to carry as much as you can carry."

Hearing this, the big tent suddenly became silent.

Zhao Boying and Xu Caifu are both good people, they looked at each other.There is a bright mirror in my heart.They thought, Chen Ying was using food to buy them young and strong, and it seemed that Chen Ying was going to force Yanmen to close.I don't know how many of these young and strong people will die in Yanmen Pass.At this moment, a young man with a sallow complexion like a consumptive ghost said in a low voice: "The price offered by General Chen is not low. In this season, a bucket of grain can be exchanged for a big girl with yellow flowers, and a stone of grain can be bought. A young man. We are not at a loss."

Everyone whispered, and villains discussed.

In fact, they really wronged Chen Ying. In fact, Chen Ying had no intention of attacking Yanmen Pass at all, but simply looked at them with pity.Who ever thought, they misunderstood.Everyone discussed for less than a quarter of an hour, Zhao Boying took the lead, got up and said to Chen Ying: "Thank you, General Chen!"

Chen Ying underestimated these skinny men with more than 120 shi of grain.In Chen Yingxiang's mind, walking a stone on one's back is very remarkable. With a weight of [-] kilograms, an adult can carry it on his back for a short distance.However, to Chen Ying's surprise, Shuozhou City was evacuated overnight.The [-] shi of grain was all transported away by these young men.

For an empty treasury, Chen Ying didn't take it seriously.If Zhang Huaiwei or Ashina Simo can break through the three outer barriers and enter the Taiyuan Basin, Chen Ying can also snatch back ten times the grain.

In the early morning of that day, nearly [-] young and strong people came to the camp of the Lingzhou Army with a determined face. When these people came, they brought a lot of wood. There are more than tens of millions of trees near Yanmen Mountain, and what Fan Junzhang cut down is not even a drop in the bucket.

These young and strong people transported more than [-] logs of wood to Yanmen Pass in just half a day by using people to carry carts. Seeing this scene, Liu Wuzhou did not dare to be careless at all. He once sent cavalry to attack, but just now When they left the city, they were all eaten by the cavalry cavalry of Dingyuan Army led by Luo Shixin at the sixth turn.

More than [-] people did not stand up for even a quarter of an hour in front of Dingyuan's army, which made Liu Wuzhou almost go crazy with fright.

Although his two thousand cavalrymen are not as good as the Turkic elite, even if the Turkic people want to eat his two thousand cavalrymen, it may not be possible for a while.

Tang Jun's fighting power is too scary.

Seeing this scene, the Shuozhou disciples strengthened their confidence in joining Datang.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Boying was filled with hope to survive.Since the Tang army is so strong, I am afraid that many Shuozhou children will survive this battle.

Chen Ying looked at Zhao Boying and said: "Old Mr. Zhao, the three counties of Shuozhou were taken back, but they got less than [-] people. Where did the rest of the people hide?"

Zhao Boying said: "Since ancient times, the Dingkou of the Great Dynasty has been counted. In some prefectures and counties, officials deliberately increased their household registrations to pretend to be political achievements. In the end, the Ministry of Households will summarize again, and the ministers of the court will modify, add, and delete according to the emperor's likes and dislikes at that time, and the needs of the current situation. The final figures are recorded in the annals, that is, they are reported to the emperor on the same day. This number can only be used as a human The emperor participates in the prison, but it cannot be regarded as the original number."

Chen Ying gasped a little when he heard that, but he was relieved when he thought about the census practices of later generations. It will still be the same after 1000 years. How can he be strict with people who are far behind in statistical technology?

But I heard Zhao Boying continue to say: "Generally speaking, the household registration gradually becomes more prominent when the politics is lenient, and the household registration gradually disappears when the politics is harsh. Participation. There are many benefits. Therefore, the household registration is gradually revealed; politics is harsh, and the law does not protect the people. The path of studying and becoming an official is not smooth. Those who are registered in the household registration are subject to all inventory, and there are many disadvantages, so the household registration is hidden."

Take Shuozhou as an example. Under the rule of Liu Wuzhou, Shuozhou has three counties and one prefecture in Mingmian, with a total of more than 970 households and a population of more than 18. In the 360th year of the Sui Dynasty, Mayi The county has 130 households and [-] ​​people.

In fact, except for the hidden population from tax evasion.The military disasters suffered are also the main reason for the population decline.The Turkic people regard Shuozhou as their own vegetable garden, and they can pick it whenever they want. Therefore, the common people have to abandon the official land and hide in the deep mountains and old forests in order to make a living.

Chen Ying also understands after thinking about it. In history, from the Five Husbands in China, to the Mongols' destruction of the Song Dynasty and the entry of the Manchus, every time Shenzhou fell, it was accompanied by bloody massacres.The Huaxia nation has always existed, but in fact, it mainly relies on the hidden population to breed offspring.When the Turks were raging on the land of Shuozhou,

They all hid in the deep mountains and old forests, and only appeared timidly when they saw Tang Jun recovering Shuozhou.In fact, even if Zhao Boying didn't say anything, Chen Ying could guess that the [-] or so people they had appeared were not all of the hidden population, and there were probably a large number of them hiding.

The people of Huaxia are actually versatile workers.If you pick up a hoe, you are a farmer, you can farm, if you pick up a weapon, you can fight, and if you pick up a tool, you are a craftsman.Without Chen Ying's order, these young men spontaneously began to use wood to build siege equipment.Some people are building simple siege ladders, filling trenches, charging goose carts, rushing carts hitting the city gates, suppressing the nest carts of crossbowmen on the city wall, and siege heavy weapon trebuchets. Assembled, and over time, more and more of these instruments.

As early as the Warring States period, the Yue State had already used primitive "artillery" weapons that could throw stones weighing 500 jin to a distance of [-] steps.Later, Cao Cao also used the catapult machine. The "Thunderbolt Chariot" used to attack Yuan Shao's camp in the "Battle of Guandu" was a catapult machine with a loud sound when fired.The trebuchet is to use manpower to pull the tip connected to the crossbar together at a place far away from the catapult (the tip of the gun is mounted on a wooden frame, one end is tied with a rope to hold the holster for the stone bullet, and the other end is tied with many ropes. , which is convenient for manpower to pull) to throw the stone bullets, which are divided into single-shot and multi-shot.There are thirteen shoots at most, and a maximum of [-] people are required to cast them.

At this time, the trebuchet built by the children of Shuozhou belonged to the five-point trebuchet. This kind of trebuchet needs two people to hold it, and four to fifty people to pull it. , or throwing a twelve-pound stone bomb more than 50 steps away.Such a trebuchet is actually not very powerful.

Even though Chen Ying didn't specialize in anti-military history research, he knew the principles and manufacturing methods of these catapults, which were too backward, and the efficiency conversion rate of pull-type catapults was too low.If a counterweight trebuchet is used, even if it cannot smash through Yanmen Pass, at least it can increase the casualties of Liu Wuzhou's army.

The trebuchet is a very powerful weapon, but its deterrent significance is greater than its practical significance.During the Mongol war against the Song Dynasty, the Mongol army entered Xiangyang and adopted return cannons. In fact, the city of Xiangyang was broken, but it was not the return cannons that contributed to it, but the Southern Song guard Lv Wenhuan's failure to keep the Yuan at the end of the festival, which led to the fall of Xiangyang.Hezhou Diaoyu City, which also used return artillery to attack the city, held on for more than 30 years, until the defeat of Yashan and the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty. Wang Lizai, the guard of Diaoyu City, led the soldiers and civilians of Diaoyu City to surrender to the Yuan army after receiving a promise from the Yuan army not to slaughter the city. .

Thinking of this, Chen Ying stepped forward and said, "Tabuchet, you didn't do that!"

Chapter 52 Poor Parents in the World

Although he didn't know Chen Ying, Ge Tong knew Zhao Boying, the patriarch of his family.Looking at Zhao Boying following behind Chen Ying, at half shoulder position, it was obvious that Chen Ying's status was higher than Zhao Boying's.In Ge Tong's eyes, Zhao Boying, the old man from his own family, is already a great big shot.Zhao Boying served as the magistrate of Shanyang County when he was young.The person who can make Zhao Boying bow his knees is at least not something he can offend.

Ge Tong is a family of craftsmen for generations, and his skills are also good.Of course, he has a bad temper. If Chen Ying's words were replaced by his ordinary people's words, Ge Tong would definitely make him go as far as he could.However, since he saw that Chen Ying's status was good, and he was hard on Chen Ying, it must be purely against himself.

Ge Tong saluted Chen Ying, and asked softly: "I wonder what kind of cannon you want to make? It's not just a little old man. I, Ge Tong, have been craftsmen for generations. I can make from single-stem cannons to the largest thirteen-stem cannons."

Since the invention of the catapult in China during the Western Zhou Dynasty, manpower was used to pull the tip (gun tip) connected to the crossbar together at a place far away from the catapult.This situation has not changed for more than 2000 years.It was not until Mongolia invaded the Song Dynasty and brought the counterweight trebuchet to Xiangyang for the first time that the ancient Chinese traditional trebuchet slowly withdrew from the stage of history.

Of course, the power utilization of traditional manpower trebuchet is extremely low.For example, the seven-tip cannon requires 250 people to pull it at the same time to throw the stone bullets out. However, in actual operation, it is almost difficult for these 250 people to keep pace and work in one place.

However, although the principle of the counterweight trebuchet is the same as that of the traditional Chinese trebuchet, they all adopt the principle of leverage, but there is a heavy object at one end, and a stone bullet to be fired at the other end. Use a winch, a pulley or directly pull it down with manpower, and the other end with the heavy object is also rising at this time. After placing the stone bullet, let go or cut the rope, let one end of the heavy object fall, and the stone bullet is also thrown out .