Prosperous Tang Blood Blade

Although the soldiers and horses are elite, Li Jiancheng is not worried.Not to mention five thousand soldiers, even if there were ten times more troops, it would still have no effect on Chang'an.After all, from Lingzhou to Chang'an, it is not defenseless. In history, the Turkic Jieli was able to successfully invade Chang'an and reach the Weishui River, mainly because Li Jiancheng's troops and horses were deployed along the northern routes of Ling, Qing, Xia, Bing, and Jin. After Li Jiancheng was killed, facing the attack of the Turkic army, these generals all chose to sit on the sidelines, which made Li Shimin embarrassed.

Jieli Khan's retreat was not entirely because of Li Shimin's strategy to win, but because if the ten armies along Lingzhou, Yuanzhou, and Jingzhou were encircled, Jieli Khan's 20 soldiers and horses would be blocked in the Guanzhong, and the gates would be closed to attack. dog.

What Li Jiancheng is worried about at this time is precisely that Li Daozhen controls the salt mines, iron mines, and coal mines in Lingzhou, because these strategic resources are too many. It is possible to build equipment for an army of [-] for Li Shimin within a month.Within [-], Li Shimin can build equipment for at least [-] troops.

As long as he has these equipments, Li Shimin can bypass the imperial court and specialize in his own core plays, while Li Jiancheng will be able to cook without rice.

Chen Ying read the letter slowly, but after reading Pei Ju's letter, he sat quietly for a long time.Li Jiancheng sat aside and watched him, patiently waiting for Chen Ying to make a judgment.

The longer Chen Ying thought about it, the more difficult the matter was, and the greater the credit for Pei Ju's report.

In fact, it was not because Chen Ying was difficult to decide, but because he was really shocked by Li Daozhen.He never imagined that in just a few months, after Li Daozhen arrived in Lingzhou, he would do so many things.

In fact, just as Li Jiancheng thought, five thousand soldiers of the Black Banner Army were really nothing.When the construction of the Eighteen Fortresses in Lingzhou started last year, Chen Ying took advantage of his position to arrange more than three hundred soldiers of the Dingyuan Army who had retired due to injuries into the Eighteen Forts in Lingwu. Served as town generals, fort chiefs and other grassroots generals.

Chen Ying was not surprised that Li Daozhen was able to select five thousand elite cavalry from the young men of the Eighteen Towns Fort.

But what surprised Chen Ying the most was that Li Daozhen had successfully resumed the production of the iron and steel mine he had set up in Lingzhou without making a sound, and the efficiency was astonishing.

Chen Ying smiled wryly: "His Royal Highness, I really want to say that this is a fake, but this is indeed an indisputable fact."

When Li Jiancheng heard this, his heart fell to the bottom of the valley, and he asked in a low voice: "It is true that Lingzhou can produce [-] catties of steel per day?

Chen Ying nodded and said: "It's just that they have just started production, and they are not very skilled yet. When the craftsmen become more skilled in the future, it is possible to produce [-] catties a day."

Chapter 95 Take the Hangu Pass

Chapter 95 Take the Hangu Pass

"I regret not accepting Chen Qing's scheme!" Li Jiancheng sighed, looking up to the sky, if Li Jiancheng had followed Chen Ying's plan, whether it was to save Chen Ying from staying in Lingzhou, or to force Yang Ze to be the governor of Lingzhou, no matter what method he adopted. , will not be so passive.

The greater Li Daozhen's achievements in Lingzhou, the greater the threat to Li Jiancheng.The so-called loyalty means that there are not enough bargaining chips for betrayal. Of course, the so-called people's desire is also because there are enough temptations. Once 1000 million jin of steel, or even 500 million jin of steel, is put into the market, no matter what aspect it is, for Datang, there will be a lot of benefits and only one harm.Because Li Shimin took these steels, he could arm the army, or he could buy half and give half to the people.

In this era, steel production capacity is limited, and most steel resources are used in the military field. Farmers’ daily tools, such as hoes, knives and axes, or plows, are all made of iron or wood, and steel tools are less than one in ten.Once these light and high-quality steel enter thousands of households, the fool will know who these simple people will be grateful for. In that case, that is the real desire of the people.

However, it is too late to say anything.Li Daozhen has formed a climate in Lingzhou.Even if Li Jiancheng wanted to touch her, Li Shimin would not just sit idly by. Maybe Datang would come to a round of power reshuffle before conquering Wang Shichong.

Wang Gui walked up to Li Jiancheng with a face full of embarrassment, hesitated for a moment and said, "His Royal Highness, this matter may be troublesome. It is not easy for the King of Qin to obtain such a large amount of supplies and wealth."

"If it's not easy, we have to do it!" Before Li Jiancheng made a decision, Wei Zheng said: "This matter should not be delayed. If King Qin gets these materials and wealth, we will be completely passive. Your Highness may as well leave this matter to Pei Pei The commander will do it, and he will handle it properly!"

Li Jiancheng nodded: "That's fine!"

"His Royal Highness, Li Daozong is Li Daozong, Li Daozhen is Li Daozhen, they cannot be generalized!"

Li Jiancheng asked knowingly, "Chen Qing, what do you mean?"

Suddenly, Li Jiancheng suddenly remembered that Li Daozhen had Chen Ying's child in his stomach, his face darkened, he snorted and turned around, turning his back to Chen Ying and ignoring him.

Chen Ying rubbed his nose and smiled mischievously.

Wei Zheng suddenly realized: "Chen Binke means that these properties of the county lord of Baicheng are in her hands in name, but in fact they are in Chen Binke's hands?"

When Wang Gui and Li Jiancheng heard this, their eyes suddenly lit up.

The changes in Lingzhou are really too big. Not counting the production of steel, it is the salt that will exceed two hundred shi that day, which is a huge fortune. A catty of salt in the Central Plains costs thirty yuan. It is more than two hundred stones, more than 2 catties, which is equivalent to creating more than 600 yuan of money, which is a wealth of 22 yuan in one year.

Chen Ying laughed dumbly and said, "Although what Wei Xima said didn't hit the mark, it's not far away!"

Li Jiancheng turned from anger to joy, and looked eagerly at Chen Yingdao: "Although these properties belong to Li Daozhen, Chen can persuade her to sell these strategic materials to His Royal Highness at half price."

Although Li Jiancheng was somewhat disappointed, he knew that this was Chen Ying's biggest concession.The price of official salt is [-] qian per catty, ranging from [-] to [-] qian per stone. If it is half price, it means that Li Daozhen doesn't make much money at all.

However, Li Jiancheng did not understand economics and did not know that science is the primary productive force.From Pei Ju's few words, Chen Ying discovered that Li Daozhen was cooking salt in a charcoal pan.

When he was in Lingzhou, Chen Ying discovered that the original salt pond production method in Lingzhou was extremely backward.However, due to the harsh climate in Lingzhou, strong wind and sand, and no natural conditions for direct drying of salt, the salt-making process has been slightly optimized, and methods such as separation, grinding, stirring, analysis, and cooking are also adopted, but in subtle ways. , a large number of machines were taken.The cast iron pot has a large caliber and can hold a thousand catties of salt water at one time.

The stone fire never ceases day and night, as long as the salt water in the iron pot is boiled dry, the iron pot is hoisted up with movable pulleys and lifted off the stove, and after the iron pot condenses, block-shaped salt blocks can be obtained, and then sent to the mill for grinding with a stone mill , you can get refined salt that is as white as snow.The most important process reform is stirring, which is very labor-intensive.Chen Ying used a windmill to drive the runners to stir the salt water in a large pool made of tiles. After the mixing was completed, the salt water flowed directly to each stove through ceramic pipes using the drop in the salt pool.

After Chen Ying's process optimization, the salt factory uses very little manpower.A worker can watch dozens of cauldrons at the same time.As for stirring, clarification, and separation, it only requires less than one-tenth of the usual manpower.In this way, the cost of boiling salt in Lingzhou is very low, which is about two to three Wen per catty. Even if the shipping fee is excluded, the profit of selling fifteen penny per catty is no lower than that of other salt factories.

Coal, that thing is not available in Chang'an at all, the transportation cost is too high, and it is also available near Chang'an.Li Jiancheng is not unusual either.The key is steel resources, which are the most precious strategic materials in this era, but the steel in Li Daozhen's hands is not 1000 to [-] catties, but [-] million catties per year, which is a bit large.Even if Li Jiancheng could pay, he couldn't afford so much.

But now it's all right, Chen Ying promised to ship at half price, so it's not a problem.Even though Li Jiancheng didn't have that much money, the subjects of the Eastern Palace, including the Shandong nobles, had money in their hands, and there was a lot of it.The most important thing is that they can make huge profits from half-price steel.

Li Jiancheng was in a very good mood at this time, and Chen Ying solved the originally very difficult problem in a few words.At this time, Li Jiancheng suddenly asked: "Chen Qing, the general of your camp outside Chang'an City, if the steel is put into production, how much can it produce?"

Chen Ying said in embarrassment: "Chang'an is not as good as Lingzhou. Here there is iron ore but no iron ore, and coal but no coal. Transportation alone will cost a lot of money. If steel is cast, I am afraid it will not be as good as Lingzhou. Steel is cheap."

At this time, Wei Zheng said: "I know that there is both steel and coal in a place!"

Li Jiancheng and Wang Gui said almost at the same time: "Wei Xima means Hongnong Taolin?"

Hongnong County is Yang's prefecture name, and it is also the location of Hangu Pass, one of the most powerful passes in the world. It is located on the south bank of the Yellow River between Chang'an and Luoyang, and has always been an important military and political location in the past dynasties.However, due to its unique geographical environment, people often overlook that Hongnong County actually has rich resources, especially Taolin County under the jurisdiction of Hongnong County, which is later known as Lingbao City, Henan Province, which has China's golden city. reputation of the city.

Of course, Hongnong County not only has gold, but the metal resources in Hongnong County are mainly gold, and there are also a large number of gold associated mines, such as copper, silver, gold, molybdenum, lead, iron and other minerals. It is no exaggeration to say that Hongnong County is a county of resources.

Chen Yingdao: "But Hongnong is not in Datang's hands now?"

Three years before Wude, the boundary line between the Tang Dynasty and Zheng Wang Shichong was Tongguan, and the rest of Tongguan was owned by Wang Shichong, including Hangu Pass. The main reason is that Hangu Pass is in the hands of Wang Shichong. It is really not easy to break through Hangu Pass. During the Warring States period, Qin Xiaogong took the land of Weihan from Wei State, and it was called Hangu because it was as deep and dangerous as a letter.Qin Xiaogong set up Hangu Pass here.This pass is 7.5 kilometers long from east to west, and the valley road can only accommodate one car. It is known as "one man guards the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it".In 241 BC, the states of Chu, Zhao, Han, and Wei attacked Qin with an army of one million, and they were defeated so far.

Li Jiancheng smiled slightly and said, "It will belong to the Tang Dynasty soon!" After a pause, Li Jiancheng said: "After the year, Erlang will be in command, and he will go to war with Wang Shichong. My palace has already recommended Chen Qing, as the deputy commander of the marching army of the Zuo Commander, to go out with the army. .I want you to take down Hangu Pass and Hongnong County."

Chapter 96 Crown Prince Shao Bao

Chapter 96 Crown Prince Shao Bao

Taking down Hangu Pass is not just talk. The difficulty of Hangu Pass is that it is not an independent pass city, but because the 140-mile-long valley is full of places that can be ambushed. In terms of the danger of the pass city, Hangu Pass is not weaker than Yanmen Pass at all.

Since Qin Xiaogong established Hangu Pass, Hangu Pass had only one chance to be breached.

In the third year of King Min of Qi (298 B.C.), Lord Mengchang Tian Wen returned to Qi as his prime minister and initiated a joint attack on Qin by Qi, Wei and Han. Pass, stationed a large army, blocked it, and then Zhao and Song also joined, and finally broke into Hangu Pass, forcing Qin to seek peace.

After the Three Kingdoms period, the establishment of Tongguan, the status of Hanguguan began to decline.Between Tongguan and Hanguguan is a narrow passage, 140 miles long, winding through the mountains, as deep and dangerous as a letter, so it is called Hangu.The east end of Hangu is called Hangu Pass, and the west end is Tongguan.

For pure defense, defending Tongguan or Hangu Pass has the same effect, both of which can cut off the passage for the enemy from the east to invade Chang'an.Tongguan is closer to Chang'an, so it is convenient to supply and easy to defend. However, to defend Hangu Pass, the supply from Chang'an needs to pass through Hangu.Therefore, after the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tongguan replaced Hanguguan.

In fact, because Tang and Zheng belonged to two camps, and the Tang army attacked Wang Shichong in Luoyang, Hanguguan was not the only passage. In history, Qin Wang Li Shimin led the main force to attract the attention of Wang Shichong's army. The Ministry attacked Wang Shichong from west to east along the Luoshui River from Xuanyang.

General Liu Dewei of Zuo Wuhou attacked Luoyang from northeast to southwest through Huaizhou (now Jiaozuo) in the north of the Yellow River from Hedong.Huang Junhan, the general manager of Huaizhou, crossed the river from Heyang (now Mengzhou), and was attacking Luoyang from the north to the south.And the troops of General Youwuwei Wang Junlang attacked Luokou.

In fact, this battle was Li Shimin's eight-line general manager, who divided his troops into five groups, and swept down from Yinzhou in the northwest, Hongnong Xin'an, Huaizhou, Heyang, and Luokou, almost surrounded by three sides.The battle of Hangu Pass has not been recorded in detail in history. It is very likely that Li Shimin did not storm Hangu Pass, but Wang Shichong retreated without a fight.

The current history has changed. Once Chen Ying becomes the deputy commander of the marching army and assists Li Shimin in attacking Luoyang Wang Shichong, it is very likely that Li Shimin will also hand over this difficult task to Chen Ying.

Chen Ying sighed and said, "Hangu Pass is not easy to fight!"

A dangerous pass like Hangu Pass has a canyon as long as 140 miles before it closes. There are mountains on both sides, and stones can be thrown from above to the bottom. More than half of them died before closing the gate. How to break through the closed door?It must be filled with human life.