"Boxcannon? Is it the bifurcated cannon used by Lu Shi to defend the Baoan City a month ago?" Wen Yanbo asked.

"Mr. Wen, there were still many shortcomings after the trial production of the crossbow cannons, and I was also thinking about improvements. However, the military situation in the northwest was urgent at that time, and Tianji had also participated in the trial production of the crossbow cannons. In desperation, he used local materials to make a large number of crossbow cannons to help Lu Sheng defend the city. He did not expect such a miraculous effect. He had not reported to the Privy Council that this was my crime, and he also asked the emperor to punish me and cut off my official position as a warning!" Wang Jinghui said.

At this time, when Wang Jinghui heard Wen Yanbo mention the crossbow, he felt very depressed. He did not expect that the foreign devils were so useful. Before the artillery was invented, he was afraid that this crossbow would be the best launcher for explosives. Although it was a great distance from the bed crossbow, its accuracy and firing distance were far beyond the limit of the previous catapult. However, Wang Jinghui drew a drawing and Tianji and other students mentioned some of them slightly. Even if he had only made one sample, he still had problems. He didn't expect that the crossbow made by Tianji in the northwest would be so useful. Now, as the Privy Councilor, Wen Yanbo did not know that the Song army was equipped with crossbows. If he pursued it, he would be guilty of making private weapons. He was also in a dusty way. The right way was to apologize for himself.

Wang Jinghui didn't know that for his sake, Han Qi, Duke of Wei, ordered everyone to meet the needs of Tianji and others as much as possible to build weapons. The key crease materials that Wang Jinghui tried to make in Biandu were just a matter of douches. Under Lu Jing's great force, he almost slaughtered all the cattle and sheep of the security army and pulled out the tendons to make crossbows. Although the failure rate was also very high, it was much stronger than the prototype of Biandu. It was almost a nightmare for the Dangxiang people to defend the city.

After Emperor Zhao Xu asked the reason, he smiled and said, "Your dear is inappropriate. I will punish you for half a year to serve as a warning!"

Emperor Zhao Xu's attitude made the people around him very clear. The prince-consort often did something extraordinary. The emperor favored the prince-consort very much and did not want to pursue this matter. If this matter was put on others, it would be a disaster for quarrels and genocide. The emperor did this to take all the face of the royal family. He could not use his brother-in-law to attack him.

Wang Jinghui bowed and said, "Although this is a negligence of the minister, the emperor cared for the ministers, and the emperor punished the ministers too lightly. I asked the emperor to remove his official position not only to make me alert, but also to the world. I also asked the emperor to fulfill his duties!"

After hearing this, the ministers around him nodded in approval. Emperor Zhao Xu pondered for a moment and said, "Your beloved has made a contribution to your decision in Western Xia. I will defeat this merit and my fault. I also need you to be the direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion. I think the court and the country have learned from it, so this matter will be revealed! However, I just heard that this crossbow was also used to fire thunder and thunder, which is quite similar to the cannon mentioned by your beloved some time ago. I wonder which of the two is more powerful?"

Wang Jinghui said: "From the advanced nature of the weapon, the gap between the two cannons and artillery is like the sun and the moon. However, artillery is still something on the drawing after all. It is difficult to realize it, and there are still many difficulties to be solved. The cannons can not only fire firearms such as thunder, but also fire small stone bombs as trenchers. When fired in clusters, they are very powerful and are just suitable for defending the city. I suggest that under this situation, our Song Dynasty should strengthen the equipment of the cannons! However, the cannons also have many shortcomings that need to be improved. I will work with some craftsmen to improve this."

Guo Kui said from the side: "This crossbow is much smaller than a catapult and is very lightweight. A horse can be pulled by. Although the range is not as far as a bed crossbow, it is very cheap. As long as there are enough cattle and sheep tendons, it can be made on a large scale. The catapult is a bit too much for dealing with the Dangxiang people, and it is enough to have a crossbow. I heard that Lu Shi guarded Baoan City and fired bricks to demolish the entire Baoan City houses as shells. Finally, it was supported to reinforcements from the Duke of Wei. Otherwise, tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the Dangxiang were killed in one day. This is a record that has never been seen in the war since the founding of the Song Dynasty!"

After all, Guo Kui was a general who fought, and he was praised by him. It can be seen that the importance of the bifurcated guns in the defense of Baoan City. Since Taizu Taizong's Northern Expedition and Zhenzong's Alliance of the Abyss, the Song army has never killed tens of thousands of opponents in a day. The monarchs and ministers around the sand table were very happy after hearing this. It was a foregone conclusion that the large-scale equipment of the Song army was equipped with the Song army, and Wang Jinghui agreed to this result. After all, with the technological level of this era, even if the artillery was made, it would be more intimidating than actual combat killing, but the multifunctional uses of the bifurcated guns were clearly visible.

The following period was Guo Kui's personal performance for a long time. He mastered all the detailed status of the Northwest Front, and accurately analyzed the power comparison between Song and Xia on the border from a military perspective.

Wang Jinghui watched Guo Kui keep giving instructions on the sand table with his baton, and thought in his mind that he had pulled Guo Kui for a worth of money. Although the current General Staff of the Song Dynasty is still an empty standpoint, he believed that all this was just an inevitable process of development. It won’t take long for more general staff to enrich this organization, and the power of the Privy Council of the Song Dynasty’s Privy Council will definitely be weakened.

Just like artillery, general staff, huge intelligence network and other new things will take a long time to develop and improve. However, in Wang Jinghui's eyes, there is no need to deal with a small Xixia, Zhou Zhang, who is so much. Dangxiang people are just a whetstone to promote it. When they can be used, they will deal with the old enemy of the Song Dynasty, the Khitans! Unconsciously, Wang Jinghui was distracted, and he saw more of the north. Guo Kui's explanation not only allowed Guo Kui to find the pleasure of dominating the battlefield, but also made Wang Jinghui find the feeling of observing the enemy in the Dading Prefecture, Zhongjing, Liao Kingdom!

"Liao Kingdom!" Wang Jinghui silently thought in his heart. His understanding of the Liao Kingdom was much better than what later generations learned through history books. However, he still felt a little powerless about such an old-fashioned northern power that was on the decline. In this era, only the Liao Kingdom could easily mobilize more than 300,000 cavalry to conduct large-scale battles. Although the Song Dynasty was famous for its wealth, its geographical location was very bad - the products were rich but the horses were not produced!

"Please take it slowly. Defeating the Liao Kingdom and regaining their hometown is an exciting moment, but being powerful and powerful is a disaster for the country and the people! There are many ways to deal with such a great empire with sunsets. Military means are not the only choice. Why bother yourself now?!" Wang Jinghui shifted his eyes from the Song and Liao sand table to the Song Xia sand table. He listened to Guo Kui's explanation with peace of mind. After all, he is not good at military affairs. There are not many opportunities to be responsible for the explanation with Guo Kui who has been in a military life. It is true to take the opportunity to gain more knowledge.

Guo Kui's explanation is very exciting. Everyone now has a deep understanding of the situation in the northwest. The completion of the three villages in Baiyushan has completely laid the stability of the security army. In the future, as long as you can carefully manage these three cities, it will not only become a breakthrough to threaten Xixia, but there will never be any incident in the future where the Dangxiang people besieged Dashun City for three years.

Emperor Zhao Xu said: "Encang Dangxiang has been to Biandu for several days and has been talking to the Secretariat of the Secretariat. I wonder what the result is?"

Wang Anshi replied: "The annual monies can be exempted. All the problems are attributed to prisoners of war and the demand for war compensation. The envoy of the Dangxiang strongly demanded the return of prisoners of war, and the war compensation was even more unwilling to pay!"

When Wang Anshi answered the emperor's question, he also looked at Wang Jinghui. It was not just Wang Anshi. All the local ministers around the sand table were watching Wang Jinghui - whether it was prisoners of war or war compensation, these were only after the prince-in-law recommended in the battle of Dashun City four years ago. Even if it was exempted from the Xixia annual monies, it was his claim.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Wang Jinghui said, "Master, can the envoy come to talk to this envoy of Dangxiang, and you may gain something!"

Wang Jinghui knew that he had to solve this problem himself, and the negotiation method of asking for a price to pay back the money was so high that no minister in the Song Dynasty could save his face. Compared to his son-in-law who had a businessman background, it was more appropriate to do this. Now several ministers in the Secretariat can put the terms of war compensation on the table, and this "progress" is huge. When Wang Jinghui received the news below, he was almost stunned, and then he laughed. When Wang Anshi raised this issue at this time, he probably had exhausted the initial courage of the Secretariat. Taking over it himself can not only solve their ground problems, but more importantly, he really implemented the war compensation, and then he would make this routine in the future.

When encountering such incidents in the future, the ministers can also use them as their fig leaf.

Wang Jinghui looked at Wang Anshi with a slightly awkward expression, smiled and continued to say to Emperor Zhao Xu:

"It seems that this role is the most suitable one!"

Guo Kui also said from the side: "In this battle between Song and Xia, the son-in-law made contributions to establishing strategies. I also think it is most appropriate for the son-in-law to talk to Dangxiang people!"

Guo Kui had fought with Dangxiang people, and many of his generals were buried in the northwest battlefield. He hated Dangxiang people the most. At the same time, he also knew that the word "ruthless" was the word "super" for the prince consort to attack Dangxiang people. It was estimated that according to the prince consort's businessman style, Dangxiang people would be squeezed dry in the palm of the prince consort's hand.

Emperor Zhao Xu pondered for a moment and said, "It is of course the best thing for you to talk to Dangxiang people, but what price do you plan to open?"

Emperor Zhao Xu naturally knew that almost all the ministers of the Secretariat were famous scholars today. If they were asked to let go of their airs and talk about money with Dangxiang people, probably no one would be willing to sacrifice their reputation at the cost. The prince-consort's usual style was so wild and unruly. In addition, the business was well-mannered, so let him negotiate, the Song Dynasty would have more things to get. Besides, the prince-consort even bought the prisoners of war. It was really inappropriate to let Wang Anshi and Sima Guang take the blame in front of the Dangxiang people. When he thought about it, he joked about the prince-consort in a joking tone.

"I should do my best to let the Dangxiang people lose the last pair of pants at the negotiating table!" Wang Jinghui replied with a smile to Emperor Zhao Xu. The reason why he dared to be so confident is that he is waiting for the news sent back by the official "monks" in the northwest. As long as this news is used as a bargaining weight, the Dangxiang people in desperation may really lose their underwear like a gambler who is eager to lose.

After the joke, Wang Jinghui said seriously: "War compensation is not just a matter of how much money it is, but more importantly, it is to make a poison pill for the Dangxiang people to swallow it willingly, laying the foundation for the complete pacification of Dangxiang in the future. Regarding the negotiations, I only have a general idea here. Please give me one day to me, and I will write a letter for the Dangxiang and all the ministers to take a look!"

After Wang Jinghui took over the job of bargaining and bargaining, he did not dare to speak loudly. To put it bluntly, this is a tightrope walking. He forced the Dangxiang people to the Jedi at the negotiating table and could not tear the face. This is a technical job. He was not good at these, but it was much better than giving this task to the successors of Confucianism in "not talking about profit". In comparison, his face was at least much thicker than Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang. If he was really frustrated, he was not afraid of losing his reputation. As long as he could afford it, he would complete the task.

After returning to the Prince-Confucian Mansion, Wang Jinghui opened the negotiation records borrowed from the Secretariat and carefully studied them. Then he found that Sima Guang and his friends were asking for a price too low - the compensation for war was only 100,000 yuan, and the cost of firearms consumed in the war was two or three times this amount. Even if there was such a price, he couldn't help but feel very depressed - these Confucian "ethnic guys" were really worthy of face. Since they had all negotiated profits, they were still so concealed. Just ask a lion to speak out!

Wang Jinghui stood up and looked at the map of Song Xia. He pondered on the map for a long time, constantly measuring the bargaining chips in his hands. At this time, the opponent's land cards had almost been played, and the ace in his hands were Li Qing and Qi Poxijun who were entrenched in the Jianing Army Division, but Han Qi still had many aces - the more than 70,000 prisoners in his hands were also taken away by the Dangxiang residents of Hongzhou City. For nomadic people like Xixia who were still in the transformation of agricultural civilization, population is the most precious resource, otherwise they would not have fought with the Song Dynasty many times because of the mature households in Yanbian. These are all very good prices.

While Wang Jinghui was still in a daze at the map, his wife, Princess Shu, walked in softly, looked at the map motionlessly, and walked up to her and said softly: "Husband, it's late at night, so it's better to take a break soon!"

Wang Jinghui realized it was too late at this time, but he had an extraordinary physique to support him and was too devoted to the problem, so he did not notice that time passed. He gently hugged his wife's shoulder and said:

"Thank you for your hard work, madam! Did Xuan'er go to bed?"

The eldest princess of Shu Kingdom snuggled gently in her husband's arms and said, "Xuan'er has been coaxed by Hongyu for a long time, so I have nothing to do. But don't work too hard, so as not to hurt your health! Xu came to the mansion to give gifts, and I saw you busy with political affairs in the study, so I sent it back. I knew that Shen'er had won the top scholar today, and by the way, he gave them the jade pot rewarded by the empress dowager last time to congratulate them!"

"My wife can handle this matter. Now there is really no time to socialize these things. However, Shen'er won the top scorer. No matter how busy his husband is, he still has to meet Shen'er and his son... It's really hard for them to be able to get time to me at this time, but I, a teacher, put him in another place as an official."

"Husband, the court is turbulent and changeable at this time. Shen'er is still young and doesn't know how powerful it is. Staying in Biandu may not be a good thing. I have already told Shen'er's mother that compared to Xu, the whole family should understand his husband's painstaking efforts!"

Wang Jinghui gently stroked his wife's hair and said, "It's really hard for the wife to worry about her husband. After a while, when the court is quieter, how about I and my wife visit Jiangnan?"

The eldest princess of Shu chuckled and said, "Where does your husband have so much time?"

"What's wrong?! As soon as the Xixia land is over, I will ask the emperor for leave. I am a son-in-law, and the government affairs in the court are supported by Wang Jiefu and Sima Junshi. It's not that I can't transfer the court without me. Besides, I have a large industry in Jiangnan. I have long heard that the vinegar fish on the banks of Xizi Lake is delicious all over the world. Our family of three goes to Xizi Lake to eat fish!" Wang Jinghui said with a smile.

"It would be great if the family of three could sit by the lake and eat fish..." The eldest princess of Shu said with misty eyes, as if she was looking forward to such a leisurely time.

Wang Jinghui hugged his wife motionlessly. After the candle in the study went out, the moonlight outside shone across the window and neither of them was willing to move, for fear of destroying the rare peace. Wang Jinghui felt very guilty about his wife. He was busy all day long, and he cared too little about his wife after marriage, which made him even more determined that he wanted to leave the center of the court to accompany his wife for a while. He originally wanted to divert Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo's attention to him, ease the relationship, and let Wang Anshi out and stir up the water to start the next stage of reform. It seems that all this is not so urgent now, and it is urgent to accompany his wife to boat on the lakeside to spend a period of peace.
Chapter completed!