Piao Tianzi      385 North Expedition

Hangzhou City.

In the hall, Zhang Yang sat on the high dragon throne and looked at the ministers below.

He didn't want to sit so high, so he prefers to sit with the people below to discuss issues. However, in this era, it is definitely not an era of democracy. As the lord of the nine fives, he must have a certain elegance. This is also the result of repeated requests from the subordinates.

Otherwise, Zhang Yang really wanted to turn the hall into a conference hall and sit in his hand. These people surrounded the city at the oval conference table, drinking water and holding meetings. How warm and harmonious.

Zhang Yang did not want to learn from Zhu Yuanzhang, who was later generations. He had to do everything himself and asked about everything. He was not a model worker. He had already left many things to his subordinates to deal with. This kind of regular court attendance is not available every day, and it only takes place every few days.

This time, it was because of news from the north that the ministers were summoned to discuss.

"Emperor." Liu Bowen, Minister of Rites, said first: "Now, it has been snowing in the north that is rare in a century. The foundation of the Mongolian Tartars, that is, on the Mongolian grassland, countless cattle, sheep and horses have frozen to death. Kuogutemur, the most capable of fighting among the Tartars, has led his troops back to the grassland to rescue disasters. Now the troops in most of the capital are extremely empty, which is a good opportunity."

When they heard the news, people below immediately discussed it.

Although Zhang Yang sat higher, his habits did not change. When encountering major events, he still wanted to hear the opinions of his subordinates. They were used to it and sometimes they would blush in discussions. However, no matter whether they quarrel or not, as long as Zhang Yang was determined, they would execute the order without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, the opportunity is very good now. It is a good opportunity to destroy the Mongolian Tartars. If you are not talented, you are willing to lead 50,000 elite troops and attack Dadu directly." Chang Yuchun said.

Chang Yuchun is a militant guy who has always been a warrior. He doesn't fight for a day and his hands are itchy. When he sees the opportunity, he certainly can't let it go.

"It seems that it is not appropriate?" Li Shanchang said: "Master, most of our soldiers are from the south, and they are not suitable for the cold weather in the north. We also lack leather jackets to resist the cold climate. Moreover, the river channel is frozen and our warships cannot drive. If we launch an attack at this time, there may be many obstacles. It is better to wait until the snow melts in spring and the river channel is opened and then head north."

"Mr. Li said this is a bad thing." Chang Yuchun immediately retorted: "The north is mainly infantry and cavalry. Our warships can only be transported through canals at most to reach the north. What's the use? We cannot play the role of our warships at all. And my elite soldiers have long been trained to resist cold and can completely overcome this natural defect. Now that the troops of the capital are empty, we just accept it intact. Otherwise, with the artillery fire, the capital will be destroyed, and it will be useless if we occupy it."

Chang Yuchun had heard that the emperor intended to use the capital as the final capital. Although everyone from the south was unwilling to go to the north, they still had to listen to the emperor's words.

"General Chang, if you say that, it's just that our navy is useless?" Bian Yuanheng was unhappy when Chang Yuchun said this.

"No, General Chang, in Jiangnan, it is of course very useful for naval forces. However, in the north, it is indeed inconvenient in this winter!" Chang Yuchun said quickly.

Now, the navy is stepping up the construction of warships, and the momentum is very strong. The generals of other army are jealous and complaining. There are also some. The northern navy is useless at all. Why are the elder brother building so many ships?

"Everyone, the topic we are discussing is whether to attack the north, not the question of the navy." Shi Yi said: "From the heart, I really hope to fight to Dadu as soon as possible. However, the north is now in the cold winter. I heard that the snow falls more than a foot thick, and if you step on it, it will fall into it. Our army has no experience and goes north blindly. Needless to say, war, it is probably impossible to even march."

Xuehou? Zhang Yang knew that if it snowed heavily in the north, it would definitely be cold and white and snowy. In this kind of weather, everyone would hide in the house and roast charcoal fire. Otherwise, if you sleep on the streets, you would definitely be at risk of being frozen to death.

This kind of weather is definitely not conducive to marching.

However, this opportunity was great. If you seize it properly, you might be able to successfully take down the capital city without any effort and clean up the emperor's nest in Dadu.

Two long, flat things appeared in front of Zhang Yang. Since there was heavy snow in the north, I would like to change to a means of transportation and use a sled!

"Everyone, I have decided to seize this opportunity to completely solve the hidden dangers in the north!" Zhang Yang said: "Half a month later, the troops will be launched in Dadu!"

"Estrips at all levels must be engaged in cold-resistant training. Mr. Li, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is responsible for urgently making 50,000 sets of cotton coats, which will be completed within half a month. Mr. Zu, Minister of the Ministry of Works, is responsible for rushing to make 50,000 sets of sleds, which will be completed within half a month, and prepare for the Northern Expedition in half a month!" Zhang Yang said.

After saying this, Li Shanchang and Zu Xingzhi should leave the list. After answering, they were about to retreat. Unexpectedly, the two stood there and stopped moving.

"Prince, what are cotton coats and sleds?" Chang Yuchun asked. He was very happy at first, but he heard that there were 50,000 sets each, which coincided with the number of people in his army. This battle was very ten, and it was his again.

But no one has heard of these two things!

Zhang Yang looked down and saw that what they were wearing was covered with layers of cotton, some of which were wearing leather vests. His court was established for too short, and the unified style of the official uniform was still being tried in Liu Ruohan's hands.

Zhang Yang finally remembered that in this era, Huang Daopa brought advanced textile technology to less than a few decades.

Huang Daopo can be said to be the Weaver Girl of this era. She is also known as Huang Po. She was born in the Chunyou period in the late Southern Song Dynasty. In about 1245, she was from Wunijing Town, Songjiang Prefecture. She was born in a poor peasant family and was sold to others as a child bride at the age of twelve or thirteen. She worked during the day, wrought fabrics until late at night, and suffered inhuman abuse from her parents-in-law and husband. Finally, she couldn't stand it. In the middle of one night, she fled to a boat and arrived in Ya County, Hainan.

The simple and enthusiastic local Li compatriots were very sympathetic to Huang Daopa's misfortune. They accepted her and gave her a place to live. In their shared working life, they also taught her their advanced textile technology without reservation. Huang Daopa was smart and diligent, humbly learned textile technology from Li compatriots, and integrated the strengths of the textile technology of the people of the Li and Han ethnic groups, and became an excellent textile expert.

However, the hometown is hard to leave. During the Yuanzhen period of the Yuan Dynasty, Huang Daopa had become an old man and missed her hometown even more. Finally, she returned from Yazhou and returned to Wunijing. When Huang Daopa returned to her hometown, the cotton planting industry had been greatly popularized in the Yangtze River Basin, but textile technology was still very backward. Huang Daopa brought advanced textile technology back to her hometown in the last few years of her life.

The people in Wunijing and Songjiang quickly mastered advanced weaving technology, seed-removing carts, cotton pedal arches, and three-spillar spinning trucks. These advanced tools were quickly popularized, and cotton textiles were colorful and presented an unprecedented grand occasion. After Huang Daopo's death, Songjiang Prefecture, which is near Hangzhou, became the largest cotton textile center in the country.

However, in the south, it was just a layer of clothes to wear more clothes, and there was no such way in later generations: between two layers of cloth, a layer of cotton was sandwiched.

In other words, in this era, there was no cotton coat, and even the colder weather was enough to wear a layer of single clothes. In the north, wealthy families wore leather clothes. If they had no money, they would wear single clothes and holes.

It seems that I still have to take out this invention myself!

"The cotton coat is to roll a layer of cotton in the middle of two layers of cloth, which can greatly improve the warmth effect." Zhang Yang said: "It's like eating a pie, with skin on both sides and filling in the middle."

"As for these sleds, you will know when I make a sample." Zhang Yang continued.

Although he became the emperor, Zhang Yang could not say that kind of words, and Zhang Yang was unwilling to say that kind of flashy thing, so he was still speaking the same vernacular as usual.

The ministers gradually dispersed, and Zhang Yang left Zu Xingzhi, and this sled had to make the brothers from the nearest Pingjiang Shipyard speed up the time to build it.

Zhang Yang carefully talked to Zu Xingzhi about the principle and appearance of the sled. In fact, it is very simple. It is two long wooden boards with arched front ends. In the middle of the wooden board, there is half a wooden shoe shape, and the feet can be reached into it.

When people walk on the snow, the reason why they sink is because the foot contact area is small and the pressure is too high. Using long wooden boards as the soles increases the area, and the walking form also becomes sliding. This kind of sled is faster in the snow than people running.

After Zhang Yang explained, Zu Xingzhi understood whether it was an invention or not, and it was relatively easy to understand this thing.

However, if Zu Xingzhi came to his senses, Zhang Yang completely overturned his understanding of the wisdom of people in this era. The Chinese people are truly endless!

"Your Majesty, since this is possible, then we might as well build a large chariot, install such a sled, use a steam engine as power, and then place cannons on it. In this way, we can provide powerful firepower support when siegeing the city." Zu Xingzhi said.

When Zhang Yang heard this, his eyes turned straight. What does the other party mean? Do you want to build the tank in advance? That's too early!

"I have met Li Youcai and Zhao Jiamin at the shipyard. In addition to building larger steam engines to drive warships, they also made a small steam engine, which was said to be used to drive horse carriages, so they would not need horses." Zu Xingzhi said.

Zhang Yang didn't know that the two inventors liked to tinker with this thing in their spare time. With Jiao Yu's precedent, all of his craftsmen became fond of these things.

Although the horse does not need to burn coal, it takes a few hours to run and rest, so the two of them thought of using a steam engine to drive the carriage.

Zu Xingzhi went one step further and made it clear that he should add cannons on it!

"Okay, if you can succeed within half a month, I will give you a reward of 100 taels of silver to each!" Zhang Yang said.
Chapter completed!