"Cao Cao's expedition to the west, how does Lu Chenxiang plan to deal with it?" Liu Bei was a little curious.

"Uh..." Zhang Juzheng and others seemed a little hesitant. The issue of gunpowder is highly confidential, and gunpowder technology is strictly prohibited from being spread. The strength of Luo Jun's gunpowder can only be known by Luo Chen's senior confidants. Zhang Juzheng, Xu Shu, and Huang Zhong obviously did not dare to say anything at will. Liu Bei immediately saw it, and cupped his hands: "If there is something inconvenient to tell, you don't have to be embarrassed."

Zhang Juzheng thought for a while, and said in the organization language: "At Tongguan, although our army is far less than Cao's army, it has a considerable advantage in combat effectiveness. Therefore, it is difficult for Cao's army to break through Tongguan. If Cao's army insists, it may repeat the previous one. The mistakes of the **** battle at Tongguan."

"So, if you keep Cao Cao out of Tongguan, your army will not feel any pressure?" Liu Bei asked.

"Yes, it can be understood in this way. Cao Jun had better take the initiative to retreat, otherwise it will not benefit both parties." Zhang Juzheng sneered. "To tell the truth from the uncle, Prime Minister Luo just notified the senior generals this morning, requesting to demonstrate a reasonable plan to attack the Xiongnu north. Our army has no time to entangle with Cao Cao, and we are wrong.

"Your army is going north to attack the Huns?" Liu Bei was surprised. "Now that Cao Cao's fifty major troops are approaching Tongguan, Cao Cao will become more powerful, but he is a big enemy. The Xiongnu's land is barren, and it is not very good to destroy them..."

"That's right..." Zhang Juzheng also seemed to have a headache, "From my point of view, I don't agree to send troops. Now that the Central Plains are in chaos, China should be settled first, and then the four barbarians should be attacked. Now the Huns are arrogant, but they are also with me. A temporary peace was maintained, and there was no major invasion. So the best plan is obviously to maintain a peaceful state and concentrate on dealing with the Central Plains affairs. I don’t know what Prime Minister Luo is thinking about... I will write to the Prime Minister Luo and state my opinion to the Prime Minister. "

Xu Shu and Huang Zhong were obviously skeptical about the attack on the Xiongnu, but neither of them said anything. They speculated that Luo Chen might be thinking about it...

The two sides chatted again. Because of Luochen's decree, telling Zhang Juzheng not to force it, Zhang Juzheng organized a banquet, after which he bid farewell to Liu Bei and his subordinates.

The words were divided into two parts, that Cao's army lost the first battle, the troops and horses were in chaos, and they retreated madly for several miles. Later, it calmed down slowly, and the army horses urgently formed a defensive formation. Unexpectedly, there were no fallen horses to pursue. Cao Cao's army was still in shock, and for two days in a row fortified the camp, gathered bows, arrows, catapults and other items, and did not dare to attack again.

Luochen looked at the tightly guarded camp of Cao's army from the Tongguan city wall. Obviously, Cao's army did not dare to attack easily this time, so he had to frantically collect equipment and prepare equipment. Cao Cao didn't know what to do, so he didn't make the next decision, but let Cao Cao prepare for battle.

"Prime Minister Luo..." someone behind him said softly. As soon as Luochen turned around, Zhang Heng and Ma Chao stood behind them, as if there was something to report.

"What's the matter with the two of you?" Seeing their serious expressions, Luo Chen asked quickly.

"It seems that we have used a lot of gunpowder in this battle..." Zhang Heng said worriedly. "I watched from the top of the city, how come Cao's army has so many horses!" Obviously Zhang Heng was just a scientist, not leading troops to fight. Cao's army of hundreds of thousands of horses attacked the city at the same time. , If you look at it from afar, it is the flag of Cao Jun. If you have not led troops to fight, this battle is indeed afraid of people.

"Yeah..." Luo Chen nodded in understanding. "Then how much is my gunpowder consumed? How long can it last?"

"According to this situation, I can fight twice." Zhang Heng said.

Luo Chen was a little surprised, hit twice? During the defense of Tongguan that year, Cao's army attacked hundreds of times. Our army resisted stubbornly and suffered heavy losses. I thought that this powerful thing like gunpowder could completely turn the situation around, but I didn't expect to stop playing after two fights... I went back to before liberation overnight. "How can it consume so much? Didn't your team produce a lot of gunpowder? I see that Lin Chong directed the soldiers to transport them in barrels and boxes for several days, and used tens of thousands of horses. How can it be so fast?"

"The prime minister doesn't know something... The main reason is that there are too many Cao soldiers." Ma Chao said in frustration. "Cao's army attacked the city from all directions, and the gunpowder was fired continuously, and a lot of it was consumed in one go. Cao's army was piled up like ants... and this 2.9 battle was the first time that most of the Cao's army saw gunpowder, and they were all scared after playing for a while. I ran away. If the next time Cao's army sieges the city a little longer, I'm afraid I can only hold on once..."

"Once..." Luo Chen murmured, "This can't be done..."

"Have you heard of artillery?" Luo Chen suddenly turned to Zhang Heng. "What? Fire... artillery?" Zhang Heng was obviously at a loss. It was no wonder that although he was a scientist, he was from the Han Dynasty.

"Hehehe...I'll show it to you." Luochen said and took the bull's horn for the cavalry's order next to him. "Look, just like this kind of pipe, if it is made of steel and cast into a regular cylindrical steel pipe, cannonballs are stuffed in it, and I try to find a way to hit the cannonballs at the enemy camp. And I can roughly control where the cannonballs land.".

Chapter 51 Sun Yuanhua

"Cannonball..." Zhang Heng was still confused, "Can a cannonball explode? Is the cannonball made of gunpowder?"

"It's almost..." Luo Chen was a liberal arts student, so obviously he couldn't explain it clearly. But Zhang Heng's comprehension is obviously very good, "In this way...that is, to improve the accuracy of gunpowder firing, to explode the gunpowder, and to hit the target accurately. This will greatly reduce the amount of gunpowder used...Is this correct?"

"Yes, yes." Luo Chen was quite happy. If modern people want to explain to the ancients something that the ancients have never seen, the ancients will definitely have a hard time accepting it, because it is unimaginable and has never been seen before. Unexpectedly, Zhang Heng understood Luo Chen's intention quite accurately. This was quite a surprise to Luo Chen, he thought Zhang Heng didn't understand at all. However, Ma Chao looked confused.

"Look," Luo Chen was very interested, "If this bull's horn is a cannon, aim now, fire a little bit, and force the cannonball to launch, and the cannonball will reach the predetermined position after a certain period of time." Luo Chen said and pointed the bull's horn at the place left by Cao Jun under the city. A sword, he pointed with one hand: "Now launch! Explosion!" With a "boom", Luochen's finger exploded exactly 10 times, and the sword was instantly shattered.

Zhang Heng and Ma Chao were both surprised, Luo Chen rarely showed his ability in front of people. It was only the last time he watched a gunpowder explosion that he used this function when he was angry.

"How is it? Mr. Zhang Heng, can you do it?" Luo Chen asked.

That Zhang Heng was fascinated, surprised, fascinated, and excited. When Luo Chen asked, he felt a little stunned. Although he could understand it, Luo Chen just said it and asked him to do it. Obviously, it was too difficult for him. Many principles are hundreds or thousands of years old. "Chen... lord... this seems to be difficult. If there is no detailed explanation, I will not be able to do it."

"Yes, yes" Luo Chen nodded, "It needs to be explained in detail, otherwise it will definitely not be done, and it is not a fairy..." Luo Chen looked at Zhang Heng, the thin scientist seemed to be quite tired, with dark circles on his eyes. , The body seems to be thinner than the last time Luo Chen saw him.

"Oh! Mr. Zhang Heng, you don't seem to have a good rest. You can't go on like this..." Luo Chen was even a little panicked. Zhang Heng is the national technology dependant and the president of Chang'an College. Without Zhang Heng, many technological progress will be delayed again. . Zhang Heng can't fall ill. A few days ago, Luochen had been giving him fish and meat supplements every day, but he still didn't see Zhang Heng getting fat... "Mr. Zhang seems to need a helper..."

Luochen said and ordered in his head: "Open the system." The system has not been opened for a long time. The last time I spent all my blood for Zhang Heng. But now it seems that replacing Zhang Heng is the most valuable transaction that Luochen has made, and it has brought great value, mainly because this talent has greatly promoted the development of technology. Since the last time the system was turned on, the Luochen control area has not expanded much. However, due to Zhang Juzheng's strong promotion of the land-equalization system and the government military system, Luochen's strength has been greatly enhanced. few. Although not as good as the Central Plains, the gap has narrowed a lot. Since the last time until now, due to Yuan Shao's defeat, Cao Cao's strength has increased, and the overall situation is somewhat unfavorable for Luo Chen. But this is almost a historical inevitability, because Luochen's strategic choice is to attack Yizhou and abandon Yuan Shao. Now that Yizhou is defeated, Yuan Shao is defeated. As expected, in general, this is the choice for Luochen's best interests. Because of Xu Shu's incident, Luo Jun and Cao Jun mobilized a large number of troops. Luochen also took the initiative to lead his army to attack Cao Cao's northern military defense positions centered on Luoyang. Facts have shown that Cao Jun has a large number of troops and strong strength, and he cannot be defeated casually. And Cao Jun's total strength and mobilization ability are extremely strong, and it is a difficult opponent to deal with.

Luochen checked it, and the control power increased to 25, which almost doubled. This Luochen was a bit unexpected, presumably because the land-equalization system and the government military system greatly released the strength of the Luochen control area. The internal repair power is 15, which is not bad. Last time, the internal repair power was used up completely. He clicked on the internal repair force column and directly searched for "artillery". Sure enough, a book "Artillery Technology" appeared, as well as some craftsmen, and even an expert named Sun Yuanhua. Luochen took a look. This person was a famous gunpowder expert in the Ming Dynasty, and he had made great contributions in the process of resisting gold and suppressing bandits. What's more awesome is that his teacher is Xu Guangqi, a famous big man in the science and technology industry. Luochen searched Xu Guangqi, and it turned out that the system put him in the column under the control force, which was level 18. Luochen hesitated for a while, but still didn't move, it was too expensive... He turned back to the artillery search column, Sun Yuanhua's request was level 12, which was cheaper, and one Sun Yuanhua was enough. That "Gunpowder Technique" was consumed at level 5, just right, it seems that the internal repair power has to be exchanged again, and it seems that it is not enough. Luochen chose the book made by Sun Yuanhua and Cannon, and clicked OK. The empty system prompt sounded immediately: "The internal repair power is insufficient, the exchange character can be exchanged with the control power, is it exchanged?" It turned out that the exchange character can use the control power and the internal repair power, so Luo Chen clicked "Continue". With a bright light, "Artillery Technology" is already in his hands, and Sun Yuanhua is by his side, saying: "Master 730."

Zhang Heng had been thinking about the task that Luochen had given him, so he didn't care. When Ma Chao saw that he had transformed into a living person out of thin air, he couldn't help sticking out his tongue.

"Mr. Zhang Heng", Luo Chen proudly threw "Artillery Technology" to him, how about it, can you still understand it? Zhang Heng hurriedly flipped through the book, it was the detailed explanation of Luo Chen's idea, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed. Although Zhang Heng is proficient in chemistry, astronomy, etc., but after all, he is slightly inferior in mechanical manufacturing, and it obviously takes a lot of energy for him, and Luo Chen is a little worried. Nai said, "Mr. Zhang Heng, I found an expert for you, Sun Yuanhua."

That Sun Yuanhua was also a thin old man, and the scientist Luochen was looking for looked a lot like... But Sun Yuanhua had fought with soldiers before, and he seemed to be stronger, although he looked very thin... Then Sun Yuanhua also came over, Obviously, he had a good idea, and he understood it effortlessly, and even said, "Yes, yes! It's very detailed, and many places seem to be optimized."

Luochen was overjoyed when he saw that he was familiar. Nai said: "Mr. Sun, you should be the deputy director of the National Technology Agency and assist Mr. Zhang Heng in his work. In addition, you are the person in charge of the Artillery Bureau, and you are solely responsible for the task of artillery. Mr. Zhang Heng is responsible for assisting and guiding.".

Chapter fifty-two

It is said that Luo Chen exchanged the system for Sun Yuanhua, an artillery expert, and ordered him to be solely responsible for technological breakthroughs in artillery manufacturing.

Luo Chen suddenly thought that neither of them seemed to have official titles and were not in the civil service system. Luochen didn't take the technical staff into consideration when rating the civil service system back then. It may be that there was no major breakthrough in technology at that time, and the dust was not rated well. In addition, this is a strictly confidential job and should not be publicized. But now, Guang Zhangheng is the president of Chang'an College, and the "National Technology Agency" has also appeared in public. The National Technical Agency soon became a large authority, received a large amount of funding, and in principle was only responsible for falling dust. There were hundreds of thousands of craftsmen and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Zhang Heng became famous as a famous "technical expert" and a contemporary scholar. When the officials of the capital saw Zhang Heng, they were all humble, calling him "Teacher" and "Sir". Now it is reasonable to say that it should be possible to rate Zhang Heng and others.

Luo Chen thought about it for a while, and then said: "Mr. Zhang Heng, you have worked diligently for us for so long, and you have achieved a qualitative breakthrough in gunpowder technology. Military division level, how?" Ma Chao, who was beside him, couldn't help sticking out his tongue again. As we all know, there is only one civil officer at the military division level, Zhuge Liang, who is the head of the advisors. Generally speaking, Zhuge Liang is responsible for assisting Luochen to preside over state affairs, and when Luochen goes on an expedition, he serves as a supervisor of the country, which is a very powerful role. The one who can be compared with Zhuge Zhang is Situ Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng first served as the prefect of Guanzhong and the west region. After he captured Yizhou, he was transferred to Yizhou by Luochen. He promoted the land-equalization system and the government military system by means of thunder. trusted person. However, Zhang Juzheng did not take a temporary post in the Prime Minister's Mansion, but officially served as the Situ in the court, so there was no official rating. However, in terms of general treatment and status, Zhang Juzheng is at the military division level. Now Luochen has directly promoted Zhang Heng to the rank of military division, which is somewhat unexpected. Zhang Heng is not a ruler of the country, he hardly asks about politics, and he is not a man of strategic rule. To put it bluntly, he is a person who studies various technologies. Luochen directly promoted him to the military division level. It can be seen that Luochen regards various practical technologies as equally important as national systems and strategies.

Although Zhang Heng was someone who didn't ask about politics, he still knew a little about it. To name him a military division level meant that he was on an equal footing with bigwigs like Zhuge Liang and Zhang Juzheng, which really surprised him. Zhang Heng said again and again: "I can't, I can't, the Prime Minister really overestimates my contribution. This minister is not the highest-level strategist in the country, but only a technical person. How can he be on the same level as Zhuge Liang, Zhang Juzheng and others? I really dare not." ." He waved his hands again and again, "If the prime minister wants to grade, he only needs to discuss the doctor, at most the deputy military division. These position ministers can exercise their powers without being seen or seen, and they are just right for me..."

Luochen held Zhang Heng's hand and said, "Our country has been prosperous for more than a thousand years, and it has finally declined, which has a lot to do with not paying attention to technological development. I now show the whole country that those who research technology are important ministers and talents of the country, which makes the whole country tend to respect technology. , isn't it for the benefit of the world!" That Zhang Heng may not understand, because Luo Chen is talking about the historical development in the future. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China fell behind the West, and Gai did not pay attention to technology. Luochen hopes that now his control area will form an atmosphere of respecting science and technology.

"Sun Yuanhua, I have appointed you to be a councilor." Luochen said simply. This Sun Yuanhua appeared out of thin air, so let's temporarily serve as a councilor. Wait for him to come up with artillery, and then promote.

Although the person in charge of artillery technology has now been appointed, the distant thirst cannot be quenched. Cao Cao's army is at the gate, and the gunpowder is about to run out. The fallen army is likely to defend Tongguan in blood again.

In the last battle of Tongguan, Luochen was able to successfully defend Tongguan, which had something to do with Yuan Shao's westward expedition. As a matter of fact, Luochen had already devoted all his strength to the whole country at that time. If it wasn't for Luochen's technique of joining forces with Yuan Shao to make Yuan Shao go west, Luochen would probably have been overthrown by Cao Cao.

Although Luochen is not what it used to be, it is unlikely to be wiped out by Cao Cao in one fell swoop. However, if Cao Cao made a desperate attempt to take down Tongguan, attack Chang'an, and burn down the Guanzhong at all costs, he would obviously deal heavy damage to Luochen. This situation, obviously, should be avoided by the dust.

Luochen summoned several important civil servants and generals who were still in the Guanzong area to discuss the next steps.

This meeting was very special and was held on the top of Tongguan City Tower. Not many people participated, but they were all bigwigs. They are Zhuge Liang, Fazheng, and Zhang Song who came from Chang'an (Luochen returned to Chang'an from Yizhou, brought both of them back to Chang'an, and did not arrange for them to serve in Yizhou to prevent dictatorship), and they are still there. Xu Da, Ma Chao, and Ma Dai from Tongguan, Xu Shu who came back from Shangyong, Zhang Heng, a newly-appointed military commander in the science and technology industry, and Sun Yuanhua from the science and technology industry all attended the meeting.

Luo Chen introduced the situation. General Xu Da looked dignified and said, "...'In that case... I'm not optimistic about the future of our army... Cao Cao has three possibilities. One is to go to Hebei first after testing; After fighting for half a month or even longer, they retreated after heavy losses. The third is to make a desperate attempt to conquer Tongguan at all costs, looting wildly in the Guanzhong area, severely damaging my base, and even dealing fatal blows to my main force, which greatly damaged my strength. "

"According to the general, which step will Cao Cao choose?" Luo Chen asked.

"Prime Minister, last time Cao Cao's strategic intentions must be very clear (good luck)." Ma Chao, who was silent on the side, said suddenly and seriously. "General Lin Chong didn't come, but he should have felt the deepest." Yes, Luochen's troops were still very weak back then, and there were not many generals at that time. The gate of Guanzhong was guarded by Lin Chong with tens of thousands of horses. Cao Cao's army numbered more than 300,000, but Lin Chong was stunned for more than a week, and all the tens of thousands of his troops were killed in battle. Afterwards, Luochen personally brought Ma Teng, Ma Chao, etc. to defend Tongguan. After hundreds of battles, he trained the famous Guanzhong iron cavalry in the world through the integration of Guanzhong soldiers and horses and Qiang cavalry.

"That's right," Luo Chen nodded deeply, looking at Cao Cao's dark camp from afar, "In those days, Cao Cao wanted to kill me Luo Chen at all costs."

"Then Cao Cao will probably choose this step this time..." Xu Da was worried, "To be honest, this is the most unfavorable outcome for us.".

Chapter 53 Meeting

"Cao Cao's strength is indeed frightening...but Cao Cao is by no means invincible." Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and said.