Chapter 385 Northern Expedition

Hangzhou City.

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

He didn't want to sit so high. He preferred to sit with the people below to discuss problems. However, in this era, it was definitely not an era of boiling. As the Ninth Five-Year Plan, he absolutely had to have a certain level of style, which was also the result of repeated demands from the ministries.

Otherwise, Zhang Yang really wants to turn the hall into a conference hall and sit on his hands. These people surround the city in front of the oval conference table, drinking water and meeting at the same time. How warm and harmonious.

Zhang Yang doesn't want to learn from Zhu Yuanzhang in later generations. He must do everything. He has to ask about everything and keep his power. He is not a model worker. Many things have been handed over to him for a long time. This kind of formal upper court is not every day, and it is only opened every few days.

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

"Your Majesty." Liu Bowen, the minister of the Ministry of Ceremonies, said first of all, "Now, it has a rare heavy snow in a hundred years in the north. The foundation of the Mongolian tars, that is, on the Mongolian grasslands, countless cattle, sheep and horses have frozen to death, and the expansion of Timur, the most capable of fighting in the tars, has brought troops back to the grassland for disaster relief. Now most of the internal forces in most of the capitals are extremely empty, which is a good one. The opportunity."

As soon as I heard the news, the people below immediately talked about it.

Although Zhang Yang's sitting position is high, his habits have not changed. When he encounters a big event, he still wants to listen to the opinions of his subordinates. They are also used to it and sometimes discuss it with a red face. However, whether they quarrel or not, as long as Zhang Yang makes up his mind, they will execute the order without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, now is a very good opportunity to eliminate the Mongolian tartars. The last general is not talented. He is willing to lead 50,000 elite soldiers and directly hit the capital. Chang Yuchun said.

Chang Yuchun is a good fighter. If you don't fight for a day, your hands will itch. This time you will see the opportunity. Of course, you can't let it go.

"It doesn't seem appropriate, does it?" Li Shanchang said, "Your Majesty, most of our soldiers are from the south, which is not suitable for the cold weather in the north. We also lack leather clothes to resist the cold weather. Moreover, the river is frozen, and our warships can't drive through. If we launch an attack at this time, I'm afraid there will be many obstacles. It's better to wait until the spring snow melts. The river also opened, and then headed north.

"Lord Li's words are not good." Chang Yuchun immediately retorted: "The north is dominated by infantry and cavalry. Our warships can only reach the north by transportation at most. What's the use of this? We can't play the role of our warship at all, and my elite soldiers have been trained by cold resistance for a long time, and can completely overcome this natural defect. Now most of the troops are empty, and we just accept it completely. Otherwise, if the gunfire is bombarded, the capital will be destroyed, and it is useless for us to occupy it.

Chang Yuchun has long heard that the emperor intends to take the capital as the ultimate capital. Although everyone is from the south and does not want to go to the north, they still have to listen to the emperor's words.

"General Chang, if you say so, is that our navy is useless?" When Chang Yuchun said this, Bian Yuanheng was not happy.

"No, General Chang, in the south of the Yangtze River, it is naturally very useful for the navy, but in the north, this winter, it is really inconvenient!" Chang Yuchun said quickly.

Now, the navy is stepping up the construction of warships, which is very powerful. The generals of other armies are jealous. If you want to complain, there are some. The northern navy is useless at all. Why does the eldest brother still build so many ships?

"Gentlemen, the topic we are discussing is whether to attack the north, not the water army." Shi Yi said, "From the bottom of my heart, I also very much hope to go to most cities early. However, now it is a cold winter in the north. I heard that the snow is more than a foot thick. If you step on it, you will sink into it. Our army has no experience and blindly goes north. Not to mention war, I'm afraid even marching is impossible."

Snow thick? Zhang Yang knows that if there is heavy snow in the north, it will definitely be cold and white snow everywhere. In this kind of weather, everyone will hide in the house and roast a charcoal fire. Otherwise, they will be in danger of freezing to death when they sleep on the street.

This kind of weather is absolutely not conducive to marching.

However, this opportunity is so good. If you seize it properly, you may be able to take down the capital and clean up the emperor's nest without spending a soldier.

In front of Zhang Yang's eyes, two long, flat things appeared. Since there is heavy snow in the north, let's change to a means of transportation and use sleds!

"Gentlemen, I have decided to seize this opportunity to completely solve the hidden dangers in the north!" Zhang Yang said, "Half a month later, the army will be sent to the capital!"

"The troops at all levels have to invest in cold resistance training. Lord Li, the secretary of the Ministry of Household, is responsible for urgently making 50,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes, which will be completed within half a month. Lord Shang Shuzu of the Ministry of Industry is responsible for making 50,000 sets of sleds, which will be completed in half a month. After half a month, he will prepare for the Northern Expedition!" Zhang Yang said.

After saying this sentence, Li Shanchang and Zu Xingzhi should be out. After answering, they were ready to retreat from the court. Unexpectedly, they stood there and did not move.

"Your Majesty, what are cotton-padded clothes and sleds?" Chang Yuchun asked. Originally, he was very happy to hear that there were 50,000 sets each, which coincided with the number of people in his troops. This battle was probably his again.

However, no one has heard of these two things!

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

Zhang Yang finally remembered that in this era, Huang Daopo had just brought advanced textile technology for 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 at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, about 1245, from Wonijing Town, Songjiang Prefecture. She was born in a poor peasant family and was sold as a child bride at the age of twelve or thirteen. I work all over the world, weave cloth until late at night, and be subjected to inhuman abuse by my parents-in-law and husband. Finally, he couldn't stand it. Late one night, he fled to a boat and arrived in Ya County, Hainan.

The simple and enthusiastic local Li compatriots sympathized with Huang Daopo's misfortune, accepted her, gave her a place to settle down, and taught her their advanced textile technology unreservedly in their common working life. Huang Daopo was smart and diligent, humbly learned textile technology from Li compatriots, and integrated the strengths of textile technology of the people of Li and Han, and became an excellent textile master in Zhejiang.

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

The people in the area of Wunijing and Songjiang quickly mastered advanced weaving technology, seed-removing and stirring, bullet cotton bows, and three ingot pedal spinning wheels. These advanced tools were quickly popularized, and the cotton textiles were colorful, presenting an unprecedented event. After the death of Huang Daopo, Songjiangfu, near Hangzhou, became the largest cotton textile center in China.

However, in the south, it's just to wear more clothes layer by layer, and there is no way for future generations: between two layers of cloth, a layer of cotton.

That is to say, in this era, there are no cotton-padded clothes. No matter how cold the weather is, it is just an extra layer of single clothes. In the north, rich people wear leather clothes. If they don't have money, they wear single clothes and get holes.

It seems that you still have to take out this invention by yourself!

"Cotton clothes are 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. There are skins on both sides and stuffing in the middle."

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

Although he became an emperor, Zhang Yang can't say that kind of words. Zhang Yang doesn't want to say that kind of flashy thing, so he still speaks the same vernacular as usual.

The ministers gradually dispersed, and Zhang Yang left his ancestral knowledge. This sled had to be made the brothers of the nearest Pingjiang Shipyard hurry up to build it.

Zhang Yang carefully told Zu Xingzhi about the principle and appearance of the sled. In fact, it is also very simple, that is, two long boards, the front end is arched, and in the middle of the board, there is half the shape of wooden shoes, and the feet can just reach in.

The reason why people walk on the snow is that the contact area of the feet is small and the pressure is too large. The use of long wooden boards as the soles increases the area. Moreover, the form of walking has also become sliding. This kind of sled, in the snow, is faster than people running.

Zhang Yang explained it, and Zu Xingzhi understood that it was invented and created, and it was relatively easy to understand for this thing.

However, if the ancestors knew it, it would completely subvert Zhang Yang's understanding of the wisdom of the people of this era. The real wisdom of the Chinese people is endless!

"Your Majesty, since this is okay, we might as well build a large chariot, also install such a sled, use the steam engine as power, and then put a cannon on it, so that we can provide strong fire support when attacking the city." Zu Xingzhi said.

As soon as Zhang Yang heard it, his eyes straightened. What does the other party mean? Do you want to build the tank in advance? That's too early!

"I have seen Li Youcai and Zhao Jiamin in the shipyard. In addition to making a larger steam engine to drive warships, they also made a small steam engine, which is said to be used to drive carriages, so they don't need horses." Zu Xingzhi said.

Zhang Yang didn't know that the two inventors like to play with these things in their spare time. There is a precedent for Jiao Yu. His craftsmen have all become fond of these things.

Although the horse does not need to burn coal, it has to rest after running for a few hours, so the two of them thought of using a steam engine to drive the carriage.

And Zu Xingzhi went a step further, so that it was clear that cannons should be added to it!

"Well, if you can succeed in half a month, I will give you a reward of 100 taels of silver each!" Zhang Yang said.

(to be continued)