"I've already seen what Xiao Bao did to Xinluo. I reckon that Japan won't be able to withstand it for too long. This is the power of the economy."
Wu Huifei became more and more fascinated by this.
"This is the strength of the entire Great Tang. Without the support of the military, if I play tricks, they'll just attack me. With the support of martial arts, I can use trade to deal with people. Not even a few smart people in the other countries can stop me.
Because their rulers are afraid of losing their power and status, they can only let others cut off their flesh piece by piece, sacrificing the interests of the people to slow down their own downfall. It is like drinking poison to quench thirst. "
After Zhang Xiaobao said this, he pulled Wang Juan up and found a relatively quiet corner to continue discussing disaster relief. The messengers from the family came and went, passing orders to the places around Tufan where the Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family had business dealings.
The Great Tang generals were also resting. They gathered together to chat, but no one brought up the matter of the military examination, much less hinting at it. They couldn't afford to lose face.
Therefore, they talked about how many chili peppers they could plant this spring, how many new wineries they should open when there was enough food, how many shooting ranges they should build in the northern and western suburbs of the capital, how many shooting ranges they should take time to compete with, and so on.
"Over at Tubo, the weather is constantly changing. Who knows when it will snow heavily? Otherwise, why would they always invade the border?" Pei Guangting drank two mouthfuls of wine and felt comfortable. He narrowed his eyes and said.
Zhang Shougui raised his bowl and took a sip, then let out a long sigh. "There's also the area around Feng Province. It's raining everywhere else, but there's still ice there. In a single year, there might be dozens or even hundreds of hailstorms. It's just like how when there's too much rain in the south, it's like a flood.
"Why not? Look at Feng Zhou. In the past two years, there have been reports of problems with the grass used to feed cattle, sheep, horses, and other livestock. Every year, Sanshui County sends large amounts of flowers and plants to the capital, and it's always early winter. Why aren't their flowers and plants afraid of frost? "
Secretary Yuan Qian Yao's voice sounded. He was in charge of the Six Ministries and was seen as a civil servant by the generals.
Recently, he had been extremely busy. At the beginning of spring, the local taxes were directly returned to the capital. Soon, he had to follow the documents submitted by the local government and verify them before transferring the money to the local government.
There was also the distribution of seeds from the Sinongsi to local areas for trial planting, as well as the proposals submitted by local officials with ideas, changes in the local development model, and so on.
As the head of the secretariat, Yuan Qianyao was too busy. He found Zhang Zhong, Wang Bei, Jiang Cen, one Minister of Works, one Minister of Revenue, and one Minister of Agriculture.
As for the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Supreme Court, there was no need for them at the moment.
Just as he was in the middle of the discussion with the three of them, the intelligence agency of the imperial court sent over news that the snow in Tubo had caused all the roads to be sealed.
There was no need to mention how depressed Yuan Qianyao was. He had finally managed to get Wang Bei and Zhang Zhong to sit together and discuss matters. In the end, they were interrupted. If Wang Bei's temper flared up again, the meeting would not be able to continue.
Therefore, Yuan Qianyao had no choice but to rush to the Hibiscus Garden to discuss the matter of disaster relief. Zu Zan and Princess Jincheng returned to their parents' home. Something had happened in Tubo, so they had to pretend to be anxious. Wang Bei thought that he could use the Ministry of Revenue, so he also came over. Zhang Zhong missed his son and also came over.
Seeing that the three of them had gone, Jiang Cen naturally followed.
The moment he walked in, he met a group of generals. Hearing Zhang Shougui's words, Yuan Qianyao, who prided himself on being a scholar, immediately refuted.
Without waiting for Zhang Shougui to say anything, Wang Bei helped him and said, "Sanshui County is different from other places. They have a perfect disaster prevention system. When the frost descends, they will light a fire in advance. The yamen of Sanshui County will organize the manpower and fork out the money.
The money they fork out is specially for disaster relief. The people there are very obedient. If they want to fork out the money, they will do it according to their actual situation. One copper coin for you, five copper coins for them. Some will fork out more, some will fork out less.
They will only use it to prevent disasters. If it was the people of other places, if someone is willing to fork out the money, they will be worried that the yamen will embezzle the money. Isn't that right, Lord Zhang? Who isn't afraid of your family there? "
This time, Zhang Zhong did not deny it. He nodded his head lightly and said, "That's right. Sanshui County is my home. How can I allow problems to happen there? When the officials of Sanshui County do things, they have to think about the attitude of my family. They have to think about whether the people approve of them. They have to think about whether they are worthy of their official robes. "
"Lord Zhang is right. For example, in my hometown, I will send seeds to them. It doesn't matter if they say that I am abusing my power for personal gain or that I don't forget my hometown. I will still do it. If the local officials don't do their jobs well, I will also take care of them."
Jiang Cen was biased towards Zhang Zhong and agreed with him.
Wang Bei did not say anything. They were saying that he was not capable enough and did not take care of his family well.
Zhang Shougui was unhappy with Yuan Qianyao's words just a moment ago. Now, he smiled at Zhang Zhong and said, "I didn't finish my words just now. A natural disaster cannot be stopped by humans. It also depends on who it is. If it was Lord Zhang, he might not be able to stop the natural disaster, but he can try his best to protect the people. Lord Zhang, has the Ministry of Works produced anything new recently?"
The other generals also smiled kindly at Zhang Zhong. They placed Zhang Zhong on the side of military officials and not civil officials.
This was all due to the functions of the Ministry of Works and Wang Juan and Zhang Xiaobao.
The generals did not treat Zhang Xiaobao as a civil official. Although he was in charge of the economy, he was very aggressive towards external affairs.
When the Ministry of Works produced something new, they would definitely consider military applications first. In addition, Wang Juan was in charge of the teaching of the military academy. Thus, they had to show the appropriate closeness.
Wang Bei's face became gloomy. His kindness was not rewarded.
Zhang Zhong did not care about what Wang Bei was thinking. He thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes. Recently, they have been researching a weapon that can be used to fight hailstorms."
"Hailstorms?" When Zhang Zhong said this, even Wang Bei forgot to be angry. When attacking a city, cannons were used. When attacking people, guns were used. How were they going to fight hailstorms?
The generals looked at each other.
Yu Wenrong, who was in charge of logistics, asked uncertainly, "Lord Zhang, are hailstorms ice that fall from the sky?"
"That's right," Zhang Zhong said with certainty.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled. "Lord Zhang, don't joke around. If hailstorms fall from the sky, don't tell me you're going to make ten thousand machine guns and arrange them into a machine gun formation with different heights and shoot at the sky non-stop?
If that's the case, it's better to let the hailstorms fall. If you give me ten thousand machine guns, I'll go to other countries and snatch back things that are worth a few hundred times more than the money lost to hailstorms. "
The other generals also laughed, thinking that Zhang Zhong was joking with them.
Zhang Zhong wanted to explain, but he did not know where to start. He could only say, "Xiao Bao and Cuckoo came up with the idea to use cannons to shoot at the clouds in the sky. The thing inside that is about to turn into ice will turn into rain in advance. Rain is better than hailstorms."
"Oh! Xiao Bao and Cuckoo said that? More or less. There's an eighty percent chance that we can shoot it down. "Pei Guangting immediately agreed.
The other generals nodded.
"Haha, Zhang Zhong, you're not as good as your son and daughter-in-law. No one believes your words. You're not capable enough." Wang Bei laughed and mocked Zhang Zhong.
Zhang Zhong curled his lips in disdain. "You also know that they're my son and daughter-in-law? I really don't have any other abilities. I can give birth. My biological children are Xiao Bao, Xiao Hai, and Xiao Bei. Hmph! "
Wang Bei's face darkened again, but no one cared about him. He could not control the generals. Jiang Cen was with Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. Yuan Qianyao was the head of the secretariat and the prime minister. Zhang Zhong was more understanding of Wang Bei, so he gave him some face sometimes.
Wang Bei was sulking, but no one cared about him.
Wang Zhongsi, who was still young, went up to Zhang Zhong and asked, "Lord Zhang, what did the cannons shoot out? Can it turn the clouds into rain? "
"I'm not sure either. Xiao Bao and Cuckoo know. Anyway, it's not gunpowder. The cannons are not made of iron or copper. They said that if the technology reaches a certain level, it can make the sky rain even if there are no clouds. It can make the sky clear even if there are dark clouds.
The relevant people in the Ministry of Works are thinking of making it rain first to stop the hailstones. We can talk about other things later. When the technology reaches a certain level, there's nothing that can't be reversed. "
Zhang Zhong said it very boldly. They could not do it now, but they had to think about it.
Wang Zhongsi showed a yearning expression. He was not thinking about the good weather in Tang. That was something that Yuan Qianyao and Jiang Cen should be looking forward to.
Wang Zhongsi was thinking that if … there was a sudden downpour on the enemy's march during a war, the enemy would be exhausted to death before they could reach their destination.
Yuan Qianyao was thinking about which place was short of water. Whoosh! After a day of rain, where would there be more rain? Whoosh! The weather cleared up, and the grain production increased. If they wanted to eat rice, they could eat rice. If they wanted to eat steamed buns, they could eat steamed buns. They could eat the Mandarin Duck Soup every meal. There were prawns, crabs, mutton, beef, and so on.
"No, I shouldn't think this way. I'm too unambitious. Let the people eat. I don't have to be so fixated on food. Zhang Zhong, Xiao Bao and Cuckoo asked the Ministry of Works to make it, right?"
Yuan Qianyao thought about the 'happy' days in the future. He realized that if he wanted the people to eat like this, as the prime minister, he couldn't dream about eating.
"Yes, Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's request must be made within half a year. Then, they will measure the propelling data of the gunpowder fired into the sky and calculate the limit of the parabola. They also made a request. The cannons can be bigger in the early stages and smaller in the later stages.
The firing speed must be fast, and the gun barrel must be able to withstand the temperature and friction. No matter if it is air-cooled or water-cooled, the cannons must be able to withstand two minutes of continuous firing.
In order to achieve the effect of a machine gun, they named it 'autocannon.' It will be useful after more than a year. If they can't figure it out, it might cause the Tang Empire to lose many outstanding men. "
Zhang Zhong knew that those who could be selected for the martial arts competition were loyal. Therefore, he explained it to Yuan Qianyao in 'detail'.
As Wang Ke listened, his eyes widened. When Zhang Zhong finished, he leaned over and whispered, "Zhang Zhong, do your son and daughter-in-law want to make it into anti-air weapons? I know that there are many man-eating eagles. They are worried about losing their air superiority.
With the autocannon, they can cooperate with the victory of the Tang Empire and destroy all of the enemy's victory. If the hot air balloon can take off, a portion of the autocannon with relatively smaller power can even directly attack the enemy in the air. "
At this moment, Wang Ke, who was also a high-ranking official and knew that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan wanted to use military force against Doshi, temporarily put aside his feelings towards Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Ke to analyze the situation.
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