The Prosperous Era of Longwan

After learning about Yu Dayou's unicycle combat experience from Chen You, Wei Guangde felt that it was somewhat effective, but to be honest, the so-called actual combat was of little value.

At best, the two sides only had a confrontation, and there were some feint attacks, but in the end there was no major fight. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to judge the true power of this new weapon in a battlefield environment.

Of course, Wei Guangde also knows that the current Mongolian cavalry, due to the lack of iron materials, can only organize light cavalry units. Even Anda Khan's headquarters has not organized heavy cavalry units for breaking out.

Today's Mongolian cavalry is similar to the kite-flying tactics used by later generations to play games and fight monsters. They roam near the enemy's formation and throw rain of arrows to attack the enemy. They will only take advantage of the situation and rush into the enemy's formation until the opponent cannot withstand the attack and the formation collapses.

As long as the military formation can defend itself against the Tatar cavalry's projectiles, there is a high probability that the Mongolian cavalry will choose a tactical retreat after the confrontation because there is no good opportunity.

In Yu Dayou's battle, the Tatars were obviously troubled by insufficient troops.

Don't forget that Yu Dayou's men and horses are similar to them, but don't forget that there are hundreds of Ming troops in the nearby Niuxin Fort. They are not comparable to those military households in the mainland who don't know what war is. They have been fighting with the Tatars in border towns all year round. It's also quite powerful.

Although the Ming army is nominally two groups, it is actually three groups. The thousands of Tatars need to be divided into three groups for defense, and key targets must be selected for attack.

The Ming army at Niuxinbao needed to detach a small number of cavalry for surveillance, and the 200 cavalry at the rear of the Ming army also needed to dedicate corresponding cavalry to deal with it. In this way, the remaining cavalry that could attack the Ming army's infantry was greatly reduced.

Therefore, after discovering that the Ming army had a slight advantage in military strength and that the opponent was using a weapon they had never seen before, it was understandable that they found that they could not take advantage after several trials and gave up the military operation.

The Tatars can also see the role of the one-wheeled chariot. The baffle is too obvious to defend against their rain of arrows. It is equivalent to the sword and shield wielders in front of the Ming army's formation in the past, but this thing has a larger defense area. .

After asking the messenger to go down to rest and having lunch at home, Wei Guangde returned to the Hanlin Academy and was thinking about this matter.

The letter paper has also been laid out on the desk, just thinking about how to reply to Yu Dayou.

Testing the court's opinion, this is very simple, but Wei Guangde feels that doing this now seems a bit too hasty.

It is impossible for the court to turn a blind eye to weapons with actual combat effects. Even if the cost is extremely high, they will be equipped with a small number of troops and will not be shelved. What's more, what Yu Dayou has built is a low-end infantry fighting vehicle.

Compared with the chariots equipped by the Ming army in the past, the cost of the one-wheeled chariot is much cheaper. If its effectiveness is proven after actual combat testing, there is no reason not to equip it.

The reason for being too hasty is that they didn't really put themselves into the battlefield. The one-wheeled chariot looked so simple, how could it be convincing.

Although the cost of making a one-wheeled chariot is low, it does not mean that national funds can be wasted wantonly. Now that the government's finances are tight, it is time to save money, so the Qingliu people are naturally willing to pinch the soft persimmon of Datong.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde picked up his pen and wrote down his thoughts on the letter paper.

The cost of making one-wheeled chariots is not high. If Datong has sufficient funds, it can allocate a sum of money from the government to build some, and deploy troops and horses for relevant training. When the Tatars attack the military fortresses around Datong, they can conduct an actual battle. The real meaning is actual combat.

After the actual combat effects are achieved, you can then apply for military expenditures from the imperial court, and allocate the expenses of the Datong government office from the military expenditures.

Otherwise, with the current combat power of the unicycle, it would be difficult for the court to accept it, let alone allocate funds for it. Even if Yu Dayou's idea is to set up seven military chariot battalions but only a thousand unicycles, the required military expenses It is only a thousand taels, but it is difficult to be accepted by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs.

In fact, even if Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong, wrote a letter about this matter at this time, it would probably only attract the attention of some people in the court, but only attention rather than support.

You know, if the effect of the chariot is really good, it is absolutely impossible to build such a weapon in Datong. Both the Jiubian Strong Town and the Beijing Camp must be equipped with it.

After the letter was written, Wei Guangde did not put it into the envelope immediately. Instead, he planned to go back at night and think about it.

At this time, Wei Guangde thought of Gao Gong.

Gao Gong is a relatively strong person. He has always advocated a strong counterattack against the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian Tatars.

On this point, he and Emperor Jiajing had the same attitude.

Let Lu Bu go out and call Zhang Ji, "Take my post to invite Master Gao Gonggao. I will invite you to Xifeng Tower tonight."

Wei Guangde did not call anyone else, including his fellow villagers, and planned to talk to Gao Gong alone about the affairs in Datong, and also asked him to take care of Yu Dayou who was sent there.

There is a huge difference in official positions between the two. Gao Gong knows the government affairs in advance and is much more knowledgeable than Wei Guangde. Sometimes when the topic of discussion involves Yu Dayou, Gao Gong can help to change things first.

Time was a little tight, after all, it was already the afternoon, and I didn't know if Gao Gong would be able to keep the appointment.

"When you meet Mr. Gao, if he agrees to keep the appointment, you should go back to the house first and bring me the letter from Datong that is pressed with paper on the desk in my study."

Of course Wei Guangde would not let Gao Gong see the letter Yu Dayou wrote to him. He just wanted to use the picture of a unicycle chariot painted by Yu Dayou.

Unfortunately, Lu Bu soon returned to the Hanlin Academy.

"Sir, Master Gao has an appointment tonight, but I have made an appointment with him to have a banquet at Xifeng Tower tomorrow night."

Hearing Lu Bu's words, Wei Guangde nodded.

Since it was not a big deal, there was no reason why Gao Gong had to come. In fact, when he explained to Zhang Ji at the beginning, he made it clear that Gao Gong would go home to pick up the things if he agreed to keep the appointment.

"knew."

Wei Guangde nodded and agreed.

There were no arrangements for that night, and Wei Guangde did not go home directly after getting off duty. Instead, he went out to drink and listen to music with his colleagues, and played until he was almost under night ban before saying goodbye and returning home.

However, Wei Guangde was a little stunned after entering the door. The front lobby was actually brightly lit.

The Wei family is rich, but they are not so rich as to use lamp oil and candles arbitrarily.

At this time in the evening, except for the rooms where the guards stay, other rooms will usually turn off the lights early to rest. As for places like the lobby, it must have been pitch dark.

There were lights on inside, and it looked like there were a lot of candles lit. Wei Guangde knew that this could only happen if there were distinguished guests.

"Who's coming?"

Wei Guangde asked the concierge, who was closing the door before he could report the situation at home to Wei Guangde.

At this time, when he heard Wei Guangde's question, he hurriedly stopped what he was doing, walked to Wei Guangde's side and whispered, "Sir, Eunuch Chen from the palace is here. Madam has asked someone to prepare tea to serve him."

Hearing this, Wei Guangde frowned slightly and said, "Why didn't anyone notify me?"

Wei Guangde's whereabouts are known to his family.

When a guest comes to visit, the lady does not arrange for someone to deliver a letter to her, asking him to go back early, and makes the guest wait for a long time. This is a very rude behavior.

"Eunuch Chen didn't let us deliver the letter. He came in secret. No one else knew except the people around me and my wife."

The man hurriedly leaned into Wei Guangde's ear and whispered, "Madam, she gave up now. It's not that I didn't come to report to the master, but that Eunuch Chen and Madam refused to let me do it."

Without enough time to go back and change clothes, Wei Guangde walked directly towards the living room.

When I entered the door, I saw that it was Chen Ju sitting in the room, drinking tea and reading a book in his hand. No wonder there were so many candles in the room, making it so bright.

Of course Wei Guangde would not be reluctant to part with those few candles, just for a few pennies, but he was a little curious in his heart as to why he came to his home today.

Wei Guangde clearly remembered that on the boat that day, Chen Ju told him that he would have to reduce the number of meetings between the two of them in the future if there was no big deal.

"Brother Chen, what brought you here?"

When Wei Guangde entered the room, he cheerfully clasped his fists and said to Chen Ju.

Chen Ju raised his head and glanced at Wei Guangde, then put down the book in his hand, smiled and nodded from Wei Guangde, then glanced at the door, the meaning was self-evident.

Wei Guangde whispered a few words to Zhang Ji who followed behind him, and then Zhang Ji turned around and left.

Wei Guangde smiled and walked to Chen Ju and sat down. He didn't say anything, but just looked at him curiously.

After waiting for a while, Chen Ju estimated that Zhang Ji had already cleaned up the outside, and then he reached out to pick up the tea cup on the coffee table and took a few sips before putting it down.

Glancing at Wei Guangde, there was no impatient expression on his face, and then he chuckled. However, Wei Guangde relaxed in his heart, knowing that he did not have any unfavorable news for him and wanted to inform him in advance. Chen Ju's expression suddenly changed, and his expression became serious and dignified.

Seeing this, Wei Guangde's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

He was certain that something big had happened to Chen Ju, otherwise he would not have broken the rules they had agreed upon before.

"I'm here this time mainly to remind you to be careful with your food and accommodation in the future."

When Chen Ju finished speaking, Wei Guangde opened his eyes wide and stared at him in shock.

After a while, Wei Guangde asked cautiously: "Brother, what do you mean by this?"

"Haha. Look."

As he spoke, Chen Ju raised his right hand and showed it to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde realized belatedly that at some point, he had something that should be a silver needle sandwiched between his two fingers.

"Brother, do you mean someone wants to harm me?"

When Wei Guangde saw this, he still didn't understand the meaning of Chen Ju's words, but there was still something wrong in his understanding.

"Haha. Who would want to harm you? He must have done too many bad things."

Chen Ju was just joking.

"Then what's the meaning of brother's words?"

Wei Guangde heard that Chen Ju did not say that anyone was trying to harm him, but he still couldn't let go.

He knew that Chen Ju would not act without aim. Since he came here tonight, he must have his own motives.

"My godfather heard news about Governor Lu."

At this time, Chen Ju opened his mouth and said something earth-shattering.

"Captain Lu? Lu Bing?"

Wei Guangde only heard the beginning, then he uttered a sound of surprise, and then covered his mouth with one hand.

Because at this time, Chen Ju raised his right hand and swung his index finger from side to side, signaling Wei Guangde to be quiet.

But what Wei Guangde didn't know was that Chen Ju was still a little proud at this time.

He was also shocked and inexplicable when he heard the news, but he seemed to be much calmer than Wei Guangde, if it weren't for the fact that his crotch was slightly wet.

"Brother, you should just tell me what Eunuch Gao is going to say."

Wei Guangde finally lost his patience and started asking questions.

It was about Lu Bing, but Lu Bing was already dead. Combined with Chen Ju's previous reminder to be careful about what he ate, and the dazzling silver needle, they were both telling him that he was in danger.

When others are in danger, Wei Guangde can still stay aloof, but now it seems that he is also involved.

Although Wei Guangde thinks he has not offended anyone, sometimes the offended person may not know.

If you block someone else's promotion path, it's an offending job. You may not know it yet. At this time, all he can think about is whether Zuo Zhongyun of Zuo Chunfang of Zhan Shifu, who was appointed to be promoted, has been targeted by someone for a long time. If you get into trouble, you will make others hate you by making a cross move.

Although Huang Jin kept a low profile and the entire Dongchang seemed not to be noticed by the official circles, it was still the Dongchang, a powerful character that once made all officials talk about it.

Seeing Wei Guangde's frightened look, Chen Ju continued: "Your Majesty asked Dongchang to investigate the cause of Governor Lu's death. You should have heard about the cause of Governor Lu's death."

Having said this, Chen Ju looked at Wei Guangde's nod, and then said: "According to the information received by Godfather, Dongchang has discovered that the batch of pills has been tampered with. Only the surface is poisonous. If you peel off the pills on the surface, there will be people inside." It’s okay to eat it.”

"You mean, Governor Lu was poisoned to death? Then who did it, and the target was His Majesty?"

At this point, Wei Guangde's eyes widened, a little surprised by his guess.

Someone wants to poison the emperor. This is regicide. If someone catches him, his family will be confiscated and his family will be exterminated.

Who would do this?

what is the benefit?

Chen Ju shook his head, "We are still investigating. Is the target the emperor or who else? But judging from the current situation, it may not be the poison targeting the emperor.

Everyone in the palace knows that after the elixir is released, someone needs to test it. The poison is so strong that people will have an attack soon after taking it, and there is no way for the emperor to take it.

Therefore, this matter was a bit strange. Neither the godfather nor Eunuch Huang thought it was a conspiracy against the emperor. Rather, it seemed like he wanted to poison Lu Bing. "

At this time, Wei Guangde had lowered his head and was calculating rapidly in his mind.

In fact, it's very simple to think about it, that is, who would benefit the most from Lu Bing's death, then whoever would be the murderer.

Moreover, this murderer can reach into Xiyuan, and there are not many people in the capital who can do that.

Undoubtedly, Wei Guangde only had one person in mind, and that was Yan Song.

The relationship between Yan Song and Lu Bing is not a secret among the powerful circles in the capital.

Combined with what Lu Yi said to Wei Guangde alone that day when Wei Guangde went to the Lu Mansion to express condolences, Wei Guangde realized later that maybe the Lu family had some guesses at that time, but they were just not sure.

Moreover, Lu Bing is dead after all.

The Lu family was not sure if they really let go to investigate, even if the results were finally found, whether Emperor Jiajing would bring justice to their family.

At that time, perhaps they were more worried about the Yan family's next blow to the Lu family.

It seemed reasonable, but Wei Guangde always felt something was wrong.

Would an old fox like Yan Song do such a thing?