The capital of Xixia, Xingqing Prefecture. Xicheng District, on the left side of a not too busy street, in the third restaurant from the back. At this time, there were five or six people sitting at the restaurant eating, and a dozen waiters were in the shop.

Busy here.

"The imperial court took away all the people who knew how to make firecrackers, and also took away all the gunpowder. My grandfather wanted to buy some firecrackers for his birthday party, but he couldn't buy any." At this time, a guest suddenly said.

"I am the same. I want to buy some firecrackers for my father-in-law's birthday. It will be lively and lively, but I have sold out all over Xingqing City and can't buy anything. It seems I can only ask someone to buy it out of town." Another customer said.

Said.

"You can't buy it from other places. Now all the people who can make firecrackers and all the gunpowder in Xixia have been taken away by the court. You can't buy it even if you turn over the whole Xixia." A guest sitting at another table

said.

At this time, sitting at another table on the left side of the door, one of the guests said: "I also heard that the imperial court took away all the people who knew how to make firecrackers and the gunpowder. I didn't know that the imperial court took away all those who knew how to make firecrackers."

What's the use of taking away the people and gunpowder?

No, is the imperial court going to ban everyone from setting off firecrackers in the future?" At this time, a guest sitting on the stairs inside said: "The imperial court took away those who knew how to make firecrackers and the gunpowder because they wanted to make a particularly powerful firearm.

, to confront the Song Dynasty."

"Use firecrackers to fight!" The guests in the restaurant were very surprised, because they had never heard of using firecrackers to fight a war.

"Who did you hear about using firecrackers as weapons?" asked one of the guests at another table closer to this guest.

The guest took a bite of the dish and put it in his mouth, chewed it carefully, and then said: "My brother is serving under Prime Minister Zuo. He told me personally that the Song Army used this particularly powerful firecracker to attack the enemy."

Defeated Liao and Jin. The soldiers of Liao originally wanted to attack Wuzhou two days ago.

As a result, the Song army was repulsed by this extremely powerful artillery battle, but the Liao army also learned the secret of the Song army's victory. So they sent someone to inform our king, who then ordered to imitate it and return it to

This powerful firecracker has a very resounding name: Cannon and Thunder Stick."

"Hey, why is Xixia always at war with the Song Dynasty? Isn't it good for everyone to live in peace? After so many years of fighting, it is us people who suffer in the end." One of the guests sighed.

A guest sitting at the same table with him also shook his head and said: "It's not because we in Xixia are poor in land. If we don't fight to get it from the Song Dynasty, our lives will be even more difficult than now."

"But we have been fighting the Song Dynasty for so many years, and the people have not seen any improvement. On the contrary, they are getting more miserable every year." Another guest shook his head helplessly and said.

When this topic came up, all the customers in the store suddenly became depressed, because life was becoming more and more difficult every day, and now they were going to war with the Song Dynasty, which made them even less hopeful about their future lives.

At this moment, a thin man in his thirties with a mustache came in from outside. When the waiter saw it, he immediately surrounded him and said, "Please come in, sir."

"Is there a private room? I want a private room," the man said.

"Yes, please invite me upstairs." The clerk led the man to a separate room upstairs. The man immediately lowered his voice and said: "Go and call General Yang and General Shi right away. I have important things to do."

Tell them." It turns out that this restaurant is opened by Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong who were sent to Xixia by Huaje to inquire about the news. The waiters in the store are all soldiers who came with them.

The man who just came in was Shi Qian who came to Xixia with Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong. In order to reduce the risk of being discovered by the Xixia people, Shi Qian was not with Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong, but was alone outside.

Live, so that no matter where something goes wrong, you won't be blamed.

The waiter said: "General, please wait a moment. I will go and call Generals Shi and Yang." Not long after the waiter left, he called Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong, then went out and closed the door and stood guard at the door to prevent anyone from disturbing them.

them.

"Two brothers, the younger brother just heard the news that the King of Xixia has gathered all the people in the west who know how to make firecrackers and all the gunpowder together, and is rushing to make a large number of firearms to prepare for war with the Song Dynasty." Shi Qian said.

m Yang Xiong said: "We have also heard about this matter. Just now we were discussing that we should tell Mr. Hua this matter as soon as possible to avoid suffering losses when we attack Xixia in the future."

"But Mr. Hua is still in Huining Mansion now!" Shi Xiu said. Shi Qian said: "This is not a problem. I can go to Huining Mansion." Yang Xiong was about to speak when someone knocked on the door.

, Shi Xiu walked to the door and opened it, only to see that in addition to the waiter who had been guarding the door, there was another person, Dai Zong, the Taibao of Shenxing.

"Dean Dai!" Shi Xiu quickly pulled Dai Zong into the room. Yang Xiong and Shi Qian hurried over to meet him. Then the three of them sat down. Yang Wei asked: "Dean Dai, why are you here?

"

"I was ordered by Mr. Hua to make a special trip to Xixia to inquire about information." Dai Zong said. It turned out that in order to grasp the military situation of Xixia, Hua Ju wrote to Dai Zong, who was following Lin Chong in Yingzhou, asking him to go to Xixia to inquire about Xixia.

This way, they can make targeted arrangements when they return from their troops and defeat Xixia quickly.

After receiving the order, Dai Zong did not dare to delay, and immediately came to Xixia in disguise. He had just entered the city today, and because it was already a little late, he planned to stay one night at Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong's place, and then go to inquire about it tomorrow.

After Dai Zong finished explaining the circumstances of his coming to Xixia, Yang Wei said: "The dean came just in time. We just have an urgent piece of information that needs to be reported to Mr. Hua, and we are planning to ask Brother Shi Qian to go to Huining Mansion.

"

"What's going on?" Dai Zong asked. Yang Xiong told the King of Xixia that he had gathered all the people who knew how to make firecrackers and gunpowder together, and rushed to make a large number of gunpowder sticks. Dai Zong didn't feel particularly nervous after hearing this, and said:

"Xixia can't escape destruction even if it has gunpowder sticks."

Fortunately, Mr. Hua and the others have developed more powerful firearms. No matter how many gunpowder sticks Xixia possesses, they are still no match for Mr. Hua. Of course, this matter must be reported to Mr. Hua as soon as possible, but Mr. Hua asked me to inquire.

To understand the garrison situation in various places in Xixia, I must first

We can only go after we have found out more about this matter." Yang Xiong said: "Dean, I don't need to worry about these things anymore. We have found out all the garrison situations in various places in Xixia these days." Then he looked at Shi Xiu,

Shi Xiu opened the door and went downstairs. After a while,

He came back and closed the door, handed a pamphlet into Dai Zong's hand, and said, "All the troop deployments in Xixia that we have heard about these days are all in this." Dai Zong opened the brochure and looked at it. Basically, all the military units in Xixia are now there.

As well as the deployment of troops at the station.

"That's great, so I don't have to ask anymore." Dai Zong closed the book and put it in his arms, and said, "I will go to Huining Mansion tomorrow to report this situation to Mr. Hua."

"Okay, the dean will rest at our place today. I'll have people prepare food and wine, and we'll have a good time together," Yang Xiong said.

"That's right, we haven't gotten together for a long time. It's a rare opportunity today, so we have to have a good drink." Shi Xiu said.

Yang Xiong immediately asked Shi Xiu to tell the brothers to get some good food. The four of them had never sat together and drank together since they left Liangshan. It was a rare opportunity today to sit together and chat while eating.

, it didn’t end until late in the evening, and a place was arranged for Dai Zong to rest, while Shi Qian returned to his own place.

The next day, after Dai Zong had breakfast, Shi Xiu accompanied him to the city gate. After watching him leave the city safely, he turned back to the store.

Three days later, Dai Zong returned to Yingzhou, told Lin Chong about the situation, and then rode a fast horse to Huining Mansion.

Although Yingzhou is far away from Huining Mansion, fortunately, all the places in the Jin Kingdom have been occupied by the Song Army. Dai Zong can constantly replace his war horses along the way, so he arrived at Huining Mansion in only six days.

He told Hua Ju about the brochure that Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu gave him and that Xixia was working hard to make gunpowder sticks.

After hearing this, Hua Ju didn't take this matter to heart at all. He just smiled and said: "Okay, let them build more." Then he asked Dai Zongdao: "All the Liao troops attacking Wuzhou have been

Have you withdrawn to Kotun City?"

"It has been withdrawn. There are no Liao troops within a radius of 500 miles in the sixteen states of Yanyun." Dai Zong said.

Hua Ju said: "Even if they escaped quickly, even if they escaped back to Kedun City, they would only be temporarily safe. After Xixia is destroyed, I will lead my troops to Kedun City to wipe them out and make a permanent decision."

This is a future trouble."

"The Liao army is now out of control. To deal with them, you don't need to go out personally. You only need to send a few yuan of generals to lead the troops." Xiao Rang, a master scholar, said next to him.

Hua Ju smiled slightly, looked at Dai Zong and said, "You've worked hard all the way. Let's go down and have a rest. Let's sit down and have a couple of drinks in the evening."

"Thank you, Sir." Dai Zong saluted and followed Liu Shun down. In the evening, Hua Ju asked someone to prepare a banquet for Sun An, Luan Tingyu, Hu Cheng, Wei Dingguo, Shan Tinggui, Jin Dajian and Meng Qinghe who stayed with him.

, Ling Zhen, Xiao Rang, Guan Yan, Lu Zhen, Kou Chen, Gu Kai, Ji Wenbing and other generals were called together, and everyone gathered together.

During the dinner, Hua Ju asked about Lin Chong's situation in Yingzhou, and Dai Zong answered him one by one. Dai Zong did not stay in Huining Mansion for too long. After breakfast the next morning, he went to Yingzhou.

On the third day after Dai Zong left, the troops sent by the imperial court to replace Hua Ju and others finally arrived. Hua Ju first got to know the generals and let them rest in Huining Mansion for two days before assigning them to various cities.

go.

After Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Gao Zhan, Hu Yanzhuo, Hua Rong, Qin Ming and other generals returned with their troops, Hua Ju spent two days preparing his troops and horses, and then ordered Huining Prefecture, Tongpan, and troops to

The supervisor, regiment training envoy and others called and gave them instructions, asking him to treat the people well and not to bully them, so as not to arouse the resentment of the people and lead to a civil uprising. The prefect said that he would definitely abide by the imperial court's new policies and would never dare to act rashly.
Chapter completed!