The wheat harvests in May and summer plants in June.

In the past two months, I have to be busy collecting grain taxes and organizing farming, and the time for the Mohist family gathering has been postponed to August.

It is not just a busy issue, but the senior officials of the Mohist school are also debating about how to go in the future and explain the problem as clearly as possible.

When July arrived, the situation in the world had begun to become clear, and the clouds of war finally fell the first raindrop in the Central Plains.

In May, the Zheng people surrounded Yu Pass, and Yangchengjun guarded Yu Pass to the death. When the Chu support troops arrived, they fought with the Zheng people and were defeated.

Yang Chengjun escaped on a bicycle, and the Chu people were defeated. Jing Jia and Shu were killed in the chaos of the two Chu officials. Their heads were cut off by the Zheng people. Wuyang City was merged into Zheng State. More than 10,000 Chu troops were killed in battle. The defense in Wuyang direction collapsed completely.

At the same time, Zheng State ruling Si Ziyang announced that he would not recognize the legitimacy of King Xiong of Chu at this time, believing that the prince had the right to inherit, and said that Zheng State would maintain the rules at all costs and send the prince to Chu to ascend the throne.

That month, Wei and Han also came forward to express their disagreement of the legitimacy of the King of Chu, and said that the three kingdoms of Wei, Han and Zheng would unite and join the prince's decree.

Zhao expressed verbal support, but did not send troops. Wei was forced to stop pursuing Zhao's troops due to the urgency of time: Zhao did not get any benefits after the Qi War, and Chu could not threaten Zhao at all. It was extremely difficult for the Three Jins to jointly send troops to Chu.

The next month, Qin Jun personally visited Chongquan and mobilized Qin soldiers to vow to retake Xihe. At the same time, he spoke out for his support for the rationality of the Chu King's throne.

Wei Xihe guarded Wu Qi and was ready to fight with the Qin people.

While the ruling Tian family of Qi was showing neutrality, they immediately sent envoys to Chu State, expressing their support for King Xiong of Chu to inherit the throne. However, due to the great defeat of Linqiu a few years ago, the rebellion between Xiang Ziniu and the dispute between the Tian family brothers, they could not send troops.

The State of Song said that this matter had nothing to do with the State of Song. The State of Inquiry, the Emperor's Father of the Inquiry Yuan announced that the State of Song was neutral, and refused to send troops to help the Wei, Han and Zheng coalition forces, and refused to help the Chu people. It was also strictly prohibited that the warring countries would borrow roads from the land of Song... Of course, the warring countries could not borrow roads from the State of Song, because there were only two directions on the main battlefield: Wuyang Daliang and Luguan Fangcheng.

The Chu country seems to be stable for the time being, but in fact it is also undercurrents.

The prince must dare to run to Zheng, which means that there are enough supporters in the country, and King Xiong of Chu is also very clear, and he also understands that the nobles who oppose their ascension to the throne are still dormant. As long as the Chu army is defeated, they will immediately rebel.

The several important vassals who truly supported him ascended the throne were Duke of Luyang, Duke of Pingye, Duke of Yangcheng, Duke of Shaoliang, and the remaining vassals. The King of Chu could only comfort him and dare not use them.

On the one hand, he sent people to the Three Jins to tell the rules of "durning without urging", and on the other hand, he organized defenses in the direction of the Chu Great Wall such as Fangcheng Luyang. As long as it is stuck here, the essence of Chu will still be there.

In the direction of Chen Cai, the county duke there did not support him in the ascension of the throne at all. They had always had a relationship with the prince. This time the assassination of the King of Chu also had an indescribable relationship with them.

In the direction of Wuyang and Daliang, the King of Chu has decided to hand over Yang Chengjun and others to be responsible for the defense for the time being. As long as the defense line of Luguan Great Wall is not lost, the State of Chu still has strength. Daliang and other places are sandwiched between Han and Zheng, and if they can be defended, they will be able to defend. If they really can't defend, there is no way - Chen Cai's army cannot go to support.

In addition to these things, the King of Chu also knew some details of the Battle of Shangqiu and was full of desire for gunpowder, a weapon with excellent city defense.

Zhao Zhiai was sent to Pei County with gifts, hoping to buy a batch of gunpowder and machinery for defending the city at a high price from the Mo family. At the same time, he expressed his attitude: he would abide by the alliance signed by his father and the Mo family.

Of course, in fact, he would not be able to abide by it, because the State of Chu is now in a comprehensive crisis and has no power to react and fight an unjust war.

Duke of Luyang, Yang Chengjun and other Fengjun who supported Xiong Sui's ascension, mostly had a good relationship with the Mo family. Even though they opposed some of the reasons of the Mo family, they did not object to the fact that King Chu had a good relationship with the Mo family.

As the last defense, the King of Chu even hoped that the Mo family could come forward to help improve the city defense of Yingdu as the last battlefield.

The undercurrents in the State of Chu were surging, and the King of Chu could no longer hold on. He used all the relationships he could use, and he invited all the reinforcements he could invite. But the final decision was the Luguan City City Defense Line. If the Great Wall Defense Line was not broken, his throne would still be able to sit on the throne.

It can only be said that the misfortune was a blessing. The Song State had a coup in the Battle of Shangqiu and reached a neutral agreement with the Chu State. It was not reached by the monarch and nobles, but after "asking the crowd". Otherwise, with the precedent of the many betrayals of the Song State, this time it might not have been sent troops.

The most reliable ally Qi State is still breathing. The hope that the outside world can bring is that Qin State recovers Hexi this time, defeats Wu Qi's Wu soldiers, and allows Wei State to return to defend in full...

This is too slim. Wu Qi is guarding the Xihe River. The King of Chu knew that the Qin people might not have a chance this time. It would be considered a victory if he could take away several cities from the Wei people.

It can be said that the world was in chaos at this time, and it was even more chaotic than before the Mohist school called on the Central Plains to stop the war.

However, when the world was so chaotic, the Mo family, who had been trying to make the Central Plains stop wars, suddenly disappeared and hid in Pengcheng, Pei County. After expressing the Mo family's absolute neutral attitude this time, it seemed that they would no longer care about the affairs of the world.

The Mohist school is not concerned about it, but is still discussing how to manage it.

In July, the Mohist leaders gathered in the vast marsh outside Pei County, where gunpowder was displayed several years ago.

Since we need to control the stability and disputes of the world, we must have means. The truth is means, and weapons are also means.

The Mo people who support Shi's faction recognize the Sword of the World. This time, Shi invited senior Mo family members to gather together to showcase a weapon that can make the Sword of the World sharper.

Next to him, he stood in the public casting, and there was a carriage for a year behind him, with some boxes on it, and Mozi only knew about the things inside.

Before the start of iron smelting, Shi had been talking to the Mohist people about how to use gunpowder.

Hitting gunpowder thunder in the city is a good weapon, but the changes brought by gunpowder are more than that.

A few years ago, a bamboo tube had already shown a possibility, a possibility of replacing a crossbow.

The bronze smelting technology is fully qualified at this time, even exceeding the demand for manufacturing original tubular gunpowder weapons. The smelting technology of pig iron and die-hard iron also ensures the possibility of large-scale application of original gunpowder weapons.

A few years ago, the public casting was thinking about the kind of tubular weapon that Shi said.

Before smelting iron, blacksmiths who were hired from various places forging sponge iron were also asked about some forging techniques from the very beginning.

All this was done secretly. Public foundry was fully responsible and kept it strictly confidential to the outside world. Everyone just wanted to see what Shi said.

He walked to the wooden box of the carriage, opened the wooden box, and took out a heavy long tube-shaped weapon weighing about fifteen or sixteen kilograms from it.

The workmanship is very beautiful. In addition to the most difficult iron pipes, the carpenters in the Mohist family have excellent skills, and the buttresses and other accessories are perfect.

This is a simple...fire door gun, not even a messo gun with a snake hook ignition.

The diameter is extremely large, more than half an inch, and the projectile weighs about one or two taels.

I have tried it before, and the fire rate of this broken thing is extremely slow. From loading to shooting, it takes at least one and a half minutes, which means you can shoot up to thirty-four times in an hour.

But, this is a gun.

Just like a born baby, it now looks much shorter than the older brothers and sisters named "Bow Crossbow", but it has the most potential.

The large gun, which is more than one person tall, looks extremely bulky. It is inserted into the ground as a support. After taking out the gunpowder and filling it up, it puts the projectile in and pounds it firmly.

About thirty steps ahead, there was a heavy wooden board, and the thickness of the wooden board was enough to replace most of the armor at this time.

The distance of thirty steps is also the limit of your ability to hit. The iron pipes that many craftsmen spend time building rely on the most primitive craftsmanship to hammer them out and cannot be too smooth.

Mo Zi pointed to the gun and asked, "Is this what you said that a weapon that can replace the crossbow?"

Shi nodded and said, "I have tried it a few times, I'll let you see this time."

Everyone was already familiar with gunpowder and knew that there would be some movement, so they retreated one after another.

He took out a burning firewood from the fire next to him, lit the leads left at the fire door, and tried his best to hold the heavy musket and aimed it at the wooden board in front.

Bang……

A ball of white smoke rose up. After a loud bang, one or two of lead bullets directly smashed the wooden board thirty steps away, making a trembling sound.

The shoulders were also shocked and painful. The smoke could not see clearly what was ahead. He put down the fifteen or sixteen pounds of musket with both hands.

Gong Zaoye and others came forward to check it out. They had heard of this kind of thing for a long time, so they were not surprised by the thing itself, but by the power of this thing.

Based on the experience of those who have experienced a lot of battle, they gave a sufficiently accurate judgment.

Gong Zaoye said: "It is not as powerful as a single person, but it is not as good as a relay machine, but it is not worse than an ordinary crossbow. However, it can be slower than a crossbow, let alone bend the bow."

Shi smiled and stretched out five fingers.

"First, how long does it take to practice archery to have the technique of slimming the birds? Even if not, can a peasant soldier draw a bow in three months? This thing can allow peasant soldiers to shoot in three months. Peasant soldiers bend their bows, which requires long-term training. The winter martial arts exercise of the village archery ceremony is no longer realistic with the reform of Jiafeng. Who dares to say that they can train a archer in three months?"

"Secondly, the crossbow requires strong arms, waist and abdomen. If you don't have any strength, you can't shoot. As long as you have hands, you can shoot."

"Third, feather arrows are expensive and difficult to manufacture. They require rubber diaphragms, feathers, jujube, and arrowheads. The "arrow" of this thing only requires lead, a pile of fire, and an iron spoon, and you can make it yourself."

"Fourth, this thing can directly kill the impact four-horse chariot, allowing the horse to quickly lose its impact power. The Mohist school is skilled in infantry battles and neglects chariot battles. This thing is better than a bow and crossbow."
Chapter completed!