Zhao Fu was stunned when he heard Li Yan's question and immediately replied: "Your Highness, all states generally have military equipment workshops. We have heavy troops stationed in Dengzhou. Therefore, not only have them, but also have a large scale. There are 400 craftsmen working in the workshops."

"That's great. Please help me find a few crossbow-making craftsmen. I'm very useful!" Li Yan shouted excitedly.

Zhao Fu was stunned after hearing this and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the crossbow is a standard equipment in the army. Except for the official military equipment workshop and a few allowed private military equipment workshops, no one is allowed to make privately!" When Zhao Fu spoke, he deliberately emphasized the three words "anyone", which was obviously reminding Li Yan that private military equipment is illegal, especially when he is still a prince, his identity is even more sensitive.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to build crossbows for military purposes. Just go and find them." Li Yan smiled extremely despicable. The manufacturing of military crossbows has extremely strict processes and specifications. However, as long as he does not follow this process and specification, even if he creates similar things, he will change his name and use his current identity and status, who dares to do what he does?

Zhao Fu had no choice but to send someone to the weapons workshop and found several skilled crossbow craftsmen. Li Yan brought these craftsmen to the newly built Academy of Sciences, and then explained his ideas to them. This thing is actually almost the same as the structure of the crossbow, but some changes have been made, such as adding a turntable that can be turned up, down, left and right below, especially the most critical crossbow arm, which was changed to two torsion springs by Li Yan. The so-called torsion spring is actually twisted with a ponytail, animal tendons, and even iron wire, and then two hardwoods are inserted in the middle to replace the elasticity of the crossbow arm with torque.

In fact, the principle of this Li Yan was the same as the crossbows created by the Greeks, but this thing was reduced by Li Yan. It was even smaller than the bed crossbows equipped on the tower ship. The materials used for this thing can be found casually, unlike crossbows, which require extremely high materials. It takes at least one or two years to select materials to complete a crossbow.

The reason why Li Yan wanted to create such a bargain was naturally his plan. Since shooting the whale at sea, Li Yan suddenly thought of an industry that was very prosperous in history, that is, the whaling industry. Whales are full of treasures, so I won’t mention the meat. Blubber can be used to make oil, and whale skin is also the best cortex. Others, such as whale baleen, whale bones, tendons, etc., are also very useful.

Nowadays, whales in the ocean have not been hunted by humans, and they are extremely numerous. Li Yan has also inquired about people familiar with the offshore conditions of Dengzhou. Every year, there are many whales appearing in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, and sometimes whales attack ships will occur. Therefore, he set his mind on the head of the whales, hoping to add another way of wealth to Dengzhou.

However, if you want to catch whales, you need special tools. Li Yan doesn't want fishermen to fight for their lives in the sea with harpoons and whales. But the crossbow is a standard equipment for the army, and it is definitely not available on ordinary fishing boats. It is also impossible to use it, so he wanted to make a bargain. It doesn't have to be too powerful. As long as you can shoot harpoons or special arrows dozens of meters away, it's okay to shoot whales a few dozen meters away. After all, this is whaling and not fighting with people. It doesn't matter if the range is closer, just shoot it a little closer.

Li Yan thought very well, but in the process of making such a copycat crossbow, a problem arose, that is, the crossbows produced are of poor accuracy, and the arrows shot out are often deviated by several meters. Although with the huge body of a whale, even if it is a few meters away, Li Yan was extremely dissatisfied. After studying with the craftsmen for a long time, he found that it was made by the uneven elastic force of the two torsion springs.

The problem was easily solved after discovering it. Through the adjustments of the craftsmen, the elastic force of the two springs was finally averaged. The arrow shot this time was indeed very accurate. Although there were still some slight errors, this small error was almost negligible within a distance of tens of meters.

After this kind of crossbow was made, the crossbow arm was changed to two torsion springs, so it looked very different from the bed crossbow on the outside. There was also a tray that could be rotated in all directions below, and there was a handrail behind it. When using it, the arrow was first put on, and then one person picked up the handrail and rotated it. After aiming, the crossbow machine was fired and the special arrow like a javelin was shot out. There was an inverted hook in front of the arrow to prevent the whale from breaking free. There was also a cable tied behind it, and an inflatable leather raft was tied to the cable, so that no matter where the whale was shot ran, they could see it from the sea.

In order to avoid the word "cross crossbow", Li Yan changed the name of this copycat crossbow to fish cannon. This thing was invented for whaling, and with its power and range, it was impossible to prepare as a standard for the army, although its cost was very cheap.

After getting the whaling weapons, Xijun also bought a sturdy large ship. After all, the whales are so large that ordinary fishing boats cannot drag them at all. Of course, the ship has also been renovated. All the useless buildings on it have been demolished, leaving a large deck empty. A primitive human crane is also made with pulley sets and resultant shelves on it to hang the whales from the sea and then dissect them directly on the ship.

Everything was ready, but the manpower problem arose again. Although Li Yan came back from killing a whale and many people in Dengzhou City had eaten whale meat, they were still a little awe of the magical object such as whales. Therefore, when Li Yan heard that he was going to hunt whales, they all shook their heads and dared not go.

Li Yan did not force this situation, but he suggested on the spot that the wages of workers on whaling ships increased by three times, and other benefits were much better than ordinary fishing workers. It didn't matter that the workers in his own fishing team were unwilling to do it. All the four counties in Dengzhou City were posted by Li Yan to recruit people.

The so-called reward must be brave men. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Dengzhou. There are always some people who are brave or forced by life. For the sake of the extremely generous wages, they rushed to the Qiwang Mansion in Dengzhou to register. Therefore, in just a few days, the problem of whaling ship personnel has been solved. After a period of training and integration, they were sent to the sea. As for when they will come back, it may not be certain. If you are lucky, you may have to spend all your luck in three to five days, and you may not be able to encounter a whale. After all, everything is just the beginning now, and you have to slowly figure out the rules of whales appearing.

In the Liangyi Hall in Chang'an City, Li Shimin stood in the hall with his hands behind his back and laughed. Fang Xuanling, Li Jing and other important civil and military officials below were all there, but these people were happy or worried, and obviously they did not have a unified opinion.

"God-given opportunity! The civil strife of Goguryeo is imminent. At that time, my Tang Dynasty will be able to eliminate this problem without any effort!" Li Shimin laughed and said excitedly. Good news came from Dengzhou today. The efforts of some time ago finally came to the end. The two forces of the Yuan family and the Rongliu King finally came to the last step.

"Your Majesty, although this is a good opportunity to destroy Goguryeo, soldiers are important matters, and everything should be done with caution!" Fang Xuanling was a little helpless. Although he knew it would not have any effect, he still persuaded him with one-tenth of hope.

"Fang Xiang, you are too cautious. Such a great opportunity is the time to get rid of Goguryeo in one fell swoop. If you miss this opportunity, you still don't know when you will have another chance?" Before Li Shimin said, Hou Junji, the Minister of War, came out to say, and his words immediately received support from most military generals and some civil officials.

Fang Xuanling couldn't help but feel anxious when he saw that most people supported the war, but what he didn't expect was that Li Jing also came out and said, "Junji is right, and the old minister also thinks it's time."

"Senior Brother Yao, you..." Fang Xuanling was stunned. He didn't expect that Li Jing, who had been standing in the same camp as him, would also agree to send troops?

"Xuanling, you are usually busy with government affairs, so you may not pay attention to some things." Li Yan interrupted Fang Xuanling and said, "When His Highness Qi offered three strategies to pacify Liao, the second strategy of separation has already achieved the ultimate effect. The powerful Yuan family and the weak ruler Rongliu Wanghuo are about to fight. Even if one of them wins, the country will definitely be in great turmoil, and even severely damaged in vitality. Such an opportunity is really rare. The first strategy of exhausting the enemy has been implemented for more than a year, and the effect has begun to appear. According to detailed reports, famines have occurred in many places in Goguryeo, and the tax revenue in the middle of the country is one-fifth less than in previous years. Many people are unable to eat, flee or resist, and the domestic situation in Goguryeo is already in chaos."

Li Jing stopped here, thought for a while and said, "As for the third plan to strengthen oneself, the white folds proposed by His Highness King Qi have been planted this year, and the output is less, but it can also allow some soldiers to wear cotton coats. However, in my opinion, strong one is not just a white fold. The gunpowder weapon that Your Highness created last time has great power, whether it is siege or field battle. With these new weapons, coupled with the prosperity of our Tang Dynasty, it is actually not difficult to destroy Goguryeo in a short period of time."

"Okay, the pharmacist's words won my heart!" After listening to Li Jing's analysis and explanation, Li Shimin was the first to praise him. Others carefully analyzed what Li Jing said and found that it was indeed the case. Now the Tang Dynasty had an absolute advantage over Goguryeo. Whether it was national strength, political or military strength, it was far from comparable to a small Goguryeo.

Fang Xuanling also felt that Li Jing’s words were reasonable, but he was cautious, so he said again: “Your Highness, although Senior Brother Yao’s words were reasonable, the old minister thought it would be better to be cautious. After all, Goguryeo has a good position, if we are not prepared enough…”

"Xuanling, don't persuade you anymore. My intention is to make a decision on this matter. The day when Yuan takes action is the time for my Tang Dynasty to raise troops!" Li Shimin waved his hand and interrupted Fang Xuanling's words.

Just when Li Shimin and his civil and military officials made the decision to conquer Goguryeo, a very fierce game was being held in a large polo stadium in Chang'an City. However, what was surprising was that this game was not polo, but a new sport in Chang'an. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!