The emperor's tour was definitely both majestic and mighty, but this time His Majesty Li Er did not use his car to drive, but came on a horse.

Of course, guards are indispensable, with thousands of people, and Zuo Wu Guard is responsible for security.

Under the protection of the cavalry guarding the front and behind, His Majesty Li Er breathed the cold air and was in a good mood. He was talking casually with the veterans next to him.

That's right, it's the veterans. Like Cheng Yaojin, Hou Junji, and Li Shiji, they are all ranked in Lingyan Pavilion, and they are experienced in fighting the country with His Majesty Li Er.

Even the old otakus Li Jing was specially summoned by His Majesty Li Er, hoping that this military god, who ranked first in the Tang Dynasty, would take a look and make suggestions.

Of course, the old military god can no longer be used. The contribution is too great, just stay at home.

"Pharmacist, do you think how many troops are needed to be sent to conquer Gaochang?" His Majesty Li Er asked, "Thousands of miles of expedition are costly, and there are still many important officials in the court who oppose it."

Li Jing bowed on his horse and said, "I think at least 100,000 troops should be sent to prevent the Western Turks from acting rashly. Even if the Western Turks do not know the power of heaven and rescue Gaochang, 100,000 troops can fight and win."

If one sends 100,000 troops, the civilian craftsmen must have at least 50,000. This is the biggest difficulty in transporting food, grass and materials in ancient times.

What's more, it's a long journey of thousands of miles, and it has to travel through the desert and Gobi. Compared with these difficulties, fighting with the enemy is easier.

His Majesty Li Er had a slight head, which seemed to be different from his estimates and the results of his discussions with the generals.

"Your Majesty wants to expand the Western Regions, Gaochang can be a bridgehead, and Hexi can be a backbone." Li Jing said slowly: "Business is essential. Otherwise, it will be difficult to support the garrisons in the Western Regions."

The Hexi Corridor starts from Wushaoling in the east, reaches Yumen Pass in the west, and is adjacent to Qilian Mountain in the south, and Heli Mountain in the north. It is about 1,000 kilometers long. The overall shape is like a belt, and it is located west of the Yellow River, so it is called the "Hexi Corridor".

The unique geographical location of the Hexi Corridor communicates with the Central Plains and the hinterland of Asia, and gives the ethnic groups in the Western Regions a channel for close communication and communication with the Central Plains. This is the "Silk Road".

Moreover, the Hexi Corridor is not only an important economic and trade route, but also a strategic location. If you firmly occupy this place, you can divide the northern ethnic minorities into two, and it is like a wedge, firmly nailing them into the hinterland of the Western Regions.

As a bridgehead, Gaochang was also the sharp claws that the Tang army extended to the Western Regions, while the Hexi Corridor was the arms connecting the sharp claws. If the arm was there, the claws would be there. If the arm was dead, the claws would lose their nutrition and would be isolated and destroyed.

As for management, because the Hexi Corridor has rich water and grass and suitable environment, it can not only raise horses to grazle, but also cultivate and harvest. By the same token, the arms are thick, but the claws are sharp.

If we only rely on the Central Plains to transport food and grass supplies to the Western Regions, the journey is too long and the consumption is too high. If Hexi can become a logistics base, it will reduce the financial pressure on the Central Plains dynasty.

The cleverness of the Han Dynasty was that it firmly occupied the Hexi Corridor and established the four Hexi counties. Later, it joined forces with the local governments in the Western Regions to force the Huns to either escape from the north of the Mo River or surrender to the Han Dynasty.

His Majesty Li Er certainly knew the importance of the Hexi Corridor, and the conquest of Gaochang was also the beginning of controlling the Western Regions. "The land is wide and the translation is nine, and the power is everywhere in the world." This is His Majesty Li Er's ambition.

But when it comes to management, His Majesty Li Er couldn't help but look at Li Jing, and then thought about it. Occupy and management are obviously not exactly the same concept.

"When it comes to business, Xu Cheng of Dayingku is the best, and few people can match it." Hou Junji on the other side rode his horse and followed two steps, half a peak behind, and suddenly interrupted.

His Majesty Li Er was stunned for a moment, thought for a while, and said, "There are still differences between commercial operations and operating places. Qi Lin is still young and has no experience in governing the places, so he may not be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility."

As he said that, His Majesty Li Er glanced at Li Jing imperceptibly, wanting to hear how he judged.

But as soon as Hou Junji spoke, Li Jing immediately lowered his head, as if he hadn't heard it, and he didn't say anything.

Li Jing and Hou Junji had a grudge. You said that he was ordered by the saint to teach Hou Junji's military tactics, but was sued by Hou Junji for rebellion, and no one would be angry.

Moreover, Li Jing also asserted that Hou Jun gathered to rebel. Although he was just talking about his Majesty Li Er when he was talking alone, it can be seen that he had a very poor impression of Hou Jun Ji.

When Hou Junji heard His Majesty Li Er say this, he immediately nodded and agreed: "What Your Majesty said is reasonable. This is very different from doing business and governing. It is because the empress is not thinking well."

His Majesty Li Er smiled slightly, but he did not comment on this.

But Li Jing, who was deaf and dumb, said, "Xu Cheng is very good at managing business. When reforming the grain government, he also knew how to give benefits to the people. He was afraid that he would know the sufferings of the people during his inspection along the way. I think that Xu Cheng may not have no ideas or solutions to govern the government."

His Majesty Li Er was a little surprised, but he also felt that Li Jing was deliberately opposing Hou Junji, but not supporting Xu Qilin.

"Qi Lin is more intelligent than ordinary people." His Majesty Li Er didn't want the two to continue to fight, so he smiled and concluded, "When I ask him to report the report, what can I do to achieve quick results."

After hearing what Your Majesty said, both of them said nothing. When they looked up, they could see the flags standing at the exercise venue.

As everyone approached a little longer, Qianniu Guards had already come forward to welcome him. But the venue seemed to be not ready yet, and people were busy coming and going.

"Why haven't you prepared it yet?" His Majesty Li Er asked a little displeased.

As the leader of the guards sent this time, Wang Fangyi hurriedly bowed and replied: "Go back to your Majesty, the wind has changed today. Xu Cheng was afraid that the dust raised would be blown to the observation center set up a few days ago, and was about to rebuild it."

"So that's it." His Majesty Li Er smiled relievedly and said, "This is really an unexpected situation, which has caused Qi Lin a problem."

After pausing for a moment, His Majesty Li Er continued, "Go and tell Qi Lin that you don't have to be busy anymore. It's just some dust blowing from the wind, and it's better than when I rushed into battle?"

Wang Fangyi bowed and took the order and ran over to inform Xu Qilin.

Soon, Xu Qilin came to welcome the emperor and apologized to His Majesty Li Er for consideration.

His Majesty Li Er waved his hand magnanimously, disregarded his concern, and ordered Xu Qilin to lead the way and lead a few veterans and personal guards to the observation center.

The observation room has tables and chairs, iron stoves that are burning hot, and a covered platform with a wide view and can see the situation of the exercise at a glance.

Xu Qilin invited His Majesty Li Er and all the veterans to take their seats and ordered people to serve tea.

"Let's start when you're ready!" His Majesty Li Er took out his telescope, which was much more advanced than what Xu Qilin gave him earlier. The material looked like gold.

Xu Qilin resisted the urge to go up and bite, took out the drawing he had drawn to show his majesty, and gave some advice and explanation.

His Majesty Li Er looked carefully and drew the drawings vividly. He dug a tunnel under the city wall and filled it with 800 kilograms of gunpowder. When the fire was ignited, the gunpowder would overturn the city wall.

Well, um! His Majesty Li Er nodded, probably because he understood it, and handed the drawings to Li Jing, turned to Xu Qilin and said, "The exercise can begin."

Xu Qilin immediately ordered someone to send an order, and the personnel were evacuated and prepared to ignite the fire.

The exercise venue gradually became quiet, and the idle people had already left everyone's sight, only that part of the city wall lies in the distance.

Time passed by minute by minute, His Majesty Li Er picked up the teacup and drank it slowly, with a very calm expression.

Hou Junji seemed a little impatient, turned his head and wanted to ask Xu Qilin.

"It's soon, it's soon." Xu Qilin saw the flag falling in the distance and hurriedly spoke out to remind him.

Everyone hurriedly watched and waited for about half a minute, but still didn't see any movement.

"Xu Cheng..." Cheng Yaojin was a little strange. As soon as he turned his head and opened his mouth, he felt the ground under his feet suddenly vibrate, and then there was a loud bang, cutting off his inquiry words.

Everyone looked at the city wall attentively, but their eyes were blurred, with only the smoke and dust rising up, covering a section of the city wall.

Most people didn't see clearly what was going on. Some people had very good eyesight and seemed to see the city wall bursting from the inside out, and then the dust rose into the air.

Everyone raised their heads and looked at the smoke column that was running upwards. After a long time, a piece of dirt fell near the blasting point, and a large amount of dust drifted away with the wind and even floated to the observation center.

There was a sound of getting up and hitting the table and chairs, and there were several coughs. The people in the observation center raised their sleeves to cover them, but there was still dust falling on their heads and bodies.

His Majesty Li Er also stood up, but held the telescope, and everyone also turned their eyes to the gradually clear explosion scene.

The city wall had been blown up with a large gap with uneven edges, most of the smoke and dust had dissipated, broken bricks and gravels were scattered all over the ground, and the scene was in a mess.

The wind blows not only dust, but also the choking smell of gunpowder, which makes people's throat dry and coughs from time to time.

"Just this moment, the city will be broken. Well, it can also kill many enemies guarding the city." Li Jing's eyes shone, and he could see clearly the outcome of the city wall without a telescope.

Hou Junji swallowed dryly, and was shocked by the explosion like the shaking mountain.

"No, not bad." Cheng Yaojin held his head in dust, but he didn't care and grinned, "This earth-shaking enemy is not killed by the bombing, and he was also shocked."

Li Ji was a little excited, took two steps forward, and asked Xu Qilin again: "It won't ring again, I want to get closer and take a look."

Xu Qilin hurriedly said, "Duke, wait a moment, the exercise has not yet ended."

His Majesty Li Er turned around and asked, "Why do you want me and the ministers to eat the dirt again?"

That being said, it can be seen that His Majesty Li Er was happy and was quite satisfied with the explosion exercise.

Xu Qilin smiled and said, "I hope your Majesty will forgive me for my mistake."

After pausing, Xu Qilin continued: "Although this tunnel blast can destroy the city in one fell swoop, it also has its limitations. There are certain requirements for soil quality, groundwater, etc. Therefore, Weichen also improved the trencher to collapse the city wall."

"Then continue the exercise." His Majesty Li Er looked at Xu Qilin with a smile, full of appreciation.

Xu Qilin sent an order again, and everyone turned their eyes to the large catapult.

Wang Fangyi personally directed and adjusted the distance slightly. The counterweight sandbox and stone bullets had been loaded, but the wind direction had changed.

With a loud bang, a large-sleeved and round-waisted guard smashed the iron hook with a big hammer, and the counterweight sandbox suddenly fell down. The long pole and grenade belt bounced up, and the stone bullet drew an arc in the air and flew towards the city wall.

Boom, the stone bullet hit the upper middle and upper part of the city wall, making a heavy sound, splashing a ball of smoke and dust.

Xu Qilin served as the commentator and introduced: "This improved trench machine can throw more than 130 kilograms of stones out of more than 150 steps, which will cause great damage to the city wall."

All the old army present were old soldiers, including His Majesty Li Er, who also knew about the catapult. One hundred and thirty kilograms and more than one hundred and fifty steps. When I heard this number, I almost knew that its power had increased a lot compared to the original one.

"A big stone of more than one hundred kilograms--" Cheng Yaojin nodded repeatedly and said, "It won't take long to smash it over, and the city wall will be destroyed in distorted."

"This momentum is also amazing," said Li Ji. "It may be that if the enemy defended is scared without breaking the city wall."

Li Jing stroked his beard and jaw head, and his eyes looked at Xu Qilin very complicated. Because of the improvement of the blasting technology and the stone catapult, the military books he wrote may also have to be modified or added or deleted.

As he spoke here, the trencher on the other side was reloaded and fired, smashing the stones toward the city wall. With the counterweight sandbox, the number of people required to operate this trencher, which was more powerful than the original one, was no more than forty people.

Amid the constant roar, the city wall was damaged, and a small half of the city wall was smashed, but the catapult stopped.

"Why didn't you smash it?" Hou Junji looked puzzled. Everyone was excited to see it, but no one ordered it, so why did he stop?

Xu Qilin blinked his eyes and bowed and apologized: "Stone, the stone is gone."

His Majesty Li Er put down his telescope, rolled his eyes at Xu Qilin, and teased: "You are not willing to prepare too much, you are also frugal."

Xu Qilin smiled and scratched his head and said, "There is another demonstration next, to shoot gunpowder bullets, please watch it."

His Majesty Li Er snorted and turned his head again.

The catapult turned the direction. Although there were wooden wheels, it was nailed to the ground with wooden stakes when launching, and it was quite troublesome to move.

Everyone had seen grass and wooden men standing further away, and they guessed that they would use a catapult to throw stones to smash them, specifically against enemy cavalry or infantry.

Because the human catapult has a short range, complex launch and slow speed, it is basically not used in field battles. Xu Qilin's move looks fresh.

From this we can also see that Xu Qilin's military knowledge is limited, and he only relies on his own imagination, or taking it for granted. Everyone smiled slightly, thinking that although it was not practical, it would be okay to take a look.

After a long time, Wang Fangyi finally ordered the personnel to adjust and loaded more than a dozen iron-made gunpowder ammunitions into the grenade belt.

The soldier with big arms and round waist spat in his hand, held the hammer tightly, and waited for a command.
Chapter completed!