"Don't think too much. There must be a battle between Dangxiang and the Song Dynasty. It's just about sooner or later. Now we have the advantage, so the earlier this battle will be, the more beneficial it will be for us!" Cao Wei replied with a calm smile at this time. He had already prepared for a big battle after he knew that Li Yuanhao was crippled by Li Zhang.

"If the Dangxiang people really come to attack next year, will the troops in our state be a little thin? I don't need to write a letter to the Queen Mother and ask her to transfer the troops in several nearby states?" Li Zhang said worriedly again at this time. He was mainly worried. After all, this incident happened because of him. If the Song Dynasty suffered too much casualties, he would be uneasy.

"Haha, you underestimate my soldiers in Qingzhou too much. Although Dangxiang is getting stronger, he is only tens of thousands of troops. If you can't even defend this number of troops, then the soldiers from all over Qingzhou might as well go home as soon as possible to bring your children!"

Cao Wei heard Li Zhang laugh again, and then suddenly showed a touch of emotion and continued, "Actually, I hope Dangxiang people will come sooner. After all, I am not young now, and I have not been in good health in recent years, so before I die, I also hope to completely solve the threat Dangxiang."

When Cao Wei said the second half of the words, his face also showed a desolate expression. He was born into a general. When other children were studying and playing, he had already started to hang out in the army with his father. It can be said that he has been in the military camp for almost all his life. When he was young, he had also set great ambitions to help the Song Dynasty recover Yan Yun, but as he grew older, he had already settled his ambitions when he was young. Now he just wanted to help the Song Dynasty clear some threats as much as possible.

Li Zhang couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. If he remembered it wrong, Cao Wei's remaining life expectancy seemed to be less than ten years. He died before Zhao Zhen took power. As a result, Li Yuanhao also rebelled immediately. No one in the northwest could resist Dangxiang's military attack. He even won three battles and three victories against the Song Dynasty. Then he took advantage of the great victory to make peace with the Song Dynasty, and at the same time made the Song Dynasty recognize the reign of the Western Xia Dynasty.

"By the way, I haven't asked you something. What did you use to blow Li Yuanhao into that look last time? I heard that half of the entourage around him died on the spot?" Cao Wei suddenly thought of something and asked Li Zhang at this time.

When he heard Cao Wei ask this, Li Zhang smiled and said, "I call that thing landmines. In fact, it is also a kind of firearm. It is to put gunpowder into a sealed iron ball, then bury it underground and pull the lead. When the enemy comes over, calculate the time to ignite the lead, and then a 'boom' sound will be sounded. Even if the enemy cannot be killed, it can break or injure their legs. If you want to escape, you can't escape."

"Landmine? This is a good thing. Can it be equipped in the military?" Cao Wei was shocked when he heard this. He immediately thought of its military purpose, so he asked anxiously.

"The equipment is fine, but I am worried that the output of gunpowder cannot keep up. After all, the expansion of musket soldiers is a problem. The gunpowder workshop I set up in Tokyo before is very small. Even if the imperial court wants to expand, it will probably take some time. Therefore, the output of gunpowder is still limited, and landmines may still not be able to be produced in a short period of time." Li Zhang also spread his hands at this time.

In fact, when Li Zhang made a musket with Liu Shu, he also drew drawings of simple and useful firearms such as mines and grenades, and handed them to Liu Shu. Later, after the musket was made, some mines and grenades were also made, but the number was relatively small, and it was mainly the nature of the experiment. The mines he handed over to the wild dog to blow up Li Yuanhao last time were the experimental items he made.

Cao Wei also showed a disappointed expression when he heard Li Zhang's words, but he also knew that some things were too hasty, and now they are mainly muskets. In addition, landmines are still subject to relatively large restrictions. At most, they can only be used for defense, and ambushing must be done in advance, which is far less widely used than muskets.

It was the New Year, and Cao Wei also gave his officials a holiday. Li Zhang and Hu Yan Shouxin had no place to go, so he simply went to Jinshan’s house for the New Year. Mrs. Jin and the others had bought a yard and rented a store to make a powder shop. However, the goods from Tokyo have not been delivered yet, and there were no merchants in Qingzhou City in winter, so the powder shop business has not yet started.

After the Chinese New Year, the Chinese New Year was the Spring Festival, and a lantern festival was held in Qingzhou City. However, compared with the lantern festival in Tokyo City, the lantern festival in Qingzhou City is too small. There are very few headlights on the streets, so there is nothing to watch at all. Moreover, it is much colder here than Kaifeng City, so before the second half of the night, there are no people on the streets.

After the Lantern Festival, the weather began to warm up day by day, and the snow on the road slowly melted. The road was opened up as early as the New Year. However, because the weather was too cold, the traffic in Qingzhou City also decreased a lot. It was not until the warming that some merchants appeared again in the city.

As the weather warmed up, Cao Wei began to order the border guards to prepare for defense, and at the same time sent spies to Dangxiang to pay attention to the movements there. In addition, as the snow melted, spies sent to Dangxiang brought back some news. As Cao Wei expected, Li Deming began to mobilize troops since last year. Now his subordinates have gathered tens of thousands of people and may go south at any time.

One of Li Yuanhao's legs was completely disabled. It is said that Li Deming looked for famous doctors everywhere to treat him, but it was useless at all. In addition, Li Yuanhao's face was also blown up, which caused a severe blow to him. There are rumors in Xingzhou that Li Yuanhao was drunk all day long and became very decadent.

Li Deming was also extremely sad to see his favorite son become like he is not human or ghost. This is also the main reason why he gathered troops to avenge his son. Even if it weren't for the heavy snow last year, he might have already come here last year. Now the snow has melted and the temperature has begun to warm up, and Li Deming is also ready to move.

"Why haven't you come yet? I've quit even drinking to wait for them!" On the second floor of Tokyo Building in the border city, Cao Mata looked at the northwest with anger and said, "The training of the musket army has been completed, and now I'm waiting for the actual test. Cao Mata is also full of confidence and is waiting for the invading Dangxiang people to taste the power of the muskets. But now February is almost over, and there is still no movement on Dangxiang.

"Don't worry, the northwest is still too cold after all. I heard that after the snow melted, the roads were muddy and impossible to pass. Didn't you see that the Hu merchants who came to the border were covered in mud?" Li Zhang said with a smile at this time. After the training of the musket army, they were transferred to the Tuoyuan Village to set up defenses. In order to wait for the Dangxiang people, Cao Ma even quit his favorite wine, because he was afraid that drinking would make a mistake.

"Yes, although the border market has become lively during this period, the main people who come to the Song Dynasty are the merchants from our Song Dynasty. There are not many Hu merchants from abroad, especially Dangxiang people. In the past, the most people who come to the border market were Dangxiang people, but this year, they have not seen one. It seems that Dangxiang really plans to use troops to us." At this time, Jinshan next to him also spoke. There are few people in the border market now, and there are only Li Zhang and others who eat on the second floor. They can also talk about some things without any scruples.

"I'm afraid they won't come. I really want to see what kind of results the three thousand musketeers can achieve on the battlefield!" Hu Yan Shouxin ate a piece of mutton at this time, and then looked out the window. Last time his musketeer camp attacked and destroyed Zhangshan's tribe, but the battle was too easy and small. In addition, he and the musketeer camp were both on the battlefield, and there were many problems, so he was very much looking forward to the Dangxiang people going south this time, and then he could verify how far the musketeers trained with the musketeer camp can reach?

At this moment, Li Zhang's eyes accidentally swept out the window, but he saw a familiar figure coming from a distance, which made him shout immediately: "Di Qing, come up and have dinner together!"

A group of people walked up the street outside the window, and Di Qing was the leader. Behind him were several soldiers escorting two Hu people. Seeing their bruised noses and swollen faces, they probably had done something to teach Di Qing a lesson. During this period, Di Qing worked under Li Zhang and Jinshan, helping them to rectify the border market. He was good and smart. Now not only Li Zhang and Jinshan liked him, Cao Ya and Hu Yan Shouxin also wanted to dig him into the army several times, because in their opinion, it would be a pity for Di Qing to not go to the army with such good skills.

Di Qing also looked up when he heard Li Zhang's voice. When he saw Jin Shan and others upstairs, he immediately agreed with a smile, and then ran upstairs. When Cao Mata saw him, he immediately smiled and said, "Xiaoqing, what did you think about what I told you last time? As long as you are willing to come to our musket army, start with my personal soldiers. I will promise you all the best in a year!"

"Hehe, thank you Brother Cao for your attention. I also want to go to the army, but I promised Brother Jin to help him, so at least I have to wait for me to help Brother Jin and Brother Li to rectify the border market." Di Qing also sat next to Jinshan at this time, picked up chopsticks and swallowed a few pieces of mutton before answering.

"Okay, I can't stand my position without trust. I'll keep it for you. You can come whenever you want!" Cao Ma was very happy. He patted his chest again and said, "Di Qing is not only good at skill, but also smart. In addition, he is young, so he is suitable for training since childhood, so Cao Ma also likes him very much. Every time he meets, he wants to pull him to his own hands."

Li Zhang and Jin Shan also looked at each other and laughed at each other. They did not object to Di Qing's going to the army. It was a good thing to have Cao Ma to protect Di Qing. As long as Di Qing made contributions in the army, he could use his merits to avoid the punishment.

"Ga!Ga!" But at this moment, suddenly, a rapid sound of horse hooves came from afar. Then a cavalry with a red pennant flag on his back was far away and ran through the streets of the border city towards Qingzhou City.
Chapter completed!