You have truly caused me great suffering!

In September, the imperial court continued to deploy troops in the northwest.

Chen Shao explained the situation in his letter to Yelü Dashi.

With the grasslands now largely pacified, they urgently needed to station troops there to guard against the resurgence of Tatar power.

Furthermore, several preferential policies were successively issued to the Liao Kingdom to encourage continued trade between the two sides.

The court was filled with joy as officials from both the Great Jing and Liao dynasties gathered together.

Many Jingchens are quite familiar with this scene.
The friendship between the Song and Liao dynasties was very stable, and they lived in harmony for more than a hundred years, known as brotherly nations.

Although there were some disputes surrounding issues such as the Western Xia dynasty, overall, the story was quite solid.

The Central Plains civilization and the powerful northern states rarely had such a peaceful time.

It's important to know that the Khitan was an empire that unified the northern border.

Historically, no empire that made peace with the Central Plains has ever chosen this path.

The Song and Liao brothers were truly brothers; they were so alike.

The Liao envoys achieved their goal; they had come for the trade route and were willing to submit to the Liao as vassals.

The Great Jing Dynasty always made a profit from any business it did, a fact that remained unchanged until the later, morally reprehensible Great Britain engaged in the opium trade, which reversed the trade deficit.

They were terrified ever since the Roman Empire.

Rome imported large quantities of silk, spices, and porcelain annually from the East (via Parthia/Kushan).
Pliny's Natural History records that "at least 1 million sesses (about 50 tons of silver) flowed eastward each year."

The continuous eastward flow of silver led to the devaluation of Roman currency and soaring prices.

Then the classic scene unfolded: the upper class began moral criticism: wearing silk was equivalent to extravagance and national ruin.
The Senate issued several "silk bans," claiming that silk "makes women naked in public," even though they themselves enjoyed being naked all day long.
We told you to wear silk, but who told you to wear only one layer? You just threw on a piece and went out; can you blame the silk for that?

"For the sake of illusory Eastern textiles, we have exhausted the gold and silver accumulated by our ancestors!"

Emperor Justinian was quite cunning; he sent Nestorian monks all the way to China to smuggle silkworm eggs back to Constantinople.

However, they could not produce the silk of the East.

This fear reached its peak during the Middle Ages.

The West, including Rome, Byzantium, and medieval Europe, had a strong demand for Eastern silk, porcelain, spices, and tea.

The East, however, showed little interest in Western furs, glass, slaves, and the like.

Moreover, these items all have substitutes.

Especially for large-scale projects, even glass has now become a component of their output.

As middlemen, the Liao Dynasty also made a fortune. They would typically sell the goods they acquired from the Central Plains to the West at ten times the price.

Don't think there's no market for it. In their region, nobles really love to pursue luxury, even if it means going bankrupt, they still want to wear high-end goods.

The reason why Yelü Dashi was so polite to Da Jing was because that was his livelihood.

For the entire Khitan people to survive and establish a foothold in Central Asia, they had to rely on the Great Jing.

They took the goods from Dajing and went to the West to exchange them for money.

If the Great Jing closes its border trade, they will go bankrupt on the spot. Not to mention supporting such a huge empire, their own internal situation will collapse first.

Just as a man is influenced by whose milk he drinks and whose words he listens to, so too is a country.

They fought the Seljuks and the Khwarezmians for this reason.

If you could also get through there, the Silk Road wouldn't be monopolized, and the Khitan wouldn't have pricing power.

This could even lead to cutthroat competition, thereby squeezing profits.

Judging from the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphate, the Tang Dynasty did attempt to expand westward.

However, due to the long distance, rugged roads, and difficulty in resupplying, even if they could capture the city, they might not be able to hold it, so they chose to give up.

Otherwise, even if they lost, the few people who died would be nothing to the Tang Dynasty.

They didn't even look at how many people died in the later civil war, yet they still fought to the death.

It wasn't that they didn't want to channel that energy into external expansion, but their transportation capacity had reached its limit. If border trade were to cease, they would go bankrupt on the spot, let alone sustain such a vast empire; their internal systems would collapse first.

Chen Shao was well aware of this. The land of Dajing was large enough, and the key sections of the Silk Road were already under his control, but it was too far from Jinling.

Only when the roads are more accessible and transportation is more convenient in the future can we continue to develop westward.

Da Jing is currently biding its time, at least that's what Chen Shao thinks.

He smiled and said to the Khitan envoy Xiao Ji, "Go back and tell Yelü Dashi that I have no hostility towards the Liao Dynasty, and I wish our friendship to be as unbreakable as gold. You have brought a lot of tribute this time, and I am not stingy."

After he finished speaking, he clapped his hands, and several eunuchs came out carrying some treasures and came to the Liao people.

Xiao Ji's eyes widened suddenly as he stared at the items in front of him, stunned.

The first piece is a jade dragon-shaped knob with the inscription "Treasure of the Great Liao Dynasty" in large Khitan characters.

This is the seal of the Liao emperor. It was seized by the Jurchens during the war when the Jin dynasty destroyed the Liao dynasty and was kept in the imperial palace.

Later, Qu Duan stormed into the capital and found this thing in the imperial city.

The second item, which is well-known in the Liao Kingdom, is a sword.

Yelü Abaoji may have been inspired by Liu Bang's slaying of the white snake, and insisted that he himself had slain a dragon.

According to the Annals of Emperor Taizu of Liao, when Abaoji conquered Bohai, he "obtained a black dragon, beheaded it, and cast a sword named 'Dragon Slayer'".

This sword was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Shangjing by Wanyan Wuqimai as proof of the "transfer of the Mandate of Heaven".

The third item is the Shakyamuni Buddha relic housed in Dajue Temple in Nanjing (present-day Youzhou) of the Liao Dynasty, which has always been regarded as a national treasure by the Liao people.

Chen Shao took out these three items and returned them to the Liao Dynasty to appease Yelü Dashi.

Dude, go ahead and fight to the west, we in Dajing have no interest in you.

Ideally, we should conquer Europe and then protect the trade routes along the way.

The Khitans had the ability to gradually expand their territory and also had experience in governing a vast empire.

First, get them organized and in good order.

Just like what they do on the grasslands.

Whether it was the Jin Dynasty or the later Jing Dynasty, the Khitans deserve much credit for conquering the grasslands so easily.

Chen Shao hopes they can continue their efforts this time.

Yelü Dashi was also a talented person; he knew that the rise and fall of a nation were cyclical.

Back in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, who could have imagined that the small Khitan eight tribes would be able to unify the northern border, even take over the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and Yelü Deguang would even rule the Central Plains for a time?

The Great Jing is powerful now, but as long as he stays here, his descendants may have a chance to defeat it in the future.

The only thing they were truly wary of was the endless stream of new weapons from the Great Jing, especially firearms.

Therefore, Yelü Dashi repeatedly sent people to Jinling, ostensibly to pay tribute, but in reality to plant his own people.

I hope to bribe one or two people from the engineering college to get the firearms technology.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Liao, Song, and Xia were in a tripartite balance of power, and they constantly sent spies to steal each other's military technology.

The Liao Dynasty did these things as easily as muscle memory.

After returning from the Chuigong Hall, Chen Shao saw that it was still not late, so instead of going back to his palace, he went to the Funing Hall to review the memorials.

These days he only glances at the important ones. Among the pile of memorials, one still caught Chen Shao's attention. It was a memorial from the Academy of Engineering, which mentioned the progress of the flintlock pistol.

Chen Shao really wanted to go and see, but it was already late, so he decided to go tomorrow.

The next morning, Chen Shao dressed and went to the Funing Palace, and summoned several officials from the Works Department to ask him what was going on.

Yang Gengxing rushed through the partition, kowtowed, and then presented a scroll of paper.

He loudly proclaimed, "Your Majesty, I dare not bring weapons into the palace, so I have brought several drawings for your perusal."

Chen Shao unfolded the blueprints, flipped through them for a while, and seriously examined the mechanical structures outlined with a brush.

He still only half-understood, but he certainly knew more than the average civil official. After looking for a short while, Chen Shao still couldn't figure it out, so he asked directly, "Can you ignite the catalyst?"

Yang Geng's voice was loud, and there was indeed a reason why this young man was appreciated by Chen Shao.

They looked very energetic and full of spirit.

"Your Majesty, the Academy of Engineering inspected the guns at the drill ground. Ten guns were fired simultaneously, but only two or three failed to fire!"

only?

Are three out of ten not making a sound?

Actually, he didn't quite understand that, at the very beginning, such a high rate of anger was already quite good.

Because flintlock muskets do not use an open flame, they allow for denser formations, ensuring firepower even if some misfires occur.

In the past, muskets required lighting a fuse, making them a type of lightweight, small artillery.

Cannons and muskets are two different types of weapons. You absolutely cannot make a musket into a small cannon, otherwise it would lose its meaning.

"That's right, who improved the mechanism?" Chen Shao asked again.

Yang Geng replied, "Your Majesty, it was a difficult task that many people worked together to overcome, but the greatest credit goes to an ordinary armorer named Zhang Xingwang."

Chen Shao nodded. Things were progressing much as he had expected. As long as there were enough people, as long as the higher-ups paid attention, and as long as the government supported them.

Given time, talented individuals will emerge.

And it will continue to appear.

This is the significance of his reform of scientific expeditions despite the pressure.

Yang Geng is currently riding high; he has finally escaped the shadow of his father and can finally break free from his family of origin.

This guy actually moved into the engineering college.

Yang Cheng had neither the time nor the inclination to deal with him. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, he went to Yanshan Prefecture to dredge the last section of the canal.

Although Yang Cheng wasn't particularly pleased that his son had achieved the unconventional third-place ranking in the imperial examinations, he still considered it a happy occasion.

Since His Majesty values ​​it so much, I certainly cannot go against his wishes.

Therefore, he became surprisingly lenient with his son.

Although Yang Cheng was single-mindedly seeking fame and official position, his loyalty to Chen Shao was genuine.

Back in Yuanbao Village, before Chen Shao rose to prominence, he led his entire clan to join Chen Shao's cause.

Over the years, they have remained loyal and steadfast, their bond having long been tested. He has never shirked any task assigned by Chen Shao, and no matter how difficult, he always rolls up his sleeves and gets to work.

Chen Shao asked Yang Geng to explain the entire process of improving this thing.

The study of firearms was only part of his work at the engineering college; in fact, Yang Geng was more proficient in calendars and solar terms.

But as soon as Chen Shao asked, he immediately launched into a long and detailed explanation, vividly and engagingly.

How did a group of people discuss and explore, and how did they spend months working on it in the workshop?

Finally, Zhang Xingwang figured it out.

The musket was something Chen Shao had always been very interested in, and given his personality, he was determined to see it for himself.

Sure enough, while Yang Geng was still speaking, Chen Chong came in and said that the carriages and horses were ready.

Before long, Chen Shao boarded the carriage, accompanied by Yuwen Xuzhong and Yang Geng, along with a group of attendants including the Imperial Guard Commandant and palace eunuchs, and they left the palace.

The engineering institute was located within the outer city of the capital, and we arrived there in no time.

Chen Shao did not go to the smoky and noisy workshop for the time being.

Because the engineering college uses a lot of water, it was built on the riverbank, and there was a courtyard for entertaining guests.

Chen Shao then came here first and asked the people from the engineering college to call Zhang Xingwang over, and to bring some extra muskets for a test firing.

Zhang Xingwang had no background; he was indeed an ordinary craftsman, and even looked a bit slovenly.

The reason he looks like this today is probably because the engineering college knew that Chen Shao would summon him and specially dressed him up.

He must have been a little nervous; he didn't say a word while kneeling and bowing, just lay there silently.

Chen Shao looked at him and thought to himself that appearances can be deceiving. If he met him on the street, Chen Shao would never have guessed that he could make a flintlock musket.

To be honest, the progress of firearms development in recent years has not been fast, and Chen Shao has thought about this issue privately.

The reason is most likely within oneself.

Because artillery performed exceptionally well in the war to destroy the Jin dynasty, and in subsequent territorial expansions.

Therefore, the focus of firearms research suddenly shifted entirely to artillery.

Moreover, as copper was continuously transported in, there was no shortage of raw materials for making cannons, and the technology was relatively mature.

All sorts of bizarre and wonderful cannons were constantly being manufactured.

It wasn't until Chen Shao discovered this that he began to directly intervene, ordering them to develop firearms.

This put the development of firearms on the fast track.

Chen Shao praised him a few times, and then ordered a generous reward.

At this moment, the people from the Engineering Institute presented a new musket. They originally intended for Zhang Xingwang to personally explain the mechanism at the rear of the musket to His Majesty the Emperor—basically, it used a reed to make the flint on the hammer strike the anvil below.

But Zhang Xingwang couldn't say a word at this moment, and no one made things difficult for him, since it was an opportunity to show his face in front of the emperor anyway.

These muskets were made by soaking small pieces of silk in oil, wrapping the lead bullets in the oil, and then loading them into the musket to make the bullets enter the musket more smoothly.

Chen Shao noticed all these details.

In his view, the most important thing when making weapons is that they are easy to use.

The enemy's cavalry is charging right at our faces, and we're still reloading. If things are like this, we might as well stick to traditional cold weapons.

Preparing a flintlock musket is indeed faster than preparing a matchlock musket. There is no need to use a tinder to light the match, and there is no need to worry about the gunpowder in the priming pot being blown away by the wind or accidentally ignited.

After loading the ammunition, Chen Shao wanted to test fire it himself, but was persuaded not to.

Without any open flame, a line of eighteen soldiers had already raised their guns and aimed them at the distant target.

Someone shouted loudly, and immediately a series of crackling sounds rang out, followed by a plume of white smoke, as if only three muskets hadn't fired.

A satisfied smile immediately appeared on Chen Shao's face.

It was said that out of ten guns, three or four would misfire, but unexpectedly, after I arrived, the success rate actually increased instead of decreasing.

These shots were probably prepared in advance, but even so, Chen Shao was still satisfied.

If they can fool people, it means they do have some skill. (End of Chapter)