The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 243 What can you do?
The soldiers from Mizhou and the descendants of the Qi family can now only serve as auxiliary troops.

Because the rebel army's military formation has now formed its own system, with significant style differences from any other army of the Song Dynasty.

If we rashly incorporate these soldiers into the army, it will only destroy our formation.

But Qi Chongli didn't know this. He was still a little dissatisfied and whispered, "There are many brave and courageous men among the Qi clan. Although we are few in number, we can easily form a team of about 200 people and use them as the main force."

Yue Wenxuan smiled. "I believe they are all very brave, but our army has its own set of rules. You will understand after reading it, Lord Qi."

Qi Chongli was still a little unconvinced, but he didn't argue anymore.

Soon, everyone arrived at Jiaoshui County.

At this time, Jiaoshui County had entered a full state of preparation for war. The four gates of the city were closed, and barricades were placed everywhere outside the city to restrict the activities of cavalry. Of course, the caltrops had not been scattered yet. If these things were scattered before the enemy arrived, it would easily injure the soles of one's own people's feet.

The residents of Gaomi County and the soldiers from Mizhou passed through a large area of ​​barricades and entered the city.

The new Jiaoshui County Magistrate immediately came to greet them and arranged temporary accommodation for the residents of Gaomi County and properly stored the grain they had brought in.

These county residents were actually a little nervous. They were afraid that their grain would be looted by the "palace thieves", but now they realized that they were just worrying for nothing. The palace righteous men had no intention of taking their grain at all, and let them arrange it as they pleased. Even the grain stores in Jiaoshui County did not implement "martial control", and allowed the people to buy and sell freely, and even allowed them to arbitrarily raise the price of grain.

Qi Chongli was also a little shocked when he saw this scene. At that time, people were eating each other everywhere in Shandong Province, and the price of grain was soaring. Even the Jin people began to strictly control the grain prices in the occupied areas and prohibited grain merchants from raising prices. However, Jiaoshui County did not care at all. If you want to raise prices, go ahead and raise them...

Little did he know that the last unscrupulous businessman who had inflated the grain prices had been bankrupted by the True Lord, who had taken away countless grains and sold them to him, leaving him penniless. No one dared to inflate the grain prices anymore.

Moreover, Jiaoshui County had a bumper grain harvest this year. Farmers who used the "new farming method" basically harvested twice as much grain as in previous years. In theory, grain prices here should have "collapsed", thanks to the influx of a large number of refugees who consumed the extra grain. Otherwise, when Qi Chongli came here, he would have seen that the grain was worthless.

Qi Chongli took a brief look at the internal affairs here, but he didn't care about it anymore. He was more concerned about military affairs. As a former Minister of War, he knew how to fight. He greeted Yue Wenxuan with a big gesture: "Your Highness, I also know a little about military strategy. If there is anything I can do for you, please tell me to do it."

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "Qi Aiqing has just arrived and is not familiar with our military deployment. I will not bother you for now. Please follow Inspector Wu and learn more about the capabilities of our Royal Guards. I will then assign you tasks."

Qi Chongli nodded. This made sense. If a general didn't know the soldiers and started giving orders right away, there would be problems. He must first understand the army before he could do anything practical.

He accepted the order and walked to Wu Jialiang, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Inspector Wu, from now on, I will follow you."

Wu Jialiang's eyes were still swollen. "I am only a ninth-rank inspector. I am sorry to have wronged you, my Lord."

Qi Chongli: "The size of the official position is not that important. What is important is to fight well and kill the Jin thieves."

Wu Jialiang: "My Lord is right."

When the two men returned to the army, Qi Chongli immediately saw a strange huge iron pipe. It looked very heavy and had two small wheels underneath. The soldiers were pulling this huge iron pipe with four horses and were about to transport it to the top of the city wall to place it.

Qi Chongli was very surprised: "What is this?"

Wu Jialiang was excited: "This thing is called the Red Cannon! It also has another name, the Sky-blasting General Cannon."

Qi Chongli: “!” Why does this name sound so bandit-like?

Wu Jialiang pointed to another cannon nearby and said, "That one is called the Sky-shaking General Cannon."

Qi Chongli: “!!!”

Wu Jialiang chuckled: "There are two more called the Shocking Heaven General Cannon and the Tyrant Heaven General Cannon."

Qi Chongli covered his face with his hands at this outrageous name: "Names don't matter. What are they really for?"

Wu Jialiang: "Used to suppress the enemy's catapults."

Qi Chongli: “???”

Wu Jialiang: "This thing cannot be explained in a few words, and our military supplies are limited, so we can't just demonstrate it to you. When the battle comes, you will know it at a glance."

Qi Chongli nodded and said, "What I am really worried about is the Jin army's Iron Pagoda. Alas, that is the nightmare of our Great Song Dynasty."

Wu Jialiang smiled strangely again. "Don't worry, our army has a special artifact to deal with the Iron Pagoda. That artifact is also extremely worn out, so it's not convenient to demonstrate it to you, Your Majesty. However, you can call the captain who leads it to have a chat with you, Your Majesty."

Qi Chongli was overjoyed: "Quickly invite the strong men."

Soon, Zhang Dashu, the captain of the heavy musket team, was invited over.

Qi Chongli saw Zhang Dashu's physique from a distance. He was as strong as an ox and walked with great vigor. He was indeed a fierce warrior. He couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Having such a brave man as the captain makes me feel very happy."

He grabbed Zhang Dashu's hand and said excitedly, "Brave man, do you have any ideas for dealing with the Iron Buddha?"

Zhang Dashu grinned: "Yeah, let's use our new weapon, hold it like this..." He didn't have the heavy musket in his hand, he came empty-handed, so he just made a gesture of holding up the musket with his left hand, and then made a gesture of lighting the fuse and firing: "A little more like this, and a finger like this..."

"Bang! Tiefutu is dead."

Qi Chongli saw him looking silly and gesturing at the air, and couldn't help but look confused: "That's it?"

Zhang Dashu: “That’s it!”

Qi Chongli felt a surge of pressure. Why did this sound unreliable? Was this idiot a religious charlatan? Could it be that Manichaeism, popular in the south, had spread to the north?
Qi Chongli had heard of a lunatic sect in the south called Manichaeism, which had a set of religious slogans: "Burn my remains, the holy fire blazes. What joy is there in life, what pain is there in death? To do good and eliminate evil is the only way to light. Joy, happiness, sorrow, and all return to dust. Pity us, the people of this world, for we have so many worries!"

As soon as they recite this slogan, they transform into fearless supermen who dare to charge at any enemy.

Could it be that the prince intends to use the Manichaeism madman to exchange a large number of lives for the life of the Iron Buddha?

Qi Chongli sighed deeply and thought: This may be the only way to use it when there is no other way.

(End of this chapter)