New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Amidst a deafening roar of "Victory!", the people below the city gate evacuated in an orderly fashion.

People with houses in the city could go home and wait for the government to distribute silver, while those without houses had to go to the government office to register their household situation and wait for allocation.

At noon that same day, the city lord's mansion posted a third notice.

"Craftsmen are being recruited. The daily wage is one hundred coins. The specific jobs are as follows: brick kiln worker, tiler, lacquerer, carpenter, and blacksmith. Those who are interested should go to the city lord's mansion to register. Tung oil will be collected at fifty coins per catty."

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. As soon as the notice was posted, the number of people going to the city lord's mansion to register was overwhelming. Wang Jian led a group of guards to maintain order, which prevented the gate from being blocked.

The registration process is very simple. You just need to write your name in the register and indicate your job. If you can't write, the clerk will do it for you. You can receive your wages for the day by pressing your fingerprint.

So the group of people came happily and left satisfied. Although many of them did not understand what the task they received had to do with the preparation for war, since it was the city lord's order, they just had to do it.

"They want us to go to the brick kiln to fire glazed tiles? What's going on?" Could glazed tiles be a secret weapon against the Jin army?

"My task was even more daring: to coat all the wooden pillars near the North Gate with a layer of tung oil."

The crowd chuckled. Was this preparation for war? It was practically like they were decorating and renovating Guangling City to welcome the Jin army into the city.

"If I tell you to do something, then do it properly. Why all the nonsense? The city lord is wise and powerful. He has his reasons for giving such an order. If you can figure it out, then you'll be the city lord too."

The supervisor's words sounded quite reasonable, and they couldn't refute them. However, firing glazed tiles and applying tung oil to wooden pillars were two completely unrelated things to resisting the Jin army. Not only did the craftsmen not understand, but even the Qiu brothers were full of doubts.

"The glazed tiles and tung oil pillars play a crucial role and must be completed without fail. I'll leave this task to you, elder brother."

Tang Qian did not intend to explain his purpose in doing so, and although Qiu Xin couldn't understand it, he still agreed to it.

"Don't worry, brother, I'll take care of this."

Tang Qian nodded and turned his gaze to his second cousin, Qiu Sen: "Collect all the useless ironware in the city, melt it all down to make iron nails, iron sheets, and arrowheads."

Tang Qian's order was the first to address city defense. Iron nails and iron sheets were mixed into gunpowder to kill enemies through explosions, while arrowheads were essential weapons for long-range attacks.

Tang Qian has already handed over the improved woodworking lathe blueprints to his third brother, Qiu Miao.

This time, he abandoned the laborious method of manually turning gears and instead used water flow to propel the shafts. By adjusting the gear ratios, he increased the rotation speed and doubled the efficiency of arrow shaft production.

"It's a pity that the area around Guangling is poor in resources. If there were an iron mine outside the city, we would have no problem dealing with the Jin army."

Tang Qian also sighed, worried that there wouldn't be enough iron. Then his eyes lit up: "The armor worn by the Imperial Guards has been melted down. It's useless. The standard longswords are also a waste. We should melt them all down and turn them into daggers. We should use the extra iron to make iron nails, iron plates, and iron caltrops. In short, the more of these things, the better."

What?! Remelting the armor and rebuilding it? Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment for a while, thinking they had misheard.

“Those five thousand Imperial Guards are our last line of defense. If they lose their armor, aren’t they no different from ordinary people? What if the Jin army breaches the city walls…”

"If the city walls are captured, even with 100,000 fully armed Imperial Guards, they will not be a match for the Jin army. Therefore, we must keep the Jin army firmly outside the city. Without the enemy climbing the city walls, our Imperial Guards, even in their armor, are not as strong or agile as the temporarily recruited local militia."

“My cousin’s words make sense.” Qiu Yan stroked his chin. “Then what should I do? Please instruct me, City Lord.”

"Lead the carpenters in the city to make sixty catapults and eight-ox crossbows, and place them on the city walls in various places."

Qiu Yan only thought for a moment before he understood Tang Qian's intention: "Is this to throw our explosives into the Jin army's siege formation?"

Since it is a city defense, it is necessary to kill the enemy from a distance. Both catapults and crossbows are heavy weapons for long-range attacks and must be equipped on the city walls.

Of course, these alone are not enough to achieve complete coverage of the entire battlefield. By using rockets with explosives and clay pot grenades to conduct small-scale, precise bombardments on any stragglers, Tang Qian was convinced that he could not defend Guangling City.

Qiu Yao was somewhat dissatisfied that his older brothers had all been assigned tasks: "We're all brothers, how can you be so biased?"

Tang Qian patted Qiu Yao on the shoulder: "Don't worry, the task I'm giving you is of utmost importance and involves our core secrets. You must select the most loyal servants in the family to assist you."

"Are you suggesting I make gunpowder?"

Qiu Yao rubbed his hands together, staring at Tang Qian with a look of joy and hope in his eyes.

Unfortunately, Tang Qian's next words instantly dampened his enthusiasm.

"Divide the selected people into five groups and send them to find Tang Xiaoqi in batches. They must keep the secret strictly and never communicate with each other to prevent the formula from being leaked."

Although Qiu Yao was extremely displeased with assisting Tang Xiaoqi, he still accepted the order and quickly left the council hall to get things done.

Prefect Shen Yun stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting to Tang Qian: "I wonder what this humble official needs to do? Please give your instructions, City Lord."

"Recruit local militia, collect all the firecrackers in the city and transport them to the city tower. We need to assemble at the north tower early tomorrow morning, as we also need to train new recruits."

If someone goes to the battlefield and doesn't follow orders, the clay pot grenade won't be able to unleash its full power, which would be a waste of strategic resources.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing that I need Governor Shen to take care of. Bring the most skilled blacksmith in the city to see me. I need to have some things made."

As the prefect of a state, Shen Yun was usually high and mighty, so how could he possibly know a lowly blacksmith? However, since the city lord had given the order, he had to do as he was told.

"Your humble servant will obey the city lord's orders."

Shen Yun bowed and left, leaving Ye Zhao alone in the council hall.

Tang Qian glanced at him, then smiled faintly: "Brother-in-law is about to get married, so there's no need for you to come to the meeting recently. You should stay home and spend more time with your wife."

Ye Zhao's face suddenly flushed red, then he straightened his neck and said, "Everyone has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation. How can we abandon our responsibilities because of our love for our children?"