The two of them sat down, and Du Zhongxiao said to Tao Shiqi: "It's thousands of miles away from Ye County to here, and it's hard to get on the road."

Tao Shiqi said: "It's not hard. My husband doesn't know that in the past few months, I have been to the other railway supervisions many times and have gotten used to it. Xiangzhou has been going smoothly. Laiwu Supervisor and Xuzhou Liguo Supervisor on Jingdong Road have to go to Beijing first, and it takes several days on the road every time."

The military weapons needed for large-scale military reforms are not comparable in the past. In addition to the Baitingjian and Xiangzhou that have been produced normally, the imperial court vigorously transformed the Laiwujian and Liguojian to make them the production sites of military weapons. Tao Shiqi, as one of the most important technicians of Baitingjian, escorted equipment many times and went to these two places. In the past six months, most of the places north of the Yellow River have been visited.

The soldiers came to tea, and Tao Shiqi said, "By the way, I brought some tea to my husband. All of them were the bitter cold roads of Hequ Road in Xinyang Army this year. It is not good to drink green tea in winter, so I specially brought it. This tea was made specifically by the Iron Supervisor in the selected tea mountain, but I can't buy it outside."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and shook his head. When he was building the Xinyang Army tea farm, he specially chose the tea mountain. The Changping Company made the good tea Changping Company was used to entertain past officials. Later, the Transportation Office, the Shipping Office and other institutions followed suit and went to the Xinyang Army to buy tea. As part of the minister's money, it was part of the welfare of these yamen officials. Later, some yamen and iron supervisors in the capital also learned to do this. Now some tea mountain of Xinyang Army was designated by various yamen, and the good tea was taken away, so the rest would be sold to the mall.

Now, part of the top-quality tea produced in Xinyang Military Tea Farm is tribute tea, and the other part belongs to the various government offices. The tea mountain produced by the shopping mall itself will flow to the market. Because the quantity is not large, most of them are bought by wealthy families, and it is difficult to buy top-quality tea on the market. Even Du Zhongxiao's home is a part of the good tea delivered by Chashan itself, and it is not enough to buy it from outside.

Giving gifts and good tea has become a trend on Jingxi Road. Tea has advantages, one is that it pays attention to the origin, and the other is that it has clear ranks, and the top ones can be raised at sky-high prices. At this time, Tao Shiqi and others, who are important in the Iron Supervision Department, showed benefits.

After using tea, the two chatted about some gossip. Du Zhongxiao talked about some interesting things about the battle between Hequ Road, and Tao Shiqi introduced the changes in the Iron Supervision Bureau.

When the food and drinks came up, the two of them drank and said happily.

After three rounds of drinking, Tao Shiqi suddenly said, "Mr., do you know that the most important thing in Baitingjian is not to build cannons, but another thing. Guess what it is? My husband can never guess!"

Du Zhongxiao said: "What can I guess? It's nothing more than the invincible thunderbolt chariot."

Tao Shiqi was stunned: "Oh, why did my husband guess it? When I was in the future, my husband never wanted to use this magical artifact!"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Who tells you that I don't want to use it? I think it's very hard to use it. Not to mention the invincible thunderbolt chariot, it's just a few months. How many broken are you in the ordinary cannon trucks and grain transport trucks? If you really use thunderbolt chariots, you won't have to fight and take care of them every day."

Tao Shiqi nodded: "My husband is right. Although the magic weapon is extremely powerful, Guo Zhijian has spent countless efforts, it is still too easy to break. He has changed it countless times. He tried it a few days ago and it can be used within 300 miles. No matter how far it is, it is broken too frequently, so it is better to use a heavy artillery."

Du Zhongxiao said: "I know, Guo Zhijian said in his letter. I suggested that the Privy Council could form an army of Thunderbolt chariots near the capital to defend the capital. Three hundred miles are enough to defend the city and control the control area is a thousand miles, and the capital can be as solid as a solid foundation."

Tao Shiqi nodded repeatedly: "That's right, it's right! The Privy Council ordered the Iron Supervisor to produce thunderbolt vehicles in addition to guns and cannons, and fifty vehicles were required to come out within two years. What they said was to build such an army in the capital."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is a good thing. Guo Zhijian's invincible thunderbolt chariot is indeed powerful, but it is not perfect and difficult to use along the border. If it is not used in the army, it will be difficult to perfect and become a dead knot. The layout around the capital can be barely used, and it can be improved while using it. Maybe it will be really used in a few years. If this thing is used on this battlefield, the future war will be a different look."

The invincible thunderbolt chariot is similar to tanks and armored vehicles, with no thick armor. If it can be used in field battles, it is an invincible existence for the surrounding cold weapon army. No matter how you arrange troops, a row of thunderbolt chariots will be used to crush them directly. Of course, attack and defense on the battlefield are a contradiction. The thunderbolt chariot is afraid of cannons. As long as there are enough cannons, the thunderbolt chariot will no longer be invincible.

When the war develops to that point, war becomes a competition of national strength between the two sides, completely different from before. Today's artillery, Khitan and Dangxiang can also tighten their belts, and when they go to the Pili chariot, they can't do anything to sell the goods.

According to news obtained by Du Zhongxiao, in the past six months, both Khitan and Dangxiang have been making artillery with all their might. In particular, Khitan itself is not short of iron. After suffering a great loss from artillery, Yelu Chongyuan and Yelu Hongji tried their best to build artillery together. The two emperors have been together for more than half a year, and both sides have not fought hard. This is one of the reasons. The heavy cities of both sides have piled up a pile of artillery on the city, without enough artillery, and they have no offensive ability at all.

The Khitan artillery was made of the Song army artillery made of the obtained Song army artillery and was cast directly, without the ability to fine-process. The gunpowder formula was leaked by the Song army. It was roughly correct, but the craftsmanship was roughly rough. The Khitan artillery was similar to the Song army's light artillery, but it was much heavier. Field battles were not the opponent of the Song army's artillery. It was used to defend the city, and the range and power were too far from the heavy artillery of the Song army, which was not a threat to the Song army.

Dangxiang's cannons were heavier than Khitan. Due to the lack of iron in the territory, even if they smashed the iron pots from the people, they could not cast many cannons. There was no way to cast a lot of copper cannons. Now there is no currency circulation in the market in Dangxiang, and it has returned to the era of physical currency. Gunpowder also comes from the Song army. Because of their good luck, the level of gunpowder is even stronger than that of Khitan.

In such a big battle, it is impossible for artillery and gunpowder technology to be outflowed. After suffering such a big loss, Khitan and Dangxiang had to obtain relevant technology at all costs. Money is moving, and no matter how strict Du Zhongxiao manages, he still cannot prevent someone from greeting for money and leaking his technology. However, their technology is limited and their productivity is limited, and now it is the limit. As for the large-scale equipment of muskets like the Song army, it is impossible to do so in a short time.

With a few weapons, the combat effectiveness of the army must be comprehensively improved from all aspects such as organization, training, morale, and equipment. Only when the army is as a whole can the weapons play their due role.

Listening to Tao Shiqi talking about the recent incident of the Iron Supervision, Du Zhongxiao said: "Recently, the army set up several military academies in Suizhou, just like me, and they set up a total of military schools to train the entire army. In fact, the first such school was to be set up in the Iron Supervision, which taught various technologies. At this time, did the Iron Supervision propose to the court to set up such schools across the country? The school is no longer run by the Iron Supervision itself, but is changed to the imperial court."

Tao Shiqi said: "My husband, that won't work. It's not done by the Iron Supervisor itself. The people taught are not suitable for the Iron Supervisor. Moreover, if they learn it, they may not be able to work in the Iron Supervisor and do business outside."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Can you be careful of doing business outside now? In recent years, many people have been working in the Iron Prison and have learned how to start their own industries outside. The imperial court has the benefits of the imperial court, and it can be free from the restrictions of the Iron Prison. The content of teaching and learning is more extensive. Of course, at the same time, the Iron Prison can also run it by itself, and it is not contrary to the schools run by the imperial court. Isn't that good?"

Tao Shiqi smiled and said, "This kind of thing is not what I think. I work in the Iron Prison and don't order officials from the court. What can I control?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Aren't you a wise official now? Why aren't you a court official?"

"My husband, the wise official is used to describe the official ranks. I still work in the Iron Prison, so I am naturally a person in the Iron Prison."

Du Zhongxiao heard this, nodded and understood Tao Shiqi's meaning. Although the status of a philosopher officer has been improved a little, in the eyes of the court, it is far from comparable to ordinary officials. To truly improve his status, a broad technician class needs to be independent from the bureaucratic system.
Chapter completed!