The most arrogant in history

Chapter 303 Target Training.

Ye Kun blushed: "Nonsense, who asked him to send me a beautiful woman?"

Han Chun and the others didn't say anything, with a half-smile on their faces.

Zhuge Feng smiled and said, "Master Ye, let's put aside the matter of the beauties for now. What are you going to do with the captives and the tribal leaders of the Western Qiang?"

Ye Kun sighed and said, "Western Qiang is not a good place. It is a plateau with a dry climate and a sparse population. If we conquer Western Qiang by force, it will be very simple, but the governance in the future will be very troublesome and thankless."

Xiqiang is the mountainous area west of Chengdu.

Since ancient times, it has been a place that military strategists do not fight for, just like the mountains in Guizhou.

In ancient times, that place had a smaller population and fewer resources.

If you send troops to conquer a city, you will still have to spend money on construction, which is not worth it.

Ye Kun planned to maintain peace with the Western Qiang for the time being, and then destroy Xiahou Chang and take over the Western Qiang.

Han Chun smiled and said, "Master Ye is absolutely right. We also think that the Western Qiang have little money and it is not worth our fuss. We should use both kindness and force to make them surrender."

"Master Han, what you said is very much to my liking."

Ye Kun nodded: "Pass on my order, treat those Western Qiang guests well. Wait for me and the masters to go and comfort them."

Han Chun and others stood up together, and together with Ye Kun, they left the city overnight to appease the Western Qiang captives.

Among the three tribal leaders of Western Qiang, the most powerful one is called Kangbuza, who is in his forties.

These guys often led the Qiang soldiers to harass the border of Yizhou.

Unexpectedly, this time, Gongsun Shangfei led two thousand soldiers to launch a surprise attack and captured all three leaders in the northern part of Western Qiang alive!

At this time, the three leaders had been taken to the camp outside the city.

Seeing Ye Kun, the three guys knelt down.

Kang Buza kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Master Ye, we have offended the majesty of heaven and deserve death. Please show some mercy and spare my life."

Ye Kun stepped forward, helped the three people up one by one, ordered the people around him to take seats, and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, you are guests here, I won't kill you. Moreover, I intend to make friends with the kings of Western Qiang and expand trade, so I would like to ask for your help."

Kang Buza was very surprised and clasped his fists and said, "If Lord Ye spares us, we are willing to surrender and will never dare to be enemies with Lord Ye again."

Zhuge Feng said:

"Our Lord Ye is a man of his word and will never harm you. But you must remember that your territory will also be under the jurisdiction of Yizhou in the future, and you must pay taxes and tributes."

Kangbuza and others nodded repeatedly: "That's for sure, Lord Ye, please rest assured!"

Ye Kun nodded and smiled: "Don't worry, we won't send troops to garrison you. We will only send craftsmen and technicians to help you develop production. If other tribes bully you, I will help you."

In Xiqiang, Ye Kun also needs to support and cultivate his own strength.

These three people in front of me are quite suitable!

Kangbuza and others were overjoyed and swore to be loyal to Ye Kun for the rest of their lives.

Ye Kun arranged a banquet and comforted them.

He also conferred the title of general on Kangbuza and the other two, and gave them gifts such as Shu brocade, porcelain, iron pots, and glassware in order to win over their hearts.

The next morning, Ye Kun sent another message to Gongsun Shangfei, asking him to release all the Western Qiang captives and not to kill innocent people.

Three days later, Kangbuza and others returned with a full load.

Ye Kun also sent troops to escort them along the way.

Ye Kun did not want any of the twenty Western Qiang beauties and asked Kangbuza to take them all back.

Guan Yafu was a little worried, and consulted Ye Kun privately: "Gongsun Shangfei is young and brave, so we should be on guard against him, right?"

"It's okay." Ye Kun shook his head and said:

"Next year, when we attack Yong and Liang states, Gongsun Shangfei can lead his own troops and the Qiang soldiers and set out directly from Xiqiang. This group of troops is very important to me, and Gongsun Shangfei is the most suitable one!"

Guan Yafu had no choice but to give up.

Guan Bao came back from inspecting the counties of Yizhou and suggested to Ye Kun:

"Lord Ye, based on my visits to various states and counties during this period, there are far from enough blacksmith shops among the people. Can you open a number of blacksmith shops to facilitate the people and collect more taxes?"

Ye Kun nodded: "Let's let go of the stupid apprentices and old masters in the iron workshop. We can also sell them the obsolete blacksmithing tools at a discount and send them to various counties, towns and pavilions to enrich the blacksmith shops among the people."

The entire territory of Yizhou is still a salt and iron monopoly.

Ye Kun lowered the price of salt, and ordinary people basically had enough salt to eat.

However, Ye Kun is still very strict when it comes to controlling steel.

This is a strategic material that determines life or death.

Guan Bao meant that there were too few blacksmiths among the people, and when common people's iron tools broke, they couldn't find a place to repair them.

Considering the significant increase in iron ore production and sufficient inventory, Ye Kun decided to relax steel controls appropriately.

In the spring, he fought a great battle against Xiahou Chang and seized a lot of armor, arrowheads, swords and spears, all made of fine steel and iron, weighing nearly a million kilograms.

Some things are not suitable for use, and some things cannot be repaired. They can all be recycled and processed into farm implements or tools.

For ordinary people, iron plows, hoes and sickles are more important than iron pots.

If you don’t have an iron pot, you can use a ceramic pot instead.

Without iron tools, it would be impossible to develop production.

After arranging the affairs of the Western Qiang, Ye Kun put aside government and military affairs and focused on supervising the manufacture of warships and the research and development of muskets.

The history of firearms began with the matchlock and then the flintlock.

Ye Kun skipped the matchlock gun and directly developed the breech-loading flintlock gun and studied fixed gunpowder.

Ye Kun has been collecting high-quality flint, and he has also purchased a large quantity through merchants, in sufficient quantities to satisfy his needs.

In fact, the research on muskets began last year. A special project was set up and dozens of skilled craftsmen were assigned to be responsible for it. Lao He was the general manager.

The blacksmiths rubbed more than a dozen muskets by hand and continuously debugged and tested them according to Ye Kun's suggestions.

The fine iron gun barrels cast by the lost wax method have also gradually matured.

Out of every hundred products, thirty are qualified.

Ye Kun carried out the final assembly test. The power of the fixed gunpowder was enough to achieve a range of more than one thousand meters.

The bullet is made of lead-tin alloy and is very powerful.

The disadvantage is that the overall weight is high, close to 50 kilograms. A stand is needed for single-soldier operation, and mobile operation requires the cooperation of two soldiers, similar to the Qing Dynasty's lifting of guns.

Also, the accuracy is not enough. Beyond a hundred meters, there is no accuracy at all.

Also, the firing rate is very slow, only two rounds per minute.

Judging from its overall performance, this thing seems to be inferior to a crossbow in close combat or mobile combat.

Guan Yong laughed and said, "Brother, this thing of yours is just a fire stick. It can make a noise and scare people. During a war, soldiers would be exhausted if they had to carry it while running."

Ye Kun rolled his eyes. "You don't understand. All kinds of human technology develop slowly. The current muskets have various problems, but they are better than bows and arrows. You, an archer, need two years of training. But a musketeer only needs one day of training and can go to the battlefield."

Gongsun Erniang said: "I have also been studying this musket these days. In fact, it can be improved. When it is more sophisticated in the future, General Guan, you can't beat Lao He!"

Guan Yong was very upset and looked at the skinny Lao He: "I can't beat Lao He?"

"You really can't beat him." Ye Kun smiled and said:

"You two are five hundred steps away, attacking each other. You use a bow and arrow, and Lao He uses a musket. Before you can get close, Lao He will shoot you dead!"

Guan Yong shrugged, indicating that he was not able to argue.

Ye Kun ordered: "Lao He, put aside other work and focus on supervising the production of muskets. I want a thousand muskets with this specification. Produce fifty muskets first, and I will organize target practice for the Shenjiying Firearms Battalion."