"I heard that he is a descendant of a master, so he may not be able to like us..."

"You know what a donkey egg is! How many of those masters from the pre-Qin and pre-Han Dynasties were knights? Guo Jing and Zhang Wuji, which one is not a knight-errant?"

Someone yelled and cursed.

"That's right. I can't say that his master is a knight-errant, maybe he is a knight-errant! Otherwise, why would he write the article "Xia Ke Xing" specifically for the knight-errant?"

"That's the truth!"

…

Feng Yong and his men rushed directly to the county government office and then pulled the horse's head.

"Xi Yu Yu!"

The tall horse neighed loudly and stamped its hooves heavily on the ground.

"Brother!"

Li Qiu didn't wait for the horse to stop before he stepped forward and shouted excitedly.

Feng Yong got off his horse and hurried forward, "Xinhou!"

When brothers meet, they have some emotions.

"I've met my brother."

Li Mu then stepped forward and bowed Yingying.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work these past few years."

Feng Yong nodded.

"What did you say, brother? It's not hard for me to sit here in Nanxiang. But it's hard for me, brother, to travel north and south, or to go to places with plagues like Nanzhong."

Li Mu dressed up carefully. She did not wear the usual tight clothes and narrow sleeves. She wore formal clothes, a bright moon ring, and a jingle. Her eyes flashed, she stared at Feng Yong, and said softly.

"Don't talk about this, we all have our own duties."

Feng Yong waved his hand and then asked Li Qiu, "Where is Jianling Huo?"

"I'm waiting for my brother at Han Zhongye's workshop."

"Time is pressing. Madam Mu, please go back immediately to make arrangements for the woolen cloth workshop. I'll go to Han Zhongye's workshop first."

Li Mu nodded, "I understand."

Most people from outside have the illusion that the inner city is the core of Nanxiang. In fact, this is wrong.

The real core of Nanxiang is the textile workshops and Hanzhong Metallurgical Workshops behind the inner city, as well as the kilns that are always emitting black smoke.

Of course, speaking on a large scale, it should also include the pastures at the foot of Bashan Mountain and the mines in the mountains.

They are the real pillars of Nanxiang.

Feng Yong led everyone to the Hanzhong Metallurgical Workshop, where Huo Yi had been waiting, "I have seen the prince."

"No need to be polite, Inspector Huo, are you ready with what I want?"

"Going back to Junhou, I have prepared 30,000 iron bars and 300 craftsmen, waiting for the horses to arrive to install the horseshoes on the spot."

Huo Yi welcomed Feng Yong in and said, "Each of these craftsmen has worked for Nanxiang Ranch and shoed the horses of Dongfeng Express. Their skills are not unfamiliar."

As Dongfeng Express business continues to grow, the utilization rate of horses is also increasing, and more and more horses are reported damaged due to excessive wear of the hoofs.

Since Feng Yongping moved to Yuexun, built a pasture, and had a real source of horses, he began to install horseshoes on the horses used by Dongfeng Express, which was considered a small-scale experiment.

This Northern Expedition required a large number of horses to help transport grain. Feng Yong brought 5,000 horses from Yuexun in one go, and they all needed to be shoed within ten days.

"That's good." Feng Yong nodded, "What about the others?"

"Your Majesty, please follow me."

Huo Yi took Feng Yong to an open space, where several tables were set up. There were several strange-looking things on the tables, but they could still be seen to look like crossbows. There were a few soldiers waiting there.

.

"General Wang, the weapons you need are right here."

Feng Yong walked to the table, picked up a crossbow, and handed it over.

"Is this a pedal crossbow?"

Wang Ping took it and felt that this crossbow was really weird.

"It is indeed a foot-operated crossbow, but it is more convenient than ordinary foot-operated crossbows and can be used by ordinary soldiers."

The foot-operated crossbow, as the name suggests, is a powerful crossbow in which the arms of the crossbow are placed on the feet, and with the help of the power of the legs, the crossbow is straightened and kicked with both hands to pull the string. It has a long range and great power.

Even for a light crossbow that only uses arm strength to string, the stringing speed is much slower than that of a bow. This kind of foot-operated crossbow is slower and slower, and it requires relatively high strength from the user.

But the pedal crossbow in Wang Ping's hand was added by Feng Yong with a pull rod that could be pulled back and forth. The lever principle could be used to achieve the effect of winding with less effort, while also increasing the winding speed.

On the front of the crossbow, a collar is specially added, similar to a stirrup, which is convenient for stepping on when winding.

Feng Yong signaled, and soon a soldier came forward to demonstrate. He stretched the string, loaded the arrow, aimed, and buckled the hanging knife. The straw man two hundred steps away shook, and there was a crossbow arrow on it.

Excluding those sharpshooters and the theoretical maximum range, the effective killing range of ordinary archers in the army is generally about one hundred steps, and the optimal killing range is sixty steps.

But training an archer is very expensive and difficult. Not only does it require talent, but it also requires long-term and continuous training.

Moreover, for crossbows, bows and arrows have a short aiming time, cannot be charged for a long time, and require high arm strength.

The crossbow is different. It is very simple to use and does not require special skills. Crossbowmen can be quickly trained in the army.

More importantly, because the crossbow uses arm strength, waist strength, and leg strength to cock, the range of the crossbow ranges from far to near, from two hundred to twenty steps, all within the crossbow's killing range.

It can also store power and be used as an auxiliary aiming device such as a mountain to improve accuracy.

The crossbows in the army are basically pedal crossbows, which have a longer range than ordinary bows and arrows. The effective killing range is about two hundred steps, and one hundred and fifty steps is the optimal distance.

The disadvantage is that it is difficult to wind.

Therefore, why the imperial court banned crossbows but not bows? It was because crossbows were powerful but easy to use, and normal people could exert their power.

Feng Yong's improved pedal crossbow, while maintaining its power and range, added a collar to make it easier to string, and installed a lever to make it easier to string. Its firing rate is much faster than that of ordinary crossbows.

"nice one!"

Wang Ping's eyes lit up, he stepped forward to grab it and couldn't put it down.

"Compared with the crossbows in the army, this kind of crossbow can fire at least one more arrow when facing a mounted army at a distance of 150 steps. A skilled person can fire it twice."

"One time is enough!" Wang Ping praised, "One more shot for three thousand people. As long as they dare to charge over, at least two to three hundred more people will be killed or injured. If it is an infantry, then it can be three or four more times, at least

One or two thousand people fell."

"The more important thing is to save effort. The more effort you have than the opponent, the greater your chance of survival and the greater your chance of winning."

This kind of foot-operated crossbow is not much different from the crossbows used in the army today. Ordinary crossbowmen can almost use it if they have it in their hands.

The reason why Feng Yong reacted so much to Jiang Bin's disruption of Hanzhongye's production order was that he wanted to take advantage of the autonomy of the Yuexun Prefecture to let Hanzhongye build him new weapons in preparation for the Northern Expedition.

Of course, it was only after the incident of Jiang Bin's inferior sword that Feng Yong thought of fighting for it from the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty first, so as not to cause trouble for him again.

Zhuge Liang wanted to take Feng Yong with him on this Northern Expedition. The purpose was to let him gain insights and gain some experience at the same time, so he had no objection to his plan to test new weapons among the Yuexun soldiers.

Only the number of new weapons was limited to less than 5,000 people.

At the same time, the court only provided half of the money and food, and the remaining half had to be paid for by oneself.

As for a luxury item like the Purple Lightning Sword, when the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty knew the cost, he directly said, "You have to take care of it yourself. The court has no money and no food!"

In the past two years, Feng Yong has been developing new weapons at Yuexi Infrastructure and Hanzhong Metallurgical Engineering Co., Ltd., and he has continued to spend money and food, which has completely emptied the Feng family, including his mother-in-law's dowry.

At the same time, they also emptied the Wang family, Zhao Guang’s wife’s book, and Li Yi’s private money...

It can be said that this Northern Expedition was a huge gamble for Feng Yong. If he lost, he would almost lose everything.

Just as Feng Yong was preparing to test the new weapons of the Northern Expedition, there was another rumble at the intersection in Nanxiang, and a herd of horses that could not be seen on the road was rushing towards this direction.

At the same time, the seals on all the warehouse doors of Nanxiang Workshop began to be torn off, and then the doors were pushed open and the materials inside were counted.

Wooden boxes of different sizes, different sizes, but uniformly nailed together were brought out. They might contain woolen cloth, arrow feathers, or even crossbows, swords...

The various stewards took the account books, checked their own numbers, and then waved their hands, and the people below began to move them to the designated location.
Chapter completed!