The busiest army in the Tang Dynasty recently was the Sixth Army of the East Palace. With Li Shimin's consent, a new military camp was built in the east of Chang'an City.

Training these usually pampered young master soldiers every day.

Of course, the high-intensity training made some people unable to persist, and they all looked for ways to be transferred out of the six rates. Li Chengqian heard about it and did not stop him. He told Xie Yingdeng that the army was used for fighting, and such people were deserters on the battlefield.

If you leave early, everyone will look better.

In later generations, new recruits had to undergo three months of training before they could be assigned to the army. But Li Chengqian knew that three months could only let the recruits know what discipline is and what the army is. But this military flavor cannot be achieved without more than two years of training.

In Li Chengqian's view, the six-rate soldiers could only be used to guard the palace, or in other words, they could only be used to scare the common people.

Li Chengqian didn't have two years to train them. Fortunately, what Datang lacked most was the opportunity for actual combat. With short-term training and several actual combats, Li Chengqian believed that the combat power of the Sixth Army would not be lower than that of the Sixteenth Guards.

In order to provide better preparations for the sixth rate, Li Chengqian has been going to the Ministry of Works and the craftsman workshop every day for the past month. This has made Duan Lun, the minister of the Ministry of Works, and Yang Siqi, the master craftsman, very worried, because Li Chengqian's various demands really make them

The two of them couldn't figure it out.

Duan Lun was Li Chengqian's uncle, and Shangde was Li Yuan's fourth daughter, Li Shimin's sister, and Princess Gaomi, so there was nothing he could do about Li Chengqian asking him for help.

Duan Lun originally thought that Li Chengqian was just a few samples and went to Li Shimin to ask for a reward. But when he learned that Li Chengqian had transported 100,000 kilograms of steel to the craftsman's workshop, he couldn't sit still.

He quickly went to find his brother-in-law. The meaning was very obvious. Take care of your children. The Ministry of Industry couldn't even produce the equipment planned by the imperial court. How could it have time to make it for him? Besides, as Li Chengqian's elder, he couldn't watch.

This kid made a mistake, so he found Li Shimin.

Li Shimin was the immediate emperor, and he was very familiar with military affairs. Duan Lun's words aroused his interest, and he quickly asked people to send samples. At the same time, he asked people to go to the East Palace to call Li Chengqian to beat him.

There were four kinds of things placed in front of Li Shimin. "Prince, this is what you made by tossing the Ministry of Industry for a month." Li Shimin asked Li Chengqian about the Mitsubishi-shaped dagger.

"Father, what you have in your hand is a self-defense dagger. The head of this dagger and a spear is universal. It is made of fine steel and weighs one pound and six taels. The functions of daggers and spears in combat are mainly stabbing and bloodletting.

Large quantities and inability to heal wounds are the characteristics of these two weapons."

As he said this, Li Chengqian took off the spear tip and handed it to Li Shimin. It was the same as the dagger in Li Shimin's hand. "Father, please equip the cavalry with one more, which can be used as a backup."

"Well, you don't need to tell me about the steel crossbow. I can tell that it is much better than the wooden one and is easier to maintain."

"Father, its advantages are not only as simple as it seems. The first is the range. It can shoot at a standard range of two hundred steps, and can shoot five arrows in a row. Secondly, it only needs to change the quiver, and there is no need to add them one by one.

The traditional repeating crossbow is very different, which greatly saves the time of changing arrows, and the pulley on it can also save the time of winding. The most rare thing is that all steel crossbow parts can be replaced with each other, and soldiers can perform simple maintenance on the battlefield.

.”

"Oh, from what you said, it's really a good thing. Let's try it out later to see if it has the range you mentioned."

You must know that in ancient times, an excellent bow could shoot 150 steps. Of course, the requirements for archers were not low. According to Li Chengqian, wouldn't it be possible to cultivate a large number of high-quality archers?

"Father, don't you look at the plate armor?"

After listening to Li Chengqian's words, Li Shimin curled his lips and said, "What's so good about those few broken iron pieces and rags of cloth?" In Li Shimin's eyes, it would be good to have these three things. As for the few broken iron pieces, forget it.

"Father, this is composed of armor and deck. Gan Yun, come here and put on this armor." Li Chengqian explained to Li Shimin while inserting plate armor for Gan Yun. After Li Chengqian finished installing it, Li Shimin surrounded Gan Yun.

Yun installed it twice.

"Father, the advantage of this kind of armor is that it can be disassembled and carried at will. It is light in weight. It can protect most of a person's vital points and retain a certain degree of body flexibility. The most important thing is that it saves time in making armor.

and materials.”

After listening to Li Chengqian's introduction, Li Shimin took a serious look at this set of plate armor. In ancient times, armor was the most difficult, time-consuming, and wasteful material to make. Some special armors took a year or even longer to make.

.

Li Chengqian's plate armor seems to have solved all these problems. It is self-evident how important this is to the Tang Dynasty, which is in a state of constant war.

"My curiosity is satisfied. Now let's talk about your problem. Duan Lun said that you sent 100,000 kilograms of steel, but he would not dare to mass-produce it for you until he was killed.

Don't hate Duan Lun, he is really doing it for your own good. If the officials know that the prince secretly made weapons with the intention of rebelling," Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian with a playful expression. Of course he knew that he believed that Li Chengqian would not rebel.

"Um, father, I should report it to my father first, but the weapons manufacturing is done in the Ministry of Industry, so there is no secret. I originally wanted to equip the East Palace Six Rates for trial use.

After it is perfected, I recommend to my father that we gradually equip the Sixteenth Guards. Replacement rashly may reduce the combat effectiveness of the Sixteenth Guards. Now that the imperial court is accumulating strength and preparing for the Northern Expedition, the combat effectiveness of the troops cannot be ignored."

Li Shimin rolled his eyes at him: "Avoiding the important and taking the easy. Will the officials listen to your explanation? In their eyes, what you do is wrong."

"Father, there is a saying among the common people, and my sons and ministers believe it very much. If you are afraid of the cries of crickets, you won't plant your crops." Li Chengqian's words amused Li Shimin, and he pointed at him and cursed him with a vulgarity.

When Li Chengqian came out of Chengqing Hall, he was holding an imperial edict for the Ministry of Industry in his hand. From then on, Li Chengqian would use this edict to silence anyone who wanted to impeach the prince for studying strange skills.

Li Chengqian's wine sold well in Chang'an, and he became the darling of wealthy families for a while. If Chang'an City didn't have a few jars of such good wine, you would be embarrassed to entertain relatives and friends. Changsun Wuji looked at the profits during this period and felt happy.

Flowers.

But soon he couldn't be happy anymore. The Changsun family was in the steel business, which was purchased by the imperial court to make weapons. Li Chengqian picked up 100,000 kilograms of steel from the Changsun family two days ago. The reason is very simple.

Make weapons and armor.

When Changsun Wuji heard the words "weapon" and "armor" from the housekeeper, his head was spinning. I wonder if this young man doesn't know how to take a break?
Chapter completed!