When the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, the military dock in Kaifeng is heavily guarded. With one post every three steps and one sentry every five steps, the soldiers of the New Army surrounded the entire dock. The officers and soldiers of Jinwei Town, under the command of the officers, are quickly boarding the ship. The 12-pound field artillery pieces were pushed onto the warship amidst the chants of the soldiers. The latest field 12-pounder cannon is made entirely of steel. Its range is much longer than that of bronze cannons, and it is also more durable. More importantly, the steel field 12-pounder is more than twice as heavy as the bronze cannon? Originally, the 12-pound bronze cannon weighed three thousand kilograms. Today's 12-pound steel cannon weighs just over a thousand kilograms. The lighter weight means it is more convenient and faster to drag it on the road. Li Zhongyi put his hands behind his back and looked at his soldiers silently, unable to take his eyes back for a long time. The long-term military threat of the Khitans has come to an end! It has been three years. Every winter, the two towns of the Army will split into two routes, going more than two thousand miles deep into the territory of the Khitan Kingdom, sweeping away all living creatures encountered along the way. The Imperial Army, which fought out of season, reaped extremely huge rewards. Especially throughout last winter, nearly a million Khitan people were driven out of their winter tents, and millions of their cattle, sheep, and horses froze to death. After three consecutive years of out-of-season wars of attrition, as well as offensive and defensive distance wars in which the Khitans went south to retaliate in the autumn, the Khitan's national strength has become unprecedentedly weak. Brother Yeluxiu knows that after the spring of this year, Li Zhongyi will personally command the main army and advance into the Khitan Kingdom. "Two old enemies have been facing each other for more than ten years. Who still doesn't know who is the other?" During this Northern Expedition, Li Zhongyi took Zhou Jiamin with him, who had never been pregnant with a dragon. Li Zhongyi has clearly calculated the ovulation period, but there is still no movement in Zhou Jiamin's stomach. " Boarding a ship with tens of thousands of troops cannot be done just by talking. Li Zhongyi had no intention of going back to the cabin to sit down, so he simply walked on the pier with his hands behind his back and watched. Due to the huge benefits of colonizing overseas, today's empire has no shortage of workers and slaves, no shortage of food, and no shortage of soldiers. Its national strength is unprecedentedly strong. Resolving the military threat from the Khitan Kingdom cannot be accomplished overnight. In the past, the armies of the Central Plains Empire did not have the ability to fight out of season. Every autumn when the horses are fat, the prairie barbarians will go south to thresh the grass in the valley. Now, the world has been turned upside down. The Han army attacked the Khitans twice a year. In winter, they went deep into the prairie to sweep up the Khitan people's winter supplies. In the spring, when the Khitan troops are thin and weak, they will sweep again. In autumn, when it was the turn of the Khitans to go south to retaliate, the main force of the Han army went on the defensive and hid south of Yanshan Mountain to avoid a decisive battle with the revengeful Khitans. Li Zhongyi¡¯s strategy is not unusual. Brother Yelvxiu saw through it at a glance. "However, it's one thing to see through it, and another thing to know whether you can afford it or not. As the saying goes, good things happen in one go, but then they fail, and in three cases they are exhausted. Brother Yelvxiu led an army of 200,000 people south to retaliate. Apart from wasting money and food, he could not grab anything. As time goes by, the grassland tribes who are afraid of power but not moral will inevitably become alienated from the Khitan people. Moreover, the Han army's avoidance of fighting in the autumn consumed Yelvxiu's few resources. On the prairie, it has long been an iron rule that whoever goes out to rob will be responsible for providing cattle, sheep and supplies. Li Zhongyi¡¯s plot is one that can be seen through at a glance, but Brother Yelvxiu is helpless about it. The Khitan cavalry could not enter Yanshan at all, and they could not afford rations. They were raided in winter and attacked again in spring. ¡°After a long time, even the gods can¡¯t hold on. The grassland is so big that even if the previous Central Plains dynasties conquered large tracts of land, it would be difficult to defend it. Li Zhongyi deliberately spent three years trying to stir up internal strife in the Khitan Kingdom in order to maintain long-term peace and stability. No matter how many wild boar skins there are, the method of dealing with the Mongols on horseback is still very successful. Facts have proved that the northern border can be kept stable by adopting a strategy of pulling one faction to fight against another in the grassland, coupled with continuous population purges. Only when the northern border is completely stabilized can the Li Han Empire be completely free to expand its territory westward and colonize overseas. During this Northern Expedition, Li Zhongyi mobilized troops from three towns, namely the Seventh Town, the Eighth Town and the Guards Town. In the past three years, Li Zhongyi has been conducting deep raids on the grasslands in winter and disrupting the Khitan people's positions in spring.A rotation system is adopted. This year it will be the first and second towns, next year it will be the third and fourth towns, and so on. After the winter sweep, sum up the experience and lessons, and then enter the prairie in spring, the harvest will often be great. When the sun was high in the sky, Li Zhongyi's handsome ship quietly unmoored and sailed westward towards Zhengzhou Mansion. Li Zhongyi was sitting at the table by the window, pen in hand, reviewing the draft of "Modern Medicine" line by line. "Modern Medicine" is a medical book written by Li Zhongyi based on his own medical experience and relevant knowledge of the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Li Zhongyi was originally a famous Chinese medicine expert. Otherwise, he would not have been able to follow the old leader all the time. Traditional Chinese medicine must of course be carried forward. However, Li Zhongyi also knows very well that modern medicine is not something you can ignore or stop developing. The clinical experience of modern medicine, double-blind drug testing, various advanced testing equipment and ideas are all worth learning. In the history of Japan, traditional Chinese medicine was abolished and only traditional Chinese medicine was preserved. The average life expectancy reached 89 years. This shows that modern medicine has considerable merit! ¡°Compared with civil and martial arts, Li Zhongyi valued the teaching materials of natural sciences such as physics, chemistry and mathematics that he personally reviewed. Rejuvenating the country through science and education means that natural science must develop and progress. If you don't develop natural science, if others do, they will be bullied by the big powers. ?? Common people, the problem of having enough to eat has been basically solved due to the continuous flow of food from overseas colonies. As for the issue of affordability, in fact, except in Kaifeng City, everyone has a house to live in. It's just that there is a difference between location and value. Kaifeng City is the largest city in the world, with a population of one million. However, there is only so much space within the city walls of Kaifeng, especially the core area near the imperial palace, which is a super scarce resource. ?Things are rare and valuable. The more scarce resources are, the more expensive they will be. This falls within the scope of economic laws. The people's livelihood issues in the transition period from the era of complete small-scale peasant economy to the pre-industrial era. In layman's terms, it means having enough to eat and no less than three meals a day, being able to rent a house, being able to read a book, and the last one is being able to afford medical treatment. . After more than ten years of hard work, the first three major problems have been solved by Li Zhongyi. Now, all that is left is for modern medicine to take root and flourish. At present, new primary and secondary schools, in addition to free board and lodging, also provide monthly subsidies. This is a long-term plan to continuously give the poor the opportunity to improve their class. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Other than participating in the imperial examination, there is almost no way to improve their class. Li Zhongyi wanted to vigorously develop industry and highlight the new science of mathematics, physics and chemistry as the only way. By allowing the poor to receive new education and continue to participate in the development of industry, they will be given a golden rice bowl full of vitality and unlimited hope. ?? Once the technology tree starts to climb, as long as future generations of emperors don't be stupid and don't take the initiative to stop the climbing process. No matter how slow the climbing speed is, there will always be no light in the east and bright light in the west. Therefore, Li Zhongyi firmly grasped the opportunity and set an example for future generations, so that all princes must receive a comprehensive baptism of new education. In the Qing Dynasty, despite ten thousand exceptions, the education of the prince was still relatively successful. Starting from Shunzhi, special attention was paid to the education of princes. The princes get up earlier than chickens and read a lot of books. It¡¯s just that the Qing Dynasty was too conservative and did not actively integrate into the wave of industrialization. This made the prince¡¯s education completely behind the times. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????¡ Because they are all in the new army and have fully seen the power of guns and artillery. In the past, the Khitan cavalry, which made the Central Plains dynasty fearful, were actually vulnerable to scum in the face of a line of infantry firing and hundreds of artillery bombardments. Li Jixiao, with only a team of more than a hundred people, dared to go deep into the hinterland of the grassland and destroyed more than 500 tents in one fell swoop. He took advantage of the severe cold weather and the power of guns. Because Li Zhongyi was very thoughtful and prepared extremely well from head to toe to keep out the cold, Li Jixiao only suffered from frostbite on his hands and feet even in the freezing Mongolian plateau. In the winter on the Mongolian plateau, a large number of sled dogs drag artillery and camping vehicles, and all infantrymen are equipped with sleds. They are an absolute magic weapon for killing people, stealing goods, and committing arson. Under the severe cold weather, the prairie barbarians simplyThere was no way to dismantle the yurt and move it in advance. Because war horses can't stand the cold, and neither can cattle or sheep. All the livestock are dead, how can we move them? "Winter sweeps are a cancer for the prairie barbarians. They can only bear it silently and are unable to resist." Objectively speaking, winter raids are not the most damaging strategy. The spring attack is even more deadly. Because, on the grassland in spring, whether it is war horses, cattle or sheep, they are the thinnest after winter. At this juncture, the armies of the two towns attacked separately and swept away the most fertile pastures. How could the cattle, sheep and horses be fattened? In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are just paper tigers. The Khitan people clearly knew about Li Zhongyi's conspiracy, but they didn't have the slightest chance to resist. This made them angry, helpless and useless. The handsome ship headed west and arrived in Zhengzhou one day later. In Zhengzhou, Li Zhongyi met with the Zhengzhou prefect and many other local officials, and carefully inquired about various people's livelihood issues. Li Zhongyi is the soul of modern people and does not like to waste money and people. Therefore, he visited various places and inspected the abilities of local officials, often taking advantage of the opportunity of personal expeditions.