After writing it, it was handed over to Master Shang and his apprentice and said to Master Shang who was excited: "General Shang, you can be optimistic about my letter, in addition to weapons and winter clothes, this king also separately allocated you 10,000 grenades here, this grenade is the best weapon to defend the city, your Tongguan location here is extremely important, it is estimated that the Central Plains will be chaotic next year, and you should bear the brunt of it here!" With these grenades to help you defend the city, don't worry! ”

After hearing this, Master Shang and his apprentice were quite moved, and he knelt down on one leg and said: "Your Highness Chitose, the last general will thank Your Highness for the 50,000 soldiers of Tongguan for me." Your Royal Highness rest assured, there are the last general and the new general here to protect the old prince and guard the pass, even if he dies, he must protect the pass safely! ”

"General, please get up, you are the uncle of this king, the general of this king, and you are also the general of this king! But the king and the uncle are one flesh, and there is no distinction between them. If there is an enemy attacking, the king of Luzhou should be notified, and the king will come to help in the war. Yang Er hurriedly picked up this general. In the history books, when the general trend of the Sui Dynasty was gone, the master and apprentice still fought against the anti-Sui forces with all their might, and finally died on the battlefield, in the name of total loyalty. Yang Er still admires this general very much.

The next day, Yang Er and his entourage boarded a boat at this Tongguan wharf and headed west to Chang'an.

After a whole day on the ship, there was the Huayin City Wharf in front of it, and at this time, Huayin City, along with Iron Hammer Village and Shaohua Mountain, all belonged to Yang Er's sphere of influence. The prefect of Huayin City is surnamed Cai, who was originally a nephew of Cai Dejian, the assassin of Luzhou, who is in his 30s and has been an official for many years. Seeing that the power of the King of Jin was getting bigger and bigger in his own county, he didn't dare to ask, and he didn't dare to say a word about everything, so he simply took refuge in Sima Pei Shiju of Hedong under the recommendation of his uncle Cai Dejian, and included the entire territory under his jurisdiction in Hedong County, and invested under the banner of Yang Guang, the king of Jin.

After receiving the news that His Royal Highness the King of Jin was about to arrive along the river by boat, Governor Cai, together with all the officials of the county government, as well as the third uncle of Zhengliang in the Iron Hammer Village, and the deputy members of the Zhuang and the lieutenant general Hua Gongming, the head of Shaohua Mountain, stopped and waited on the dock. Finally, when they saw the banner of King Jin Chitose from a distance, everyone was overjoyed.

This Huayin City Wharf is the most important wharf in the whole Guangtong Canal, the ships passing up and down have to dock here for a night, here is set up a river pass according to the requirements of the Luzhou government in Hedong, and the merchants who go up and down the boat must obtain a customs clearance license at the gate of this river pass, accept the inspection of goods and pay a certain river tariff. Therefore, Huayin City after the canal is far more lively than before. Merchants from the south to the north brought endless wealth here, and the area around Huayin City became extremely rich long ago.

It was also a military wharf with 3,000 soldiers. Because this was originally a military wharf for the material turnover of Iron Hammer Village and Shaohua Mountain, the wharf was heavily guarded, and the garrison officer was Colonel Shi Danai, one of the garrison generals of the former Shaohua Valley.

In a burst of firecrackers, Yang Er and his entourage abandoned the ship and landed ashore. The people who spontaneously came to greet the wharf occupied the entire wharf, and Yang Er could see the Jin officers and soldiers wearing new-style military uniforms who were maintaining order from a distance, and among the people who greeted them, they clearly saw Hua Gongming, who was wearing a lieutenant general uniform and was tall.

Accompanied by everyone, Yang Er and his entourage walked slowly towards the Huayin County Government, and people continued to kneel and worship on the side of the street along the way. It is very rare for Yang Er to appear in front of the people like today, and it can even be said that he has never seen it. Fortunately, this Huayin City is its own territory, and there are many guards watching the people's movements.

"Lord Cai, this king remembers that you didn't have so many people in Huayin City! Today, I see that there are no less than tens of thousands of people in your city. Yang Er asked Governor Cai on the side as he walked.

"Huh! Back to my lord, a year ago, my Huayin City was small, and there were only a few thousand people. Since the opening of the Guangtong Canal, my Huayin City has gradually prospered thanks to this wharf, and people from all over the country have moved into the city. Even the Wufenglou restaurant in the capital has also set up a branch store in my place, and the business seems to be better than his main store in Beijing. Cai Zhifu replied with a smile.

"My lord, the "urbanization" strategy of Hedong has been strictly implemented here, and the surrounding mountain people and landless farmers have all moved to the city. Even several large villages such as Iron Hammer Village have also moved all the foreign population to the city, and the population here is already more than 50,000 people. Hua Gongming, who accompanied the escort, added.

"Lord! The old man also moved the original brewery, quilt factory, printing and dyeing workshop to the west of the city, and only the ironworks are now left in the village. Third Uncle Liang said happily.

"Third uncle, how are the people living in the village now?" Yang Er asked.

"Lord! The people of Zhuangshang are now living in a wealthy life, and they can earn a considerable amount of income just by raising chickens and farming! The children of each village have also entered the school, and these are the blessings of the lord! When Uncle Liang said this, the people in the surrounding villages couldn't help but echo it.

Yang Er couldn't help but be happy when he heard this, it seemed that the policies he implemented here were the right way to go, and they did not arouse the disgust of the people, especially the rich households.

As he spoke, the group entered the county hall surrounded by the people.

"Huh! Lord Cai, you are so magnificent here! In the lobby where Yang Erjin entered, he felt the difference here, not to mention the spaciousness and brightness, there were countless kinds of porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, plants, flowers, and greenery in the lobby. even surpassed Yang Er's palace in Luzhou.

"My lord, originally my county government was too shabby, and the third uncle and General Hua all knew about it. Nowadays, due to the opening of the river and the opening of the wharf, the river tax revenue collected alone is thousands of taels of silver every day. At present, Lord Sima Pei is discussing the upgrading of Huayin County to a government, and I have rebuilt it according to the standards of the government office, so the lord feels that this is different from the county government. Governor Cai hurriedly explained, and at the same time, beckoned everyone to sit down and watch tea.

"Hmmm! Not bad. This king should have been upgraded to a government office a long time ago, and General Komeito should also build the general's palace in this city. "Yang Er is not worried that Cai Zhifu will engage in corruption, if he is not honest here, Zhang Heng of the Ministry of Supervision will already do it.

Yang Er was talking to everyone, and the topic soon led to the Guangtong warehouse in Shaohua Mountain and the firearms factory in the valley. Seeing that the topic was too sensitive, Governor Cai led the officials to disperse separately. In the hall, only Yang Er, Hua Gongming, Liang Sanshu and Shi Danai were left.

"My lord, at present, my Guangtong warehouse has stored tens of millions of stones, and the old grain in the past is either used for winemaking, or has been sold downstream along the river. Seeing that the new grain will be laid after the autumn, the final general is ready to buy another 5 million stone of new grain, and the rest will be traded in this city and sold to grain merchants from all over the country. Hua Gongming said.

"Hmmm! This king can see it. What about iron, salt, and firearms? ”

"The lord of the ship, the iron ingots are mainly made by several iron factories in the Iron Hammer Village after the storage, this year due to the large amount of iron ingots transferred to Luzhou, the inventory in the valley is not much! The refined salt is enough to store grain, and there are always more than 500,000 catties. How much firearms and gunpowder? The last general doesn't know, these are the treasures of Minister Ma Shumou, and usually, even we are not allowed to enter and leave his forbidden place. But the number is absolutely large, and the back mountains are basically hollowed out. Hua Gongming replied. Because Ma Shumou's identity is extremely special, and his position is higher than Hua Gongming's, Ma Shumou's firearms and gunpowder factory is independent of Shaohua Mountain.

"Okay, I'll go with this king tomorrow, Minister Ma is not here, then Li Chun's master and this king have to visit, hehe!"

"Lord! The quilt factory in the hands of the old man also has a treasury in this Huayin City, and the autumn and winter quilts currently hoarded are fully prepared, and now the orders for various types of winter clothes have been completed, and now they are making military uniforms for the whole army in the spring and summer of next year. In addition, leather armor is enough to equip an army of 100,000. Uncle Liang reported on his work.

"Third uncle, you can do more civilian service in the future. Duvets, sleeping bags, etc. can be used for civilian use, just to distinguish them from military products in color, so that more income can be generated. The leather armor should not be made, and it will be used by the soldiers everywhere in the future; The scale of chicken raising can be moderately controlled to avoid excessive consumption of grain. Yang Er admonished.

Third Uncle Liang couldn't help but nod when he heard this.

Yang Er said to the two generals, Hua Gongming and Shi Danai: "Today, this king sees that the wharf is fully guarded by the Jin army, and the people who board the ship to inspect the goods and collect the taxes of the river pass are also my Jin officers and soldiers, which is not appropriate." The army is only suitable for war, not for civilian use. After discussing with the Cai Governor's Mansion, you can set up a special Hedong County Heguan Law Enforcement Team, which will be responsible for the taxation of Heguan, separate from the army, and be included in the management of the county government's household department. The army doesn't want to meddle in everything. Of course, General Shi's 3,000 garrison troops here remain unchanged, and some beacon towers should be built along the river, and if there are foreign troops attacking by boat, it is better to prepare for it as soon as possible. ”

Seeing that the three of them nodded frequently, they agreed. Yang Er got up and hammered his waist as if relieved, shook the paper fan and continued: "At present, this Guangtong canal has driven several economic developments, driven the prosperity of cities and towns along the river, and the people are healthy and prosperous. When the king entered Beijing to meet his father this time, he intended to open another Yongji canal to open up the four cities of Zhuojun, Hejian, Weicheng and Liyang, and connect the two major water systems of Haihe River and Yellow River. The total length is roughly 6 times that of the canal! Once it is completed, not to mention how much it will benefit the people, it is also a shortcut for the king to send troops to conquer the northern barbarians in the future, and it can also change the situation of the north to avoid backwardness. ”

After Yang Er finished speaking, he looked at a few people, Hua Gongming and the others were stunned, and they couldn't come back to their senses for a long time. Such a huge project is as incredible as the Arabian Nights in the eyes of these people.

That night, Yang Er and his entourage rested at the Huayin City Post House, which could be seen to be a high-end residence specially built by Cai Zhifu to welcome Yang Er's arrival. Yang Er slept very comfortably this night, maybe he was tired from the boat, so he went to bed early, and the three of Wang Dai, Chuchen and Abeiyi were still reciting Yang Er's "Three Character Sutra" and "Hundred Family Names" under the candlelight, very seriously.

After breakfast, Yang Er did not take his female dependents to Shaohua Mountain, but entered this heavily defended place with ease under the escort of Hua Gongming and Shi Danai. Now the generals defending here are two generals, Li Ruqi and Qi Guoyuan, with the same rank of colonel.

After entering the valley, the entire valley has been almost completely developed, and there is not a single open space in sight. Accompanied by Hua Gongming and his guards, after walking inward for a long time, he finally entered a valley, where another checkpoint was set up, and dozens of Jin soldiers guarded here.

After passing the checkpoint, several people dismounted and walked in, and soon saw Li Chun who was still concentrating on research in a stone house under a cliff. Li Chun was nearly 40 years old at this time, and his whole mental state was fine, dressed like an old peasant, if he didn't say it, Yang Er couldn't recognize that this was the most famous architectural master of the Great Sui. In this era, Li Chun was not only proficient in architecture and bridge building, but also proficient in chemistry and casting, etc., and could be said to be an all-round compound talent. This phenomenon of one person with multiple specialties generally existed among ancient scientists, for example, Sun Simiao, who was also a miracle doctor, a pharmaceutical expert, and a Taoist who had made great achievements in Taoism; Cao Cao is also a poet, a politician and a military strategist, and it is not uncommon in history.

"Mr. Li, this king is polite. Mr. Li--" Yang Er walked up to Li Chun and whispered, but it seemed that Li Chun, who was in a state of concentrated research, didn't hear it, and didn't even react.

"Oh! You are? Li Chun finally heard Yang Er's voice, and hurriedly looked up at Yang Er and asked, this is the first time he has seen Yang Er himself, and he heard about it from Uncle Ma in the past.

"Mr. Li, this is the current King of Jin Chitose, and he hasn't seen it yet!" Hua Gongming on the side stepped forward and reminded.

"Oh! The old man has seen His Royal Highness and the lord. The house was dim and did not see it for a while, and the old man was guilty. Li Chun hurriedly got up and bowed his hand.

"It's okay, this king is going back to Beijing this time and passing through Huayin, especially to visit Mr. I wonder what Mr. is busy with? Yang Er said very casually and politely.

"Huh! Presumably the owner of this firearm is no stranger, right? With that, Li Chun took out something from his cuffs. Yang Er couldn't help but laugh when he saw it.

"Huh! No stranger, no stranger, this king now has one hidden under his armpit! Yang Er said with a smile, and sat down on a futon next to Li Chun. Hua Gongming did not sit down, but after bowing, he went outside the house to wait.

Li Chun held the "short fire" in one hand and touched the white beard in the other, and said: "This thing, the old man has studied it thoroughly, in fact, the principle is not difficult, but what needs to be solved is the reload speed, reload volume and range. Now the range of this object is less than 50 steps, which is really useless! It's not bad for the lord to defend himself. ”

"Yes! Sir, this firearm has only been used once, and it was within ten paces of the Assassins. The accuracy was also poor, but fortunately, the weapon was very powerful, and the projectile spread out, killing the assassin instantly. Yang Er explained.

"The old man is trying to improve this thing, and the first thing to solve is to have a fast reload speed, and there is also the problem of range. Master Ma once said that the barrel could be lengthened to solve the problem of range. The old man tried, but the accuracy was even worse after lengthening. So, I was anxious about it for a few days. Li Chun said with a frown.