To the north of the Phoenix Cottage in Liaodong, hundreds of horsemen and horses with a carriage were crowded on the narrow mountain road, waiting for the sergeant's release. Staying under the heavily guarded wall, this group of men and horses looked relaxed, the sergeants behind the wall knew them well, and the centurion Jian Cheng greeted Wang Heng with a smile.

When he heard Jian Cheng say that in order to prevent accidents, no one was allowed to ride a horse or a car when he crossed the gate of the village, and only walked over, Wang Hengzhi's face was covered with a shadow, and he couldn't help but look back at the carriage, which was the fourth brother Tong Yunjie who was sitting. He hesitated for a moment, didn't argue with Jian Cheng, and recruited a cottage brother named Han Jia and asked him to invite the four masters down, and he followed.

The Kaizhou Han Army's trip had two purposes. First, it is necessary to make a joint attack on Kaizhou with Xia Guoying. Before concentrating their forces to attack Suzhou Pass, the Han army had to make a feint in the east. First hit several heavily guarded cities of the Liao State such as Kaizhou and Baozhou in the east, bluffing, and attracting the attention of the Khitans. The second is to send a group of good players to learn artillery skills from the Xia people. The leaders of the Han army thought that artillery was indispensable for attacking and defending the city, although the artillery was transported from the Xia State, the gunners could not always rely on the Xia people, so the Protectorate also promised the Chengying Battalion to train a group of gunners for them in Liaodong.

The curtain of the car was opened, Tong Yunjie only felt that the light was dazzling, and he covered his eyes slightly with his hand, and then slowly got used to it, only there was still a trace of gloom under his eyes.

"Four masters, supporting the villain." Han Jia stood outside the carriage and wanted to help him get off, Tong Yunjie glanced at him gratefully, put one hand on his shoulder, and picked up two crutches with the other.

"Fourth, this artillery battalion is not trivial, and it will all depend on you to be a brother in the future." Wang Hengzhi smiled and patted him on the shoulder. Tong Yunjie has a disabled leg and can no longer fight, but he is unwilling to return to the field. Wang Heng straightforwardly showed Han Ningshuang, thinking that Tong Yunjie was loyal and reliable, and his personal relationship with Zhao De was good, so he was suitable for commanding the artillery battalion.

"It's caused a lot of trouble for my eldest brother." Tong Yunjie said in a deep voice. He looked behind the wall, his hands holding his crutches tightly.

"Fourth, you were in the car all the way and didn't come out to breathe. The scenery of Phoenix Mountain is unique, like a paradise. Wang Heng smiled and said, "My brother regrets giving up this beautiful place to Zhao De." ”

After Han Ningshuang decided to set up the Han army marshal's mansion in Guannan, Suzhou, Wang Hengzhi vigorously opposed it, but after no result, he sent Xu Detai to represent the Kaizhou Han army to meet the alliance. If it weren't for Zhao Xingde's persuasion of Han Ningshuang and other leaders of the Han army not to give up the foundation of the Yalu River in Taibai Mountain, he, the elite of the Han army, would also be transferred to Suzhou Guannan. After Xu Detai revealed the details of the dispute in the Shuaifu to Wang Hengzhi, his good impression of Zhao De also increased a lot.

Wang Hengzhi originally thought that since Zhao De had coerced tens of thousands of people, he would definitely organize Ding Zhuang, who had won the army, into a line as much as possible to expand his strength. However, as I saw along the way, most of the people under the rule of Xia Guo were busy with the labor of reclamation, logging, charcoal burning, transportation, and digging ditches, and their demeanor was very relieved, and they did not look like they were going to fight at all.

"When I gave him this Phoenix Cottage," Wang Hengzhi thought secretly, "Who would have expected that in just a few months, Zhao De would actually lay a great foundation from scratch." Coerced so many people, if it was said that the people of the Xia Kingdom were forced by horses and knives, but the heartfelt joy and serenity on the faces of the people could not be pretended. In short, this attack on the state city, Xia Guoying will be a great help. Unexpectedly, it was not Wang Xuansu who fought side by side with the old man, but a Xia countryman. ”

Just as he was groaning, the gate of the village creaked, Wang Hengzhi raised his head, and saw Zhao Xingde and Jin Changtai coming out to greet each other with a pile of joy. "General Wang is driving, and the last general will miss the distance." Zhao Xingde said loudly, and Jin Changtai also bowed his hand.

The previous time he went to Huanglongfu with Xu Detai to meet the alliance, so that Zhao Xingde had a deeper understanding of Wang Hengzhi's qualifications and status in the Han army, which can be said to be far beyond the strength of the Kaizhou Han army. Before Han Ningshuang returned to Liaodong, Wang Hengzhi was the leader of the Han army in Liaodong, and even the veteran Lu Kui had to obey him. Therefore, Zhao Xingde has special respect and enthusiasm for Wang Hengzhi, and his title has also been changed from "Wang Da Master" to "Wang Lao General".

Wang Hengzhi clasped his fists and smiled: "Don't dare to be." He sighed with some embarrassment, "Wang is old, and General Zhao needs a lot of assistance in the affairs of Liaodong." Several henchmen behind him also stepped forward to meet Zhao Xingde. Zhao De was allied with the Han League's main blood wine party in Huanglong Mansion, and he thwarted Mr. Han Da's conspiracy to annex the Han army, so this meeting, these Han generals were especially close to him, and the heart of prevention was gradually reduced. Especially Tong Yunjie, who was a little speechless, Zhao Xingde understood what he was thinking, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "The matter of training gunners, Brother Tong has to take responsibility and take it on with Zhao." ”

The group walked while talking, and only after about a stick of incense did they enter the hinterland of the Phoenix Cottage, and saw a palace built of thick wood towering in the middle of the valley from a distance, Tong Yunjie secretly admired in his heart: "Towering giant trees are everywhere, but General Zhao's cottage has created such a magnificent handsome mansion." This is the pattern of the chest is large, and the form is outward. The admiration for Zhao De added a few points. Although the other Han generals were not as emotionally moved as he was, they were also amazed, and even glanced at Sanyin Village.

Wang Hengzhi noticed elsewhere, the mountain belly here is wide, most of the flat land has been reclaimed, in addition to the big wooden house in the mountain, there are only neat tents and grass huts, and there is a small stone city on the top of the highest peak, looking at the steep terrain, Wang Hengzhi shook his head, if you want to attack that kind of stone city, I don't know how many lives will be filled in. At the foot of the mountain, there was a smoking furnace, Wang Hengzhi recognized it as an iron-making furnace, Kaizhou was rich in iron ore near the left, and the Han army also had several iron-making places. On the slope above the almost vertical of the iron-making furnace, there was a pool, and the water rushed down the channel, and the waterwheel was pushed, and the bellows were pulled, so that the strong wind whistled towards the furnace. Right next to the pool, several horses pull the cable car, and the water from the lower places is continuously lifted up the hill and poured into the pool.

Right next to the iron-making furnace is the blacksmith's shop, which is everywhere in the world, with simple wooden pillars supporting the birch-bark roof, and several large water tanks placed next to the iron-making platform, and the smell of horse urine comes from the wind, which is used for quenching. The blacksmith master from Xia Guo is instructing his apprentices to strike hard, and sometimes he also goes up with his bare arms to smash the hammer a few times, and the beaten iron tools, whether they are weapons or farm tools, must be carefully engraved with the name of each craftsman, and the weapons must be engraved with the name of the inspection master. The craftsmen looked at each other with respect in their eyes, but this was only for Captain Zhao. At the beginning, Zhao Xingde saw the weapons they created, adjusted some details of quenching and annealing, and it only took a few days before and after, and the weapons made were much more sophisticated.

There were a few large trees next to the blacksmith's shop, and under the lush canopy, a hundred and ten children were reading with the sergeant. The chalk made of lime used by the sergeant and the large characters written on the blackboard made Zhao Xingde feel very kind. In the eyes of the generals of the Han army, this is even more like a paradise. Farther away, many women were hoeing in the fields as they looked back at the school with a smile of relief on their faces.

In addition to logging, he also vigorously increased the scale of charcoal burning and iron smelting, and most of the strong men in the people were engaged in heavy labor such as logging, charcoal burning, iron mining, and transporting ore, and the corresponding remuneration was also greatly increased. Zhao Xingde discussed with Jin Changtai, and in accordance with the law in Lumei, he made a partnership to buy shares. Driven by the old subordinates of the 7th Battalion, the sergeants of the 8th Battalion voluntarily subscribed nearly 7,000 yuan in the two major undertakings of logging and ironmaking in Liaodong. Li Sihai looked itchy beside him, and secretly discussed with Zhao Xingde that he would either build a shipyard in Liaodong by himself.

Ma Rui led the cavalry to protect a large number of strong men distributed in the middle of the mountains and rivers to cut wood, Li Sihai and the people he brought also followed, looking for the best giant trees in the forest with natural curvature suitable for shipbuilding, this kind of wood is worth the price of ordinary hundreds. The rest of the people, under the leadership of the sergeant, used axes made in the ironworks to shave the hills into bald heads, and the wood that Li Sihai saw was left first, and when it rained rainily, it was made into wood and discharged downstream to the sea, and the other wood was burned into high-quality charcoal.

Tang Qiyong and Cha Shen led two hundred sergeants to guard the iron mine, a small open-pit iron mine, and the miners could only use iron picks and steel drills to smash the ore out little by little. Although the efficiency of this era was like this, the slow progress of mining still made Zhao Xingde suffocated, if it wasn't for the only trace of reason to stop him, Zhao Xingde would almost use the powder from the Ordnance Division to blow up the ore. Rao is like this, he also told Li Sihai countless times that the next sea ship should bring as much gunpowder as possible.

The sergeants were full of energy, and the people were given more rations, even the promise of wages, and naturally worked harder. The Volunteer Brotherhood is also very marketable among the people of Liaodong, and in recent days, some people have proposed in the Brotherhood to jointly petition the Protectorate to officially set up the Phoenix Village in Liaodong as a county, so that everyone can be the people of Xia State. In order to avoid overstimulating the Protectorate Mansion, Kim Chang-tae easily suppressed this trend temporarily, and encouraged the brothers in the association to work well and have their own clouds and moonlight. On the other hand, Jin Changtai also reminded Zhao Xingde that this foundation is bigger, and it is necessary to report the situation to the two governments in time so as not to be suspected.

All this is reflected in the Phoenix Cottage, which presents a busy but not chaotic, orderly and vibrant scene. In the eyes of the generals of the Han army who stepped into this place, it was like a paradise in troubled times.