Chapter 357: Grain and Grass First

Fighting against the three strong Hu with his own strength, Li Huaitang did not want to fight a quick victory by finishing his work in one battle. After all, strength is everything, and he is not arrogant enough to think that Ning Yuancheng's strength has surpassed the sum of Sanhu. The strategy he formulated was to rely on the fortified city of Ningyuan to wait for work, slowly consume the opponent's strength, and when he found an opportunity, he sent the Flying Tiger Cavalry to bleed them, and waited until the enemy ran out of patience and morale, and was suspicious of each other, and then gave them the final blow.

The key to the whole strategy is the strong reserve of strategic materials, first of all, food, more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians have the most important stomach problem, there is food in their hands and they do not panic, even if the strong Hu people besiege Ningyuan City to death, the military spirit in the city will not change. The first stop of Li Huaitang's inspection was not the barracks, but the warehouse area.

With the unremitting efforts of Wumeng, the warehouse area has improved a number of warehouses this year, making the total number of warehouses reach the scale of more than 800 rooms, and the warehouses are arranged into eight horizontal and eight vertical, half of which are specially "door" reserved for pickled "meat".

Li Huaitang randomly selected a storeroom and asked the soldiers guarding the warehouse to open the 'door' to take a look. In the storeroom, the dried marinated 'meat' is densely hung on ropes.

Li Huaitang picked up a piece of dried 'meat' and sniffed it, saying, "How many dried 'meat' are there?" How long can it be left and will it break? ”

As the supervisor, Wu 'Meng' has always been by Li Huaitang's side, Li Huaitang's question seems to be random, but Wu 'Meng' understands that this plain tone is related to the safety of the whole city, he does not dare to be careless, and answers cautiously and in detail: "The 'meat' stored in each warehouse is enough for 400 people to eat for a year, and now there are 400 such warehouses in the warehouse area, and the trophies that the general sent back from the territory of the Turgish people last year have been pickled into 'dried meat', and these warehouses are full." Storage is not a problem, as long as it is not subject to 'moisture', the marinated 'meat' can be left for a year and a half. ”

"General, please see, there is not only 'meat' in it, but also sealed fat, in fact, as long as wartime control is implemented, just 'meat' can maintain the needs of the whole city for a year."

Li Huaitang was very satisfied, and followed Wu 'Meng' to the warehouse where the wheat was stored to watch, the shape of the wheat warehouse is conical, which is different from other warehouses. In addition to exchanging wheat from merchants in Ningyuan City, there is also the military and civilian rations that Qi Jishan sent from Datang some time ago.

There was no need for Li Huaitang to ask, Wu 'Meng' automatically and consciously introduced the situation: "The wheat storage is full of 200 warehouses, which can support the needs of the whole city for at least half a year." ”

"Well, in that case, with the surplus food of the residents, we can defend the city for two years, right?" In the face of the future crisis, Li Huaitang's confidence has greatly increased.

Wu Meng smiled bitterly: "It stands to reason that this is the case, but we still have to raise war horses and pack horses, and we also have to budget for post-war consumption, so that we can only last for a year at most." ”

"Enough! One year is enough. "Li Huaitang agrees with the view of Wu 'Meng' that the war cannot be dragged down by Ningyuan City.

There are also more than 200 warehouses for strategic materials, such as spirits, salt, cloth, leather, weapons, etc., I have to say that the generosity of Datang, the materials transported almost filled these warehouses.

In the warehouse area, Li Huaitang was full of confidence, and then rushed to the armed courtyard non-stop. The armed institute received a group of craftsmen recruited from Chang'an, and Li Huaitang's disappearance made them panic and wanted to return to Chang'an, but they were dissuaded by Gong Wulang and Mianniang, and they were left behind with both soft and hard measures.

Facing a group of "contract workers", Li Huaitang opened the way with pies as usual, and this time, he brought a string of Kaiyuan Tongbao Dao and placed it in front of the craftsman from Chang'an: "This is yours, as long as you agree to stay, you can advance half a year's salary." I guarantee the performance of the contract you signed in the name of the city lord of Ningyuan City, and I will not default on a penny. I have covered all the food, shelter and clothing you live here, as well as your personal safety. ”

"But," said someone who had the courage to stand up, "but we know that the Turgish will soon be killed, and that it is dangerous for us to stay here, and the contract says that if we do not want to stay here, you will release them." ”

"Yes, yes, the general is true to his word, and he can't be untrustworthy." The righteousness and strictness of the head sheep brought courage to the sheep, and they all coaxed. These craftsmen lived in the prosperous land of Chang'an all the year round, and they were accustomed to peace, and they were quite afraid of the threat of war, and the legend of the strength of the Turks and Shihu pressed down on their hearts like an insurmountable mountain, which could not be erased.

For this kind of weak and fearful psychology, Li Huaitang knew that he needed to convince them with a victory, and before that, in addition to victory, there was another way to enhance their confidence, including enhancing the confidence of tens of thousands of Tang people who had returned to their hometowns. Li Huaitang thought of the first military parade last year, and now that others are strong and strong, it is easier to stabilize people's hearts by showing strength.

"Don't worry, I don't object to your request, you can go at any time. However, you have also seen that the Tang Dynasty court has fallen out with me, the border has been blocked, and you will be driven away at least if you cross the border, and you will be treated as a careful work at worst, so you have to think about it carefully. These are extraordinary times, and as long as you step out of this city, I will not be able to protect you. It is definitely much safer for you to hide in the tall and sturdy city of Ningyuan than in the wilderness. "The pie has no effect, Li Huaitang sacrificed a means of intimidation, and he has been invincible since ancient times.

"This?" The sheep were fooled and hesitated.

Li Huaitang struck while the iron was hot: "You guys work here with peace of mind first, I have already sent someone to Chang'an to reconcile with the Tang Emperor, at most half a year, the border will be reopened within half a year, when you want to go back, I will never stop you!" ”

The undetermined sheep need guidance, and Li Huaitang knows this well, and throws out a compromise plan just right, which not only gives them hope, but also leaves himself a buffer.

"Alright, General, let's take half a year!" Among the flock, someone accepted Li Huaitang's plan.

Li Huaitang laughed secretly, as long as one person agrees, then everyone will make the same choice, this is the herd effect.

As expected, the craftsmen reluctantly agreed to Li Huaitang's suggestion one after another.

Gong Wulang was indignant, and then asked Li Huaitang quietly: "General, do you really want to let them go after half a year?" ”

Li Huaitang 'revealed' the fox's smile and was noncommittal, only Wu 'Meng' was a person who understood, and he was afraid that they would not be able to drive away if they tasted the sweetness. Besides, when Qianghu besieges the city, they can't leave if they want to, and when they defeat Qianghu, I believe they won't leave.

The new craftsmen were in public, and there were two blacksmiths, and according to Gong Goro's certification, the two blacksmiths were of high level. The blacksmiths are two brothers, who were murdered in Datang, and they had no choice but to choose to go to Ningyuan City, otherwise, with their skills, they would still have a very nourishing life in Chang'an.

"The skills of the Wu brothers can be described as perfect." In front of Li Huaitang, Gong Wulang did not hesitate to praise him, he knew that Li Huaitang was eager to seek talent.

Li Huaitang looked at Wu Da and Wu Er, who were not amazing, and asked with considerable expectation: "Have you used Uzi steel to build weapons?" ”

"Uzi steel?" The Wu brothers were puzzled.

Gong Wulang explained: "It's iron. ”

"Iron!?" Shocked, the expressions of the Wu brothers could no longer be found except for shock.

Li Huaitang obtained a large amount of iron from the hands of the Abbasids, and many of them were smuggled from Tianzhu by Hu merchants, but because of the lack of experienced craftsmen, they were unable to turn them into weapons, and Shamur was ordered to go to Chang'an, and one of the important missions was to invite senior blacksmiths.

When the Wu brothers saw the legendary iron, they knelt in front of the piles of shiny and rust-free iron, and they were so moved that they forgot the existence of heaven and earth, and like caressing their own children, the rough double harvest kept touching and 'touching' the iron, and the lips were shaking involuntarily. Wu family blacksmith family, Da Lang is called Wu Moxie, Erlang is called Wu Ganjiang, from the name can be seen from the expectations of their parents, the highest ideal of the craftsman is to make his works famous for centuries, just like the cadre Mo Xie sword, famous all over the world.

Li Huaitang asked again: "Do you know how to use iron to make weapons?" If not, I'll look for another skill. ”

Stimulated by the spurt, the Wu brothers responded in unison: "Yes!" Of course we will! ”

"Well, that's good!" Li Huaitang was overjoyed, the Damascus scimitar he had obtained before had been lost by at least half for various reasons, and the combat effectiveness of the Flying Tiger Rider in hand-to-hand combat had dropped by a level, Li Huaitang was anxious to find more sharp knives, although he had a large number of raw materials, but without a craftsman, he could only sit on the treasure mountain and could not obtain treasures.

Li Huaitang threw out the pie again: "Do a good job, as long as you create the weapons I need, you two brothers are Ning Yuanzheng thousand households, and the treatment is inferior to that of five thousand households." ”

"Promotion?" An absurd thought came to the hearts of the Wu brothers, a blacksmith can also be an official? Although they don't know how big this official position is, they still understand the word thousand households, according to their understanding, one household counts him as five people, then they are at least the head of five thousand people.

The world is bustling, all for profit, the world is bustling, all for profit. The Wu brothers are also ordinary people, under the combination of money, power and the realization of ideals, they fell into the trap set up for them by Li Huaitang, just like Li Huaitang and Su Xiaoniang said, these craftsmen are his senior "long workers".

The war is urgent, time is running out, Li Huaitang did not 'waste' any bit of the world, and immediately asked Gong Wulang to arrange for the Wu brothers to enter the post, of course, before using iron to build a large number of scimitars, Li Huaitang drew a saber diagram for the Wu brothers in battle, and asked them to build samples with iron according to the style. The new cavalry war knife is based on Li Huaitang's actual combat experience, combining the advantages of the Tang knife and the big food scimitar, the blade is long, the back of the knife is thick, and there are curves, but it is not as exaggerated as the Damascus scimitar. As long as the finished product meets expectations, the Armed Forces Institute will arrange organizational resources and go all out to make a large number of cavalry sabers, oh, Li Huaitang named the new weapon: Han Knife! Prepare rations for the Flying Tiger Cavalry.

With the blacksmith and craftsman, Li Huaitang's ambition was farther and wilder, and Tianzhu's Uzi steel deeply attracted him, and buying it through merchants could no longer satisfy his good appetite...... Please keep in mind the URL, if you like "War Owl in Tang" written by the wolf under the moon