Li Zhi looked at this gentry surnamed Huang and asked, "Are you also here to participate in the bidding for railway infrastructure?" ”

The panicked gentry kowtowed to Li Zhi and replied, "Grandpa Guoguo, although we are gentry, we have never escaped a penny of taxes since Grandpa Guo entered Tianjin. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoWe did not participate in all the rebellions of those traitors. Now we only collect a share of the land donated on our behalf, and we do not collect any additional land rent at all, and we do not exploit any peasant. ”

The other gentry sitting in the Qinzheng Hall saw Li Zhi talking to the gentry surnamed Huang and knew that this was a critical moment related to whether they could participate in the bidding. They didn't dare to hold it up, so one by one they climbed down from their chairs and knelt on the ground. For a time, there were more than 20 people kneeling in the diligent administration hall.

The gentry surnamed Huang looked at Li Zhi's face and said, "Grandpa Guo, our family of more than 30 people has no income now, so if we continue like this, we will really spend all the silver and starve to death!" We don't have any strengths elsewhere, we just have some experience in managing people. If Guogong had asked us to participate in the construction of a short section of railway infrastructure, our family would have found a place to work. ”

Li Zhi was silent for a while when he heard the words of this gentleman.

For the gentry who did not participate in the rebellion activities and honestly lived according to Li Zhi's rules, Li Zhi was not ready to kill them all. These "good" gentry all had the silver they had saved before, and naturally they wanted to do business. They are just doing ordinary small business, and they can't compete with small traders who get up early and go dark, so they naturally set their sights on big business that requires capital such as railway construction.

Li Zhi said lightly: "Contracting railway construction naturally depends on your bidding documents and skills. Each merchant who participated in the bidding had to try to build a one-mile roadbed. The pilot roadbed is qualified, the tender is well planned, and the cost-effective businessman will finally get the project. ”

After a pause, Li Zhi said again: "But I don't know what you think your ability to manage people is. We are protective of road construction workers, if you want to manage workers by fraud and oppression, not only will the project be repossessed, but our court will also clean you up! ”

The gentry surnamed Huang saw that Li Zhi's words were very blunt, and he was so flustered that his head was covered with sweat. He kowtowed again on the ground and said, "Rest assured, Grandpa Guo, we will not deceive and oppress the workers!" ”

Li Zhi said: "In that case, you should participate in the bidding." ”

The gentry of the earth rose up with joy as if they had been pardoned.

Seeing that Li Zhi and the gentry had finished speaking, an official came to the stage and said loudly: "We are building a 1,500-mile railway in Liaodong this time, and the railway embankment will be divided into 37 projects for external bidding..."

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On the fifth day of the sixth month, in the wilderness twenty miles east of Nanchang Fucheng, the Jiangbei Army company camped for more than ten miles. In the camps, the sound of soldiers' drills came and went.

In front of the 100 humanoid targets in the south of the camp, the musketeers of the Jiangbei Army skillfully loaded the ammunition and lit the fire rope. The commander who commanded the shooting gave the order, only to hear a crackling explosion, and a hundred musketeers shot at the humanoid target fifty paces away.

Shi Kefa stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for the results of the test firing.

Behind Shi Kefa, there were dozens of local gentry in Nanchang Mansion who came to observe the Jiangbei Army.

When the musketeers finished shooting, a dozen soldiers with small flags on their backs ran to the target to see the results. After a while, the results were counted, and a school officer ran over. He half-knelt in front of Shi Kefa and shouted:

"A salvo of 100 people, 67 shots!"

Hearing the report of the school official, the gentry behind Shi Kefa were overjoyed one by one. These Jiangxi gentry have never seen such elite soldiers in their lives. With such an accurate shot shooting two rounds in front, what kind of enemy can withstand?

An old civil official came out on crutches and said: "Shi Gong's Jiangbei Army is unmatched, I am happy to see it!" ”

Shi Kefa nodded, stroked his beard and said, "Good! The archery skills of our Jiangbei Army are excellent, and they can be of great use. ”

Zuo Liangyu and Wu Sangui glanced at each other, bowed to Shi Kefa, and did not speak.

Seeing that the two general soldiers were not happy, Shi Kefa couldn't help but ask: "Sixty-seven shots from fifty paces away, this result is better than before." In the past few months, our Jiangbei Army has practiced archery hard, and it can be said that it has achieved remarkable results. Why are the two commanders sullen? ”

Wu Sangui clenched his fists and said, "It is gratifying to be able to hit sixty-seven shots, but compared to Li Zhi's sharpshooter, the shooting on these fifty steps is meaningless. ”

With a wave of his hand, Wu Sangui said, "Li Zhi's marksman can shoot from three hundred paces away, and he is tricky and accurate. Moreover, these marksmen loaded their charges very quickly, and every forty or fifty paces of our army advanced, they had to be shot by these marksmen. In this way, our shooters could not rush in front of Li Zhijun to shoot. ”

Hearing Wu Sangui's words, the gentry of Nanchang Mansion were dumbfounded. Shoot three hundred steps away, is this a heavenly soldier god general? They stared at each other for a moment, but none of them could speak.

Shi Kefa was stunned, lowered his head and took a few steps forward, and took a breath.

After a long time, he turned around and said, "With the meaning of the eldest uncle, how can we fight against the Li thief's firecracker?" ”

Wu Sangui arched his hand and said: "The distance of the shooting, we can't fight Li Zhi no matter what." In today's plan, only by shortening the killing distance of Li Zhi's marksman can we have a few chances of winning. ”

"How to shorten Li Zhi's killing distance?"

Wu Sangui clenched his fists and said: "The last general thinks that only by imitating the heavy armor soldiers formed by the Qing State at the beginning and protecting the soldiers who charge into battle with two layers of heavy armor can Li Zhi's marksman be unable to perform. ”

Shi Kefa nodded and motioned for Wu Sangui to continue.

Wu Sangui said: "At the beginning of the Jinzhou War, Li Zhi's firearm encountered the double-layered heavy armor soldiers of the Qing State, and he could only break the armor and kill the enemy within eighty steps. It was precisely because of the protection of these heavy armors that the cavalry of the Qing State was able to break through Li Zhi's first layer of musket array and crush Li Zhi's frontal layer of soldiers and horses. ”

"Li Zhi's soldiers and horses are all wearing steel armor, and our arquebuses may have to take thirty steps to kill the enemy. But with the protection of heavy armor, the soldiers would only be killed and wounded at eighty paces. You only need to rush from eighty steps to thirty steps, and you can start shooting at Li Zhi. ”

Shi Kefa nodded and said, "Good! We will build 40,000 of these double-layered heavy armors, and when the time comes, we will select strong soldiers to wear heavy armor to charge into battle, and they will be able to rush to Li Zhi's formation and shoot at each other! ”

Wu Sangui arched his hand and said: "Even so, the last general thinks that he can't defeat Li Zhi. Li Zhi's artillery is often thousands, and the guns are better than ours, so the general thinks that our Jiangbei Army will have to double its expansion, and at the same time buy more cannons from Hongyi, so that he can really have a long time with Li Zhi. ”

Shi Kefa groaned and said: "If you double the manpower, I'm afraid that the silver taels that Qian Gong left behind will not be enough." ”

Wu Sangui looked at Shi Kefa and said with a smile: "Lord Benbing, what's so difficult about this. The soldier wrote dozens of letters to officials in various places, saying that he needed to raise military salaries to fight against Li Zhi. For example, the corporal hates Li implanted bones. With the prestige of the soldier's character, I am afraid that in a few months, tens of millions of taels of silver will be gathered from everywhere. ”

Before Shi Kefa could speak, the gentry of Nanchang Mansion stood up. The old Zhishi official arched his hand and said: "Shi Gong should not worry about food, fighting against Li Thief is a major matter related to the survival of the gentry in the world. At such a life-and-death juncture, the gentry of my Nanchang Mansion were the first to be willing to donate to Shi Gong to expand the Jiangbei Army. ”