Chapter 115: The Harvest Season

Recently, the autumn harvest season is approaching, and the wall of Jingqiang Village is almost completed, Zhong Hao has a lot of things, and he has to arrange the autumn harvest work, and he has to accept the wall of Jingqiang Village, and there is no time to test with these old craftsmen for the time being. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Therefore, Zhong Hao told them in detail about some things that need to be improved, and recently let these old craftsmen explore and experiment by themselves, and said that before the autumn harvest, they will test out the gunpowder weapons at hand, and each of them will be rewarded with five system money.

These old craftsmen couldn't help but be overjoyed, and their enthusiasm for the experiment increased greatly.

Gunpowder and firearms tests are a high-risk matter, and Zhong Hao instructed them to pay attention to safety and not to be greedy for merit.

Zhong Hao also instructed these old craftsmen to remember to remember to record test notes when they were doing experiments. For example, the amount of gunpowder used in each test, the thickness of the cast iron shell, the length of the velvet lead, the length of the explosion time, and the destructive strength of the explosion should be recorded. It is convenient to summarize and summarize in order to find the most suitable parameters for mass production of standard firearms.

Zhong Hao also announced that if the test notes can satisfy him, there will be an additional reward of ten yuan in money.

When the old craftsmen heard that there was a reward for taking notes, they couldn't help but be even more happy. But after a moment of joy, they all became bitter, and they all remembered at this time that none of them were literate, and how to record this note.

Several old craftsmen told Zhong Hao that they couldn't write, and Zhong Hao couldn't help but smile bitterly, the quality of the people in his village was ...... Alas, it's all tears.

Fortunately, now the children in the village are beginning to be literate, and Zhong Hao selected two older and more literate children from the school to help a few old craftsmen make records.

According to Han Hu, the captured army of the Divine Warrior Division of the Left Chamber, when it is harvested every autumn, will inevitably come back to Linzhou to plunder and sweep, Zhong Hao feels that he must not be lucky. Therefore, for the time being, the ratio of gunpowder was fifteen to two to three, and he asked a few craftsmen to focus on the development of this firearm first, and try to make some firearms that can be used in actual combat before the autumn harvest.

After the autumn harvest, Zhong Hao also wanted to test other proportions of gunpowder. The weight ratio of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal is 15 to 2 to 3, although it is a classic ratio with a very good effect. But in fact, according to the different uses and characteristics of gunpowder, this ratio can also be adjusted differently. For example, the increase in saltpeter will increase the reaction speed of gunpowder, which means that the explosive power will be stronger. However, if the sulfur is completely removed, it is commonly referred to as sulfur-free gunpowder, and the smoke produced by the explosion is very small.

Of course, this is a labor-intensive matter, and the results will not be studied for a while, and it needs to be left for later study.

…………

The autumn breeze quietly drove away the heat of midsummer, bringing a refreshing coolness. The smell of autumn is getting stronger and stronger.

Compared with the splendor of spring, the glitz of summer, the dead silence of winter, and the tranquility and harvest of autumn, it is not chasing flashiness, but quiet, quiet, and faint.

The wall of Jingqiang Village was finally completed, and Zhong Hao took Cui Feng and Yang Huaiyu to carefully inspect it, and was still quite satisfied with the quality of the project and the establishment of the wall.

The wall designed by Zhong Hao and Cui Feng was initially set to be four feet thick and one zhang high. However, when the number of people increased, the four-foot-thick wall felt that it was too thin and the defensive ability was too poor, so it was increased to six feet thick.

And the walled wall needs to build a battlement, but also to store defensive equipment such as stones, the four-foot-thick walled wall is too narrow, the battlements will be more than two feet thick, after the battlements are built, the four-foot walled wall is left two feet wide, even the soldiers who defend the walled wall go back and forth, they have to be careful, not to mention stacking the equipment to defend the city.

Although the walled wall is not too high and too thick, it is built quite and regulated, unconventional, and the four corners of the walled wall are built with solid corner towers. Because Jingqiang Village is a walled wall, which is basically close to the square, and the four corners of the square city are defensive dead corners, and building a corner tower can strengthen its defense and monitoring capabilities.

The height of the corner tower is much higher than the city wall, and it can also be used for military lookout, and can store armor, weapons and defensive equipment, etc., so it is still very necessary to build a corner tower.

Moreover, the corner tower is not only higher than the wall, but also the width is much wider than the wall, in case the enemy attacks the wall, you can also rely on the corner tower to shoot, block the enemy, and even organize a counteroffensive.

The gates of Jingqiang Village are made of big wood cut down from the rooftop, and they have been soaked in tung oil several times before making, which can be fireproof and anti-corrosion, and the outside of the gate is also nailed with iron sheets in order to insure.

In order to strengthen the defense, the outside of the gate of Jingqiang Village is also equipped with countless protruding wolf tooth nails.

In order to facilitate defense, Jingqiang Village has only two gates in the north and south, and the north gate is the main gate, which is relatively tall. The south gate leads to Tiantai Mountain, the outside of the gate is dangerous, it is difficult to arrange the military horses, it is inconvenient to attack, in case the Jingqiang Village is in danger, the people who can Jingqiang Village can withdraw to the Tiantai Mountain from the South Gate.

Outside the wall is a ditch seven or eight feet deep dug out of the soil when the wall is tamped, which is used to make a trench for Jingqiang Village. Now, after the completion of the wall of Jingqiang Village, the craftsmen diverted water from the Guye River to the ditch and turned it into a moat of Jingqiang Village.

Between the moat and the walled wall, there were also horse repellent and antlers.

Generally speaking, Jingqiang Village is still quite in line with the defense regulations, and it is a relatively good fortress built in Hexi.

Of course, many of these things were explained to Zhong Hao by Yang Huaiyu, Zhong Hao himself has a very limited understanding of this aspect and is studying hard.

Although Yang Huaiyu is younger than Zhong Hao, he was born in a family of generals, and he has been exposed to things such as marching operations and walled city construction and defense since he was a child, and he still knows a lot.

Now that the autumn harvest is coming soon, Zhong Hao recruited farmers from Dexing County and other places to go home for the autumn harvest.

After the wall was built, Zhong Hao settled the craftsmen for them as promised and sent them away.

However, they all took away a piece of news, that is, the wasteland around Jingqiang Village, let the people cultivate, and also provide free grain, three years without harvesting the field, the harvest is all owned by the cultivators, Jingqiang Village will also provide them with protection, and every farmer who comes will have a homestead in Jingqiang Village, where they can settle down.

There are people, Jingqiang Village is possible to develop, only to attract more people to come, Zhong Hao Tuntian training and then attract the Hengshan Qiangbo tribe to come to the plan, it is possible to realize.

There are many abandoned fields around Jingqiang Village and on the banks of the Guye River. Although these fields have been abandoned, they have not been abandoned for a long time, and as long as they are plowed once, crops can be planted.

In the past, there was no fortress protection here, and I was afraid that the Xia army would come to harass and plunder, so I might not only have planted my crops for a year, but the Xia army picked peaches, and even my own life could not be guaranteed, so I naturally did not want to and did not dare to farm and live here.

But now that there is Jingqiang Village, which can provide shelter for the people, Zhong Hao feels that it should be able to attract some people. Those people who have land in Xingxian and other places in Hedong will naturally not come here, Zhong Hao mainly wants to widely publicize his preferential policies through their mouths, so that the people who fled to Hedong and other places in Linzhou and other places in Hexi will know.

After those Hexi people fled to Hedong, they lived in a foreign country and had no land and other household resources, but when they came back, they could have land to plant, and there were many preferential conditions, which was also a good choice. Although it is possible that the crops planted are cheaper for the Xia army, at least with the protection of Jingqiang Village, at least their lives should be worry-free. In case the Xia army does not come, they can pick up a year's harvest in vain, of course, they need to invest labor, but in the eyes of these poor people, their labor is the most worthless, and it cannot be regarded as investment. It is precisely because of this that Zhong Hao wants to let them know through the mouths of these farmers who come to work in Xingxian and other places, and then attract them to come to Jingqiang Village.

Of course, if Jingqiang Village wants to attract more people to join it, it is also very important to be able to protect their crops from being plundered by the Xia army.

It's just that Zhong Hao is not sure at this point for the time being, so he can only leave it to be solved in the future, and how many people can be attracted first.

In the past six months, I have been worried, afraid that the Xia army will come to harass and plunder, but fortunately, the Xia army has not come and has not come.

However, Zhong Hao listened to Han Hu's words and knew that he couldn't keep holding on to luck, now that the autumn harvest was about to begin, the necessary precautions were necessary, maybe Xia Jun would come that day.

Fortunately, the wall of Jingqiang Village has now been built, as long as the sentry is timely, let the people of Jingqiang Village hide in the village, and it should be safe. When the Xia army came to sweep and plunder, they would definitely not bring any heavy siege weapons, and the walled wall should be able to protect the safety of the people in Jingqiang Village.

…………

The autumn breeze gradually cooled, and the leaves on the trees gradually began to turn yellow, but the fruits gradually ripened, and autumn was the harvest season.

Plant a grain of millet in spring and harvest 10,000 seeds in autumn.

The autumn crops are also the harvest season.

At the end of July is the season of wheat harvest, more than 1,500 acres of wheat in Jingqiang Village, this year's harvest is good, the wheat ears have been very full, and the golden wheat ears have pressed the wheat stalks to the waist a little.

Recently, there have been several sunny days in a row, and there is not much moisture in the ears of wheat. Zhong Hao commanded Jingqiang Village to harvest wheat.

Men, women and children of Jingqiang Village went into battle together, all cutting ears of wheat with scissors in the wheat field. Maybe when, Xia Jun will come, and he must hurry up and grab it.

Zhong Hao remembers living in the countryside with his grandfather when he was a child, and at that time, the wheat harvest was carried with wheat stalks, cut from the roots of the wheat, and then baled and transported to the threshing floor. After the wheat straw comes out of the field, it is piled up and kept as firewood.

Every time there is a "fight", it is a time for children to play like crazy. Because the whole family has to "fight" together, if the family has more wheat, it may take a long time, and the children will have no one to take care of, so they can only be taken to the threshing floor. The children were left unattended, and they all got together, and naturally they were crazy and playing.

Of course, it was easier to get a combine harvester later, and the wheat grains were stored in the harvester barn, and after the wheat straw was broken, it was returned directly to the field.

Nowadays there is no threshing machine, and harvesting wheat is different from that of later generations, which is to cut the ears of wheat with scissors, and then take the ears to the threshing floor to dry, and then beat them with a big stick to thresh. As for the wheat straw, Jingqiang Village leaned on Tiantai Mountain, and there was no shortage of firewood, so it was directly burned and returned to the field to fertilize the land.

Although cutting ears of wheat does not look like a heavy job, Zhong Hao has been doing it for a few days and found that it is definitely not a light job.

The wheat does not grow very high, and the person who cuts the ears of wheat has to bend his waist all the time, and after a long time, his waist is so sore, that it stands upright, and it is very uncomfortable. In addition, there is another unbearable reason, that is, there are often wheat mangs into the clothes, especially itching, especially in the past few days, the sun is good, the weather is very hot, a sweat after work, that wheat mango drills into the clothes, sticks to the skin, more annoying.

However, although they were very tired, none of the men, women and children in Jingqiang Village shouted tired, and they were all trying their best to harvest wheat.

The people in the northwest, many of them have struggled all their lives, they are simply struggling to have a full stomach, these ears of wheat are real food, every extra harvest, it means that Jingqiang Village can eat more full meals. Many of the people in Jingqiang Village have been hungry for a long time and cherish food very much.

In the past few days, every day is just dawn, and all the men, women and children in Jingqiang Village come out to harvest wheat until it is completely dark, and then they return to the village. Three meals a day were all sent to the ground by the Huotou army to eat. Zhong Hao deliberately asked the Huotou Army to kill the pigs, and the meals were all hard dishes. If you eat well, you will have the strength to work, and you must ensure that the person who works has enough physical strength.

In an agrarian society, the autumn harvest is definitely the top priority of the year.

In addition to the sentry sent out, everyone in Jingqiang Village is trying to harvest the wheat, and only when the wheat is collected in the warehouse can the next year's rations be settled, and people's hearts can be settled.

Zhong Hao harvests wheat with the people in the village every day, and even Ke Yao has been insisting on cutting ears of wheat.

Ke Yao's originally white and delicate hands and palms were ground out by scissors with many blisters, and there were also a lot of blood marks on the surface of her hands, and her originally fair face was also tanned red, but Ke Yao didn't complain. Zhong Hao asked her to take a break several times, but she refused, but Yao kept saying: "It's very reassuring here in Jingqiang Village, working with the people in the village, and I don't feel tired!" ”

Although the people of Jingqiang Village were afraid that the Xia army would attack and disturb at this time, they were desperately trying to harvest the wheat, hoping to finish the harvest before the Xia army came, but they still did not succeed.

In the afternoon of this day, Zhong Hao, who was harvesting wheat in the field with everyone, heard a few muffled thunderous sounds not far from the west side of the Kuye River, and his face couldn't help but change greatly, and immediately asked everyone in Jingqiang Village to stop immediately, harvest the ears of wheat, and immediately withdraw to the village.

The soldiers and women of Jingqiang Village didn't know why, and they couldn't help but be a little procrastinating on Zhong Hao's order. Zhong Hao couldn't help but be anxious, and immediately called Han Hu and Zheng Wentao, as well as the five commanders of the fifth battalion of the Pingxi Army, and asked them to organize their subordinates to withdraw to the village.

The Jingqiang village is full of soldiers, and the wheat harvested is also harvested in shards according to its own organization, and with the organization, the retreat to the village is very fast.

Zhong Hao called Zhang Yong, the deputy commander of the battle barracks, and said loudly: "The Xia army is coming soon, immediately enter the state of alert, leave a few people with better riding skills, go to the bridge to meet Yang Jiaotou and them, and after Yang Jiaotou and them cross the bridge, immediately cut the rope at the bridge." Let all the remaining soldiers of the war battalion go to the wall and prepare for battle. Daniel Zhang led the order loudly.

Daniel Zhang had previously spent time in the forbidden army and was the most outstanding soldier in the training of the war barracks, and was temporarily assigned by Zhong Hao to serve as the deputy commander of the war barracks. The reason why Zhang Yong was asked to command was because Cui Feng took people to the north of Jingqiang Village to spy on them. (To be continued.) )

...