Chapter Twenty-Nine: Returning to Shaanxi, Li Guo was recruited

Sun Chuanting judged that Li Zicheng would have to go back to prepare for a few days after he was defeated this time. Liu Yun: The same is true of their judgment. At this time, Liu Yun got the news that more than 30 flat-bottomed boats rented at Lingshui Wharf had been put in place, and 10,000 stone of grain had also been put on board. Liu Yun and Sun Chuanting agreed to transport grain, horses, camels, and so on to Weinan through the Guangtongqu Canal at one time, and at the same time transport their 10,000 officers and soldiers to Weinan, so that they could carry grain to Xi'an.

Sun Chuanting was overjoyed to hear the arrangement of the kiln gang people, and when the next night passed, he personally took Gao Jie to lead 10,000 officers and soldiers to the wharf, boarded the kiln gang and prepared it, and took advantage of the night to go west through the Guangtong Canal to Weinan. A four-hundred-stone flat-bottomed boat, full of more than a thousand soldiers, none of whom complained about the noise. They knew that it would not be easy to have such an opportunity to return to Shaanxi at this time. Fortunately, the punt steamboat was very fast in towing them, and they didn't suffer for too long.

At dawn, Li Zicheng received a report that a team of men and horses had left Tongguan last night and boarded a ship, and the number was unknown. At this time, Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing still thought that some of the few people were picked up by the kiln gang people, and they did not attract more attention from Li Zicheng and them. However, after the ship carrying grain and goods unloaded the goods in Weinan, they came to Tongguan together, and when they sent away another 20,000 people in one night, Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing knew that Sun Chuanting was going back to Shaanxi.

When it was too bright, Li Zicheng began to attack the city again. However, the 30,000 horses left in Tongguan could not be used to deal with the attack from the south. Coupled with Li Wei's artillery assistance, Li Zicheng still returned from the siege.

The next day, the Yaogang people suddenly transported 20,000 people to the soldiers and horses in Tongguan, and this time Bai Guangen also left with the team, and also took away a lot of carts. Because these trucks are needed to transport grain to Weinan. Tongguan left Ningde with 10,000 horses, including his original veterans. Ningde still values his veterans, many of whom are musketeers, and they have all been trained by the kiln people. When it comes to fighting, one person can use it for several people.

At this time, Li Zicheng was faced with a dilemma, whether to continue to stay here to attack Tongguan, or bypass Tongguan and march into Shaanxi, take advantage of Sun Chuanting's vitality to completely defeat him, and directly take Shaanxi.

Niu Jinxing played the role of a military advisor at this time, and analyzed: "Sun Chuanting has been killed and injured by this defeat, and there will be no more than 60,000 horses in the city, this time he will definitely withdraw most of the men and horses to Shaanxi, and the men and horses left in Tongguan are barely enough to deal with us, so we might as well leave 60,000 horses trapped in Tongguan, and when the weather is cold and the Yellow River is frozen, the ships of Yaogang should be returned, and then we will directly take Tongguan." Now our brigade quietly bypassed Tongguan and went straight to Shaanxi to fight Sun Chuanting, and we couldn't give him a chance to breathe and completely take the whole of Shaanxi.

Li Zicheng adopted Niu Jinxing's suggestion, and there has been no war in Tongguan since then.

Sun Chuanting made a very correct decision, and Li Zicheng also adopted a very correct strategy.

If Sun Chuanting doesn't leave, then these horses and horses will not be able to be afforded by the kiln gang for a long time.

In fact, no matter whether Tongguan is beaten or not, the shipping from Lingshui Wharf to the Yellow River to the canal has not been interrupted, and the transportation channels opened by Shanxi merchants and Yaogang people have also become active again. The industrial products of Yaogang are also continuously shipped out, and the grain needed by Shanxi can also be transported in. Of course, the grain transportation of the kiln people is the most priority guarantee. The grain that Li Mao bought back was also transported back from Huai'an.

Outside the cave where the grain is hidden, rows of large granaries have been built, including the entrance of the cave, a large wall encloses the granary, and a barbed wire fence is added to the outside of the wall. The grain depot was guarded by Liu Yun, and ordinary people were not allowed to go forward. Liu Yun's military camp is next to the grain depot. Due to the strict guards, the average person doesn't know much about this place. But not far from this grain depot, a heavily guarded path continued to the northeast leading into the mountains, and in the col there was a more secret place. Even the leaders of Yaogang know very little about the existence here, and Li Zhi is personally responsible for it. The guards here were also personally selected by Li Zhi. It's a secret prison. It's all important people who are being held here. The most famous should be Li Zicheng's nephew, who is also the righteous son Li Guo; There is also a Mongolian Wanhu, who was also imprisoned here after he was captured and recuperated; Then there is the person who was captured in an ambush and attacked Zhang Zhimu. Their conditions here should be said to be good, everyone is a single room, the latest "Kiln Gang Weekly" is sent over every issue, and there are special chefs to cook for them. It's just that they are almost locked in a large iron cage with a limited range of movement. But there is one benefit, as long as they don't make trouble, no one tosses them. After a long period of detention, after their anger was gone, they all lived very comfortably, and the last food and accommodation were not bad, and there were two wind breaks in the morning and afternoon every day. These people can also communicate with each other in the courtyard. But there were only a few of them, and in the end, there was nothing to say.

One day, suddenly, another person was added to the prison. This man was in his twenties, and on the first day he arrived, he was unfamiliar with the place, and he could be heard crying quietly at night. Li Guo couldn't see the man crying the most, and scolded loudly: "What the fuck are you, are you a man?" Don't be like a. ”

Li Guo's words stopped the man's crying.

The next day, when the wind was released, when the newcomer met Li Guo, he suddenly seemed to see a ghost and asked, "You, aren't you dead?" Are you General Li Guo? ”

Li Guo snorted and said, "It's Lao Tzu." Do you know Lao Tzu? ”

The man looked around and didn't say anything more. Seeing that no one was paying attention for a while, he leaned over to Li Guo and whispered: "My lord, my name is Wang Wu, once, I went to the old camp to deliver a letter, and I saw you on the way. ”

"Huh? Are you from the old camp? Li Guo became alert.

But the man kept silent.

Li Guo asked again, "How did you get here?"

Wang Wu replied: "I was imprisoned here after I was captured in battle. ”

Li Guo kicked him down with a flying kick. Needless to say, this person is telling a lie. There is definitely a special reason for being able to get here, and it is impossible for a small person who was captured on the battlefield to be locked up here. When the soldiers guarding outside saw Li Guo's rough movements, they shouted loudly: "Li Guo, do you want to be imprisoned in the water prison again?" ”

Li Guo came out of the water prison, he knew what it was like, and now he couldn't eat the immediate loss, so he didn't do it again. Although Li Guo has one arm left, this kick is still not light. The newcomer lay on the ground for a long time before he could recover his strength. Because the others were afraid of Li Guo, no one dared to come over to help him.

Since then, Wang Wu has been avoiding Li Guo and not daring to get close to his side.

Out of curiosity, Li Guo was also observing this Wang Wu, and several times when Wang Wu was brought out for interrogation, he was also covered in phosphorus injuries, and it seemed that he had suffered a lot.

Later, Wang Wu was also like them, and no one paid attention to him. After about half a month, another person came to the prison. This person was put in Wang Wu's cell, and Wang Wu and this person were as if they didn't know each other. But in the second half of the night, the vigilant Li Guo heard that Wang Wu and the newcomers had gotten together.

Wang Wu quietly asked, "Why did you come in?" ”

The newcomer said, "I thought you betrayed me, but I didn't expect you to be locked up here." I was ready to send it out when I got the letter, but I didn't expect to be seen a long time ago. I had no choice but to hide the letter and try to run out at night, but I was still caught. ”

Wang Wu said anxiously: "You and I are a matter of life and death, this matter must be known to King Chuang, otherwise the harm will be too great." ”

"Shhhh The newcomer, obviously afraid of being discovered by others, stopped Wang Wu's words. And they were separated again, and went to sleep.

Li Guo was still very vigilant at this time, and said in his heart: "These two people are not acting for me, right?" How could such a coincidence happen to me, just so that I heard it. ”

But for a long time, the two men lived in prison with them. It's just that these two people always avoid Li Guo and rarely get close to him.

In fact, this is a big drama directed by Li Zhi, although Li Guo is a little vigilant, but he is a martial artist, how can he deal with a team that has been specializing in him. And it's a long-term, targeted, step-by-step job. These two hand-picked intelligence officers are available for psychological counseling and further instructions at each arraignment. Li Guo's concentration can only be a short period of time. So this battle should be said to be without suspense, but Li Zhi needs to wait for the right time to make a move.

Zhang Zhimu went north this time without a caravan with a brigade, because now the goods can be transported out at any time, and there is no need to wait for the brigade to be powerful. What's even more comfortable is that Li Jing and the others have basically wiped out all the bandits in this area, and the road is much safer. Zhang Zhimu and the others saw that the road was full of people rushing in twos and threes, which showed that everything was too peaceful.

This time, Li Jing brought thirty people with him, and Yang Yulin also brought twenty female soldiers. What made Li Jing even more proud was that he brought all the thirty rifles that Li Yunhe asked them to try. Of course, for the sake of secrecy, the rifles were packed in pouches.

Since Xiao Hongyu had to follow her to the north this time, Yang Yulin took a car with her sisters. Lu Chengxiang and Yang Jing got into Zhang Zhimu's car together. Because Li Yunhe replaced all the cars going north this time with rubber wheels, the comfort of the car has improved a lot.

Lu Chengxiang said: "Where to go now is simply a matter of happiness, sitting in the car, like sitting on a pile of cotton." It's like before, it's nice to have a horse to ride. ”

Yang Jing said: "Our car not only uses steel springs to absorb shocks, but also uses rubber wheels. Didn't you see that we still have a sponge on the sofa seats, and the sponge is cotton skin on top. Do you think it's uncomfortable? ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "After we go back this time, if there is no problem with the rubber wheels, your buses will be replaced with rubber wheels." That's when you'll have more guests. ”

"We're a little overwhelmed by our customers." Yang Jing said proudly.

Zhang Zhimu still admires this brother-in-law very much, Zhang Zhimu said: "Yang Jing, Uncle Yan ordered your generals to form an armed police force together, and you have to cooperate with Uncle Yan." ”

Yang Jing smiled and said, "Don't worry, brother-in-law." I know how to serve Uncle Yan, and I have to coax him as an old man. But the old man's temper is a little weird, but he is not ambiguous at all. No, he can clearly figure out how many people I have, and he can't fool him at all. As Uncle Chen said, he is better than a monkey. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "In the future, the army will mainly fight against foreign countries, but the tasks of internal security and catching thieves and thieves will be handed over to you." Whether we can stand firm or not, you have a big role to play. ”

Yang Jing said: "I know this, Uncle Yan drank wine with me in the middle of the night that day, and told me very clearly. Don't look at his old man, he usually doesn't say anything about many things in the company, but he knows it very well. He said that it was like living a life, and if everyone spoke, there would be no way to live. But when you encounter something, you can't look at it, you have to take action. He just saw that we needed someone to take care of law and order and something like that, so he didn't hesitate to take this errand. ”

Zhang Zhimu: Along the way, they often encounter oncoming Yaogang passenger and truck fleets, as well as Yaogang people driving sheep. Because in order to facilitate transportation, the kiln gang people try not to organize a large caravan at a time, so that they can make good use of the stations set up by the kiln gang people along the way, and basically do not have to sleep in the open.

The quality of the newly repaired pavement is very good, and Zhang Zhimu's speed is also fast. However, Zhang Zhimu will stop from time to time to check the quality of the road. This road is under the supervision of Duan Jingzhong, and the quality is really good. There are drainage ditches dug on both sides of all the roads, and some places are afraid that the mountains and rivers will wash away the road surface, so they lay a lot of pipes under the road surface, so that the mountains and rivers flow through the pipes under the road surface, so as to avoid the mountains and rivers on the road, and reduce the erosion of the road surface by the mountains and rivers. Cement bridges were built over the big rivers and canals encountered along the way, and the horses pulling the carts were almost always at a cheerful trot along the way.

Lu Chengxiang also said proudly: "After the road is repaired, our business is very good, especially the ticket number business." Our kiln coins are now in high demand. In particular, our merchants in Shanxi are willing to exchange silver for kiln gang coins outside, and then bring them back to Shanxi to our kiln gang and then exchange them for silver. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "This is not enough, in the future, they will bring back the kiln gang coins, directly store them at home, and not exchange them for silver." ”

Lu Chengxiang said proudly: "In this way, our kiln gang coins are not enough, and the ticket numbers everywhere require a little more kiln gang coins." When we go back, we will study how many kiln coins we need to print. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "When Li Zicheng attacks Shanxi, we must prepare silver in advance and exchange all the kiln coins for silver." As soon as the fight started, everyone was scared, and they all felt that it was reliable to hold the silver in their hands. It was a test for us. After we pass this level, the kiln gang coin can really pass the world. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "What Mr. Zhang said is true. I just don't know when this battle will start, and when it will be fought? ”

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "I think after the New Year, this battle will be almost over." It is estimated that it will be over if it can be hit until the beginning of spring. At that time, we will take over the whole of Shanxi, and you will be even busier. Not only to be busy with our own business, but also to be the heart of the whole Shanxi. ”

Lu Chengxiang's heart was shocked, and he felt that his breath was good, and said: "I am from a small shopkeeper's background, and I never dreamed of being able to manage a business like Yaogang. Now I have to think about the whole of Shanxi, it's like a dream. When my family first arrived at the kiln, they thought it was a dream, and it took a long time to get a good night's sleep. They didn't expect to live in such a house in their lifetime. ”

Lu Chengxiang was also assigned a small building, and after his family took over, Lu Chengxiang was more at ease when he did things. Lu Chengxiang, who likes to drink a sip of wine at night, can now be satisfied. Otherwise, Lu Chengxiang, who has always been very self-disciplined, would not ask for a little wine when he eats in the cafeteria.

Zhang Zhimu said to Lu Chengxiang: "I have a few things that I am not very worried about. One is that our saltpeter supply has not been very stable, and this thing is too important to us. Qingfengzi's synthetic ammonia will not be effective for a while. Our nitric acid and black ** all depend on this thing. Then there is cotton, as soon as our loom is turned on, there is not enough cotton. And our smoke-free** also needs cotton. In addition, the supply of hemp is not very sufficient, and the quality of our hand-woven sacks containing grain is really poor, and the grain leaks badly. I've asked Lu Qi and them to study the matter of machine-woven sacks. We must weave our own sacks with good hemp saving quality. It also takes a lot of hemp to do it. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "As for saltpeter, we have several ways to buy it. Now that we don't have to steal the goods, things are much easier. Basically, it can still be used for production, and this time we contacted the Mongolians again in the Hukou Branch, and some of them Mongolians have saltpeter. I'm going to talk to them personally this time. As for cotton, I have contacted several large households in Zhongshu Province last time, and they promised to buy cotton for us for a long time in the future. Now I have delivered the goods twice, and I have left them a little profit, and they are very satisfied. It's a channel. Qin Pingyuan is also a cotton-producing area, and we can also import cotton from there. In addition, the area around Yuncheng is also a grain and cotton production area, and we can also enter cotton. If we produce more, we can go to cotton again. As for the hemp you mentioned, don't worry about it. Hemp can be produced anywhere, as long as we say hello to the hemp farmers in advance and tell them how much hemp to harvest. ”

"Hehe, I think it's a big deal, and it won't matter if I come to you." Zhang Zhimu said.

Lu Chengxiang said: "Hehe! I don't know, there is still something that we kiln workers can't do. ”

Lu Chengxiang's self-confidence also infected Zhang Zhimu. Zhang Zhimu felt that it was really good to have these partners working together. They are both dedicated and have their own strengths, and they find it difficult for them, and for others, many times it is not a problem at all.

Zhang Zhimu's first stop was to Niutou Mountain, where they visited Yan Xing and others, and also inspected the Niutou Mountain open-pit coal mine.

This open-pit coal mine opened Zhang Zhimu's eyes. The ravine behind Niutou Mountain is now only part of the surface layer. But the exposed coal seam is already considerable.

Yan Xing said: "It's a pity that our transportation costs are too high, otherwise we would have slept in Jinshan." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Next year, after the battle with Li Zicheng, we will build the railway to Niutou Mountain even if we smash the pot and sell iron." ”

Li Kui said: "That's it, Mr. Zhang." Last time, you said you were going to build a road made of iron, but there is no movement until now. Will it really be repaired next year? ”

Li Kui's words made everyone happy. Zhang Zhimu said: "If you have time, you can go to the kiln gang to see, the railway from the smelting yard to the kiln gang, the roadbed has begun to be repaired. When that section is finished, we will also have experience, and we will come up tens of thousands of horses at once to build the railway here, and we will finish it for him in a year. At that time, if you go to the kiln, you can lie down and sleep for a while. ”

"Hey, can a train be better than my steel-reed carriage?" Li Kui asked.

Everyone entered Yan Xing's house, there were no outsiders, Yan Xing said, "Our telegraph line is about to be repaired. It would be nice if the telegraph and the kiln were connected. ”

It turned out that the telegram leading to Niutou Mountain, in order to keep it secret, was buried in the ground, and it was put online only when it entered the uninhabited mountain. If the signal is too weak, they add a relay station in front of it, which seems to be a bit clumsy, but it can ensure that the certification line is universal. For each relay station, build a hut with a set of batteries and animal power generators. Animal power generators are used to charge batteries. The telegram is full-duplex.

Li Kui said to Zhang Zhimu: "The matter of forming cavalry you said last time, our side has already been formed, when you say it will pass, we will leave immediately." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "You just listen to Uncle Chen about this kind of thing, he will notify you soon when he is ready." ”

Leaving Niutou Mountain, Zhang Zhimu and the others continued to inspect the road and various stations along the way, and went straight to the mouth of the tiger.

At this time, there was another person who killed the tiger, who was waiting for him more anxiously than Zhang Zhimu.

------------------

Mechanics of Materials, Theoretical Mechanics, Elastic Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".