Since the beginning of summer this year, there has never been rain on the boundary of Linzhou, although this is very beneficial to the construction of Jingqiang Village, but the crops of the Pingxi Army are quite affected, and they are wilted and have no spirit. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The crops that were planted with great difficulty naturally can't let them die of drought, and besides, they guard the Kuye River, which has abundant water.

However, the river channel is low, and there is no pump at this time, so it is a problem to irrigate the fields along the river.

Fortunately, Zhong Hao thought of the waterwheel and organized craftsmen to build the waterwheel at the moment.

The manufacture of waterwheels is inseparable from wood, tung oil and iron. There is no shortage of timber in Tiantai Mountain, and in order to build a stockade, the warehouse of the Pingxi Army has prepared a lot of tung oil.

As for iron parts, the Pingxi Army also has blacksmiths, but there are not many iron embryos. Fortunately, there were not many iron parts used in this waterwheel, so Zhong Hao sent someone to Lanzhou to buy a batch of iron embryos to build iron parts for the waterwheel.

The Great Song Dynasty had very strict restrictions on the export of iron to Hexi, and the Pingxi Army showed their waist cards to prove that they were indeed the Great Song Dynasty Xiang Army, and the iron merchants in Lanzhou dared to sell them to the Pingxi Army.

Before the Great Song Dynasty, many dynasties implemented the monopoly of salt and iron, and the two related to the national economy and people's livelihood were nationalized for salt and iron, seeking considerable income for the imperial court. Although the Great Song Dynasty canceled the monopoly of iron and only retained the monopoly of salt, the control of iron tools was still quite strict, especially in order to prevent the flow of iron tools to the Western Xia and Khitan, and the control of iron trade in the border areas was more strict.

That is, Zhong Hao didn't buy much iron embryos, and if there were too many, he wouldn't be able to buy them at all, and no one would dare to sell them to him.

However, Zhong Hao felt that he should ask Shuai Si for some iron embryos, and there were many places where iron parts could be used in the construction of Jingqiang Village.

Zhong Hao also felt that he should build some farm tools, tools and weapons. Not only are there a lack of agricultural tools and tools, but there are also very few weapons. No matter how much this Pingxi Army is an army, it can't even be without weapons. Of course, the creation of weapons still needs to be approved by the imperial court, and it is illegal to build weapons without permission. This requires his Taishan husband to find a way for himself and get the approval.

The reason why Zhong Hao wanted to build weapons was because he felt that with his knowledge and the skills of his current craftsmen, he could make better steel than the current hundred forged steel, which could be used to make weapons.

It is located next to the Kuno River and can be equipped with a hydraulic forging hammer. And there is charcoal here, which can be used to make coke that is hotter and suitable for steelmaking.

Therefore, Zhong Hao feels that forging better steel can still be achieved. At least Zhong Hao thinks that in terms of his own knowledge, it should be easier to achieve than making cement.

In fact, Zhong Hao originally planned to study the firing of cement and build the wall with concrete by the craftsmen of the kiln of the Peace Western Army, but Zhong Hao also knew nothing about the production of cement, and discussed it with those craftsmen, but there was no result, so he had to give up and leave it for later.

Now Jingqiang Village is complicated, forging steel and developing cement, these things are not in a hurry, we must wait for Jingqiang Village to be built slowly, now the waterwheel is the right thing to do first, and we can not delay the watering of crops.

While Zhong Hao arranged for craftsmen to build a waterwheel, he also asked some soldiers to repair the ditch, and when the waterwheel brought water, they could water the crops.

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The first batch of soju from the brewing workshop has come out, and Zhong Hao decided to go to Linzhou today to meet with Yang Wenguang, the defense envoy.

Zhong Hao, who was in charge of the training of troops in Yehe Tuntian, although he was directly dispatched by the Shuai Si and was responsible to the Shuai Si, had no direct administrative relationship with Linzhou. However, in addition to the upper reaches of the Guye River in Western Xia, all of its parts in the Great Song Dynasty are on the boundary of Linzhou, and Yang Wenguang is the military and political governor of Linzhou, so it is still necessary to pay a visit. Otherwise, without the cooperation of Yang Wenguang, the military boss of Linzhou, all his future plans are estimated to be flowers in the mirror and moons in the water.

In fact, Zhong Hao wanted to visit Yang Wenguang a while ago. For this well-known figure in later generations, Zhong Hao has long been looking forward to seeing it. However, Zhong Hao waited until the soju was brewed before he went, in order to visit him and bring him some handy gifts. As for the gift that can be handy, it is naturally shochu.

Zhong Hao estimated that few of these fighting men in the Northwest Frontier Army could resist the temptation of this soju.

Zhong Hao took soju to visit Yang Wenguang because he wanted to discuss the sales of soju. After all, if you trade with Xixia, it will always be difficult to bypass this Linzhou boss.

This time I went to Linzhou, Zhong Hao took Cui Feng and Wang San together. The winemaking workshop is inseparable from people, so they stay in the camp.

The commander of the prison camp made Han Hu fight in Linzhou for a long time, and he was very familiar with the geography and people of Linzhou, so Zhong Hao took him with him, and with him, he could at least save a lot of trouble to inquire about the road.

Originally, the place of Linzhou was absolutely unquiet, Zhong Hao originally planned to bring more people, but there were only a dozen horses here in Jingqiang Village, and Zhong Hao and they needed one person to ride, one to carry people, and the other to carry forage and soju. There are more than 120 miles from Jingqiang Village to Linzhou, and even the best war horses are difficult to run in one go, let alone the old horses of Jingqiang Village. They need to stop a few times to let the horses drink water and eat some forage to rest their horses. Of course, if you travel 120 miles, you can't stand it. It is not a life-or-death escape moment, and no one will gallop one hundred and twenty miles at the expense of horsepower.

The limited number of horses made it difficult to bring more men. Fortunately, Cui Feng and Wang San are both good at martial arts, and Han Hu claims to be proficient in guns and sticks, as long as they don't happen to meet Xia Jun, they have nothing to fear.

…………

Linzhou City, also known as Yangjia City, like the border city in the northwest, has the role of a military fortress. Yangjiacheng was built on the bank of the Kuye River, on a hill with a dangerous terrain. Yangjia City is close to the Cave Wild River in the west, the grassland ditch in the north, the Taoyuan Beam in the east, the Mayan ditch in the south, the irregular strip distribution according to the mountain shape, the south, the west and the north are three sides, surrounded by rivers and deep ditches, and many places are cliffs, the terrain is very dangerous, and the city is high in the east and low in the west

Yangjiacheng is "Heshuo in the east, Guanzhong in the south, Yuyang in the west, and Hetao in the north", and its geographical location is very important.

The reason why Linzhou City is called Linzhou City is because Linzhou City and the Yang family have a long history.

During the Five Dynasties, Shi Jingjiao of the Later Jin Dynasty ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan. Linzhou is close to the Khitan occupation zone. In order to fight against the Khitan aristocracy, Yang Hongxin, a local tyrant in Linzhou, established himself as the assassin of Linzhou. The Yang family was successively attached to the Later Zhou and the Great Song Dynasty, starting from Yang Hongxin, the eldest son Yang Chongxun, and the eldest grandson Yang Guangyan were the highest local governors in Linzhou.

However, during the time of Song Taizong, the Yang clan moved inward, and its influence on Linzhou was very small.

However, after Li Yuanhao became emperor, Linzhou regained relations with the Yang family.

After Li Yuanhao became emperor, in order to strengthen the defense of Linzhou, the famous general Yang Wenguang was the defense envoy of Linzhou and coordinated the defense of Linzhou.

Originally, the imperial court intended to let Yang Qi, the son of Yang Guangyan, the former governor of Linzhou, and the deputy envoy of the supply and preparation library, come, but Yang Qi was quite old and could not travel, and finally the court let Yang Qi's cousin Yang Wenguang come to guard Linzhou.

Yang Wenguang is the grandson of Yang Ye, a famous general of the Great Song Dynasty, and the son of Yang Yanzhao, whose parents and ancestors are all famous generals. Yang Ye Yang Invincible is the fifth generation, and he is the second son of Yang Hongxin, who established himself as the assassin of Linzhou.

A generation of Wenzong Ouyang Xiu once praised Yang Ye and Yang Yanzhao: "Father and son are both famous generals, and their wisdom and courage are known as invincible. ”

In fact, before that, the three generations of Yang Ye, Yang Yanzhao, and Yang Wenguang were mainly fighting on the northern border against the Khitan and making a reputation.

However, famous generals will shine anywhere, Yang Wenguang himself is quite familiar with military strategy, and the Yang family is quite influential in Linzhou, and the arrival of Yang Wenguang made Linzhou's defense immediately orderly.

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, who had passed through the northwest, all appreciated Yang Wenguang's skills.

Linzhou has jurisdiction over three counties of Xinqin, Liangu and Yincheng, with Xinqin County as the attached Guo County, and two armies of Jianning and Zhenxi.

Now Yang Wenguang is the defense envoy of Linzhou, after the former Zhizhou was transferred, the imperial court has not selected Linzhou only, and Yang Wenguang has the right to know the affairs of Linzhou, and the military and government are in charge. Although most of the governors of the Great Song Dynasty were served by civil officials, there were still special border areas. Like the Zhe family in Fuzhou and the Wang family in Fengzhou, they are all hereditary governors.

Of course, Yang Wenguang is only Quan Zhizhou, and he is only a temporary agent in name. Although the Yang family was also a local tyrant in Linzhou before, unlike Fuzhou and Fengzhou, the Yang family has long since moved inward and has given up the right to rule Linzhou for decades.

…………

The Yang family city is full of solemn border weather, and the inspection of entering the city is very strict, and Zhong Hao and his new faces are naturally also subject to a very strict inspection.

The state government is located in the center of Yangjiacheng, Zhong Hao and his party of four people came to the door of the state government on horseback, and Wang San stepped forward to pay respects. Afraid that the state government's officials had a big shelf, Zhong Hao also asked Wang San to hand over a small piece of broken silver when he handed over the sticker.

The servant got the money, and he was very quick to do things. turned around and went to the state office to report, and soon came back, and said to Zhong Hao: "My family is invited!" ”

Zhong Hao asked Cui Feng to wait in the state yamen room for a while, and he followed the official to see Yang Wenguang.

The official led Zhong Hao to a spacious signing room in the second hall of the state government, where Zhong Hao saw an official in his fifties wearing a scarlet official uniform, sitting on an official hat chair behind a long case with curled ears. The official had thick eyebrows and bright eyes, and was looking at Zhong Hao.

Zhong Hao knew that this official must be the famous Yang Wenguang in the future, and of course, he was also a famous general of the Great Song Dynasty now, so he hurriedly stepped forward to salute and said, "Xiaguan Zhong Hao, I have seen General Yang!" ”

"Please, don't be polite", Yang Wenguang got up and came to Zhong Hao and said.

"I have heard of General Yang's prestige for a long time, and it is really a blessing to see it today." Zhong Hao told the truth, later generations grew up listening to the stories of Yang Jiajiang, and he was familiar with the characters of Yang Jiajiang, and he was really surprised to see Yang Wenguang Zhenren.

Yang Wenguang has guarded the border in Beidi for many years, and now he is sitting in Linzhou to fight against Western Xia. In the Great Song Dynasty, Yang Wenguang's reputation is still quite large. However, no matter how famous he is, in the eyes of many literati, he will inevitably be despised. In the Great Song Dynasty, the literati's contempt for military generals was innate. However, Yang Wenguang felt the sincere admiration from Zhong Hao's gaze, and couldn't help but have a good impression of Zhong Hao. Yang Wenguang pointed to the yellow sandalwood coffee table next to him and said to Zhong Hao: "Zhong Jiyi should sit here, let's sit down and talk." ”

"General Yang must not be called that, just call the official by his name!"

Zhong Hao sat down with Yang Wenguang on the sandalwood coffee table next to him, and a long attendant brought tea, and the two chatted while drinking tea.

After chatting a few words, Zhong Hao took out the letter that Fan Zhongyan wrote to Yang Wenguang and presented it to Yang Wenguang respectfully.

Fan Zhongyan hoped in the letter that Yang Wenguang could cooperate more with Fu Bi's plan to attack Hengshan, and of course he also mentioned it to Zhong Hao. When Fan Zhongyan passed through the northwest, the Xia people did not dare to come easily, and said: "Today, Xiao Fan Laozi has his own armor in his belly, and he is not as good as Da Fan Laozi." Yang Wenguang admires Fan Zhongyan very much. And Fan Zhongyan also admired Yang Wenguang's ability, and when he passed through the northwest, he also used Yang Wenguang a lot.

After reading Fan Zhongyan's letter, Yang Wenguang asked a few more questions about Zhong Hao and Fan Zhongyan. After hearing about the relationship between Zhong Hao and Fan Zhongyan, I couldn't help but appreciate Zhong Hao even more.

"Fan Gong and Fu Xianggong are both people who are admired, they have some entrustment, Wen Xuan rest assured, since you have arrived at the boundary of Linzhou, if you need help in the future, just say it." After Yang Wenguang knew the origin of Zhong Hao and Fan Zhongyan, he no longer had an official fight with Zhong Hao, and no longer called himself an official.

"Then thank you General Yang first!" Zhong Hao saw that Yang Wenguang read Fan Zhongyan's letter, and no longer deliberately kept a distance from himself with the official stand, so he no longer claimed to be a subordinate official, but claimed to be a subordinate official.

Zhong Hao remembered the gift he brought, and immediately explained to Yang Wenguang that he sent someone to ask Cui Feng and them to bring the soju.

Zhong Hao inquired with others, and Yang Wenguang is also a good drinker. Waiting for Cui Feng and them to bring the soju, they immediately introduced to Yang Wenguang: "This wine is brewed in accordance with the secret recipe of Qingzhou's natural famous liquor "Jade Liquor Roasting", its wine color is clear and clear, and its taste is as strong as fire. “

Yang Wenguang heard Zhong Hao talk about the characteristics of this wine, and his eyes couldn't help but light up, and asked: "How is it compared to the "Pear Blossom White" of Tokyo Sun Yang Zheng Store?" “

"The clarity is still on it, and the intensity is still excessive!"

"Really?"

"Seriously!"

The Yang family is also a family of Jiangmen, and the family conditions are excellent. In the past, when I was in Tokyo, I often went to Sun Yangzheng's store to drink the famous sake "Pear Blossom White", which shook Tokyo. However, Yang Wenguang has either guarded the border in the north or resisted the western thieves in the northwest all these years, and he has not drunk good wine from Tokyo for a long time. There is no good wine in the border area, most of it is home-brewed local wine, Yang Wenguang can't help but miss the strong and mellow "pear blossom white". At this time, I heard Zhong Hao claim that the "Jade Liquid Qing" soju he brought was stronger than the "Pear Blossom White" wine in Sun Yangzheng's store in Tokyo, and I couldn't help but be interested.

"So you want to try it?" However, although Yang Wenguang said so, he didn't believe that Zhong Hao's wine could be stronger than "Pear Blossom White", after all, "Pear Blossom White" was a famous wine in the Great Song Dynasty, but if it could be similar to "Pear Blossom White", he was also very satisfied.

"I'm about to ask General Yang to taste it, if you think it's good, I want to do some business with the Xia people with this wine with the general!" In Linzhou, doing business with the Xixia people naturally can't bypass Yang Wenguang, and Zhong Hao wants to take the opportunity to pull him to do it together.

"Okay, if you really say it is as strong, Xia people will definitely like it, and there will be a big market!" (To be continued.) )