In mid-September, Li Yan acquired more than 1,600 acres of new fields, which were basically contiguous to each other. These fields have been planted with winter wheat and are waiting for next year's harvest.

Although there is a drought this year, the water in the field is timely, so the harvest is okay, basically reaching eight to nine buckets per mu. Therefore, after Li Yan's farmers paid the rent, they could still survive the wheat harvest next year. However, the grain collected by Li Yan, plus some grain seized from the thieves, still cannot supply more than 200 soldiers until next year, and there are new homeless people. Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that the autumn tax has not yet been collected, getting some grain has become Li Yan's top priority.

But this time, I can't go to Suizhou again, I have already offended the Ye family, and if I go again, it will not be as easy to get out as last time. Then you can only go to Kaifeng City. At the same time, he also selected three young people to learn the manufacture of gunpowder, two of these three young people are Wang Dejiang's clansmen, one is named Wang Renhui, the other is called Wang Renli, and the other is Ma Chaodong, who was injured last time.

Ma Chaodong was shot in the abdomen by the thief, although he was wearing satin underwear, but it was close, and the arrow still pierced through. Afterwards, it was Li Yan and Li Mou who were dealt with two two knives, and they may not have been dealt with well, and there were some sequelae, and Ma Chaodong could no longer go into battle to kill the enemy. But since it was for him Li Yan to work hard, Li Yan naturally had to take care of it to the end, fortunately, this Ma Chaodong was still rigorous and honest, and he just sent him to learn gunpowder technology, which would be better than scavenging in the field in the future.

Li Yan judged that it would be more and more difficult to buy grain in the future, and the drought did not go to it, even after the new levy of this "training salary", many farmers fled in Qixian County, and it was the same if they wanted to come to other places. So this time he brought all the ten carts in the whole village, and if it wasn't enough, he borrowed a few from his father Li Chunyu, in short, this time to buy as much food as possible.

This time, it was still Li Yan and Li Mu who led the team and went to Kaifeng with thirty soldiers. Li Zhong didn't like the extravagant atmosphere of Kaifeng, although the rest of Henan was full of displaced people, but Kaifeng was still full of prosperity, as if it was separated from the disaster and famine in the Central Plains.

After arriving in Kaifeng City, Li Yan first took five hundred taels of silver, took Ma Chaodong and the three of them to the artillery workshop. Fortunately, the artillery workshop also admitted the account, and after receiving the money, it accepted the three of them, and agreed that the study period would be three months. This is not an apprenticeship, to start from miscellaneous work and slowly boil, but directly engaged in the purification and configuration of gunpowder.

Although this is gunpowder for artillery battles, it is possible to make powerful black powder by removing other additives such as luminescent agents and optimizing the ratio of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal.

After arranging the three of Ma Chaodong, Li Yan returned to Li's house.

"Father." After Li Yan greeted Li Chunyu in the main hall, he asked, "How about the price of grain in Kaifeng now?" How much stock does our grain store have? ”

Li Chunyu sighed and said, "Business is not good now. The price of grain is about seven or eight hundred yuan, but there is not much grain in all the grain stores. At present, the price of grain is one price for a period of time, and the grain from other places is stationed in Zhuxian Town, and they are unwilling to sell it at once. The grain here in Kaifeng basically flows to the homes of various royal palaces and official gentry, and they are even less active in selling grain. ”

"Seven or eight hundred dollars?" Li Yan said in surprise: "Qixian County is more than 1,200 yuan, and just after the locust plague, it was 3,000 rice." ”

"Alas, if it goes up any longer, no one will be able to buy it." Li Chunyu sighed: "Our grain shop can't last long, everyone has channels for Haoqiang, but we are our own merchants, so we can only buy from others at a high price." There won't be much to gain! Later, I'm going to close the grain store first, and we'll see. ”

Li Yan immediately reminded: "Just keep the grain in the granary, don't sell it outside, keep it for us to eat." In this natural and man-made disaster, this food will only become more and more expensive. ”

"I'm prepared for this." Li Chunyu nodded and said, "You don't have to worry about it at home, but you should be careful yourself." Kaifeng is a provincial city after all, the city is high and the pool is deep, so you don't have to worry about thieves. It's different in Qixian, the world is not peaceful. ”

"Father rest assured, my son now has more than 200 horses, and he still has the strength to protect himself." Li Yan said confidently.

Li Chunyu didn't care about Li Yan's career, but said: "By the way, there is a letter from Fujian, and the person who grows potatoes has been found." But I won't be able to come until next spring. As soon as people heard that they were coming to Henan, there were few who dared to come. This person only came for one spring, taught you to plant and go back, and the round-trip expenses and commissions have been paid, so you don't have to worry about it. As long as you have the manpower ready, learn how to grow it. Also, the climate and terrain are different in different places, and the harvest is also different, so you should be mentally prepared and not get your hopes up too much. ”

"I know, don't worry, father." Li Yan said gratefully.

Li Chunyu said: "Rest early, I heard that the Yang Pavilion Department will come tomorrow, so don't go to buy food tomorrow." ”

"Please rest early, too." Li Yan respectfully sent Li Chunyu back to the inner house.

Early the next morning, there were archers cleaning the streets, and soldiers guarding the city were also standing guard on the street from the north gate to the governor's yamen. And the governor Li Xianfeng took the civil and military officials of Kaifeng to the suburbs of the North Gate to greet him.

Li Yan got up in the morning, went to the inn, called all his men, and planned to go together to see the majesty of the Yang Pavilion Department. But they came out for a long time, until it was almost noon, and before they could wait for the big frame of the Yang Pavilion Department, they saw the soldiers constantly patrolling back and forth.

When they went to the restaurant for lunch, finally, a loud gong was heard in the distance. After that, the people in the streets were driven to both sides, and a group of soldiers opened the way, and there were soldiers on both sides to escort them.

In the front is a two-sided large gong, which will be sounded after a few steps, and behind it is a pair of wooden signs, on which are written the titles of "Avoidance", "Ordered Supervisor", "Tokaku University Scholar", "Rite Department Scholar", "Military Department Scholar" and so on. There are four pairs of royal flags in the back, followed by Yang Sichang's eight-lift sedan chair. In the back, there are eight and four official sedan chairs, all of which are Henan officials who went to the suburbs to greet them. Only a few generals rode horses, but they followed behind the palanquins, just like the guards and soldiers.

"Yang Gebu went out of Beijing on the sixth day of the first month, and now he is sixteen, and he has only arrived in Kaifeng. When he arrived in Xiangyang, Zhang Xianzhong and the others probably went to Shaanxi or Sichuan. Li Mu said in a low voice.

Li Yan also laughed quietly: "People are civil officials, so naturally they can't ride horses." Look at the palanquin man, he is going to be pressed down. Fortunately, he has a lot of sedan chair drivers and can change them. ”

The long line took a long time to finish, but fortunately, Li Yan watched from the window and door of the restaurant, and did not have to kneel on the side of the street like other people who did not avoid it. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come out to see the excitement.