After entering the middle of December, the news of the capture of Lushan, Jiaxian, Yiyang and other places came one after another, and Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, began to dispatch troops to prepare to exterminate Li Zicheng's gang of thieves. Basket. Hue. Book. Ba, although there were many local thieves and bandits in Henan before, such a thing as breaking through the county town has never happened. Even if there are tens of thousands of thieves, they do not have the ability to break through the county seat. Therefore, he must exterminate this gang of thieves to forgive the responsibility for the fall of the county seat.

Li Yan and the others didn't have much to worry about, after all, the county seat in western Henan had been captured, and it was still far away from them. And the news they got was that the county town was captured, and they didn't know who it was captured. Otherwise, Li Zicheng's old subordinates like Li Mu should not be as calm as they are now.

Li Zhong came to the barracks and reported: "There are many displaced people in Suizhou, there are more than 3,000 people, and we can't arrange the fields around Mengzhuang. ”

Li Yan frowned and asked, "Isn't it that Jingying has already arrived in Henan Mansion, why are there so many homeless people coming?"

"The homeless people said," Li Zhong explained, "Then Liu Yuanbin is a little worse than the thief, and after he goes to Guide, he chases the thief." The thief passed first, and he followed, and then robbed the woman of money and food in the same way. The thieves robbed it again, the officials and soldiers robbed it again, and the people couldn't stand it anymore and came to us. ”

Li Zhong paused for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Our battle last month really worked, the thieves all ran to the east, so the people came to our side." ”

Li Yan sneered and said, "They asked for it, and the officials and soldiers came here for the same reason as the women." Then choose a suitable location to make a fortress to the south, and you will be responsible for the specific things, and send all the recruits over as soon as possible. We'll have to build up our strength quickly, and in a while, we don't know what will happen. ”

Li Zhong nodded and said, "Okay, I'll do it." After that, he suddenly asked: "I heard that people are spreading that you have taken Qiu Niang into the house."

"Those female workers in the weaving workshop have nothing to do and talk nonsense, others pass it on, you won't believe it second brother," Li Yan said helplessly.

Li Zhong explained: "Of course I believe you, but this is not good for the reputation of Qiu Niang. Although Qiu Niang is not a big girl, she is a single woman in the end. But why don't you explain it, and let this rumor keep circulating. ”

"This kind of thing can only be handled like this." Li Yan said helplessly: "If I explain, it can only be explained more and more unclear." Let them just talk about it, and after a while, people will forget about it and focus on other things. ”

Li Zhong looked at Li Yan for a while, and said seriously: "Actually, I think Qiu Niang is not bad, you are not young, let's hurry up and give birth to a son." If it drags on any longer, it will be difficult to give birth when you are old. ”

Li Yan said casually: "I don't just need a woman to give birth to me, so I still don't talk about this." ”

"Whatever you want, I'll go first." Li Zhong shook his head helplessly and said.

After Li Yan waited for Li Zhong to leave, he cleaned up his mood and went to the gunpowder workshop.

Now the gunpowder workshop has been expanded, and the yard next to it has been bought as a new ammunition assembly workshop. The people here were transferred to other houses in the city, and the two women in the family were also recruited as employees in the gunpowder workshop.

The munitions assembly workshop was mainly made up of female workers, who filled the oiled paper packets with a certain amount of gunpowder and projectiles, and then sealed them. There was also a certain amount of gunpowder in the silk package and sealed it as a fixed gunpowder for the cannon.

For safety reasons, a workshop was built in a place other than the gunpowder workshop. Moreover, in each assembly room, only a small amount of gunpowder is placed, and after loading, the ammunition pack is handed over and new gunpowder is received. And every day there is a quantitative record, how much you have received must be handed over, even if it is the remaining gunpowder, you must also hand it in.

Li Yan saw that there were four female workers in each small room, one was weighing the gunpowder with a small scale used in the pharmacy, one was responsible for loading gunpowder and projectiles, the third was responsible for sealing, and the last one was responsible for carrying ammunition packs. The oiled paper is sealed with wax, and the wax is melted and kept on a dark heat.

The oiled paper wrap containing the gunpowder was placed into a five-by-five square wooden mold, which was then carried by a porter to a wooden workbench. The female worker in charge of sealing the paper picked a little wax with a piece of wood, and then quickly touched the bottom of the folded oil paper, and quickly pressed it to complete the sealing of the ammunition pack. The woman in charge of the handling quickly placed the ammunition bag in the wooden box in the distance, then placed the empty wooden mold in front of the female charger, and moved another wooden mold that was already full.

The seal of the silk powder bag is sewn together with silk thread, and then wrapped in oiled paper, which is also placed in a wooden box.

Li Yan nodded with satisfaction and boasted: "Yes, each performs its own duties, cooperates with each other, and works very efficiently." ”

Ma Chaodong said proudly: "This is what the three of us thought about for half a month. ”

Li Yan reminded: "Pay attention to ventilation and lighting in the room. I can only work during the day and rest when it gets dark. Do not have a fire head to avoid accidents. In addition, the ammunition packs and gunpowder packs made of these should also be properly placed, preferably in several warehouses. ”

"Yes, the lowly position is recorded." The three of them bowed in agreement.

Li Yan asked again: "Can the projectile be used?"

Wang Renli replied: "The lead shot making device on that tower is very useful, there are more than 20 bullet ports on it, as long as the lead material is enough, more than 100,000 lead shots can be produced a day." ”

"Well, yes, that's because I'm worried that there's not enough gunpowder." Li Yan nodded and said.

Ma Chaodong said: "As long as the general can get enough saltpeter and sulfur, we can make enough gunpowder." ”

Li Yan smiled and said, "Okay, this responsibility has been pushed to my head again." I'll try to get you as much saltpeter and sulfur as I can, but you don't need to increase your production too much. The key is to pay attention to safety, if there is an accident, the loss of raw materials is a trivial matter, if there are also major casualties, then we have to start all over again, then the loss is big. ”

"Please rest assured that we will always put safety in production in the first place." All three of them were moved to say it loudly. A Shangguan like Li Yan who attaches more importance to their life safety than to their performance requirements is indeed unique, and it is indeed something that can move them.

Li Yan instructed: "You still have to control the quality, if there is a problem with gunpowder and ammunition, I am the only one who asks."

"Yes" the three of them clasped their fists and said: "The inferior grade must ensure that the quality is good to ensure that every ammunition can be fired"

"Okay, you guys are busy, I'll go back first." Li Yan waved his hand and asked Ma Chaodong and the three of them to continue working. ~ Search the basket color, you can read the full text of the following chapters

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