After Li Yan returned to the barracks, he immediately sent someone to find Li Zhong and Li Mou.

"Fourth brother, what's the matter?" Li Mu asked. They hadn't been away for a long time, and there must have been something going on with Su Jing again.

Li Yan said: "Su Jing is going to be promoted, go to Guide Mansion to be the prefect." ”

"What?" Li Zhong asked puzzledly: "Isn't it only next year that he will be replaced?" If this is a person who admits death, we will be in trouble. ”

Li Mu said indifferently: "What is this." The sensible are provided, the ignorant are locked up, and if you want to cause us trouble, you can deal with it directly. ”

Li Yan asked, "How many recruits have recently entered the camp?" ”

Li Zhong replied: "Four hundred and eighty people. ”

"How is the iron mine in Suizhou?" Li Yan asked again.

Li Zhong thought for a moment before saying: "The miner said that the condition is not bad, and he should be able to produce 50,000 catties of refined iron a year." If we can scale up, we should be able to produce more. The veins stretch for more than ten miles, and now they have only been dug for three miles, and they can still be dug for a while. ”

Li Yan nodded and ordered: "Don't wait for Chen Yongfu to withdraw his troops, prepare now, and send them out within three days to control this pit as soon as possible." ”

"How many people to send? Who will you send? Li Zhong asked.

"Let Shi Jin go," Li Mou suggested, "He still has brains for doing things." He wanted to give Shi Jincai a chance to make meritorious contributions, otherwise he was afraid that it would affect Shi Jincai's future prospects. After all, it's an old brother, and you can't ignore it.

Li Yan frowned and said, "No, his injuries are not healed yet." Let him go now, not to make meritorious contributions, and if he doesn't get it right, he will be useless! ”

Li Mu stopped talking.

"Let Huang Desheng (take the president) go, transfer three horses for him, and it is convenient to report back and forth." Li Yan said.

Li Zhong suggested: "They should be strengthened by another baggage team." ”

"No, you don't." Li Yan said: "Let Zhao Datong's team (General Manager) go to Mengzhuang in Suizhou to set up a camp, and the resettlement of displaced people will also be prioritized in this direction in the future." If something happens to the iron mine, he can go to support first. ”

"Is this going to be a big deal?" Li Mu asked excitedly.

Li Yan explained: "While Suizhou is still chaotic, occupy the land first. When Su Jing went to Guide and began to rectify, it would also take time. When he is tidied up, he doesn't dare to do anything to us, after all, they are old friends, and it is easy to talk. ”

"Give me two cannons, and I'll take charge of the direction of Suizhou." Li Mu excitedly asked for help.

Li Yan waved his hand and said, "Huang Desheng is in charge there, and we are only responsible for support." You have more important things to do. ”

"What's more important than controlling the iron mines?" Li Mu said with a low emotion. Now that he is finally going to fight, if he goes to Suizhou, whether it is with thieves or officials and soldiers, he can at least have a good fight. Since the beginning of the previous year, he had only fought with the thieves of "One Dragon" and "Yuan Laoshan" more than two months ago, and now he is holding back his whole body.

"You have to keep an eye on Zhang Dianshi." Li Yan said: "Let's see when he goes out of the city, and find a chance to deal with him." ”

"Oops, I'm finally going to make that-stirring stick, that's great! Fourth brother, don't worry, I will do it well. Li Mu was happy again and said loudly.

Li Zhong hurriedly persuaded: "Do you really want to do this?" There's no other way? ”

Li Yan nodded and said: "I don't know what the new county order is, instead of waiting to make trouble for us with Zhang Dianshi after coming, it is better to cut the mess now." Also, Zhang Dianshi has been secretly mobilizing the rich to make money, and they are going to use the connections in the capital. ”

"That's going to have to hurry." Li Mu immediately said: "Why don't you go directly to his house and solve it." If they discuss it and let the capital exert pressure, it will not be a joke. "Even the deputy commander-in-chief like Chen Yongfu has been transferred to the regiment under his command, and there are not a few guerrilla generals in various parts of Henan, so there is no problem in gathering more than 10,000 people. If you add the officers and troops from other places, they will be in danger.

Li Yan sneered and said, "They can't negotiate, the official master in the capital, the asking price is not low." I only collect 20% of their grain tax, and the rest of the goods are 10% to 1/2%, which is really nothing to them. And the filial piety given to the official every year is no less than that given to us, and there may not be anything that can help, or you have to send additional money. Those wealthy merchants are very smart, they didn't have a choice before, but now they know who is more cost-effective. ”

Li Mu pursed his lips and said, "Then why don't you want to raise more chickens and ducks?" ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "It's the same reason, it's because they're smart. They knew that if they were to be farmed in large quantities, they would lose a lot in the event of a plague. And I'm not sure if we'll buy it at a reasonable price, and they're all waiting for the first one to come out and make a trip. ”

"No wonder Uncle Chunyutang picked you to be your heir, this business is really incomparable." Li Mu said with a smile.

And Li Zhong is face is a little unsightly. It turned out to be a brother, but now it has become a cousin, which is a little unpleasant in the end. He coughed and said, "Try to implicate as few people as possible." ”

Li Mu nodded and said, "Second brother, don't worry, I am measured." Although he said so, he didn't think it was true in his heart. It is extremely merciful not to copy Zhang Dian's historian, and this kind of thing must be done without proof, otherwise it will not be beautiful to leave so many hands and tails like dealing with the head of the palace.

Li Yan instructed Li Zhong: "Second brother, you go and be responsible for preparing supplies for Huang Desheng and Zhao Datong, and give more arrows and bombs." There is also a crossbow that gives some margin to prevent the combat effectiveness from weakening after damage. ”

This bomb is a variant of the flowering bomb, except that the body of the bomb is full of gunpowder, and pieces of broken iron are glued to the outside of the paper shell. In order to be able to throw farther, put a net bag on the outside, throw it up with a rope and throw it out, which can reach a distance of more than 20 steps. This is much simpler than a flowering bullet fired from a cannon barrel, and it can be thrown as long as the fuse is lit, so it has already been made quite a bit. As for lethality, it is not safe for an unarmored soldier to be within six or seven steps, but if there is armor, it may not be a big deal if it is two or three steps away.

"All the trained grenadiers are sent to them?" Li Zhong asked. Although this bomb is simple to operate, it also requires special training, and the effect distance is very close, and it cannot be used by other branches of the army as part-time workers, so only one grenadier can be trained alone.

Li Yan nodded and said, "Well, send them all and see how the effect is." "He is not very optimistic about this kind of chicken-ribbed weapon, the throwing distance is within the killing range of crossbow arrows, and there are still many uncertainties, that is, just experiment.

Li Zhong agreed, and went to prepare for their affairs with Li Mu. Li Yan, on the other hand, was eagerly looking forward to the perfection of the fire gun's heart, so that he could see the power of the fire gun. As for the artillery, the various parameters of the clay mold are still being discussed, and it will be early next year when they are made.