After the Lantern Festival, Lao Qian invited the village chief and some squires to his home.

Since Lao Qian talked about the disaster in the north, Qian Jin has an inexplicable sense of urgency in his heart. He asked the old people in the village to carefully recall the weather in Guanhai City in the past ten years and made detailed records. Later, he went to the city to meet with a few merchants who traveled from south to north to learn more about the weather changes in the north.

In the past ten years, Chen Guo has caused natural disasters every three or five years, either ice and snow, drought, or floods, which is very consistent with the characteristics of the Xiaoice Age.

Chen Guo is a typical one who eats from the sky. If the wind and rain are good, it is better to say that a natural disaster will lead to a reduction in crop yields. Ordinary people do not have much surplus food at home, and if the harvest is cut off, they will become homeless, or even worse, they will rise up, and thus turn into a peasant uprising.

Several large-scale upheavals in history are related to the Xiaoice Period, such as the Huangchao Uprising in the late Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms Era, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Because the Xiaoice period lasts for a long time, after tens of hundreds of years have passed, the people will no longer exist.

Although Guanhai City is located at the southern end of the Chen Kingdom, it is less affected by the climate, but there are no eggs under the nest. Therefore, Qian Jin asked his father to come forward and convene the chief and the village squire to discuss the construction of the fort.

In the hall, after listening to Lao Qian's proposal, the chief just smoked a dry cigarette. The chief is over 70 years old, highly respected in the village, and is in charge of the collection of money and grain taxes in the village. Qian Jin and Li Chang are both surnamed Qian, which is considered to be the same clan, and they usually call him grandpa.

At this time, the lieutenant had already smoked a few dry cigarettes. Seeing that he didn't say anything, Qian Jin got up and walked up to him and said, "Grandpa, the fort is built for the sake of the safety of the village. If you think it's inappropriate, you can talk about it and discuss it together. ”

The lieutenant chuckled, knocked the cigarette pot on the foot of the stool with his hand, and said, "Qian Xianggong, you must have a reason for doing this." It's just that who are you going to deal with when you build the turret? I haven't even seen a single figure, how do you want me to tell the villagers about this? ”

"Grandpa, didn't Hongyi hit Guanhai City a few months ago, who knows if they will come again this year." Qian Jin didn't dare to tell them about the Xiaoice Period, and he said it in vain, with their cognition, he would not understand it at all.

The lieutenant pointed in the direction of Guanhai City and said with a smile: "Isn't there still Guanhaiwei?" ”

The old man next to him heard this, and his face was a little ugly. Qian Jin knew in his heart what the combat power of Guanhaiwei was, but he also had to take care of his father's face, so he said: "Although there is Guanhaiwei, there are so many surrounding villages, and I am afraid it will be difficult to take care of it at that time." ”

The chief listened silently, and took out a dry tobacco pouch from his bosom and filled it with a pot of cigarettes, and the room was filled with the spicy smell of dry tobacco. The squires next to him were also in the east and west, but they did not eat less melons and fruits on the table.

Qian Jin looked at these people and sighed.

Originally, he planned to take out a part of the silver, and these squires would contribute some money, food, and labor, and the matter of repairing the turret would be completed. Looking at the virtues of those squires, it was as if he was begging for them. He really wanted to leave this matter and try to be quiet, but they were all villagers, and if he was really killed by the enemy at the door of his house one day, he couldn't bear it.

Li Chang crossed his legs, and took a few puffs of dry tobacco with a cigarette stick in his hand, until the tobacco in the smoke pot burned out. He knocked the ash off the pot and pinned the stem to his waist, as if ready to get up and leave.

After a long time, he crossed Erlang's legs again and asked, "Even if you build the fort, if a large number of bandits come, do you think that the more than 100 families in our village can be blocked by this fort?" ”

As soon as Qian Jin heard that there was still a drama in this matter, he said happily: "Grandpa, there will be no big bandits in the village. ”

"Are you so sure?"

"The big bandits mainly target the cities. There is a sea view city next to it, and there are more rich people than in our village. What did they come to our village for? We just need to guard against the small stream of gangsters. ”

After listening to this, the lieutenant was silent again.

Qian Jin was a little angry when he saw that he was hesitating, so he paced into the hall and said in a deep voice: "The reason why Ben Xiucai proposed to build the turret is not for fame and profit. There are so many villagers in the village, and they have taken care of me since I was a child. If a coward comes to burn our houses, kill our villagers, or insult our sisters, it will be really a bitter enemy for the relatives. ”

The lieutenant chief was a little embarrassed by his words. He sneered and said: "How can I not know that this turret is for the good of the village, but the villagers usually have to farm, and the county sometimes draws some people's strength." The most important thing is...... This groundbreaking requires money. ”

Qian Jin smiled in his heart, it turned out that the chief was worried about the silver, so he said: "You don't have to worry too much about the silver two. The last salvage battleship had some gains, and I will use 400 taels of silver on my side first, and I will discuss it when the time comes. If Grandpa agrees to build the turret, he will help convince the villagers to work. ”

When the chief heard that he had money, he immediately put his mind at ease, and said with a smile: "The matter of manpower is easy to solve." There are more than 100 households in the village, and when you go to work, isn't it enough for one or two strong laborers to come out of each household? ”

"Then it's decided."

Qian Jin took out two pieces of cloth from his arms, and drew two sketches on them.

The first picture shows the distribution of three turrets. The second diagram shows the architectural layout of each turret. Each turret has three floors: the lowest floor is for Tibetans; The second floor is open-air, which can be used to erect artillery, and the edges are arranged with battlement walls, shooting holes, and gun holes; The third floor is an attic for storing firearms and other items.

According to this layout, once a Kou attacked, the villagers could find the nearest turret to take refuge, the villager on the second floor could fire artillery to block the enemy, and the three turrets could also support each other.

The lieutenant and the squires were amazed. Lao Qian was also very surprised, and said in his heart when his son learned this.

……

At the beginning of spring, the ice and snow in Guanhai City finally melted completely. The willows in the city began to pull out their tender green branches, as if the cold winter had never come.

Yang Yinghe left and went to the north for the Tao in his heart. He left a room full of books to Qian Jin, including the manuscript of "New Gewuxue" and a letter, as well as the "Da Chen Mixed Picture".

In the letter, Yang Yinghe made a brief analysis of the current political situation of the Chen State, to the effect that the emperor had just ascended the throne, and the relationship with the ministers of the DPRK and China, especially the first assistant, was in the honeymoon period, and the officialdom of the Chen State would be relatively peaceful. There are a lot of bits and pieces written in the back, most of which are short things for parents. In the end, Yang Yinghe never forgot the pot of beef hot pot, and a large part of the letter was actually talking about how delicious the hot pot was.

Qian Jin couldn't help but smile when he saw this. Yang Yinghe is a warm person, and he never stands up in front of Qian Jin. The two of them have always been teachers and friends. Although he knew that Yang Yinghe would go north, when the separation really came, he still felt a little sad in his heart.

A few days later, he found an opportunity to inform Li Demao of the turret, and he also counted the case.

Li Demao didn't object too much after hearing this, after all, there was the incident of the Dutch warship shelling the Yuegang Fort in advance, and it was understandable for the village to strengthen security, but he was just reminded not to let someone with a heart frame the crime.

Qian Jin listened and hurriedly thanked him.

Li Demao also reminded him that the autumn season was imminent, and he must not delay, so as not to disappoint Xu Buzheng and Wen Tisi.

…………

In April, the state mourning has passed.

As soon as the villagers finished planting the early rice, the construction of the turret officially began.

There are ready-made craftsmen in the village, but the best granite needs to be purchased from neighboring counties, and it takes more effort. Qian Jin handed over 400 taels of silver to the chief for central scheduling, and the relevant employment, purchase and other expenses can be recorded in the account.

In the middle, Shi Huade came to Woniu Village and said that the matter of contacting and purchasing gunpowder had been negotiated, and he could only buy 300 catties of gunpowder in total. It is estimated that this is also for the sake of Sward's face, after all, gunpowder is a strategic material, and it is difficult to buy it with money.

Qian Jin thought to himself that three hundred catties were enough for the time being. With these cannons, the muskets and guns in the village are no longer ornaments. The price is not expensive, only 50 taels of silver. After paying off the silver taels, the money was brought back to the people in the village for safekeeping. Since then, he has finally let go of a piece of his heart.

It is getting closer and closer to the autumn season, and Qian Jin returns to the county to study and prepare for the exam with peace of mind.