After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Namur took the Fengzhou condolence group back while the snow was small, and the Shenshuitan camp was also busy - since the Ming Dynasty abolished the Chahan Nao'er Guard, Ordos has been uncultivated for more than 200 years, and there is no water conservancy and cultivated land at all, and this year's spring ploughing is certainly not easy, and the industrial and commercial development of Ordos is also imminent, and everything has to be done from scratch. At this time, Yang Dazhi, the same knowledge of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department, Liu Jiping, the same knowledge of the Ordnance Department, Shi Laoliu, the director of the Gun Station, and Chen Decai, the chief treasurer of the Dongsheng Iron Works, rushed to Shenshuitan, and Du Hongtai discussed with Li Yu and Batu, and took advantage of the arrival of these experts to hold a meeting that may be the first agricultural and animal husbandry business planning meeting in the history of Ordos.

At the beginning of the meeting, Yang Dazhi first reminded: "I brought 20 mirror ploughs, 50 stone seeds and 200 breeding sheep, the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry can only get this little thing at present, and you can figure out the rest by yourself, don't be hungry, eat the seeds and sheep!" ”

"The Ordnance Department and the Dongsheng Iron Works have gathered a thousand farm tools, and they have brought them this time." Liu Jiping said and glanced at Chen Decai.

Du Hongtai nodded and replied gratefully: "This is already very good, we are not idle this winter, Mr. Wang has been planning what to do after the beginning of spring, and the craftsmen have long been gathered together to build utensils. ”

"Lord Wang, if you see what else you need, I, Dong Shengwei, can also think of some ways." Batu asked with concern, this old man doesn't talk much, and he often dozes off during deliberations, but he is full of energy when he does practical things, this style is completely different from most Ming officials, Batu and Li Yu respect this old man very much.

"There may be a drought this year, and as soon as the land thaws, you must do it," Wang Zheng waved his hand, and Nuo Min next to him unfolded a map on the ground, and everyone gathered around, Wang Zheng pointed to the map and continued, "The land in the set is fertile, and there is no shortage of water sources, what is lacking is water conservancy, the old man drew this water conservancy planning map, and plans to set up at least 100 waterwheels by the Yellow River, and then dig a large number of canals to lead the river water to the fields, in addition to mobilizing manpower to dig wells and repair reservoirs. Coal, iron, and timber are available here, but they also require a large number of craftsmen, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and well drillers. ”

"Dongshengwei is also short of craftsmen, so let's do it, I will send some people over after spring ploughing, but I can only lend them to you, and I have to return them to me before autumn." Batu said, scratching his head.

"The Grand Commander's Mansion will also send some craftsmen, but what about the grain? There are more than 40,000 of you, and the population will definitely increase, 100,000 stone grain is not enough, the land outside the plug is not suitable for reclamation, and the yield is not high, usually widely planted and harvested, which also requires a lot of manpower! Yang Dazhi said worriedly.

"No amount of land reclamation without water is useless, the experience of the failure of Da Ming Chahan Naoerwei tells us that it is not a long-term solution to save trouble and burn waste land and farm, and if you want to gain a foothold in the Hetao, you must have water conservancy," Wang Zheng pointed to the map and replied in a firm tone, "The dealer can plant as much as he wants, we plant a large number of potatoes, as long as we can fill the stomach, from the beginning of spring to the winter, it will be relieved after two or three years, and it is not a problem for this land to have water conservancy to feed two or three hundred thousand people." ”

Everyone pondered on the map, and after a while, Li Yu spoke: "Food is still indispensable, we can't let everyone work hungry, I can let the Great Commander's Mansion support a part, but it will never be much, Yansui is also short of food, everyone has to think of some other ways, otherwise we may be forced to retreat." ”

"Hermes-Epitek, the situation is not so bad, we still have salt ponds and alkali ponds in our hands to cook salt to make alkali, and the salt officials in the customs have promised to cooperate, as long as they give enough benefits, these guys will definitely be able to transport grain from the south." The eldest king looked confident.

Shi Laoliu poked Liu Jiping and came up with an idea: "Great Commander, sulfur and nitrate are also good things, I am here to set up a factory here to collect sulfur and nitrate, in addition to our own gunpowder, we can also secretly sell some to Jin Guo, which can be exchanged for a lot of money!" ”

"How dare you build a private business? …… Forget it, the old man shouldn't have heard it. Wang Zheng stood up with a smile, but then sat down again with a wave of his hand - in the end, you still have to think about survival first, and it is useless to say anything else.

"Commander, Mr. Wang is proficient in Western studies, I was ordered to come to ask Mr. Wang to help build an iron plant in Hexi, and build a dam to store water to build a water turbine," Liu Jiping, who was born as a blacksmith, usually spoke very little, and then got up and told Li Yu - the focus of the development of the Ordnance Department is to be small, lightweight, and fast-firing Franc machine camp guns, but he is also worried about the fact that Jin Guo cast Hongyi cannons, Tu Lichen, who has seen the cannon, also said that the barrel of Jin Guo uses iron and copper core, Wang Tianxiang and Liu Jiping understand that Jin Guo must have taken away a group of craftsmen from Zunhua and Yongping, The two of them are famous players in Beizhili, of course, they are not willing to lag behind their peers, and they ask to expand the small iron factory of the Ordnance Division, but unfortunately the Great Commander's Mansion is short of money and has not been able to do so. This time, the Commander's Office made up its mind to build a "second home", and specially approved the Ordnance Bureau to build an iron factory and a gunpowder factory in Ordos.

"Great Commander, our boss has sent a letter from his hometown, we must build the largest and best iron factory, Mr. Wang is our fellow villager, and he is familiar with the methods of Taixi mining and metallurgy and water conservancy, and he wants to ask his old man to build iron furnaces and water wheels, and he will not hesitate to spend any money." Sun Tingyao's iron factory shopkeeper Chen Decai said in a southern accent.

Li Yu wanted to laugh when he saw this dark-skinned little man, pointed at Du Hongtai and Wang Zheng and said, "I have no opinion, but they are the landlords here, and you can talk to them when you come here to do business." ”

"There is another thing, we are also short of craftsmen, the craftsmen in the customs are reluctant to go out of the customs if they have something to eat, we want to accept some apprentices here, the commander, give us some literate and hyphenation children." Chen Decai said again.

Li Yu's eyes looked at Nuo Min, he had been teaching, he should have some ideas, Nuo Min got up and said: "We have a school in a thousand households, and we have also sent an edict to each hundred households, in recent years, we have taught a lot of children who can read and write, and learning the craft is a good thing for the children, I think it can be done." Commander, let me say a few more words, the people of Fengzhou do not like the Ming Kingdom, the textbooks taught in the school are also according to Father Gao Yizhi's "Teaching for Young Children", "Western Learning Qi Family", "Western Learning Self-cultivation" and "Western Learning Zhiping" are compiled, the Mr. of Fengzhou Academy does not like our children, so far only dozens of disciples have been accepted, but I think science is not worth eating, our academy should still teach something that is useful to the world. ”

Li Yu thought for a while and said, "That's it, while Father Gao is also here, you and his old man will discuss it carefully, write a charter and report to the Grand Commander's Mansion." ”

Batu immediately added: "The constitution must be written, and the President and I seconded it. ”

The matter was almost discussed, Li Yu said hello to Du Hongtai, and left the big tent in advance - he didn't know how to interfere less, this is his usual style, Batu then followed out, and the two walked on the snow and chatted.

"Yuzi, Liu Zhilun is your master, of course we welcome him to Fengzhou, but he shouldn't come as the governor of the Ming Kingdom, with this beginning, the imperial court will stuff in more officials, they are not trustworthy, Fengzhou is not easy to struggle to this day, and it can't be destroyed in their hands." Batu said with a little emotion.

"How do you tell me to refuse? Do we have the capital to turn the other cheek with Mingguo? Li Yu asked rhetorically, bowed his head and walked a few steps before saying fiercely, "I'm not afraid of the imperial court sending officials, the knife is in my hand, whoever dares to do anything wrong in my territory, I dare to cut off his head, and then the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom will not be able to save his life." ”

There was a burst of laughter in front, a group of young people were playing in the snow, Hadari was running towards this side with Uya, and Richard Brother, Li Xuan and others were laughing and chasing after them, and kept throwing snowballs at them.

"Marry your Uya to Hadari, this kid should have a family." Li Yu smiled and asked Batu.

"Yes, but this kid hasn't proposed marriage yet, according to our Mongolian customs, he has to prepare a white horse, a white camel and a white ox as a dowry, and it is not bad to convert it into money, so that he can marry my daughter." Batu shook his head and replied.

"No, you're bullying us poor," Li Yu immediately shook his head and refused, put his arm around Batu's shoulders and said proudly, "This time, according to the custom of our Ula people, we will shoot a prey as a dowry, and you can't do it if you don't agree." ”

"You didn't give money when you married my sister, and Hadari didn't give money when she married my daughter, my family can't always suffer, no, I have to go to your house to ask Wu Langha for money, anyway, she made money in business." Batu quit.

Wu Langha is a money fan, it's strange that you can get money from her, Li Yu was secretly happy in his heart, waved his hand to call these young people to his side, pointed to Hadari, and said, "I and the deputy commander agreed that you marry Wu Ya, go, take your bow and arrows, ride your fast horse, and shoot the biggest prey as a dowry, and you can also ask your friends to help." ”

The young men cheered, hugged Hadari and Uya, got on their horses, and ran away into the distance, leaving bursts of laughter on the snowy field.

Batu asked Wu Langha for money naturally for nothing, Wu Langha admitted that Hadari was his own family, but he didn't give a son, and told him a lot of freedom and equality, Ulan saw his brother eating deflated and holding his stomach and laughing. After teaching Batu a lesson, Wu Lang took Li Qin back to Fengzhou first, where there were still a lot of business things waiting for her, but her younger brother Gutu was left behind - Gutu and Gon Chuk were forcibly brought to Fengzhou by Li Yu, and the days of being powerful and blessed are gone, and they have to support their families by themselves, both of them have changed a lot, Gon Chuck has been in the eyes of money, and he dreams of doing business to make money, and Bon Tu is bent on making meritorious contributions, so as to find an official and a half-job, Li Yu now sees them much more pleasing to the eye, and sends an errand to Bhutu, sent a letter to his brother Chahar Khan - Li Yu arranged two ways out for his brother-in-law, one is to cheer up the Great Khan's majesty to develop in the Western Regions, create a new territory on the territory of the Oirats, and fulfill the long-cherished wish of the ancestor Dayan Khan to conquer Western Mongolia, Li Yu promised to provide assistance in time after gaining a foothold in Ordos, and the other is to retreat in disgrace, the Golden Lotus River grassland is still his, if he has the guts, he can also develop to the east, Fengzhou will continue to assist him, and it is up to him to decide where to go.

In February, the annual spring drill began again, Fengzhou did not hold a general drill like last year, and the garrison posts in various places organized the joint training of the men of the guard and the garrison battalion as before, and the east of the Yellow River seemed to be very calm. In contrast, Hexi is a large number of soldiers - this is the place where a major battle is most likely to occur this year, the front battalion of the cavalry, the left and right battalions of the infantry army, the artillery battalion, and the infantry and cavalry of the Dongsheng garrison, together with the right cavalry battalion of Hexi and the infantry and cavalry of the Chahannaoer garrison, all of which were fully equipped with 1,000 men per battalion and marched to the Yellow River in the west of Ordos, and the fierce drill lasted for five days.

The equipment of the Fengzhou army has obviously been improved, inspired by the Jin army's chariot, the Ordnance Division has created a new type of formation wall, the wooden planks used in the formation wall are usually two carts, and in wartime it can be quickly disassembled and reassembled into an eight-foot high giant shield, which can be increased to one zhang six, the shield surface is covered with two layers of thick cowhide, and the key parts are also equipped with iron sheets, which can open small windows for bows and arrows and guns to shoot, and the soldiers can also climb to the wall to shoot or throw thunder along the special ladder, and the four wheels of the two carriages can also be disassembled and assembled to the battle wall. In this way, the wall can be moved by human or animal power, and can be both offensive and backward. The number of guns and guns has increased to more than 1,000 people, and there are 10 guns and 800 guns in the battalion, and the firepower is even stronger. The soldiers are neatly equipped with knives, spears, bows and arrows, and the number of people wearing armor is also more, and the leather armor with iron sheet is favored because it is light and practical, not only the battalion soldiers are generally equipped, and there are many garrisons, but the heavy armor has not increased much, that thing is too heavy, there is no one else to help, and it is difficult to carry and wear - Li Jianji, Fan Yongdou and his gang are most afraid that Fengzhou will make a mistake, as long as it is a military appropriation, they will support it, and encourage businessmen to vigorously build iron factories to build weapons, and their money and ticket numbers also provide loans to military households to buy weapons, Although the profiteers must have a ghost idea, Toyosu is also really stained with great light.

The drill was carried out very intensely, Ma Guangyuan and Mao Yuanyi, the instructor of the Wuxuan battalion, were referees, Zhang Ding, the commander of the right battalion of the cavalry, led the cavalry to take the offensive, and the infantry of the left battalion of the infantry Sun Shoufa led the infantry to take the defensive, and the two sides opened the formation to confront, but Zhang Ding just couldn't take advantage of Sun Shoufa, and the proud iron cavalry often hit his head in front of the tall and thick formation wall, and after attacking the opponent's infantry formation, he was beaten by bows and arrows and fire guns. Drive the cavalry all over the ground. Zhang Ding was only able to break through the wall and crush the opponent's infantry with the help of the artillery battalion, and relied on the dense impact of the two main forces of the Flying Tiger Battalion, the front cavalry battalion and the right cavalry battalion, but each victory was judged to be a large number of casualties. After a few days of confrontation exercises, the two sides won and lost each other, the more the infantry fought, the more confident they became, the cavalry was depressed, and the most proud were Ding Qiming and Jin Guoding, wherever they went, they could basically win over there - the firepower of the artillery battalion was too fierce, and the cavalry could repel the cavalry by following the formation wall, and the cavalry attack could destroy the formation wall.

Meng Ke and Jida were not convinced, and pulled the two battalion officers of the cavalry front battalion, Bai Yintu and Tu Lichen, to complain - when did our cavalry fight this kind of, and if it went on, the rice bowl would have to be smashed, Bai Yintu and Tu Lichen also felt the same way, Zhang Ding didn't say a word after hearing it, and took them to find Li Yu and asked for the cavalry to be equipped with camp guns and bird guns.

"Your fighting style is wrong, the combat essentials of the cavalry lie in mobility, you have to float, fight fast and walk quickly, who let you hit the iron plate hard." Li Yu saw that there was a sweat on his head, but his mouth was quite hard - this lineup was enough to deal with the Jin army, as for the rabble of Chahar? The painting office must be looking for me for money again.

"Big boss, we are now famous, everyone is guarding against us, your style of stealing chickens and touching dogs will definitely not work......" As soon as Meng Ke's stinky mouth spoke, Li Yu glared at him fiercely.

"Marshal, you have to spend money when you need to spend it, our Ordnance Department and Fengzhou Iron Works have partnered to build a horse gun, this is a good thing, you can be generous, buy us a thousand strokes first." Ma Guangyuan came over with a smile and said.

"Uncle Yuzi, we also want a horse!" Li Dingguo and Ma Baoma shouted, and the Wuxuan camp went to Ordos to observe the exercises, and no one at home could take care of the children's whistle, so they had to bring these little guys with them. Li Yu didn't have time to take care of the children, so he handed them over to the young sentry of the Flying Tiger Battalion to watch, and Hadari immediately took Li Dingguo and Ma Bao aside - we don't have Ma Gong yet, what kind of fun are a bunch of little kids.

"I don't have any money, I want the money to go to Li Xiangli and the branch bureau by myself." Sure enough, he came to ask for money, Li Yu replied lightly, and quickly turned his face to chat with Batu beside him about other things.

Not far behind Li Yu, Mao Yuanyi was explaining to the hundreds of officers of the Wuxuan Battalion about the tactics of the drill - after the reform of the military system, the battalion soldiers and garrison soldiers were partially rotated from officers to soldiers, and these people in front of them were selected from various garrison posts and trained garrison officers in the Wuxuan Battalion, and they were ready to be supplemented to the battalion as team and sentry officers in the future.

"See, this is the power of firearms, this is only ten cannons, 800 bird guns in turns, if it is 100 artillery, 8,000 birds in rounds, who has the ability to stop it, even the cavalry has to go around, sloppy, you have worked in the official army, tell me what you think." Mao Yuanyi said loudly, since he arrived at the Wuxuan camp, all the people he met were people who crawled out of the sea of blood in the corpse mountain, and his few broken books and Liaodong's experience were simply not worth mentioning, so he had to restrain a lot and put down his body to deal with the soldiers.