The two iron-smelting masters got off the iron furnace and were taking off their thick coats, when they heard Han Laohan greet loudly, they walked over quickly and bowed to Li Yu, Li Yu hurriedly grabbed them, and the two of them remembered that Fengzhou did not kneel and bow, a little overwhelmed, Li Yu smiled and stepped forward to hug them separately, Han Laohan hurriedly explained, the commander hugs you, this is the most solemn etiquette in Fengzhou, and the commander is to see you as brothers.

"The Grand Commander is really a villain." Li Mao bowed his head uneasily and said.

"Grand Commander, the villain has seen you before, it was by the Qinshui in Yangcheng, when the Grand Commander spoke to us, the villain stood in the ranks of the thieves with a wooden stick, that time the villain was frightened, thinking that he would definitely die, fortunately, the Grand Commander gave us a way to live." The younger Chen Shishi scratched his head and said - he has also shaved his hair and left a Fengzhou head now.

"That battle really started, it's a pity that the two eldest brothers have good skills, Fengzhou has no nobility, we are a family, we don't need to call ourselves villains," Li Yu laughed and took the hands of the two and walked out together, "Two big brothers, you are also my fellow villagers now, take me to see the iron factory in our village." ”

There are a lot of people in the iron factory, but there are not many people in the old Baita Village, most of them are new immigrants, Li Yu's face printed on the silver banknote was recognized by many people, everyone was stupid and didn't know what to do, Li Yu smiled and waved his hand to let everyone go and get busy, Han Laohan followed behind his ass and proudly showed off, see no, this is the general of our village, it is a great honor for you to enter our village!

Li Yu didn't understand the handiwork of the iron factory, but felt that there were more processes, and people seemed to be doing one thing repeatedly, some were rolling and smashing iron sheets, some were forging pipes, some were grinding pipes, some were welding pipes, and there were special ones who put pipes into oil for annealing-Li Mao complained that there were too few people in the village who knew how to make blacksmith skills, so he could only dismantle the work in detail, teach the people who worked a few simple actions, and do it repeatedly and repeatedly, just making the pipes was divided into more than a dozen processes.

Li Yu is very worried that his gang of villagers who can only farm and herd sheep will not be able to do a good job, Chen Shishi explained, this method used to be used in his hometown, such as Dayang iron needle marketing the world, but the iron needle work requirements are extremely fine, the difficulty is not lower than the mirror plow, every peak season of shipment, the craftsman is not busy at all, Dayang including women, children are working to make money, this set of flowing water work method is useful at this time, making billet, grinding needle, punching, polishing, picking, each do their own work, the action is simple Everyone learns quickly, It's not easy to make mistakes.

Li Mao shook his head and added, the work of the gun pipe is still not easy, if it is broken, it will kill people, the most troublesome thing is that the gun pipe is forged with layers of iron sheets rolled with steel cores, each section is only two feet long, to make a six or seven feet long gun pipe must be welded with copper powder, but also to add iron hoop to fix, this process is the most critical and the most difficult, or have to be done by a few of their skilled masters, this is how there is a small half of the gun pipe scrapped.

"Such a difficult job, you can do it for ten taels of silver? I've heard that a bird gun is thirty taels, and the ordnance department's gun pipe needs twenty taels to make it. Li Yu was a little surprised.

"The things that the government wants are always expensive, or what do those dog officials eat, in fact, when the imperial court called for iron tools in Yangcheng, we didn't cheat the government out of money," Li Mao smiled and explained to Li Yu, "We don't use coal for iron smelting, but bury the coal in the ground to burn and deodorize, and then use coking coal to smelt iron, and the iron needle must be made of this coking coal, and the steel fire is much better than ordinary iron, and the coal here is cheap, and coking doesn't cost a few dollars, we use the iron smelted from coking coal to make guns, and only scrap three or four out of ten guns, And use the flowing water to do the work, the craftsmen used are few, and the wages can also be saved, and the Ordnance Division uses iron to make agricultural tools, and it is definitely not possible to make three or four branches out of ten, plus the wages of their craftsmen are high, and the guns made are of course expensive, I heard that it costs more money to make artillery in Beijing, and it is good to cast the cannon pipe ten times to make two times, and a Hongyi cannon costs two thousand taels of silver, and the court is really rich and wasteful! ”

"I worked in the Ordnance Division, and the gun pipe is really difficult to do, there are too many scraps, twenty or two are about the same, and I can't even think of casting cannons." Han Laohan also nodded.

"Can you also forge cannons? How much does a 500-pound Franc machine cost? Li Yu asked with wide eyes.

"We are blacksmiths, and the work of a caster can be a mirror plough at most, and the casting cannon is not sure," Chen Shishi scratched his head embarrassedly, and then reminded, "Commander, the master of Guangtie is the best to cast cannons, they use charcoal to smelt iron, and the iron cannons they make are also quite useful, I heard from the deputy envoy Wang of the Department of Industry and Commerce that Dongshengwei has a master from Foshan, maybe they can cast cannons." ”

Li Yu nodded, it seems that the work of casting cannons in the future will be looking for the little man Chen Decai, but he is still very happy in his heart, and keeps praising Li Mao and Chen Shishi, almost blowing the two of them into gods, Li Mao and Chen Shishi blushed, their ability is actually Yangcheng's hundreds of years of experience in making iron, and the older craftsmen know that they happened to use it in the right place.

At the gate of the iron factory, Meng Ke and Jida were talking and laughing with a tall and sturdy young man, and when they saw Li Yu coming, Jida pointed to the young man and introduced: "Great commander, you have to get to know this kid, Liu Erhu from Yansui, the big name Liu Tichun, the squadron leader of our village." ”

"Liu Tichun, the captain of the 5,000th household and the 100th household of Fengzhou Wei, visited the commander." The young man hurriedly saluted Li Yu, Li Yu stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, only to find that this kid had a look of worship on his face, and his eyes were still shining with tears.

From the first day he walked into Baita Village, Liu Tichun has been receiving traditional education from the elders in the village - do you know what Baita Village is? It is the place where the commander went out, and it is also the place where the invincible Fengzhou Army first raised troops, do you know how many big people have been born in Baita Village? In addition to the commander, there are also Li Xiangli, who is in charge of money and food, Meng Ke, the chief and deputy battalion officer of the Flying Tiger Battalion, and Jida are all out of our village, and there are even more of the sentry commanders of the battalion and the captain of the guard station. Liu Erhu has heard a lot, and his mind is bigger, the big man who went out of Baita Village is an idol, he must also get ahead, like other up-and-coming young immigrants, he is young and strong, he has practiced martial arts, and he knows a few words, and he is bold enough, dare to fight with a wooden stick and a wild boar, in this environment in Fengzhou, it is difficult not to be promoted, he became the squadron leader of a hundred households in less than half a year, and he seems to be getting closer and closer to his idol, and now the idol he worships is really in front of him, Liu Erhu is almost so excited that he wants to cry.

Li Yu casually asked a few words about the spring exercises, and found that this guy couldn't say a word, just kept wiping his tears, Li Yu found out for the first time that he had such a great charm, and he was still a little proud in his heart, and he was about to comfort this guy a few words, and Baihu Dabu came with a crutch.

"Yuzi, don't say hello to the villagers when you go home, you look down on us when you become a big official? Go, come back with me, the meal is ready. Old Dab said a little angrily.

"Uncle, I'll go into the village with you, and I'll leave when I see everyone, I'm too crowded here, so I won't eat." Li Yu smiled and hugged the old man.

"Nonsense, how can you not eat when you go home, you want people to laugh at the people in our village?" Dabu couldn't say anything, pulled Li Yu and left, Meng Ke, Jida, Chen Erzhu, Liu Shishi and the gang immediately became happy, Baita Village is also their home, and the guards followed behind, and the group walked towards the village with a smile.

The people in the village have been waiting at the entrance of the village, hundreds of men, women and children, and they cheered when they saw Li Yu - Baita Village is located on the south bank of the Heihe River, the population is not much, there are only fifty or sixty families left after the war and plague, the land in this area is fertile and suitable for farming, and there is pasture nearby to graze, there are exiled Han people living here during the Altan Khan period, and later there are Mongolians moving in, half-farming and half-pastoral, Mongolian and Han mixed living for several generations, and the living customs also tend to be sinicized, the Great Commander's Office believes that the Heihe River is very suitable for resettlement of immigrants, As a result, a large number of Shanxi and Shaanxi people came here, and Baita Village became a large village with more than 300 households, and most people Li Yu did not know them at all.

Liu Tichun opened the road in front with great interest, the old Baihu Dabu took Li Yu to meet with the elders in the village, Li Yu saw that the village had added so many people, his heart was very happy, and his accent was also messed up, and when he saw the Mongolians, he blessed a few auspicious words in Mongolian, and when he saw the people of Shanxi, he used the northern Jin dialect to greet a few words, and when he met the people of Shaanxi, he couldn't forget to say a few words of northern Shaanxi, and the old people were happy, and they all felt that the commander was his hometown. Dabu also got excited, and said loudly to everyone, the general is worried about so many things in Fengzhou, and he can't forget the villagers in the village, so he came to visit everyone, the people of Baita Village are blessed, we must also be worthy of the care of the general, and we must not smear the face of the general in life and work, and the people also responded in unison, the general can rest assured, the people of Baita Village will never disgrace you.

During the meal, Dabu invited Li Yu to his home, Su He had already gone home first, killed two sheep, and burned the soil kang to warm up, Su He's sister-in-law, that is, the former widow of Zhou, was busy with several women. As soon as Li Yu entered the door, Su He's daughter Qiqige pounced, the little girl grew up, became more and more beautiful, and talked a lot, took Li Yu's hand and said that she had a brother, Jida dragged the little boy who was pestering him over and told Li Yu that this little Laipi was Qiqige's brother, nicknamed Zhuzi.

"Tell Uncle, do you like it here?" Li Yu smiled and pulled the pillar over and asked—he recognized it, the kid had met him when he followed Su He out of the village in the morning.

"Yes, there is no hunger here," Pillar replied honestly, before adding, "Sue and Daddy, Grandpa Dab, Uncle Jeddah, and Sister Kikige are all good, I like them." ”

Li Yu was even happier, pressed the shoulder of the pillar and asked, "Pillar, what do you want to do when you grow up?" ”

"Being a battalion soldier, like Uncle Jeddah, with horses and armor," Zhuzi felt that this uncle who spoke northern Shaanxi was very close, hesitated for a moment and asked, "Uncle, Uncle Jeddah said that you are the biggest official in Fengzhou, and the battalion soldiers are all under your control, can I be a battalion soldier with Uncle Jeddah?" ”

Kikige immediately grimaced on the side: "Shame or not, riding a horse is not as good as me, and you still want to be a battalion soldier, so Uncle Jeddah doesn't want you." ”

Zhuzi was a little depressed, and Li Yu laughed: "Zhuzi, come to me when you grow up, your Uncle Jida doesn't want you, Uncle Yuzi wants you." ”

Then the pillar became happy, and pulled Kikige out to ride a horse, and Gilda was startled, shouted "Don't spoil my horse", and hurried out.

Han Laohan also came with Li Mao and Chen Shishi, plus the village's trial hundred households and teachings - an old man from Shanxi who had read for a few days, Lao Dabu beckoned everyone to go to the kang together, and the old and young crowded on the hot kang together, talking and laughing and eating, Liu Tichun was not idle, and took Li Yu's guards to set up a table in the outhouse and eat. Su and his sister-in-law's meals have an obvious taste of northern Shaanxi, Li Yu was very happy to eat, and ate three bowls of buckwheat gnocchi poured mutton, Su and his sister-in-law looked at their hearts and moved, and when they went out, they told their fellow villagers and sisters that the general commander is our Yansui people, or they wouldn't eat the buckwheat gnocchi I made so fragrant.

After eating, they chatted for a while, and Chen Erzhu and Liu Shishi, who went home by the way, came back, Li Yu was in a hurry, and hurriedly said goodbye to everyone, and before leaving, he also instructed Wu Xian to quietly leave some money - the officials of Fengzhou were only sent to the level of a thousand households, and the officials of the hundred households were still very poor, and they also had to farm and graze to feed the family, and this meal was not easy for the Dabu family. When the villagers heard that the general was leaving, they all walked out of the house and followed Dabu to the entrance of the village to see off Li Yu, and did not disperse until they could no longer see anyone.

Li Yu galloped all the way, and only returned to the Great Commander's Mansion at night, Li Huai, Ortai, Li Fugui three Tongzhi, Yun Rong, Wang Ziyong, Zhao Ji three servants, and Du Wenhuan, Ma Guangyuan, and Terige were discussing in the lobby, after Li Yu sat down, Li Huai immediately reported to him the results of the discussion.

"After analysis, the Great Commander's Office believes that the possibility of the Jin army entering the Kou this year is indeed very large, the time is about April to August, early they can't complete the spring ploughing, late in the heavy snow can't go back, its strength will not exceed 50,000," Li Huai looked at Li Yu and nodded, paused and said in an accentuated tone, "This is the most severe test in the history of Fengzhou, we have no way to retreat, we must defeat them, but at present, we can't know the exact movement of the Jin army, we must do three things in advance, first of all, strictly seal the news, Spring ploughing is very important and must not be affected in any way; Secondly, Buck's caravan should send men to infiltrate to the east, especially the most likely gathering place of the Jin army, the Xilamulun River, and the Titang Division and the Inspection Department will strengthen the inventory of people entering Fengzhou from now on, so as to beware of the Jin State spies; Third, it is necessary to strengthen armaments, change this year's autumn drill to after spring ploughing, first complete the build-up of troops in the name of the exercise, and appropriately extend the time of the exercise. ”

Du Wenhuan frowned and said: "My strength in Fengzhou is far inferior to Jianyi, but they come from afar, the supply of troops, grain and grass is a big problem, according to the intelligence analysis brought back from Liaodong by the Titang Division, 50,000 people is the limit of the strength they can use, half of them are still the Mongols who are not strong in battle, as long as we are well prepared, it is entirely possible to defeat them, the most troublesome thing at present is that the main force of our infantry army is suppressing thieves in the pass, and it is inconvenient to recall them for the matter of chasing wind and shadows." Also, during the spring exercises, I found that the garrison of the guard post was seriously incomplete, especially the armor, and there were less than 100 sets of armor in a brigade, so it was too much of a loss to engage the Jin army with such equipment. ”

Ma Guangyuan immediately continued: "The Great Commander's Mansion will give me some more money, the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department have come up with a simple armor, inlaid with iron sheets in the vital parts of the leather armor, the cost is only thirty percent of the iron armor, and it can be used in battle, and the iron head and heavy arrows should also be more reserved, that thing is used the fastest, and saltpeter, my firearms need a lot of gunpowder, and a long-handled plate axe......." ”

"You're not going to live anymore?" Li Fugui interrupted Ma Guangyuan angrily, and then scolded rudely, "**** Jianyi, Lao Tzu finally freed his hands to plant crops, you are going to make trouble and kill these bastards." ”

"They will come sooner or later, it's better to come early than late, so that we don't have to think about them all the time, we have survived many desperate situations over the years, the gods and Buddhas must be bless us, if the Jin army comes, it will be looking for death." Ortai had already thought about it, but he didn't panic at all.

"You all agree to fight?" Li Yu asked a little impatiently.

"Hit!" The word of the crowd replied.

"That's it, I'll go back to sleep," Li Yu yawned, since everyone was determined to fight, he was relaxed, thought about it and said, "Send a letter to Liu Xingzuo, Batu, and Bai Xianzhi, let them have a number in their hearts, Li Xiangli will also squeeze out some more money to give to Lao Ma, and he is reluctant to spend money at this time." ”

"Hermes-Epitek, sign this document first, Shen Shoulian went back to Suzhou to get away, and his position could only be transferred to Sun Tingyao." Li Huai handed Li Yu the document appointing Sun Tingyao to participate in politics and manage the affairs of the Banknote Bureau.

"Rich people just know how to play tricks, and there are also turns to be officials," Li Yu yawned and signed the paperwork, and asked casually, "How is Lao Sun's business?" ”

"Sun Tingyao is also a good person, Shanxi merchants entered Fengzhou to do business, and the silver in his hands flowed into the silver banknote bureau to exchange money, and more than 30,000 taels of silver were added to his silver treasury, and now he is printing and minting coins with his life, if he hears the news that the Jin army may be attacked, he will definitely be scared half to death." Li Huai couldn't help but laugh when he thought of Sun Tingyao's frightened appearance.

Li Yu dragged his tired body away, and everyone looked at each other, it was over so quickly, and we have been discussing it for so long, Zhao Ji said enviously, the Great Commander is the best, as long as he understands things, he can sleep when the sky falls.

"Don't worry about him, in a few days we will start spring ploughing, the battle will be fought, and the food will be eaten." Li Fugui began to chatter, after he watched the sky at night, it is likely that the wind and rain will be smooth this year, if the evil Jin Jun dares to come to ruin his good deeds, he has to fight with these guys, Wang Ziyong nodded uncontrollably, but the others quietly slipped away.