Dong Yuanyu has a connection with the leader of the rebel army on the side of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, this is something that Su Ziheng has known for a long time, and this time when he heard her talk about it, he couldn't help asking: "Fu'er, how sure are you?" ”

Dong Yuan replied loudly: "The slave can guarantee to bring back at least 5,000 people, and if you can provide the other party with silver taels and weapons, 20,000 or 30,000 people will not matter, and the exact amount depends on how much we can provide." ”

Su Ziheng and Zhong Qinghan glanced at each other and saw the heat in each other's eyes. Su Ziheng stood up and said happily: "Is this true? ”

Dong Yuan said: "In the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the population was the least valuable. What they lack is weapons and food, and if they start a war, they can capture tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of people at will, and the key is to see if we can pay the starting price. ”

Su Ziheng laughed and said: "Weapons and food are nothing to us, as long as we have money, we can naturally buy them." Population is the most precious thing for us, so you can go and negotiate with the other side about how many weapons and food we need, and we can be prepared. ”

Dong Yuanyu looked up in surprise and said, "Childe, aren't you going to go with the slave?" ”

Su Ziheng shook his head and said, "It's good for you to go alone, I can't leave for the time being, I have to go to Jiangning Mansion." But you don't have to worry, I will arrange a few people for you to call, you go and bring 5,000 people back first, and then discuss the specific plan of the transaction with the other party, and then we will trade as agreed. ”

Dong Yuanyu's eyes flashed and said, "Childe is so relieved that the slave and maid will go alone, isn't he afraid that the slave and maid will run away and not come back?" ”

Su Ziheng laughed again: "Your feet grow on yourself, and I didn't tie you up and didn't let you go." Besides, I'm sure you're so smart that you know what's best for you. ”

For a skilled shinobi, there is no point in staying by force. Only if she is willing to stay, the value created will be the greatest.

……

……

Zhong Qinghan arranged for several people from the Secret Investigation Division to accompany Dongyuan Yu to the Eastern Wei Dynasty by boat, taking the direction of the sea route, with a population of 5,000 people, and it was impossible to rush from the chaotic Eastern Wei to Donghai County by land, because there was a big river blocking the way.

Leaving the courtyard, Su Ziheng went in the direction where the workshop was located, and his trip was to check the progress of gunpowder and cement manufacturing on the one hand, and to visit the Ou Crow Nine Master on the other.

A small part of the gunpowder production is used to make pottery grenades, and more is used to open mines and bomb mountains. At present, the population of Donghai County is small, and it is unrealistic to rely on manual mining of stones, and it is impossible to complete such a huge number of stone mining work at the specified time, so blowing up the mountain with gunpowder is the fastest way.

Although in this way, a lot of gunpowder will be wasted, but Zhong Qinghan doesn't care. She had already arranged for the old housekeeper Zhong Heyu to order the subordinates in the prefecture to purchase raw materials for the manufacture of gunpowder in the state capitals of the south of the Yangtze River, as well as raw materials for the manufacture of cement.

This time, she arranged for the people in the government to do the census work, and was surprised to find that there were limestone mines in the Donghai Mountains, which greatly improved the convenience of cement firing work.

When Su Ziheng set out to conquer Zhenbao Island, he found that there was a volcano on the island, and he ordered someone to collect a lot of volcanic ash to see if the craftsmen on the side of the workshop could burn out the lime and volcanic ash cement.

Once fired, it is an excellent raw material for the manufacture of docks, as it is resistant to seawater erosion and is particularly suitable for the manufacture of protective embankments. When the salt pans were built, they could also be used to build reservoirs to store seawater.

After arriving at the workshop, Su Ziheng found Mao Boyi, the person in charge of firing cement, and gave him the firing formula of lime ash cement and the volcanic ash brought out from Zhenbao Island, and asked him to start studying the firing experiment of volcanic ash cement.

Since Mao Boyi started firing cement, he has been full of curiosity about making cement for various purposes, and is particularly keen on firing cement for different purposes. This time, when I heard that after adding volcanic ash, cement can resist the erosion of seawater, and I couldn't help but increase my interest, and I patted Su Ziheng's chest and assured that it would definitely be developed in the shortest possible time.

Anyway, he doesn't need to do the ordinary cement firing in the workshop now, and he has brought out several apprentices who can fire cement independently, and he can concentrate on the research of new cement.

For this reason, Su Ziheng was happy to see it, and he originally planned to set up a research institute to include the craftsmen with the most advanced skills and professional research spirit, and to be responsible for the development of new technologies. After researching new technologies, we will pass them on to the people who are specifically responsible for production below. In this way, new technologies are constantly emerging and do not stop research.

After coming out of the cement workshop, Su Ziheng found Master Ou Crow Nine. Ou Crow Nine was teaching his disciples to build the foundry at the moment, and he had been on the road for the past few months, and he had not been able to build weapons.

This time he finally settled down, and he began to wait to get ready to start work. For Ou Crow Jiu, forging weapons has become a matter that goes deep into the bone marrow, and his hands will itch if he doesn't touch the hammer for a day.

After seeing Su Ziheng coming, Ou Yajiu left his apprentices, greeted him with a smile, and greeted: "Congratulations to Su Gongzi for returning from this victory, Gongzi is really talented." ”

Su Ziheng arched his hand and smiled: "Master Crow Nine has praised it, thanks to the soldiers below who sacrificed their lives to fight to the death. ”

After a pause, Su Ziheng continued: "I've been busy outside for the past few days, and I've neglected Master Crow Nine, I hope you'll forgive me." ”

Ou Yajiu hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Where is Su Gongzi, Gongzi is a person who does great things, and there is no need to pay too much attention to old age." Just ......"

Su Ziheng saw that Ou Yajiu wanted to speak and stopped, and hurriedly said: "Master has something to say, please talk about it, no need to be polite." ”

Ou Yajiu smiled at this time: "It's not a big deal, it's just that Gongzi promised to teach the old man the method of refining 100 steel, I don't know if it still counts?" ”

Su Ziheng laughed and said, "Of course, I came here to discuss this matter with Master Crow Nine." ”

Ou Yao Jiu was overjoyed and said: "Su Gongzi, please, let's go in and talk in detail." ”

Although he first arrived in Donghai County, Su Ziheng took good care of these craftsmen, and divided them into independent areas according to different workshops.

After entering, Ou Ya Jiu instructed a junior woman in the clan to make tea, and he wanted Su Ziheng to ask for a lesson in the refining method of 100 steel.

Su Ziheng said: "If you want to make good steel, the key lies in the blast furnace and good coke. Cement and refractory bricks for the construction of blast furnaces are still under development, so it is not possible to produce 100 steels in large quantities. ”

Ou Yajiu's face was immediately full of disappointment when he heard this, but Su Ziheng immediately added: "Master Yajiu doesn't need to be too anxious, these are all about to produce results at present, and such a blast furnace can be built in a year at most." I'm here today because I have another matter to ask Master Crow Nine. ”

Ou Yao Jiu Zhengse said: "Childe, please speak?" ”

Su Ziheng said: "I want to ask Master Crow Nine to help make a flintlock pistol. ”