Chapter 3: New Year's Pass

The third year of Chongzhen is coming, which is the first Spring Festival to be spent after Tang Xidong came to Daming.

For everyone, it is the most anticipated day of the year, but for Tang Xidong, it is the loneliest and lowest day.

The festive season is accompanied by relatives, and the wine is accompanied by guests.

And he seems to have nothing, only endless labor waiting in line.

I thought I had integrated into this era, but on Chinese New Year's Eve, I found that nothing had changed, and everything was still out of place.

Lonely people are shameful, and the shame is not loneliness, but a heart that can't be warmed.

The lanterns are colorful, the peach charm hangs the door, the laughter and laughter, and the firecrackers are ringing in unison, whether it is Pingyang City or Luoliang Mountain.

Everything was full of joy.

Therefore, Tang Xidong also has a smile on his face and joy in his words.

But that beating heart lost its vitality.

At the peak of Luoliang Mountain, Tang Xidong sat on the stone, the wind was blowing very cold, but fortunately, there was a pot of good wine.

Below him is the lit Luoliang Mountain, and in his eyes are the blurred figures on the mountain, as well as the laughter of children.

Looking at everything, a smile hooked up at the corner of his mouth, and the fly in the ointment was a little bitter.

Avoiding everyone, he needs to find a quiet corner for himself that only belongs to himself and the memories of his past life, enough for him to reminisce alone, enough for him to pay tribute to alone.

It's the New Year, Mom, Parents, Qianqian, Xiaofeng, are you okay?

I can't go back, I would like to toast you with a glass of wine here, and I wish you to forget all the unpleasant pasts and unpleasant people.

I wish you a long life and a happy day.

The sky is full of stars, but I don't know which one to look at.

Staggered down the mountain, Xiao Qian was leading people around to look for him, in the hall of the cottage, everyone had already arrived, just waiting for him to be seated.

After being busy for half a year and making great achievements, we need to set up a banquet for everyone to sing and laugh and enjoy the precious leisure.

Therefore, Tang Xidong needs to hide his inner emotions, put on a happy mask, and accompany everyone to have a happy Chinese New Year's Eve.

The Spring Festival should be a small node in life, which needs to be written with heavy ink, but obviously for Tang Xidong, the simpler everything is, the better.

Let's sum up this small half year in two sentences: steal peace in the troubled times, and get back a new life in the hard work!

————

Luoliang Mountain, there are coal kilns, mines, fertile fields, greenhouses, companies, coking plants, cement plants, steel plants, weapons rooms, gunpowder stores, and a Pingyang City.

There are tens of thousands of people in Pingyang City, 5,000 new troops, and 8,000 mountain people and 2,000 companies in the cottage.

As soon as the year passes, the hard work resumes.

After repeated realization, the cement was finally formed and put into production.

Next, the arch bridge connecting the two city walls was built, and in addition to the arch bridge, there was also an official road connecting Luoliang Mountain and Pingyang City.

There are not enough personnel, and now that there is money and food, Tang Xidong sent people into the city to recruit workers.

Bridges and roads are being built at a rapid pace every day.

The 5,000 new troops in Pingyang City, the two-month intensive training is about to be completed, each person has one tael of silver and 100 catties of grain per month, and the recruits are all loyal and rich crops, and the monthly salary is doubled during the war, and the war exploits are divided into five levels, corresponding to five levels of rich rewards.

The new army is about to be completed, but unfortunately the weapons cannot be installed for the time being, so for the time being, they can only attack and defend the city wall, train in the car formation, and stab and slash with swords and guns.

Binh Duong City is still in a state of looseness on the outside and tightness on the inside, and the lords in the city have the opportunity to visit relatives on the mountain three times a month, but they must be carried out separately and must not be coordinated.

It took half a month, beckoning 2,000 young people, and the official road leading to Pingyang City was finally built into a cement road.

When the concrete road was completed and the barricades were removed, the whole city of Binh Duong was boiling.

The cement seems to have been magnified to the sacred relics given by the gods.

Tang Xidong didn't care what everyone thought, he only knew that there was not much time left for him, Pingyang Mansion had already seized a lot of spies sent into Pingyang City by Jinyiwei and Dongchang, and Han Yi, who was trapped in the mountain, almost knew the fact that he had taken control of Pingyang City.

The news of the loss of Pingyang City could not be concealed for a long time, and Tang Xidong could foresee that once the matter was exposed, he would face a bloody storm.

The sense of crisis forced Tang Xidong to remind himself from time to time to speed up the progress of development.

Manpower is still an important resource in this era, and he must find a way to make full use of the tens of thousands of people in Binh Duong City.

He had been busy with cottage construction and industrialization, but now he needs to focus on Binh Duong City.

Since we want to raise the banner of reform, we naturally cannot be limited to one city and one place.

The military, finance, agriculture, commerce, industry, transportation, and water conservancy all need to be developed.

Five thousand recruits is not much, and he needs more troops to defend the fruits of his creation.

So on the day of the Shangyuan Festival, the training ground outside Pingyang City was crowded with people and onlookers.

As early as a few days ago, Tang Xidong sent people in the name of the prefect Cen Huayan and the commander Zhang Xiahai to post notices all over the streets and alleys: The New Army Military Parade Ceremony.

The time was set at the morning of the Shangyuan Festival.

In addition to the 5,000 new troops, there were also 1,000 members of the Luoliangshan Company.

Although the new army had undergone two months of intensive training, after all, the weapons were incomplete and the discipline was not strong, so Tang Xidong had no choice but to bring in the Luoliangshan Company to strengthen its momentum.

At the parade ground, ten squares of five hundred people plus one thousand-person square lined up neatly.

Referring to the military parade mode of later generations, the neat and uniform phalanx, after circling the field for a week, then gathered in the playground for marching drills.

The hour is on the hour.

The parade officially began.

Tang Xidong sat in the middle of the second row of the parade platform, with the prefect Cen Huayan and the commander Zhang Xiahai in front of him, as well as the officials of Pingyang Prefecture, and he was among a group of squires and wealthy businessmen. There was exactly a vacant seat between Cen Huayan and Zhang Xiahai, so that Tang Xidong could see the military parade scene under the stage.

The clock rang, and the parade officially began.

The 500 square teams of the new army marched around the playground with uniform steps.

Stepping on the same pace, neat formation, black clothes and black pants, holding knives and guns, came slowly.

The spacing between the phalanxes is equal.

Stepping to the front of the parade platform, the leader drew the knife, and in an instant, 500 people shouted in unison: "Kill", the long knife was unsheathed, the left and right were slashed, the knife was shining, the murderous spirit was awe-inspiring, the pace did not stop, neat and not chaotic, passing in front of the parade platform.

Tang Xidong did not set a slogan, because he was not ready to instill his ideas from the afterlife into the minds of every recruit, and at present, he knew that the conditions were not yet ripe.

In the hearts of these recruits, there is no influence over him, these people are just taking money to join the army.

Under the parade stage, a group of recruits walked neatly, orders and prohibitions, in unison, five hundred people like one person, although these young and strong are still young, without war, but the iron discipline between the team is enough to shock the onlookers all over the city.

Among the people, there were constant cheers and applause, and those who had children in the family who joined the army were even prouder and proudly showing off to the people around them, pointing out their sons and brothers in the phalanx.

And the people who have no family members around them to join the army are all envious and jealous.

There was also such a part of the crowd, their faces were excited, and they kept telling the people around them that their families were in the ranks, and they also showed off to others that their children were in the new army, they had money and food, and they could receive rewards for good performance, and the most important thing was that the new army did not deduct food and wages, and the food was very good.

It caused a burst of excitement among the young people around him, and his eyes showed longing.

Ten squares, or marching silently, or shouting to kill the heavens, wielding swords fiercely.

Zhang Xiahai's eyes showed a trace of complexity and admiration, he didn't turn his head to look at the scholar behind him, but he knew in his heart that the scholar must be very proud at this moment.

He has the capital to be proud, because he has done what many people in the entire Ming Dynasty have not done, seeing these recruits, a desire swelled in his heart, if these recruits are brought out by themselves, if these recruits can be commanded by themselves, then they will be able to make great achievements and leave a name in history.

On the parade platform, around Tang Xidong, those squires and rich people and government lords were all shocked and frightened in their hearts.

And, of course, despair.

This is what Tang Xidong is most willing to see, and it is also one of the purposes of the time-consuming and laborious military parade to deter these old officials who have been restless and ready to move!