People come and go on the Cangzhou Canal Wharf, and the wharf has been expanded several times, and even the river next to the wharf has been widened several times.

A bitter cold land on the border, a border state capital for exiled prisoners, now full of merchants, just because Cangzhou Jinglufu has money, a large amount of purchases, from cloth to make military uniforms to iron to make armor weapons, a large amount of food, and craftsmen from all over the country to make a living.

All kinds of materials and personnel, as long as they move Cangzhou, will be fully accepted by the Jinglue Mansion. There is even a joke in the business travel: even if you transport a stone to Cangzhou, Jinglufu will spend money to buy it for you.

Materials are too important, and Zheng Zhixing, who hoarded materials, may have thought more about it and thought about it more long-term.

Money is such a thing, Zheng Zhi can get it by all means, but money is just a pile of metal after all, all kinds of materials are far more important than money, and money will only be valuable to Zheng Zhi after it is spent.

When Zheng Zhi returned to Cangzhou, the first thing he did was to go to the factory in the valley outside the city.

The garrison of the valley became more and more heavily guarded, and the sound of metal striking echoing through the valley could be heard in the distance. Nowadays, the production of armor and weapons is here, and there are two or three thousand craftsmen.

Zheng Zhi rode all the way forward, passing one stove after another, and many simple buildings were built on both sides, including people's houses, warehouses, and simple wooden sheds covering the stoves.

At the innermost point, there is a fence separating the inside and outside. Now the valley is not as rumbling as it used to be, and the idea seems to be extremely quiet, and it is much quieter than casting.

Ling Zhen saw Zheng Zhi and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Zheng Zhi was not polite, and asked bluntly: "How much has been made?" ”

Zheng Zhi was turning over and dismounting, Ling Zhen hurriedly stepped forward to help, but Zheng Zhi was agile, and when Ling Zhen had just made a move, Zheng Zhi had already dismounted and stood still.

"Xianggong, there are eighteen cannons, and some slightly smaller cannons have been made, there are seven or eight." Ling Zhen replied.

Zheng Zhi nodded and said, "Where is it, take me to see." ”

Ling Zhen hurriedly led the way, through the fence into the innermost part of the valley, there were a few slightly smaller cannons on the side of the road, it looked like there were seven or eight hundred catties in size, and several craftsmen were carrying small wooden barrels to grease the cannon body to prevent rust.

Ling Zhen saw that Zheng Zhi was looking at these slightly smaller cannons, and hurriedly said: "Xianggong, I didn't want to make these small cannons, but three months ago, the pig iron was not in supply, and the remaining leftovers produced a small cannon. ”

Ling Zhen explained the reason for building these small cannons, but he also thought more properly, if the army is really in a hurry, the cannons will definitely fall behind, but this kind of small cannons can keep up with the team.

Zheng Zhi nodded when he heard this, and walked forward, walking to the innermost, under a long grass shed, more than a dozen huge artillery pieces were neatly arranged.

The barrel of the black hole of the artillery is facing Zheng Zhi, the momentum is really a little terrifying, the black barrel is not very flat, but it is shiny.

Zheng Zhi looked left and right, extremely satisfied, and commanded: "Bring ten cannons and four small cannons to Cangbei Shipyard." I will leave tomorrow, and I will go to Cangbei Shipyard in a few days. ”

Ling Zhen didn't ask much when he heard this, but replied: "Obey." ”

In fact, China's artillery development was not much behind the West, and the artillery power of the Ming Dynasty was not bad, and it was also the world's leading level at that time. During the Songjin War of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, both sides had artillery, and the artillery was extremely powerful, and the Hongyi cannon that arose in China in the middle and late Ming Dynasty actually represented the general level of artillery in the world at that time.

The backwardness of artillery began in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, that is, in the early Qing Dynasty, and a large number of artillery were used in combat, whether it was the conquest of Mongolian Junggerdan or the pacification of the three feudatories, artillery has become a necessary combat weapon for the army.

China's real backwardness in thermal weapons began with the Qing Dynasty, and after the country was pacified, the Qing Dynasty began to really close the country, and these things were sealed up and no longer developed. By the time of the great development of muskets, China's gap in thermal weapons had reached an irreparable point, and it had also caused a tragedy for more than 100 years in modern times.

Many people think that China has been the same since ancient times, but in fact it is not. The real seclusion began in the Qing Dynasty. Although the Ming Dynasty also had a sea ban, it was not closed to the country. In the late Ming Dynasty, the artillery-making technology was greatly influenced by the West at that time.

After Zheng Zhi inspected the factory, he was still quite satisfied, and everything was going according to plan.

When Zheng Zhi returned to Jingluo Mansion, the little guy outside the door came to report, saying that Wu Yong outside the door asked to see him.

Wu Yong's request to see Zheng Zhi was a little surprised, and it stands to reason that Wu Yong can't get out of bed at this time.

When he saw a few little guys carrying Wu to the small hall, Zheng Zhi also laughed in his heart.

With Wu Yong, there were also four big men, the temperature was already a little cool, and these four people were still wearing short cloth clothes.

After Wu Yong paid a visit, he turned around and said, "Come and meet Xianggong." ”

The four big men hurriedly knelt on the ground, and said in unison: "Meet Xianggong." ”

After the four of them knelt down to greet each other, a man kowtowed his head and said, "Thank you for your great kindness." ”

Zheng Zhi was stunned when he heard this sentence, he had never met these four people, where did he get kindness, he turned his head to look at Wu Yong.

Wu Yong hurriedly said: "Xianggong, these are the leaders of the naval army in Liangshan at the beginning, this person is Zhang Shun, this is Ruan Xiaoer, and the other two are Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi. They are all masters in the water, and today they specially brought a few people to meet Xianggong. ”

Zheng Zhi listened to this, looked at these four people, just now he was thinking about meeting these people, at this time, Zheng Zhi and these people have still met, they have met on the water of the Liangshan Shuibo from afar, and they have also met outside Cangzhou City. Then he opened his mouth and asked Ruan Xiaoer, who had just spoken: "I don't know what kindness I have with your brother?" ”

Ruan Xiaoer opened his mouth and replied: "Xianggong killed the old and young of the Zeng family, and avenged Brother Chao Gai, such a great kindness, my three brothers are unforgettable." ”

Zheng Zhi only figured it out at this time, looked at Wu Yong again, and seemed to understand why Wu Yong hurriedly called Han Shizhong into Zengtou City, people always have to talk about a little feeling. If a person does not have a trace of affection in his heart, he cannot be called a human being.

Zheng Zhi saw Ruan Xiaoer's sincere appearance, and he could bear this gratitude in his heart, and asked, "Liangshan Water Army, how much can you recruit?" ”

Wu Yong replied: "Back to Xianggong, most of the Liangshan Water Army was wiped out, and they were all in the prisoner of war camp in Cangbei. There are two more leaders, one of whom is called Li Jun, who is not known where he is, and may also be out of the prisoner of war camp. One person called Zhang Heng is Zhang Shun's brother, and this person has returned to his hometown in Jiangzhou. ”

"Well, in a few days, if you want to go to Cangbei, the four of you will go with you. Tomorrow, I will go to the factory outside the city to find a person named Ling Zhen and learn some crafts first. Zheng Zhi said a few words, and arranged these four people. The ships built by the Cangbei Shipyard are not decorations, and the Ruan brothers and Zhang Shun will probably also be arranged on these ships. As for the craft to be learned, of course, it is to operate the cannon.

Wu Yong heard that Zheng Zhi asked these four people to go to Cangbei together, so he naturally understood that there was an errand, and he was overjoyed, and hurriedly replied: "Thank you for your grace." ”

Zheng Zhi waved his hand: "You're welcome, you can go home and raise it for a few more days, and go to Cangbei together." ”

"Don't worry, in a few days, the students will be able to walk on the ground, although they can't ride horses yet, they can take cars." Wu replied with his opening that he returned to Cangzhou from Yunzhou, walked slowly all the way, and stayed in Qizhou and Dizhou for a while, and now he is almost raised.

Outside Qingchi City, the military camp and school field have expanded several times, and 50,000 people have been filled, and military order slogans are everywhere, one after another.

Outside the city, not only the military camp has expanded a lot, but also built a lot of private houses, and now Cangzhou Jingluo Mansion is like a huge enterprise, full horsepower production, and naturally more people come to Cangzhou to beg for a living. Everything from coolies at the docks to construction workers and carpenters. Naturally, these people also want to live in a place, and the city is too expensive, so people outside the city will slowly build simple houses to live in.

Zheng Zhi took Yang Zaixing, Yue Fei, Niu Da, and Lao Hu to slowly beat horses and wander around the camp. Everything was in order.

The training ground is mostly lined up, and there are both new recruits and veterans. Some of the recruits had already received brand new armor, and many more were dressed in linen uniforms, red and gray, with felt hats on their heads.

Naturally, there is a system for the selection of recruits, the upper class is trained in horse and shooting, the middle ironclad foot soldier, and the inferior is naturally baggage logistics. Regardless of the level, the basic training must be completed with a pass.

Zheng Zhi drove the horse all the way slowly, and he didn't see much without passing anywhere, just watching the flowers. Someone recognized Zheng Zhi who was passing by, and naturally stepped forward to salute. The military man who didn't pay attention, Zheng Zhi didn't bother.

When I went all the way to the east, I saw a huge empty field in the distance, with hundreds of healthy horses galloping in the field, and stables in the distance, and countless healthy horses. Nearby is the shooting range, with a constant bowstring.

A group of unarmored recruits was gathering around the range.

From time to time, a feather arrow was shot from the crowd, and from a hundred and ten paces away, it hit the bull's-eye steadily, and then broke out into applause.

Zheng Zhi was also surprised: "Among the recruits, there are people who have such archery skills, and they underestimate the people of the world before a certain head." ”

A few people next to him also looked up, and Yue Fei answered: "Xianggong, there are very few people who practice shooting, but there are some masters in the mountains." Isn't it a child of Orion from the mountains? ”

Lao Hu suddenly stepped on the stirrup and stood up to look, a feather arrow flew out of the crowd again, hit the bull's-eye, and the crowd that surrounded it erupted in cheers, and Lao Hu couldn't really see who shot the feather arrow.

"Well, where is Xu, the Orion children came down the mountain when they heard about the recruitment......" Zheng Zhi agreed with Yue Fei in his heart, after all, the mountains are hard, and Zheng Zhi's treatment of recruiting soldiers is still very tempting.

Yue Fei saw a feathered arrow hit the bull's-eye steadily, and he also boasted: "It's really good archery, it's really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the world." ”

The more the old Hu on the side couldn't see clearly, the more he stood up to look, and unconsciously slapped the horse a few times, and the horse's hooves naturally took a few steps forward. But he forgot about Zheng Zhi on the side, and he hit the horse by himself.

Zheng Zhi saw that Lao Hu was the first to go, and said with a smile: "Lao Hu, but you want to compete with this recruit?" ”

But Zheng Zhi didn't know that Lao Hu Xing probably knew the archery among the recruits, so he wanted to see who was shooting arrows.