Before going out to the shop near Fengmeng Town, a document from the soldiers arrived at Laizhou Mansion and was politely delivered here by Liu Qingsong of Denglai Dao.

The jurisdiction of the generals has changed, and there is no change in the position, so there is no need for fanfare, but there is a huge difference, although they are all called generals to the outside world, but Li Meng has changed from guarding the generals of Laizhou Mansion to guarding the four prefectures of Denglai Qingyan, and the territory of the garrison has expanded four times at once.

The court of the Ming Dynasty was not very able to control the following generals, so in the last days of Chongzhen, there were governors and governors who were killed, and there were bachelors who were killed, but there were not a few military attachés and generals who were killed.

For example, Zuo Liangyu was in Jiangxi and Huguang, and he was also meritorious in suppressing thieves, but once the left army passed, it was more harmful than bandits, and bandits also had a name for killing the rich and helping the poor, while the left army was like a beast, capturing women and killing innocents indiscriminately. After several defeats of Zhang Xianzhong's troops, there was a chance to expand the results of the battle, but because the soldiers went to nearby villages and towns to loot, the fighters were delayed. Although the governor of Jiangxi played the court to impeach Zuo Liangyu, it had no effect.

In the end, because of the thieves in Shaanxi, Jiangxi, it was the governor of Jiangxi who was convicted and killed.

This kind of thing is all over the world, and it is not uncommon for Li Meng to do so, Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier of Caozhou, was cut off by a thief, and his soldiers and horses were all beaten and scattered, and the soldiers and horses of Shandong General Qiu Lei stationed in Dengzhou Mansion were broken up by thieves, and everyone in Shandong knew what was going on. But I just know it in my heart,

No one got what they said on the surface, and no one dared to say that Li Mengming's power in the dark was so huge. I'm afraid I'll sue here. Before the bigwigs of the capital could negotiate a charter, their heads had already been cut off.

Since there was no blatant charge, and there were local state and county officials, and the local fathers and elders were eagerly looking forward to it, the imperial court also pushed the boat down the river and recognized Li Mengdi's right to guard the four prefectures.

Of course, under the matchmaking of the eunuchs in Nanjing, tens of thousands of taels of silver were given to the Jingshi cabinet. The Ministry of War still has all kinds of related people on its hands, so the officials push the boat with the current, and the imperial court naturally pushes the boat with the current.

At present, the places that the imperial court is concerned about are one in Shaanxi and the other in Huguang, Henan. While pursuing Li Zicheng. While recruiting Zhang Xianzhong. Luo Rucai. Shandong boundaries, irrelevant.

Li Meng's appointment is very calm in all parts of Shandong, and everyone is not surprised, but in the current situation, Li Meng has not been divided into four prefectures, which is surprising.

After entertaining Liu Qingsong on Denglai Road. Although the upper echelons of Shandong sent representatives of Daohe. However, Li Meng did not stay in Fengmeng Town, but went directly to the nearby blacksmith shop. Externally, it is claimed that he has gone to patrol everywhere.

In Fengmeng Town and Lingshan Guardhouse, or more broadly, Fengmeng Town and the seaside area, most of them are hills and ravines, and a few flat lands are surrounded by these hills and ravines, that is, if you are not familiar with the terrain, you will not be able to see these open spaces at all if you stand on the official road and look at both sides.

Because of such hidden characteristics, and there are many criss-crossing streams in the hills and ravines, as well as many grasses, trees and shrubs, which are especially suitable for Li Meng's blacksmith shop to be placed here.

Li Meng's blacksmith shop used to be just composed of Guo Dong and a dozen wandering craftsmen from Liaodong, but now it has a scale of thousands of people, Laiwu subway, Yanzhou media, are sent through various channels of waterways, and then transit in Jiaozhou and Fengmeng Town, sent by Li Meng's own men, in these blacksmith workshops into weapons, armor and various utensils.

In addition to supplying the Jiaozhou battalion soldiers and horses, these weapons and armor have a slight surplus, but in the past few years, they have been sold to Gao Yigong by bartering with Qingyan, and when he lent Gao Yigong tens of thousands of taels of gold and silver that day, Li Meng had an idea, that is, to let the other party use this silver to buy his own weapons, but just think about it.

At present, the news from everywhere is still the defeat of the camp step by step, and I don't know whether the silver has been purchased in Shanxi to supplement the army, maybe the camp has other uses for holding this silver, this is not a matter of Li Mengneng's concern.

Li Meng has to come to this place on horseback every three days, and every time Guo Dong leads a few masters to accompany him to watch, originally according to Li Meng's meaning, you continue to do yours, and I will see for myself.

But when the official came down, how could the people at the bottom not accompany him, and several masters had a common opinion, Master Li didn't know how to strike iron, but he often put forward some good ideas, and these ideas often made the eyes of these people who had been blacksmiths all their lives shine, and craftsmen were always interested in new ideas.

These areas from Fengmeng Town to the sea are the private property of the Jiaozhou battalion, and there are many troops stationed in them, so this time there are dozens of personal soldiers who followed, and after dismounting, Guo Dong and his cadres, who received a prior notice, were already waiting at the door, and Guo Dong greeted him quickly.

The place where the blacksmith shop is located is not so environmentally friendly compared to this era, this manor full of blacksmith shops, the houses and trees are black, and the main fuel for ironmaking here is coal, which is naturally not clean.

After Guo Dong stepped forward and said a few polite words, he threw the person next to him away, and whispered to Li Mengyu:

"Yesterday, the craftsmen from the blacksmith shop who went to the Nanjing arsenal workshop to buy weapons have already set off, please rest assured."

Li Meng nodded, Li Meng's weapon reserves in addition to his own production, but also from Nanjing to buy a batch of regular purchases, Nanjing Arsenal Chief Eunuch Xu Xiaochu always has to look at the face of the eunuch Liu Fulai, not to mention the cheap price, but also give a lot of convenience. The Jiaozhou battalion wants a large batch here, and there is no other trouble except for the relatively strict requirements for the quality of weapons. Although the unit price is cheap, the total amount is large.

The quality requirements are strict, and there is no need to worry about the Nanjing arsenal, Li Meng has sent craftsmen to supervise the work, so he basically doesn't need Xu Xiaochu to be busy with anything, so he is naturally willing to buy and sell. On the side of the artisan battalion, which supplies weapons to the arsenal in Pinsuri, the manufacture of weapons is inefficient, and the quality cannot be improved.

The overseers sent by the Jiaozhou battalion brought enough silver every time, and even the craftsmen like half-slaves were given some silver, and this kind of labor enthusiasm was greatly improved.

Moreover, after the weapons are produced, they are transported to Shandong by water, and it is difficult for others to say that there is something wrong, and it is a matter of course for the military generals to buy weapons in the arsenal. As for the Jiaozhou battalion, the 40,000-strong village guard team always needs weapons to arm, and the regular army of the Jiaozhou battalion also needs a certain amount of reserves.

The Jiaozhou craftsmen and caravans sent to the weapons workshops in Jiangnan also have a poaching task, if they see that the other party's artisan battalion has good craftsmen, then they will dig up the other party at a high price.

The scale of the weapons manufacturing workshop stationed on the edge of Fengmeng Town is getting bigger and bigger, and Guo Dong has asked Li Meng to demarcate the organization and determine the organization here, and the preliminary name is Jiaozhou Weapons Manufacturing Bureau.

The place where Sun Hedou lived was a special circle of mansions, which had specially equipped blacksmith masters and casting places, guarding the army on the side of the blacksmith shop, and there was a general with fifty people to guard the periphery, and Wang Hai also sent two people from the pro-army team to follow him according to Li Meng's order. Sun Hedou can move around this area at will, and he can also go back to the Li family manor to visit relatives at any time, and act according to his personal wishes, but he must be followed by someone who is watching.

For such a talent, Li Meng didn't want to interfere too much, just gave a few words before coming to the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau, so that he could focus on the manufacturing and improvement of firearms, and the next few times he came here, he heard Guo Dong say that Sun Hedou didn't come out in the yard every day, anyway, the forging, casting, and smelting processes in the yard could be completed, and he was very diligent, so Li Meng didn't bother.

This time, he took the initiative to invite Li Meng to come over, which was really unexpected, and it also made Li Meng have a lot of expectations in his heart, wondering what this benevolent brother had studied.

When Li Meng and Guo Dong arrived at Sun Hedou's courtyard, there was no one at the door to greet them, Guo Dong's face was not very good-looking, thinking that this scholar was too rude, and he seemed to be unable to discipline himself.

The courtyard was noisy, and standing outside the yard, you could hear Sun Hedou's voice shouting "Don't move over there" and "Hang up, be careful". There were also people standing guard at the door, but Li Meng was very surprised, it was actually the leader of the Jiaozhou battalion soldiers stationed outside this house, that is, the general, this little officer saw Shangguan, hurriedly ran over, and after seeing the salute, he explained with some embarrassment:

"Early this morning, Mr. Sun borrowed the soldiers in the battalion from the small one, saying that the courtyard needed manpower, and the small one transferred the soldiers, and he didn't expect the adults to come so quickly today......" Li Meng waved his hand, and said simply, "You are right", and strode closer to the courtyard.

Sun Hedou in the courtyard no longer has the appearance of a scholar, and Tiejiang is dressed up, all of them are thick cloth and short plackets, and Sun Hedou is a tall and stout man on the shelf.

Two three-pounder cannons and two six-pounder cannons listened in the courtyard, Sun Hedou wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned back to salute, and said with a smile:

"My lord, let's go to the school field to test shoot the artillery!"

The smile is full of confidence......