Just as Baoyu and the girls set off from the imperial capital and rushed to Bukui, Jiao Li, Dai Zhi, Lamei Blossom and others returned to Pingyuan City with firearms, steam engines and other equipment purchased from France.

At this time, the Sheldon River was still in the freezing season, and after landing at sea, some horse-drawn wagons and climbing plows were hired locally, and some horse-drawn carriages were bought, climbing plows, on the ice, to transport the goods back.

Departing from France in mid-July last year, this trip took nearly eight months.

Back in Pingyuan City, Jiao Li and Dai Zhi immediately began to build an arsenal.

After Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan received the new equipment, they immediately equipped the autonomous army with weapons, began to familiarize themselves with the performance and use of weapons, and began tactical training in accordance with the methods and ideas told in Jia Min's letter.

Compared with the previous firearms, these equipment have made a qualitative leap. The original tactics are no longer applicable, and it is necessary to familiarize ourselves with the new tactics as soon as possible in order to maximize the power of firearms.

These new firearms and equipment made Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan and others realize their powerful power, and at the same time, they also saw the gap in their original understanding.

Only now did they truly realize how ridiculous it was to have the deep-rooted concept of the Heavenly Empire and the idea that except for the Great Virtue, they were all barbarians and ignorant places.

In this kind of arrogance and complacency, the Celestial Empire has fallen behind.

In particular, they were even more shocked to hear what they had seen and heard from Jiao/Li and Dai Zhi and others in Europe.

Only now did they truly understand why Chief Min insisted on going to France at such a huge cost.

Jiao Li's ship sailed around Dade from south to north.

Although I didn't go home along the way, I also stopped at some ports from time to time to replenish supplies. and sometimes go ashore to rest for two days.

There, they learned a lot about the current situation of Dade.

The situation in Dade, coupled with the news brought back from France, and the infiltration of the European colonizers in Nanyang and other places that Dai Zhi and the others had seen along the way, gave Feng Ziying and others a sense of urgency.

Three days after Jiao Li and the others returned, Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan, Lin Dajiang, Jiao Li, and Dai Zhi held a meeting together.

Among the seven people who knew about Jia Min's plan to build the country, Chen Yejun was still in Bukui at this time, and he and Ping'er were busy with tobacco and other businesses.

Liu Cheng followed Jia Min and stayed in France. These five people are the actual decision-makers and executors of Jia Min's Jianguo plan in Beihai.

"To tell you the truth, when Chief Min said that my firearms were already backward, I was still very unconvinced, thinking that it was Chief Min's radical method. Unexpectedly, when I returned to France, I realized that what Chief Min said was true. Our firearms are not only backward, but too far behind. ”

Dai Zhi was very sincere when he talked about this at this time.

"Mr. Dai is right, in fact, not only firearms, but also in terms of military system and combat effectiveness, we are also lagging behind. Although the Cossacks were strong, they are not the strongest today. The water army, in particular, is even more frightening. ”

Jiao Li's trip was more emotional, which was a complete eye-opener.

"Since ancient times, we have said that the sky is round and the earth is round, but now we know that the earth under our feet was originally spherical, this is called the earth, it is round, and it is still spinning......."

Regarding the fact that the earth is round, Dai Zhi has mentioned it many times when he came back this time, and others didn't believe it at first, but when he saw what he said and listed some examples, he was half-convinced.

sighed for a while and began to get to the point.

"Now the construction of the arsenal is our first priority, and it must be completed within three months. Although there is no fighting at the moment, the Cossacks may come at any time. They have suffered two losses at our hands before, and the next time they come, they will have more troops and will be more ferocious. ”

Feng Ziying paused, looked at a few people, and continued.

"Feng Zijing, your navy still has to pay close attention to training, and if the navy is well trained, it will be able to make a difference in the future in terms of transporting troops and naval battles. When the Sheldon River is civilized, the navy will be driven to the sea to train troops. ”

"There are two things that are urgent to open an arsenal today, one is the need for a large number of workers, and the other is the need for a large number of pig iron."

Jiao Li raised a very real question.

"Workers, we can recruit some more from Bukui, and we will send a letter to Captain Chen in a while, asking him to send some more people as soon as possible."

Feng Ziying proposed a solution.

"Now that manpower is tight, Bukui has some released outcasts, and those who have a poor livelihood there may as well recruit more. I have an idea, while producing weapons, I also produce some agricultural tools and other civilian products, in France, I saw a lot of novelties, I also collected a lot of samples, Mr. Dai also brought back a lot of drawings. ”

"I brought back Mr. Sherman, who is an expert prospector, and I will take him out tomorrow to look for mines. If iron ore is found in the North Sea, it will be necessary to import pig iron from Bukui thousands of miles in the future. ”

Jiao Li said his plan, and naturally no one objected.

If you want to gain a foothold in the North Sea, the pig iron problem is a bottleneck that must be solved sooner or later.

"Huang Xide and Zhao Bancheng's people, are they still here?"

Feng Ziying asked Wei Ruolan.

"Still here, yesterday Yang Dianshi also calculated with them the matter of opening a ticket number here, and it has basically been decided."

"How's the recruitment going?"

"I've already sent someone to Bukui to contact Commander Chen, and ask him to recruit some more there."

The meeting lasted more than three hours, and the five people expressed their views and offered suggestions. An action plan and operational points for the next step have been formulated.

On 18 March, Jia Min's second cargo ship chartered in France, loaded with guns and ammunition, three steam engines, 300 improved new flamethrowers, 400 hand-cranked cigarette machines, and other goods, set sail from France to the North Sea.

The route of this voyage was the same as that of Dai Zhi's ship before.

Baochai, Miaoyu and Daiyu wanted to experience sea sailing, so they followed Qin Zhong and others and returned with the ship.

Jia Min took Qingwen, Tamara, Gao Dazhuang, Zingler and others by land, through the Rus Empire, and returned to Beihai.

Mr. and Mrs. Cervante, along with Jia Qin and three others, remained in Paris to coordinate the follow-up cooperation with the Louvre Arsenal, the tobacco business, and the equipment for making wine.

May in Bukui has entered the summer.

Except that it is cooler at night, the climate during the day is not much different from that of the imperial capital. However, the rain here seems to be more frequent, so it is not like the imperial capital, which is often drought.

In the city of Bukui, there is now a lively scene everywhere.

Whenever he walked in the city, Chen Yejun often remembered the scene when the government corps first arrived in Bukui.

At this time, he was walking side by side on the streets of Bu Kui on horseback with Bu Kui's general He Jialin.

"In the blink of an eye, I have been coming to Bukui for several years, time flies like a white horse, and the deceased is like Sifu."

"Why is Brother Chen so emotional, in this paradise town, far away from the temple of right and wrong, I envy you very much."

He Jialin's voice couldn't help but be a little gloomy.

"Wang Dashuai is still in Jiujiang now?"

"It's been more than two years since I was there, and I'm still there. We are Jingying, originally from Gongwei Jingshi, but I didn't expect that now one south and one north, separated by thousands of miles. It is also a strange thing to divide the Beijing camp into two places. ”

"Alas, as soon as I entered the officialdom, I couldn't help myself, I thought that at the beginning, our government corps didn't say that it would be abolished. Now that I think about it, I still feel concerned. ”

"Is it a blessing for Seon to lose his horse? I think Mr. Min is the right step. It is not a bad idea to go to Beihai and settle down in another country. Now I understand why he didn't let his brother-in-law fight for him in the first place. ”

"At the beginning, Chief of Staff Feng and Chief of Staff of the Wei Army also felt sorry for Chief Min, and even indignant for him, but now that I think about it, Chief Min did the right thing."

"Chief Min is far-sighted, far-sighted, and maverick, those old people in the court will not tolerate him, instead of fighting with them every day, it is better to be like this now, and plan for himself."

"Yes, now that the emperor is in poor health, the prince is in charge of the country, I am afraid that the dynasty will be changed. At this time, the imperial capital must be a sword and a sword, killing everywhere. But here we are, still a little leisurely, smiling and watching the clouds roll up. ”

"Brother Chen can do this, but we may not be able to, maybe when, the sword light and sword shadow will affect Bu Kui. It is not easy for Bu Kui to have today. I hope it doesn't spread to this place, leaving a clean place for Bukui. ”

"General He can rest assured, now they can't take care of here."

The two chatted all the way to the night meeting of the Red Mansion.

Shen Bingyi greeted him.

"Isn't Miss Ping'er here yet?"

"I'm busy taking care of some things there, and I'll be over in a moment. Captain Chen, how much tobacco will be planted this year? ”

"Double the number from last year. Nowadays, the sales of tobacco have increased greatly, and all over the country have come to ask for goods, but I did not expect that in just a few years, there will be such a gratifying situation. It was still Chief Min who had a vision. ”

He Jialin drank a cup of tea and left. After a while, Ping'er came.

With Chen Yejun and Shen Bingyi, they chatted while drinking tea.

Almost every day, several people have to get together like this, chat for a while, exchange their own information, some big things, study together, and do it.

Today's Bukui has become an important transit center of the Fu Corps in Dade.

People, goods, and information from Dade are gathered here, and then continuously transported to Beihai.

Chen Yejun, Ping'er, and Shen Bingyi are now the agents of the Fu Corps in Dade.

Several people were chatting, and Double Happiness pushed the door in and brought a person.

"Battalion Commander Jia? How did you end up here? ”

Chen Yejun was taken aback, it was Jia Qiang.

"Brother Qiang, aren't you back in the imperial capital? Is it from the imperial capital? ”

Ping'er was naturally surprised.

She is now Jia Min's concubine, and she is a generation higher than Jia Qiang in terms of seniority, and she is qualified to be called Jia Qiangqiang's brother.

"Report to Captain Chen, Aunt Ping'er. I'm here to play the front station. ”

"Hit the front station? Is there anyone who wants to come? ”

"Second Master Bao and Lord Yongping, the girls in the mansion are here, they will come to Mazhuang tonight and arrive here tomorrow."

The girls in the house are here?

Ping'er, Shen Bingyi, and Chen Yejun glanced at each other, looking a little confused.

"This is the letter from Second Uncle Lian to you."

Jia Qiang took out two letters and handed them to Ping'er and Chen Yejun respectively. 10