The army went west, and Han Gang, who saw him off, looked at the city gate from afar.

The long torrent is far up between the clouds and the mountains. Gray-yellow smoke and dust billowed like a dragon, gradually disappearing into the mountains of the same color.

This is the last group of troops to fight, and they will go to Weiyuan Fort to join the main formation, and listen to the orders of Wang Shao and Gao Zunyu.

Calculating the footsteps, Miao Zhu and Wang Sunchen, who set off first, should also be about to arrive at Weiyuan Fort at this time. At most, if you rest for a full day, you will climb over Bird and Mouse Mountain first. I don't know if the main road of Dalai Valley has been blocked by the Tubo people. If Mu Zheng and Blind Wu abandon their disobedience, then Miao Zhi will follow their plan and go straight to Lintao.

Hopefully everything goes well. Han Gang looked forward and turned back to the city.

Wang Shao led the army to the expedition, Gao Zunyu also went with the army, and generals such as Miao Zhu, Liu Changzuo and Yao Ji all went west. Cai Yanqing left yesterday and returned to Qinzhou. In the current Longxi County [Guwei Village], except for Han Gang, only Cai Xi, the judge of Qin Feng's transfer, remained.

The sun hanging high in the clear sky is not as blazing as a summer day, but it is also warm when it shines on people. A light snow the day before yesterday didn't seem to exist, and even the soil skin didn't get wet, and in the blink of an eye, the clouds broke through the sunrise and disappeared without a trace. It's just that the temperature here has dropped significantly, and once you stand in the shade, you can feel a stream of cold air coming through your body.

After Han Gang entered the city, he first went to the warehouse to see the cotton that had been harvested for a while. Some time ago, his mind was focused on food and forage, and he did not pay attention to the problem of keeping warm and cold in the army. Now that I have a little free time, I feel that it is better to take a look first.

Seeing the harvested cotton in the warehouse, Han Gang finally found that he had too little understanding of agriculture, and he didn't know much about the processing of agricultural products, so his understanding of the weight of cotton harvest was completely different from Han Qianliu's, and what the two said was not the same thing at all.

The so-called yield of seventy or eighty catties per mu is the amount of cottonseed and cotton peach skin. After removing these two useless burdens, the cotton wool obtained is very pitiful - it seems that the processed product is called lint, and the processed product is called seed cotton, and Han Gang doesn't know whether his memory is accurate - the lint produced in one acre of land is only the weight of a few thick quilts. Even if it is not bad at all to weave into cloth, it is only five or six pieces of cotton cloth.

Han Gang can be sure that the results of the first cotton planting can only be described as a preliminary success in the mildest evaluation. Looking at the filthy cotton wool piled up like a haystack, Han Gang secretly felt that he had neglected the cash crop he proposed.

Fortunately, it is still no problem for clean cotton wool to deceive merchants - the price of cotton cloth is not cheap at this time, even low-grade jibei cloth can be sold for three or four times. In the northwest, the output value of one acre of land is already very rich. But the current cotton production, even if it is only a net profit, can be five or six - as long as the cotton can be spun into cloth.

Han Gang called the supervisor of the warehouse and asked him to find someone to clean all the cotton. Han Gang's face remained unswerving, and no one dared to shirk it. Just gave an order, and immediately someone took out the dirty cotton wool in batches.

Han Qianliu heard the news from nowhere at this time, and also rushed over, this was his errand. Han Gang didn't dare to blame his father, so he asked about cotton in detail.

Han Qianliu chattered, and then complained: "This cotton is good for everything, but it is troublesome to remove seeds." When I first collected it, I don't know how much labor it took to find a way, but it still took manpower. ”

"The kid will figure it out."

Han Gang vaguely remembered that there was a machine called a ginning machine or a cotton gin, which could directly remove the cotton seeds from the cotton, and he had seen it in old movies, and he still stepped on it with his feet. The machine was easy to do, and there were many skilled craftsmen in this era, offering rough ideas, offering bounties, and getting a quick reply - this was the experience he had learned when he had people build thunderbolts.

The Tongyuan Army also had a craftsman battalion, which was originally used to repair weapons. After Han Gang visited the craftsman's camp the day before yesterday, he was interested in using water power instead of manpower to beat. Wang Shao has been invited to apply to Lu Shang to select a craftsman from several major porcelain kiln producing areas to make hydraulic hammers for the porcelain clay workshop. At this time, the porcelain clay, the raw material of porcelain, is basically obtained by crushing the porcelain clay stone with a hydraulic hammer and then rinsing and precipitating.

If you can smash stones, you will have no problem forging iron tools, and the weapons forged by hydraulic hammers will never be worse than those forged by famous craftsmen. Maybe now the expensive Japanese knives sold in the capital can also be copied here.

As the cotton lint was carried out little by little, a basket of cotton seeds placed in the back was also exposed. Han Gang walked over and picked up a few cottonseeds to watch.

Just saw his son pick up the cottonseed, but Han Qianliu hurriedly shouted: "Third brother, be careful, this cottonseed seems to be poisonous!" Two days ago, a kid ate it secretly, vomited and diarrhea, and had a stomachache all night. In the end, he couldn't do anything, so he was sent to a nursing home. ”

"Is there such a thing?" Han Gang was surprised, turned around and asked, "What about people now?" ”

"Didn't you let him go home to recuperate? He was fined half a month's salary. Han Qianliu said suspiciously, "His father and mother have come to kowtow, saying that the third brother is good, you saved your life and reduced the punishment." ”

When Han Qianliu said this, Han Gang thought about it carefully, but he didn't seem to be able to do it. However, the official documents he has to review in a day have to be calculated by catties, and major events are reported to Wang Shao and Gao Zunyu, and trivial matters are handled by him and Wang Hou, where can I remember the approval document a month ago. Of course, he won't take this little thing to heart.

"Stealing seeds is your own death, and you can't blame others, and it's just a good life if you don't die. As for saving him, it is the child's duty, thank him or not. I just hope that he can follow the rules in the future and stop doing stupid things. Han Gang thought for a moment, "We have to publicize the poisonous thing about cottonseeds, and we can't make people stupid again." ”

The matter of cotton was unclear for a while, but one of Cai Xi's close confidants came over, "Han Jiyi, Yun Ju is waiting in the yamen now, and I order you to hurry over." ”

"'Order' me to go over?" Han Gang asked rhetorically, accentuating the first word.

Cai Xi's entourage nodded as if ignorant, urging, "I hope the opportunity will not delay." ”

Han Gang's heart was on fire, but he turned it down again, now is not the time to lose his temper, "You go back and tell Cai Yunju, I'll be there immediately." ”

Han Gang's current status is a military transfer envoy, and this temporary dispatch was set up to let people manage the logistics and supply of the army in battle.

At present, all kinds of military materials, mainly grain and grass, are being transported from Qinzhou in a steady stream, and then they will be transported from Longxi County to Weiyuan, the assembly place of the front line, and then from Weiyuan to the real front line. The duty of the military transport envoy is to deliver the materials that have arrived in Longxi County to the front-line soldiers.

Han Gang hoped that the grain and grass hoarded in the city could be transported to Weiyuan as soon as possible. Before, when the main force had not yet arrived, Wang Shao and Han Gang did not dare to pile up their baggage on the front line. If it becomes the situation when the party members are guarding Luowu, they will be attacked by the Tubo people and go down to Weiyuan Fort, and they will lose the heads of a group of people.

The so-called three armies did not move, and the grain and grass went first, but it does not mean that the baggage team was put in front of the army to take the lead. Just between the actions of the army, it is necessary to prepare food and grass in advance. And Wang Hou escorted the grain to Weiyuan Fort before, and its number only accounted for less than one-tenth of the total this time, just so that the army would not go hungry after arriving in Weiyuan.

When the main force led by Wang Shao began to cross the Bird and Mouse Mountain, Han Gang was going to Weiyuan Fort, and at the same time, he had to transfer the Yamen with the army to the city, instead of staying in the city in the rear. As for the affairs in Longxi City, it was handed over to another person to deal with.

When Han Gang arrived at the Yamen, Qin Feng was waiting for him with a cold face to transfer judge Cai Xi, and his temporary dispatch was also a transfer envoy with the army, and he was in charge of the same position as Han Gang, that is, the person who took over the affairs of Longxi after Han Gang went to Weiyuan.

It was normal for the two to hold the same position, both in the past and now. In a battle with tens of thousands of combat forces, the number of manpower requisitioned by all parties is several times that, and it is impossible to let only one person be selected to manage logistics. Generally speaking, they are at least court officials, and it is already an outlier that Han Gang can be appointed as a transit envoy with the army.

Cai Xi obviously didn't like Han Gang's outlier. "Han Jiyi", his tone was still cold, "I don't know why it's delayed?" ”

"I just went to the warehouse to check the winter materials, and it was cold when I said it was cold this day, so I still prepared first." Han Gang doesn't like people to share power with him, especially Cai Xi, who is very unfriendly. But he remained polite, and he did not want to cause chaos at the front. "I don't know what advice the judgment has?" He asked in a harmonious voice.

Seeing that Han Gang seemed to bow his head, Cai Yu sneered slightly. He turned around and sat down, and asked Han Gang with a high attitude, "Are the first convoys to deliver grain to Weiyuan ready?" ”

Cai Yu didn't know what to do, Han Gang's eyes were completely cold, and he replied stiffly: "This is Han Gang's internal matter, don't worry about the judgment." Facing Cai Yu, who was furious, Han Gang raised his head slightly, relying on his figure, condescending, "If you have any doubts, please go and see this edict." Which of our names comes before or after?! ”

Without speculating for more than half a sentence, Han Gang brushed his sleeves away and went to check the baggage team that was going to leave early tomorrow morning.

After a while, Li Xiaoliu, who had been recommended by Han Gang to work in the yamen, hurriedly ran over, angry: "Jiyi, Cai Yunju is making trouble again, saying that he wants to check the old files of the past year!" ”

Han Gang was inspecting the carriage and horses that were going to Weiyuan, and said, "Don't pay attention to him." ”

"Yes...... But Cai Yun sentenced him to ......, "Li Xiaoliu swallowed and vomited." Cai Yu is jumping happily in the yamen, who dares to disobey the officials in the yamen with his identity?

"Didn't I say it......" Han Gang's eyes and tone were as cold as cold water, clearly conveying his true intentions to Li Xiaoliu, "Don't pay attention to him!" ”

After all, Li Xiaoliu followed Han Gang for a long time, and suddenly realized. comprehended Han Gang's instructions, bowed his head and promised: "The little one understands, we ...... Ignore him. ”