After entering November, all the affairs of Huguang Town and Huguang Du's command and envoy department were gradually on the right track. After the arrival www.biquge.info of the new recruits, the large-scale military training in full swing kicked off, and the Ordnance Bureau in the Chenzhou Acropolis produced the first batch of flintlock pistols and the first batch of iron armor, and the guards also began to organize military households to carry out large-scale reclamation.

As for the reclamation of the land, the worst outcome that Pang Yue feared did not materialize, and according to the reports of the supervision regiments sent to the various guards and the secret agents of the military intelligence offices scattered in various places, the military attachés of the various guards basically did not dare to blatantly disobey the orders issued by the commanders and envoys, and organized their military households to reclaim the wasteland. It's just that there are a small number of military attachés who are particularly bold and still have unclean hands and feet, and they still occupy part of the embezzled military land of the guard and have not spit it out. Fortunately, the amount has dropped significantly compared to the past.

Hearing this news, Pang Yue was quite satisfied with the overall situation except for lamenting with a wry smile that some people wanted money and didn't want to die. After all, his orders have been basically carried out, and as for those guards who still have the habit of petty theft, as long as their behavior does not interfere with the overall situation, there is no need for them to disturb the whole pool of water in order to catch a few small fish and shrimp, and it is not too late to settle down when the situation is completely settled down in the future.

When military training and reclamation were on the right track, the exploration of iron ore also made progress. Several teams that went out to find the source of the mine returned to Chenzhou City one after another to report the results to Pang Yue.

According to technicians who have gone out to find the source of the mine, there are two mines to choose from in Yuanling County, the seat of Chenzhou Prefecture. The first more recent mine is in Gaojing Village, 30 miles east of Chenzhou Prefecture, and its reserves are roughly equivalent to those of Ganzhou Longjiagou Mine, but the ore quality is slightly insufficient; The second mine is farther away, in Xiushuiwan, eighty miles south of the capital city of Chenzhou, where the ore quality is better and the reserves are larger. There was also an iron factory near the Gaojingcun mine, but like the Longjiagou Iron Works in Ganzhou, it had been abandoned for more than ten years due to the ban of the imperial court. Due to the remoteness of the iron ore mine, the Xiushuiwan iron mine has not been mined before, and there is a lack of ready-made iron plant facilities, so if you start from scratch now, it will be much more difficult than the iron factory in Ganzhou.

In addition to Yuanling County, there are also some iron mines in nearby Luxi County, Yongshun Xuanfusi and other places, but the iron mines in these places are either of poor mineral quality or too remote and the roads are rugged, compared with the two mines in Yuanling County, there is an obvious disadvantage.

After listening to the reports and suggestions of the technicians, Pang Yue decided to open an iron factory in Gaojing Village and Xiushuiwan, and not consider other places for now.

After making up his mind, Pang Yue asked Zhang Yunli and several other old subordinates to discuss it according to his previous habits. They also support Pang Yue's decision, after all, Huguang Town is now in the development stage, and a large number of armor and weapons are needed.

After determining the general policy, Pang Yue began to make preparations, gathering the original technicians and iron-smelting craftsmen in the army, issuing official documents to each health office, requisitioning the craftsmen who knew the mining and iron-smelting techniques in the health stations, and the young military households in charge of mining, and at the same time widely issuing notices in the nearby prefectures and counties to recruit mining technicians and iron-smelting craftsmen from the people.

At the same time, Pang Yue preliminarily appointed the managers and various management personnel of the two iron works, and determined the general framework of the iron works. Among them, the steward of Gaojingcun Iron Works is Ding Maocheng, and the steward of Xiushuiwan Iron Works is Li Tianliang, both of whom have served as craftsmen in the original Ganzhou Longjiagou Iron Works, and they are familiar with mining and iron-smelting technology, and have certain management experience, so they should be able to pick up this burden.

Due to the current time constraints, Pang Yue asked the existing management and technical personnel to go to the two mines first, and while carrying out the preparatory work, they waited for the subsequent recruits or recruits to arrive. …,

Before Ding Maocheng and Li Tianliang set off with their technicians and craftsmen, Pang Yue specially summoned them, explained to them the great significance of going to prepare for the iron factory to the entire town of Ganzhou, encouraged them to keep in mind their responsibilities, and gave each of them half a year's wages and rations. In the face of the personal encouragement of the chief soldier, the craftsmen and technicians who had already benefited greatly from the new system were naturally indescribably grateful, and expressed in the most simple words that they would do their best.

After the advance team to open the iron factory set off, Pang Yue had a new idea.

Although the production of today's Chenzhou Guard Weapons Bureau has been on the right track, the monthly production of various products such as armor and weapons is still not very high. Even if the existing 20,000 troops are fully equipped, it will take a long time, not to mention the possibility of expanding the army in the future, and there will be a large attrition on the battlefield. However, because the armament bureaus of other guards are distributed in the vast area of Huguang, it is also difficult to integrate their production capacity.

Therefore, in order to meet the needs of the army's weapons and equipment, it is necessary to integrate as many means of production and craftsmen as possible in Huguang and set up a larger-scale production organization.

After convening a group of old subordinates again, Pang Yue put forward his initial idea: to requisition all the outstanding craftsmen, means of production and equipment in the various health offices under the jurisdiction of the Huguang Metropolitan Division to Chenzhou, and establish the Huguang Manufacturing Bureau. Under the jurisdiction of the General Administration of Manufacturing, there are firearms factories, artillery factories, cold weapons factories, ammunition factories, clothing factories, logistics equipment factories and other factories, so that craftsmen can make the best use of their talents and have a clear division of labor, so as to improve the scale of production and production efficiency.

Regarding Pang Yue's idea, Zhang Yunli, Tian Shizun and others first felt a burst of freshness, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt that it was very reasonable. By pooling the craftsmen and production resources of each guard station, it is possible to avoid the previous situation of poor coordination between the Huguang Metropolitan Division and the various Acropolis Ordnance Bureaus under its jurisdiction, resulting in scattered production capacity. The establishment of the General Bureau of Manufacturing and the division of different specialized production institutions according to the different products produced can avoid the situation of the craftsmen in the previous Ordnance Bureau grasping the beard and eyebrows, so that the organization is clear, the division of labor is clear, whether it is to build armor or to create various weapons, the speed will be much faster than before.

After a heated discussion, everyone present felt that Pang Yue's method was very feasible. Nowadays, most of the military households in the guards are wrapped in a life of hunger and clothing under the exploitation and oppression of the officials, and they are invited to Chenzhou with generous treatment, and they will not have any complaints and may even rush to come. As for the military attachés of the various guard posts, most of their eyes are on the public property of the guard posts such as the military field, thinking about how to get some cheap from it, and they are not very interested in making weapons and other things, and they will not pay too much attention to the lowly craftsmen, so they should be released smoothly. Even if they are unwilling, I am afraid that they will not dare to disobey Pang Yue's orders, after all, the lessons of Lu Dengyun and the others who dismissed their officials and raided their homes are there.

Seeing that his subordinates had no opinions, Pang Yue began to prepare for the General Administration of Manufacturing, and asked his staff to draft official documents to be sent to the various guard offices, and transfer the craftsmen of the Acropolis Ordnance Bureau to Chenzhou as soon as possible. Regarding the candidate for the director of the General Manufacturing Bureau, he also solicited the opinions of his old subordinates, and finally decided to be Long Wenzhou, the director of the former Ganzhou Longjiagou Iron Factory.