As soon as the beginning of July passed, Gansu towns, including the gravel fort area, successively entered the wheat harvest season, where the wheat harvest was later than that of the mainland, but the grain merchants did not come late.

Although this year's drought has caused the Tartars to plague again, the Tunzi near the Gravel Fort, due to its proximity to the Xilong River, has been rolling in waves of wheat, and it seems that the harvest has not decreased much.

More than 20 days of busy harvesting and drying are the support of military households everywhere for a year, and the gravel fort is nothing more than that.

Just when the government began to calculate the grain ration and the grain merchants in the border wall were running around, the rich buildings in Gansu town began to buy a large number of old grain from various grain stores.

Due to the threat of tartars on the grasslands, the price of new grain will definitely rise by 10% this year, but there is a trend of lower prices for old grain.

Even the Huang family shop in Gravel Fort is buying a large amount of old grain, and is buying it at a price that is 10% cheaper than new grain.

Subsequently, Huang Fugui would sell these old grains to Shiguantun at market prices; Xiao Ye specially sent someone to inform him, in order to return him a favor.

"Shiguantun let the Tartars surround him, and he almost ran out of food, it seems that he has learned a lesson," the merchants who know the inside story, although they understand the greedy behavior of the Ximen Baihu, no one will be optimistic about his moves.

Wheat is not easy to store, no matter how much grain is bought, it is still old grain, then the final result is to eat moldy grain, I don't know that there is a canned businessman, jokes are jokes, but as long as they don't lose money in business, they don't care about others crying at night.

From the stone mill catalog, I learned that the shelf life of canned fried noodles was as long as five years, and Xiao Ye wanted to hoard canned food at all costs, and he was not eager to buy new grain.

This year's drought in the northwest has become a settlement, and it is not a few areas that can be compensated for by self-sufficiency, but fortunately, the imperial court has exempted most of the taxes in a timely manner, so that rebellions like Wen'an and Bazhou have not sprung up in Gansu.

The young emperor, who did not like to take care of the government, delegated power to the cabinet to handle government affairs, and suppressed the chaos caused by the drought in a crooked manner.

Although the original intention of the court officials was to reduce the losses of the families and merchants under their own shade, it also allowed the common people and military households to drink a sip of clear soup.

However, the food and salary of the local health centers will be delayed until I don't know when.

With the escort team of more than 30 craftsmen and hunters, plus Wang Dali's old fingers, Wang Qing and a group of people spent more than a month fighting at night, and finally built an earthy stone fort on the horse road in the deep ravine.

The square stone fort with a height of five zhang and a radius of 300 steps, the body is almost half a zhang inlaid in the hill, and the stone fort is located at the foot of the mountain next to the stone ditch.

The gate of the stone castle faces due south, and on the high steps, the wheels are plastered and narrow, and it is difficult for the carriage to pull in, even the war horses have to be carefully pulled in.

In addition, a pile of poured stones at the entrance of the inner side of the fort can seal the fort gate in the shortest possible time.

On the wall of the fort, a long pole can be erected at any time to transport materials from outside, which is the idea that Wang Qing and the others came up with.

In the center of the stone fort is a small courtyard with a stucco floor, which allows the sergeants to move their hands and feet and temporarily place the pack horses. More than a dozen small Coptis trees have been planted in the corner.

There are two warehouses in the stone fort close to the east side of the fort wall, and seven military houses on the west side, which can accommodate up to 70 sergeants in the Datong Bun Kang, and can accommodate more than 80 people; In the innermost military quarters, there is an entrance leading to the basement.

The basement is divided into four two-person high warehouses, with a three-person wide corridor in the middle of the left and right rooms, and the wooden floors of the warehouses are covered with thick hydrated lime, and the walls are also painted with mortar, so that you can't see the layout inside without lights.

There are two-story stone houses built next to the north side of the fort wall, the lower floors are bungalows, and the upper stone houses have a lookout and shooting holes in the walls.

The fort wall was three feet wide, and there was a breast-length female wall on the outside, which was convenient for the sergeants to patrol.

This kind of stone fort without a water source is impossible to build here according to common sense, but with a water umbrella, there is a reason to garrison troops.

Once the canyon is closed, it is the only road to Shiguantun except for the canyon mountain road.

Wang Dali, who had palpitations in the team's tartars, arranged for the old army early under Xiao Ye's instruction, and threw a large amount of vine grass cut down into the canyon and buried it at will, and now it is estimated that it has taken root and grown.

Once the caravan confirms the canyon closed by vines and grass, this already withered trade route will soon be completely abandoned.

Soon, on the day of the completion of the Madao Stone Fort, Wang Hu's team was stationed on the fort wall, and Wang Qing's escort team transported boxes of canned food, ordnance, and bags of charcoal one after another, and some guards counted and put them into storage.

The four flag teams that helped the escort team transport supplies, including Wang Er's flag team, will be stationed in Madao Stone Fort in the future. Together with Wang Hu's flag team, Madao Stone Fort garrisoned fifty soldiers.

Qin Shi's hunter team is only resting here when there is no military affairs.

Entering the Madao Stone Fort, the fire/guns and projectiles in the hands of the sergeants were distributed to individuals, and the flag team kept them by themselves, unlike Shiguantun, which was uncomfortable to hide.

In the future, the inventory roster will be in charge of one person selected by the flag officer who lives in the house, and when it is handed over, the flag officers of both sides should personally count and draw the charge when it is given to the next round of squads, so that it can be replenished in time.

These are all stipulated in the Ming Military Law, and Xiao Ye just copied them.

This kind of stone fort similar to a post station and pass, as long as Xiao Ye's strict demand for mineral materials does not stop, the number of buildings will be more and more, and the scale will become larger and larger.

Another group of packees from Bailong Lake, escorted by Wang Meng's team, walked out of the Gobi Desert and drove to Madao Stone Fort, when Wang Hu, who received the letter early, had already boiled hot water for the tired Wang Meng, and the wheat rice was also stuffy in the pot.

After the wheat is put into storage, it is the season when the vine grass fruit is ripe, in the middle of July, Shiguan Tunli is full of people, men, women and children under the protection of the sergeant, began the unique harvest scene of Tunli.

Bags of verdant vine fruits were carried into the stone fort of the hundred households, and the military households and children who came out had flowers on their faces, and the straw notes they held in their hands, with the seals of the ladies of the hundred households on it, and the copper coins indicated on it, could go to the Tianjia shop to buy all kinds of daily pocket money, or they could accumulate it to buy a jar of ale wine and a coarse cloth.

Hundreds of households and Tian family shops, the final settlement of the amount of money.

Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, food and clothing, the things that the military hunters need are very miscellaneous, but with the extra income, even the older craftsmen can also pick up some pocket money with a smile.

Of course, if you are accidentally scratched by a stinger, you will be cared for by Li Langzhong's medical soldiers, and after pouring a cup of tea, you will be able to lie down in the shade and rest for an hour.

In the courtyard of the hundred households, Lena wanted to follow Han Juan and them, but Han Juan was in a hurry to earn pocket money, so she could only look at the two guards, weigh the vine fruits sent, and inform Mei'er next to the stone bench of the quantity.

Mei'er wrote down the amount of money on a slip of straw paper, stamped it with a private seal, and the guards handed the note to the military households waiting outside.

A whole set of processes for purchasing vine fruits, last year, Xiao Liuzi paid for it privately, and now it has become a scene for hundreds of households.

After Mei'er checks the notes collected by the Tian family's shop, the two parties keep accounts, and use the money from the transaction to offset the accounts in the future.

After the collected fruits were scraped off the skin by Li Langzhong's medical guards, the remaining earthy yellow kernel, as well as a little bit of white and black kernel, Xiao Ye sent personal guards to send all of them to the B-shaped stone mill.

The purchase of vines and grass fruits that lasted for more than a month, the military households in the tun saw the snow brightly, and the people who earned the most money were the hunters in the courtyard next door.

One pound of fruit and ten eldest sons, Xiao Ye, who collected tens of thousands of pounds of fruit cores, paid only a hundred taels of silver, and the Tian family paid on his behalf.

However, the A-shaped stone mill that devoured a large number of fruit cores, the stone platform that was getting thicker and heavier, Xiao Ye could feel that the stone platform below the ground should have expanded a lot, and compared to last month, the platform that rose up was a foot wider.

The picture that appeared above his head, Xiao Ye silently opened the small civilian door, looked around the catalog, there were no added items, and then opened the military catalog, and immediately laughed.

"Mauser Type 98 rifle," in the slow chanting of Xiao Ye, a sergeant with a blurred face appeared, in the pouring rain, holding a fire/gun in his left hand, pulling the rotary rear pull bolt with his right hand, and then loading a strange-looking round-headed projectile from the top shell throwing port one by one.

Raise the gun, silently shoot out the projectile, five shots in a row, as long as the bolt is pulled to rotate and push up, a cartridge case jumps out.

After the shooting, the sergeant took out two magazines containing five projectiles and pressed them into the magazine, this fixed double-row magazine can press ten projectiles in, and after loading, when the bolt is turned off, the empty bridge clip is automatically thrown.

His eyes widened, and he carefully watched the sergeant drill this "rifle" over and over again, Xiao Ye watched it three times, and then came back to his senses, and then looked at this kind of infantry gun, which actually needed iron, tungsten, copper, tin, mercury wood, saltpeter, and sulfur were also indispensable.

At present, only three of these new rifles can be produced in the catalog, and the ammunition is indicated as 200 rounds.

It is estimated that there were too many fires/guns and projectiles he took two days ago, and the stone mill ran out of raw materials, Xiao Ye secretly calculated, and after comparing it with the rear-loading gun, he still decided to take out this so-called rifle and try it.

After all, the sergeant in the picture was shooting in the rain, which was a great encouragement to Xiao Ye, so he didn't care about reducing the number of rear-loading guns.

"Three Mauser Type 98 rifles, two hundred bullets," Xiao Ye waited for a full meal, and the ground in front of the stone platform fell, holding a long iron box when it rose.

A rifle weighing more than eight pounds and half a person high, with a bright round head rifle cartridge, Xiao Liuzi held it in his hand and immediately fell in love with this firearm.

"Bah, bah," the crisp sound of gunfire sounded in the training ground, Xiao Liuzi, who has a natural love for firearms, after some guidance from hundreds of households, actually understood the role of mechanical sights after firing five bullets.

"Bah, Bah, Bah," was constantly moved to the wooden target in the distance, until three hundred steps away, it could still be hit by Xiao Liuzi on the edge, drilling a transparent bullet hole.

The Mauser rifle with an effective shooting distance of 500 paces, Xiao Liuzi got started for the first time, and it was strong enough to be able to hit with such accuracy.

Xiao Ye handed over this rifle to him with satisfaction, ninety bullets, and the ten just now were also counted.

The remaining two rifles, each with fifty bullets, were sent to Qin Shi's team to familiarize them with this ultra-long-range weapon as soon as possible, and in the future, Xiao Ye's sergeants will be equipped with this kind of firearm that is not afraid of rain and fog.

When Xiao Ye, who was overjoyed, once again raised the purchase price of the vine fruit to fifteen yuan per catty, even the two guys in the Tian family's shop were a little moved, and the military households who were pulling the planks to protect their feet also went further down the mountain.

The pits that peeled off the thick skin and placed them on the wooden table in the hall house, there were five in total, each with a different appearance, the earthy yellow with a metallic luster, Xiao Ye had seen it last year, and the other black, white, and silver-white pits mixed with blue were rare.

The most special thing is this almost transparent kernel, playing with the walnut-sized kernel, Xiao Ye almost recognized it as glass.

The earthy yellow pits were found everywhere, the black ones were found near the abandoned coal pit, the white ones were near the ash kilns, and the transparent ones were plucked from a sandy field far down the mountain.

"It seems that Mei'er has to record the picking location of these pits in detail," Xiao Ye casually threw the pits on the table and got up and went to the yard.

In the courtyard, probably because of the presence of a hundred households, the place where the kernels were turned in was transferred to the open space outside the mill, where the place was large and empty.

Only Mei'er sat beside the stone bench, the abacus in her hand crackled, and the notes stamped with seals were immediately written with dozens of copper coins, and some guards handed them over to the military households and hunters waiting at the gate of the courtyard.

Walking lightly to Mei'er's side, Xiao Ye looked down at her concentrating on copying the account book, and with an indescribable feeling in her heart, she turned around and went back to read; Don't be in a hurry, let's talk about it in the evening.

Out of the corner of her eye, her husband entered the door, Mei'er bit her lip and stayed for a moment, cheering up and continuing to settle the score; So far, she and Lena's stomachs have not moved, and it is impossible to say that there is no hurry.

Just when there was a busy scene in Shiguantun, bags of fruit cores were gathered in the hundred households, and these fruit cores were also sent to Fang Shanshui's desk, and those merchants also got the fruit cores.

After being smelted by experienced craftsmen, iron was smelted from the earthy yellow kernels, but the knives were so fragile that they were simply useless, and the other colors of the kernels were even directly burned by the charcoal fire.

Only a few yellow cores, after refining a little copper, made Fang Shanshui breathe a sigh of relief; It turns out that this thing can be made of copper, what is the use of a larger nail cover, it is really a big fuss.

Compared to smelting copper from mines, the fruit verification is inconspicuous, but no one cares about the purity of the copper inside.

Just after many forces gave up the fruit pits in confusion, on Xiao Ye's desk, a few boys picked back the fruit pits from the west side of the canyon under the mountain, and piled up more than a dozen, these dark yellow fruit cores made the young Baihu simply smile and crooked his mouth.

When the core of more than 30,000 catties was swallowed by the B-shaped stone mill, Xiao Ye found the second booklet from the civilian catalog.

Yes, it's a booklet, or a ten-page piece of white paper with words and pictures, which directly explains the true face of these pits. On the cover of the booklet, there are four block letters in black letters, "Fruit Core Attributes,"

"The black flowers, with the pits of the fruit black, grow on the coal, the fierce fire oil; Earthy yellow flowers, earthy yellow kernels, are iron ore growing on them; ……”

The booklet marked dozens of metals and minerals such as carbon, oil, iron, copper, gold, silver, tin, nickel, tungsten, etc., and the vine grass kernels growing on them were different in color and size, but some similar colors, Xiao Ye couldn't tell the difference.

Based on the instructions in the booklet, he had already recognized that the kernel on this table was definitely the kernel containing copper, copper, a raw material that was in short supply in the stone mill, and rifle bullets needed a lot of copper.

The booklet also has a variety of flower colors, the colors are quite exquisite, and after carefully reading it several times, a solemn look appeared on Xiao Ye's new face.

This booklet is definitely a big scourge, once it is obtained by outsiders, then the secret of the stone mill in his hand can be revealed to the world with a little calculation.

As a result, this booklet, which he admired for a while, was quickly burned to ashes by a fire, and Xiao Ye basically remembered the contents of it; If you want to use it again in the future, just take another copy of the same one.

From June to September in the summer, when Liu Qi and Liu Liu led the rebel army in the mainland to attack Jining and set fire to 1,218 boats, the rifles in Xiao Ye's hand had reached ten shots, but the bullets were a little less, less than 500 rounds.

These rifles were handed over to their own guards, Xiao Liuzi had one, Zuo Shi accounted for one, and the rest were according to the old rules, which of the guards was better than the marksmanship, and the top nine naturally had priority.

Without raw materials, Xiao Ye couldn't take out even a rifle, and he had to hoard a lot of fire/guns and projectiles after loading; The copper consumption of rifle bullets made him feel very distressed, and he didn't dare to take more at all.

The original few fires/guns of the guards were withdrawn to the side of Madao Stone Fort, and the fire/guns and rifles in the hands of the sergeant in Shiguan Tunli were maintained at thirty.

At Madao Stone Fort, Lei Xiaoqing, Wang Hu, Liu Xiaohou 30 people, Hao Yongliang and Wang Meng 20 people, began to be stationed in shifts, changing every ten years.

There is no way, the fire/gun appearance in the Baihu Institute is too loud, and if you want to practice the fire/gun, you can only go here.

When you return to Shiguantun, you will put your brand-new fire/gun into storage, and return with a short fire/gun and a crossbow scimitar.

Wang Er, who is responsible for the five flag teams stationed in the stone castle, does not need to move the nest every ten years.

Qin Shi and the old hunters under him, after trying the power of the rifle, they couldn't let go.

The baby's rifle in his hand was wrapped tightly with strips of cloth, and he was usually afraid of bumping into half a point, and after the weapon was put into storage, it was pulling Heizi and Wang Hu, and he told him thousands of times, and repeatedly threatened that this was a rifle confessed by hundreds of households, and others could not use it.

The military discipline of the hundred households is majestic, but the offender is going to Bailong Lake to mine, although Heizi and Wang Hu are greedy for this kind of rifle that is not afraid of rain, but they can only wait for the next batch of rifles.

During this period, Xiao Ye went to Bailonghu twice, although the road was quite detouring, but he was able to share a good day with Xiuxiu and watch the Bailonghu sergeant drill by the way, and he was also very happy.

In September 1511, Simon Xiao had 400 troops in the night.