Xu Xingxia had a very tense time during this time. He wished there were twenty-four hours a day. That's enough. Although the Xu family was close at hand, he just didn't go back. Every day, he has to supervise the training of the white-clothed army, from the queue training in the morning, to the cavalry and archery training in the afternoon, to the group beating competition in the evening, and he must not be sloppy for a moment.

After all, there are still too many newcomers in the white-clothed army, and if they want to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, there is no shortcut, only desperate hard training. As the commander of the white-clothed army, Xu Xingxia can be said to have racked his brains, searched for dry intestines, and used all the knowledge he knew. Under such high pressure, the combat effectiveness of the white-clothed army is indeed growing rapidly.

In addition to supervising the training of the White Coats, he also needs to train. The Tartar is coming, and Xu Xingxia is not fully sure that he will definitely win. However, no matter what, he has to use his skills to inflict maximum damage on the Tartars. He secretly vowed to kill at least a hundred Tartars before he fell. It's still the same old saying, if you want to eat me, I'll break your big teeth.

Guo Fuquan prepared more black feather arrows for Xu Xingxia, and there were three hundred spare. More can be prepared if needed. The craftsman's workshop began at night, and a large number of bows and arrows were made. In addition to the white-clothed army, there were about two hundred strong men, all armed with bows and arrows. In addition, the number of scimitars and spears is also quite high. This time, the entire Fort of Weizhen can be said to be armed to the teeth.

"Three hundred, almost." Xu Xingxia said to himself. For him, the main task now is not to hunt the Tatar cavalry with his own hands, but to command the people below to hunt the Tatar cavalry. He is no longer fighting alone, but commanding a small army. Although, the combat effectiveness of this unit is not very good.

Of course, most of the time, he still has to make a move. In a critical situation, only his archery skills can turn the tide without falling. For the time being, there is no one else in the white-clothed army who can confront the Tartars head-on, even Mao Thirteen and Chi Hu. Both of them still need more time to practice and more actual combat to accumulate experience.

"Whoosh!"

Xu Xingxia shot an arrow.

The black feather arrow roared away, accurately hitting the target fifty zhang away.

The white-clothed sergeants around him were all envious. This kind of archery is simply terrifying. Looking at the arrow target from fifty zhang away, it is completely a small point. Without the perverted talent of archery, without decades of immersion in silver, where is there such a perverted tactic? I heard that the Tatar god of arrows is also precipitated by experience.

It's just that for Xu Xingxia, such a reaction from the white army is not too good news. Obviously, only when his level is still relatively low, he will show such an envious expression to the archery master. If their level is also so seven or eight successful husbands, what they see in their eyes should not be envy, but provocation.

As long as the level of archery skills of the white-clothed soldiers is raised to a certain height, they will definitely hope to continue to improve their archery skills by challenging themselves. It's a pity that it's still too far from that stage. What's even worse is that the end of the Ming Dynasty was the era of transition from cold weapons to firearms, and the one-sided emphasis on mounted archery was a reversal of history.

Historical development proves that bows and arrows will eventually be replaced by muskets. In this era, vigorously developing musket technology and improving the range and power of muskets is the path of science. Therefore, Xu Xingxia did not have a long-term plan for archery training. The current mounted archery training is just for emergencies. When everything is on the track, it is still necessary to form a large number of musket teams, which is the basic guarantee of victory.

Of course, there is good news. The biggest good news, of course, was sent by Liu Guangliang. He did not send anyone to excavate saltpeter and brimstone. After Liu Guangliang went back, after thinking about it, he felt that it would take a lot of time to excavate saltpeter and sulfur, and it was estimated that it would be too late. Xu Xingxia gave him the task of massively increasing the stock of gunpowder, but there was no stipulation that he had to prepare it himself. So, he quietly sent people to contact some people in Ningxia City and buy gunpowder directly from them. Luckily, the deal was successfully completed, and Fort Wychern was able to purchase a large amount of gunpowder.

Speaking of which, this matter is also very absurd, gunpowder is a military material, how can it be easily sold? However, the purchase of gunpowder in the name of Fort Weizhen is also justified, and the risk of the transaction is not very large, as long as the middleman gets the advantage. In fact, Xu Xingxia did not expect that the price of gunpowder at that time would be so cheap. Liu Guangliang bought 50,000 catties in one go, and only spent 500 taels of silver.

In fact, the ingredients of gunpowder are, to put it bluntly, nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. Among these things, the one that is slightly more valuable is nitrate. Neither sulfur nor charcoal is worth much. However, Helan Mountain is rich in saltpeter mines, and after mining, after some relatively simple procedures, nitrate can be refined with high purity. This means that in Ningxia Town, the cost of nitrate is not very high. If it is nitrate collected by soil methods, the cost is lower.

The gunpowder in Ningxia Town has been accumulated over many years in various health centers. At that time, there were regulations on how much gunpowder each thousand households needed to prepare each year. Since the cost of gunpowder is not high, and there is the phenomenon of using the public for personal gain, it is not surprising that 500,000 catties of gunpowder can be bought for 500 taels of silver. One tael of silver and a hundred catties of gunpowder, almost. Of course, these are secret transactions, God knows, you know and I know, and they can't see the light.

Another piece of good news is that those grain merchants in Ningxia City seem to have smelled something and dumped a large amount of grain into Weizhenbao. Xu Xingxia did not refuse to come. He estimated his financial resources and bought a lot of food. As far as the people at that time were concerned, they did not realize that in the next ten years, it would be an era of great chaos in the world. The only pity is that Xu Xingxia does not have much silver taels on hand, and he cannot hoard grain on a large scale.

On this day, Xu Xingxia was supervising the training of the white-clothed army in the military camp, and suddenly received a report that a Shanxi businessman named Sun Dakun came to look for him. Xu Xingxia came out of the barracks, and sure enough, he saw Sun Dakun's carriage, which happened to stop at the door of the barracks. Sun Dakun stood next to the carriage, looking around, and seemed to feel that many places in Weizhen Fort felt quite fresh.

"Boss Sun." Xu Xingxia greeted with a smile.

"Xu Baihu." Sun Dakun also said with a smile.

Thinking of the meeting between the two, it was really a bit accidental. When it was said, Sun Dakun bought Xu Xingxia's red deer, which changed the life of the Xu family. Xu Xingxia's starting point also started from that red deer. If it weren't for the more than 100 taels of silver, it would be difficult to say whether the fate of Xu Xingxia and the Xu family would have undergone new changes.

Similarly, Sun Dakun also got a suitable gift and successfully completed his task. At that time, Sun Dakun's career was indeed at a low ebb. If it weren't for the red deer that Xu Xingxia hunted to curry favor with that big man, it is still unknown whether he can continue to survive in Ningxia Town. Faintly, Sun Dakun felt that this Xu Xingxia could still bring him some benefits.

Sun Dakun took the initiative to come to Weizhen Fort, which did make Xu Xingxia feel a little surprised. He knew that Sun Dakun was the son of the owner of a commercial house in Shanxi and the heir of the commercial bank. The Jin merchants were numerous in Ningxia Town, probably a few hundred. However, they basically deal with the high-level of Ningxia Town, and the lowest level is more than 1,000 households. It is of course not normal for a powerful Jin merchant to take the initiative to find a hundred households in the health office.

Xu Xingxia said meaningfully: "Boss Sun has nothing to do but go to the Three Treasures Palace, I don't know what is important?" Please come to the barracks and speak. ”

Sun Dakun said bluntly: "When I came down to find Xu Baihu, I really had something to ask for. I heard that a new teahouse has opened in Weizhenbao, shall we go there and sit there? ”

Xu Xingxia said with a smile: "You're welcome, just say it here." ”

Sun Dakun glanced at Xu Xingxia and said slowly: "I heard that there are leopards in Helan Mountain, I don't know if Xu Baihu is interested in hunting?" ”

Xu Xingxia said thoughtfully: "The money leopard of Helan Mountain? Does Boss Sun want a leopard skin? How? Gift-giving again? ”

Sun Dakun nodded and said, "Talking to Xu Baihu is simple. That's right, it's time for gift-giving again. I really need a good leopard skin. Let's have a fixed price, 50,000 taels. What does Xu Baihu think? ”

Fifty thousand taels of silver, of course Xu Xingxia was moved. Where did he go to get fifty thousand taels of silver? However, these 50,000 taels look very tempting, but in fact, they may not be able to get it. If it wasn't difficult enough, Sun Dakun wouldn't have offered a high price of 50,000 taels of silver. You must know that the Jin merchants are very picky, and they will definitely not spend one or two on things that can be done well for nine dollars of silver.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Xingxia said slowly: "To be honest, Boss Sun, there is a leopard in Helan Mountain, but it is just a legend, and there are really not many people who have seen it." No one can be sure that there must be a leopard in Helan Mountain. I'm confident that if I can find out about the existence of the leopard, I can get a leopard skin. However, if you can't even see the shadow of the leopard, it will be difficult. I guess Boss Sun won't be able to wait too long! ”

Sun Dakun nodded and said calmly: "I really can't wait long, it's only half a year before that big man is born." This fine leopard skin is the best gift. I believe in Xu Baihu's luck. If I really can't even see the shadow of the leopard, I have to think that I am unlucky, and it has nothing to do with Xu Baihu. ”

Xu Xingxia thought for a while, nodded and said, "Since that's the case, I'll agree to come down." ”

Sun Dakun immediately took out a colorful silver ticket, handed it to Xu Xingxia with both hands, and said gratefully: "Since this is the case, let's settle it like this." Try to get me a good leopard skin in three or four months. It was three thousand taels of silver as a deposit to be paid in advance. ”

(To be continued)