Ah Man and Daozi led the team back, plus the seizures brought back by Yang Shibai, and settled the accounts overnight after the account room, which basically made Xiao Ye suffer a loss; As soon as the cannon sounded, the gold was ten thousand taels, this was not a joke, the cost was carefully calculated, and the loss was certain.

If it weren't for the fact that there were not many injured after returning from this trip, there would have been an additional vermilion figure added to the account book in the account room.

However, the more than 1,500 slave laborers that Ah Man brought back gave Xiao Ye another victory, and these young men who could survive on the salt soil mine until the winter could be put into the barracks to participate in drill training in a few days.

Qin Shishi's Night Owl Banner Team was the first to pick up three hundred slave laborers, and the centurion sent by the other war battalions took away the required sergeants with satisfaction, and directly divided up the 1,500 people.

At the beginning of March, the grassland was still cloudy and biting, but on the construction site of Ximen Stone Fort, a large number of craftsmen and laborers had begun to assemble, and the plaster field opened up by the logistics team was filled with square stucco stones.

The families of craftsmen and sergeants who returned to the interior of the border wall during the New Year's Festival, hundreds of young men and women brought back from visiting relatives, and some old people and children, were arranged by Wang Dali in the west fort of Eagle Claw Fort; As a laborer who worked in the logistics team to get money, Qingzhuang was transferred to the construction site of Ximen Stone Fort.

On the wide stucco field, the stucco blocks with iron bars were added, and after solidifying and solidifying, they were hoisted by long poles, and the young man turned to several relays and sent them into the foundation of one zhang wide and two people deep, and the foundation of the stone fort wall began to be repaired.

After many days of discussion by Wang Dali and a group of old craftsmen, the general outline of the Ximen Stone Fort appeared in everyone's minds, this fortress-like tall and strong stone fort, it took 2,000 craftsmen and a year of labor to barely build an inner fort.

This is still a convenient condition for the rapid condensation of the plaster blocks and the large construction on the spot, otherwise it will not take two years for the fort wall of the inner fort to be repaired, let alone the numerous architectural patterns inside.

Covering an area of 100 acres of square inner fort, there is only a fort gate due north outside, the fort wall is three zhang high, the female wall stone buttress is three feet high, and a corner tower is built at intervals of 100 steps, and the garrison defense is more than enough.

The southern half of the inner fort is on a gently sloping hill, where a large chieftain's palace will be built, which is also the most important source of water for the whole stone fort; There will be a special courtyard at the back of the courtyard, in which a pool will be repaired, and there will be a waterway down to the entire stone fort, a small artificial river, which runs through the stone fort and flows to the depression outside the fort.

In the depression outside the fort, patches of grain fields will be reclaimed next year, and some corn and wheat will be planted at that time.

If the problem of water is solved, the entire stone castle will exude infinite vitality, and it will also become a trading point for the entire Galen tribe to the outside world.

There are only mills, military compounds, and rows of stone houses in the inner fort, which are used for the war barracks, logistics teams, and various characters who are close to Xiao Ye, and basically no outsiders will enter.

The mill here, Xiao Ye couldn't think of any great use, it was just a node in the sand table in Wang Ziliang's hand.

The outer fort built outside the inner fort has more than doubled in area, and there are attached stone forts in the east and west, which have been assigned to the Galen war camp and the army armor battalion.

In addition, the Wang Mengzhan barracks in the inner fort, part of the guards, the Shenche battalion, and the artillery team, even if the regular army of the Ming Dynasty wanted to attack the city, they had to suffer heavy casualties.

There will be a large number of shops and storefronts in the outer fort, a small courtyard of stone houses, land temples, and theaters, but if you can be close to the artificial river, presumably the price at which Wang vigorously sells will definitely not be cheap.

Regardless of the inner fort, the outer fort, the only feature is a large number of planting Coptis trees, as long as there is open space in all parts of the stone fort, within five zhang of each other, it has to be planted with Coptis trees, this is Xiao Ye's special military order, in order to prevent the jade vine from emerging from the ground to cause trouble.

On the construction sites of Wangjiabao and Yangjiabao, saplings of Coptis chinensis were also planted everywhere, and the jade vines with tender shoots growing not far away showed signs of rapid spread.

The busy logistics team, the non-stop barracks, the three construction sites in full swing, and the various caravans from Qingfeng Valley make this mountain wasteland where the grassland and the mainland connect with each other a little more vivid.

However, what puzzled the merchants was that in the list of purchased goods listed by Wang Guinian, the price of sulfur and saltpeter was reduced by one percent, and it was indicated that inferior sulfur saltpeter would not be purchased, which made the merchants suspicious.

The afterglow of the battle of Kuoxi Mountain was quickly heard by well-informed merchants, Xiao Ye's battle camp was strong, and everyone knew it in their hearts, but the number was too small to worry about, but why did Wang Gui no longer value sulfur saltpeter, which was crucial to firearms?

Bailong Lake produces sulfur, but there is not much saltpeter, and the salt soil from Kuoxi Mountain is unbearable, so why Xiao Ye gave up the importance of firearms, no one can understand this.

At this time, Xiao Ye, who was busy setting up the Galen War Camp and the Commander of the Army, was deploying the commander and centurion, and he had no obligation to explain to them where he could take care of the doubts of the merchants.

Outside the East Fort of Eagle Claw, Wang Gui and the deacon of the Jin family had just traded a batch of goods, and beckoned the old army to pull a cart of iron ore into the fort, "Brother Jin, I have two new goods here, do you want to take a look, or will you see it next time?" ”

Regarding Wang Gui's ridicule, Jin Damin hurriedly came up with a smile and handed over the cigarette pouch, "Hey, Brother Wang, our brothers haven't seen each other yet, what are the good goods, brother, I have a silver ticket, open your eyes,"

The caravan of the Zhai family and the Liang family will arrive tomorrow, and today is his caravan, so don't hurry up if you have a chance.

Pushing away Jin Damin's cigarette stick, Wang Gui took out a cloth bag from his arms and handed it to the businessman in front of him, "Refined salt, thirty wen a catty,"

Bai Sensen's fine table salt was taken out by Xiao Ye to Tian Guangcheng before, but Xiao Ye himself did not have enough to eat the green salt in the back, where did he send it to the stone mill to process it into refined salt; Yesterday, the pack team from the Lanelt tribe brought more than 100,000 catties of salt ore, all of which were sent to the black house of the stone fort.

As a result, this morning, Wang Gui got a sample of refined salt from the guards who came from Madao Stone Fort.

"This, is it salt?" Jin Damin, who was suspicious, carefully stretched out his index finger, dipped it in a little fine, put it in his mouth and tasted it, and suddenly his eyes were round again, and his appearance made Wang Gui very comfortable.

"The new refined salt, Daming is the only case, if it weren't for the fact that your young lady and my family got close, oh, it's the fourth lady," Seeing that Jin Damin's face turned dark, Wang Gui hurriedly eased his tone, "Yes, for the sake of the fourth lady's face, Commander Yang specially explained,"

"In this way, a pound of thirty wen, the price is a little expensive," Jin Damin no longer paid attention to Wang Gui's explanation, and quickly calculated in his heart, "Can it be cheaper, one pound of grain can be exchanged for two catties of refined salt?" ”

"What do you think, you want sixty wen for a pound of grain, you really think this is a Beijing teacher, no," Wang Gui immediately shook his head, and now the price of grain in Gansu Town is only thirty wen for a pound of grain,"

The price of grain is high in winter, which is inevitable for the solar term, but Jin Damin's counteroffer made Wang Gui decisively put away the cloth bag and turned around to go back to the stone fort.

"Come on, don't go, our brothers have something to discuss," tugging at Wang Gui's sleeve, Jin Damin hurriedly stopped with a smiling face, "Okay, brother, you can give a charter,"

"There are 10,000 catties of refined salt, in exchange for 15,000 catties of your grain, or 40,000 catties of green salt, that's it," Wang Gui, who is no longer at two prices, said the low price of the transaction with a cold face, "Other caravans haven't seen this refined salt yet, and you won't have such good luck next time,"

30,000 catties of refined salt were taken out of the processing center, and 20,000 catties have been put into storage, but Wang Gui's purchase and sale of green salt continued.

"Okay, okay, that's it," Jin Damin, who had a wry smile on his face, looked lamenting, waved his hand and asked his subordinates to write an IOU, let's take away this batch of salt first; Turning around, Jin Damin forcibly endured the heartbeat of touching joy, "Brother Wang, I'm going to the restaurant in Xibao in the afternoon, brother, I'm in for a treat,"

Boiling such a white refined salt, it was the first time he Jin Damin had seen it, and while he was stunned, he also realized the business opportunities inside.

"Okay, you better gather the deacons of the other shops first," Wang Gui, who smiled, waved his hand and left the open space surrounded by the stone wall and went back to the fort.

"This guy, the anger is still so big," Jin Damin shook his head helplessly, looking forward to the next new goods, although he can't eat alone, he is looking forward to it even more.

In the afternoon, in the west fort of Eagle Claw Fort, outside the two-story restaurant opened by the Jin family on the street, Wang Gui arrived as promised, and the deacons and men of the seven major merchants arrived one after another, and saw a large number of bonfires lit on the stucco floor on the street, and the hula was burning.

"Brother Wang, what are you doing here? Wouldn't it be warmer to go into the house," the familiar deacon quipped with Wang Gui, and the others looked at Wang Gui strangely.

The craftsmen and sergeants who came and went on the streets, seeing this scene, all gathered around to watch the excitement; However, there was a black-clothed guard standing beside Wang Gui, and his cold face still made everyone lower their voices, and no one dared to make a loud noise.

In the crowd of onlookers, behind the head of a logistics team, there were several loyal young men, stretching their necks to look at the bonfire in the inner circle, with a trace of disdain in their eyes, and they were fleeting.

However, there were nearly hundreds of onlookers, and none of them dared to make loud noises and jokes, which also made these young men who had just joined the logistics team sweat in their palms.

Xiao Ye's strictness in governing the army can be seen.

"Hehe, everyone, what you will take out for you today can't eat, drink, or wear," Wang Gui saw that there were more and more people, so he didn't wait any longer, and arched his hand at the merchants around him, "My family has an order, and it is also the practice of our Galen tribe to take out good things to show the big guys,"

After speaking, Wang Gui took a step back, "Everyone step back, step away,"

But his words only made the people watching the excitement laugh loudly, if it weren't for the guard on the side, I'm afraid someone would have laughed a long time ago.

This is the head of the guard, Tang Zhenghe, who led the team to patrol the Eagle Claw Fort, but he didn't know the bottom of a military task given to him by the adults, so he could only hold the horse/knife at his waist and scan the left and right with a strained face.

Seeing that Wang Gui finished speaking, Tang Zhenghe, who had long been impatient, stepped forward, took out a black oval object from his arms, and held it in his hand; The black-headed fire extinguisher is going to show his face in front of everyone today.

This object, which is similar to the size of the earth-shattering thunder iron head, is still a little soft in his hand, Tang Zhenghe pulled out the pull ring on the short handle, and directly threw the fire extinguishing bomb into the fire.

"Peng," a dull sound, and a large puff of white smoke shook out of the whirring and burning fire, but then there was not much movement in the fire, and the flame was extinguished in the smoke, and soon the flames were gone, only a faint heat was rising.

"Wow, that's amazing, that's right,"

"The original flame-out,"

"It is estimated that the Persian goods have arrived again, which is really an eye-opener," the crowd stirred chaotically, and Tang Zhenghe, who turned to leave, made the onlookers argue loudly about the spectacle they saw, and the streets became chaotic.

"Okay, now that we've seen the excitement, let's go in for tea and chat," Wang Gui, who was smiling, stepped into the restaurant first, followed by a group of merchants with different looks.

The Jin family restaurant, to put it bluntly, is just a wine shop, on the second floor of the stone slab, in a cubicle, Wang Gui said the price of the fire extinguisher to several deacons and the guys sent by the Tian family.

"A tael of silver? It's so expensive," Wang Gui is already immune, and even, the face he has exercised now is three points thicker than that of the merchants, if nothing else, he can earn back a little more grain, and there will be more grain in the warehouse, so that the craftsmen and military households can feel more at ease, and he can not fight wits with the merchants desperately.

If it weren't for Ma Gui and Wang Qing not being able to stand up now, wouldn't it be more comfortable for him to stay in the Shi family's shop.

"Expensive? Huh, is it expensive? Wang Gui held the teacup and looked at the merchants around him with a smile, "Don't say anything else, just this restaurant, even if most of it is made of stone, but if there is a fire, the loss is not only one or two silver, but more than a hundred taels,"

"Not to mention the shops and trading houses in your various places, as well as the houses and embroidery buildings in your family, which one was not built with a lot of silver, and a few taels of silver can instantly extinguish a lot of flames, who thinks it's expensive?"

Wang Gui, who told the truth, didn't need two sentences to say the little abacus in the hearts of the merchants, "You can buy it back, the effect of this fire extinguishing bomb is only two years, and after two years, there is no fire extinguishing effect, you can buy it again,"

"Of course, the price you sell to the mainland, my Galen tribe will not ask, as long as the fire extinguisher does not get close to pull the explosion, the pull ring is not taken off and no one can die,"

Of the 10,000 fire extinguishing bombs taken out of the processing center, Xiao Ye left 1,000 for each stone fort, and the others were quickly sold by Wang Gui.

Xiao Ye was busy reorganizing the army in Gujiabao, Jin Sanniang took Xiaomei to go, the Madao Stone Fort that was loose on the outside and tight on the inside, except for the one hundred young people left in the logistics team, and the stone mill where the coal mine was served, all the other young people were transferred to the Ximen Stone Fort construction site.

Wang Meng's war barracks, also divided into 500 sergeants, went to three construction sites to carry out military affairs, and the defense in the stone fort was slowly regarded as the team began to take over.

Sitting in a wheelchair, Xin Lilin was pushed up the fort wall by the sergeant, squinting at the setting sun in the sky and the deserted quarry to the east, muttering softly.

"Xiucai, you are idle here," In the distance, on the road of the fort wall, an old man in a long robe walked in, Xin Weilin looked carefully, and saw Xiao Ye's father-in-law, Yang Tianshou, walking slowly with a few students with a big cotton sleeve.

"The three provinces have seen Mr.," Xin Lilin smiled faintly, and bowed his hand, "I don't know that there is also leisure in the school, and it is also a freehand mood to be able to take the students around to see,"

"Hahahaha, it's too cold here, how about you and I go to the school to talk about tea?" For Yang Tian's kindness, how could Xin Lilin not accept it, and was about to turn around with a smile, he suddenly asked.

"The gentleman does not allow his son-in-law to lead troops into the side wall, but his own will?" Squinting at Yang Tianshou, who was stiff in his footsteps, Xin Weilin's voice sank, "Or, is Mr. reluctant to be the head of the high hall?" ”

Twisting his face, Yang Tianshou looked at Xin Weilin's eyes, and made him uncomfortable with a smile, "If you can't be a little rich, you can only protect yourself, but there are no eggs in the building, and the foundation can't be touched,"

"So, you will train him to be literate students, and let him fight to the death with Mongolian Tatars on the steppe? The Tartars are even more ferocious,"

"No matter how fierce and ruthless the Tartar is, it is not as strong as the wind and waves in the side wall, and the infamy of the history is to be left behind for 10,000 years," Speaking of this, Yang Tianshou stopped, "That Jinong is strong and strong, it is a rootless tree, but the strength of the Ming Dynasty is beyond the imagination of ordinary people,"

"Xiao Boy's alliance with the Tartars is not what you want, but it should be your idea to pull and fight, or even annex the Galen tribesmen, what a good idea,"

"For allies, those who have strength will be co-opted, and if they lack three points of strength, they will swallow it in one bite, and your old man will not be able to see it?"

"Constantly co-opting new forces, striking new enemies, and annexing weak allies until all allies become food in their mouths, which can be described as the extreme of killing three soldiers with two peaches, Xin Xiucai, can't you let Xiao Boy slow down?"

Seeing that Xin Weilin was silent, Yang Tianshou sighed, "With the population, food, and a strong stone fort, he can't walk slowly if he wants to,"

"There will be a battle with Jinong sooner or later, you and I will be on the ship, the ship will sink and die, the Ximen family has just branched out, and it has not yet become a climate,"

Taking advantage of the fire to rob, borrowing a knife to kill people, etc., these little tricks, in Yang Tianshou's eyes, are nothing more than a little lip service from Xin Weilin's hand, what he is afraid of is that this scholar who has half of the Analects in his belly has put his idea on the great rivers and mountains south of the border wall.

From the dragon's work, the temptation is too filmable.

"The student has been taught," Xin Lilin nodded slowly, "The northwest is vast and boundless, and the great rivers and mountains in the south, hehe, it's not in the eyes of the three provinces, the old gentleman is too worried,"

"Then let's wait and see, hopefully, I hope you can assist that stunned young man," Yang Tian smiled bitterly and waved his hand, and led the student away, "If you have time, come to the school to talk,"

"Yes," a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, Xin Weilin watched the old man leave, and looked back at the blood-fainting glow in the western sky, and for a while his heart was a little swaying.

If people's eyes are opened, they will think farther and more.

Xiao Ye wanted to avenge him, but Xin Weilin declined, what he wanted was not something that Xiao Ye could give him easily, but he wanted to try his best to see if he could give Daming a peaceful northwest.

In that case, what can you do if you slaughter the Mongols, who said that scholars are useless, their hearts cover the world, and they dare to let the sun and the moon brush the old dust.

Ximen Xiaoye's heart, Xin Lilin basically figured out, a rebellious young hundred, but there is a family tree with a lot of achievements, and his father died tragically under the sharp arrows of the Tartars, which can lead him to be mighty on the grassland, Xin Lilin does not think it is difficult.

Of course, if he knew that Xiao Ye was in the Madao Stone Fort and had nightmares every night, he wouldn't think so.

"It's still the same sentence, keep moving forward, don't look back, never look back, the smelly putrid behind me, I don't want to go back," Xin Weilin, who was talking to himself, leaned back on his wheelchair and closed his eyes in a mutter.

In the glow of blood, Wang Dali and several old craftsmen were on the construction site of Ximen Stone Fort, stepping on the foundation of the two-zhang wide fort wall, discussing how to speed up the construction of the fort wall.

There is a way that the people are the real creators, from a mile away from the stucco field, to the fort wall here, along the way erected dozens of long hanging logs, a piece of stucco stone weighing up to 100 catties, all the way to the construction site, and then from the highest to five zhang high hanging wood on the construction site, for the final transfer, it is already a wonder in the history of architecture.

"It seems that if there is no shortage of yellow plaster, then the fort wall will be completed in two months, and all that remains is the waterways and streets in the fort, and the military houses and stone houses will be built," said the old craftsman who followed Wang Dali, smiling with his beard.

"It's a pity that we can't dig up water," someone said regretfully, "but we have a water umbrella, which is a blessing in misfortune,"

"Yes, I didn't expect that we, the illiterate craftsmen, could build such a stone castle in this wild place, it's a city," said another old craftsman, with a smile, but his words were stopped by the look in Wang Dali's eyes; The stone castle is easy to say, that is a folk saying, there is no custom, but the city can be a taboo as soon as it is said, so it is better not to mention it.

"Everyone performs their duties, and it is a great achievement to make the stone castle be completed before winter," Wang Dali squinted at the open space outside the foundation, "Outside here, the edge of the stone castle must be planted with Coptis chinensis trees, old Liu Tou, you go to Madao Stone Fort immediately, and contact Shiguantun to pick and cut branches and seedlings,"

A large arch should be built at the gate of the inner fort, and there will still be no gate for the gate, and there will be no deep trenches and moats outside the stone fort, which has become a feature of the stone fort under Xiao Ye's command.