Hu Zixin doesn't like to tell lies, and if he wins, if he wins, he will be triumphant and preach it everywhere. If he loses, he will never admit defeat, but he may not be convinced and find another opportunity to turn the tables.

Before starting with the survey camp, Hu was confident that he was full of confidence in his own combat effectiveness, and felt that the other party was a mainland soldier and could not have any skills. Who would have thought that the survey battalion was completely different from ordinary mainland soldiers, Su Hao had high requirements for the survey battalion, and Xu Guangzu and Deng Kui, who were in charge of training, were also from the border army, and the requirements were even stricter than the ordinary border army.

Hu is confident that the combat effectiveness of these military households mainly comes from actual combat, and the people who come over in the bushes of swords and guns have a fierce spirit. However, when it comes to training, they are far inferior to the survey and public opinion camp, because they are military households in Tuntian, and their main job in peacetime is farming, and there is no guarantee of training time at all. In addition, due to the poverty of Ningxia, these military households usually lack nutrition, and they can have brute strength when they have to work hard, but their endurance is far inferior to that of the soldiers of the Kanyu Battalion.

When the brawl just now, the two sides could be regarded as evenly matched, and after less than a quarter of an hour of fighting, Hu Xinxin and his soldiers felt a little powerless. However, the strength of the other party is endless, and it is obvious that there is still great potential. By the time Zhang Xiaoqi led the gendarmes to pull the two sides apart, the soldiers in the survey camp were a little unsatisfied, while the military households felt more relieved.

The connoisseur stretches out his hand to know if there is one. What is the combat effectiveness of the Kanyu Battalion, Hu Xinxin has fought this battle, and it is very clear. Now that Xiao Ruxun asked him, he naturally had one thing to say, two to say, and directly declared that he was not the opponent of the survey camp.

"General Su's command is so brave?" Xiao Ruxun put away his contempt for Su Hao and Kanyuying, and asked solemnly.

"Don't dare to be." Su Hao said, "When the Shicai brothers competed in martial arts, they were watching from the sidelines, Hu Baihu and his subordinates were very fierce, which made Zai Haosheng admire. The only fly in the ointment may be that they are malnourished, I think they all have noodles and dishes, and it must be rare to have meat and fishy entrances. ”

"Meaty ......" Hu Xinxin smiled bitterly, "General Su said that it was a joke, it is rare for us to have a full meal, where can we talk about any meat." ”

Xiao Ruxun said: "General Su has just arrived, and he doesn't know the situation in this place. The border army is hard, this is a well-known thing in the Manchu Dynasty, and the Ningxia border army is particularly difficult, as Hu Baihu said, it is good to be able to eat a full meal, and the meat and bloody things are not delusional. ”

"No, this Ningxia Plain also has a good reputation for being plugged into the south of the Yangtze River, and it is rich in products, why is the life of a military household so miserable?" Su Hao was surprised.

The Ningxia Plain is flat, with the Yellow River flowing through it in the east. As early as 2000 years ago, there was a tradition of leading the Yellow River to irrigate, in some important irrigation areas, as far as the eye can see, the channels are vertical and horizontal, the rice fields are verdant, and the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River is good. However, there is one thing that Su Hao is mistaken, this place is called Saishang Jiangnan, not because of its products or scenery, but because during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, a large number of southern residents moved to the Lingzhou area south of Yinchuan, and the local customs are close to Jiangnan, so it is named.

"It's an old thing to plug the south of the Yangtze River, in recent years, Ningxia has been drought, the water level of the Yellow River has been declining, and it is becoming more and more difficult to divert water from the Yellow River for irrigation, and the days of plugging on our side have become more and more difficult." Xiao Ruxun said to Su Hao, somehow, he felt that he seemed to be able to accept Su Hao as a person, and he was willing to chat with him in the tone of a friend.

"If nothing else, let's just talk about this kind of dish, it's getting harder and harder. We went all the way to pick up some water and plant some food, but we couldn't stand General Su bringing more than 2,000 people at once, how could we supply it. Hu Zixin added that the conflict between him and Su Hao stemmed from the matter of buying vegetables, and now seeing that his own staff members seem to have the intention of making peace with Su Hao, he quickly took out this matter to show that he did not deliberately embarrass Su Hao before.

Xiao Ruxun heard what Hu Zixin meant, so he said for him: "Hu Baihu is right, in another month, it will be frosty here, and we can't grow vegetables again, and for a whole winter, it would be good for everyone to have some vegetables to help them nibble." ”

"What can I do about this?" Ge Ling's eyes widened and asked, she is a southern girl, and she is from the eldest lady, so she can't stand letting her only eat vegetables in winter. Xiao Ruxun's words made the singer have the idea of leaving here quickly, but if she left the survey camp, how Li Zhen would be resettled, was something that the little girl suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Not only that, you and the others are all southerners, and in this northern border city, heating is also a problem." Xiao Ruxun kindly reminded, "General Su, have your troops prepared firewood for the winter?" ”

"By the way, this matter is lowly and I want to report to the general, since General Su's guest army came to Pingyu City, the firewood around Pingyu City is not enough, and several hundreds of households have some friction with General Su's guest army because of the matter of chopping wood." Liang Feng, the chief bookkeeper standing on the side, interjected.

Liang Feng said that friction was naturally a kind word, but in fact it was a conflict. Su Hao hadn't heard of this matter, he turned his head to look at Xiong Minfan and asked, "Is this really the case?" ”

Xiong Minfan nodded and said: "There is indeed such a thing, but these are all trivial matters, and Deng Zhongjun and they have already dealt with it, so they didn't alarm you, general." ”

"But...... Isn't it possible to burn coal for heating in winter? Su Hao's mind lit up and asked Xiao Ruxun.

"Burning coal?" Xiao Ruxun smiled bitterly, "There is no coal production in the local area, the coal used in my general's mansion is all transported from Yan'an Mansion, 100 catties of coal are worth almost 1 tael of silver, how can you let ordinary military households afford to burn?" ”

"No coal is produced locally!" Su Hao looked at Xiao Ruxun with disbelieving eyes, and felt that Xiao Ruxun's words were really ridiculous.

The location of Ningxia Pingyu City is Pingluo County, Shizuishan City, Ningxia Autonomous Region. Shizuishan City is famous as the source of Taixi coal. Taixi coal is world-famous for its "three lows and six highs" characteristics of low ash, low sulfur, low phosphorus and high calorific value, high specific resistance, high lump coal rate, high chemical activity, high recovery rate of refined coal, and high mechanical strength. As such an important coal-producing area, isn't it strange that someone should say that there is no coal produced locally?

"Why, who has General Su heard that there is coal in the local area?" Xiao Ruxun asked rhetorically.

Su Hao recalled, and faintly remembered that the mining history of Taixi coal should be in the Qing Daoguang period, that is, coal mining has not yet started here. He raised his head, looked at Xiao Ruxun and said: "General Xiao Shen doesn't know, he has learned some prospecting techniques in the next, and when he was active outside the city a few days ago, he saw that there was a hidden coal deposit in the mountains outside the city. I always thought that someone had known about it, but it was a pity that no one mined it. ”

"You said there was coal outside Pingyu City?" Xiao Ruxun, Liang Feng and the others all looked at Su Hao in surprise, not knowing if he was joking or serious.

"That's true, but it's a large coal deposit, and if it is fully exploited, it will be no problem to supply the entire Ningshan region." Su Hao smiled faintly.

Su Hao's judgment is already a very conservative statement. The Rujigou mining area, the main source of Taixi coal, was burned for more than 100 years due to arson by miners during the Tongzhi period, and it was not until the end of 2006 that it was completely extinguished. It is estimated that in some years, millions of tons of coal burned by fires alone, and with the production level of the Ming Dynasty, these coals were not only supplied to Ningshan, but also to the whole country.

"This ......" Xiao Ruxun was about to say something, but suddenly stopped again, he raised his eyes to look at Hu Xinxin and the others, and said: "Hu Baihu, today's matter, if General Su intercedes for you and others, the general will no longer punish you." Don't disturb the guest army in the future, you know? ”

"Mark it and get it!" Hu Xinxin knew that Xiao Ruxun was about to clear the scene, so he hurriedly agreed.

Su Hao also heard what Xiao Ruxun meant, and glanced at Xiong Minfan and the others, Xiong Minfan hurriedly confessed to Xiao Ruxun, and then took his own people, together with Hu Xinxin and others, and exited the lobby.

The soldiers left, Cheng Yi and Ge Ling were a little embarrassed, they stood up and wanted to leave. Xiao Ruxuan smiled and said: "These two girls seem to be the best girls in the scholarly family, if you don't give up, would you like to go to the back house to meet my wife?" She is in this peaceful city, but she can't find a close friend in her boudoir, so she is lonely. ”

Hearing Xiao Ruxun say this, Cheng Yi and Ge Ling naturally inconvenienced to refuse. Xiao Ruxun asked someone to call a maid from the back house and led the two girls to meet Yang Shulan.

After all the people were dismissed, Xiao Ruxun said to Su Hao: "General Su, how sure are you that you can find the coal outside Pingyu City that you said?" ”

Su Hao said: "Ten percent." ”

"Ten percent?" Xiao Ruxun was stunned, under the technical level of the year, how could any coal master dare to say that he was 100% sure that he could find coal.

Su Hao asked, "What, Xiao Shen intends to mine coal?" ”

"Of course I do!" Xiao Ruxun said, "Ningxia is bitterly cold, if there is coal, the livelihood of the border soldiers will be greatly improved." Coal can also be exchanged for silver, and I have long been stretched thin in this flat house, and I have dreamed of where a large sum of silver taels can fall, so that I can change weapons for the military households and buy a new cotton armor. Also, the side wall in the north has also been in disrepair for a long time, and some have been repaired during the Jiajing period. If a large coal mine can be opened, the appearance of the Pingyu Institute will be completely new. ”

"So much?" Su Hao was a little ashamed. The distribution of coal mines in this area was hidden in his mind, but he always felt that he was just staying for a short period of time, and he had no intention of operating these things, but he never thought of using this knowledge to benefit the border army.

"General Su, I have soldiers in my hands, as long as you can find out where the coal mine is, without you having to exert any effort, my soldiers will be able to mine the coal. At that time, if there is a profit, we will share it fifty-fifty, what do you think? Xiao Ruxun looked at Su Hao with eager eyes and said.