Zhu Yuanzhang promised to send a batch of grain to the mine thieves every two months and asked them to help them build weapons and armor, and as soon as this proposal was spoken, the mine thieves were immediately moved. ,!

In fact, the mine thieves fled their hometowns and hid in the mountains, not because they didn't like the profession of ironsmithing, but because they were exploited too much by the government, they had to do so. Let them choose what they want to do on the premise of guaranteeing their income, and they will still choose to strike iron. Skills that have been passed down from generation to generation are not something that is easily discarded.

A representative of the mine thieves came up and asked a little timidly, "Outside, what you said is true?" ”

"Of course it's true!" Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "You give me weapons and armor, I will bring you grain and salt in, and the wages will be calculated according to the number of weapons and armor created, no taxes, no discounts, and no deduction for you." ”

Having received Zhu Yuanzhang's promise again, the faces of the mine thieves were obviously excited, because they could hear the sincerity in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone. A group of mine thieves surrounded him and said urgently, "I am willing...... Outside, let me give you a weapon......"

"You're going to build some?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

One of the mine thieves replied, "I can fight with knives, guns, swords, and halberds...... Eighteen kinds of weapons, all kinds of ......"

Xu Renjie couldn't help but interject: "Will the horse slashing knife be beaten?" I've wanted to play with that for a long time......"

"Of course!" The mine thieves laughed.

Xu Renjie was overjoyed, he glared at Xue Hongqi, and then said with a smile: "Chop the horse with a big knife!" ”

Xue Hongqi was furious.

The other thief laughed again: "I can fight helmets, armor, and shields...... All kinds of armor are experts ......"

Xue Hongqi hurriedly interjected and asked, "Will the face and chest guards used by the war horse fight?" ”

"It doesn't matter if it's for horses or people, I can fight it."

"Sturdy, isn't it? Can you protect against crossbow arrows? ”

"See, you ask? How can there be a plate armor that can't defend against crossbow arrows? That thing can only be shot and will be bounced off. ”

Xue Hongqi was overjoyed. He asked again, "Can you prevent slashing sabers?" ”

Although the mine thieves are simple, they are not all stupid, and when they heard this question, they knew that they were raising the bar, so they swept Xu Renjie and Xue Hongqi with their eyes, and saw that the two of them were staring. These people don't know what the relationship between Xu Renjie and Xue Hongqi is, looking at their flirting and scolding, it seems that they are husband and wife, since they are husband and wife, they should be husband and wife, women listen to men, help men is right!

So the mine thieves lowered their heads and said, "The vest can't prevent the sabree." Especially the horse's legs, the armor can't protect it, and when it comes to the horse chopping knife, only the horse stumbles on the front hoof! ”

When Xu Renjie heard this, he immediately laughed: "Okay, kill those fools who ride horses." ”

Before the words fell, Xue Hongqi kicked Xu Renjie into the grass next to him and lay on his stomach.

Mine Thieves: "......"

The miners then reported a number of things they could craft, from kitchen knives and watermelon knives to steel guns and fish scale armor. The mine thieves are really good at everything, and they are all good hands. It turned out that they used to be craftsmen in Luoyang, and they had built many high-quality weapons for the government, but with the corruption of the officials, they had to flee here.

The mine thieves in front shouted happily, but there was a small group of mine thieves who hid far away, and did not dare to come closer. Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly curious, so he asked them, "May I ask those brothers." What will you build? ”

The group of mine thieves was a little depressed, and said cautiously: "What we can fight, we may not be able to use outside the staff, so we don't dare to come over...... Don't let us continue digging pig iron for you......"

"Oh? Let's hear about it. "Zhu Yuanzhang is quite interesting, what is there that he can't use? What he wants to build is a huge new empire, and everything he needs is as big as a battleship and a cannon to as small as a pinnail.

The group of mine thieves said depressedly: "Our craftsmanship ...... It's a gun and a cannon ......"

As soon as I heard this. Before Zhu Yuanzhang could say anything, Xu Renjie's mouth was already grinning to the root of his ears: "Wow? Guns and cannons? Good stuff...... Great......"

"What's good?" Zhu Yuanzhang sank his face and gave Xu Renjie a fist hammer, and then said: "These two things must have gunpowder to be used." Guns and cannons alone will not do. ”

Xu Renjie suddenly realized that these mine thieves knew that their skills were very useful, but they also knew that whether it was a firearm or a firecracker, they needed gunpowder to use, and gunpowder was not something that could be dug out of the ground by just someone patting their brains, so the miners showed that kind of timid expression, thinking that their skills could not be used outside the staff.

If they don't use their craftsmanship, they don't have wages to give them, of course they can't be happy, but fortunately, they still know the technology of mining and ironmaking, and it's still okay to help Zhu Yuanzhang provide pig iron, so that they won't starve to death, but they can't do their old work, and no one will be happy if they change.

Seeing the depressed expressions of the mine thieves, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly: "Who said I can't use your craftsmanship?" The artillery needs too much iron, so let's not get that one yet, and you can help me build the firecracker. ”

"Huh? Do you really want a firecracker? The mine thieves perked up, but then hurriedly said, "But...... If you don't have gunpowder, the fire gun is not as good as the burning stick......"

"You don't have to worry about this, I'll figure out the gunpowder matter myself." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

"So that's it?" The mine thieves rejoiced.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Every mine thief in Babaozhai has found a livelihood, and there is a joyful atmosphere up and down the cottage. The mine thieves galloped along the mountain path, informing everyone in the stockade of the good news.

Soon, the mine thieves sent someone down the mountain and invited Zhu Yuanzhang to go into the village to rest, it seems that they only regarded Zhu Yuanzhang as a guest just now, so they received him directly at the bottom of the mountain, and this time they really regarded him as a friend, so they invited him to go up the mountain, and the treatment was immediately different.

Zhu Yuanzhang walked up the mountain to watch Babao Village, which is a very simple village, there are almost no walls, all rely on the strange rocks and rocks to make a natural defense point, there are no houses in the cottage, and the mine thieves all live in small caves one after another, which is very similar to the appearance of Huanglong Cottage when it was just built.

The miners did not have a unified place for mining and ironmaking, and each set up a furnace in his own small cave, set up a hammer, and produced in his own household. Obviously, such a production method can only cope with small-scale production, and once the required quantity increases, their supply capacity will be insufficient.

Zhu Yuanzhang secretly wrote down in his heart that in the future, he would help the mine thieves in Babaozhai to organize, carry out unified mining, unified iron smelting, and then unify the construction of weapons, and it is best to divide different categories of talents into different departments and adjust them into something similar to a large factory.

As he walked, he also noted that a wall should be added in a certain location, an arrow tower should be built in a certain location, and a few sentinels should be arranged in a certain place, in short, this place must be built into a production base with defense capabilities, it must be able to bear the supply of weapons for Zhu Yuanzhang's army, and it must also be able to have a certain self-protection ability when officers and soldiers encircle and suppress, or when the rogue is raging.

But it's too early to say this, he is still just a foreign businessman for Babaozhai, there is no strong influence here, it is impossible to make such an arrangement, what he needs to do is to wait and absorb quietly, expand his prestige among the Babaozhai mine thieves, and control them by trading, and then he can accept this place as his arsenal.

At that time, he also planned to teach these mine thieves some weapon design concepts that he had learned from later generations, not asking them to make weapons hundreds of years later, but only asking them to improve their current weapons a little, which would be very remarkable.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhu Yuanzhang distributed the pig iron he had just bought to a hundred skilled mine thieves, and asked them to use this batch of pig iron to build a batch of spearheads and arrowheads, firstly, to try their skills, and secondly, to replenish the bows and arrows consumed in the battle of Huaxian.

After all preparations were stopped, Zhu Yuanzhang left a hundred soldiers to be stationed here temporarily, under the pretext of course "guarding their pig iron", but in fact, he asked these 100 soldiers to try to grasp all the information of this cottage. Zhu Yuanzhang himself took Xu Renjie, Xue Hongqi, Li Jieqiong and 400 soldiers on the way home.

On the way home, Xu Renjie and Xue Hongqi were both a little happy, one was able to play with the horse slashing knife, and the other was that they could finally arm the heavy cavalry, and the excitement was indiscriminate, but Xu Renjie was still a little curious and asked Zhu Yuanzhang: "Brother Zhu, you asked the mine thieves to build firearms, but we don't have gunpowder at all, what can we do?" ”

"I've thought of a way to do this a long time ago!" Zhu Yuanzhang said lightly: "This matter has to fall on Xia Erduo." ”

"Xia Erduo?" Xu Renjie was a little puzzled: "He is a kind of potato, and he doesn't even know the root of our thieves, what can he do to help?" ”

"If he can get the taro, it means that through his relationship, layer by layer, he will definitely be able to find Westerners in the end." Zhu Yuanzhang said lightly: "The taro was transmitted to Guangdong by Westerners, and then passed into the two lakes through Liangguang, and then came to us, because there are very few people who dare to plant potatoes, so this line is relatively simple, and it is very easy to touch it back along Xia Erduo." As long as you keep pushing back the way the taro came from to find the Westerners, the problem of gunpowder will definitely be solved. ”

At this moment, Xu Renjie and Xue Hongqi were a little dazed: "What are Westerners?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled: "A kind of blue-eyed, high-nosed race, they are now creating the Age of Discovery, with many new and bizarre things all over the world to find people to trade, they are very adventurous, and they are also very interest-oriented, as long as we can pay enough benefits, they can help us get all the items, even if it is contraband, they dare to do it." ”

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