In the next few days, Zhu Ping'an led Huang Gongfu and Chen Zizhuang to all the camps of the high-walled guard. Seeing the training of Zhu Ping'an's soldiers, Huang Gongfu's huge age actually burst out with joy like a child, looking at Qiu Ze and a group of veterans of the Zhejiang army leading the soldiers to live on the school field, Huang Gongfu's saliva almost drooled.

"This is the elite, I think that the Qi family army shocked the north and the south, so that my Ming Quartet territory was pacified. It's only been a few years of hard work, how can you let a thief and Tartar rage! Huang Gongfu sighed.

Yue Jinfeng, Zhang Dagou and others had already been promoted to the post of 100 households at this time, and during the training, they were all surprised to see an elderly military attache squatting on the side of the school field without any image, staring intently at the soldiers in the field.

"Who is this old thing, why are you staring at our soldiers, it won't be here to dig people, right?" Hong Fatzi picked his nostrils, looking alert.

Yue Jinfeng looked back at Zhu Ping'an and the others, "Shen Yan, don't you see that the adults are very respectful to the two of them?" ”

At this time, Zhang Dagou led two hundred cavalry to sweep through the school field like a whirlwind, kicking up the smoke and dust in the sky.

Yue Jinfeng, Hong Fatzi, and the soldiers under his command who were drinking water and resting were caught off guard, and they were all disgraced.

Hong Fat Man couldn't help but scold: "You old dog, didn't you see your fat man drinking water here?" ”

Zhang Dagou's hundred households were mainly cavalry, absorbing the veterans of Liaozhen who followed the Zhang brothers into the customs, and the elite horse thieves among the thieves who surrendered. After a month, the entire cavalry team was already in shape. Although it is not yet up to the standard configuration of one man and two horses, the equipment of each cavalry is the envy of others. Each person is equipped with a Ming army-style long knife and spear produced by the high-walled guard craftsman, and the crossbow, short knife, and crossbow arrow are all fine. There is also a team of more than 100 auxiliary soldiers in the Baihu Office, which specializes in serving these cavalry masters.

In comparison, the infantry phalanx and firearms battalion under Yue Jinfeng's command were a little shabby.

The entire firearms battalion is only 200 people, and there are less than 100 firearms of all kinds, and the systems are even more varied, and only the elite among them can use the new firearms made by craftsmen, and the number is only about 30.

A volley came down, and the smoke was so thick that people couldn't open their eyes, but on the opposite target, there were only dozens of bullet holes, and nearly a third of them missed the target, and the rest were old guns that had not been fired.

Huang Gongfu and Chen Zizhuang walked forward, collected a few firearms from the soldiers, looked over and over, and their brows suddenly wrinkled into a Sichuan character.

"Why is it still the guy in the first year of Chongzhen!" Chen Zizhuang found the mark on the firecracker.

In the face of such an achievement, Zhu Ping'an couldn't raise his head a little, and after glaring at Yue Jinfeng fiercely, he hurriedly explained: "The military department has not issued a new firearm for a long time, and this is still the equipment obtained from the Fengyang Guard, although it is old, but after all, it can be used, so it can be used to deal with the training of soldiers!" ”

Huang Gongfu was full of praise with a brand-new firearm.

"This is the product of the little nephew craftsman, but the cost is too high, and the iron consumption is extremely high, so so far, only more than 20 have been built!" Lest Huang Gongfu open his mouth to ask for it, Zhu Ping'an hurriedly got a preventive shot.

Huang Gongfu pursed his lips, "What a stingy boy, will the old man still take advantage of you?" ”

Saying that, he pointed at Chen Zizhuang, "If you need to use iron, you can discuss it with Brother Jisheng!" ”

Zhu Ping'an was stunned for a moment, and then an inexplicable surprise came. A large amount of refined iron is required to build firearms, spears, and steel knives, but there is no iron ore around Fengyang, only the town guard eunuch's mansion keeps some refined iron, which was led by Lu Zhenfei before, and Zhu Ping'an spent a sum of money to buy it from Lu Jiude, but it was still too far away. At this time, when he heard that Chen Zizhuang actually had a way to get an iron mine, this was a relief for Zhu Ping'an.

Chen Zizhuang smiled, "The foolish disciple's promotion to the imperial examination was not satisfactory, so he stayed in Guangdong to study while taking care of the family industry, and he had an iron mine in Huizhou. If Ping An Xian nephew is interested, I can take a letter of resignation, I believe it is not a big problem! ”

"But", Zhu Ping'an was a little skeptical, "The imperial court has always been extremely strict in its supervision of salt and iron, even if a number of mine supervisors have been eliminated before, but now it is still under extremely strict control ......!" ”

Chen Zizhuang was very aware of Zhu Ping'an's worries, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "To say so, it's actually not like you think." In the eighth year of Chongzhen, the Holy Majesty decreed the abolition of the mine supervisor, and some of the minerals fell into the hands of the local government, and the supervision was extremely chaotic, and now it is no longer worthy of the name. There is also a large part of the private sector, although the production and sales are supervised by the imperial court, but there are many loopholes, coupled with the exploitation of officials at all levels, most of them have been unable to make ends meet. This is the case with the iron mine under the name of the foolish disciple. ”

Huang Gongfu stroked his long beard, "How is the old man doing this, he has solved a big problem for both of you." One buys and one sells, both sides are benefited, Ping An boy, do you see if our gambling contract can be cashed out in advance? ”

Zhu Ping'an hurriedly waved his hand, "Then how can I do it, these new troops of the little nephew are just being built, and they need to be led by the old soldiers, if they are taken away by you, how can the little nephew be trained here!" ”

Huang Gongfu rolled his eyes, "I knew that your kid was a master who didn't see rabbits and didn't scatter eagles." If, then, you will not give me men, then I will send them here to learn military affairs from you. The old man declares first, my people must participate in your daily training throughout the whole process, and none of them can be missed, and you can't hide your secrets! ”

Only then did Zhu Ping'an relax and hurriedly put on a smiling face, "This is natural, Uncle Huang can rest assured, they are all my Ming soldiers, and my little nephew will definitely not watch people cook." However, the little nephew has one thing to declare, the training under the little nephew is very harsh, and the little nephew who can't endure hardship doesn't want it! ”

Huang Gongfu laughed, "Don't worry, the old man sent ten personal soldiers around him, and they will follow the old man to fight in southern Hunan, and they can be regarded as elite pawns, and they will definitely not hold you back!" ”

Regarding Huizhou iron mine, Zhu Ping'an also knows a little about it. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Guangdong began to see a mining boom due to its vertical and horizontal mountains and rivers and rich minerals. The iron ore output in Huizhou is the highest in the province, and it has gradually surpassed Yingde and Shaozhou to become the core area of iron mining. Attracted by this craze, a large number of displaced people poured into the mountains of Huizhou, Guangdong, in search of mineral veins, which also caused continuous unrest among the local people.

The mining policy of the Ming court continued to change with the change of cabinet and emperor, resulting in a sharp decline in the government's control over minerals. Local tycoons and private tycoons gradually became the de facto controllers of minerals in Huizhou and Chaozhou. However, it is disconnected from the government, and various forces are intertwined, making it difficult for outsiders to get involved.

However, Chen Zizhuang's words made Zhu Ping'an's eyes shine, and those who can master iron ore in Huizhou and always stand tall are definitely powerful local wealthy families, and now they can get in touch with them and carry out transactions, and the amount of iron ore can definitely be guaranteed.

Zhu Ping'an was overjoyed, and immediately entangled Chen Zizhuang, Chen Zizhuang was helpless, so he promised to arrange the transaction as soon as he returned to Guangdong.

Ten days later, Huang Gongfu left ten personal soldiers satisfied, and then left Fengyang with Chen Zizhuang. And getting Chen Zizhuang's assurance also made Zhu Ping'an ecstatic. But then, there was another good news, Wang Jinfa, who had been away for nearly a month, came back.

This made Zhu Ping'an a little strange, when Wang Jinfa left, he said that he would go to Ningbo to find the sea high-rollers he knew before to make a deal, and calculate the time, this is a bit too fast!

I haven't seen him for a month, Wang Jinfa is indeed a little thin, and it seems that he has suffered a lot on the road, but his spirit is not bad. As soon as he saw Zhu Ping'an, he immediately fell to his knees, and his voice was choked, "Uncle, the little one, the little one is fortunate not to be dishonored!" ”

This naked confession made Zhu Ping'an cry and laugh, and finally pulled him up, but Wang Jinfa kept talking with a handful of snot and tears.

It turned out that Wang Jinfa didn't go far, and he encountered Zhang Xianzhong's thieves fighting with the official army, whether it was the official army or the thieves, the good Jianghuai scourge was not good, Wang Jinfa was also arrested by the official army, and the gold and silver he brought were looted, and he finally escaped. But thinking that he had made it like this on his first errand, Wang Jinfa really didn't have the face to come back to see Zhu Ping'an, so he gritted his teeth and crossed his heart, simply begged along the street for food, and groped his way forward in the direction of Ningbo on foot.

Fortunately, after arriving in Yangzhou, Zhou Ji, a local friend from the rivers and lakes in Tongguò, finally picked up a life. With the help of these people, I finally got in touch with those acquaintances at sea before.

After listening to Wang Jinfa's cry, Zhu Ping'an also nodded approvingly. Although this man has no talent, he still has some perseverance, and he always gets the errand done no matter what, which is worthy of praise and reward.

Wang Jinfa stabilized his feelings, and then introduced the people he contacted into Zhu Ping'an's official hall.

There were two people here, a short and sturdy man, in his thirties, with a short beard under his chin like a steel needle, and he didn't have the slightest fear when he saw Zhu Ping'an, but kept looking up and down with two narrow eyes.

The other was dressed in a fat cloak, and his whole body, including his head, was tightly wrapped, and he was a head taller than the short man, but he couldn't see his appearance. It's just that since the person has entered the room, the whole hall is filled with a gruesome fragrance.

The two also brought seven or eight entourages, all of whom looked like unruly and fierce people, all of whom were blocked by Zhang Ergou from the door, and Zhu Ping'an's personal soldiers pressed the handle of their knives to closely monitor.

"This is Xiao's friend who used to be at the beach, and the big shopkeeper of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce......!"

The short man interrupted Wang Jinfa's introduction, and hugged his fist at Zhu Ping'an with a big grin, "I salute the adult, the villain's name is Liu Xiaodao, and he leads the brothers to eat at sea, I don't know if the adults are looking for the villain, so what's the matter?" ”

"Bold, a grass people, when you see an adult, you dare not kneel, what kind of crime should you be guilty of!" Zhang Ergou shouted angrily.

Liu Xiaodao squinted his eyes and looked at Zhu Ping'an, "Adults, forgive me, the villains are just begging for a life at sea, and they don't know what etiquette is. ”

After speaking, he clasped his hands on his shoulders and looked at Zhu Ping'an with a sneer.

Zhu Ping'an didn't speak, slowly stood up and walked down the steps, stood in front of Liu Xiaodao, looked up and down a few times, and his cold eyes made Liu Xiaodao feel cold.

However, Zhu Ping'an didn't pay attention to him, but walked around Liu Xiaodao and walked in front of the cloaked guest. "Friend, to do business is to have a business appearance, and you can't put on a look of not being afraid of heaven and earth. You are very majestic at sea, but you always have to rely on my Ming Dynasty's 10,000-mile territory to make money and make a fortune, and cut off your own way to make money, this is not a wise move, you say, right? ”

Zhu Ping'an suddenly smiled, "Perhaps, I should change to a more appropriate name." Friends from Europagrass, you say, yes? ”