Because most of the warships of the Jing'e army were still in the shipyards of Yuezhou and Jiangling, Bai Yijie used civilian ships to simulate the warships to practice the naval ship formation. Fifty plywood ships represented their role with a five-color flag on their bow. For example, the red flag represents the vehicles and ships of the Chinese army, the white flag represents the Fuyang ship of the Chinese material for transporting baggage, the green flag represents the pioneer ship used for charging, the black flag represents the clipper used to protect the flanks and carry out assaults, and the long triangle escort flag represents the location of the flagship.

The exercise of the ship formation did not go smoothly, because the command of operations on the water could only use flags and messengers to communicate with ships, and the speed of transmitting orders and obtaining information on the water was slower than that of the army. The command and dispatch of the ships and the communication between the various ships are still in the process of being explored. Fifty plywood boats were not so much at the mercy of formation as they were mixed together, like a flock of unoriented goose floating on the water.

At this moment, a convoy of warships with a clear flag drove down from the upper stream. At this time, the Jinghu envoy was subordinate to the team of the Ezhou Naval Army. At the head of the procession were dozens of light and swift water sentry horses, followed by fifty multi-oared warships with waving oars, and the sailors shouted in unison, rowing their oars neatly under the inspiration of the war drums on the bow.

At the end of the flotilla, four six-car ships agitated flywheels to raise white waves on both sides of the hull, painted with vermilion lacquer on both sides of the hull, and the bow was painted with the ship's eye. Flags of all colors fluttered in the river breeze, and the two sides were full of sergeants armed with spears and crossbows.

It is really worthy of being the first weapon in the Great Song Dynasty Water War, and Bai Yijie can't help but admire it in his heart. But he also knew that the Jing-E army also had eight eight-car super warships slowly taking shape in the Ezhou shipyard, and when these behemoths were put into use, the Jing-Hubei naval army would be completely comparable to the existing naval force in the Jinghu area in terms of equipment.

The fleet of the Ezhou Navy slowly passed by the Jing'e Navy that was exercising, and the sergeants on the boat saw a group of fishing boats with small flags in formation, and they were swept away by the river. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, are you huddled together to catch ducks?" "What are so many fishing boats piled up here, go to Jiangxin, there are many fish in Jiangxin." "Don't laugh at them, they are known as the Earth Dragon Army, once the things in this soil go into the water, it will inevitably be a little choking, and it is understandable that you can't tell the direction."

Peng Man stood on the plywood boat representing the flagship with the guard flag, and he didn't move at all, as if he was standing on the bow of a huge sea warship. He shouted, "Ignore them and keep practicing!" Wait until the day of the battle with the Mongol naval army to see who is the real hero and who is the fool who will only watch the joke on the side! ”

His voice was so loud that even Bai Yijie on the bank of the river heard it a little. He pressed the strings with his right hand and stopped playing.

"With Peng Man here, there is no matter of me in the water camp for the time being." He turned to the two boys and said, "Pack your bags and let's go to the mine." ”

The road into the mining area gradually becomes rough, and the largest iron ore pit in Ezhou should be visible beyond the mountain pass ahead. Next to the official road in front of the mountain pass, Xu Shiqing and several mine supervisors from the Ezhou Transshipment Division were waiting for Bai Yijie's arrival.

This is the current celebrity in front of the deputy capital of Jing'e, and he is respected as the role of a military advisor, and anyone accidentally stammers. Compared with the mine supervision officials, it was Xu Shiqing and Bai Yijie who met first. He led everyone to meet Bai Yijie.

"No gossip." Bai Yijie said: "Call the leaders of the pit to meet me, and make arrangements after I understand the truth of the mine." ”

Xu Shiqing gave up his hand and led Bai Yijie to a big house outside the mine. This is the yamen of the mine supervisor's office, and it is also used as a hall for the miners to discuss affairs.

Sixty-two pit leaders rushed from all over the pit to the pits. Bai Yijie instructed: "Send someone to guard outside the hall, and only send one leader in at a time, I want to inquire in detail." ”

Several soldiers guarded the gate, Bai Yijie's boy came out to call a person's name, and one head went in to answer. When the question and answer were over, let him wait in the side room, and pass the other head in.

Bai Yijie asked in detail, how much ore is produced per day in each pit, what is the quality of the ore, how many hours the miners work every day, what is the income, what is the diet on weekdays, how is the rest, how the mining tax is levied, what are the drawbacks, and so on.

I asked this repeatedly for several hours, and it was not until the time of the palm lamp that it came to an end.

After dinner, Bai Yijie lay quietly on the bed, and the details of the day's inquiries were reflected in his mind one by one.

The first to come was a fat black man with a big belly, wearing a silk shirt and holding a leather whip in his hand, squinting at Bai Yijie.

Bai Yijie smiled and asked, "Who is your surname, and in which pit do you serve as the leader?" ”

The fat man replied: "We are Zhao Asi, the leader of the Black Stone Cave in Danxia Mountain, and our pit has always been top-notch in the mines of Ezhou." When the old men in Ezhou came to check, we were the first to be praised. ”

"I see." Bai Yijie smiled and said, "Zhao has worked hard. To produce so much ore, you must have a lot of minerals? ”

"It's like other potholes." Zhao Ah Si said with great interest: "If you want to say that the secret of this mining is nothing more than to let these black heads under him work more, and they are not allowed to be lazy, even if they are lazy!" The number of errands must be completed by two or three percent in excess of the quota in order to show the means of my Ah Si! ”

Bai Yijie nodded: "Tou really did his best to the things explained by the government." It's admirable, but won't the miners be unbearable with such harsh persecution? ”

Ah Si Ha Lu Ha Da Lu laughed, and the horizontal flesh on his face was beating: "These people were brought out by me from the countryside, and they are all villagers of the same clan, but they are all poor and have no complete clothes, and they can't even make up the annual rent and taxes, so they have to follow me out to mix a bite to eat." If I don't take them into the pit to find this job, I'm afraid that they will only have the share of fleeing the famine, where will they dare to talk to us! ”

"I see. I get a rough idea. Bai Yijie said: "I'm tired of going out and calling the head of the small silver pit in Xishan." ”

The head of the small silver pit in Xishan is a thin middle-aged man, with a sad look, as if everyone owes him 200 yuan. When he came in, he knelt down and shouted: "The old parents are extrajudicially gracious, and the mining class is increasing year by year, and the small silver pit really can't bear it." ”

Bai Yijie still smiled and said: "Slow down, come slowly, first, I am not under the rule of my parents in this state, and second, the mining classes are all selected by local officials according to the usual order in previous years, and I have not seen a sudden increase." What is extrajudicial mercy? Thirdly, "

He leaned forward with an ambiguous smile: "Li Chaoen, your miners are one of the most powerful in Ezhou, and they occupy one of the top silver mines in Ezhou, how can you pay taxes similar to those small silver pits?" ”

As soon as Li Chaoen heard these words, his face was even more mournful like a bitter gourd, and he lamented: "Please don't listen to these thieves talking nonsense, you listen to the name of my pit, you will know that Lu Dao is a small silver pit, what is the richest silver pit in Ezhou, it is all those guys who have a grudge against the villain casually talk nonsense, how many mines are mined by the villain every day, there are account books here, how can there be a mistake?" As for the villain's miners, although there are many, but nine times out of ten they are old and weak people who have no ability to work, you know that they are all villains' villagers, and it is not easy to drive them to walk casually, so they have to barely feed them to give a bowl of rice to eat, and the villain has lost a lot of money to feed them. Don't think that the villain has evaded taxes based on this."

"In this way, Li is a good neighbor and a benevolent person?" Bai Yijie said: "Those rumors in the market are really unbelievable. ”

Li Chaoen reluctantly squeezed out a smile and responded: "This is all taught by my old mother on weekdays, to accumulate yin virtue, do good deeds and accumulate blessings"

"Good." Bai Yijie said: "You can go down, and pass the clouds of the Qingxiao Pit of Baimang Mountain to come in." ”

The head of Qingxiao Pit, Yun Fusheng, is a tall man with muscles all over his body. When he came in, he bowed down and said, "Yun Fusheng has seen the master." ”

Bai Yijie said lightly: "I heard that you have gone to the Ezhou Mansion three times to make trouble? ”

Nayun shook his head, hurriedly knelt down and said, "The villain doesn't dare, the villain just said a few words for the brothers in the mine." I don't dare to disobey the will of the state master. ”

"What a bold man." Bai Yijie slapped the feather fan on the table and said, "Do you know that you can live here to mine and make money, so that you won't be unable to eat." It is Zheng Yunming who has taken away tens of thousands of miners who are competing with you for jobs. Since you know that it is not easy to make a living, you should repay your kindness and mine more iron ore for the capital. ”

Yun Fusheng was stunned, and then arched his hand and said: "Mr. Xu also said something similar, our life is much better now than a year ago, all thanks to the blessings of Zheng Guanren." It stands to reason that I should not say a word and bury my head in mining. But if this toss continues, the output of the potholes will only shrink more and more, and the brothers will be tired and tired, and in the end, they will lose their jobs. ”

Bai Yijie Qi said: "How do you say this? ”

Yun Fusheng saw that the official dressed as a Confucian was speaking very kindly, so he was no longer afraid, and slowly spoke in detail.

Where there is a mine, there must be a seedling. There is a certain amount of ore stored in the seedlings, and it will be depleted after many years of mining. At this time, it is necessary to find new seedlings and re-establish the pit.

The mines in Ezhou have been mined for at least more than 100 years, during which time many pits have been exhausted and abandoned. The state also organized craftsmen to find new ore veins for excavation.

However, after Longxing, the local discipline became increasingly relaxed. The mine supervisors were not very enthusiastic about finding new veins, probably because they needed to travel through mountains and rivers and sleep in the open, and no one wanted to endure the hardship.