In addition to the punishment of the imperial court, there is also the possibility of killing horse bandits or foreign soldiers.

Although Hewu County also has a city, it is not as good as the previous Lingtong County.

The walls were crumbling, with finger-wide cracks here and there.

It can be easily climbed with bare hands.

Because they were very poor, and the monthly rules for officials and errand officers were also strictly deducted, the number of sergeants in the county government and the inspection department was far less than the number stipulated by the imperial court.

If there are few sergeants in the government service and inspection department, then the defense of the county town will be weak.

If a large group of horse bandits or alien sergeants attack, not to mention capturing Hewu County, there will be very large casualties in the county.

He Ming has been flustered since he was recommended by the enemy as the commander of He Wu County.

Sitting in this unlucky position, it seems that there is a guillotine hanging over his head all the time, and he may lose his head at some point.

In the evening of the same day, Jiang Long found the team that He was not there.

Why not not bring troops to be stationed in the city, that is equivalent to being in the bright place.

It's impossible for the bandits and the alien squad not to have an eye in the city.

Only by acting in the shadows can you take it by surprise and carry out a sneak attack.

Why not also plant eyeliner in the city, and if there is any news, it will also be conveyed secretly by the Hewu County Order.

Such a decision is obviously the right one.

Why not just come to Hewu County for a few days, but it has already gained a lot.

The men he brought with him all had a lot of loot.

After meeting with He, Jiang Long told him that he had written to a friend and asked him for help.

Last time, I led troops to Jieziliang to suppress bandits, and I also participated in it, and I also recognized the guerrilla general Peng Lian.

Knowing that Peng Jian is still relatively reliable.

As for Captain Jiang Qi, because he had helped Jiang Long in Wangsha City, Pang Chengan couldn't drag Jiang Long in Wangsha City all the time, so the possibility of helping was also very great.

The combat effectiveness of the border army is still very good, in fact, as long as Peng Jian leads the troops over, there is basically nothing to do.

There are more than 2,000 border troops defending the city, and the opponent's 8,000 men cannot capture the city at all.

And the temperature is getting cooler and colder, which is not suitable for fighting.

For seven or eight days at most, if the foreign chieftain can't take the county seat, even if he is sad and angry because of his son's death, he can only obediently withdraw his troops.

Otherwise, the temperature will drop again, and if God is willing to have another blizzard, at least half of the 8,000 alien sergeants will have to freeze to death.

When you go to the battlefield, you have to bring enough rice and grain for your tent, but you can't bring much dry firewood and grass stalks for the fire.

If there is no fire, even if you are crammed into a tent and it really snows, it will still freeze into popsicles.

"The chief will be killed in three days at most, so let's take advantage of the time to disappear a few more bandits around." Jiang Long proposed.

Why don't you nod, but you also reminded him, "It can be, but don't run too far away from the county seat, otherwise if the chief is killed in advance and meets in the wild, we will inevitably end up with the annihilation of the whole army." ”

There were 8,000 men on the other side.

And with the 200 cavalry brought by Jiang Long, there are only about 500 people here.

It's not enough for people to swallow in one bite.

Why is he good at training soldiers, but he also knows that these cavalry trained by himself have no problem winning more or less.

However, if you want to win more with less, or if you have the same number as the opponent, then you will not be able to exert 10% combat effectiveness.

After all, when I first entered the battlefield, I didn't fight a tough battle before.

Once the initial offensive is frustrated, morale suffers greatly.

If there is a partial defeat, it will even mess up the morale of the army.

If you really let these 500 people go to face 8,000 enemies, it is estimated that just by looking at the dense and obviously numerically superior military horses of the other party, your own people will tremble in fright.

In short, recruits need the baptism of war to really grow up.

This is also the reason why Jiang Long wants to seize the time and eliminate a few more horse bandits.

When there is an opportunity, it is necessary to train as many troops as possible.

Of course, destroying a few more horse bandits can also make the people of Hewu County less looted and burned.

Why didn't he know about Chang Qian, but he just frowned and didn't say anything.

The next day, Jiang Long took Tudu and more than ten other people to the county seat.

Quietly entered the county office and met with the county commander of Hewu.

When he came to Hewu County, Jiang Long had to meet He Ming.

He Ming's five big and three coarse are long, but his mind is delicate, and he was admitted to Xiucai, of course, in this place in Northern Xinjiang.

There are few scholars in northern Xinjiang, and the difficulty of the test questions is naturally much lower than that in the rich south.

It can be said that with He Ming's knowledge, let alone Xiucai in the south, it is impossible to pass the first hurdle of the college examination.

The gap between the cultural level of the North and the South is quite large.

Not to mention that this is still the northern frontier.

The entire north, and a few large cities such as Beijing, do not lag behind the south in terms of cultural level.

But on the whole, there is no comparison.

"This time, Lord Jing was able to send Mr. He to lead troops to help, and the official was already grateful, but he didn't want Lord Jing to come in person!" He Ming bowed his hand, bent down to thank him, and was a mess of gratitude, which was a true expression.

No hypocrisy.

This time, several horse bandits and several alien squads burned and looted in Hewu County one after another, causing quite a lot of casualties.

If you can't come up with some ability and means to interrogate from above, then He Ming will inevitably be punished.

And what's even more terrifying is that these horse bandits and alien squads have not stopped.

If there is a bigger mess before the weather cools down, then He Ming's head will have to move.

"Lord He doesn't have to be like this."

Jiang Long politely returned the salute, "Everyone is an official of the imperial court, and the two counties are adjacent, but it is said that it is a brother county, and the brother has something, how can it not help?" ”

"Brother County?"

He Ming's eyes lit up, obviously it was the first time he had heard this method of salutation, "Lord Jing said well, Lingtong County and Hewu County are brother counties!" ”

"Since it's Brother Xie, Lord He doesn't have to be like this anymore." Jiang Long smiled.

"Good, good!"

The two walked into the back hall and took their seats one after another.

The servant brought the tea.

He Ming carefully found that there was a layer of dust on Jiang Long's body, and wanted Yahuan to help clean it up.

Jiang Long politely refused.

He came to the county seat on horseback, and he would definitely be contaminated with dust.

And after consulting with He Ming, he had to ride back immediately.

On the county government's side, there won't be too much delay.

If you start earlier, you can also eliminate a few bandits earlier.

Jiang Long's original intention was just to come to meet He Ming and say hello, after all, the two of them are county magistrates, and the two counties are neighbors, maybe they will be useful to this person's place in the future, and they can't go to He Wu County, but they don't meet He Ming.

He was born noble, and in this way, it will give people the feeling of being high, proud, and looking down on people.

There is no need to misunderstand and create estrangement because of this little thing.

But He Ming was entangled, and repeatedly used topics to stay.

The reason is simple.

He Ming knew that he was afraid that a big disaster was coming, so he wanted to have a good relationship with Jiang Long and make friends.

With Jianglong's family background, if you make friends with him, who would dare to deal with him easily?

Although he faintly heard that the county guard Pang Chengan and Jiang Long did not deal with each other, so what?

Befriending Jiang Long is likely to arouse Pang Chengan's disgust.

But if he doesn't make friends with Jiang Long, he is afraid that in a few days, his head will move.

Death, and seize the opportunity to fight for a chance to survive, for you, which one do you choose?

Jiang Long didn't know what He Ming's difficulties were, and when he saw that He Ming had been pestering him, he couldn't help but feel a little unhappy.

Gradually, He Ming also saw that Jiang Long was angry.

Although he felt that the time for friendship with Jiang Longla had not yet arrived, he still gritted his teeth and offered something.

"This kind of black stone is widely spread in Hewu County, many mountains, ravines can be seen, if you excavate, you can find that the storage of black stone is very amazing, comparable to silver ore iron ore......" He Ming ordered people to bring up the items, detailed explanation.

Jiang Long's eyes had already widened.

Irregular lumpy, black-brown, dark glossy, loose texture......

Isn't that coal?

And listening to He Ming's explanation, it can be found in many places in Hewu County.

Doesn't this mean that there are many coal mines in Hewu County?

And it's very likely that all of them are large coal mines!

Coming from the modern era, he naturally knew that in the previous world, coal was used for a wide range of purposes.

Power generation, heating, steelmaking...... For modern industry, whether it is heavy industry or light industry; Whether it is the energy industry, the metallurgical industry, the chemical industry, the machinery industry, or the textile industry, the food industry, and the transportation industry, they all play an important role.

Various industrial sectors consume a certain amount of coal to a certain extent, so some people call coal the "real food" of industry.

You can see the importance of coal!

Of course, in this world, coal cannot play its own true value.

It can only be heating.

However, if it enters Jiang Long's eyes, then there will be another use, that is, smelting.

Today's slow progress in metallurgy is largely due to the fact that the temperature is not high enough.

Iron is made of charcoal that has been fired in advance.

The difference between the combustion temperature of charcoal and coal is still relatively large.

Then there is the fact that charcoal burns fast and is far less durable than coal.

"Lord Jing, do you know why the official of the Dao Dao introduced this black stone to you?" Speaking of this, He Ming was a little complacent.

Jiang Long chuckled, "Because it burns." ”

He Ming's eyes widened instantly, and he also inadvertently discovered that this black stone could be burned for warmth.

I thought I was the first Daqi person to know the Dao, but I didn't want Jiang Long to break it with a word.

"Where did Master Jing find out?" He Ming asked hurriedly.

Jiang Long made an excuse, "There was a foreigner who sold wine passing by Lingtong County before, and when the official bought wine, he chatted with the foreigner, and heard the foreigner talk about this kind of stone, and in transliteration, this kind of stone can be called coal." ”

"Coal?" He Ming was intrigued, "Then what is it used for?" ”

"Heating and smelting!"

Jiang Long thought about it and didn't hide it, "Using coal to make iron can improve the quality of iron." ”

"Huh?"

He Ming was taken aback, if what Jiang Long said was true, then it must be a great achievement to hand over the fold!

But Jiang Long told him directly.

The reason why Jiang Long said it bluntly was because this thing couldn't be hidden at all.

As soon as you dig yourself, you will immediately attract the attention of others.

Coal is not like the brine salts of the past, which are in uninhabited places and can be mined secretly.

Coal, on the other hand, is almost all over Hewu County.

As long as the construction starts, it will not be long before it is discovered.

Moreover, even if they dig secretly, the current coal will not bring much benefit to themselves.

In modern times, coal has many uses.

But now......

There is also a big difficulty, that is, the inconvenience of transportation.

In modern times, there are cars and trains, but now, there are only ox carts and donkey carts.

It is inconvenient to transport, and it is naturally inconvenient to use.

"It's been reported by Lord Raoga." Jiang Long didn't pay attention to this little credit.

He Ming immediately waved his hand, "It's clear that Master Jing is very knowledgeable, so it's better for Lord Jing to hand over the fold." ”

Kill him, he doesn't dare to rob Jiang Long's credit!

"It's just a little thing." Jiang Long shook his head lightly, "If you don't want Lord He, you can fill in the official's signature at the back." ”

"This, this ......" He Ming was naturally moved.

Jiang Long doesn't care about this credit, but He Ming does.

Since he took office, there has been no stability in Hewu County, not to mention political achievements, only trouble and guilt remain.

Moreover, if you find something new and useful, the reward above is quite large.

For the imperial court, it is not a trivial matter to improve the level of smelting.