At the end of December, in the official hall of 100 households in Wangjiazhuang.

Liu Yan stood in the main hall, dusting off the snow on his body, and Miao Shao, the little flag official beside him, was also shaking his body, the two of them came in the early morning in the wind and snow, and when they arrived at the Baihu official hall, they had already become two snowmen, even if they wore thick cotton clothes and big clothes, they knew how to tremble at this time.

"What the hell weather!"

Miao Shao, the little flag officer, rubbed his hands and scolded in a low voice, and then said, "Captain A, why hasn't the captain of the team come yet?" ”

Liu Yan also frowned slightly, as soon as the two of them arrived at the Baihu official hall, they met Jia Hongyu, the chief flag officer, and followed the servant all the way in, and Jia Hongyu volunteered to invite Wang Weizhen, the officer of the management team. It is said that Jia Hongyu has been going for a while, why haven't you seen Wang Weizhen, the officer of the management team, come over?

"Wait, maybe the steward has something to do."

As he spoke, Liu Yan and Miao Shao sat down and took a sip of hot tea, only then did they feel a trace of warmth.

"Haha, Mr. Liu is waiting!"

At this moment, Wang Weizhen's voice came, Liu Yan looked at the door, and saw Wang Weizhen walking in with a smile, and Jia Hongyu also followed behind.

It's just that Wang Weizhen's face was a little haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot, and Liu Yan couldn't help frowning slightly.

"I've seen the steward."

"Hehe, let's not be polite, let's all sit down."

Wang Weizhen yawned after sitting down, and then said self-deprecatingly: "This year is sad, this day I have to accompany a group of Shangguan banquets for a few days, I only came back from the Qianhu in Xiahe Village yesterday evening, and I almost vomited out all my internal organs after drinking, it is really not a human life!" ”

Although he said that, Liu Yan saw that Wang Weizhen's face was full of smugness, and the haggard on his face was purely because he hadn't rested well, so he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

"Oh, yes."

Wang Weizhen talked to himself for a while, and then asked: "Early this morning, Liu Zongqi came regardless of the wind and snow, is there anything wrong?" ”

Liu Yan said with a smile: "My subordinates really have something to ask for. ”

Later, Liu Yan prepared to build a batch of soldiers, but Dapanbao lacked reliable craftsmen, and hoped that Wang Weizhen could support some craftsmen.

Liu Yan knew that Wang Weizhen couldn't support much military equipment, although there were some military equipment in Wangjiazhuang's arsenal, but the quality was not satisfactory, and most of them would not be given for free, Liu Yan would not want them.

As for the problem of raw materials for building military equipment, Liu Yan is not too worried, anyway, he has money now, he can directly buy iron and other materials, and wait until the time is right in the future, and then consider mining and other matters.

Wang Weizhen nodded when he heard the words and said, "I thought it was something, wasn't it just the transfer of some craftsmen?" It's good that you can come over and send someone to report such a thing. ”

"Hehe, isn't this the end of the year, and my subordinates are just going to come over to pay respects to the management team in the early years, so we happened to do it together."

As he spoke, Miao Shao, the little flag official next to him, respectfully handed over a gift list to Wang Weizhen.

Wang Weizhen opened it and looked at it, seeing that this gift list was very heavy, he estimated in his heart that it was worth almost a hundred taels of silver, and the smile on his face became even brighter.

"Liu Zongqi, you, everything is good, it's just too polite, what are we doing with this set, just say it if you have something, haha, it's true."

Liu Yan continued: "For this Chinese New Year, I also prepared one for Brother Jia, and I will send someone to the house when I go back." ”

Jia Hongyu smiled and waved his hand again and again, and said: "Oh, my good brother, I still want to go to Dapanbao to send you New Year's goods, why brother, you came over first, it's really polite." ”

Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu saw the benefits, and they were in a good mood, Liu Yan followed the two to greet for a while, and then said: "My lord, the business of this craftsman is ......."

Wang Weizhen immediately said: "Let Jia Zongqi handle this matter in person, and do it today." Look at how many craftsmen there are in the hundred households, as long as Liu Zongqi has useful people, they will be transferred together. ”

Jia Hongyu immediately took the order, patted his chest and took the matter down.

Liu Yan smiled and hugged his fists and said, "My subordinates have thanked my lord, there is Brother Lao Jia." ”

Wang Weizhen originally wanted to leave Liu Yan and Miao Shao to eat in the Baihu official hall, and specially instructed Jia Hongyu to prepare a banquet, but Liu Yan looked at Wang Weizhen's face and shook his head.

So Liu Yan and Miao Shao followed Jia Hongyu to the office in the 100 official halls, Jia Hongyu asked a clerk to find out the list of craftsmen in Wangjiazhuang, and after turning a few pages, he handed it to Liu Yan and said with a smile: "Liu Zongqi, you see, several craftsmen here have good craftsmanship, especially this blacksmith named Xu Le, and that one-handed skill is second to none in Wangjiazhuang." ”

Liu Yan looked at the records on the roster, and saw that the blacksmith named Xu Le was originally from Hebei, forty-one years old, but he was a record craftsman in Wangjiazhuang.

So Liu Yan asked, "Brother Jia, what kind of person is this Xu Le?" ”

If this Xu Le is really the leading craftsman in Wangjiazhuang, even if Jia Hongyu has a good relationship with him, he will not "endure the pain and cut his love", right?

So Liu Yan naturally had some doubts in his heart, Jia Hongyu smiled and whispered: "Liu Zongqi doesn't know, this Xu Le has a bad temper, although he is a blacksmith, and he also knows how to build armor and other good skills, but he is very stubborn, and he has offended many people up and down in Wangjiazhuang, if Xu Le didn't have such skills, it is estimated that he would have been driven away a long time ago." ”

As soon as Jia Hongyu said this, Liu Yan understood in his heart that this Xu Le was most likely an "old pedant" who was dedicated to studying skills, proficient in skills but did not understand human feelings, and offended all the people who could offend Wangjiazhuang, so naturally there was no popularity.

As for Xu Le's understanding of the armor production process, this news was a surprise for Liu Yan.

Liu Yan said with a smile: "Such a talent was given to me, it won't be difficult for Brother Jia here, right?" ”

"Hey!"

Jia Hongyu said: "Then what will Xu Le do? Iron armor, but does Wangjiazhuang need armor now? No, I don't need to. The captain of the team will not spend money to make armor at all, besides, who will fight with so many armor soldiers? ”

After speaking, Jia Hongyu laughed, and Liu Yan naturally laughed too, and his heart also blossomed with joy.

Wang Weizhen did not have the vision of being prepared for danger in times of peace, he was familiar with history, and the Qing army would rush into Shandong in a few months, although according to the development of history, there would not be a large-scale Qing army rushing to Lingshanwei's side, but it was difficult to guarantee that there would be no small group of Qing army stragglers rushing over, and dozens or hundreds of men and horses were still very likely to appear!

Therefore, Liu Yan must race against time to develop his strength, and this expansion must be completed as soon as possible, and talents like Xu Le are exactly what he needs.

So Liu Yan said: "Since this is the case, then I will accept Xu Le, and in addition, a craftsman like Xu Le, Brother Jia will recommend it to me again, the more the merrier." Of course, the premise is not to affect the affairs of Brother Jia's side. ”

Jia Hongyu agreed with a smile, and then looked through the list of craftsmen, and pointed out seven or eight craftsmen to Liu Yan before and after.

"These craftsmen basically know how to strike iron, and each of them has three or two apprentices under them, and if Liu Zongqi wants to, these apprentices can be transferred to Dapanbao together."

Liu Yan naturally agreed, and even let the little flag official Miao Shao follow Jia Hongyu to lead the people, and agreed to meet in Wangjiazhuang after an hour.

After saying goodbye to Jia Hongyu, Liu Yan rushed to Wanfu Oil Mill, now that it is close to Chinese New Year's Eve, Liu Yan specially came to visit Wang Jing, after all, this is his future old Taishan, and the number of ceremonies still has to be done.

After sitting in Wanfu Oil Mill for a while, Liu Yan didn't have time to prepare a gift because he was in a hurry, so he directly brought a hundred taels of silver to stay.

Wang Jing was not polite, although Liu Yan was the chief of the flag officer, he was also his future son-in-law, and it was filial piety to give him the right to give silver.

After doing it for a while, Liu Yan got up to say goodbye, and before leaving, Liu Yan specially asked Wang Jing to prepare, and go to Dapanbao together for the Chinese New Year this year, and Liu Yan will send someone to pick him up at that time.

Wang Jing naturally agreed happily, and his heart was happy.

Liu Yan joined the small flag official Miao Shao, and also met Xu Le and other craftsmen, together with a total of twenty-four craftsmen and apprentices, all dressed in tatters, several of them were still wearing single clothes, everyone stood in the wind and snow shivering, and their faces were frozen to blue and purple.

Liu Yan couldn't help frowning, these craftsmen were dressed in this costume, and it was estimated that if they couldn't get to Dapanbao, someone would freeze to death halfway through.

So Liu Yan said to Miao Shao: "Immediately take someone to buy cotton clothes in Wangjiazhuang and give each of them one." ”

"Now?"

"Yes, now! I'll take them to Wanfu Oil Mill first and wait, go quickly! ”

"Yes!"

In this way, Miao Shao took people to buy cotton clothes and delayed for half an hour, and bought more than 20 cotton clothes at a high price, and Liu Yan sent them all to those artisan households.

During the waiting period, Wang Jing had a good eye to go to the front to take care of the business, and Liu Yan also got to know Xu Le, and Xu Le introduced a few craftsmen.

At this time, everyone looked at the thick cotton clothes in their hands, and everyone, including Xu Le, had tears in their eyes, and knelt down in front of Liu Yan without saying anything, and many people cried out with a whimper.

These craftsmen are actually like slaves on weekdays, severely exploited by hundreds of households, to put it bluntly, they are just a group of beggars with craftsmanship, where have they ever met a Shangguan like Liu Yan, as soon as they came up, they were given clothes by everyone, which suddenly warmed the hearts of Xu Le and others, and there was an excitement of the death of a confidant.

Liu Yan helped Xu Le up with both hands, and then helped everyone up one by one, and said: "From today on, you are the people of my Dapan Fort, as long as you do your best to build troops for me, I will not treat you badly." ”

Then Liu Yan pointed to the cotton clothes in everyone's arms, and said: "Today I just sent you a cotton coat, in my Dapan Fort, no one will oppress you anymore, every piece of armor and weapons you create, as long as the quality is qualified, I will pay the corresponding silver, if the quality is not qualified, I will also punish you, this is very fair!" ”

"Don't worry, what kind of person am I, Liu Yan, you can inquire everywhere in Wangjiazhuang, I am very willing to give money to my subordinates. As long as you have real skills, I can guarantee that in less than a year, each of you will be able to live a life that you never dreamed of in the past, and each of you will be able to live a life without worrying about food and clothing, and having money in your hands! ”

After Xu Le and the others listened, everyone's originally cloudy eyes instantly became shining, and there was a light called hope in everyone's eyes.

At this time, Xu Le clenched his fists and said, "After arriving at Dapanbao, I don't know what Chief A wants us to build?" ”

Liu Yan said: "Armor, I want you to build excellent armor for me, no matter how much you work!" ”