Hua Chang and Jiang Chong are good friends, and when he heard Jiang Chong say that his uncle didn't give news, Hua Chong was also a little unhappy, and leaned against the wall helplessly and sighed. However, Hua Zhanggang sighed and heard Jiang Chong say a word. "But I don't want to run away!" Hua Zhang was stunned, suspecting that he had misheard: "What? Jiang Chong said again: "I don't want to run away!" "You don't want to marry a daughter-in-law?"

Jiang Chong looked at his hair and said, "Huazhang, don't you think things in the village have changed?" Hua Zhang heard Jiang Chong's words, tilted his head and thought about it, and said: "This month, the new management team came, buried all the garbage, and repaired the public toilet. Is that what you're talking about? Jiang Chong said: "Didn't you notice that this month, Captain A and the new management team didn't dare to let us help them do farm work?" Hua Zhang chirped: "That's because it's the time of farming, don't worry, when the wheat is harvested in a few months, those two broken households will have to toss you!" ”

Jiang Chong shook his head and said: "I don't think so, it was also idle in Cangzhou last year, but the two leaders and the old management team still wanted us to help them hoe grass in the field, and asked us to go to his warehouse to grind noodles for him, all kinds of miscellaneous things, and used us as livestock, for fear of idleness." Hua Zhang blinked his eyes and said, "What you said is still a little eyebrows, it's okay this month, is it because of the new management team!" ”

"It's just that the new team is here! Hua Zhang, let me tell you, this new management team has a beginning, and it is called Yang Peng, the head of the Yang family. I have heard that he has set up a workshop in the new village and employs one or two thousand people, and that each helper is paid two taels a month, and not a single month is in arrears. After a pause, Jiang Chong said: "It also provides three meals a day, and there are meat dishes for all three meals!" ”

Hearing his friend's description, Hua Zhang licked his lips and said, "Is there such a good thing?" Aren't those helpers better than we are treated as soldiers? Jiang Chong looked at Hua Zhang, his face became a little excited, and said, "Moreover, did you see the 'flintlock pistol' of the master of the management team yesterday?" ”

"I've never seen anything so powerful, hey, what did I think about when I was watching the fun? What do you do with a target that far away? It's good to be able to hit a target in 100 steps, but the result? As a result, the rifle could pierce an inch-thick plank from a hundred and seventy paces away! I was stupid at the time, this is simply an immortal spell! With such a weapon, what else is a rogue? More than a hundred paces away, he was about to be crushed by this rifle. Even if Jiannu comes, he can't eat such a rifle! ”

"You say that the people who are soldiers don't rely on weapons the most? If you have a rifle like this, who are you afraid of in a war? Hua Zhang thought about it, nodded and said: "That rifle is really sharp, the Khitan bow and arrow can only hit fifty paces, and this flintlock pistol can be shot one hundred and forty paces away, it is really sharp!" I've never heard of anything like this before! Jiang Chong said: "You say, how many military exploits will a military attache with such a powerful weapon have to make in the future, and how big an official will he be promoted?" Hua Zhang was stunned and said, "What does it have to do with how many officials the management team can be promoted?" ”

"You are stupid, as soon as the management team enters the village, they will do a lot of cleaning, dispose of garbage and dig drainage ditches, and strictly discipline the officers to stop serving and occupy our sergeants, this is all hard work to offend people, this is what people with great retribution will do!" After a pause, Jiang Chong said again: "The management team has great ambitions and such powerful weapons, it is impossible to build only one or two, obviously it is necessary to recruit troops." We are in the new Zhuangzi, which is geographically advantageous. If you can enter the team of the management team, won't you follow the management team in the future? ”

Hua Zhang was stunned for a long time and asked, "Are you not going to run away because of this?" Jiang Chong smiled proudly and scolded: "You stupid, a good day is coming, and you have to run away!" Put your moves on and wait for the good days that the management team will bring! ”

The trial production of flintlock pistols was successful, and Zhang Xiang began to recruit more people and manufacture them on a large scale. Zhang Xiang actually had three battalions, including the first, second, and third battalions. The three battalions are in the new Zhuangzi, and there are many craftsmen here in Yang Peng. Zhang Xiang found more than 60 craftsmen who could make flintlock pistols, all of whom were hired for three or two months' money, and let them move to a new Zhuangzi. Almost half of the current craftsmen in Yingzhou have been abducted by Zhang Yan, and this is thanks to the Khitan hundred-household official.

These are all veterans of blacksmithing, with Yang Peng's design drawings, and under the guidance of Wang Boss and the five, these people quickly learned how to flintlock the pistol. In order to motivate the craftsmen, Yang Peng stipulated that he would give a silver reward for each qualified flintlock pistol. These craftsmen can make a rifle in about a month, and they can get about four taels of silver every month plus the monthly money. When did the craftsmen take so much silver? One by one, they are in full swing. Of course, in order to prevent the creation of inferior products, Yang Peng asked the craftsmen to engrave their names on the rifle butts. Once the flintlock pistol is found to be unqualified or even fried, the first time it will deduct two months' monthly money and six taels of silver, and the second time it will be dealt with by military law!

However, these craftsmen are not enough, Yang Peng's new Zhuangzi hangs alone outside the cities of Yingzhou and Cangzhou, which are simply desolate, and no one would have thought that there are more than 20,000 villages here. In the future, there will be great military pressure to defend against Seqidan, and Yang Peng needs to quickly assemble an army of several thousand people. In the first step, Yang Peng prepared to recruit 2,000 soldiers, all equipped with flintlock muskets, to guard the new village.

To form a force of 2,000 people, it is necessary to have at least 2,000 flintlock guns, and these more than 60 craftsmen are not enough, and these craftsmen can only produce 60 or 70 rifles a month, and it takes two or three years to gather 2,000 rifles. Yang Peng then found more than 100 skilled blacksmiths from among the refugees and hired them for two or two months' money to apprentice the craftsmen who could make rifles. With the addition of the previous fifty people, the current weapon workshop also has a certain scale.

More than 100 artisans and blacksmiths moved into the new village and filled all the new houses that had just been built. Yang Peng gave each of them 10 taels for moving, and these people could afford to hire masons and carpenters to repair furniture and household items. The masons and carpenters here found their jobs again, and hundreds of craftsmen carried all kinds of bricks and timber in and out of the new village, making the small village very lively. At this time, Yang Peng changed the name of the village to "Hope Village"

Yang Peng hoped that these apprentices and blacksmiths who had started to work could also make guns independently after half a year of study, so he stipulated that each craftsman who could make rifles should bring two blacksmith apprentices, and the gunsmith would teach the apprentices the techniques of flintlock pistol making after building flintlock pistols for half a year. Half a year later, the apprentice blacksmith independently opened the furnace to make flintlock pistols, and after the apprentice made qualified flintlock pistols, the monthly money also increased to three taels of silver. After the apprentice is discharged, the apprentice will be rewarded with three pieces of silver for each qualified flintlock pistol, and the remaining seven dollars will be returned to the apprentice.

If the apprentice is unable to leave the school after half a year, the apprentice will change to another master to continue learning, but the original master and the apprentice will have to reduce their monthly money by five dollars every month until they leave the school. Under such a system of rewards and punishments, the gunsmiths all poured their money into teaching each other, and seized the time to teach the techniques to the blacksmiths who were apprentices, and I believe that soon Yang Peng would have more than 100 craftsmen who could make flintlock rifles. The craftsmen and blacksmiths recruited by Yang Peng are full of expectations for a better life in the future:

Blacksmith He Lao Er moved to Hope Village, and it was the next day. Zhou Dayong, who was in charge of the team, was the chief officer of the gunsmiths, and he was in charge and gave He Lao Er a small courtyard north of the village. There are three rooms and one kitchen in the courtyard, and He Lao Er and his daughter-in-law cleaned it all day to sweep away those cobwebs and drive away the rats and insects entrenched in the house. Fortunately, with the blessing of the custodian officer, He Lao Er got ten taels of moving silver, and he had the money to hire a mason to repair your things in the yard.

The family moved into one room with more tiles first, and let the masons repair the other two rooms first. When the two rooms were repaired, the family moved into the repaired house and asked the masons to repair the rest of the house and the kitchen. Before dawn that day, He Lao Er got out of bed. He Laoer's daughter-in-law was woken up by He Laoer, sat up sleepily, and scolded: "He Laoer, what are you doing when you get up so early?" What the hell is this? I haven't seen you wake up so early in so many years! ”

He Lao Er glared at his daughter-in-law and said, "Don't shout, don't wake up the pillar!" The couple is in their thirties, and only Zhuzi, a four-year-old son, loves him very much on weekdays. At this time, when she heard He Lao Er talking about the pillar, the woman lowered her voice and said, "What are you going to do?" "My master's house is in the courtyard, I'll go see if there's anything I can do to help!" "Our family is also cultivating the yard, you don't care, why do you go to help your master Zhang Luo?"

"What do you know as a woman? Now the captain of the team has given such a high monthly amount of two taels of silver, do you think it was given for nothing? That's to learn how to make a 'rifle' within half a year. If you don't have a good relationship with the master, you won't be able to learn after half a year, and your monthly income will drop to one or two or five yuan, and your life will not be so good! He Laoer's daughter-in-law chirped: "What are you afraid of, didn't you say that if you can't learn, your master will also deduct the monthly money after half a year." Are you afraid that he will not teach you? He Lao Er shook his head and said, "What do you know?" It's better to learn from others, or be diligent! After a pause, He Lao Er said: "Once you learn the technique, the monthly money will rise to three taels, and there will be a reward for making rifles, and then our family will really have a good life!" ”

He Laoer's daughter-in-law smiled: "Then when you are out of school, we can have another daughter!" Both sons and daughters! Boss He glanced at his daughter-in-law disdainfully, turned away, but couldn't help laughing. Thinking of the good days ahead, He Laoer, who had only slept for three hours, did not feel tired at all, and only felt that he had strength all over his body.

After pouring half a basin of water from the water tank and washing his face, He Lao Er put on his clothes full of patches and walked towards Master Shen Dagui's house. When they arrived at the gate of Shen Dagui's courtyard, He Lao Er found that the gate was open, and several masons and carpenters who had spent the night in the house had already gotten up to work. Shen Dagui moved to Hope Village seven days earlier than He Laoer, and at this time, the repair of the house was nearing completion. With the moving silver given by the management team, plus a generous monthly money, Shen Dagui was willing to use silver for the repair of the house, and all kinds of materials were very solid, and at this time, it seemed that the courtyard of the Shen family, which was about to be completed, was quite decent. In the courtyard, Shen Dagui's iron-striking stove, anvil, and various tools have been arranged, and he can already start making guns.

Shen Dagui saw He Lao Er coming so early, and said with a smile: "He Lao Er, I haven't opened the furnace yet, so you came?" He Lao Er said diligently: "Master, I came to see your family's house repair, to see if I can help." Hearing He Laoer's words, Shen Dagui smiled and said affectionately: "Come, come, take a look." There are so many places to ask you to help! ”

Although Shen Dagui said this, in fact, Shen Dagui's yard had been basically repaired and he didn't need any help. Shen Dagui pulled He Lao Er to look around, only to see a few masons in his yard shuttling back and forth to paste the wall and paste tiles, and the two just watched the excitement. After watching for a quarter of an hour, another of Shen Dagui's apprentices also came. Shen Dagui said: "Since you are both here, let's open the furnace to make the handle of the flintlock pistol!" I'll demonstrate in front, and you two will watch carefully. After thinking about it, Shen Dagui said: "You are also old blacksmiths, I am afraid you all know how to knock out a thick barrel, but do you know how to straighten the inner chamber of the barrel?" ”

When He Lao Er heard Shen Dagui's question, he knew that Shen Dagui was a wholehearted professor and was not ready to hide his secrets, and he couldn't help but feel happy. "Please also Master Professor!" Shen Dagui nodded and said, "Every time you grind the bore with a drill, you have to raise the barrel and aim at the light to see if you can see it through." If you can't see through, hit the part that blocks the light with a hammer, knock the part that blocks the light straight, until the whole barrel is straight, and then use a thicker drill to grind it again! ”

"The trick here is something you have to do to understand it. Today is the first day, you two will watch me operate first! "After Zhang Luo finished building the rifle, Zhang Xiang began to recruit soldiers. In the Great Song Dynasty, there was no force, and no matter how much money was earned, it was a castle in the air, and sooner or later it would be plundered by the Khitans and the Haoqiang of the Great Song Dynasty.

Yang Peng had the intention to move the salt workshop and the blacksmith workshop to the new industrial zone in Hope Zhuang and put them in the place under his own management, so that the confidentiality work would be easier to do and safer. However, Hope Zhuang is too small, and there are no spare houses in the village, which cannot accommodate nearly 2,000 workers and their families. Therefore, the first thing Yang Peng did was to build a new city in Hope Village, and build factories and residences in the new city to accommodate workers.

To build a new city, a new city wall was to be built, and Yang Peng was going to hand it over to the newly recruited soldiers. Yang Peng plans to recruit 2,000 soldiers, and of course he hopes that the Zhuang management team does not need so many battalions, and all the soldiers that Yang Peng wants to recruit will be used as his own reserve force.

The generals of the Great Song Dynasty widely hired private soldiers, because the battalion soldiers belonged to the imperial court, no matter how much money the generals spent on the battalion soldiers to train the battalion soldiers to be very strong, as soon as the order came down, people went to tea and cooled down and made wedding dresses for others. The officialdom of the Great Song Dynasty was chaotic, and even the generals who led the troops did not have a sense of security, and generally spent their money on private soldiers who could always follow them. Even when going into battle, the main force is the general's private soldiers.

This situation has become a common practice in the Great Song Dynasty. As a person who formed an army by himself, Yang Peng certainly did not want to be transferred away after working hard to build a strong army, and then all his flintlock rifle soldiers would become someone else's subordinates. In that case, not only will he make a wedding dress for someone else, but the secret of his own flintlock rifle will be revealed. Therefore, Yang Peng was not ready to expand the scale of Hope Zhuang Zhuang's soldiers, but to recruit 2,000 soldiers.

Of course, externally it is a soldier, and internally Yang Peng calls this first armed force the Elective Regiment. Yang Peng was not accustomed to the army name of a certain battalion of a certain army in the Great Song Dynasty, and was ready to call his troops by names such as division, regiment, battalion, company, and platoon. This kind of name is more straightforward, and your own people can see the number of troops at once. The requirements for recruiting soldiers are much higher than those for workers: these soldiers must be strong men between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two, in good health and without problems. Moreover, these soldiers have to leave home at any time to fight, and there is a risk of death when they go to the battlefield to fight, and they are not as good as workers working in the safe rear, so Yang Peng set them a relatively high monthly salary: three taels of silver a month, and at the same time, they are also provided with three meals like other workers, and three meals have meat.

Yang Peng asked people to write a notice to recruit soldiers, and the monthly salary was noted on the notice, especially emphasizing that the soldiers were the heads of the Yang family, the owner of Hope Village—now that the high welfare of the cement factory and salt workshop had spread throughout Hope Village, Yang Peng would of course use it. After writing the recruitment notice, Yang Peng asked Zhang Xiang to post the notice to Hope Village quickly, and then arranged a venue for physical examination and interview outside Hope Village. Hua Zhang saw the recruitment notice posted next to the Hope Zhuang Officer Hall, and rushed to Jiang Chong's house as soon as possible. "Jiang Chong, Jiang Chong! Lord Zhang Xiang has recruited soldiers! Jiang Chong walked out in a set of clothes and pants with the least patches and the most decent, and said, "I know!" ”

Hua Chang took a breath and asked, "How do you know?" Jiang Chong said: "I've been wandering around the official hall for the past few days. As soon as he posted the notice at noon, I saw it. I don't know the small characters below, but I still recognize the big characters of recruitment. Hua Zhang nodded and said, "I heard from Daddy Liu, who is literate in the official hall, that the official is recruiting soldiers this time, and he is paid three taels a month, and he also eats three meals of meat!" It doesn't get much better than that! Jiang Chong didn't know too many words, he couldn't understand the details written on the notice, and he was also happy to hear this treatment at this time, and said calmly: "I hope Zhuang Zhangxiang is recruiting, and the treatment is not bad!" After a pause, Jiang Chong said, "Let's go!" Let's go to the south gate to recruit the family! If we can enter the team of the adults, we will be turned over, or we will have money to marry in a few years! ”

"Let's go!" The two walked together and walked to the recruitment site outside the city, where they saw several large tents erected. The two of them took a closer look and saw that there were more than a dozen tables in each tent, and behind those tables sat the stewards of Hope Village. In addition to the tables, there were several tents with some strange utensils. Although the notice has just been posted, there are already many people who have come to apply. Jiang Chong looked at it and felt that there were about two or three hundred people lining up in front of various tents.

The two looked around for a while, and then a servant in charge of Zhang Luo came up and asked, "Are you here to recruit the family?" Hua Zhang hurriedly replied: "Yes, we are here to recruit soldiers, I don't know how to recruit soldiers?" The little guy handed the two of them two pieces of cardboard with a grid full of grids, and said, "Take this piece of cardboard, go into the first tent and line up for a physical examination, and let the medical examiner stamp it for you after you pass." Then go to the second tent to get stamped, the third tent stamped, go through all the tents in turn, cover the six stamps, and finally go to the final tent for an interview. Jiang Chong looked at the piece of cardboard in his hand and muttered, "What if I don't pass the physical examination?" The little guy smiled: "That's unqualified, you can go home!" ”

Jiang Chong grinned, and without saying a word, he walked with Hua Zhang to the first tent. Entering the tent, Jiang Chong saw five strange big rulers. The rulers were all erected on the ground with a shelf with a movable plank on it. The recruiters lined up in front of the rulers, and when it was their turn, they took off their shoes and stood under the plank, as if measuring their height.

It was the first time Jiang Chong had seen such a professional height measuring instrument. With such an instrument, it is very ingenious to measure height by simply pressing the wooden board to get an accurate number. Jiang Chong looked at the tall ruler and felt more and more that the master of the team was unusual. Not to mention the idea of queuing up invented by the captain of the team, which really saved everyone's energy.

Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang, following the example of the others, found a team with fewer people to line up, and it was their turn after a while. Jiang Chong took off his shoes and stood there, and the person who measured his height pressed the wooden board down on Jiang Chong's head and sang: "One meter seventy, qualified!" Then a person next to him stamped a private seal on the first column of Jiang Chong's piece of cardboard.

"Let's go to the next tent!" Jiang Chong was overjoyed, took the piece of cardboard and walked to the next tent, and saw more than a dozen strange signs erected in the tent, each with hundreds of arrows drawn on it. Those arrows come in groups of three and point in different directions. The arrows on the top of the sign are large, the arrows on the bottom are small, and the smallest arrow is about the size of a thumb nail.

The recruits of the enlisted soldiers stood three feet away, covered one eye with a spoon, identified the arrow pointed by the medical examiner with a wooden stick with one eye, and then pointed the direction of the arrow with their hands. Jiang Chong found a team and lined up, looked at it for a while, and knew that this was a physical examination item to test the eyesight of the eyes, this is the vision test of later generations, where has Jiang Chong seen it? Jiang Chong stood in the team, and secretly said that this test method was also exquisite, and he could distinguish the level of eyesight at once, and eliminated the people with bad eyes. Zhang Xiang of Hope Village is really wonderful, and I don't know where they got so many exquisite methods.

Finally, it was Jiang Chong's turn, and Jiang Chong tried his best to identify the direction of those arrows. But the physical examiner pointed down more and more, and in the end, Jiang Chong really couldn't recognize the fingernail-sized arrow. Jiang Chong was afraid that he would be eliminated, and he was a little nervous, but he heard the physical examiner singing: "Five three, five five two, qualified!" Another medical examiner sitting on the side picked up the private seal and stamped the second seal on Jiang Chong's piece of cardboard with a snap.

Jiang Chong was overjoyed, took a piece of hard paper, and happily walked to the next tent. When he arrived at the third tent, Jiang Chong tested for color blindness. At the fourth tent, the medical examiner asked Jiang Chong to strip naked to check for skin diseases, and the fifth tent to check for night blindness. Walking down the tents one by one, Jiang Chong found that there were fewer and fewer people traveling with him, and many people were eliminated by various projects. Fortunately, Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang were both in good health and had no problems, but they passed all the physical examination items.

It was only after walking to the last tent that the two saw the last project - the interview. Ten interviewers sit behind ten desks, interviewing candidates in line one by one. Jiang Chong glanced at it and walked directly to the line in front of Zhang Xiang, the team officer, and waited. This is a great opportunity to talk to the team officer, and Jiang Chong is not ready to give up.

After waiting for half an hour, it was finally Jiang Chong's turn. Jiang Chong sat down in front of Zhang Xiang with some trepidation. Zhang Xiang looked at Jiang Chong, sighed, and asked, "Why do I see you so familiar, have I seen you somewhere!" Jiang Chong replied honestly: "I am a servant in Cangzhou, and the master of the management team saw a villain in Cangzhou last time. ”

Zhang Xiang sighed, and then asked, "Why don't you become a military officer and apply for my soldiers?" Jiang Chong replied: "Being a servant is poor, you can't get a monthly salary, and you can't marry a daughter-in-law if you don't have money." Soldiers who are adults have a good monthly income, and maybe they can use the flintlock pistols of adults, which has a future! Zhang Xiang heard him say this and asked, "Do you know my flintlock pistol?" Then let me ask you, if you become my soldier and have a flintlock pistol, and your friend asks you to show him a flintlock pistol, will you give it to you? ”

Jiang Chong immediately replied: "Don't give it!" The flintlock pistol is a treasure for adults, and it should not be touched by others! Zhang Xiang nodded with satisfaction and asked a few more questions. That Jiang Chong was an insightful man, and his answer made Zhang Xiang very satisfied, and finally Zhang Xiang said on the spot: "Okay, Jiang Chong, you have been hired, you go back this month to prepare, and on the fifteenth day of next month, you will take this piece of cardboard stamped with a private seal to the south gate of Hope Village to gather, and wait for dispatch!" ”

Zhang Xiang stamped his own private seal on Jiang Chong's cardboard and returned it to Jiang Chong. When Jiang Chong heard the words of the team officer, he felt that he flew up all of a sudden, and his whole body was full of joy. Taking the piece of hard paper handed over by Zhang Xiang, Jiang Chong held it tightly into his arms and squeezed it with his hands, for fear that the piece of paper would fly. He left the interview tent with a smile on his face, and excitedly paced back and forth outside the tent, waiting for Hua Zhang, who came with him.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Jiang Chong saw Hua Zhang, who also ran out of the tent with a happy face. "Jiang Chong, I've recruited it! Have you been recruited? "I'm recruited too!" Great, Huazhang, you have also recruited it! Hua Zhang punched Jiang Chong's arm and said loudly: "Great, Jiang Chong!" We're going to have a good life! Let's go, let's cut two catties of meat and buy a jar of wine to celebrate! ”

Jiang Chong was stunned and asked, "Huazhang, where did you get the money to buy wine and cut meat?" Hua Zhang smiled proudly and said, "This month, I helped the mason who repaired the house and earned a tael of silver, and today I will spend it all!" Jiang Chong scolded: "You are clever and know how to help the mason." Let's go, I'm going to knock you hard today! ”

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.