After Xiao Jiu and Li Luoyao cooked raw rice, she looked shy every time she saw Xiao Jiu.

And Xiao Jiu didn't think about how to face his father-in-law and Li Luoyao's two brothers for the time being.

In the end, I had to let Li Luoyao live in Lingshui County first, and then send someone to Kyoto to propose marriage after the matter of dividing the land was over.

Just as the land reform in Lingshui County was in full swing, Liu Hong, the former commander of Lingshui County, took a team of Qingzhou soldiers to the county office.

Looking at the bearded old man in front of him, Xiao Jiu said nothing with a cold face.

waited for Liu Hong to explain the purpose of this trip before he slowly spoke.

"Please also tell Master Wen, I appreciate his kindness."

"But since I am the commander of Lingshui County, please don't meddle in this affairs again."

After saying that, he got up and left the county yazhongtang, leaving only Liu Hong and his party looking at each other.

"My lord, this Xiao Jiu is too ignorant."

A Qingzhou Army general looked at Xiao Jiu's departing back and snorted coldly.

Liu Hong shook his head and walked out of the door.

Others may not know Xiao Jiu, but he knows very well what kind of person Xiao Jiu is.

When there were dozens of people in Hare Mountain, they dared to rob the landlord and kill the officers and soldiers.

Now that he has come back from Kyoto, he has become a prefectural commander directly, and the soldiers in his hand have increased several times compared to before.

Don't say that it is a private division of land, even if you directly pull the flag and rebel, I am afraid that you can do it.

This time, he was arranged by Wen Jiu to lobby Xiao Jiu, and he didn't have much hope.

Xiao Jiu privately divided the land in Lingshui County, and the confiscation of the property of the rich family had been reported to the county government.

Lu Yaoliang, who has always regarded Xiao Jiu as a thorn in his side, is obviously not ready to let go of this great opportunity to get rid of him, and is about to send troops to destroy him.

Yang Jun's Wen Ji was still hesitating.

Yang County, one of the seven counties in Qingzhou, has four counties under its jurisdiction.

Although Xiao Jiu's Lingshui County is actually independent of the county, there are no officials appointed from above.

But the taxes that need to be paid every year are still a lot.

And with the continuous expansion of the Lingshui caravan, the benefits of offering to Wenjie are also becoming more and more considerable.

If Xiao Jiu can be saved, Wen Jie is still willing to take him a hand.

But this time Liu Hong's encounter with the wall told Wen Jie's attitude.

From Xiao Jiu's past behaviors, it is not difficult to see that Xiao Jiu is not the kind of master who is willing to be driven by others.

By the time the Qingzhou army arrived, it was too late.

As soon as Liu Hong left, Xiao Jiu summoned Zhang Ben and others who were stationed in Wolf Mountain and Hare Mountain.

In the back hall of the county government, Xiao Jiu's face was gloomy, and the scene seemed a little too quiet.

It wasn't until Xiao Jiu told Liu Hong what he had done before that Zhang Ben and the others began to discuss it word by word.

Regarding that Lu Yaoliang would use the reason of land reform to beat himself, Xiao Jiu had already expected in his heart.

It's just that everything is faster, and I didn't expect this Lord Governor to be so narrow-minded.

At this time, Qingzhou Yimai had just gained a firm foothold in the court, and he was about to take his own knife.

The neighboring Jizhou and Yuzhou will definitely have a different mind.

It may not be possible to borrow troops from the two states by yourself, but it is not too much to ask for money and food.

Now the Xiao Zi battalion is full of seven hundred, and there are still a large number of militia reserves.

After the land reform, the people of these proletarian guilds had just been allocated land.

They will also unite to protect their property and resist the Qingzhou Army together with Xiao Jiu.

As for the military expenses for the temporary expansion, Xiao Jiu can still afford it.

With the growth of the Lingshui caravan, the wine and iron business brought great profits.

Moreover, the crossbows that were made in a hurry had already been shipped to Kyoto, and they would soon be able to get a large amount of money for the ordnance.

Money, Xiao Jiu is not lacking.

The only thing that needs to be considered is how to improve the combat effectiveness of the army in a short period of time.

The Qingzhou army will raise troops, and it will not be useful if there is a small number of them, and Lu Yaoliang must know his own strength to some extent.

If it is a large-scale transfer of Qingzhou soldiers, a large amount of military rations must be raised in advance.

This gave Xiao Jiu enough time to prepare for the battle.

I discussed with Zhang Ben and others for a long time, and made some preliminary preparations.

The first is to recruit more militiamen, strengthen training, and increase the number of soldiers.

The second is to let the steel mills speed up the production of crossbows, which will be used to equip the militia in the towns and villages.

Previously, the crossbow had always been only equipped for the soldiers of the Xiao Zi Battalion.

This time the Qingzhou army attacked, and Xiao Jiu decided to start issuing it to the militia.

With the current efficiency of the Hare Hill Iron and Steel Works, as long as the iron ore can keep up, it will not be a problem to produce 500 crossbows a month.

In the end, it was the cannon that Xiao Jiu was thinking about.

Three thick barrels had been poured before, and the inner walls were polished by craftsmen.

It's just that the shells have not yet been made.

These three tonnage cannons imitated the kind of red-clothed cannons that Xiao Jiu knew in his previous life.

The front body is long, and the back body gradually thickens.

Although this smoothbore cannon cannot guarantee accuracy, it is very lethal in the face of dense formations, as long as it is guaranteed not to explode.

As for the shells, Xiao Jiu was preparing to make a batch of hollow explosive shells.

This is a spherical iron-shelled hollow shell.

There is a hole left in the shell surface, and from the orifice the ball is filled with gunpowder and sharp iron edges.

After the shells exploded in the enemy formation, the shells exploded into fragments, and together with the iron edges in the bullets, they scattered and flew in all directions, killing and injuring the enemy troops.

There are certain technical requirements for the production of such hollow explosive bombs, and according to the current level of steel plants, I am afraid that the success rate will not be too high.

But Xiao Jiu doesn't need much, he can have ten rounds to ensure that he can use it to destroy the enemy's psychological defense.

The cannon looks scary, but in fact, the actual power is far less than the shock that the sound of his explosion brings to the enemy.

The greatest fear of human beings stems from the unknown, and the use of firearms in the era of cold weapons will definitely be regarded as a miracle of heavenly thunder like Li Hao.

After arranging for the craftsmen to make the cannonballs, Xiao Jiu wrote two letters with a crooked pen and sent them to Jizhou and Yuzhou respectively.

The letter asked the two states to lend them some soldiers and horses when the Qingzhou army invaded.

Xiao Jiu knew that the two states would not really send troops to help him defend against the Qingzhou army.

In that way, in the eyes of the people of the world, they are taking the opportunity to annex the land of Qingzhou.

directly said that the loan of troops was just so that the two states could give some money and grain, which was a bit of room for bargaining.

After everything was arranged, Xiao Jiu was not so anxious.

Now he is no longer the leader of the small mountain bandits, and the Xiao Zi Battalion is when the soldiers are strong and strong.

Moreover, he carried out land reform in Lingshui County, which can be regarded as throwing the biggest trump card.

In fact, all ordnance and soldiers are just appearances, and only by winning the hearts and minds of the people can they truly have a foundation.

Now, once the land reform is carried out, the people of the entire Lingshui County have been allocated their own land.

In order to protect their own one-third of an acre of land, they will also pick up a hoe and fight against the invaders with Xiao Jiu.

If this wave resists the pressure of Qingzhou, Xiao Jiu can also show his value and get more support.

Therefore, Lu Yaoliang's chance is only this once, and he can't hold Xiao Jiu down at this time, and it will only be more difficult to think about him in the future.