Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 205 War Machine
To the north of Xiazhou City, thick smoke billowed, as if it was on fire.

Jin Chongwen accidentally stepped on the coal gangue and almost fell, but he was helped by a strong young man, which saved him from making a fool of himself.

"Is Blacksmith Wu here?" Jin Chongwen thanked the boy, and then shouted loudly.

The loud jingling of the backyard stopped.Soon, a shirtless burly man came out and asked, "Why did you come here today? Of the ten knives, there are still three left."

The sound of forging in the backyard started again.

Jin Chongwen raised his head to look, and saw a master holding iron with iron tongs on the anvil with his left hand, and forging with a hammer in his right hand, and a young apprentice holding the hammer with both hands.The rhythm of the two is clear, the movements are skilled, and they are full of strange beauty.

Behind the two of them, there was a strong and healthy woman who was pushing and pulling the wooden bellows, and the flames in the iron-making furnace were blazing, continuously calcining a piece of iron.

Jin Chongwen didn't know what they were making, it might be farm tools, but wouldn't it be more profitable to take over the ordnance business?Alas, the commander-in-chief wants to promote iron farm tools and build military weapons, how can he be so busy.In the north and east of Xiazhou City, there are more than 100 blacksmith shops, clanging day and night, billowing with smoke, but it is still not enough.

"The general Zuosi is like burning his buttocks, rushing to make equipment day and night. Even the errands with me are not at peace. Officer Zhang started talking about these ten horizontal knives yesterday, forcing me to come and inspect them today."

"Which Cao Si do you belong to?"

"Only the driving officer is fixedly assigned to Cao Si. I wait for the small envoys, and I don't have any dispatches to go anywhere. If the errand of the Yingtian Division is smashed, I have to squat in the ditch; when the people from the Zhidu Division come up, I have to Go to the sheepfold to count the sheep; the general secretary drove someone to the blacksmith's shop, so he had to come." Jin Chongwen said with a wry smile.

"Is it worth the money you get every month?" Blacksmith Wu asked after taking a sip of water.

"A family of six, all pointing to this little money, they have to do it if they don't."

"Let's wait a few more days, there are still three more." Blacksmith Wu put down the water ladle and said, "The commander-in-chief is going on an expedition. It's not short of these few days."

"How do you know that the commander-in-chief is going to fight?" Jin Chongwen asked in surprise.

Blacksmith Wu smiled: "The general manager is so anxious, who doesn't know? Besides, so many blacksmith shops here have received business, and they are all small gadgets that the Xiazhou Academy doesn't want to make. As long as they are not stupid, they can I know that the commander-in-chief is about to set off."

Jin Chongwen smiled embarrassingly.

Generally, when a large army goes out for an expedition, the Arsenal Division under the Military Envoy will mobilize a large amount of equipment, which will be distributed by the Transit Division to the army, and the food envoy will receive it.Then the arsenal department has to replenish the inventory, and the department will produce on demand, and if it is too late to produce, it has to be purchased from private blacksmiths.

After going back and forth, everyone has already figured out the routine. Whether the commander-in-chief goes out or not, you will know whether the officials in the Cao's yamen are in a hurry.

"It's good for the general to go out. Once he goes out, the business of this small shop will be good. It's best for the general to go out every month." Blacksmith Wu picked up the hammer and prepared to continue working.

He fled from Hedong to open a shop, of course to make money, time is precious.

"You are still a small shop with more than a dozen people." Jin Chongwen laughed.

"It's only a dozen or so..." Blacksmith Wu shook his head, and said, "The Wei family's blacksmith shop in the northeast corner has about twenty master craftsmen, and more than a hundred apprentices and helpers, so the business is good."

Hearing him mention Wei's shop, Jin Chongwen immediately shut up.

It's called Wei's family, but it should be called Wei Cai's family.Wei Caisu, the inspector of Dijinze, paid for it. He spent a lot of money to recruit party craftsmen to do business in Xiazhou.It is heard that he gave half of the shop to his granddaughter Wei Cailaimei, and threatened that after his grandson was born, the other half of the shop would also be given to his grandson.

No one in the town dares to eat and ask for the property of the handsome wife's family, on the contrary, they try their best to give them business.Jin Chongwen visits this shop several times a year, and every time he is worried, worrying that the knives and spears produced will not be usable, and it will not matter if you accept them or not.But at present, it seems that the food and appearance of this shop are not ugly, and the quality is quite satisfactory, not to mention particularly good, at least it can be used.

After leaving Wu's blacksmith shop, Jin Chongwen went back to Sima Yamen of the right marching army to return to his orders, and then was stopped by Liang Zhixia, the Kongmu officer of the Yingtian Division of Sima Yamen of the left marching army, and went to the south of the city to inspect a section of a ditch that had just been dredged.

"If you can't read, you just have to work hard. You won't be able to be a driving officer in your life, let alone a Kongmu officer, alas." Under the crooked tree, Jin Chongwen sighed secretly while fanning the hot wind.

The wheat in the field has grown tall and looks pleasing.Next to it is the thoroughfare dayi, with carts and camels passing by from time to time.Just now Jin Chongwen also saw a team of camels and horses coming from Youzhou. Good guy, there are more than a hundred camels. It is said that they belong to a Dangxiang tribe, and they were confiscated by Youzhou to deliver goods here.

Jin Chongwen didn't know what goods Youzhou had to deliver, maybe salt, or camel hair and leather.

The military uniforms of the Dingnan Army are all brown cloth made of camel hair.Armor requires a lot of leather.When the Tuoba clan occupied Youzhou in the past, every tribe in the grassland would donate a large amount of leather every year.For example, after a sick horse dies, the meat can be eaten by itself, but the skin must be handed over.Sand fox skin, deerskin, wild boar skin, yellow sheepskin, cow and sheepskin, etc., all have a fixed number, and each department is miserable, but they cannot resist.

But Marshal Shao also needs leather!
Iron armor is too expensive, and the commander doesn't like paper armor, so why not use leather armor more?You can't still use cloth armor like some other feudal towns, right?
There are many grasslands and tribes in Youzhou.Jin Chongwen heard from people in the shogunate that there are only [-] households in the prefecture so far who have cultivated land, and [-] hectares of military farms have been rented and planted, and the rest are all Tibetans.

The Fan tribes don't need to pay grain or silk, but they have to offer livestock and fur.

Cowhide, wild boar skin, deerskin, yellow sheepskin, and horse skin can all be used to make armor and cards, and all of these have to be tributed by the Fan Ministry.In the South City area of ​​Xiazhou, businessmen from other towns often come to buy leather. The military state in the inland area should still be short of armor leather.But it's hard to find Qizhou, there are too many of these things, and the price is very cheap. If they are sold to the mainland, they should be very profitable, right?

Jin Chongwen was lazy for a full hour under the shade of the tree.During the period, I saw two camel horse teams, all of them were hair-haired party members. The camel horses carried well-tied goods, and behind them were driving large herds of cattle and sheep.

Looking at this scene, Jin Chongwen got goosebumps.

At the order of the king of Lingwu County, all 26 counties in the seven prefectures were mobilized.The Tibetan shepherds sang songs and drove their cattle and sheep to Xiazhou. The masters of the Han people transferred corn, wheat and fodder.There is also the courier with the recognition flag on his back, galloping on various post roads. Everywhere he goes, the post officials prepare water and horses so that the commander's orders can reach all states and counties.

After a while, the party members on the mountain will come down, right?Those tall mountain people, silent and taciturn, followed the leader down the mountain one by one, gathered in Xiazhou, and served under the tent of Lingwu County King.

beat!Hit hard!Jin Chongwen spat out the grass stem in his mouth.The commander-in-chief has never suffered a disadvantage.The life in the town gradually gets better with every expedition.He didn't know what the towns in the Guandong were like, but in Dingnan Qizhou, the people's lives were still going on, and they were not so opposed to the war.

After leaving the wheat field in the ditch in the south of the city, Jin Chongwen got on his horse and returned to Xiazhou.

When he arrived at the orchard of Heiqu, he saw a large group of soldiers surrounding it.He inquired a little, and it turned out that the king of Lingwu County took his wives and concubines to the orchard.

It is the credit of the Tuoba tribe that the black canal leads to water.In order to restore the water diversion of this ditch, I don't know how many people died of exhaustion.Jin Chongwen didn't dare to stay here, and soon returned to the Yamen to report his orders.

Along the way, you can see many sergeants returning to the barracks, and they all go back to sell their holidays.

The business of the blacksmith shop is probably also contributed by these sergeants.They have money, and they like to let blacksmiths make a spare weapon according to their own preferences, so as not to be half-baked on the battlefield and have no weapons to use.The supply craftsman camp in the army has been very busy, and they may not have time to repair your equipment.

When Jin Chongwen returned to the Yamen to return to his command, Shao Shude's family was also preparing to leave the orchard.

The sergeants returned to the camp one after another, and they will practice a few more times soon, and they are about to go out.Once the war machine is launched and all 26 counties in the seven states are mobilized, it cannot be stopped.

During this northern tour, I will not be able to return for a few months, and I really spend less time with my family than I do.

This is the price of careerists, and Shao has long realized it.

(End of this chapter)