Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 260 Baili Dutaigu (4)

To the north of Fenghuang Shanzhai in Liaodong, hundreds of horsemen and horses and a carriage crowded on the narrow mountain road, waiting for the sergeant to let him go.Standing under the heavily fortified wall, this group of troops looked relaxed. The sergeants behind the wall knew them well, and the centurion Jian Cheng greeted Wang Heng with a smile.

When Jian Cheng said that in order to prevent accidents, no horses or carriages are allowed to pass through the gate of the village, and only walks pass, a shadow casts over Wang Hengzhi's face, and he can't help but look back at the carriage. The fourth brother Tong Yunjie.He hesitated for a moment, and instead of arguing with Jian Cheng, he recruited a fake brother named Han Jia, and asked him to invite the Sidang family down, and he himself followed.

The Kaizhou Han army had two purposes for this trip.One is to make a joint attack on Kaizhou with Xia Guoying.Before the Han army concentrated its forces to attack Suzhou Pass, it had to make another feint in the east.First attack Kaizhou, Baozhou and other heavily guarded cities of the Liao Kingdom in the east, bluffing and attracting the attention of the Khitan people.The second is to send a group of masters to learn artillery skills from Xia people.The leaders of the Han army believed that artillery was an indispensable thing for attacking and defending the city. Although the artillery was transported from Xia, the gunners could not always rely on the people of Xia, so the Huguo Mansion also agreed to Chengyingying to train a group of soldiers for them in Liaodong. gunner.

When the car curtain was lifted, Tong Yunjie only felt the light was dazzling, and he covered his eyes with his hands a little, and then slowly got used to it, but there was still a trace of gloom in his eyes that could not be erased.

"Four masters, help the villain." Han Jia stood outside the carriage and wanted to help him get out of the carriage. Tong Yunjie gave him a grateful glance, put one hand on his shoulder, and picked up two crutches with the other, and got out of the carriage. After that, he immediately supported his body with crutches without the help of others.

"Fourth, this artillery battalion is no small matter, and it depends on you to be a brother in the future." Wang Heng smiled and patted him on the shoulder.Tong Yunjie has a disabled leg and can no longer fight in battle, but he is unwilling to be disarmed and return to the field.Wang Hengzhi told Han Ningshuang that Tong Yunjie was loyal, brave and reliable, and had a good personal relationship with Zhao De, so he was suitable for commanding the Artillery Battalion.

"It caused a lot of trouble for elder brother." Tong Yunjie said in a deep voice.He looked behind the wall of the village, holding the crutch tightly with both palms.

"Fourth, you were in the car all the way, and you didn't come out to breathe. The scenery on Phoenix Mountain is unique, like a paradise." Wang Heng laughed straight, "Brother, I regret giving up this beautiful place to Zhao. Virtue."

After Han Ningshuang decided to set up the Han army's commander-in-chief in Guannan, Suzhou, Wang Hengzhi strongly opposed it, but after no results, he sent Xu Detai to represent the Kaizhou Han army to meet the alliance.If Zhao Xingde hadn't persuaded Han Ningshuang and other leaders of the Han army not to give up the foundation of the Yalu River in Taibai Mountain, his elite Han army would also be transferred to Guannan, Suzhou.After Xu Detai revealed the details of the dispute in the commander's mansion to Wang Hengzhi, his affection for Zhao De also increased a lot.

Wang Hengzhi originally thought that since Zhao De had coerced tens of thousands of people, he would try his best to organize all the victorious young men into an army to expand his strength.However, as we saw along the way, most of the people under the rule of Xia were busy with labor such as land reclamation, logging, burning charcoal, transporting, and digging canals.

"When I handed over this Fenghuang cottage to him," Wang Heng thought to himself, "who would have expected that in just a few months, Zhao De would have built a huge foundation from nothing. The people of Xia State 'forced' with sharp swords, but the sincere joy and serenity on the faces of the people couldn't be faked. In short, Xia Guoying will be a great help in attacking Kaizhou City this time. I can't imagine fighting side by side with the old man Yes, not a junior like Wang Xuansu, but a native of Xia."

While he was meditating, the gate of the village creaked, Wang Heng raised his head, and saw Zhao Xingde and Jin Changtai coming out to greet him with joyous faces. "Old General Wang is driving you, and you will be far away to meet him." Zhao Xingde said loudly, and Jin Changtai bowed his hands in salute.

The previous meeting with Xu Detai in Huanglong Mansion allowed Zhao Xingde to better understand Wang Hengzhi's qualifications and status in the Han army, which can be said to be far beyond the strength of the Kaizhou Han army.Before Han Ningshuang returned to Liaodong, Wang Hengzhi was the leader of the Liaodong Han Army, and even the veteran Lu Kui had to obey him.Therefore, Zhao Xingde had special respect and enthusiasm for Wang Hengzhi, and his title was changed from "Da Wang" to "Old General Wang".

Wang Heng clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I don't dare to do it." He sighed a little, "Wang is old, and General Zhao needs a lot of help in the matter of Liaodong." Behind him, several confidant generals also came forward to meet Zhao Xingde .Zhao De had made an alliance with the leader of the Han alliance at the Blood Wine Club in Huanglong Mansion, and defeated Mr. Han Da's plot to annex the Han army. Therefore, after this meeting, these Han generals were particularly close to him, and they gradually became more defensive. few.Especially Tong Yunjie, he was a little speechless, Zhao Xingde understood what he was thinking, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Brother Tong should do his part in training gunners, and take it with Zhao."

The group talked and walked, and it took about an incense stick of time before they entered the hinterland of Fenghuang Village. From a distance, they saw a palace built of thick wood standing in the middle of the valley. Tong Yunjie secretly admired: "Towering giant trees are everywhere, only General Du Zhao's cottage has created such a magnificent mansion. This is the grand pattern in the chest, which is visible on the outside." The admiration for Zhao De added a bit.Although the other generals of the Han army were not as emotional as he was, they were all amazed, and even took a high look at Sanyin Village.

But Wang Hengzhi noticed something else. The mountainside here is wide, and most of the flat land has been reclaimed. In the mountainside, except for the big wooden house, there are only neat tents and grass sheds. On the top of the highest peak stands a small stone city. Looking at the precipitous terrain, Wang Heng shook his head. If he wanted to attack that kind of stone city, he didn't know how many lives would be lost.At the foot of the mountain, there was a smoking stove. Wang Heng recognized it as an iron smelting furnace. The area around Kaizhou is rich in iron ore, and the Han army also had several places for iron smelting.On the slope almost vertically above the iron-making furnace, there is actually a pool. The water flows down the channel, pushing the waterwheel and pulling the bellows, so that strong wind blows towards the furnace.Just beside the pool, several horses pull the cable car, and the water from the lower part is continuously lifted up the mountain and poured into the pool.

Right next to the iron smelting furnace, there is a blacksmith's shop. This kind of blacksmith's shop is everywhere in the world. Simple wooden pillars support the birch bark roof, and several large water tanks are placed next to the blacksmithing platform. The "sao" smell came downwind, which was used for quenching.The master blacksmith from Xiaguo was instructing his apprentices to forge iron with all his strength, and sometimes he swung the hammer a few times with bare arms. The finished iron, whether it was a weapon or a farm tool, had to be carefully engraved with the name of each craftsman. To engrave the name of the inspector again.The craftsmen looked at it with respectful eyes, but it was only aimed at Captain Zhao.Zhao Xingde adjusted some details of quenching and annealing after seeing the weapons they made. It only took a few days before and after, and the weapons they made were much more sophisticated. In the eyes of the teacher, the so-called master craftsman is nothing more than that.

Next to the blacksmith shop, there were several big trees that had not been cut down. Under the lush canopy, a hundred or ten children were following the sergeant in learning characters.The chalk made of lime used by sergeants and the big characters written on the blackboard made Zhao Xingde feel very friendly.In the eyes of all the generals of the Han army, this is even more like a paradise-like scene.Farther away, while weeding in the fields, many women turned their heads to look at the school, with gratified smiles on their faces.

Li Sihai's suggestion of cutting wood for food opened Zhao Xingde's mind. In addition to logging, he also greatly increased the scale of charcoal burning and iron smelting. The corresponding remuneration for such heavy physical labor has also been greatly increased.Zhao Xingde and Jin Changtai discussed and established a partnership to buy shares according to the established law in Lumei.Driven by the old subordinates of the Seventh Battalion, the sergeants of the Eighth Battalion of Chengying voluntarily subscribed nearly 7000 yuan for the two major businesses of logging and ironmaking in Liaodong.Li Sihai watched itchingly, and secretly discussed with Zhao Xingde, or set up a shipyard in Liaodong by himself.

Ma Rui led the cavalry to protect a large number of strong men who were distributed in the middle of the mountains and rivers for logging. Li Sihai and the people he brought also followed out, looking for a good giant log with a natural curvature suitable for shipbuilding in the forest. It's worth the price of ordinary hundred roots.And the other common people, under the leadership of the sergeant, used the axes made in the iron smelting plant to shave the hills into bald heads. Downstream to the sea, other wood is burned into high-quality charcoal.

Tang Qiyong and Zha Shen led two hundred soldiers to guard the iron ore. This kind of small iron ore mined in the open pit can only be smashed out bit by bit with iron picks and steel drills.Although the efficiency of this era is the same, the slow mining progress still makes Zhao Xingde feel bored. If it is not for the only sliver of reason to stop him, Zhao Xingde will almost use the powder rationed by the Ordnance Department to explode the ore.Even so, he also told Li Sihai countless times to bring as much gunpowder as possible on the next sea-going ship.

The sergeants are full of enthusiasm, and the common people get more rations and even the promise of wages, so they naturally work harder.The Volunteer Brotherhood also has a market among the people in Liaodong. Recently, some people have proposed in the Brotherhood to jointly petition the Huguo Mansion to formally establish Liaodong Fenghuangzhai as a county, so that everyone can be a citizen of the Xia Kingdom.In order to avoid over-stimulating the Huguofu, Jin Changtai finally suppressed this trend for the time being, and encouraged the brothers in the meeting to work hard and see the bright moon one day.On the other hand, Jin Changtai also reminded Zhao Xingde that as the foundation grows bigger, he must report the situation to the two governments in time to avoid suspicion.

All these are reflected in the Fenghuang cottage, showing a busy but not chaotic, orderly and vibrant scene.In the eyes of the generals of the Han army who stepped here, it was like a paradise in a troubled world.