A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 83
On the tenth day of the first month of the ninth year of Chongzhen.

The weather was still extremely cold, so Li Maosen, the head craftsman, selected a few craftsmen in advance, and went to Koujiagou to choose a place for mining and ironmaking workshops.

To save costs, the relevant workshops must of course be located near the mine. Fortunately, the location here is desolate, and it is rare to see a few kittens on weekdays, so there is no problem in terms of safety.There is also a water source next to Koujiagou, so it is not a problem to set up an iron-making workshop.After the daily survey, Li Maosen and others went to the Chadao Tunbao a few miles away to rest and stay.

At the same time, Lin Daofu also arrived at Huiyaobao, and discussed with Chang Zhengwei, the management team officer, and Zhong Dayong, the team officer, about serving as miners in Dingkou of each of the fortresses of Huiyaobao.

Chang Zhengwei and the two heard that Wang Dou had exempted them from collecting grain from their villages, and they had a team of soldiers to guard the mines, and they still had enough grain to pay. Issue the matter of recruitment.In order to win the favor of Wang Dou and Lin Daofu, Zhong Dayong is even more active, running around with Lin Daofu every day.

Huiyaobao and several military households in Tunbao heard that Koujiagou was going to work, and they could eat enough every day. If they did a good job, there would be monthly rations, and compensation for casualties. Everyone was enthusiastic.

There are four forts under the jurisdiction of Huiyaobao Company. They couldn't find twenty ox carts and mule carts in the five forts, but they found more than 100 wheelbarrows. In the future, all coal and iron ore will rely on these simple vehicles. Tool transport.

Until the [-]th day of the first lunar month, the military households of Zhutunbao went to Koujiagou to build workshops and other buildings.

Lin Daofu also went to inspect in person every day, busy up and down, he lost a lot of weight.

Li Maosen and others have already decided on the location of the mining and iron treatment workshop. During these times, Li Maosen is directing everyone to build iron furnaces for making iron and frying iron, and also to purchase and transport related equipment from various places in Shun Township Fort. .Together with the daily food and drink of the military households, Wang Dou's money and food are going away.

It probably took less than half a month to build a few iron furnaces, and it could not be done in a month. During this period, Lin Daofu took the official Feng Dachang and others to Wujiagou. Six thousand catties of coke, and more every month in the future. Several local mine owners took a deep breath. This is a big customer!
They entertained Lin Daofu and others graciously, and also gave them a discount on the price. Each ton of coke was set at 15 taels of silver. In addition, they also agreed to use their own manpower to transport the coke to Shunxiangbao on a regular basis.Of course, the transportation from Shunxiangbao to Koujiagou was up to Wang Dou to figure out a way.

At the beginning of February, when he heard that Koujiagou had already built an iron furnace, Wang Dou led a group of people from Shunxiangbao to Koujiagou for an inspection.

At this time, it was still freezing and the wind was biting. The roads from Shunxiangbao to Chadaotunbao were all old official roads, which were in disrepair for a long time and full of potholes.After turning west from Chadao Tunbao to Koujiagou, the mountain road is even more difficult to walk. It is all loess trails, up and down suddenly. It is conceivable that it is difficult to transport coal and iron in such a place.

The terrain of Nakoujiagou is mountains in the southeast, hills and flat land in the northwest, and a river passes not far away.

After the group arrived at Koujiagou, it was already a bustling scene. The small Koujiagou was full of men and women wearing worn-out cotton and leather jackets. The men were building iron furnace workshops, while the women were pushing coal in wheelbarrows. Stones and other things were all extremely busy, and some sergeants from Castle of Glory were standing guard nearby with knives and guns.

Near those iron furnace workshops, there is a large nest made of stones, branches and thatch. If you push away a house, there are messy pots and household items in it. It is very simple. This is where the miners rest. a place to stay.

Wang Dou sighed, the conditions were difficult, Wang Dou had no choice but to feed these miners and their families as much as possible.

Hearing that Wang Dou was coming, Lin Daofu and Li Maosen came in a hurry. Lin Daofu has been busy these days, and he has lost weight.There is also Li Maosen, who also has a messy bun, his face and hands are black, and his face has been opened by the cold wind.

Wang Dou sighed: "Master Lin, you have worked hard!"

Lin Daofu's spirit is very good, he said excitedly: "Fortunately, the matter of the mine is on the right track, and I'm lucky that the officials are not disgraceful!"

The two showed Wang Dou around, and Wang Dou kept nodding his head wherever he went.

At the foot of the mountain, Li Maosen pointed to one of the tall iron furnaces and introduced it to Wang Dou. The iron furnace was first surrounded by wood, and then built with salt and mud. One furnace can feed more than [-] catties of iron ore. , can be smelted with coal.When blasting, six people need to pull the bellows of the furnace fan. After the ore is turned into iron, it can flow out of the furnace waist hole.

According to Li Maosen's introduction, iron is divided into two types: raw and cooked. It is raw when it is not fried, and cooked after it is fried.Harmony between raw and cooked, tempered into steel.

His method is also called mixed smelting raw iron method, which was introduced in "Tiangong Kaiwu". Pig iron and wrought iron are mixed together in the iron furnace. The excess carbon of iron and pig iron is absorbed by the wrought iron lacking carbon, and some of the slag contained in the wrought iron is expelled, and the raw and wrought iron all become steel.Take it out and forge it, then forge it again, repeat it several times, and it will become a purer steel.

This kind of refining method requires less work and has a higher output. It was an advanced technology before the application of modern steelmaking methods.

Wang Dou was not very good at making iron, but Li Maosen said that he was an expert, so let him decide.

Although the current Koujiagou Iron Works is simple, it can be regarded as a complete industry from mining, smelting to transportation.Looking at the hot scene in front of them, Han Chao, Han Zhong and the others beside Wang Dou were all excited. They hoped that their future armor and weapons would come from here.

According to Lin Daofu's introduction, it cost a lot of money to buy coal and build iron furnaces, and also hired some mining and iron smelting technicians from various places in Baoan Prefecture, which also cost a lot of money.

Those craftsmen who fry iron, including about [-] furnace workers, casters, fitters, hammer workers, etc., are all hired from Baoanzhou City. The technician is gone.The rest of the miners are local military households in Fort Hui Yao, and they don't have much technical content. They are fed every day, and they are paid a small wage if they do a good job.

Wang Dou pondered for a long time, and said: "Master Lin, these miners in Huiyaobao are all military households under the rule of our Shunxiangbao. No matter what, we must feed them! Especially those women who transport coal and iron. It’s not easy, you have to take care of it.”

Lin Daofu said: "It's easy for me, according to my lord's previous instructions, although there is no white flour steamed buns, but I only need to eat enough coarse grains, there is still one meat every three days, and a spoonful of wine every five days. The military households are very satisfied and grateful. How about your lord's kindness!"

Li Maosen also proved Lin Daofu's words. He said: "Those military households in Huiyao Castle used to work hard every year and still couldn't eat enough. Now everyone can eat enough, and they are very motivated!"

Han Zhong beside Wang Dou also murmured, "What do you expect if you can eat enough every day? Thinking back when we were in Jingbiandun, we couldn't find a place where we could work hard and eat our fill. My lord is so kind-hearted! "

Wang Dou nodded, looking at the ragged men and women who were working beside them, all of them were running fast, and many of them even sang folk songs, with happy smiles on their thick black faces, and sighed secretly : "Ordinary people are easy to be satisfied!"

……

On the [-]th day of February in the ninth year of Chongzhen, when the Koujiagou Iron Works was on track, Lin Daofu also rushed back to Shunxiangbao, and together with Wang Dou, presided over the spring plowing of various places in Shunxiangbao this year.

Seeing Lin Daofu's busy schedule, Wang Dou also thought about picking up someone from the military officer in the fort to share Lin Daofu's worries and labors.But as soon as this proposal came out, Lin Daofu kept shaking his hands, saying that he was in good spirits, and that he was still busy with trivial matters.Although busy, Lin Daofu has been indulging in this kind of fulfilling life these days. If a person comes out and shares this power with him, it goes without saying that Lin Daofu will feel lost again.

Just like Jingbian Fort in the past, starting today, the military households in Shunxiang Fort also selected their cattle fields one by one by lottery. Last year, a total of [-] mu of land was reclaimed in the fort, and one hundred households in the fort were divided into three Ten acres of land.

All the military households who were assigned to the fields were all smiling and thankful.These fields are exempt from grain in the first year, one dou is levied in the second year, and two dou are levied in the third year. With these field heirs, they can live a happy life in the future.

Seeing their excitement, those military households who didn't get the fields were jealous, but they were unlucky, so they could only wait for the next field allocation.They believe that one day, they too will be allocated fields.

A total of 100 military households in the fort were allocated fields. In the new army of Shunxiangbao, at least more than [-] people benefited. Their wives were allocated fields, and life at home had hope. These new troops trained even more vigorously. That's enough, the rest of the sergeants were all excited when they saw the example, the defender really kept his word, and the entire Shun Township military households could live a good life in the future.

Although there is no food for each soldier now, but he can eat enough every day, and he has practiced good martial arts. After going out with the army in the future, if he has captured something, it is no different than getting a fixed salary every month.

In the joy of the new army in Shun Township, on February [-]th, the day of the vernal equinox, spring plowing in Shun Township Fort began again.

The farming is lively and the new army is happy, but the old soldiers and officers in the Shun Township Fort have different thoughts!
……

On February [-]th, the ninth year of Chongzhen, it was still cold and cold.

Coming out of the Shunxiangbao teaching ground, a gust of cold wind blew in. Even though Xu Lu was in a strong body and had been training hard every day, he still unconsciously wrapped his leather jacket tightly.Several servants followed Xu Lu, seeing that his face was always calm, he didn't know what he was thinking, and they didn't dare to disturb his train of thought.

Xu Lu walked slowly, and when he left the classroom, he suddenly heard someone behind him calling: "Master Xu, Master Xu!"

Xu Lu turned around, but the team management officers Lan Bulian, Liu Wei, and Yu Qingyuan chased after him, followed by several servants.

Like Xu Lu, these three team officers are all hereditary officers of Shun Township Fort. They have been passed down from generation to generation. Their families have occupied a lot of fertile land outside the fort to support their own servants. They are usually regarded as Make friends with Xu Lu and vent your anger at the same time.

At this time, the three of them chased after each other, and after saluting each other, Xu Lu said indifferently: "I don't know if Lan Baihu, Liu Baihu, and Yu Baihu called Xu to stop, what's the matter?"

Among the four, Xu Lu is the strongest. After all, after Wang Dou dismissed the old and weak, the original six team officers of Shun Township Fort, except Xu Lu's team of 50 soldiers were intact, the rest of the team officers only The remaining dozen servants can only be compared with Chief Jia in the new army of Shun Township.

Moreover, among the six team officers, Xu Lu and Wang Dou had the best personal relationship.Therefore, among the six team management officers, Xu Lu is actually the most respected. However, Wen Fangliang has recently been promoted to Deputy Qianhu, and his right to speak has also increased, and he can sit side by side with Xu Lu.

At this time, Lan Bulian smiled and said: "Master Xu, you have the best personal relationship with Mr. Defender. I just want to find out if this month's rations are still not distributed in the castle?"

The servants in the management teams of Shun Township Fort asked for one tael of silver and five buckets of rice per month. At the end of October last year, Wang Dou had given out a month's salary, but since then, Wang Dou has not paid any more. After the food was distributed, in addition to all the soldiers being fed, even the servants were given the same food.

Xu Lu shook his head: "Right now the money and food in the fort are tight, and the guards are going to open mines again. I'm afraid there will be no food and salary!"

The team manager Liu Wei is a big fat man, he said angrily: "If you have money to open mines, but you don't have money to pay wages, the defense is too much. We are servants in our team, and we have always been the elite in the fort. How can we compete with those people?" Compared with military households who have practiced for several months?"

A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said: "Master Xu, you have always been the backbone of the few of us, why don't you lead us to fight for pay?"

The team officer Yu Qingyuan was a little timid, he hesitated and said: "This...isn't that good...Although the Lord didn't pay us, he didn't treat us badly. Every day in the army, we are given the same food and treatment!"

Liu Wei said: "I'm afraid it will be so difficult. Right now, we only have these servants left in our team. Now the New Army's field division is lively, and the team's hearts are floating!"

His words hit Yu Qingyuan's mind all of a sudden, and his face turned pale.Most of the servants in their team are their family slaves and tenants. Seeing the military households in the fort divide the land, how could they not have other thoughts?I'm afraid it's time...

Liu Wei said eagerly again: "Master Xu, do you see my proposal?..."

Xu Lu had been listening coldly, and at this moment he shouted suddenly: "Nonsense, you don't want to live anymore, just because of you few soldiers, you also want to make money?"

He snorted disdainfully.Others don't know, but he knows Wang Dou's strength. Although at this time, the strength of generals is based on family members, outsiders look at Wang Dou as if he has no family members, so he can't help but despise him. Only Xu Lu understands how powerful Wang Dou is. Terrible, back then in Jingbian Fort, he quietly trained more than a hundred strong soldiers, all of whom had the strength of servants.

Right now, more than 500 new troops have been trained, and the strength of these new troops is equivalent to [-] servants!

Five hundred servants, if you look at Baoan Prefecture, you may not be as good as the garrison.All the new troops looked forward to Wang Dou's horse, especially after Shun Xiangbao divided the fields, these new troops saw hope, and they were even more devoted to Wang Dou!
Paid?I'm afraid I don't know how to write the word "death" by then!
(End of this chapter)