The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 98 098 Mining Iron Ore

Zhang Yan stopped Xu Chu and Tai Shici from fighting. After the two put down their weapons, they still glared at each other out of breath at first, but after a while, they suddenly burst out laughing.

Tai Shici immediately clasped his fists and said: "Although there is no winner today, but your martial arts are so strong that you are not inferior to me. I am convinced of you. You are the Captain of Huwei!"

"Hahaha... You're not bad, we must compete frequently in the future." Xu Chu also laughed heartily.

Niu Jin and Xu Sheng also admired Xu Chu's force, and even the expression on his face changed into a smile.

Zhang Yan was also very happy to see Xu Chu and Tai Shici sympathetic to each other, after all, they are both his subordinates, if it really got stuck, it would be ugly.Such a happy result is what he wants to see most.

"Okay, let's go in for a drink together!"

Afterwards, everyone re-entered the hall together. This time, everyone drank to their heart's content. Xu Chu and Tai Shici even competed in their drinking power. As a result, Tai Shici's drinking power was not as strong as Xu Chu's. He was so drunk that he was carried back by Niu Jin and Xu Sheng home.

After the banquet, Zhang Yan took Xu Chu around Pengcheng alone, and introduced the situation in Pengcheng to Xu Chu.

Unknowingly, Zhang Yan and Xu Chu came to the arsenal together. Zhang Yan entered the arsenal with great interest and inspected it. It turned out that the weapons displayed in the arsenal were covered with a thick layer of dust, and the weapons were covered with dust. It is full of spider webs, and these weapons are all made of iron. In addition, the arsenal is relatively dark and damp, and the weapons are all rusty.

After Zhang Yan made a round of inspections, he asked someone to call the small official in charge of the arsenal. He held a spear in front of the small official, and asked, "Can such a weapon be used? How do you manage the arsenal?" of?"

"My lord, calm down, when the little one took over, it was like this..."

"It was like this when you took over, so you don't care about the arsenal, right? Fortunately, I have nothing to do today, and I personally inspected the arsenal. If such weapons are issued to soldiers, how will they go to the battlefield? As the steward of the arsenal, you should know how to maintain the weapon, but you didn't do anything, let it go, such an irresponsible steward, what use do I need you for?"

Angrily, Zhang Yan threw the weapon in his hand on the ground. With a loud clang, the rusty spear head broke off at the touch, and the iron was oxidized very badly.

When he saw such a scene, he was extremely surprised. He only knew that there were a batch of weapons in the arsenal, but he didn't know when these weapons were cast.Judging by the way this spear breaks at the first touch, it has been seven or eight years at least, right?
Not only the weapons here are like this, even the quality of the weapons in the entire army is not very good.In the era of cold weapons, when fighting, one relies on courage, and the other relies on weapons. If the weapons are sharp enough to cut iron like mud, then such an army will become the king of this era.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in Zhang Yan's mind. He wanted to smelt iron, rebuild a batch of brand new weapons, and replace all the existing weapons in the army.

He has knowledge beyond a thousand years in his mind, and the Xuzhou he occupies is rich in coal, iron and other resources. He can use these resources boldly to arm his troops and protect his people.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yan was not in the mood to blame the manager of the arsenal. He asked Xu Chu to go to the barracks to appease the 4000 troops he had brought, and put all the [-] people under Xu Chu's subordinates. He then walked straight to the prefect's mansion. .

In the prefect's mansion in Pengcheng, the prefect Chen Qun was sitting in the hall reviewing official documents. Suddenly seeing Zhang Yan coming, he hurriedly put down the official documents on hand and went to greet him.

"The lord has come from a long way, and the long text is far away to meet you, please forgive me, the lord!"

Zhang Yan waved his hand and said: "Changwen, I have always disliked such and such red tape, so you don't have to be so troublesome to beg me anymore. I came to you because I want to discuss something very important with you."

Chen Qun said: "My lord, if you have anything to say, just say it. If the subordinates can do it, they will definitely not leave it behind."

"Do you know, is there any iron mine in Xuzhou?"

Chen Qun was stunned for a moment, and asked back: "There are iron mines in Pengcheng, doesn't the lord know?"

Zhang Yan was also stunned for a moment, and asked, "Is there an iron mine in Pengcheng?"

Seeing Zhang Yan's confused look, Chen Qundao guessed without saying that Zhang Yan definitely didn't know about the iron mines in Pengcheng.He couldn't help but find it a little funny, couldn't help but show it off, and there was a smile on his face.

"What are you laughing at?" Zhang Yan asked, somewhat puzzled by the monks of Zhang Er.

Chen Qun stopped laughing, and then said: "I'm laughing, thanks to my lord, I was the prefect of Pengcheng before, and I don't even know that there are iron mines in Pengcheng? I just think that the lord is looking for a donkey on a donkey." , that's why I laughed."

Zhang Yandao: "Although I once served as the prefect of Pengcheng, most of the official duties were handled by Chen Deng, so I didn't pay attention."

"That's right. However, it's no wonder my lord. Pengcheng originally had iron officials who were in charge of iron ore mining and ironware manufacturing. Later, during the Yellow Turban Uprising, the iron officials were killed by the people who mined iron ore, and the mines were also destroyed. The yellow turban soldiers occupied it, and although the rebellion was quelled later, the matter of iron ore mining was put on hold. If the lord wants to mine iron ore, he only needs to re-appoint a reliable official as an iron officer, and then recruit some people to go to the mine to mine. .”

As the saying goes, there is no place to find if you break through the iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it.It wasn't until this moment that Zhang Yan realized that there was a treasure under his feet, but he didn't know it.

The Pengcheng where he is located should be the contemporary Xuzhou. Xuzhou is rich in coal, iron ore and other resources. He can make good use of it. Not only iron ore, but also coal mining, two-pronged approach.

Afterwards, Zhang Yan asked Chen Qun for advice, and only then did he know that in Xuzhou, apart from iron in Pengcheng, there are also several places rich in iron ore, namely Qu County in Donghai County and Tangyi County in Guangling County. , and Xiapi City.

In addition, Ying County in Taishan County, Yanzhou is also a place rich in iron ore.Zhang Yan told Chen Qun that he was like mining iron ore, building weapons and battle armor, and got Chen Qun's support, and advocated the establishment of iron officials in Pengcheng, Quxian, Tangyi, Xiapi, and Yingxian respectively. , responsible for mining iron ore and smelting iron tools.

In addition, Chen Qun suggested to Zhang Yan to set up salt officials. Xuzhou is close to the sea and is a place where salt is produced. Salt is an indispensable food in daily life. By collecting taxes from merchants, it can also manufacture official salt, stabilize the price of merchant salt, and crack down on the speculation of profiteers.

After hearing this, Zhang Yan felt that Chen Qun's suggestion was very feasible, but he lacked a right-hand assistant who could carry it out.At Chen Qun's suggestion, Zhang Yan asked Donghai prefect Mi Zhu to be in charge of salt and iron affairs.

Mi Zhu has been in business for generations, and his industry also involves salt and iron. He has rich experience in operation and management, so he is the first choice.

Zhang Yan then called Chen Gui, and after expressing his thoughts and Chen Qun's suggestion, Chen Gui also felt that this method was feasible.

Therefore, Zhang Yan asked Chen Gui to draft the official document, and he stamped it with a seal, and sent someone to Tancheng, Donghai County, to let Mi Zhu handle the matter with full authority.

However, Zhang Yan was personally responsible for mining iron ore and smelting ironware in Pengcheng. After all, he had the advantage of being close to the water and was easy to manage.

In the evening of that day, the proclamation was posted, and young and middle-aged men were recruited to become miners, and he took a group of people to inspect the mine in person.

The mine pit of the iron mine is located near Weishan Lake in the northeast of Pengcheng. Zhang Yan led his entourage to survey the terrain, and chose a relatively flat location as the place to build the smelter.

The smelting technology in the Han Dynasty had reached a very advanced stage, and it was at this time that Baisteelmaking came into being.

Zhang Yan not only wants to mine iron, but also smelts iron ore, recruits blacksmiths, smelts it here, and forges it into all kinds of weapons, and they are also extremely sharp.And he is also planning to use such weapons to equip his entire army.

In the next few days, Zhang Yan has been busy recruiting miners and building a smelter.After several days of recruitment, a team of hundreds of people was finally obtained and officially started mining iron ore.

But the smelter is under construction, and the blacksmiths are in the process of recruiting.

Zhang Yan goes out early and returns late every day, which is very hard.However, in Zhang Yan's view, all the hard work was worth it.

After everything was in order, Zhang Yan selected an iron official to be responsible for mining iron ore in Pengcheng, building a smelter, and recruiting blacksmiths.

At noon that day, Zhang Yan came back from the mine and just entered Pengcheng when he saw Chen Qun standing at the gate of the city with a sad face pacing.

As soon as Chen Qun saw Zhang Yan coming back, he immediately went up to greet him, cupped his hands in a panic and said, "Meet the lord!"

"Changwen, when did you get so flustered?"

"My lord, famous scholars Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong have already arrived in Pengcheng, and are now waiting for the lord's reception in the hall! But..."

"But what?" Zhang Yan asked.

Chen Qun said: "However, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong's faces were a little displeased. I inquired about it, and only then did I know that when Chen Deng went to visit Er Zhang, Er Zhang was unwilling to become an official, so Chen Deng ordered Er Zhang's family He was imprisoned and forced Erzhang to come to Pengcheng to serve as the lord..."

"Hahaha... I really can't see that Yuanlong can do such a thing."

"My lord, are you still laughing? Chen Yuanlong's actions angered Er Zhang. Although Er Zhang came to Pengcheng, he did not come to serve the lord, but to complain."

"Whatever their purpose in coming to Pengcheng is, since they're here, don't think about leaving." Zhang Yan said with a chuckle.

After hearing this, Chen Qun hurriedly persuaded: "My lord, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong are both well-known scholars in the country, both of whom are talented in the world. If the two of them agree with each other, they will definitely help the lord to achieve great achievements. Even if they don't want to Chen Yuanlong should not use this method to anger Er Zhang when he became an official. In this way, no matter how polite the lord is to the corporal, Er Zhang will probably not serve the lord."

Zhang Yandao: "Changwen, I understand your worries, but sometimes, to deal with these old stubborns, you should use extraordinary means. Even if the two don't join my account, I will definitely not let the two leave Pengcheng, go to Serve others. Go, and accompany me in, and meet these two famous celebrities for a while!"

(End of this chapter)