Song Dynasty Iron Armored Army

Chapter 278 The History of Nine Pattern Dragons

Zhu Wu was surprised and said: "Brother Chai Meng said that the owner of Chai Zhuang went overseas. How could it be so fast for thousands of miles by sea?"

Lin Chong said with a smile: "I don't understand these things either, but our elder brother is very comparable. He made a kind of mechanical ship that travels a thousand times a day and eight hundred times a night. It doesn't eat grass or grain, but only coal. It's very strange. The four brothers will rest for a few days, if the elder brother does not come by then, I will send the four brothers into the camp. Let’s go, let’s go to the backyard.”

A group of people went downstairs to the backyard. The backyard is relatively spacious, and there are many old-fashioned small courtyards for guest rooms.The shopkeeper arranged a small courtyard for the four as a guest room.

Lin Chong arranged for an assistant to bring a tray with four pieces of silver on it, 20 taels each.

Lin Chong said: "This is the pocket money given to the four brothers by the village. I have kept it. If I want to eat or buy something, it is convenient to spend. In addition, I will temporarily equip the four with four horses. If it is not suitable, turn back Switch again."

The soldiers pulled over four black horses, which were not expensive, but they were strong and powerful, and they had a good temperament. They shook their heads and tails one by one, with good spirits and a good temper.

Shi Jin said: "Coach Lin, we've just arrived here, and we haven't made an inch of merit, so what's the matter with the money?"

Lin Chong said: "This is the rule set by brother Chai Lin. Any hero who comes to join him must first support some pocket money. It is not easy to go out, and it is easy to spend if there is an expense."

After Chai Meng and Ma Ling persuaded them, the four of them collected the money.These four people are not short of money, but giving money can show their character.

They didn't shirk the horses. Who doesn't like horses? Originally, Shi Jin's family had a lot of horses, but it's a pity that they are all gone.

Just when Lin Chong, Chai Meng, and Ma Ling settled the four people from Shaohua Mountain.

Wang Hong was also receiving young men recruited from Taiyuan and Weisheng in the artisan camp near the iron mine.

This batch was delivered only yesterday and this morning, by mule cart.They are all between 40 and [-] years old. Wu Yong and Bian Xiang are very cautious in recruiting people. Those who are too young cannot work, and those who are too old have weak resistance and are prone to illness.

The weather is already hot, so living in a tent can solve the problem.

Wang Hong first arranged for the group of strong men to fetch water and take a bath by themselves, and then they all changed into coarse clothes. Each of them also received an iron washbasin, towel, and rice bowl.

Wang Hong came over and said, "Everyone, get ready. It's time to eat. Our rules are about order. No one can rob and make noise. I guarantee that everyone will have food. If you make noise and don't obey the rules, you will be fined." It’s not good, our rules here are also very strict.”

"Okay, don't worry, we are not making trouble." The young men said.

A table for ten people, two pots of vegetables per table, sorghum rice porridge, and steamed corn bread with sorghum noodles.

Wotou rice porridge with sorghum noodles is very common, but these two dishes are so rare, they turned out to be fish pieces, such big fish pieces, they don’t know what kind of fish they are, but they taste better than carp, and they are thorny. Less, fresh and delicious.

A young man began to cry while eating. Wang Hong was patrolling when he heard the sound of crying and asked, "Young man, why are you crying? Did someone bully you?"

The young man said: "No one has ever bullied a villain. I remembered that my old lady at home ate wild vegetables and bark, and I ate big fish here. I felt uncomfortable, so I cried."

Wang Hong patted the young man on the shoulder and said, "Work hard, try to earn more money, and let your old lady live a good life."

Wang Hong comforted the young man, and went out to do other things when he saw that the order was good.

There is nothing to say about the food, the stewed fish is very delicious, and the steamed corn bread is enough, everyone ate up the vegetable soup after eating.

After eating, they all sat there to rest.

An old man said: "It's not right. Aren't the hired workers all working with radish and pickles? How can there be big fish to eat. I used to eat this fish with rich relatives in big restaurants. It's called big fish." A yellow croaker costs a few taels of silver."

Other strong men also said: "Yes, this food is a bit good."

"I feel that we may not be invited to work as workers, but may be invited to serve as soldiers to work hard." The older man said.

While chatting, Wang Hong came in.

The older man asked, "Director Wang, did you recruit us to serve as soldiers?"

Wang Hong was at a loss, and said, "No, if you are recruited, you will be workers, and you will be assigned to iron mines, quarries, or salt fields."

"But how did you feed us so well?" asked the strong man.

Wang Hong smiled and said: "You think too much. This side is near the sea and there are many fishermen. Our village often buys fish from fishermen, so we will let everyone improve their lives occasionally. As for the matter of being a soldier, don't think about it. Yes, our monthly salary as a soldier is [-] Wen, eggs and fish are constantly available every day, and there are various welfare benefits during the holidays, but the requirements are very strict. You can’t go if you want, so don’t think about it. To build the salt fields, we will start tomorrow, after eating all kinds of seafood, crabs, shellfish, all kinds of fish, shrimp."

"That's great, I like to eat this kind of food the most." Said the strong men

Wang Hong smiled and said: "Don't be stupid, it's okay to eat seafood for two meals, but after a long time, it's still green vegetables and grains, and joints hurt if you eat too much seafood."

Only then did everyone realize that seafood has side effects.

The salt field built has grown from [-] mu at the beginning to [-] mu, and now it has reached [-] mu.The rainfall in Cangzhou is much smaller than that in the south, and one mu of salt fields can harvest three to four thousand catties of sea salt a year, which is a very large output.Moreover, Yantian not only sun-dried salt, but also processed fine salt to make it finer. It is used as first-class salt, sold for [-] renminbi per catty, which is [-] renminbi more expensive than ordinary salt.Ordinary salt is [-] cents a catty, the worst is livestock salt, which is pressed into blocks, called cattle and sheep licking bricks, which contain a small amount of shell powder, and are specially supplied to cattle, horses, wool, donkeys and mules. The horse farmers in Chaijiazhuang, This is the case when a horse is given two yuan and twenty catties of salt a year.

The patrolmen on duty at night in each village don't pay any money, and each person replenishes [-] catties of salt every month. It's just a rush to do it, because salt is too expensive this year, and every family can't afford it immediately.

At Dinghai port, Chai Lin and others took the centipede steamboat to the shore. The strong men unloaded tens of thousands of catties of sea cucumbers from the boat. These were all caught and dried by Tamna people. The quality was very good and there was no adulteration.

I happened to meet the shopkeeper Li Yun. During this time, Li Yun was in charge of maritime transportation, and a dozen centipede steamships ran around along the coastline.

"Shopkeeper Li, how is the business these days?" Chai Lin beckoned Li Yun over.

Li Yun said: "The business was very good during this time. More than a dozen boats sailed back and forth, and they did all the business along the coast of Shandong. It's just that the cargo capacity of the centipede boat is too small, and loading and unloading delays time. The big ship comes quickly."

"The large sand ship was built immediately, and the forecastle and poop were removed, and it was mainly used to pull cargo. A ship of [-] tons is no problem." Chailin said.

Li Yun said happily: "That's great, how many ships are there?"

"Three ships."

Three flat-bottomed sand boats plus ten centipede boats, the transportation capacity is quite impressive, and it can run a large amount, and it can transport cheap coal and grain.It mainly transports coke, grain and timber from Shandong to Cangzhou.Transport soap, water trucks, toilet paper, iron pans, iron tools, etc. to Shandong.

The workers unloaded [-] catties of sea cucumbers and handed them over to big trading houses. These sea cucumbers were worth the price of cabbage in Tamna Island, and they were worthless, but when they were sold from big restaurants or department stores, the price was ten times or even two times. Ten times the sky-high price.

Chai Yong, who was stationed at the port, came over and said, "Brother, Mengzi sent a letter saying that the four brothers Jiuzhilong Shijin, Zhu Wu, Chen Da, and Yang Chun are here."

Chai Lin was overjoyed, and said with a smile: "Today is actually a happy event, and there will be good news as soon as we land."

Dian Zhengnan said: "Are these people very powerful?"

"Everyone has their strengths, for example, can you beat Ruan Xiaoqi in the water?" Chailin asked.

Dian Zhengnan shook his head and said, "I dare not go into the water."

"That's it. You can't judge a person by whether they are powerful or not. A tiger has to be followed by a pack of wolves. For example, you are a tiger, but when you are fighting, doesn't Xie Bao also assist you from behind?"

Dian Zhengnan nodded: "I understand."

"Prepare your horse and hurry back to Chaijiazhuang immediately," Chai Lin said.

"Yes." Xie Bao ordered four fast horses to be prepared immediately.

Chai Lin, Dian Zhengnan, Jie Bao and Liu Tang got on their horses and rushed to Chaijiazhuang.

Not far from the port, I happened to meet Chai Lin's eldest sister, Chai Xin.

"What are you doing in such a hurry?" Chai Xin asked.

　Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a recommendation ticket.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)