Three Kingdoms, at the beginning of the game, recognize the thief as the father, hit the spectacle,

"Ah, yes, yes, this thing is undoubtedly the same as the flying drowning thing for planting seedlings, and it doesn't matter if it's called urea!"

He straightened up a little excitedly, Ma Jun looked like he had suddenly realized.

Chapter 23 Can't Rest Yet

"Well, let's do this first, work hard, and when you sort out all the specific methods of making these things, I will count you as passing my assessment, and at the same time I will hand over the general weapon development plan to you. "

"This is a big project involving about 600 million Han coins. I will tell you the specific content and direction when the time comes."

"If you encounter any problems, you can come to me. If I'm not around, you can contact Kuai Qi. Although he is just a small Anhui Prime Minister, it's okay to support you in various aspects such as the economy. questionable."

Afterwards, standing near the entrance of the experimental field, Zhang Yan whispered instructions to Ma Jun.

Ever since Ma Jun informed Zhang Yan of his research results on nitrate, Zhang Yan seemed to be in high spirits. the other side.

Maybe it's been too long since I've seen this kind of thing that symbolizes civilization. Unknowingly, Zhang Yan discussed with the other party in this thatched hut for almost a whole day.

It wasn't until now that the sky became a little dark that he suddenly came back to his senses, and asked Ma Jun to sort out his experimental results, and at the same time, he was going to leave here and return to Wancheng.

When Zhang Yan went out today, he originally planned to see how the two men were progressing, and at the same time get a general idea of ​​the achievements of Ma Jun, Wei Xian and others during this period of time.

But what he didn't expect was that these two people brought him such a big harvest on the same day.

Not to mention the changes caused by modifying the spectacle design to Zhang Yan, it was only on Ma Jun's side. The production of fire nitrate, one of the three major components of black powder, had achieved initial results, which made Zhang Yan invisible. A sense of anticipation for the future.

Looking forward to the emergence of gunpowder, looking forward to the great power of early firearms on the Chinese battlefield, and...

Looking forward to the historical event of Dong Zhuo's chaos.

Of course, as a native Han Chinese, it is not a good thing to have expectations for such a large-scale man-made disaster.

But Zhang Yan knew that only when Dong Zhuo's chaos happened, would the princes in the east be broken into a mess, so that he, a long-prepared traverser, could take advantage of the opportunity to acquire a large amount of land and population in Jiangdong. .

If there is no such thing, if we want to completely eliminate the disadvantages of low productivity and family occupation under the original Han Dynasty system, I am afraid that it will not be something that can be solved within ten or eight years.

Although the short-term war will bring pain to the people of the eastern land, but in the long run, these are acceptable and necessary sacrifices.

Looking at Ma Jun who turned and left with some relief, Zhang Yan also turned around and walked towards the gate of Wancheng in the distance.

Originally, he was thinking that during this period of time, he might be able to rest for a while, and first watch the group of guys under him get busy.

Now it seems that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done by him.

"Can't rest yet."

Zhang Yan swallowed slowly.

Now that Ma Jun's progress is about to be pushed to the end, he can start to consider the research and development and preparation of black powder.

First of all, about 600 million yuan of funds, Zhang Yan intends to use half of it, that is, about 300 million yuan, to try to cast the early bronze artillery model, confirm the power and conduct a certain degree of experimentation and improvement.

This is also the most expensive part of the entire artillery development process.

Although the quality of brass is better than bronze, and it is softer than bronze, which is convenient for further processing to improve precision, but there is no doubt that from the perspective of current copper smelting, bronze smelting and casting The overall difficulty is lower.

Anyway, in the first few batches of models, Zhang Yan did not intend to complete the hundreds of years of artillery development in the East and West in one step.

Whether it is iron-molded brass cannons, cast iron cannons, or technologies that enhance the power of artillery, such as rear-loading ammunition and gunpowder granulation, these can all be improved little by little in the future. This is not something that can be useful in a hurry.

In his expectation, as long as Ma Jun determines a cannon model that can be produced on a small scale and can truly play a role in siege, defense, and fire suppression before the new year next year, it will be able to cope with the future when the feudal lords are fighting for Dong. It's a dangerous task.

Just the bronze "General Cannon" made of the simplest clay mold is fine.

I roughly estimated the tax and budget of the entire Lujiang River this year. For Zhang Yan, although the cost of this matter is high, it is not unacceptable.

In addition, after the initial model of the cannon is finalized, Zhang Yan plans to spend part of the funds on improving the current metal smelting and casting process, so that the output and quality of copper products can be higher.

This is not a matter that Ma Jun can solve alone. The best craftsmen in Lujiang will be recruited by Zhang Yan as a group to find ways to improve the metal smelting and casting process.

In addition to some miscellaneous investments such as gunpowder development and gunpowder ratio confirmation, the total number of projects are added together, and the investment of 600 million yuan can be enough to cope with it.

Having made a plan for his work in the future, Zhang Yan quickly returned to the Qiaofu in Wancheng.

He also needs to take advantage of the dark to distribute fertilizer production and a series of tasks related to future farmland production.

Now that the time has come to the end of July, the fertilizer can be added to the fields one day earlier, and the total grain output of Lujiang this year can be a little higher than before.

……

"Ye'er, quickly help me prepare the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and then send someone to the Wancheng government office to call Kuai Qi over, and tell him that I have something to tell him."

"Also help me talk to Mr. Qiao of the Qiao family, and say that I have something to discuss with Mr. Qiao at dinner time, so I must talk to Mr. Qiao as soon as possible."

Entering the bridge mansion with big strides, Zhang Yan nodded to the two servants who bowed to him at the door, and then walked towards the small courtyard where he temporarily lived.

In the small courtyard, a somewhat crisp response sounded.

……

"okay!"

"Master, you are back~"

"It will take a whole day to go out, Ying'er and the others are waiting for you in the house, why don't you go and have a look first?"

Seeing Ye'er in front of him showing that somewhat familiar smile, Zhang Yan exhaled forcefully, feeling that his whole body was full of energy.

And this small courtyard gradually became lively under the reflection of the setting sun.

Chapter 24 The Acquaintance Returns

Busy days always leave people with no time to care.

While Zhang Yan was busy with work and waiting for the news from Xu Huang, who went south to eliminate thieves, a few days passed quietly in the blink of an eye.

And Zhang Yan also ushered in the tenth month since he came to the Eastern Han Dynasty.

On the first day of August in 188 AD, the weather was fine.

Everything in Wancheng is running in an orderly manner. Kuai Qi's census in Wancheng is coming to an end, and in Shu County, Zhang Yan's subordinates have not yet been able to take the role of county magistrate, so this matter has always been It is hosted by Kuai Qi.

As for things like population registration, since this is a long-term job, Zhang Yan directly ordered to set up a registration point near the original government office in Wancheng.

As of the end of July, there are still many local people in Wancheng sparsely going to the place to register information, or to get their identity certificates, or to lose their identity certificates, and want to hand over a small amount of money to the Wancheng Civil Affairs Bureau. The Department applies for a replacement.

Everything seemed to be the same as usual, but on this day, Zhang Yan finally got the news he had been waiting for.

It wasn't Xu Huang's battle report, but a call letter from an acquaintance.

A greeting card from Mi Fang, the eldest son of the Mi family in the north.

"Oh?"

"Are they finally back?"

Sitting in the old government office in Wancheng with great interest, Zhang Yan was listening to Kuai Qi's report on the census of Wancheng.

According to Kuai Qi's report just now, after a month's screening in Wancheng, a total of more than 3000 registered population was counted, of which farmers accounted for more than [-]% of the total population, and the remaining less than [-]% were businessmen. , artisans and some freelancers.

This total population figure was much higher than the passing line of about 5 people he had guessed before, and even the temporary data from Shu County was almost the same, reaching a terrifying number of more than 8000 people.

It is true that this must be due to the fact that Wancheng and Shuxian are the most affluent places among the four counties and six countries under the jurisdiction of Lujiang. Therefore, it is normal that the population of Wancheng is higher than the average number of the entire Lujiang.

But from another point of view, there is also the help of the two great families, the Qiao family and the Zhou family, so that Zhang Yan's census figures can be as close to the real data as possible.

As far as Zhang Yan knows, the registered population of the Qiao family alone has reached a terrifying number of more than 100. This is only the so-called "clan population" of the Qiao family, excluding some tenants and domestic servants. The presence.

If you really want to count all the people who live by working for the Qiao family, the Qiao family alone has a population of more than [-] people, which is almost [-] times the population of ordinary families.

From this point, it can be seen that among the more than 7 people in Lujiang Wancheng, how many people's lives are still controlled by the heads of those big and small families.

……

"The total population is 3000... This is somewhat beyond my expectations."

"If a population of more than [-] was counted in just one month's screening, wouldn't the population of the entire Anhui City reach more than [-] if counting the data that some aristocratic families concealed for tax evasion?"

"This is a good thing, a very good thing!"

……

Just before Zhang Yan's subordinates came to report, he was still discussing with Kuai Qi the positive significance of this confirmation of the total population of Wancheng for the entire Lujiang River.

②Zero 6〧5㈥0 Wu③

After all, in this era, a larger population means higher productivity, higher taxes, and a higher number of troops that can be recruited.

And after receiving the news reported by his subordinates, a look of surprise appeared on Zhang Yan's face.

For Mi Fang who left earlier, he has been waiting for a long time.

"Hurry up, send the order, and help me hold a banquet in this official office at noon to entertain Mi Fang and the guests he brought."

"And you, Kuai Qi, didn't you complain to me just now that you are too busy to be in charge of the government affairs of Wancheng and Shuxian at the same time?"

"Isn't this helper here?"

Smiling and winking at Kuai Qi, Zhang Yan couldn't keep his mouth shut at the moment.

When reporting work just now, Kuai Qi was still complaining to him about various inconvenient factors that he was in charge of two places.

Of course, from Kuai Qi's point of view, this can also be seen as a show off of his ability by the other party.

But to be honest, Zhang Yan also really felt that it was not a long-term solution for Kuai Qi to take charge of the two places for a long time. This situation would have to be adjusted gradually after he got enough manpower sooner or later.

Leaving aside the precedent of one person working in two places at the same time in the entire Eastern Han Dynasty, it is only said that there are ten county-level units in four counties and six countries under the jurisdiction of Lujiang.

No matter how hard-working Kuai Qi is, he can play two roles, or even four roles...

Is it possible that he can still serve in the ten counties and countries under the jurisdiction of Lujiang at the same time?

Not long ago, Zhang Yan was still seriously thinking about how he should help Kuai Qi decompress.If it doesn't work, he still plans to select some suitable people from among the dwarfs of the local aristocratic families in Lujiang.

But now it's a good thing, as soon as the doze arrived, the pillow was delivered right after it.

Looking at the greeting card in his hand with some excitement, Zhang Yan felt a little anticipation for Mi Fang's arrival.

More than a month and less than two months ago, when Zhang Yan had just arrived in Lujiang, Mi Fang had completed her mission and returned to her residence in Pengcheng, Xuzhou together with the businessman from the Mi family who came to pick him up.

But just before Mi Fang left, she also told Yang, Pei and others among those troops who got along well with her that she would come back in a short time.

At that time, not only will Mi Fang no longer be restricted by the army as a hostage, but he will also formally defect to Zhang Yan and follow Zhang Yan to develop in this area of ​​Lujiang to seek his own future.

Zhang Yan has been envious of Mi Fang's promise for a long time.