Hua Zhang and Jiang Chong were good friends. When Jiang Chong said that his uncle would not give any news, Hua Zhang was also a little uninterested. He leaned against the wall helplessly and sighed. But just as Hua Zhang finished sighing, he heard Jiang Chong say something. "But I don't want to run away!" Hua Zhang was stunned, suspecting that he heard wrongly: "What?" Jiang Chong said again: "I don't want to run away!" "You don't want to marry a wife?"
Jiang Chong looked at his hair and said, "Hua Zhang, don't you think things in the village have become different?" After hearing Jiang Chong's words, Hua Zhang tilted his head and thought for a while, and said, "This The new management team came in Yue, buried all the garbage, and built public toilets. Is this what you are talking about?" Jiang Chong said: "Didn't you realize that this month, neither the Chief A nor the new management team dared to let us help them? Are you doing farm work?" Hua Zhang spat: "That's because it's the slack time for farming now. Don't worry, when the wheat is harvested in a few months, those two broken households will give you a hard time!"
Jiang Chong shook his head and said, "I don't think so. Last year at this time in Cangzhou, it was also the slack season, but the two commanders and the old management team still wanted us to help them weed the fields and grind the grass for him in his barn. They use us like livestock for all kinds of miscellaneous things, for fear of leaving us idle." Hua Zhang blinked and said, "What you said is still vague. It seems to be fine this month. Is it because of the new management? Team!"
"There is a new management team! Hua Zhang, let me tell you, this new management team has a good background. It is called the Yang family. The head of the family is Yang Peng. I heard that he set up a workshop in the new village and hired one or two thousand people. , each helper’s monthly payment is two taels, and no one is in arrears for a month.” After a pause, Jiang Chong said: “They also provide three meals a day, and all three meals include meat dishes!”
After hearing his friend's description, Hua Zhang licked his lips and said, "Is there such a good thing? Aren't those helpers better treated than us soldiers?" Jiang Chong looked at Hua Zhang, his face a little excited, Said: "Moreover, did you see the 'flintlock' of the officer in charge yesterday?"
"I've never seen anything so powerful. Hey, what was I thinking about when I was watching the show? What's the point of setting up a target so far away? It's good if it can hit a target of a hundred steps. But what happened? That rifle turned out to be It can penetrate an inch-thick wooden board at a distance of one hundred and seventy steps! I was dumbfounded at the time. This is simply an immortal's magic! With such a weapon, what is a rogue? He will be killed more than a hundred steps away. This rifle is defeated. Even if the Jian slaves come, they will not be able to withstand such a rifle!"
"You said that as soldiers, don't we rely most on weapons? If we had a rifle like this, who would we be afraid of in a war?" Hua Zhang thought for a while, then nodded and said, "That rifle is indeed sharp, Khitan The bow and arrow can only hit accurately at fifty steps, but this flintlock gun can hit accurately at a distance of 140 steps. It is really sharp! I have never heard of such a thing before!" Jiang Chong said: "You said, there is How many military exploits will a military attaché with such a powerful weapon make in the future, and how high an official will he be promoted to?" Hua Zhang was stunned, and spat: "What does it have to do with you to be promoted to a high official in charge of the team?"
"You are stupid. As soon as the management team entered the village, they started cleaning the village, disposing of the garbage and digging drainage ditches. They also strictly enforced discipline so that the officers would no longer occupy our sergeants. This is all hard work that offends people, and there will be big consequences. Only talented people would do this!" After a pause, Jiang Chong continued: "The Guan team has great ambitions and has such powerful weapons. It is impossible to build only one or two. It is obviously to recruit troops. Our people are in the new Zhuangzi, this is an advantageous situation. If you can enter the team of the master of the team, why not follow the master of the team and rise to the top?"
Hua Zhang was stunned for a long time and asked: "Is this why you are not planning to escape?" Jiang Chong smiled proudly and cursed: "You idiot, good times are coming soon, why are you trying to escape?" ! Show off your tactics and wait for the good days brought by the leader!"
After the trial production of flintlock guns was successful, Zhang Xiang began to recruit more people and mass-produce them. Zhang Xiang actually has three battalions, including the first, second and third battalions. The three camps are all in the new Zhuangzi. There are many craftsmen here in Yangpeng now. Zhang Xiang searched all over and found more than sixty craftsmen who could make flintlock guns. He hired them all with a salary of three to two months and asked them to move to the new village. Now almost half of the craftsmen in Yingzhou have been kidnapped by Zhang Yan, and this is thanks to the Khitan official.
These were all experienced blacksmiths and had Yang Peng's design drawings. Under the guidance of Wang, Boss and the other five, these people quickly learned how to fire a flintlock gun. In order to motivate the craftsmen, Yang Peng stipulated that every time he made a qualified flintlock gun, he would be rewarded one tael of silver. These craftsmen can make a rifle in about a month, and the monthly silver reward plus monthly money can get almost four taels of silver. When did the craftsmen get so much money? Everyone worked enthusiastically. Of course, in order to prevent inferior products from being made, Yang Peng asked the craftsmen to engrave his name on the rifle butt. Once the flintlock gun is found to be substandard or even blasted, two months of monthly payment and six taels of silver will be deducted for the first time. If it happens for the second time, military law will be dealt with!
However, these craftsmen's households alone were not enough. Yang Peng's new Zhuangzi hung alone outside the cities of Yingzhou and Cangzhou. From here to Yingzhou and Cangzhou, it was simply desolate. No one would have thought that there were villages of more than 20,000 people here. In the future, the military pressure to defend Khitan will be great, and Yang Peng needs to quickly form an army of several thousand people. In the first step, Yang Peng prepared to recruit two thousand soldiers. These two thousand soldiers were equipped with flintlock guns to guard the new village.
To form an army of 2,000 people, at least 2,000 flintlock rifles are needed. These more than 60 craftsmen are not enough. These craftsmen can only produce 60 to 70 rifles every month. It takes two or three years to build a thousand rifles, not to mention the flintlock rifles are still worn out during training, so it will take even more time. Yang Peng then found more than a hundred skilled blacksmiths from the refugees, hired them for 20 or 2 months, and asked them to serve as apprentices to craftsmen who knew how to make rifles. After adding the previous fifty people, the current weapons workshop also has a certain scale.
More than a hundred craftsmen and blacksmiths moved into the new village and occupied all the new houses that had just been built. Yang Peng gave each of them ten taels of moving expenses, so these people could afford to hire masons and carpenters to repair furniture and household necessities. The masons and carpenters here found work again. Hundreds of craftsmen moved all kinds of bricks, tiles and wood in and out of the new village, making the small village very lively. At this time, Yang Peng changed the name of the village to "Hope Village"
Yang Peng hoped that these apprentice blacksmiths would be able to make guns independently after half a year of training, so he stipulated that every craftsman who could make rifles would bring two blacksmith apprentices. The gunsmiths would not only make flintlock guns but also teach the apprentices about flintlock guns. Production technology, for half a year. After half a year, the apprentice blacksmith started to make flintlock guns independently. After the apprentice made a qualified flintlock gun, his monthly income increased to three taels of silver. After the apprentice joins the apprenticeship, the master will reward the apprentice with three coins for every qualified flintlock gun he makes, and the remaining seven coins will be given to the apprentice.
If a disciple cannot become a master after studying for half a year, the apprentice will change his master and continue to learn. However, the monthly salary of the original master and the apprentice will be reduced by five silver coins until he becomes a master. Under such a reward and punishment system, the gunsmiths taught each other everything they had and took the time to teach the skills to the apprentice blacksmiths. I believe that soon Yang Peng will have more than a hundred craftsmen who can make flintlock rifles. The craftsmen and blacksmiths recruited by Yang Peng are full of expectations for a better life in the future:
It was the second day that blacksmith He Laoer moved to Hope Village. Zhou Dayong, who was in charge of the team, was the chief officer of the gunsmiths. He made the decision and allocated He Laoer a small yard to the north of the village. There are three rooms and a kitchen in the yard. He Laoer and his wife spent a whole day cleaning before sweeping away the cobwebs and driving away the rats and insects entrenched in the house. Fortunately, thanks to the custody team officer, He Laoer got 10 taels of moving money, so he had the money to hire a mason to repair your things in the yard.
The family moved into a house with more complete roof tiles first, and let the masons repair the other two houses first. After the two houses were repaired, the family moved into the repaired house and let the masons repair the remaining room and kitchen. It was still dark, so He Laoer got out of bed. He Laoer's wife was woken up by He Laoer. She sat up sleepily and cursed: "He Laoer, what are you doing getting up so early? Are you seeing a ghost? I haven't seen you get up so early in so many years. !”
He Laoer glared at his wife and said, "Don't yell, don't wake up Zhu Zhu!" The couple were already in their thirties, and only their four-year-old son, Zhu Zhu, was very dear to them. When He Laoer mentioned the pillars, the woman lowered her voice and said, "What are you going to do?" "My master's house is repairing the yard. I'm going to see if there's anywhere I can help!" "Our family is also repairing the yard. You don't care about it. Why do you go and help your master with it?"
"What do you, a woman, know? Now that the leader of the team is giving such a high monthly salary of two taels of silver, do you think it is for free? You have to learn how to make a 'rifle' within half a year. If you don't have a good relationship with the master, If you can't learn in half a year, your monthly salary will be reduced to one to two or five yuan, and life will not be so easy!" He Laoer's wife spat: "What are you afraid of? Didn't you say that if you can't learn, you won't be able to learn in half a year? Does the master also want to deduct monthly money? Are you afraid that he won't teach you?" He Laoer shook his head and said: "What do you know? This is to learn skills from others, it is better to be diligent!" After a pause, He Laoer said: "Once you learn the skills, your monthly income will increase to three taels, and you will be rewarded with silver for making rifles. Then our family will really have a good life!"
He Laoer's daughter-in-law smiled and said: "Then when you leave the army, we can have another daughter to raise! We will have both children!" He Laoer glanced at his wife with disdain, turned around, but couldn't help but laugh. Thinking of the good days ahead, He Laoer, who had only slept for three hours, did not feel tired at all, but felt full of strength.
After pouring half a basin of water from the water tank and washing his face, He Laoer put on his patched clothes and walked to Master Shen Dagui's house. Arriving at the door of Shen Dagui's yard, He Laoer found that the door was open, and several masons and carpenters who had spent the night in the house had already gotten up to work. Shen Dagui moved to Hope Village seven days earlier than He Laoer. At this time, the renovation of the house was nearing completion. With the moving money given by the management team and the generous monthly payment, Shen Dagui was willing to spend money on the repair of the house and used various materials very solidly. At this time, it seemed that the Shen family yard, which was about to be completed, looked quite decent. . In the yard, Shen Dagui's blacksmithing stove, anvil, and various tools have been arranged, and he can start making guns.
Shen Dagui saw He Laoer coming so early and said with a smile: "He Laoer, I haven't started the furnace yet, and you're here?" He Laoer said diligently: "Master, I'm here to see your home. Let's see if I can help with the house repairs." Hearing He Laoer's words, Shen Dagui smiled and said affectionately: "Come, come, take a look. There are many places for you to help!"
Although Shen Dagui said so, in fact, Shen Dagui's yard has been basically repaired and does not need any help. Shen Dagui took He Laoer and looked around. He saw several masons in his yard going back and forth to lay walls and tiles. The two of them just watched the excitement. After watching for a quarter of an hour, another apprentice of Shen Dagui also came. Shen Dagui said: "Since you two are here, we will open the furnace and make the handle of the flintlock gun! I will demonstrate in front, and you two will watch carefully." After thinking about it, Shen Dagui said: "You are also old blacksmiths. , I’m afraid you all know how to knock out a thick barrel, but do you know how to straighten the bore of the barrel?”
When He Laoer heard Shen Dagui's question, he knew that Shen Dagui was wholeheartedly teaching and had no intention of hiding anything, and he couldn't help but feel happy. "Master, please teach me!" Shen Dagui nodded and said: "Every time you grind the bore with a drill, you have to lift the barrel and aim it at a bright place to see if you can see through it. If you can't see through it, You need to use a hammer to hit the part that blocks the light, and straighten the part that blocks the light until the entire barrel is straight, and then use a thicker drill bit to grind it again!"
"You have to do it to understand the secret of this. Today is the first day, you two will watch me operate it first!" After Zhang Luo finished making the rifle, Zhang Xiang began to recruit soldiers. In the Song Dynasty, there was no military force. No matter how much money you made, it was still a castle in the air. Sooner or later, you would be plundered by the Khitans and the powerful people of the Song Dynasty.
Yang Peng deliberately moved the salt workshop and blacksmith workshop to the new industrial zone of Hope Village and placed them under his own management. This would make confidentiality work easier and safer. However, Hope Village is too small, and there are no vacant houses in the village to accommodate nearly 2,000 workers and their families. Therefore, the first thing Yang Peng had to do was to build a new city next to Hope Village and build factories and residences in the new city to accommodate workers.
Building a new city requires building a new city wall, and Yang Peng is ready to leave this matter to the newly recruited soldiers. Yang Peng plans to recruit two thousand soldiers. Of course, a Hope Zhuang Guan team does not need so many battalions. All the soldiers Yang Peng wants to recruit will be used as his reserve force.
The generals of the Song Dynasty extensively hired private soldiers, because the soldiers belonged to the imperial court. No matter how much money the generals spent on the soldiers to train them, they would go out to make wedding clothes for others as soon as the order was issued. The officialdom of the Song Dynasty was chaotic, and even the generals who led the troops did not feel safe and generally spent money on private soldiers who could always follow them. Even when fighting, the main force is the general's private soldiers.
This situation has become a common practice in the Song Dynasty. As a person who built his own army, Yang Peng certainly did not want to work hard to build a strong army and then be transferred away at once. At that time, all his flintlock rifle soldiers would become someone else's subordinates. In that case, not only would he be making a wedding dress for someone else, but all the secrets of his flintlock rifle would be revealed. Therefore, Yang Peng did not plan to expand the size of Hope Village's troops, but recruited two thousand soldiers.
Of course, externally speaking, they are soldiers, but internally Yang Peng calls this first armed force the Selected Front Regiment. Yang Peng was not used to the military names of such-and-such battalion of the Song Dynasty Army, and planned to call his troops using names such as division, regiment, battalion, company and platoon. This kind of name is more direct, and one can immediately see the number of troops. Recruiting soldiers has much higher requirements for recruits than workers: these soldiers must be strong men between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two, and must be in good health. Moreover, these soldiers have to leave home at any time to fight, and there is a risk of death in the battlefield. They are not as good as workers working in a safe rear area, so the monthly salary Yang Peng sets for them is relatively high: three taels of silver a month, At the same time, three meals are provided like other workers, and three meals include meat.
Yang Peng asked people to write a notice recruiting soldiers, and noted the monthly salary and salary on the notice. He especially emphasized that the soldiers were the heads of the Yang family, the owner of Hope Village. Now that the high benefits of the cement factory and salt workshop have spread throughout Hope Village, Yang Peng Of course you have to use it. After writing the recruitment notice, Yang Peng asked Zhang Xiang to post it to Hope Village immediately, and then arranged a venue for the physical examination and interview outside Hope Village. When Hua Zhang saw the recruitment notice posted next to the military officer's hall in Hope Village, he rushed to Jiang Chong's home as soon as possible. "Jiang Chong, Jiang Chong! Lord Zhang Xiang is recruiting soldiers!" Jiang Chong walked out wearing a set of clothes with the least patches and the most decent clothes, and said: "I know!"
Hua Zhang took a breath and asked: "How did you know?" Jiang Chong said: "I have been hanging around the government office these days. He just posted the notice at noon, and I saw it. I didn't recognize the small characters below, But I still recognize the big words recruiting soldiers." Hua Zhang nodded and said, "I heard from the literate man Liu in the government office that he was recruiting soldiers this time, and they would be paid three taels a month, plus Meat for three meals! There is nothing better than this!" Jiang Chong didn't know many words and couldn't understand the details written on the notice. At this time, he was overjoyed to hear this treatment and said calmly: " I hope Zhuang Zhangxiang is recruiting people, and the treatment will be good!" After a pause, Jiang Chong said: "Let's go! Let's go outside the south gate to apply for servants! If we can get into the team of the captain, we will be successful. , or you’ll have enough money to get married in a few years!”
"Let's go!" The two walked together to the recruitment site outside the city and saw several large tents erected there. The two of them took a closer look and saw that there were more than a dozen tables in each tent, and behind those tables sat the management staff of Hope Village. In addition to tables, several tents also contained some strange utensils. Although the notice has just been posted, there are already many people applying. At a glance, Jiang Chong felt that there were about two to three hundred people lining up in front of each tent.
The two of them looked there for a while, and then a young man in charge of organizing came up and asked: "Are you here to recruit servants?" Hua Zhang quickly replied: "Yes, we are here to recruit soldiers, I don't know. How do you apply?" The boy handed the two of them two pieces of cardboard filled with grids and said, "Take these pieces of cardboard and go into the first tent to queue up for a physical examination. After passing, you will be allowed to apply. The medical examiner will stamp you. Then go to the second tent to stamp, the third tent to stamp, go through all the tents in order and stamp six stamps, and finally go to the last tent for the interview." Jiang Chong looked at his hand. He put the piece of cardboard on the table and murmured: "What if I fail the physical examination?" The boy smiled and said: "Then he failed, and he can go home!"
Jiang Chong grinned, said nothing, and walked to the first tent with Hua Zhang. Entering the tent, Jiang Chong saw five strange large rulers. Those rulers were erected on the ground on a stand with a movable wooden board on it. The people who applied for servants lined up in front of various rulers and waited. When it was their turn, they took off their shoes and stood under the wooden board, as if they were measuring their height.
This was the first time Jiang Chong saw such a professional measuring instrument. With this kind of equipment, you only need to press the wooden board to get the accurate figure to measure your height. It is really ingenious. Jiang Chong looked at the height ruler and felt more and more that the leader of the team was unusual. Not to mention the idea of queuing invented by the team leader, which really saves everyone's energy.
Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang followed the example of others and found a queue with fewer people, and soon it was their turn. Jiang Chong took off his shoes and stood there. The person measuring his height pressed the wooden board down on Jiang Chong's head and sang: "1.70 meters, qualified!" Then a person next to him started to measure Jiang Chong's height. A private seal was stamped on the first column of the cardboard.
"Let's go to the next tent!" Jiang Chong was overjoyed and walked to the next tent with the piece of cardboard. He saw a dozen strange signs erected in that tent, each with hundreds of arrows drawn on it. . Those arrows come in groups of three, pointing in different directions. The arrows on the top of the sign are large, and the arrows on the bottom are small. The smallest arrow is about the size of a thumbnail.
Candidates who are recruiting soldiers stand three feet away, cover one eye with a spoon, use one eye to identify the arrow pointed by the medical examiner with a wooden stick, and then point out the direction of the arrow with their hands. Jiang Chong found a team and queued in. After watching for a while, he knew that this was a physical examination item to test the eyesight. This was the vision test of later generations. Where had Jiang Chong seen it? Jiang Chong stood in the team and secretly thought that this inspection method was also exquisite. He could distinguish the level of eyesight at once and eliminate those with poor eyesight. Zhang Xiang of Hope Village is really amazing, and I don’t know where they got so many ingenious methods.
Finally it was Jiang Chong's turn, and Jiang Chong tried his best to identify the direction of the arrows. But the medical examiner pointed downwards and downwards, and in the end Jiang Cheng couldn't recognize the fingernail-sized arrow. Jiang Chong was afraid that he would be eliminated and was a little nervous, but he heard the medical examiner singing: "Five point three, five point two, passed!" Another medical examiner sitting aside picked up the private seal and slapped it on Jiang Chong's erection. A second chapter was stamped on the piece of paper.
Jiang Chong was overjoyed, took the cardboard, and happily walked to the next tent. At the third tent, Jiang Chong tested again whether he was color blind. In the fourth tent, the medical examiner asked Jiang Chong to take off his clothes to check for skin diseases, and in the fifth tent, he was asked to check whether he had night blindness. Walking down one tent after another, Jiang Chong found that there were fewer and fewer people traveling with him, and many people had been eliminated by various projects. Fortunately, both Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang were in good health and passed all physical examination items.
After walking to the last tent, the two saw the last item - the interview. Ten interviewers sat behind ten desks, interviewing the candidates one by one. Jiang Chong took one look and walked directly to the queue in front of the team officer Zhang Xiang to wait. This was a great opportunity to talk to the team officer, and Jiang Chong was not ready to give up.
After waiting for half an hour, it was finally Jiang Chong's turn. Jiang Chong sat down in front of Zhang Xiang with some anxiety. Zhang Xiang looked at Jiang Chong, exclaimed, and asked: "Why do you look so familiar to me? Have I seen you somewhere before?" Jiang Chong replied honestly: "I am a yamen servant in Cangzhou, sir. I have seen this villain several times in Cangzhou."
Zhang Xiang snorted, and then asked: "Why don't you become a government servant and come to apply for my soldier job?" Jiang Chong replied: "Being a government servant is poor, you can't get monthly salary, and you can't get a wife if you don't have money. Being an adult's soldier has a generous monthly salary, and maybe you can also use your adult's flintlock rifle. There is a future!" Zhang Xiang heard what he said and asked: "Do you know my flintlock rifle? Then let me ask you, If you become my soldier and are equipped with a flintlock, and your friend asks you to show him the flintlock, will you give it to him?"
Jiang Chong immediately replied: "No! The flintlock is a treasured weapon for adults and cannot be allowed to be accessed by others!" Zhang Xiang nodded with satisfaction and asked a few more questions. Jiang Chong was an insightful man, and his answer made Zhang Xiang very satisfied. Finally, Zhang Xiang said on the spot: "Okay, Jiang Chong, you have been hired. You go back and make preparations this month. You will bring this with you on the fifteenth day of next month." The pieces of cardboard covered with private seals must be gathered at the south gate of Hope Village, waiting for dispatch!"
Zhang Xiang stamped his personal seal on Jiang Chong's cardboard and gave it back to Jiang Chong. When Jiang Chong heard these words from the team officer, he felt like he was flying, and his whole body was filled with joy. Taking the piece of cardboard handed over by Zhang Xiang, Jiang Chong put it tightly into his arms and squeezed it with his hands, for fear that the piece of paper would fly. He left the interview tent with a smile on his face and paced back and forth excitedly outside the tent, waiting for Hua Zhang to come with him.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Jiang Chong saw Hua Zhang running out of the tent with the same joyful expression. "Jiang Chong, I've recruited! Have you been recruited?" "I've recruited too! Great, Hua Zhang, you've also recruited!" Hua Zhang punched Jiang Chong hard on the arm. He said loudly: "Great, Jiang Chong! We are going to live a good life! Let's go and cut two pounds of meat and buy a jar of wine to celebrate!"
Jiang Chong was stunned and asked: "Hua Zhang, where did you get the money to buy wine and cut meat?" Hua Zhang smiled proudly and said: "This month I helped the masons who were repairing the house and made a couple of silver. Today I'm going to spend all of him!" Jiang Chong scolded: "You are smart and know how to help the masons. Come on, I'm going to hit you hard today!"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
