At the end of April of the first year of Xianping, the blacksmiths built their own furnaces one by one and began to mass-produce bayonets. After the first batch of one thousand bayonets was produced, Yang Peng gave the bayonet equipment to the selection group. On this day, catkins were flying on the Tianjing New City training ground, and the April sunshine warmed people's bodies, making people feel very comfortable. Yang Peng stood on the training ground wearing thin clothes in early summer, watching the soldiers of the Thousand Selected Front Regiment practice bayonets. wear
"Stab!" "Stab!"
Under the orders of each platoon leader, a thousand soldiers raised their guns and stabbed one after another. All they saw was a flash of sword light, and a thousand bayonets thrust forward in unison, bringing out a terrifying murderous aura.
"Cut!" "Cut!"
The soldiers slashed with their guns from top to bottom, and there was another dense forest of blades. Even if the enemy breaks through the musket formation and shoots towards them, Yang Peng's musketeers can still fight.
The soldiers grabbed their rifles and practiced these simple chops and thrusts again and again until they became proficient in the drill. Yang Peng now has more than 11,000 soldiers, 8,700 of whom are musketeers, composed of the Selection Group and the Polu Group. The other three hundred people are machine crossbowmen, called the Thunder Battalion by Yang Peng, responsible for operating one hundred powerful crossbows. During the Battle of Yanshan County, Yang Peng found that three people were still short of manpower to operate one machine crossbow, so he changed it to Six people operate a crossbow.
The two regiments and a strong crossbow battalion formed a division, called the Huben Division, with Zhang Xiang as the division commander. Of course, Zhang Xiang also serves as the leader of the striker selection team.
But after all this, no one would operate the city defense crossbow. Yang Peng planned to let the veterans of the crossbow battalion be the backbone of the city's strong crossbows. Then he would recruit another 130 recruits to supplement the thunder battalion and the city's defense strong crossbow team.
In early May, Yang Peng set up a physical examination tent in Tianjing New City and recruited another 130 crossbowmen. In addition to the soldiers, Yang Peng's Tianjing New City also has 400 regular soldiers, and the security and management teams of Tianjing New City under him have a total of 450 regular soldiers. The monthly salary for these 850 full-time soldiers should have been 1,700 taels. Because of the security of Tianjing New City. Yang Peng gave them the same military pay as the soldiers of the Pioneer Regiment.
Tianjing New City originally recruited soldiers from Cangzhou, but Yang Peng used them as armed police and city defenders. Yang Peng now had money, so he recruited 129 strong regular soldiers according to the standard of two taels of silver per person, forming a total of 165 regular soldiers for defense. City walls, auxiliary troops who stood guard and patrolled the city.
Of course, in line with the principle of making the best use of people, Yang Peng also formulated high-intensity training tasks for this team, so he also provided three meals with meat. Such meals cost one to two to five cents per person per month. Now there are many industries in Yangpeng, so this little money can afford it. Yang Peng has ten restaurants in Tianjing New Town, and all the kitchen utensils in Tianjing New Town are also owned by Yang Peng's factory. Fortunately, there are no landlords or powerful people here in Tianjing New City, the management is much better, and there are no rich second generations here to cause trouble.
In mid-May, Cai Huaishui got married. Cai Huaishui bought a luxury villa in Tianjing New City with a loan, and the wedding was held in his luxury villa. The bride is Cui'er, who is very juicy. Cai Huaishui is twenty-one years old this year. According to the standards of the Song Dynasty, he married late. The woman is only fifteen years old this year, a full six years younger than Cai Huaishui.
That is to say, Cai Huaishui is now a senior manager and can marry such a young and beautiful girl. Cai Huaishui is a quick-thinking person who is good at dealing with people and the world. On the day of the wedding, Cai Huaishui went to pick up the bride early, then left the bride in the new house, and stood at the door of his yard to greet the guests who came to the banquet. Most of the people who came to Cai Huaishui's wedding were Yang Peng's senior managers, officers from the Selection Group and Polu Group, and senior officials in the government office. These people were all prominent figures in Tianjing New City. Cai Huaishui welcomed them one by one with great enthusiasm.
At Zhengyou time, Yang Peng, dressed lightly and with two guards, arrived at the door of Cai Huaishui's house. Cai Huaishui was very happy to see Yang Peng coming. He walked up and said, "City Lord! You are here in person!" Yang Peng smiled and said, "How could I not come when you get married!" Cai Huaishui placed the wedding banquet in the main hall and yard. There were three people in the main hall. Tables, four tables outside, arranged in an orderly manner. Yang Peng, of course, sat at the main table in the center of the hall. Zhang Xiang, Zhan Jinguo, Duan Zhixian and other military officers, Zheng Yuan, Li Dao and other senior executives, Zheng Hui and other senior officials also sat with Yang Peng at the main table.
As soon as Yang Peng arrived, Cai Huaishui let the wedding banquet begin. Everyone was a little hungry at this time, and it was quite exciting to eat vegetables and meat. After eating for a while, Cai Huaishui stood up and presented a glass of wine to Yang Peng. "City Lord! It's all thanks to you that I, Cai Huaishui, can get married today. It's the Cai family's luck to have such a good friend as the City Lord! Cai Huaishui will always be grateful to you, sir! I'd like to give you a drink from my subordinates!"
Seeing that Cai Huaishui still spoke so nicely, Yang Peng raised his wine glass with a smile and drank all the Bianjing wine in the glass. The officers and executives present were very moved when they saw Yang Peng toasting his subordinates so neatly. It is really not easy to find a Shangguan with a warm spring breeze these days, not to mention that this Shangguan is so capable that the subordinates who follow him have a bright future!
After Cai Huaishui finished drinking, Zhan Jinguo stood up and said, "Brother! I'd like to toast you too. The reason why I am today in Zhan Jinguo is all thanks to my eldest brother!" Zhan Jinguo's admiration for Yang Peng was beyond words, and it was obvious that he had great respect for Yang Peng. The city lord is very proud of today's achievements. But when they heard Zhan Jinguo's last words, everyone burst into laughter, as if they had heard something impossible. After finishing speaking, Zhan Jinguo drank the wine in the glass in one gulp. Seeing how heroic his younger brother was, Yang Peng had no choice but to drink up the soju in the glass.
After Zhan Jinguo toasted, Zhang Xiang stood up and said very excitedly: "City Lord, I'd like to toast you. If it weren't for the City Lord, I, Zhang Xiang, wouldn't even be able to eat. If I'm hungry and full, I might actually become a bandit." .I wonder if I can survive the winter of last year! City Lord, you are my reborn parents! Zhang Xiang can only repay you by charging into battle all his life!"
After saying this, Zhang Xiang excitedly raised his head and finished the drink. Seeing that Zhang Xiang was still so grateful, Yang Peng smiled and drank another drink. Zhou Dayong, the commander of the second battalion of the Selection Regiment, stood up at this time. He was always careless and not good at speaking. At this time, he just said loudly: "Sir! I, Zhou Dayong, also thank you for giving me such a good job! I respect you. One cup!”
After drinking three glasses of wine in a row, Yang Peng's face was already a little red, and he said: "Today is Cai Huaishui's wedding, why are you here to respect me?" After hearing this, Zhou Dayong did not dare to drink anymore, and stood there holding the wine glass. Somewhat embarrassed, I could only sit down angrily. Yang Peng waited for him to sit down, then raised his head and drank the wine in the glass. Seeing this, Zhou Dayong quickly stood up again, raised his head and drank the soju in his hand.
After Yang Peng finished drinking the glass, Duan Zhixian, Xiang Danian and others also came up to toast, but Yang Peng didn't give them a chance. He stood up and said loudly: "Don't toast me anymore, I will get high if I drink any more. Come, let's toast the groom together!"
Everyone at the main table stood up, raised their glasses to Cai Huaishui and said, "Let's toast the bridegroom!" Cai Huaishui quickly stood up and said to Yang Peng, "I don't dare to be a subordinate!" After saying this, Cai Huaishui said He raised his head and drank the wine in the glass.
Zhao Laosan is a dull man who has been working as a long-term worker for ten years. He is twenty-seven years old this year. His family is poor and he has never been married. He used to work as a long-term worker for the wealthy Ai family in Yanshan County, but he was really too poor. Zhao Laosan secretly thought that this was not going to work, so at the beginning of this year, Baba asked Zhao Le, the original pig dealer, to take him in and became a pig dealer. Although there is only one or two taels of silver a month, it is much better than working as a long-term laborer. At least this monthly money can allow Zhao Laosan to buy rice and noodles to keep him full.
To do the pig business, you have to go to various towns and villages to do business, buy fat pigs raised by farmers, bargain for prices, and then drive the pigs to the butcher's house in the market. Of course, the somewhat dull Zhao Laosan does not need to bargain with others. He has the lowest status among the pig dealers. He is only responsible for catching pigs and driving them to the butcher's house.
This month, owner Zhao Le said that he received a big business deal, saying that the restaurant manager in Tianjing New City bought pigs with him, buying five pigs a day. The owner, Zhao Le, was extremely happy because the business in Tianjing New City was stable and the prices given were fair, unlike those cunning butchers with bad intentions - those butchers were not good at dealing with the pigs and would cut the price even if they saw that the pigs had already arrived. The owner said that by selling five pigs every day to the manager of Tianjing Xincheng Restaurant, he could earn an extra two taels of silver every month.
Tianjing New City is quite far away, more than 40 miles away from Zhao Laosan's village, but the owner is obviously willing to walk an extra dozen miles. The boss's words made Zhao Laosan murmur in his heart. Zhao Laosan had been to Jingxin City that day. Wasn't it just a small earthen fence that he passed by two years ago? The village is surrounded by an earthen wall as high as one person to protect it from wolves, and there are three to four hundred people living inside. Those who all live in the same adobe houses as Zhao Laosan, when did they live such a good life? Kill five pigs a day? At that time, Yang Peng and others were just starting out.
But no matter what, if the boss is happy, Zhao Laosan will naturally follow suit. In this time of war and chaos, aren’t we just trying to make ends meet? If the boss makes money, his job is guaranteed. The owner is very careful about the business of Tianjing New City and cannot allow any mistakes. A few days ago, the boss took a few veterans to drive pigs to Tianjing New City. Today, an old helper was sick, so the boss asked Mr. Zhao to drive the pigs. It was still dark, so Zhao Laosan rushed to Hujiajizi, where he found the owner who was buying pigs from the farmers. Four people caught five pigs and walked towards Tianjing New City with bamboo whips. Zhao Laosan knew that his boss valued this business, so he was careful all the way.
Halfway through, it was dawn, and Zhao Laosan said worriedly: "My boss, I'm afraid it's going to be late today!" The boss said loudly: "It's okay, the helpers in Tianjing New City only eat meat at noon, they eat eggs in the morning!" Mr. Zhao San was stunned when he heard this. He eats meat for lunch and eggs for breakfast. Is this a helper? Even the rich man in his village, the head of the Ai family, does not have such a luxurious life! Then the Ai family has more than 200 acres of dry land and five households of tenant farmers. Is it still not as good as the helpers in Tianjing New City? Are these helpers all masters? Eat so well!
Zhao Laosan has always lived in the village and doesn't like talking to people. He has never been knowledgeable. Hearing what his boss said today is an eye-opener. Zhao Laosan asked: "Boss, are the helpers in Tianjing New City living so well?" The two helpers next to him were happy when they heard this, and they all said: "Zhao Laosan, you are so stupid. You can't even see Tianjing?" Don’t you know anything about Xincheng?”
"Zhao Laosan, you don't like to talk in the village. You really don't understand anything!" Zhao Le, the boss, shook his head and said, "Zhao Laosan, let me tell you, this Tianjing New City is really a strange place. You may You haven’t been there in the past few years, have you? You’ll know when you go!” When they arrived at Tianjing New City, Zhao Laosan saw the majestic Xicheng Tower from a distance. The two-foot-high double-eaves tower is built on a brick-covered city wall more than one foot high, which looks very majestic. The city wall paved with blue bricks extends for one or two miles to the left and right. Where is the shadow of the shabby village in the memory?
Tianjing New City has changed a lot this day. It has become a big city? Zhao Laosan walked to the city gate and was stopped by the officers and soldiers guarding the city gate. "What's your name? Don't you have a pass? Is there anyone who will guarantee you?" Zhao Laosan thought that the officers and soldiers were trying to extort money from him, and he was speechless. Zhao Le went up to flatter him and said: "Soldier, this is the helper I hired, new here today." The officer and soldier said: "You two go to the team leader to have your fingerprints pressed!"
Zhao Le asked the other two to keep an eye on the pig, and he took Zhao Laosan to a soldier sitting next to him. The soldier asked Zhao Laosan again, wrote a few words in a notebook, and then asked Zhao Le and Zhao Laosan to put their fingerprints.
"If Zhao Laosan is doing something illegal or spying on intelligence in the city, your guarantor Zhao Le will be jointly liable. Are you clear?" "Clear, we are clear, Master Bing!" The team leader sitting at the table finished his explanation. , then he took out a small white wooden sign and handed it to Zhao San. After getting this pass, Zhao Laosan entered the city. Zhao Laosan wiped the sweat from his head and thought to himself that it turned out that he was not extorting money from him. The management of Tianjing Xincheng is really strict today.
After entering the city, Zhao Laosan was even more surprised by the scene in the city. The roads in the city are very wide. The main road is more than two feet wide and can accommodate two carriages running parallel to each other. The road is paved with bluestones, high in the middle and low on both sides. Deep drainage ditches are dug on both sides, which is very impressive. There are two-story houses with black tiles and white walls built on both sides of the road. They are neatly built and very decent. Various shops are open on both sides of the road, conducting various businesses.
It was just dawn, and all the shops were open. There are steamed bun shops, steamed bun shops, restaurants and teahouses. There are shouts and shouts, and pedestrians in twos and threes are going in and out of each shop, creating a bustling scene. If it were the Song Dynasty city elsewhere, how could there be so many people spending money in stores outside? The people in other places are all miserable, saving money to buy rice and noodles to live their lives. Only the residents of Fanjiazhuang are so wealthy and have money to spend in shops outside.
Pedestrians on Tianjing Xincheng Road were all well-dressed, with only a few patches on their clothes. Moreover, all of the pedestrians looked good, and their bodies were not as skinny as those elsewhere. They all looked well-nourished. When Zhao Laosan was walking on the street and compared with the locals, his clothes were torn and his figure was thin, so he looked like a foreigner. The people in Tianjing New City are so rich today! This is still the same shabby village. This is a prosperous city! Why has it changed so much in just two years?
The security order in the city is very good, and there are soldiers patrolling the roads from time to time. Those soldiers were very strong, holding long spears and marching forward. But although these soldiers are strong, they do not disturb the people at all, and they are not at all like the soldiers in other places. The people were not afraid of these soldiers at all, and everyone seemed happy to have soldiers maintaining law and order.
What surprised Zhao Laosan the most was that there was no garbage at all on the roads in the city, let alone the disgusting human and animal feces. The city is clean and tidy, and there is no stench here at all that you smell as soon as you enter the city in other cities. There are large garbage bins placed every ten feet on both sides of the road. From time to time, people come and throw garbage, but no one dares to throw garbage on the ground. The soldiers patrolling in formation seemed to be maintaining order in the city and were ready to punish those who violated the order.
Even the fallen leaves on the trees on both sides of the road were being swept by a woman with a big broom. Is this a city in the Song Dynasty? This is too clean! After entering Tianjing New City, Zhao Laosan's boss Zhao Le was very cautious, fearing that he would be caught if he made any mistakes. He asked three helpers to drive the pigs to the "Food Department" in the south of the city. Halfway there, a pig pulled out a few pieces of pig manure on the road. Zhao Le also quickly walked over and wrapped it in paper, cleaned it up and threw it into the trash can. inside.
Even when driving pigs into Cangzhou City, Zhao Laosan never saw his boss being so abiding by the rules. The restaurant in the south of the city is a large building with many warehouses in it. Zhao Le asked Zhao Laosan and others to wait outside, walked in, and soon came out with a big manager. The big manager led Zhao Laosan and his group to the door of a pig pen. He asked Zhao Le to drive the pigs to the side, weigh them on a large scale, and calculated the money and gave it to Zhao Le.
Zhao Laosan saw that there were already more than a dozen pigs in the pigsty. Together with the five he had arrived, there were a total of twenty pigs. Seven or eight butchers stood outside the pig pen, sharpening knives and boiling water. A dozen people pushing carts were chatting and waiting, preparing to transport the meat. It seemed that the slaughter of the pigs was about to begin. Jingxin City will eat twenty pigs a day today? According to the current calculation of fifty-one cents per pound of meat, this would cost more than one hundred taels of silver per day! The owner of Tianjing New City is really rich!
When Zhao Le was driving the pigs to the scales, Zhao Laosan asked the big man curiously: "Master, all the errands in Tianjing New City have pork to eat today?" The big man glanced at Zhao Laosan and said : "Thanks to the City Lord! Those of us who work for the City Lord can eat eggs in the morning and three taels of meat each at noon and afternoon!"
"Is the City Lord so rich?" The big man smiled and said, "Are you new here? The City Lord's property is no joke." Zhao Laosan took a breath and said flatteringly: " Master, are Tianjing New City still recruiting people?" The big man smiled and spat: "How many people want to work in Tianjing New City, but it's not easy for you to come in!" Zhao Laosan knew that he was Fantasy, rubbed his hands and said no more.
On May 23, Yang Peng took a look at the salt factory. Today, the salt factory produces more than 30,000 tons of salt per month. The net profit is still very high, and Yang Peng is satisfied. You must know that even if there are 5,000 people in the selection team, the monthly salary plus food is only 29,000 taels. Yang Peng was inspecting the factory there. When he heard the soldiers reporting that Xu Mince was coming, Yang Peng hurried to the government office.
"I haven't seen you for a long time! How are you doing lately?" Yang Peng raised his hands and said, "I'm just busy! No better than Brother Xu Xianyun Guhe!" "I heard that Brother Xian has made glasses for sale, how are they selling? "I sold less than a hundred pairs in a month, which is not enough." Xu Mince smiled and said: "It seems that my good brother is not prosperous in everything he does?" After a pause, Xu Mince said: "The empress of Cangzhou City." There is a temple fair in the palace these days. A stage has been set up in the temple to sing operas. Men, women, old and young are all there. It’s so lively. Dear brother, come with me to see if it’s lively?"
Yang Peng didn't have much to do these days, so he smiled and said, "Then let Brother Xu go and have a look!" The two of them agreed, each rode a horse lightly and Jianxing led four soldiers to Cangzhou City. . After entering Cangzhou City, I found that the crowds were all heading towards the Empress’ Palace in the center of the city. The adults carried the children inside, and the children were beaming with joy. The women also traveled with their companions, and they walked to the temple in groups, feeling indescribable joy and freedom.
Yang Peng said with a smile: "Is this year's temple fair so lively?" Xu Mince said: "This year is the temple fair year, so it is naturally different from previous years." The Queen's Palace is the common name, and the temple's name is Tianfei Palace, which is dedicated to Mazu. Cangzhou is an important land transportation center from north to south. The two of them followed the flow of people towards the temple, and soon arrived at the gate of Tianfei Palace. The square outside the temple was crowded with people, and the heads were shaking. Fortunately, Yang Peng was wearing official uniform. When the people saw Wusun Baoma riding over, they made way for the two of them to get in.
Digging into the crowd outside the Empress' Palace, Yang Peng found that there were not many people burning incense in the temple, but more people watching a play outside the temple. A large stage was set up in the square outside the main entrance of the temple, and the play of Guan Yuncheng riding alone for thousands of miles was being performed on it. People crowded in front of the stage to watch the play. As Guan Yun on the stage passed five levels and killed six generals, the people in the audience burst into cheers from time to time, and the atmosphere was very warm.
Below the stage, the candied haws seller and the window grill seller were walking among the crowd shouting, reflecting a joyful scene. Yang Peng secretly thought that watching a theater was quite lively, and it was probably a rare entertainment in this era. I should also build more temples in Tianjing New City and build more stages for people to watch plays. The two entered the temple, jumped off their horses, and handed the horses to a servant to wait outside the temple.
Xu Mince stood at the back of the crowd and actually watched the show. He seemed to admire Guan Yunchang very much. He pulled Yang Peng and said, "Brother, please come and see how Guan Yunchang kills Cao A'ao's soldiers and generals." Don't look anymore, I'm going to visit the temple!" Xu Mince said casually: "Then Brother Fool is waiting here for Brother Xian." Yang Peng said goodbye to Xu Mince and led three soldiers to the Queen's Palace.
The Empress Palace is divided into the front hall and the main hall. The front hall enshrines the statue of Wang Lingguan and the four Vajra gods. The main hall is the statue of Tianfei Empress. There are not many people in the temple, and there is no need to queue up to burn incense and kowtow. Yang Peng burned three sticks of incense and offered dozens of copper coins in the front hall, then led his servants around the statue and headed to the main hall. Unexpectedly, before Yang Peng could get around the statue, he felt a figure flash in front of him, and something soft and fragrant hit his left chest. He only heard a loud scream, and a girl fell down in front of him on all fours.
Yang Peng was stunned and looked at the girl on the ground. The girl fell to the ground, with a Hangzhou pair on her head and a Cuiyunzi net, with her temples exposed. She looked fifteen or sixteen years old, a good age to leave the court. The girl wears a white and silver striped gauze shirt on her upper body and a close-colored skirt with gold embroidery on her lower body. At first glance, she looks like a young lady from a wealthy family. She has a face with oval seeds, a pair of pink and phoenix eyes, and a curvy figure wrapped in clothes. She is indescribably delicate and charming.
The girl wandered on the ground for a while before steadying herself. She was still lying on the ground, and her eyes glared at Yang Peng fiercely. The two maids behind her caught up and said loudly: "Miss, did you fall?" The girl lay on the ground and angrily said to Yang Peng: "You are wearing official robes, you are so rude, you didn't help me Get up?"
Only then did Yang Peng react. He quickly went up to help the girl and said, "I didn't see the young lady running over. I didn't expect to bump into the young lady!" The girl was not afraid when she saw Yang Peng's official uniform and grabbed Yang Peng's arm. Get up from the ground. When she heard Yang Peng's words, she opened her eyes and shouted in a sweet voice: "Where did I run away? It was you who ran over here blindly and knocked me down! Are you still being harsh?"
Yang Peng said awkwardly: "I walked slowly, so why did I have to run?" "It was obviously you who ran over and hit me!" The girl glared at Yang Peng and said, "You don't want me to My official, how old are you? Tell me?" Yang Peng said: "I am Yang Peng, the lord of Tianjing New City!"
"It turns out he is a small city lord!" The girl smiled proudly and said softly: "My name is Gao Hua, and my father is a second-grade military general. Are you afraid?" It turns out she is a young lady from the military general's family. She is such a big official. , no wonder he is so unruly. Yang Peng had no choice but to say: "It turns out she is Shangguan's daughter, I am afraid of her!"
When the girl heard this, she smiled proudly, giggled like a flower branch, and said with her eyes crossed: "Then how do you compensate me? You wrinkled my skirt!" Yang Peng secretly thought, why is this girl so unruly? Know how to answer. After all, this is the daughter of a general, so she is not easy to mess with. After thinking about it, Yang Peng wanted to get away as soon as possible and said, "I'll pay you a pair of transparent glass bracelets another day!"
"Glass bracelet? Sounds like a very beautiful thing?" The girl looked at Yang Peng proudly, as if she was very satisfied with Yang Peng's modest compensation. But while she was feeling proud, she suddenly thought of something and said, "Wait, you sell glass? Are you an official in Tianjing New City? I heard that a new city was built in Tianjing New City. It's very clean. I've never seen it!" Yang Peng didn't expect that his Tianjing New City would be so famous, so he raised his hands and said, "I am the city lord of Tianjing New City!"
The girl looked Yang Peng up and down and said, "You can't tell!" Rolling her eyes, the girl said softly: "When will you deliver my glass bracelet to my home? My home is in Datong Alley in the west of the city! Find it!" You'll know as soon as you ask!" Yang Peng still wanted to find someone to make glass, drill holes, and polish it. Where could he get it out immediately? He could only answer perfunctorily: "I'll find someone to do it when I get back. Send someone to deliver it!" The girl thought for a while and felt that she had gained a good harvest, and her fall was not in vain. She glared at Yang Peng and walked away with her maid.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
