Yang Peng personally presided over the recruitment of new soldiers. This time it was necessary to recruit 10,000 people. Recruiting in the prefectures and counties near Tianjing New City was not enough. Yang Peng asked the soldiers to post notices in other prefectures and counties in Cangzhou, saying that they would recruit 10,000 people from November 23rd to 26th. A four-day physical examination and interview will be held every day to recruit healthy young people aged 18 to 22. The treatment given was three to two months' salary and meat for three meals. This kind of treatment is much better than that of the Song Dynasty's border troops, and it is a very attractive salary.
Sure enough, on November 23, more than 20,000 young people came to apply. Yang Peng's requirements for soldiers are to be healthy and honest. They must be able to train into soldiers who dare to fight, but they must also be loyal and reliable and will not reveal the secrets of the flintlock rifle. The physical examination checks height and weight, excludes applicants with diseases, and also checks for night blindness and color blindness. After all, Yang Peng faces all kinds of enemies. If he is night blind or color blind, he may fail on a specific battlefield. For elite troops like the Huben Division, any failed war is unbearable.
There were so many applicants that Yang Peng took more than 50 senior officers including Zhang Xiang, Duan Zhixian, and Zhan Jinguo to the battle, and each conducted interviews with the applicants who passed the physical examination. Interviewers chat with interviewees for five minutes on average, and they can interview six to seven thousand people in one day. After four days of work, Yang Peng finally recruited 10,000 people. At the interview site, the interviewer will tell the applicant whether to recruit.
The people who were recruited were overjoyed, and all of them were beaming with excitement. In these days of war and chaos, all industries are depressed, and it is impossible to farm properly. I am so lucky to be a soldier in Tianjing New City with three or two monthly income and three meals of meat. The monthly payment of three taels is no joke. The soldiers who joined Tianjing New City in the past have said that it is real money and is paid out in time every month. It can support four people with food, clothing, housing and transportation. Most of the people who come to serve as soldiers are unmarried young people. If you save this monthly money for ten months, you can save thirty taels of silver, which is enough to pay a betrothal gift and marry a wife.
Although it is a soldier, the risk of being a soldier in Tianjing New City is extremely small. The troops in Tianjing New City are capable of crippling the northern Khitans. What other enemy can defeat the troops in Tianjing New City? Even if they are really injured or even killed in the battle, the lord of Tianjing New City will give the injured or the family members of the deceased one, two or five yuan a month. Even if he is injured and dies, his family will not be left without food and clothing.
In short, as long as you enter Tianjing New City, you will never be able to escape your lifelong well-off life. The new recruits feel a sense of happiness as they leap over the dragon's gate. The new recruits did not enter the camp immediately after being recruited, but had to wait for the New Year and wait for the barracks to be repaired before gathering in Tianjing New City. After Yang Peng recruited 10,000 new soldiers, he asked the soldiers to hire masons in the states and counties near Cangzhou to build a new military camp for 10,000 soldiers within two months. With 10,000 new soldiers, eight men per room would equal 1,200 barracks. Yang Peng also invited a thousand masons from various states and counties. The villa complex in Tianjing New City has been expanding. Now there are more than 300 newly built villas that are not occupied. The masons who built the military camp can live in the villas first.
Lei San is the third eldest son in the family, and he has two older brothers. Lei San is an honest boy. He can't even say a word when he is punched. His status in the family is very low. Lei San's father disliked this taciturn third son very much and felt that this son was not like him at all. During meals on weekdays, when Lei San's father sees Lei San going to serve the rice, he will say: "Don't serve too much, the whole family still needs to eat!"
Because of his father's mantra, Lei San almost never had enough to eat. The Lei family was very poor. The five members of the family rented 30 acres of dry farmland. They had to turn in half of their grain every year, and they ate rice bran for several months every year. Lei San is the third son with the least status in a poor tenant farmer's family, and he has even less status in the village. No one usually pays attention to him. But this time Lei San went to Tianjing New City to recruit soldiers, but he was recruited.
I don’t know how many people went to Tianjing New City to apply for the job this time. I’m afraid only one out of ten people will be selected, but Lei San actually got the job. More than a dozen young people went to Leijia Village, and only Lei San was selected. The other young people in the village were envious of Lei San and didn't understand why they, who were so smart, were not selected, while Lei San, who was so honest and honest, was chosen. When Lei San, a soldier from Tianjing New City, was born in Lei San's family, his family's status in the village suddenly improved, as if they had been selected as a scholar. Lei San's father was walking around the village these days, and the neighbors all took the initiative to say hello to him, which made him feel very proud.
However, saving face comes with saving face, and Lei San’s father also has to consider some practical issues. After dinner that night, Lei San's father called all three sons over to talk important words in the yard. Lei San's father sat on a small chair, and asked his eldest son and second son to sit on the chairs as well. He said to Lei San who was standing: "Lei San, you are lucky now. You have been recruited into Tianjing New City as a soldier. A You are lucky to receive three taels of silver a month and have meat for three meals a month!" After a pause, Lei San's father said seriously: "But! You can't eat alone!"
Patting the dust on his pants, Lei San's father said: "Now your eldest brother is twenty-four years old, and he is not married yet. He just needs money! From now on, you will have food to eat in the military camp, and you will not have any expenses on weekdays. I will give it to you." Leave three taels of silver to make clothes, you save 20 taels of silver every month, and save 30 taels of silver for your eldest brother to get married!"
Lei San nodded and said, "Okay, dad!" Hearing Lei San's words, Lei San's eldest brother smiled and glanced at his father gratefully. Lei San's father said again: "And your second brother, you can't spend the money randomly, but you must also save thirty taels of silver for him to get married!"
Lei San thought for a while and said, "Okay!" Seeing Lei San agree, Lei San's second brother also laughed and stretched out his hands and feet proudly.
Lei San's father smiled, nodded and said, "Lei San, I didn't support you in vain!" After a pause, he added: "When your second brother gets married, you will give me eight out of the three taels of silver every month. Your eldest brother, give eight cents to your second brother, eight cents to me, and keep six cents for yourself. You are single, six cents is enough!"
When Lei San heard this, he was silent for a long time without speaking. Lei San's father rolled his eyes and said, "Lei San, why don't you agree? Six dollars is not enough?" After being hired by Tianjing New City, Lei San felt much more confident. In the past, Lei San felt that he was a superfluous person in this world, eating an extra mouthful of food. Lei San did not dare to resist when his family members or outsiders bullied him. But things are different now. Tianjing New City gives him three to two months to hire him. Lei San feels that he is a needed person and a decent person. He has the confidence to resist the bullying of others.
Lei San decided to resist his father's predatory arrangements. Lei San said resolutely: "After my second brother gets married, I can't take out any more money!" Lei San's father rolled his eyes and cursed loudly: "Lei San, are you going to rebel? I raised you for eighteen years in vain. ? If you are not prepared to take out the money, get out of my house now!" Lei San puffed out his chest and said, "It's easy for me to get out. Tianjing New City can report it in advance. But in that case, then I won't give it. The eldest brother and the second brother have saved up money for marriage."
Lei San's father was so angry that his face turned red and he wanted to explode, but he couldn't speak. Lei San's two brothers looked at each other with surprise in their eyes. Unexpectedly, Lei San, who couldn't hold back a word for a long time, would actually resist his father's arrangement. Lei San looked at his angry and shocked father and said: "From now on, I will be a soldier of Tianjing New City. I will no longer be the unnecessary third son of the Lei family, and I will no longer be the idiot who shouldn't have enough to eat. I will give it to my eldest brother. , Second brother’s saving of money is for me to support my family, don’t think it’s because I’m stupid or because I’m easy to bully!”
After saying this, Lei San walked into the house and went to sleep. After finishing the work of recruiting soldiers, Yang Peng started making boring machines.
Wu Ku is an oil seller in Tianjing New Town. He was originally an oil seller in Cangzhou City. He had a mother and two children, and lived a poor life. There were too many people selling oil in Cangzhou City, and everyone's business was not good. At that time, he could only earn one or two taels of silver a month, and sometimes he could not make even this little money. Without money, Wu Ku's family of five often went hungry. At that time, Wuku looked sad every day, just wondering where to find a way out, making money and enough food.
At the beginning of this year, he heard that Tianjing New City was very prosperous and that people from all walks of life could make money, so he gritted his teeth and moved to Tianjing New City. He asked his nephew, who worked in a salt factory, to be the guarantor and sold the oil to Tianjing New City. In order to prevent a large number of refugees from gathering in Tianjing New City, the city lord of Tianjing New City stipulated that only workers working in Tianjing New City workshops can provide guarantees before outsiders can enter Tianjing New City to do business, and each worker can only work for one outside merchant. Guarantee. Thanks to Wu Ku, who had always loved his nephew since childhood, he had the opportunity to enter Tianjing New City.
When he arrived at Tianjing New City, Wu Ku found that business here was indeed much easier. The entire market in the north of the city corresponds to thousands of residents in the north of the city, but there are only four oil sellers in the market. Not to mention that the people in Tianjing New City are rich and have a lot of food. Although the price of selling oil is still the same as in Cangzhou, there are many more buyers. Wu Ku made small profits but quick turnover, earning two to five taels of silver a month.
Including his wife's income from weaving at home, his family has a monthly income of 328 yuan. This amount of money is enough for his family of five to live on. Not only can they have enough to eat, but they can also make cotton-padded jackets in the winter and single clothes in the summer, and eat meat during the holidays. Not only that, the rent in Tianjing New City is also cheap. In the past, Wu Ku rented two leaky and dilapidated houses in the city lord for three cents per month, but now Wuku rents two houses in the general's villa, a good house with no worries, for only two cents and one cent.
Today's good life is something Wu Ku never dared to imagine before.
However, something even better came at the end of this year. The city lord gave children free books and allowed them to go to school! How decent is reading? Wu Ku was born in poverty and had never gone to school for a day in his life. What he admired most was scholars. Every time he saw the scholar, he would stay with him respectfully and not dare to talk casually. Even the names of his eldest son and youngest daughter were chosen by a scholar for a hundred pence.
I heard that those who work in the city lord's property, as long as they read books and know how to read, will be promoted to supervisors in a year or two, and will be paid three or even four taels of silver per month. Their future is very different from that of the illiterate. After all, Wu Ku was just an oil seller in the past. He couldn't afford the repair money and couldn't provide education and literacy for his two children. But now that the city lord is sending his children to school for free, Wu Ku will not miss such a good thing. He went to the official hall early to sign up. People in the government office said that both boys and girls can study here. There will be one class for boys and one class for girls. However, only children over the age of eight were allowed to enroll in the first batch. Wuku's eldest son went to school, and his younger daughter had to wait a few years.
On December 20th, the school started, and Wuku's eldest son went to the school to study. It only took two days for my son to learn to write his name. Wu Ku was very excited when he saw that his son could write. He took the calligraphy written by his son and showed it around in the market in the north of the city, telling others that his son had learned it in school. Those who saw Wuku's son's "calligraphy" praised Wuku's son for his potential, which made Wuku very proud.
On this day, before closing the stall, Wu Ku showed off his son's "calligraphy" outside and then returned home. When he arrived at home, Wu Ku saw his son practicing writing with water on the table as soon as he walked in. He was immediately happy - his son studied so hard, and he would be able to read and hyphenate in a short time. Wouldn't he be successful? If my son can work for the General when he grows up, wouldn't he also be able to become a supervisor?
Wu Ku pushed the oil cart to the wall of the hall, walked to the table and asked his son: "Son, what word are you writing?" Wu Ku's son raised his head and said: "This is what my husband taught me today." The character for is my father’s name, the character for Wuku!” Wu Ku burst into laughter when he heard this and said, “Dad can’t even write his own name, but you can, you’re so promising!” Wuku’s son He pulled out a piece of paper and said, "Dad, I'll teach you how to write your name!" Wu Ku was delighted when he heard this and said, "Okay, son, you teach me how to write your name!"
Wuku's son took out a piece of white paper, dipped his brush in ink and wrote Wuku's name on the paper. He handed the two words to Wuku and said, "Dad, take a chopstick and write it to me." Let's practice calligraphy." Seeing that his son was proficient in handwriting, Wu Ku smiled happily and said, "Okay! Okay! My son is really capable and will definitely be more promising than his father in the future!"
Boring machines are machine tools used to process holes in workpieces with holes. They appeared a few years ago and were used to process furniture. As a designer, Yang Peng certainly knows the principles of boring machines. Yang Peng has now made bearings, and making boring machines is a matter of course. Yang Peng makes manual boring machines. After casting several gears as transmission devices, Yang Peng transmitted the rotational force of human rotation to the boring bar. The boring bar rotating in the bearing is very stable. When the boring bar rotates at high speed and gradually moves forward, the hole in the workpiece can be gradually enlarged.
Using a boring machine to process holes in the workpiece is much more accurate than using a drill to drill holes, and can produce holes with higher precision. The boring machine Yang Peng made was used to make flintlock barrels. The boring bar Yang Peng used was the best steel he could collect - fine steel. Although there is no alloy steel, there is no problem in cutting wrought iron with fine steel after quenching and tempering.
Yang Peng and ten blacksmiths worked in the blacksmith shop for fifteen days and made the first boring machine in the Song Dynasty. After the boring machine was made, Yang Peng made a special fixing groove for the barrel on the boring machine and asked the gunsmith to use the boring machine to boring the barrel. The gunsmiths first bored with a fine boring bar, then with a coarse boring bar, and it took a day to boring a barrel.
The barrel was bored out and looked good, but Yang Peng was unsure. He asked the gunsmith to use four times the usual amount of gunpowder to test the bored barrel. He found that there were no cracks in the barrel after the gunpowder exploded, and there was no problem. After the test was successful, the gunsmiths gathered around the boring machine and looked around, marveling at the city lord for creating such an exquisite machine. The city lord must be the reincarnation of Lu Ban, otherwise how could he invent a new thing every once in a while?
If you work with the city lord, you will have a bright future. "Sir, you are brilliant!" "The Lord of the City is really a fairy-like figure!" "I have been making gunshots for several years, and I still don't know that I can make barrels like this!" Hearing the admiration of the craftsmen, Yang Peng smiled proudly. . With this boring machine, the manufacturing speed of flintlock rifles can be greatly increased. The barrel can now be bored in one day, and a gunsmith can complete the entire process of producing a flintlock rifle in only seven days. The boring machine can make a rifle three times faster than it once took a month.
There were no boring machines before, so Yang Peng had to hire more craftsmen to make flintlock guns. In fact, Yang Peng has already collected all the craftsmen from several surrounding counties and counties, and then hires more gunsmiths to go to the capital or Shandong. The operability and cost of this idea are very unsatisfactory. But with the boring machine, the gun barrel is much faster, and Yang Peng does not need to continue to expand his team of gunsmiths.
The boring machine was made, and Yang Peng seemed to have seen tens of thousands of flintlock rifles piled up in the warehouse. With more rifles, soldiers can organize more target training and are not afraid of having their guns scrapped due to too many targets. Due to frequent target training, the flintlock rifles of the 10,000 veterans are now approaching the end of their service life and need to be equipped with new guns. In addition, ten thousand recruits require a lot of target training, and the number of guns required for training is huge.
The materials used for scrapped guns can be dismantled and recycled, and each component of the gun can be recast separately. This means that remanufacturing scrapped guns does not require much material cost, only labor costs. The boring machine greatly reduces the labor cost of making guns. Therefore, it doesn’t take much money to scrap a gun and rebuild it. Yang Peng immediately asked all 500 craftsmen to stop making Minnie rifles and organize them all to make boring machines. They wanted to build 100 boring machines within a month. As long as there are 100 boring machines and 500 craftsmen use the boring machines in turn, more than 2,000 flintlock rifles can be produced within a month to meet the training needs of 28,000 soldiers.
In mid-November, the temperature in the city owner was already very low, and the cold wind was howling. The earthen houses in the north of the city can no longer help the refugees withstand the severe cold, and there is draft everywhere. Fortunately, the houses for the refugees have been built - Yang Peng recruited 1,500 masons from surrounding prefectures and counties in September, and the refugees themselves provided labor for the masons. More than 2,000 refugee families have had new houses. All built by mid-November.
The houses of the refugees have tile roofs, which makes them waterproof and waterproof. However, in order to meet the construction deadline, the brick surfaces of the houses are not plastered with lime. The cement brick walls are exposed and don't look that beautiful. However, the refugees are not so particular. Most of the people they lived in in their hometown were leaky mud houses with thatched roofs. They are very happy to live in brick houses.
In the future, when the refugees have harvested food and become rich, it will not be too late to find someone to apply white lime. Not only that, the houses built for the refugees were also relatively small. Fifteen hundred masons built a total of 3,200 houses, and three refugees had to share one house. But this is not a big problem: the houses built for the poor are clustered in small villages, leaving a lot of room between houses. After the first year is over, and the second year after the poor have harvested food and earned money, they can expand the house in the reserved space.
In addition, the refugees lacked quilts and clothing. Although the refugees carried cotton-padded clothes and quilts when they were plundered by Khitan soldiers, which were the only valuable things for poor families, they would still bring cotton-padded clothes and quilts with them even if they were plundered by Khitan soldiers and sent to Liaodong. But by the standards of Tianjing New City, the cotton-padded clothes and quilts of these poor people in the Song Dynasty were very shabby - tattered cotton-padded clothes and quilts shared by several people. If you rely on such equipment to survive the winter, freezing is inevitable.
Yang Peng didn't want anyone to die of frostbite in his territory, so in October he sent people to surrounding states and counties to buy 6,000 quilts, and ordered 6,000 sets of standard cotton-padded jackets worn by soldiers in Tianjing New City. The word Tianjing. These were in place by mid-November. Yang Peng sent them to the poor villages and distributed them to the poor. These cotton-padded jackets are large enough for poor people to wear whatever they can. Of course, Yang Peng also distributed sewing scissors to the poor - if the size of the cotton-padded jacket was too different, he would change the size himself. Women in the Song Dynasty were all good at needlework and could even change their clothes.
When the farmers heard that the city lord had distributed winter clothes, they happily received them. Zheng Hui organized officials to record which household had received several quilts and sets of cotton-padded jackets - these winter equipment Yang Peng did not give to the poor for free. Yang Peng spent 5,000 taels of silver on these quilts and cotton-padded jackets, which were given to the farmers. It was returned to Yang Peng after the rent was collected in the first year. When farmers grow spring wheat in the first year, it is estimated that each household can earn 23 to 4 shi of grain. After eating for five people, they can still have 10 shi of grain left in exchange for 20 taels of silver. They can afford to buy some cotton clothes and quilts. .
Seeing that the poor people were not well prepared for the winter and had insufficient supplies for all kinds of expenses, Yang Peng was afraid that the farmers would be short of miscellaneous supplies for the winter, so he simply lent five taels of silver to each household and asked them to find whatever they needed from a vendor. When the wheat is harvested next year, the money will be repaid with grain. The farmers gratefully took the money, but they were reluctant to use it and saved it all. But with money in hand, these poor farmers have something to rely on when they encounter difficulties. As soon as the farmers were settled, the weather turned cold immediately and winter came.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
