For more than half a month after coming down, Tie Tiangong went to the scout camp almost every day to ask Ren Ning various questions.
At first, he just asked for advice on mechanical drawing, but later he discovered that Ren Ning also had a lot of research on metal properties, and even knew how to improve the quality of steel using normalizing, tempering, annealing, quenching and other processes, and he spoke eloquently.
Tie Tiangong's spirit was greatly boosted. These were his true duties.
After several in-depth exchanges, Tie Tiangong was finally convinced that the scout boy in front of him was not just a talker, but had real material.
So on the days after he came down, he ran even more diligently to the scout camp.
Ren Ning was too lazy to be bored and answered all his questions.
There was even a time when Iron Tiangong complained that the furnace was not hot enough and it was difficult to make iron. If you can't hit good steel, you won't have good weapons, so Ren Ning drew a schematic diagram of a bellows for him.
Tie Tiangong is a good judge of goods, and he can see the power of the bellows at a glance. After returning home, he immediately built one and tried it out. As expected, it greatly improved the efficiency of steelmaking.
Ren Ning just drew it casually and didn't take it to heart.
What he didn't expect was that Tie Tiangong actually presented this bellows diagram to the garrison general's mansion.
A few days later, Ren Ning, as the inventor, received a reward from the fortress.
Of course, the fortress only rewarded him with some silver and horse food, not the most rare military merit.
Ren Ning curled his lips.
If the reward was military merit, he wouldn't mind getting more things for future generations. At present, the prizes are either some unused silver or horse food that is not in short supply, so he doesn't bother to pay attention.
However, after such a commotion, Tie Tiangong became deeply aware of Ren Ning's talent, and even suggested that he quit the scout camp where he was involved in fighting and killing, and then transfer to the construction camp to work as a full-time logistics officer.
He didn't do this out of nowhere.
Such a large fortress has a total of 150,000 soldiers, and there are many who can fight and kill. But there are only a few people who are proficient in metal materials and know how to invent new things.
If such talents are wasted on the battlefield, it will definitely be a loss for a country and the nation.
If it were other soldiers, they might have readily agreed.
Although the forging camp, like the scout camp, has almost no possibility of promotion or knighthood, it is better than being safe and stable. At least you don't have to worry about whether you can see the sun tomorrow.
However, Ren Ning refused without even thinking.
When my predecessor came out of Congjun, what he sought was never stability but to get ahead.
The same is true for Ren Ning now.
Although he did not follow Tietian Gong's advice and transfer to the forging camp, more than a month after returning to the fortress from the grassland, he finally regained his freedom and could enter and leave the scout camp at will.
That evening, Ren Ning was training horses.
Gu Datou ran over to him hehely, "Old Ren, are you done? When you're done, help me write a letter to the family."
Yankuo Fortress is located on the frontier, so carriages and horses are slow and communication is late. The letters home from the soldiers are usually received one month and sent the next.
Ren Xi's letter was just delivered to Ren Ning last month. Only this month will a full-time postman collect the family letters in the fortress and send them to various places in Yunchui.
Of course, these are just ordinary letters from home. As for the fortress's official documents and even battle reports, which are urgent for 800 miles, that's another story.
"No problem. Let me tie the horse up first."
After saying that, Ren Ning led Zhui Feng back to the stable and put a trough full of horse food for it.
"My fault." Gu Datou looked at him enviously, almost drooling.
He was bigger, and his mount was bigger, so he had to eat more horse food.
The fortress has been short of food recently, and we don't know when the next batch of food will be delivered. The rations and horse food rations given to the soldiers also began to become tight.
This was a hard time for Gu Datou's mount, which was losing weight almost at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Although he felt sorry that his horse was not full, Gu Datou did not have the courage to pour horse food into the manger as unscrupulously as Ren Ning.
Otherwise, after eating this meal, the mount may not have anything to chew on the next meal.
Having said that, there are not many soldiers in the entire fortress who have more horse food than Ren Ning.
Zhui Feng is growing, and he can afford to feed it.
After finally feeding the horse, Ren Ning was about to enter the house, but was dragged out by Gu Datou who couldn't wait.
"Let's go, a group of people at my place are waiting for you to write a letter home for them."
"What's the rush?" Ren Ning didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "I have to get a pen and paper first."
Because the scouts have to deliver messages, they can read and write more or less. Because of this, Ren Ning became a member of the scout training camp as soon as he joined the army.
As for other arms, there are basically only a few soldiers who can read, and those who can write their own surnames are rare.
Every month when it comes to replying to letters, these little soldiers who can write become a favorite. There are even some unscrupulous ghostwriters who charge a lot of money to write family letters.
Taking paper, pen, ink and inkstone, the two of them arrived at the Eighth Cavalry Camp. Soon Ren Ning was surrounded by people from three floors inside and three outside.
The cavalrymen carefully inquired about the price of his letters home.
"We are all brothers in life and death. We are just writing a letter to the family. It costs a shitty amount of money." Ren Ning shook the few pieces of paper, "I don't have much paper with me. Brothers, find some paper and think about what to say. I will write it for you."
"Line up and come one by one."
Wow!
The cavalrymen's eyes turned red, looking at Ren Ning as if they were seeing Guanyin Bodhisattva. After reacting, they all went back to find paper, and then quickly lined up on a first-come, first-served basis.
The news spread quickly as if it had wings. After a while, the cavalrymen in the surrounding camps who were not on the expedition got the news and quickly ran towards the eighth camp.
"Who is this kind person?" someone wondered.
Gu Datou proudly touched his bare head and said, "My brother, Ren Ning."
"Ren Ning? I seem to have heard this name somewhere."
cough!
Someone nearby reminded, "Some time ago, there was a super marksman on the competition stage. He shot through the target with one arrow from a distance of 150 steps."
Wow~
Everyone was in an uproar.
Others may not be able to recall Ren Ning's name at the moment, but when it comes to the majestic appearance on the competition stage, they are familiar with it.
Later, people quickly stood on tiptoes and looked into the crowd, "Is that him?"
"Yes, that's him."
"Good boy, this is both civil and military."
"You also have to have a good heart."
…
Ren Ning didn't hear the commotion outside.
He was busy writing a letter home for a cavalryman with a large piece of flesh missing from his face.
When writing letters home to others, it is natural to read the incoming letters first.
When he opened Shaou's family letter and read it, Ren Ning was speechless.
If he hadn't seen a letter from his concubine Ren Xi before, he would have thought that the letter from Sha Ou in front of him was a prank.
There was no writing on the papyrus paper, only two footprints and a bowl with a few black spots inside.
"What does this mean?" Ren Ning wiped his sweat.
Shaou chuckled.
Although he tried his best to smile kindly, the large scar on his face still made him look extremely ferocious.
"The footprints indicate the birth of a child. The boy is on the left and the girl is on the right. So there is an extra boy in the family. The bowl refers to eating, and there is rice in it. It should be a good harvest this year. Tell me not to worry."
Ren Ning was doubtful.
He nodded, "Then what do you want me to write? No one in your family can read. Can't you just send the picture back?"
"No." Shaou shook his head quickly.
He said flatteringly: "Brother Ren, you don't know something. It's been a long time since I joined the army, but I never got family leave. Now I have a lot to say to my family. Drawing pictures can't say much."
"As for reading the letter, there is a private school near my hometown. I will send all the money back, and then let my family spend money to read the letter to the master."
Ren Ning understood, "Then you say it and I'll write it."
Shaou was overjoyed and thanked him again and again. It took a long time before he started talking about what he wanted to say despite the urging of his colleagues behind him.
