Su He led the troops into the guard station. It looked like a small town rather than a military location.
They broke through the earthen wall gate of the guardhouse, and there was no suspense in the battle.
The military households in the guard station did not put up much resistance, and most of the military households were captured.
A few ran fast and hid in buildings.
Zhang Yuliang's men led the way, and Su He easily controlled the guard workshop, warehouse and granary.
Su He saw the warehouse full of grain, sulfur, saltpeter and linen and cotton.
This time we made a lot of money. With all this sulfur and saltpeter, we don’t have to worry about raw materials for black powder.
Su He asked the second company commander Su Shan to guard the warehouse, and he led the troops to continue attacking the residential area.
As soon as they approached the residential area, they heard screams and crying inside. This is a broken army plundering the people.
"Su Hu, immediately lead the team to control the situation, and any defeated troops who plunder the people will be executed directly."
Su Hu received the order and led the team to suppress the defeated troops.
The situation was quickly brought under control and all the defeated soldiers were executed.
The people closed their doors and hid in their homes.
"Zhang Yuliang, take me to your home to have a look."
Su He saw Zhang Yuliang following from behind in a carriage, and he stepped forward to make a request.
"Commander Su, I will take you to my home. I am the only son of my father, and he is also very disappointed with the Ming Dynasty.
I advised from the side that my father should join our team. "
Zhang Yuliang knew why Su He wanted to go to his house.
He also understands that his current identity is that of a rebel thief. Only by increasing the scale of the rebellion can he obtain sufficient benefits.
Zhang Yuliang pointed the way in front and soon came to the door of a blue brick house.
This is one of the few blue brick houses in the residential area, and it is more gorgeous than other adobe houses.
Su He saw an old man with some gray hair lying on the courtyard wall holding a Rumi gun.
There was also a defeated soldier lying in a pool of blood outside the gate.
Zhang Yuliang burst into tears when he saw the old man and shouted, "Dad, I'm back. Is everything okay at home?"
The old man raised his head in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes again and saw his son coming back.
He immediately jumped off the wall, opened the door of the house, and ran to Zhang Yuliang.
"Little bastard, you are still alive. Li Dazhuang came back and said that you died in the rebellion. Your mother's eyes were swollen from crying."
He watched Zhang Yuliang sitting on the carriage and squeezed Zhang Yuliang's arms and legs with his hands.
He asked with concern: "Are you injured? Is it serious?"
"I was a little dizzy at first, but it's much better now. I think it will get better after a few days of rest."
After Zhang Yuliang answered his father's question, he continued to ask: "Dad, are our family okay?"
The old man said domineeringly: "It's okay. Those gangsters still want to rob our house. I have a musket in my hand. I can kill one of them with one shot and scare the others away."
When Zhang Yuliang heard that nothing was wrong at home, he felt relieved and began to introduce:
"Commander Su, this is my father Zhang Dezhi. He was the one who led the people to forge the cannons of the guard station."
"Dad, this is Commander Su Hesu."
Zhang Dezhi looked at Su He's attire and shouted "The rebels are coming" when the defeated troops arrived.
He immediately understood Su He's identity and why his son was alive.
"It's good to be alive, it's too difficult to live in this world." Zhang Dezhi said with emotion.
He turned to look at Su He and said: "I know how to forge cannons, and I can cast cannons for anyone."
Su He immediately stepped forward and said with a kind face: "I have heard of Mr. Zhang's name a long time ago, and I hired you to cast cannons for us.
I am only responsible for providing money and people, and all the cannon-making work is under your command. "
Zhang Dezhi gave a thumbs up: "No wonder, you can succeed. You have a broad mind and know how to use people. You can go further!"
"Please come inside and have a cup of tea."
Zhang Dezhi invited Su He.
"OK!"
Su He agreed, and he was also wanting to know about issues related to cannon casting.
He walked into Zhang's house with his messenger Su Que and two guards.
Su He saw a woman in the yard, holding a two or three-year-old boy in her arms, staring at Zhang Yuliang.
"Yu Liang, you reunite with your family first, and your father and I will talk about some cannon-making related matters."
Zhang Yuliang and his wife experienced a life and death separation, and they must have something to say. Su He asked him to reunite with his wife first.
"Thank you, Commander Su."
Zhang Yuliang did not delay, and he did not know how to cast cannons.
Zhang Dezhi led Su He and the others to the study.
They sat down separately, and Zhang Dezhi picked up the teapot and poured two cups of tea.
He took a sip of tea first and said, "Commander Su, if you have any requests, you can ask me.
My son joins you and we are grasshoppers on a rope.
You should also know about our family background. Others who join the rebels can surrender and be recruited.
Our family doesn't have this opportunity.
In the first few years, it was guaranteed to survive, and hundreds of hereditary households could be preserved. That's because there are still people in the court who can take care of him.
Now the Donglin Party is the dominant one, and we, our former opponents, are the only ones.
Even if they are minor characters, they don't mind stretching out a finger and crushing them to death. "
Zhang Dezhi said so much just to pave the way for his son Zhang Yuliang.
He made it clear that there was no way out, so that his son could be reused.
I saw that a band of rebels could actually enforce orders and prohibitions without disturbing the people.
Zhang Dezhi knew that the rebel leader was no ordinary person and would not do this without great ambitions.
Su He's expression did not change, nor did he answer Zhang Dezhi's question.
He asked directly: "Mr. Zhang, can artillery and matchlock guns be manufactured in large quantities?"
Zhang Dezhi waved his hand and said: "These cannot be manufactured in large quantities, I have the technology.
But our iron material is not good. It will explode after being used dozens of times.
The iron ore for these guns used by my son comes from Qiongzhou Prefecture.
The production is very rare and you can't buy it here anymore.
I used good charcoal to make good iron to build these cannons and Lumi guns. "
Su He understood as soon as he heard that the current smelting technology was underdeveloped and there was no way to remove impurities in the iron ore.
Most of the iron ores in Huaxia are high-phosphate ores, but only the Qiongzhou Shilu iron ore is a rare high-quality iron ore with extremely low impurities.
Smelting technology cannot develop in a short period of time. Only when the base area is stable can we develop technology.
"Mr. Zhang, this should be an issue with the quality of the iron ore, and I have a way to solve it.
Why do you use charcoal to make iron? Charcoal burns at a very low temperature.
Coal burns at a much higher temperature and is still abundant. "
In Su He's memory, coal was used for smelting. He wanted to know how to use charcoal.
Zhang Dezhi smiled like he was looking at a layman and said: "The temperature of coal is very high, but it cannot make good iron.
Even the good iron ore in Qiongzhou Prefecture is a waste product after refining it with coal, and it can be crushed by force. "
"You use coal directly for refining, not coke?"
Su He said subconsciously, and then he understood that the coking technology had not been mastered in the late Ming Dynasty.
Without the high temperature generated by coke, it is no wonder that smelting technology has not progressed.
"What is coke?" Zhang Dezhi looked shocked and asked anxiously.
He doesn't let go of any knowledge related to smelting, and this has become his obsession.
“A fuel that has very few impurities and burns hotter than charcoal.”
Su He gave a brief introduction.
After Zhang Dezhi heard this, he slammed the table excitedly.
"If there is such a fuel, it should be able to produce good iron."
"This kind of fuel does exist." Su He affirmed, "Mr. Zhang, you can experiment with it yourself when you have the opportunity.
We don't need iron, but can we use bronze to cast a qualified cannon? "
"There's no such thing as a prodigal son..." Zhang Dezhi took it back without saying anything, "Bronze cannons are simpler and have good performance, but they are too expensive."
Su He was very satisfied when he heard this. Zhang Dezhi was indeed the cannon casting talent he was looking for.
Not to mention copper coins, even if the silver can be used to make cannons, he doesn't even blink an eye.
