Zu Siming looked at Shi Dashan with excitement and asked quickly: "Da Shan, where did you find this sulfur? What is the quantity of sulfur?"
Even in the snowy season, he still led his brothers to wipe out the indigenous tribes.
This is to race against time to increase their strength. They must develop and grow into a force that Zhao State cannot make up its mind to attack before Zhao State sets its sights on this area.
Zu Siming has no background, he can only rely on his strength.
This place is a bitter cold land, and the farmers in Zhao State are unwilling to open up wasteland here.
They drove the local indigenous tribes northward and reclaimed the fertile lands of the indigenous tribes.
As long as he can recruit a team of 10,000 people, his combat strength far exceeds that of large indigenous tribes.
Zhao will feel that the gains outweigh the losses and will not attack them north.
If Zu Siming wants to achieve this goal in a short period of time, there is only one way, and that is to merge with other pioneering groups.
The chambers of commerce control the channels for the supply of weapons and materials. In order to select powerful pioneering groups, they will never let a certain pioneering group dominate.
This will lead to a sharp decline in the authority of the Chamber of Commerce.
The only way Zu Siming wanted to break this shackles was to make his own weapons.
Bird guns and bronze cannons made of wrought iron are not difficult to manufacture at all.
There are such craftsmen in their team. In other vassal countries, it is not difficult at all to hire a craftsman who is proficient in casting.
Shi Dashan talked and gestured to describe what he saw.
“Master, there is a smoking pool there.
The pool is surrounded by this yellow stuff, and there are many indigenous cemeteries around it. "
Du Guangyou said in surprise: "Master, this may be near a volcano.
Sulfur is abundant in areas with volcanic activity. "
Zu Siming waved his hand and said, "Let's go and take a look in person so that we know what's going on."
Shi Dashan led the way, and they headed to the place where the sulfur mine was discovered.
After walking for more than half an hour, everyone began to smell a pungent smell, and many people in the team began to cough.
Du Guangyou loudly ordered: "Everyone take out your masks and wet them with water so that you won't smell some poisonous gas."
Shi Dashan looked at Du Guangyou in confusion, and asked depressedly: "Old Du, you were frozen to death.
We took the temperature before leaving camp and it was now minus 23 degrees.
If the mask is wet, it will freeze hard after a while, and it is easy to get frostbite on the mouth and nose. "
Du Guangyou replied in surprise: "Old Shi, others say you are a fool, but I didn't believe it before.
Look at the ground, there isn't even a trace of snow on it.
I think you should have just wandered around the outside and sent your soldiers to see what was going on inside.
We are going to the volcano crater. Even though it is very cold outside, the closer we are to the volcano crater, the higher the temperature will be. "
Shi Dashan blushed when he was told that. He could only follow Du Guangyou's words, take out the mask and wet it with a water bottle.
This feeling is like the mouth and nose are sealed, and it is extremely difficult to breathe, but it is no longer uncomfortable when breathing.
The path that was originally uphill suddenly became steeper, requiring people to climb up bit by bit.
They soon arrived at the top of the mountain, and even though they were wearing masks, they could still smell the strong pungent smell.
Zu Siming This is a pool covering an area of more than three acres, and the pool is still bubbling.
There are many places around the pool where light yellow gas is emitting. There are some weathered rocks and numerous light yellow stones around.
When Zu Siming saw this situation, he was very excited and looked at Du Guangyou, waiting for the final confirmation.
Du Guangyou took out his bayonet and put it into the pool, making a squeaking sound.
He waited for a few seconds before taking out the bayonet and saw that the surface of the bayonet was already pitted.
He took off his mask again, tattooed the gas released next to the pool, and then began to cough violently.
When Zu Siming saw this situation, he immediately asked someone to help Du Guangyou, and at the same time severely reprimanded: "Old Du, the future of the pioneering group is on you, how can you be so impulsive."
Du Guangyou's face turned a little pale, but he waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.
"Master, let's get out of here, the poisonous gas here is very strong, we can't stay any longer.
This is indeed a large volcanic sulfur mine. "
Zu Siming had just stayed for a short while when he felt a burning sensation in his lungs, and everyone was immediately evacuated from the volcano.
Du Guangyou introduced as he walked: "I expected that the pool on the top of the mountain should be formed by rainwater or snow accumulated in the volcanic crater.
Because it has incorporated a large amount of sulfur, it has turned into a pool of dilute sulfuric acid, and no one should be allowed to enter the pool.
The yellow ore around it is sulfur ore.
For a sulfur mine of this size, as long as the output of saltpeter is sufficient, there can be as much black powder as needed.
The only problem is that it is extremely difficult to mine sulfur ore.
If a healthy person works in this kind of environment for four or five years, he will not be able to survive.
This indigenous tribe, not understanding the value of sulfur, used the land as a burial ground. "
Zu Siming laughed and said: "Old Du, you have already mentioned the indigenous people, so there is no need to worry about the output of sulfur mines.
These natives must make sacrifices for the sulfur mines. "
Zu Siming has made up his mind that none of the captured indigenous slaves can be sold, and all the young and middle-aged people will be used to mine sulfur mines.
Even if you are short of money to sell sulfur, it is worth more than hard work.
Zu Siming asked someone to notify the camp to move, and Song Xuewen took the rest of the people to meet them in Hulu Valley.
This is a large sulfur mine. If any pioneer group knows about it, they will choose to ignore morality and rob the sulfur mine.
Zu Siming quickly waited until Song Xuewen arrived with the people from the camp.
He immediately held a meeting to discuss the next steps for the pioneering team.
"Everyone knows that we have won a major battle.
There was nothing wrong with my previous strategy. The spoils of this war were not the indigenous slaves, but the land beneath my feet.
We have acquired a huge sulfur mine, which will be the cornerstone of our rise.
The next task is to cooperate with the industrial team leader Du Guangyou to build guns and cannons.
As long as we have enough guns, we are the big brother in this territory. "
After Zu Siming said this, there was endless applause.
Everyone thinks that if they follow the boss, they will definitely get ahead.
In the vast area to the north of Zhao State, the rest of the Kuomintang group was in Maodong. They occasionally hunted game and wiped out several small indigenous tribes.
However, Zu Siming took his brothers and turned Hulu Valley into a large handicraft workshop.
The output of the sulfur mine was sufficient. They kept part of the sulfur mine for themselves and sold the other sulfur mine to the neighboring country Zhao.
Zhao State is preparing for war and purchasing large quantities of combat supplies.
The money obtained from the development team was used to purchase a batch of minerals including iron ore.
They also went to Qi State and bought half a ton of saltpeter from there.
This amount of saltpeter is too small for a big country.
But for a small pioneering group, this saltpeter is enough to last for a long time.
…………………………
Spring is coming, flowers are blooming, and the ice and snow are melting.
Zu Siming looked at the camp money and ten bronze cannons, and he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
In this area, swords and arrows are still used, and only the pioneering group has firearms.
Heavy weapons like bronze cannons may not seem backward, but they are the only heavy weapons that can attack difficult situations.
The side with artillery and the side without artillery in the team have already determined the outcome of the war at the beginning of the war.
These pioneering regiments and the surrounding indigenous tribes would never have the strong willpower to endure artillery bombardment without collapse.
Du Guangyou looked very arrogant. He walked up to Zu Siming and said excitedly: "Master, this is the bronze cannon we made. Don't look at the cost of it, which is more than a thousand taels of silver coins.
This cost is more expensive than the heavy artillery of the Imperial Royal Army.
But it is an artillery piece that we can mass-produce.
A thousand miles begins with a single step.
This will be the starting point for our weapons manufacturing.
With bronze cannons and explosive shells, there is no opponent in this area.
The matchlocks we made have been neatly stacked in the warehouse, enough to equip five thousand people.
If the Chamber of Commerce really cuts off our supply of weapons, we can always replace them with matchlock guns. "
After Zu Siming listened, he said with satisfaction: "Brothers, now is the time to make our voices heard."
He ordered these artillery pieces to be installed in the newly formed artillery force.
He took the leader of the pioneering group to the tent to discuss the next action.
Zu Siming slapped his palm heavily on the table.
He said loudly: "Brothers, Lao Song has investigated clearly the traces of the surrounding indigenous tribes and pioneering groups.
Lao Song and I have analyzed which pioneering groups can be directly won over, which pioneering groups can be coerced and lured, and which pioneering groups must be expelled. "
Zu Siming's way of judging is very simple, that is, how ambitious is this pioneering group?
They just want to get ahead, join his Zu Siming's command, and still gain glory and wealth.
But some extremely ambitious people would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.
The only solution for such people is to expel them.
The best way is to eliminate them directly as a tribute to others.
At the same time, he established his own prestige, but this method had too many side effects.
When he was still weak, using this method had huge backlash.
Besides, their pioneering group only has less than a thousand people. If they want to grow and develop, they must absorb other people.
He couldn't achieve his goal with just less than a thousand people.
Zu Siming has long considered ways to absorb external forces, and he is confident that he can digest these people through his own means.
This is also why he puts the easy things first and then the hard ones, giving priority to the pioneering group that is easiest to annex.
As his power grows, the difficult pioneering team will become easier.
When Zu Siming saw that the artillery was ready, he waved his hand and immediately dispatched Shi Dashan and other five centurions and the artillery team.
Their goal was to the northwest of the camp, which was Guqili's team.
He is a Mongolian. In this pioneering group, which is mainly composed of Han people, he seems to be out of place and has no alliance with any force.
This kind of lone wolf, as long as they show strong strength, these people will know the current affairs very well.
Zu Siming's march went smoothly, and he came to an indigenous tribe camp not far from Guqili Camp.
This indigenous tribe has a relatively high level of civilization.
They have learned to weave simple fences using vertical strips and vines.
Guqili thought the same as many leaders of the pioneering group. They planned to capture this indigenous tribe at the right time in spring to use it as material for the development of the pioneering group.
Now this indigenous tribe has become Zu Siming's chicken to kill chickens and scare monkeys.
He saw that the artillery team had given a prepared signal, and he immediately gave the order to fire.
There was a loud rumble that carried far through the sparse forest.
The shocking scene of ten bronze cannons firing a salvo directly shook Zu Siming's mood.
“This is the taste of war, and cannon is indeed the god of war.
I don’t know what the empire thinks, but it is forbidden to sell the artillery of the Pioneer Regiment.
Fortunately, my clever brain came up with the idea of ancient manufacturing.
The most rudimentary bronze cannon, it is also a veritable cannon.
The title of King of War cannot be underestimated by anyone. "
Guqili was eating when he heard a rumbling sound outside.
"The spring thunder here turns out to be so loud."
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately reacted.
The rice bowl in his hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Guqili said in shock: "This is the sound of cannons, this must be the sound of cannons."
He was sure it was the sound of cannon and couldn't believe it.
"How is this possible? The pioneering regiment cannot have cannons.
Could it be that the Zhao Kingdom from the south attacked?
They don't attack the huge threat of betting against the English.
They actually attacked these pioneering groups just for this barren land. "
Gu Qili stopped guessing, he immediately picked up the telescope and walked out of the camp.
The rumbling sounds continued to come, but the sky was clear outside without even a dark cloud.
Especially to the west of the camp, a thick, rising fog appeared.
He immediately judged that this was the sound of cannon firing.
The smoke of gunpowder has obscured the situation on the battlefield.
This is a more traditional gunpowder. This kind of gunpowder can no longer be seen on the battlefields of the empire. Only here in America can you see something.
Guqili pointed the telescope in the direction of the smoke.
He waited until the smoke cleared and the scene he saw was not the regular army he imagined.
It was a ragtag group of pioneers just like them.
Gu Qili was shocked. He did not expect that after just one winter of development, the strength of some pioneering groups had already grown to this point.
He immediately led more than fifty confidants and rode to the camp of the pioneering group.
He wanted to say hello first and test out this pioneering group.
He didn't want a shell to fall on his head while he was sleeping.
Guqili saw that the indigenous tribes he had always been afraid of were completely reduced to ruins after being bombarded by artillery.
In less than half an hour, the indigenous tribe collapsed, which shows the power of the cannon.
After Gu Qili reported his identity, he was immediately warmly welcomed into the camp.
Zu Siming saw Gu Qili and brought him directly to the bronze cannon.
He asked casually: "Brother Gu should know this weapon, right?"
"How could I forget the cannon."
"Brother Gu, what do you think of the strength of our pioneering team?
We are all Han Chinese, good at making and using firearms, but weak in cavalry.
This is a forest area, and beyond the forest is a vast plain, which is the world of cavalry.
Brother Gu, follow me, the cavalry will gallop across this land, and you don’t have to worry about logistics.
Being prosperous and wealthy is definitely much better than Brother Gu working alone. "
Gu Qili thought for a long time and chose to join Zu Siming's team.
Zu Siming laughed, shook hands with Gu Qili, and said excitedly: "Brother Gu's joining is simply an added bonus."
He convinced Guqili to surrender, and was more confident to annex the other pioneer groups and become the largest force in this area. (End of chapter)
