After a busy month, the harvest exceeded Zhou Qian's budget. Chenliu's grain depot was full, but grains from all over Yanzhou were still being shipped one after another.
Zhou Qian also urged Qingzhuang to build a new granary.
"Chenliu collected 1.15 million shi from the farmland, Dongjun collected 930,000 shi, and Lu County collected 560,000 shi. The refugees only moved here in May and June, which delayed the farming season. Otherwise, more wasteland could be reclaimed. ." Zhou Qian's face was covered with sweat. Although he was tired, he was very excited.
The total of the three areas is about 2.64 million shi, not counting the land taxes handed over by other counties.
It is estimated to be around 3.5 million.
Chang Wei said: "In the past, Deng Ai governed Huaihe. He stationed 20,000 people in the north of Huaihe and 30,000 in the south of Huaihe. There were always 40,000 people stationed in the fields and guarding them every 12 days. With good weather and good weather, he could use 5 million dan as military equipment every year. In six or seven years, thirty million husks of dendrobium were accumulated in the Huai River!"
That is to say, 40,000 people working on both sides of the Huaihe River can harvest more than 5 million shi of grain a year!
Compared with Deng Ai's farming, Yanzhou was far behind.
Moreover, Yanzhou is a traditional grain-producing area, and the irrigation system can be used after repair. It can harvest 3.5 million shi of grain a year. There is obviously huge potential that can be tapped.
Zhou Qiandao: "Next month the bean sprouts will mature, and it is estimated that the harvest will be 1.3 million. The expansion is too fast, and my subordinates are a little in a hurry. Next year, the wasteland from Lu County to Xingyang will be restored, and the food will be at least doubled!"
Nowadays, we need land and people. As long as there are no natural or man-made disasters, the food supply will definitely increase.
After harvesting so much grain, Li Yue's waist became stiffer, but looking at Zhou Qian's thin figure, he was a little worried, "Now that we have established a firm foothold, we have a long road ahead. It cannot be achieved overnight. You must pay attention to your health." , leave the trivial matters to the people below, and in two days I will ask Yue Ji to boil two cauldrons of warming medicine."
"Thank you, Commander." Zhou Qian is still so humble after they have been together for such a long time.
There were Liu Qi and Zhou Qian in state affairs, and a new one, Chang Wei, was added, allowing Li Yue to take a break from the tedious government affairs and focus on military affairs.
Now the Black Cloud Army has expanded to 30,000, but another problem is also more difficult.
The equipment was inadequate and not sophisticated enough.
There are various types of equipment in the army, including those provided by the Zheng family in Xingyang, those seized by Chen Liu from Shi Bin, and those ripped from corpses on major battlefields. Most of them are old.
Although Liang Du, Li Nong, Shi Min, and Shi Chong had an army of hundreds of thousands, in fact, the only ones who could really fight were the thirty or forty thousand elites. The others were either second-rate soldiers or young men recruited from conscripts.
If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.
The Black Cloud Army has a wide variety of equipment, which also affects its military appearance.
The newly recruited soldiers didn't even have a decent set of clothes, let alone armor.
There were two ironworks near Chenliu, one in Xingyang, controlled by the Zheng family. After Shi Zun seized the throne, Zheng Yingtao was established as the queen mother. The Zheng family followed the rising tide and was not as close to Heiyun Mountain as before.
Li Yue didn't want to provoke them for the time being.
The Zheng family also sends two to three hundred pieces of weapons and armor every month, but these items are far from meeting the needs of the Black Cloud Army.
The other one is in Sanyo County, south of Onozawa.
At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Peng Yue raised his pole from here and threw himself at Liu Bang to attack Xiang Yu. He was later granted the title of King of Liang here.
During the Rebellion of the Seven Kings of Han Dynasty, Liang Wang Liu Wu resisted the Wu and Chu coalition forces. Zhou Yafu stood firm here and defeated the Wu and Chu coalition forces.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, Marquis of Feiting, served as the herdsman of Yanzhou here.
From the Warring States Period to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, this area was an important transportation thoroughfare, smelting center, and military town.
Generally, smelting places are places with convenient transportation.
In the third year of Emperor Yongshi's reign in the Western Han Dynasty, Su Ling, an iron official in Shanyang County, and other 228 people could not bear the oppression of the government. They rebelled, attacked and killed officials, stole soldiers from the treasury, and called themselves generals. After nineteen prefectures and kingdoms, they killed Dongjun. Prefect, Commander-in-Chief of Runan.
Li Yue led a thousand personal guards to the iron workshop in Changyi County, Shanyang County.
The iron workshop is built on the side of Surabaya. It is a little dilapidated. There are two to three hundred people inside, knocking and knocking, and it looks listless.
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, these craftsmen have been like slaves, ruthlessly squeezed either by the government or by the powerful nobles. They do heavy physical work every day, but they can only make ends meet.
What was typed out had nothing to do with them.
As time goes by, the enthusiasm disappears.
Blacksmithing relies entirely on one hand and is a strenuous job, more tiring than farming.
Later generations often say that the romance of the Wei and Jin Dynasties is wonderful. If you are from a noble family, it will be wonderful. But if you are from the lower class, it will be a sea of misery. Military slaves, serfs, pastoral slaves, iron slaves, domestic slaves, etc., there is always one suitable for you...
Cao Ning, the governor of Shanyang, guessed Li Yue's intention, "Does the governor want to build weapons?"
Li Yue raised his eyebrows, "Are these people iron officials and disciples?"
Cao Ning said: "Go back to the governor, these people are all criminals who have violated the law, and they are forging iron here."
Several servants went to beat them with whips.
Li Yue picked up a newly beaten hoe and broke it into two pieces with a little force on his hand. "Let these people disperse. If they have violated the law, they will be sent back to the prison for retrial. You can call the blacksmith here."
"Follow the order." Cao Ning quickly ordered the servants around her to take care of it.
Taking advantage of this time, Li Yue walked around the iron workshop.
The ironworks was quite large and had all the necessary things. It also built a water drainage system, which Li Yueda was very interested in. There was a horizontal wheel at the upper and lower ends of the water drainage system. The lower horizontal wheel was equipped with blades, which were placed in the water and squeaked with the turbulent flow. The squeaking rotation drives the wheel shaft, which is connected to the exhaust basket, and continuously supplies air into the blast furnace.
No manual operation required.
The blast furnace is an ellipse with a height of three feet and a diameter of two feet. There are four tuyeres on the furnace, and there are exhaust pipes outside each tuyere to send air inside.
Li Yue was amazed when he saw it.
The salt and iron monopoly in the Han Dynasty was criticized a lot, but it also promoted the rapid development of smelting technology.
In addition to their own bravery, another major reason for the strength of the Han army is its strong armor and sharp blades.
Huo Qubing rode 800 light cavalry deep into Mobei, beheading and capturing 2,228 high-level prisoners. Li Ling had 5,000 Jingchu infantry, and the 80,000 Xiongnu cavalry who could kill them were flying like dogs.
After watching it for a while, Li Yue almost knew it in his mind.
Although it is dilapidated, it can still be put to use if it is tidied up and repaired.
Not long after, the blacksmith came. There were twenty or thirty people with gray hair and tattered clothes. They were no different from beggars.
"How long will it take to resume smelting?" Li Yue asked.
"Hui, Hui Shijun, the minimum is one year, and the maximum is four or five years."
"It's been too long. The iron workshop must be operational within a month!" Li Yue glanced at everyone.
Twenty or thirty people plopped down and knelt in front of them, "Your Majesty... if you want this villain's life, just take it, why bother us..."
"What do I want from your lives? The ironworks must be put into operation, and people need to give money to people. In addition, a certain meeting will mobilize blacksmiths from Chenliu and Dongjun."
Great efforts worked wonders, and all Yanzhou's resources were concentrated, but they still couldn't afford to build an ironworks.
The blacksmiths then stood up, looking embarrassed.
Cao Ning said: "The good days you have been waiting for are coming soon, why don't you thank the Commander-in-Chief a lot?"
The group of people were about to kneel down again, and Li Yue waved his hand, "Business matters."
(End of chapter)
