Chapter 125 Time flies

Through the efforts of Xing Tianjun, after Xing Tianjun's craftsman's camp in Henan, after entering May, the first self-fired fire was finally produced. Originally, there was an iron ore in Lushi County. After Xing Tianjun took control here, the output of iron ore increased rapidly, plus Xing Tianjun's reserves in the past few years. There is no shortage of iron-making craftsmen and iron-making craftsmen at hand. A group of blacksmiths from Yangcheng were secretly transported to Lu's and quickly put into production in Lu's County.

Although the scale of iron ore in Lushi County is far from that in Yangcheng, the scale of the craftsman's camp is not as large as that in Yangcheng, and the output of weapons is naturally not as good as that in Shanxi. However, once it can be produced by itself, it can reduce the Xing Tianjun's dependence on logistics supplies in Shanxi and partially satisfy itself. The need also reduces the manpower and material resources consumed by long-distance transportation, which provides a strong guarantee for Xiao Tianjian's next military action in Henan.

In addition to iron production, the production of gunpowder is also a top priority. For this reason, Xiao Tianjian sent special personnel to transport Gao Cheng and other gunpowder craftsmen from Shanxi at the end of April, and opened a large gunpowder workshop in the old county and town of Song County. Using the method of boiling gunpowder, he began to produce gunpowder in large quantities in Henan. It is also beneficial to ensure the demand for strategic materials of Xing Tianjun.

Time can be said to pass quickly in such a busy period of time. In a blink of an eye, it entered September. In the past six months, the whole Xing Tianjun's five counties controlled in western Henan can be said to have undergone earth-shaking changes. Under the strong force protection of the Xing Tianjun, the people's livelihood of each county has tended to be stable, and the official has no ability. A large-scale sweep of the area controlled by the Xingtian Army has also promoted the revival of agriculture. The agriculture in all counties has been greatly developed. After the autumn grain harvest, the output almost caught up with the peak year of these counties, especially the large number of sweet potatoes planted in spring. The yield per mu is almost more than 1,000 catties. The production of sweet potatoes in some good plots has reached almost 2,000 catties.

Such a grain yield per mu is unheard of before for ordinary people. Although some people are not used to eating this kind of food, in such troubled times, as long as there is food to eat, it is already something that ordinary people dare not think about. After the harvest of the exiles resettlings of Xing Tianjun, According to the agreement of Xing Tianjun, they left enough food to feed their whole family for a year, and the rest of the remaining grain was handed over to Xing Tianjun. As a way, Xing Tianjun harvested a large amount of grain in all counties, which initially solved the problem of grain reserves for Xing Tianjun.

Although the people handed over a large proportion of the food they received, they lacked the previous inexorable taxes. The quality of life is much better than when they were under the jurisdiction of the government in the early years, so the people are also satisfied. Most of them handed over the food to Xing Tianjun as promised.

Even the local little gentry reduced the rent according to the requirements of Xing Tianjun and paid the food required by Xing Tianjun. Although they were a little unwilling, they had to bow their heads under the eaves. At least compared with other rebels, Xing Tianjun treated them quite leniently and did not copy them. The family was destroyed and killed. For them, it was also the ancestors who burned high incense.

Xiao Tianjian, who was in Ruyang, looked at Niu Jinxing's food list collected for the various places he had collected. He smiled so hard that he couldn't see his teeth. He patted the statistical list and said to Niu Jinxing while laughing, "Mr. Niu, thank you for your hard work! After having you here, I have a lot of peace of mind in terms of civil affairs. So much food is enough to maintain our consumption for quite a long time! Not bad, not bad! This is really not a panic if you have food in your hand! Ha ha!"

Niu Jinxing said modestly to Xiao Tianjian with a little pride: "This is all the foresight of the general, otherwise, with the ability of students alone, they can't do so many things anyway!" In addition, the literati under the students also exerted a lot of strength, and the students dare not make contributions!"

"Your credit is your credit, and no one can erase it! I understand that you don't have to be modest! It seems that what we are doing now is right. What do the people want? In fact, it's just food, food and clothes! As a ruler, if you can't even do this, how can you talk about long-term stability? If the imperial court can't give it to the people, we Xing Tianjun can give it to them. Why don't we worry about overturning the Ming Dynasty for a long time? Sir, you have to make persistent efforts. After the autumn harvest, you have to sow it quickly. After all, this year is just an emergency. Most of the crops are planted. After the autumn, you need to have more wheat. In addition, while the farming is idle, you should also dredge the channels and do a good job of irrigation! God's face is not good these years, and this year is still good. Who knows when God will give us another big drought! Therefore, we have to prepare for a rainy day. We can't learn from the practice of the imperial government. We don't care about the next meal after this meal! Ha ha!" Xiao Tianjian said to Niu Jinxing with joy.

Niu Jinxing nodded and said, "What the marshal said is very true. The humble position will be arranged as soon as possible!"

Xiao Tianjian stood up, went to the yard, turned his head and looked north, and said to Niu Jinxing, who followed him, "You have handled civil affairs well. Mr. Fu from Shanxi has also received news. Their autumn harvest has also begun. This year, the grain production has also increased a lot compared with last year, at least in a short time. The grain reserves in both places will be relatively sufficient. Don't worry too much!

As for military affairs, in the past six months, my husband has been busy with civil affairs and may not have much contact. I can also tell you that you don't have to worry about this. In terms of Yan Chongxi, who is now in his hometown in Jinnan, he has expanded five battle camps, three artillery battalions and one heavy battalion. It is the troops that can be called by the soldiers in Shanxi now. It's already ten thousand. Basically, you don't have to worry about what will happen over there!

In our area in western Henan, after half a year, all eight war battalions have been full. In addition, two artillery battalions in Jinnan will be transferred to cooperate with the actions here in the near future. In addition, two heavy battalions have been set up, a super-staffed engineering battalion, and the strength is also about 15,000, and these soldiers have not Shao fights with the surrounding officers and soldiers. I dare not say that they are absolutely elite soldiers, but at least they are much better than ordinary officers and soldiers.

In addition, the new battalions and township barracks in the two places have been adapted into reserve camps. They do not occupy the establishment of soldiers. They eat their own food not in wartime, and can be mobilized at any time to assist the battle barracks in combat! In this way, the reserve troops that can be mobilized in the two places at any time can reach 30,000. Although the equipment is not as good as the war barracks, there is no big problem in defending the land!

Now it depends on the current situation. We can start at any time!"