Song Dynasty Iron Armored Army

Chapter 3 Five Plans
There is a lot of food, and there are also a lot of livestock, dozens of healthy horses, dozens of cattle, more than a hundred sheep and pigs, and not many chickens and ducks here and there.Gold and silver are not so good, only 3 taels of silver are saved, and more than [-] copper coins.Originally, saving more than one hundred thousand guan, it cost tens of thousands of taels for Chai Jin to support the heroes of the rivers and lakes in the past few years.

Moreover, Chai Jin's family is a typical agricultural family, and the main income comes from these tens of thousands of acres of land.There are only two restaurants, one is in Cangzhou City, called Zuixianlou, which specializes in high-end wine and food, and can pay 8000 taels of silver a year.As for the Hero Building next to the prison camp in Cangzhou, it lost money. It spent more than 1 taels of silver every year to help the prisoners and high-ranking people in the rivers and lakes, an average of dozens of taels a day.

As for the Chai family's blacksmith shop, there were only three blacksmiths who repaired farm tools for the villagers, nailed horseshoes, etc., so there was no big income.

Chai Jin couldn't help shaking his head, no wonder Chai Jin was taken care of by a small magistrate later on, it turned out that there was only a few dozen guards, and they couldn't fight or fight.As for the wealthy gangsters who helped him, they were just mobs. Where were they when Chai Jin was in trouble?It's better to use the money to do some practical things instead of wasting it in vain.

At noon, Chai Jin came to the blacksmith shop after lunch.

The blacksmith is called Wang Tiehan, and he is a master craftsman with superb skills. The other two are also skilled blacksmiths. It is easy to make all kinds of agricultural tools, even knives and guns.

The autumn harvest is over, and the wheat has been planted. Today's work is not too busy. There are a few shovels sent by Zhuang Ding for repairs, and two young blacksmiths are beating there.Lao Wang made a cup of tea and drank it happily.

When Chai Jin and Chai Yong came over, Old Wang immediately stood up to greet him, and said, "Master, what are you going to fight today? Why did you come here in person?"

Chai Jin said: "Just passing by, come and have a look. By the way, I have something to do recently."

This blacksmith shop is a small workshop, too small and with few staff.There were only three blacksmithing stoves, and besides these three masters, there was not even a helping apprentice.Of course, for a village like Chaijiazhuang with thousands of people, the three blacksmiths can also be busy. Before the busy season, farmers repair farm tools more intensively, and may work overtime at night, but in the off-season, they are not so busy.

"Old Wang, I plan to expand the blacksmith shop. Tomorrow, I will also cover the open space next to it, build three furnaces, recruit three craftsmen, and more than a dozen apprentices. The burden on your shoulders is heavy." Chai Jin Pulled a stool and sat down and said.

Wang Tiehan asked: "Why, the village is going to open up wasteland? Why do we need so many blacksmiths at once?"

"I won't open up wasteland for the time being, but we need to start construction, and it will start immediately. The road from Dongzhuang to Xizhuang is uneven for more than ten miles. It needs to be widened and leveled. Bridges must be built in the three small rivers to facilitate people's travel." Chai Jin said.

In the past, every winter, Zhuang Ding had to take off his shoes to cross the river, and cross the river in cold water. Chai Jin often used his own carriage to pick up and drop off the villagers. Chai Jin’s reputation has improved a lot. If you really want to think about the people, why not build the bridge.

"The owner of the villa is really kind-hearted. The road is repaired, which is convenient for everyone." Wang Tiehan cupped his hands.

"Road construction is just one of them. We also need to clear the river and build a few small reservoirs to prevent floods and droughts and irrigate the land." Chai Jin said.

Wang Tiehan was amazed that the construction of three bridges over a dozen miles away in this year is a proper big project, and there are not thousands of people who don't want to do it.To clean up the river and build the reservoir, I don't know how many shovels and shovels will be used up. This time, the owner of Chai Village will spend a lot of money.

Wang Tiehan thought about it and said: "It is easy to expand the blacksmith shop, and blacksmiths can also be recruited. It's just that there is not much good iron, and the stock is only more than a thousand catties."

"Okay, you estimate the quantity and report it to the housekeeper to arrange the purchase. Each family has its own farm tools, which are mainly used for repairing wear and tear and making iron picks." Chai Jin said.

The little blacksmith next to him was young, about 20 years old.I am repairing a hoe, and the sparks are shooting out.

Chai Jin felt itchy when he saw it, and untied the cloak and handed it to Chai Yong, saying, "I'll hit you a few times too, and I feel itchy watching you beat me."

Seeing that Chai Jin was going to hit him, the blacksmith was startled, and hurriedly said: "Master, this is red-hot iron. It would be bad if some pieces of iron splashed and hurt the owner."

Chai Jin smiled and said, "Don't underestimate me, I'll hit you a few times and see how it goes."

As he spoke, Chai Jin held the clip in his left hand and the hammer in his right, and started beating on the iron pier, clanging.As soon as the expert stretches out his hand, he will know whether there is one.Not only Wang Tiehan and the three blacksmiths were stunned, but even Chai Yong was puzzled by Monk Zhang Er, when the owner of the village would be able to forge iron, and he did it in a decent way.

After hitting a hoe, Chai Jin put down the hammer, his arms were sore. Although his body was good, his stamina was too poor, so he didn't work hard at all.

Wang Tiehan asked: "Just now I heard the owner of the village talk about a pickaxe. I don't know what kind of tool it is. I have never heard of it."

Only then did Chai Jin remember that there was no pickaxe in the Northern Song Dynasty, so he asked Chai Yong to find a pen and paper. Chai Jin drew a pattern of a pickaxe, handed it to Wang Tiehan, and said, "That's how it is. It is sharp, one side is sharp, it is specially used for digging hard soil, and it is perfect for dry road construction and mountain digging.”

Wang Tiehan saw that this pickaxe was very interesting. One side was a hoe and the other was an iron point, which was equivalent to combining two tools together.

"This tool is easy to use, but Fei Tie, wouldn't it cost five or six catties of iron to make one?"

"Fei Tie is fine. We will have more time to work in the future, so how can we do without tools." Chai Jin said.

"Okay, I'll start building right away, and you can take a look at the samples tomorrow." Wang Tiehan said as he put the blueprints away, went to find iron blocks, and started to prepare for building.

In the evening, Chai Jin invited Chai An to the study, and Chai Jin said: "Uncle An, I want to close the Hero Building in the prison camp, and from now on I will no longer support the gangsters who come and go, and the prisoners who are assigned."

Chai An was very happy and said, "It's a good thing to stop funding, and it costs tens of thousands of taels of silver every year."

"Uncle An is right. I figured it out. Instead of spending money on people I have never met, it is better to spend it on practical things. Here are a few plans I made. Uncle An, see what you want to add Yes."

Uncle An saw that these five plans were all about burning money.The first item, road construction, expanded the 14-mile road in the east and west villages, and expanded the original road from one carriage width to four carriage width, which is eight meters wide.Among them, three small rivers pass by, and small bridges need to be built.The second item is dredging river courses, repairing dams and building small reservoirs.The third item is to set up a school, and children under the age of [-] in Chaijiazhuang study for free.The fourth item is the distribution of marriage subsidies. All tenants in Chaijiazhuang who marry a wife will be subsidized with one hundred catties of rice and two hens.Those who give birth also subsidize two hens with one hundred catties of rice.The fifth item is to train Chaijiazhuang Xiangyong and start regular patrols to deal with wild beasts in autumn and winter.

(End of this chapter)