the world is at stake

After practicing for a week, the 'assistant police' were able to step on the same step when patrolling, and the coordinated steps stunned the villagers.The epoch-making term of discipline appeared in a small village.

Wang Xin led a team on duty in Nanwan Village this day, and heard the sound of a whistle from the sentry post—the sentry cannot move, and the wooden whistle conveys different situations if something happens.

The initial whistle sounded that outsiders were visiting, but it didn't take long for the whistle sound to suddenly become urgent, which represented an attack—Wang Xin led three squads to rush over immediately.

Due to the small number of personnel, the establishment of Xinhua's "assistant police" is small, with only five soldiers in a squad.They not only undertake training, but also maintain law and order in the village.

Originally, the weapon of the "assistant police" was a short stick, but soon after the sawmill came out, they were equipped with 1.8-meter spears-theoretically, they should be longer, but they are too short.

Wang Xin himself wore black leather armor and led three squads to rush forward.He only hated the lack of a BMW under his crotch, otherwise he could have staged "Changbanpo seven in and seven out".But he himself is full of power, and the three classes show their true colors when they run.

After the first group listened to the order, there was chaos. Some people tried to level the spears, and some ran with the spears. The tip of the spear pierced their own people first.If it weren't for wearing too much in winter, there would be casualties immediately.

There are two people in the second squad at the post, but in fact there are only three people.They didn't understand at all when they heard the roundabout to the left. They followed a group of buttocks, not in a row, not in a row, crowded together like a swarm, bumping into each other, pushing and shoving.

There were also people who lost their shoes and wanted to pick them up but didn't dare to pick them up. They had to run barefoot and follow the team.

The remaining three shifts were staring at who was going to report and ring the alarm.In the end, the squad leader left the four soldiers behind and reported the news by himself—Wang Xin almost fainted out of breath, wishing he could catch that stupid squad leader and beat him up.

But in the eyes of the probing Young Master Jiang and his party, this chaotic posture was quite shocking—ah, the village is so well protected!

The mere two minions, who were at a disadvantage but did not panic when encountering the enemy, did not show their backs to escape, but gritted their teeth to resist.This spirit is very rare.

The hired workers who repaired the sentry tower were on the run, but the female supervisor blew a whistle. They had fled more than ten meters away, but when they heard the whistle, they still bit the bullet and came back to help.Someone with bare hands simply grabbed the bamboo pole on the ground as a weapon.

When they found that their companions were helping, the minions at the post stopped panicking. Instead, they bared their teeth and yelled, holding their spears in their hands, eager to try.

Mr. Jiang was still in the sedan chair, silently counting in his heart.From the provocation of the scarface follower to someone blowing the whistle to warn.Within twenty breaths, the opponent dispatched a dozen people.

"It's so fast. The rebels in this village are very good at training soldiers. Ordinary pawns can't be ignored."

'Scarface' and the others realized that things were a bit tricky, these pawns were not weak in fighting will, and the villagers were not a mob.Some kind of spirit drives or forces them to fight and not to flee.

Mr. Jiang also found that the uniforms of the rebel soldiers were uniform, all gray cotton, the style was exactly the same, even the spears were the same.

Ordinary villagers fight with weapons, grabbing a hoe and pole and going to the field.This is already very organized.

Waiting for Wang Xin in the black armor and iron helmet to enter the stage, it was Scarface's entourage who was retreating.Their height is only 1.6 meters to 1.7 meters, which is not in the same order as a big guy who is two meters tall and weighs one hundred kilograms.

Take a closer look, this god-like guy is wearing armor, and holds a double-barreled flintlock pistol in each of his left and right hands.Mr. Jiang is also an expert. He has seen a lot of fighting scenes, and his eyes will become sharp immediately.

Matchlock guns are popular now, such as bird guns.

Flintlock guns are more difficult to manufacture and are relatively rare.And because bulk gunpowder is prone to moisture and difficult to fill, few people use it as an emergency weapon.

The flintlock guns in Wang Xin's left and right hands are exquisite and light.It has no exposed parts, and the reed and hammer are hidden in the receiver of the gun body, which greatly increases both safety and reliability, and is also very convenient.

The firepower of these two flintlock pistols alone can quickly overturn the four followers including 'Scarface'.Mr. Jiang couldn't sit still in the sedan chair, so he could only come out and clenched his fists to admit cowardice, saying abruptly, please forgive me.

"who are you?"

Wang Xin angrily ordered his subordinates to stand down, and ignored the outsiders.Instead, a cold voice suddenly appeared behind the sedan chair, "Where are you from? What are you going to do?"

Mr. Jiang turned his head again, and saw a tall man circling around the sedan chair he was riding on.He was very surprised, thinking to himself where did this person come from?Why so silent?

"My surname is Jiang, a person from Huating, I handed over the greeting card yesterday. I learned that Xinhua Village has a big business, so I came to pay a special visit today." Mr. Jiang cupped his hands, smiling all over his face.

"Oh, I heard. You sell cotton cloth." The tall man was very indifferent, but his eyes were fixed on the costume of the scarface attendant and the dagger in his hand.

Mr. Jiang was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood, and cursed secretly: "My Jiang family has power all over Songjiang, and I have a reputation as a scholar. I don't worship officials. I only sold [-] bolts of cotton cloth, but if you say it, it's like 'selling cotton cloth'." of'."

But he scolded in his heart, Mr. Jiang had cultivated his kung fu quite well, and asked back, "I wonder if your nobleman is...?"

"My surname is Zhou, Zhou Qingfeng." The tall man's eyes were still fixed on the scar-faced attendant, "If you come to do business, we welcome you. But you don't look like serious businessmen."

Zhou Qingfeng stared at the scar-faced entourage, and snorted unconvinced, revealing his fierce look.But after being stared at for a long time, he still put the knife away.

Mr. Jiang laughed, "The world is not peaceful nowadays, and you always have to bring a few helpers when you go out to do business, otherwise you will lose your life if the goods arrive on the ground and die."

"It sounds reasonable." Zhou Qingfeng did not refute, "Those who can deliver goods to us are all friends. If you come from afar, you can go to the village if you want to have a look."

Seeing Zhou Qingfeng raising his hand to lead the way, Wang Xin called out "return the team", and the "assistant police" of the three squads moved out of the way.The latter yelled 'line up', 'report count', and 'walk in unison' a few more times, and more than a dozen people marched in a single row.

Mr. Jiang and his followers were once again surprised when they saw how uniform the minion-like soldiers could be.No wonder the village reacted quickly, and it turned out that it had already reached the point of prohibition.

'Scarface' and other attendants were quite afraid of the 'assistant police' who lined up, and stared at them for a long time.

Mr. Jiang asked Zhou Qingfeng: "These are Your Excellency's servants, right? They practice like arms and fingers, which is remarkable. It's just that they are a little thinner, so they are really at a disadvantage in fighting."

The explanation of 'Jia Ding' is acceptable to 'Scarface' and other followers, after all, rebels must have some subordinates who can fight.They looked at each other, whispered to each other, and turned to discuss how many officers and troops such a weak servant could win?

Some people say to shoot with bows and arrows, some say to use firecrackers to bombard, unarmored infantry cannot withstand long-distance blows.The obscure slang used in these discussions did not avoid Zhou Qingfeng, bullying him for not being able to understand.

Zhou Qingfeng didn't care, and just took these people to a shore construction site under construction in Nanwan Village.Several villagers are building a bamboo house of about [-] square meters.

The wall is filled with soil between two rows of bamboo and compacted.The beams on the roof looked old and they were dismantled from nowhere.The mechanical group is installing a water-driven forging machine in the house, and the bearing and gear parts are rarely seen on weekdays.

Mr. Jiang couldn't help but stop, wanting to take a closer look, and deliberately asked: "What is this?"

Zhou Qingfeng said casually: "It's a forging machine for forging iron. The black iron lump next to it is a forging hammer, fifty kilograms. It will be built in a few days."

Ordinary blacksmith forging is divided into big hammer and small hammer.A small hammer weighs one or two kilograms, and a big hammer weighs six to seven kilograms.It is much lighter than the exaggerated weapons of dozens or hundreds of catties in the novel Romance.

The water flow of the Wusong River is gentle and the potential energy is small, so the power it can provide has an upper limit.But the water wheel can drive a [-]-kilogram forging hammer when it starts.If it is bigger, hundreds of kilograms will not be a problem.

In the Ming Dynasty, a catty was nearly 600 grams, and the black forging hammer looked like hundreds of catties.

Mr. Jiang didn't understand the meaning of "fifty kilograms," but he estimated that the forging hammer of the hydraulic forging machine weighed more than a hundred kilograms, and his heart was full of jealousy.Although he doesn't understand the principle, it is common sense that the blacksmith is strong and makes good ironware.

Nowadays, the best steel swords, armors and even firecrackers and cannons are mostly made of raw and wrought iron, which is heated and softened, and then stacked.The so-called iron pattern steel Damascus steel requires the process of 'thousands of hammering'.

For the ancients, the more the iron material was hammered, the more impurities were removed, the more reasonable the carbon content was, and the steel would naturally be produced.The hydraulic forging machine must also be like a hydraulic mill, beating day and night.

It didn't cost a lot of money, but it paid for twenty or thirty blacksmiths.

Thinking about his own family with thousands of servants, more than a hundred family members, and more than a dozen uncles in the officialdom, the blacksmiths he can support are not as good as the forging machine in front of him. Mr. Jiang is so hot that he can hardly move his feet.

It's not unreasonable to call this kind of thing a military weapon, it can't be dedicated to the court, it can't be used by officials and gentry, but it appears in a small village, it is really unreasonable, too unreasonable.

"Brother Zhou." Young Master Jiang cupped his hands and raised Zhou Qingfeng one level for no reason, and asked in a deep voice, "Can this hydraulic machine be sold?"

"Okay." Zhou Qingfeng was very straightforward, agreeing quickly.

Ah... Mr. Jiang and his party were all shocked.They think differently, they must keep such treasures strictly confidential, and they will never reveal the slightest word to the outside world.If any craftsman escapes, he will be chased and killed thousands of miles away.

When he asked for it, Mr. Jiang thought that his request would definitely be rejected, but who knew that Zhou Qingfeng would actually agree.He said anxiously: "Is this true? What's the asking price? Even if it's ten thousand taels of silver, I'll buy it."

"Then ten thousand taels of silver." Zhou Qingfeng really replied happily, "But we are not short of silver, but all kinds of goods. No matter who can buy goods worth ten thousand taels, we will sell this hydraulic machine. "

Sell, why not sell?

The ancients have long tried and practiced using water power, and waterwheels are not uncommon in Jiangnan villages.It's just that their power is not large, and most of them are used for irrigation, without the effect of causing qualitative changes.

If we really want to get enough raw materials, the metallurgical and mechanical groups will definitely install a steam engine within half a year. The structure of the Watt steam engine is not too complicated, and the processing capacity is in place, so it is natural.

With a steam engine, who needs water power?The former has high power, is convenient to arrange, and is flexible to use. The 'Holy Light' team will not be limited to riversides when they open bases.

At that time, it will really be "the sea is wide with the fish leaping, and the sky is high for the birds to fly".

Jiangnan is the most important textile base of Ming Dynasty, and the six prefectures are rich in cotton and silkworm resources.If the steam engine was invented, the cotton gin, the spinning machine, the loom, these would follow.

Only relying on the textile industry, 'Holy Light' can easily support a population of several hundred thousand and train an army of ten thousand to twenty thousand firearms - that is, three years is not enough, otherwise it will be able to flatten Ming Dynasty within ten years.

Someone can take the initiative to send raw materials such as iron, charcoal, grain, cotton, etc., which will definitely speed up the development of 'Holy Light'. It's too late for Zhou Qingfeng to thank you-travelers are never afraid of climbing the technology tree.

It's just that Zhou Qingfeng agreed too happily, Mr. Jiang laughed, and his followers also agreed, but no one believed it-this is the golden finger that turns stones into gold, who is willing to give it?

Whoever is stupid!

The rebels are so treacherous, they even make empty promises to deceive people.If he really sent 1 taels, he would definitely devour it, leaving no scum in his mouth.

It's so risky, so risky, the surname Zhou has such a bold tone, and when he agreed, it made people's hearts flutter.Fortunately, I have read a lot of poetry and books, have a deep mind, and are resourceful, so I can see through his tricks at a glance.

Just look at the military training in the small village so well, the xinhua rebels definitely don't want to be the things in the pool of the village.It seems that we have to make plans early, so as not to let its power become bigger.

Ah ha ha ha... Mr. Jiang laughed loudly, and praised: "Brother Zhou is so heroic, it is admirable. Such a secret skill is not hidden. I would not even dare to think about it."

Zhou Qingfeng curled his lips and asked, "Are you going to buy it or not? I'm really selling it."

"Don't dare, dare not." Young Master Jiang waved his hands as Zhou Qingfeng was still probing, "I'm just joking, how dare you covet Brother Zhou's family secret skills. I'm too scared, too scared. Don't mention this matter again."

Chapter 15

"Zhou thief is cunning and unpredictable." Mr. Jiang wandered around Xinhua Village for a few hours, ate a meal in the big cafeteria in the village, and returned to Zheng's house in Beiwan Village, pounding the table angrily.

Zheng Dashan waited for the news all day, and the group surnamed Jiang did not come back until evening.At the door of his house, he hurriedly asked, "Brother Jiang, what kind of secret did you discover?"

"Of course there are secrets." Mr. Jiang said bitterly: "I went to the Xinhua thief's lair, and the Zhou thief deliberately tested it and took it down to see the hydraulic machinery. I was also confused, and then I blurted out asking if this thing was for sale and how much it was worth?

The thief Zhou made up his mind and asked for 1 taels.At that time, I felt that I might not be able to buy it.As long as I get the craftsmen and machinery, I can disassemble and imitate them myself, and I will make a lot of money. "

Zheng Dashan was taken aback when he heard it, and shouted in disbelief: "Is it really for sale? How could he really be for sale?"

"That's right!" Mr. Jiang slapped the table, "Why is he willing to sell it? He must have lied to me. It's ridiculous that I have read so much poetry and books that I lost my soul and almost revealed my truth.

Fortunately, I woke up immediately, laughed, and said that I was just joking, and I couldn't take it seriously.Later Zhou thief repeatedly tried, I shook my head and never said anything.

Judging by Zhou thief's expression, he still refused to believe it.

Thinking about it now, I was trapped in a den of thieves, and I actually openly asked about the secrets of anti-thieves. If I really showed my intentions, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get out alive.Fortunately, Zhou thief is confused, otherwise there will be a catastrophe. "

Zheng Dashan also nodded again and again, expressing that Zhou Thief is indeed cunning, and actually showed others a treasure to test his character. "Brother, you coped very well. But have you ever found out other news?"

Mr. Jiang immediately cursed, "The rebels have done some perverse things, appointed women as supervisors, and openly accepted women as apprentices to teach them knowledge.

In the so-called "big dining hall" in the village, men and women are mixed together, talking and laughing constantly, which is degrading to the gentlemen.

There are also several female rebels, with coquettish makeup and plump bodies, who serve others with their sex.There are even foreign women who hold high positions and issue orders.A rooster wakes up in the morning, it is unspeakably filthy. "

Talking about 'unspeakable filth', Mr. Jiang showed a boar appearance, "The female thieves among the Xinhua rebels are indeed quite beautiful. If they can be captured and taken as concubines, it would be a wonderful thing."

Zheng Dashan also showed an expression of "I understand, I understand". He also saw a few young female rebels in Xinhua Village from afar.

Even in the place of fireworks by the Qinhuai River, you can't find the same kind.It's just that those female rebels like to show their faces and don't obey women's morals. If they are caught to take concubines, they will definitely be locked in the attic and no outsiders are allowed.

After chatting for a while, Mr. Jiang said that he would return to Fucheng overnight, "The thief Zhou ordered another five hundred pieces of cotton cloth and one thousand shi of grain. I plan to deliver the goods to him as soon as I go back."

what……?

Zheng Dashan was taken aback, "Wan Gong asked your mansion to get rid of this Xinhua rebel, why do you want to do business with Xinhua rebel?"

"The strength of this group of anti-thieves is also beyond expectations. This matter needs to be considered in the long run. They won't be able to destroy the other party in a short time. How can we win their trust if we don't do business?"

Mr. Jiang took it for granted, "Besides, the price purchased by the rebels is [-]% higher than the market price. If I don't sell it, someone else will. Haven't you sold food to them before?"

This...you have made so many impassioned statements before, why did you turn around at the end?

Mr. Jiang came to inform, and Gong Gongshou left before nightfall, and returned to Huating, the prefecture city of Songjiang, with his entourage by boat.The boat was moving slowly, and it was already the next morning when he got home.

Jiang's family has a big house in the city, and when the concierge saw it, he shouted, "My lord is back."

Mr. Jiang walked through the hall and courtyard, and heard someone crying in his living room from afar.He turned around and asked, "I've been away for three days, what happened at home?"

The concierge followed behind with a hunched waist, and said with a coquettish smile: "It's nothing serious, but there is an old censor's family in Fucheng who came to cry, please help the old man."

Censor?

Mr. Jiang frowned, waiting for the next sentence.

The porter continued: "It's an old censor who has become an official. He has no power and relies on a rural field in Qinglong Town to support him. Who knows that his family's field was forcibly robbed not long ago, and the ancestral grave and ancestral hall were dug up. "

Such a wicked thing, Mr. Jiang immediately understood who did it.

"Now the rumors are very vicious, saying that there is a group of rebels in Qinglong Town, not only openly robbing officials' land, digging graves and demolishing houses, but also recruiting soldiers and armouring, intending to plot rebellion.

The old censor sent people to the countryside to argue but was beaten back.This was originally a matter for Shanghai County, but the magistrate of Shanghai categorically denied that there were rebels under his rule, and only said that the fighting in the countryside had already been dealt with.

Naturally, the old censor's family didn't give up, and the case was brought to the magistrate.As a result, the magistrate arrested the two sons of the censor, saying that the current emperor is in power, the Ming River is clear, and there are no rebels. "

Mr. Jiang chuckled, amused by the latter sentence.When he went to Xinhua Village, he could see the boats of various companies in Songjiang Prefecture on the waterway, all flying the flag of the official.

The tax bureau and the inspection department have no way to investigate, let alone collect taxes.

Besides, if there were rebels under Song Jiang's rule, the magistrate would also be in bad luck.Shanghai County doesn't even recognize it, how can he admit it?The old censor really went the wrong way.

"So this old censor came to our house?"

"Not only this family of censors, but also seven or eight local officials came to cry. They were all bullied by the rebels in Qinglong Town. The rebels were really ruthless. They looted the ancestral halls and graves of many families, and made the city noisy. Some officials were terrified."

Mr. Jiang's heart twitched when he heard this, he was glad that his ancestral grave was not in Qinglong Town, otherwise he would have to confront the Xinhua rebels head-on.He asked the concierge carefully, and found that the officials and officials who were bullied had little power.

"Zhou thief has a bit of a brain. He knows that persimmons are soft. There must be officials who know the place behind this."

After the visiting censor's family left, Mr. Jiang walked into the hall, kowtowed and said, "Father, the child is back." Sitting at the desk in the hall was an elderly fat man, wearing a big formal hat, and drinking from a teacup. Two bites.He looked up at his son's return, casually 'hmm', and asked, "How's the investigation on the matter in Qinglong Town?"

"There is indeed a rebellion, but it's not easy to deal with." Mr. Jiang stood opposite his father respectfully, and described in detail what he had seen and heard in Xinhua Village.

"The anti-thieves are powerful and well-managed. There are thousands of people in ten months. I have met their leader. Although his speech and behavior are weird, he is not a fool.