the world is at stake

The 11th member of the 'Federation' hired dozens of artisans and strong domestic slaves with high salaries in the imperial capital, sold horses and vehicles, and headed towards Shanhaiguan.

Before leaving, Yan Li gave a glass bottle to a certain official at the post station who was interested in her.She captivated the other party, and said that there was a promise of love in the bottle, but it could only be opened after three days.

In Songjiang Mansion, when the city's officials and gentry were thinking about black powder, the 'Holy Light' team that survived the food crisis did not put much energy into agriculture, but continued to climb the technology tree.

The influx of a large number of people has brought sufficient labor force to the 'Xinhua' base area.The team began to repair brick kilns, dry distillation kilns, and coking kilns.

The mechanical group originally wanted to build a hydraulic spinning machine, but the increase in manpower made them decide to take a step...to a steam engine.

Compared with dozens of parts of hydraulic machinery, the complexity of steam engine is an order of magnitude higher.How to produce hundreds of parts that fit together and work properly is not an easy task.

It's not just about drawings.

A dozen or so people in the mechanical group could not complete the entire process from scratch, but the most important asset they brought to the end of the Ming Dynasty would come in handy—a set of precision casting molds.

Including gears, connecting rods, bushings, cylinders, crankshafts, flywheels, boilers, some complex or large parts that are difficult to process by hydraulic lathes will be produced by precision casting.

The material is refined molten steel produced in a graphite crucible furnace to ensure that the parts have sufficient strength.

"The south of the Yangtze River lacks the conditions to build reservoirs, and the water flow in the river is low and slow. Most of the current hydraulic machinery power is around five horsepower, and even if you try your best, it will not reach twenty horsepower.

Judging from the current standards, our materials are good enough and the machining accuracy is sufficient to ensure that the air leakage of the cylinder and piston is within an acceptable range. High pressure steam engine.

This will make the steam engine smaller, more efficient, and more powerful, allowing us to easily have a power source of fifty to one hundred horsepower without being limited by water sources. "

The leader of the mechanical group made a report at the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee.

"The mold of the key parts of the steam engine weighs nearly three tons, and it is the most cumbersome thing we brought to the end of the Ming Dynasty. If it can't function, we will lose a lot.

In fact, the mechanical group and the smelting group cooperated to test-cast a batch of cast steel gears at the end of March. The performance was not bad, and the tolerances and dimensions matched very well.Slight deficiencies can also be trimmed by the fitter to meet the standard. "

Facing the eloquent chatter of the mechanical group, Xiao Jinlang, who was sitting at the top, twisted his buttocks, feeling that he was quite like a member of the US Congress Armed Services Committee - he obviously didn't understand farts, but he had the power to allocate funds.

To develop a steam engine requires the cooperation of the entire team, and the best human and material resources must be tilted towards the mechanical team.This will affect foreign trade and security.

The reason for the mechanical group is: "The power of the steam engine is greater and more stable. The earlier it is produced, the higher the subsequent industrial production capacity. After being converted into a paddle wheel passenger and cargo ship, the capacity and speed will be greater, and it will no longer be restricted by the sea wind."

When it comes to sea wind restrictions, this is indeed an unavoidable difficulty.Because doing sea trade now has to wait for the monsoon in a fixed season, if there is no wind, you can only rest.

Xiao Jinlang didn't care much about Ji Feng. He turned to ask the military team, "With our current military strength, can we keep the situation in Songjiang stable for a year?"

The seven members of the military team were so embarrassed by the question, they all turned to look at Zhou Qingfeng.Uncle Zhou said 'Oh', "One year later? Is it really going to be a year later, and I can go to the imperial capital along the canal." This made everyone in the meeting laugh.

After the 'Holy Light' team arrived at the end of the Ming Dynasty, they were careful everywhere for fear of casualties.The military team trained a hundred 'Associate Police' as treasures, and a dozen were killed or injured in Zhaogang Town, which made my heart ache.

However, the Songjiang officials and gentry played tricks behind their backs, forcing Uncle Zhou to take two thousand untrained refugees out to fight a low-intensity war.

After more than half of the [-] refugees fled with casualties, the number became [-] instead.The team looks murderous and prohibitive, and it has been called a strong army in ancient times.

But that's not enough.

These 5000 people are currently being selected, eliminating those whose physique and thinking are not suitable for continuing to serve in the army, and replenishing enough young and strong.Zhou Qingfeng intends to maintain [-] troops, fast, capable and mobile.

Others can't learn such a quick way of forming an army, so they can only stare in admiration.

The military team had no choice but to abandon the original plan for building the army, and fully cooperate with the training and command of this "king of heaven"—to let this well-fed, fully trained and fully trained team develop for a year. Zhou Qingfeng really dares to lead it along the way. Follow the canal to fight the imperial capital.

"Actually, I personally feel that if we have ships, we should send troops to Liaodong in the spring of next year. Firstly, we will establish a forward base, and secondly, we will launch a tentative attack on the wild boar skin." Zhou Qingfeng said.

Xiao Jinlang nodded, "We are purchasing ships from the Ming army in Nanjing. At present, a guy who claims to be a hundred households of Jinyiwei is wandering around Xinhua Town and wants to talk to us."

Jin Yiwei?

This is somewhat interesting.

But Ma Baihu, who was in the town at the moment, had a straight face, standing outside the town at the school yard under construction, frowning.On the surface, he was ordered by the lords of the accompanying capital of Nanjing to sneak into the thief's nest to investigate and gather momentum, but in fact he came to discuss business.

This business has not been discussed yet, but the rebels are calm, open many places, and let the horses walk around.He naturally wanted to know how powerful the 'Xinhua' bandit army was, so he was led to the school grounds.

It's night now, but the bandits are still training.With a battalion of 500 people, they were fully armed and ran around Xinhua Town with their equipment.

A member of the military team personally accompanied them, and led Ma Baihu to open his eyes—whistling at night, gathering urgently, and running for two kilometers.

As soon as the whistle sounded, a barracks just repaired by the 'Xinhua' army was noisy like a frying pan.

First, the company and platoon-level officers ran out dizzy and dizzy to accept the order, and then the squad leader at the bottom started yelling, and drove the soldiers who had not slept for a long time out of their beds.

It was dark at night, and the scene was terrible.Soldiers can't find officers, officers can't find soldiers, the formation is not neat, and orders are not uniform.

After tossing for half an hour, more than half of the soldiers either didn't put on their clothes or didn't take their equipment, and stood stupidly outside the barracks dormitory, looking around.

The members of the military team who gave the order were not surprised. They lit torches and pointed out the mistakes made by this battalion and the failure of that level of commanders and fighters to perform their duties well.

After asking everyone to review... go back to the dormitory.

Want sleep?dream.

Put away the gear, take off your clothes, and get into bed.

After half an hour, blow the emergency assembly whistle again.

Whether it is an officer or a soldier, there is no one who does not curse.But no one can do anything but obey orders.If someone is disobedient and dares to disobey orders and disrespect, he will be locked up in a small black room at least, and beheaded at worst.

There are always people who don't believe in evil, but they have already been dealt with by Zhou Tianwang.The rest have learned to behave well, the military order is not a joke.To be a traitor is to be ready for war.

Ma Baihu, who was on the sidelines, seemed to be very surprised.The Ming army has long been scattered, not to mention training, even the soldiers are gone.Hereditary officers wear robes, wishing they could be literati.

In addition, the Ming army punished the soldiers much more severely than the "Xinhua" bandit army. What is the deduction of food and salary?There is no food or salary deductible at all.If you disobey the order, cut off your ears and nose, piercing arrows and drawing whips, even chopping off your hands and feet, and burning your belly with fire, there are plenty of ways.

But the 'Xinhua' thieves were scolding at most, and didn't even see the whips being whipped.Ma Baihu reckoned that the leader of the bandits who accompanied him could be regarded as a "thousand household" master, and he actually reasoned with the soldiers, and even taught them how to make beds and fold quilts and other chores.

Beheading?

Just talking about it, I didn't see it.

Emergency assembly at night, toss a full three times.From Xu time, which is not long after nightfall, to Chou time in the early morning.Every time, when the soldiers and even the officers relaxed their vigilance and fell into a drowsy sleep, Lord 'Qianhu' came to blow the whistle.

Ma Baihu just watched from the sidelines and shouted tired for the bandit soldiers.

After the third emergency assembly, the time from leaving the dormitory to queuing up for the whole battalion was finally reduced to a quarter of an hour. The clothes and shoes were still tidy, the backpacks were packed, and the spears were brought.

After three rounds of rehearsal, Ma Baihu went from sneering to being startled and frightened, and then watched the accompanying "Qianhu" encourage the bandit army a few words, and then ordered the whole team to have extra meals and supper.

Two steamed buns and one fish per person to supplement nutrition.

The soldiers were tired, sleepy, and full of resentment, but when they heard that there was food, they immediately burst into smiles.Those with good collection scores can queue up first, and those at the bottom can only stand for a while and eat the rest of the former.

It is not allowed to walk around on the school ground at this moment, but you can make a few noises in a low voice.Different companies and platoons began to greet each other's ancestors.The one who left first was beaming, and those who remained could only beg for some leftovers.

The more Ma Baihu looked at it, the more he was stunned. Just eating and drinking enough can make the bandit soldiers fight to the death. How can the officers and soldiers be their opponents?Accompanying 'Qianhu' shook his head and said that the training time was too short and the soldiers were not well-educated, obviously he was still very dissatisfied.

"This kind of training method is better than that of the family members of the nine generals. What kind of training should your department do?" Ma Baihu couldn't help asking.Before he came here, he thought that no matter how strong the bandit army was, it would be limited, but after watching them train at night, it was an eye-opener.

The military team only laughed, leaving only one sentence: "You don't understand even if you tell me."

Ma Baihu almost choked to death on this sentence.He inspected Xinhua Town for four or five days, and met many leaders of the rebels, both men and women, and visited both military and civil affairs.

In the next month or so, Ma Baihu came to the school many times for business, and every time he came, he would visit the school grounds.He originally hoped to find some weaknesses of the bandit army, so that the government army could attack them in the future, but his thoughts quickly disappeared.

The soldiers of the bandits are getting stronger day by day, from the color of the face to the description of emaciation, the face is gradually rosy, and the bones and flesh are full.

In May and June, his behavior did not look like that of a farm boy at all.Many commanders held their heads up high when they talked with Master Baihu, calmly and calmly.Ordinary soldiers also had smiles on their faces and were full of energy.

"It's all fed with silver." Ma Baihu has seen the meals of the 'Xinhua' bandit army. Not only can they eat enough, but they also have meat every meal.

Especially since May, there are more fish and shrimp on the table.

The breeding of chickens, ducks, pigs and cattle is too slow, but Songjiang is close to the sea.In order to obtain meat as much as possible, the Xinhua rebels encouraged fishermen to fish in the Yangtze River or along the coast.

In order to increase the amount of fishing, the rebels ordered or rented warships from Nanjing and other guards, improved fishing gear, trained fishermen, and fished farther away from the sea. One of the military team came from the navy, which happened to come in handy.

Not only the food is good, but the clothes of the bandits are also good.

Uniform gray cotton military uniform, mille-soled cloth shoes, even underwear and socks.The soles of the shoes are not made by hand, but are made of thick linen and pierced by hydraulic machines.

3000 people do not have special training for production. How much food will it cost?But the thief army insisted.

The uniform and tidy equipment distinguishes the bandit soldiers from others. Their status and treatment are similar to those of the bandit craftsmen in the workshop, and they are obviously much higher than ordinary bandits.

According to the leader of the thieves, it is necessary to use this to shape the honor and authority of the soldiers-Ma Baihu curled his lips and sighed at this, what honor does the thieves need to serve as an army?But the honorable thief army looks really capable of fighting.

As this day dragged on, the princes of the imperial court hadn't responded to the situation in Songjiang Mansion.The local gentry also understood that the bandit army was getting stronger and stronger, and it was becoming more and more difficult to eliminate them.

By the end of June, the prototype of the first steam engine was built.It was used as a blower for a pig iron blast furnace that had also just been built.

The boiler of this prototype machine needs to burn water for three hours to reach working pressure.But once it starts working, its crankshaft is directly connected to the piston of the blower, moving back and forth quickly.

The hydraulic blower has only five horsepower, and driving the blower is like an old ox pulling a cart, slowly.The rhythm of the air entering the blast furnace can be counted out.

But wait for the twenty-horsepower steam engine to come up, even if it is a prototype, but its movement speed is several times faster, and the blower piston already has afterimages when it moves.

The airflow entering the blast furnace suddenly increased, and the sound of whistling wind could be heard pouring in.

The air intake increased sharply, and more air participated in the combustion. The charcoal in the blast furnace instantly became red and bright, the temperature in the furnace soared, and even the chimney emitted billowing heat waves.

Ma Baihu wore a pair of crystal sunglasses and looked at the pig iron in the blast furnace with his naked eyes. He was surprised to find that the hard iron pieces were rapidly turning into molten iron—the temperature in the blast furnace finally reached the standard.

Is this okay?

In the future, wouldn't the bandits build whatever they wanted?

Chapter 25 Armor

When the boat arrived at the wharf of Xinhua Town, Master Qin from Fucheng lifted up his robe and jumped ashore.He clasped his hands together, laughed and said to Xiao Jinlang who came to greet him: "Congratulations to Chief Xiao, I heard that your department has made another strange thing called 'steam engine', congratulations!"

Xiao Jinlang's old face was also smiling like a flower, and he cupped his hands and said, "Oh, it's just a small skill, not worth mentioning. It's just a utensil for boiling water, and it's very difficult to serve it."

"Chief Xiao is humble. Mr. Qin was overjoyed when he heard the news. He came here to have a look, and he hoped he would give us some advice." Master Qin went ashore, and waved to the servants behind him: "Don't you give the gift from the magistrate to Xiao? Served by the leader."

Several strong servants got on and off the cargo ship, carrying several large wooden boxes.Master Qin opened the wooden box on the spot, and inside were tea, silk, coral, pearls and the like.

In addition to the wooden box, several young women came down from the boat, and with low eyebrows, they walked up to Xiao Jinlang and bowed their knees in front of Xiao Jinlang.

Master Qin smiled and said: "These boxes of goods are for Chief Xiao, and the women are for Zhou Tianwang. The magistrate personally selected them. They are all virgins raised by each family. They are the best."

The appearance of these women is indeed correct, and their attire has been improved to conform to the aesthetics of 'modern people' as much as possible, which is obviously influenced by the women of the 'Holy Light' team.

Old Xiao shook his head and smiled, "Your Majesty is bothering you, but we put any external gifts into the public account. These women should be sent to the hospital to work as nurses. I'm afraid Xiao Zhou will not be blessed to accept them."

Ah... can this also be included in the public account?Mr. Qin couldn't understand such eccentricities as the Xinhua rebels.In fact, he still hasn't figured out who is the leader of this team.

From the perspective of outsiders, Zhou Qingfeng Zhou Tianwang is domineering, and he says what he says.But anyone who has been in contact with the Xinhua rebels knows that Zhou Tianwang doesn't care about government affairs at all, and others are in charge.

Master Qin took a few steps closer, and said ambiguously to Old Xiao: "Since Zhou Tianwang is inconvenient, it can only be that Chief Xiao reluctantly makes it difficult for him to train him."

Without waiting for Xiao Jinlang to refuse, Master Qin immediately shouted to several women: "Hurry up and meet Master Xiao, you will be his people from now on."

Several women bowed down again, making Xiao Jinlang dumbfounded.He didn't bother to explain, just said 'Welcome to Xinhua'.

Master Qin went ashore, looked up, and saw that the town had grown a lot.He has been going back and forth between Fucheng and Xinhua Town for the past six months, only to feel that the city is getting weaker and weaker, but the town is changing with each passing day.

In other words, the wharf was originally less than ten feet long and could only accommodate one ship for unloading.

But now five or six piers have been built in Xinhua Town and Qinglong Town, and special pulley cranes have been installed beside the piers.Different goods must be loaded and unloaded at designated docks, and there are special transportation routes.

For example, charcoal and iron materials sent for smelting can only be loaded and unloaded at fixed docks, and cloth and grain are another place.Newcomers are often uncomfortable, but after getting used to it, they will find the beauty.

The diversion of passengers and cargo on the wharf is busy but not chaotic, and the loading and unloading is fast.

On the way to Xinhua Town, Master Qin can still see the golden yellow stretches on the banks of the Wusong River, with the ears of rice drooping, and a bumper harvest is imminent.Every few miles, there will be an irrigation water truck, which will continuously raise the river water and send it to the distant fields.

This year, farmers in Songjiang Prefecture are much more relaxed and more diligent in farming than in previous years, because Zhou Tianwang led an army to patrol the countryside from time to time.

At first he cleaned up the officials and gentry, organized collective farms, and later set up circuit courts, established order, and solved problems for the common people, which was deeply popular among the people.

There will be no absolute fairness in collective farms, and some new leaders will corrupt quickly.But it at least united the disadvantaged tenants who had been exploited in the past to share production materials such as cattle and farm tools.

Circuit courts replace the government to provide public services, resolve local water and land disputes and disputes such as weddings and funerals, and quell public grievances.

The officials and gentlemen in Fucheng originally wanted to see a joke, so what do a bunch of blind mud legs know?The rebels fought fiercely, but they still needed knowledgeable gentry to govern the country.

But after a few months, no matter the magistrate or the town official, they all found that the management of the rebels was actually vulgar.But they let the people at the bottom choose managers to allocate resources and resolve conflicts.

The people at the bottom have their own wisdom. After driving away the officials and gentry, not only did they not become a mess, but they lived a good life-the officials and gentry did not do good things in the past.

The 'Holy Light' team did not provide any agricultural science and technology, but only returned the fruits of labor robbed by the officials and gentry to the bottom, and the common people spontaneously united.

This year is a bumper harvest year. The entire Songjiang Prefecture has tens of millions of acres of farmland. As long as it is a village that has been cleared by the 'Holy Light', life is much better than usual.

The time has come to July, and the harvest is imminent.

The officials and gentry of Songjiang Mansion were so jealous that they went crazy, and such a good year was the time for everyone to make a fortune.But this year... the Xinhua rebels set up a tax package system, which took nearly half of the land tax in the whole prefecture.

Today, taxes are still collected according to the land and population set during the Hongwu period, with slight adjustments. More than 200 years ago, Songjiang Prefecture had a population of only 100 million, but now it exceeds 200 million.

The magistrate was forced to agree to this matter at the beginning, but now he regrets it all.But if you want to go back on your word, don't say that Zhou Tianwang doesn't agree, those low-level people who have benefited will never agree.

The Xinhua rebels promised to the villages under their indirect rule that they would not collect any taxes this year and would only do business with the people—using the difference between industry and agriculture to make money, with a good reputation and high profits.