Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 181 Rewards
After spending most of the day, all the deadly herds were finally driven to the breeding farm. At this time, the avenue has become an extremely dense "minefield", and it is difficult for you to walk on it without stepping on it. What those bastards pulled down.Those guys who had prepared baskets and dung forks were about to pick up the dung, when the smoke and dust rose again, and a large group of refugees whose clothes were as ragged as cloth strips staggered towards this side.They were all so thin that only skin and bones remained. A single dandelion could knock them down. It was hard to imagine what supported them all the way here.Seeing the brigade of refugees rolling in, Chen Baihu and Li Baihu's tongues were sore, it's too bad, with so many people coming, the entire Wuyang Guard must be wiped out!They made up their minds, give them a meal of porridge, and then let them go, Wuyang Guard can't afford so many people!

The bewildered eyes of the refugees fell on the bubbling and bubbling pot, which gradually became brighter, and suddenly let out an almost crazy hiss from a hoarse voice: "There is something to eat! There is something to eat!" It's over!" Running towards this side with the last bit of strength, the military households hurried over to maintain order, otherwise they would have to die.Fortunately, this group of refugees followed Yang Menglong so far, so they knew some rules, patiently lined up, and received the porridge one by one last time, and they didn't care how hot they were, so they drank it as soon as they walked to the side , It was so hot that tears came out and I couldn't bear to spit it out, and those who didn't get it urged the ones in front to hurry up, don't let them have nothing to eat...

While busy with work, Fang Yizhi and Zhang Tong came out and frowned when they saw the scene: "Why are there so many refugees here again?" Ever since Yang Menglong came, Wuyang has almost become a den of refugees, and there are refugees every day Helping the old and the young came from other places to look for work, and even some officers and soldiers ran over cheekily to see if they could join the Wuyang Guard and eat the [-] catties of rice and flour per month.But any normal officials would not be afraid to see so many refugees gathered together. If something goes wrong, the parents and officials in these places will definitely not be able to afford it and walk around!

Yang Menglong looked helpless: "When we were still in Shaanxi, they followed us all the time to see if we could steal a few sheep and a cow. At first there were only a few hundred people, it didn’t matter, but after hearing that there was food to eat, my dear, refugees came from all directions, vying to do short-term work for us in exchange for food, and the hundreds of people suddenly expanded to several thousand We are dead, if we hadn't left Shaanxi at a faster speed, we might have brought tens of thousands of refugees behind us by this time!"

Fang Yizhi was almost not mad at him: "You actually hired refugees as part-time workers in Shaanxi, and even managed two meals a day!? When will you learn to think twice before acting? Is Shaanxi a place for you to be a good person? The people there You’re so hungry that you can chew up stones and swallow them, yet you’re serving porridge there! Don’t mention Henan, even if you go to Hainan, these crazy hungry refugees will follow you all the way!”

Zhang Tong smiled wryly: "Master Yang, you have caused a lot of trouble for the lower officials! There are so many refugees, how can the lower officials arrange them? Anyway, the lower officials have no choice but to drive them away!"

Yang Menglong said: "The potatoes will be harvested soon, let them stay and help harvest the potatoes first, and we will talk about it after the potatoes are harvested and the winter wheat is planted."

Other than that, it seems that there is no better way. You can't really drive people out directly, right?That is more likely to lead to chaos, and if it is not done well, it will force the people to riot.Zhang Tong said: "Okay then, my lord, you should collect the potatoes as soon as possible, and we will figure out a way after harvesting the potatoes. If the potato production is really high, we can consider keeping these refugees..."

Yang Menglong rolled his eyes: "Nonsense, next I have to build roads, build reservoirs, and build a large-scale mine. These all require a lot of manpower. I have no reason not to send people to my door!"

That's the way it is said, but it is really difficult to digest thousands of refugees at once. Let alone other things, just eating two meals a day will make your scalp numb.After the refugees had eaten two bowls of porridge and recovered a little bit of strength, Yang Menglong ordered a large amount of bamboo and wood to be brought in. Needless to say, the refugees started to build sheds outside the Wuyang Thousand Households by themselves.Due to limited conditions, they are not allowed to build too large sheds, so most of the sheds can barely accommodate a bed and their meager belongings. It is very narrow, but it is better than a nest.After setting up the shed, find hay to spread on the ground, then spread the tattered straw mat, and then find hay to cover the outside of the shed to keep out the cold wind. A home with a primitive tribal charm is considered complete. .As for whether they can survive the coming cold winter without a warm pit and cotton clothes, they don't want to think about it, and they can live every day.

As a result, the residents of the Wuyang Thousand Households Center found out dumbfoundingly that they were surrounded by a refugee camp overnight, and the surrounding area was still tight!
After a lot of effort, the refugees were finally settled down. Tired and half dead, Yang Menglong still forced himself to go to the workshop with the crossbow craftsman he had dug from Yulin. Let's work?The group of craftsmen saw that the ordnance workshop was quite large in scale. Those who made steel, forged swords and guns, made crossbows, and drilled musket tubes. There was a clear division of labor and they were all very busy.Yang Menglong said: "Now our craftsman camp has expanded several times. There are as many as 200 carpenters responsible for building waterwheels, and they are still too busy. There are even more blacksmiths, because they are responsible for both building weapons and If they are responsible for making farm tools, I simply divide them into two, and those with poor skills will build farm tools, while those with good skills will build weapons. Look, this is the knife they made." He picked up an unbladed horizontal knife. Hand it to a craftsman.The craftsman was originally the general manager of the Yulin Weijian Camp. His surname was Lin, and everyone called him General Lin. He was about 50 years old and had been working hard all his life. He was very skilled and honest.Lin Zongqi pressed the knife to weigh it, then flicked the blade with his fingers a few times, listened carefully to the sound, and exclaimed in surprise: "This... this is extremely rare stainless steel! The old man has been working hard all his life. , such fine steel is unheard of!”

Yang Menglong said: "It's okay. We made this steel ourselves. As for how it was made, I can't tell you... It's useless to tell you anyway." He picked up a few one-foot-long crossbow arrows and handed them to Cao Lei: "What do you think of this crossbow?"

This crossbow arrow is very fine in workmanship. The arrow shaft is made of wood, thin and long, and it is coated with black paint and is very smooth.The arrowhead is triangular and extremely sharp, and the arrowhead shines with a chilling cold light.Cao Lei was startled: "Steel arrowheads! Isn't this too luxurious!?" As far as he knew, steel was so rare that even in the Song Dynasty, the crossbow arrows used by the Divine Arm Bow were just arrowheads made of steel. , this is enough to break through heavy armor within fifty steps and kill the enemy!It’s incredible that steel arrowheads are used here!
A large group of craftsmen ran over, picked up the crossbow bolts piled on the table waiting to be painted, looked at them again and again, exclaimed: "It's really a steel arrowhead! It's too extravagant, it's so extravagant!"

The old craftsman who specially made crossbows for Yulin Guard said excitedly: "If my crossbow can be matched with such an arrow family, it will be enough to break through two layers of iron armor within sixty steps!"

Being able to break through two layers of iron armor within seventy steps means that all hoplites can die. No matter how awesome a hoplite is, they can only wear two layers of iron armor. But it's useless, two layers of iron armor can't resist it, and adding a layer of chain mail still can't resist it.

Yang Menglong said: "This is what I need you to do. You see, we have the most powerful arrowheads, and the only thing we need is a crossbow with a long enough range. What you have to do is to work together and give me a crossbow. come out!"

The craftsmen said in unison: "My lord, don't worry, take care of us!"

Yang Menglong said: "Don't be so quick, I have a request, and I can't handle it with just a strong crossbow."

Cao Lei asked with a smile, "I wonder what your lord's request is?"

Yang Menglong said: "First: the range of the crossbow you make must not be less than 280 steps!"

This is a bit difficult, but the craftsmen are full of self-confidence, as long as they are given enough materials and enough funds, they are confident that they can do it.

Yang Menglong held up his second finger: "Second: All crossbows must be of the same standard, and parts such as brackets can be used in common. To be more specific, if two crossbows are broken, remove them from one of them. One of them can be repaired by replacing the lower part!"

This was a bit difficult, and the craftsmen all frowned.They have different styles, and the sizes of the things they design are naturally unlikely to be exactly the same. It would be too difficult to achieve universal parts.

Yang Menglong doesn't care, he said that I just give the target, how to complete it is up to you: "Third: The rate of fire must be fast enough, in 1 minute... Uh, there must be no less than three arrows shot within [-] breaths! Of course, if If you can reach four or even five, that is an unexpected joy, and I must reward you all!"

This time, all the crossbow craftsmen frowned.The range must not be lower than 280 steps, the parts are common, and the rate of fire is more than three per minute. These requirements are not difficult to meet alone, but it is very difficult to put them together. This...isn't this deliberately embarrassing!

Yang Menglong saw that all of them were frowning and silent, and knew that he had really stumped them, so he immediately used his old tricks to boost morale: "Of course, I won't let you do it for nothing. Your monthly salary is not low For ten taels of silver, I will allocate new houses to you as soon as possible. If your family members want to farm, I can also give you ten acres of land. If you can get what I want within two years, every Individuals will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver and [-] acres of fertile land!"

Under the heavy reward, there are many brave men. These craftsmen are quite old, and they are not considered brave men. However, facing such a generous reward, they all looked green. Cao Lei even licked his lips and asked greedily: " My lord, what if I build the crossbow you want by myself?"

Yang Menglong laughed: "Then you are awesome, I have prepared 3000 taels of silver for you, and a grand prize of [-] acres of fertile land! But I don't think that such a complicated project can be completed by one's own strength. Let's cooperate, if I can't produce what I want within two years, I will turn my face!"

Cao Lei thought about it, these indicators are really terrible. It is impossible to build such a perverted crossbow by himself. Forget it, let’s not be too greedy. Let’s work together and try to get it out as soon as possible.

Lin Zongqi asked cautiously: "My lord, what if we made it in advance?" He looked eager.

Yang Menglong smiled: "You are really greedy, okay, I like greedy people! If you can make it in advance, I will reward each of you an extra tael of silver a day in advance. If you are able, you can do it for me tomorrow and make mine Empty your wallet!!”

The craftsmen cheered loudly, wishing they could rush to work immediately.In the military guards of the Ming Dynasty, the life of craftsmen was worse than that of military households. These technicians could not even get food, let alone expect to be respected. Therefore, their attitude has always been very negative, and many people put their minds on it. In order to make some money to make a living, the quality of the weapons produced is extremely poor. The guns that explode when fired, the knife that breaks when cut, and the spears that take off the tip during martial arts are all made by them. hand.They couldn't help it. As soon as the money was allocated, at least [-]% was "lost" by the superiors according to the old rules. When it was sent to their superiors, another [-]% or [-]% was lost. If the money in hand can reach [-]%, even if the character of the above people explodes, even if they don’t eat or drink, they can’t make weapons according to the quality and quantity, not to mention they have to support their families———— The craftsmen in the camp do not receive wages, so thank God for the food.After going back and forth, the quality of the weapons produced is naturally not much better.But Yang Menglong was different, he responded to every request, gave them very high remuneration, and there was a large bonus waiting for them to claim, could they not be active?As Yang Menglong said, I can't wait to get what Yang Menglong wants tomorrow!

Seeing how excited these guys were, Yang Menglong showed a smug smile.With a lot of rewards, there are piles of brave men, with such an attractive carrot hanging in front of you, are you afraid that these donkeys will not pull the cart and run forward?Come on, come on, I will let you know what is called capitalist exploitation!

(End of this chapter)