Hanhou

The county arsenal and the official temple are both in the east of the city. The whole building is made of rammed earth. The walls on all sides are nearly five meters high. Store chisels, axes and iron blocks that have not yet been made into weapons.

There are doors on both the wall and the partition wall, and the east gate is directly connected to a narrow and long partition road. On one side of the road are dismantled axles and broken wooden wheels.More than a dozen car boards were lined up against the wall, and the boards were covered with cracks and dents, and a few of them had traces of fire.

When the treasury official learned of Zhao Jia's arrival, he quickly stopped what he was doing and rushed over from the guard room.Because he was too hasty, he didn't pay attention to his feet, and almost tripped over the horizontal spear.

"I've met Zhao Xianwei." The treasury official has been guarding the arsenal for more than ten years. He has always been conscientious and does not dare to slack off.Due to frequent battles in Border County, in addition to guarding the arsenal, he also has more than [-] craftsmen who specialize in making and repairing weapons.

As the Han riders began to be equipped with saddles, the treasury officials received orders from the county to clear out the warehouses that used to store carts and store horse gear exclusively.The boards, axles and wooden wheels piled up in the aisle are cleared from the warehouse.Those that can be used continue to be repaired, and those that cannot be used can only be used as firewood.

In a great battle with the Xiongnu, there were ten to seven or eight weapons in the arsenal. Except for a few that could be repaired, most of the weapons collected from the battlefield needed to be returned to the furnace for recasting.

The craftsmen are busy day and night, barely making up [-]% of the weapons.No matter how impatient the treasury officials were, they could not fill up the treasury immediately.

Hearing Zhao Jia's arrival at first, he knew it must be to count the weapons. The treasury official broke into a cold sweat and kept muttering in his heart, hoping that the new county lieutenant would be reasonable enough not to get angry when he came up. Affection.

The treasurer's mood was written on his face, Zhao Jia raised his eyebrows, kept his face calm, took off the book from the horse's back, cut straight to the point, and asked the treasurer to lead the way to check inside the warehouse.

"County Zhao, please."

The treasury official led the way first, passed through two doors, and entered the warehouse where the long soldiers were stored.

The warehouse is very spacious, with a rectangular layout. The wooden weapon racks are placed in rows, about one third of which are equipped with spears, halberds, daggers and other weapons, and the rest are empty.

Zhao Jia stepped forward, picked up a long spear casually, tested the weight of the spear body, and then grabbed a long halberd.When he was inspecting the weapons, the treasury official wanted to speak several times, but he couldn't find the time, and swallowed the words abruptly.

Walking out of the first warehouse, Zhao Jia showed no joy or anger on his face, and he did not question the warehouse officials for the number of soldiers, but picked up a wooden tablet and recorded the situation in the warehouse in detail.Immediately let the treasury official continue to lead the way, walking towards the warehouse where weapons such as knives, arrows, axes and bones are stored.

Compared with long soldiers, the number of swords is slightly more, among which iron weapons account for the majority.

Zhao Jia picked up a short knife, tested the gleaming blade, and nodded in satisfaction.

The craftsmanship of the craftsmen is indeed commendable.No matter whether it is iron or bronze, they are all extremely sharp, and the hair will break if blown.Some were damaged during the war, and after being repaired by craftsmen, they are not much worse than newly cast swords.

After short soldiers are bows and arrows.

The Han army was equipped with curved bows, which took a long time to manufacture, and it took a long time to repair them.No matter how exquisite the craftsmanship of the bow makers, the construction period cannot be greatly shortened.After a great battle, it is difficult to make up for the damaged bows and arrows in a short period of time.The arrow can still think of a way, there is really no room for tricks when bowing.

After counting the number of bows and arrows in stock, Zhao Jia recorded everything he saw on the wooden tablet, and compared it with the books stored in the official temple, a look of composure finally appeared on his face.

The treasury official thumped in his heart, knowing that if he didn't speak out, he might have no chance, so he could only bite the bullet and tell the difficulties, saying that he definitely didn't intend to dereliction of duty, but because of the limited conditions, there was really no way.

"Wei Rong of Zhao County reported that there are only 26 artisans registered in the official temple, and even if they stay around day and night, they cannot make up for the short-term shortage."

"As far as I know, there are more than just blacksmiths in the county." Zhao Jia frowned.

"Don't lie to the county captain, not all craftsmen in the county are allowed." The treasury official explained, "Only the registered craftsmen can enter the arsenal, and before the registration, they need to be inspected by the official temple. This is a strict order from the beginning of the country, and it must not be taken lightly. Offend."

There are drawbacks to such regulations, but they have not been changed for decades.The reason is not that the imperial court stuck to the old rules and did not think about making progress, but that from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, the smelting methods and the craftsmanship of making weapons are classified as confidential, which is related to the combat effectiveness of the army, so we must be cautious.

The Bank of China said that it once advised Shan Yu, a military official, that when he went south to plunder, he should try to catch as many craftsmen as possible from the Han Dynasty.

The Huns did not know how to make their own weapons, and the craftsmen in Longcheng were all plundered from Han County and other Hu tribes.Among them, Xianbei and Dingling were looted the most times, second only to the Han Dynasty.

In order to achieve their goals, the Huns can do whatever they can, and they have done a lot of immoral things.

The other tribes are attached to the Xiongnu, and their force is not as good as others. They either swallow their anger and continue to be oppressed by their own tribe, or they are like the Tuoba Qiang tribe, lurking in the dark, waiting for the Huns to weaken and then violently attack, revenge and revenge.

In view of the actions of the Xiongnu, the Han Dynasty strictly prohibited copper and iron from going out of the border, and offenders were severely punished, and the craftsmen were registered and recorded.Taking Yunzhong County as an example, all craftsmen who can forge iron, no matter whether they can enter the arsenal or not, will stay in the official temple.

After walking through several storerooms one after another, knowing the current situation of the arsenal, and checking the number of missing weapons, Zhao Jia put away the wooden slips and thought about it, instead of blaming the storehouse officials, he encouraged them a lot.

The treasury official was very grateful and was about to speak when Zhao Jia suddenly changed the subject, saying that work efficiency might not be impossible to improve without violating the regulations.

"Since manpower is insufficient, we might as well focus on making long halberds and short knives first. After the spring plowing, soldiers from various townships will go to the city to practice. Long halberds and short knives are indispensable, and the rest can be given a grace period. If the shortage can be made up as soon as possible, all the arsenals will be Increase money and food."

The craftsmen did not work for the official temple for nothing, and the corn was distributed according to the length of the construction period and the craftsmanship.

As a county captain, Zhao Jia has the right to decide the amount of corn to distribute.

In addition, there was a fixed salary for treasury officials, but Zhao Jia, as the immediate boss, praised the work of the subordinate officials and gave them an extra sum of rice, which strictly speaking did not violate the law.

The new county magistrate of Shaling County has not yet arrived, and the affairs of the county are presided over by two chief officials.Zhao Jia and the county magistrate had a good relationship, and when they reached an agreement, other people would jump out and object when their heads were twitching.Furthermore, Zhao Jia, as a guest of the prefect, has made meritorious service many times, and the boss in the cloud loves him very much, as long as he doesn't think he can't think about it, jumping high into the pit, even if he does something a little out of the ordinary, someone will cover him up.

With Zhao Xianwei's promise, the enthusiasm of the entire arsenal was mobilized. The craftsmen joined together, and more than 20 people were divided into three shifts, following the division of labor and cooperation of Qin craftsmen. The stove in the workshop was kept on day and night.

The craftsmen who can be registered by the official temple are all skilled hands, and their skills are exquisite, which are among the best in the county.

They have been making weapons all the year round, and they are familiar with every process by heart. They work together to find the matching point, and the work efficiency is so high that even the treasury officials were surprised.

Zhao Jia went to the Arsenal again, saw the changes in the craftsmen, was happy, and paid for it himself, so that the servants went to the market to buy fat sheep, slaughtered and cooked them as extra meals for everyone.

Throughout April, Zhao Jia was busy between the arsenal and the official temple, entrusting all matters concerning Tian Zhong to Uncle Xiong.During this period, there were several light rains in Shaling County.Moisturized by rain, millet grows gratifyingly.

Li Tian still leaves early and returns late, going to various villages every day, reading out the notices from the official temple, checking whether there are any idlers, and arresting any.

Relying on cattle plowing and new farm tools, not to mention the young and healthy women, the elderly and half-grown children in good health can work in the fields.There are a lot of people in the family, and they plan to open up a few acres of wasteland next year to plant squatting owls.

The so-called planting flowers intentionally, planting willows unintentionally, Zhao Jia failed to plant big taro, but a few teenagers planted it by accident.

Zhao Xin and Gongsun Ao sent the harvested taro to the warehouse, and it took more than ten times to transport them all.Zhao Jia was emotional, and decided to set aside a hectare of land for the cultivation of taro.

In Bian County, where two stones per mu is a good year, the rations that can fill the stomach are very precious.The livestock farm did not cherish itself with a broom, and the method of planting big taro spread quickly in the county, and began to spread to the whole county and even Lin County.

At the beginning of planting, taros were dug from the wild.Because it grows in the forest and its distribution area is limited, it is a bit difficult to search.In this way, wild boars that feed on taro are naturally targeted.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhao's livestock farm harvested another batch of young wild boars, too many to take care of.With a wave of his hand, Zhao Jia chose the strongest and fattest ones to raise, and slaughtered all the rest. Some of them were made into bacon and meat sauce for preservation, and some were spread with sauce for barbecue.

I have to admire Mrs. Sun's craftsmanship. Even with the lack of seasoning, the roasted piglets are still fragrant and attractive.

The Western Han version of roast suckling pig tastes great and is very popular with everyone in the farm.Zhao Jia ate half of the head in one go, still feeling unsatisfied.Not to mention Zhao Ponu and others, even Wei Qing grabbed a pork leg and gnawed it until his mouth was full of fat.

So delicious, Zhao Jia naturally wouldn't enjoy it to himself, so he picked out a few healthy piglets and sent them to the prefect's mansion together with the roasting method and sauce.

On the third day after sending the piglet to the prefect's mansion, Zhao Jia returned to the livestock farm and found Wei Yue visiting.

I thought that the third son of Wei had something important to do, but he didn't realize that the other party was ordered by Wei Taishou to come to the market to buy piglets, and he specified that he wanted the fattest ones.

"Ichino?" Zhao Jia blinked.

"Of course." Wei Yue nodded, "The wild pigs sent by Ah Duo are very delicious, and Ah Weng eats one."

"One end?"

"One end."

Zhao Jia swallowed hard.

Even a small pig is not light in weight, and the meat on its body is quite considerable.He ate the whole head in one meal... The boss in the cloud is really extraordinary, and it is estimated that Lian Po will be willing to bow down in his next life.

In May, the millet in the field grows more and more luxuriantly, and the cicada breaks out of the ground, climbs to a high place, and makes the first high-pitched song in summer.

The weather is getting hotter every day, and the farmers are busy watering and irrigating. Their faces are tanned, their shoulders and backs are peeling, but they don't blink. They continue to drive the carts, one after another, to and from the fields.

Lu Lao led people to dig a few more wells, built stone bricks around them, installed water-drawing tools at the mouth of the wells, pressed the handle, and clear water gushed out, flowing into the fields along the dug ditches.

The well and a small river nearby are enough to supply the acres in the hands of Zhao Jia and Wei Qing'e.Including the villagers of Zhao and Wei's villages, as long as they say hello, they can also lead a tributary from the canal.When encountering a shortage of labor at home, the young men and servants in the livestock farm will also offer to help.

The news spread that some people in the neighboring village cut off the canal without saying hello and diverted it to their own fields.

This move naturally aroused the anger of the crowd. The young and strong in the village were so angry that they dug up the canal directly, which attracted the other party to rush to the livestock farm, ready to beat him up.

"Why can't I wait to fetch water?" A young man in his twenties who took the lead in yelling was originally a county rogue, but was arrested and educated by the elders.

However, the country is easy to change, but the nature is difficult to change.

To be honest, within a few days, I knew that the livestock farm had dug wells and ditches, and I didn't want to travel long distances to get water from the river, and there was only one well in the village, so I naturally made up my mind.But the villagers were greedy, and they were really encouraged by him because of the meritorious service of some sons in the clan during the war.

"If the new officer of Zhaoxian County takes office, if it spreads the reputation of being domineering in the village and oppressing the people, hey!" Relying on the large number of people, the young man speaks threats and has no scruples at all.

While speaking, a pair of sneaky triangular eyes aimed at Wei Juan behind the crowd, and he was reluctant to remove it after sticking to it, almost drooling on the spot.Wei Juan's pretty face immediately sank, and Gongsun Ao was furious, and was about to rush up and punch the young man.Even though Wei Juan personally held him back, he still stared at the young man, wishing to dig out those evil eyes on the spot.

The young man seemed to be rolled to the ground, and the fellow villagers were obviously unreasonable. Finally, the young man and the servant in the livestock farm couldn't take it anymore, and rushed forward to speak with their fists.

When the fight was about the same, Sanlao and Litian came forward, with a stingy man as security, and asked Lulao to find water eyes for the village.

"If you ask someone to dig a well, you need to pay money and food every day. If you only find water holes, you also need to pay two buckets of millet."

Naturally, the young man was dissatisfied with this result, but he had just been surrounded and beaten, and the three elders and Li Tian made a noise, and the coward was personally a guarantor, so he didn't dare to continue making trouble after all.

"Captain Zhao is kind to others, you should know that well." The third elder said in a deep voice, "After today's incident, if someone has evil intentions, don't blame me for not being sympathetic!"

The villagers who caused the trouble were embarrassed, thinking about Zhao Jia's identity, they were also a little scared, and they didn't dare to stay for a long time, so they turned around and left with a few dry smiles.

Looking at the young man walking among the villagers, Gongsun Ao clenched his fists, regretting that he hadn't punched a few more times just now.

Wei Juan raised her red lips and smiled slightly.She remembered that the village was not far from the horse farm in the county, and she would go to the horse farm to deliver corn, wheat and meat sauce in the future, and if it happened, she might meet her.

Touching the silver hairpin in her hair, the girl smiled, but her eyes were extremely cold.When Gongsun Ao looked over, the coldness gradually melted, and a smile melted into his eyes, which instantly became warm.

What happened in the livestock farm, Zhao Jia only found out after the fact.Having experienced many similar things, he really didn't care to get angry, and told Uncle Xiong and Uncle Hu to take care of the farm, and then he plunged into the official temple, looked through the materials of previous years, and started to formulate a training plan for the younger soldiers.

The fact that the Xiongnu temporarily retreated to the north does not mean that they will always be honest.It won't be long before they make a comeback.These soldiers will go to the battlefield one after another. For them, a systematic training is very important.