Start with the humble bridegroom

Chapter 374 Armored Cavalry
Zhang Zhe leaned forward and backward with a smile.

Sitting below him were Chen Jiong, Xu Jidao, Zhang Sanqi, Geng Liang, Xie Lun and Gao Deshu, who also laughed.

"45 young and strong, [-] women, plus [-] old and young, and [-] slaves from the Western Regions. The price of [-] catties is very reasonable! Mr. Chen has made a great contribution. I will give you a hundred taels of gold first, and I will go there in the future." Let the imperial court recite merits together!"

Everyone congratulated Chen Jiong in unison, and Chen Jiong also hurriedly gave way.

Sheron pinched his fingers and counted.

"All ministries in Yunnan also helped us get over [-] back, and the population of our Central Plains in Yunshang County will exceed [-] by then!"

Geng Liang was a little anxious.

"Patriarch, should these people be brought back and put in our camp?"

"No!" Zhang Zhe smiled, "Put them all under Mr. Chen's hands first, to reap the fields, build the city and pave the roads. After they get familiar with the control of Yunshang County, they will be transferred to the military camp for training in winter when the farming is slack."

Xu Jidao explained for Zhang Zhe.

"These people bought from various ministries have some barbaric habits in them. They must be suppressed and let them settle their minds through work before they can go to the barracks."

Bai Nangui stood on the spot in a daze, and the flowers in his arms were also in a daze, or it could be said that thousands of them all had this kind of virtue.Everyone was staring at Yunshang County in the distance in a daze.

After more than ten years, these people from the Central Plains finally saw the city of the Central Plains again.

When the first person started to fly towards Yunshang County, thousands of people rushed towards Yunshang County like crazy, staggering, rolling and crawling.After so many years of misery, it seems that as long as they get to the bottom of that city, they will leave them forever.

Bai Nangui held Hua'er's hand and was also running.

Hua'er tried her best to keep up with his pace, and asked in a low voice.

"Father, is that the city of the Central Plains?"

"Yes, that is, when we get there, we can survive well."

Many people had to stop halfway. Wangshan ran dead horses, and Wangcheng ran on the grassland.Then a group of people with axes in their waists appeared and took Bai Nangui and others to a camp in the west of Yunshang County.

In the evening, stewed vermicelli with wild vegetables is cooked in the big pot of the camp.

After four or five days of renovations in the camp, Bai Nangui was incorporated into a thousand-man team and sent to repair the city wall.And Xiaohua was sent to follow the corn harvesters, picking up corn kernels with a basket in the field.

In the evening, the father and daughter met in the camp and talked for half an hour, but they were separated as work teams while they were sleeping.Hua'er sleeps with a group of women.

The population trade continued from July to the end of August, and the population of Yunshang County rose from 7000 to 200 (including [-] slaves from the Western Regions).Yunshang County paid nearly [-] million catties of vermicelli for this.

The 400 teams that bought horses also came back, and they brought back more than [-] mares, but there were still more than a dozen warriors who stayed on the grassland forever.

After hearing the rumors that Yunshang County used grain to buy horses, many small tribes also took the initiative to come to trade.

Zhang Sanqi and his people set up a camp in the northwest of the Yunbei grassland to receive the tribes passing by here for trading.

By the end of September, the number of war horses in Yunshang County had reached more than 800.

And 90.00% of them are mares!
All the ax gangs were included in the cavalry formation, and the daily farm work and engineering affairs in the county were handed over to the original slaves of the Central Plains.The five thousand slaves from the Western Regions were all handed over to Xu Jidao. They were divided into two parts, one half was digging coal in the coal yard, and the other half was digging in the mountains.

Zhang Zhe also sent 1000 people, old and young, to Xu Jidao to drive ox carts to deliver coal and transport mines.In fact, not all of the 3000 young adults that Mida sold to Yunshang County were "young adults". At least 36 of them were over 50 years old and under [-] years old, and they were all assigned to Xu Jidao.

With sufficient manpower, the blast furnaces in the valley were erected one by one.

Zhanghua's Yunshang County in 44 years is full of vitality and hope as a whole.Compared with the people in the Central Plains, the people who have suffered a lot here cherish the hard-won stable life more.

Therefore, at the beginning of winter, the young and strong who had completed the work of repairing the city wall, building warehouses and private houses did not have much resistance to being incorporated into the military camp.Of course, those who resisted also went with the slaves from the Western Regions as companions.

During this year, potatoes and sweet potatoes have been harvested again. Chen Jiong even exaggerated, "Our grain has crowded all the warehouses to the point that there is no room for even a single corn kernel!"

November [-], Singles' Day.Miss Mi is two years old!
The main hall where the prefect lives is very large, and there are seven or eight coal stoves in the room, all of which have ventilation pipes leading directly to the outside of the room, so the room is very warm.

Grand Administrator Zhang is turning into a horse and "running" on the thick blanket.Sister Mi rode on the body of the old man, yelling "Daddy, drive~!" There are also a few big dogs yelling from time to time, adding to the fun of the little master.

In the end, Taishou Zhang "stumbled", rolled down on the thick blanket, hugged the little girl, and laughed at each other.

Meng Xiaowan smiled and watched the father and daughter playing wildly. Now she was dressed very plainly, all she needed was an embellishment on her forehead.The brush in her hand was writing the documents, and a pile of official documents were processed in a short time.

At Zhang Zhe's busiest time in June, under Zhang Zhe's strong request, Meng Xiaowan actually took over the prefect's seal.In the Central Plains, it is extremely taboo for women to intervene in politics, but it is very common on the grasslands.

Except for Chen Jiong who didn't quite get used to it at first, no one else said anything.And Xu Jidao has been in the grassland for many years, and in many tribes, the hostess is not there, and the hostess is in charge. He has long been used to it.As for the few people in the army, they are all servants of the Zhang family, let alone dare to have any opinions.

Now, even Chen Jiong has adapted to Meng Xiaowan's presence in government affairs.

For government affairs in the county, Zhang Zhe puts the personnel, prison, culture and education, and financial audits in Meng Xiaowan's place.

Meng Xiaowan looked up at the desk next to her, Yue Zhao and Xu Niangzi were also correcting official documents.The two of them were already talented people, and after reading the books brought by Zhang Zhe for a few years, they also learned a lot.

So they were arrested by Meng Xiaowan and became "secretaries".

When Sister Mi and her father were having a good time, Bai Lu came over and said that Sanqi had come to pay back something.

Bailu's words provoked the little ancestor to scold Sanqi bitterly, but in the end he could only watch his father "run" away with tears in his eyes.

When Zhang Zhe came to the study, he found that Chen Jiong, Xu Jidao, Zhang Sanqi, Geng Liang and others had all arrived.

"What happened? Why are you here!"

Zhang Sanqi was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, it was the news from the Taha Tribe just now. The second wave of dispatch orders from the Waqiang Eagle Khan has arrived on the grassland, and all tribes must recruit troops to reinforce the Eagle Khan."

"The 20 Waqiang cavalry didn't take down the Ammu Kingdom?!" Hearing this news, Zhang Zhe was also taken aback. According to his understanding, the Ammu Kingdom could not have this ability.

"The 27 countries of Ammu have formed a coalition army, with a combined force of 50 to block the attack of the Eagle Khan in the three major cities. I heard that the reason why the Eagle Khan asked to continue to recruit reinforcements is because of Sera, which is located in the south of the Ammu kingdoms. The three major powers, Kandel and Baia, formed 20 cavalry to go north to reinforce Ammu."

Zhang Zhe tapped his fingers on the table and began to think.

In this way, the entire internal grassland of the Waqiang people will be empty. If the Wunu people or the Beibei people suddenly withdraw their troops from the Western Regions or the Central Plains, the Waqiang people will be in bad luck.

Beginning in late November, the long-lost heavy snow finally came to the grassland.

This snow has been falling from November to the 27th of the twelfth lunar month.

After the new year, the first year of Longde arrived.

A large number of skinny war horses walked slowly towards Yunshang County stepping on the remaining ice and snow.

Years later, Zhang Sanqi reopened in Mashi, [-] miles northwest of the north bank of the Banjiang River.This time, in addition to food, there is also a light blue dry alfalfa feed that can be sold.In addition to being able to change horses, Zhang Sanqi also purchased a large number of sheepskins and cowhide.After a large number of deaths and slaughters in the summer, the skins in the hands of the herdsmen have piled up into mountains.

In summer and autumn, in order to prevent the spread of this blue clover, the people of Yunshang County harvested countless times under the organization of Chen Jiong.Otherwise, this excellent pasture would have spread to the Taha department long ago.

This time more herdsmen and small tribes came after hearing the news.Because of last year's famine and locust raids, the water plants in autumn on the grassland were eaten up by the horses before they grew up, which also caused most of the horses to fail to fatten up in autumn.

The herdsmen lack the forage reserves for the winter.

But in the winter, there was continuous snow, and the horses all over the grassland were extremely thin, and they couldn't support the snowy grass in spring.So the news spread that Zhang Sanqi bought horses again, and more and more people braved the wind and snow to exchange for food and pasture.

Zhang Zhe and Geng Liang braved the severe cold and stood on the tower, looking at the horses walking towards this side weakly, but their faces were full of smiles.On the grassland, enough horses and people are the guarantee of safety.

More than 2000 horses were driven to the snow beside the Yunhe River.

Because the Yun River flows out of the inner river of the mountain, when it passes through the territory of Yunshang County, the flow speed is fast and the temperature is relatively high, so it is the only river nearby that does not freeze.

Ma Kua and a group of people waited on the edge of the Yunhe early in the morning. With a large wooden shovel in hand, they gently shoveled on the snow, revealing a piece of blue alfalfa under the half-foot-thick snow layer.

In the original world, alfalfa could survive within a temperature difference between minus fifteen degrees and minus forty degrees.The alfalfa in this world is much more fragile, and will disappear when the basic temperature reaches zero.

However, the blue alfalfa produced by the hybridization of two world alfalfas is extremely frost-resistant, and after absorbing enough snow water under the snow layer, it grows bigger and more colorful.

The thin horses were also attracted by the blue clover, and immediately huddled together.But some clever horses dug through the snow gently and found the clover by themselves.

"How about the valley in the southwest? Every horse should be careful, but you must not put sick horses together with the herd. The stock of dry alfalfa is right, don't collect the horses but don't eat them. .”

Hearing what the prefect said, Chen Jiong nodded with a smile.

"There are four or five valleys in the southwest, each of which can hold ten thousand horses. The sick horses have been put into a small valley alone. There is enough dry alfalfa, and there are thousands of piles in each valley. If you are so hungry, Shijun just talk to me."

At this moment, a loud neigh came from the other end, attracting the attention of everyone on the tower.

Ma Kua, who was looking for a sick horse among the horse herd, yelled badly when he heard the neighing.

"Hurry up, hurry up, get the horses together! That guy has no skin and no face again!"

Before people hurriedly gathered the new mares together again, they saw eleven stallions running from a distance.They are called stallions, but in fact these horses are only a little over a year old, but their size is no different from that of ordinary stallions.

It was Zhang Sanqi who "sowed" the essence of Yili horses and Mongolian horses in Xiushan, and was the surviving male foal among the foals born.

This group of stallions are well-known street runners in the horse world of Yunshang County. Relying on the favor of the prefect, they have always been rampant.Disputes with other adult stallions are also swarming up, without the heroic spirit of a horse, a proper group of bastards.

Even the three mares they had grown up with were ashamed to be among them now.

Eleven street runners swaggered into the herd of new mares, biting here and kicking there, very proud of themselves.The horsemen and the others chased them away loudly, but the gang of street sneakers didn't take it seriously at all.

The street runners completely dissipated the prefect's interest in watching the horses.Zhang Zhe took Geng Liang and a group of soldiers, got off the tower, mounted a horse, and rushed out of the city to the valley to the east.

Xu Jidao's workshop has been fully completed. Relying on hydraulic forging, blast furnaces, sufficient manpower and a large assembly line model, the first batch of self-produced military equipment in Yunshang County will be submitted for inspection today.

Holding a stamped steel helmet in his hand, Xu Jidao demonstrated how to hang up the neck guard made of steel chains, then took out two layers of sheepskin soft hats and stuffed them tightly inside the helmet, and picked up a cowhide shell Put it on the outside of the helmet, and put the visor down.

"It is completely designed according to the envoy's requirements. It is comfortable to wear, rainproof and does not reflect light at night, but the style is a bit strange."

"I think it's very good!" Zhang Zhe put one on himself, buckled the leather strap, and then shook it, it was very stable.

"How many tops are there in this batch? What's the yield?"

"[-] pieces. Now that the crafts and molds are proficient, there will be no problem in producing another [-] pieces next month."

Zhang Zhe didn't speak, but asked Geng Liang to put on one side of the plate armor for him.

The plate armor is two steel plates punched out to a certain extent, connected from the shoulders with three-finger-wide cowhide, covered from the head, and two chain armor components under the armpit, which serve to fix the plate armor and protect the underarms and waist. effect.

Then Geng Liang picked up a pair of steel shoulder guards and stuck them on the joints of the plate armor for Zhang Zhe, followed by steel liners, long wrist guards, and cowhide gloves dotted with steel pieces.

Then there are four steel skirts, knee armor, and cowhide boots also inlaid with steel plates.

After Zhang Zhe put it on, he felt it carefully. Since the inner lining is made of sheepskin, it is not uncomfortable.He jumped again, weighing at least twenty kilograms, which is why Yungang is light.

While trying to untie it himself, he asked Xu Jidao: "With such a complete set, how many sets can you have in a month?"

"Returning to the envoy, one thousand sets have been sold, and at most eight hundred sets can be produced in a month. However, if the envoy is willing to send some women to make linings, one thousand sets a month should not be a problem."

Zhang Zhe casually picked up the saber on the side and waved it around, nodding.

"Ask Chen Jiong to send eight hundred women to you, but the inner lining will be made in the city, so it will be convenient for those women to go home."

"promise!"

Geng Liang picked up three pieces of wooden sticks, which were the front of the car that Zhang Zhe brought from Hyundai, and the gun barrel from the car.There are two steel joints in the middle of the three gun shafts, which can be connected together, and then a spear head is installed to form a four-meter-long spear.

The horse armor is all hard cowhide, and a lot of thin cloud steel sheets are inlaid on key parts.

After putting on Zhang Zhe's big black horse, he seemed a little resistant.

"Geng Liang, ask them to organize people to bring horses to try on the horse armor immediately after the snow melts, and let the horses get used to it first."

"We are not as good as prairie people in riding and shooting, so let's have armored cavalry and charge in groups!"

(End of this chapter)