Crowned the New Han Dynasty

Chapter 662
"This is also an oversight on my part," Chen Zhi sighed, "because many of the poisonous gas fire recipes were prepared by Taoist priests, which made him feel responsible. Now that the details outside the city are gradually coming, he certainly feels... It is inevitable to be dissatisfied and unhappy with the Yang brothers."

"In the final analysis, this thing is the work of you, the prefect. These ideas of other people are unacceptable." Su Liaoyi said pointedly, "In addition, recently, it may be outside the paper mill, or around Chenzhuang. , there are many people secretly snooping around. No matter what, they are all spies sent by other forces. They want to know the truth about our side, especially several workshops. , and soon another group came, one after another, and it was too much to disturb."

"It's so normal!" Chen Zhi was not surprised. "With something like Huo Zhu, it's strange that other forces don't care. They will definitely try their best to figure it out. Just blocking them will not stop them at all."

Su Liao turned to worry and said: "This is exactly what my subordinates are worried about. The fire is too powerful. At present, all parties are still skeptical. Many attribute it to ghosts and gods, but as time goes by, they will definitely find out gradually. The truth, when all parties’ attention is focused, with thousands of eyes and hundreds of hands, it will be really impossible to guard against it!”

"These are all natural phenomena. Just make arrangements and try to ensure that the relevant information is not leaked." Chen Zhi nodded, and then said: "There are a lot of things involved in this fire, and it is quite complicated. It consists of different things. People are responsible, and those who can come into contact are also strictly controlled and will not be leaked easily. If this kind of thing is obtained by the border tribes, it will be a lot of trouble, but there is no reason to guard against thieves all the time, so we We still have to look forward and update new equipment as soon as possible.”

New equipment?

Su Liao's heart suddenly suddenly started to waver.

He had already seen the power of the firecracker and the single-shooter cannon. It was astonishing. Could there be any other equipment that could surpass them?
"No matter how powerful the single-shot cannon is, its lethality is actually very limited. At most, it only serves to scare people." Chen Zhi saw Su Liao's doubts. "I have emphasized more than once that they are the ones who make the enemy retreat. Whether they are people outside Dai County, outside the city, or even outside Daibei, this is the first time they see single-shot cannons and firecrackers. They are caught off guard and inevitably panic. This kind of fear is reflected in the crowd. The spread of fire caused morale to collapse, but everything can be done one by one, and it can scare them once or twice. But once the enemy gets used to it, or is familiar with the effect of the fire stick, the level of fright will be greatly reduced, so Real equipment must have real lethality!"

He narrowed his eyes and seemed to be telling Su Liao, but also seemed to be saying to himself: "Only with real killing and unavoidable huge impact can we ignore temporary incentives!"

As he said this, Chen Zhi stood and watched for a while. When Chen Zi came over, the three of them left together and headed to the city to meet the Yang brothers who had just arrived.

It takes a long time to walk from the mine to the city. Riding on carriages along the way, you can see many farmers coming out to farm. Because of the battle that besieged Daijun, the Xianbei people chose to sneak attack and advance in order not to attract Chen Zhi. They were vigilant and did not damage the crops along the way. In addition, they had just experienced summer planting and many fields looked bare, so the losses were not great. Many of these farmers had a look of relief on their faces.

However, after watching, Chen Zhi still asked: "How is the statistics on crop damage going?"

Chen Zi then replied: "I have a general understanding. About [-]% of the crops have been damaged, which will not have much impact on the next year's harvest."

"After all, there is still some damage." Chen Zhi nodded, thought for a moment, and said to Chen Duo, who was waiting outside the car and walking with the car, "Go ahead and tell the tenant farmers under the Chen family's name to reduce the land rent by half this year. "

"No!" Chen Duo was stunned for a moment, intending to say something, but in the end he just responded.

However, Chen Zi couldn't help but said: "There have been a lot of people from our Chen family here recently, and the expansion of Chenzhuang has cost a lot of money and food. Nearly half of it was borrowed from the Yang family, waiting to be returned next year or the year after." , now that the land rent has been reduced by half, this involves too much. Nowadays, there are more and more clan members. Even if they belong to different walks of life, they still have to rely on family wealth to support them in the first few years. This is also a huge expense. Now it suddenly becomes If the land rent is halved, I’m afraid I won’t be able to survive!”

Nowadays, the Chen family in Daijun has begun to take shape. It is based on Chen Zhi as the source, Pengcheng Chen family as the main body, and Xiapi Chen family as the supplement. The two Chen families merged and were born.

At first, it was Chen Zhi who proposed the construction. Then the Chen family in Xiapi sent craftsmen and helpers, which were considered the first batch of backbones. Then the Chen family in Pengcheng sent the population as the foundation of Chenzhuang. The Chen family in Xiapi sent several more elites. Assist in management, but not many people are attracted. After all, the Chen family is located in Xuzhou, the hinterland of the Central Plains, with easy access to all directions. Even if it has experienced natural and man-made disasters, the living environment is not comparable to that of Youzhou.

Therefore, those who are really willing to come are distant relatives who really have no future at home, as well as some people with relatively low status. Many of them are even like Chen Ju. Although they are children of the Chen family, they have no background to support them because of their poor family background. , reduced to the status of servants.In order to support Chen Zhi, the Chen family in Pengcheng has made a rule. As long as these clan members who have become servants are willing to go to Daijun, their family will fund part of the expenses. As long as they can make achievements with Chen Zhi, or stay for a period of time , you can restore your place of origin.

There is such temptation that not even war can stop them.

Of course, some of these people who went north did suffer along the way and have no trace of the news. However, the situation in Hebei is corrupt nowadays. Not to mention them, even high-ranking officials and nobles, with many servants and servants to protect them, are still likely to fall into the wave of refugees. Inside, even Pengcheng didn't take it seriously.

Under such circumstances, the number of Chen family members who have recently arrived has become smaller and smaller, but the number of people who have gathered together is now an objective number. According to Chen Duo’s statistics, the Chen family members currently living in Chenzhuang, together with tenant farmers and affiliated , servants, there are already more than 3000 people!

"The daily consumption of so many people is the accumulation of a large amount of money and food. Even if a system has been gradually established to allow the Daijun Chen family to be self-sufficient, whether it is the construction of Wubao or the arrangement of personnel, every moment It all costs money. The compensation originally received from the Zheng family has been almost exhausted. Now that the Liu family is replenishing it, I'm afraid it won't last long. If it doesn't be replenished from other sources as soon as possible, I'm afraid I'll have to borrow money from outside again. .”

Chen Zi's words made Chen Zhi nod silently.

This is not a chaotic time. Even if the situation in the north is complicated, a general order still exists in Jizhou further south. Therefore, if many people borrow money, they will inevitably be controlled by others. Out of consideration for the independence of interest groups, Chen Zi , Su Liao, etc., are not willing to have too much foreign debt, at least they cannot identify one company.

Chen Zi added: "Now, with the completion of the two battles, it is normal for the number of people in the clan to go north to increase, and there are frequent letters from home. No matter what origin or branch they are, they will come to the head of the Chen family to discuss After a while, he wrote again, just to ask us to make arrangements, but these people often don't have much ability, otherwise they would have been able to make a fortune when they were in Pengcheng, why would they have to come all the way here? The only praiseworthy thing about these people is Yes, it is courage, but this courage cannot be used for a while. After settling down, in the first half month, I can only consume rice and food. I should always save more money and food to prepare for emergencies."

"I can understand your concerns," Chen Zhi was silent for a moment before making a decision, "But the accumulation of money and food is generally said to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Simply cutting expenditure often has poor results, and will fall into a vicious cycle of tearing down the west wall to pay for the east wall. Among them, the key is to open source. I have made arrangements for this. According to the practice in the North, half of the harvest from the mine belongs to the government, and half is used as a reward for the Chen family's help. Of course, the part reported to the court will also be reported as usual. Conceal [-]% of the information! This can also subsidize the clan."

Su Liao said with a smile: "If you report to the court, you have to take the Youzhou route, because our county cannot directly negotiate with the court, so of course we have to hide more, because if there is not much, it is tantamount to siding with the enemy!"

Xinhan's salt and iron franchise and mineral deposits government offices were originally intended to not only make money, but also maintain stability. However, this effect is almost ineffective in the North. Since Wang Jun's family is the dominant one, the few mines in Youzhou are limited. market, most of his gains were intercepted by Wang Jun.

Not to mention, the discovery of this mineral deposit was completely made possible by Chen Zhi's use of his own advantages, experience spanning hundreds of thousands of years, and his ability to draw fortune sticks. Otherwise, I don't know how long this mineral deposit would have been buried. It won't come out at this time at all, it will almost come out of nothing.

In this case, in order not to be used as a quarrel by the court, Chen Zhi had to report the mine he owned, but he also had to control the reported money, otherwise all of it would become Wang Jun's property. The governor of Youzhou After breaking up with him, how can I hand it over completely?

"Actually, I was about to report the matter to the prefect about this mine." Su Liao finished his sentence and changed the topic, "Youzhou has sent someone to inquire about the mine, and conveyed Wang Jun's intention, saying They are interested in taking over the business, but I don’t know how to respond?”

If you hand it over, you will definitely not hand it over. As long as Chen Zhi does not leave Daijun and Wang Jun still dominates Youzhou, another battle between the two sides is almost certain. At the moment, they are just not ready to manage and recover at the same time. That's all, where can I hand it over?I believe Wang Jun also knows that it is impossible, but he still needs an explanation for how to refuse.

Chen Zhi said calmly: "Let's just say that this mineral deposit still needs to be explored. If the Youzhou Prefecture is willing to help, please send me some craftsmen."

(End of this chapter)