Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 635: The So-called Surrender of Prisoners

In order to appease the officials who were questioned and dismissed from office, these people were all sent to Hancheng to serve as criminal guards.

Even if he is guilty, he is still a management position.

As for his family members, they were also sent to Shanglinyuan and exiled to the weaving house.

At the beginning of February, the black bear left Ganquan and moved into Hancheng.

Here the iron cone weighing 120,000 pounds that he needed had been cast. It was normal to have sand holes, and the whole thing was like a spindle.

One hundred and twenty thousand Han jin is sixty thousand jin, thirty thousand kilograms, or thirty tons.

There is a limit to the amount of white mana that materials can absorb. After dead objects are refined, their solidity increases and they can slowly return to the state they were in when they were refined.

It is said to be 120,000 Han jin, but the actual weight has an error of several thousand jin.

The white mana returned by the boat before, plus the white mana accumulated during this period, cost a total of 912 points to complete the cleansing, which was higher than the amount used to cleanse the hot spring water veins.

Black Bear suspected that it would be difficult for him to purify and steal the second water vein, and the first water vein was suspected of being 'stolen'.

As for Lu Bu, he had reached level eight by the end of the year.

He still cannot speak, but he can eat and drink and is no longer afraid of the sun.

As criminals from various places arrived one after another, the Hancheng mining site also began to reorganize.

In half a year, including the more than 30,000 raw Qiang slaves who were added, there are now only a little over 120,000 miners.

Since the last time Black Bear was negligent, more than 6,000 people have died of illness.

People who are conquered by war are different. Even though the miners know that there are more than 100,000 of them, they dare not offend Black Bear.

They even showed rare production enthusiasm due to the arrival of black bears.

The last inspection improved their treatment, and this time they understand that their situation can be improved to some extent.

About 20,000 miners would be released and become free after serving for another year and a half, so the reorganization of the miners was very smooth.

Rebuilding the organization means internal differentiation of classes, and also means having a path for upward promotion.

Black Bear inspected the shallow mine, and no one dared to let him go deeper.

He could only understand the structure of the mine through blueprints, and water seepage in the mine was the biggest obstacle to mining.

Often, a mine that has been built with great effort and material resources has to be abandoned due to water seepage.

Animal-powered and human-powered water-pumping machines are not rare items, but the space in the mine and the continuous water seepage make it difficult to use animal power, and the labor cost is too high.

Using a small steam engine to drain water became the most important thing at the moment.

For more than half a year, Hancheng also tried to manufacture small steam engines, but the results were not ideal.

Hancheng restored the frying steel method, the pouring steel method, and the stewing steel method. The small steam engines they manufactured were also made of hot forged wrought iron, which was then cut and then poured or stewed according to the size of the parts.

Either the accuracy error is large or the components are not durable.

Black Bear had no choice but to ask the Taoist soldiers to rebuild the steam engine. The craftsmen in Hancheng still needed to accumulate experience... The best blacksmiths were all in the Sijin Duwei Mansion.

While manufacturing small steam engines, planning for new transportation routes began.

The ore collected from the mine needs to be crushed before smelting.

Previously, it was loaded onto ships and shipped downstream to the mines, where it was crushed by hydraulic power, which was later replaced by giant steam engines.

If another large steam engine were built, and left at the mine for crushing, the ore could be ground as finely as possible, which would also greatly save charcoal and coke.

The finer the ore is ground, the more you can use magnets to screen out some of the slag, further saving fuel and improving efficiency.

Once the miners are reorganized and the mines are drained under the new incentive and reward policies, the mining efficiency will be improved...relying solely on river transportation will seem insufficient.

The original railway must be built, but the railway of dozens of miles does not require such exaggerated rails. A layer of wear-resistant iron bars nailed on the hardwood track can handle it for a long time.

The refined wrought iron is cast into shape and then forged with a giant steam engine while hot, holes are drilled, and finally put into a kiln for simmering and steelmaking.

Therefore, the Hancheng mine must stop supplying to the outside world and give priority to completing its own transformation before providing iron ingots and tools to the outside world.

Only when Hancheng is well built and there is sufficient manpower, can we allocate officials and technical backbones to build similar mines.

This matter was so important that Black Bear had no time to spare for this year's spring ploughing.

But after the Great Purge, officials would not disappoint him. It was not until mid-March, when the mountains and fields were full of green, that the Xianbei king Budugen drove the captives to present them and boast of his achievements.

The Eastern Xianbei was divided into three parts from then on. Most of the young and strong followed Kebi Neng in the expedition to the various tribes in northern Mobei; one part was defeated by Budugen and forced to surrender, and another part was integrated into Liaodong.

As for the colder and more remote area north of the Great Xianbei Mountains...the Xianbei people basically cannot go back.

Life there was extremely cold and harsh, and it was difficult for the Xianbei people to adapt to it; in addition, the local original Donghu tribe was more brutal and brave, and even though they were technologically backward, they could not be bullied by the remnants of the Xianbei.

However, this time, Budugen only offered more than 2,000 prisoners.

They were all middle-aged and elderly people with rotten teeth, and almost none of them were under 35 years old.

Black Bear inspected the prisoners and couldn't help laughing. He said to Xu Lin who was accompanying him, "It's difficult to find 2,000 old men among more than 100,000 miners."

Budugen quickly explained: "What the Grand Marshal doesn't know is that it's not that the little king is greedy for the young and strong. It's that Kebi Neng has taken the young and strong men and healthy women from all the tribes, leaving behind only the old, weak and sick."

"In that case, it's not your fault."

Black Bear narrowed his eyes to examine the numb Xianbei old man, then turned to Guo Tai, who was wearing a purple Taoist robe, and said, "Select two thousand men from each camp of Qinghua and assemble at Tongguan."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Guo Tai bowed in response, turned his head and squinted at the group of Xianbei elders, then looked grimly at Budugen, the Xianbei king, as if he were a dead person.

Black Bear then said to Xu Lin: "Take your men and escort these prisoners to Tongguan. Do not have any contact with them. If there are any dead, cremate them on the spot."

"The last general takes orders."

Xu Lin also understood this in his mind. As a veteran general of the Yuan Dynasty, Xu Lin did not have many troops under his command, and only had troops to suppress the miners in Hancheng.

After Black Bear's inspection last year, he increased the number of battalions to twelve. The soldiers in these battalions were replaced by centurions from various places in turn, and they were basically garrison soldiers.

But Xu Lin has a lot of experience and he knows the ins and outs of many things.

Naturally, everyone knows how much Guanzhong fears a large-scale epidemic, and this is currently the only way to deplete Guanzhong's vitality outside of the battlefield.

Budugen was even more frightened, and stood there trembling.

Black Bear stretched out his right hand, and Gao Jun beside him considerately handed him the whip.

Grabbing the horsewhip, he walked up to Budugen and whipped him in the face. A crisp sound was accompanied by Budugen's heart-wrenching scream.

The Xianbei nobles and warriors who followed lowered their heads and remained silent, as if they had not seen or heard anything.

Budugen staggered a few steps to stand firm, then knelt down quickly: "My little king knows his mistake!"

"You left behind women, children, and animals that could give birth to cubs, but sent me more than 2,000 useless old men!"

"Is this all I am in your eyes?"

The black bear stepped forward and whipped Budugen on the shoulder again, causing the leather armor to make an even louder sound.

Budugen did not dare to move, and then he heard the black bear say: "I will give you one last chance. Send me 5,000 young men and 50,000 sheep before August. Otherwise, I will give you a winter to lead your people to escape, and then I will bring people to catch you next year!"

"If I catch you, I will cast you into an iron man and place you in my fish pond!"

"Take your people and get out!"

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Sima, for your generosity!"

Budugen breathed a sigh of relief, kowtowed more than a dozen times, then quickly stood up and backed away, with a bloody and flattering smile on his face, and kept bowing.

Guo Tai stepped forward slowly and said, "Sir, does Hu'er have evil intentions?"

"Ever since Kebi Neng's expedition to Mobei, I have suspected a conspiracy."

Black Bear threw the whip to Gao Jun and said to Xu Lin who came over from the other side: "Find some craftsmen and study how to use people to make iron men when they are free. I think it will be useful sooner or later."

Xu Lin thought without hesitation: "Does Commander Qu want to cast it alive or dead?"

"Raw casting."

Black Bear said as his eyes fell on Xu Lin's face: "Remember, there are some infected people among this group of Hu people. You know how to deal with them."

Then he looked at Gao Jun and said, "Take 300 black cavalrymen and escort them north. Search along the way and consult all military stations and post houses. If there are any escaped Hu people, immediately capture and kill them, burn and bury them. If there are any dead bodies along the way, cover them with lime and bury them."

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)