Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 333, Yellow River Firearms

The development of Hezhou is quite rapid.

With the help of a large number of grassland laborers and monks, the town was formed very quickly.

In the four directions of east, west, south, and north, corners of the city have been built. Although they are far from being connected as a whole, the outline of a large city has begun to appear.

The urban area consists of towns or streets formed by settlements, with houses built of stone and many yurts, a classic form of grassland architecture that is easy to build and can be moved with the climate.

Among them are many merchant caravans, but the scale is not large at present because Fang Yong has restricted them. Currently, only official caravans such as the Xue family caravan are trading here.

Soon, this place will be open to the public, and merchants from all over the world will flock to it with all kinds of goods from the grasslands. Fang Yong will issue rules to control this gold mine of trade and ensure that it continuously provides him with funds.

Surrounding the city of Hezhou are vast fertile grasslands. This area is adjacent to Daihai Lake, and the fertile grasslands are ideal for grazing.

However, this grassland was cordoned off by the Zhongxia people, and ordinary grassland people and sheepdogs were not allowed to enter.

Only those grassland people who have received special education and Wu Xiejun and his family who previously assisted the Huaiyin Army in battle are allowed to live here.

The other grassland people were outraged by this unfair treatment.

These people were given a derogatory name.

Call them traitors!

This is a derogatory term.

However, these traitors living around Hezhou felt no shame whatsoever.

Ha, what's wrong with being a traitor?
Those lowly grassland people from other places will never set foot on the land of Hezhou in their entire lives.

The privileges enjoyed by traitors are beyond their comprehension.

These steppe people who fought for the King of Wu had unparalleled glory.

They shed blood and risked their lives for the King of Wu!

Therefore, they can enjoy lower food prices than other grassland people.

Their descendants can receive the education of the Zhongxia people, and even have the opportunity to become noble Zhongxia people!

Even the cattle and sheep they raised were protected by the King of Wu and never got sick!
Moreover, experienced herders have already discovered this.

The swollen bellies of cattle and sheep are far greater than ever before.

Add to that the propaganda that glorifies Fang Yong...

Those lowly grassland people outside the state will never understand.

This small distance separates us by such a vast gap and divide.

The first month of the lunar calendar passed quietly.

Many scholars came to the capital to take the imperial examinations.

Many prominent families and scholars from Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Jiangxi provinces came to participate.

This surprised Fang Yong quite a bit.

It seems that these powerful families have very flexible bottom lines.

Even though he openly infringed upon the interests of these powerful families, some people still chose to come and join him.

In fact, it is easy to understand.

If you can't beat it, just join.

If they could defeat Fang Yong's rule, they certainly wouldn't mind joining in.

But the problem now is that we can't defeat it.

Continuing to resist will only lead to certain death; it's better to surrender proactively. Although interests will still be damaged, at least the lineage can be preserved.

In name, the Great Xi still rules over Zhongxia today.

However, anyone with a little education could see that a change of dynasty was inevitable.

In the past, King Wen of Zhou controlled two-thirds of the world, yet still served the Yin Dynasty. People called him the epitome of virtue. Why was he considered the epitome of virtue?

The fundamental reason is not that it already possessed the ability to change dynasties.

Fang Yong is the same now.

It has already occupied two prefectures and five provinces in the Central Plains, with a solid foundation. It has also gained the right to defend the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi, and is conquering the grasslands and northern deserts. Its power and influence are unmatched.

With Liaodong surrendering, no one in the southern provinces resisted. Only in the Sichuan and Chongqing region were there a few separatists who held their own, but they were merely putting up a last-ditch resistance. How long could they hold out?

Even with the talents of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, Liu Bei was unable to succeed in his northern expedition. Is Liu Xiang today any better than Liu Bei of ancient times?
Clearly, the general public does not agree.

Those powerful families in Sichuan and Chongqing could still rely on Liu Xiang and dream of self-defense, taking advantage of the natural defenses of Sichuan and Chongqing.

What can people from Hunan and Hubei do?
Could the Yangtze River, a natural barrier, allow them to control the area east of the river?
Fang Yong started his business in Jiangdong!
They only have two choices.

Either confront Fang Yong head-on, or face death and the extermination of your clan.

Their only option is to surrender.

Therefore, they generously sent talented members of their family to the capital for this imperial examination, which was essentially a pledge of allegiance to Fang Yong.

The imperial examination was scheduled for the ninth day of the third month.

Fang Yong initially viewed this imperial examination as nothing special, but seeing the large number of scholars present, he decided to give it some attention.

Apart from that, industrialization proceeded smoothly.

Kailuan No. 1 Steel Plant has been put into production, with a designed annual steel production capacity of 250,000 tons. However, based on the actual output in January of this year, its actual production capacity should only be around 50,000 to 60,000 tons, accounting for only 20% of the designed data.

There are many reasons for low production capacity, such as deficiencies in technology, management, raw materials, and other aspects, but the difference should not be this large.

Fang Yong speculated that the British Empire's so-called designed production capacity might have been exaggerated.

However, despite this, its steel production has far exceeded Dae Hee's original capacity.

Before this, the entire Da Xi Kingdom produced only about 20,000 tons of steel per year, while the output of Kailuan alone had already exceeded the output of the entire Da Xi Kingdom in previous years.

This is the disruptive impact of industrial production on traditional production methods.

Meanwhile, not far from the Kailuan Steel Plant, Fang Yongxing's gun manufacturing plant has also started construction.

Currently, this factory is only responsible for manufacturing one type of firearm and its bullets, and does not involve other firearms. Therefore, it is not named an arsenal, but simply a firearms factory.

The lathes, machinery, and design drawings were all copied from the British Empire. There was no other way; Da Xi currently did not have the ability to design these things independently.

However, the manufacturing principle of firearms is not complicated, and it is believed that it will not be long before we can create original firearms for China.

Based on its geographical location, this gun manufacturing plant should be called Tangshan No. 1 Gun Manufacturing Plant.

However, perhaps out of some kind of perverse sense of humor, Fang Yong deliberately named the factory the Yellow River Firearms Manufacturing Plant.

The first batch of firearms, totaling 400 guns and 60,000 rounds of ammunition, is expected to be completed by mid-March.

This is not a month's production, because the factory started operating at the beginning of the year, and four hundred guns is nearly three months' worth of production.

Of course, efficiency will be relatively low at the beginning, but production will gradually increase as proficiency grows.

Regardless, Fang Yong was already very satisfied with this.

It doesn't matter if one factory's output isn't enough; just build a few more.

Anyway, it was all borrowed from the British Empire...

time flies.

On this day, martial law was declared in the palace.

The imperial physicians all gathered outside a room.

Even the usually composed Fang Yong was somewhat nervous that day.

(End of this chapter)