A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

Seeing Chen Xiaoniu so excited, Li Rui laughed and poured cold water on him.

"Forget about it. Flintlock guns are expensive to manufacture and have an extremely low success rate. It's impossible for the entire army to be equipped with them."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaoniu felt immediately disappointed.

However, Li Rui soon added.

"But equipping a small number of teams is still no problem."

The fire in Chen Xiaoniu's eyes instantly reignited, and he hurriedly crawled forward on his knees, grabbing Li Rui's clothes.

He said eagerly, almost impatiently.

"General! Give them to me! Hand them over to me! I'll take care of them; I'm sure I won't let you down!"

In the end, Chen Xiaoniu's words were almost pleading.

As a veteran, he understood almost instantly that the flintlock pistol was definitely the most powerful weapon in the world today!

How awesome would it be to have such powerful weapons under my command!

He's like a hero seeing a BMW, or a bachelor seeing a beautiful woman.

I'm so hungry!

My mouth is watering!

Li Rui was amused by him.

"Get up! What kind of behavior is this in front of the two brothel owners?"

Yu Shuji quickly smiled.

"I think General Chen is extremely genuine and pure, with a sincere heart."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaoniu nodded repeatedly, his eyes becoming even more earnest.

Li Rui said helplessly.

"Alright, I was planning to equip the Royal Guard with flintlock muskets anyway."

Chen Xiaoniu was overjoyed!

boom!

The young man kowtowed directly, stood up, and said excitedly.

"We will certainly not let such a divine artifact go to waste!"

Yu Shuji also sighed.

"The flintlock musket developed by Sikong was a pioneering achievement in reshaping warfare, and it was truly awe-inspiring."

I even feel that the first thirty-odd years I spent building weapons were a complete waste!

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhongkang shook his head with a wry smile.

"Who says otherwise? My knife-making skills are unparalleled. I thought there was no weapon in the world more powerful than the one I forged."

As a result… Sikong's flintlock pistol shattered my craft with a single shot!

Upon hearing this...

Li Rui patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.

"Flintlock muskets can't be mass-produced. When it comes to the battlefield, the swords and spears you forge will be the mainstream. Why belittle yourselves?"

Yu Zhongkang nodded slightly, still feeling somewhat disappointed.

Chen Xiaoniu, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but ask.

"May I ask the two workshop masters, how many flintlock muskets can be produced by the end of October?"

The Yu brothers exchanged a glance, pondered for a moment, and then spoke.

"Thirty bars."

Chen Xiaoniu was stunned.

"So little!?"

Li Rui quickly told him to get out of the way so as not to hurt the feelings of the two blacksmiths.

"Please don't mind him, he's a straightforward person and doesn't know how to speak properly."

Yu Shuji was flattered and quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

"Sikong is generous, but thirty poles is indeed the limit. Any more, and I'm afraid we can't guarantee the quality."

Li Rui, however, had anticipated this.

He went to the blacksmith shop every day and knew how it worked.

Each blacksmith works independently, crafting finished weapons from a blank iron piece—all done by one person.

This method works well for making traditional cold weapons, but it becomes inefficient when applied to flintlock muskets.

Li Rui then proposed a change plan.

assembly line.

He was just a blacksmith, and he only did one job.

For example, for gun barrels, you could directly designate a few of the best blacksmiths to make gun barrels.

Similarly, have someone else build only one of the parts.

such.

It can quickly improve the craftsman's skill level and speed up the process, while also maintaining confidentiality.

To prevent a craftsman from being poached and having the complete set of blueprints for the flintlock musket leaked out.

The Yu brothers heard about Li Rui's proposed assembly line production method.

At first, I was somewhat skeptical.

After all, their work methods have been passed down from generation to generation and are already very efficient.

however.

After trying assembly line production, only half a month later.

Yu Shuji excitedly found Li Rui and said...

"Sikong is truly a genius! He could only build thirty poles before, but now, conservatively speaking, he can build at least fifty!"

Li Rui nodded in satisfaction, instructing Yu Shuji to focus on producing flintlock muskets, and to provide all the necessary resources.

Meanwhile.

Another autumn harvest has arrived.

Thanks to high-yield grain seeds and fertilizers, almost every household in Boling County has achieved a yield of 1.3 to 3 shi per mu!

The yield of one stone three is mostly from newly reclaimed farmland.

In the past, such inferior land could never produce grain!

It takes at least one or two years of piling up human and animal excrement and wood ash to make the soil fertile.

But now.

With the application of chemical fertilizers, even poor-quality land can yield 1.3 shi per mu!

As for those fertile fields, the highest yield even reached three shi and six dou per mu!

The entire Boling County was immersed in the joy of a bumper harvest!

The people beat drums and gongs, and sang and danced day and night.

In this chaotic world, Boling County truly resembles a paradise, a place of blissful intoxication.

The people naturally understood who had brought them a good life.

With almost no one calling on them, people from all over Boling County brought grain, eggs, poultry, copper coins and other valuables.

They spontaneously flocked to Li Rui's manor in the southern suburbs of Boling County.

For more than ten consecutive days, people have been coming here every day.

They voluntarily offered what they had prepared to Li Rui, and even kowtowed outside the door in unison.

Wang Shuyu, along with Li Zhiyan and the guards of her household, spent their days maintaining order and persuading the people to go home.

But no way.

After experiencing hardship, people will always cherish happiness a hundredfold when they encounter it again.

Everyone knows who brought us happiness.

The people are kind-hearted; they will support whoever treats them well.

By the end, thousands of people had gathered outside the manor.

Even when Li Rui himself stepped forward, he couldn't persuade the grateful people!

Left with no other option, Li Rui had to transfer troops from Langshan and have his own people persuade their own people.

After much persuasion, the people reluctantly left, wiping away tears and saying "Take care, General" as they departed.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Pu sighed deeply.

"The book says that he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Although I understood this principle before, I had never seen what the hearts of the people actually were."

Seeing this today, I suddenly understand: this is the will of the people, this is the world!

With that, Zhao Pu turned around and bowed deeply to Li Rui.

"Only today does Pu finally understand that our lord's aim is not to conquer the world, but to rebuild it!"

Li Rui helped him up and said.

"Whether it's fighting or rebuilding, it's difficult for one person to succeed; you'll need a right-hand man like yourself."

Zhao Pu was deeply moved upon hearing this!

……

In addition to the grain harvest, cotton was also harvested.

Li Rui mobilized the entire county to hire local people to rush to make cotton-padded clothes.

Many women eagerly signed up, after all, Li Rui offered very generous compensation.

Now the image of men plowing and women weaving is directly visualized.

And just then...

An urgent imperial edict arrived in Anxi County, Dingzhou.

"Edict of the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty! The Khitan barbarian bandits have repeatedly raided Hebei, their hearts filled with wolves, their greed and cruelty are endless."

I have appointed Du Chongwei as the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Force, to lead the Imperial Guards on a northern expedition in due course!

Upon receiving the imperial edict, the Righteous Martial Army shall immediately assemble its elite cavalry and infantry, prepare armor, feed their horses, stock up on provisions and weapons, and proceed entirely to the northern headquarters to await the command of the Grand Marshal and join the northern expedition!

Bai Zairong, with an extremely solemn expression, knelt down to receive the imperial decree.

"Your subject, Bai Zairong, Military Governor of Yiwu Army, respectfully obeys the Imperial Edict!"

The emperor is about to launch a northern expedition.

More than a month has passed since the imperial edict was sent from Bianliang to Dingzhou.

By September, the imperial guards of Bianliang had already mobilized in full force!

Now that the imperial edict has arrived in Dingzhou, the Yiwu Army will naturally prepare for war and join the northern expedition!

Bai Zairong had known this day would come, so he made some preparations in advance.

However, just as he received the imperial decree...

There was even a secret imperial edict delivered to him.

Bai Zairong was startled and opened it to check.

He was immediately taken aback.

"Not allowing Li Rui to accompany the army? What does this mean!?"

Li Rui is a key general in our Righteous Army, skilled in battle and capable of fighting. This is precisely the time to use him. Why not let him go into battle?