On the carriage, Su He and Li Fengming discussed the current situation.
"Mr. Li, the defenders at Dashan Pass are very alert.
Even the details we sneaked in can't send out the message.
When they enter and exit the pass, people sit in hanging baskets.
The city gate is tightly closed, so we have no way to sneak attack and can only attack by force."
Li Fengming suggested: "Commander Su, the wall of Dashanguan Pass is eight meters high. It is only a general pass and is not an important military town.
But for our army, we have not yet conducted siege operations, so we must pay attention to it.
Learn experience during the offensive process and prepare for future attacks on military towns.
Now our army's method of siege is to bombard the city with artillery. We build a simulated city wall, and bombardment with artillery is not a good method.
It’s better to prepare ladders and other siege equipment in advance.”
Su He thought for a moment and said: "We need to prepare a ladder, but I will not use it to attack the city unless it is absolutely necessary.
Our army is too small, and if there are too many casualties during the siege, it will easily cause the army to collapse."
The two separated in Sujia Village. Su He went to the firearms factory to find Zhang Dezhi and asked him to make a larger siege artillery.
Li Fengming went to the Guanyintang station to teach the officers there how to read. At the same time, he personally observed the terrain of Dashan Pass and studied the battle plan.
The ordinary villagers of Sujia Village have moved to the county seat, and now it is a large workshop.
When Su He saw Zhang Dezhi, he asked directly: "Mr. Zhang, I heard Yu Liang say that he had seen a six-meter-long heavy cannon on a large Hong Mao Ban ship in the south.
Can our firearms factory produce such a cannon?"
Zhang Dezhi picked up the pencil, revised it on the table, drew a model of the cannon, and calculated its materials.
"This pencil is really easy to use. Drawing drawings is much more convenient than a brush."
"Commander Su, that is the Red Yi Cannon. When it was passed to us, it became the Red Cannon.
Our smelting technology is not as strong as the red cannon, and we cannot make such a large iron cannon. We can only imitate the red cannon that appears today.
Heavy cannons can be made with bronze, but we don’t have enough copper material." Zhang Dezhi replied after calculating.
"We seized so many copper coins from the squire, how could we be short of copper?" Su He asked puzzledly.
They confiscated all the gentry in the county, and they had more than two million taels of silver.
"Commander Su, the gentry mainly uses silver.
They also used broken silver to pay the stewards and long-term workers.
Common people and small traders mainly use copper coins.
We melted the copper coins as soon as we received them, and there was a money shortage in the market.
The common people all hid copper coins to prepare themselves for emergencies."
Zhang Dezhi described what he observed.
"I understand, stop building other cannons, and first build one or two heavy siege cannons to test the technology.
I will find a way to ensure the supply of raw materials for the firearms factory."
After Su He ordered Zhang Dezhi, he rushed back to the county seat and summoned the county magistrate Li Zhisheng.
"Li Zhixian, is there a shortage of copper coins in the market now?"
Li Zhisheng said: "Commander Su, there has been a money shortage in the county, mainly because after the gentry left, most people have no jobs.
They have to save money to buy food and medical treatment, and they also save some money."
Su He learned about the specific situation and asked Li Zhisheng to prepare for road and water conservancy construction, and rely on the work-for-relief method to allow most people to have jobs.
We are also preparing to produce a batch of paper money to make up for the shortage of copper coins in the market.
When Li Zhisheng heard about the work-for-relief program, he understood. When he heard about the paper money, he immediately objected sternly:
"Commander Su, the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes have no credibility at all, and the people regard them as waste paper.
We use paper money to pay wages, which is not the same as the corvee in the past. It is better to directly levy corvee and use work as relief."
Su He carefully explained to Li Zhisheng the differences between Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes and paper money.
The paper money they issued could be exchanged for silver and could be used to buy grain and salt.
These items are exclusively sold by the Tonglingfu and the prices are fixed.
When Li Zhisheng heard about the franchise, he asked: "Commander Su, I have heard of the salt and iron franchise. Is it also a grain franchise? Just like the Ming Dynasty, we distribute salt and sell it to merchants."
Su He talked about the franchise system he designed.
"No, from processing to retail, everything is taken care of by the commander-in-chief.
It’s not the government that’s in charge, it’s the commander-in-chief who opens a shop specifically to sell it.”
Li Zhisheng expressed his understanding. Commander Su's idea was really unique, and the government could still open a business.
The policy of providing relief through work was ordered by the commander-in-chief and began to be implemented by the county government.
The officials were all vying for meritorious service, and they also wanted Su He to be promoted to the county magistrate.
Jinyinhua, the head of Guanyintang Township, led the village chief and gave instructions: "Your task is to build the road. You must compact the roadbed, then lay gravel, and spread sand on top of the gravel.
The construction site provides three free meals a day to keep you full.
The daily wage is 100 wen, which can buy 4 catties of grain and 1 catty of salt.
You can buy a few feet of cloth to make new clothes for your wife and children.
As long as you work hard, you can rely on your own strength to survive this disaster year.
If any village does a bad job, I will directly fine the village chief's wages.
I've warned you twice, but if you still don't do a good job, I won't use you immediately.
Start working."
Under the arrangement of the village chief, the villagers began to pound the sandy soil official road.
The big wooden stake was tied with a rope. Two villagers stood opposite each other, each holding the rope tightly in their hands, and the big wooden stake was in the middle of them.
When the chant was shouted, the wooden stake was thrown high and then smashed to the ground.
Some of the sandy soil was smashed down, and through repeated smashing by the villagers, the land was compacted little by little.
From the banks of the Wei River to the front of Dashan Pass, villagers are building roads everywhere.
Most of the people are concentrated along the line from Sujiacun to Guanyintang.
On the main tributary of the Wei River in the county, villagers are also digging canals according to the officials' plans.
The sun has completely set, and the sound of the suona sounds.
Zheng Baiya put down the rope and wiped the sweat from his head with his hands.
"It's time to get off work. Everyone, follow me to collect your wages."
As the village chief, he earned 500 cash a day managing the villagers, and another 100 cash a day working.
If you work for a month, you can save a few taels of silver. This kind of good life has never been imagined before.
He took the young men in the village and lined up to receive their wages.
This was their first day of work, and the mayor Jinyinhua personally paid them wages.
Zheng Baiya saw the township head hand him six pieces of colorful paper.
His face immediately fell and he asked cautiously: "Town chief, can you exchange it for copper coins? What can you buy with these pieces of paper?"
Honeysuckle pointed to the shed next to him: "This is a department store, you can buy anything in it with the paper money in your hand.
If you are not worried, you can exchange it for grain and salt and take it home."
Zheng Baiya led the villagers into the department store with anxiety.
This is a quite large shed, filled with grain and salt, as well as a small amount of cloth and farm tools.
Behind the shed, Zheng Baiya saw more than ten calves.
There is a shopkeeper and three assistants in the shed.
When the waiter saw Zheng Baiya coming up, he asked politely: "What do you want to buy? Our wheat costs 4 jins for 100 Wen, and salt costs 1 jin for 100 Wen."
He also specifically explained: “There are special weights in front of the store.
The one pound stipulated by the governor's office is just that heavy, which is different from the previous standard.
From now on, when we sell and collect things, we must change to this standard."
Zheng Baiya stared at the calf. He had always wanted to have a cow of his own.
Now that my son has joined the army, he and his wife can only cultivate the land at home. Having a cow will make it much easier.
He made up his mind and asked: "Man, how much does a calf cost?"
"For 5,000 Wen, you can take this cow away."
Zheng Baiya decided to buy 100 Wen of grain first and save the remaining 500 Wen. As long as he worked for ten days, he would have a cow of his own.
The villagers all walked out of the department store holding bags of grain.
Their faces were filled with joy. This was the food they earned by selling their labor, and they felt more at ease eating it.
Paper money can really be exchanged for food. After a few days of exchange, most people believe in the purchasing power of paper money and start saving money.
