Chapter 191 Improving the combat effectiveness of the village protection team
Five days later.
Qin Huaidao couldn't go out and didn't receive any customers, so he concentrated on distilling liquor. He finally brewed 10,000 kilograms, two kilograms per person, which was barely enough. After sealing the wine, he went to Dongshi and strolled to his shop.
The number of people buying fairy fruit seemed to be less than before, with only a dozen people queuing up. Madam Liu was busy receiving them. When she saw Qin Huaidao coming, she quickly asked a girl to take over and greeted him: "Young master, you are here, but
Is there something wrong?"
"Come and see, are you okay?"
Mrs. Liu quickly said: "More than half of them have been sold. It is estimated that they will all be sold before the year. By the way, there is a lot of money. Xue Lang will come over and transport it back in a while, and we will sell it all..."
"There's no need to explain the accounts. Just remember it yourself and report it to He'er later. There aren't many customers now. I'll ask the owner to bring over the stove and briquettes later. How about you sell them together?" Qin Huaidao interrupted.
Mrs. Liu quickly said: "There is also one in the stove shop, and it is very useful. The people who came to buy the fairy fruit are still asking if they can buy it. If they do, they should be able to sell it, but they are afraid that if it sells out, they will not have enough manpower."
"Then some women who are literate and good at arithmetic will be transferred from the village to help, and you can manage them together." Qin Huaidao said, seeing the sound of gongs not far away, he looked over curiously and asked: "Over there
What is it for?"
"Back to the young master, the imperial court has started selling rice. It will be sold at this time every day. The purchase limit is one pound per person. Before, it was five cents. Now it only costs three cents. If the imperial court hadn't sold rice to bring down the price of food, where would the common people have eaten?
"I'm afraid I don't know how many people will die." Liu quickly explained and looked into the distance.
"Are other grain merchants also Sanwen?" Qin Huaidao asked.
"Yes, Dusanwen. The court sells grain every day. People are not stupid. One pound a day is enough to eat. Why do they still buy from grain merchants? Grain merchants can't sell it, so they can only lower the price. Moreover, they don't limit the purchase of Sanwen."
Qin Huaidao laughed when he heard this, and a sense of accomplishment arose spontaneously. He finally brought down the price of grain. The price of three cents was half less than usual. The common people benefited from it. He could barely maintain his capital, but the grain merchants lost money. However,
It has nothing to do with you, it’s time to buy the bottom.
At this time, a voice came: "Young Master!"
"Brother Xue is here. I was talking about you just now." Qin Huaidao waved to Xue Rengui to come forward and said to Mrs. Liu: "Sister-in-law, you go and do your work first."
"Say hello if you need anything." Mrs. Liu saw that the two of them had something to say, so she agreed and went.
After Xue Rengui came up, Qin Huaidao said in a low voice: "Don't transport the money back, use it to buy rice. Find more fresh faces to buy from different grain merchants. Don't go to the house. Qinjiazhuang's faces are fine, then go to Zhao Shuwen."
Their people also came forward to avoid arousing suspicion, and agreed on a time to start at the same time. Fifty thousand stones were secretly transported to the house for backup, and one hundred thousand stones were transported to Qinjiazhuang. It needs to be done quickly, and it will be done today. I am worried that the price of food will rise due to large purchases."
"Understood, I'll make arrangements here and get it done before dark." Xue Rengui agreed without asking any more questions. In Xue Rengui's view, food was expensive, so it was the right way to reserve more while it was cheap, and left in a hurry.
Qin Huaidao greeted Mr. Liu and came to the place where the imperial court bought rice to watch. The positions were in order, the identity and confidence were checked, the cashiers, and the grain weighers all cooperated very well and moved very skillfully. They sold so much grain in a row.
, all of them have become skilled workers.
Gradually, Qin Huaidao realized that something was wrong. There were not many people queuing up to buy food. This was unreasonable. He found the person in charge of the scene, showed his identity and asked: "There are not many people at the scene, or is it always like this?"
The other party was a small official in the Ministry of Revenue, with no rank or rank, but he also heard that the recent troubles in the Ministry of Revenue were related to the person in front of him, so he quickly saluted and replied: "Sir, there have been fewer people since yesterday."
"Do you know the reason?"
"I'm not sure. I'm busy organizing the sales and haven't taken care of other things. Why don't you go down and find out?"
"No, go and get busy." Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of the question, Qin Huaidao waved his hand to signal the other party to leave. After pondering for a moment, he came to a grain merchant's shop. When he went in, he saw that the price of polished rice and noodles was three cents, but the coarse rice noodles only cost one and a half cents a bucket.
It's equivalent to half the usual fare, and you immediately realize it and leave in a hurry.
About half an hour later, Qin Huaidao came to Qinjiazhuang on horseback. He happened to meet Xue Rengui who was leading people to purchase. He stopped him and pulled him aside and whispered: "We will quietly purchase another hundred thousand shi of coarse grains, including wheat bran, sorghum, and rice bran."
They all need to be packed separately and transported back to the house quietly."
"Understood!" Xue Rengui agreed and hurried away.
Qin Huaidao watched everyone leave and smiled. People are greedy for benefits. Although coarse grains are unpalatable, they can fill them up. When the price of coarse grains plummets, they will definitely buy coarse grains and save them. They can mix them with refined grains in the future. This leads to
Fewer people buy refined grains.
As long as bargain hunting reduces the amount of coarse grains in the market, the number of people buying refined grains will inevitably increase.
There are many grain merchants in Chang'an City, and they must have more than 100,000 shi of coarse grains. Qin Huaidao does not want to do anything, and deprive the poor people of their choice, but it does not prevent them from taking the opportunity to eat a batch. 100,000 shi is just right, and Qinjiazhuang has nearly a thousand more mouths.
It's definitely not possible to feed without food, and the extra food can be used to make wine.
Afterwards, Qin Huaidao came to the iron shop, preparing to make a fine steel horse stall for use in the Khitan battle. Seeing that Mr. Huang was there, he stepped forward to say hello. Mr. Huang motioned aside and whispered: "Young Master, from Zhaojiacun
It's been a few days since I came here, and I have to arrange some things, but I can't just wait and see."
"What do you think?" Qin Huaidao asked.
"I don't know, the Qin Family Village can handle the current matter by itself, there is no need to increase manpower, but it is not appropriate to provide food every day, the impact will be too fast," Huang said.
Qin Huaidao nodded knowingly. Everyone in Qinjiazhuang was paid for their work. If other people were arranged to come in, it would mean that everyone would be robbed of the opportunity to make money, which would definitely lead to conflicts, but it was not appropriate to just keep it like this. After thinking about it,
Said: "I just have something to discuss with you."
"You say!"
"For this period of time in Qinjiazhuang, I have been providing food and drink for everyone, and I have also made some money for everyone's work. We cannot continue like this, what do you think?"
"It's really not possible. I have meat every day and I still take care of it. It is already a great favor. I also give high wages. Young Master is a great kindness and kindness. No one in the Qin family village dares to forget it. It is really inappropriate to continue like this. Young Master, even
Even if there is a mountain of gold, it will be eaten up by everyone. Anyway, everyone has made some money, so everyone should eat what they have." Huang Lao said.
Qin Huaidao was a little worried. He had gone from luxury to simplicity since ancient times and asked: "Can everyone accept it?"
"What is unacceptable about this? Originally, the young master saw that everyone could not survive, so he gave everyone food and drink, and paid wages. Now that he has earned money, he should live his own life. How can he let the young master raise him? That is not a fool.
, let’s see who dares not to agree.” Mr. Huang said solemnly.
"You can't just leave it alone. In this way, each person will be given one stone of grain, and the young master will give it to everyone. With this stone of grain, it will be enough for the winter, and coal will be used for cooking and heating. Each person will be given two hundred grains, and the vegetables will be eaten by himself.
"Prepare, we won't make unified arrangements for meals in the future, what do you think?" Qin Huaidao asked.
"No, we all have some money, so we can solve it ourselves." Mr. Huang refused.
Qin Huaidao made a decision and said: "Then let's do it this way. Once the food is bought, it will be distributed to everyone. The wages will remain unchanged. If anyone has any objections, please ask Mr. Huang to explain."
"Who dares to have any objections and kick them out of Qinjiazhuang? We are all tenants, not domestic slaves. How can we let the young master raise us for the rest of our lives? We have been eating and drinking well for so long, and we still pay such high wages. This is so benevolent and righteous. I can't think of it.
He is an unreasonable lazy man. Keeping such people will only ruin the folk customs of Qinjiazhuang."
"Anyway, please." Qin Huaidao said. There was no way before. Everyone was sallow and skinny, and they were too poor to open the pot. In addition, they had to work manually, so they took care of the food in one place, so that everyone could have more time to do things. But now it is different. Everyone has recovered to the same extent.
It's not appropriate to continue to take care of the food when you have a salary.
To win the favor of rice is to win the hatred of rice.
It must end before everyone has formed a habit. If you cancel it after a long time, resentment will arise.
Moreover, Qinjiazhuang can manage nearly a thousand people. Now that there are more people in Zhaojiacun, there may be more people in the future, thousands of people. How can we manage them after all the people are gone? They can only be separated.
After signaling Mr. Huang to leave, Qin Huaidao asked a blacksmith to help him. He first forged two iron rods to remove impurities. Luo Zhang would also follow him. He had to prepare one for Luo Zhang.
The iron rod is a bit long, and it was not finished forging until dusk. This kind of work cannot be done in a hurry.
After the meal, Xue Rengui came back and informed that all the food purchases were completed. Qin Huaidao breathed a sigh of relief. With the food, he was not panic at all. Luo Zhang happened to come back and took the two of them to the iron shop to help. Luo Zhang told himself
I am very excited to build a stainless steel horse stall.
Until late at night, the two horses were finished and buried in the furnace and carburized into steel. When they returned to the ancestral hall, they saw Jia Youcai waiting. Qin Huaidao came in and asked, "Uncle Jia, is there something wrong?"
"Young Master, Lao Huang told me that we will not eat together in the future. Is it true?" Jia Youcai asked bluntly. When Qin Huaidao nodded, he continued: "It should have been like this a long time ago. Eat and drink well every day."
Now, it’s almost making people lazy, what about Zhaojiacun?”
"Similarly, they will make their own food, and support them as much as possible if they need it. Come and seek refuge from afar, and don't let your heart be cold. In addition, those who work in Qinjiazhuang should eat together." Qin Huaidao warned, there are many people in the family.
Wei has transformed into a kiln-burning technician, regardless of whether it is inappropriate or not.
Jia Youcai quickly said: "Then I will distribute the food tomorrow, and Zhaojia Village will treat it the same? And should we arrange something for them to do?"
"It's all the same. You are your own people when you come. You can't treat them differently. There are always people there. Don't act rashly to avoid resentment. The mountains near the cave extend to the Weihe River. Let them dig through them all and plant sorghum next year. Adults and children
Same, ten cents a day, only children over six years old are considered workers, too young to move to avoid injury, principle of voluntariness, no compulsion, the excavated stones are piled together for building houses in the future."
When Jia Youcai heard that the price was ten thousand for a child and one hundred thousand for an adult, the price was reasonable and he agreed. Qin Huaidao thought about it and continued: "In addition, the wind can be released, and the bamboo pole can also be exchanged for honeycomb briquettes. The bamboo should be larger than a fist, and the bamboo pole can be exchanged for briquettes."
Only long knots are suitable, not too small. Don’t use bamboo knots that are too short. The more the better.”
Bamboo poles can be used to make paper and can also be made into bamboo tubes to hold wine and take it to the battlefield. You can't burn a wine pot for each person. It is too luxurious and not easy to make.
When Jia Youcai agreed, Qin Huaidao asked: "How is the production of briquettes now? How many furnaces can be made?"
"One hundred thousand are taken away every day, and after the exchange, there is not much left. Nearly 10,000 stoves have been made. Everyone is still working on it. Do you want to stop it?" Jia Youcai said quickly.
"No, keep doing it. In addition, we will add one hundred people to make briquettes. They will be drawn from the people in Zhaojia Village. They will be treated the same. The extra briquettes will be sold in the shops. Then three women who are literate and can count will be taken over.
Listen to my sister-in-law’s instructions.”
Jia Youcai was startled and asked: "I'm a simple man, what's the price?"
"Ten cents per cent, buy two hundred at a time and get a stove for free. The stove is not only sold, but given away." Qin Huaidao warned that the cost of the stove is not low, and it would be embarrassing to sell it directly. Simply give it away. The best way is to boost the sales of honeycomb briquettes. Two hundred
Briquettes are enough to recover the cost of the stove, but once people get used to it, they will buy it again, which is regarded as a big market demand.
Jia Youcai didn't understand the reason and said with some pity: "That stove is not easy to make and it looks beautiful. Wouldn't it be too much of a loss to just give it away?"
"It doesn't matter, just do it." Qin Huaidao said, two hundred briquettes are given to each stove, and ten thousand stoves are given out to two million briquettes, which is 200,000 yuan. Two hundred people can make it in less than twenty days.
There are two million briquettes, and the wages of two hundred people for twenty days are less than 100,000 yuan. They earn half of it, which is offset by the cost of the stove and there are still tens of thousands of yuan in profit.
But the cost of the stove is one-time, the briquettes can be used for a long time, and the long-term flow of water is the way to go.
In later generations, the unit price of water and electricity is not high, and there is not much money every month, but at the end of the year, it is a large amount of expenses, and it is best to make money that cannot be seen.
Seeing Qin Huaidao's resolute attitude, Jia Youcai agreed to go ahead without any further persuasion.
Qin Huaidao asked everyone else to leave, leaving only Xue Rengui and Luo Zhang, and said in a low voice: "Brother Xue, it is expected that Luo Zhang will go out with me in a month. It may take two or three months, and Qinjiazhuang will be handed over to you.
.”
The matter was so important that Qin Huaidao did not dare to speak out about the Khitans.
"No problem, don't worry." Xue Rengui didn't ask any more questions and agreed.
Luo Zhang looked at Qin Huaidao with some surprise. Seeing that Qin Huaidao didn't say anything, he suppressed his curiosity and didn't ask. Thinking of making a stainless steel horse stall, he guessed that it was something big, and he started to look forward to it.
Qin Huaidao continued to warn: "Is there anyone in Zhaojiacun who will join the village protection team?"
"There are quite a few. After some picking, they are already full."
"That's good, they will arrange a meal together, and the weapons they seized will be exposed, just in case, wooden knives are used for training. Starting tomorrow, I will get some equipment and teach everyone a new training method. Do it every day when I am away.
, no delay." Qin Huaidao warned that the enemy might attack Qinjiazhuang at any time, so he had to strengthen his defense.
"A brand new training method?" Xue Rengui was a little surprised.
"Yes, it's brand new. I'll tell you not to leak it later. I'll take a nap first." Qin Huaidao emphasized and got into the floor to sleep.
Xue Rengui looked at Luo Zhang and asked in a low voice: "What is it, do you know?"
"I don't know. I'll know tomorrow. Why are you so anxious?"
"Isn't this just curiosity?" Xue Rengui smiled.
…
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Qin Huaidao enlisted the help of several carpenters, blacksmiths, and masons, and spent two full days building an uninhabited area in Qinjiazhuang into a familiar two-hundred-meter obstacle course training ground.
This is designated as a training area and no one from the village guarding team is allowed to approach.
Early on the morning of the third day, the team members gathered at the training ground and lined up in two rows. The team was a little loose. Everyone looked at the equipment curiously and didn't know why.
Xue Rengui didn't understand either, but he resisted asking.
Qin Huaidao smiled when he looked at the familiar training ground. It was too familiar and too kind, but he was not in a hurry to teach. Instead, he taught the formation. Everyone couldn't tell the left and right. Qin Huaidao asked Xue Rengui to help, using a cane to smoke, only the left side.
Let everyone remember that the painful part is the left side and the non-painful part is the right side.
After a long time, I finally made some progress. Qin Huaidao knew that this kind of thing should not be rushed, so in the afternoon he taught everyone push-ups, sit-ups, and horse stance punches. He was not allowed to rest until he had done a hundred. It was the first time for everyone to do such movements.
His body was uncoordinated and unadapted, and he kept screaming from exhaustion. Even Xue Rengui could not keep up.
Qin Huaidao knew very well that for this kind of thing, just practice more, stretch your muscles, and get used to it.
For five consecutive days, they queued up in the morning, did push-ups, sit-ups and horse stance punches in the afternoon, increasing the amount every day. Everyone was exhausted and panting, covered in sweat in the cold weather. Qin Huaidao invited Luo Zhang to practice together, and he was about to go to the battlefield.
It is important to improve combat effectiveness.
Starting from the sixth day, the training subjects added squats, standing up and forward bends, plus push-ups, sit-ups and horse stance punches in the front, which became the five hundred training subjects in later generations.
Qin Huaidao felt very warm about retraining these subjects. After a few days, his physical strength has increased a lot, and his coordination, balance and reflexes have also improved a lot, and he is secretly happy.
Ten days later, the formation looked decent, but it was still far from Qin Huaidao's requirements. They lined up one by one and prepared to continue practicing. After ten days in a row, everyone became numb and obeyed habitually, but Qin Huaidao did not let everyone start.
Instead, he led everyone to the 200-meter obstacle course.
Everyone had almost forgotten about these devices, and curiosity came back to them one by one.
Qin Huaidao said: "Everyone, we will queue up for an hour in the morning and train on this event in the remaining time. I will ask the young supervisor to run the 200-meter obstacle course and rush over as fast as possible. I will demonstrate it first and everyone will watch."
Everyone's eyes widened, full of curiosity.
Xue Rengui and Luo Zhang did not dare to miss the details. They both stared closely. Seeing Qin Huaidao moving his joints and warming up, Xue Rengui said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, this training method of the young master is unheard of. It seems simple, but I have to say it is very useful.
, after ten days, the discipline and physical strength of the village guarding team have been greatly improved. I don’t know what this obstacle race means. Do you understand?"
"If you don't understand, don't worry, as long as it works," Luo Zhang said nonchalantly.
Xue Rengui was right when he thought about it, he had big eyes.
At this time, Qin Huaidao rushed over, like an arrow off the string, passing through the span piles in three steps, then crossing the ditch, rushing forward a few steps, jumping over the low wall, climbing up and down the high board platform, and then climbed over the horizontal ladder and passed the single-plank bridge.
Climb high walls, crawl through low pile nets, cross low pile nets, climb high walls, go around bridge pillars, hoist over horizontal ladders, jump over the high boards of jumping platforms, drill through holes, jump off and climb up trenches, and finally pass
The five-step pile is almost completed in one go.
Perhaps due to physical reasons, Qin Huaidao felt that his performance this time was better than at his previous peak. He came to everyone and shouted loudly: "Are you paying attention carefully?"
No one said anything. It was so fast just now that they were too dazzled to see clearly.
Xue Rengui smiled bitterly and said, "Young Master, I forgive everyone for your incompetence."
"The first time I saw him, I couldn't react." Luo Zhang added.
"It's okay. I'll slow down and demonstrate it to everyone. Watch it carefully, remember it, and practice one by one." Qin Huaidao said and motioned everyone to come to the training ground. He began to explain the essentials of the movements, demonstrated them, and then practiced them one by one.
This teaching lasted all morning. After lunch, everyone continued to the training ground and started practicing one by one. Qin Huaidao watched from the side and corrected wrong actions at any time.
One afternoon, everyone finally mastered the essentials, but the speed and coordination were far from enough. Qin Huaidao led everyone to practice more in the evening. Fortunately, they were all teenagers, with quick recovery and strong adaptability. They gritted their teeth and persisted.
It's hard to find a job that only costs one tael a month, and no one wants to be kicked out.
Five days later, everyone basically mastered the essentials. Qin Huaidao knew that he didn't have much time. After dinner, he passed on the Eight Po-Feng Swordsmanship to everyone. Every move of this set of swordsmanship was clean and neat. The swords went straight to the enemy's vital points. That year, the Great Wall was defended.
When fighting against the Northwest Army, they relied on this sword technique to kill the Japanese and fled in a rout.
There are only eight sword skills, and it is not easy to learn them. But in a few days, he will go to Khitan, and he will be away for two or three months. If the combat effectiveness of the team protecting the village is not improved, Qin Huaidao is uneasy, so he chooses this set of sword skills.
The sword technique is extremely precious, and anyone else would definitely treat it as a family treasure and never go out, but Qin Huaidao generously gave it to everyone, and was afraid that everyone would not be able to learn it, so he guided it carefully, and everyone was moved and trained hard.
Five days later, everyone memorized the essentials of the movements, but they still couldn't understand the subtleties. Only Xue Rengui and Luo Zhang realized the power of the sword technique. This kind of sword technique that simplifies the complex and is close to the Tao is most suitable for the battlefield.
I am so shocked when I tell everyone this, so I will write down this feeling of friendship.
Two days later, Cheng Chumo came in a hurry.
After hearing the news, Qin Huaidao came to the ancestral hall and asked, "Brother Cheng, is something wrong?"
"The imperial court sent someone to the Supervisory Mansion to convey the order, saying that what you asked for has been prepared."
Qin Huaidao reacted and calculated the time to complete the crossbow. He signaled Cheng Chumo to wait outside and asked people to call in Xue Rengui, Jia Youcai, Huang Lao, Zhao Shuwen, Mingyue and He'er to hold a meeting for about half an hour before leaving.
Explain carefully the things that need attention.
After that, Qin Huaidao brought the weapons he had made, including a fine steel horse spear, two long knives, and a dog-leg knife. He packed them in cloth bags, held them on his horse, and climbed on another horse, together with Luo Zhang and Cheng Chumo.
The group slowly walked out of Qinjiazhuang and disappeared from everyone's sight.
Although he didn't say what he was going to do, everyone could see that it was not simple, otherwise he wouldn't have brought so many weapons, left with his eyes open, and silently blessed each one of them in their hearts.