The twice-cooked pork, stir-fried pork, etc. that Fang Xiaoyue expected did not appear at all.
This is also helpless. There are now more than 130 people in the valley, but there is only one iron pot. Just to cook the broth, you have to cook several pots to feed everyone. Where can I find it?
The extra iron pots are for Fang Xiaoyue to cook.
But this is not a big problem. Once the iron ore and coal are mined, the iron will be smelted, and iron pots, hoes, sickles, etc. will be available.
"Grandpa, this is your broth."
The person in charge now is his eldest son Zhang Pingan.
Fang Xiaoyue was naturally the biggest contributor in bringing these wild boars back. The first bowl of pork, nut and wild vegetable soup was naturally served by his grandson Zhang Siju.
“The taste is a bit bland.”
Fang Xiaoyue is also hungry at this time. He needs food containing more nutrients to speed up the integration of his body.
However, after picking up a piece of pork strip with chopsticks and eating it, he still commented with some dissatisfaction.
"Uncle Da Lao, we are almost running out of salt."
A villager who was somewhat related to him had the courage to reply, "No way, in the eyes of the villagers, Zhang Dadao is no longer the honest and a bit cunning farmer he used to be."
More of a fear of him.
Being able to kill so many cavalry and such a big wild boar was simply beyond their imagination.
That is to say, there are few literate people here. If there are more commentators, this section may be made into a story and spread.
"Yes, I have to find some salt tomorrow."
Fang Xiaoyue felt a little big-headed.
In ancient times, leading a group of refugees to hide in the mountains and forests would encounter too many troubles and problems.
To be honest, in addition to salt, there is also a shortage of quilts and coats for winter, medicines, doctors, etc.
In short, it is not easy to leave your hometown.
After a few days of good meat, Fang Xiaoyue arranged for some people to follow Ding Shengming to dig for iron ore and coal. As usual, she set out with a few people to buy some salt, quilts, cotton clothes and other scarce materials.
As for what to do if you have no money?
I can only take one step at a time, and if that doesn't work, I'll take out my old profession and carve something to sell.
But after they cautiously approached the county seat, they discovered that the Beiyue Cavalry, which was supposed to start evacuating during this period, had not left.
However, at this time, the Beiyue Cavalry did not guard the county so tightly. Some caravans from other places even frequently appeared outside the city. After paying the taxes and fees to the Beiyue Cavalry, they turned out to be at the city gate.
Open a stall outside and start selling.
Looking at this scene, Fang Xiaoyue doubted that these Beiyue Cavalry would not leave.
After further inquiry, it turned out to be true!
An army sent by Pinggui State to meet the enemy was attacked by Beiyue cavalry and the whole army was destroyed, leaving only the commander who fled back in embarrassment.
This actually irritated the general of Beiyue Cavalry, who actually planned to occupy this place permanently.
The country is weak, that's it. I originally planned to get a vote and leave. After all, the power of a country cannot be competed by these two thousand Beiyue cavalry. As a result, after the first battle, the five thousand army was defeated by the cavalry.
Seeing that Ping Guiguo was so weak, General Beiyue would naturally have new ideas.
However, the Beiyue Cavalry was entrenched and refused to leave, which also gave Fang Xiaoyue a chance.
If the Beiyue Cavalry left like this, where would he go to find free food and materials?
It's impossible to really go up the mountain and become a bandit, robbing homes and homes.
In the next month, Fang Xiaoyue led people to sneak attack the Beiyue Cavalry seven times in total, including three times on the grain team and four times on the cavalry stations stationed in various towns and villages, and seized a large amount of grain, salt, etc.
Although Fang Xiaoyue took the lead in every sneak attack, Zhang Pingan and others who followed him also got real combat training.
Especially when Fang Xiaoyue killed only one or two cavalrymen, they dared to go up and besiege him with their swords.
Not to mention the results of the battle, my courage was tempered a lot.
The most important thing is that more than 300 refugees were brought back, including four doctors.
There is a doctor in Taoyuan Valley, which undoubtedly makes people feel reassured.
Whenever there is food and medical treatment, it is a great way to stabilize people's hearts.
After pulling back a large amount of material, Fang Xiaoyue led people to search and kill Taoyuan Valley fiercely. Wild boars, leopards, tigers, poisonous snakes, etc. were all killed upon sight.
In addition to hoarding meat, this is also to ensure the safety of the people in the valley.
No way, in the eyes of those ferocious beasts, humans seem to be just sweet and delicious walking pieces of meat.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the first real heavy snowfall in Suping County came down one after another.
Compared with the previous strange snow, this snow covered almost everything as far as the eye could see.
Under the heavy snow cover, the wind in Xiaofeng Valley turned into a white-haired wind, completely cutting off the connection between Shiwan Mountain and the outside world.
This also made Fang Xiaoyue breathe a sigh of relief.
The reason is very simple. His previous attacks on the Beiyue Cavalry were bound to anger them.
Moreover, if the Beiyue Cavalry wants to permanently occupy Suping County, they must launch a public security war to completely eliminate local instability.
Under such circumstances, Taoyuan Valley's situation is actually very dangerous.
Although Fang Xiaoyue has tried his best to extract as many young men as possible from the villagers to practice sword skills.
But there are only a few people here, and the weapons are only those captured. It is really difficult to resist the massive encirclement and suppression by Beiyue Cavalry.
It's better now. The heavy snow has closed the mountains. Although it has increased the difficulty of transportation, it also allows Taoyuan Valley to concentrate on refining coke, smelting iron, and forging weapons in peace.
Coke can be considered a high-tech product in this dimension.
Ding Shengming first mixed and fired magnetite with selected coal, and then reduced it to high temperature to refine pig iron.
Of course, this pig iron is relatively rough, much worse than the steel strips in real society, and it is not very qualified for making sickles and other agricultural tools.
But the current conditions are like this, and this is the only way.
After the pig iron is refined, it is made into a thin iron sheet to make a boiler with a diameter of more than 1.5 meters. Then the coal is put into the boiler. The boiler rolls on top and is calcined at high temperature below, thus refining coke.
With coke, Fang Xiaoyue and Qingzhuang burned kaolin into refractory bricks, and then used the refractory bricks to build a small blast furnace.
Looking at the small blast furnace, which is about ten meters high, everyone in Taoyuan Valley couldn't help but feel pity.
Although they didn't know why Fang Xiaoyue wanted to repair this thing, after it was repaired, they felt a little warm in their hearts.
For the villagers, this is their first time building a building of more than ten meters.