The occupations of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty were fixed, ancestral and hereditary, even for masons.
But the wages for both ordinary masons and munitions makers are horribly low, making it difficult to support a family.
Chang Yu gave an order to summon the craftsmen in Taiyuan City who were proficient in making firearms and gunpowder. Jinyiwei, Dongchang and the military immediately took action, and nearly two hundred people were summoned within an hour.
Being suddenly summoned to the military camp, these military craftsmen and ordinary craftsmen were all frightened, especially because the people who brought them here were the little devils from Jinyi Weidong Factory.
In an empty warehouse, more than a hundred people were sitting together. In front of them, Chang Yu stood in front of a silver cart. He smiled slightly, grabbed a handful of silver and slowly threw it on the ground with a clattering sound, attracting everyone's attention as the silver rolled.
.
"Do a good job and you can share the money."
Immediately there was discussion, the money was too tempting and motivating, although they didn't know what work they were asked to do at this time.
The work is very simple, making explosives such as gunpowder bags, grenades, and hand grenades.
Explosives (black powder) appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty. By the Ming Dynasty, their application had become very popular. Various firearms were manufactured in various styles. Even the formula of monosulfur, dinitrate, and charcoal became a household name.
However, in this era of cold weapons, firearms have only been used for auxiliary purposes and have not been taken seriously. Even artillery is only used to attack and defend cities. Because it is bulky and rarely used in field battles, only Qi Shaobao and Qi Jiajun's Tiger Crouching Cannon (mortar)
predecessor) short-lived.
It turned out that they were making firearms, and these craftsmen immediately became energetic. Chang Yu's request was simple. First, no cannons, and secondly, no guns. Just a variety of explosives that can explode, such as gunpowder packets, stone mines, and large firecrackers (which can be used as
grenade) etc.
Collect all the materials that can be used to make gunpowder in Taiyuan. How much can be produced and how much can be made. Chang Yu knows that the sources of charcoal and sulfur for making gunpowder are relatively easy, but saltpeter is more difficult. Apart from natural saltpeter, there are only
It can be slowly and naturally generated and then extracted in the dark place of the toilet, and the time span is long.
But the current situation was urgent, so we could only do our best. At the same time, Chang Yu immediately sent people to nearby cities to collect gunpowder materials and craftsmen to send to Taiyuan.
After all, he came from a later generation and had a lot of knowledge and experience as a soldier. Even though he had never made any firearms, he still had a lot of theoretical knowledge.
Then a strange scene appeared in the warehouse. No one could have imagined that the director of the Dongchang Factory of the Ming Dynasty would actually roll up his sleeves and lie on the ground with a group of craftsmen, drawing various drawings and chattering for half an hour.
"These are all military industry experts, and they should be treated well." Chang Yu looked at the ragged military craftsmen in the warehouse and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice. Chunxiang next to him didn't understand: "They are craftsmen.
It’s impossible to get more than those who are officials.”
"You know a p"
Chang Yu patted himself, turned around and walked to the door of the warehouse. He told Hu Ling, who was on duty, to pay attention to fire prevention and production safety. He was solely responsible for making firearms and tried his best to meet the requirements of these craftsmen.
After walking out of the warehouse, it was already dark. Chang Yu waved his hand: "Go to Jiaocheng."
At the same time, outside the Yinghui Gate in the east of Taiyuan City, more than 300 people rode alone and in pairs, riding their horses outside the city moat. Wu Mengming raised his head to look at the sky, lifted his scarf up, and cursed in his heart that the damn weather was too cold.
.
Although the weather was cold, the more than 300 people behind him had bright eyes and could not hide their joy.
"Master Wu, should we take the east road or the south road?" Tang Potian asked softly.
Wu Mengming looked east and then south: "If you take the east road, go straight east to Yangquan and then go south. Although it is safe, the journey is too far and you will go around half a circle."
Then he looked to the south: "The nearest way is to take the south road and go straight southwest to Changzhi and then to Weihui, but it is too close to the bandit army and it is easy to run into small groups of bandits. What do you think?"
"Go South"
Almost at the same time, Tang Potian, Cheng Ming, and Li Tiezhu reached an agreement.
"Three hundred of us brothers will not be afraid even if we encounter a small group of bandits. At the worst, we can still escape," Tang Potian said.
Wu Mengming was silent for a while and nodded heavily: "Then take the south road. Although this trip is risky, you can find wealth and wealth in danger. The hundreds of taels of silver you will get on this trip are guaranteed."
Cheers immediately came from behind, and everyone started to howl. Wu Mengming waved his hand and ran ahead.
As night falls, seven of the eight gates of Taiyuan City have been closed. Only the south gate in the southwest is open. Under the bright lights, the security is extremely tight, and only entry and no exit are allowed.
Both gates in the south city are guarded by Zhou Yuji's closest relatives. The order received is that except for government officials and refugee laborers, no idlers are allowed to leave the city during the day.
And at night, any entry or exit is strictly prohibited. Refugees who have come from afar can only wait under the porridge shacks and temporary shacks outside the city until dawn before they can enter the city. As for leaving the city, no one can even think about it, it is simply impossible.
Obviously Chang Yu was an exception. Not only did he leave the city, but the scene was quite grand. He mobilized three guards and one army from the military camp, totaling more than 300 people.
The two hundred households on duty didn't say anything. No one dared to stop the factory supervisor from going out, and they had no right to stop them. They watched respectfully as the team left the city one after another.
At the gate of Lema City, Chang Yu looked at the refugees hiding in porridge shacks and temporary shacks beside the city wall, and then looked at the steady stream of people in the distance to the south, and sighed deeply.
Then he turned his head and glanced at the soldiers in the doorway. Two people were guarding hundreds of households. They immediately looked nervous and looked at him at a loss.
He took out a few taels of broken silver and handed it to someone: "Give it to the brothers so that they can all be smarter at night."
"Thank you Mr. Chang Gong"
The soldiers were overjoyed. The rumors about the young factory supervisor's philanthropy were indeed true.
Chang Yu tightened his scarf and looked up at the night. Chang Yu had a bitter look on his face. He was so cold. Why did he suffer all this for nothing? Then he whispered to Chunxiang and others beside him: "Let's go."
The suspension bridge on the moat has been lifted, but the water is frozen, so walking is not hindered. Everyone dismounts and walks, and the refugees in groups of twos and threes speed up and run towards the light of the city gate. They can already smell the aroma of porridge.
After crossing the moat, everyone got on their horses and galloped southward along the official road along the Fen River. They always encountered groups of refugees along the way, and they seemed to be in good spirits. This was due to the installations placed every twenty or thirty miles all the way from Jiaocheng.
A temporary porridge shed.
These porridge shacks are actually simple inns for refugees to take shelter from the wind and keep warm, which is more of a psychological comfort.
It was dark at night and the snowy road was slippery, so the team was not walking very fast. But even so, Chang Yu caught up with a team when he first arrived in Jinyuan. This was a logistics team transporting food to the front line.
The city has more than 50,000 troops, and the consumption of food and grass is not a small amount.
After walking for dozens of miles, we finally caught up with the large army. This was the second group of troops mobilized by Zhou Yuji in the afternoon. There were more than 30,000 people. The dark column could not be seen to the end. It occupied the entire official road and was filled with oncoming refugees.
As a last resort, stay away from fields or rivers.
"Give me a moment, give me a moment..." Several Jinyi guards opened the way, which immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the soldiers who shouted who are you, what are you doing, which army...
"Dongchang Jinyiwei is on duty!" Jinyiwei roared, and immediately no one was shouting. They moved out of the way to allow Chang Yu's men to pass quickly.
After walking for more than ten miles, there was another team with no end in sight. This was the first group of more than 20,000 people this afternoon.
Chang Yu asked someone to inquire and found out that the leaders of these two groups were Wang Yongkui and Zhu Kongxun, plus Niu Yong's vanguard army from the previous days. Zhou Yuji sent all his direct descendants to the front line of Jiaocheng, while those who stayed in Taiyuan at this time
They were all reinforcements from Xuanda University, that is, the troops of He Chengxin and Yang Zhenwei.
Chang Yu was puzzled by the unevenness of Lao Zhou's bowl of water, and planned to catch up with Zhou Yuji and knock on it, but Zhou Yuji was two or three hours ahead of him, and was riding a light horse, so he should have arrived in Jiaocheng early.
It took Chang Yu more than three hours to get there from Taiyuan to Jiaocheng, which is more than a hundred miles away.
On the banks of the river a few miles north of Jiaocheng, dozens of bonfires illuminated the surrounding area. Hundreds of soldiers were patrolling and setting up camps. There were also traces of newly excavated fortifications near the river.
Yong has already begun to set up a defensive line here.
I asked a Baihu who was on duty and found out that Niu Yong was leading troops to garrison in Jiaocheng at this time. Zhou Yuji had also passed by early in the morning and should also be in Jiaocheng at this time.
After crossing the river, we soon arrived at the north gate of Jiaocheng. Soldiers on duty soon came to check their identities. It seemed that the level of martial law was very serious. After asking, I learned that only the north gate of the four gates of Jiaocheng was open at this time.
Chang Yu asked his men to go into the city to find a place to stay. He took Chunxiang and more than 20 followers without entering the city, but walked southward along the east city wall.
Looking far to the south of the city, there are several bonfires running east and west. Each bonfire is a sentry post. During this period, there are patrol teams constantly patrolling the surrounding area, with each team having dozens to hundreds of people.
"Who? Password"
Chang Yu was discovered when he was still more than fifty meters away from a fire in the south of the city, and many people came from all directions.
"From Dongchang," Chunxiang said loudly.
He didn't know the password, so even if he named the person from Dongchang, the other party still did not relax his vigilance. Instead, he slowly came around and asked Chang Yu and others to show their identity documents.
"It turns out he is really the master of Dongchang." After checking his identity, the soldiers on duty finally breathed a sigh of relief and dispersed in all directions.
"We just came over from Taiyuan to have a look. We haven't entered the city yet and don't know the password yet."
Chunxiang explained.
"My lords, if you don't have a command, you can still move around at will. Within a hundred miles from Jiaocheng to the east to Qixian County, there are as many open posts and secret sentries as there are, including thieves and various spies. If you are not careful, you will be handed over."
"What's the password?" Chang Yu asked.
"I'm sorry, everyone, you must go to the city to ask General Niu about this. There is an order from above. No one is allowed to leak it at will." The soldiers were very respectful to the people of Dongchang, but if they knew that it was Dongchangchang who was asking the question at this moment,
The governor was probably shocked enough.
The alertness was not bad, Chang Yu nodded secretly, and then said: "Okay, brothers, thank you for your hard work." After saying that, he led Chunxiang and others around the city wall and did not go far.
Looking at the dark night in the distance, Chang Yu knew that the hundred-mile stretch from Jiaocheng to Fenzhou Prefecture was full of dangers at all times. Even at this moment, spies from the two armies were fighting each other in hand-to-hand combat.
But for some reason, he had an urge to go on an adventure in the dark world.
His clenched fists slowly relaxed, and Chang Yu waved his hand and led everyone back around the city wall.
"Is this Eunuch Chang down there?"
When we first arrived at the southeast corner, someone suddenly shouted from the city. The voice turned out to be Zhou Yuji.
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