After visiting Zhang Shenyan, Zheng Sen wandered around Xiangyang, accompanied by the young people who had previously chatted with Zhang Shenyan.
He is said to be a young man, but in fact he has passed the examination. His name is Li Shunhui, also known as Yaochen. He is in his thirties and is waiting for the imperial examination.
Stopping and stopping along the way, I walked around a lot in the city without realizing it.
It was really the twelfth lunar month of winter, the plum blossoms were in bloom, and the bustling crowds made the atmosphere even more lively.
A large number of big men, dressed in fine clothes, in small groups, or with their wives and children, spend their money on the whole street, which is eye-catching.
You don't need to think about it to know that these people are soldiers in the military camp.
And the vendors, who welcomed the customers warmly and took the trouble to sell, had their faces flushed.
Li Yaochen was quite excited. Seeing Zheng Sen's curious face, he opened his cotton robe a little to let out the heat:
"Brother Zheng is just curious. According to common sense, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, soldiers have been humble but people have been valued. Why are Xiangyang's soldiers so extravagant?"
"Why is this?" Zheng Sen was very cooperative. He knew that this gossip was very powerful and he would suffer a lot if he didn't take care of him.
"It's nothing more than King Yu's so-called pro-military policy."
Li Yaochen glanced sideways at the soldiers, with some disdain in his eyes, and spoke eloquently:
"The King of Yu was kind-hearted. He not only provided them with salary, but also allowed these soldiers to eat and drink freely in the army. It is not difficult to support a family with the salary alone."
"In addition, clothes are constantly being worn in spring and winter, and rewards are abundant during festivals and festivals. For example, this autumn, autumn grains from various places have been put into the warehouse. The Xiangyang government treasury was unable to store them for a while, and the King of Yu actually distributed one stone of grain to each person in the army..."
"There are tens of thousands of soldiers outside Xiangyang City, and all of them are rich!"
Zheng Sen was stunned.
This King of Yu was really unexpected. Not only did he not deduct food and pay, he also treated his soldiers favorably. No wonder the soldiers were so attached to him.
learned.
"Let's go!" Li Yaochen curled his lips and said bitterly: "These people are blind and only know how to curry favor with those warriors, which is meaningless."
Zheng Sen nodded in agreement, and then asked: "Yao Chen, how much is the monthly salary of this warrior?"
Li Yaochen was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and then said: "It's about eight hundred coins. If it's in Jiangnan, it would be two taels of silver."
In just over a hundred years, hundreds of millions of taels of silver were imported from the Americas and Japan, especially after the Longqing Switch. As a result, silver was cheap and copper was expensive in Jiangnan. Every family changed rice to mulberry, and food prices were high.
Even in Jiangnan, it is considered high.
Zheng Sen muttered, he was afraid that his father would not allow it. He had 100,000 sailors and still had to take care of food and drink. It was completely unbearable.
Can't learn, can't learn.
Unknowingly, the two of them took their slaves out of the city, took a boat, and arrived at the Han River.
Compared with the Yangtze River, the Han River does not have as much water, but the water waves are not much different. It is difficult to control without a little effort.
The waves in the river were rolling and the boat was rocking, but Zheng Sen was calm and unfazed. He made steady moves and looked up with his head held high.
On both sides of the Han River, a large amount of farmland has been harvested and weeds have grown. Many farmers are not idle, fertilizing and nourishing the land from time to time.
And when he took a look, he saw that the fertilizers were actually salvaged directly from the river by boatmen. The big fish were sold, and the small fish were sold directly to the farmers.
Open and aboveboard, without any taboos.
"This is?"
Li Yaochen followed his gaze, smiled and shook his head: "It's just fish fat."
"Previously, the King of Yu said that cultivating fish fertilizer can support farmland. We don't have much else in Huguang, but there are a lot of fish, so we might as well give it a try."
"Unexpectedly, the effect was so great that many people imitated it."
"Can it increase production?" Zheng Sen's calm face was full of surprise. What does this mean?
"We can increase production by 10% or 20%!"
Li Yaochen groaned and had to say: "Although King Yu's method is beneficial to farmers, it is limited to a land of plenty and it is difficult to popularize it."
One or two percent...
Zheng Sen was stunned.
It took a long time for him to recover.
In addition to the farmers, there are also fishermen who benefited. In the past, they had to give up small fish and shrimps, but they were able to sell them for money. Everyone was smiling and couldn't stop it.
Unknowingly, the ship came to a place filled with thick smoke.
I saw a large number of blast furnaces standing there, and thick smoke filled the air. It was so dark that it seemed to cover the whole world, which was extremely shocking.
Countless ships unloaded large amounts of coal, then loaded boxes of weapons and moved away slowly.
"Sir, you can't go any further," the fisherman said.
"What's this? Go and have a look!" Li Yaochen didn't care, he was also full of curiosity.
"Stop—"
Just when Zheng Sen was lost in thought, several small boats came directly, and the big men on them shouted unceremoniously:
"This is an important military area. Go back quickly, or I'll take you and wait for a while in the cell."
The fish man was so frightened that he didn't dare to say anything. He held the oar and left directly.
Zheng Sen's face was filled with regret. What was under the thick smoke?
"Old man, how important is this place?"
Zheng Sen asked hurriedly.
"I don't know either, but it's rumored that in the iron-making area here, many vendors will come here to buy some hoes and other gadgets to take back. It's cheap and easy to use."
The fisherman's face was full of wrinkles, and he was a little afraid and said: "No one dares to come here to act arrogantly, unless they have a sign."
Zheng and Li lost interest. It was just a craftsman's job like iron-making. As for making such a big fuss?
Not far away, on the pier, King Yu was dressed in ordinary clothes, looking free and unrestrained. He looked up at the blast furnaces lined with trees, feeling full of pride in his heart.
It took a year to finally build some industry.
At this time, he seemed to feel something in his heart. He turned his head and saw a small boat leaving quickly, like a frightened bird.
Several people on the boat seemed to be scholars.
He shook his head, he had nothing to do after he was full, it was just these people!
"Your Highness?" Yang Le asked doubtfully.
"nothing!"
Zhu Yixi shook her head, her leather boots stepped on the black coal ground without hesitation, and she was quite excited about this place.
The army is about to move out. In addition to food and grass issues, weapons and equipment are also a top priority.
In this regard, the craftsman camp will naturally conduct inspections.
Although Mr. Wang Yu is still in good spirits, he is old and unable to do what he wants. The only ones accompanying Prince Yu are his disciples.
"Your Highness, although Jiangying now produces more than 10,000 jins of iron every day, it is not as good as Huangmeizhi. The pig iron we use daily is Huangmeizhi's pig iron, and the supply is quite sufficient."
The man said cautiously, leading the way: "In addition, the simple iron armor you requested can be produced five hundred pairs per day, and the rest will be used to train the chain armor according to your wishes."
Although simple mold armor is convenient and cheap, it is not on the market. Only chain mail is the way to go.
"How much can you get per month?" King Yu asked simply.
"With a hundred workshops, we can produce a thousand pieces every month."
"Too little."
King Yu was dissatisfied and said: "It takes a year to even equip the military camp, which is too slow."