The matter of building the castle was finally put aside.
Input and output are not directly proportional.
We can't let the people of Jiangzhou pay for Song Yang's interests.
After Song Yang realized this, he felt that his thoughts were one-sided.
He is not a saint, and it is inevitable that he will have some deviations in his thinking.
Fortunately, I have talented people under my command.
The talented man Liu Min arrived in Jiangzhou Fucheng on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month.
Fang Zhe, Ma Cheng, and Yu Ming went to the dock to greet him in person.
In the reception room of the office area, Song Yang met Liu Min.
"Master Liu, I have been waiting for you to come for a long time." Song Yang had a smile on his face.
From the moment Liu Min set foot in Jiangzhou, she became a member of the Jiangzhou Group.
Xuanzhou is equivalent to being officially merged into the Jiangzhou Group's sphere of influence.
"Your Majesty, a thousand years old!"
Even though Liu Min is over sixty, his physical condition is very good, his voice is hearty and resonant, and he doesn't sound old at all.
He has half-white hair and a gray beard, but his eyes are bright and his complexion is ruddy and shiny.
You can see some calluses on his hands, so he must have some martial arts skills.
Liu Min is a famous scholar.
But this guy's image subverted the image of the great scholar in Song Yang's mind.
The first impression he gave Song Yang was that he was both civil and military.
It is indeed true that although Liu Min has the title of great Confucian, he is not a corrupt Confucian.
He is more like a sage and Confucian scholar.
Just like some people's interpretation of Saint Kong: A truly powerful person, if you stand by the river, the corpses of your enemies will float away along the current, day and night...
Although it is funny, Saint Kong's martial arts value is indeed very high.
It is impossible to travel around the world without some force.
Liu Min is this kind of Confucian who has benevolence, justice, propriety and wisdom in his mind, but also has the means to kill people.
"Master Liu, please get up quickly!" Song Yang smiled and helped Liu Min up.
Liu Min's attitude was very upright. After the ceremony, he stood respectfully in front of Song Yang.
After asking him to sit down, he carefully sat there with his buttocks halfway up.
He was not familiar with Song Yang, so he couldn't let go of her for the first time.
"Your Majesty, I am late to meet you. Please forgive me." He stood up again as he spoke.
Song Yang pressed his hands and said: "Sit down, sit down, sit down and talk."
"There is no need to apologize, I know your difficulties."
"The two troubled ones, King Runzhou and Suzhou, have finally stopped, so you can be free."
Liu Min cupped his hands and said: "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. Now that the two kings have stopped their troops, it is indeed a lot easier for me to lower my rank. But the main reason is that the Jiangnan Revival Alliance of the Prince has done so with great momentum that neither of them dare to act rashly."
Of course Liu Min knew about the Jiangnan Renaissance Alliance. Song Yang had already told him in his letter.
It was precisely because Song Yang was so powerful that the two kings did not dare to face Song Yang directly.
As for legal status, it is an additional advantage.
The main thing is strength.
The two kings were not sure of overpowering Song Yang, so they simply stopped contacting Song Yang.
He plans to secretly develop and accumulate strength, and then have a showdown with Song Yang when the time comes.
Of course, Song Yang thought the same way, but both kings felt that they were sure to defeat Song Yang.
After all, they are all much older than Song Yang.
Speaking of the two kings, Liu Minbai used his words to report the dispute between the two kings to Song Yang again.
Although Ma Cheng had already reported it before, Liu Min knew more specifically.
There were some complicated relationships that could not be explained clearly in the letters, so Liu Min had a chat with Song Yang in person this time.
"Your Majesty, that's generally the case."
"Now that the two kings have stopped fighting, they will definitely focus on expanding their armaments. It is estimated that next year they will have a second decisive battle. Once the winner is determined, the winning side will most likely take action against us."
After Liu Min introduced the situation of the two kings, he analyzed the current situation.
Liu Min only had a partial understanding of Jiangzhou's military strength, and he didn't know the details.
But Liu Min is relatively clear about the strength of the two kings.
Although the two kings have lost their strength after more than half a year of fighting, each of them still has at least 20,000 regular troops from the Jiangnan camp.
The strength of these remaining regular troops is definitely much stronger than that of ordinary bandits and civilians.
Even the soldiers in the local guards could not match the quality of the officers and soldiers in the Jiangnan camp.
This is something Liu Min is very worried about.
If one of the two kings wins, and the cost is not large, or it annexes the other side's troops.
That would be an army with terrifying combat effectiveness.
Twenty to thirty thousand regular troops are enough to defeat all informal armed forces.
This kind of thinking is absolutely fine before a natural disaster.
It’s okay to put it in a certain period of time after a natural disaster.
A month or two ago, even the Jiangzhou Renaissance Army was definitely at a disadvantage against the soldiers from the Jiangnan Camp.
But things are different now.
After the battle with the Liu brothers and sisters, the Fuxing Army intensified its training.
According to Yu Ming's words, the current strength of the Renaissance Army is no different from that of the officers and soldiers of the guard station.
Regardless of equipment issues, in terms of the quality of the soldiers alone, although the strength of the officers and soldiers of the Guard Station is still weaker than that of the Jiangnan Camp, it is not much worse.
So Song Yang is now completely unafraid of the threats from the two kings.
"Don't worry, Mr. Liu. With the strength of our Jiangzhou Renaissance Army, how can we be afraid of those camp soldiers! I will take Mr. Liu to the military camp for a while." Yu Ming said nonchalantly.
The camp soldiers he refers to are what the guards call the large camp troops.
Liu Min did not refuse the invitation to visit the military camp. He really wanted to confirm the strength of Jiangzhou soldiers.
"Let's do this. Inform Master Wang that we will test the cannon in the afternoon. Didn't a batch of small cannons come out the day before yesterday? It's just a good time to try it." Song Yang said.
The Xiaogong Cannon is actually also a Crouching Tiger Cannon, and it is the first batch of Crouching Tiger Cannon produced in mass production.
After completing the first test firing, Wang Jinshi divided his apprentice workers into thirty cannon-casting groups and started casting the cannon at the same time.
Now more than ten days have passed, and the day before annual leave, the first batch of small workers' cannons has officially rolled off the production line.
I originally planned to test out the fireworks on New Year's Eve, but Liu Min is here today, so I'll try it out in advance.
"Test the cannon?" Liu Min didn't know why.
The Tiger Crouching Cannon is a top secret in Jiangzhou, and not much is known to the outside world.
Moreover, it was not convenient to write in a letter, so Liu Min had never heard of it at all.
"It's a kind of weapon, very powerful." Song Yang smiled confidently.
"Uh, then I really need to get to know you." Liu Min said with interest.
Someone went to notify Wang Jinshi to prepare for the cannon test, and Yu Ming ordered the soldiers to arrange the venue.
Here Liu Min and Song Yang reported some situations about Xuanzhou.
"My lord, several limestone mines in Xuanzhou will be put into production after the new year. Delivering ten shipments of limestone a month is not a problem."
"This cement is really extraordinary. After looking at it all the way, I understand the benefits of this thing."
After Liu Min talked about limestone, he pointed to the cement floor and said.
From the moment he got off the ship, he noticed that from the Xincheng Pier to the office building, there were only concrete roads.
Although it rained lightly yesterday, there was no mud at all on the cement floor.
He also tried to fumble and hit the ground. The hardness was just as strong as Sanhe soil.
It's clean, hard, and very practical.
Therefore, Liu Min’s evaluation of cement is very good.
"Master Liu, speaking of cement, I just want to discuss something with you." Song Yang said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, if you have anything to do, just ask." Liu Min said hurriedly, cupping his fists.
"I want to build a cement factory in Xuanzhou."
"Xuanzhou is rich in limestone raw materials, and it is more convenient to build a factory nearby."
"The cement produced can also be transported to various places along the river by ship."
Song Yang stated his plan.
Although the cement plant in Jiangzhou is convenient, it is not suitable for building a large one.
At most, it will be the end of one more expansion.
If the scale were larger, raw materials would not be available.
After all, current transportation conditions are limited, so the supply of raw materials must be taken into consideration.
In Xuanzhou, there is basically no shortage of raw materials.
The iron powder and coal gangue required for cement are all shipped from the upper reaches of Xuanzhou.
It is much more convenient to go down the current than to go upstream.
So Song Yang planned to move the cement factory to Xuanzhou.
"This... Your Majesty is not afraid of the cement formula being leaked?" Liu Min was a little surprised.
Needless to say the utility of cement, once such a good thing is peeked at, it will definitely be very troublesome.
"Of course I'm not afraid. So what if I steal the cement formula? In today's world, who else has the ability to produce cement vigorously except me?" Song Yang said with a smile.
The current situation is turbulent.
For Song Yang, the first use of cement is civilian use.
If someone stole the cement formula, the first use might be for military use.
But there is another question. Even if you build a cement structure, can it withstand artillery?
The facts of later generations proved that it was not possible.
Cement is not even as effective as sandbags.
Song Yang masters the artillery technology that changes the rules, and this is what he relies on.
As for cement…
Song Yang would only regard it as a building material, and even prefer it for civilian use.
As soon as Song Yang said it roughly, Liu Min understood.
In this regard, he was even more looking forward to the artillery test firing in the afternoon.
"Since the prince has this plan... then I think the cement factory can be placed in Qiupu." Liu Min suggested.
Liu Min knew that from the perspective of raw material supply, placing the cement plant in Xuanzhou was indeed the best choice.
So he proposed to put the cement factory in Qiupu.
Qiupu was the county seat that was restored after the autumn harvest. Although the number of people was small, it was easy to manage.
As long as an army lives in Qiupu, it can control the cement factory in Qiupu.
Although Song Yang is not afraid of leaks, the later the leaks can be made, the better.
Of course, the most important thing is that there are limestone mines near Qiupu.
Song Yang took out the map and looked at it.
The location of Qiupu is good.
To the west of Tongling, you can reach Pengze in half a day.
"Okay, let's stay here. Mr. Liu will handle this matter with Lao Fang, and you will be responsible for the garrison affairs, Yu Ming."
"Transfer Pangqiu directly there, take the main technical team there, and build a large cement plant there."
"We don't need to expand the Jiangzhou area, and we can also reduce some transportation consumption."
Song Yang is quick to do things, and once he decides, he can make arrangements immediately.
If the cement factory is moved away, Jiangzhou will only have a small one that can be used by the city.
And this can also reduce some environmental pollution...