diskusbooks Chapter 310 Feeding the Refugees
Chapter 310 Feeding the Refugees
Disaster is diverted to the east.
Zhao Sheng always led the war to the north or west.
He just focused on making money.
In September, Bingzhou often enters the rainy season.
This is extremely unfavorable for road construction.
At the same time, the same was true for the stone-powered army's artillery, which was less effective during the rainy season.
The mortars in Luancheng also face the same problem.
The propellant powder needed for long-range attacks must also not be exposed to moisture.
Because of this, no fighting broke out between the two sides this month.
"How about it? Can you accept it? Do you want to take back Pingyang County?"
In the lobby of Jinyang Prefecture, Hou Lin asked impatiently.
"Don't be impatient about this matter. If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either. This is the best strategy to preserve our strength."
Shi Li was calm and spoke leisurely.
After Kui Zheng came to Jinyang, he was not blamed by Shi Li. On the contrary, he still served as his think tank.
Jinyang's army was less than 100,000 strong. Despite its best efforts to recruit soldiers, it was not the regular army of the imperial court after all. Many people heard that Shi Li was born a slave and was not orthodox, so they were unwilling to join the army.
"In my opinion, if we can't use cannons, then they probably can't either, otherwise..."
Hou Lin didn't say it explicitly, but everyone in the hall knew it.
"If we want to achieve great things, we need to reserve our strength and reduce casualties so that we can have the capital to fight them to the death."
After Shi Li finished speaking, he looked at Kui Zheng and asked, "Mr. Kui, do you think I'm right?"
Kui Zheng, who was named, leaned forward and said to Shi Li, "What the Chief said is absolutely right. A brute force tactic is absolutely unacceptable. Now that we have a powerful weapon, we must maximize its effectiveness."
After hearing this, Shi Li nodded with great satisfaction: "You are indeed worthy of being my think tank. What you said is absolutely right."
Seeing Shi Li's statement, Hou Lin no longer insisted.
At this time, Xia Shao asked, "Chief, there are merchants from the northwest who want to buy gunpowder. Should we sell some to them?"
After hearing this, Shi Li thought for a moment and said, "Sure, a few hundred pounds won't be a problem."
Now they are in urgent need of expanding their strength, short of money and food, and gunpowder has become their most profitable way to make money.
Seeing Shi Li agree, Xia Shao was secretly delighted. However, raw materials were in short supply recently, so he asked again, "Can we trade gunpowder for some raw materials?"
"No!" Shi Li was traumatized by the last incident of counterfeiting cannon gunpowder, and he refused without hesitation.
"I think it's not a bad idea to just exchange one type of raw material," Kui Zheng interrupted.
"Oh?" Shi Li pondered this sentence over and over in his mind, trying to understand the deeper meaning of Kui Zheng's words.
"First, we don't tell them the purpose of the raw materials; second, we source from a single source, so even if they have some ideas, it's difficult for them to imitate."
Seeing that Shi Li remained silent for a long time, Kui Zheng explained his own opinion.
"Hmm~" After listening to Kui Zheng's words, Shi Li nodded heavily.
Obviously, he had already agreed with Kui Zheng's proposal in his heart.
After getting approval, Xia Shao arranged for some gunpowder to be sold.
Bingzhou has many sulfur mines, but it lacks saltpeter. Xia Shao exchanged a batch of saltpeter from merchants.
Their gunpowder contained rosin powder, which most people could identify by smell alone. The rosin powder turned white when crushed, which was enough to cover up the smell of saltpeter.
However, sulfur is very easy to identify.
If black carbon were not large in size, some people would find it difficult to detect.
The saltpeter was exposed this time and was used by people with ulterior motives, making it no longer difficult to imitate.
Xia Shao had never expected all this.
Soon after, a type of gunpowder that did not contain rosin powder appeared in Shangjun and was also able to successfully launch cannonballs.
Although its power is slightly inferior to Shi Li's gunpowder, it can still be used.
……
After arguing for nearly a month over the ownership of Pingyang County, finally, with the mediation of Zhao Sheng, Pingyang County became the territory of the United Family.
All the economic income here is divided equally among several families.
The Zhao family and the Li family represented by Zhao Sheng did not participate in it.
Because the wealthy families were obsessed with pursuing huge profits, they levied heavy taxes and levies in Pingyang County in various ways, making the local people suffer terribly.
Many people were overwhelmed and fled.
Dingzhou was extremely short of people and accepted tens of thousands of refugees in early October.
Since people were urgently needed, Dingzhou welcomed everyone. As long as they were craftsmen or farmers, they could basically find a place to settle down in Dingzhou.
The population of Dingzhou was growing rapidly, and Zhao Hengzhen became very uneasy when he learned about this situation.
"How did Lao Liu manage to recruit such a large population for Dingzhou?"
In the imperial study room.
Zhao Hengzhen said to the right prime minister Fan Wenyuan.
At this time, Fan Wenyuan already knew that Zhao Sheng was the Sixth Prince. He was shocked when he heard what Zhao Hengzhen said.
"Dingzhou County has barren land. If so many refugees were to arrive, they would inevitably suffer from cold and hunger. It would be difficult to feed so many people. Moreover, I heard that Weizhou also accepted a population of over 200,000. How on earth can these places feed all these people?"
Zhao Hengzhang seemed accustomed to Fan Wenyuan's astonishment, and he had been racking his brains over these problems these days.
"If that doesn't work, why don't you write a letter yourself and ask your husband, Fan Xitong?"
Since I can't figure it out, I'll ask Fan Xitong who is still in Luancheng and try to get information about Zhao Sheng from him.
"Your Majesty, this is very appropriate. I will write a letter and send it to Dingzhou."
Fan Wenyuan quickly agreed and readily acknowledged the emperor's request.
After exiting the imperial study.
Fan Wenyuan looked up at the setting sun in the sky, feeling mixed emotions. He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse for him to know the royal family's secret today.
On that day, the servants of the prime minister's residence rode horses and rushed to Dingzhou with letters.
Fan Xitong received a letter from home and opened it.
Only then did I know that Zhao Sheng was actually a prince.
I was horrified.
She never expected that Zhao Sheng, who came back from the dead, would always be with her.
"Besides the Emperor, does anyone else know about this?"
In his heart, Fan Xitong kept asking the same question.
He was sure that this matter must be a secret. How could his father let him know such a thing?
Black ashes floated up from the brazier, which made Fan Xitong regain his composure.
"Well, I want to ask, how does Mr. Zhao support so many people?"
Fan Xitong thought about it and then walked out the door.
It was still early morning, and the streets were bustling with people, a scene of great activity.
He took his guards with him and rode towards the Princess's Mansion.
These days, due to road construction, Fan Xitong basically lives in Lucheng, which is some distance away from Luancheng.
Wu Sikai saw Fan Xitong coming and greeted him enthusiastically:
"My dear Princess, are you here to see my princess or my husband?"
After Zhao Sheng married Zhao Zhen, he spent most of his time in Zhao Zhen's room, which was also Li Shuya's intention.
"Let me pay my respects to the princess first!" Fan Xitong said.
"Oh, my princess is having breakfast. Have you had it yet?"
Wu Sikai asked as he walked inside towards Fan Xitong.
Fan Xitong had not eaten in the morning, but he couldn't say that he was hungry at this time, so he had to claim that he had eaten, and then followed Wu Sikai to the living room to wait.