Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 218 Literacy Campaign
"Bam—"

In early May, as dull explosions sounded in the mountain streams, birds were startled and dust rose everywhere.

When the dust gradually settled, the miners wearing wicker hats slowly stood up from behind the mound. What lay before them were countless trees that had been blown away and scattered rubble.

At the end of the rubble was a mine that had just been blasted open.

Ahem..."

A cough was heard, and Liu Jilong, wearing a rattan hat, also stood up, followed by Cao Mao and Zhang Chang.

"Damn it, how can this thirty kilograms of gunpowder be so powerful?"

"If we use this to blow up the city wall, won't the rammed earth wall collapse as soon as it's blown up?"

Zhang Chang cursed, and Cao Mao also dusted off the dust on his body and looked at Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong walked forward, came to the front of the mine, and looked inside carefully.

The mine was about ten feet deep, with broken and collapsed rocks inside. They could be dug out with a pickaxe, and copper-colored stones could be seen from time to time.

"Someone, set up the scaffold!"

Liu Jilong gave instructions behind him, and soon the miners who were still watching stood up and trotted towards them.

There are not many miners here, only about eleven or twelve.

The miners' organization is the same as that of the militia and the corps, which is soldier-gang-team-brigade-regiment.

Therefore, the leader of the miners hurriedly walked up to Liu Jilong and bowed, "Marshal Jie, please step back to prevent the mine from collapsing again."

"You are not afraid, what should I be afraid of?"

Liu Jilong smiled and patted his shoulder. At the same time, he watched with interest as the miners skillfully used square timber to build the racks.

In his previous life, his home was not far from the mining area, and he had seen many abandoned mines and pits.

In the absence of cement, wooden frames can best support and maintain the stability of the mine tunnel, prevent it from collapsing, and ensure the safe operation of miners.

Among them, square timber is used in mine caves and round timber is used in mine pits.

In terms of construction method, the most basic structural form is a trapezoidal shed, which consists of a top beam and two legs, and a backboard needs to be installed between the bracket and the surrounding rock.

Wedges also need to be driven next to the support, with one or two sheds set up for every meter of the alley, and the direction of the wedges should be from outside to inside.

These are the things Liu Jilong has seen. Although he does not understand the theories, it is always right to copy them.

Facts have also proved that his method is indeed very useful. At least in the mining work in Longyou, there has not been a single casualty so far.

"Captain Wang, is there any difference in speed and output when mining with black powder compared to traditional mining methods?"

Liu Jilong asked about efficiency and output, and Chief Wang nodded quickly:

"Of course there is. After Marshal Jie let us use black powder to mine, the efficiency and output of mining have increased, whether it is coal mines or gold mines, copper mines and silver mines."

"In the past, to mine a mine like this, we needed at least three groups of people working in shifts, and it would take a whole day to advance a few feet."

"In a month, each mine can only dig up one ounce of gold and more than a hundred kilograms of red copper."

"Now, in a month, we can mine at least three ounces of gold and four hundred kilograms of red copper."

"This mine alone can produce at least 100 guan, which is almost four times as much."

Chief Wang said excitedly, and Liu Jilong looked at Cao Mao, who nodded and said:

"Since the gunpowder factory started providing black powder to the company, the company has indeed produced more gold, silver and copper ore."

"However, the gunpowder factory has limited black powder, which can only meet the needs of gold, silver and copper mining in Linzhou and Minzhou."

"If the subsequent production of gunpowder keeps up, the company will be able to store at least 50,000 strings of gold, silver, and copper, as well as more than 2 million kilograms of iron, every year."

"If we sell it to Guannei Dao at the market price, we can sell 400,000 strings of iron every year. If we make it into weapons, the price will be even higher."

If people in the court heard what Cao Mao said, it would definitely make all the civil and military officials in the court unable to sleep.

With the combined efforts of the Tang Dynasty, only 10 million kilograms of iron were produced, and Longyou alone accounted for 20%.

If these two million kilograms of iron were used to make weapons and armor, they could equip at least 30,000 people.

If Liu Jilian had 30,000 soldiers, Li Chen probably wouldn't even be able to sleep.

"Have all the armor in the army been completed?"

Liu Jilong asked Zhang Chang, who shook his head and said, "We produce 520,000 catties of iron each year, half of which is used to make farm tools, and the Armory can get 200,000 catties."

"There is enough iron material in the workshop, but there are not enough craftsmen and apprentices. There are more than 200 craftsmen and apprentices specializing in armor making, and they can only make 2,000 sets of armor every year."

Producing 2,000 sets of armor per year is enough. According to the time calculation, all the new soldiers in the army can wear armor by the end of the year at the latest.

"Don't stop making armor. One craftsman will take two apprentices, and gradually increase the number of people making armor."

"We don't need that much armor now, but we will need it in the future."

The population of Longyou has reached 240,000, and the ratio of military officers to civilians is 1 to 12.

In general, this ratio is still a bit high. If it were not for the abundant resources in Longyou and the fact that people could become second-hand dealers and sell horses to Jiannan Road and Shannan Road, the burden on the shoulders of the people of Longyou would be bound to be heavy.

Under such circumstances, if there was ever a fallout with the imperial court, the situation of having twelve civilians supporting one military officer would definitely be unsustainable.

In Liu Jilian's opinion, at least one military officer must be supported for every thirty civilians before he could barely break away from the Tang court.

Therefore, we must find a way to increase the population of Longyou to more than 500,000.

Otherwise, once the trade route is cut off, life in Longyou will be difficult.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at the mining boss Wang and said humbly: "Without you, Longyou would not be so peaceful."

"On behalf of the 240,000 soldiers and civilians in Longyou, I want to thank you for your efforts here."

He bowed to Chief Wang and the miners in the distance. Chief Wang was startled and quickly returned the greeting:
"That's wrong, Marshal Jie. If you hadn't liberated us, we would still be slaves to the foreign dogs."

"What's more, you also gave the brothers wages and pensions, so that the brothers have no worries. We should thank you!"

Captain Wang had received six months of literacy training and still had some knowledge.

This is the current situation in Longyou. All officials at the rank of team leader and above, whether in the army corps, militia or mining corps, need to undergo at least six months of literacy training.

You can't learn a lot in six months, but at least you can write simple things, help people write their names, and register without any problem, not to mention addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within a thousand.

"Okay, okay, you thank me and I thank you, we thank each other."

Liu Jilong shook hands with Chief Wang, who shook it excitedly, and Cao Mao also spoke:

"Marshal Jie, it's time for us to go back to Didao."

"Okay." Liu Jilong agreed, then exchanged a few words with Chief Wang, turned around and left.

Seeing Liu Jilong leaving, several miners came up to him and said, "Boss Wang, you just shook hands with Marshal Ji. How did it feel?"

Their eyes were filled with envy, and Captain Wang realized belatedly: "I forgot, but the Marshal's hands are very soft, softer than my wife's hands."

"Are you crazy?"

"Yes, Marshal Jie has been fighting all year round, and his hands are always holding weapons, so how could he be soft-hearted!"

Everyone looked at him with disdain, and Chief Wang was anxious to explain: "It's soft! Soft and warm!"

"Let's go, let's go. I think Wang Tou is missing his wife at home."

Everyone found it boring and just thought that Chef Wang was missing a woman.

No matter how Captain Wang explained, they didn't believe it, because they always felt that people who fought in wars all year round would be tough and ruthless.

Soon, they continued the blasting and mining work in the mine.

Two days later, Liu Jilong and his men returned to Didao City, and the summer harvest had already begun.

The wheat outside the city is being harvested, and the agricultural tools used are basically those improved by Liu Jilong.

The people in the fields bowed to Liu Jilian from a distance, and Liu Jilian bowed in response from his horse.

Cao Mao, Zhang Chang and the more than 50 elite cavalrymen who were guarding Liu Jilian all felt proud and straightened their chests.

"This year, ordinary people can eat white flour."

Liu Jilong looked at the heavy ears of wheat and sighed, "It's not easy... Four years have passed in a flash."

"The public and private fields in the three states have basically become cultivated land, and grain output will also increase."

Cao Mao nodded and smiled at what Liu Jilong said, "This year's cultivated and uncultivated land should exceed two million mu."

"Three years from now, during the summer and autumn harvests, the Protectorate will be able to collect 400,000 shi of grain from taxes. After that, the tax grain will increase by 50,000 to 60,000 shi every year."

"In the long run, Longyou will surely be even stronger than before the cholera in Tibet!"

"That's right!" Zhang Chang agreed, and Liu Jilong couldn't hide his smile, but he also knew that productivity was there, and the population and animal power limited Longyou. Faced with the optimism of the two, Liu Jilong had to pour cold water on them:

"Population is our shortcoming. Longyou needs to continuously introduce population to maintain its strength."

"The imperial court will not sit idly by and watch us bring in people from various regions. They will definitely find a way to deal with us after we recapture Shankuo, just like they are dealing with Hexi now."

He mentioned Hexi. Zhang Chang cursed him: "The imperial court is a bastard. They didn't send troops to rescue us, and we tried to save ourselves but still got beaten by them!"

"Why don't Zhang Hexi and Zhang Shijun dare to fight against the imperial court?"

"Just fight a battle to let the imperial court know how powerful we are!"

Zhang Chang was really angry, and not only him, but Cao Mao was also angry.

Even Liu Jilian, who knew the fate of the Guiyi Army, felt his blood boiling when he saw the Tang court's actions. He wanted to rush to Chang'an and grab the collar of the Emperor Dazhong to find out what he was thinking.

Of course, he wanted to grab Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen by the collar and ask them if they were awake.

If they don't count on the imperial court to deal with Suo Xun and the Suo family, the other powerful people will not be so powerful.

However, it was precisely because of their previous experience that Liu Jilong chose this path.

It is better to rely on yourself than on others. Even though the Tang court gave him more than 200,000 pieces of silk, this was also the result of his hard work.

If he were as weak as Zhang Yichao and his nephew, Li Chen would not have thought of using silk to comfort himself.

Facts have proved that only if one's fist is strong enough can one gain the "respect of the Tang Dynasty" without taking action.

While thinking, they walked into Didao City and then went to the Protectorate.

"Come on!"

In the Protectorate, Gao Jinda and Cui Shu were handling government affairs, and Liu Jilong specially summoned them to the main hall.

"Regarding the dispatch of troops to Shanzhou, how are the states preparing?"

He sat in the main seat and asked, and Gao Jinda, who was sitting in the first seat on the left, bowed and said:
"It will take some time before we dispatch troops to Shanzhou. Right now, the states are still harvesting in summer. After the harvest, the troops from Chengzhou, Wuzhou, Songzhou and other towns that are farther away will set out."

"In Hezhou, the spur officer has already prepared the civilians and military rations."

"Where's the gunpowder?" Liu Jilong asked.

In response, Gao Jinda said: "Chen Jitong said he needs your seal."

"Okay!" Liu Jilong nodded, then took out the talisman from his waist and threw it to Cao Mao: "Tell Chen Jitong to transport 3,000 kilograms of gunpowder from the gunpowder factory to Hezhou."

"Also, tell Ma Cheng what to pay attention to. If these three thousand kilograms of gunpowder explode, at least dozens or even hundreds of people will die."

"Yes!" Cao Mao responded, and Liu Jilong also began to ponder.

According to the information provided by Cui Shu, the two cities in Shanzhou were undoubtedly very well managed by Tuoba Huaiguang.

Even if the army had black gunpowder, it would not be easy to break through.

It’s not that Liu Jilong had never thought about making cannons, but he didn’t know how to make them.

He tried to use the casting method to make the cannon, but the cannon he made was bumpy and very heavy.

Not only that, after several firings, cracks appeared on the gun body, posing a risk of explosion.

In addition, the black gunpowder in their hands was too weak and had a short range. A ten-jin cannonball could only be fired two hundred steps away, and its power was not as good as that of a counterweight trebuchet.

Obviously, if he wanted to develop a mature artillery, he had to increase the power of gunpowder and thereby increase the range.

It was a pity that he did not understand gunpowder, and the craftsmen were unable to mix the more powerful black powder according to his ratio of "one yellow, two saltpeter, and three charcoal".

This made Liu Jilong often doubt that he had remembered the ratio incorrectly, so he relaxed the authority over the gunpowder ratio and asked Chen Jitong to lead the craftsmen to conduct careful experiments.

But experimental gunpowder is just experimental, and mass-produced gunpowder is still produced according to the ratio he gave.

"Before I went to the mine, I asked you if you could increase the output of gunpowder. Have you gotten any results yet?"

Liu Jilong asked Cui Shu, who bowed in shame and said, "Charcoal is easy to find, but the amount of sulfur and saltpeter mined is too small."

"Given the situation in Longyou, we can stably produce 30,000 kilograms of gunpowder every year, but most of it has to be used for mining."

"Can't we add more manpower?" Liu Jilong asked doubtfully. Gao Jinda and Cui Shu shook their heads at the same time.

"Although there is a lot of sulfur in Minzhou, it is very difficult to transport it down the mountain. In addition, the mountain is fragile and it is impossible to use gunpowder to clear the way, so the output cannot be increased."

"In addition, the production of saltpeter is not high. Even if we invest in manual mining, we won't get much saltpeter."

“Instead of recruiting hundreds of people to mine, it’s cheaper to buy directly from Hexi.”

The problem was right in front of him. Liu Jilian came to Longyou because of sulfur, but had to do business with Hexi because of saltpeter.

Fortunately, after learning that the production of saltpeter in Longyou was low, he came up with the idea of retaking Shanzhou and opening up a trade route with Hexi.

"I've thought about this, but we can't bring it up."

"However, given the current situation in Hexi, I think Zhang Huaishen will take the initiative to send someone to communicate with us after we recover Shanzhou."

"Besides, I am... "

Liu Jilong gave everyone a reassurance and then expressed his thoughts.

Due to the Tang court's blockade of Hexi, these commercial goods from Hexi could only be smuggled to Guannei Road, and the quantity smuggled was very small.

The Tang court dared to blockade Hexi but did not dare to blockade Longyou, so Longyou could restart the Silk Road and use it to support the army.

He forgot where he saw the news, but the trade volume of the Silk Road in the early Tang Dynasty was about 10 million pieces of silk per year, or tens of millions of strings of cash.

In the later period, due to blocked roads and chaotic situations in the Western Regions and Central Asia, trade volume dropped sharply, but it was still worth millions of strings of cash.

As long as he gave Yu Conghui and others a chance, even if he gave them half the profit, he could still obtain millions of strings of wealth from the Silk Road.

As long as they have money, even if the Tang court blocks them, those corrupt officials will continue to send people to their hands.

What's more, the Tang Dynasty was already beginning to decline, and Liu Jilong had heard from Yu Conghui and others about several incidents in which the imperial guards and state soldiers expelled the military governors and inspectors.

It is now the tenth year of Dazhong. Liu Jilian does not remember when Li Chen died, but it should not be too long ago.

After all, in his impression, Li Chen seemed to have died when he was in his early fifties or fifty-two or fifty-three years old.

Thinking of this, his eyes fell on Gao Jinda and Cui Shu.

"The matter of the Silk Road requires you two to communicate well with Yu Conghui, Wang Tao and other dental dealers."

"I obey your orders!" The two men bowed and Liu Jilong continued:
"In the past four years, we have expanded rapidly, but the quality of the military has inevitably declined."

"If nothing else, the army's literacy campaign has inevitably slowed down."

"Zhang Chang, you know the army best. Answer me, how many people do you think can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within ten thousand and recognize a thousand words?"

Facing Liu Jilong's question, Zhang Chang failed to react in time, and spoke after a while:

"In the past four years, we have been fighting, cultivating land, and training..."

“To be honest, I really settled down to fight against illiteracy after the summer harvest last year.”

"There are 16,200 soldiers in the army. If we follow the literacy standards set by you, the commander-in-chief, at least 70% of the brothers are still illiterate."

"But there is nothing we can do about it. We expanded the army too quickly in 1980 and 1990. Many brothers were illiterate, and we expanded the army before we could finish their literacy campaign."

"In addition, there are not enough teachers in Longyou, and we also need to teach students to read. There are really not many teachers available for us, and the speed of literacy cannot be fast enough."

Zhang Chang pointed out the core of the problem, which is that there are still too few scholars in Longyou.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong continued to question Zhang Chang: "How many letters has Li Biejia sent out these days, and how many people have come?"

"At least more than 60 letters were sent out, but only 36 people came to Longyou. They were all direct or outcast people with no rank in Zizhou and Dongchuan government offices."

"They are not very ambitious. As you said, after being given a high-ranking official position, they will calm down and work hard."

"But this number of people is still too few..."

Zhang Chang sighed in response, and Liu Jilong said quickly:
"Tell them to write letters to invite other people to Longyou. As long as they can write, at the very least we can arrange for them to become doctors at the Imperial Academy or recorders at the county government office!"

"No matter what their official positions were, they worked in the morning and helped the army with literacy in the afternoon."

"Before I take Shanzhou and come back, I must see at least 500 foreign officials from outside Longyou Road!"

"Yes!" Zhang Chang gritted his teeth and took on the task.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong also stood up and said, "First solve the army's literacy problem, and then solve the students' learning problem."

"If the standards are not met, everyone can just repeat the year."

"It will be hard for the next three to five years. Once this group of students graduate, we won't have to worry about selecting officials anymore!"

(End of this chapter)