The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 282 Something happened
Rabbit Hair River.

at dusk.

Herds of cattle and sheep moved slowly, and two or three herders could be seen riding on horseback. A little further ahead, there were about a dozen tents.

"Ah Da, it seems something has happened to the Liu family."

The younger boy turned around and shouted.

A rider emerged from the flock of sheep. He was in his thirties. Upon hearing his son's voice, he quickly stepped onto his saddle, craned his neck, and looked towards his home.

The ranches belonging to the merchant group are arranged in a grid pattern.

Eight households were in the middle, each with their own pastures extending outwards. Each family had three to five thousand acres of land, with no specific boundaries, so vast that there was no end in sight. Every morning, they would drive their cattle and sheep to graze in the distance and return before evening.

Work at sunrise, live in and rest.

When they were building Zhenlu City, they worked for more than half a year. Later, they signed a contract to divide the pastures and cattle and sheep. When they first arrived, none of the eight households knew anything about it, so the merchant guild had to send someone to teach them.

The tent was small, only big enough for one family to sleep in at night.

Another six months passed, and the most difficult winter was over. There would be no more insurmountable difficulties in the future. They had completely adapted to the herding life, and the family no longer had to worry about food and drink.

Although there are only eight households, they all get together for a drink every night.

The children of each family ride horses across the grassland.

There are already few people, so why bother with rules? Just let the young people do as they please, as long as they get married.

It definitely seems like something bad has happened at Lao Liu's house.

Old Liu's family had two tents, and a lot of people were gathered at the entrance, who seemed to be soldiers from Zhenlu City. The man frowned.

A dozen soldiers surrounded the entrance.

There were also dozens of neighbors, young and old, including the women and children of Old Liu's family who were crying, and the young man whose face was full of hatred.

"We encountered Hu people."

“My father told me to run back, and to save me, he turned around and fought the Hu people to the death.”

"They stole all the cattle and sheep."

The boy looked at the soldier, hoping the soldier would help him uphold justice.

Old Liu's family has two sons and one daughter.

A family of five.

The girl married her neighbor, and they had two sons, one sixteen and the other twelve. When they learned of the Liu family's plight, the neighbor helped them go to Zhenlu City to call for help. People from Zhenlu City also came. After hearing about the Liu family's situation, more than a dozen soldiers rushed to the place where the incident occurred.

Each family sent people; besides a dozen soldiers, there were seven or eight men, leaving behind more than half of the male members of the family.

It wasn't that they were unwilling to help, but rather that they knew things were not peaceful and dared not leave only women and children in the settlement.

A group of twenty-odd people, carrying torches, traveled through the desert overnight and soon arrived at the scene of the accident. After searching for half an hour, they found Old Liu's body, as well as the carcasses of some cattle and sheep.

Cattle and sheep are slow-moving and a burden. Since they couldn't be taken away, even if the cattle and sheep were dispersed, they would still be found and brought back in ten days or half a month. So the Hu people killed all the cattle and sheep.

Looking at his father's corpse and the cattle and sheep lying in pools of blood.

Old Liu's two sons burst into tears.

The soldiers were powerless to do anything, not because they were unwilling to eliminate the Hu people, but because they didn't know where they had gone.

Day two.

The manager of the merchant house in Zhenlu City arrived, accompanied by two assistants.

Old Liu's family had eighty sheep, twenty cows, and three horses, but now only a dozen sheep, seven or eight cows, and two horses remain. With these meager supplies, it will take the business at least seven or eight years to recoup its costs.

The manager had a stern face.

Besides sadness, the Liu family members also showed a hint of fear, unsure of what the business would do.

It takes seven or eight years to break even.

However, the profits of commercial firms are not calculated in this way.

Compared to the initial plan, the return on investment would take three years, or at the latest five years, followed by fifteen years of exorbitant profits. After the period of exorbitant profits, they would still monopolize the trade on the grasslands.

The Liu family suffered losses.

Even if you sold the Liu family's property, it wouldn't be enough to cover the losses.

Moreover, the merchant guild does not allow it.

Because of General Wang's actions, if the herders' bankruptcy was caused by war or external forces, then the debts should not be borne by the herders.

The manager left without saying a word.

The Liu family became even more uneasy. Besides being saddened by Old Liu's death, they were also completely lost about the future of the whole family.

Zhenlu City.

The guild hall of Juzhongchang Trading Company.

"We should not reject General Wang's initial proposal."

One of the shopkeepers looked full of regret.

The other shopkeepers were also speechless.

"The loan list should now include firearms. If every herdsman has a firearm, even if they can't avoid being robbed by the Hu people, they will have the ability to protect themselves. With the exhaustion of resources on both sides, the Hu people can't afford to lose."

"But that would increase the cost."

Another shopkeeper expressed his concern.

They are not the owners; Juzhongchang is a joint venture. They are managers appointed by various businesses. If the businesses are not doing well, they will lose their livelihoods.

After leaving Juzhongchang, they couldn't find another employer elsewhere.

"If we don't do it this way, the costs will only keep increasing."

"Moreover, General Wang has done the math. Although the cost of the loan catalog has increased, the herders have bought more goods. By trading from one hand to the other, the actual trade volume will be even greater."

Everyone said something to me.

The vast grasslands will never easily settle down.

There will be no large-scale enemy.

However, they could not stop the occasional raids by the Hu people. The army could not solve the problem. Only the herdsmen themselves could do it. Everyone had firearms and they were willing to trade their lives with the Hu people.

Hu Rencai is just a few people.

As for the herdsmen.

At worst, the business can incur additional costs to recruit new staff.

The Great Zhou Dynasty lacked everything.

There's no shortage of people.

The herders of today are powerless to protect themselves.

Bows and arrows are expensive and take a long time to make. Moreover, within one or two years, not many herders can learn how to use bows and arrows, let alone shoot accurately.

On the contrary, it was firearms.

With the mass production of muskets and the assembly line method, the cost became lower and lower, and the price of a musket was less than two taels of silver.

I've heard my employer mention it.

The price of muskets will drop soon.

Although gunpowder and lead bullets are not cheap, the amount used per shot is small, so the herders can afford them.

The key to the musket was its direct-fire capability.

It has a long range.

With this thing, the new herders quickly gained fighting power. They would no longer be passively attacked when facing the Hu people, but could fight each other to the death and inflict heavy blows on the Hu people.

No choice.

For the sake of their own interests, the owners immediately agreed to add the musket to the catalog.

In addition to cattle, sheep, and horses, the loans extended to the herders also included muskets.

Overnight.

Before the army had even finished producing its 9,000 muskets, orders for muskets from the Guangtu Maochuan area had increased by tens of thousands more.

Smart people can see it.

If the merchant promotion model continues in the future Shanyu region, orders for arquebuses will increase three to five times.

In addition, there's the prospect of a major price increase in the future.
soon.

Niuxinshan area.

Two more weapon factories were opened to produce muskets.

Liu Er was at a loss as to what to do about the newly opened arquebus factory.

The army's nine thousand muskets.

The three families contracted it.

Having secured the lion's share, he's now scrambling to expand production and has no time to compete for the arquebus orders from the trading companies.

The business knew that Liu Er's factory couldn't keep up with production, so they never expected anything from him.

We're not worried about orders now, we're only worried about production capacity.

Whoever has the largest production capacity will be the one scrambling to make money.

Besides the assembly line proposed by General Wang, what other ways could be used to expand production capacity? Liu Er racked his brains. Not only Liu Er's factory, but all the other factories were trying to find ways to increase production capacity.
-
The back of the hill.

The confluence of the Yellow River and the Tu Mao Chuan River.

Not far west of the Yellow River lies the vast desert. People who venture into the desert easily lose their way and eventually die there, turning into skeletons. Even locals dare not venture too far into the desert.

Chi Na's lips were covered in dry, dead skin, and his body was dirty and tattered. And he wasn't the only one like that.

The dozen or so men around him were all listless, looking more disheveled than beggars. After being stuck in this godforsaken place for more than half a month, no one could stand it.

"Bahhhhh."

The sound of horses' hooves approached.

People were so frightened that they gripped their weapons tightly. On Zhou Jun's territory, if they were not careful and were discovered by Zhou Jun, they would all be doomed.

Everyone was on edge.

"They're our people!" someone shouted.

People relaxed.

Chi Na went to greet them and, seeing that only three people had returned, quickly asked, "Where are the other two?"

"died!"

The person who returned was dejected, bringing back bad news.

After secretly entering the Tu Mao Chuan area, they dared not disturb the Shanyu region, nor did they dare approach the Yun Chuan City under construction. They started from Da Ban Sheng, took a long detour, and entered Tu Mao Chuan along the Yellow River.

Not only do they need to gather intelligence on Zhou Jun, but they also need to disrupt Zhou's efforts to establish themselves on the grasslands.

They kill any herders they see.

Too many people won't work; it'll be easy for Zhou's army to discover our whereabouts, and no one will be able to escape. No one wants to die.

Fewer people are needed to conceal their tracks.

They have already taken a dozen or twenty lives, and they have also received supplies.

They have no shortage of food.

However, under constant high tension, everyone becomes a little nervous.

"what happened?"

China takes it very seriously.

"The Zhou people had more firearms, and we were caught off guard, resulting in the deaths of two people." The man was too embarrassed to admit he was terrified, and only recounted the first part of the story.

The other two also kept their heads down.

Chi Na knew perfectly well what was going on, but he had no intention of pursuing the matter further, much less revealing it.

I'm just very concerned about one issue.

"Did most of the Zhou people you discovered this time have firearms, or were only a very small number of them firearms?"

"do not know."

They hid in a desolate area.

There was hardly anyone around.

I dared not go back to places I had been before, lest I run into the Zhou army lying in wait. So each time I had to explore in directions I had never been before. This time I was unlucky. It took me three or four days before I finally encountered the Zhou people.

Unexpectedly, the other party had a weapon.

Everyone knew that the outcome of falling to the other side was death, so Zhou's counterattack was very decisive.

Chi Na was startled.

The temperature was extremely cold at night.

Although it's already spring, the daytime temperature is barely acceptable, but at night the temperature difference is extreme and can be freezing.

Everyone was shivering from the cold.

Even wrapped in sheepskin, one cannot keep out the bitter cold.

"No."

China couldn't sleep.

Zhou Jun's speed in the Hetao region is too fast; I can't slow him down.

Once Yunchuan City is completed.

Zhou Jun will inevitably attack Dabansheng.

The Khan has not yet returned, and the situation is very unfavorable for Dabansheng.

We must disrupt Zhou Jun's advance.

Chi Na pondered the intelligence he had gathered over the past few days, trying to find Zhou Jun's weaknesses and a way to break the deadlock.

"It still has to be Yunchuan City."

Thinking of the message conveyed by the person I met.

Although the number of troops in the Western Army of Datong had expanded to an alarming extent, there were also many militia members.

And most of them were new recruits.

They have no fighting ability.

If the delay continues, as the Western Army of Datong conducts extensive training of the militia, the militia will gradually acquire combat capabilities.

Therefore, the longer it drags on, the faster the strength of the Western Army in Datong will recover.

The Datong Western Army, now with a large number of new recruits, has actually weakened. Even if we don't confront them head-on, we should at least catch them off guard.

They launched a surprise attack on Yunchuan City.

Not only could it delay Wang Xin's advance, but it could also eliminate the more than two thousand troops stationed in the area.

China no longer hesitated.

The order to retreat was given the following day.

Upon hearing the order to retreat, many people felt a mix of emotions, some were overjoyed, and no one wanted to endure this awful place any longer.

A light drizzle suddenly began to fall from the sky.

The cold wind blew fiercely, penetrating straight into people's faces and necks.

The desert land has become grotesque.

The transport team was forced to stop.

"Damn it, what bad luck!" Li Wunian cursed.

"Boss, let's set up camp."

Someone came to urge them on.

Li Wu had no choice but to agree.

With no village or shop in sight, and carrying a dozen or so breech-loading cannons, five hundred muskets, and over twenty cartloads of rations, Li Wu, along with his three hundred riders and several hundred militiamen, still felt unsafe.

"With this heavy rain, it won't be long before the sun shines for two or three days. We probably won't be able to go far."

Li Wu shouted, "You and a few brothers have to make this difficult journey, braving the rain to get to Yunchuan City. Tell Liu Tong there to send someone to meet you, in case anything goes wrong."

The officer looked up at the sky.

Rainy day.

There is no sun.

I can't see which way to go.

The officer did not refuse and quickly left with several people.

Those who remained began to set up camp.

More than 300 cavalrymen remained on high alert, not letting their guard down even in the rain.

Hundreds of laborers unloaded the tents and timber from the wagons one by one. Timber was scarce on the grassland, so they had to bring timber from the rear and erected a wooden fence around the wagons.

Its protective capabilities were not high, but they were enough to slow down the Hu cavalry.

The Hu cavalry lacked heavy cavalry.

With the previous shipments of over a dozen Portuguese aircraft, plus this one, there are now thirty Portuguese aircraft in Yunchuan City.

As for the musket.

Each new recruit also received a pole.

Finally, after setting up camp in the rain, Li Wu breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the cavalry to return to camp to rest.

Simultaneously.

The kitchen staff were also cooking soup to help the soldiers ward off the chill.

Li Wu was thinking about Yunchuan City, which was still under construction.

three years ago.

The general had to spend five taels of silver for a single musket and even had to beg someone to sell it to him. How many connections would it take to get five hundred muskets?

Nowadays, a bird gun only costs a few coins.

Moreover, in the blink of an eye, a thousand or two thousand bird guns were produced.

How did the general manage to do that?
Li Wu was somewhat puzzled. This dilapidated Datong used to be a godforsaken place, or perhaps a border region. How did it change so drastically after it came under the general's control?

I don’t understand.

Forget it.

All he knows is how to fight.

Once Yunchuan City has thirty breech-loading cannons, everyone can sleep soundly.

(End of this chapter)