The rebel army's foremost master craftsman forged a million iron pylons!

"What? Using earthen furnaces to train soldiers?" Tie Niu looked completely bewildered.

"Brother Li, have you been blown mad by the mountain wind? Earthen stoves are for making fires, how can you train soldiers with them?"

"Forging iron requires strength!" Li Tian smiled slightly, "Going to the battlefield to kill the enemy also requires strength."

"Forging iron is the best way to practice strength."

"Not only that, it can also improve the soldiers' eyesight. If they work on blacksmithing for three hours every day, their arm strength will definitely increase."

"I want my soldiers to not only fight on the front lines, but also to forge their own weapons."

As he spoke, Li Tianyi pointed to the craftsmen who were busy at work not far away.

"Weapons are a soldier's third arm; only those they forge themselves are truly handy and agile!"

"I will not only teach the soldiers how to make weapons, but also how to make armor."

"As long as there is enough iron ore, I will equip each of my soldiers with a suit of armor, a powerful crossbow, and a weapon that suits them."

Li Tian's words drifted slowly in the wind, but resounded loudly in Tie Niu's ears.

All he heard was that Li Tian wanted to equip every one of his soldiers with iron armor and crossbows.

Damn, this is better equipment than the regular army.

No, only General Chen's most elite "Rui" battalion could have such good equipment for every soldier.

"Brother Li Tian, ​​are you really going to equip our militia with these weapons?"

"Aren't you afraid the brothers from other battalions will be jealous?"

Tie Niu asked.

"The equipment is only worn when fighting enemies; it's not worn at other times," Li Tian said with a slight smile, not taking the matter to heart. He then turned to Tie Niu and said...

"Not only do we need armor and weapons, but we also need horses! I want every brother in the militia to have a horse!"

"This is fucking awesome! Just thinking about it gets me excited. Brother Li, are you serious? Can everyone in our training group really have a set of equipment like this?"

Tie Niu's pockmarked face was shining with excitement, then he rubbed his hands together shyly.

"Um... could you get me a set too!"

Li Tian couldn't help but smile: "You're my brother-in-law, how could I not prepare something for you?"

"Hahaha! Great!" Tie Niu laughed loudly, and the two chatted and laughed as they found a shady spot to sit down.

"Brother, how is my daughter Pear Blossom doing at your place?" Tie Niu took off the water pouch from his waist and handed it to Li Tian.

Li Tian took the water pouch and took a sip. "What? Afraid the girl will be mistreated here?"

Tie Niu paused for a moment, then scratched his head sheepishly. "I was just asking!"

Li Tian smiled slightly, "Everything is fine. If Brother Tie Niu is worried, feel free to come visit me more often."

"Hahaha!" Tie Niu let out another hearty laugh.

The two chatted while the craftsmen below were busy at work. Before they knew it, a wave of weariness washed over them, and Li Tian pulled up a straw mat and lay down on the ground.

"Brother Tie, please keep an eye on things for me. I'm going to take a nap."

Tie Niu nodded without saying anything.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

When Li Tian opened his eyes again, more than eighty furnaces were already standing on the ground, and craftsmen were installing bellows.

On the other side of Shajiaping, a number of people had gradually gathered, who were the militia soldiers who had gone home to rest earlier.

They changed into clean clothes, and the fatigue on their faces vanished, replaced by an indescribable energy and spirit.

"Huh, what's this? Why are there so many stoves?"

The newly erected earthen stove fascinated the soldiers, and many gathered around it to watch. Some asked questions out of curiosity.

"Master, why are you installing so many furnaces here? We don't forge iron."

While busy working, the master pointed to Li Tian under the shade of a tree, "You'll have to ask your militia instructor; that's what he called him."

Many people looked up at Li Tian. Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, Li Tian stood up, took out a copper whistle, and blew it.

beep--!

"Brothers, gather over here!"

Two hundred and eighty-six militia soldiers quickly assembled on the other side of the valley, while on this side, there were piles of pork and several neatly arranged large wooden crates.

"What's that?" someone asked curiously.

"Reward! Meat and silver!"

Li Tian said calmly, and with a bang, he flipped open the lid of a wooden box. The silver piled inside instantly made the soldiers' eyes light up.

They were all poor villagers, and had never seen so much silver before.

"I've brought the money I promised everyone. Now, come up and collect your meat and money according to the names I'm calling."

Li Tian shouted loudly, then took out a roster and began calling out names.

"Li Erbao".

"arrive!"

"Zhao Ergui".

"have!"

Each time someone was called, another person would come up to receive silver and meat, and everyone who received the silver and meat was all smiles.

After all, in those chaotic times of war, being able to eat meat was a great blessing.

"Zhang Sanshan".

……

The distribution of benefits is ongoing.

On the other side, the craftsmen had all finished their work and stood aside watching Li Tian distribute money and meat, feeling quite envious. Someone couldn't help but ask a question.

"Who is this young general? He looks unfamiliar; I've never seen him in the army before."

"I heard the surname is Li, but we don't know the specifics," someone replied.

Once they finished on the other side, dozens of craftsmen came to Li Tian together.

The lead craftsman bowed and said, "General Tie, Brother Li, we've finished our work and are heading back to the camp."

Li Tian quickly took out the twenty taels of silver he had prepared and handed it over.

"Thank you for your hard work, craftsmen."

Upon seeing so much silver, the craftsmen beamed with joy, repeatedly saying, "No trouble at all! No trouble at all! Just give me any further instructions, Brother Li!"

Having received the silver, the craftsmen naturally took their leave, while Li Tian led his soldiers to the eighty newly forged iron furnaces.

"Brothers!"

"Today's mountain climb is just the first stage of our training."

"Now we'll move on to the second stage of training."

"Do you have any confidence?"

"have!"

"Brother Li Tian, ​​just tell me what we should practice next."

Having experienced the morning's training, the soldiers were greatly encouraged and began to shout and cheer.

"Our second training task is—forging iron!"

When Li Tian announced the second training mission, the scene was quiet at first, and then it erupted into chaos.

"Brother Tian, ​​did I hear that right? We're going to have to forge iron again? We're a regimental training unit!"

In their view, blacksmithing was a craftsman's skill, while they were soldiers and should practice their skills in fighting on the battlefield.

"Yeah, if my wife knew I was learning blacksmithing here, she probably wouldn't let me join the militia training."

"Brother Tian, ​​what are you doing? Why are you making us learn blacksmithing?"

A chorus of discussion arose.

"Quiet down!"

Li Tian raised his arm and waited until everyone was quiet before speaking calmly.

"What are weapons? They are a soldier's second life! I'm having you practice blacksmithing, firstly to increase your strength, and secondly to familiarize you with the characteristics of weapons."

Do you think blacksmithing is an easy thing to do?

"Li Sanyou, Zhao Sixi, you two step forward!"

As he spoke, Li Tian suddenly shouted.