Become a feudal king from today

"Your Highness, Wang Yanzhong and Zhou Yi are back. Read"

Zhao Xu is thinking about how to deal with the drastic changes in Jinzhou and the Ma family.

Feng'er walked in at this time.

After coming back to his senses, Zhao Xu nodded to let them in.

During this time, Zhou Yi and Wang Yanzhong had been searching for craftsmen for the War Division in Jinzhou.

Over time, the number of craftsmen in the Bingzhan Division has increased from more than a thousand to more than 6,000 now.

Moreover, the five thousand newly added craftsmen are all skilled craftsmen with exquisite craftsmanship, carefully selected by the two people.

It can be said that they are very concerned about the slave trade and do a good job.

Otherwise, the manpower of the Bingzhan Division would have been stretched long ago.

Not long after, Wang Yanzhong and Zhou Yi came in.

After bowing to Zhao Xu, Zhou Yiheng and Wang Yanzhong looked at each other and said, "Your Highness, Jinzhou is in chaos right now. Xiliang cavalry are rampant everywhere. The slave trade in Jinzhou can no longer continue."

Wang Yanzhong never liked to talk, so he just nodded.

"The five hundred guards we brought out this time encountered the Xiliang cavalry. After a bloody battle, only three hundred of them came back alive." Zhou Yi continued, his head lowered involuntarily.

For him, he had embarrassed King Yan in this matter.

After all, King Yan defeated Beidi twice, but he suffered a loss at the hands of Xiliang.

Zhao Xu saw that Zhou Yi and Wang Yanzhong had small scratches on their faces, which must have been scratched by branches when they fled.

He said: "Thank you for your hard work. This is not your fault. I will not blame you. Since the business in Jinzhou cannot be done, you go south to search in other states. Just a little less. Safety is the most important thing. During this period Let’s rest in Yancheng first.”

"Yes, Your Highness." King Yan's gentle tone made the two of them feel warm.

This is why they are willing to sacrifice their lives for King Yan.

King Yan really treated them as human beings, not as cattle and sheep.

"Your Highness, there is one more thing that I think I should report to Your Highness." He was about to retire to King Yan, but Wang Yanzhong bumped his arm, and he suddenly remembered.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Because Jincheng was destroyed by Xiliang, Jinzhou was full of fleeing people, hundreds of thousands of them. The Ma family was worried about Xiliang going south, so they did not allow the ferry to carry people because the Jin River blocked the way for these people to go south. , these people are going to Feihu Pass now," Zhou Yi said.

Wang Yanzhong added: "According to what these people said, the captured troops from Xiliang are capturing people and taking them to Xiliang. If no one stops the captured troops from Xiliang, these people may not be able to reach Feihu Pass."

Zhao Xu was in high spirits after hearing this.

After the war in Yanzhou, the number of people who were originally not wealthy decreased again, and the population of the four northern counties was especially small.

According to what Liu Fu reported to him, the population registers of the four counties had not been updated for many years.

The number of households recorded above is completely inconsistent with the actual situation.

Many people who escaped are still on the books.

Judging from statistics during this period, the population of the four northern counties was only a little over one million.

After excluding the young people who join the army and the young people who work in agriculture, there will be very few young people left who can invest in handicrafts.

What's more, civilian men will also be used in future wars.

Soldiers can also be allowed to carry dry food for a few days in Yanzhou.

But if we fight a longer-lasting war outside Yanzhou, we will have to maintain huge transportation lines.

This requires a lot of manpower.

That's why.

In ancient times, population was a strategic material.

As long as Beidi invades, they will inevitably plunder the population.

This is the same as Da Song's desire for Beidi's war horse.

Therefore, facing the fleeing people in Jinzhou, it is impossible for Zhao Xu not to be moved.

With this population, he can farm and let the four northern counties produce more food.

With this population, he can be provided with sufficient sources of troops.

With this population, he can be provided with sufficient workers.

"This information is very important. How can I, the people of Dasong, let Xiliang take it away?" Zhao Xu said.

When Jinzhou was still under the rule of the imperial court, he could not directly introduce the people of Jinzhou to the four counties.

But now Jinzhou has fallen into the hands of Xiliang, and he has led the people of Jinzhou to Yan, which is fair and bright, and protects the people.

Zhou Yi and Wang Yanzhong laughed.

They couldn't bear to see these suffering people.

When they came back, they brought back some Jinzhou people.

"Come here, call Chang Wei." Zhao Xu said, and then looked at the two of them apologetically, "I'm afraid I can't let you rest anymore. You two are familiar with Jinzhou, and I'm afraid I need you to lead the way this time."

"Your Highness can go into battle and kill the enemy. These small things for us are not worth mentioning." Wang Yanzhong handed over.

He admired King Yan from the bottom of his heart. After all, King Yan took the greatest credit for the current situation in Yanzhou.

Moreover, King Yan provided everyone in the four counties with the opportunity to become an official.

He is letting his son study and enter the political school in the future.

I can no longer be like myself, just the head of a tooth shop.

After a while, Chang Wei came over.

Zhao Xu told the story of the two people's reactions.

He said: "Let Zhongli and Chen Hu lead their cavalry out of Feihu Pass to help the people of Jinzhou enter Yanzhou."

Chang Wei grinned when he heard this.

If it was his temper, he would have already ordered troops to send troops to Jinzhou to compete with Xiliang.

It's just that the overall situation is here. Without King Yan's order, he can't use any troops without permission.

Now that King Yan has given him this order, the royal cavalry can enter Jinzhou.

Although this is not a formal war with Xiliang, it is also a warm-up in the early stage.

"Okay, hehe, but if this happens, Xiliang will be so angry that he will cause trouble to His Highness immediately." Chang Wei pretended to look worried.

"Just go ahead and do it. Who am I afraid of?" Zhao Xu glared at Chang Wei.

"Your Highness, these words are meant to boost your morale." Chang Wei clasped his fists heavily, "Don't worry, Your Highness, Xiliang's captured troops will definitely be defeated this time."

Zhao Xu nodded, "Zhou Yi, you go to Feihu Pass with the royal cavalry."

Then he said to Wang Yanzhong: "I will hand over all the merchant ships of Yan County Trading Company to you. You can go north along the Jin River and bring back as many people as you can carry."

The terrain of Yanzhou is long and narrow, far from south to north, but short from east to west.

So it only takes less than two days from Pyeongseong Pier to Jinju.

It is completely possible for him to initiate a large-scale evacuation of Jinzhou people.

"Yes, Your Highness." Zhou Yi and Wang Yanzhong responded at the same time.

The three of them left.

Zhao Xu thought for a while and went directly to the Bingzhan Division.

During this time, his classes were going on normally, and the development of the matchlock gun was not delayed.

Nowadays, the high carbon steel needed for knives and the spring steel needed for firing devices are all available.

Calipers, a measuring tool needed for fine manufacturing, are also available.

The flintlock gun should also officially enter the manufacturing process.

But before that, he still had one last thing to come up with.

This is a hydraulic drilling machine.

Before the emergence of mechanical power, humans mainly relied on human and animal power, and then used water power to increase production efficiency again.

So we want to achieve mass production of flintlock barrels.

It is necessary to use the turning head of the water wheel in the river to drive the drill bit to drill holes.

When he arrived at the Military and War Department, Zhao Xu just pointed out the matter to Wang Ying.

After all, water wheels are not futuristic and are very common in agricultural irrigation in Dasong.

All Bingzhansi needed to do was combine the drill and the water wheel into one.