Sun Hong on the left was taller than Liu Heng by a head, while Wei Hong on the right was only slightly taller.
" My lord," Sun Hong spoke first," I am Sun Hong. My military rank is temporarily unavailable. I am the commander of the new regiment."”
His voice was so loud that Liu Heng's eardrums hurt. He laughed and said,""Hehe, Commandant Sun…Ah! It should be changed to Commander Sun, with a loud and bold voice!”
"My lord, I am Wei Hong. My military rank is temporarily unavailable, and I am the commander of the new Second Regiment.”
Liu Heng saw the two of them being so reserved and could not help but laugh."Don't pretend to be serious. We're all old friends. They sat down to discuss the training of the new army.”
The two of them smiled and sat down." It's hard not to be serious with the new military salute. How could my lord think of such a military salute?”
"I've been influenced by my teacher." The reason I called you here is to ask about the training method of the new army. How is the military structure?"
Wei Hong praised," This set of methods is a combination of ancient and modern achievements. Some of them are even unheard of. They are practical and efficient. They must be made by people who have been in battle for a long time and are well versed in military affairs.
The only shortcoming was that the amount of training was too much, and many soldiers could not adapt quickly. There were even soldiers who enjoyed it, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was training to kill.”
Liu Heng laughed when he heard that." It's all my fault. I should have told everyone to increase the amount of training bit by bit. It's only natural for the soldiers to complain. After they return, they must immediately adjust and adopt a step-by-step approach. They should also be divided into small teams according to their physical fitness to carry out targeted training.”
"Yes, my lord!"
Sun Hong continued," My lord, Liu Batian has been very arrogant recently. He has tried to break through the blockade several times and plunder the nearby villages.
Qin Feng fought with them four times and injured dozens of people before he could hold them back.
After the new army was formed, Gao Xian's defensive strength was much weaker. Qin Feng's days were not good.”
Liu Heng's joy turned to worry." This is only the surface. The prefecture has just received a secret report that Goguryeo is in contact with Liu Hu and his bandits. They seem to be planning to invade Xuantu. The situation is dire.
According to Ju Gong's calculations, it should be at the time of the autumn harvest, and it was very likely that they would send troops at the same time as the Wuhuan bandits.”
"What?" The two of them exclaimed in unison. Now, the thousands of soldiers under the prefecture were already stretched thin, so how could they resist their pincer attack?”
Liu Heng looked out of the door." We'll have to rely on the new army for this, so we have to send out our combat power as soon as possible and familiarize ourselves with the new equipment."”
After that, Liu Heng found Gao Shun, Ju Shou, and Xun Yu and told them about the things he had been thinking about for a long time.
"First, I plan to gradually abolish the kneeling ceremony in the three counties. This was because the kneeling ceremony could only be given to parents, elders, and teachers to show respect. For others, it only required ordinary etiquette.
The second thing was that the work of the prefecture was getting heavier and heavier, and the current officials could no longer meet the requirements. They had to bring in talents from outside. This matter was handed over to Duke Ju and Duke Xun. They had to contact their good friends and talents to see if they had the desire to be officials here and benefit the people. If necessary, they could use the caravan of the prefecture. As for the money needed, they could directly receive it from the treasury, but they had to have a detailed explanation of the use of the money.
The third thing is that I plan to implement a system of nobility that is different from the current one. It will be given as another reward to those who have made outstanding military achievements or contributed to the prefecture in other ways.
For example, if a farmer discovered a way to increase food production, he should be given a title of nobility in recognition of his contribution to the country.
However, this title was only limited to the person himself, and his descendants could not inherit it. With this title, we can consider giving preferential measures or subsidies.
Fourth, we need to strengthen our scouting of Goguryeo. I suspect that they might have designs on Xuantu, and we can't let our guard down before our new army is ready to fight.”
Before he could finish, Xun Yu suddenly said,""My lord, everything else is easy to handle, but I don't think it's appropriate to change the kneeling ceremony.
Rules and etiquette were passed down from generation to generation and had a fixed system meaning. Such changes were not only inappropriate, but also easy to attract scholars 'resistance. What would happen if His Majesty questioned him in the future?”
Liu Heng laughed involuntarily." Duke Xun, you worry too much. Of course, you have to kneel before His Majesty." What I'm talking about is mainly aimed at the example of the common people kneeling down to an official.
Now, every time he went out, the people he met would kowtow non-stop. His pious heart was commendable, but such etiquette was too cumbersome. It was better to simply bow and salute with cupped fists.”
Xun Yu suddenly understood." I see. I've misunderstood."”
Ju Shou thought for a while and said,"I have no opinion on these matters." He only hoped that the lord would give a clear request for recruiting talents. We can also consider our choices.
Liu Heng rolled his eyes and slowly said,""Enlightened, diligent, loving the people, honest!”
At this moment, the guard reported that Zheng Hun had sent people to invite everyone to witness the effect of the new method of smelting iron. Since there was nothing else to do, Liu Heng led the group to go.
They rode on the first batch of four-wheeled carriages that were produced. It was fast and stable. It only took them less than an hour to arrive at the heavily guarded smelting base in the dense forest.
The blast furnace had been mass-produced, and part of the fine iron produced was used to produce weapons, while the rest was used to make farm tools and carriage parts for sale.
In this way, the outside world would think that the three northeastern counties were lacking in iron, and they would not be too suspicious of the three counties 'wanton purchase of iron materials.
After entering the smelting base, they could see the thick fog mixed with water vapor and smoke from afar.
When Liu Heng and the others walked in, they realized that the molten iron refined from the first batch of coke had begun to solidify. The rolling heat wave gradually subsided, and a beautiful metallic luster was emitted bit by bit.
Zheng Hun squatted beside the furnace, his right hand holding a short iron rod as he knocked on this piece and listened to that piece. He had an intoxicated expression.
Not long after, he realized that Liu Heng and the others were watching from the side. He immediately picked up an iron ingot and ran over, shouting,"Mayor Liu, look at this iron. It's comparable to nine forged steel! It was definitely a divine weapon! Coke was too magical. Not only was the furnace temperature higher than coal, but the molten iron produced was also of superior quality!”
Upon hearing about divine weapons, Liu Heng's heart skipped a beat, and he said to Gao Shun,""Commandant Gao, let the cavalry regiment be equipped with new weapons first. You should also ask Master Zheng to forge a suitable weapon for you. In addition, all military officers above the battalion level could apply for individual weapons.”
Gao Shun was moved and said with slight excitement,"Yes, Gao Shun thanks the lord for your kindness!"”
There was no general who did not like divine weapons. A good weapon could not only greatly increase one's combat power, but it was also a symbol of status and power. Therefore, the general's love for weapons was equal to his love for horses.
Then, Liu Heng turned to Zheng Hun. Seeing his dusty appearance, he said gratefully,""Master Zheng, you've worked hard! In order to commend Master's great contribution, I have decided to name this method of using coke to forge iron as the 'Zheng Hun Iron-Forging Technique', and give you a special reward-a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan until Master ascends to heaven.”
Hearing this, Zheng Hun's expression was strange. Surprise, excitement, and gratitude appeared on his face at the same time. He was speechless for a long time and had no choice but to kneel and kowtow.
Zheng Hun understood in his heart, how glorious it was to name the smelting method after himself! There was also a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan. In a year, there would be 120,000 yuan! What kind of concept was this?
If a textile female worker was compared to a blue-collar worker, then he was equivalent to a white-collar worker. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, an annual salary of 120,000 yuan was equivalent to a county-level cadre with a salary of 550 stones!
Liu Heng hurriedly helped Zheng Hun up and comforted him,"" It's no longer encouraged to kneel down. Also, there's no need to say anything to thank me. You deserve all of this. Moreover, there are still many places in the prefecture that need your help in the future.”
Looking at Zheng Hun's wet red eyes, Liu Heng was filled with emotion. Zheng Hun's talent could probably only be recognized and displayed here. It seemed that the road to reform the class ideology was still long.
Liu Heng patted the dust off Zheng Hun's body and smiled.""I also need your help to forge a 18-foot-long Snake Spear, a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and a Sun Shooting Divine Bow with steel as the bone and steel wire as the string!”
"Governor, don't worry. Zheng Hun will definitely complete it as soon as possible!”
After that, Zheng Hun led them to the second blast furnace, which was almost completed. Dozens of craftsmen were there for the final inspection.
Seeing the arrival of the prefect, they stopped what they were doing and bowed to Liu Heng.
Seeing this, Liu Heng immediately went forward to help the oldest craftsman up and said,"Craftsmen, you have worked hard. I thank you on behalf of the county government and the people!”
A cliché that could be heard everywhere in the later era actually deeply moved these craftsmen who were usually ordered around. Many people watched this amiable and good prefect slowly leave with tears in their eyes. They silently prayed for him and thanked him for many good policies he implemented...
During this time, Liu Heng mentioned two things to Zheng Hun. One was to install a windmill to increase the furnace temperature. The second was about the smelting of alloy steel.
Windmills were quite common in the Eastern Han Dynasty, where the smelting industry was relatively developed. However, Liu Heng's proposal to install a fan on the top of the furnace was very novel, especially the design of using water power to drive the fan and the blowing fan. Zheng Hun could not help but nod.
However, compared to the fan that increased the temperature of the furnace, the latter piqued Zheng Hun's interest and he insisted on listening to the whole story.
At this moment, seeing the other people's gloating expressions, Liu Heng knew that he could only spend the night in this rolling heat wave.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]