Chapter 239

Gaia September 27th, in the morning, Ouyang Shuo took four personal guards out of the city.

The destination of his trip was a military factory built in a cave in the western outskirts of the city.

The military factory was prepared by the Combat Readiness Department of the Military Affairs Administration. It has been three months since the establishment of the military factory. It is mainly responsible for the production of three types of military logistics materials, military rations, marching tents, and ladders.

Passing through the west city gate, you can see that craftsmen are building official roads not far from the city gate. The starting point of Tianhai Road is not the current West City Gate, but the West City Gate of the planned third city wall.

Although the official road is not paved with bluestone slabs like the roads in the city, it is not easy to build. In the wilderness, overgrown with weeds. The craftsmen must first remove the weeds, and then plan the soil at the roots to prevent the weeds from standing up again in the coming year.

The dirt road of the official road is made of triadic soil, and the main materials are lime, mud and sand. Only after filling and compacting with compound soil, weeds will not grow, and it will not become muddy in rainy days.

The drawing board of the chief engineer of Tianhai Road specially designed a "road roller" driven by a pack horse. He asked the blacksmith to build a cylindrical iron drum, which was then pulled by eight horses, saving a lot of manpower.

Because an important function of the official road is to mobilize troops and transport materials, the official road is not designed to be narrow, a full 20 meters wide, and good drainage facilities must be designed.

On both sides of the official road, trees have to be transplanted.

In addition, along the Tianhai Road, there are some tributaries of the Friendship River and some hillsides. It is necessary to build bridges when encountering water and open roads across mountains. The difficulty is comparable to that of non-city wall projects.

Finally, there is the most important post system, including post roads and post stations.

The post station can be used for officials to travel overnight, and the distance is about a day's journey, usually about sixty miles. Between post stations, there are simpler shops for pedestrians to rest and eat for a short time, usually every ten miles.

After leaving the city, Ouyang Shuo and his party turned left and rode less than ten kilometers to the cave where the military factory was located. At the entrance of the cave, a large iron gate is built, which cannot be opened unless it is an emergency. Next to the iron gate, a small door was opened for one person to pass through, as a normal entrance and exit passage.

In front of the cave, there is a warning wooden sign that reads "Military Forbidden Area", and a small group of sergeants stand on guard on both sides.

Seeing that the military factory was heavily guarded, Ouyang Shuo nodded in satisfaction.

After dismounting, Ouyang Shuo handed over the horse to the guards and walked towards the gate alone. When the sergeant on guard saw Ouyang Shuo, he immediately saluted, "Your Majesty!" and was about to run to open the big iron gate.

Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, "Don't bother, Ben Hou can just enter through the small gate."

The sergeant looked embarrassed, "Your Majesty, this..."

"Needless to say, this Marquis's visit this time is a temporary idea, and we should not mobilize everyone."

"Here!" The sergeant didn't dare to argue any more, and respectfully opened the small door.

Ouyang Shuo left the two guards outside, and walked into the cave with the other two guards.

The cave was not as dark as imagined. On both sides, including the rock wall above the head, there were small white stones inlaid, emitting a soft white light, as bright as day.

Upon closer inspection, it is not artificially inlaid, but naturally occurring.

Ouyang Shuo knew that these small stones should be a kind of fluorite, a natural light source.

Looking up, the cave is more than ten meters high and more than 150 meters wide, and there is no end in sight at a glance. Such a huge cave does not feel oppressive at all.

Ouyang Shuo's arrival alarmed the director of the military factory. He was a middle-aged man who looked extremely calm. When I got the news, I rushed over, "Your Majesty is here in person, and my humble position is far away to welcome you!"

Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, "Benhou came here uninvited, why don't you show me around?"

"Here!" The supervisor nodded in response and led the way ahead, "The cave military factory is divided into three areas, which are responsible for the manufacture of military food pills, marching tents and ladders." The supervisor pointed to an area in front of him and said: "The outermost area, It’s the area where the ladders are made.”

Ouyang Shuo looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a ten-meter-wide main road in the middle of the cave, surrounded by wooden walls on both sides.

Through the four-meter-high wall, you can see a high-rise ladder.

"How efficient is the ladder construction?" Ouyang Shuo asked.

"My lord, according to the current production speed, one ladder can be manufactured every day."

Ouyang Shuo nodded, and walked through the Yunti area, which is the marching tent area, where twenty tents can be produced every day. At the end is the Junliangwan area.

The materials used to make Junliang pills are grain, other non-staple foods and condiments, which are very troublesome to make. On average, one ration pill needs to consume 3-4 units of food.

The production efficiency of Junliang pills is quite high, and more than 5,000 pills can be produced every day.

Behind the Junliangwan area is an underground river, surrounded by workers' living quarters.

After the visit, Ouyang Shuo left the cave under the respectful escort of everyone.

*************

After returning, Ouyang Shuo contacted Cui Shouren of Cui's Chamber of Commerce through the super trading platform.

Ouyang Shuo's title of Marquis of Lianzhou was conferred by the Dali court, and it is officially recognized and valid for all aborigines. Therefore, the attitude of Cui's Chamber of Commerce towards Ouyang Shuo has changed a lot.

Anyway, the Cui family is just a family of merchants, and their social status is not high. To Ouyang Shuo, the Marquis, he naturally had to maintain enough respect.

Of course, in business and business, you can do whatever you want.

"Master Hou!" Cui Shouren greeted first. With Ouyang Shuo's advice, Cui's Chamber of Commerce hoarded a lot of food, and Cui Shouren didn't dare to put on airs just because of this.

Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "Brother Shou, the Marquis has one matter, and I have to ask the Chamber of Commerce."

"Master Hou, please tell me!" Merchants are most afraid of being in debt. Cui's Chamber of Commerce owes Ouyang Shuo a big favor, and they are worried about how to repay it. Now that Ouyang Shuo is asking for it, Cui Shouren naturally cannot ask for it.

"Your Chamber of Commerce has quite a network in Dali, can you recruit a group of talents for Shanhai County?"

Ouyang Shuo directed the idea of ​​recruiting talents to Cui's Chamber of Commerce. Compared with the Snow Rose Mercenary Group, which only had influence among the player groups, the Cui Chamber of Commerce's influence among the aborigines was even better.

Cui Shouren felt a little surprised, "Master Hou, can you explain in detail?"

"This Marquis is very thirsty for talent, but unfortunately there is no way. In Dali City, there must be some people who have no ambitions. They have talents but have nowhere to display them. They are either down-and-out scholars, or excluded officials, or unsatisfactory generals. , and even some craftsmen. These people are all recruited by Shanhai County." Ouyang Shuo explained his idea, "Although Shanhai County is located in a remote place, it can provide them with a platform to display their ambitions and take a step back. Said that the salary provided by Shanhai County is definitely not lower than that of Wangcheng."

Ouyang Shuo's self-confidence comes not only from his title of Marquis of Lianzhou, but also from his own prestige [National Scholars] and his influence among the aborigines. This is especially true in Dali.

Suddenly, Cui Shouren understood Ouyang Shuo's intention. If only relying on the reputation of Lianzhou Hou or Cui's Chamber of Commerce, this matter may be more difficult to handle. But if the two are combined together, it can produce the magic power of one plus one greater than two, which is very convincing enough to make many people feel excited.

With such a huge talent pool in Dali, if a little bit is leaked casually, it will be enough for Shanhai County to consume for a long time. Ouyang Shuo dug this corner, really clever.

"Since Lord Hou ordered it, Mrs. Cui is naturally duty bound." Cui Shouren responded directly.

Ouyang Shuo nodded, "To reassure people's hearts and show sincerity, I am willing to provide a settling allowance for every talent who is willing to settle in Shanhai County. The specific amount will be controlled by your Chamber of Commerce, how about it?" According to Ouyang Shuo's Thought, since it is an unsatisfactory person, it must be more embarrassing in life.

"Master Hou is very thoughtful." Cui Shouren nodded in agreement, "Master Hou, please rest assured, Mrs. Cui will definitely treat this matter as a major event and live up to Master Hou's entrustment!"

"That's it, thank you!" Ouyang Shuo thanked.

"Don't dare!"

*************

Cui Shouren did not break his promise, after finishing the conversation with Ouyang Shuo, he immediately asked to see the Patriarch.

After listening to Cui Shouren's report, the Patriarch of the Cui family was silent for a while, before he said: "The Marquis of Lianzhou has far-sighted vision, exquisite and unique layout, and a heart to seek talents. With such a broad mind, he already has the sign of a potential dragon taking off. This is me. The Cui family's great opportunity must not be missed, Shou Ren!"

"exist!"

"I allow you to use the power of your family and go all out to recruit talents for the Marquis of Lianzhou. In addition, my disciples of the Cui family, if they are interested in official careers, can also be recommended to serve in the territory of the Marquis of Lianzhou. Cui's Chamber of Commerce, in When the time is right, we can consider setting up a branch in the Lianzhouhou territory."

Cui Shouren was taken aback. He didn't expect that the Patriarch would take this matter so seriously, far exceeding his expectations. Cui Shouren firmly believed in the judgment of the Patriarch, and said loudly: "Yes!"

After Cui Shouren left, the head of the family sat alone in the middle hall, muttering to himself: "The revival of the Cui family is just around the corner! Finally, I have lived up to my ancestors, and have not let the Cui family decline in my hands."

Once the power of Cui's Chamber of Commerce is in operation, its energy is very terrifying.

In the streets and alleys of Dali, Cui's family members came out in full force, bringing Cui's gilded invitations and specially prepared gifts, and came to the door one by one to visit the down-and-out scholars and unsatisfactory officials or generals that Ouyang Shuo specified.

These people were suddenly visited, some were flattered, some were calm and at ease, some were turned away, and so on. In general, the joint efforts of Marquis of Lianzhou and Cui's Chamber of Commerce are still very effective. Most people said that they would seriously consider it before giving Cui an accurate answer.

As for craftsmen, they can be recruited without any fanfare from the Cui family. The main targets of recruitment are blacksmiths, carpenters, and tailors that Ouyang Shuo specially explained.