The autumn wind rises, and the weather is cool before you know it. The autumn harvest could not be delayed, and the people who were recruited returned to their hometowns one after another, and the vicinity of the iron prison was deserted.

He Yuanwai sat at the door of his restaurant, watched the yellow leaves on the trees next to him fall, and said to Director Lu beside him: "Alas, it has only been lively for many days, and it will be deserted." There is no business in the restaurant, how is it good? Even though it doesn't make money, the wine class has a lot of money, and it's hard to get around. ”

Supervisor Lu said: "Don't worry about it, I heard that the army of the fiber is about to arrive." When they come, business will naturally improve. ”

He Yuanwai just sighed: "It's really a mistake to be greedy for only one or two months of interest, and to open the restaurant in a hurry." At that time, the population of the Quartet was concentrated, and the business of our restaurant was good, and the Yamen set a wine class at that time, which was too high. ”

The wine class is a certain year, and He Yuanwai only sees that there are many people around at that time, and the business must be good. But I didn't want the amount of the Yamen to set the wine class at that time, which was naturally high. Now that the business is cold, I don't think it's worth it.

At this moment, the little servant in the store came back with a basket, saluted in front of the two and said, "Outside, the supervisor, the little one went over there to buy vegetables, and I saw many people coming." dragged the family with a mouth, I heard that it was the box army that pulled the fiber. ”

Hearing this, He Yuanwai was overjoyed, stood up, and said to Supervisor Lu: "Director, let's go over and have a look!" ”

These fiber-pulling van troops came from Xuzhou, numbering thousands of people, and stretched for miles on the road. The people who set up shops on the north bank of the river rejoiced and watched together. Seeing that they arrived at the ferry under the leadership of the officer, got on the ferry and crossed the river, they couldn't help but pause together: "Alas, why did you cross the river in such a hurry!" With us, it's also good to have a bowl of wine and a glass of wine! ”

The person on the other side said: "The iron supervisor on the other side has already built a house, so they naturally went over there to pack up and live in." Why be anxious? After they settle down, they will inevitably come to us to find food and drink, as long as there are people, are they afraid that there will be no business? ”

At this time, it is the season when the Li River is rising, and the river in this area is curved and the water flow is gentle, which is a natural ferry. On the north bank of the ferry, there are various shops built by the private sector, centered on the restaurant of He Yuanwai, and distributed along a thoroughfare by the river. On the south bank of the ferry, there is the barracks of the iron supervisor, which is not distributed along the river, but is square and stretches to the south.

Walk the stone-paved streets and look at the houses on either side. They are all three main rooms, with a small courtyard, neat and tidy, like a chessboard drawn out. The houses are all made of bricks and tiles, which are very different from the rammed earth and grass houses common in the countryside at this time, and they are pleasant to look at.

Tong Anluxi, who was tall and thin, said: "I didn't expect the camp built here to be so neat, I think it was for us to live." I heard that those who come to Tangzhou in the spring have to build their own houses and build their own roads, but they are not as good as us. ”

Lian Daddy on the side said lazily: "How do you know that it was built for us?" Such neat barracks, in my opinion, are only for officers. How can we, the military men who pull the fiber, have such a place to live! ”

Tong Anlu said: "We walked more than a mile, all of them are this kind of houses, and we can't see the end at a glance, how can it be for officers to live." How many of us are there in the first battalion? Where can they live in so many houses! ”

The slender men had joys and sorrows, and slowly passed the stone road in the middle of the camp and headed south.

After walking about three miles, they came to a large, open field, where the officers of the battalions ordered their troops to stop.

After a short time, I saw a few officials walking quickly, found Dai Dujian who was leading the team, and said with a forked hand: "Yun Ju ordered, the capital supervisor led the generals above the battalion commander to meet at the yamen in front." The rest rested here first, and were at their command. ”

Dai Dujian did not dare to slack off, and ordered to go down, and soon the commanders of the battalions came to see it.

The group walked through the open field, passed a camp gate guarded by soldiers, and saw a row of high-profile houses, which was where the newly built yamen was located. The officials led the way and entered the yamen.

Du Zhongxiao sat there with Su Song, Liu Zhuo and others, gossiping while waiting. This is not the Iron Prison Yamen, but the one who manages this barracks here. According to the preliminary plan, the barracks in this area will accommodate about 3,000 people, and it will be the first iron-smelting center, which is divided into several types of work, such as coke-burning, iron-making, and steel-frying. As the first iron-smelting center, it was the seed of the entire iron prison, and the officials attached great importance to it. Du Zhongxiao personally sat in charge, and all the officials who could be drawn arrived, striving to win the first battle.

Dai Dujian stepped forward and saluted: "Xiaguan Dai Ming, sent by the imperial court, led the six commanders of the Xiang Army to command 2,765 people, and came to listen to the orders of the Yun Judge." Seventy-eight people on the road stayed for treatment because they were unwell, and agreed that they would all meet in two months. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The capital eunuch is hard, please sit down, and we will discuss how to arrange your people." ”

Dai Du thanked him, and took his commander to sit down on the stool next to him.

It is impossible for the army to be full, there can be more than 2,700 people, and it is still reorganized before leaving, and people are added to come in, otherwise the number will be even less. They were the army of the rivers in the west of Kaifeng Prefecture, and they were led by Dai Dujian after the meeting of Xuzhou. These people dragged their families with them, and they did not walk fast on the road, and in just two or three hundred miles, seventy or eighty people were left behind.

Du Zhongxiao asked Dai Dujian about the situation on the road, and said to Dai Dujian: "I have instructed the iron supervisor to prepare wine and dinner for you." Tonight's soldiers are two steamed buns, one piece of meat, two pieces of pickles, and a bowl of wine. After a while, the overseer will go with me to see how the food is being prepared. ”

Dai Dujian forked his hand: "Everything is according to the orders of the fortune judgment, and the officials will do it!" ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Eunuch, when we come to this place, we are not fighting, but we want to live and mine and smelt iron." The soldiers who came were divided into many types of work and went to work in the iron prison. This is not like marching and fighting, but it is to be assigned according to their temperament and what they are good at. The important thing is not to prohibit orders, but to be patient and careful. In the past few days, everyone has a break to understand the surrounding situation, and we will arrange it calmly. ”

Dai Dujian said yes, looking like a purge in the army.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Before you came, we recruited a lot of officials from nearby states and counties, and in the future, we will rely on them to work with you to manage the affairs of the iron supervisor." In a while, Master Liu will work with the commanders of each battalion to assign public servants to your battalions. Generally speaking, each has a scribe and a scribe, a battalion has two priests, and above it is a Confucian official. These people, together with the original commanders and commanders, manage their subordinates. The governor and the generals have just arrived, and they are not familiar with anything, so listen to them. ”

Dai Dujian and several commanders crossed their hands together and agreed in a hurry. Some commanders have already muttered in their hearts, listening to Du Zhongxiao's meaning, the officials of the iron prison are directly assigned to the capital, won't they take away their military power? In the future, the management of the iron supervisor is no longer the original system.

Du Zhongxiao learned the lesson of the Tangzhou camp and directly distributed the camp according to the army's establishment, causing a lot of chaos. Iron supervision and iron smelting are more complicated than farming, and if you use that method, I don't know how much chaos will happen. As soon as they came, they sent officials down to take over the management. These officials are scholars recruited from the surrounding states, have been trained for several months, and have their own management system. As for the original officers, while the remuneration is guaranteed, the work will be redistributed according to the strengths of each person.