From scratch, among the mountains that stretched, a castle appeared, and in less than two months, the side walls, the barracks, and the workshops of the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department were erected. The reorganized army also began daily formal training, although there were various problems in the middle, such as the shortage of living materials for the soldiers, the shortage of tools and materials needed by the Ordnance Division, etc., but with the Fan family in the Jin merchants, these problems were completely solved. Of course, the Fan family also made a lot of money in the two months of the construction of Qingshi Fort.

Everything is developing in a good place, with the emergence of the daily shops opened by Fan Tianyu, the Tian family and the Huang family in the Jin merchants also came here with a smell, met Chen Yue, and asked to open a shop in Qingshikou, Chen Yue of course happily agreed to them, and also allocated a piece of land to them at a rent of one hundred taels of silver a year, so that they could build shops. Of course, Fan Tianyu was very dissatisfied, because it meant that he would not be able to monopolize the business in Qingshikou, but Chen Yue ignored him, one more businessman moved in, and there was one more option for the procurement of materials, and the price would naturally be much cheaper.

In a short period of time, the shops of the Tian family and the Huang family were established, and the appearance of the three shops greatly enriched the material of Qingshi Fort, with grain, cloth, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, and all kinds of daily necessities. More and more of the mountaineers in the nearby mountains are choosing to go down the mountain and settle in Bluestone Fort. They originally fled into the mountains to escape the Manchu Tartars to escape the war, and most of the mountain people were still former military households, but life in the mountains was inconvenient in the end, and all kinds of materials were extremely scarce. Now Chen Yue is willing to redistribute the military land that originally belonged to Qingshi Fort to them, and he only needs to pay 30% of the rent every year, so that he can build a house and settle here, and his life is much better than in the mountains. However, Chen Yue also has the conditions, if he wants to return to Qingshi Fort, the family must have a young man to join the Xishan Army, of course, this is not a problem for these mountain people and former military households. Most of them were originally military households, and it was normal for them to join the army, and if they had soldiers in their families, they could earn more than one or two silver a month, not to mention the salary, and no one would dare to bully them in the future.

The time slowly entered September, the weather has become colder and colder in recent years, the cold wind blows from Siberia, crosses the boundless Mongolian steppe, and then continues to the south through the Yanshan Mountains, and the Qingshikou, which is located at the junction of the Yanshan Mountains and the grassland, has a much colder climate than Beijing, only in September, and has to wear thick clothes.

As the weather became colder, as Chen Yue sent people into the mountain to persuade him, more and more people in the mountains chose to go down the mountain and settle in Qingshi Fort. There were originally thousands of defenders here in Qingshi Fort, with the Mantar attack on Qingshikou into the pass, some of the defenders were killed, some surrendered, and a considerable part fled into the mountains with their families, and the original mountain people lived together, according to Yuan Keli, who was responsible for settling down the mountain people, estimated that the total number of mountain people in the vicinity of dozens of miles should be tens of thousands.

At the beginning, the Xishan army built hundreds of earthen houses, while more than 1,000 Xishan troops only lived in more than 100 houses against the side walls, and most of the rest were originally empty. At first, many people didn't understand why so many houses were built, but as the mountain people continued to descend the mountain, they understood Chen Yue's purpose in doing so.

A family of mountain people allocated a house, and more than 300 houses were quickly filled by the mountain people who came down the mountain, so that later the people who went down the mountain had to build another house on the flat land of the valley, Chen Yue ordered Lu Sanyou, the leader of the carpenters, to take dozens of carpenters under his command to help build the house.

By the beginning of October, the total number of these recruits had reached more than 700 people, most of whom were from military households, and they knew some combat skills, as long as they were trained a little in the way of the Xishan Army, it was a good thing.

Today, the total number of the Xishan Army has reached more than 2,200 people, and as the number increases, the pressure on food and salary is also increasing. More than 2,000 soldiers, the daily consumption of grain amounted to forty or fifty stone, although from the Beijing division when the purchase of more than 2,000 stone of grain, but with the consumption of these months, and the families of these mountain people who went down the mountain also lack food and clothing and need subsidies, according to the estimate of Zhang Chengkai, who manages the grain straw, the current grain stored in the army can be eaten at most until the New Year. Although theoretically it is said that the food and salary of the Xishan Army should be allocated by the imperial court, Chen Yue knows that the bottom of the imperial court is now empty, and the treasury is empty, where is the surplus grain allocated to him! Moreover, with his bad relationship with the civil officials, it is even more difficult to get food and salary.

Not to mention the food, the soldiers' salaries are a big expense. More than 2,000 soldiers, according to the newly formulated standard of silver, ordinary soldiers are paid 1 tael and 5 cents a month, soldiers are 2 taels, and daring soldiers are 2 taels and 5 cents, and as for officers, they are even more subsidized by officers, ranging from the number to tens of taels of silver, plus the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department, the monthly salary expenditure is as much as 7,500 taels of silver. Coupled with the various expenses of the army, there is no fifteen thousand taels a month that cannot be overwhelmed. The difficulty of raising troops can be seen, Chen Yue is very suspicious of which generals in the late Ming Dynasty who often support hundreds of thousands of troops, such as Zuo Liangyu has more than 200,000 soldiers, and others such as Wu Sangui, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, Liu Zeqing and other general soldiers, each also has tens of thousands of troops, and now the imperial court can't count on talent at all, Chen Yue is very curious about where they got the silver to raise soldiers.

However, thinking about the ordinary soldiers in Tang Tong and Bai Guangen's army, dressed like Huazi, Chen Yue can also understand, tens of thousands of troops are afraid that most of the soldiers can't even get food and clothing on weekdays, only the general's personal soldiers are treated slightly better, which is like the Xishan Army, more than 2,000 soldiers are fully paid, and the salary is directly distributed to the soldiers on a monthly basis, and there has never been a phenomenon of deduction.

However, with the huge monthly expenditure, although there were still 300,000 taels of silver in the army, all of which were seized from the hands of Fangshan Mantar and from the owner of the Xishan coal mine, Chen Yue still felt the pressure was huge. His army will definitely continue to expand, and the silver will be spent like flowing water, so it is not possible to sit back and eat nothing, and it is necessary to open up new sources of wealth.

But in this bluestone mouth where birds don't, where can they find a way to make money? And it's a way to make quick money! Chen Yue was very worried.

There is a saying that it is called relying on the mountains to eat the mountains and relying on the water to eat the water, and here it is leaning on the Mongolian steppe, should we make an idea from the Mongolians? Mantar troops into the customs to loot, many Mongolian tribes also participated, robbed a lot of people and property, if you can find a Mongolian tribe to grab a handful, should be able to get a lot of benefits, the least can also get some cattle and sheep to eat!

However, although the idea is very good, the Mongolian cavalry is not easy to mess with, although it is not as powerful as the Eight Banners of the Manchurians, but in the vast and boundless grassland, it is really not easy to defeat the Mongolian cavalry that is as fast as the wind. And even if you want to go to the Mongols to fight grass valleys, you have to find the Mongol tribes! Wei Yang and Liu Neng did not collect cavalry at night, and they also sent people into the grassland many times, penetrating more than 200 miles, but they did not find any large Mongolian tribes.

Just when Chen was more and more worried, Fan Tianyu, the shopkeeper of the Fan family's shop, came to visit.

"What does Shopkeeper Fan want, just talk about it." Looking at a silver ticket of two hundred taels on the table, Chen Yue said with a smile. In the past few months, Fan Tianyu has earned at least twenty or thirty thousand silver from his own hands, but now he is only willing to give himself this little money, this businessman is fucking stingy!

"Ahem," Fan Tianyu twisted his body a little uneasily, facing Chen Yue, he often had a sense of oppression.

"That's right, Lord Chen, now that it's about to enter winter, the cattle and sheep on the grassland are fattening, my Fan family wants to send a caravan to collect some cattle and sheep on the grassland, and I also ask Lord Chen for your permission, you can open the city gate and let the caravan enter the grassland."

"That's right! But hasn't your Fan family been entering the grassland from Zhangjiakou, why did you want to go to my Qingshikou this year? Chen Yue asked in surprise, he had long known about the eight families of the Jin merchants entering and leaving the grassland through Zhangjiakou and doing business with the Manchu and Mongols, and these facts were also well known in the Ming Dynasty, although they violated the imperial court's ban on the embargo on Tartar substances. However, the Jin merchants had a strong backer in the border army in the court, and as far as Chen Yue knew, the Fan family had children who were high-ranking officials in the court, and Li Jiantai, a cabinet scholar, was the backer of the Jin merchants. The officials of the Jin merchant family had huge power in the imperial court, so even if they knew that the Jin merchants were smuggling, the imperial court was helpless. However, since I, Chen Yue, am in Qingshikou, I will definitely not allow this kind of traitorous thing to happen!

"Zhangjiakou is managed by our young owner, and he will also organize caravans from Zhangjiakou to the grassland. However, the Mongolian steppe is huge, and where can a caravan be? So the old club asked me to lead the team out of this bluestone mouth, and I ask you to be accommodating. Fan Tianyu said humbly.

"Well, you went to the grassland to buy cattle and sheep, I don't know what kind of goods you will bring when you go?" Chen Yue asked, going to the grassland to do business with the Mongols is very profitable, Chen Yue naturally knows this, tea, bricks, cloths and even iron pots are indispensable substances on the grassland, and it is understandable to sell these to the grassland, but these shameless Jin merchants will transport pig iron grain into the grassland and trade with the Mongols and Manchurians. Pig iron can be used to make arrows, knives, guns, and weapons, and grain is the most popular material in the grasslands that do not produce food, which are all substances that are expressly prohibited from being exported.

"Hehe, it's just some tea brick cloth lacquerware." Fan Tianyu writhed uneasily.

"Well, let me think about it!" Chen Yue served tea and sent it off.

"What do you think, sir?" After Fan Tianyu left, Wang Yin asked with a smile.

"Let's talk about him for a few days, this Fan Tianyu gave two hundred taels of silver, it's so stingy! If you want me to let it go, where can I do it without bleeding! Chen Yue said with a smile, he had already figured it out, if it was really like what Fan Tianyu said, transporting tea, bricks, cloth and other daily necessities into the grassland, as long as there was no pig iron and grain, they would be released, after all, even if they were not allowed to pass here, they would go elsewhere, it would be better to get some silver to raise soldiers.

"Have you ever thought about what we can do when the Fan family caravan enters the grassland?" Wang Yin said with a smile.

"Yokoyama, you mean?" Chen Yue's eyes lit up suddenly.

"Your Excellency, haven't you been sending people to the steppe to find out where the Mongol tribes are stationed? Now is a great opportunity! ”

"Yes, let's do it like this, let's send people to the Fan family caravan and enter the grassland with them to find out the details of the Mongols!" Chen Yue slapped his thigh and laughed.

Maybe it's really the season to go to the grassland, Fan Tianyu is very anxious, and only one day later, he came to visit again. This time, in order to be able to enter the grassland, he paid a lot of money and sent five hundred taels of silver!

"My lord, how are you thinking about it?" Although he was anxious, Fan Tianyu was as gentle and calm as ever.

"I said shopkeeper Fan, I heard that going to the grassland to do business can earn ten times the profit, is this true?" Chen Yue played with the silver ticket in his hand, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Where do you make so much money? It's just some hard-earned money! Fan Tianyu showed a look of grievance on his face, but he secretly scolded Chen Yue's greed in his heart.

"Every winter into the grassland, the climate is very cold, the wind is like a knife, the Mongolian tribes live very scattered, often have to walk hundreds of miles or even thousands of miles, if the road is safe, it is just that, but there are countless horse bandits on the grassland, as long as you meet a horse bandit, not to mention the loss of all the goods, I am afraid that even your life will be lost. It's really hard-earned money. Fan Tianyu told Chen Yue about the difficulties of going to the grassland to do business, and his heart was full of sadness. However, Chen Yue did not have the slightest sympathy for him.

"It doesn't seem like it's easy to do." Chen Yue sighed, "But it's certain to make money, Shopkeeper Fan, you go to the grassland to make a lot of money, can you let me get some soup to drink?" ”

"Ahh Fan Tianyu was stunned for a moment, could it be that this surnamed Chen wanted to partner with him to do business, or wanted to join a dry stock, if so, he was really greedy! Isn't seven or eight hundred taels of silver enough to satisfy his appetite?

"Didn't you say just now, shopkeeper Fan? There are many horse bandits on the grassland, and it is very unsafe. You see, it just so happens that these sons and daughters under me are also idle, can I send you some as guards to help you deal with horse bandits, and by the way, I also earn a little commission, you also know that it is not easy to raise soldiers, people eat horses every day, relying on the little food and salary allocated by the imperial court, it is not enough at all! ”

"This ......" Fan Tianyu hesitated, his caravan naturally had its own guards, and he didn't want strangers to join, but looking at Chen Yue's appearance, if he didn't agree, I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to pass through here easily.

"Okay, but my caravan already has some guards, and there aren't too many people." Fan Tianyu hesitated, "At most, at most thirty people." ”

"So little!" Chen Yue was very disappointed, "Look, I have so many soldiers here who have nothing to do, why don't I send you three or five hundred people?" ”

"Don't, don't, thirty more!" Fan Tianyu jumped, his caravan was less than a hundred.

"And the commission?" Chen Yue rubbed his hands and asked with a look of a wealth fan.

"That's it, the salary of thirty taels of silver per person, a total of nine hundred taels, forget it, I'll add another one hundred taels to make up a thousand, what do you think, sir?" Fan Tianyu gritted his teeth and said, under normal circumstances, a swordsman guard he hired would pay at most twenty taels of silver for a trip, and now he has added a full half of the silver, "But my lord, you have to send me an elite who can fight and can ride horses, those horse bandits are not easy to deal with." ”