Leaving the Zheng Mansion, Wang Xinyu took his soldiers to the construction site of the artillery factory where the dam was being built.

The cannon factory is located in the Liwanshi Botanical Garden in his previous life, where the surrounding mountains and rivers flow down and merge into a small stream. The amount of water in this era was much larger than that of more than 300 years later, and a diversion ditch on the side of the dam site of the stream flowed out and merged near the later Xiamen Railway Station, forming a small river into Yundang Port.

Because of the small size of Xiamen Island, there is not much difference in the river, so the only option is to build a reservoir at the source of the creek.

At the dam site, artisans use sandbags to build a makeshift barrage to divert water into a diversion ditch. At the beginning of the dozens of meters downstream of the temporary barrage, craftsmen had dug out a foundation more than 10 zhang wide, about 1 zhang deep, and more than 30 zhang long, and then filled the foundation with stones knocked down from the mountain. When Wang Xinyu arrived, the foundation had already been filled, and the craftsmen were pushing carts of dirt in carts to fill in the inside of the dam, and laying several layers of stones on the outside, pasting them with white ash and yellow mud. The project is not very complicated, and the required strength is not too high, so it is not built with glutinous rice pulp.

There are not many other things in the surrounding mountains, and the most important thing is stones.

The stonemasons took chisels and hammered on the rocks, chiseled the boulders one by one, chiseled them into pieces of stones two or three feet long and one and a half feet wide and one and a half feet high, loaded them on carts, and easily pushed them down the mountain. After the stones are delivered to the construction site, they are hoisted on pulleys and installed on the dam.

Not long after arriving at the construction site, I saw a man wearing the costume of a seven-grade civil official who greeted him, stepped forward and saluted with his fists: "I don't know that Lord Wang came in person, and the lower official Zhu Jing failed to greet the Lord in person, I hope that Lord will forgive me!" ”

"Those who don't know are not guilty, and Ben will also pass by to take a look." Wang Xinyu smiled and nodded back.

Zhu Jing made a gesture of invitation and said, "Please take a look at Lord Wang with the lower officials!" ”

Wang Xinyu nodded: "Okay, you can take General Ben around." ”

Along the way, Zhu Jing pointed to the barrage, which had already been completed for more than half of the time, and said: "Lord Wang, this barrage will be completed in a month at most, and the white ash surface of the lower part has been dried, and the temporary barrage upstream will be able to start storing water." ”

Wang Xinyu nodded and said: "General Ben hopes to complete it as soon as possible, the waterwheel of the artillery factory, and the hydraulic bellows of the iron factory all rely on this dam." ”

Walk to the northwest corner of the dam site, on the far right, where a diversion culvert for the waterwheel is being built. At the lower end of the dam there is an outlet for the flow of water, and above the dam there are gates. Underneath the diversion culvert, craftsmen are installing a huge waterwheel with a diameter of nearly five zhang, equivalent to the height of a five-story building, that can provide powerful thrust, as well as a boring machine and a water blower. Once the dam is completed, when it is full of water and the gate of the diversion culvert is opened, the water will continue to flow down and drive the water wheels to operate.

The two ends of the waterwheel are the boring room and the blast furnace room, and the two ends of the waterwheel shaft are connected to wooden gear sets respectively to promote the mechanical work on both sides. In order to prevent the shortage of hydraulic resources during the dry season, Wang Xinyu designed a hydraulic machine that is dual-purpose and water-powered, in the case of insufficient hydraulic power, two machines that look like grinding discs can be pulled by a donkey to push a lathe or a blower.

"The blast furnace room is almost finished, and it is built according to your design plan." Zhu Jing pointed to the blast furnace room where the shelves were erected and said.

This is a new type of blast furnace with the addition of a regenerator to save fuel and increase the furnace temperature. In order to make the flame burn more vigorously, Wang Xinyu designed a water blower to send fresh air into the furnace, so that the temperature can be greatly increased, and high-quality wrought iron and steel can be smelted.

After the completion of the cannon factory, the mold for casting the cannon will first be made, and then the iron cannon will be cast using Wang Xinyu's method.

There are two blast furnaces in the cannon factory, one is to turn iron ore into pig iron, and the other is to train pig iron into mature iron, which is used to cast iron cannons. When the molten iron is injected into the iron mold, the iron mold is placed in a holding room next to the blast furnace to prevent the molten iron in the iron mold from being cooled. Due to the secondary smelting method, the impurities in the barrel can be reduced and the occurrence of explosion can be reduced; The method of high-temperature graphitization can make the iron contain a certain amount of silicon elements, which can ensure the toughness and reliability of the iron cannon; The use of a holding room to store the mold for casting molten iron can prevent the temperature from plummeting and prevent the iron cannon from turning white. This iron mold casting method is more advanced than the iron mold casting method 180 years later, although it cannot reach the steel products of the steam engine era, but it is already intended to be reliable, which can make the gun wall thinner, reduce the weight of the cannon, and improve the power and reliability of the artillery.

After the cannon is cast, the inner wall is polished with a hydraulic boring machine to ensure that the inner wall is smooth.

Wang Xinyu nodded: "Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed, the prince has agreed, let this general go to Nanyang to buy the lathe made by the Xiyi people." When General Ben returns, this place should have been completed, and the water storage has been completed, so he can start work directly. ”

"The adults go early and return early, and the next official wishes the adults success as soon as possible!" Zhu Jing bowed his hand.

The two walked all the way, chatting as they walked. At this moment, there was a commotion outside the construction site.

"It seems that the coolies who escorted it came." Zhu Jing said.

Wang Xinyu called Li Rui: "Go over there and have a look!" ”

"Whoa!"

After a while, Li Rui, a personal soldier, came back: "Report to my lord, just now sent a group of Tartar prisoners from the mountain to the mountain, let them carry stones and pick up soil." ”

Zhu Jing smiled and said: "Lord Wang, the lower official just said that it was the escorted coolie who sent it." ”

"Let's go and have a look." Wang Xinyu said.

When I walked to the quarry on the mountain, I saw that the Qing prisoners had been sent, and these Qing soldiers, who were only given wheat bran soup and rice bran soup every day, and only gave cakes made of rotten vegetable leaves, wild vegetables and weeds to eat, had long lost the strength to resist after a few days of tossing. Now they were sent over to do hard work under the swords, guns, and whips of the Ming soldiers. In order to survive, these once high-spirited Qing soldiers had to become slaves, doing the heaviest work and eating the worst things.

Li Rui asked, "Two adults, aren't you afraid of these Tartars making trouble?" If they make trouble, we're still in trouble. ”

Zhu Jing replied: "Most of these captives sent are fake Tartars, and only a small part are real Tartars. They have been imprisoned for several days, they haven't eaten enough every day, they don't have much strength anymore, and they are unarmed, even if they want to make trouble now, they can't make trouble, and a Ming soldier can easily hack them to death! Also, especially those fake Tartars, we have a chance to give them, as long as they behave well, they can become our auxiliaries. Those fake Tartars want to get out of the sea of suffering as soon as possible, so the lower officials guarantee that the fake Tartars will definitely keep a close eye on the real Tartars, as long as the real Tartars dare to make trouble, the fake Tartars will report to us as soon as possible, and even stop them. ”

took two personal soldiers to the artillery factory construction site for a meeting, asked about the situation, and then instructed the craftsmen to work, seeing that the time was almost up, Wang Xinyu said goodbye to Zhu Jing and returned to the barracks with two personal soldiers.

On the way back to Gaoqi Daying, Wang Xinyu passed by the market and bought some pork, chicken, fine sea fish, and some white rice and white noodles.

When he was about to arrive at the gate of the big camp in the second town of his water division, Wang Xinyu said to the two personal soldiers: "Ben will go home at night, you should go back to the barracks first." ”

"Whoa!" The two soldiers bowed and bowed and walked into the camp.

When Wang Xinyu walked into the village, it was not early, but many people heard that Wang Yu was back, and they all came out to watch. The villagers are very envious, this Wang Yu, who is not very old, has risen from a small soldier all the way to the general, and then jumped from the general of the sixth grade to the guerrilla general of the third grade, this is a six-level jump! I've never seen anyone promoted so quickly!

However, the villagers don't know that this Nanming's official rank is actually not valuable, this small Xiamen Island, if it is usually a seven-grade county order, I am afraid that it will be managed, but now on Xiamen Island, there is a county king, two princes, and the Hou Ye is even more several, as for the second and third grades, there are even more than cattle. But the common people don't know this, they only know that Wang Yu has come out of nowhere.

The villagers cast admiring glances, these villagers had originally moved from all over the country, they were uprooted by the scourge of the Qing army, and there was a fear in their hearts for those fierce Qing soldiers. However, this Wang Yu beheaded a white-armored general, killed more than a dozen white-armored warriors, and it is said that he personally sent cannons and sank thousands of Tartar boats. In fact, Wang Yu killed a five-grade white-armored deputy lieutenant and a white-armored soldier, and the artillery bombardment sank dozens of Qing army boats and killed nearly a thousand enemies, but he did not fight alone, but the brothers of a boat worked together.

From time to time, someone bowed to Wang Xinyu, and he could only return the salute one by one.

When I got home, it was getting dark.

When I arrived at the gate of the compound, I saw that the wall of the house had been torn down, and the courtyard was full of new bricks, as if the wall was to be repaired.

When I walked into the compound, I saw that half of the houses inside had been demolished, and half of them were left.

"Mother, I'm back!" Wang Xinyu shouted.

Wang walked out with a smile, looked at his son, and the more he looked at it, the happier he became: "I just said, my son will definitely be able to become a great weapon!" Now I'm really a general. ”

"Mother, why have the walls and houses been demolished? Is our family going to build a new house? Wang Xinyu asked.

Wang smiled: "Yes, my son is a general, can he still live in a broken house?" ”

"Where did you get the money to build a new house?"

"Then Lord Chen came in the morning and sent more than 100 taels of silver, saying that he would build you a new house. Lord Chen also said, saying that you are going to get married, and the prince has found you a relative, and it is Lord Zheng's young lady, so you have to repair the house well. Mother said with a smile.

Hearing that my brother was back, my sister also ran out, jumping and jumping around Wang Xinyu: "Brother, I will soon have a sister-in-law, right?" ”

Wang Xinyu leaned down and gently scratched his sister's nose: "Little girl!" It's too early for your sister-in-law to pass through the door, she's still very young, so let's wait a few years. ”

Who knew that the mother was unhappy: "Yu'er, the prince gave you the kiss, and you dare to drag it?" I heard that Miss Zheng has a good character and appearance, so you should hurry up and get married! By the way, didn't the prince give you a thousand taels of silver and let you go to Zhengfu today to propose marriage, did you go? ”

"Mother, the child went to the Zheng Mansion in the morning, and I also saw the Miss Zheng family, her character and appearance are really good, but she is too young, not much older than my sister. The child felt that it was too early to talk about marriage, so he didn't go to the ceremony. ”

Wang was so angry that he poked Wang Xinyu's head with his finger again and again: "You! You're confused! Your sister is not too young anymore! She can get married! Then Miss Zheng is older than your sister, isn't that just right? You hurry up and find a good day, and give me a kiss! ”

Wang Xinyu diverted the topic: "Mother, is my brother back?" ”

"I'm back, and he also said that you will be back today, just went to buy wine, and will be back in a while." Wang replied. But not long after, Wang said again: "Yu'er, hurry up and pick a good day and marry that Miss Zheng family as soon as possible!" ”

Wang Xinyu saw his mother speak, so he made an excuse: "Mother, the new house at home hasn't been built yet, so Miss Zheng is here now, isn't she wronged?" Or wait for our family's new house to be built, and the child will go to the door to propose. ”

In fact, Wang Xinyu thought to himself, when the new house is almost built, he will also go to Macau and Nanyang, and the matter of proposing marriage can just be delayed for a while. Otherwise, it would be too immoral to destroy little Lori.

Wang nodded: "That's fine, when the house is built, I will marry Miss Zheng in." ”

Wang Xinyu carried the vegetables and food he bought back and walked into the room.

Mother and sister do their hands and prepare dinner.

After a while, Wang Shui also returned home with wine.

After dinner was ready, Wang called his neighbors to eat together at home to celebrate Wang Xinyu.

The table was full of vegetables, including pork, chicken and sea fish bought by Wang Xinyu, as well as seafood sent by neighbors that had just been caught from the sea, and good wine bought by his younger brother. At the wine table, the neighbors all toasted Wang Xinyu one after another, celebrating his success and promotion to general.

After dinner, when the guests were all dispersed, Wang Xinyu called his younger brother over.

"Wang Shui, we brothers haven't had a good talk for a long time, so let's talk about it while we're happy tonight. The house has been demolished and is being rebuilt, and my brother has to go back to the barracks at night, and there is not much time in the future, so I have to say something good today. Wang Xinyu asked his younger brother to sit down.

After the younger brother sat down, Wang Xinyu said: "You are also the younger brother of the dignified guerrilla general now, you have to have a word, in this way, I will give you a word, and I will call it Zihao!" ”

Wang Shui read: "Wang Zihao? That's not a bad name! Brother, then I will use this word in the future! Thank you brother for the word! ”

Wang Xinyu was secretly laughing in his heart: Wang Zihao, that was his classmate in college in his previous life, that guy was older than him, and he rushed to his eldest brother in front of him all day long. It's okay now, I let Wang Zihao be my little brother.

Next, Wang Xinyu mentioned the matter, he wanted his younger brother to leave Zheng Tai. Otherwise, in the future, when Zheng Jing purges dissidents, I am afraid that he will also be affected. So he said: "Zihao, my brother is now a guerrilla general, and you don't need to be a personal soldier under Lord Zheng, so let's come here to help!" Brother needs people here, and there are not enough people now, so I will recruit new recruits tomorrow! ”

Who knows this Wang Shui, no, now he is going to be called Wang Zihao, but he said: "Brother, Lord Zheng is as kind to his younger brother as a mountain, and his younger brother can't be an ungrateful villain." So what my brother said, my brother can't do it. ”

"You! How dare you disobey my brother! Wang Xinyu stood up very up.

"Brother, it's useless for you to say more, anyway, I won't change my mind about what I decide! Tomorrow morning, I'm going back to Kinmen!" ”