On this day, Feng Yunshan was trying to go to Zhenghe Iron and Steel Factory to see how the hardware factory was built. Liu Youqing, www.biquge.info pen "Fun" pavilion, came with a red face again, he usually doesn't move easily, this time he came, there must be something big.

"Holy King, there is good news! It's two good news again! Yesterday, Luo Jian led the Holy Army of the East Road, which has occupied the capital city of Shaozhou and most of the county borders of Shaozhou; Lin Fengxiang in the middle road led Tan Shaoguang and others to occupy He County the night before; Li Kaifang led his troops from Lianzhou to capture Bucheon. Liu Youqing looked surprised, and continued: "Holy King, there is even greater good news, Luo Jian and Mr. Zuo ambushed the five thousand Qing demons who came to the rescue outside the city of Shaozhou Mansion, not only annihilated the Qing demons, but also captured the head of the Qing Demon Demon, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong and the acting governor of Liangguang!" ”

"I can't imagine that the soldiers are so brave and marching so fast!" Feng Yunshan said, and suddenly shouted, "What? What did you say? Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, was captured by Luo Xuan? ”

"Holy King, it's Ye Mingchen, the acting governor of Liangguang, who was really captured by Luo Jiandian! Decent people escorted him to Guiyang day and night. ”

Ye Mingchen! It's really even Ye Mingchen captured! Feng Yunshan couldn't believe it.

This Ye Mingchen is a well-known figure, at least Feng Yunshan has heard of this person in history. Ye Mingchen became famous at a young age, and became the governor of Guangdong before he was forty, and during his tenure as governor of Liangguang, it coincided with the continuous uprising of the Guangdong Tiandi Society against the Qing Dynasty, especially the Guangzhou Hongbing Uprising in which hundreds of thousands of people participated, which were brutally suppressed by Ye Mingchen's troops. By suppressing the Tiandihui uprising, Ye Mingchen's official fortunes prospered.

Later, when he encountered the Second Opium War between China and Britain, Ye Mingchen was loyal to his duties, adhered to his principles, and led the army and people to resist. Later history books attributed the reason for the outbreak of the Second Opium War to his diplomatic missteps, but he had a serious personality, diligent officials, and the most important thing is that after he was captured by the British army, he was loyal and unyielding, refused to surrender, and only ate his own food, did not eat anything from the British, and followed the example of the Zhou Dynasty Boyi and Shuqi brothers, and starved to death in Calcutta, India. Such a character, Feng Yunshan can't help but have some respect. However, respect is respect, and it should be used.

Looking at the map next to him, half a ring, Feng Yunshan said to Liu Youqing: "Youqing, the order, Luo Xuan led his troops to hold on to Shaozhou Mansion and wait for the opportunity to capture Yingde, but the time is not ripe at present, and it is not allowed to break south again and attack Guangzhou City without authorization." ”

Feng Yunshan asked Liu Youqing again: "The Holy Soldiers of the West Road have already sent troops, where are they?" ”

Liu Youqing replied: "The seven thousand holy troops of the West Road, under the leadership of Luo Qiongshu and Bai Huihuai, have just arrived in Fuchuan to make peace with more than 6,000 soldiers of the Li Kaifang Department of the Middle Route Army. ”

"Thirteen thousand soldiers of the Holy Army gathered in a small Fuchuan County, it seems that this is to concentrate forces and attack Guilin City?" Feng Yunshan pondered. The city of Guilin is easy to defend and difficult to attack, more than 20,000 people of the Taiping army besieged the city of Guilin in April this year for more than a month, and have not yet taken it, although less than 10,000 of these more than 20,000 people are soldiers, but now the 13,000 people of the holy army also have many new soldiers, and the firearms are not fierce enough, whether they can capture Guilin, there is really no certainty.

"The herald ordered the Holy Army of the West Road and the Middle Route Army in Fuchuan to be under the unified command of Li Kaifang, the third commander of the left of the palace, and attacked Guilin City. As for Lin Fengxiang's department in the middle lane, fight on your own and act when you have the opportunity. ”

Feng Yunshan believes that he should speed up the development of Guiyang Daozhou, as the earliest territory to be laid, it is a natural choice to consolidate it. Guilin City also has to worry about it, but it is too far away to transmit information.

was disrupted by Liu Youqing, and the hardware factory he was going to go to still had to see.

As soon as he entered the hardware factory next to Zhenghe Iron and Steel Factory, Su Sanniang led people to greet him.

"Holy King, the hardware factory has been built and put into production. Now you can make iron pots, iron tongs, kitchen knives, wood knives, sickles, scissors, iron hoes, iron plows, shovels and other utensils, but due to lack of manpower, the number of clay molds that can be made every day is limited. ”

"Sanniang is hard! Did Sanniang ever go to Weiji and ask about the price of these ironware? Feng Yunshan asked.

"Not yet. What kind of iron does the Holy King mean is expensive, and which kind of iron is made? Su Sanniang suddenly realized.

"Not really. Of course, the high price should be manufactured, and the low price should also be produced. The main thing is to see how well it sells, and if it sells well, it will produce more. The price is slightly cheaper than that of the polder. Feng Yunshan explained.

"Sanniang has written it down!" Su Sanniang nodded, and asked again: "Sanniang led the Holy King to the factory to see those iron tools, right?" ”

Entering the hardware factory, there are two rows of straw sheds on both sides. I saw a large pile of iron pots, kitchen knives, iron hoes and other things under the grass shed, and there were many mud mold residues that would have time to be cleaned up in the future.

Feng Yunshan wanted to grab the larger iron pot, but he didn't expect to be able to hold it. Looking at the iron pot carefully, it was much thicker than the common iron pot in his previous life, and the thickest part was nearly half a centimeter, which was too thick. It took a little effort to hold it up, and it had to weigh more than ten catties, and the other small pots also weighed three or four catties.

Without thinking about it, Su Sanniang said proudly: "Holy King, is this iron pot done?" It's lightweight, but it's sturdy. When the master of the hardware factory made the clay embryo, I deliberately explained that the thickness of the iron pot was thinned, so that I could make more iron pots. ”

Feng Yunshan saw her look of expectant praise, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, is this still light? However, you can't be blamed, you haven't seen a 2 mm 3 mm iron pot. It seems that the iron pots of this era are like this, and the 5 mm thick ones are quite light.

"Excellent! It's very well done, and it's definitely delicious to cook with this. Feng Yunshan praised against his will, and continued to ask, "How much can you produce every day?" ”

"Every day, there are more than 300 iron pots, nearly 200 kitchen knives, 100 sickles and iron hoes, 30 iron saws, 20 iron ploughs, and 100 iron tongs and scissors."

Feng Yunshan called a few craftsmen in the hardware factory and asked, "Can we still increase production every day?" ”

A middle-aged black-faced craftsman at the head said: "This adult, if you increase the number of people and make more clay molds, you can increase the output even more." But it can't increase much, the daily supply of molten iron in the steel mill is at most 3,000 catties, and now the output of our hardware factory consumes more than 2,000 catties of pig iron every day. ”

This man still has a heart! A craftsman can also record the production capacity of the entire hardware factory and estimate it, and if he wants to put it to future generations, he is a talent such as a production factory director.

Feng Yunshan continued to ask: "Then do you know the price of these items sold on the outside polder?" ”

The black-faced craftsman thought for a moment and replied respectfully: "My lord, the cost of this pig iron has always been relatively high because of the strict control of the government. The iron pots in the southern Hunan area are all trafficked by Guangdong traders from Guangzhou Prefecture, and the road is far away, so a medium iron pot costs 100 copper coins, which is almost 5 yuan of silver. Our hardware factory is made worse than the one in Guangzhou, and the price is 800 Wen, which must be very popular. Other kitchen knives cost 150 wen, and iron hoes cost 300 wen, which can be approved quickly. Calculated that the ironware of the hardware factory could be sold for two hundred and sixty taels of silver every day. If the price is better, it can be three hundred taels. ”

Feng Yunshan heard it, yes, this hardware factory can add more manpower and make more iron pots, and more than 300 taels of silver can be entered every day, plus others, such a month, there are 10,000 taels of income, which is already very amazing! You must know that when Feng Yunshan led the holy army to capture Daozhou City, the captured cash was only more than 6,500 taels. Now a hardware factory that has just been built can earn 10,000 taels a month, although there are still pig iron and labor costs have not been removed, but it is also a very remarkable thing. This hardware factory has been open for a year, but it has exceeded the revenue from the capture of ten county seats!

After the black-faced craftsman stepped back, Feng Yunshan turned around and said to Su Sanniang on the side: "This person is good, Sanniang can mention him as a deputy to assist you in managing the hardware factory." ”

Su Sanniang smiled: "The Holy King has a good eye. This person's name is Song Jinsheng, and he is the younger brother of Song Tiesheng of Zhenghe Iron and Steel Factory, but he is a good hand. ”

Coincidentally. It turned out to be Song Tiesheng's younger brother, one was an iron student, the other was a gold student, and one happened to take care of the steel factory and the other was a hardware factory, and the two brothers were rare.