Some of these Han Chinese slaves had been taken captive by the Tatars for at least thirty years. The land of their homeland has long been blurred in their minds. Hometown, hometown, home and country are getting farther and farther away from them. Even if it was a dream, they didn't expect that in their lifetime, they would be able to return to Ningxia Town and return to the embrace of the Ming Kingdom. How can this keep them from getting excited? How can they not burst into tears?

As for the reaction of the captive soldiers, all the 100 households in the stewardship council were fully prepared. Under the organization of the stewardship, more than 500 able-bodied women, carrying large quantities of food, were stationed in the barracks of the White Coats. On the one hand, they comfort the suffering people and gradually make them accept the facts in front of them. On the one hand, prepare water, ginger soup, food and clothing for them. If there is a serious injury on the body, it must be reported to Dong Langzhong immediately for coordination.

When the captives were released, none of them had any clothes intact. The best condition is that he is wearing a torn sheepskin. Almost all of their hands and feet were frozen to the point that long cracks had been cracked. It's the weather at the end of December, and it's a pure 39-day day. At night, the wind is biting, and if you don't have enough clothing, you will definitely freeze to death.

At this time, the hot ginger soup is always the most popular. The steward prepared a large amount of ginger soup and distributed it to each military household that was put back. After a bowl of ginger soup, most of the military households felt the slightest warmth. Some exhale a large amount of white gas. If the ginger soup is not enough, there is only a high-concentration liquor.

While the Steward was bailing out the soldiers, the White Coats were overseeing the departure of the Tatars. After the exchange of hostages between the two sides, the Tatar cavalry withdrew one after another. For the Bala Gencang captured by Xu Xingxia, they seemed to have subconsciously forgotten. Parocco didn't mention it, Sobud didn't mention it, and Gugler naturally didn't mention it. It's as if nothing had happened before, and there was no such person as Bala Gencang.

When the last Tatar cavalry disappeared into the vast Gobi Desert, all the captives finally believed that they had indeed been rescued, that they had indeed escaped from the Tatar cage. From then on, they no longer had to be abused and ravaged by the Tartars. will think of the miserable life in the past, and their tears can't help but flow down again. Some people even knelt down in front of the fluttering golden dragon dancing sword flag, muttering silently and praying silently and sincerely, not knowing what they were praying in their hearts.

The white-clothed sergeant next to him was also deeply touched. Many of the slaves who were released back took the hands of the white-clothed soldiers and wept of gratitude to them. Their heartfelt gratitude is beyond words. This feeling of doing good is indeed wonderful. They love it so much. At the same time, they deeply admired Xu Xingxia.

If Xu Xingxia hadn't led them, where would they have a chance to save those slaves from the hands of the Tartars? Perhaps, even they are in danger of being taken captive by the Tartars. In the hands of the Helkin tribe, it is estimated that there are still about 30,000 Han Chinese slaves, and they are all hoping that they can be rescued at the right time.

"Don't doubt that you're back! In the name of the Thousand Households of Zhenshuo Castle, I promise that you will never have to worry about the threat of the Tartars again! From now on, you can stand and behave! Xu Xingxia announced in high spirits.

"Senho-sama!" The soldiers all shouted in unison.

They didn't feel that Xu Xingxia was hairless and couldn't handle things well because of Xu Xingxia's youth. On the contrary, after witnessing all the experiences of today, their feelings for Xu Xingxia have only one word, that is: Serve! Admiration from the bottom of my heart! Those who have the ability to deter the Tartars to such a point are estimated to be unable to find a second one in Ningxia Town, or even in the world! With such a thousand households, there is definitely a future!

Chen Denglong, the steward of the "Brothers ......" committee, then spoke in detail about the arrangements for the captive military households on behalf of Xu Xingxia and the Qianhu Office of Zuotun Weihou. Now, these slaves can no longer be called slaves, they are all military households of Zhenshuo Fort, and they are the military households of the Thousand Households of Zuotunwei Houhou in Ningxia Town. They have exactly the same powers as other military households and have access to the same resources. Of course, they also have to bear exactly the same obligations as other military households. In essence, they are still military households and must be bound by military orders.

It is precisely because they are all military households that they must be bound by military orders and must obey orders, therefore, for the handling of these people, Xu Xingxia completely adopts a militarized way of dealing with them, and must obey orders and obey commands. Arrange what you do, you have to do, there is no room for bargaining. Otherwise, it is a violation of military orders. Unless it's your condition, it's really not suitable for this. However, there will certainly not be many such examples.

Regarding Xu Xingxia's order, the military households did not have any objections. They do not forget who they are. In fact, being able to return to the arms of the Ming Dynasty was already overjoyed for them. As for what kind of work they would do or what kind of errands they would do when they returned, they had no special idea.

More than 20,000 people can be invested in the army, in the farm, in the craftsman's workshop, or in the burning of cement, the burning of red bricks, the cutting of wood, and even the construction of 100 steel. With sufficient labor to put in, it is possible to produce ten or even twenty moon guns a day.

If the production of the moon gun can be increased to 30 per day, there will be no problem at all to deal with the nomads. The lethality of rifled guns against the nomadic cavalry was absolutely terrifying. With 10,000 musketeers armed with mini guns, even if they encounter tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry, with the cooperation of the chariot battalion and the artillery battalion, they can easily break the backbone of the opponent. A salvo of 10,000 musketeers can take out hundreds of nomadic cavalry at once.

Under the leadership of Xu Xingxia, more than 20,000 military households were transferred from Zhenyuanguan to the Black Mountain Camp and Zhenshuo Fort. The Black Mountain Camp and Zhenshuo Fort suddenly had so many military households, and they suddenly became lively. When night falls, a large number of torches are lit up, as if to completely illuminate the sky. Due to the number of military households, there are too many people, more than 20,000 people, Zhenshuo Fort cannot accommodate all of them, and the broader Black Mountain Battalion must be put into use.

Originally, the Montenegrin battalion was designed to accommodate at least 50,000 people. After the expansion, it will not be a problem to accommodate about 100,000 people. Therefore, most of the military households, according to the original plan, were arranged to spend the night in the Montenegrin camp. Previously, the stewardship mobilized part of the labor force to carry out a certain degree of repair of the Montenegrin camp, and there was no problem for the time being.

On a cold winter night, the biggest problem is how to keep out the cold. There were not enough quilts at night, so the soldiers burned as many bonfires as they could. They gathered in groups of three or five to warm themselves over the fire. Anyway, Helan Mountain has wood. The miscellaneous wood that has been cut down, as well as the branches and leaves that have been cut off from the wood, can be burned.

"It's time to eat!"

Xu Xingxia's order came quickly.

The first dinner after the soldiers returned was a large amount of stewed horse meat. These horse meats are the corpses of war horses pulled back from the battlefield at the end of the battle at Zhenyuan Pass. After the battle with Gugrad, on the Gobi Desert outside Zhenyuan Pass, the Tartars left hundreds of dead horses and hundreds of wounded horses. The stewards sent for the horses to be brought back, and the flesh of the horses was cut off and salted for later use.

In the winter of Ningxia Town, the temperature is relatively low, which is relatively convenient for preserving horse meat. Now, these hoarded horse meat are brought out in large pieces and put into a large iron pot one by one, and slowly stewed. For a time, the entire Black Mountain camp was filled with the rich aroma of stewed horse meat. Subsequently, a large amount of white rice and a large number of white flour steamed buns were shipped over, and the hungry military households finally had a full meal.

In terms of heating, Xu Xingxia asked Liu Guangliang and others to design a coal stove and gradually promote its use. This coal stove is the common honeycomb coal stove in later generations. There are a large number of coal mines in Helan Mountain, and there are already some pits in the late Ming Dynasty, the most famous of which is Taixi coal. The meaning of Taixi coal is the coal produced in Taixi Town (i.e., Ningxia Town). The main source of Taixi coal was Shizuishan City in later generations. And the jurisdiction of this Shizuishan City happens to be the current jurisdiction of Xu Xingxia, which is near the mouth of the Dam.

Taixi coal has the characteristics of three low (low ash, low sulfur and low phosphorus) and six high (high calorific value, high specific resistance, high lump coal rate, high chemical activity, high refined coal recovery rate and high mechanical strength), and is the best high-quality coal in China. At that time, the coal processing technology was relatively backward, and these naturally high-quality coals were exactly what Xu Xingxia needed most. At the same time, the bottom layer of Taixi coal is still very shallow, and it is not difficult to mine.

Taixi coal is dug out, and after simple processing, it is mixed with yellow mud according to a certain proportion to become the original honeycomb coal. These honeycomb coals are put in the furnace and are an excellent heating tool. One coal stove for three or five people is enough for heating. A cold winter night, as long as three briquettes, is enough. The cost is almost negligible.

In fact, every time he saw the excellent quality Taixi coal being used for heating, Xu Xingxia felt very pity. It's the best industrial fuel! There is nothing else at all. If possible, these Taixi coals should be used in industry. It's a pity to burn out the heating like this. It is a pity that the industry at the end of the Ming Dynasty was not very developed, and there were no good projects for the time being. Xu Xingxia thought about it, and it seemed that only the blast furnace of steelmaking could be considered.

(To be continued)