The people of Qin State actually worked very hard.
When fighting, you can either serve as a soldier or as a civilian to provide logistics.
When they are not fighting, they are plowing the fields, and when the farming is idle, there is endless corvee waiting for them.
There were many corvees in the Qin State, and there was basically no idle time.
For example, a large group of people would gather together to gossip and tell jokes during the off-season. This did not exist in the Qin State.
Only women can stay at home to take care of the children, while the men are either in the military or working.
Just like this, the leaders of Guizhou Province north of the Wei River were mobilized to build a reservoir.
Water conservancy facilities are not uncommon to the Qin State. The famous Dujiangyan, Zhengguo Canal, etc. were built by the Qin State.
They have long known how important water conservancy facilities are to farmland harvests.
But this time the reservoir is a bit strange, because it is built between mountains and mountains, and except for small patches of farmland along the river bank, there is no large farmland nearby that can use so much water.
The Guizhou leaders did not understand why the reservoir was built in this place. Unfortunately, the supervising sergeants would not give them a detailed explanation.
Every evening when they finish their work, the Guizhou leaders who built the reservoir will see fire and smoke rising into the sky from the other end of the mountain not far away on their way back to the camp in twos and threes.
At first I thought it was a fire, but later I found out that there was a huge workshop over there that the general was supervising.
Looking at the brightness and scope of the fire, this workshop is really quite large.
"Master, these cokes are really useful. The quality of the steel refined recently is very good." A Mohist disciple named Qielong excitedly reported to Li Yunze, "The steel refined yesterday was over a hundred kilograms!"
"
"A hundred pounds."
Li Yunze, who was paying attention to the earthen kiln in front of him, nodded, "That's really a lot."
In the modern world, perhaps only junk collectors would pay for a hundred pounds of steel, but here in Daqin, it is a rare industrial product.
In this era of lack of iron products, especially high-quality steel, this is definitely a major advancement in technology.
In steelmaking, in addition to pig iron and auxiliary materials, the most important thing is fuel.
Usually charcoal is used, but charcoal is not easy to obtain, and it will seriously affect the ecological environment, turning the clear river into the turbid Yellow River.
If coal is used, the impurities inside will seriously affect the quality of the steel.
Therefore, Li Yunze provided technology and the general supervisor built this earthen kiln for refining coke.
It’s not that advanced industrial coking plants are unavailable, it’s just that people in this era cannot use them.
But this kind of local method of coking is much simpler.
The first is coal preparation. Not all types of coal can be used for coking. Bituminous coal must be used. Anthracite is most suitable for fuel.
After being selected, the coal is washed, and finally sent to the earth kiln to be ignited. The coal is heated by its own combustion, and the impurities are blown out directly through the exhaust gas and unburned cracked material (coal ash) through the air flow holes.
Most of the things blown out are thick yellow, like nasal mucus, because they contain a large amount of sulfur and other impurities.
This process takes about ten days. When the coke is mature and the gas is completely burned out, water can be injected to cool it and the kiln can be opened to take out the coking coal.
There is no doubt that this approach will cause serious pollution to the air quality, but for Daqin, no one cares about air pollution.
What brings tears to the eyes of Mohists is the power of technology!
For Li Yunze, this is something that can be accomplished by just looking for a group of Guizhou leaders.
But in the eyes of Mohists, this is the progress of technology and the take-off of science and technology.
If Mozi hadn't disappeared along with the Mo family's keepsakes, they would have even wished to elect Li Yunze as the great son of the Mo family.
"What's going on here?" Li Yunze looked at the reservoir on the other side of Shanlong. "When the reservoir is built, and when you see the power of the hydraulic press, you will fall deeply in love with science."
The wheel of the times is rolling forward, and in a blink of an eye, the new year has arrived.
Originally, this year, the Qin State was going to attack Han and Wei. After all, these two countries had completely declined... Well, it was the Wei State that declined. After all, the era of Wei Wuzu had passed, and South Korea had never risen.
I've always been at the bottom.
Unexpectedly, Qin State did not send troops to Hangu Pass this time, but instead mobilized troops and horses to go to the far west.
Meng Ao led the Qin army of 80,000 people, crossed the river in a mighty manner to the west, and swept through the fertile pastures at the foot of the Qilian Mountains.
Along the way, they defeated many tribes of different sizes, plundered their populations, cattle, sheep and horses, seized their pastures and land, established counties and counties, and planted the flag of Qin.
Meng Ao's attack was overwhelming, and the well-disciplined Qin infantry could defeat the herdsmen of any tribe.
However, when these defeated tribes and herdsmen fled, the Qin infantry could not catch up.
This was the case when Meng Tian defeated the Xiongnu in history.
Although the Huns were defeated, they did not suffer too much loss and most of them managed to escape.
But this time it was different. Following Meng Ao on the expedition, there was also a legion composed of tens of thousands of cavalry with the elite archers trained by Li Yunze as the core.
After the tribal herdsmen are defeated by the infantry, these Qin army cavalry will launch a large-scale pursuit.
How could the herdsmen be the opponent of these well-armed and well-trained cavalry of the Qin Army? After chasing them for dozens or even hundreds of miles, there was not even one herdsman out of ten who was able to escape.
Reports of the victorious battles were sent to Xianyang City one after another, making many generals who did not get the opportunity to send troops envious.
'If I were to fight, I could win!'
This is really not an incompetent roar out of jealousy. In fact, even if one horse is arranged as the leader, the battle can be won.
At this time, the tribes in the Hexi Corridor were all very primitive. In addition to arrows ground out of animal teeth, they also had wooden sticks and other simple things as weapons.
And they are nomadic people, not fishermen and hunters.
On weekdays, it is just herding. Naturally, unlike the fishing and hunting tribes, they can practice their skills, tactics and coordination through hunting.
The equipment is poor, there is no organization and coordination, and there is no understanding of military formations.
Especially when it comes to the crucial number of people, they are at an absolute disadvantage.
In a war under such conditions, Qin Ruishi, the strongest in the world, is still commanding him. It would be a miracle if he could not win.
Meng Ao easily swept through the Hexi Corridor and seized tens of thousands of horses.
Don't think it's a small thing. In fact, even the herdsmen are not willing to raise horses unless they are forced by the nobles of the tribe.
Horses are delicate and sensitive and difficult to maintain.
But the meat is not as delicious as beef and sheep, and the leather is not as useful as cows and sheep, so naturally not many people are willing to raise them.
But it doesn't matter. For Qin, who was as poor as a ghost in Li Yunze's eyes, it was already a huge gain.
What's more, they also seized more than 100,000 cattle and hundreds of thousands of sheep!
Setting up pastures, raising horses, etc. naturally have specialized people to make arrangements. The Qin State has already had specific operating procedures in this regard.
As for Li Yunze, apart from reading the battle reports sent by him, he was busy improving Qin's technological level all day long.
Coke is used to refine a large amount of steel, and special equipment is needed to bend the steel into the desired shape.
After the reservoir was completely constructed, the rough and primitive machinery driven by the power of water flow was finally able to perform processing.
Steel, machining!
Together, it means industry!
At least it is the initial stage of industry.
Next to the stove, Li Yunze, whose skin was reflected into a bronze color, wiped the sweat from his forehead and pointed to the technicians teaching around him, "Temperature, temperature, temperature! I say important things three times, controlling temperature means controlling quality!"
The technicians were obedient and started taking measurements with the home-made thermometers in their hands.
Thermometers can also be made by local methods. The specific method is to put a colored potion in a bottle, put it into a mixture of ice and water, wait until the potion is stable, and then mark it as zero. Put it in boiling water, and mark it as one hundred after it is stable.
As for the range between zero and one hundred, standard characterization is enough.
If the temperature exceeds one hundred degrees, such as the temperature of earthen kilns, the temperature of earthen blast furnaces, etc., you have to rely on simple industrial thermometers and workers' eyes to judge the changes in flame light.
Here is a newly built glass workshop.
Li Yunze made glass not just to make money, but because glass has high application value in industry and can also be the best substitute for window paper for civilian use.
Just like when Li Yunze was mixing black powder, glass was very useful.
"Master."
An envoy from Xianyang City rushed to Li Yunze's face eagerly, "The king has summoned me to discuss important matters."
The shirtless Li Yunze touched his chin and said thoughtfully, "Wait while I change clothes."
After a short while, Li Yunze, fully dressed, walked out of his room.
He has returned to the modern world to check the information, and roughly understands what happened based on the time point.
As for how to deal with it, there is already a solution on the way to Xianyang Palace.
The whole journey to Xianyang Palace was speechless.
In the Qilin Hall, Ying Zheng, who was full of anxiety, saw Li Yunze walking in. He even stood up and went down the steps regardless of his identity to greet him, "Master, you are finally back."
"Yes, the master is finally back." Over there, Zhao Ji said this in a tone full of resentment.
Li Yunze smiled at Zhao Ji, thinking that he must find time to give the Queen Mother a shot of cardiotonic, because the effect of the last time the bird healed people had obviously disappeared with the passage of time.
Withdrawing his gaze, Li Yunze looked at Ying Zheng in front of him, "Your Majesty, don't be too polite. No matter what happens, there will be a solution."
The all-powerful Tutor returned, and Ying Zheng, who felt confident, gradually calmed down and told the story of the troubles Da Qin was facing at this time.
The reason is not complicated. The weather has been unfavorable this year, resulting in a sharp decrease in grain production, followed by widespread famine.
In this era of low productivity, food is the most important production material.
Even if Qin's laws are strict, the people of Qin who have nothing to eat will still fight to survive.
Facing Ying Zheng's expectant gaze, Li Yunze smiled and said, "Did the king forget that Da Qin got a lot of food?"
"Um?"
"Didn't Meng Ao capture a large number of cattle and sheep during his western expedition? These cattle and sheep were sold to the nobles of the countries east of Hangu Pass in exchange for their food for disaster relief."