A large number of people and horses were running and gathering, stirring up billowing smoke and dust, making people have to squint their eyes to see the distance. What happened near Kaifeng City was even more difficult to see clearly from several miles away.
Only a few miner leaders set up tents and stared at the formation, then listened to the faint sounds in the air. One of them said to his companions: "It seems like a cannon is being fired on top of the city. I don't know what new thing it is."
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The others nodded and said confidently: "I heard this sound, it's not like an iron artillery cannon, but more like a trumpet gun... Guo Liushou is going to lead someone to start a fight!"
"Okay! Okay! Guo Liushou is a famous general. Since he is dispatched, this battle is sure!"
No one doubted their judgment. After all, the miners had rich experience in using gunpowder, which was unparalleled. And the judgment that the Kaifeng garrison was about to go into battle also gave everyone a little more confidence and a lot of expectations.
In recent years, the economy of various parts of the Central Plains has prospered rapidly. No one will deny that the mines in various places account for half of the credit. However, there are very few mineral resources around Kaifeng. Copper and iron mainly rely on the mines on the Song border in the south and the magnetic and Ming mines in the north.
In other states, the only one with slightly larger local output is coal from the Shitang River area.
Therefore, the main business of dozens of local charcoal fields is not mining, but a large number of secondary processing tasks. The owners of the charcoal fields hire a large number of craftsmen to crush the charcoal into powder and process it into charcoal balls or fragrant pancakes, etc., and earn several times the profit.
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Now these charcoal fields have been destroyed by the Mongols, and almost all of them have been destroyed. Not only the charcoal fields, but also iron smelting, quarrying, brick burning, even lumber yards, weaving yards, etc.
Wherever the Mongolian army went, they used various means to destroy the enemy's war potential. In addition to killing people in the fields, they inevitably burned buildings to rubble, knocked down blast furnaces, and trampled brick kilns. Many craftsmen in the military states suffered heavy casualties, but the surviving ones
Or you may lose your family members, or you may lose your job.
When the Jin Dynasty was still there, the Jurchens' governance ability was low, and various industries languished for decades. Ordinary people did not have enough to eat and clothing, and were often faced with life and death dangers and pain. Everyone still remembers it. Until the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, all industries were revived
.The society gradually became stable, the commodity economy prospered rapidly, and life got better.
All that money was originally earned by the Song Kingdom in the Southern Dynasty. The demand for goods from Goryeo, Japan, and even the Tianfang Kingdoms thousands of miles away was simply endless, bringing tens of millions of benefits to the Song Kingdom every year. Only the Jin Kingdom was
Isolated from the outside world, I only relied on the annual coins given by the Southern Dynasty, which was not even enough to stuff between my teeth.
After Zhou Dynasty integrated into this trade circle, the two countries of Zhou and Song Dynasty exchanged what they needed, which caused the scale of the trade circle to expand rapidly. Of course, Song State made more money than before. Relying on private dealings with Zhou Dynasty, the relevant officials obtained hard-to-find benefits.
The imaginary benefits were all eaten until their stomachs were full. And the gains of the officials and people of the Zhou Dynasty were more than a hundred times greater than those of the Jin Kingdom?
In such an environment, the scale of cities and towns continues to expand, and new factories are opened one after another. There are as many as fourteen charcoal farms around Kaifeng alone, each requiring more than 500 craftsmen. Many in other industries
The scale is not inferior either.
There were more workshops, but the number of craftsmen who were separated from the land was far from meeting the demand. For this reason, there were trading houses that specially solved the problem and were responsible for going deep into the Song Dynasty to hire craftsmen at high prices.
Local farmers want to take advantage of the leisure time to earn some extra benefits, and the prices paid by farm owners to recruit them are generally not low. If women want to earn more, there are still weavers to work as.
Farmers who are smarter and more reliable can learn some serious skills after working for a year and a half. At this time, many people rented out their land and became full-time craftsmen. They were also very good at it.
It is easy to be promoted to foreman in a short period of time, or to be poached by other companies. As a result, you can get more income and return to your hometown to buy land.
Even if you are not that motivated, your income is not bad. Often one person can maintain the life of the whole family through hard work. During the holidays, he can even buy a few feet of cloth to make clothes, and then the whole family can eat flower cakes, which are as good as beef.
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In an environment of rapid development, such a golden age will inevitably appear.
Maybe it won't last long, maybe the interests of the common people will eventually be swallowed up by those in power, or maybe the business environment will eventually change, factories will close down, workers will lose their jobs and have no food and clothing, and will be reduced to poverty again. But now, in this world,
It's good enough. Compared with the chaotic days of Daikin in the last few decades, now it's just like the paradise in dreams.
Who gave everyone such a good life? Of course it was Guo Ning, the emperor of Zhou Dynasty!
Who is uprooting it all? The Black Tatars, of course!
Faced with the Mongol invasion, everyone was furious.
In the eyes of the Mongolians, ordinary Han farmers are no different from cattle and sheep. The anger of cattle and sheep is nothing to the shepherds. But craftsmen are different from farmers. They are used to dozens or hundreds of people working together and obeying the instructions of foremen and stewards.
No one is allowed to do their own thing. This gives them perfect organization and discipline, and a power of action that far exceeds that of farmers.
With discipline, they can unite to protect themselves when danger comes; with mobility, their rage is no longer just rage, but immediately transformed into a raging fire of revenge.
Fueled by the fire of revenge, hundreds of attacks on small groups of Mongol cavalry have been carried out in the past few days by fleeing miners.
These attacks may not always be effective. On the contrary, the miners suffered heavy casualties, but none of them cared. On the contrary, the ferocity in their hearts was more and more aroused.
They kept fighting, kept sacrificing, kept gathering, and opened several arsenals that had not been discovered by the Mongols to equip themselves, and even joined forces with soldiers from various places who persisted in fighting.
At first, a Mongolian firing an arrow from a distance would frighten hundreds of people and run away. But soon they discovered that although the Mongols were powerful, there was always a limit to the lethality of cold weapons. As long as they waited for the right moment, they would wait for an enemy to be careless.
If they approach, they immediately surround and entangle them. Even if they kill ten or eight of their companions at once, the remaining ones can still kill the Mongolians.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It turns out that the iron vertebrae used to crush coal can also be used to smash the enemy's skull; it turns out that the tools used to cut wood can also cut the enemy's skull.
Arm; It turns out that you can make a shield by tearing down a few wooden boards, and then smash it with the shield to kill the enemy...
It turns out that Mongolian cavalry are not ghosts and gods and can be killed.
As experienced warriors join, they become more courageous and more active in fighting.
In order to expand his momentum, Tuo Lei had dispersed his team too much, and because of the joy of plundering, many ten-man teams gathered a little slower than expected. This situation provided the best training opportunities for the craftsmen. They were originally
There is organization, and now there is courage, as well as the combat skills from the officers and soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty. It is enough, everything that should be there is already there, what are you waiting for? Of course, continue to fight and have a big fight with the Mongols
!
"Those with bows and those who can shoot arrows will follow me! The others will line up immediately as previously agreed!"
The dark and thin Mr. Zhu shouted a few words.
He walked slowly in the crowd with a cane. Compared with the murderous others, he was a little awkward, but everyone made way for him.
Among the craftsmen present, he was the one with the highest status. Last year, he took thousands of people to serve in Tianjin. It was a hard work of digging the harbor branch in the winter. But he brought everyone back with him.
, no one was lost. During this period, a few scum in the army made trouble and broke both of Mr. Zhu's calves. They failed to take advantage. Instead, their family was purged by the imperial court.
This responsibility and toughness convinced everyone. Although he could no longer work in the fields, many people were willing to discuss difficulties with him in life. Many of the civilian husbands later became craftsmen in various industries.
They had a conflict with their boss, and they were willing to ask Mr. Zhu to come forward and resolve the matter.
Such a person is supposed to be a thorn in the side of the imperial court. But it has to be said that the grass-roots team atmosphere of the Zhou imperial court was too obvious. Not only did they not pay attention to him, but they gave him a title and encouraged him to come forward to explain the imperial court's policies and represent the imperial court.
Mediate between common people and wealthy people.
This is true in times of peace, and it is also true in times of war. As Boss Zhu shouted, dozens of men with bows and crossbows came out one after another and followed him without hesitation, while others gathered with cheers and tried to form a knot.
into a small square array.
After several days of fighting, they already knew what kind of formation was most suitable for dealing with the Mongolian cavalry, but after all, they were not real soldiers and could not change their formation while moving forward. Some people tried to stop and regroup, but were pushed back.
The others pushed and pushed him, and then he yelled and cursed angrily.
There were also soldiers in the queue, but most of them were soldiers stationed in forts from various places and lacked experience. Their orders were quickly lost in the crowd of people.
Such chaos in front of the enemy is a recipe for death. If there were not friendly forces from several directions to contain them, the Mongolian army would dispatch a group of cavalry and they would be able to rush everyone into chaos.
The combat capability of the Mongolian army has increased rapidly with the expansion of the army. The craftsmen who can defeat the ten-man team and consume the hundred-man team in scattered battles will be on the chopping block if they face the Mongolian elite thousand-man team in this state.
There is no difference in the meat.
Zheng Rui knew that he must not let the chaos go unnoticed, so he hurried over from behind.
He knew very well that the real main force in the battle must be the Kaifeng defenders and Yang Miaozhen's elite cavalry. The huge group of people around him at the moment was actually used to distract the Mongols. But taking on this combat mission did not mean risking death.
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Zheng Rui left Guide Mansion yesterday afternoon and joined this team. Because all his original subordinates were sacrificed in the battle, he now leads more than a hundred military students who are undergoing training and internship in Suzhou.
Yang Miaozhen came to the rescue with elite cavalry. Wherever he went, soldiers and civilians responded, and the military students followed Yang Miaozhen and his party. Because there was no battle along the way, the march was very fast; half an hour ago, they were handed over to Zheng Zheng
When Rui was in charge, all his arms and legs were injured, and no one was injured.
"You work in pairs, each in charge of a square formation." Zheng Rui said to them: "Do it as taught in the drill!"
"As you command!"
The military cadets immediately dispersed into the crowd and soon stood at the front of the phalanx,
Those who can be selected into the military academy are either the best among the soldiers, or officers who already have command qualifications but lack cultural foundation. In the school, they have to learn a large number of combat command courses, and they are also ready to make up for all levels at any time.
Officer's preparation.
In the hearts of these military students, Emperor Guo Ning of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the generals around him are living legends. They stood out from the most ordinary soldiers and achieved unprecedented achievements. And the people who followed them, such as Zheng
Senior officers like Rui also gained wealth and status that were enough to honor their ancestors.
Such a leap is beyond the dreams of ordinary soldiers. But now they don't have to dream, they can just look in front of them, and they will have the opportunity to make meritorious deeds in this war!
The military cadets are all excited. They themselves are also a constant source of fresh blood in the long-term battle; they are assets that can only be provided by a country with a strong military and an extremely wealthy country.
To be continued...