Shi Zhai came to Huainan with a mission.

The task given to him by Lin'an was to rectify Huainan's military affairs and at the same time beware of Zhao Tai.

This time Lin'an increased its military expenditure by 4 million yuan, half of which was given to the Lianghuai System Relocation Department.

This made Shi Zhai very rich, so he expanded the Huai army and bribed the generals of the Qi army on the north bank of the Huai River.

After hearing his words, Xia Gui and several officials bowed and said, "I understand your humble position."

Xia Gui was a general under Zhao Kui. After Zhao Kui and Zhao Fan were deprived of military power, he took refuge with Shi Zhai and became the commander of the Huaiyuan Army.

Recently, Shi Zhaizhi had invested a lot in infiltrating the North Bank. He was a little dissatisfied with only recruiting two hundred households, so he sternly said to a few people, "The King of Linyi has a high prestige in the army. You wait to recruit his generals."

At this time, you must pay attention to methods!"

Xia Gui couldn't help but ask: "Ms. sir, what method should we use?"

Shi Zhai's Way: "Remember two points. First, tell them that the imperial court is afraid of King Linyi. They follow King Linyi and do not have a formal establishment recognized by the imperial court. Even if they perform meritorious services, they will not be promoted or rewarded by the imperial court. The other is

Second, lure them with money and official position. No matter what status they had in the Qi army or how much salary they had, as long as they can pull the team over, I will implement the organization for them, upgrade them to one level, and double their salary.

"

Now that Zhao Tai is the king of the Song Dynasty, and the Qi army is the Song army in name, then Shi Songzhi's inducement in the name of the central government will definitely be effective for some generals who yearn for the Song Dynasty.

"My husband is so wise!" Xia Gui said with a smile, "I know what to do in my humble position!"

Shi Songzhi glanced at the few people, "Every time you recruit one person, come here together, and I will give you a certain reward!"

Now Lin'an wanted to expand its army in Huainan, and Shi Songzhi needed talents. Poaching people from Zhao Tai could not only strengthen the Huai army, but also weaken Zhao Tai. It could be said that killing two birds with one stone.

…

In December, the cold wind howled and heavy snow fell from the sky.

After a relatively comfortable warm period in the Han and Tang dynasties, the Song and Song Dynasties ushered in a relatively cold Little Ice Age.

Throughout the ages, when the cold period comes, the nomadic peoples in the north will choose to go south because of the severe cold, causing a huge impact on the farming dynasties in the south.

At this time, the coldest period has ended, but the lingering power of the Little Ice Age is still there. When the cold wave comes, almost all the rivers in Shandong are frozen.

This caused a sudden increase in the defensive pressure on the Qi army. In order to reduce the pressure on the north, Zhao Tai followed the example of the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties and had people dig ice on the Yellow River and the Grand Canal.

In this way, the Qi army did not have to deploy troops and horses from the north to defend the Mongolian army stationed in Henan to the west.

Because Zhao Tai's detailed operations in Mongolia did not report the movements of the Mongolian high-level officials, Zhao Tai was not sure whether the Mongolian army would launch an attack.

Just in case, Zhao Tai delayed leaving Jinan until the beginning of spring to inspect the southern prefectures.

Last year in Taiping, Shandong, the sowing of winter wheat was not affected. After the beginning of spring, the wheat germs that had survived the cold winter were growing vigorously, and the fields were full of life.

Zhao Tai was very happy when he saw the wheat seedlings growing in the fields along the way.

The agricultural production cycle is long, but as long as the environment is stable and there are no natural disasters, a good harvest is not a problem.

When Zhao Tai went south, he was full of confidence in Shandong's agriculture. There would be no problem in being self-sufficient in the future, regardless of surplus.

Zhao Tai patrolled all the way and arrived at the Haizhou border. The situation here was another scene.

In other prefectures and counties, there are acres and acres of wheat fields intertwined with streets, but the fields in Haizhou are occupied by rows of workshops.

Generally speaking, both sides of the river are prime farmland because they are close to the water source, but on both sides of the Shushui River, there are workshops one after another.

Along the Shushui River, various workshops lead to multiple canals. Various hydraulic equipment on the canal dams are driven by the water flow, and the "ding-dong-dang-dang-dang" tapping sound of water hammers is continuous.

Zhao Tai set up the royal palace in Jinan, and all the yamen of the vassal government also moved to Jinan, with the exception of two yamen.

One is the Ordnance Bureau, which is responsible for building weapons, and the other is the Tiangong Bureau, which is responsible for researching various equipment and technologies.

After Zhao Tai arrived in Haizhou, he first went to the Ordnance Bureau to inspect. The craftsmen in the bureau were busy using water hammers to forge various weapons and armor plates needed for armor.

】

Wang Chengshun, the director of the Arms Bureau, followed Zhao Tai and Wang Wentong diligently and introduced them all the way, "Your Majesty, this weapons workshop currently has more than 300 people. They are mainly responsible for forging armor plates. In a month, they can provide 500 armors to the armor workshop.

The armor pieces required for a suit of armor.”

Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "How is the quality of the armor? Can it surpass Bu Renjia?"

Wang Chengshun said: "Your Majesty, don't worry. The materials used in the workshop are fine iron produced in our own iron factory. After repeated forging and hammering, the quality of the armor will definitely exceed that of Bu Ren's armor!"

Zhao Tai nodded. He saw a group of people in front of him assembling a waterwheel, and there were people watching and explaining around him. He couldn't help but ask, "That's it?"

Wang Chengshun smiled and said: "Those are people from the Tiangong Bureau, who are improving water hammer for us."

Zhao Tai nodded with satisfaction and walked over to take a look. He then heard that a clerk from the Tiangong Bureau was giving a class to a group of new clerks who had just joined the bureau. When the lecturer saw Zhao Tai coming, he quickly led everyone to salute, "Your Majesty!"

Zhao Tai asked with interest: "How is your waterwheel different from the existing ones?"

The clerk saluted and said: "The Tiangong Bureau has been ordered by the King to study water conservancy forging machines. The difference between this water wheel and the previous water wheel is that it reduces the frequency of hammering and increases the strength each time. It can hammer wrought iron plates.

Press it into the shape the craftsman wants!”

Zhao Tai has been fighting in the past few years. He basically provides enough money, and then tells the Tiangong Bureau to research an idea.

If there are craftsmen who can solve the problems he raised, or develop equipment that can provide efficiency, Zhao Tai will give them certain rewards.

Zhao Tai was quite surprised when he heard the words. He couldn't help walking to the machine, looking at it and praising: "Not bad! The Tiangong Bureau can create such a device, and the lonely king will be rewarded! Sir, let the branch bureau allocate one thousand guan as a reward for participating in the development.

craftsman!"

"Yes!" Wang Wentong agreed. He looked at the machine and couldn't help but his eyes shone. "Your Majesty, this waterwheel is only used to forge armor. It's a pity. We should use it to suppress copper coins!"

Zhao Tai's eyes lit up, "This is a good suggestion! The Mint Department can set up a mint to specifically implement this matter."

Wang Wentong then looked at Wang Chengshun and said, "Mr. Wang, if the vassal government sets up a mint, can you deploy a group of craftsmen here?"

Wang Chengshun lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, sir, the Ordnance Bureau has expanded too quickly in the past two years. There are not many skilled craftsmen at the moment. Many waterwheels are looked after by apprentices. I'm afraid there will be no manpower available."

Hearing this, Zhao Tai waved his hand and said: "Then there is no rush. But we can find a few skilled craftsmen to separate from production and train apprentices full-time. In this way, will we be able to bring out more apprentices at a time?"

Wang Wentong said: "I think this method is feasible!"

At this time, Zhao Tai was discussing with several people, but Zhao Hu hurried over and whispered a few words to Zhao Tai. Zhao Tai frowned slightly, then ordered Wang Chengshun to train more craftsmen, and hurriedly left the weapons inspection.

Zhao Tai left the workshop, his face darkened, he called Zhao Hu aside and asked, "What's going on?"

"Your Majesty, there is news from the navy that someone has defected to Huainan with hundreds of soldiers!" Zhao Hu lowered his head and reported.

The Qi army defected, which was a serious blow to the morale of the army.
Chapter completed!