Chapter 011 Ancestors Made Guns
The county magistrate rewarded Zhao Yulin with one hundred taels of silver. He took the reward and went to Chengyi Restaurant with Lei Man for a drink. Zhao Yulin felt that these knots could not be untied, so he told Lei Man to train the beggar soldiers as much as possible and form combat effectiveness as soon as possible.
Lei Man told him that these beggars were full and energetic after eating, and were more than capable of guarding the dock. If they had suitable weapons in their hands, the same number of soldiers would not be their match.
Zhao Yulin was talking about weapons? He was also worried.
After dinner, the two went to the blacksmith shop east of the pier to think.
When he walked in, he saw a man yelling at two strong young men working. Lei Man introduced him to the owner of the blacksmith shop, Chen Xian, a strong man, and the three of them sat down to drink tea together.
Normally he makes kitchen knives and butcher knives, but recently with the help of the dock labor union, business has been booming. Two of his men are working hard and sweating profusely.
Lei Man asked Chen Xian, how about giving him a Yanling knife?
Zhao Yulin immediately said that the Yanling Knife was not good. Chen Xian said disdainfully that if the Yanling Knife was not good, then what other knife would be good? Then he sighed and said that no matter how good the knife was, it would be useless without iron.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said he had a solution.
Chen Xian immediately became alert, stared at him and asked if there was really a way.
What to do?
Zhao Yulin said of course it was to refine fine steel.
After hearing this, Chen Xian rolled his eyes at him and said that he was kidding. To make fine steel, one needs to build a blast furnace. There is no good ore in Yibin yet. There is some in the Jinsha River, but it takes a thousand-mile ship journey to transport it back. What the hell is going on? He can't do it.
Zhao Yulin smiled, pointed to a bamboo-tube musket hanging on the opposite wall and said that Master Chen made that, so of course he was not interested in steelmaking. If I guessed correctly, Master Chen's ancestors made muskets, and the officials liked them, but they just treated them as toys and did not produce them in large quantities for use.
Chen Xian looked at him curiously as if he had seen an alien.
Zhao Yulin pretended not to see it and said that if we want to produce steel in large quantities, we should not do it here, but go to the other side and collect some scattered ores first.
Chen Xian patted his chest and said that if it really worked, he would do it.
Lei Man said that the young man was going to do great things and he would definitely succeed.
This man is in the martial arts world, and he still has to cheer up when it's time. Zhao Yulin said with a smile: "Of course I can do it. If I can't do it, who else can?"
After saying that, he dipped the tea in water and drew on the table a broadsword used in the later Anti-Japanese War, and said that he would first make a few of these anti-Japanese swords to try out. The blade and the back of this sword are both sharpened, and the tip of the blade is slightly curved, forming a sharp angle with the back of the blade. It can be used for chopping, splitting, and stabbing. It weighs four pounds of iron and is absolutely suitable for use.
He described everything from the design to the use of the broadsword in great detail, as if he were an expert, which stunned Lei Man and Chen Xian.
Seeing that it was working, Zhao Yulin stood up and said that he would go back to prepare. He would hold a night school in the Labor Society in the evening. This man must be illiterate, so he asked Lei Man to call back all the leaders, big and small, to listen.
After completing the arrangements, he rode away on Lei Man’s chestnut horse.
Chen Xian then said to Lei Man: "Brother Zhao is either a god or a monster. How does he know that my ancestors made firearms?"
Lei Man said how would he know, could it be that Master Chen really came from the Military Arms Workshop?
Chen Xian nodded and remained silent.
Zhao Yulin returned to the White Pagoda and after a short rest began to prepare his evening speech. He felt that in order to accomplish something, he must have a group of backbones, and these backbones must know what to do and how to do it.
Therefore, they must be taught to recognize words.
In the city, Mr. Wang is like an ant on hot pot.
After seeing the body of Shen Tuozi, County Lieutenant Zhang informed him as quickly as possible. He was now sitting in the pavilion with Zhang Bapi, making eye contact.
Although Shen Tuozi did not come back last night, the two of them never expected that Shen Tuozi would be beaten to death by Zhao Yulin with a stick. Zhang Bapi even doubted Shen Tuozi's kung fu and was amazed at Zhao Yulin's methods.
But Shen Tuozi's kung fu was absolutely beyond doubt. He was indeed careless and did not dare to throw the thunder bomb at Zhao Yulin at such a close distance.
Now, they still have a few people who can fight, but they don’t have any masters who can absolutely suppress the enemy. If they want to explore the secrets of the office, forget it.
Tomorrow the Wang family will ship a batch of goods to Chongqing and Lin'an, and the liquor tax will skyrocket. They have all heard that Zhao Yulin is so heartless that he has directly raised the wages of dock workers and demolished the Zhao family's house.
Mr. Wang said quietly, it seems there is no other way.
"If the land route is blocked, then we can go by water." Zhang Bapi said proudly. He was the one who recruited Niu, the head of the water fort. Usually, salt merchants would go through the water fort for smuggling, but now that the land route was blocked, they had no choice but to go to the water fort.
Mr. Wang no longer wanted to continue smuggling with Zhang Bapi. One reason was that he was not the only one who could earn the money. Another reason was that he felt that Zhang Bapi was too cruel. Once exposed, he would kill anyone to silence them. Now that he had lost Shen Tuozi, he was really afraid that one day he would be caught in the police station and Zhang Bapi would kill him without hesitation.
But Zhang Baopi decided to smuggle through Shuizhai. He had no choice but to ask Liu San, who was beside him, to contact Captain Niu to make arrangements.
In the Zhao Family Garden in the south of the city, Mr. Zhao was drinking tea with Jueming. This hypocrite came twice, and praised his third son for raising wages and demolishing sheds.
Jueming said that after the Third Young Master died once, he was no longer the same Third Young Master as before.
Mr. Zhao said that even if he was not, he still had the surname Zhao and was a member of the Zhao family.
Jueming said that the third young master had lost his scholarly air and his face was full of ruthlessness. People at the dock liked him because he was fair.
Mr. Zhao said, "Let him do it. It's best to handle official business impartially. Our family's imports and exports are not as much as Wang's. He will know the pain when he kicks a stone."
Zhao Yulin had no idea what these jackals and foxes were up to. He prepared for the whole afternoon, had dinner early and went to the labor club, where a room full of people had already gathered. The managers of each team had arrived, and even Ma Linger came when she heard her brother was going to open a night school. She said that she wanted to be a shopkeeper in the future, so she had to learn.
After Zhao Yulin sat down, the hall immediately became quiet. He told everyone that this was called the Workers' Night School, which was specially designed for us poor people to study. Reading was not a privilege of the rich, we poor people also needed to be able to read and write.
He looked at everyone and asked Lu Youpeng to call the roll first, saying that he would set rules for the night school, that classes should start and end on time, that lateness and early departure were not allowed, and that everyone should learn at least ten characters every day...
Then Zhao Yulin began his lecture. He taught everyone to recognize the three words: down-to-earth, great ambitions and perseverance. He explained the twelve words one by one until everyone understood them clearly.
Everyone in the room was having a heated discussion when a beacon came in and told Lei Man that Xiao Qijin, who went to the water village, was missing.
Xiao Qijin was one of the three beggars who were arranged to go to the water fort after Lei Man took over the dock the day before yesterday. He disappeared yesterday.
Lei Man felt that the matter was serious and wanted to go to the water fort to investigate.
Zhao Yulin said that since the incident happened after the people entered the water fort, they must go to the water fort to check, but they must be fully prepared. He asked Lei Man to immediately gather all the people in the first labor team and set out to surround the water fort first.
Later, Zhao Yulin arrived at the water fort and met the remaining twelve people. Lei Man asked Captain Niu why he did not attend night school?
Captain Niu said that his superiors had no such requirement and he could go if he wanted to.
Zhao Yulin asked him where was Xiao Qijin?
Captain Niu said he didn't know, maybe Xiao Qijin had deserted.
Lu Youpeng said that Xiao Qijin was alone and it was impossible for him to run around randomly.
Zhao Yulin estimated that Xiao Qijin was most likely in trouble, so he asked Lu Youpeng to confiscate all the soldiers' weapons immediately. Captain Niu immediately refused and demanded, holding a goose-feather knife in his hand, why were their weapons confiscated?
Lei Man said that Xiao Qijin disappeared here, and they are all suspects. It is normal for Zhao Tixia to confiscate their weapons and conduct inspection.
Zhao Yulin saw the panicked expressions of these soldiers, and he intuitively felt that Xiao Qijin was in trouble, and he had to hurry to save him. He saw that Niu was still resisting, so he said to Lei Man: "Tell him to put down his weapon immediately. Anyone who dares not to obey will be killed without mercy."
Everyone quickly put down their swords, except Captain Niu.
Zhao Yulin asked the beggars to move aside and said to Captain Niu that the county magistrate had ordered him to be in charge of the wharf and that he was in charge of all matters. Since Captain Niu was not convinced, then don't blame him for being rude.
Before he could finish his words, Zhao Yulin appeared in front of Captain Niu and slapped him seven or eight times in a row. Captain Niu was spinning like a top, and Zhao Yulin kicked him to the ground.
Now everyone was stunned. He took two steps forward, stepped on the chest of Captain Niu, and said that he had disrespected his superiors and that a beating was the lightest punishment. He should not .
Then he kicked Niu Butou in the waist and asked him to tell the truth where Xiao Qijin had gone. If he didn't tell, he would tie him up and sink him on the dock.
At this time, a soldier named Zhou Ping said that Xiao Qijin was called by Captain Niu to drink yesterday and had not returned since then, and Captain Niu must be responsible. Lei Man was furious when he heard this, and stepped on Captain Niu's palm and asked him to speak, but Captain Niu was not afraid of the pain and refused to explain.
Zhao Yulin asked Lei Man to take the next room for interrogation, then turned around and told the rest of the people that those who confessed would be treated leniently, those who resisted would be treated severely, and those who made meritorious service would be rewarded handsomely. First, he promoted Zhou Ping to be the small captain of the water stronghold, and he would interrogate them one by one.
Half an hour later, everything became clear.
It turned out that the three soldiers who were working on the same boat with Xiao Qijin were chatting at night and accidentally revealed the information that they were smuggling with the salt merchants. Captain Niu was worried that the matter would be exposed, so he and two of his confidants invited Xiao Qijin to have a drink, after which Xiao Qijin disappeared.
Now that the spearhead is pointed directly at Niu Butou, things will be much easier.
Zhao Yulin walked into the room where he was imprisoned and ordered his men to tie Captain Niu to a bench with his back facing up. Captain Niu was tall and the bench was not long enough, so his head was just hanging in the air.
Zhao Yulin told Lei Man to use the asphyxiation method for interrogation. First, he found a few pieces of smelly rags used for foot wrapping and put them in a basin of water. After wetting them, he covered the face of Captain Niu one by one. After covering with two pieces, Captain Niu showed discomfort.
Zhao Yulin asked for another kettle. If he refused to confess, he would cover him with a piece of cloth and pour water on his face continuously.
Let’s see how long he can last?
