Spring is here.

The forest outside Datong City has begun to come alive, and many animals have appeared. Occasionally, a few roars from bears and tigers, as well as the howls of wolves in the northland at night.

The city of Datong is also a new atmosphere.

Zhao Kuo stood above the city wall and stared at the entire Datong City from a high place.

It is not suitable for soil construction in winter, but it is still possible to continue to build on the basis of laying the foundation and shaping the framework.

Guo Zong, who was in charge of the construction, actually had some opinions on Zhao Kuo's approach to building Jingguan at that time, because in Guo Zong's view, it was too cheap for those captives to cut their heads directly, so they should have worked in the snow and ice! However, although there were no Xiong prisoners, many criminals and Yan and Qi prisoners were still under the supervision of the officials of the "Engineering Department" led by Guo Zong and Xu Li, and the supervisors, and completed one-third of the construction work in Datong City.

Because of the identity of a general in the camp, Datong City still looks obvious different from ordinary cities.

There is a city wall that is five feet high and is squarely arranged. There is also a urn city inside the city, as well as many military-related institutions such as military camps, armories, granaries, horse farms, military dependents, military officials' yards, and generals' offices.

In addition, there are three-quarters of the places, one-quarter of which will be built into military markets (markets), residential buildings, etc. within this year, and the remaining half will be reserved for future planning.

The location of Datong City can connect to the southeast, west and north. At this stage, there is no way to be a military city, but it will inevitably develop into a civilian city in the future, which is the right way for Zhao State.

In later generations, Zhao Kuo saw many things because his predecessors did not have long-term vision when planning, which led to the subsequent urban development being limited everywhere.

The cities in later generations did not have city walls and could expand very quickly. However, the cities in this era had city walls, so it was destined that the city must be planned from the beginning, otherwise it would be difficult for future generations to deal with.

In today's Datong City, in addition to the 12,000 garrisons, entourages and laborers of the Chiyou Army, there are also some officials and a small number of residents.

But anyone in Datong City is very sure that in time, this place will definitely become a big city among the northern counties! "Why?"

Zhao Kuo asked Xu Li.

Xu Li smiled and said, "Because everyone knows that wherever you are, you will surely prosper!"

When Zhao Kuo heard this, he couldn't help but laugh: "Uncle Xu, you have learned bad things, and you can flatter and flatter."

Xu Li laughed and said seriously: "I really think so."

Zhao Kuo smiled for a while and said to Guo Zong beside him: "Let's go, let's go and see the Datong Iron Smelting Plant."

A few dozen miles away from Datong City, there is a place called "Black Gold Mountain" by the locals.

Black gold is actually a term for iron in this era.

As the name suggests, Black Gold Mountain is naturally the largest iron mine production area outside Datong City.

Before going to the expedition, Zhao Kuo submitted a memorial request to the Empress Dowager, believing that although Handan has developed military smelting, if it is transported from Handan to the north, it will cost a lot of manpower and material resources thousands of miles away. It is better to set up an iron smelting plant in the north directly. First, it can prepare for the northern expedition to the Huns, and second, it can continue to supply northern counties in the future.

In response to this, the Empress Dowager also replied with a big stroke: "Yes!"

Maybe the Empress Dowager thought that letting Zhao Kuo come to the north to garrison was a reason for cheating Zhao Kuo, so she was very generous to Zhao Kuo on these "small things".

The Datong Ironworks in winter are just a prototype, but they become very lively after spring.

Dozens or hundreds of chimneys stand up to the sky, and smoke keeps coming out of it. Although it has not yet reached the point of covering the sky, it is also quite spectacular.

Zhao Kuo sat on the carriage and watched the scene, his heart suddenly moved: "Is this considered a new thing I have brought to this era - environmental pollution?"

However, Zhao Kuo quickly threw this idea aside, and he was just following the same thing. Even if he was a mere iron smelting plant, even if he was sequential day and night, he would probably not be able to increase the earth's carbon dioxide concentration by 0.01% for hundreds of years, right?

Developing and governing at the same time is later generations. Zhao Kuo of this era starts from scratch and develops first! The Datong Iron Smelting Plant is very large and very large.

How big is it?

The area of ​​this ironworks is as big as that of Datong City! The ironworks are built against the valley, with valleys on both sides and two meters high on both sides of the building walls.

As soon as the carriage drove into the ironworks, a heat came towards us.

It is said that the spring is chilly, but many of the workers and apprentices in the ironworks are shirtless.

Under the command, the slaves kept blowing, filling in fuel, and carrying materials, while the craftsmen waved their hammers and smashed them into the various weapons that had just been released in their hands.

From time to time, you can hear the sound of "sting" and "sting" in the air, which is the sound of quenching.

Zhao Kuo looked around and saw a busy scene. He couldn't help but feel very satisfied and nodded repeatedly.

Guo Zong was also full of charm and said to Zhao Kuo: "Master, this Datong smelter has basically taken shape now. In just three months, all the military and armor materials you needed before will be fully equipped!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuo nodded and said, "Very good, Mr. Guo, you have made great contributions in this matter!"

As the saying goes, public things are useless.

This time, the Empress Dowager asked Zhao Kuo to expedition the Northern Expedition, and Zhao Kuo directly implemented this policy.

Weapons, bows, crossbows, armor, horse harness, and vests all gave me a brand new one! Although the 12,000 Chiyou Army was my marquis' private army, this time this time, the Chiyou Army was also on the ranks of the expeditions of the country, so of course they were all replaced! It just so happened that the first batch of armors of the Chiyou Army had been seriously worn out. This time, Zhao Kuo gave all the old equipment of the Chiyou Army a brand new showdown, and he felt very happy.

Then Zhao Kuo said to Xu Li again: "The dry food has been made, right?"

Xu Li nodded and said, "The 'meat floss' and 'Guokui' that Jun Hou mentioned before are now familiar with the process. You will never miss Jun Hou's troops!"

Meat floss is a good thing, very full, and it is also light to carry, and it is not a problem to make. The reason why the Mongol Empire led by Genghis Khan was able to gallop around the world without worrying about any supply crisis was actually two magic weapons - Meat floss and horse milk.

In addition to meat floss, Zhao Kuo also brought a kind of food from later generations. With these, the logistics problems of the cavalry of the Zhao State brigade heading north can be solved to a large extent.

Zhao Kuo was relieved now.

The soldiers and armor are about to be delivered, and dry food is soon in place.
Chapter completed!