Chapter 152: Fighting for Hetao (17)

In the Hou Mansion, the study room in the inner courtyard is a very important room. Many important decisions of the Black Eagle Army were made in this study room. There were only more than 20 people qualified to enter the study room to talk about things.

The study room in the inner courtyard was originally a reception room on the east side, which was a relatively closed space. After Hou Dayong bought the yard, he specially ordered the door of the study room to be renovated, replaced with a solid wooden door, and added a curtain to greatly enhance the sound insulation effect of the study room. It is difficult to hear the conversation inside the house when standing outside the house. At the same time, every time someone talks in the study room, the personal guard Luo Qingsong would stick to the Hou family's knife and guard the door of the study room, so that no one could get close to it.

Hou Dayong's words made Meng Shu quite shocked. After he put down the teacup, although there was a ground dragon in the study, the heat in the ground dragon continued to spread into the house, making the study warm as spring. Sweat beads began to appear on Meng Shu's forehead, but he always felt a faint cold wind swaying in the house. This cold wind made Meng Shu's mind quickly wake up: his and his sister Meng Zhen's lives were saved by Hou Dayong and Fu Ying, and it was also thanks to Hou Dayong's power to avenge his eldest sister Meng Qing's deep blood sea. He is now the leader of the Feiying Hall and the shopkeeper of the rich shop. He can be regarded as Hou Dayong's most direct line. His life is bound to be bound to Hou Dayong. No matter what Hou Dayong does, he must follow him unruly, otherwise, neither the enemy nor the friend will let him go.

Meng Shu suddenly stood up, knelt in front of Hou Dayong, and said in a low voice: "Meng Shu and his sister Meng Zhen's lives are saved by the Jiedushi. The Jiedushi has the grace of recreation for us brothers and sisters. Meng Shu is willing to go through fire and water and be the front pawn of the Jiedushi forever. If he has a second heart, Meng Shu will pierce his heart and will never be reborn."

What Hou Dayong needed was Meng Shu's loyalty. He smiled and helped Meng Shu up, and the two of them held their hands tightly together. From this moment on, Meng Shu was the first confidant subordinate to approach his core secret.

After Meng Shu stood up, his heart was still fluctuating. He whispered: "I have something to report. There is a disciple of Feiying Hall in the Palace Front Office. He told me something. The marching Sima Zhao Pu and the commander of the Palace Front Office Zhao Kuangyin had eight friends. When His Majesty personally conquered Huainan, Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyin were in the south-bound army. They were sworn brothers in Zhengyang City."

Hou Dayong's eyebrows unconsciously raised upwards. Zhao Pu was a famous figure in the history of Hou Dayong. He was a famous powerful minister in the Zhao Dynasty. Many of his major policies deeply influenced the Zhao Dynasty. Hou Dayong kept Zhao Pu by his side to prevent Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyin from getting to know each other and let Zhao Pu join him before relying on Zhao Kuangyin. He strengthened his shogunate power. Unexpectedly, Zhao Pu was still connected with Zhao Kuangyin. Hou Dayong said calmly: "Zhao Pu is familiar with military affairs, law, and human relations. He is a talent that can be used. It is reasonable for him to become sworn brothers with Zhao Kuangyin in Zhengyang City. Let's put it aside for now."

After talking about the main business, Hou Dayong and Meng Shu had some gossip and the two left the study. Feng Sha had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Hou Dayong coming out, he walked over quickly and reported: "Bai Shuanghua and Chen Lingxin were waiting in the Intermediate Courtyard."

Lingzhou has always been an important border town. The Tang Dynasty guarded Lingzhou with tens of thousands of people and the number of troops stationed in Lingzhou means that grain transportation and baggage transport will also require a huge team. The transportation of grain and supplies cannot be separated from carriages. Therefore, Lingzhou has concentrated the best carriage craftsmen in the northwest. In the past five generations, although Lingzhou's status has declined a lot, the technology of building carriages has been passed down from generation to generation. By the Great Zhou Dynasty, carriages produced in Lingzhou were the highest in the country. Chen Lingxin was also the leader of carriage craftsmen in Lingzhou.

After Hou Dayong received news in Tongxin City that the towns in the northwest were going to be transferred in advance, he sent people to Lingzhou quietly and took action first. He received more than a dozen of the best craftsmen including Chen Lingxin to Tongxin City. After Feng Jiye received the transfer order, he sent people to find Chen Lingxin and others, but was surprised to find that the best carriage craftsmen in Lingzhou City were mysteriously missing.

Hearing that Bai Shuanghua and Chen Lingxin were waiting in the Intermediate Court, Hou Dayong knew that the Black Eagle Army's new chariot had been built. At this time, Hou Dayong was unwilling to be particularly close to Meng Shu, so he said to Meng Shu lightly: "I want to go to Chen Lingxin's carriage workshop to see the new chariot, and I won't give it to you. Meng Lang will walk all the way."

The carriage workshop and several blacksmith shops are arranged side by side, all located in the south city gate area. The area of ​​the carriage workshop is much larger than that of the blacksmith shop. There are a lot of wood and iron or copper accessories piled up inside. Guo Jiong was standing in the middle of the yard, watching a new carriage. He was walking around Bai Shuanghua. He didn't expect that Hou Dayong would follow Bai Shuanghua to the carriage workshop, so he met with embarrassment.

Guo Jiong observed that the carriage was a new carriage made according to Hou Dayong's request. The parts of the carriage were shiny with black paint. The two thick and thick Shu horses on the carriage were also washed clean. The two Shu horses did not expect that they would also be treated as models. They were very ignorant of the yard. Although there were some unclean things in the middle of the yard, the new horse carriage and the spiritual Shu horse also lit up the eyes of everyone who was used to seeing the dirty food carriage.

The Chen family carriage is famously beautiful in Lingzhou. The shaft, wing, yoke, hub, carriage and other parts are made very finely. The overall structure of the car is basically the same as that of modern cars. The three doors are fixed on the car. The carriage is one meter four deep, about two meter five long, and about one meter five wide. The rear compartment is a movable door that can be folded and unloaded at will, and is the passage to enter the car. The left and the left and right are also painted with red and blue pictures, with a tiger painted on the left and a long-haired lion painted on the right. At the rear compartment, there is an iron hook for each. The two large wheels are wrapped in copper leather to the ground, which extends about forty centimeters. The tip is an iron piece, which is polished very sharply.

Hou Dayong and Guo Jiong chatted casually for a few words, then circled around the carriage a few times, and looked at the parts of the area carefully. Hou Dayong said to Guo Jiong: "Look at what role do these two hooks do?" Guo Jiong touched the two iron hooks with his hands and said: "If you guess correctly, these two hooks are used to connect other horse-drawn carriages."

Hou Dayong praised: "Guo Lang is quite good at seeing. These carriages are usually used to transport food and supplies, and can also be used as infantry personnel carriers. Each carriage can carry six people, and one hundred cars can transport a force of five hundred people, which is very convenient. When camping, connect these carriages together with hooks, and become a very good temporary camp; during combat, a line of defense against the impact of cavalry can be formed."

Guo Jiong fought four years of fierce battles and had rich combat experience. Hou Dayong explained a little, and understood the truth and said: "Working on plains or grasslands, with these carriages, even if they are surrounded by cavalry, it is difficult for the cavalry to disrupt the team. Outside Tongxin City, Yongxing Army used grain-carriage carriages to resist the attack of Fangdangdu cavalry. However, their number of carriages was insufficient, leaving a breakthrough gap for the Dangxiang cavalry. However, these cars are not very suitable in the mountains."

"Although the cavalry of all ethnic groups in the northwest is very strong in combat, the biggest enemy of our Great Zhou Dynasty was still the Khitans. The terrain of the Khitans was mostly grasslands, and these chariots could play a great role in the grasslands."

Guo Jiong and Bai Shuanghua took advantage of Hou Dayong's speech and looked at each other secretly. Guo Jiong said intimately: After all, the Jiedu is the Jiedu, and his vision is indeed much longer. The Khitans are indeed the number one enemy of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Compared with the Dangxiang Uighurs and the Khitan, it is like a ten-year-old child who is 20 years old.

Hou Dayong did not continue to discuss with Guo Jiong, and then thought to Chen Ling, who was standing beside him, "How long does it take to produce such a carriage?"

When he was in Tongxin City, Hou Dayong implemented an engineer system in craftsman camps such as blacksmith shops and carpenter camps. Dou Tian, ​​Guo Baoyu, Zhang Qinghai, Chen Lingxin and others were rated as senior engineers, while other craftsmen were rated as engineers, and some were rated as assistant engineers. At the worst, all craftsmen were rated as diminishing in order. And the gap was quite large.

Chen Lingxin said proudly: "These carriages are very finely made and are not inferior to those of the carriages of the high officials in Daliang City. If the materials are fully prepared, five or six can be produced in a month."

Hou Dayong shook his head and said, "It's only five or six cars a month. This speed is too slow. The new carriage is used to transport food, grass and supplies, and the other is to form a circle during the war to protect the infantry. The number of infantry soldiers of the Black Eagle Army is large. At least one thousand carriages are needed. The speed of the carriage workshop cannot solve the problem." Hou Dayong pointed at the carriage lane with his finger: "No matter how well these tiger lions are drawn, they are completely useless for carriages. The carriage used in the army does not require these patterns, just apply black paint on insect-proof and moisture-proof floors."

Chen Lingxin was over forty years old. When he was thirty, he had been a craftsman in the Chen family's carriage hall for ten years. He was a craftsman with superb skills and pursuit of perfection. He usually had strict requirements on his apprentices and would never tolerate the appearance of rough carriages in his hands. At this time, he felt a little distressed when he heard the request of the Jiedushi to simplify the carriage, but he did not dare to express his dissatisfaction with the Jiedushi's opinion. He rubbed his hands and smiled "Hey, hey": "If you don't draw a tiger or a lion on the carriage, can I draw a black carriage on the carriage? With this black carriage, the enemy's war horses dare not approach it."

Chen Lingxin's expression when he looked at the carriage was like looking at his own child. This was the same as Dou Tian saw a treasure knife, Han Qi saw a good prescription, Huo Zhixing's expression when he saw a construction site. Hou Dayong knew that he met a carriage again. He admired this kind of crazy craftsman the most and smiled: "The idea of ​​drawing a black carriage is not bad. In the future, he would draw a black carriage on the carriage as a symbol of the black carriage, but other parts do not need to be decorated too much. The military carriage is the first priority to be simple and practical."

Feng Jiye was guarding Lingzhou for several years. Chen Lingxin built many carriages for the Lingzhou army, but Chen Lingxin had never approached Feng Jiye, let alone stood together and spoke casually. After the new Jiedushi came to Lingzhou, he invited them craftsmen to have a meal together and increased their salary by five times. This made Chen Lingxin flatter. When he was building a carriage for the Black Eagle Army, he tried his best to bring out all his ancestral skills. He even took out his horse and lions on the carriage. The shapes and expressions of tigers and lions were painted vividly, making Chen Lingxin very proud.

After making the first carriage, he reported to General Bai Shuanghua, who was in charge of the carriage shop and the blacksmith shop, and General Bai Shuanghua, who had seen the carriage, took him to the Jiedu Mansion without saying a word. It was the first time that Chen Lingxin walked into the mansion of a big man like the Jiedu. When he stepped into the gate, his feet were trembling constantly. The Jiedu Mansion was just a few elite soldiers standing guard outside, and they did not have the three steps, one stern at a time, seven steps, and Chen Lingxin stopped trembling.

Chen Lingxin came to the intermediate courtyard, and through the small door of the inner courtyard, he even saw a beautiful woman walking around the inner courtyard. Although this was the severe winter season, Chen Lingxin seemed to have drunk old wine from Lingzhou specialty wine, a heat rises from her abdomen and wanders through her blood vessels. After returning to the carriage camp, Chen Lingxin fell to the ground from a floating state.

Hou Dayong frowned and looked around the yard. He saw that the yard was full of wood and various accessories. He thought to Chen Ling: "Cheng Gaogong, are the shafts, wings, yokes, hubs, carriages of this carriage made here?"

Chen Lingxin saw that the Jiedushi looked a little unhappy. He didn't know if he had said the wrong thing and done the wrong thing. He was a little confused and trembled when he said: "Yes, they are all made here. The army needs to use land and carriages. I dare not be careless. I personally monitored every process and would never dare to cut corners."

Hou Dayong was frightened when he saw Chen Ling. Then he realized that his expression was a little serious, so he relaxed his face, smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm not blaming you. But if you continue to use this method to make a carriage, it will only be five or six two in a month. Even if four carriage battalions start construction at the same time, there will be no more than twenty two in a month. It will be far from meeting the demand of the Black Eagle Army."

Chen Lingxin hurriedly said, "I'll recruit more than a dozen people, and I'll make a round trip every day. I think I can make a few more cars."

"In this way, the speed cannot be increased no matter what. I think these carriages, axles and shafts are not complicated. In fact, after the size is set, other carpenters in the city can be processed, and finally the carriage battalion will assemble the various components together. This will greatly increase the speed of producing carriages."

In Lingzhou, each carriage craftsman has his own unique skills, which are strictly sealed off from each other. It is precisely for this reason that each carriage shop is an independent production unit, from the thickest cutting wood to the thinning making wheels, they are all done by the carriage shop alone. For decades, Lingzhou carriages have been produced in this way, so when Hou Dayong proposed to ask other carriagers to help with the carriage and shaft, Chen Lingxin did not come back to his senses for a long time. After a while, he said hesitantly: "The manufacturing of carriages seems simple, but in fact there are very strict requirements. Every component must be carefully inspected. For example, each carriage must measure the wheel circle with a rule, use a rule, suspended rope and water float to measure the spacing between the spokes grooves, the spokes are straight and the material is uniform, and the capacity of the two hubs is compared with millet, and the weight of the two wheels is compared with scales, so as to create a smart and easy-to-use carriage."

Although Hou Dayong did not know the specific process of making carriages, he knew that even modern cars with much more complex structures had many parts to outsource, not to mention that these carriages with not very complex structures, he said: "You are responsible for the parts that need to be inspected. Other parts that do not need to be inspected must be taken out and let other craftsmen make it. You only need to provide the size and process requirements."

Seeing that the governor said this, Chen Lingxin dared not argue, and his respectful expression was a little helpless. Because the Chen family's carriage had the ultimate trick in the wheels and axles, Chen Lingxin leaned back and said: "Wheels and axles are the key to whether the carriage is easy to use. These two parts need me to guide them. Other parts can be made by others. I will then write down the sizes of each part."

"Mr. Chen Gaogong should pay attention to one issue. Since Chen's carriage needs to take out some parts, it must be standardized. What is standardization? That is, every carriage you make has a fixed standard. As long as you do it according to this standard, no matter who makes the parts, they can be used on the carriage, and the accessories of different carriages can be replaced with each other." Hou Dayong was confused when he saw Chen Lingxin, and said: "Of course, standardized production has very high requirements for materials. When Chen Gaogong designed the size of each component, he must take the materials into consideration."

Chen Lingxin was confused for a while before she understood the meaning of the Jiedushi. He complained in his heart: Chen Lingxin's technique of making carriages has reached the level of art, and standardization means that many unique skills cannot be used, which has a huge impact on the reputation of the Chen family's carriages, but the Jiedushi's orders cannot be violated. Chen Lingxin secretly thought in his mind that the carriages designed according to the standard will not be marked with the seal of the Chen family. In this way, the Black Eagle military and local military carriages have nothing to do with the Chen family's carriages.

Of course, Hou Dayong didn't know Chen Lingxin's little calculations. Hou Dayong had been thinking about the standardization issue for a long time, but he had not made up his mind to do things. This time, taking advantage of the standardization production of Chen's carriages, Hou Dayong was preparing to promote standardization in the production of military ordnances in the entire army. After he talked with Chen Lingxin, he said to Bai Shuanghua who was standing aside: "General Bai is the logistics supervisor of the Black Eagle Army, and you are also responsible for this standardization production. Our standardized production not only refers to carriages, but also refers to the various equipment independently produced by the Black Eagle Army that must meet the standardization requirements."
Chapter completed!