Of these 6,000-plus people, 5,000 came from underground villages and were genuine villagers. The remaining 1,000-plus were ordinary people from towns, counties, and prefectures.
In short, people from all over Wu County are here. Their purpose is unknown; they were simply forcibly gathered here by Lin Yang using administrative orders.
In Lin Yang's own words: This matter concerns matters of great importance to the military and the nation. Local prefects, county magistrates, and township heads should cooperate immediately, otherwise they will be punished according to military law!
Military law punishes crimes, and this is the most severe and inhumane military law! Therefore, even though he was very dissatisfied, the governor had no choice but to issue an order to organize officials and transport the people.
It took two whole days of hard work to get people from every village to come. Even so, the prefect still didn't know what Lin Yang, the Duke of Wu, was up to!
"Lord Guo, I wonder what the Duke of Wu is trying to do? With a formidable enemy at hand, shouldn't we be setting up defenses and preparing for a major battle? Why haven't any orders been issued yet?" The prefect retorted, looking at the leisurely Guo Jia beside him.
In any case, as the governor of Wu Commandery, he was a fifth-rank official. Guo Jia, as the Grand Academician and Minister of Personnel of Wu, was only a fourth-rank official.
It might seem that Guo Jia held a higher official position, but Guo Jia's authority only applied within the state of Wu. Therefore, he wasn't afraid of offending Guo Jia. Consequently, he spoke his mind directly.
"Prefect, rest assured, don't be anxious. Didn't the Duke say that the outcome would be clear within seven days? Today is only the third day. Moreover, if this test succeeds, we will have an 80% chance of winning this great battle. And we will definitely not lose," Guo Jia said confidently.
After all, if the experiment is successful, there will be many situations where this governor will be of use, so it's really not good to ruin their relationship.
Upon hearing this, although he inwardly complained that Lin Yang, the Duke of Wu, was fooling around, in his view, what experiment was there? It was just that Lin Yang, now in power, couldn't resist messing around!
Gathering over six thousand people on this plain, spending the county's treasury and nominally using military funds—what is this if not utter nonsense?
However, Lin Yang was, after all, the leader of Jiangdong, holding the official position of Jiedushi (military governor). As long as his orders didn't involve open rebellion, this prefect had no choice but to obey!
At the same time, many others shared similar thoughts with this governor!
"Shiyuan, what do you think the Duke of Wu invited us for this time?" Following the principle that it's okay to ask if you don't understand, and there's no shame in asking, Cai Mao asked directly.
“Yes, I also find it strange! With such a formidable enemy at hand, whether it’s Jingzhou or Jiangdong, we all have our own enemies. If he wanted to request reinforcements, he should have sought help from our fathers.” Huang Zu nodded quickly.
"Yes, we're just second-generation rich kids. The clan's real strength and wealth are with the clan leader. What's the use of looking for us?"
“That’s right. They not only contacted us, but also organized more than 6,000 people here, along with a lot of goods. Let me see, there are 10,000 shi of rice, 3,000 bolts of cloth, 500 warhorses, 10,000 broadswords, and…”
"With so many items, even oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, what exactly is this Duke of Wu trying to do? I really can't figure it out!"
"I've only heard that they're going to conduct an experiment, and if it succeeds, it will become a powerful military weapon that will greatly guarantee victory!"
"That's right, that's what I heard too."
"Me too."
"It seems that this is the message that the Wu Kingdom has released."
Listening to his friends' discussions, Pang Tong felt a headache coming on. He was just a little smarter, but that didn't mean he knew everything! The kind of ability to calculate five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future simply didn't exist!
So-called wise men, or strategists, can only make judgments based on prior knowledge. Now, Pang Tong knows nothing; how could he possibly guess Lin Yang's intentions out of thin air?
Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Pang Tong shook his head and said, "This time, I don't know either, I don't understand. But, at worst, we can just wait a few more days."
...
The Wu Kingdom, a certain mountainous region.
This is the site of an iron mine, one of the best-quality and easiest-to-mine iron mines discovered by the Wu Kingdom after its latest exploration.
To date, thanks to the efforts of millions of Yue slaves, an enormous amount of minerals has been mined.
Next to the iron ore mine is a factory that specializes in smelting pig iron and steel. Now, it can produce tens of tons of steel every day.
This quantity would be a joke in modern times. But in the current world, it's a veritable treasure trove!
These steels, when placed on the market, are sold by weight! One tael of good steel costs at least three qian of silver! A ton would cost at least six thousand taels of silver.
In other words, this steel factory alone can produce hundreds of thousands of taels of high-quality steel every day.
Watching countless iron ores transform into molten iron after going through a series of processes, Zhang Lu felt as if he had discovered a whole new world.
"Feipeng, you've made way too much money! Is this the charm of industrialization you've been talking about? It's truly amazing!" Zhang Lu said admiringly, looking at the huge, bustling factory in front of him.
If this level of production were maintained daily, wouldn't that mean earning 100 million taels of silver a year? Of course, that's not how it works. Even if the million Yue slaves aren't paid wages, their food and drink still need to be provided.
Furthermore, the spirit stone powder consumed by these smelting equipment is also very expensive. Many key positions are actually filled by novice Daoists at the first level of cultivation, or Daoists with no future prospects.
These are all very expensive, and the total cost is quite high! But even so, making tens of millions of taels of silver a year is just a piece of cake, isn't it?
"Master, I've come to you today hoping for your help. If everything goes smoothly, I might as well give you a steel production line. After all, the Han Dynasty is so vast; if I were to monopolize the entire market by myself, who knows how many obstacles I would have to overcome!"
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Chapter Twenty-Eight: Railways, Railways
Sending Zhang Lu a steel production line? Has Lin Yang lost his mind, or become incompetent? Or was he forced into this situation? Otherwise, why would he directly give away such a crucial military asset?
Actually, none of those are true!
The steel industry is such a huge industry. Can Lin Yang really take over the whole industry just because he had an initial lead? Lin Yang would like to do so, but unfortunately, the size of Wu Kingdom is far from enough!
One can only eat as much as one's stomach can hold. Even if the Wu Kingdom were to expand tenfold, it would be impossible to monopolize the entire Han Dynasty's steel industry!
Moreover, with such exorbitant profits at that time, who knows if those powerful families might do something shameless? Like imitating, imitating, imitating!
If, at that time, they all shamelessly send fourth-level human immortal cultivators, or even fifth-level earth immortal cultivators, to steal or crack the relevant technology, wouldn't that be difficult?
Therefore, rather than waiting for powerful families to see the huge profits and then imitate him, Lin Yang might as well find some powerful families in advance to share the profits.
In this way, one can become allies with these families with shared interests, and continue to make money without worry. Why not?