gnovel Chapter 50 Farm Tools
Chapter 50 Farm Tools
Li Chengye had already considered the issue of the shortage of agricultural tools.
Most of the oxen used to pull carts in his unit were seized from wealthy households, and a portion of them were enough for plowing.
But farm tools are a problem.
Whether it was plows for tilling the land, or hoes and sickles, many of the weapons captured earlier were melted down and forged into swords and spears by the blacksmiths accompanying the army.
To reclaim Nanniwan today, a large number of iron farm tools are needed, and simply recasting surplus weapons will certainly be far from sufficient.
After discussing with the others, Liu Ye proposed two solutions: either mine, smelt iron, and forge farm tools themselves, or use the old method—robbery.
Making farm tools is different from making weapons; you can use pig iron, no need for charcoal, just coal.
There are several shallow coal mines in Tongzhou, near Huanglong Mountain, which is also the area around Li Chengye's hometown of Baishui, that could be utilized.
But people tend to prefer to snatch it, since building it themselves is far less efficient than stealing it.
Initially, Li Chengye shared the same feeling.
Their ranks now number nearly 800 strong men, including nearly 200 combat soldiers and the rest of the auxiliary soldiers, all of whom are men who can travel 50 li a day. It is not difficult for them to drag carts to rob farm tools.
But he quickly calmed down: Since ancient times, it has always been "stationary bandits" who have gained power; how could a roving bandit last long?
The man who rose to power in Yan'an Prefecture in later generations also started as a "seated bandit" and rose to prominence.
In my memory, many heroes in Shanxi and Shaanxi, because they fought their own battles and only knew how to plunder, ultimately benefited the Manchus outside the Great Wall.
Since we don't want to repeat the same mistakes, we must now move in the direction of "sitting on the bandits".
Clearing land is the first step; smelting iron, forging armor, weapons, and farm tools is the second step.
Li Chengye shared this idea with Yang Chongwang, Liu Ye, Han Sanhu, and others.
Liu Ye, who came from a family with a hereditary military background, knew the importance of maintaining a stable base and logistics, and gave his full support; Yang Chongwang neither opposed nor supported it, but just found it troublesome; Han Sanhu and others had no objections.
Seeing that no one strongly opposed it, and only neutrality and support were expressed, Li Chengye made the decision: "First, we will gather blacksmiths and collect iron ore, and we will make our own farm tools; if we really can't collect enough, then we will rob them."
They soon learned that there were several blacksmith shops in Tongzhou that originally belonged to Yan'an Guard, with good craftsmanship and a considerable number of blacksmiths.
Li Chengye immediately decided: "Let's attack Tongzhou."
"Just to seize some iron farm tools, you want to attack Tongzhou? Isn't that too reckless?" Yang Chongwang asked incredulously.
Not only Yang Chongwang, but even Liu Ye expressed his opposition this time: "We only lack iron farm tools; going directly to attack the prefectural city is indeed going too far!"
Only then did Li Chengye realize that he had been impatient.
Ever since he learned that Prince Xin had ascended the throne and changed the era name to Chongzhen, Li Chengye understood that he was getting closer and closer to the turbulent world of the late Ming Dynasty.
Especially in the last few days, he heard that Wang Jiayin of Fugu had raised an army and Wang Zuogua of Yichuan had gathered a crowd.
Many figures who would leave their mark on the stage at the end of the Ming Dynasty have already begun to emerge.
Although Li Chengye did not dare to hope that he could go all the way, he felt that since he had come into this world and knew about the future, he should give it his all.
This thought gradually made him a little impatient.
However, the Ming army is still very powerful at present.
Although the border troops were severely behind on pay and their morale was low, they were still a formidable enemy for those who had just started their uprising.
In these days, he, Liu Ye, Yang Chongwang and others have been doing their best in both military campaigns and training soldiers, but the time is still short and the foundation is not yet solid.
If we really do as he says and attack Tongzhou, even if we win, we will likely suffer heavy losses and incur the wrath of the government troops, which would be a net loss.
Just as Li Chengye was pondering how to gather enough blacksmiths and raw materials, a scout from outside the mountain reported that an acquaintance was requesting an audience.
"It's Brother Luo! Long time no see, where have you been all this time?" Li Chengye greeted him warmly.
Luo Dai looked truly disheveled: his face was covered in stubble, his hair was messy, and he was followed by only a dozen or so people, many of whom were empty-handed, lacking proper weapons and armor, clearly having suffered a great ordeal.
Seeing that Li Chengye's expression was sincere and that he did not show any contempt for them because they were outnumbered and outmatched, Luo Dai's heart finally settled down a little. He stepped forward and said, "Brother Li, ever since that great defeat outside Yijun City, I have been like a stray dog, chased by the government troops until I had almost nowhere to go!"
"How could this be?" Li Chengye asked in surprise. "I heard a few days ago that Brother Wang Er has gathered a force in Yichuan again, and he's quite powerful."
Luo Dai smiled wryly and said, "Yes, Brother Wang has regained his power, but what does that have to do with me?"
Then, he recounted in detail what happened after his defeat that day.
It turned out that when Wang Er was ambushed by the Tongguan cavalry in the central army, Luo Dai was in charge of guarding the central army. His men lost most of their strength in the battle, and in the end, he only managed to retreat from the battlefield with less than a hundred men.
He then retreated to the south, which happened to be the main direction of the government troops' pursuit.
In addition, his troops were well-trained and maintained their formation during the retreat. When the government cavalry saw them walking in a group, they mistakenly thought there were important figures among them, so they pursued them relentlessly until they crossed the Muddy River.
When Luo Dai took stock of his men, he found that only about thirty remained, and all their food, supplies, and equipment had been lost.
In order to find food for his brothers, Luo Dai once tried to attack the wealthy families in the surrounding area.
However, the wealthy households had already heard rumors of Wang Er's uprising and had summoned their tenants to defend the walls. Outnumbered and outgunned, they were unable to break through.
With no other option, they had to temporarily settle down on the mountainside.
But Wang Er made such a commotion that even passing caravans dared not travel on the nearby official road anymore.
After two days of hunger, they finally stumbled upon a caravan, which turned out to be the caravan of the Ai family of Shenmu. The caravan was guarded by seventy or eighty swordsmen.
They dared not make a move and could only watch helplessly as the other party passed by.
Finally, with nowhere else to turn, they stormed a post station and finally got their first full meal in three days.
The post stations were a vital strategic location for the imperial court, and the escaped postmen quickly reported the incident to the county government.
When the county officials heard that there were only about thirty of them, they sent a patrol inspector to lead troops to pursue and suppress them.
Logically speaking, Luo Dai didn't take the soldiers of the patrol office seriously, but by then they were already like frightened birds, and could only run away.
They wandered around like this for more than two months, barely making ends meet by robbing scattered grain carts and passing caravans.
Later, upon hearing that Li Chengye had captured Zhoujiabao in Huanglong Mountain, and that his troops had not only not dispersed but had instead gathered a considerable number of men, they followed the sound and came to join him.
"Originally, I also wanted to go to Yichuan to seek refuge with Brother Wang, but the journey was too far, and there were too many government troops and checkpoints in between, so I couldn't get through... I had no choice but to come and seek refuge with you, Brother Li."
"Brother Luo, you flatter me! There's no such thing as seeking refuge here. Your coming here is an honor for me. Whatever I have here, Brother Luo, please eat it. If you find a better place to go in the future, you can leave on your own, and I will have no objection."
Looking at Li Chengye's sincere expression, Luo Dai couldn't help but exclaim, "Only today have I witnessed such heroic spirit in you, brother!"
Afterwards, Li Chengye led Luo Dai into the camp.
Liu Ye and Luo Dai met and exchanged pleasantries.
That evening, the camp slaughtered chickens and sheep to welcome Luo Dai and his group.
During the meal, Luo Dai heard that Li Chengye was worried about the lack of blacksmiths and iron ore, so he said, "I do know where to find these things."
"Where?" Li Chengye pressed.
"Wangzhuang!"