Bright Sword: Follow Kong's fun and build the strongest military industry

After Chu Yunfei took the portable bag and opened it, he carefully examined its contents and couldn't help but admire the resourcefulness of the Eighth Route Army, who had come up with such ingenious ideas.

This kind of thing is quite suitable for military use. The most important thing is that it is easy to carry; you can just stuff it into a soldier's backpack.

By the way, tactical backpacks are very popular in the Chinese military now. The main reason is that these backpacks can hold a lot of things at once and are less strenuous to carry on the shoulders.

The Central Army and local elite troops would make large purchases, which also brought a lot of orders to our base areas. With sufficient funds, we could also promote further technological advancements.

However, after Chu Yunfei inquired about the price of the portable bag, he completely abandoned the idea of ​​equipping everyone with it. Although it wasn't expensive individually, the cost of 20,000 bags would be a bit excessive.

At most, some will be allocated to officers at all levels and technical branches. As for ordinary soldiers, forget it; investing so much is not worth it.

However, seeing a large flow of people passing by outside the window, bustling with activity, he curiously asked a few questions:

"Commander Chu, these bicycle teams outside are all villagers from nearby villages. They're bringing their own produce to the county town to sell, hoping to get a good price."

“For example, walnuts, dates, and almonds from the mountains used to rot in the ground before the roads were built.”

“After all, it takes a lot of effort to go into the mountains to pick these things. The villagers around us don’t need them, and we can’t eat that much ourselves. Nobody would do something so thankless.”

"But things are different now. The economy in the county is more active, and people's incomes have increased a lot. In addition, prices here are relatively stable, so many people are looking for other things besides food and drink."

"For example, when guests come to visit, prepare some dried fruits such as melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts, and red dates to entertain them."

“Since there is demand, there must be a market, and the local people will be motivated to go into the mountains to pick these things that no one wanted before in order to sell them for money.”

“In addition to local demand, we will also set up purchasing points in the county town to purchase large quantities at prices slightly lower than the market price.”

"You should know that both walnuts and red dates are nutritious foods that can be used as food or medicine."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei couldn't help but sigh:

"No wonder, I see happy smiles on the faces of these people, which is rarely seen elsewhere."

"To have enough to eat and wear is a simple phrase, but for most ordinary people in China today, it is an unattainable dream."

"I have the utmost respect for your army's governance capabilities!"

These words came from the bottom of his heart. In other parts of China, even in the former Taiyuan, people had never seen such sincere smiles.

There is an old Chinese saying: "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame."

This is something that sages throughout history have pursued, and perhaps one day it can really be realized here in the Eighth Route Army's base area.

The most surprised people were actually the guards; they never dreamed that such a good thing would happen to them.

You have to understand, they were just ordinary soldiers. Even though the elite troops received special treatment from Commander Chu, they never thought that one day they would receive the same treatment as Commander Chu and Deputy Commander Sun.

Especially when they hear that this thing sells for three silver dollars on the market, it's like getting so much money for free. Anyone would be overjoyed.

After the car came to a stop, Section Chief Ma led everyone to the breakfast area, where there was a washroom for everyone to use the things in their bags.

Chu Yunfei had actually used toothbrushes and toothpaste before, so he was quite familiar with them.

After all, he was a high-ranking official in the Jin-Sui Army and held a certain position, so his treatment was quite good.

After we developed toothpaste and toothbrushes in our base, we quickly launched them to the market, with the premium products specifically sold to wealthy people.

Ordinary people would sell to the local people in the base area, while people in other places would have to be sold to them gradually.

After all, in many places, people don't even have enough to eat, so brushing their teeth isn't that important.

Fortunately, Section Chief Ma was considerate and arranged for several staff members to accompany him, which prevented any embarrassing incidents.

However, it must be said that the soldiers in the guard platoon immediately felt their breath was much fresher after brushing their teeth.

Everyone was breathing on each other, and the air smelled better.

Upon seeing this, Chu Yunfei also made up his mind that after meeting Li Yunlong, he would use his connections to purchase a batch of portable bags at cost price and distribute them as rewards to officers of all ranks in the 358th Division, as well as to the soldiers who had performed meritorious service, as a kind of incentive measure.

A set sells for three silver dollars on the market, but the cost price is definitely no more than half of that. Chu still has that kind of face.

This morning's breakfast was quite substantial, with buns with various fillings, delicious soy milk, and no one even got an egg.

When Chu Yunfei received these things from the cook, he was quite surprised, as the standard of breakfast was not low.

Four buns bigger than a fist, two meat and two vegetarian, a large cup of soy milk, plus an egg—even landlords and rich people in other places don't get this kind of treatment.

They ate breakfast in a large canteen with rows of tables and chairs, which could accommodate two hundred people at the same time.

This place was specially set up by our logistics department to handle personnel exchanges and reception of small units. It also serves as a place for people going to the market or traveling to eat, making it a dual-use military and civilian facility.

Normally, serving meals is the responsibility of Lieutenant Sun or the orderly, but since we're on someone else's turf, we have to respect local customs.

Moreover, Chu Yunfei had already eaten in the canteen of the Independent Regiment several times and was quite interested in this new way of eating.

After getting his food, he sat facing his adjutant, Sun, and enjoyed the rare treat.

"Commander, the Eighth Route Army is being too extravagant here. They're even having such a good breakfast."

"Steamed buns, soy milk, and eggs—this kind of food is only affordable for the wealthy in our area. How could we soldiers possibly afford such good food?"

After saying that, he picked up another steamed bun, took a bite, and frowned as he said:

"Why is my steamed bun vegetarian? It seems to be filled with shiitake mushrooms. It's not as good as the braised pork one I had before."