I have been a county magistrate for ten years. My subordinates insist on giving me a yellow robe.

The scene of the Taiping Star selection competition.

Li Hu pulled Jiang Yuan and Bai Jingyun, and the three of them were in a stalemate.

"Brothers, please be kind and give me a small amount for my grandfather's sake. One thousand taels will be enough."

Bai Jingyun's face was full of helplessness: "Although, the key point is that I don't know your grandfather. I have never seen him."

"You haven't paid back the money yet?" Jiang Yuan said slowly.

"Well..." Li Hu was about to speak after looking conflicted for a while.

"Stop! I'll give you five hundred taels." Jiang Yuan said directly.

"Thank you, sir!" Li Hu excitedly let go of Jiang Yuan and hugged Bai Jingyun's thigh instead.

"Mr. Bai! You are a child of a noble family. Please give me some for my filial piety."

Bai Jingyun angrily took out two silver notes from his pocket and handed them to Li Hu: "Take it, this is all the money I have!"

Li Hu took it. Two hundred taels was not bad. He had no intention of paying it back anyway.

"Thank you both for your support. I thank you on behalf of my grandfather. If you are not satisfied, I will ask him to come out and talk to you in the evening."

Jiang Yuan and the other man had dark faces and didn't say anything. Fortunately, only Li Canglan was allowed to come out. If they were allowed to go down, it would be all over.

"Don't give me that crap. I'll deduct the money from your salary!" Jiang Yuan said, and sat back in his chair.

On the other hand, the Taiping Star selection competition is becoming more and more heated.

Kong Xuan, the nominal cavalry general, who actually only has a few hundred war horses under his command, is defending the ring on the stage.

His target was naturally the martial arts masters who had just arrived.

However, those people seemed to have no interest. Except for Ye Tian who came up at the beginning and fought two games, no one else came up.

Jiang Yuan lay on the chair and looked at Li Hu: "By the way, where do those people who come to worship come from?"

Li Hu lowered his head in thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly and said, "I'm not very clear either. My only contact with them was on my grandfather's death anniversary. I only know their general origins."

"The Ye Tian who was just beaten, his grandfather is called Ye Xuan, and he is an expert swordsman."

"The people I can remember include Li Shan, Zhang Guang, Ding Yong, Qian Fu and a few others."

"As for where they came from, I really don't know. Anyway, they are basically all in our Yunzhou. They either run martial arts schools or escort agencies."

After listening to Li Hu, Jiang Yuan nodded slowly. As long as there was no wanted criminal, it would be easy to deal with.

"Okay, got it. Let them know after they finish their worship and we'll go over there." Jiang Yuan said slowly.

He had to go to pay tribute to Li Canglan, but Jiang Yuan didn't want to go with this group of people. He wasn't familiar with them, which would somewhat affect his ability to express his feelings.

After watching the Star of Peace for a while, Jiang Yuan got up and left.

The excavation had been going on for two or three days, and Jiang Yuan could no longer wait to see the results.

As long as there is iron, the infantry can wear armor and their combat effectiveness will double directly.

The equipment of the archers can also be improved. What attracts Jiang Yuan the most is the cavalry. If he can have a heavy cavalry with thousands of soldiers and horses wearing armor in the future, then he can really rest assured.

Walking along the bluestone road out of the city gate and to the back mountain, the mountain opening work has been in full swing. The original population of several thousand in Taiping County, plus several thousand people coming from Taizong County, have all been involved in the work.

After a few days, one mine after another had been dug out, and miners were walking out of the mines carrying bags of ore on their shoulders.

"Sir, why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Ma Zhi ran over attentively.

Jiang Yuan ignored him and looked at the miners who were sweating profusely.

It will take a long time to complete mining at this rate. The productivity is too weak.

"Is the road inside difficult to walk on? Can a wheelbarrow pass through?" Jiang Yuan turned to look at Ma Zhi.

Ma Zhi immediately shook his head and said, "No, sir. The road here is too steep. Although a wheelbarrow can pass through, it requires more manpower. It is far better to build steps on the road and transport the goods up step by step."

"Besides, if the wheelbarrow is too big, one person can't push it, and if it's too small, it probably can't even carry as much as a person can carry on his back."

Jiang Yuan walked around the mine and became serious for once.

"Ma Zhi, bring me some paper and pen."

"My lord, do you want it?"

"Stop talking nonsense and just give it to me."

After a moment, Jiang Yuan spread a one-meter-long and wide piece of rice paper on the stone, picked up the brush, thought for a while, and then began to write.

The diagram Jiang Yuan drew was very simple. Nails were hammered into the top of the mine, and below the nails were rows of rings, which were then connected in series with ropes. Another rope was then connected from the bottom, and pulleys were installed at both ends. In this way, a practical pull rope was completed.

"Take the blueprint and ask the blacksmith to make it according to it." Throwing down the blueprint, Jiang Yuan went to the kitchen without stopping.

These people do physical work, so their food must be good.

"Don't worry, sir. We are following your instructions. We have three meals a day. In the morning, we have rice porridge to fill us up, plus an egg. At noon, each person has two taels of meat and dry rice. In the evening, we have flatbread and chicken legs."

Ma Zhi said with some pain in his heart that the food arrangement was absolutely luxurious, not to mention that these people also received two taels of silver every month. This kind of treatment was definitely not bad even in the imperial capital.

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's right. They all do physical work. Salt and water are essential every day, and they also get paid on time every month."

After giving a few more instructions, Jiang Yuan estimated that it was almost dark, so he turned and walked towards the city.

Walking on the street, Jiang Yuan's mind was full of guns and ammunition.

As a veteran game fan, Jiang Yuan is very familiar with the various structural parts of guns and ammunition.

But knowing doesn't mean being able to make it. Just a gun barrel made of seamless steel pipe is enough to give Jiang Yuan a headache.

With the current production level, it is impossible to make a seamless gun barrel.

Welding is simple, but its power will probably be greatly reduced.

Until he entered the county government office, Jiang Yuan was still thinking about how to make a gun barrel.

The sky gradually darkened.

At Taiping Inn, two figures left the room silently.

A moment later, two figures stopped in front of Li Canglan's grave.

Under the moonlight, Ye Tian looked at the other figure with some hesitation: "Second Grandfather, do you really want to do this?"

"What's wrong? Can't do it?" The voice said with a hint of disdain.

"Xiaotian, your father's generation didn't have a single accomplished martial artist. Their martial arts talent was so poor that even now there isn't a single person who has reached the fourth realm. And you're so young and you're about to break through to the fourth realm. As long as you break through, you'll definitely be the next head of the family. Are you going to give up just for the sake of your conscience?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Tian's face instantly became ferocious.

"Second Grandpa, you're right! Let's do it!"

Just as the two of them freed their hands, a faint voice suddenly appeared behind them.

"Haha, it's been ten years since we last met. I hope you're doing well."