"The county official thought how the situation in the Central Plains would evolve?" Wei Duan couldn't hold back at first.

This is related to the attitude of the Guanzhong court towards the Central Plains vassals. Daliang is now in a tight mood, the Jin army is in an offensive, and Nanyang and Caizhou are also taking swords from behind. Can Daliang still hold on?

What is Xuzhou's attitude?

Previously, Xuzhou was unable to attack Pinglu, but now it is not said that Pinglu has been pacified, and Xuzhou has been helping Pinglu, will it intervene in the Central Plains war?

"Brother Wei means whether Xuzhou will intervene in the Central Plains war, right?"

Jiang Feng also knew that this question could not be avoided. What was the purpose of Guo Tao and the others coming? I am afraid that it was to figure out the future trend of Xuzhou.

He felt that Guo Tao seemed to be unwilling to Xuzhou to join the battle.

Hou Chen had already reported to him what Guo Tao meant along the way, defending from the north and attacking the south, laying a solid foundation, and accumulating strength. He also thought, the question is, will the Shatuo people give him this time?

Previously, the views within Xuzhou were fierce, and Jiang Feng had never made up his mind. However, with the participation of Nanyang and Caizhou in the war, the collapse of Daliang was already an irreversible trend, and the news from Shouzhou can also be known.

A large number of officials, gentry and merchants in Liangdi migrated to the south, and almost all the family funds that could be moved were transported south through ships.

The same is true for the wharf outside Xuzhou City during this period. The number of fleets coming from the Bian River through Mengzhu Lake has increased significantly. This waterway was not too busy at first, but it has been extremely busy since the end of last year. Of course, it still cannot be compared with Shouzhou, but this is enough to illustrate many problems.

This shows that the people in Liang land have dispersed, and perhaps the army is still fighting hard, but the officials, gentry and merchants in the rear have lost confidence in defeating the Shatuo people. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why these people secretly transported the gold, silver and fine materials in Bianliang and all the east and west that can be transported south. Shouzhou and Xuzhou have become the first choice for these people, especially Shouzhou.

Thinking of this, Jiang Feng also felt sad for Liang Jun, who was still fighting on the front line. When the bureaucrats, gentry and merchants behind you were all thinking of escaping, how could you expect these people to provide much support and help to the soldiers fighting on the front line?

"The court is very worried that the war in the Central Plains will turn into an uncontrollable situation, so..." Wei Duan glanced at Yuchi Yanxia and said hesitantly.

Both of them can only represent their respective families, and they have no official status and cannot represent the court.

"Is the court worried that Xuzhou's intervention will make the situation uncontrollable, or does it think that Xuzhou will become uncontrollable if it does not intervene?" Jiang Feng asked with a smile.

Yuchi Yanxia frowned, "Monday Duke, I'm going to hide it from you. The Dukes in the court are worried that Xuzhou will stand by and ignore it, but they are also afraid that once the Duke of the County Duke will become angry, so..."

Well, limited intervention?

Jiang Feng also found it interesting. Could this be what Guo Tao and the others mean, or the private thoughts of these nobles?

"You don't know much about the situation in Xuzhou, Brother Wei, you may only see the good side, but the difficulties are actually hidden below." Jiang Feng said slowly: "The envoy of the Great Jin Dynasty had already come to Xuzhou and invited someone to attack Daliang together, and offered good conditions. However, at that time, someone was busy with the battle of fighting Lu and had no time to look west. Even now, Xuzhou is still very weak, but someone is indeed willing to contribute to quelling the war."

It's all nonsense, not a clear attitude, but it has to be said.

Everything needs to be based on changes in the situation. Xuzhou cannot make a decision immediately. Cao Pu and the two prefectures must be controlled by Jiang Feng. This is basically determined by Jiang Feng.

Zhu Mao's Tianping Army was the first to complete the dress change. Whether it was the head of a horse spear, a ring knife, or an armor, they were given priority first, followed by the Ziqing Army and the Wuning Army.

The completion of the iron smelting center in Xuzhou provides enough confidence for Jiang Feng to compete for the Central Plains.

If you are not wrong, the current production capacity of the Xuzhou Iron Smelting Center is two iron smelting vertical furnaces and two flat furnaces. According to the current production capacity, the pig iron produced by only two vertical furnaces can be obtained by one furnace every two days, and each furnace can obtain 6,000 kilograms of pig iron, totaling 12,000 kilograms, which is six tons.

If this level is at this level, more than 1,000 tons of pig iron can be produced in a year, half of which is used for steelmaking on the open furnace, and the rest are used for other refining cooked iron.

This alone can match one-third of the current steel production of the entire Tang Empire.

You should know that during the Yuanhe period, the steel output of the Tang Empire was only more than 5,000 tons. Later, after the Huang Chao Rebellion and the chaotic wars of the feudal states, the steel output of the empire was sharply reduced. It is estimated that the steel output of the entire empire is now only about 3,000 tons.

With the successful first round of iron smelting vertical furnace and steelmaking open furnace tests, a new round of furnace construction projects has been fully launched.

This time, the Government Affairs Department also made a big move, and built ten vertical furnaces at one time to increase the pig iron production to 15 tons per day.

Due to the limited technical level, the iron smelting yard is still afraid to build larger iron smelting furnaces, so it can only increase in quantity.

There will be eight new buildings on the open furnace, which are also limited by the technical level and need to be explored step by step, and they can only increase in quantity.

Fortunately, there are many refugees in Xuzhou now. The iron smelting yard and forging workshop have attracted a large number of strong laborers. These laborers have undergone preliminary screening. Nighthawk now also regards the iron smelting yard and forging workshop as the focus of preventing leakage. Once workers enter the site, they are not allowed to leave at will. Even ordinary workers cannot access the key areas involving design, construction, material selection, ingredients, and fire distribution. They still need to prevent problems before they happen.

According to Jiang Feng's idea, in the next year, as the process of iron smelting yards and forging workshops becomes more familiar and skilled workers are trained, they will consider trying to expand the scale of vertical furnaces and blast furnaces to lay a solid foundation for the next step to build Xuzhou, a smelting forging center, into the empire's leading steel base. He estimated that the pig iron production of this smelting center will be increased to 50 tons per day in one year, the steel production will reach 30 tons per day, and the scale in three years will strive to achieve 30 tons per day in the iron smelting center, and 200 tons per day.

This number seems a bit terrifying compared to the current imperial steel output, but it is nothing compared to the later Song Dynasty.

The steel production in the Song Dynasty had reached an annual output of 150,000 tons, which was equivalent to more than 400 tons of steel production per day. Of course, it was the output of the entire Song Dynasty, but Jiang Feng wanted to create this legend in Xuzhou.

With enough steel, we can truly stimulate economic development. Whether it is agriculture, industry and commerce, or war demand, the demand for steel is too great. After solving the steel output problem, transportation capacity will be greatly improved, the cavalry equipment problem can be solved easily, and the weapon level will be greatly improved. This will be the key for the farming nations to win the war against nomadic peoples.

The surge in steel production will also bring countless job opportunities, such as the creation of agricultural tools, the improved production of carriages, and the use of iron devices that cannot be solved by wooden devices in ship manufacturing. It can be said that a huge industrial chain will revolve around the surge in steel production, and their development will in turn stimulate further growth in steel production.

Without this confidence, Jiang Feng would not have easily intervened in the Central Plains war situation. Even though he accepted the Pinglu cavalry, the Xuzhou army still had no advantage in the face of the Shatuo Iron Cavalry. Only in local and specific environments can his infantry play their characteristics, so he needs to accumulate more advantages.

"What kind of way does the county lord plan to express it?" Yuchi Yanxia asked hesitantly.

"I can't confirm yet. Daliang, alas, where does Dajin plan to go? Who knows?" Jiang Feng said leisurely: "The King of Jin proposed to me, but has this been approved by the court? The King of Jin can propose to me, and then can I also propose to King of Jin, Yuan Huaihe and Liu Tong to hand over Songzhou or Yingbozhou to me?"

All the people looked a little ugly.

Indeed, Li Cunhou sent envoys to Liu Tong, Yuan Huaihe and Jiang Feng's promise to no doubt that they had not discussed with the court, and perhaps they had promised Wang Shouzhong, but Pinglu Town had been destroyed. This move was the greatest offense to the court, but so what?

Now the Shatuo people are at their peak. Once Daliang is destroyed, who dares to gently solve the edge? Xuzhou cannot.

Seeing everyone, including Li Jin, staring at him, Jiang Feng sighed, "I'd better ask the court to coordinate. Although the Great Jin power is strong, it also needs to respect the imperial will. Of course, the court must also consider the ideas and wishes of the Great Jin."

"The court has sent envoys to Luoyang, and I believe the King of Jin should have an attitude." Wei Duan's voice became thicker, "But the county magistrate should know that the Hu people do not do anything, they only look at their strength, so the county magistrate still needs to show their strength in order to speak louder."

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"Is this Xuzhou City?" The majestic horse was one head taller than the horses riding by the attendants around him. The young man with green eyes and straight nose looked at the flags dancing on the city wall with curiosity. His fair skin showed his alien bloodline. "Hey, besides the flag of the Pengcheng County Duke, there are other flags. What is that?"

"Well, that should be the banner of the royal family of the Tang Empire. I heard that a delegation came from Guanzhong, and maybe they were in Xuzhou too." The old man who accompanied the young man hesitated and narrowed his eyes and looked at the city wall. There were obviously more soldiers here, and the city gate seemed to be checked more strictly.

He left here two months ago, and it was not so strict here.
Chapter completed!