Upon learning that the "Coal Ball Smasher" had been successfully made, Chen Mo, who was practicing archery, immediately rode his Snow Dragon Steed towards the county town.

At this moment, as the city gates opened, vegetable farmers and small vendors who had been waiting for a long time spontaneously formed a long line, accepted the inspection from the city guard soldiers, presented their permits, and then swarmed into the city.

They then rushed to Fu Ze Restaurant, choosing good spots on the streets around it. The vegetable farmers displayed their produce, and the vendors set up their stalls.

In no time, one food stall after another was set up on the streets and alleys.

Less than half an hour later, the streets surrounding Fu Ze Restaurant were bustling like a market.

With Pingting County experiencing two consecutive abundant harvests, the current grain prices in the city have returned to the peace-time levels.

Of course, to prevent large households from massive low-price purchases, a grain limit order was issued by the Government Office, requiring permits to purchase, and each purchase must not exceed a certain amount per person.

Moreover, with the stability of the county town, the Government Office no longer provided free porridge.

Additionally, an announcement was made that taxes would start being collected gradually from February next year.

This didn't contradict Chen Mo's initial promise. The one-year tax exemption period has reached its end.

If tax exemptions continued, the Government Office's income would not balance with expenditure.

In comparison with the Court's taxes, the taxes collected by the Government Office were minuscule, and completing tax collection would not lead to the people being unable to survive.

Of course, for some truly impoverished households that cannot pay taxes, they can submit tax exemption applications to the Government Office. After reviewing, officers would personally investigate, and if they were indeed poor households, taxes would be waived.

Such a humane announcement has gained the support of the citizens.

Of course, among the tens of thousands, there are bound to be some dissatisfied.

In their view, it's best to never pay taxes in their lifetime.

After all, the world is vast, and all kinds of people exist.

If someone has money but doesn't pay taxes, the Government Office will certainly let them feel the might of the tax collectors.

...

Compared to the bustling area around Fu Ze Restaurant, the streets near the munitions factory were silent.

Heavy soldiers patrolled outside the munitions factory, and citizens weren't allowed to set up stalls nearby, nor could idle people approach casually.

"County Magistrate."

"County Magistrate."

"..."

Geng Songfu, Zhao Daoxian, and the chief engineer of the munitions factory, Zhang Xiaolou, had been waiting for a long time outside the munitions factory. When they saw Chen Mo approaching, they all came forward to greet him.

Chen Mo dismounted, heard the address, frowned slightly, and then said, "In the future, let's change this address. The title of County Magistrate is starting to feel a bit too petty..."

Hearing this, Geng Songfu and the others were all taken aback.

Geng Songfu said, "Then how should we address you? Prefect?"

"Just... call me Marshal Chen," Chen Mo mused, considering that it might be time to step down from his role as County Magistrate.

"...Understood." Geng Songfu nodded, indeed the title County Magistrate seemed inappropriate, especially standing from the perspective of the Celestial Master Army, since Chen Mo was in charge of the lands of seven counties, with a few more, that would be a prefecture, which was previously termed as Prefectural Governor.

However, the title Prefectural Governor was a position from the former dynasty, and without the Court's conferment, self-styling with it felt a bit odd, Marshal Chen was a good title, especially since Chen Mo was already a local Commander.

"No need for formalities, show me the Coal Ball Smasher." Chen Mo's gaze turned to Zhang Xiaolou.

"Yes, Chen... Marshal." Zhang Xiaolou had someone bring over a "Coal Ball Smasher" that was almost the same as what Chen Mo remembered from his previous life. Chen Mo took it, pulled and tried it, and found its effectiveness quite satisfactory.

"Marshal Chen, what use does this Coal Ball Smasher have?" Even Geng Songfu, with his wide knowledge, couldn't discern its purpose.

"You'll all find out soon enough," Chen Mo held back the reveal, turning to Zhang He and saying, "Bring the stuff up."

Geng Songfu looked at Zhang He and the others behind Chen Mo.

Only to see Zhang He and the others each carry a burlap sack forward, open it, and dump out a pile of black sooty stuff.

"Is this coal?" Geng Songfu asked, he recognized coal, after all, the sulfur in the county town is extracted from pyrite, which is burned with coal.

Chen Mo nodded, then instructed Zhang He to crush these lump coals into coal powder with an iron pestle, and then fetch some clear water.

Making bee-hole coal is simple, the easiest method is to mix the coal powder and water in a ratio of ten to one, then use the coal ball smasher to press it into shape, and let it dry in the sun for two or three days.

If it's difficult to shape, you can add some yellow clay.

If it doesn't burn well, mixtures like lime, charcoal powder, sawdust, etc. can be added to aid combustion.

Soon, Zhang He mixed the coal powder evenly, Chen Mo took the coal ball smasher, pressed it into the coal mass, and then pressed it on the empty ground beside him, creating an imperfect bee-hole coal.

For a better experiment, Chen Mo used Innate Spiritual Qi to steam-dry the bee-hole coal, and then ignited it.

Once the bee-hole coal started burning on its own for a while, Chen Mo said, "You can come closer and warm yourselves."

Geng Songfu, Zhao Daoxian, Zhang He, and the others tried it one after the other.

Zhang He and Zhang Xiaolou, with their limited experience, still couldn't understand, apart from being used for warming, what purpose this thing served? The smell was also choking, not as practical as wood.

However, Geng Songfu saw deeper; he even specifically looked at the perforated place and found that this thing caught fire quickly, had fierce firepower, and most critically, could burn for a long time—more durable than wood, and its production method was simple.

"Good," Geng Songfu praised, and promptly said, "This thing can not only be used for heating but also for boiling water and cooking, much more convenient than chopping wood to start a fire, although the smoke is quite thick and pungent."

Marshal Chen, is this thing non-toxic?"

"Just keep ventilation,"

As for the issue of thick and pungent smoke, Chen Mo knew smokeless coal was odorless and smokeless, but he did not know the production method of smokeless coal, so he could only see if a divine figure could research it in the future.

"County... Marshal Chen, are you thinking of using this thing to help the populace survive winter?" Zhao Daoxian interjected.

Chen Mo nodded; just now, Geng Songfu mentioned it could also help the populace boil water and cook, so on this basis, coal stoves could also be manufactured.

Coal stoves are simple; just roll up a sheet of iron, and it's done.

"But isn't the cost supposed to be high? Can the populace afford it?" Zhao Daoxian asked.

"Chief Clerk Zhao, don't worry," Chen Mo smiled, "It's very cheap, so cheap that you can't imagine, although pricing needs to be discussed, but it will definitely be cheaper than wood."

Chen Mo had plenty of coal.

If coal balls were smashed, making a dozen could allow for reuse, and wood could even be used as a replacement.

Chen Mo only needed to cover some labor costs.

Exaggeratedly speaking, it was a zero-cost business.

Geng Songfu bowed in gratitude to Chen Mo, "Old and clumsy, thank Marshal Chen for your great favor on behalf of the countless freezing populace."

"What is Songfu doing?" Chen Mo quickly stabilized Geng Songfu, saying, "After all, I am the governor of Pingting County."

"If it were the era of Emperor Jing, Marshal Chen would certainly become a prominent minister, admired by future generations," Geng Songfu said earnestly.

Emperor Jing, the grandfather of the present Emperor, during his reign, recruited talents, prioritized agriculture over commerce, lightened taxes and duties, reduced punishments, and was loved by the populace throughout the land.

Unfortunately, he did not live long.

His son, Emperor Xuan of Song, not only continued Emperor Jing's policies but also pacified the Yue Barbarians in the south and conquered the Strong Hu in the north, expanding territories. Unfortunately, he lived too long, leading to the current chaotic times, largely caused in his later years.

"County Magistrate Geng has praised too much,"

Chen Mo smiled and stepped toward the weapons factory. Since he was here, he might as well take a look at how the weapons factory was developing.

Currently, the weapons factory largely manufactured weapons such as long spears, crossbows, horizontal sabers, short sabers, and arrowheads.

Basically adhering to Chen Mo's requirements, everyone was equipped with five items (bows, spears, horizontal sabers, short sabers, and round shields).

Currently, five hundred Divine Brave Guards were fully equipped with the five pieces of weaponry.

A thousand Divine Brave Guards were equipped with horizontal sabers, short sabers, and round shields.

Divine Courage and Divine Martial guards donned armor throughout.

As Chen Mo entered the weapons factory, a wave of hot air confronted him; the inside was significantly hotter than the outside.

Inside, there were more than a dozen large furnaces and hundreds of blacksmiths (including apprentices), who were noisily hammering away.

Geng Songfu followed behind, pointing to the back, said, "Marshal Chen, currently the weapons factory is still under expansion, striving to increase the production of Bright Armor from fifty pieces a month to one hundred pieces. Currently, the warehouse stock of red copper is sufficient to produce three thousand sets of Bright Armor."

"Is the funding sufficient?" Chen Mo asked.

"Please rest assured, Marshal Chen; if the funding were insufficient, old and clumsy would not proceed with expansion. After tax collection next year, the scale can be further increased. Currently, the County School is also cultivating talents," Geng Songfu replied.

Chen Mo's eyes brightened and immediately said, "County Magistrate Geng, I currently have about six hundred warhorses; can a cavalry unit of two hundred men be formed?"

Heavy cavalry equipment: lances + bows + 30 arrows + nail-headed hammer + two-handed saber + one-handed saber + round shield.

Geng Songfu thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There are still too few warhorses, and the cost of forming heavy cavalry is too high. The effect of a two hundred-man heavy cavalry unit is not significant; it would be better to fully equip a five hundred-man light cavalry unit instead."

After hearing this, Chen Mo nodded and temporarily suppressed this idea.

Qingzhou was severely ravaged by the Celestial Master Army; this time, when attacking Qingzhou, tens of thousands of laborers were recruited, and forced conscription led to a sharp decline in Qingzhou's population. If not for this reason, now Chen Mo, presiding over several counties, could have rapid development.

Yu State was better, but its populace was all moved to the rear by Liang Song, clearly to prevent this.

...

That afternoon, Sun Meng, Liu Ze, and others, led their troops from Quanyang County into Pingting County's territory.

In the snowy weather, travel was difficult; over ten thousand people marched mightily on the official road, startling the sentries stationed at various intersections who quickly returned to the Government Office to report, fearing an enemy attack.

Upon learning they were allies, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Besides the Divine Brave and Divine Martial Guards, everyone else was arranged into Qingtian County.

By the next day, Chen Mo promptly began restructuring.

Firstly, he transferred the soldiers of the former Xianzhen Guard into the Divine Brave Guard.

Over eight thousand Celestial Master Army soldiers were restructured into the Xianzhen Guard, formally commencing winter training; from among them, elites were selected to integrate into the Two Guards of Divine Brave and Divine Martial.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.