Chapter 193 Cement and Gunpowder.

Baijia Academy started teaching on the second day. Except for some public classes and large classes that required Li An to attend, the rest were arranged by the disciples.

As for the Sergeant Academy, in addition to construction issues, there is also controversy over the demand for students.

It is undoubtedly unrealistic to follow Li Ang's idea, which does not conform to the situation in Northern Qi.

Before, Uesugi Tora was the only one in power. Now, in addition to the addition of a navy, more powerful people want to make efforts in this. They are not fools. You, Li An, can call a deer a horse, can you threaten others in all aspects?

At least in this regard, Ang Lee has no reason to do so.

After the turmoil got a little serious, Li An wrote to His Majesty to announce that he would no longer serve as the chief priest and teacher of the military academy. Then all the voices disappeared almost overnight.

Ang Lee will not force them. This is his own knowledge and heritage, so he can naturally give it to whoever he wants.

By the end of March, only after some smooth-talking officials at the middle and lower levels swallowed their pride and went to Wanshizhai in person to "discuss" with Li Ang, their sons and nephews finally obtained the qualification for admission.

As for the top officials and gentry, they did not receive such treatment.

Your Majesty is the honorary principal of this military academy, and Li An is the chief academic officer. It goes without saying that as long as one can graduate successfully, his future will be smooth and limitless.

Those high-ranking officials and nobles also knew this. But precisely because they knew this, they understood that His Majesty would not let the military power fall into their hands again.

Therefore, they did not dare to force it.

After the military academy was established, Li An focused his attention there.

Not only did he teach the classes himself, he would also sometimes sit in on his students' classes and take notes from time to time.

The content of the class is the "Art of War" adapted by Ang Lee, which is called "Li's Art of War" here.
In addition to theoretical knowledge, the course also teaches Li An the skills and battle formations that he compiled from the Northern Qi imperial palace. I believe that after graduation, the students of the military academy will all be able to serve as special forces.
Now that Hong Kaijia was not around, Wang Shisanlang and Yan Xiaoyi had both been sent out by him, and he lamented more and more that he was short of manpower. Except for Yan Shendu who had to stay at the military academy, Li An was completely alone.

As Li An sighed, the military academy recruited a group of blacksmiths to teach students how to forge iron while training their arm strength. Li An saw these blacksmiths hammering the iron bars one by one. At this rate, it would take a long time for triangular spikes, lock buckles, flying claws, engineer shovels and other items to be created.
He took out his cell phone and found out some information about heat treatment and quenching of steel, steel smelting, new molds, etc. and passed them on to the blacksmith. As they thanked him profusely and vowed to find a wooden plaque to worship him, Li An asked Wang Shisanlang to arrange for the Jinyiwei to take good care of their families.

After dealing with all this, Li An returned to Wanshizhai.

"Master, the things that the officials and the wealthy merchants promised a few days ago have all been delivered to the mansion. I have also counted the value of the items and have exchanged them for silver according to your instructions."

Housekeeper Chen explained the situation during Li An's absence. "Miss Tong'er is still busy every day, but the income is very considerable. In the past month, the amount of silver deposited into the mansion has exceeded 670,000 taels."

"Including the gifts from officials and wealthy businessmen, how much is it in total?"

"More than 1.1 million taels."

"Except for the daily expenses in the mansion, move everything else to the study." Li An reminded, "Don't ask too many questions."

"Yes, sir."

Li An wanted to ask the housekeeper to leave, but he thought that since the military academy and the academy were on track, the matter of salt and iron should be put on the agenda. Long before, he had discussed with the Queen Mother and His Majesty to nationalize these two things, and obtained their consent, so now he had to start the process.

He took out a list and handed it to Butler Chen, saying, "Send an invitation to the people listed here. Half a month later, no matter what method they use, whether they come in person or find a representative, they must show up. If they fail to show up on time, they will bear the consequences themselves." "As for the location, let's choose Baisui Songju in the city."

Seeing the butler nod in agreement, Li An asked curiously, "How much do you know about the land outside the South City Gate?"

This piece of land was given by Zhan Doudou, and now his three disciples are planting new crops on it. However, Li An has not visited it yet, so he doesn't know much about it.

"In reply to the master, there are 718 households in that farm, with a total population of more than 3,000 people. Now they are all under the master's control. It's just the land tax."

He thought his master was asking about this.

Li An waved his hand to interrupt him and said, "I'm not asking about the land tax. Can these people be trusted?"

"Master, you are joking." Butler Chen bowed slightly and said, "Since this piece of land belongs to you, all the people on it belong to you. No matter whether you kill them, plunder them, or use them in any other way, I think they won't dare to complain."

"Besides, the master is kind-hearted. Everyone in Northern Qi knows this. They are the master's people. Not only will they never be bullied, but even if they fight with neighboring villages for water, they will always be successful. And the master doesn't ask them to pay taxes. They are already grateful, so how dare they do something to betray him?"

"If anyone dares to offend the master, I, Old Chen, will be the first to disagree!"

Butler Chen was somewhat pleased with himself. He was an old man who had been to Wanshizhai since Li An first arrived. He was proud of it. As the saying goes, a seventh-rank official is in front of the prime minister. Since he became the butler of Wanshizhai, the people who came and went to see him off were people he had never dared to look at before. Not to mention these, even His Majesty in the palace often sent people to the mansion to inquire about the whereabouts of the master.
Li An was somewhat speechless. This was how people were in this era. Although the people on his fiefdom had not signed any indentures with him, they were still considered his own people. If the other party betrayed him, Li An would not need to say much. There would be rules and regulations to punish them.

"Don't get excited, it's not a big deal."

Li An took out another piece of paper and instructed: "There is a casting diagram of a kiln on it. You should follow the steps written on it and find a suitable place on the farm to build it. After it is built, you can make the thing called 'cement' written on the back. The limestone, clay, iron ore, coal and other materials needed can be found nearby."

"Yes, sir. I'll do it right away."

"Wait a minute." Li An lowered his voice, "Find someone who has signed a contract with the mansion and have him make this thing for me."

After saying that, Li An placed a folded note on the table.

Butler Chen picked up the note and opened it to examine it, only to see that it was also filled with words like the previous one.

"What is this 'gunpowder'?" Butler Chen was a little confused.

"What gunpowder? Are you seeing things?"

"Yes! Yes! I was dazzled." Butler Chen saw Li An's face change and reacted immediately. He answered hurriedly with sweat on his head.

"Remember! There is no gunpowder!" Li An saw that Butler Chen had become a little arrogant recently. "Find a trustworthy family member and make it in secret. Not only can they not tell anyone else, they can't even tell their family members."

"As for their families."

"Old Chen understands!"

(End of this chapter)