In the First Battle of Jiangbei, Donghai Town not only lost elite soldiers, but also lost a large number of ordnance and materials.After Zhao Ming returned to Jiangdong, in order to restore his strength, he still did not stop the production of military funds despite the relatively difficult financial situation.At this time, Zhao Ming and his entourage entered a large workshop outside Suzhou of Huaxing Company."
Dashuai, plate armor and firearms, need a water conservancy forging machine, so it is placed in Taiwan for production, this workshop, mainly produces quilts, military boots, cotton armor and other things."
Chen Yujie led Zhao Ming through the workshop, watching the hired workers, sitting at the long table, and orderly production with a division of labor, while introducing Zhao Ming.Zhao Ming bowed slightly, "What is the output of the workshop, and whether it can meet the needs of the army." ”Chen Yujie said in a deep voice: "After the peace between the north and the south, the imperial court no longer purchases military funds and equipment from us, and several marshals of the Zhejiang army are now very short of money, and more than half of the orders have been cut.Li Dashuai even made a final payment, which has not been settled so far.At present, almost all the major ordnance workshops only produce armaments for ourselves, so the military materials produced basically meet the needs.The only problem was that flintlock muskets were produced slowly and could not be minted much in a short period of time. ”The north and the south negotiated peace, and the military expenditure of the imperial court decreased, especially the non-descendants, and almost no money was allocated by the imperial court.As a result, all armies and towns could only live with their pants tired, and they did not have much money to purchase equipment.After Zhao Ming heard this, he was silent for a moment, "How much does Li Chengdong owe?"
”Chen Yujie looked at Chen Mingyu, and then immediately said, "Dashuai, there are still 50,000 taels of silver that have not been settled." ”Li Chengdong has always been quite happy, but now he has become an old man, Zhao Ming licked his lips, waved his hand, and said: "This 50,000 taels, give Li Chengdong free, and give him two hundred muskets and ten boxes of grenades." ”Half a year ago, Zhao Ming was under siege, Li Chengdong sent troops to rescue, and now Li Chengdong is in difficulty, Zhao Ming chatted about his heart, which can be regarded as a thank you to Li Chengdong for sending troops to rescue.After speaking, Zhao Ming continued: "What Mr.
Chen means is that the production of clothing and military materials can meet the demand, but the production of muskets is not enough?
”Chen Yujie replied: "Marshal, the manufacture of flintlock muskets is more complicated, in the past, the workshop could produce less than 5,000 rods a year, but recently expanded production, and only then has it been upgraded to 7,000 rods. ”This means that it will take about four years for Tokai Town to restore combat readiness.Zhao Ming frowned, "What restricts the production of muskets?"
”Chen Yujie said: "Dashuai, the main thing is the number of craftsmen, and the problem of raw materials. ”Previously, the equipment in Donghai Town had been accumulated over several years, but now Zhao Ming did not, and he would wait a few more years.Zhao Ming looked at Chen Mingyu and said, "Sir, the treasury can allocate another batch of money and grain to encourage and expand production, and restore the strength of the army as soon as possible." ”"Don't worry, the feudal government will urge Huaxing Company to produce armaments as soon as possible to meet the needs of the army!"
Chen Mingyu reminded: "But I feel that there is one more thing that the marshal has overlooked. ”"Oh?"
Zhao Ming raised his eyebrows and said, "Look, what did I ignore?"
”"Expand!"
Chen Mingyu said slowly: "In the first battle of Jiangbei, we lost 30,000 soldiers, and now the land and water army of the domain is only more than 60,000 people, of which there are only more than 30,000 land divisions, and if you want to do great things, the domain needs at least 100,000 soldiers."
Nowadays, Huaxing Company has produced a lot of equipment, but the recruitment of soldiers has not been smooth.Now that it has been more than half a year since the First Battle of Jiangbei, the marshal wants to restore the strength of the feudal government, in addition to urging the workshop to speed up the production of military materials, he also needs to recruit enough new pawns as soon as possible, after all, it will take time for new pawns to be trained. ”Jiangnan is prosperous, and the people's desire for war is already very low, and now that the north and the south are negotiating peace, no one wants to join the army.After Zhao Ming returned to Jiangdong, Donghai Town began to recruit new soldiers to make up for Zhao Ming's losses, but the recruitment progress was relatively slow, and not many people were willing to join the army.Zhao Ming picked up a cotton armor made in the workshop, the red armor was full of copper nails, the quality and craftsmanship were quite good, and the output was not reduced because of urgency.Zhao Ming looked at it and muttered: "Previously, the feudal government had already formulated a policy of giving land to newly recruited soldiers and luring them with benefits, why hasn't it been implemented yet?"
”Chen Mingyu said: "Back to the handsome, if you increase the number of acres of land given to the new pawn, then you must reward the old pawn first."
In this way, the land in the hands of the feudal government may not be enough!
Moreover, now that the north and the south are negotiating peace, the reason for the feudal government to expand its army is also a question. ”"You can find an excuse for expanding the army, although the north and the south negotiate peace, but the sea is not peaceful, you can use the pretext of guarding against Hongmaoyi to recruit troops."
Zhao Ming put down the cotton armor produced in the workshop, picked up a military leather kettle, and said in a deep voice while looking at it: "It takes time to recruit the army, and it still needs training, and it will take at least a year and a half to wait for the new soldiers to form combat strength." ”Zhao Ming paused, Zhengse waved his hand and said: "It can't be delayed any longer, take out the existing land, reward and compensate the old pawns first, and then use all of them to recruit new pawns and restore the strength of the feudal government as soon as possible." ”Chen Mingyu nodded when he heard this, "I understand!"
”At the moment, Zhao Ming and his entourage, in the workshop to inspect again, in the imperial court no longer to Huaxing Company procurement, the Zhejiang marshal is missing, reduce the order, Huaxing Company's production capacity, completely used to meet the Donghai Town, the production of military funds, is enough to deal with the army's equipment, as well as the recruitment of the new army.Zhao Ming was in the workshop, and after checking all kinds of equipment, he returned to Suzhou City.The next day, several teams of messenger cavalry rushed out of Suzhou City and went to the counties of Jiangdong to post notices of recruiting troops from the feudal government.For a time, notices of recruiting soldiers were posted at the gates of each county town, attracting people in and out of the city to watch, and some people shook their heads and said: "The governor of the East China Sea, Zhao Ming, the prince of the country, told the elders of Jiangdong that piracy at sea is becoming more and more rampant, affecting maritime trade and tyrannizing the coast.In order to ensure the smooth flow of trade, specially recruit brave warriors as pawns, who retribution, can get 30 acres of military land, tax exemption for ten years, blessing the descendants of the shade, Wangjiang Zhuang Yong, enthusiastically sign up, contribute to the feudal government, and protect the peace of the party!
”The people gathered in front of the city gate could not help but talk about the contents of the notice.Thirty acres of land, many people work all their lives, and they can't accumulate this family business, but now as long as they join the army, they can get 30 acres of land and become a small landlord, which immediately makes many people a little moved."
The marshal has passed through Jiangdong and treated us well, we should respond to the call of the feudal government and contribute to the feudal government!"
A man shouted from the crowd.Someone was infected right now, "The recruitment point is in the city, let's take a look." ”Someone called for the lead, and many young people came out of the city gate, and they suddenly rushed to the registration point.()