Steel Dynasty - Chapter 224

[Chapter 224 No money again]

The strong tea in hand smelled faintly.

Putting aside the issue of the military system for the time being, Xiao Ming continued: “The Huyantuo tribe on the grassland withdrew and has now become the Blood Wolf tribe. You all know it.”

“Our scouts on the grassland have brought The news is back, we were lucky to win last time, but this time Youzhou is taken over by Beishan, it will be much more troublesome this time,” Niu Ben said with a frown.

Zhan Xingchang said: “Yes, the Blood Wolf tribe has strengthened its surveillance of Cangzhou. Barbarian scout troops often appear outside the city. Now we cannot send craftsmen to build fortresses on the grassland at all. I made an attempt after Your Highness went to Chang’an. , The craftsman had just transported the materials to the grassland, and the barbarian cavalry arrived shortly after, and we had to retreat into the city. “

“This Beishan is indeed not an easy character to deal with. Now he must be staring at Cangzhou like a wolf staring at its prey. As long as there is any mistake, they will take advantage of it.” Xiao Ming frowned deeply.

After pondering for a while, he continued: “This fortress advancement strategy cannot be stopped. Since it cannot be advanced to the grassland for the time being, this Cangzhou Pass must be built into a copper wall. After the meeting is over, I will teach you a brand new construction method. “

Yes, Your Highness.” Zhan Xingchang nodded.

At this time, Xiao Ming looked at Chen Qi, “How is the military workshop now?”

Chen Qi said: “Your Highness, all the equipment of the Equipment Department has been moved to the military workshop. Now the artillery is in normal production. This month the military industry The factory has provided Cangzhou with twenty more artillery pieces, but now the material problem cannot keep up.”

Chen Wenlong echoed: “Your Highness, just relying on Qian Guanjia’s mine, the iron ore cannot keep up. Now it is basically a mountain. The iron ore shipped every day is only enough to produce one cannon, and sometimes there is not enough material for one cannon. “

This problem is basically unsolvable for Xiao Ming. After all, the more people in this mine, the more mining will be done. question.

Because after the iron ore on the surface is dug out, it can only continue to be dug underground. The number of people digging in this narrow space is limited, and people cannot be crammed in infinitely.

Precisely because of this, mining has become more difficult, and while the number of mining manpower has tended to be fixed, the output of iron ore has basically remained at a certain level.

In addition, the iron ore has to be transported after it is mined, and there are long delays on the way. This is really difficult for the production of artillery.

“Don’t worry about this, the materials will be shipped soon.” Xiao Ming said.

Chen Qi and Chen Wenlong looked at each other, “Really?”

“This is still false. The emperor wants to purchase artillery from Qingzhou, eight thousand taels each. Some of the silver taels will be offset by iron and coal, and there are other vassal kings. In this way, basically all the iron and coal from Great Chongqing will be transported to our Qingzhou,” Lu Fei said loudly.

“Purchase? Your Highness, this artillery is our lifeblood to deal with the barbarians. We don’t have enough, so why are we still selling it?” Niu Ben suddenly became unhappy.

It was uncomfortable to take the artillery from his hands and have his flesh cut off. After all, these were the armaments of the Qingzhou Army.

“Old General, Chen Wenlong also said just now that our Qingzhou’s mineral resources are simply not enough. We cannot solve the material problem. This places great restrictions on the military workshops. Not only is it difficult to violate the emperor’s order, but we must also consider money. The cost of each artillery piece is only two to three thousand taels. Now we buy eight thousand taels, which means that for every artillery provided to the court, we in Qingzhou can earn two or three artillery pieces for free at the same time. This business is a sure profit. ” Xiao Ming analyzed.

Niu Ben was startled for a moment, then came back to his thoughts and said with a smile: “Your Highness, I am really an old fool.”

When everyone heard this, they laughed in good faith.

“But our military workshop is going to be in trouble right now. Your Highness, you have to transfer some more slaves, otherwise there won’t be enough manpower.” Chen Qi said.

“This is no problem, but this time the artillery we sell must be produced separately from the artillery used by ourselves. At least we must ensure that the range and power of the artillery sold are not as good as those of Qingzhou’s artillery, so that if these artillery fall into the hands of foreign enemies in the future, we can also suppress them. .” Xiao Ming warned.

Niu Ben and others nodded after hearing this. They were about to ask this question, but it seemed that Xiao Ming had considered all aspects.

After talking about the military issues, Pang Yukun said: “Your Highness, there will be a bumper harvest of grain in the six states this year. Many people have sold the grain to the government. Now the backlog of grain in the government is half a million dan. Plus the army The warehouses in the six states are now running out of food. Now that the next food harvest is coming, do we still need to continue to purchase food? “

Five hundred thousand shi of food is only enough to feed half a million people for three months. “

This food is more than enough to feed the army, but it is far from enough. According to modern standards, war preparation food must be enough for at least three years.

Because once a war comes, production will be destroyed. For example, in the battle of Cangzhou, although there were only 50,000 auxiliary troops plus combat troops,

there were 200,000 to 300,000 civilians mobilized to transport grain and prepare materials for siege. .

When these strong laborers are recruited, the family’s fields cannot be properly cared for. Because of this, the harvest in the autumn of several years will definitely be reduced a lot.

Because of this, Xiao Mingcai said that Qingzhou’s vitality was also severely damaged.

“As long as the people sell it, we will take it. Not to mention everyone, we must ensure at least three years of food for the army. As for the granary, each state is now responsible for the construction. The granary will all use brick-concrete structures, use cement to lay the ground, and choose high ground. Make sure that the food does not get wet, and give each state a quota, and each state must complete the food purchase quantity. “Xiao Ming said, this food issue is not a joke.

This kind of land depends on the weather. Once it encounters drought, flood, or locust plague, the food for the year is likely to be exhausted. Therefore, taking advantage of the harvest season to purchase large quantities can ensure that there will be no trouble when encountering natural disasters or man-made disasters.

Pang Yukun nodded, took note of Xiao Ming’s words, and then said: “Your Highness, there are only two million taels of silver left in the treasury. At this time, would you like to take a look at the account books.”

The saddest thing in the world is that people Live well, money is gone.

Pang Yukun’s words made Xiao Ming’s stomach ache. Now all the money earned by the chamber of commerce will be put into the government treasury and uniformly allocated by the government office, so it can be clearly seen in the accounts.

The money he earned was just to buy cattle for the people, and he spent more than one million taels on forging farm tools. Each set of plate armor forged for the army cost at least twenty taels of silver, but the Qingzhou Army lost 400,000 taels of silver. During the Battle of Cangzhou, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were lost in artillery, ammunition, and shells.

At the same time, there are also the food and drink expenses of slaves, the salaries of officials, the wood purchased for shipbuilding, etc.

Looking at the dense numbers on it, Xiao Ming felt dizzy.

(End of chapter)