For other things, Wanli may not be too careful, or it can be said that he is numb, because he can't solve the problem, but anything related to the army, Wanli will never be careless, and this time it involves the seven border armies, and he is also very cautious about this.

But he didn't talk to Guo Dan first, but convened a cabinet meeting first, because Guo Dan was the one who solved the problem, and he first had to understand the problem clearly.

Wuying Palace.

"If this is the case, this is the first time I've heard of it, just for some armaments, all the major border armies have sent people to the capital to discuss with the imperial court, is the previous armament so unbearable?"

Wanli asked pretending to be dissatisfied.

The ministers and ministers sitting below were silent.

It's really embarrassing, compared to the ones made by Weihui Mansion, the previous ones were very unbearable.

It's not that the imperial court deducted it like that, it's just that it used to be funded by the Ministry of Households, but in the end, it was some relatives and magnates who contracted these businesses, and then went to the people to find workshops to produce.

Not to mention comparing it with Weihui Mansion.

And the reason why the Liaodong Army was able to cooperate with Guo Dan was really a blessing to Zheng Chengxian.

At the beginning, Zheng Chengxian was so greedy that the soldiers in Liaodong froze to death.

In fact, Zheng Chengxian is also a little back, he didn't expect that the winter of this year is getting colder and colder, if it was a few years ago, the weather is estimated to be frozen to death.

But the Liaodong Army was also a blessing in disguise, when Wanli was forced to contract directly to Guo Dan, and Guo Dan and the bureaucracy were mortal enemies.

In turn, the same is true for the imperial court, if I don't meet the standards, I have to settle accounts with you Guo Dan.

It becomes pure buying and selling.

Many powerful people were very dissatisfied with this, and there was no oil and water to be fished, but the Liaodong Army got well-made cotton armor.

And now that the winter is really cold, the previous cotton armor is a little thin, and the other border troops are very unhappy, everyone is a border army, why is the Liaodong army dressed so well.

In particular, the low-level soldiers were very dissatisfied, and the generals had no choice but to send people to the capital to discuss.

"I don't talk anymore."

Wanli looked left and right.

The secretary of the Ministry of War, Fang Fang, said at the right time: "Back to Your Majesty, the armaments produced in the past are indeed inferior to those produced by Weihui Mansion, and now looking at the world, there is no workshop that can compare to Weihui Mansion." ”

This is very cleverly said, not that it was too bad before, but it is too good now.

Wanli snorted: "Even if the armaments produced by Weihui Mansion are better, then it will not be so many border troops who came to the capital to find the imperial court for this matter." ”

Fang Fengshi said: "It's not just better, Weihui Mansion has also improved a lot of armaments in response to the situation of the Liaodong Army, and the previous armaments are indeed incomparable." ”

Wanli said: "In other words, it is reasonable for them to send people to the capital to discuss this matter now." ”

Fang Fengshi nodded.

"In that case, why don't you speak?"

Wanli asked again.

The atmosphere was a little weird.

Zhang Jing understood that Shen Shixing and they did not open their mouths because they had a very bad relationship with the courtiers recently, and they cooperated with Guo Dan, which caused them to be unwilling to speak for the interests of those bureaucrats and magnates.

But they don't want to offend those powerful people again, so they simply don't speak, and your emperor will do it himself.

Zhang Whale didn't want Guo Dan to take all the armaments of the border army, this was really terrifying, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, Fang Shangshu is right, the armaments produced by Weihui Mansion are indeed better than the previous ones, but if there are armaments for Weihui Mansion to produce, in case there is a disturbance, it will affect all border troops, which is too risky."

In addition, the production cost of finding Weihui Mansion is also higher than before, which will increase the financial burden. Weichen suggested that the cooperation between the Liaodong Army and Weihui Mansion should be canceled. ”

Shen Shixing immediately said: "Duke, if you do this, it may cause the dissatisfaction of the Liaodong Army, but it was because of this cotton armor that many soldiers froze to death!" ”

This old fox! Zhang Whale couldn't help but curse in his heart.

Shen Shixing's understatement is to the point.

Who did the evil in the first place, but it was Zheng Guifei's father, Wanli had already shielded Zheng Chengxian, and if this was to be canceled again, what would the Liaodong Army think.

Li Chengliang is Shen Shixing's person, how could Shen Shixing agree to reduce the armament of the Liaodong Army.

Wanli looked at Song Qi again and said, "Isn't there anything to say about the Hubu Shangshu?" ”

Song Qi said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that this matter cannot be decided by the border army, the reason why the Liaodong Army cooperated with Guo Dan last time was completely caused by accident, and when we negotiated with Guo Dan at that time, Guo Dan said that if the imperial court is willing to pay more money, it can do better, this is no boundary, then they will come to be better, the imperial court will not allocate more money, and now the military salary in the north has been greatly burdened." ”

Zhang Whale said: "What Song Shangshu said is very true, they are not only coming back for cotton armor, leather boots and other armaments, they also hope to be able to purchase the bird guns produced by Weihui Mansion, the cost is twice as expensive as the price of the imperial court, and the imperial court will definitely not be able to afford it!" ”

"By the way, I still don't know what's going on with this bird?" Wanli asked.

Fang Fengshi immediately said: "Back to Your Majesty, the bird guns produced by Weihui Mansion are indeed much more sophisticated than the bird guns produced before, if they can be equipped in large quantities, it will significantly improve the combat effectiveness of our army, but the price is indeed a lot more expensive." ”

Song Qi really couldn't help it this time, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, if you want to equip a large number of this kind of bird, the household department will definitely not be able to afford it." ”

You really don't have to think about this, you definitely can't come up with so much money.

Wanli nodded, and looked at Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue and others, although they were silent, but Wanli was already very clear in his heart.

First, there is really no money in the treasury.

Second, there is no bottom in this, and even ministers like Wang Xijue and Wang Jiaping dare not speak easily.

Fortunately, Wanli didn't ask them to give an answer, because this matter was related to Weihui Mansion, and he had to ask Guo Dan before he could make a final decision.

After the meeting, Wanli immediately summoned Guo Dan into the palace.

Guo Dan also came to him because Wanli was looking for him to discuss the matter of Tianjin Wei, who knew that Wanli wanted to talk to him about armaments.

He didn't care about this, he wasn't prepared at all, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

Wanli said: "I just asked you today, if you have any difficulties, just say it." ”

"Huh? Be. ”

Guo Dan came back to his senses and said busily: "Regarding arms production, in fact... In fact, there is really no money to be made, and there are a lot of troubles, if it is regarded as a transaction, the lowly post may not accept more arms sales. ”

Speaking of this, he changed his words and said: "But everything in the humble position belongs to His Majesty, and if His Majesty wants to take over the humble position, the humble position should be strictly obeyed by the holy will." ”

In and out of the words, there is a meaning, that is, my brother doesn't want to take it.

The profit is really too low, and if there is a slight omission, you may lose money, and now that there is Liaodong armament as a base, then it will be fine, but if there are too many words, it will become a burden.

But Guo Dan also knew that it was impossible for the imperial court to give him more money.

Wanli groaned: "What about the bird guns produced by your Weihui Mansion? ”

"Bird's Gun... It is estimated that the imperial court should... I can't afford it. Guo said lightly.

Fat house, let's face the reality, just the income of the treasury, or don't have dreams.

Wanli suddenly slapped the table and shouted angrily: "But this is really unreasonable, the military expenditure in the north alone costs two or three million taels every year, but now I can't even afford a decent bird gun." ”

Guo Dan rarely saw Wanli have such a big temper, and hurriedly persuaded him: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger, in all dynasties, this military expenditure is really not too much, there is no way!" ”

"I don't know."

Wanli snorted and said, "But how much of this money has been allocated to the soldiers?" I know that very well, so even if I am willing to spend more money, the situation may not be much better than it is now. ”

When it comes to this issue, Guo Dan can only be silent.

What does this corruption have to do with him?

Wanli glanced at Guo Dan, hesitated for a while, and said, "Guo Dan, I rarely talk to you about national affairs, and I don't want to involve you, but I really hope you can help me in this matter." ”

Guo Dan looked at Wanli with a little surprise, and thought, I am only responsible for making money, you let me do this, aren't you using a chicken knife to kill cattle?

Wanli sighed: "To tell you the truth, in fact, I and the ministers of the DPRK and China know that the military and government are very corrupt now, but because there are many interests involved, no one dares to propose reforming the military and government, including myself." ”

This cake is so tempting, it costs millions of taels every year, but there is really no more stable oil and water than this, resulting in many relatives being involved, Zheng Chengxian is just one of them, and he has just been involved in it, and Empress Dowager Li also has many relatives related to the military and politics.

Wanli himself didn't dare to say it, and he couldn't really make the congregation betray his relatives.

Wanli suddenly twitched the corners of his mouth, gritted his teeth and said: "But I didn't expect that they would be so greedy, even the little bit of armament interests of the Liaodong Army, they were obsessed, and wanted to use this to force me to cancel the cooperation between the Liaodong Army and Weihui Mansion." ”

Guo Dan was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "Your Majesty, don't you mean ......!" ”

"How can things be as simple as you think, he, they really just want the armaments of Weihui Mansion?"

Wanli said with a wry smile: "Now the problem has been placed in front of me, either to purchase all the armaments of Weihui Mansion, or to cancel the cooperation between the Liaodong Army and Weihui Mansion, but everyone knows that it is almost impossible for the nine border armies to replace Weihui Mansion to produce armaments, not to mention that the household department can't allocate so much money at all, even if the household department can allocate it, it is impossible, even I don't dare to agree easily, then my only choice is to cancel the cooperation between Weihui Mansion and the Liaodong Army." ”

Speaking of this, he clenched his fists tightly, "But I am really unwilling, usually the household department allocates millions of taels every year, but whenever there is a war or disaster, I have to allocate money from the inner government to relieve the army, or reward the three armies." I don't want to spend this money, but I can't afford not to spend it. But now, they still have to take an inch, and I've really endured enough, and I hope you can help me take it all back, just like you can take back the tariffs. ”

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