A good strategic seminar, but in the end, someone digressed into an arms fair.

This is still a delaying tactic of the traversal.

The 28 style will not appear in the hands of the Ming army, even if the emperor is willing to pay for the silver, he will eventually give up because of the shortage of fire hats.

What's more, the emperor doesn't necessarily have to pay so much silver - according to Cao Zongbing's calculations, if he wants to form an elite musket battalion with even 500 people, in addition to buying guns and ammunition, he also has to conduct a lot of shooting training for soldiers, which is a huge amount of silver.

What's even more terrifying is that these are just preparations. When it really came to the battlefield, the soldier must have rained down when he started shooting, and Mr. Cao almost went bankrupt this time.

To satisfy the interests of the emperor without threatening the traversal, the ultimate solution to this problem is to rely on flintlock pistols.

It was the thirties of the 17th century, and the European powers were in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. During this period, the innovation of weapons in Europe was in a period of rapid development, arquebuses had been phased out, and breech-loading flintlock muskets were becoming the mainstream on the battlefield.

In fact, twenty years ago, the ultimate version of the percussion flintlock pistol, which was often seen in film and television dramas by later generations, was finally perfected and improved by the Frenchman Mahan, and it had already come out.

However, the assassination of King Henry IV of France resulted in a boycott of percussive flintlock pistols by diehards – which is quite normal, and any new product will lead to opposition from conservatives, as was the case with flintlock pistols, as was the case with breech guns.

Then it was not until the middle of the XVII century that ramming flintlock pistols were massively equipped with troops. Historically, during the golden age of colonization in the 17th and 19th centuries, colonizers used to rule the world were all descendants of this sharpshooter.

In this situation, the traversal can safely equip the second-level troops with flintlock pistols. Anyway, there are already prototype guns in Europe, and technical secrecy does not exist.

The second-level troops here include not only Chongzhen, but also the colonial pioneer regiment that is being formed. In addition, some of the leading parties planted behind enemy lines also need this kind of gun...... For example, Li Jichun, Erwuzai.

So the solution to this problem has been very clear: first fool the emperor, fool it too much, and then sell the flintlock pistol to the emperor.

And after Chongzhen saw another solution that seemed to be better, his previous enthusiastic thoughts faded. Yes, if you can produce this kind of firecracker yourself, or take a step back and buy it yourself, and then form a descendant army, it is safer than begging the warlord to sell his life anyway?

After figuring this out, Chongzhen was no longer obsessed with transferring Cao's general troops to Liaodong to garrison.

The tea party that followed moved on to another topic: military spending.

Speaking of which, General Cao began to ask the two elders for silver to reimburse the military expenses in front of the emperor, how much? Three hundred thousand taels.

This figure made both the emperor and Zhou Yanru stupid.

Then Lord Shoufu resolutely expressed his disbelief, and once again questioned Cao Zongbing's mouth wide open in the lion. Cao Zongbing complained bitterly, not only settling accounts on the spot, but also taking out the official document that Xiong Wencan had collected 200,000 taels of military expenses for him.

This aroused the emperor's interest: Fujian is a poor ghost province, and it has never been enough to eat, where did it get 200,000 taels of silver?

This time, Cao Zongbing finally seized the opportunity, so he blew a wave of old bears in front of the emperor - Lao Xiong was worried about the emperor before Cao Zongbing set out for the expedition, and after searching the provincial treasury of Fujian, he also pulled down his face and scraped the ground, and interviewed/blackmailed/donated merchants and gentry. In the end, he found that the silver was still not enough, so Lao Xiong could only endure the humiliation and bear the burden, and rented out the houses on the street of the governor's yamen to the merchants, which was enough to collect 200,000 taels of silver for Cao Zongbing.

After listening to Cao Zongbing's emotional story, the young emperor was suddenly moved, and his eyes were slightly red: "Okay, good, Xiong Wencan is good, scraping the ground, I don't blame him!" ”

By this time, the emperor had finally established a basic concept in his mind: if he wanted to kick the head of a Tartar as a ball, the previous way would not work, it would cost money, spend a lot of money, and he would not win the war by calling Hanako.

Mr. Cao's story is well told, but unfortunately some people still don't buy it. Although Zhou Yanru is only 45 years old, those who can be the first assistant must be old foxes, how can they be affected by the chicken soup joke?

Not only that, Zhou Shoufu also found a flaw in Cao Zongbing's words - since the 200,000 taels came from the Yamen, the governor of Fujian, then the household department and Xiong Wencan went to fight the famine. As for you, Lord Cao, the cabinet will consider considering research and research in the future, and probably, it may reimburse you 100,000 taels.

Well, on this issue, Mr. Cao can only admit it. Everyone knows that the court is poor, and he didn't expect to be able to knock out the silver from the household department at the beginning, saying that this topic was mainly to blow a wave of old bears to the emperor.

After the matter of military spending was over, it came to the last important topic: the emperor and the two auxiliary ministers began to discuss the formal arrangements of Cao's general army. Of course, as a great hero, Cao Zongbing also got the opportunity to listen and express his opinions.

If you don't go to Liaodong, in fact, Cao Zongbing's position is very well arranged.

Whether it is to raise the existing Zhangchao deputy commander-in-chief base by one level, or to go to Guangdong and Fujian to serve as the deputy commander-in-chief, the emperor said that it can be considered and cannot be disadvantaged.

At this time, it was Wen Tiren's turn to come forward. Because it is impossible for Cao Zongbing to express his position on this kind of matter, he can only modestly say that my old Cao will listen to the emperor.

Wen Tiren's plan is very simple: just raise the existing rank of Deputy Chief Cao by one level. The reason is also very sufficient: At present, there are no vacancies in the general military officers of Guangdong and Fujian, and if Cao has to be promoted to Fujian and Guangdong, it will involve a series of personnel transfers, which is very troublesome.

History has undergone a small change here: the Ming Dynasty did not have a general army of Zhangchao, only a deputy general soldier, and there would be a general army until the Qing Dynasty.

Seeing Wen Tiren talking eloquently and reasoning with facts, Chongzhen nodded secretly in his heart. Actor Wen's overall view of the situation made the emperor very satisfied...... is worthy of being a lonely minister, and even the general soldier Cao who sent him to the cabinet can fool him.

For the emperor, the commander-in-chief of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, at least for the time being, cannot be handed over to Cao Pirates - although the emperor said that the position is chosen at will, but after all, it is the commander-in-chief of the real power in charge of the soldiers and horses of a province, and if it is given to Cao Pirates, the emperor must be muttering in his heart.

In history, Chongzhen named Zheng Zhilong as the chief military officer of Fujian, and it was until 1640, when the Ming Dynasty was stormy. And now that Chongzhen is in high spirits because of the great victory, he is still planning to be the master of the revival, so naturally he will not let the warlord become bigger. No matter how great the credit of General Cao Bing is, what should be suppressed secretly must be suppressed.

Therefore, the plan proposed by Wen Tiren is the most suitable for the emperor's wishes: the deputy chief soldier of Zhangchao was promoted to the chief soldier, which seems to have been promoted by one level, but in fact, it is useless. General Cao is still the same soldiers and horses and territory as before, and he still has no right to command the officers and soldiers in Fujian and Guangdong.

However, the traversal thinks so, too.

At present, the Ming Dynasty has no defense against the sea, and the officers and soldiers are decadent, so they can only barely play soy sauce in the coastal areas. Cao Zongbing's position in this relatively unique Zhangchao General Army, which is stained at both ends, is equivalent to actually bringing the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong into his jurisdiction, and this is the most important thing.

As for what Chongzhen was worried about, the traversal didn't care. Anyway, you can't rebel right now, and if you change to the position of the chief soldier of a province, you will be tied.

When the first assistant and the second assistant both nodded to this plan, the emperor also pushed the boat along the river and promoted Cao Chuan to the chief military officer of Zhangchao on the spot. Then General Cao received the order to thank him, and then everyone smiled with a blessed expression, and they couldn't see who was silently reciting the word stupid in their hearts.

After the canonization, he probably felt a little pain in his conscience, so the emperor asked Cao Zhongchen to hurry up and report the list of meritorious personnel in this campaign to "be used preferentially".

Regarding meritorious personnel, Mr. Cao really has nothing to report here. In the next few years, the traversal will take a low-key development route in the north, so there is no intention to guarantee a shiny agent, erected there to be targeted by the Guan Ning Army and the Donglin Party.

Like Wen Tiren and Erwuzai Li Jichun, Cao Zongbing has now pretended not to know these two. The reason is that he is afraid that after he leaves, these two people will be labeled as Cao's party.

However, although there is no list of guarantees, Cao Zongbing's request still needs to be mentioned. I finally earned some credit, and I must exchange something from the emperor.

So Cao Zongbing put forward the following two requirements.

First: open the base.

According to Cao Zongbing, this time he led his troops to Qin Wang, and the reason why he did not move in Tianjin at the beginning was that the supplies did not keep up, and on the other hand, because a large number of southern soldiers fell ill.

When the southerners came to the north, they were not accustomed to the water and soil, coupled with the unaccustomed diet and poor accommodation conditions, which led to him becoming a commander of the light pole for a time.

Therefore, Cao Zongbing took this opportunity to apply to the emperor today, hoping to set aside a piece of land in Shandong and Tianjin for him to build a military port. In this way, he can usually stock up on supplies in the local area, and when the next time he is in the king, the soldiers can quickly rest and go into battle when they arrive at the station.

Cao Zongbing's request is reasonable, and the emperor will definitely agree to it - Huang Taiji returned with a full load this time, and he knew with his heels that the Houjin robbers would definitely have to find a chance to enter the customs. At that time, General Cao will definitely come in handy.

Chongzhen immediately nodded in agreement to this request.

At this time, the benefits of crossing the crowd to support Wen Tiren's entry into the cabinet will be revealed. There is no need for Lao Wen to engage in wind and rain, it is precisely these inconspicuous, but very critical political matters for crossing the public.

For example, in the subsequent exchange of official documents, Lao Wen could designate a place in Shandong to pass through the favored territory at will, and use it to build a military port. And this kind of trivial matter, the emperor doesn't care.

After the first request was satisfied, the second request made by Cao Zongbing was a little strange: Macau.

Yes, according to what Cao Zongbing said: the Francois entrenched in Macao not only robbed him of the arms trade in the Indian Ocean, but also opposed him on many sea trade routes.

Cao Zongbing now officially suggested to the emperor: he personally paid for the troops and horses, and did not spend a penny of the imperial court to recover Xiamen.

Cao Zongbing also promised that after the matter was completed, he would return Xiamen to the imperial court, and the imperial court would send regular civil officials to manage it.

Although this topic was very embarrassing, several other people present understood that if this was the case, Mr. Cao would be able to expand his territory.