Zhang Huangyan frowned and said: "But in this way, the class division of Shinong industry and commerce will change, and the consequences of the turmoil in the market will be unpredictable, which is definitely not a good strategy for now." Let's not talk about whether Mo Lao can pay the increased salary of the soldiers, let's just say that the military law promulgated by the prince before that the local government is not allowed to detain and try soldiers on duty already has the possibility of making soldiers arrogant. ”

Wu Zheng didn't think about it, and said: "Soldiers are bound by military law, and they can't be arrogant." Moreover, it is now wartime, and the soldiers are given certain privileges, which is also to win the war in this place. ”

Zhang Huangyan no longer insisted, and asked, "What kind of benefits and status does the prince want to increase with the soldiers?" ”

Wu Zheng thought for a long time and said, "Actually, Brother Xuan Zheng is right, too many privileges will cause the arrogance of soldiers...... In this way, first increase the salary of the soldiers, and as for the status, then slow down first? ”

Zhang Huangyan smiled and said, "That's right." ”

Wu Zheng's heart suddenly moved, it was the New Year, and the New Year was approaching, why not arrange a military parade to increase the people's closeness and respect for the soldiers?

The training of the school army has already yielded initial results, and a military parade that is unique to this era tends to increase the pride of the people and the sense of identification with the soldiers.

Wu Zheng made a decision in his heart.

At this time, Mo on the side was in a hurry, "How much does the prince want to improve?" ”

Wu Zheng opened a hand and said, "Fifty percent." ”

Don't obsessively open your mouth wide, it's almost ...... Ah, fifty percent, based on the current monthly salary of ordinary soldiers, it is an increase of one tael, which is three taels per month.

It doesn't sound like much, but the base is large, and that's a huge amount of money.

Mo Zhi said with a wry smile: "A person is more than one tael a month, and it is twelve taels a year, not counting officers, just soldiers, they will pay more than one million taels a year." ”

Wu Zheng is obviously used to being lavish, and he estimated in his heart that it was indeed difficult to be obsessed, but he still insisted: "Now that people's livelihood is improving, even food prices have risen a lot, and it is reasonable to increase monthly salaries...... In this way, the monthly salaries of officers and generals do not need to be increased by 50%, and they will ...... Twenty percent. ”

Mo Zhi had no choice but to respond: "Yes." ”

Wu Zheng was a little embarrassed, and reassured Mo Zhi: "Don't be afraid, once you sell firearms to the north, the silver you earn is enough to fill this hole, and even a lot of surplus." ”

Don't be obsessed with thinking about it, and your face will get better.

But Zhang Huangyan was stunned, his face turned pale, and he said hurriedly: "The prince actually wants to sell firearms to the north?" ”

Wu Zheng was annoyed for a while, look, this is a lot of words that must be lost.

It's not that Wu Zheng deliberately concealed Zhang Huangyan, but Wu Zheng knew Zhang Huangyan's temperament too well, and once he knew about it, he had to jump up, as expected.

Looking at Zhang Huangyan's excited face, Wu Zheng motioned to Mo Zhizhi to press him on the chair together.

"Xuanzhu, you listen to me first."

"From the time we purchased the musket from Wei Kuangguo, to the imitation of the musket in the military workshop now, and then to the improvement and production of our own musket, it has only been more than a year, right?"

"If we can produce, why can't the Qing court?"

"The Qing court now has more past and population, and the reason why it is not manufactured is nothing more than two reasons, one is that the arquebuses hoarded in the capital are enough for them to use, and they have no will to continue to manufacture. The second is that they did not recognize that muskets could change the entire landscape of the battlefield. ”

"But now, the Qing court has obviously realized the importance of muskets to the war, and they have twice led the purchase from Hongfan led by John Tang."

"We don't sell it, the Qing court can still buy it, it's nothing more than a long journey from the west, and it will take an extra month or two."

But as a result, the Qing court would be more aware of the importance of muskets, and it was likely that they would organize their own manufacture and improvement. However, they have more human, material, and financial resources than us, and it took us more than a year, and they may only need a year, or even less. ”

"Besides, do you know the price of the musket we purchased from Wei Guokuang, a musket, sixty taels of silver, but we make it ourselves, the cost has increased from about twenty-two taels at the beginning, to less than fifteen taels at present, what is the profit?"

"The profit from selling one gun to the Qing court allows us to make three more. Let the Qing court pay for the equipment of our soldiers, why not? The important thing is that the Qing court will not invest more manpower and material resources in its own research and development, which is very important, because from now on, the firearms of the Qing army will be controlled in our hands, once the war starts, even if the Qing court is alert to the control of firearms, it will take a year to reorganize the manufacture of muskets, and this year can determine the success or failure of this war. ”

Zhang Huangyan opened his mouth to speak, but was held down by Wu Zhengshengsheng.

"I know what Brother Xuan is worried about, you are afraid that the firearms you sell will be used by the enemy on the heads of our soldiers in the future, right?"

"Actually, you are overthinking, in any war, it is not only weapons that determine victory or defeat. When there were no firearms, in the battle of Shining Street, we fought with the enemy's cavalry, and both sides held almost the same weapons, and even the enemy's weapons before were better than our army, such as artillery, war horses, giant crossbows, etc., but did we retreat? Apparently not! ”

"One thing I can tell you right now is that the flintlock pistol we originally purchased from Wei Kuangguo had an effective range of between 100 and 120 paces, but now, after the improvement of the military workshop, the effective range has reached about 150 to 180 paces. Zhang Cangshui, don't underestimate these fifty steps, this may determine the victory or defeat of a battle...... Think about it, if the enemy is not able to hit us at a distance of 180 paces, but our army can already shoot at the enemy effectively, how can we not win such a battle? ”

"Besides, we still have artillery, mines, grenades, etc., obviously, the Qing court does not have them at the moment. Even if the Qing court woke up and made it, I am afraid that the general trend would have gone by then...... ”

"Huh...... You're talking! Wu Zheng shook Zhang Huangyan's shoulder vigorously and said.

Zhang Huangyan shook off Wu Zheng's hand on his shoulder, and shouted angrily: "You gave me a chance to speak." ”

Wu Zhengyan smiled and took a step back, "Cheng, you can say it now." ”

Zhang Huangyan got up, shook his shoulders, loosened his muscles, and then walked out and said, "You have said everything, what else can I say?" ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Huang paused, turned back to Mo and said, "If Mo Lao is not in a hurry, you might as well accompany me for a while, how about it?" ”

Mo Zhinian smiled slightly: "Dare not obey your fate." ”

The two went together, and Wu Zheng shouted behind his back: "Okay, you Zhang Cangshui, do you still want to avoid me for anything?" ”