He Kejing mentioned the "three thousand branches of the Ministry of Industry to supervise the manufacture of good products" Zhao Dangshi also heard that the imperial court will supervise the production of firearms and armor to the towns every year, the quota in the past few years to the three sides of Shaanxi, in recent years because of the Central Plains thieves rampant, so the quota has gradually tilted to Huguang, Henan and other places.

These 3,000 bird guns were originally one of the military funds that were expected to be delivered to the old reinforcement general Deng Xi and the general Yang Yuchun four years ago, but when they were transported to Zaoyang County, Yang Yuchun was first killed in an ambush, and Deng Xi also fell to his death due to a mutiny, and this batch of military funds was immediately held in the county and not moved. Later, although Qin Yiming took over the rest of Deng Xi's department, he did not know the situation and ignored these. Chu Xidi, who was the household manager of Zaoyang County at the time, took the opportunity to take advantage of his position and colluded with the officials of the sixth house in the county to embezzle the batch of military funds temporarily charged into the county treasury.

To this day, most of this batch of military funds has been sold through various channels, but the remaining 3,000 guns and a few gunpowder and lead are still in storage.

He Kejing, as the internal affairs envoy of Zhao Ying, shoulders the responsibilities of a businessman, so he will naturally find out all the channels of Zaoyang County's businessmen in the open and in the dark, and the underworld and the white way. Chu Xidi's black goods can't be on the stage, and few people know about it, but they can't escape his attention.

"If it is an ordinary bird's gun, the current price ranges from nine yuan to one or two taels, and this batch of guns is made by the Jingshi, it must be particularly sophisticated, and the middle price is four taels and one piece, and it costs 1,200 taels to buy them." Zhao Dangshi said with one hand.

He Kewei frowned and said: "The people of the Chu family must verify the identity of the buyer before buying and selling, and the subordinates are worried about startling the snake, so they have not acted rashly so far." "Finding it and saying," and the bird was in their hands, and the price of sitting on the ground was ten taels. ”

"Ten taels?" Zhao Dangshi was slightly surprised, "It must be a false price, scaring away the idle people, maybe the real price depends on the identity." ”

He Kewei nodded and said, "My subordinates think so too." If you want to buy those birds, you must find a middleman to take care of them, and your subordinates can't make up their minds, so they ask the lord for instructions. ”

Zhao Dangshi thought for a while and said, "It's a tricky problem. However, these 3,000 bird guns will be difficult to shoot for a while, so we don't need to worry about it. You focus on it first, and choose the opportunity to figure it out. He continued, "The son of the Zuo family brought the news that the southern dragon is in Lord Tianlong, and there are two thousand bird guns that can be sold, and you can allocate money here, and you can negotiate with it at that time." ”

He Ke Wei agreed and said, "The lord asked his subordinates to investigate the situation of firearms manufacturing, and his subordinates have also made progress here. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"There are several weapons and gunpowder bureaus in Huguang, the most recent of which is in Xiangyang, which was set up by Li Taishi for Pingbanzhou in the past."

"Li Taishi" is Li Hualong, a famous general of the Wanli Dynasty. Although Li Hualong was born in Jinshi, he was good at Rongzheng. In the twenty-seventh year of Wanli, Yang Yinglong rebelled in Banzhou, and Li Hualong was the governor of Huguang, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places, and concurrently served as the governor of Sichuan. The Banzhou rebels were fierce but backward in armament, and Li Hualong, who was in charge of the overall situation, asked the relevant provinces to carefully plan and manufacture firearms in various ways with the idea that "the thieves have no firearms, and firearms must be used to attack them". First of all, the Sichuan Prefecture and the 12 prefectures of Chengdu successively set up bureaus to develop firearms, and Guizhou, Huguang and other places also stepped up their development. In Huguang in particular, Li Hualong instructed that "firearms must be used in the army" and urged the relevant departments in Hubei to "entrust them with habitual personnel service, and manufacture them in various ways day and night." It seems that Wuchang, Xiangyang, Jiangling, Jingzhou, and other places have set up sub-bureaus to supply military supplies. After the Banshu Rebellion was put down, some of these weapons and gunpowder bureaus were abolished, but many remained.

"Lao Lu visited Xiangyang, and I heard that there are descendants of craftsmen transferred from Zhejiang, Fujian and other places there, so they can be outstanding."

Lu Qiqing answered: "The types of firearms produced by the Xiangyang Ordnance and Powder Bureau are quite complete, such as rockets, baizi guns, hair guns, bird guns, spray cans, watermelon cannons, fire refining, fire bricks, etc., are all in the overall planning. The subordinates talked with the supervising Du Si, and it was expected that in some time, Lu Puyi and other craftsmen would be sent over to learn from each other. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said: "Firearms are sharp weapons in the army, and they must not be controlled by others. Lu Puyi is smart and clever and up to the task, and he is the main one in the matter of making self-made firearms, and the two of you will cooperate more and strive to complete the matter of building your own firearms system this morning, which is a first-class great achievement. ”

Earlier, Zhao Dangshi and Lu Puyi discussed the development of new muskets and artillery, but the conclusion was that it was too early for Zhao Ying, who was in the current situation. It's hard to innovate, but it's not hard to imitate or make small improvements. At present, even Zhang Xianzhong's grass platform team in the field of firearms has achieved the simplest three-eyed gun, Zhao Ying has been working hard for so long, how can he be willing to be down.

He Kewei and Lu Qiqing agreed in unison, and Zhao Dangshi continued: "Have you cleared the channels for raw materials? ”

Lu Qiqing replied: "The bird gun is generally safe, the sulfur is bought in Shaanxi, the nitrate is taken from Tongchuan, the iron is taken from Ziyang, the charcoal is taken from Dayi and Qianwei, the lead is taken from Guan County, and the gun is taken from Maozhou." In addition to Shaanxi sulfur, in general, Sichuan materials are relatively cheap, and merchants also have experience in trading with the army, so it is more convenient to collect materials in a centralized manner. ”

Zhao Dangshi said with satisfaction: "Among the firearms, the bird gun bears the brunt. Step by step, be sure. Regarding the materials everywhere in Sichuan, I will inform the people of the Kong family and let Master Kong collect and distribute them for me. Xu Xu said, "In addition, Lord Long is here, the line in central Yunnan will be opened sooner or later, and the homemade firearms have not been released in the early stage, our battalion may replace them with handing over guns, and you two also need to make a budget." ”

He Kewei said: "In accordance with the Lord's order, Lao Lu and I will go all out to ensure that our battalion will stand on its own in firearms and other ordnance as soon as possible, and no longer rely on others." ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded slightly, and then said: "Today's king has something to do in the future, can there be something about the grain and grass?" ”

He Kewei said: "Three days ago, the final batch of grain and grass in Xiangfan was in place, and it was borrowed under the guise of the Shen family and the Jiang family, the rice merchants in Xiangyang, and others couldn't see the clues. Several batches of grain and grass are counted in total, no more than 50,000 stones. In addition to sowing seeds, it is more than enough to support our battalion until the next harvest. "Zhao Ying needs 30,000 stone of silver, but the amount finally agreed between Zhao Dangshi and Xiang Fan is 50,000 stone, which is a lot more, and Zhao Ying's food shortage problem is solved.

The three of them chatted for a while, and the rain outside the hall was like a waterfall, and the wind was loud. Zhao Dangshi said: "I have understood all the matters, and the two of you have done your best for my Zhao Ying, and they are models in the camp." ”

He and Lu said "I dare not be ashamed", and Zhao Dangshi continued: "Master Kong in Sichuan, the matter is very important, and someone has to go to run it." Looking at Lu Qiqing, "Old Lu, you work hard, and go to Yankou Town in two days." "Lu Qiqing has a status in Zhao Ying, and he is qualified to face Kong Qingnian, and compared to how terrifying he is with a bit of a roe deer, he has a rich and noble appearance and a strong voice, and he is the best candidate for expatriation.

Lu Qiqing was the one who did not give in and promised him.

Coming out of the military affairs office, Zhao Dangshi looked back at this huge building that had not yet been completed, splashing under the heavy rain, and the eaves and arches of the military affairs office seemed to be covered with a layer of capillary mist, adding solemnity and grandeur to the majestic and rugged. Thinking that in another month, this place will become the core area of Zhao Ying, Zhao Dangshi seems to feel a kind of steadfastness and expectation that he has never felt before.

Turning back to the camp, he walked on the muddy road to the outside of the Chinese army's tent, but Zhao Dangshi saw Han Gon standing there.

Han Gon has never had the habit of sheltering from the rain, and under the rain, his armor is bright and shiny, not depressed, but heroic.

The Feijie battalion has had a heavy task in the past few months, and Han Gon, as the commander of the battalion, has forgotten to sleep and eat for the sake of work, and has never complained in his conscientious work. Zhao Dangshi respected him very much, and immediately stepped up, grabbed his hand and said with a smile: "It turned out to be Lao Han, what a rare guest." And said, "Lao Xu is sick in bed, I am about to take some gifts from the tent to visit, you can come too." ”

Han Gon responded: "It should be like this. It's just that there is something under his subordinates to give to the lord. ”

Zhao Dangshi saw that his eyebrows were full of anxiety, and walked into the tent hand in hand with him, and asked, "Something's wrong?" "Han Gon is a sophisticated and free man, and his means are also strong, and he rarely sees a sad face.

Han Gon replied, "Old Meng is gone. ”

"Gone?"

"He was supposed to accompany him to Dafushan yesterday to inspect the new mine, but today he has never been seen there. His subordinates searched for him several times, inside and outside the camp and in the places where he might go, but there was no trace of him. ”

Zhao Dangshi thought about it: "If this is the case, it is strange. How can a strong man disappear out of thin air. ”

Han Gon said: "Although the old Meng people are reckless, they are never ambiguous in doing things. I had asked him to report on his work this morning, and even if he was entangled in something, it was impossible for him to remain silent. ”

Zhao Dangshi exhaled and said: "I'll find Lao Pang immediately, let him spread some manpower, and go out to find it." With Lao Pang here, even a grasshopper can be turned out of the land, and Lao Meng will not be a problem. ”

Han Gon nodded when he heard this, but his gloomy expression did not decrease.

While he was talking, Pang Jinming outside the tent asked to see him, and Zhao Dangshi smiled and said, "Say Cao Cao Cao arrived." ”

and Pang Jinming came in, listened to Meng Aocao's matter, and said: "This matter is on his subordinates." Within three days, an explanation will be given to the lord and the Han commander. After speaking, his face changed, "Lord, I caught three fine works." ”

"Finesse?" Zhao Dangshi was stunned for a moment, "Zaoyang County comes and goes every day, what about these three?" ”

Pang Jinming said awe-inspiringly: "Lord, these three people were arrested in the Land Temple, and they were gathering under the mud statue to sneak around. They came from different ways, and the lord who brought them in would know when he asked. ”

Then three men who fell into the soup like chickens were tied up and pushed into the tent. Pang Jinming didn't intimidate them, and said coldly: "If you want to live, tell this master everything you just said." ”

A simple single sentence made the three men resigned, which shows that Pang Jinming has done thorough "ideological work" for them in front of the big tent of the Chinese army.

One of the gray-clothed men trembled and said, "The villain is returning to the camp...... Back to the camp small pipe. ”

Another man in white said: "The villain is Cao Ying, Zhao Zhang's plate is marked and will not be collected at night." ”

In the end, the man at the end hesitated for a long time, and when the previous speech was finished, Fang said with a bitter face: "The villain is, he is a scout under the head of Xiying Ma." ”

Zhao Dangshi listened, and in the face of Han Gon, the faces of the two were as resolute as iron at the same time.

"Returning to the camp" does not need to be mentioned, and "returning to the old home" Ma Shou should also be. "Cao Ying" is "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai, the so-called "Zhao Zhangpan", Zhao Dangshi also knows, is Zhao Yingyuan, the head of Luo Rucai's four confidants. "Xiying" is the "Eight Kings of Xiying" Zhang Xianzhong, "Ma Manager" is quite famous, and Zhang Xianzhong's general Ma Yuanli.

Pang Jinming said to Zhao Dangshi: "Lord, these three people are definitely not coincidental together, they must have been premeditated. ”

Zhao Dangshi was silent for a long time, the tent was silent, and the rain outside the tent was like a pour.