Tang Ning looked at Emperor Chen and repeated: "Back to Your Majesty, if you want to form a heavy cavalry of 100,000 people, you need at least 50 million taels of silver every year. ”

Fifty million taels of silver is actually just his conservative estimate.

100,000 heavy cavalry is not enough for 100,000 horses and 100,000 armor, but also includes horse harness, fodder, employment expenses for blacksmiths and miscellaneous servants, cavalry salaries, replacement of horses, maintenance of ordnance and armor, and wear and tear on expeditions.

What's more, there are more than just heavy cavalry in the heavy cavalry team, generally speaking, 100,000 heavy cavalry must be equipped with at least three or four hundred thousand auxiliary soldiers, and these money naturally have to be counted in it.

For a team with 100,000 heavy cavalry, 50 million taels of silver per year is actually not much.

A few months ago, all the silver surplus of the imperial court every year was used for heavy cavalry, which could only maintain the number of 10,000 at most, and 100,000 heavy cavalry, at the beginning of a year, could empty the entire imperial court.

If you don't know the price of firewood and rice, Chen Huang sits on the dragon chair, so naturally he doesn't know these facts.

After being shocked, Emperor Chen looked at him with a frown and asked, "It's just a hundred thousand heavy horses, how can you need so much silver?" ”

Emperor Chen didn't understand the concept of 100,000 heavy cavalry at all, Tang Ning looked at him and patiently explained: "Your Majesty doesn't know, 100,000 heavy cavalry not only need a large number of ordnance and horse harness, but also need to prepare cavalry rations, war horse grain and grass, in addition, a large number of auxiliaries, miscellaneous servants, blacksmiths, these people need food, not only that, the annual maintenance cost of heavy cavalry is also a large amount, 100,000 iron cavalry, consume 50 million taels of silver every year, in fact, it is not much......"

Emperor Chen only knew that 100,000 heavy horsemen could sweep the grassland and be invincible, but he didn't know that it would cost so much silver.

If he had to take out 50 million taels of silver every year for these, the imperial court would only be able to last for two years with all its might, and he naturally couldn't watch such a thing happen.

He looked at Tang Ning, with a smile on his face, and asked: "The silver in the treasury has to be used on the blade, and fifty million taels naturally can't be taken out, what can Tang Aiqing do?" ”

Tang Ning's face darkened.

There is nothing the treasury can do, what can he do?

Fifty million taels is also an astronomical amount for him, and if he insists on making it up, although it will not be impossible to make up, the question is why is he?

He and Emperor Chen are not related, there is no reason to spend all his family wealth to do this, anyway, even if he raises so many cavalry for the imperial court, Emperor Chen will not marry his daughter to him......

Emperor Chen's budget for heavy cavalry was only five million taels, so he could only reduce the 100,000 heavy cavalry to 10,000, and 10,000 heavy cavalry, plus the other arms accompanying him, was enough to pose a great threat to the grassland, and no matter how many there were, it was just a waste of resources.

Encountering such a capable emperor as Emperor Chen is also considered Tang Ning's bad luck, with his current attitude of spending money, maybe he will have to wait less than two years, and he will have to go Jiangnan again......

100,000 becomes 10,000, and the amount of tasks is not small, Tang Ning has to deal with other miscellaneous matters of the Ministry of Industry while letting people step up supervision.

Five million taels of silver, only in exchange for 10,000 heavy horses, Chen Huang was obviously a little unhappy, so Tang Ning could only save a little, and break a penny in half to spend.

The official residence requested by the two university scholars has been built by the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry, and Tang Ning told the master in charge at the beginning to keep everything simple, under the premise of ensuring safety, the official residence can be affordable and can live in people, and some things that are too fancy can be less.

Some places can be less, and some places can't be less.

The ordnance required by the Ministry of War is related to the lives of officers and soldiers, so it is necessary to be extremely cautious and strictly follow the standards.

Langzhong of the Ministry of Engineering sent a new batch of ordnance samples, which were taken out by random sampling and inspected by the Ministry of Industry before handing them over to the Ministry of War.

Tang Ning picked up a Mo knife with one hand, this knife was extremely heavy in his hand, and it would be very difficult to wield it.

This kind of Mo knife weighs fifteen catties each, and when converted into the unit of measurement of later generations, there are also about ten kilograms.

Ordinary knives are only three or five catties, and ordinary people naturally can't use this kind of knife, and those who use this kind of weapon on the battlefield are the bravest warriors.

Tang Ning casually threw it to Lao Zheng and said, "Fifteen catties of Mo knife, see how it goes." ”

Lao Zheng is the ancestor of the knife, whether the knife is good or not, he counts.

Lao Zheng took the knife, and after carrying it in his hand, he said: "The knife is a good knife, weighing thirteen catties and nine taels, not as much as you said." ”

The knives produced by the Ministry of Industry are all standard, and it is said that the weight of fifteen catties is fifteen catties, and it can fluctuate in a small range up and down this number, but it is absolutely not possible to have one or two more than one or two less, and it is even more impossible to have one or two catties less.

Tang Ning looked at a small official and said, "Take the weighing device." ”

The Ministry of Industry has a special weighing instrument for weighing, there are many kinds, the man took the weighing instrument specially used to inspect the ordnance, weighed it, and said: "Lord Hui, this knife weighs fifteen pounds, there is no error." ”

Fifteen catties is not said to be thirteen catties and nine taels, Lao Zheng is the most honest butcher Tang Ning has ever seen, no wonder their butcher shop business is so good, fifteen catties of meat only cost thirteen catties and nine taels, and it is strange that the business is not good.

Tang Ning looked at Lao Zheng and said, "You may not have touched a knife for many years, and it is normal for your hand to feel worse." ”

Lao Zheng put a few weights on the weighing instrument in his hand, looked at him, and asked expressionlessly: "The knife of thirteen catties and nine taels weighed fifteen catties, do you guess how many catties and taels of power weigh?" ”

It stands to reason that Lao Zheng has been selling pork for more than ten years, and he should be very sensitive to weight, and it is unlikely that he will make a mistake of more than one catty.

Tang Ning thought for a while, looked at the little official, and said, "Take other powers." ”

The power is the weight, the Ministry of Industry according to the use, to create a lot of power tools, the little official soon brought another set, Tang Ning used a ten pound and a five pound, the fifteen pound Mo knife was hung up, there was no sign of the scale rod raised.

Tang Ning continued to dial the rope on the scale rod, and after the position of fourteen catties and thirteen catties, the scale rod showed a little sign of rising.

Tang Ning showed an interested expression on his face, the same knife weighed fifteen catties with one set of weights, but it was not even thirteen catties with another set of weighings, and the problem was obviously in the weights.

Tang Ning asked the little official to go out, found a butcher shop on the street, and borrowed the scale of the shop.

Weigh this Mo knife with this rod, the knife weighs thirteen catties and nine taels, and the score is exactly the same.

Tang Ning looked at the second set of power weapons and asked the little official, "Where is this power weapon sent......

The little official's face turned pale, and he said in a trembling voice: "Hui, go back to my lord, it is a ...... sent to the salt fields in various places."

The power weapon used to inspect the ordnance is obviously insufficient, so the knife is weighed, which shows that there is a greedy ink material, and the pound and one tael are afraid that it will go into the pockets of some people.

There are so many ordnance out of the Ministry of Industry, a little less here, a little less there, and it adds up to a very considerable number.

The opposite is true for those sent to salt farms everywhere.

Although the state of Chen was a monopoly on salt and iron, merchants were also allowed to intervene, buying salt from the imperial court and selling it at a set price in the places designated by the imperial court.

The weight of these fifteen catties of power is obviously more than fifteen catties, which shows that those salt merchants took more than fifteen catties of salt from the imperial court, but only paid fifteen catties of money......

As for those who have the courage to snatch money from Emperor Chen......

Tang Ning threw the knife on the ground and sighed, "It's really deadly......