Chapter 119: General Soldier**

Jiang Zongbing took Zhang Zhimu to the secret room again, and after the two sat down, Jiang Zongbing said: "Brother Zhang Xian, last time you said about Fan Yongdou and others in Zhangjiakou using food to fund the enemy, I have reported to the Ministry of War and said that although there is no conclusive evidence for this matter now, it is a matter of great importance, involving the safety of the imperial court, and I have to report it, I hope the imperial court can investigate it thoroughly." ”

When Zhang Zhimu heard this, he said in his heart, "Okay, if there is any news from Gonggong Li to the imperial court, this Fan Yongdou matter will be easy to handle." The imperial court's east and west factories still have a certain amount of ability, and they will definitely figure this matter out. ”

"Your Excellency is right, the Ministry of War will report this matter to the emperor, and the emperor will definitely send Jinyi Guard to investigate. But this lap will take a long time. We can't wait for them completely, you should arrange for your own close friends to investigate the matter. I'll find out about this in a few days. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Yes, we'll take care of it ourselves." Jiang Zongbing asked again, "There is one more thing I want to ask you, the last time the batch of grain in Zhangjiakou was lost, did you do it?" ”

"It's not. I've heard about it, but it's not ours, and I don't have the strength to confront them directly. These people have a deep foundation, and there are many of them in the court. I also heard about this incident, so I brought all the people I could bring with me, because I was afraid that something would happen on the road. Zhang Zhimu directly denied that this matter had anything to do with him.

"This matter is very strange, I don't know who has such means to do this seamlessly." Jiang Zongbing said.

"I also think it's the work of a very scheming master." Zhang Zhimu said.

"Okay, leave them alone. I have a tricky matter to tell you. Jiang Zongbing looked at Zhang Zhimu when he spoke, feeling a little embarrassed.

Zhang Zhimu also mentioned it in his heart, thinking that there is something more rare than food, and said: "If there is something to do, just talk about it." ”

"Alas, it's ridiculous to say. One of our king's princes, when he heard that you had a glass carriage, sent me a message asking me to help me get my hands on it. Tell me, what's going on? Jiang Zongbing spread his hands and said.

When Zhang Zhimu heard this, he smiled and said, "Actually, the glass carriage is nothing remarkable. But what do they mean when they say get their hands on it? ”

"Alas. They just say, no matter what they do. They had to make this carriage. Jiang Zongbing said.

"If you don't give it, you can rob it, right, Lord Commander?" Zhang Zhimu was very unhappy.

"No, no, Brother Zhang Xian is our benefactor. But we can't afford to provoke any princes, if you don't give them to them, I don't know what these people will do. Here they are even more powerful than the emperor. I, the chief soldier, am also a slave of others. Jiang Zongbing said.

"I said, my lord, you're guarding the nest here." Zhang Zhimu said.

"No way, the world is theirs. We are all slaves no matter how big we are. Jiang Zongbing said.

"I won't give them the carriage, if they want it, they can only take it." Zhang Zhimu said.

"Okay, don't get angry about this. Fortunately, you'll be gone in a few days, so we won't talk about it, we still have business to talk about. Jiang Zongbing said.

Zhang Zhimu also calmed down, ready to listen to what Jiang Zongbing said.

"After the last lecture you gave to our craftsmen. Our craftsmen are already in a hurry to copy those weapons. They already know how to do those ** bow and crossbow mines. But they couldn't do the musket, mainly the barrel and the ignition spring. Jiang Zongbing said.

Zhang Zhimu knew that although firearms had become a formed equipment army in the Ming Dynasty. However, their production process is still very backward, and it often takes two months to drill the barrel of a firebolt, because at that time, the steel of the drill bit is not good, and it is not possible to drill a little. They can't make steel either, so they can't make springs.

Li Yunhe: The process of their first pipe has been greatly improved. Now the steel rod is directly forged, and after the steel rod is rounded, the hole is drilled. Holes were drilled with lathes, but now with special drilling machines, the round holes are finally punched to the caliber needed for the musket. Since the steel is now much better, the barrel walls are much thinner than before. What's more, the processing efficiency is much higher. Of course, Zhang Zhimu will not tell this kind of craftsmanship to Jiang Zongbing's craftsmen. In fact, it is useless to talk about them, they don't have lathes.

"Oh, my lord is saying that you don't have the ability to imitate muskets." Zhang Zhimu took over and said.

"Yes, those craftsmen said that even if they made a lot of effort to make one in a month or two, they didn't know if it would be good or not. So I have to consult with you if you can make us more muskets, and we will pay for them. Jiang Zongbing said.

Zhang Zhimu knew that arms were the most profitable, not to mention giving them ****, they would also resist the Mongols and Manchus in the north, but the words came out of Zhang Zhimu's mouth like this, "My lord." We went south this time, and we would have already returned to Yaogang. Why did I only go north to here now, in fact, I was waiting to make this musket. This barrel is simply too difficult to make. Even if it is manufactured, there are many unqualified ones. After each barrel is made, it has to be blown up several times more than the musket, and the one that is not exploded is qualified. Needless to say, making a barrel is labor-intensive and time-consuming. And this barrel is different from the firecracker, it has to be made of the best steel. ”

Jiang Zongbing said: "Brother Zhang Xian, what you said, my craftsmen told me. I forced them to die, and they said they couldn't make it. So I can only ask you for help. But don't worry, we don't lack money. It's just that I'm afraid that time doesn't wait for anyone, and those Manchu cavalry won't know when to fight. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Yes, yes, we must not let them call." As soon as I went back, I would find more workers, train immediately, and expand the scale of production. But the workers can't be used right away. Can you tell me how many muskets you can use in a year? I'll see if I can make it with as much silver as each gun can make. ”

"You don't know what those trained cubs told me. They said, "With their two hundred muskets, if there are enough bullets." They dared to defend the city of Datong. I also know the power of this musket. I think it would be better to have 10,000 muskets, so that the combat power would be far greater than the current 100,000 soldiers. If you don't have so much, you can get a thousand first. At this price, I'll pay 1,000 taels and see if you can do it. If it doesn't work, add it again. Jiang Zongbing was very worried that Zhang Zhimu would not be able to do it.

After listening to this, Zhang Zhimu was expressionless and did not squeak. But in my heart, if I calculated in my heart, according to Jiang Zongbing, 10,000 guns are fifteen million taels of silver. That's impossible, the Ming Dynasty can't get so much silver in ten years, even a thousand guns are 1.5 million taels of silver, and Jiang Zongbing can't take it out. He must have some workaround, and I have to see what kind of medicine he sells in his gourd.

Zhang Zhimu said: "My lord, if the musket is mass-produced, the cost will be reduced somewhat, I calculated, if the silver is sufficient, everything can be purchased in batches, then you can save some silver." If you have one thousand taels, you can come down, but you won't need fifteen hundred taels. But even so, a thousand will cost a million taels of silver. The annual income of the Ming Dynasty Taichang Treasury is several million taels, and the silver of the nine-sided swimming every year is a total of three or four million taels, can you take out so much silver at once? ”

"Haha, Brother Zhang Xian, don't you know, the imperial court has silver allocated every year, and the chief soldier of each border master will not spend all the silver of the year. In that case, the whole border gate is so big, if something goes wrong and needs silver, there is no way. Therefore, each general soldier will save some every year, and there will also be some income at the border gates, so this bit of silver is not a problem. In addition, we have a copper smelter here, and if I can, I can give you copper instead of silver at 7% off the market price, so that it will be even more fine. Jiang Zongbing explained. In fact, when Jiang Hao was the chief soldier of Datong, he did a lot of tricks and feet in the matter of minting money and earned a lot of silver. There was no silver in the court, so they couldn't collect it. They have always exerted their strength on the common people, making it difficult for them to make a living, and they will not receive much money.

Zhang Zhimu knew that Datong's copper was still very famous, and he was going to do electricity when he went back, and in the future, he would also need to use copper as a cartridge case to make rifled guns, and the amount of copper would be very large. So he said, "My lord, I think that's fine." I'll press a thousand guns for you first. According to one thousand taels of silver, that is one million taels of silver. Give me half of brass and half of silver. ”

Jiang Zongbing said: "Okay, then it's even more fine." If you go back, you'll make me a gun right away, I'm in a hurry now. ”

Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, with this single business, I can build a decent mechanical processing factory again. After our steam engine is built, the efficiency of mechanical manufacturing will be greatly improved, and then I will be able to make rifled guns.

Hearing that Jiang Zongbing said that he was in a hurry, Zhang Zhimu said: "If the adults are really in a hurry, when we come back from Zhangjiakou, we can leave another five hundred muskets for the adults, and these muskets are all newly made, and they have basically not been used much." ”

"Where is it, the guns that Brother Zhang Xian gave his brothers must be good guns. It would be great if you could leave me the guns, and I could use them to train the soldiers first. You can also bring back silver or copper. Jiang Zongbing said.

In the end, the two agreed that on the return trip, Zhang Zhimu left the gun and brought back half of the copper and half of the silver. Each gun was equipped with 100 solid rounds and 100 shotguns, and the price of the bullets was 10 rounds of silver and 10 rounds of ammunition. On the return trip, Zhang Zhimu could buy a batch of black ** from Jiang Zongbing to load bullets.

After deciding on this matter, Jiang Zongbing ordered another 500 steel spring carriages, each of which was 350 taels of silver, a total of 175,000 taels of silver, which was also half copper and half silver. When he finished delivering food, he left two hundred steel-reed carriages. He said that the wagon of marching could be of great use.

Zhang Zhimu knew that he had made a big deal. I didn't expect a general soldier to come up with so much silver. However, the Ming Dynasty Taichang Treasury was often empty. It turned out that the temple was poor, and the monks were not poor.

After Zhang Zhimu and Jiang Zongbing finished talking, they replied to the lobby. Chen Yufeng and Yang Yulin in the lobby were waiting impatiently, and the tea had been changed several times. Jiang Zongbing first said: "I'm sorry, I really have something important to talk to Brother Zhang Xian, and I snubbed the two." ”

Chen Yufeng also said politely: "Where, Yang Yulin and I happen to be drinking tea here." ”

As soon as Yang Yulin saw the expressions of the two, she knew that the big matter had been discussed, she immediately got up, took out two beautifully decorated mirrors, and said to Jiang Zongbing: "Send two mirrors for Mrs. to use for dressing." ”

Jiang Zongbing hurriedly politely took it and took a look, like all the people who saw the mirror for the first time, he was startled. When he heard that he was going to give him a mirror, he thought that Yang Yulin must have taken out something like a bronze mirror that Zhang Zhimu brought back from the south. He didn't expect that the person in the mirror was the same as the real person, which surprised him very much. Even said that this is a treasure, the person in the mirror is just like a real person, it's amazing.

Leaving the Yamen of the General Army, on the way back, Zhang Zhimu told General Jiang what he wanted to do. Chen Yufeng said: "We can earn a lot of silver at this time." Don't worry about money anymore. You don't have to run away for money anymore. Just do these things at home with peace of mind. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "After we go back, we must make a good development plan. Yaogang should be built into a cultural, scientific research and education center, and the production base should be far away from Yaogang. so as not to affect the environment. With this money, we can raise some soldiers, so that they can be trained separately, so that they can all become officers in the future. ”

"As long as you have food, you can have as many soldiers as you want, and officers are rare. It will be even more rare. Chen Yufeng said.

Zhang Zhimu said: "With muskets, the role of middle and lower-ranking officers will become more and more important. In the past, there were more than a dozen or twenty people, and they often didn't play much role, but it was different if they wanted to be there. Often small forces will also have a certain lethality. This places a higher demand on their officers, so their training is especially important. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "Yes, it is not very important whether you will do martial arts in the future, but your brain must be flexible." No matter how good the martial arts are, they can't withstand a bullet. ”

Back at the inn, Yan Boju and Lu Chengxiang were waiting for news from Zhang Zhimu.

Zhang Zhimu returned to the inn and told them a few things about General Jiang, Lu Chengxiang clapped his hands happily and said, "Great." We will supply grain to Datong for this transaction, one year is enough to make money, after the supply of grain we can also exchange for salt, selling salt is a good deal. ”

Yan Boju said: "I don't think it's good, the grain in Beijing is cut off, and we are the only grain road left in the north." Then we can make a lot of effort to get food. In particular, the business of Annam's rice must be seized. I'm going to do this as soon as I get back. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "The grain is a small amount of money, or the muskets and carriages come quickly." ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "Those are fast, but they are not common, but this grain supply is perennial." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Who will be sent to kill Hukou tomorrow, and accompany Jiang Zongbing's people to borrow grain." ”

"I think only Yang Jing took people back," Ms. Yang said.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Yes, I have to work hard for Yang Jing again." ”

found Yang Jing, Zhang Zhimu told him: "Tomorrow you need someone to accompany Jiang Zongbing's people to kill Hukou and borrow food, and now there is no suitable person, so you have to work hard." ”

Yang Jing said very happily: "No problem, I'll go for a trip, as long as I can rush back to Zhangjiakou with you." ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "Tomorrow, I will send a few more people to hurry up and go back to complain to Li Wei, and transport the grain to Datong as soon as the goods are unloaded." ”

For the sake of insurance, this time I chose three people with better skills to ride in pairs to send a letter to Yaogang.

The news that the Yaogang merchants gave 10,000 stone of grain to the border soldiers who were short of grain, and that more grain would soon be transported to Datong spread in Datong at once. Because the officers and men of Datong have already begun to eat two meals a day, this has had a bad impact on the morale of the soldiers guarding the border. Now there is food again, not only General Jiang is happy, but also the officers and soldiers are happy. When the people from Yaogang entered and exited Datong City, the men and soldiers heard that they were from Yaogang, and they were all polite.

Liu Yun: The caravan returned to Yaogang and basically went smoothly. Because there is no need to worry about the bandits along the way, the only thing to worry about is that there are too many horses this time, and I am afraid that the horses will be shocked and difficult to control.

However, horses have a characteristic, the more horses gather, the more secure they feel, and they are not easy to be frightened. Even if any of them are emotionally unstable and frightened. When a horse is startled, it is easy to stimulate other horses, and it is other horses who are also startled, creating a chain reaction. These horsemen, who have been working with horses all year round, are familiar with the habits of horses. Normally, a living person can startle a horse, but a living person riding a horse is not easy to frighten a horse. Therefore, when the horses normally walk on the road, they will basically follow the group on their own, and they don't have to worry about it at all. When encountering dangerous road sections, these cavalrymen would ride their horses and block the side of the dangerous road to escort the horses through. In this way, except for the trouble of camping, the horses and the caravan have been rushing back smoothly.

When the caravan was about to reach the intersection of Niutou Mountain, Liu Yun led a few people to ride forward first. Yan Xing, who was waiting at the fork in the road, had been waiting for a long time. After the two sides were polite, Liu Yun said: "The original plan was not to let you help, but when I killed Hukou, I heard that Zhangjiakou was not very peaceful, so Mr. Zhang decided to go to Zhangjiakou this time to have more people in case of accidents." This time, Li Wei led 200 cavalry and your men to send the caravan back to Yaogang, and the rest of the people all returned to Datong to rendezvous and go to Zhangjiakou together. ”

Yan Xing said: "Since Mr. Zhang thinks that it is dangerous to go to Zhangjiakou here, he must have a reason, and I have also heard about the Mongolian Tatars breaking in." If it weren't for the fact that I had to deal with the second batch of grain from the merchants of Zhangjiakou, I would also go to Zhangjiakou with you, and one more person would have more strength. I don't think Li Wei needs to leave 200 cavalry, just 100 cavalry. Of the more than 800 people I brought down this time, 500 of them had horses, which was enough. Now on the other side of the wharf, there is no sign of the grain in Zhangjiakou, and Li Kui and I personally sent the caravan to Yaogang. ”

Liu Yun said: "The second batch of caravans in Yaogang is estimated to be coming, we will welcome them, and when we meet them, we will return to Datong with them, and the caravan will be handed over to Li Wei and you." By the way, Mr. Zhang said, leave you a thousand sheep so that you can have meat to eat in winter. ”

Li Kui, who had been beside him and didn't speak, said: "Great, I still know that Zhimu is worried about us, there is mutton to eat this winter, and there is mutton soup to drink." ”

Yan Xing also smiled and said, "As human beings, we still have to learn to know wood." Li Kui arranged a few people to prepare to drive a thousand sheep back to Niutou Mountain.

Yan Xing said: "From now on, our name must be changed, and we can't let the caravan know that we are from the bull's head, just say that we are also from the kiln and are here to respond." Anyway, our clothes are already unified. Just don't say it's missing, our people have all explained it. ”

"Okay, let's go south first, go to meet our caravan going north, and the people who drove the sheep back to Niutou Mountain stay here and wait for the sheep behind." After Liu Yun finished speaking, he took the lead and walked south.

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By the way, I recommend "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty", similar to this article, it is also a "technology flow" through the novel, but it takes place in the Southern Song Dynasty, Yashan, Anti-Yuan, Restoration, and European World Wars.