Chapter 12 The Henan Question The Development of Nanyang

Li Mao's question, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, and Ouyang He briefly discussed, now that Shaanxi has not yet been resolved, it is still a little earlier to talk about Henan, because it is not known how many unforeseen things will be during the period, but this matter, not only Li Mao cares, everyone also hopes to get the answer.

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to glance at Chen Yufeng and said, "I have discussed this matter with Uncle Chen and Mr. Ouyang. Our plan is to spend one year preparing tomorrow and half a year the year after that to resolve the Shaanxi issue militarily. We want to spend another year digesting Shaanxi, at least organizationally, to build Shaanxi into our Shanxi. Let Shaanxi also become our rear. Then you can seek Henan. ”

"Oops! That was two years later. "There were a few people who were a little disappointed.

"It's a thing, maybe a little bit earlier. The key is to look at the transformation of Shaanxi after we have seized it. Shaanxi is stable, and we still have enough management personnel and military strength, so we can enter the Central Plains as soon as possible. Chen Yufeng saw that everyone was a little disappointed and explained.

"Yes! When will we attack the Central Plains of Henan, it all depends on the results of our efforts. But I hope you still have to calm down, we must be determined when we encounter major events. Zhang Zhimu said: "We should remember that time is in our favor. The further we go, the better prepared we are. We can solve the problem with minimal cost. Otherwise, we will soon conquer the world, and it will be difficult to govern the world according to our ideas. ”

"After we conquer Shaanxi, we still have to solve the matter over there in Qinshui." Ouyang He said, "Otherwise, there will be a worry." ”

Yan Xing then briefed Li Mao on the situation of the work team sent by Yaogang and the non-cooperation of Qinshui.

Li Mao said: "It is not possible to deal with them by preaching. We can pick a few places and use force to knock them down, which is called killing chickens and showing monkeys. If we don't move the real thing, they won't give it up. ”

"It's going to have to be done at the right time." Zhang Zhimu said, "After beating Shaanxi, it is the best opportunity." ”

Chen Yufeng told Li Mao about the army expansion plan and the matter of the dual commanders. Li Mao very much agrees with the matter of engaging in double chiefs.

Li Mao asked: "Have Mr. Zhang and everyone considered building the party?" ”

"I thought about it, if this thing was done, it would be impossible to keep it completely secret. I don't think the time is right, I think when we take the Central Plains and we march across the country, let's show our banner again. Zhang Zhimu said, "At that time, the superiority of our dual-master official system can be more demonstrated. Our political commissars are the representatives of the party. ”

"We already have a lot of military commanders, and it is not easy to train political commanders, so we should start early." Li Mao reminded.

"When we organized the task force this time, many officers were drawn from the army. This time, when the task force was done, we left them all behind. These people are now being organized to study together, and in the future they will be the main force of the political chiefs, and we will complete the expansion of the army by the end of the year, and the political chiefs will also be transferred and trained. Li Yan said, "The key thing is that we should first give our middle and senior military commanders a good training, so that they can also realize the importance of our military being equipped with political commanders." Only when they consciously accept this configuration can the work be carried out well. ”

Zhang Zhimu also knew very well that the military commanders did not want a political commissar by their side to interfere with them, so they would share some of their rights. Zhang Zhimu said: "After the expansion of the army, I want to personally teach our senior generals, and we must let them accept this arrangement from the heart." ”

This time, Li Mao and Fan Song can go back after the New Year, it is already December, not far from the time of the New Year, especially Fan Song has brought back more than a dozen people, they have not been home for the New Year for a long time.

After Fan Song stayed with his father for a few days, he returned to the kiln and gave Zhang Zhimu a detailed report.

Last time, Fan Song and Lu Qi rented a boat in Quanzhou with the prepared goods and weapons, and rushed back to Sulu all the way. As soon as the ship docked, Fan Song and Lu Qi immediately sent someone to inform their family, and at the same time, Lu Qi sent someone to inform the East King, asking the East King to send an army to escort the arms.

Lu Qi and Fan Song returned to Sulu, and of course the family was very happy, and ran to the dock with the people. Everyone in the family knew that this time Fan Song and Lu Qi would charter a boat back as they said last time, in order to bring back some more goods, because the goods brought back were very easy to sell here. However, Lu Qi told Fan Song that the goods brought back this time should not be sold first, he wanted to charter a smaller boat and continue to go south, so that he could sell more silver.

The captain of the guard of the East King personally led people to the dock to escort the goods. When the king of the east heard that Fan Song and Lu Qi had returned and brought back the weapons he had been looking forward to, he was so happy that he was afraid that something would happen, so he ordered his captain of the guard to personally escort the goods.

When Fan Song commanded the men to carry the boxes of weapons to the horse's head, Fan Song saw that the captain of the guard swallowed his saliva excitedly. They are looking forward to these weapons. Explain to the others and start unloading the goods. Fan Song and Lu Qi came to the East Palace together.

Seeing Fan Song and Lu Qi, the East King came over and took their hands and said, "I know that you will not let me down, and sure enough, you will bring the weapon back to me." ”

Fan Song said: "We Zhang Dongjia asked me to bring it to you, and he said that this time we sold the weapon to you at the best price, just to be good friends with the Sulu people." He will come to Sulu to meet you in person when he has the opportunity in the future. ”

"Great, I welcome you Zhang Dongjia to come to our Sulu at any time." Dongwang's mind was even more on weapons, "My child, let's take a look at our treasure together." ”

The East King motioned for the captain of the guard to open a box.

The box was rattled open, and a little grass was brought out, revealing a musket wrapped in oiled paper. The East King stretched out his hand and took out the musket, opened the wrapped oiled paper, and a shining tile musket was revealed. Dongwang's hands trembled a little excitedly.

Fan Song said, "Come, bring some cloth." ”

Dongwang knew that there was too much oil on this gun, and it needed to be wiped clean before it could be used. He also said, "Bring the cloth quickly!" ”

The servant came over with a cloth and wanted to wipe the musket, but the king of the east wiped the musket with a white cloth with his own hands, the king of the east has been seriously wiping the musket in his hand, and after taking out two bullets and loading them, he aimed at a tree in the distance, and after shooting two shots with a bang, he said in a loud voice: "Okay! That's great! Come on, hurry up and count the number. ”

Please count the number, Dongwang didn't expect that according to the silver he originally expected to spend, the kiln gang people would give them so many weapons. Dongwang said happily: "Thank you Zhang Dongjia for me, what do you need to settle this time?" ”

Lu Qi just wanted to say that it was silver. But Fan Song preemptively said: "I think it's better to use gold for storage, so much money, let's use gold." ”

Lu Qi wanted silver because it was convenient to use for business. Fan Song said that he would use gold because Lu Chengxiang asked him to use gold as much as possible to transport it back in the future. Hearing Fan Song say that he wanted gold, Lu Qi knew that there must be something here, so he didn't say anything more.

The king of the east divided the payment and said, "Give the two of them the gold that will be ready for settlement." Send someone to follow them back. ”

On the way back, Fan Song told Lu Qi that it was best to bring the gold back at home. Lu Qi nodded and said, "I said, how did you rob me, I said I wanted gold earlier." ”

When Fan Song and Lu Qi returned to Sulu, the first thing they did was to dispose of some goods with good prices in Sulu. Then another boat was chartered and went south to Borneo (Kalimantan) and the Golden State (Sumatra). Not only did they sell their goods there, but they also brought rubber tree seeds, negotiated with the locals to plant rubber trees in the area, and they promised to exchange rice for the rubber they collected. This is of great interest to the powerful local businessmen. Because there is a lot of mountainous land there, if they can plant rubber trees that can be exchanged for rice, they will make a fortune.

Fan Song and Lu Qi want to do business on the one hand, and they also want to be familiar with the surrounding environment. After they finished buying the goods, they returned to Sulu, and with the consent of the king of the east, they bought several islands. This is Zhang Zhimu asking them to buy an island that can build a military port, and secondly, they also want to plant rubber trees on this island, and Zhang Zhimu asked Fan Song to pay attention to see if there is an island with a lot of guano, and it is best to buy it.

Lu Qi and Fan Song did not forget that when there was a boat to Guangzhou, they asked the boat to bring many rubber saplings and seeds to Guangzhou, and wrote a letter explaining the method of planting.

Lu Qi and Fan Song knew that there was an urgent need for rubber on the side of Yaogang, so they wanted to hire a boat to go back after collecting more than 300 stone rubber. However, just in time for Sulu to start a war with the Franc Robot, first, the safety of the ships at sea could not be guaranteed, and second, Fan Song and Lu Qi could not leave at this time, so they stayed to help the East King command the army to fight the Franc Robot. Although the Franco-man ship was strong and strong, as soon as it came ashore, the army of the king of the east had the advantage of muskets, and several attacks were defeated by the army of the king of the east.

Later, the Franky blockaded Sulu, and Lu Qi and Fan Song could not return for the time being. However, after this war, their relationship with the king of the east was deepened. Lu Qi and Fan Song already have a high prestige in Sulu. Lu Qi and they bought hundreds of slaves in Sulu, and on several of the islands they bought, these slaves enjoyed equal treatment, they planted rice and rubber, and they could get their remuneration according to their harvest. Their income has exceeded that of many local freelancers. So they are very loyal to the kiln people. Fan Song also began to train them to use firearms, and on several occasions pirates were angry with Lu Qi and them, and they were all repelled by them when they attacked them at night.

Fan Song said that there are two islands that are very suitable for being a port, where the water is deep and sheltered from the wind, and there are no outsiders except them.

Later, as a result of mediation, there was a temporary truce between the Sulu and the Franco. Because if it continues to fight like this, it will affect business, and the Franc machine people are also here to make money. In this way, Fan Song chartered a ship, took a few musketeers, and returned with the goods. They first went to Guangzhou, because this time they brought a lot of rubber saplings and seeds. The first thing they had to do was to send rubber saplings to Guangzhou.

This time, Fan Song brought back the news that the saplings they had sent to Guangzhou had survived one-third. The brothers in Guangzhou immediately went to the mountain we bought and planted the seedlings, and half of the seeds emerged. This time, the saplings they brought to Guangzhou were brought by themselves, and the road was extremely careful, and the fresh water that was reluctant to be used on the boat was used to water them, and it is estimated that the survival rate of these seedlings will be higher.

This time, Fan Song and the rubber they brought back had more than 1,000 stones.

Fan Song said there will be more in the future, because many new trees can produce gum. In a few years, Borneo (Kalimantan) and Golden State (Sumatra) will also be able to produce a large amount of rubber. Many merchants there knew that we were collecting rubber, and they came to Sulu to sign contracts with us, and as long as we collected rubber, they would plant it on a large scale. They brought back a lot of saplings and seeds. Because the propagation of seedlings by cuttings in Sulu is very fast and the survival rate is also high. Reproduction is not a big problem.

Listening to Fan Song's introduction to their situation, Zhang Zhimu was simply too happy, and said: "Fan Song, you and Lu Qi have made great contributions to the development of our kiln, you hold on for a few more years, after we stabilize here, we will develop to the South Seas, and we must first beat the Francophile out of Luzon." We have all the reasons to send troops, and I am sending troops for the king of the east. ”

Zhang Zhimu's words caused a burst of laughter from everyone.

Zhang Zhimu said: "You must not develop too fast, which will cause the king of the east to be wary of you." No one would want to have a strong armed force around them. You must pay attention to this. In the future, the things you buy back will also include kapok, although it cannot be woven alone, but it can be blended with cotton to weave better cloth. It is also possible to make things like ** and acetate. ”

"It's not even enough for shipping, it's something that no one wants over there." Fan Song said disdainfully.

"When you go back, I will ask Li Yunhe to make some balers for you, and you can compress kapok like a piece of wood with a baler. When we came back, it was a whole bunch of them. So that your transport will not take up space, and you will be able to stack it. Zhang Zhimu said.

Lu Chengxiang didn't know that there was such a thing as kapok before, and he knew that it could spin cloth, so he became interested and said: "Child, what is waste in your place, if you transport it back, you can also see it, how about the things woven with our machine, that is the baby." ”

Lu Qi scratched his head and said, "I looked, the cloth we are weaving now will be snatched up as soon as we get Sulu." If kapok could also weave cloth, we would hurry back to collect kapok, and the people there would not be happy. ”

"This is something that everyone is happy about, and it is also a great merit." Zhang Zhimu said.

Shi Tao, who rushed back after everyone talked about business, asked: "You went to Borneo (Kalimantan) and Golden State (Sumatra) in person?" ”

"Personally went! Lu Qi and I both went. Fan Song said affirmatively.

"Don't get me wrong," Shi Tao said, "I want to make sure." If that's the case, Mr. Zhang, I suggest that we also send a team to follow Fan Song and them back this time. This group can be led by two students who will graduate this year. They followed me all the time and took measurements, and they had a good understanding. In the past, they could take a good survey of the routes in the South Seas. Director Li, it is difficult for them to master these things now. It's a pity that I'm halfway through the business, otherwise I should have followed them. If we get the charts right, we can sail with our eyes closed. ”

Ouyang He said: "I agree with Shi Tao's suggestion. We should prepare as early as we can. ”

Chen Yufeng also nodded, "um", and agreed.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Okay! Shi Tao can send out elite soldiers and strong generals. However, all of them had to obey the leadership of Fan Song and Lu Qi. Don't look at their age, but they can already take on big responsibilities. ”

Fan Chengkun, who came with Fan Song, also nodded, and was also very satisfied with this son.

Fan Song stayed in the kiln for a long time this time, and Lu Chengxiang introduced the new products of the kiln to him in the same way, and led him to visit the production factory. Fan Song was dazzled, but he was most interested in wide fabrics and enamel supplies. Fan Song said that enamel will definitely be more popular than porcelain.

Lu Chengxiangle's face became more rounded, and he said, "This time, you go back and bring a little less enamel as a sample." Now this thing is in short supply with us. We are preparing to build a larger production plant. ”

Fan Song sighed in disappointment and said, "Mr. Lu, aren't you kidding me." Just pisqueed my interest, you're in short supply again. ”

"Huh! Boy, we have a lot of things in short supply in our kilns. Lu Chengxiang said, "Let's just talk about the sulfonamide drug, not to mention that it can't be sold outside, even in our Yaogang Hospital, it has to be controlled and used." ”

Fan Song asked: "Mr. Lu, I have also heard that our sulfonamide is like a miracle drug." Can you tell Mr. Zhang, let's take less back? ”

"That's it," Lu Chengxiang said, "you should bring less of this medicine when you go back, and if something happens, you can use it yourself." But it is now impossible to sell out. That medicine is really not enough. You don't see that the front of our hospital is full of cars. I don't know how far away to heal the disease, and that's all attracted by this medicine. ”

Lu Chengxiang was more interested in the hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that Fan Song brought back. When he took Zhang Ben'er and wanted to report to Zhang Zhimu, Zhang Zhimu said, "Okay! Mr. Lu, don't torture me. You better go and reconcile with Yukun! I have something to look for Li Yunhe. ”

Lu Chengxiang smiled and said, "Hehe! The whole world is you, the owner, and I don't want to hear about the money. Okay, I'll go to Mr. Huang to reconcile. You have a good helper! Mr. Huang's brain is a big ledger. There was nothing she couldn't remember, no accounts she couldn't count. ”

Fan Song brought back a large amount of rubber, and Li Yunhe was the happiest, and this time he could let go of his hands and use rubber. Seeing that the rubber was not enough, Li Yunhe was anxious and had no choice.

Zhang Zhimu came to Li Yunhe's office, and he was waiting for Zhang Zhimu in front of the door. Seeing Zhang Zhimu, Li Yunhe said, "Get in the car and follow me." ”

"What new weapons do you have?" Zhang Zhimu knew that he must be experimenting with new weapons.

"This time it's a twelve-point seven-heavy machine gun. It took a lot of effort to finally get it out before the end of the year. Li Yunhe said, "However, it will be a while before the 12.7 sniverser rifle is released." Their scopes need to be re-engaged. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I see that your 130 heavy artillery has already begun to be produced. Someone is going to get a 203-mm naval gun below. Later, a 305-mm naval gun will be developed. ”

"Actually, our 130 guns are enough for an average ship. Even if Lin Zongwei and their ** lucky boat, a single shot can blow it up. Is it pointless to engage in such a cannon again? ”

"You don't know, against the forts built of boulders on the shore, the 203 cannon is much more useful than the 130." Zhang Zhimu knew that the Franc Robot had built tall castle-like defensive structures out of boulders on several piers in Luzon. If there is a 203 caliber cannon, it can be regarded as nothing.

"We are rebuilding 130 guns for our Fuchuan, and when the test is over, I can let them make new artillery." Li Yunhe said, "However, we have investigated, and if our Fu ship wants to use 130 guns, we must renovate the deck of the ship with steel plates, so that the entire ship can withstand the recoil of the artillery." ”

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The Song army occupied Hokkaido, and Yuankou landed on the island of Kyushu. Opening up the Japanese battlefield. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".