Zheng Sen nodded, in fact, he was very clear about the situation of various departments, what kind of strength the entire Zheng family was now, and whether it could cope with the challenges of these two wars at the same time, he was also very clear. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The more important significance of this meeting is to encourage others, especially Zheng Zhilong, so that they can muster up their fighting spirit and devote themselves to the struggle of the great era. To be honest, in the original history, Zheng Zhilong's unambitious approach to being rich and secure really made Zheng Sen not very reassured. So seize this opportunity to cheer him up.

Just when Gu Jiang said that the supply of food was not a problem, Zheng Zhilong suddenly asked: "Mr. Gu, I still want to ask about the food you talked about just now." If we gain new territories in the war, will our food reserves be enough to sustain the needs of the new territories? ”

"Don't worry, if it's just maintained, our food reserves are still enough to support it." Gu Jiang replied.

Zheng Zhilong nodded with satisfaction and said, "Mr. has worked hard, please continue." "It seems that he has some ideas about the world now.

Gu Jiang bent over Zheng Zhilong, and then continued: "That's all for the food thing, let's talk about the business thing. The first is the production of weapons. The first is artillery. We obtained a large amount of copper from the Japanese trade, and now we have found copper in the South Seas as well. The supply of artillery raw materials is not a problem. With the completion of the Turbidity Creek Dam and more guarantees of power, the gun factory will expand its scale this year, and its production capacity will be tripled. If, during this period, we stop selling artillery to foreign countries, we can basically guarantee the supply of naval and army artillery.

The production of gunpowder will also be expanded at the same time. The raw materials of gunpowder were mainly saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. The latter two things are not a problem for us at all, Japan has sulfur, and we control a few sulfur mines ourselves, and there is even a lot of surplus production. Charcoal is naturally not a problem. Of the three, the only one we can't be completely self-sufficient is saltpeter. However, through the trade with Zuo Liangyu, in addition to the population, we also obtained a large amount of saltpeter, plus the saltpeter we obtained through trading with the Dutch and the Indians. and saltpeter, which we get from collecting nitrate ourselves. Today, our saltpeter inventory exceeds 60,000 stones. In the next two years, we will continue to purchase saltpeter, and taking into account the expansion of the army and the resulting increase in training consumption, as well as the damage caused by the activities of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to the saltpeter mining in Henan and Huguang, the stockpile will rise to a maximum of 65,000 quintals by the end of next year. This stock can fully meet the needs of operations.

Then came the production of various weapons and armor. The army needs to expand the army by more than 20,000 people, so it needs 15,000 sets of armor, and this alone needs 450,000 catties of wrought iron. In addition, more than 10,000 flintlock guns are needed, and more than 300,000 catties of wrought iron are needed. If we only need to ensure the production of ordnance, the output of wrought iron is not a problem, and we now produce more than 600,000 stone of pig iron every year, of which more than half is smelted into wrought iron, which is more than enough to ensure the production of ordnance. However, in recent years, we have sold a large number of armor and weapons to the countries of the South Seas, as well as to the military towns in the country, and these businesses have brought us high profits, even in war, if we can not terminate it, it is better not to terminate it. In addition, the expansion of production in various factories and departments requires more iron materials, so in general, if we continue to maintain the arms trade in Nanyang and various military towns, our steel production capacity will be a little tight......"

"Ah Sen," Zheng Zhilong turned his head and whispered to Zheng Sen, "I remember that we have militia in every village in Taiwan, and these militiamen also have muskets and armor in their hands, and there are quite a few of them. Can't they bring these things to the army and use them? At least, the auxiliaries can use these, right? ”

"Daddy, the militiamen do have a lot of armor and muskets in their hands, but most of their muskets, especially those of the Taiwanese militia, are arquebuses. Not only are the firing methods different, but the caliber of these muskets is completely different from the flintlock pistols used by the army, and the weight of bullets and kits used is completely different, and the firing range is also different. So the integration of such guns into the army will cause a lot of problems for the army. As for the armor, the armor used by the people is, after all, a civilian version, and the materials and craftsmanship are inferior to the military version, and it is generally too heavy, which will affect the soldier's ability to march. In addition, because the style is different, it will be very complicated to maintain. Zheng Sen also explained in a low voice.

"Ah, is that so? Just because of this trouble, these ready-made things can't be used? Zheng Zhilong was still a little distressed.

"Daddy, these things are still useful. When we take control of the new area and put in place a garrison, we can equip them with these. Zheng Sen said.

Zheng Zhilong nodded, it seemed that he had accepted this explanation and stopped talking.

At this time, Gu Jiang had already talked about the preparations related to the navy: "The foundation of the navy is two things, one is to cast cannons and the other is to build ships. We have already talked about cannon casting, and then we will talk about shipbuilding. Today, in Taiwan and Fujian, there are a total of 12 shipyards that are qualified to accept orders from the Navy, including two shipyards that can build fast warships, and can build four fast warships at the same time. There are six shipyards that can build fast cruisers, and the remaining ones basically only have the ability to build civilian ships, but their docks can also repair fast cruisers...... In addition, they were able to build smaller river warships as required by the Army......"

After Gu Jiang finished speaking, representatives of the model army, army, and navy made relevant reports on the construction and preparation of the army and navy. Zheng Zhilong took out a map from his side, looked at it carefully, and the entire strategic arrangement gradually became clear in his mind......

After the meeting ended, Zheng Zhilong stopped Zheng Sen, and the two got into a four-wheeled carriage together. Closing the carriage door, Zheng Zhilong said: "Ah Sen, you have already determined that the imperial court will not be able to last for these two years?" ”

"Daddy, the imperial court has already lost the last card in Songshan, and it is a question of whether it can support it for another two years." Zheng Sen replied.

Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said, "There is still the Qin army in the imperial court. ”

The so-called "Qin army" is certainly not the invincible and murderous Qin army of the Great Qin Empire, but the army that points out to the Qin land in Gansu, Shaanxi, and Qin. After the Battle of Songshan, Jinzhou fell, and the largest military group of the Ming Dynasty, the "Guanning Army" as a whole, ceased to exist. Outside the entire pass, there is only a lonely city in Ningyuan, and the Manchu soldiers have approached Shanhaiguan. The last remaining strength of the Guanning Army was almost all in the hands of Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, and in the face of the powerful Jianguan, the little strength in Wu Sangui's hands was insufficient for defense, and naturally could not be used for internal suppression. And some other groups, such as Zuo Liangyu, have also become warlords who listen to the tune and do not listen to propaganda, and their current combat effectiveness is not trustworthy. At this time, the Qin army in the Ganshan area was indeed the only army that still had a little mobility and combat effectiveness above the Liukou.

However, Zheng Sen replied: "The imperial court has no money, so the Qin army will not move and pay it back, at least it can scare people." If you really want to move, I'm afraid that it will be finished immediately. ”