"Commander Xie reminds that as long as it is iron, it can make grenades, and this method will definitely work," Xiao Wenchang'......s eyes lit up, and he said with a look of approval. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

However, it didn't take long for Xiao Wenchang to show a hesitant expression on his face again, and said to Yang Xingguo.

"Commander, there is one more question......

"Say, the arsenal is now the top priority of the development of my Liaodong Army, as long as it can be solved, I will definitely be the first to solve it for you......" Yang Xingguo blurted out without thinking.

"Funding...... The funds for the arsenal are not enough......" Xiao Wenchang hurriedly replied.

"In just a few months, the arsenal has grown from ten people to five hundred now, and now it takes two thousand taels to pay these five hundred people every month. If you add the purchase of raw materials, five thousand taels of silver is indispensable......"

"The 20,000 taels of silver you gave me at the beginning have now been used up......"

"Also, if we start making our own irons next month, we will need at least five hundred more blacksmiths and absenteeism. At that time, the monthly expenses of the arsenal will exceed eight thousand taels, or even more......"

At the mention of silver, Yang Xingguo's brows furrowed.

In the past, when there were not many soldiers in Liaodong, by capturing and buying and selling weapons, they could leave tens of thousands of taels of silver every month.

At its most, the Liaodong Army's inventory of silver even exceeded two million taels.

However, as the strength of the Liaodong Army continued to expand, there were more and more places where silver was needed.

Purchase of weapons, salaries for soldiers and soldiers, consumption of materials, distribution of pensions, plus arsenals, field hospitals, local government ...... All the consumption of all aspects is combined, and at least 200,000 taels of silver are needed every month. ”

Of course, this is not counting the consumption of war.

The battle began, all kinds of bullets, shells. It's like running water, and it's used up.

You know, these bullets and shells are silver, a medium-sized battle down. Bullets and shells alone cost tens of thousands of taels of silver. If you count the loss of weapons and personnel, a big battle will not be done without 100,000 taels of silver.

The only thing that makes Yang Xingguo feel fortunate is that because of the cooperation with Lao Maozi, in a short time. The weapons and ammunition consumed by the Liaodong Army on the battlefield did not require the Liaodong Army to pay its own money.

The weapons and ammunition captured on the battlefield can also be exchanged for a lot of silver from the pass, which to a certain extent makes up for the war losses of the Liaodong Army.

But even so, more than half of the two million taels of silver in the Liaodong Army's inventory were used.

If it weren't for Zhang Zhidong to raise hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for himself, the silver in the inventory of the Liaodong Army might not even be a million taels.

This bit of silver sounds like a lot, but according to the current consumption rate of the Liaodong Army.

In the absence of war and accidents, it can only hold out for less than half a year.

What's more, he is also preparing to let the troops come to the actual combat training for a period of time. Counting the war losses, one million taels of silver may not even last for three months.

Suffice it to say that the Liaodong Army, which had almost no other income except for battlefield captures. It has fallen into an unprecedented economic crisis.

In this case, Xiao Wenchang proposed to increase the funds and increase his monthly expenses, which is definitely a difficult problem.

However, after a short hesitation, Yang Xingguo gritted his teeth and replied: "Ten thousand taels of silver, starting from this month, the funds of the arsenal will increase to ten thousand taels of silver." No matter how poor my Liaodong Army is, it will not be poor in the arsenal......"

"In addition, this ten thousand taels of silver is at your disposal, Xiao Wenchang. I suggest that in order to increase the strength of the arsenal, you can find a way to contact some merchants and buy some machinery and equipment. It is impossible for our arsenal to always rely on manual production of weapons, and we must find a way to form a production line. ”

"When the time comes, if the money is not enough, come to me again."

The Arsenal line, although the Liaodong Army had more grenades when facing the Japanese army.

However, Yang Xingguo was not happy at all.

As a commander with more than 100 years of historical memories for generations to come. Yang Xingguo knows a truth very well.

As the military becomes more automated, so does the military's reliance on logistics.

To put it more bluntly, fighting a war is logistics, and it is silver.

If a force does not have adequate logistical support, it does not have a steady stream of economic support.

No matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the troops is, it will be short-lived, and it will not last long.

And now, the Liaodong Army, which has developed and grown by itself, is now at this stage.

If you can't solve this problem by yourself, even if the Liaodong Army is in your own hands, it will become a flash in the pan in the course of history, and it will not be possible to exist for a long time.

Deputy Commander Zhou Zhongju is not only Yang Xingguo's intelligence chief, but also the logistics steward of the Liaodong Army.

Although Zhou Zhongju has slowly disassociated himself from the army, his every move of the army still can't escape his eyes.

Therefore, not long after Yang Xingguo returned to the headquarters, Zhou Zhongju knew what happened in the arsenal and found the headquarters all the way.

"Commander, you must be worried about the silver, I'm here to solve the problem for you." As soon as he stood in front of Yang Xingguo, Zhou Zhongju said bluntly, without any mud and water.

After Yang Xingguo smiled bitterly, he replied with a look of disbelief: "Second uncle, don't be joking, in addition to selling weapons, what other ways do you have to earn money......

Zhou Zhongju was not angry, and replied directly: "Commander, don't forget, in addition to managing logistics and intelligence, I also supervise the local governments of the five counties......"

"Yesterday, I just received the latest statistical ...... from the county magistrates of the five counties."

"With the influx of a large number of refugees into our five counties in central Liaoning, the number of people in the five counties has exceeded 2.2 million, and it is still increasing......

"According to one person's five acres of fertile land, the five counties have reclaimed more than 10 million acres of fertile land."

"However, because the time could not catch up, only more than 600,000,000 mu of more than 10 million mu of fertile land caught up with the spring ploughing ......."

"Nothing is good outside the gates, but there is one good thing, and that is that the land is fertile. It is conservatively estimated that there are more than 6.5 million mu of fertile land, and every mu of fertile land can produce one and a half quintals of grain. ”

"More than 6 million acres of fertile land are all added up, that is 10 million quintals of grain ......"

"Because it is the first year, the tax will be 30% higher than that in the future, and according to the tax policy we have formulated, we can collect 5 million quintals of grain from this 10 million quintals."

"Ordinary soldiers have to eat four quintals of grain a year, and the entire Liaodong Army is 1.6 million quintals based on 40,000 people. Just in case, we left two million quintals of grain as military rations. ”

"Five counties will leave another 2 million quintals of grain to ensure that more than one million refugees in the territory survive next year, and we will have one million quintals of soldiers left......

"According to the current price of grain, this million quintals of grain can be sold for 35 to 4 million taels of silver......

"According to the time, we will have the autumn harvest in three months. As long as we hold on to our existing silver deposit for another four months, we will have an income of three hundred and five to four million taels of silver ......" (to be continued.) )