Lin Zhe heard that Xu Naizhao dispelled the idea of letting himself go to Zhenjiang, and he was slightly relieved in his heart, although he was not afraid that Xu Naizhao would force him to go to Zhenjiang, but if Xu Naizhao or Xiang Rong impeached him, it was estimated that he would also get into a lot of trouble, in case Emperor Xianfeng came to give an order and asked him to obey Xiang Rong's dispatch, wouldn't it be embarrassing.

As for staying in Shanghai, this was originally something he was looking forward to, of course, this Xu Naizhao naturally didn't know that Lin Zhe was staring at Shanghai's money and wanted to take root and expand here.

So he pretended to hesitate: "At the beginning, Lord Futai, you asked me to wait to recover Shanghai, but now Shanghai has been conquered, and my Yu Shengjun soldiers are homesick, I thought that I would leave for Zhejiang in the next few days, if I continue to assist in the defense of Shanghai, I am afraid that it is!" ”

Who is Xu Naizhao, as soon as he heard Lin Zhe's words, he knew that Lin Zhe was moved, and he knew that now Lin Zhe was asking him for conditions.

Immediately, he arrived: "The homesickness of the soldiers of your army is naturally understood, but now the people of southern Jiangsu have been devastated by the thief army, for the blessing of the people, please think twice about Brother Lin Xian, as long as your army can stay in Songjiang, I can pay a certain amount of defense expenses every month here in Jiangsu!" ”

After Xu Naizhao said this, he looked at Lin Zhe's demeanor again, and found that his demeanor did not seem to be unusual, obviously the defense fee he proposed was not enough to impress him.

Lin Zhe hesitated for a moment before saying: "It's not impossible to assist in the defense of Shanghai, but Lord Futai, you also know that my Yu Shengjun has a lot of expenses, and I also know that now the money and grain here in Jiangsu have to supply the two battalions in Jiangnan and Jiangbei, I'm afraid I can't get much military supplies to supply my Yu Shengjun!" ”

Hearing Lin Zhe say this, Xu Naizhao's old face turned red, this is a fact, Jiangsu was originally very tight on money and food, and he had given Lin Zhe 80,000 taels of silver to invite him to send troops to Shanghai, which was just an expedient measure, in order to keep his official hat.

And now, it is impossible for Jiangsu to give Yu Shengjun too much money!

It's just that more can't be given, if the number is less, Jiangsu can also afford it, so he immediately said: "According to the convention, the defense fee is in accordance with the standard of the green battalion, but since Yu Shengjun is from afar, I can personally call the shots and give more than 30%!" ”

Hearing this, Lin Zhe was speechless, why did the Qing court officials in these years think that all the troops had the same expenses as the green battalion?

If it is according to the standard of the green battalion, even if it is an extra 30%, it is far from enough to cover the expenses of Yu Shengjun.

So Lin Zhe shook his head lightly, and then said: "I don't know if Lord Futai knows that Zeng Shilang ran Xiangyong in Xiangtan, how much does it cost?" ”

When Xu Naizhao heard this, his eyebrows also furrowed slightly, as a high-level member of the imperial court, he naturally knew a little about the Xiangyong expenses run by Zeng Guofan, and its expenses were much higher than those of the green battalion, and the salary of the soldiers alone was more than twice that of the green battalion.

Lin Zhe continued: "The salary of my Yu Shengjun's soldiers is no less than that of Xiang Yong, and due to the use of new foreign guns, the cost of this gun and ammunition is even higher, and the total cost even exceeds that of Xiang Yong!" ”

Xu Naizhao knew that Lin Zhe said this, not to tell him how expensive it was to raise an army, but to ask him for conditions again, and immediately said: "Oh, this is what I thought before, your army has used so many foreign guns and cannons, presumably the cost is more than that of the green camp, but I don't know how much?" ”

Xu Naizhao's words are equivalent to saying directly: Brother, make a price!

Lin Zhe did not speak directly, but thought about it a little and said: "Now that my Yu Shengjun is insufficient, and the defense of Huzhou in northern Zhejiang is also very tight, I originally planned to bring troops back to Huzhou in the next few days, only if my Yu Shengjun 3,000 soldiers gather in Huzhou, can I be sure to hold the thief army south and guard the safety of northern Zhejiang!"

Huzhou lacks no less troops, if we still have to assist in the defense of Shanghai, I am afraid that my Yu Shengjun will have to add at least 2,000 talents, and can barely garrison Huzhou and Shanghai at the same time! ”

Listening to Lin Zhe's words, Xu Naizhao didn't understand it at first, but he soon understood, that is, Lin Zhe could assist in the defense of Shanghai, but the existing troops were not enough, what should I do if the troops were not enough, expand the army, but the expansion of the army requires money!

Where does this money come from?

Xu Naizhao had already heard the meaning behind Lin Zhe's words, and immediately said: "I don't know how much it takes for Yu Shengjun to increase his troops by 2,000?" ”

Lin Zhe did not directly say a number, but said: "To help defend Shanghai, all the soldiers need to be recruited, guns and artillery must be newly bought, and horses for war service are also needed." If you want to expand the number of soldiers by 2,000, you will need at least this number! ”

Saying that, Lin Zhe raised a finger!

Xu Naizhao saw Lin Zhe raise a finger, and immediately asked tentatively, "Ten thousand taels?" ”

Lin Zhe shook his head lightly with a smile on his face.

Xu Naizhao's face changed slightly: "Is it 100,000 taels?" Lord Lin, are you kidding, 100,000 taels is enough to raise more than 10,000 troops! ”

Lin Zhe was not surprised by Xu Naizhao's reaction, Yu Shengjun is in the eyes of others today: not only is it expensive to raise an army, but it is even more expensive to build an army.

If we want to form a force of about 2,000 people with independent combat capability to assist in the defense of Shanghai according to the current establishment of Yu Shengjun, then at least two infantry regiments, a baggage regiment, an artillery company, and a cavalry company are needed.

The total strength of a unit thus formed is about 2,000 people, and it has independent artillery, cavalry, baggage, and other auxiliary units, and has complete independent combat capability.

In order to prepare for the establishment of such a unit, the initial investment includes the purchase of rifles, artillery, ammunition, war horses, mules and horses for service, the settling-in allowance paid by recruits, and the salaries of personnel and horses in the first month.

Taking the cavalry company as an example, the Mini infantry guns attached to the cavalry needed 200 guns, and each infantry gun included bayonets and ammunition, and the package price that Yu Shengjun purchased from the Linde Machinery Factory was 20 taels of silver, and 200 sets were 4,000 taels.

In addition, there are horses, Jiangnan horses are expensive, even inferior service horses have to be more than a dozen taels of silver, and a good Mongolian war horse with a shoulder height of more than one meter three is difficult to buy, even if you can buy it, it is forty or fifty taels of silver, and it costs at least ten thousand taels of silver just to buy a war horse.

Then there are sabers, saddles and other cavalry equipment, which add up to several thousand taels of silver.

And among the 2,000 men, there are not only cavalry companies, but also artillery companies, and these 12-pounder guns and more than 100 batches of horses pulling guns are not cheap, and an artillery company cannot afford to do it without 10,000 taels of silver.

The two infantry regiments needed more than 1,000 rifles alone, and the cost of rifles, bayonets, and bullets was more than 20,000 taels.

The baggage regiment is only an auxiliary army, but in fact, it is very expensive to prepare a professional baggage army, and the more than 100 batches of military horses and carriages are several thousand larger, plus the soldiers of the baggage regiment are also equipped with infantry guns, which will cost five or six thousand taels of silver.

The cost of equipment, auxiliary equipment such as mules, horses, and carriages, the settling-in allowance for new recruits, and the first month's salary, the establishment of two infantry regiments, an artillery company, a cavalry company, and a baggage regiment, with a total strength of about 2,000 troops, must start at least 80,000, and 90,000 is considered relatively sufficient.

Lin Zhe just added a fraction of a little, and made up a whole hundreds of thousands of taels.

To tell the truth, it's not that he really didn't think about pitting Xu Naizhao, but that his Yu Shengjun spent money like this!

However, it is naturally impossible for these Lin Zhe to explain to Xu Naizhao one by one, although Xu Naizhao is a civilian official, he is also a person who leads troops to fight, and he is very clear about how much military spending is.

So Lin Zhe just said: "Xu Futai is also a person who is familiar with military affairs, and he should know how much the guns, mules, and horses needed to build a new army are!" ”

Xu Naizhao frowned, although he knew that Yu Shengjun's expenses were not small, and he also knew that if he wanted Lin Zhe to help defend Shanghai this time, he would have to come up with a lot of benefits, but he didn't expect Lin Zhe to be a lion.

You must know that this Lin Zhe is only talking about the cost of building the army, and he will have to raise tens of thousands of taels of silver every month in the future, and this year, won't he have to smash hundreds of thousands of taels of silver?

Is it worth asking more than 2,000 victories to help defend Shanghai with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver?

If it's just to help defend Shanghai, it's definitely not worth it, but what if one day the thief army advances east from Zhenjiang, and Suzhou is in danger?

At that time, if there is a Yu Shengjun who can go north in time to reinforce and protect Suzhou, then the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver will be worth spent.

It's just that these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are really a bit tricky, not to mention how much a whole year, looking at Lin Zhe like this, I'm afraid I will have to give 100,000 taels in the first month, where do these 100,000 taels come from?

Last time, in order to invite Lin Zhe to attack Shanghai, Xu Naizhao gritted his teeth and embezzled part of the military funds originally supplied to the Jiangnan battalion, although Xiang Rong was dissatisfied with this, but he also knew that Xu Naizhao was using this batch of money to save the emergency, and with Yu Shengjun going to Shanghai, Xiang Rong did not need to transfer too many additional troops to Shanghai to the east, thus affecting the defense of the Jiangnan battalion.

So at that time, Xiang Rong acquiesced in Xu Naizhao's embezzlement of the military funds of the Jiangnan camp, but now he wants to move the military expenses of the Jiangnan camp again, again and again, again and again, I am afraid that Xiang Rong is going to go crazy.

Therefore, there is no way to embezzle this money from the military expenses of the Jiangnan camp, and the Jiangbei camp has no need to count on it, and Xu Naizhao can't intervene at all.

As for the Jiangsu governor's own money, it has long been drained by the Jiangnan camp and the Jiangbei camp, and now it is supported by the provincial assistance.

In a word, now the yamen of the governor of Jiangsu has no money!

As soon as Lin Zhe's 100,000 taels of silver came out, Lin Zhe and Xu Naizhao fell into a strange silence!

After half a ring, Xu Naizhao raised his head and said: "Jiangsu is overwhelmed now, and I can't take out 100,000 taels of silver, I don't know if it's okay!" ”

However, before he could finish speaking, Lin Zhe suddenly interjected: "As far as I know, Jiang Customs levies a lot of taxes every year."