At the wine table, everyone praised and complimented each other as usual, and Chen Dao was also embarrassed when he asked about the situation of the war against the Japanese that day. The Kanyu Battalion was able to defeat the Japanese Invaders not only by firearms, but also by the courage to fight. The number of firearms and equipment in the Ming army was also quite large, but when the battle was imminent, due to the lack of courage of the commanders and soldiers, the power of firearms was often greatly reduced, which fully illustrated a truth, that is, no matter how advanced the weapon, after all, it must be used by people.

"Instead, Chen came to Huai'an this time, and Wang Shangshu said a few words specifically and asked Chen to bring it."

After three rounds of drinking, Chen Dao said to Su Hao.

Su Hao hurriedly put down the chopsticks in his hand and said respectfully: "Brother Chen, please speak, Su Hao will definitely remember it in his heart." ”

Chen Daodao: "Wang Shangshu said that before you came to Huai'an, he told you that he wanted you to train more public opinion survey talents, and the military department would call them in the future." He asked me to ask you, how did you do this? ”

Su Hao said: "Please ask Chen Langzhong to go back to Beijing and tell Wang Shangshu that he has never dared to forget what his old man explained." The survey battalion recruited more than 300 recruits in Huai'an, and all of them received training in survey techniques. After several months of training and field work, the basic skills have been mastered, and the next step is just how to become more proficient. ”

"Well, that's good." Chen Dao nodded, and then said: "Wang Shangshu also asked, this time the survey battalion was reorganized into a battalion and the establishment was expanded, do you know how to use these expanded establishments?" ”

"What do you mean by how to use it?" Su Hao asked.

Chen Daodao: "In other words, can you know what soldiers Wang Shangshu wants to recruit and what soldiers to train?" ”

"This ...... Forgive the little brother for being stupid, can Brother Chen give me a hint? Su Hao couldn't answer.

The name of his unit is called the Survey Battalion, and from the name, the expansion means that soldiers should continue to be recruited to engage in surveying and mapping. However, the entire establishment of 2,700 people was used to recruit surveyors and mappers, and it was difficult to find so many qualified candidates, and secondly, it was difficult to train them. Su Hao believed that Wang Yihe would not be so hot-headed as to ask him to train more than 2,000 surveyors at once. Besides, since Chen Dao asked like this, it is obvious that the answer will not be so simple.

Chen Dao nodded again, and affirmed that Su Hao did not answer directly, if Su Hao followed the previous words, he directly said that all the extra establishments would have to recruit surveyors, and Chen Dao would despise Su Hao's vision.

"The Ministry of War promoted you to your official position this time because of your achievements in resisting the Japanese. According to the war report, your unit used new firearms when resisting the Japanese, and the saint went to Liangxiang a few days ago and saw your firearms workshop. The purpose of the military department is to make your troops strengthen their attempts in the use of firearms and cultivate a strong force that is good at using firearms to resist the enemy, so as to serve as a model for the whole army. Chen Dao said solemnly.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty was an era that attached great importance to firearms. The Ming army was equipped with a wide variety of guns, artillery, explosives, etc., and the number was also very amazing. According to research, the proportion of soldiers using firearms in the troops led by famous generals such as Qi Jiguang can even reach more than 50.

However, the firearms of those years had the shortcomings of being bulky, slow to load, short range, and weak lethality, and the effect of using them in actual combat was not very obvious. Ming soldiers often carried muskets and spears at the same time, and when fighting, they first fired a musket and then charged with spears. In the battle against the Japanese and Mongol cavalry, the Ming army, equipped with a large number of firearms, did not have a clear advantage, which was also an important problem that had always plagued the military department Shangshu Wang Yiyu.

This time, the survey battalion led by Su Hao used new types of firearms in the battle against the Japanese invaders, including faster flintlock pistols and extremely powerful grenades, and the description of these details in the battle report left a deep impression on Wang Yiyu. He knew that with the current situation, it would be difficult for the military department to get enough funds to equip all the armies with new types of firearms, but he felt that it would be better for Su Hao, who invented this new type of firearms, to establish an exemplary team first, and it would be best to be able to fight a few more beautiful battles like this one. In this way, Wang Yihe can find a reason to persuade the cabinet to increase military spending for the Ministry of War, and gradually allow new firearms to be equipped with more troops.

The doorway in this is very complicated, and it is inconvenient for Chen Dao to come to Su Hao one by one. However, the instructions of Wang Yiyu that he conveyed to Su Hao were enough to make Su Hao's heart move. As a traverser, Su Hao's role in firearms is almost superstitious, and Wang Yihe wants to let the Kanyu Camp be used as a pilot for the application of firearms, isn't this exactly what Su Hao wants?

Although he thought so in his heart, Su Hao wanted to pretend to be depressed on his face, he frowned and said to Chen Dao: "Brother Chen, this will of Wang Shangshu makes the little brother very difficult. ”

"Embarrassed?" Chen Dao was stunned, he knew Su Hao very well, knowing that Su Hao liked firearms, why would Wang Yiyu's request still make him embarrassed?

Su Hao said: "Brother Chen knows, the younger brother invented these firearms mainly for self-defense. Like the flintlock pistol, you need to use the finest steel, and the cost of each one is ...... Ahem, it's a lot of money anyway. As for the explosives, it was also different from the black powder commonly used in the army, and it was made from the essence extracted from green alum. This time, because he was fighting against the Japanese invaders, the younger brother did not hesitate to spend money. When he faced the bandits before, the younger brother was reluctant to use it. ”

"Change" means to say...... It costs a lot to equip a large number of new firearms in the survey camp, so you find it difficult to change it? Chen Dao understood what Su Hao meant.

Su Hao nodded: "That's right, I don't know how much silver taels the Ministry of War can allocate for my battalion every year for the purchase of equipment." ”

Chen Dao seemed to expect Su Hao to ask this question, he shook his head very dryly, and said, "Well, Wang Shangshu didn't say it. ”

"Didn't say that?" Su Hao's eyes widened, "Brother Chen, this is not a joke, if you want to equip a soldier with a flintlock pistol and grenades, you have to calculate at least 50 taels of silver." Even if half of the soldiers in the battalion were equipped with firearms, I would have to pay more than 100,000 taels of silver. If you count the artillery, you can go out casually for 200,000 taels. With such a large sum of money, Wang Shangshu doesn't want me to come out privately, right? ”

Chen Dao said with a smile: "Wang Shangshu didn't say that, but, according to the foolish brother's opinion, that's what he meant. ”

"That's too bad, isn't it?" Su Hao really couldn't cry or laugh.

In the face of this kind of naked blackmail, Su Hao could of course slap the table and threaten that he would never pay this money, even if the lawsuit was brought to Wanli, there was no reason for private individuals to pay for the state to raise soldiers.

But Chen Dao knew that Su Hao was not such a person, from the time he first founded the survey camp in Fengcheng, he paid out of his own pocket to provide food and equipment for the soldiers, and the silver pasted in before and after was at least more than 10,000 taels.

According to the usual practice, the military department paid each recruit one or five cents of silver per month, which included the money for the soldiers' meals and the money distributed to the soldiers to support their families. From the time of its establishment, the survey battalion claimed that the soldiers should be fed and fed, and that there would be meat every other day, and that the money could certainly not be deducted from the soldiers' salaries, but could only be subsidized by the commanders themselves.

The money for food is still a small amount, and the equipment of the survey battalion is different from that of other armies, and all kinds of surveying and mapping equipment alone are worth a lot of money. As far as Chen Dao knew, all this equipment was purchased by Su Hao at his own expense, and he did not reach out to the military, or even if he wanted to reach out, no one would give him money.

The basis for Su Hao's ability to do this is that he is a wealthy businessman himself, and he has coal mines, iron workshops, glass workshops and other industries under his name, and he has earned tens of thousands of taels of silver from the military for telescopes alone. Now, he has built an industrial park in Liangxiang County, next to the capital, and sells high-end goods such as high-end steel waist knives and vanity mirrors to the capital, and has made a lot of money. In this sense, if Wang Yihe has to find a wronged boss to pay for the army, Su Hao is undoubtedly the best candidate.

Of course, Wang Yiju's thinking about the problem will not be so simple, and it is impossible for him to really let Su Hao suffer privately. Letting Su Hao pay for his own money to improve the equipment is just a cover-up method, and there are many famous names behind it, which is why Wang Yihe sent Chen Dao to have an interview with Su Hao.

"Change it, you have to be considerate of Wang Shangshu's difficulties. There are precedents for the equipment costs of various armies, and Wang Shangshu can't be biased against the survey camp, otherwise, everyone else will have to go to the military department to make trouble. Chen Dao said to Su Hao slowly.

Su Hao nodded: "I can understand this, but Nuo is a big country, and it can't take advantage of my private interests, right?" ”

Chen Dao said: "Wang Shangshu said, the loss of the embankment is replenished outside the embankment, and the military department will keep in mind how much silver the Su garrison has advanced for the military department, and there will always be a chance to subsidize the Su garrison in the future." ”

"I see, I don't know how the Ministry of War plans to subsidize me?" Su Hao's eyes lit up, and he began to understand Wang Yiyu's intentions a little.

In fact, Su Hao has not seen this kind of curve appropriation, when Zhang Hong, the capital of Jiangxi, ordered him to set up a survey camp, he placed an order for 200 telescopes at the same time, allowing him to earn more than 10,000 taels of silver. Without this money, how dare he spend money on the head of the survey camp?

Chen Dao laughed, did not answer Su Hao's question again, but picked up the wine glass, and said to Xu Guangzu, Deng Kui, Zhang Yunlong and others on the table: "Everyone, today's matter is just a private chat between friends, so you don't have to mention it outside." Wang Shangshu is very optimistic about the development of the Kanyu Camp, and there are still many things in the future, which will trouble you a lot. Chen Dao borrowed the wine of Su Shoubei today to pay tribute to you on behalf of Wang Shangshu, hoping that you can live up to Wang Shangshu's high expectations and build the Kanyu Camp into a model for our Ming army. ”