stubborn thief

Chapter 321 Sufficient Manpower
It may have been ten months ago that Liu Chengzong slept in his room last time, and he returned to the safest environment. With his mind relaxed, he rarely slept late and woke up at noon.

Because the conversation with his father made him realize that the family is destined to gather less and leave more in the future, he thought about not doing anything today and spending time with his parents in Jurwan.

It turned out to be very embarrassing to find that his parents didn't need him to accompany him, and when he woke up, the city was quiet, as if no one was there.

He walked out to the gate of the mansion and asked the guards on guard: "Tianbao, how old am I?"

The guard guarding the gate of the mansion is called Tianbao, who is also from northern Shaanxi, but he used to be Zuo Guangxian's soldier. He joined his army in Xining and then went to the training camp. He was transferred to the guard team after fighting in the south.

Tianbao said: "The old man went out before dawn. He took a cotton armor, a bowl, a goose feather sword, and a gun. He took two relatives out with him. He thought it was General Zu. He just ordered the little one to heat up the water."

Liu Chengzong scratched his head, his face full of doubts: "What are you doing?"

"Take the academy students to practice outside the city, dance knives, shoot arrows, ride horses and fire guns, go back to the house to take a bath and eat, and say that I have gone to the academy to give morning classes to the students."

Liu Chengzong wiped his face, his father's hobbies are more and more abandoning literature and pursuing martial arts. It is a good sign that he is in good health. He yawned and stretched his waist and asked, "What about my mother?"

"The old lady also went out in the morning, took seven or eight young women, and called the Fan Guan team to the Juerwan market. She said that she wanted the Baigong Bureau to buy some jewelry and measure some outer and inner clothes for Fan Guan team."

Liu Chengzong's lazy waist was half-stretched and stopped: "Emiang took Sanlang to make jewelry? Who are the seven or eight girls, and they didn't bring a few guards."

"I don't know about the young ones, but they seem to be handsome old men." The guard shook his head and said, "I heard that there are the wife of Zhifu Yang and the wife of Zongbing Cao, and I heard the old lady call the two women Bai Mother, Yun Niang."

It's Mrs. Cao, Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue.

Sister-in-law Cao thought that she was Mrs. Yazhai back then, and she was skilled in bowing and horses; The lineup can disturb the peace of a prefectural city.

Liu Chengzong was relieved, and while walking into the mansion, he heard Tianbao say: "Marshal, and General Zu, have brought Chieftain Chen back to Xining this morning, and arranged for Chieftain Chen to guard Bajiao City."

"Understood, I'm going to wash up, let the brothers rest for two days, you pick a few people to lead the horse and wait for me on the street, go to the Armament Bureau."

In fact, this newly built city is full of flaws in Liu Chengzong's eyes.

The ratio of the height and thickness of the city wall is not reasonable enough. The overall building is square and square without considering the dead angle of shooting. The position and direction of the city gate are not crooked.

Except for the blue bricks covering half of the city, it is almost a county town built in peacetime, or the simplest square formation.

But there is nothing to criticize. Not everyone has the experience of attacking cities and building them like him.

It is even more impossible to expect the old man to be like him, who can't help but think about how to attack a city when he sees it.

In fact, even if this kind of thinking is useless to the city, if you really expect to defend the city in Juerwan, it can only show that the entire defense system of Qinghai has been breached, and it is unable to organize a field counterattack.

Liu Chengzong was not in a hurry to leave the city, but stood on the top of the city and looked westward, and picked up the binoculars to look at the bustling Jurwan Market from afar.

Although there are no Mongolian aristocratic customers, in a short period of time, due to the return of tens of thousands of soldiers from the Southern Expedition, it is difficult for the Juerwan market to decline quickly.

Liu Chengzong issued a total of 16 taels of silver rewards to the soldiers who followed him, and the soldiers on vacation in the entire area around the lake blocked the river valley with horses and carriages. purchase.

This prosperity will continue for a long time.

At the Military Weapons Bureau, Liu Chengzong didn't let anyone report it, but he brought his guards to visit in the workshop yard. It wasn't until we visited more than half of the Military Weapons Bureau that Shi Cheng and He Xin and I got the news and came to see him in a hurry.

The two of them were surprised that Liu Chengzong visited the Armaments Bureau the next day after his return, and they both thought that something serious had happened. How could they have known that the commander-in-chief was watching the craftsmen forging iron and steel after seeing Liu Chengzong.

"How much armament can the Ordnance Bureau produce in a year?"

Shi Cheng and I answered fluently: "Back to the commander, because the sale of Juerwan takes up the manpower of craftsmen, the Military Weapons Bureau has set a rule of 960 pieces a year."

"A lot, go to the Yamen."

Liu Chengzong nodded in affirmation of this number, asked the military weapon bureau officials to take him to the Yamen, and said, "While walking, talk, what does each pair of armaments have?"

This time I looked at He Xin, and He Dao said, "Return to Commander, a pair of military equipment has two outer and inner sides of a soldier's uniform, a bowl and helmet, a body armor collar, a waist knife handle, a bow, two bowstrings, and arms. One side of shield, thirty arrows, one set of sacks; two sets plus one bird gun, one pair of tin turtle medicine bags, thirty cartridges, three hundred lead pellets, six catties of gunpowder; three sets plus one spear , Long card side."

With that said, Shicheng, I have ordered the staff of the Armament Bureau to fetch three sets of armaments from the inventory.

Liu Chengzong laughed out loud when he heard He Xin's report, and asked with a frown, "I don't remember you working in the imperial court's Military Weapons Bureau?"

This kind of armament is calculated according to the deputy, which is very personal style of Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, full of distrust of officials.

To put it simply, if you don’t calculate by pair, the 17 sets of armaments can be said to be more than 30 pieces of various types of armaments, and if the armor piece is also counted, it can be said to be more than [-] pieces.

He Xin shook his head and said: "Back to Commander, the little old man has never worked in the Armament Bureau, it is Xining. When the three generals were in charge of Juerwan, they recruited some craftsmen from the Armament Bureau of Xining Guard, and the imperial court's military regulations were changed." coming."

Liu Chengzong responded with a smile, it turned out that Chengyun did it.

He has already discovered the problem. The production capacity of the Weapons Bureau is insufficient, and there is a serious lag in manufacturing equipment. The equipment regulation is still suitable for a team of two soldiers and two auxiliary soldiers.

This can't help but make him feel that the Marshal's Mansion was born in this era is lucky, the forces of all parties have no lower limit, the natural environment restricts their upper limit, and the soldiers have very low requirements for him.

People are very loyal, even if he only has this poor ordnance production capacity, the entire army uses almost no self-made equipment except guns and artillery, and can fight thousands of miles just by eating a full mouthful.

Not long after, the officials of the Military Weapons Bureau brought more than ten apprentices and three sets of military equipment to the Yamen of the Military Weapons Bureau.

Liu Chengzong was right when he saw it. This was the equipment of the three-member battle auxiliary team, but he had never seen the uniforms and armors inside.

This made him very helpless. Many of the soldiers who accompanied him to the south wore military uniforms of the Ming army, and a few veterans wore winter clothes from the Lion Camp period for a year. Captured equipment that doesn't necessarily fit.

Not to mention the armor, what to wear and what to use.

Their poor manufacturing capabilities and the long distance between the two prefectures made the army of the Marshal's Mansion far from meeting the conditions for what to make and what to use.

The military uniform is summer and winter, both inside and outside. The underwear is khaki cross-collared right lapel jacket and trousers; Two belts, two pairs of wraps, and one pair of leather boots.

The armor is mainly composed of a half-sleeved iron chain mail connected by brazing technology, with excellent workmanship; it is equipped with a pair of leather shin guards and arm guards.

Liu Chengzong was quite happy when looking at the military clothes, he could see that the furs of the Marshal's Mansion were rich, but he was not satisfied when he saw the armor, he pointed to the chain mail and asked, "What does this mean?"

Liu Chengzong thought about it, my military bureau regarded my soldiers as miscellaneous soldiers, and they all went to the battlefield wearing these things.

In all fairness, the welded chain mail is not bad, but Liu Chengzong feels that this armor lacks a lot of things. The combination of winter clothes and chain mail is an excellent lining for heavy soldiers, but what about the outer armor?There is no outer armor.

It can't be said that everyone is a light infantry.

So much so that Liu Chengzong directly lost the desire to take a closer look at the waist knife, spear, shield and blunderbuss. If his own army had to rely on this chain mail to compete for the world, it must be hopeless.

The most important thing is that his army has no military salary, and what to buy armor accessories, which means that soldiers have no chance to buy armor before they go to the battlefield for the first time.

Shi Cheng, I didn’t understand what he meant by asking this question at first, but then I realized that the general was not satisfied with the armor, so I said, “Commander, the iron armbands and cloth face armor can be made by the sergeant in the later stage. "

"Self-provision?" Liu Chengzong frowned and said, "I don't think the Military Weapons Bureau's manufacturing capability is bad. Need soldiers to self-provide?"

He Xin was a little embarrassed, sitting on the side and dared not speak, Shi Cheng and I suddenly realized the reason for Liu Chengzong's anger, and immediately relaxed, and explained: "The commander-in-chief calm down, please forgive my subordinates for speaking bluntly. After the commander-in-chief's southern expedition, there were changes, the ministries were different from each other, and the allocation of materials was not well planned, and the cost of soldiers and armaments had to be considered."

Liu Chengzong said: "Go on."

"In the past, when the commander-in-chief was there, all the ministries coordinated with the commander-in-chief. No matter what happened, the commander-in-chief could make a decision with one word. But after the Southern Expedition, everything remained the same, and no one dared to overstep new things. It all depended on hard work to maintain."

Shicheng and I said one by one: "For example, the three generals are in charge of the Juerwan market. The officers of the training camp want to eat fresh vegetables, but our army's old rations are only rations of dried meat, pickles, vinegar and cloth. Fortunately, the Juerwan market is still profitable. The three generals It also has prestige, and being able to prepare fresh vegetables for military training is nothing more than a cost."

"However, the Military Weapons Bureau needs millions of dollars in charcoal and coal, and tens of thousands of copper and iron. Why do they purchase it? Xining Prefecture can only support itself in food rations, and is unable to allocate materials. It can only rely on market profits to purchase materials to complete the tasks required by the commander-in-chief. The gun is heavy, and the standing ordnance can only be chosen."

Shi Cheng and I finished speaking, looked at the three pairs of lock armor in the hall, and said: "Armor is the most expensive thing, and I am afraid that the subordinates will make light armor and be punished by the commander, so I chose locks as the inner armor. If you are dissatisfied with the armor, it is not considered waste, it can be used as a sergeant's inner lining."

Liu Chengzong understood that in the final analysis, the administrative mechanism of the Marshal's Mansion was too immature, and Juerwan was once a department directly under him.

He was fine when he was there, but when he was gone, there was no substitute organization, which caused chaos in the management of Xining Prefecture.

Even if his father served as the magistrate and transported and managed Juerwan, he couldn't command the ministries like him, and he could only coordinate and maintain it.

Liu Chengzong thought for a moment and didn't speak. He was wondering if the same chaos would happen in Kangning Mansion.

Corning does not have such departments as Juerwan Market, Shicheng Our Military Bureau, and Military Training Camp, which he manages alone, so the management is much easier.

"I understand, this problem will be resolved later."

Liu Chengzong asked, "How many craftsmen are there in the Weapons Bureau?"

"The Military Weapons Bureau is divided into fifteen categories of workshops: wood, lacquer, bow, arrow, gold fire, gunpowder, furnace, casting, forging, blunderbuss, cannon, charcoal, fur, and textile. It is divided into 27 courtyards. 120 eight divisions, 740 craftsmen, one thousand 150 three workers, big and small."

Liu Chengzong nodded slowly. The scale of craftsmen and craftsmen is very large, but the output is relatively small. There must be reasons for raw materials, costs, and management.

He thought for a while, and said to Shi Cheng, "Well, I have seen the Weapons Bureau, and I have a lot of things that need to be adjusted in my heart. Come back to the Marshal's Mansion with me... There is no need to make bows and arrows, let the craftsmen take a break first. "

The two were astonished. Their commander used to admire bows and arrows very much. Why was there a battle in the south, people seemed to have changed their nature, and they didn't let the Military Weapons Bureau make bows and arrows.

Faced with the surprised expressions of the two, Liu Chengzong waved his hands and said: "In the past, our army was small and elite, and we had no source of recruits, so we followed the imperial court, and those with strong strength and skilled skills used bows, and those with weak strength used blunderbuss... ...But you don't know how many bows I captured in the south."

Liu Chengzong took the first batch of fleets to Qinghai Lake. The people behind transported the war loot from Nanshan Fort to the Naval Office. More than 2 bows were seized successively. I'm too lazy to transport them to Juerwan, so I put them in the Navy Yamen for the time being.

This year's battle made Liu Chengzong truly realize that the solution to the problem still depends on firearms and hand-to-hand combat.

Whether he was willing to admit it or not, the role of bows and arrows in fighting against well-armored regular troops was indeed not great.

Now Xikang has enough population to support him in recruiting troops, and according to the nutritional level of the soldiers, it is more beneficial to train them to use muskets.

On the way back to the Marshal's Mansion, Liu Chengzong described to Shi Chengwo his blueprint for the development of the Military Weapons Bureau: "The simpler our weapons and armor, the better, and the Military Weapons Bureau in Juerwan does not have a material advantage. There are many mines in Xining Prefecture. , then build a factory under the mine to make iron, steel, copper, tin, and lead directly to reduce transportation costs."

"Choose places along the river with fast-flowing water to build gunpowder factories for guns, swords, spears, armor, and gunpowder. Each factory will build large-scale hydraulic machinery first, and we will use all lathes that need them."

Lathe is not a new term. In ancient times, all the machines that used the wheel shaft to rotate were called cars, and the bases on which things were placed were all called beds, such as water wheels, rollovers, drum cars, ox carts, drilling machines, grinding machines, and mound beds.

"There is only one specification for swords, spears and armor. A factory has several workshops, and each workshop only does one thing. For example, a forging factory has a forging workshop, a grinding workshop, a polishing workshop, an adjustment workshop, and an assembly workshop. Each workshop is Just take care of this one thing, and a worker only takes care of this process."

Liu Chengzong said to Shi Chengwo: "As long as there is only one craftsman, many skilled workers can be brought out quickly."

I was a little confused by Shi Cheng, but I can probably understand the meaning. As a traditional craftsman, he can realize the benefits of this, and he can also realize that the skilled workers brought out in this way are absolutely inseparable from the Marshal's Mansion.

"Commander, swords, spears, armor, and even artillery can do this, but making guns...matchlock guns requires fifteen or sixteen workshops, and flintlock guns require at least thirty workshops."

After that, Shi Cheng and I nodded again and said: "However, according to the arrangement of the commander-in-chief, the production will definitely increase."

"This is enough!"

Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "Now is a good time to rely on work instead of development. Our manpower has never been so sufficient."

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)