The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 212 Open Source

The time to return to Shiquan was much earlier than Chen Wang expected, and he received the transfer order to return to Hanzhong Mansion in late May.

In mid-May, the war in northern Sichuan was pacified, and Hong Chengchou led the army back to Shaanxi.

The punishments given to the officials and generals above were also withdrawn. Although the deducted salaries and benefits were not returned, basically all officials were reinstated.

The merits of the two battles in Mianzhou and Jiangyou have been discussed, and the Ministry of War has already sent people to verify and prepare for rewards.

Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict to praise Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, and encouraged the generals, and issued some rewards that were neither painful nor itchy, but there was no more.

"Now in the basement, there are 120 taels of gold and 540 taels of silver and four cents."

In the official hall of Qianhusuo City on the right, Chen Wang sat at the head seat and listened to Tang Shiping, who was standing at the bottom, report the situation in the center.

It was already the end of June, almost the beginning of July when we returned to the interior of Hanzhong Prefecture.

As soon as he arrived at Suocheng, Chen Wang summoned Tang Shiping and Wang Yuankang to the official hall.

I have to sigh that the money spent on military industry and city construction is like running water. After Chongzhen defeated Zhang Yuan in nine years, he seized a large amount of gold and silver from Zhang Yuan at that time. At that time, the total silver was 19 taels, nearly 20 Ten thousand taels of balance.

But two years have passed, and a total of more than 5 taels of silver has been spent, an average of about [-] taels a year.

Most of the expenses were military pay. During the nearly two years from the ninth year of Chongzhen to the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Chen Wang successively recruited many soldiers. Now he has six infantry and one cavalry under his command, totaling 11 soldiers. people.

However, the number of troops limited above is only 700, and one cavalry and two infantry will be paid.

Therefore, the military salaries of about 600 soldiers from the other four infantry units were all paid by Chen Wang with his own money.

In the first year, because the number of recruits was small, the military pay was small, only 2 taels, but the military pay after the expansion of enrollment in the second year has reached more than 4 taels, and a total of more than 5000 was spent in two years. two.

The remaining expenses of more than 4 taels of silver were used to build cities and repair houses, buy livestock, build water conservancy, forge ordnance, and replace armaments.

All told, it doesn't seem like much.

After all, building cities and houses, constructing water conservancy, and buying livestock are basically one-shot transactions. After the painting is completed, basically there is no need to spend this part of the money.

But the big head later is not in these aspects. The real big head will undoubtedly be the Arms Bureau, which is working hard in the future.

"Now in the Weapons Bureau, there are 410 weaponsmiths and 270 armorsmiths, for a total of 680 five people."

In two months, those craftsmen have already moved over from the Four Guards of Xi'an. Coupled with the newly trained craftsmen, the Military Bureau of Hanzhongwei is now about to break through the 700-person barrier.

"According to the general's order, [-] sea oath guns will be made before October, so a hundred people have been assigned to concentrate on making guns in the weapons workshop, and the rest are still learning how to make guns from Mr. Bo."

"Hydraulic gun beds are being built in batches. By the end of this month, the total number of gun beds can reach [-]. Due to some problems in the site, the reservoir needs to be expanded, so the total number can reach [-] by the end of next month."

Tang Shiping paused, thought for a while and said.

"The sea oath gun is expensive to make. The style that has been decided now costs nearly seven taels of silver for just one shot. It is extremely expensive..."

Counting the price of iron, charcoal, craftsmen's wages and food, and other expenses, the cost of a qualified bird gun can even be around three to five taels.

Most of the generally qualified bird guns are about six catties.

The weight of six catties does not seem like much, after all, it is only a mere six catties if it is all iron.

But in fact, it is not calculated in this way. The iron needed for the bird gun is refined iron. If [-] catties of crude iron are to be smelted, only seven or eight catties of refined iron can be smelted, so the cost will increase.

The sea oath gun, which is the first type of flintlock gun developed, is limited by the problem of the reed, so the cost is much higher.

The steel used for reeds is extremely demanding, and the materials used are expensive, and even take up most of the extra money.

In addition, because the sea oath has more butts, more straps, and longer lengths, the requirements and processes have also become more, and the cost of labor and wood is naturally not a small amount.

Tang Shiping really felt that it was a little expensive. He used to be under Cao Wenzhao's account all the time, and now he is used to the car camp in Beidi.

The Great Extermination Cannon costs only five to six taels of silver per gun, while the Baizi Gun costs only two taels of silver each.

A chariot, equipped with a pair of child-mother god flying cannons, and each cannon is equipped with five sub-guns, including the fare of the chariot, the total is only 30 taels of silver.

But now, just one firecracker costs seven taels of silver, and four firecrackers are as expensive as a chariot. Seeing the money being spent like flowing water, it would be a lie to say that it doesn't feel bad.

"The general requires extremely high specifications for armor making, so a pair of fine armor uses 11 taels of silver whiskers. After using water power, the labor is reduced a lot, but for the time being, you still need to use [-] taels of silver."

"The general requires all the armor and weapons to be finished. It is estimated that the silver used will be more than 2000 taels. This does not include the price of casting bronze cannons, nor does it include the price of making gun platforms and other equipment."

Tang Shiping put away the documents in his hand and handed the question to Chen Wang.

Before he reported, Wang Yuankang had already reported the affairs of the civil affairs department to Chen Wang.

Now the two thousand-household cities are building water conservancy projects on a large scale, and one well after another is being dug out, many of which are deep wells, just to deal with the possible drought.

The dams were built one after another, and then flowed to various fields along the canals along the drainage holes.

One after another, Lanzhou waterwheels rose from the ground, transporting Hanshui to remote fields.

Today, the two Thousand-Household Houses built in Shiquan and Xixiang are undergoing a lot of infrastructure construction. Once these infrastructure constructions are completely completed, they will not be helpless when dealing with famines.

The source of these money can be regarded as a few times, and it is clean. Many of them are used for the development of the guard in the name of confiscating bandits. Of course, there are more fake accounts, but not for the sake of To embezzle money, but to not attract attention.

In addition, various places are still digging deep holes, accumulating grain, and even building roads and bridges.

And all of this is naturally Chen Wang's plan for the future, but the money needed to do all of this will undoubtedly be an astronomical figure in the end.

And not only the two Thousand Household Offices under the control of Chen Wang, but also the two guarding Thousand Household Offices in Mian County and Xing'an under the control of Guan Qilin and Du Wugang are also constantly developing.

Of course, it is also indispensable to send money to support. "

Chen Wang frowned slightly. There is still nearly [-] silver in the warehouse, but according to this calculation, it may only be used until the beginning of next year.

The price of cast bronze cannons is much more expensive than that of cast iron cannons, and it is the biggest among the big ones.

"How is the situation in Mian County and Xing'an?"

Wang Yuankang was in charge of contacting Mian County and Xing'an.

The reason why Wang Yuankang can manage the civil affairs is naturally because Wang Yuankang is already considered a trusted confidant.

Ever since Wang Yuankang left Hanzhong Acropolis, there was actually no way to look back.

Not only Wang Yuankang now lives in Suocheng, but the entire Wang clan now lives in Youqianhusuocheng next to Shiquan.

"There are now more than [-] people in Mian County, [-] non-staff members, and [-] regular troops."

When Chen Wang led his troops all the way from Lueyang to Mian County, he collected about [-] refugees along the way, and these refugees were all resettled in Mian County at that time.

Some entered the guards as military households, while the other remained in Mian County as civilian households.

The so-called non-staff members refer to the refugees who did not join the guard at the beginning.

"The situation in Xing'an Guarding Thousand Households is much better than that in Mian County. Du Wugang gathered the refugees and opened up arable land. Now there are more than 510 people in the house, and [-] members of the regular army have obtained [-] hectares of arable land. Since the expenditure started last year, it has returned. just."

Chen Wang had expected that Xing'an Qianhu Office was better than Mian County Qianhu Office.

The surrounding area of ​​Xing'an was basically attacked by the rogues, and a large number of people were lost. In the name of Sun Chuanting, Du Wugang gathered a lot of fields and refugees in a short period of time, so it was naturally possible to develop.

However, the Qianhu Office in Mian County has not yet been established, and its development is naturally inferior to Xing'an.

"The number of soldiers in the two thousand-household stations in Mian County and Xing'an should be kept at around [-], and there is no need to expand the number of recruits."

Chen Wang knocked on the table and said.

"The existing artillery guns in the army, as well as the nearly obsolete tiger squat guns and Frang machine guns can all be sent to Xing'an, so that Du Wugang can enrich the city defense."

The two thousand households in Mian County and Xing'an are planned to be supplementary, and they will be used as places for farming to enrich food and grass.

Chen Wang didn't think about letting the two guards participate in the battle, as long as they can undertake certain defensive tasks, so more than a thousand regular troops are already available.

During the period from the 11th year of Chongzhen to the beginning of the 13th year of Chongzhen, Xing'an in history did not encounter any major intrusions.

There is no need to set up any defenses in Mian County. Now that northern Sichuan has been settled, Li Zicheng broke up and led a small number of elites to sneak into the deep mountains and valleys in Long'an Mansion.

Li Zicheng was making a comeback. If he wanted to go to Hanzhong Mansion, he still needed to cross the two areas of Chengdu Mansion and Baoning Mansion. It would not be too late to increase his troops by then.

Now that Hu Zhiyi is still leading troops to guard Lueyang, it is impossible for the bandits to enter Hanzhong Mansion from Cheng and Jie.

In other words, within the past two years, as long as there are no accidents, Hanzhong Mansion is absolutely safe.

Sending the eliminated artillery to Xing'an is only a precautionary measure.

Now that Hanzhong Mansion has been in operation for two years, it can be said that it is close to being impenetrable in a sense.

"Have you checked the terrain of the passes and main roads in all places?"

After Chen Wang was silent for a while, he asked slowly.

"It has been investigated. The location information is currently kept as a secret. The workshop has already come up with a construction plan."

At the mouth of Chihe River, the only way from Shiquan to Hanyin, a bastion is now built that can accommodate 2000 people for defense. Only when the weapons are in place, the entire mouth of Chihe River can be completely closed.

Chen Wang's plan is to wait until after October to lead his troops to the north. After that, the limited supply of weapons and artillery made by the Ordnance Bureau will be supplied to the Bastion at the mouth of the Chihe River, directly blocking any possible invasion from the east.

On the other side of Mian County, a group of bastions and a network of forts centered on Dingjun Mountain are also being constructed.

The fortifications of these two places are under construction, but Chen Wang's plans are not limited to these two places.

Chen Wang also sent people to investigate on Ziwu Road and Baoxie Road, looking for places to build fortifications and bastions. Now the location has been selected, and materials have even been prepared secretly.

Once things change, they will immediately block the Meridian Road and Baoxie Road entering Hanzhong.

When Dingjun Mountain and Chihekou are closed again, the entire Hanzhong Basin will become an impregnable giant fortress.

Take Dingjun Mountain, Chihekou, Ziwu Road, and Baoxie Road as the pass, and use the mountains on all sides as fortresses to resist the enemy with the help of guns.

"Everything can be carried out according to the predetermined plan, and there is no need to worry about money..."

The so-called making of perfumes, soaps, distilled spirits, selling at high prices, and making colored glazes to make money are often unfeasible at all.

How many people know how to make perfume, soap, glass, etc. without special knowledge.

Not to mention distilled alcohol, distilled alcohol is not a rare item.

The easiest way to make money in this era is to use the power in your hands.

But in today's Hanzhong Mansion, the power he holds in his hands can be described as monstrous.

Instead of trying to do things that may not work and are thankless, it is better to be simple and rude.

The most profitable in this era is sea trade, followed by salt mines.

Now in Hanzhong Mansion, sea trade is naturally out of reach, and now all trade in the southeast coast is basically monopolized by Zheng Zhilong, and there is no way to intervene.

As for salt and mines, there is no official channel for salt, and they can only sell private salt, and now Chen Wang is already doing it.

The largest private salt in Hanzhong Mansion is sold by Chen Wang. In addition, Chen Wang also collects a certain amount of tax in private for the caravans entering Hanzhong Mansion.

These things are unspoken rules, and Chen Wang didn't forbid them, after all, why not make money if you have money.

Which one of these long-distance business caravans is not a big force behind it, otherwise it would have been wiped out, and there would be no bones left.

Salt and sea trade are temporarily out of reach, so the only thing that can open up a source of income is the mine.

Although the mineral resources in Hanzhong Prefecture are less than those in some mineral-rich areas, if most of them can be collected, it will be enough to make up for expenses and have a surplus.

Chen Wang squinted his eyes, and a cold light flashed in them.

I heard that in Ziyang and Xing'an, there seem to be many remaining rogues active.

As we all know, mining itself is a dangerous thing, and it is normal to encounter bandits and plunder.

(End of this chapter)