A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 195
In the mid-February of the 11th year of Chongzhen, it was the time when spring plowing and farming were busy, and the Shunxiangbao Woodenware Factory was also bustling with many craftsmen busy, concentrating on their work.

There are so many wheelbarrows and carriages that Wang Dou’s battalion and general logistics teams need to build, which is enough for the 140 or so craftsmen in the woodware factory to work for several months.Although there are many wheelbarrows and carriages in various parts of Baoan Prefecture, many of them are substandard according to military standards and need to be manufactured by themselves.

The wheelbarrows currently manufactured by the woodware factory are slightly lighter than the light chariots used in the Ming army, weighing less than [-] catties, similar to the wheelbarrows used by Yu Dayou.Zhao Xuan thought the protective wooden side box originally used was cumbersome, and suggested that Wang Dou use detachable license plates or folding license plates, just like Zhao Shizhen's Yingyang car.

Wang Dou was a good follower and adopted his suggestion. Therefore, the wheelbarrows and carriages manufactured by Shunxiangbao Woodenware Factory have punched holes on the front and right poles, so that protective cards can be inserted during wartime.The playing cards are made of light and hard wood such as poplar, pine, and paulownia. Each side is five feet long and one foot and five inches wide. The top is slightly smaller than the bottom by four or five cents.On the top are painted dragons, lion heads, etc., to frighten enemy horses.

Zhao Xuan also suggested that Wang Dou wrap the playing cards with iron leaves and leather to enhance protection.This is the case with the chariots of the Beijing camp. Their liger and tiger chariots are completely three-dimensional and present the appearance of beasts. Considering the cost, forget it.

The cost of building a light cart in the Ming army is about ten taels of silver, and it can be carried by one or two people.With the working method of craftsmen in Shun Xiangbao, this cost is reduced several times. Even so, Wang Dou only has one state, and his family is small and his business is small, so he should save as much as possible.Wang Dou couldn't believe it. The Qing soldiers' bows and arrows could still shoot through this thick wooden shield?
"The humble job was originally in the car camp. It used to use a heavy-duty car weighing more than [-] catties. The car needed two mules to pull it, and it could be equipped with two Flang machine guns. It's just that the car was too heavy and needed to be used. There are a lot of people and horses, so it is not suitable for danger, and it is not suitable for attacking in wartime, so it is rarely used now, and a light cart weighing [-] catties is used more, with a Frang machine gun on it."

In the Shunxiangbao Wooden Ware Factory, Zhao Xuan accompanied Wang Dou to inspect the place, while introducing Wang Dou in eloquence.

Wang Dou sometimes nodded, looking at the bustling work scene in front of him.

All the craftsmen in the carpentry factory are concentrating on making every part of the vehicle, such as shaft bars, lute heads, columns, square ears, wheels, car nets and other parts. There are also craftsmen who specialize in making cards, and then assemble them into cars and pass the inspection .

Every part made by a craftsman needs to be engraved with his own name, a certain year, a certain season, the name of the inspector, etc., so that if there is a problem with the vehicle, the relevant person in charge can be easily found. It is difficult to exist in Wang Dou's craftsman workshop.

In the craftsmen's workshops in Shunxiangbao, the craftsmen's monthly rations are actually not much. As long as the craftsmen come to work, they will have enough food to feed them, and then give them a few buckets of monthly rations to support their families.The big head is the reward at the end of the year. If you do a good job and do a lot, you will get more rewards at the end of the year.

A skilled craftsman, in addition to the monthly rations, sometimes gets a bonus of one tael of silver a month, and 12 taels a year, and craftsmen like Li Maosen get even more.

Over the past few years, the craftsmen of Shunbao, like the soldiers of Shunbao, have become the first group of people to get rich. In the 11th year of Chongzhen, basically every craftsman in Shunxiangbao sewed new clothes for their families and bought I bought a large number of New Year’s goods and happily spent the New Year’s Eve.

Moreover, there are many reward mechanisms in Shunxiangbao. Last year, Lai Yuanlong and Li Maosen developed the fire door device and received a steady stream of technological dividends. Encouraged by this, the artisans contributed their private technology.Before the new year, a craftsman in Shunbao solved the speed regulation problem of the hydraulic drilling machine and was rewarded.In fact, his idea is very simple, that is, he proposed to build a dam on the river. With a stable water flow, the speed regulation problem of the hydraulic drilling machine will be solved.

With the role models of these people in front, the work enthusiasm of the craftsmen increased rapidly. Even many civilian craftsmen in Yuanzhou City, seeing the fiery days of the military craftsmen, were tempted one after another, and came to Shunxiang Fort to join the army. Craftsman household registration.

Although the establishment of the reward mechanism will cost Wang Dou several thousand taels of silver a year, but it can mobilize the enthusiasm of the craftsmen and make the weapons produced are of high quality, Wang Dou thinks it is worth it.

"My lord, I still suggest that our division be used as a car battalion. The tanks built in Baoan Prefecture are as high as [-], which is enough to form several car battalions."

Not to mention the artillery team, each of Wang Dou's general supply teams has a budget of fifty wheelbarrows and forty horse-drawn carriages.Every car can be regarded as a chariot.The supply team directly led by the battalion headquarters had 120 wheelbarrows and 470 carriages, and the final number of vehicles was as high as [-].In Zhao Xuan's view, two battalions of chariots could already be formed.

Zhao Xuan once suggested that the wheelbarrow and carriage should be equipped with rocket boxes, carbine guns, bamboo cards, and sabers.When encountering the enemy in the wild, there must be a large number of antlers, horses and other objects between every two vehicles, so that all the sergeants can hide in the car camp, increasing the security and protection of the sergeants.

Wang Dou considered that the load of the vehicles would be increased, the food and supplies transported would be less, and it would affect the spirit of the soldiers in the main battle, so he refused.He set up all kinds of transportation vehicles, mainly for the consideration of transporting food and grass, not for all the people to shrink in the vehicle camp.

The baggage team accompanied the battalion, with 470 wheelbarrows and carriages, conservatively able to carry [-] shi of grain and grass, which could feed the entire battalion for more than [-] days.With the experience of the last field battle with the Qing soldiers, Wang Dou is confident that he no longer needs to use antlers, horse repelling, bamboo playing cards and other things.

Wang Dou's refusal made Zhao Xuan heartbroken, but he didn't give up and took advantage of every opportunity, just chattering in front of Wang Dou, making Wang Dou feel that he was really a talker.

Wang Dou casually asked about the establishment of his car camp before.

Zhao Xuan said: "My lord, there were 3000 people in the chariot battalion in the humble position, and there were 250 and six chariots in total. They were divided into battalions, departments, divisions, bureaus, alliances, and chariots. Each battalion was led by a battalion general, and there were two thousand chariots under it There is one member of the Central Army, and each of the left and right generals leads a department, each with 64 chariots. Each department of the left and right general headquarters is divided into four divisions, each of which is led by the president with sixteen chariots. Each division is divided into There are four bureaus, each of which is led by a hundred presidents, and has four chariots. Every two chariots are called alliances, and the Chinese army is responsible for commanding other vehicles."

Zhao Xuandao: "The car battalion where the humble job is located, each car is called a team, there is a Flang machine gun in it, and 12 sergeants are attached to it. There is one person in the car, six gunners, two Flang machine gunners, and two rocket players. One person, one fireman."

"When encountering the enemy in the wilderness, form a square camp, with 54 chariots on each side, and a number of antlers between the two chariots to keep the horses away. The density is so appropriate that not only the infantry, but also the cavalry can live in the chariot camp. within."

Wang Dou pondered for a long time, Daming's car battalion organization is already very complete, and it can be used if it is taken, but he has his own situation, so think about it or forget it, even if it needs to be improved, let's talk about it later.

Seeing that he was so earnest, the garrison still refused, Zhao Xuan became more and more heartbroken, but Wang Dou still accepted several of his proposals, such as setting up Yuanrong chariots and Wanggan chariots.

The Yuanrong chariot is the command car of the generals of the battalion. The car is similar to the light car. There are protective facilities in front of the car and a general platform on the body, which is convenient for the battalion generals to command at the top.For field operations, this vehicle is of course very important.

There is also a pole car, which is used by the car camp during the daily camp. One will be used when going out. The pole is more than ten meters high, and there is a bucket on it. Standing on the bucket, the sergeant can see the surrounding area for several miles. Movement and movement are best used to keep an eye on the enemy's situation.

……

In February of the 11th year of Chongzhen, it was a beautiful spring season. At the gate of the garrison mansion in Baoanzhou City, Wang Dou warmly welcomed Chu Qinmeng, the garrison of Mashuikou, who came to visit.

Wang Douji is the garrison officer of Baoanzhou City. His original mansion of integrity was naturally upgraded to a garrison mansion. Even Wang Dou's official uniform was replaced with a third-rank red commander's uniform with tiger and leopard patterns on the patches. In the same way, there is also a gold and silver waist card with a red silk sash on the waist.

Now Wang Dou can independently control the defense of Baoan Prefecture. Only the matter of farming in the prefecture needs to be discussed with Xu Zucheng, the new guard of the Security Guard City. After all, Wang Dou's official position is still the commander of the security guard.

Chu Qinmengnian was in his thirties. He was considered very young in the local defense. He was fair-looking, a little shy, and looked a bit like his sister, the young wife of Zhizhou.

Chu Qinmeng's visit was the result of the operation of the young lady. Wang Dou helped the magistrate Li Zhenzhen to tide over the difficulties. The whole magistrate's government was grateful. Wang Dou revealed in front of Xie Xiuniang that he wanted to make friends with Ma Shuikou to guard Chu Qinmeng. Xie Xiuniang naturally hurried to go Tell the young lady.

The young lady hurriedly asked someone to bring a letter to her elder brother Chu Qinmeng. Chu Qinmeng had noticed Wang Dou, a dazzling new star in the political arena, and wondered how he rose. After writing the letter to himself, Chu Qinmeng, who wanted to make friends, secretly set off and brought a few servants to Baoanzhou City.

Unlike Wangdou, which belongs to Xuanfu Town, Chuqinmeng belongs to Zhenbao Town, which stretches for [-] kilometers from Yanhekou in the north to Lululingkou in the south.It consists of Mashuikou Road, Zijingguan Road, Daomaguan Road and Longquanguan Road.

Mashuikou and Bauhinia Pass, although there are generals, but the guards are poor, and when there is no police on weekdays, the generals of both places are stationed in Zijingguan or Yizhou.So Ma Shuikou's usual management power is in the hands of Chu Qinmeng. If he wants to leave secretly for a few days, what will his subordinates say?

When they came all the way, Chu Qinmeng was quite moved by the scenery of the state city. Compared with his own visit to Baoanzhou a few years ago, the place is much more prosperous and rich, which made Chu Qinmeng admire Wang Dou's governance ability.Chu Qinmeng was quite envious of Wang Dou's stationing in Bao'an Prefecture. Compared with his own Mashuikou, except for a few business travelers, he rarely saw a few people a year, so it was much more comfortable to guard Bao'an Prefecture.

……

After the two exchanged greetings, Wang Dou welcomed Chu Qinmeng into the mansion, and then ordered Xie Yike to treat the servants brought by Chu Qinmeng well.

Chu Qinmeng looked around and sighed: "Wang Shoubei's mansion is luxurious, compared to the mansion of the lower officials..."

Having said that, he shook his head and sighed again.

Wang Dou saw that he looked gentle and shy, but in fact he was quite earnest, and he was even more happy in his heart. He enthusiastically welcomed Chu Qinmeng into the banquet, and the two drank together.Wang Dou inquired that Chu Qinmeng liked to eat dog meat hot pot, and even killed a fat dog to treat him.

Sure enough, Chu Qin and Meng Huanxi ate dog meat fiercely, and even took off their coat when it was hot.

While eating, Chu Qinmeng complained to Wang Dou that his Mashuikou officers and soldiers had no land to farm, so they were all paid for it. However, once the food and salaries of more than 1000 people were paid out, most of the superiors went away first. There are not many in hand.

In addition, there is no salary for more than half of the year, and the officers and soldiers in Mashuikou are very poor.Even as a garrison officer, he can't eat meat a few times a year. Chu Qinmeng expressed his envy for Wang Dou's ability to eat meat every day.

After hearing Chu Qinmeng's complaints, Wang Dou just smiled.

Then Chu Qinmeng expressed his gratitude to Wang Dou for helping his uncle in law. Wang Dou smiled and said, "I work with Li Zhizhou's colleagues. Master Li is in trouble. How can Wang stand by and watch? This matter is not worth mentioning."

He looked at Chu Qinmeng and said, "Brother Chu, in fact, Mashuikou is also pretty good. The transportation is the main road between Baoanzhou and Yizhou. If you manage it properly, it will not be difficult for the Mashuikou brothers to become rich."

Chu Qinmeng sighed: "At present, there is a lot of chaos, and the number of merchants who are passing by has been greatly reduced. Even if they extract some tax money, there will not be much in a year. Besides, among the merchants who are walking outside now, which one is not a wealthy official with a background? General's nephew? Brother, how dare you take their tax money?"

He looked at Wang Dou expectantly: "Hearing Brother Wang's words, there seems to be some way out, why don't you just say it out, and let my brother benefit from it too."

Wang Dou had inquired about some things about Wang Dou, and knew that Wang Dou relied on the local military households. As far as he knew, the military households in various places in Ming Dynasty were very poor, even worse than the officers and soldiers who were paid by them. The reason why Wang Dou succeeded was that Because of vigorously reclaiming wasteland and building water trucks for filling wells, etc.But Chu Qinmeng didn't know where Wang Dou's start-up capital came from, so he guessed that Wang Dou had other sources of income, so he tried to test it with a stick.

Chu Qin and Meng Siwen's shy image collapsed even more in Wang Dou's mind. It seems that this person is also a very wealthy person, so that's good.

He smiled and said, "My brother did some business..."

He pondered for a while, and said: "Brother intends to take the route from Baoan Prefecture to Baoding Mansion. If Brother Chu is interested, he can join. Brother Chu, I cannot avoid the benefits of Brother Chu."

He held out a finger.

Chu Qin and Meng Yixi said, "100 taels of silver?"

Wang Dou smiled and said, "1000 taels a year."

Chu Qinmeng said anxiously: "Okay, I'll join, Brother Wang, don't lie to me."

Wang Dou pretended to be angry: "Brother Chu, do you think Wang is such a person?"

Chu Qinmeng said: "I said something wrong for my brother, you should hit me, you should hit me..."

……

After the two agreed to maintain close contact, Chu Qinmeng left. Before leaving, Wang Dou gave him a gift box containing 50 taels of silver and various silks and satins, which made Chu Qinmeng smile.

Wang Dou also gave five taels of silver, five buckets of rice, five catties of meat, and two bolts of cloth to each of the servants brought by Chu Qinmeng. "

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Lao Bainiu: After reading too much information, it was difficult to write, and finally figured it out.Write whatever you want.

There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)