4332 (the eighth year of Chongzhen), November 24th.
The carriage carrying military orders from the Postal Department of the General Staff entered the Hanzhong Dudu Mansion.
Li Fengming, Chief of General Staff of the General Staff Department, personally opened the packages on the carriage.
Previously, the postal bureau was responsible for the delivery of military orders and government orders of the Qin army.
At that time, only relay stations were established, and no special military order transmission system was established.
Until there were many incidents of military orders being stolen, it was discovered that using the post office to deliver military orders could easily be stolen by the Imperial Guards.
Important military orders and information were all written in secret script, which did not cause major leaks.
Some urgent military orders will be delivered through the post office, which will also delay the combat time.
King Su He of Qin ordered the general staff to form a special military order delivery team.
Li Fengming opened the sealed envelope, took out the military order inside, and translated the contents through the code book.
On November 13, 4332, King Su He of Qin had set out from Tongguan to formally attack the Ming Dynasty, starting the war of unification.
What came with the military order was the military order issued by Su He.
Ordered the Su Li Department of the Fifth Army located in Hanzhong, the Su Zhuang Department of the Second Army and the Su Shan Department of the Sixth Army located in Fengjie to launch an attack on Daming Huguang.
According to the military order of Qin King Su He, Li Fengming issued the general staff's combat plan to the relevant troops in the southern battlefield.
Immediately arrange for people to send military orders and combat plans to the designated troops.
After Li Fengming finished handling the affairs of the Governor's Mansion, he immediately came to the cabinet with the military order from King Qin Su He.
Wang Zhongce's secretary Zhou Wenhua saw Li Fengming arriving and immediately stepped forward to greet him.
"Hello, Chief of Staff Li, Prime Minister Wang is handling the matter. I will go and report it immediately."
Wang Zhongce walked out of the cabinet and personally invited Li Fengming to join the cabinet.
"Chief of Staff Li is a rare visitor. If you want anything, please sit down and talk."
Li Fengming sat opposite Wang Zhongce and took out Su He's military order.
"The King officially launched an attack on the Ming Dynasty on November 13, 4332."
Wang Zhongce was extremely surprised when he heard the news.
"The king has officially launched an attack on the Ming Dynasty, and there is no need to hide the news that the King of Qin will personally conquer it.
The King of Qin has not shown up for a long time, and some people have suspected that the King of Qin is seriously ill, causing people in Hanzhong to panic."
Li Zhisheng, who had been sitting next to him, said: "Now some smart people have guessed that we will have a large-scale military operation based on changes in the market.
The King of Qin has not shown up for a long time, and the people and grassroots officials have been paying attention to this matter for a long time, and some people are even preparing to petition in front of the palace of the King of Qin."
Li Fengming looked at the relaxed expressions of these two people. They had been worried before.
He never thought that King Qin's long-term absence would have such a big impact on Hanzhong.
When the troops were first mobilized, the General Staff had no intention of concealing it. The troops were mobilized openly, and many people could see the army on the road.
Some people had guessed that King Qin might personally conquer the country, but the news was not announced and people's hearts were still unstable.
Li Fengming stood up and said: "The war has officially begun. Our staff department still has a lot of things to do, so I won't interrupt here."
The affairs of the cabinet and the governor's office are strictly separated and there is no overlap between them.
When King Su He of Qin held a small court meeting in Lingyun Hall, people from both parties would attend together.
Li Fengming only came to inform the news, there was no need to stay in the cabinet for a long time.
Wang Zhongce personally sent Li Fengming out of the cabinet.
He entered the room and said to Li Zhisheng: "Convene an enlarged cabinet meeting at noon to make corresponding arrangements.
We first called the Minister of Rites, Ling Yin, who was in charge of publicity, and the editor-in-chief of Yanhuang Daily, Hongyue, to let Yanhuang Daily officially disclose the news of King Qin's personal expedition.
To stabilize the current people's hearts in Hanzhong, if a civil unrest really breaks out, it will be our fault."
…………………………
Hu Dafu cupped his hands and greeted respectfully: "Viscount Yang, you are back from Guangdong."
Yang Wencai also bowed his hand and said in return: "Brother Hu is too polite. Things in Guangdong are on the right track and will be handled by other members of the family and partners.
My roots are still in Hanzhong, so of course I have to go back to Hanzhong to manage all the family affairs.
Brother Hu, how's the factory doing these days? I heard you've made a fortune.
We came up with a kind of fried noodles, which sold very well."
Hu Dafu waved his hands repeatedly and said: "I can't compare with Yang Zijue, I just make a little money."
They walked into the large banquet hall of Degui Building, and Hu Dafu found that several familiar faces were not here today.
Hu Dafu sat in his seat, ate some fruits and snacks, listened to the surrounding bosses, and learned from their business experience.
Ding Wannian quickly arrived at Degui Tower and looked at the many members of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce.
"Everyone also discovered today that several regular customers did not come.
Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce officially updated the regulations of the Chamber of Commerce.
Some members who did not want to make progress and were content with their small fortunes were directly expelled from the chamber of commerce.
When everyone joins the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce, they are preparing to stay together and fight risks together.
No one is here to help the poor. We must have our own merits and be able to help members of the chamber of commerce now or in the future before we will accept them."
When Hu Dafu heard this, he thought that it was indeed the case.
Some businessmen came to the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce to take advantage of the benefits without seeking advancement. When he saw the performance of these people, he felt that these people would be kicked out sooner or later.
After Ding Wannian announced the new regulations of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce, he said: "Yang Wencai, the vice president of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce, earned 700,000 taels of silver coins from one sea trade trip.
Now, please ask Vice President Yang to tell us about the situation related to maritime trade."
When everyone heard Ding Wannian's words, their eyes lit up.
This is 700,000 taels of silver coins. Some of them will never be able to earn this value in their lifetime.
Yang Wencai stood up with a smile and was about to talk about his thrilling experience in sea trade.
Qian Yunyun walked into the house holding a stack of newspapers.
"Eunuch, Uncle Yang, uncles and uncles, something big has happened.
Take a look at the "Yanhuang Daily" that was just published."
Qian Yunyun put down the newspaper and he left the room.
Yang Wencai didn't say any more and just took out the newspaper and read it.
Hanzhong is the headquarters of Yanhuang Daily, and Yanhuang Daily is usually published in the morning.
It is now afternoon, and the newspaper is published again. Normally, something shocking happens in this situation.
They are all businessmen. They must always pay attention to major events and their sense of smell must be sensitive, otherwise they will easily lose their money.
When Yang Wencai saw the headline, he was immediately shocked.
"Essay on the Ming Dynasty"
The second article on the front page is about the news that King Su He of Qin led his troops from Tongguan to conquer the Ming Dynasty.
When Yang Wencai saw the news, his tone became much more relaxed.
"My previous guess was indeed correct. King Qin would definitely take action against the Ming Dynasty if he did not show up for a long time.
You also say that there is a coup d'état and that the pro-business policy of the Qin Palace will be changed. This is simply nonsense."
The businessmen present at the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce were all laughing and drinking drinks happily.
If nothing happens to King Qin Suhe, the pro-business policy will not change.
…………………………
Su Erbao waved the newspaper in his hand and summoned all the middle management of the steel plant for a meeting.
"Everyone has read the newspapers and the war has begun.
The King of Qin personally conquered the Ming Dynasty. We must give the King of Qin the greatest support.
The bargaining chip that determines the outcome of a war, apart from excellent soldiers, is a large number of firearms.
If you want to produce a large number of firearms, you cannot do without enough steel.
We have received an order from the Shaofu, and the steel plant will be under militarized management starting from today.
All holidays are cancelled, and workers are working in two shifts.
Starting today, all the leaders of the steel plant, including me, are not allowed to go home.
We must increase this month’s steel production by another 50%.”
Upon hearing such strict arrangements, none of the leaders of the steel plant objected.
They all know that as the intensity of war increases, a large amount of steel will be consumed.
Now only Hanzhong Steel Plant and Chongqing Steel Plant are operating normally.
Baotou Steel Plant and Foshan Steel Plant, two steel plants of the same level as Hanzhong Steel Plant, have insufficient production capacity.
The steel they produce can only meet local use.
Su Erbao adjusted the tasks of the steel plant, and all leaders immediately began to execute the order.
A large amount of iron ore and coke were transported into the steel plant.
The smelted steel ingots are transported out by truckload.
The steel ingots shipped to the machinery factory become machines used in various factories.
Steel ingots shipped to the arsenal are turned into rifles and grenades.
In the research room of the steel plant, Li Xiaolei followed his father Li Sanshi and was trying to smelt steel.
"Xiao Lei, this is calcined pyrite sent from the sulfuric acid plant. The ore still contains high impurities, which affects the quality of the steel.
If you want to process them into qualified steel, you need to change the charge in the blast furnace, strictly proportion the charge, and control the temperature and time.
Let’s try again to see if we can produce qualified gun steel.”
Li Xiaolei followed his father and wanted to use the remaining pyrite from the sulfuric acid plant to smelt gun steel that could be used for cannons.
Cannons have very high requirements for steel. The steel and iron ore storage used in the previous cannons are no longer sufficient.
His father planned to use the large inventory of pyrite to refine steel for cannons.
They have studied this topic and have tested it thousands of times, but they have not yet produced qualified steel.
He saw his father's figure stooped, and said distressedly: "Dad, you haven't slept for two days. Let's rest for a while. Your body can't bear it."
Li Sanshi snorted and said: "King Qin needs a lot of artillery to fight on the front line.
The King of Qin is so kind to our craftsmen, so we must support the King of Qin in his battles.
There is a shortage of gun steel now. If we can do our part, we will try our best to solve it.
If you do this well, you can also get a knighthood and enter the Academy of Sciences.
For the future of King Qin and you, we, father and son, must develop this technology.
You also need to sum up your experience. An illiterate old craftsman like me can only sum up from experience.
Xiaolei, you have to use the knowledge you have learned to find the rules of steelmaking."
Li Xiaolei looked at his father's efforts, gritted his teeth and worked hard along with his father.
Record every step of steelmaking, as well as the instantaneous changes in the steel.
They tried different methods of making steel over and over again.
Control steelmaking materials, smelting temperature and time.
I only rest for three or four hours a day and continue to experiment.
Li Xiaolei opened the blast furnace, and red hot metal flowed out.
When Li Sanshi saw the color of the molten iron, he said excitedly: "Xiao Lei, I feel that this time, there is a high possibility of success.
Remember, steel is the backbone of industry.
Without this red molten iron, how could the Qin army be invincible?
There are always some people who say that King Qin treated craftsmen too favorably.
But we cannot give up on ourselves, we must believe that our efforts are worthy of King Qin’s preferential treatment.”
Li Xiaolei waited until the steel cooled down, and then he immediately used various means to verify the performance just now.
"Dad, we succeeded.
The performance of the newly refined steel can already meet the requirements for artillery use. It is qualified gun steel.
The most important thing is that through this experiment, we have mastered a new method of steelmaking.
If we break through this technology, we can allow steel plants to use ores that were previously unavailable to produce large amounts of qualified steel.
The production lines of the arsenal will not stop production due to lack of materials."
…………………………
4333 (the ninth year of Chongzhen), January 16th.
The festive atmosphere of the Lantern Festival has not dissipated, and several waves of messengers came to Hanzhong City.
They rushed to different places in Hanzhong, but they all brought good news.
Manuscripts sent by frontline reporters from Yanhuang Daily have arrived at Yanhuang Daily and are being prepared for additional special issues.
Li Fengming also received news that the front line had won a great victory.
"The King of Qin fought very well in this battle, seizing every flaw of the Ming army.
We used our powerful strength to directly defeat the Ming army.
Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting were killed, and most of the Tianxiong Army and Guan Ning Army surrendered.
The strategic objectives of the first phase have been perfectly achieved."
Li Fengming rummaged through the letters and quickly found the military order issued by Qin King Su He to the Southeast Governor's Mansion.
After a big victory in the first stage, there was no need for Su Xiong and the others to serve as the reserve team.
The Southeast Dudu Mansion can let go of its hands and formally launch an attack on the Ming Dynasty.
…………………………
Prime Minister Wang Zhongce looked at the cabinet members and said: "Your Majesty led the Qin army to fight very beautifully.
Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, the two stronger Ming armies, have been eliminated.
The capture of Shuntian Mansion is just around the corner, so everyone should do the logistics well now.
The army is fighting brilliantly at the front, and I will definitely deal with it seriously if anyone tries to hinder us at the rear."
The officials of the Qin Palace were very happy. This victory would be a decisive victory.
They had great confidence in the Qin Army to begin with, and now they have even more confidence in the Qin Army.
Li Zhisheng said happily: "With this news, the war bonds we prepared in advance can be officially sold with the power of this victory.
This time we plan to sell 50 million taels of war bonds, which will be redeemed in ten years, with an annual interest of 5%.
I hope to sell half of the 50 million taels of silver coin bonds.
As long as there are 20 million taels of silver coins, we can support the war for about three years."
Wang Zhongce also agreed with Li Zhisheng's idea.
The cabinet determined the scale of war bonds and used the power temporarily granted to the cabinet by King Qin's letter to let banks issue bonds.
…………………………
Ding Wannian, the president of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce, told the members of the chamber of commerce after reading the newspaper: "The King of Qin led the Qin army and achieved a great victory.
This was a brilliant victory, annihilating the elite Ming army in one fell swoop.
The Qin Palace issued war bonds again.
This time, our Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce wants to subscribe for war bonds worth 10 million taels of silver coins, and everyone in the chamber of commerce will share it.
I will subscribe for two million taels of silver coins as a guarantee, and I will make up for the rest of your quota."
Members of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce immediately competed for the war bond quota.
Bonds are good things and their value is very stable.
All the principal and interest of all bonds previously issued by the Qin Palace will be exchanged.
The amount of silver coins used to purchase bonds can also be accumulated and used to exchange for noble status.
Ding Wannian looked at the members of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce and quickly distributed the war bond quota of 10 million taels of silver coins.
There are nearly 200 members of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce, and the threshold for membership is a net worth of one million taels of silver coins.
The leading vice-presidents of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce can withdraw millions of taels of silver coins in cash at any time.
The industrial share of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce accounts for almost half of the private industry share. The industry is really profitable.
Members of the Hanzhong Chamber of Commerce can be so enthusiastic about buying war bonds.
The most important thing is to have confidence in the Qin army and believe that the Qin army can defeat the Ming army.
The bonds they buy will not lose money.
The Qin army's continuous victories gave everyone ample confidence.
Cabinet Minister Li Zhisheng quickly received feedback from the bank.
In just three days, all the war bonds worth 50 million taels of silver were sold out.
A large amount of silver coins was raised for the Qin army's unification battle.
