The person who really helped Wang make up his mind was not Liu Chengzong, but Zhang Tianlin.
Liu Shishi used words to paint a picture of the Marshal's Palace controlling the Western Region and Beiting through the two Protector's Palaces. Wang Ziyong was still hesitant, but Zhang Tianlin, who was sitting aside drinking, was full of passion.
This guy slapped the table and said: "Commander, if Monk Wang doesn't go, just let me go and let him get immigrants for me!"
Zhang Tianlin is willing to go to Tianshan to be the Protector of Beiting.
Not to mention that after eight hundred years, Beiting Heshan was reopened, and it was certain that the first guardian would be recorded in the annals of history.
The key is that there is almost no danger in this work. Liu Shishi has already broken down the entire strategy. The Western Region and Beiting are connected together. If these two guardianships are taken out separately, any rebellion will be buried in the wind and sand.
.
If an accident occurs, the road is far away and thousands of miles away from the desert. The Marshal's Mansion Headquarters will definitely not be able to provide support. Even if support arrives, the army will be out of food as soon as it passes by. After half a month on the mountain, the army will be defeated.
But as long as Beiting can stabilize the Oirat at the beginning and use Beiting as a springboard to advance into the Western Region, in turn the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains can provide support to each other. If the Beiting is in chaos, there will be the Western Regions, and if the Western Regions are in chaos, there will be the Beiting.
Even after the situation is stabilized, a fulcrum can be established in Hami, Turpan. With support from three parties, the northwest of the Marshal's Mansion will be impregnable.
What's more, what is a Duhu? It is the general guardian on behalf of the emperor in the frontier.
Zhang Tianlin thought about the image of him standing at the border, with the leaders of the various tribes under his jurisdiction holding up their sabers and swearing loyalty to the generalissimo for generations to come. Is there any reason not to go?
Wang Ziyong himself was reluctant to go to Tianshan, but Zhang Tianlin jumped out to grab the job, and Wang Ziyong was worried about gains and losses.
Because if Zhang Tianlin goes, Liu Chengzong just asks him to recruit Gansu border troops, which he cannot refuse.
Under such conditions, it seemed that he had to juggle his duties and make wedding clothes for Zhang Tianlin as the Protector of the Beiting.
Why!
After thinking about this, Wang Ziyong no longer hesitated, and the question they discussed directly became when to set off.
Liu Shizi was very satisfied with the result, and the candidate for the commander of the Tianshan Guard was decided. When the Tianshan Guard was truly established in Oirat, and his brother led the garrison south to conquer the Western Region, two protective palaces could be established in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. p>
Liu Chengzong had a good time in Haixi County, stayed for two days, and chatted with Wang Ziyong about the specific responsibilities and precautions of Shanwei.
Later, I received news that Shicheng and I had arrived at the Navy Yamen with a complete set of equipment produced by the Marshal's Mansion. I then bid farewell to Wang Ziyong and set off back to the Navy Yamen.
When he came back, he first met with the division commander and inspected the various equipment shipped from the arsenal.
Belt knives, hand knives and spears, mail coats, cotton-padded leather jackets, and cloth-covered iron armor worn by officers. Some of these weapons and armor pieces are captured old equipment for renovation, while others are brand-new equipment currently in service in the commander's office. The quality is guaranteed to pass the test.
What Liu Chengzong wanted to inspect was mainly firearms, but I did not bring 1,500 kilograms of artillery.
The musket is a three-coin matchlock gun transferred directly from the Xining Guard. Because the ammunition is lighter, its power and range are slightly weaker than the original Oirat musket. The advantage is that it is lighter.
What he brought was a 300-jin iron cannon. In fact, both the 300-jin light cannon and the 1,500-jin heavy cannon were cast by the Marshal's Mansion. The two specifications of the artillery were adapted to the most standard one-jin gun.
Seven pounds of cannonballs.
They are exactly the same as the 200-jin light cannon and the thousand-jin heavy cannon currently in service in the Marshal's Mansion in terms of barrel length, caliber, ammunition weight, range and power.
The weight difference between the two specifications of artillery is not a process issue, but a matter of material and thickness.
The two lighter cannons used by the Marshal's Mansion are cast copper cannons, which are thinner in appearance and are designed to be fired 800 times without exploding the barrel.
The two heavier cannons are cast-iron cannons, which are thicker in appearance and are designed to be fired 600 times without exploding the chamber.
The arsenal of the Marshal's Mansion also cast two cast iron cannons in the past. Because there was not enough copper at the time, iron was used instead, so I am very familiar with these processes.
I also brought good news to Liu Chengzong. After a year of preparation, the arsenal in Xincheng has now been restructured and the preparations for making lathes and equipment have not been in vain. The output of various weapons has been greatly improved.
In fact, the entire arsenal under the Ordnance Bureau is completely different from the past. Now the Ordnance Bureau is in charge of each ordnance factory, and each ordnance factory is in charge of each workshop. The management is more detailed.
Each of the workshops also built a large number of waterwheels in accordance with Liu Chengzong's requirements. Of course, not every workshop can benefit from this. Among the more than 100 workshops under the Ordnance Bureau, more than half of the workshops do not need it.
Water conservancy machinery.
When I was a teacher, my response to hydraulic machinery was not as good as Liu Chengzong imagined. He said: "Commander, we built a seventeen-wheel waterwheel on Huangshui River. It is of little significance to the Ordnance Bureau, but it can fill three thousand and fourteen wheels."
One hundred acres of land."
Liu Chengzong didn't believe it and shook his head: "It doesn't mean much. You said that the Ordnance Bureau's ordnance output has been greatly improved?"
"The commander-in-chief doesn't know something. Water power is useful for blasting, sharpening knives, and smashing ores, but it's fine for fine processing and barely stacking. But it's a loss. I still think that if the commander-in-chief wants to promote water power, it's better to go to the Baigong Bureau."<
/p>
Shicheng shook his head and said: "The Ordnance Bureau has a monthly output quota. The water flow is variable, and the output of the Huangshui River is variable. The output will change when the season changes. How can that be done? What's more, the craftsmen also have concerns." p>
"Maybe there will be a drought in Xining at some point, and the water will stop flowing. The water hammer waterwheels that were built at a high cost will be completely useless. Therefore, the Ordnance Bureau's current water-powered equipment can be connected to two sets of axles, and one set relies on the waterwheel.
The other set relies on big mules."
The drought is indeed frightening. Liu Chengzong did not object to this point of view, but when he heard that Shicheng and I used animal power, he smiled and said: "It's not bad to spend some fodder one day... Then where do you think the increase in production lies?
”
"Back to Commander, the main focus is on the division of labor in each workshop, muskets, armor, and helmets. The more parts there are, the greater the production increase will be."
As Shicheng said, I counted these pieces of equipment one by one and said: "The production of waist knives is about the same as in the past; but the production of heavy guns and guns has increased. For example, the heavy gun with flintlock requires forty-five workers per shot, and the drill alone is
It takes thirty workers to make the gun tube alone."
When I mentioned the assembly line, I couldn't hide the excitement on my face. I said emphatically: "Now that we have divided the workshops, those who make copper faucets and triggers can make twenty pieces a day, which is enough for the entire gun factory.
The extra people will use the blunderbuss."
"The most important thing is that each workshop can handle small and large tasks. A master craftsman can look after three or four workshops. More than seventy master craftsmen can figure out how to make weapons better and faster. Today, three hundred and forty
A small and large worker who drills gun tubes can produce ten heavy guns every day, and one can lift the gun."
Liu Chengzong blinked: "Every day?"
"Yes, every day, there are only two people in the musket assembly workshop. They are so busy that they assemble the dozen or so muskets in one day."
Shicheng I nodded heavily and said: "This is still the arsenal that has not recruited people. It still has seventy-two master craftsmen and three hundred and twenty craftsmen in the past. In fact, there are less than eight hundred small and large workers working in the workshop for three months.
He is a skilled craftsman."
Shichengwo said: "Commander, not to mention other factories, the musket factory can definitely expand. Nowadays, copper and iron from Hehuang are constantly being sent in, and there is no shortage of materials."
"There is a new workshop built over there, and there are enough craftsmen here. We will hire another 800 workers, large and small, and let the craftsmen work with them for three to six months. If we move to the new workshop, we can produce thirty muskets and three guns a day.
, one month equals the past year."
Wouldn't that... Liu Chengzong calculated in his mind: "Can we produce ten thousand muskets a year?"
Ten thousand muskets. Liu Chengzong remembered that Cao Yao told him that Zhang Daojun from Shanxi spent one and a half years and 30,000 taels of silver during the Tianqi period to build more than 2,000 Franco machines and more than 10,000 three-eyed muskets.
But that was in Shanxi.
Zezhou, Lu'an Prefecture, Shanxi, is a very important steel production base in the country, with a mature iron industry and a large number of skilled craftsmen.
As long as you have power and money in your hands, it's almost as easy as picking up weapons there.
And the production capacity of his Xining Mansion and Xining Guard is only 150 pieces of armor per year and 10,000 muskets, which is a huge improvement from scratch.
In the past, Liu Chengzong would still have some concerns about the huge increase in weapons production. After all, the arms handicraft industry was enough for him in the past, and it would not make much sense to build more.
But things are different now. Now Liu Shishi has met the bold Batur Huitaiji.
"Expand it." Liu Shishi said in an understatement: "Don't just expand the firearms, the cannon foundry, the sword factory, the armor factory, and the quilt factory that makes cotton and leather clothes, all of them are expanded. How many people and how much silver do we need to recruit?"
/p>
This time, the excited Shichengwo was frightened. He hesitated to speak: "Commander, Commander?"
He thought Liu Chengzong was talking sarcastically.
Unexpectedly, Liu Chengzong didn't care: "What's wrong, how many people and how much money are needed?"
"If we expand on this scale, we will need to recruit at least 1,600 more workers, large and small, and the ones doing the linen work will be in the Baigong Bureau, and they will have to recruit another 400 people there. Calculated at 2,000, the annual labor and food expenses will be more
Twenty-one thousand nine hundred taels."
"Moreover, the scale has doubled, and the output of our own iron factory is not enough. Hehuang can purchase it, but the cost is higher than that of Shuaifu's own iron factory. I am afraid that the annual expenditure alone will increase by 60,000 taels." p>
After I finished the math, I paused and said, "Commander, why don't you just do it step by step?"
Liu Chengzong thought carefully for a moment, sighed softly, and shook his head: "Don't do it step by step, just expand it comprehensively. We still need to cultivate more skilled craftsmen, and this management system must continue to improve."
The annual increase of 60,000 taels of expenditure is not a small amount, and is even very dangerous for the unstable financial resources of the Marshal's Office.
Because they have a lot of income and a lot of expenses, seven of the thirteen military battalions of the Commander-in-Chief are now combat barracks that receive both food and pay.
This military pay alone is more than 300,000 taels per year.
Their tax policy in Hehuang is to buy grain equally. The commander-in-chief buys grain at the official price. To maintain credit, it must buy it at a fair price, at least one tael per stone. This can raise a large amount of grain for them.
But it also requires a temporary investment of a large amount of silver.
Even if a large amount of goods are put into the market, such as goods from the Baigong Bureau, or salt, and the silver is recovered, the commander's office must be able to get the silver.
You can't wait for the people to bring in food, and then Liu Chengzong will be so shy as to issue an IOU to the people.
But on the other hand, Liu Chengzong believes that taking this risk is worth it, because their precious development time is running out.
If everything develops as expected by his father, and the frontier troops in Yulin, Ningxia and other places are freed up, the development of the rebel army in the Central Plains will fall into a low ebb, and the second war between Liu Chengzong and the Ming Dynasty will begin.
By that time, he didn't know if he would have a chance to usher in short-term peace.
"The craftsmen in the arsenal are not only going to Lanzhou, Hanzhong and Xi'an for the present."
Liu Chengzong said: "They are the seeds of the future military industry. Once the war breaks out again, it will be difficult to stop it. We can't always rely on the weapons to be transported from Xincheng to Lanzhou or even to Xi'an. When the time comes, we will definitely deploy manpower to build the new military industry."
Arsenal."
I have also fought with Shicheng and traveled to many places. I can understand Liu Chengzong's words. I nodded after hearing the words and said cautiously: "Since the commander-in-chief has decided, I will start recruiting craftsmen when I get back... By the way, commander-in-chief
, and there is good news."
"Well, what's wrong?"
"Although the water wheel is not of much use in the manufacture of weapons, it is used by the Baigong Bureau. All the craftsmen in the Baigong Bureau were born in Pingliang and are master craftsmen in the royal palace. They have used and made many lathes and machines."
Shicheng I said: "This time the commander asked me to make a water machine. They first made a complete set of machines for producing cotton cloth, from a seed remover, a gin, a cotton elastic machine, a three-spindle spinning machine to a cotton loom, but these things
The Baigong Bureau is of little use."
This was expected by Liu Chengzong. He nodded with a very calm expression and said: "But it is a good thing that they have made it. They can be promoted to the five towns of Hehuang. Each township can make these looms, and the cotton cloth can also be purchased by the government."<
/p>
In the next few years, no matter how much progress the cotton loom makes, it will not mean much to Liu Shizi.
He doesn't have that much cotton at all.
Shi Chengmei nodded, then waved his hand and said: "Not only this, this is not of much use to Hehuang, but they first made a six-spindle spinning wheel for spinning wool, and then made a twelve-spindle large spinning wheel, animal power and water power.
It’s all good. You can spin camel hair and cashmere. Six women can spin sixteen pounds of wool in six hours.”
"Sixteen pounds?"
Liu Chengzong's eyes widened and his expression changed.
The yarn of cashmere is different from that of cotton. Liu Chengzong was the person who controlled the most pasture land in China during this era.
Cashmere is different from sheep wool. It is a very precious material, especially in this era. It is fine, light, soft and warm, and is the best textile material.
The herdsmen use their fingernails to pick out the cashmere along the direction of growth. Camel hair is more precious than cashmere. This kind of wool can only be obtained by a poor person working hard to get cashmere weighing one penny.
A pound of white cashmere is worth three coins of silver; a pound of fine cashmere and camel hair is worth seven coins of silver; a pound of wool is worth nine coins of silver.
A piece of clothing made of cashmere is worth at least one tael of silver, which is almost equal to wealth.
"Hehe, hehe, good job!"
Liu Chengzong couldn't help but giggle and performed a "fly hand rubbing" for Shicheng me.
At this moment, he no longer cares about his manners, and only has one question on his mind: Who will soon be the person with the most cashmere in the world?
