(I misremembered the previous chapter. The Gunpowder Department of the imperial court belonged to the Inner Warfare Bureau, not the Ministry of Works. It has been revised. Sorry!)
As the saying goes, if a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. Shen Yi's combat effectiveness against the coastal cities is quite clear. It's not too strong, but it's not too weak either.
At the very least, he is confident that with the same troop strength, the combat effectiveness of the Coastal Division will not be inferior to that of the Huaihe Navy.
This is because the Huaihe Navy is in ruins, and the Coastal Dusi is purely an army created with high benefits. Moreover, it has fought against Japanese pirates many times in the past few years, so it has some combat experience.
But despite this, Shen Yi still tried his best to arm the army.
The first is the miniaturized artillery that he put a lot of thought into and had hundreds of craftsmen spend several years in Yueqing County, Wenzhou.
Artillery is not a new technology. This thing was widely used on the battlefield during the founding of the Chen Dynasty, more than a hundred years ago. Now there are artillery in both the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
However, miniaturized artillery obviously has more advantages on the battlefield and can be used more flexibly.
In addition to artillery, the more important thing is naturally gunpowder.
The Artillery Department is attached to the Inner Court, but in a sense it is under the dual leadership of the Ministry of War and the Inner Court. After all, the Arsenal Department sometimes needs gunpowder.
Fortunately, Shen Yi is a doctor in the Ministry of War and has a good relationship with the inner court. He should be able to obtain a large amount of gunpowder for the coastal capital.
After watching in Liulichang all afternoon, Mr. Shen didn't go home to rest until dark. The next morning, Shen Yi got up early, put on his official uniform, and went to the Ministry of War.
He is a senior official of the Ministry of War, and naturally there are no taboos in the Ministry of War. He easily met Jiang Jian, the Minister of the Ministry of War. After meeting Jiang Jian, Master Shen smiled with a smile on his face and said with his hands: "I haven't seen you for a few days, but your demeanor is still the same."
, younger than before.”
Jiang Shangshu felt uncomfortable being flattered by Shen Yi. He looked at Shen Yi awkwardly and said helplessly: "Zi Heng."
Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said with a smile: "I'm here."
"I already know that the Coast Guardsmen are about to rush to the front line of the Huaihe River to assist the Huaihe Navy in defending the Huaihe River. I think you already know about it, Ziheng."
Jiang Shangshu stroked his beard, glanced at Shen Yi, and said, "Ziheng is no longer in the southeast. The affairs of the Huaihe Navy have little to do with you."
Having said this, he paused and continued.
"In the past six months, the Military Selection Department has promoted many generals from the Coastal Division, but I have always turned a blind eye..."
Shen Yi sighed slightly and said: "Tang Zun, if this matter really has nothing to do with Xiaguan, Xianguan will not be so shameless as to come to see Tang Zun today. This time, Your Majesty asked the officers and soldiers of the Coastal Capital Division to guard the Huaihe River. No.
If something unexpected happens..."
He sighed falsely: "I should be serving as an imperial envoy to supervise the army."
"That is to say, the lower official may take charge of the affairs."
Mr. Shen coughed and said, "Sir, please tell me, can I not be in a hurry now?"
Jiang Jian was silent for a long time without speaking. After a while, he sighed faintly: "I have been in the Ministry of War for many years, and I have never seen the commander of the Ministry of War. He is often away on business trips, but..."
"This is Zi Heng's opportunity."
He looked at Shen Yi and said with emotion: "If the coastal capitals can hold on to the Huaihe River this time and win some battles, then including the military merits of suppressing the Japanese in the southeast, it will be enough for you, Zi Heng, to become a marquis and a general."
Jiang Jian's words are a bit exaggerated. Da Chen's title is very difficult to obtain. At that time, the general Zhao Chong single-handedly blocked the southward Qi army for more than ten years, but he was only granted the title of Marquis of Anping and pursued after his death.
It's just a title of Duke.
Jiang Shangshu's words are already suspected of being "praising and killing".
Shen Yi shook his head slightly and sighed: "To be honest with you, I also want to stay in Jiankang and be my master in the Martial Arts Department, approving documents and collecting gifts every day, but Your Majesty has to do this.
If you throw it at the head of the official, there really is nothing he can do about it."
He looked at Jiang Jian, lowered his head slightly and said, "So, please help me, sir."
"Say it."
Jiang Jian said helplessly: "How do you want me to help you?"
Shen Yi coughed: "I want to transfer 20,000 pieces of fine armor and stomach from the Treasury Department to equip the generals of the Coastal Capital Department. In addition, I need some bows and crossbows, especially if the arrows are missing. The more the better."
When Jiang Jian heard this, her eyes widened immediately and she looked at Shen Yi.
Before he could speak, Shen Yi coughed again and continued: "I still want to mobilize 5,000 war horses so that the officers and soldiers of the coastal capital can organize a cavalry..."
"Five thousand horses!"
Jiang Shangshu couldn't bear it any longer and stared at Shen Yi with his beard blown: "Return the war horse?!"
He shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, Dachen is located in the south and there is a shortage of war horses. Where can I get you a war horse?"
Shen Yi smiled and said: "That's really not possible. I only need two thousand war horses, armored bows, crossbows, and spears and other weapons. Your Majesty, please give me more."
Jiang Jian was a little helpless: "There are not even two thousand war horses. Your coastal capital is going to guard the Huaihe River, and I'm not asking you to rush thousands of miles to take Yandu. Why do you need so many war horses?"
"Moreover, the 20,000 armored stomachs you want, Ziheng, are not even available. The weapons such as armored bows and crossbows are all produced under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry. If you don't go to the Ministry of Industry to ask for them, come here
What do you want from me?"
"I'm not familiar with the official at the Ministry of Industry."
Shen Yi smiled and said: "Your Excellency, I have been with the Ministry of War for several years. Don't lie to me. I know that the Treasury Department has weapons in stock. It is impossible to order them from the Ministry of Works now."
The old minister shook his head and sighed helplessly: "Well, after all, you are also from our Ministry of War. If you really go out to fight, I can't short-change you. That's all..."
He stroked his beard and said: "War horses, I will give you five hundred, armor and stomach..."
Talking about Jiawei, the Minister of the Ministry of War also felt some pain in his body. He said: "Jiawei will give you five thousand pieces. For your army of 20,000 people, one thousand crossbows will be enough. I will give you one."
One thousand five hundred."
"As for the missing arrow."
Jiang Shangshu raised his eyebrows and said: "I really don't know how many Treasury Departments there are. Tian Feng is in charge of Treasury Departments. If you go to him and ask for them, he will give you as much as he can give you.
"
Shen Yi was silent for a while, shook his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty, everything else can be lacking, but the stomach cannot be lacking..."
"Xiaguan, I need at least 10,000 pieces of armor. Even an inferior armor will be..."
The equipment in the coastal areas is very poor.
Let's put it this way, when this army was first established, it didn't get a penny from the Ministry of Household Affairs or a set of armor from the Ministry of War.
Just relying on the money from big players is simply not enough to arm more than 20,000 people.
Fortunately, the enemies of Coastal Capital Division, namely the Japanese pirates...
The equipment is even worse!
People in the coastal areas just don't have iron armor, but most of them have leather armor.
But those Japanese pirates basically just wore ronin clothes to get into trouble, and some of them came up to kill people with no shirts on.
Therefore, in the face of Japanese pirates, the equipment disadvantage of Coastal Dusi is not very obvious.
but…
Deal with Qi's regular army!
Then the armored stomach is absolutely indispensable, because if there is a real head-on encounter, if the coastal capital is lightly armored or even unarmored, it is very likely that the Qi army will rush into it and smash the formation head-on.
Got it!
Mr. Shen's face was solemn. He took two steps back, lowered his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, if the coastal commanders defend the Huaihe River this time, they may even win a small victory over the entire army."
"The situation where the Zhao clan controlled the Huaihe River is gone forever!"
"At that time, the Ministry of War of my great Chen will wipe out decades of decline, and you, the Minister of War, will do the same."
"He will be the most dazzling minister of the Ministry of War since he came to the south for Jiazi!"
"In the future, future generations will write biographies in history books, and they will not be able to avoid your page no matter what!"