In a mine in Yueya Mountain on the outskirts of Laizhou Prefecture, hundreds of miners were busy going in and out of several mines. Everyone was carrying a huge basket on their back, and pieces of black ore were piled in the basket.
After they walked out of the mine, they took turns to come to Old Man Jiang who was standing at the entrance of the cave to receive a bamboo stick. A bamboo stick here is worth one cent of silver. In current times, it is a very high salary and one cent of silver.
Enough for a family of five for one day.
Old man Jiang, who is in his fifties this year, was originally just an ordinary old hunter in a small village at the foot of Crescent Mountain. His good days came when Pang Pang discovered a strange ore here two years ago. As his companion, Pang Pang discovered the ore himself.
As a meritorious man, he was assigned a very leisurely but well-paid position as foreman in this mine.
Old Man Jiang cherishes his current job very much. He has been here every day for the past two years, rain or shine, to personally supervise the work of the miners. However, Old Man Jiang has been in a bad mood these days because he found that the mines here are about to be exhausted.
.
Yes, the tungsten mines here are about to be mined out. This is not unfounded worry, but a fact that he has seen with his own eyes. In the past, each miner here could mine nearly 500 kilograms of ore from here every day, but now every day
It would be good to be able to mine 100 kilograms. Old man Jiang quickly reported the situation to the Laizhou government, and the government quickly sent experienced old miners to check. After seeing it, the old miners gave them very bad news, that is, here
The tungsten ore in China is almost exhausted, and at best it can be mined for another half year.
"What? The tungsten mines in Laizhou are almost exhausted?"
This news, like a bolt from the blue, suddenly hit Pang Gang. This news made Pang Gang feel dizzy. The development of Pang Gang's career to this day largely depends on his book.
The mutated "Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons", and the reason why this mutated book can realize many things including battleships, armor, Mini rifles, and Mini bullets almost entirely relies on tungsten ore, iron ore and wood.
Not to mention iron ore and wood, there are many of them, but tungsten ore is really a rare thing. Although China is a big country of tungsten ore, the problem now is that people today are not aware of the role and value of tungsten ore at all.
, naturally no one knows where this thing is. Without this thing, Pang Gang's mutated book would become a rootless duckweed. Without the tungsten ore mini rifle, warships, gunpowder and other various things, it would be nothing.
If it cannot be fulfilled, this means that not to mention the military expansion plan that has just been prepared, Pang Gang's existing huge troops may collapse.
"No, we must find the source of tungsten ore again within half a year, otherwise everything will be over!"
If someone were standing in the study at this time, they would find that Pang Gang's face was so terrifying and ferocious at this moment.
Pang Gang immediately found a map of the Ming Dynasty and began to search on the map. Finally, his eyes fell on the territory of Jiangxi.
Although Pang Gang in later generations was not an expert on mineral deposits, nor had he specifically studied the origin of mineral deposits, he still knew some things in the era of news explosions. He still remembered that when he was studying geography, the geography teacher also talked about tungsten minerals.
, he vaguely remembered that China’s tungsten ore reserves ranked first in the world, accounting for 71% of the reserves. The first person to discover tungsten ore in China was a German or French foreigner in Jiangxi in 1907.
It was discovered in a place called Dayu County, and it seems to have been in the newspapers at that time.
"Jiangxi!"
Looking at Jiangxi, Pang Gang had an extremely complicated look in his eyes. This province is one of the major tax provinces of the imperial court. Although it is not as good as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the annual taxes paid are at least one million. If Jiangsu is moved,
Will Chongzhen fight with him? Although Pang Gang is not afraid of the officers and soldiers of the imperial court, he also does not want Li Zicheng and the Manchu Qing to stab him in the back when he is fighting fiercely with the imperial court. It will definitely not taste like that.
It will feel better.
But if Jiangxi is not occupied and the small tungsten mine in Laizhou is dug out, then I will be really dumbfounded. Do I really want my sergeants to pick up swords and guns again and fight the enemy with their lives? Although I am not afraid, but
Let the army that has been accustomed to using firearms switch to cold weapons again. This will have a big impact on the morale of the army. Moreover, even if you let the army switch to cold weapons again, the navy wants to use its true strength to build a new army.
I am afraid that the navy that dominates the South Seas and even the world will not be able to do it until its old age.
"No, the source of tungsten mines must not be cut off. Even if we fight with the imperial court, we must quickly occupy Jiangxi. As long as there is a steady stream of tungsten mine support, I will be able to defeat them even if the Tatars, bandits and the imperial court attack at the same time.
When I go back, I will not hesitate to destroy Henan and Hubei, as long as Shandong and Jiangxi can be preserved, I will not be afraid."
Looking at Jiangxi Province on the map, Pang Gang secretly made up his mind.
"Tuk-tuk-tuk..."
Just as Pang Gang was making up his mind, a knock on the door came.
"Come in!"
The door was opened, and Wei Manting, who was wearing a lake-green satin jacket, walked in. She took in a letter and handed it to Pang Gang, saying, "Your Majesty, this is an official document jointly sent by Hua Yan and Heitie. The things in it are still there.
It’s quite urgent, please take a look first.”
Pang Gang opened the envelope and took a quick look at it, with a sneer on his face, "These gangsters dare to constantly challenge us. They really regard our patience as weakness. It seems that they won't do it if we don't teach them a lesson."
Do you know how many eyes Lord Ma has?"
Seeing that Pang Gang was planning to take action, Wei Manyao said with some worry: "Your Majesty, didn't you say that we should be patient for the time being and wait until the bandits, the court and the Tatars get together, then we can fish in troubled waters, so that we can receive the maximum benefit?"
?”
Pang Gang sighed softly and smiled bitterly: "I said so before, but after all, the plan can't keep up with the changes,"
"Your Majesty, what happened?"
As Pang Gang's bedfellow, Wei Manting knew something must have happened when she saw the look on Pang Gang's face, otherwise Pang Gang would not have changed the established strategic policy so rashly.
Pang Gang shook his head and pretended to be calm: "It's nothing, it's just that I have decided to march to Jiangxi."
"What, occupy Jiangxi?" Wei Man Ting's expression changed and she said anxiously: "My lord, please don't be confused. Liu Zongmin has just been driven out of Jiangxi by those people from Jiangnan. It is not a good thing for you to get involved again at this time.
"
Wei Manying's worries are very reasonable. Liu Zongmin, who was dazzled by the victory some time ago, rushed into the wealthy Jiangxi Province with an army of more than 100,000 people and occupied two state capitals. He continued to carry out his duties there despite his stubbornness.
The Sanguang policy finally angered all the gentry in Jiangnan. In less than a month, they organized a huge army of volunteers to fight to the death with Liu Zongmin. In the end, Liu Zongmin suffered heavy losses and had to run back to Hunan in despair.
.
Jiangnan is different from other places. The power of the gentry here is very tenacious and powerful. Any individual or force that offends them will be met with a crazy counterattack.
Wei Man Ting's words made sense, but Pang Gang, who had always been good-natured, said categorically as if he had not heard Wei Man Ting's words: "We must occupy Jiangxi. This issue cannot be discussed."
Pang Gang rejected Wei Man Ting's proposal with just one sentence. Wei Many Ting was surprised by such arbitrary action, but she is a very smart woman. When she heard her husband's resolute tone, she knew that he had made up his mind at this time. No more words, she nodded wisely and said, "Okay, then who do you plan to send to attack Jiangxi? It's not enough if we don't have enough troops."
Pang Gang thought for a while, "Let's send Cheng Kai's third army, Bin Shiqian's fourth army and Wei Jiang's fifth army this time. If we want to fight this time, we will fight big. Not only Jiangxi, we Even Hunan was captured by him."
"Even Hunan?" Wei Manting was shocked at first, but later she understood. Now that she has decided to go south, she can let a sheep herd a group of sheep. If she is hunting rabbits, she might as well take back Hunan as well. Already.
"But Your Majesty, if we send out three legions of 60,000 people at once, there won't be many troops in Shandong. If..."
Wei Manting didn't finish her words, but Pang Gang understood what she meant. Although he now has an army of 100,000, he has put 20,000 troops in Henan and 10,000 in Hubei. If he sends another 60,000 troops, Shandong will barely have enough. Ten thousand soldiers and horses are almost empty. If something happens, they will be very passive.
However, Pang Gang looked very free and easy at this moment. He waved his hand and said: "What are you afraid of? Just recruit more when the soldiers are gone. Didn't Kong Lin earn more than eight million taels of silver for us? This money is enough for us to recruit two more soldiers." We have an army of 100,000 people. Three-legged toads are hard to find these days. Isn’t it hard to find two-legged people? If we don’t have enough food, we will buy it. If we don’t have enough weapons, we will make them. Even a pauper like Li Zicheng can gather hundreds of thousands with his bare hands. Army, I don’t believe I can’t do it!”
Following Pang Gang's decision, the armies originally distributed all over Shandong immediately took action. Within half a month, three legions and 60,000 troops gathered outside Qingzhou City to take the oath.
This year was February 27, the twelfth year of Chongzhen. Pang Gang gathered an army of 60,000 men and formally marched south, intending to regain Jiangxi and Hunan provinces in one fell swoop. When the news came out, the whole country was shocked.
Li Zicheng and Chongzhen received the news soon. After receiving the news, the two sides began to rush. Li Zicheng quickly ordered Liu Zongmin to speed up the retreat, seize the time to transport the things back to Shaanxi, and see if they could scrape Hunan again. .
Chongzhen was shocked and ordered Mao Sichang, the governor of Jiangxi, to immediately prepare for war and to defend Jiangxi. In this way, the war broke out...
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