As the night progressed, Jun Xun's maid Cai'er came in and said that the old lady wanted to let her sleep here at night.
As a son-in-law, Lin Fu couldn't stay overnight at Gu's house. He didn't know how late the conversation would have to be. Jun Xun was pregnant and couldn't stay up late, so he stayed overnight at her parents' house so that she could spend more time with her mother.
After Cai'er left, the conversation here continued. Zhao Qinmin leaned forward and asked Lin Fu: "How much money does Huaidong need per year to barely make ends meet?"
Lin Fu glanced at Zhao Qinmin. Most of the Huaidong Army's food and salaries were raised by themselves, so how many soldiers the Huaidong Army had was still a mystery to outsiders.
Lin Fu had not taken the initiative to reveal the details of the Huaidong Army Division to Gu Wuchen and others before.
Lin Fu thought to himself, could it be Gu Wuchen who asked this question?
"If the Huaidong Army Division only raises troops, three hundred thousand taels of silver a year is almost enough; in addition, it will cost one hundred thousand taels of silver to repair warships," Lin Fu said. "Last year, we could barely cope with it, but this year we are stretched.
All the money I got from salt and silver to protect food was used to repair the sea wall. Last year, Ma’s house was raided, and the shortfall this year is relatively large. Even if there is no such meeting, I will come to Jiangning to fight..."
Gu Wuchen, Lin Tingli, and Zhao Qinmin all laughed. Gu Wuchen said: "You ransacked Ma's house, and now it has become a public case. The King of Chu did not dare to stay in Xuzhou City, so he asked the vassal to change his residence in Haozhou, and live in Sanchawu.
I sent someone to deliver the petition to Jiangning, and Yue Lengqiu was a little scared..."
"It's not possible without raiding the Ma family. In order to prepare for the Huaisi war, I expanded my troops in Chongzhou by more than 20,000 and more than 12,000 elite troops. I brought them to Huaisi and fought for half a year. Only two walls were built. Huai'an Prefecture only
With six dou of rice per soldier per month and three coins of silver as payment, how can it be enough for the war?" Lin Fu said, "The King of Chu and the Ma family want me to spit out the silver, and let the county magistrate make up for the Huaidong Army's troops in Huaisi.
Just consume it in battle."
Last year, when the Huaisi war was at its peak, the Ma family in Huai'an was in bad luck. Lin Fu and Liang Wenzhan, the magistrate of Shanyang County, found out that the Ma family was guilty of trafficking in illicit salt and ransacked their home.
There was no hiding the fact that the family accounts were searched, and the fields and houses were all returned to the public, allowing the Huai'an Prefecture and the Lianghuai Salt and Iron Division to make a huge fortune. Lin Fu also used the Ma family's gold and silver inventory to directly replenish the Huaidong Army's military resources with a stroke of his pen.
The house ransack and a previous blackmail resulted in a total of nearly 700,000 taels of silver.
This money supported the Huaidong Army's six-month-long war in the Huaisi area. Even if there was any savings, it was very limited.
Ma Fu's wife is the head of Shanyang County and the daughter of the King of Chu. She naturally hates Lin Fu. The Prince of Chu's palace has never been bullied like this, so naturally she complains everywhere. Even if she can't bring down Lin Fu, she still wants to confiscate the property.
The family wealth was taken back from Lin Fu. Seven hundred thousand taels of silver, all in black and white with detailed accounts.
Both Zhang Xie and Yue Lengqiu regarded Lin Fu as a political enemy. Precisely because the detailed accounts were written down in black and white, they would not support the Ma family in this matter.
First, the evidence of the Ma family's trafficking in illicit salt is conclusive.
Second, the Huai'an Prefecture and the Iron and Salt Division benefited greatly from this case. In Huai'an and Shanyin counties alone, more than 100,000 acres of public land were confiscated from the Ma family, which could provide Huai'an and Shanyin counties with an additional 100,000 acres of land every year.
Tens of thousands of shi of public land rental income. Huai'an Prefecture has already eaten these benefits, how can it be possible to spit them out?
In addition, the Huaidong Army spent 700,000 taels of silver in military resources during the Huaisi War, which was not excessive.
If Lin Fu wants Lin Fu to cough up this money, he needs the county secretary to subsidize the money to Huaidong. Wouldn't that cost Wang Tian his life? If the county secretary gives more to Huaidong, he will give less to the Huai army. Yue
Of course Leng Qiu would not shoot himself in the foot.
"Last year, Ma's house was raided, and Huaidong's expenses were evened out," Gu Wuchen asked, "How big is the shortfall this year?"
"About 150,000 taels!" Lin Fu said.
Gu Wuchen glanced at Zhao Qinmin. Zhao Qinmin touched his chin and looked back at Gu Wuchen, seeming to be sure of the real number reported by Lin Fu.
Gu Wuchen thought for a while and said to Lin Fu: "Huaidong is one of the foundations of Jiangdong today. I think Ning Prince's Palace will not be too favorable to one. Tomorrow, when we discuss the matter, you might as well open up more. If you want 300,000 taels of silver, you will also give it."
They have a chance to bargain. For Dongyang, it would be a good thing if they can pay less money in the end..."
Lin Tingli nodded.
Unlike the Huaidong Army, which had many soldiers and horses, Lin Fu directly controlled only one county in Chongzhou, and the rest had to be allocated additional money by county officials. Although the Dongyang Army raised its own money and food, Lin Tingli also controlled the civil affairs of the entire eight counties of Dongyang Prefecture.
,financial.
With one government and eight counties, it is easy to raise eight thousand elites.
Tomorrow morning, they will go to Prince Ning's Mansion for a discussion. This discussion is related to an adjustment of Jiangdong County's power, so they cannot be careless. Seeing that the night was getting dark, Lin Fu and Lin Tingli said goodbye and left.
Lin Tingli also had a private residence in the city, while Lin Fu, surrounded by his guards, returned to Jiyunju.
After Lin Fu and Lin Tingli left, Gu Wuchen did not go to rest immediately. He sat and talked with Zhao Qinmin in the pavilion in the back garden.
"Lin Fu said that there is a shortfall of 150,000 taels of silver in Huai'an's military support every year. Do you think he told me the truth?" Gu Wuchen asked.
Zhao Qinmin said: "There is no need for Lin Zhizhi to hide this from you, sir!"
Gu Wuchen shook his head and sighed slightly, and said: "Over the years, the person I have never been able to understand is this kid."
Zhao Qinmin knew that Gu Wuchen said this because he regarded him as a confidant. He was naturally happy in his heart, but he could not show his happiness on his face and said, "I think the figures mentioned by Lin Zhizhi are consistent..."
"What kind of agreement?" Gu Wuchen asked.
"In addition to the summer tax and autumn grain tax in Chongzhou County that go to the Huaidong Military Division to make up for the lack of military resources, there are two clear sources of Huaidong Military Division's food and salary," Zhao Qinmin said, "One is that the imperial court used 20,000 yuan
The number of soldiers is allocated to the Huaidong Army Commander, and almost 200,000 taels of silver are allocated every year. This part of the money is controlled by the Huaidong Army Commander; more than half of such a big pie has to go to Sun Zhuang, who has surrendered to Huaidong.
The real amount of food, military uniforms, ordnance and other materials that can be obtained from the hands of Linzhijiushi is only **10,000 taels of silver. Fortunately, Mr. Liu Tingzhou is fair and does not deduct from it; the other is that Haiyu and other counties have
The subsidies for the Shengsi defense line are mainly grain, cloth, meat and vegetables, and they can get about 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver a year. The source of food and salary for these two places in Huaidong is basically semi-public. Presumably Yue Lengqiu and Zhang Xitong are responsible for it.
I also know a rough number in my heart. In addition, after the Lin Zhi envoys were stationed in Chongzhou, they reduced rents and taxes on a large scale, exempted miscellaneous donations and head assessments, but governed with an iron fist, checked the acres of land, and reclassified the quality of grain fields.
As a result, Chongzhou's summer tax and autumn grain tax increased sharply, reaching 300,000 dan. This money and grain went to the Lin Zhizhi envoy for his own use, but he also had to report it to the county secretary. This amount was also true and credible. Lin Zhizhi envoy really wanted to fake it.
, just report the previous amount, there is no need to triple it. In the summer and autumn grain tax, local expenses must be deducted; the amount that can really be used to support the army will account for at most two-thirds. Convert silver
That's 1120,000 taels. Adding the above three items together, even the outside world can roughly estimate the total amount of food and pay for the Huaidong Military Division, which is about 250,000 taels of silver. Lin Zhizhi said that Huaidong raised an army for one
We need 400,000 taels of silver per year, and now there is still a shortage of 150,000 taels of silver, which is consistent with these three figures."
"According to this, it is consistent, but his calculations are too clear and consistent, so people cannot believe it anyway," Gu Wuchen said, "He has occupied a lot of land in Chongzhou, but others have no idea of this number...
"
"It occupies a lot of land. Lin Zhizhi may regard it as private property. Public and private property must be separated. These fields cannot be counted as military assets." Zhao Qinmin kept explaining to Lin Fu. He knew that Gu Wuchen thought of him.
My son-in-law cannot be completely trusted, so no matter what he says, it will be useless.
Of course, the Huaidong Army’s biggest source of food and salary was salt and silver.
Gu Wuchen and Zhao Qinmin were able to check the actual numbers of salt and silver to protect food from Qingzhou and Tianjin.
Lin Fu collected a high amount of gold from it, which was mainly used for large-scale projects such as dredging the Yan River and repairing seawalls. These two projects were so huge that Gu Wuchen, Zhao Qinmin, Lin Tingli, and even Yue Lengqiu, Zhang Xi and others believed that
Before the sea wall was built, Lin Fu could not get any more money from the salt and silver grain to support the army.
This was also the main reason why Yue Lengqiu and Liu Tingzhou later supported the construction and defense of the sea wall in Huaidong. They were afraid that Lin Fu would use the money to support the army.
Zhao Qinmin did not mention the matter of salt and silver to protect food supply.
"There should be twenty or thirty thousand soldiers in Huaidong. This time he brought to Jiangning, and there were two thousand fine cavalry at once. I heard from Yang Pu that the horses were all neck-high. I want to see one in Jiangning city."
It's difficult, they are all high-quality military horses, and they are hard to find for a hundred gold. I really doubt that 400,000 taels of silver a year can raise such an elite team with both horse, infantry and water camp?" Gu Wuchen asked doubtfully.
The Huaidong Army's 28,000 soldiers need only about 400,000 taels of silver per year to feed, replenish ordnance, and repair warships. Calculated by the standards of the Zhenjun.
Whether an army is elite or not has a lot to do with the general who leads it, but it is also inseparable from material support. Generally speaking, as long as the general who leads the army can be fair and selfless and does not withhold food and pay, the morale of the army he leads will be poor.
Once used, the combat effectiveness will not be much worse.
The Huaidong Army is much more elite than the ordinary town army, and it should naturally have stronger material support behind it than the ordinary town army.
Yue Lengqiu's daily supplies to the Changhuai Army are 50% higher than the standard for the ordinary town army, so the combat effectiveness of the Changhuai Army is obviously stronger than that of the ordinary town army. But judging from past battles, the Changhuai Army is not enough to keep up with the standard.
The Huaidong Army resisted.
Gu Wuchen also directly managed the Jiangning Water Camp and was familiar with this, so when Lin Fu said that Huaidong only needed 400,000 taels of silver per year for military resources, he suspected that Lin Fu had deliberately lied, and felt something blocked in his heart.
uncomfortable.
In fact, Lin Fu did not conceal the truth. The Huaidong Military Division allocated 400,000 taels of materials from outside to support the army every year.
However, outsiders do not know how these materials are operated and circulated in the Huaidong Army Headquarters. Therefore, it is impossible to infer the true strength of the Huaidong Army from the monetary expenditure.
Lin Fu sold Jinhai-class warships to the Saga clan and the Dongzhou Governor's Mansion for thirty thousand taels of silver. However, the Huaidong Army Department internally calculated the cost price at ten thousand taels of silver. There is a difference of three between the inside and outside.
times.
The fine iron sword was sold by the Ordnance Supervisor for eight taels of silver each. Internally, it was calculated at cost, which was less than a thousand coins; the difference between the inside and outside was more than eight times.
High-grade military horses are purchased and sold in Huaidong from Danluo and Honshu Island. Each one costs only more than ten or twenty taels of silver, which is slightly more expensive than ordinary mules and horses. However, in Jiangdong County, which lacks high-quality war horses, a high-grade military horse costs less.
It costs seventy or eighty taels of silver.
The Huaidong Military Division does everything possible to produce meat, poultry, eggs, etc. on its own. The number of poultry raised on Xisha Island alone reaches 300,000 to 400,000. Although grains are also fed every year, most of them are fed with algae snails.
One pound of grains produces as much as one pound of eggs.
If the Huaidong Military Division had not established a complete production system in Chongzhou and purchased all supplies, ordnance, and warships from outside, it would not be able to produce 800,000 taels of silver a year.
Gu Wuchen also knew that there were a large number of workshops in Chongzhou and Guanyintan, but he did not know that the production efficiency of the Chongzhou and Guanyintan factories controlled by the Huaidong Military Division had long been far higher than that of the government-run workshops.
Calculating only the smelting of refined iron, after Chongzhou adopted the double-furnace smelting method, with the same manpower and a slight modification of one blast furnace, the amount of refined iron produced increased four times, and the quality of the refined iron was no worse than using charcoal to stir-fry iron.
Without knowing the details of Huaidong's internal operations, it is impossible for outsiders to estimate Huaidong's true military potential, no matter how proficient in calculations they are.