Tang Ning looked at Emperor Chen and repeated, "Your Majesty, if you want to build a heavy cavalry force of 100,000 people, you will need at least 50 million taels of silver every year."
Fifty million taels of silver was actually just his conservative estimate.
One hundred thousand heavy cavalry is not just one hundred thousand horses and one hundred thousand armor. It also includes horse gear, feed, the hiring expenses of blacksmiths and handymen, the wages of cavalry, the replacement of horses, the maintenance of ordnance and armor, and the wear and tear of the expedition.
What's more, there are more than just heavy cavalry in the heavy cavalry team. Generally speaking, one hundred thousand heavy cavalry must be equipped with at least three or four hundred thousand auxiliary troops, and these money must naturally be included in it.
For a team with one hundred thousand heavy cavalry, fifty million taels of silver per year is actually not much.
After the imperial court became rich, Emperor Chen was really in trouble. A few months ago, all the money left by the imperial court each year was spent on heavy cavalry, which could only maintain a maximum of 10,000 people. One hundred thousand heavy cavalry could only be maintained in a little over a year.
, can eat up the entire imperial court.
If you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, then Huang Chen sits on the throne, so he naturally doesn't understand these facts.
After being shocked, Chen Huang looked at him with a frown and asked: "It's just a hundred thousand heavy cavalry, why do you need so much money?"
Emperor Chen didn't understand the concept of one hundred thousand heavy cavalry at all. Tang Ning looked at him and patiently explained: "Your Majesty, you don't know. One hundred thousand heavy cavalry not only requires a large amount of military equipment and horse equipment, but also needs to prepare cavalry rations and war horse food and grass. In addition,
A large number of auxiliary soldiers, handymen, and blacksmiths are also needed. These people all need food and wages. Not only that, the annual maintenance cost of the heavy cavalry is also a large amount. One hundred thousand cavalry consumes 50 million taels of silver every year. In fact, it does not
not much……"
Emperor Chen only knew that one hundred thousand heavy cavalry could sweep across the grassland and be invincible, but he did not know that it would cost so much money.
If 50 million taels of silver were to be spent on these things every year, and the court tried its best, it could only last for two years. Naturally, he could not watch such a thing happen.
He looked at Tang Ning, with a smile on his face, and asked, "The money from the treasury must be used on the blade. Of course, we can't get 50 million taels out of it. What can Tang Aiqing do?"
Tangning's face darkened.
The treasury has nothing to do, so what can he do?
Fifty million taels is also an astronomical figure for him. If he insists on collecting it, it will not be impossible, but the question is why should he?
He and Emperor Chen are not related, so there is no reason to spend all his wealth to do this. Anyway, even if he raises so many cavalry for the court, Emperor Chen will not marry his daughter to him...
Emperor Chen's budget for heavy cavalry was only 5 million taels, so he could only reduce the 100,000 heavy cavalry to 10,000. The 10,000 heavy cavalry, plus the accompanying other units, were enough to pose a great threat to the grassland.
No matter how many there are, it is just a waste of resources.
Tang Ning was unlucky to meet an emperor as capable as Chen Huang. With his current attitude towards spending money, he might have to go to Jiangnan again within two years...
One hundred thousand turned into ten thousand, and the workload was not small. While Tang Ning had people step up supervision, she also had to deal with other chores in the Ministry of Works.
Five million taels of silver were only exchanged for 10,000 heavy cavalry. Chen Huang was obviously unhappy, so Tang Ning could only save a little and spend a penny in half.
The official residence requested by the two bachelors has already been built by the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry. Tang Ning had told the master craftsman in charge from the beginning to keep everything simple and ensure safety, as long as the official residence is affordable and can accommodate people.
If there are too many fancy things, use them as little as possible.
Some places can do less, and some places cannot.
The ordnance required by the Ministry of War is related to the lives of soldiers, so we must be extremely cautious and strictly follow the standards.
The doctor from the Ministry of Works sent a new batch of ordnance samples. These were randomly selected. Before being handed over to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works had to inspect them first.
Tang Ning picked up a Mo Dao with one hand. This knife was very heavy and would be difficult to swing.
Each of these Mo knives weighs fifteen kilograms, which is about ten kilograms when converted into the measurement unit of later generations.
An ordinary knife only weighs three to five kilograms. Of course, ordinary people cannot use this kind of knife. Those who use this kind of weapon on the battlefield are the most courageous warriors.
Tang Ning threw it to Lao Zheng and said, "Fifteen pounds of Mo Dao, let's see how it goes."
Lao Zheng is the ancestor of the knife. Whether the knife is good or not depends on his opinion.
Lao Zheng took the knife, held it in his hand, and said, "The knife is a good knife. It weighs thirteen kilograms and nine taels. It's not as heavy as you said."
The knives produced by the Ministry of Industry are all standard. If they weigh fifteen kilograms, they are fifteen kilograms. They can fluctuate within a small range around this number, but one or two more or one or two less will definitely not work. If one or two kilograms or less is one or two kilograms less, it will be even more serious.
It's impossible.
Tang Ning looked at a clerk and said, "Bring me the scale."
The Ministry of Industry has a wide variety of scales specially used for weighing. The man took a scale specially used for testing ordnance. After weighing it, he said: "Sir, this knife weighs fifteen kilograms. There is no error."
Fifteen kilograms is not necessarily thirteen kilograms and nine taels. Old Zheng is the most honest butcher Tang Ning has ever seen. No wonder their butcher shop is doing so well. Fifteen kilograms of meat only costs thirteen kilograms and nine taels.
It's no wonder business is bad.
Tang Ning looked at Lao Zheng and said, "You may not have touched a knife for many years, so it's normal for the feeling to be a little worse."
Lao Zheng weighed the weights on the scale in his hands, looked at him, and asked expressionlessly: "A knife weighing thirteen kilograms and nine taels weighs fifteen kilograms. What do you think the fifteen kilograms are?"
A kilogram of power, how many kilograms does it weigh?"
It stands to reason that Lao Zheng, who has been selling pork for more than ten years, should be very sensitive to weight and is unlikely to make an error of more than one kilogram.
Tang Ning thought for a moment, looked at the clerk, and said, "Bring me another weapon."
Weapons are weights. The Ministry of Industry has made many kinds of weights according to their uses. The clerk quickly brought another set. Tang Ning used a ten-pound weight and a five-pound weight, and the fifteen-pound Mo weight.
After the knife was lifted, there was no sign of the scale beam rising.
Tang Ning continued to move the rope on the scale beam. After passing the fourteen catty and thirteen catty positions, the scale beam showed some signs of lifting.
Tang Ning had an expression of interest on her face. The same knife weighed fifteen kilograms with one set of weights, but not even thirteen kilograms with another set. The problem was obviously with the weights.
Tang Ning asked the clerk to go out, find a butcher's shop on the street, and borrow the scale from the shop.
Use this pole to weigh the Mo Dao. The knife weighs thirteen kilograms and nine taels, exactly the same.
Tang Ning looked at the second set of weapons and asked the clerk, "Where are these weapons sent..."
The little official's face turned pale and he said in a trembling voice: "Hui, Hui, sir, they are sent to salt fields in various places..."
The weight of the weapon used to test ordnance was obviously insufficient, so the knife was weighed. This shows that the material was corrupted, and the pound or two may have gone into someone's pocket.
There is so much ordnance coming out of the Ministry of Industry, with a little less here and a little less there, which adds up to a very considerable number.
The situation for those sent to saltworks in various places is exactly the opposite.
Although Chen State specialized in salt and iron, it also allowed merchants to get involved. They bought salt from the imperial court and sold it at the prescribed price in places designated by the imperial court.
The weight of these fifteen kilograms of power obviously exceeds fifteen kilograms, which means that the salt merchants took more than fifteen kilograms of salt from the court, but only paid fifteen kilograms. This is the wool of the imperial court.
The emperor snatched money from his hands...
As for those who have the guts to steal money from Emperor Chen...
Tangning threw the knife on the ground and sighed, "It's really a shame..."
