The last time Liu Chengzong slept in the room was probably ten months ago. He returned to the safest environment. With his mind relaxed, he rarely took a nap and woke up at noon.
Because the conversation with his father made him realize that the family was destined to spend less time together and more separation in the future, he thought that he would do nothing today and spend time with his parents in Cowan.
As a result, he discovered to his embarrassment that his parents did not need his company. When he woke up, the city was quiet as if there was no one around.
He walked out to the door of the mansion and asked the guard standing guard: "Tianbao, who am I?"
The guard guard guarding the gate of the mansion is named Tianbao, who is also from northern Shaanxi, but he used to be a soldier of Zuo Guangxian. When he joined his army in Xining, he went to the training camp. He was transferred to the guard team after he had made meritorious service in the south.
Tianbao said: "The old man went out before dawn, carrying a cotton-padded jacket, a wild goose feather, a sword, and a gun. He took two of his followers with him. He thought he was General Zu, so he only asked the younger one to heat up some water."
Liu Chengzong scratched his head with confusion on his face: "What are you doing?"
"Take the college students to practice outside the city, dance with swords, shoot arrows, ride horses and fire guns. Then go back to the house to take a bath and eat. I said I went to the college to give morning lessons to the students."
Liu Chengzong wiped his face. His father's hobbies and interests are increasingly abandoning literature and pursuing martial arts. It is a good sign to be in good health. He yawned and stretched and asked: "What about my mother?"
"The old lady also went out in the morning. She took seven or eight young women with her and asked the Fan Guan team to go to the Juerwan market. She said that she would ask the Industrial Bureau to give Fan Guan Team some pieces of jewelry and measure a few sets of outer and inner clothes. "
Liu Chengzong stretched out halfway and stopped: "My mother took Sanlang to buy jewelry? Who are those seven or eight women, and she didn't bring a few guards."
"I don't know about this young one, but they all seem to be handsome old men." The guard shook his head and said, "I heard that there is the wife of Magistrate Yang and the wife of General Cao. I also heard the old lady calling the two women Bai. Mom, Yun Niang.”
They are Sister-in-law Cao, Bailiuxi and Yunjiaoyue.
Sister-in-law Cao thinks that she was the wife of Yazhai back then, and she was skilled in bow and horse; Bailiuxi Yunjiaoyue also had martial arts skills, and the little golden melon could knock people's heads off with melon seeds. In addition, Fan Sanlang, who carried two muskets with him in the south and north, this The lineup can disturb a city's peace.
Liu Chengzong was relieved. As he walked into the mansion, he heard Tianbao say: "The commander-in-chief, as well as General Zu, have brought Chen Tusi back to Xining this morning to arrange for Chen Tusi to guard Bajiao City."
"I understand. I'm going to wash up and let the brothers have a good rest for two days. You choose a few people to lead the horses and wait for me on the street, and go to the Ordnance Bureau."
In fact, this newly built city was full of flaws in Liu Chengzong's eyes.
The ratio of the height and thickness of the city wall is not reasonable enough, and the overall shape is boxy without considering the blind spots for shooting. The position and direction of the city gate cannot be said to be a crooked gate or ramp.
Except for the green bricks covering half of the city, it is almost a county town built in peacetime, or in other words, it is the simplest square array.
But there is nothing to criticize. Not everyone has the experience of both attacking and building fortresses like him.
It is even more impossible to expect my father to be like him, who can't help but think about how to conquer a city when he sees it.
In fact, even this kind of thinking is of no use to this city. If we really hope to defend the city in Juerwan, it can only mean that the entire defense system of Qinghai has been breached and we are unable to organize a field counterattack.
Liu Chengzong was not in a hurry to leave the city. He just stood on the top of the city and looked west. He picked up his telescope and looked at the bustling Juerwan Market from a distance.
Although there are no Mongolian noble customers, in a short period of time, due to the return of tens of thousands of soldiers from the Southern Expedition, it is difficult for the Juerwan market to decline quickly.
Liu Chengzong distributed a silver reward totaling 160,000 taels to the soldiers who followed him. The vacation sergeants in the entire area around the lake blocked the valley with war horses and carriages. People brought bags of gold and silver and exchanged them for a lot of lion tickets in the market. Indiscriminate purchases.
This prosperity will last for a long time.
At the Ordnance Bureau, Liu Chengzong did not let anyone report the news. He just led his guards to visit in the workshop courtyard. It was not until he visited more than half of the Ordnance Bureau that Shicheng and He Xin got the news and hurriedly came to see him.
The two of them were surprised that Liu Chengzong visited the Ordnance Bureau the day after he came back. They thought something big had happened, but they didn't know that when they saw Liu Chengzong, they found that the commander was watching the craftsmen forging iron and steel.
"How much armaments can the Ordnance Bureau produce in a year?"
The teacher succeeded and I answered fluently: "Come back to the Commander-in-Chief, because the sale of Coul Bay takes up the craftsman's time, the Ordnance Bureau has established a rule of 960 pieces a year."
"Quite a few, go to the Yamen."
Liu Chengzong nodded in approval of the number, asked the Ordnance Bureau official to take him to the Yamen, and said, "As we walked, we asked, what does each piece of armament contain?"
This time I looked at He Xin, who said: "Come back to the commander-in-chief, a pair of military equipment has two outer and inner layers of military uniforms, an alms bowl, a collar for body armor, a sword handle, a bow, two bow strings, and arms. One shield, thirty arrows, one scatter bag; two pairs plus a bird gun, a pair of tin turtle bags, thirty medicine cartridges, three hundred lead pills, six pounds of gunpowder; third pair plus a spear , a long card."
With that said, I have already ordered the staff of the Ordnance Bureau to get three sets of armaments from the inventory.
Liu Chengzong laughed out loud after hearing He Xin's report, frowned and asked, "I don't remember that you worked in the Imperial Arms Bureau?"
This method of calculating armaments by deputy is very much in the personal style of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and is full of distrust of officials.
To put it simply, if we do not count them by pieces, these 960 pieces of armaments can be said to be more than 170,000 pieces of various types of armaments. If armor plates are also included, it can be said to be more than 300,000 pieces of equipment.
He Xin shook his head and said: "Come back to the Commander-in-Chief, I have never worked in the Ordnance Bureau. This is Xining. When the third general was in charge of Juerwan, he recruited some craftsmen from the Ordnance Bureau of Xining Guard, and the imperial armament regulations were also followed. coming."
Liu Chengzong smiled and agreed, it turned out to be Cheng Yun who did it.
He has already discovered the problem. The Ordnance Bureau's production capacity is insufficient, and there is a serious lag in manufacturing equipment. The equipment regulations are still applicable to group equipment for one combat soldier and two auxiliary soldiers.
This made him lament that it was lucky that the Marshal's Mansion was born in this era. The forces of all parties had no lower limit, the natural environment limited their upper limit, and the soldiers' requirements for him were also very low.
People are very loyal, even if they only have this pitiful ordnance production capacity. The entire army uses almost no self-made equipment except guns and artillery. With just one mouthful of food, they can conquer thousands of miles.
Not long after, the officers of the Ordnance Bureau brought more than ten apprentices and three sets of armaments to the Ordnance Bureau's Yamen.
Liu Chengzong was right at first glance. This was the equipment of the three-person combat auxiliary team, but he had never seen the uniforms or armor inside.
This made him very helpless. Many of the soldiers who followed him on the southern expedition wore Ming army uniforms. A few veterans wore a winter coat from the Lion Camp for a year. Most soldiers, including the Basang Camp, wore Captured gear that may not necessarily fit.
Not to mention soldiers and armor, you can wear whatever you have and use them for whatever you have.
Their poor manufacturing capabilities and the long distance between the two palaces meant that the Marshal's Army was far from meeting the conditions for what they could build and use.
The military uniform is worn both inside and outside for summer and winter. The underwear is a khaki-coloured collared, right-fold, middle coat and trousers; the outer coat is a calf-length cotton jacket and cotton trousers with cowhide reinforcement to protect the chest, back, crotch, legs and arms. Two belts, two pairs of belts, and a pair of leather boots.
The armor is mainly made of a half-sleeved iron chain mail connected by a brazing process and is of excellent workmanship. It is also paired with a pair of leather padded iron greaves and arm guards.
Liu Chengzong was relatively happy when he was looking at the military uniforms. He could see that the marshal's palace was rich in furs, but when he saw the armor, he was not satisfied. He pointed at the chain armor and asked, "What does this mean?"
Liu Chengzong thought, my Ordnance Bureau treats my soldiers as miscellaneous soldiers, and they all go to the battlefield wearing these things.
To be fair, the welded chainmail is not bad, but Liu Chengzong feels that this set of armor lacks a lot of things. The combination of winter coat and chainmail is an excellent lining for heavy troops, but what about the outer armor? No outer armor.
You can't say that everyone is a light infantryman.
So much so that Liu Chengzong lost all desire to take a closer look at knives, spears, shields and muskets. If his army relied on this chainmail armor to compete in the world, it would definitely be hopeless.
The most critical thing is that his army has no military pay. How can he buy armor accessories? This means that the soldiers have no chance to buy armor before going to the battlefield for the first time.
Shi Cheng, I didn't understand what he meant at first, but then I realized that the commander was not satisfied with the armor, so he said: "Commander, both the iron armband and the cloth armor can be equipped by the sergeant later. "
"Self-provided?" Liu Chengzong frowned and said, "I think the Ordnance Bureau's manufacturing capabilities are not bad. Do we need soldiers to provide themselves?"
He Xin was a little embarrassed, sitting on the edge and not daring to speak. Shicheng I suddenly realized the reason for Liu Chengzong's anger, and immediately relaxed, and explained: "Commander, please calm down, please forgive me for speaking frankly. The Marshal's Mansion has been in battle for a long time, and there are many things in Xining." There were changes after the general's southern expedition. Each ministry was not affiliated with each other, materials were not allocated well, and the cost of soldiers and armaments had to be considered."
Liu Chengzong said: "Go on."
"In the past, when the commander-in-chief was there, all ministries would coordinate with him. No matter what happened, the commander-in-chief could make a decision with a single word. But after the Southern Expedition, everything remained the same as before, and no one dared to overstep in the new affairs and relied on hard work to maintain."
The teacher told me one by one: "For example, the third general is in charge of the Juerwan market. The officers in the training camp want to eat fresh vegetables. However, our army only has rations of dried meat, pickles, vinegar and cloth as a rule. Fortunately, the Juerwan market is still profitable. The third general It also has prestige, and being able to prepare fresh vegetables to supply troops for training is nothing more than a cost."
"And the Ordnance Bureau needs millions of charcoal and coal, and tens of thousands of copper and iron. How can it be purchased? Xining Prefecture can only be self-sufficient with rations, and cannot allocate materials. It can only rely on market profits and purchase materials to complete the tasks required by the commander-in-chief. "Guns are more important than blunderbuss, so one can only make choices when maintaining standing ordnance."
After finishing speaking, Shicheng, I looked at the three pairs of mail armor in the hall and said: "Armor is the most expensive thing. My subordinates were afraid that they would be punished by the commander for making light armor, so they chose locks as the inner armor. When the commander If you are dissatisfied with the armor, it is not considered useless and can be used as a sergeant's lining."
Liu Chengzong understood that in the final analysis, the administrative mechanism of the Marshal's Mansion was too immature, and Juerwan was once a department directly under him.
Nothing was wrong when he was there, but when he was gone there was no replacement agency, which caused chaos in the management of Xining Mansion.
Even if his father serves as the prefect and manages the city of Irvine, he cannot command the various ministries like him. He can only manage to coordinate and maintain the situation.
Liu Chengzong thought for a moment and said nothing. He was wondering whether the same chaos would happen in Kangning Mansion.
Corning does not have departments like the Juerwan Market, Division Ordnance Bureau, and Military Training Camp that he manages alone, so management is much easier.
"I understand, this problem will be solved later."
Liu Chengzong asked: "How many craftsmen are there in the Ordnance Bureau now?"
"The Ordnance Bureau is divided into fifteen categories of workshops, including small and large wood, lacquer, bows, arrows, metal fire, gunpowder, furnaces, castings, forgings, guns, cannons, charcoal, fur, and textiles. It is divided into twenty-seven courtyards. Each workshop has a total of There are one hundred and twenty-eight great master craftsmen, seven hundred and forty master craftsmen, and one thousand one hundred and fifty-three minor and minor craftsmen.”
Liu Chengzong nodded slowly. The scale of the craftsman craftsmanship is large, but the output is relatively small. This must be due to raw materials, costs, and management.
He thought for a while and said to Shichengwo: "Well, I've seen the Ordnance Bureau and there are many things that need to be adjusted in my mind. You and I will go back to the Marshal's Mansion... There is no need to make bows and arrows. Let's give the craftsmen a holiday first. "
The two of them were shocked. Their commander-in-chief used to admire bows and arrows very much, but after a war in the south, he seemed to have changed his nature and stopped letting the Ordnance Bureau make bows and arrows.
Facing the surprised expressions of the two men, Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said: "In the past, our army was small and elite, and had no source of recruits, so we followed the imperial court's example, using bows for those who were strong and skilled, and blunderbuss for those who were weak... …But you don’t know how many bows I captured in the south.”
Liu Chengzong was one of the first fleets to cross Qinghai Lake. The people behind him transported the spoils of war from Nanshan Fort to the Navy Yamen. They seized more than 20,000 bows, including some that had not been well maintained and glued after the Battle of the Valley. In fact, I was too lazy to transport it to Juerwan, so I left it at the Navy Yamen for the time being.
This year's campaign made Liu Chengzong truly realize that he still had to rely on firearms and hand-to-hand combat to solve problems.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, bows and arrows were indeed of little use when fighting against well-armored regular troops.
Now Xikang has a large enough population to support him in recruiting troops, and depending on the nutrition of the soldiers, it is more beneficial to train them to use muskets.
On the way back to the Marshal's Mansion, Liu Chengzong described his development blueprint for the Ordnance Bureau to Shi Chengga: "The simpler our weapons and armors are, the better. Moreover, the Ordnance Bureau in Juerwan does not have material advantages. Xining Prefecture has many mines. , then build a factory under the mine to make iron, steel, copper, tin, and lead directly to reduce transportation costs."
"Select places along the rivers with fast currents to build gunpowder factories, cannons, cannons, swords, spears, armor, and gunpowder. Each factory will build large-scale hydraulic machinery first, and we will use all the lathes needed."
Lathe is not a new word. In ancient times, machines that rotated with axles were called lathes, and the bases on which things were placed were called beds, such as waterwheels, rollovers, cylinder cars, oxcarts, drilling machines, grinders, and weight machines.
"All swords, spears and armor have only one specification. A factory has several workshops, and each workshop only makes one thing. For example, a knife forging factory has a forging workshop, a grinding workshop, a polishing workshop, an adjustment room and an assembly room. Each workshop is He only cares about this one thing, and a worker only cares about this process."
Liu Chengzong said to his master Chengwo: "As long as one master craftsman can quickly produce many skilled workers."
I was a little confused when it came to Shicheng, but I can probably understand the meaning. As a traditional craftsman, he can realize the benefits of this, and he can also realize that the skilled workers brought out in this way are absolutely inseparable from the Marshal's Mansion.
"Commander, you can do this with swords, spears, armor, and even artillery, but making muskets... matchlock muskets requires fifteen or six workshops, and flintlock muskets require at least thirty workshops."
Having said that, Shichengwo nodded heavily and said, "But according to the commander-in-chief's arrangements, the output will definitely be improved."
"This is enough!"
Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "Now is a good time to use work as a substitute for prosperity. Our manpower has never been so sufficient."
