Everyone had no objections to the measures proposed by Ouyang Xuan, and they also proposed relevant measures based on their own division of labor. Li Shuang proposed that "water conservancy is the lifeblood of grain production." We should take advantage of the dry season to dig more ditches and open ponds. This would not only help fight drought and floods, but also limit the activities of the Mongolian cavalry. Excavation of ditches and ponds seems to reduce the area for food cultivation, but the water surface can be used to raise fish and shrimps and plant lotus roots, taro and other crops. It also increases the land's moisture conservation capacity. The silt in the ditches and ponds is also an excellent fertilizer.
Li Saner, who was in charge of industrial production, proposed the construction of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, soda ash, and caustic soda plants. These raw materials and sulfuric acid, commonly known as "three acids and two alkali", are important raw materials in the chemical industry. It is naturally not difficult for Ouyang Xuan, who majors in chemical industry. Long before the Pili Army came down, under his guidance, research institutes and industrial companies had developed production methods and processes, but they were unable to manufacture them due to lack of key raw materials. Now the territory under the jurisdiction of the Pili Army is more than ten times larger than the Jiguan Mountain area. Key raw materials are obtained through their own mining and caravans, and large-scale production is naturally on the agenda. For example, the Glauber's Salt Mine in Yixing Township near Wugen Mountain began large-scale production. This Glauber's salt is the sodium sulfate in Ouyang Xuan's mouth, and it is also an important chemical raw material. As for why Li San'er did not mention the production of sulfuric acid, it is because most of the iron ore in Jiguan Mountain is siderite, which contains more sulfur. As a by-product of iron-making, there is still a large inventory. In addition, coal is smelted into coke. A large amount of sulfide can also be collected to make sulfuric acid.
At present, the Pili Army's trade is mainly with the tea and horse trade in the Fan and Yi areas. Although the trading volume of tea is large, Yazhou is the main production area, and Meizhou and Jiading also produce a large amount of tea. Pilijun's tea does not have much advantage in competing with it. Although the profits of porcelain and iron farm tools are huge, the trading volume is not large. It is not a big problem to buy mules and horses based on business profits, but it is unrealistic to buy expensive war horses. In fact, the money earned by the Perak Army trading team in a year could not buy the 400 war horses of the grassland tribe captured last time. Among the mining products produced by the Pili military industry, although coal and cement are produced in large quantities, they are not suitable for long-distance transportation and there is no market demand. Copper, lead, mercury and other products can be sold at a good price, but the output is not enough even for the Pili army itself. Although iron production is large and there is inventory, as the most important raw material for the military industry, it will not be sold easily.
Li San'er is now actively developing and producing consumer products according to Ouyang Xuan's requirements, expanding the market from Jiading to Chongqing and even Dali, and even dumping it into the Mongolian-occupied areas if possible. In addition to alkali for washing clothes, the first batch of products to be developed focuses on glass. This thing looks shiny, and if it is made into tableware, it will definitely be sought after by dignitaries. Ouyang Xuan firmly believes that "the rich are the best to earn money", and they are the main force in commodity trading. Of course, there is another important purpose of prioritizing the development of glass, which is to make telescopes. There is no doubt that this thing has a military role. .
Li Saner talked endlessly, but it made four military personnel unhappy. In the eyes of Cao Ergou and other military personnel, the production of firearms and other military industries is a big deal, but Li Saner's speech has nothing to do with it. Instead, it focuses on how to make money. His mouth smells like copper. He really doesn't look like an official but an official. merchant. Even Yu Zhu, who has always been calm and steady, suggested that firearms production is really lagging behind. Is it because of insufficient attention? Does the management of this military factory need to be improved? These questionings made Li Saner blush.
In fact, Cao Ergou and other senior military personnel also knew that the matters involved in relocating the factory were extremely complicated. Li Saner and his thousands of people worked day and night, which was really very hard. However, after the expansion of the army, the firearms gap in each brigade was too large, which really affected training. What if the Mongols come at this time? I couldn't help but complain a few words. Ouyang Xuan knew Li San'er's difficulties best, so he immediately suppressed the dispute and allocated the firearms of each brigade to prioritize the needs of key defense and combat troops. As for the firearm gaps in other troops, we have to wait slowly.
The construction of this industrial system will not happen overnight. Take the Dayi Military Factory as an example. This is by no means as simple as moving the military factories in Wanjiaping and Liuliba down the mountain. It is not just an expansion of the scale and an increase in manpower, but a large-scale upgrade of the entire military production system. It is no exaggeration to say that the production equipment and power, personnel management, technical standards, quality control, etc. are greatly different from the original military factories. Take the production of gun barrels as an example. It used to be produced by the casting method, which involved pouring molten iron into the mold. Now it has been improved to the boring and milling method, which uses a lathe to process a solid round iron column into a gun barrel. The quality of the gun barrels produced in this way is excellent, and the defective rate is also low. However, a fine iron lathe must be produced first, and a forging press is required. Both of these equipment require power drive, so it is necessary to block water and build dams to obtain enough Water energy. This is also the reason why the Dayi Arsenal will not be put into production at least early next year.
In Ouyang Xuan's plan, the front-line troops of the Perak Army will gradually install new artillery guns and grenades. Some of the replaced weapons will be used to equip the second-line troops, and some will be sold to friendly forces. Arms trading has never been a simple sale, but a means of establishing political alliances. Of course, selling weapons is also due to lack of money. Especially the recent rapid expansion of various undertakings of the Pili Army. Large-scale construction and military operations require huge amounts of funds. This has given Ouyang Xuan, Li Shuang and others a headache. Naturally, they will not let go of the hugely profitable industry of arms trading. With sufficient financial support, R&D and technology investment will increase, and more new technologies and products will be developed. As for the inevitable spread of technology, we can delay it as much as possible, but it absolutely cannot be stopped. Based on this idea, Ouyang Xuan's idea is to form a virtuous cycle R&D system and a sound industrial foundation as soon as possible. Even if the Mongols stole firearms technology, they would not be able to produce it on a large scale, or the products produced would be different from the Thunderbolt weapons. It will still be crushed by the advanced technology of the Perak Army, and it will still be beaten by the powerful production capacity of the Perak Army.
The last topic of the joint meeting was to discuss how to rescue the cannon-casting technicians detained by Yu Xing and his son. Before the meeting, Dong Hu had reported the situation discovered by the detectives to Ouyang Xuan. After Yu Dazhong led his army to attack Pengshan and failed, he did not return to Jiading. Instead, he garrisoned in Meizhou City, and the technicians were imprisoned in a dock in the west of the city. Everyone present at the meeting agreed with Ouyang Xuan's opinion and believed that they must be rescued no matter how high the cost. It's just that the method used is slightly controversial.
Lu Dezhi believed that although Yu Xing was only the nominal boss of the Perak Army, if he used force to take back the hostages, he would be suspected of treason in the eyes of the world. The Pili Army cannot stand on the opposite side of morality. They still have to take the road of property redemption. As for the price, they can slowly negotiate. Since Yu Xing can ask for prices all over the sky, Pili Army can counter-offer on the ground. Lu Dezhi's opinion was supported by Li Shuang and Huang Dagen, while Yu Zhu, Li San'er and others could not deny it. However, Dong Hu and Cao Ergou firmly opposed this approach. In their view, Yu Xing and his son were using their power to bully others, and they were getting more and more aggressive. This unhealthy trend must not last forever. What Yu Xing did during this period made Ouyang Xuan hate these corrupt bureaucrats even more. He decided that he would never let Yu Xing and his son get their wish, but sent special forces to rescue the hostages. It's just that how to save it, we have to put it all together. Yang Xiucai, who had been silent at this time, slowly said: "Why not pretend to be a Tatar cavalry and go to rob people?"
