In April of the second year of Taichang, spring plowing began in various parts of Liaodong.
The horse market, which had been suspended for a year in Fushun and other places, has finally resumed.
Horse dealers from Yehe Mongolia appeared in Fushun and other places, selling horses to Kaiyuan officials and people.
In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court attached great importance to the construction of horse administration. In order to obtain excellent war horses, the imperial court established a system of raising horses on behalf of officials among the people.
In the early Ming Dynasty, there were frequent wars. This system could not solve the shortage of war horses, so the tribute trade came into being.
In the Ming Dynasty, many ethnic minorities adopted a policy of appeasement, and those who came to pay tribute to horses were given heavy rewards. Therefore, there was an endless stream of tribute horses from various tribes in Liaodong.
In order to facilitate the trading of horses, the imperial court set up horse markets in Kaiyuan, Fushun, Qinghe and other places, and had horse market officials who specialized in managing the horse markets.
In the 47th year of Wanli's reign, there was a bloody battle in Kaiyuan, during which the Imperial Guards, Bingbeidao, Ma Market and other imperial institutions were wiped out.
The development of cavalry requires war horses, and the transportation of supplies requires miscellaneous horses. Five thousand war horses are only enough for the cavalry camp, so Liu Zhaosun must continue to buy horses.
Restoring the horse market will not only obtain more horses, but also strengthen the relationship between Kaiyuan and foreign countries.
All the grain and cloth stored in Kaiyuan were transported out, traded with the Mongolian and Yehe tribes, and exchanged for various war horses.
According to the quality of war horses, they can be divided into five types: upper horse, upper horse, middle horse, lower horse, and colt.
Before the Sarhu War, the war horses sold to Jianzhou by the Mongols were often mounted, while those sold to the Ming Dynasty were dismounted. Of course, the horse officials in Liaodong City all asked the court for money according to the price of dismounting the horse.
Liu Zhaosun abolished the horse market institutions and put the civil affairs department in charge of horse trading. The cavalry battalion and the Chinese army guard sent personnel to supervise the horse market to eliminate any possibility of corruption and bribery.
At this time, the price of horses in Liaodong was roughly as follows: a top horse was worth eight shi of rice and eight pieces of silk, an upper horse was worth five shi of rice and five pieces of silk, a middle horse was worth three shi, and a dismounted horse was worth one stone.
Ping Liao Hou was never stingy in military expenditures.
In order to attract high-quality war horses, the price given by Kaiyuan for purchasing war horses this time was higher than the market price.
In addition, local officials are responsible for the food and accommodation expenses of foreign merchants who go to Kaiyuan, Fushun, Qinghe, Kuandian and other places for trade.
Stimulated by multiple profit-making measures, foreign horse dealers have brought the best quality horses to Kaiyuan for trading.
Horse dealers in Sinuiju, North Korea, even smuggled and sold Dawan horses and other valuable breeds to Kuandian.
Yuan Chonghuan was so courageous that he almost refused to accept these desperate North Korean horse dealers.
In fact, North Korea has always supplied war horses to the Ming Dynasty throughout history.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was short of horses in large numbers, followed the example of the Yuan Dynasty and took advantage of his relationship with its tributary countries to send envoys to North Korea repeatedly to ask for horses.
It did not end until the first year of Jingtai. According to statistics, the Korean Peninsula provided a total of more than 70,000 horses to the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, most of these transactions are conducted with Hemai (Hemai: a fair, just and consensual transaction).
With Liu Zhaosun's current strength, it is certainly impossible to be as domineering as Zhu Yuanzhang.
Fortunately, the external supply of war horses can meet Liu Zhaosun's needs.
At the end of April, the civil affairs department traded a total of 8,000 war horses of various types with Horqin, Tumut, Duoyan, Yehe and other tribes.
There are two thousand horses for the upper and lower horses, three thousand for the middle horses, and three thousand for the lower horses and foals.
The principle of trade between Kaiyuan and the foreign tribes is to make sure that Kaiyuan benefits and the barbarians do not lose.
At the same time as the purchase of war horses, the expansion of the cavalry battalion was also in progress.
There were many Liao people with excellent riding skills. Liu Zhaosun selected 1,200 people who could ride horses among the tens of thousands of refugees who took refuge in Kaiyuan and organized them into the cavalry battalion.
Including some Mongolian herders who came to seek refuge, the cavalry battalion received 2,000 new cavalry in March and April, bringing the total strength to more than 4,000 cavalry.
Blind expansion comes with a price.
With Kaiyuan's current financial resources, it is simply impossible to support four thousand fine knights.
Maybe it was because the previous battles were so brutal that Liu Zhaosun always felt that there were too few soldiers.
Even if he doesn't have enough financial resources, he still has to bite the bullet and expand.
Of course, the more important reason is that a new war is coming.
Kang Yingqian strongly disagreed with this militaristic approach.
He was surprised to find that the tens of thousands of pieces of cloth stored in the warehouse had been emptied out by civil affairs officials and replaced by war horses and mules by these prodigal sons.
What made Kang Yingqian even more angry was that hundreds of thousands of stones of grain in the granary were trafficked by the "Liaodong Trading Company" to Mongolia, Yehe, North Korea, and Mangui in Ji Town, and were replaced with ginseng, mink skin, pine nuts, and fungus. , Dongzhu, transported back by car.
Officials from the Department of Commerce swore that they had opened up the trade routes from Zhejiang and Fujian. Once these goods were transported to the south and exchanged for sugar, tea, silk, and porcelain, the profits would be more than five times higher.
Kang Yingqian didn't understand the southern goods trade.
However, the 600,000 taels of silver rewarded by Emperor Taichang to General Liu had long been squandered.
It is said that more than 30,000 taels of silver were spent just to build large ships and recruit navy for the three Korean islands.
It's really a big deal.
War barracks, cavalry camps, navy, intelligence bureau, Korean mines, all places cost money.
In less than half a year, General Liu's seven to eight hundred thousand taels of silver were running out. At this rate of spending, in another two months, Kaiyuan soldiers would not be able to pay their monthly salary.
Others don't care about money, just spend it.
Qiao Yiqi, Song Yingxing and others are now following General Liu's orders, fearing that Kaiyuan's expansion may not be rapid enough.
Mao Yuanyi led the craftsmen in the workshop and began to instigate some infantry field artillery. Every now and then, she came to General Liu to ask for money, even more anxious than the creditor.
Song Yingxing is no longer involved in workshop affairs, and his main focus is on warship design.
According to Ping Liaohou's prompts, Song Yingxing was improving the Fu Ship.
Kang Yingqian had worked as a coastal defense officer in Shandong for five years and had some knowledge of warships.
A few days ago, Kang Yingqian visited Song Yingxing and saw a dense stack of sketches on his desk. He randomly picked out one of the drawings, which showed a strange-looking warship. It was different from the lucky boats and bird boats he had seen.
The mizzen jib became a gaff sail, and the bowsprit topmast and bowsprit square sail were cancelled.
Lao Kang was dumbfounded. It turned out that the ship could still be built like this.
The poop on the butt is lower and the gundeck is flatter.
Song Yingxing explained that this way larger artillery can be equipped.
This will be the future battleship of the Liaodong Navy, and Mr. Liu plans to build five ships first.
"It seems to be more reliable than the lucky boat and the bird boat. I wonder how much money it will cost? Mr. Song, you have to save some money. Mr. Liu is very tight recently."
Song Yingxing didn't even raise his head, he just modified the sketch with a square ruler.
"The workshop gave us a budget the day before yesterday, which was 18,000 taels per ship, not including sailor expenses..."
Kang Yingqian was speechless.
However, compared to Yuan Chonghuan, Song Yingxing and others behaved fairly.
Yuan Ducha was acting recklessly at the Kuandian border.
Not only did he condone the smuggling of war horses in Yiju, he also actively recruited Koreans to enter the country, regardless of whether they were desperate farmers or desperadoes.
Mr. Yuan always welcomes anyone who comes.
When these Koreans entered Kuandian, the Kuandian civil affairs officials changed hands and incorporated them into the camp, and immediately announced that they would be rent-free for two years. The Koreans immediately became Kaiyuan people under the protection of Pingliao Marquis.
In April alone, more than 800 people from Yizhou smuggled across the river and became Kuandian citizens.
This blatant poaching behavior made the King of Korea very unhappy.
Li Zhu repeatedly sent officials across the river to ask for refugees from his country. Yuan Chonghuan only handed over a few fugitives in a symbolic manner, and then pretended to be deaf and dumb, reasoning that these people were just passing through Kuandian and their whereabouts were unknown. They probably went to Houjin and had nothing to do with him. Any relationship.
Yuan Chonghuan only dug holes and did not bury them, and recruited refugees frantically. As for farming cattle, seeds and agricultural tools, he sent people to General Liu to ask for them. Liu Zhaosun never refused and gave Kuandian as much as he wanted.
Kang Yingqian was speechless.
He is now increasingly worried that if these lunatics continue to act like this, Kaiyuan will explode on its own before the chaos in She'an breaks out.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, Master Kang brought two boxes of rice dumplings and went to the General Military Mansion in person, preparing to have a good chat with Marquis Ping Liao and ask him to stop recruiting refugees and stop expanding the new army, otherwise this winter, everyone would have to drink the northwest wind together.
As luck would have it, Mr. Liu was having dinner with his wife and concubines. There were three or four plates of dishes on the table, and each person had rice dumplings in their bowls.
With a smile on his face, Liu Zhaosun ordered Shaoyao to bring a chair and invited Kang Yingqian to come and eat rice dumplings.
"My wife made it myself, with red bean filling. Red beans are from the South. What makes me miss you most? Kang Xun is from Jiangnan. It is rare to eat rice dumplings in Liaodong. Come and have a taste."
Kang Yingqian handed the rice dumplings he brought to the fat maid and glanced at the dishes on the table. They were all simple meals with no wine.
"Since it's a banquet for Marquis Ping Liao, I won't join in the fun."
Liu Zhaosun was hospitable by nature and would not let him go, so he pulled Kang Yingqian and asked him to sit down.
"What's a family dinner? I'm a rough guy. I don't pay attention to these things. I just quit drinking. I have no flowers or wine today. I have wronged Mr. Kang."
Liu Zhaosun rubbed his hands and saw a few more white hairs on Kang Yingqian's temples, and couldn't help but worry about the old man.
He heard Pei Dahu report Kang Yingqian's whereabouts and roughly guessed what the old man was going to say when he came over.
"Kang Supervisor's army worked too hard for the great cause of Kaiyuan. I see it in my eyes and feel pain in my heart. When the southwest is pacified, Kang Supervisor's army can also want to go to Sichuan."
The zongzi he took a bite suddenly fell into the bowl. Kang Yingqian's brows flashed with a look of satisfaction, but soon changed to a calm expression.
Yuan Chonghuan was assigned to Kuandian, Wu Aheng was assigned to North Korea, Qiao Yiqi was going to Fushun Qinghe soon, and Song Yingxing and others had no power ambitions, so they stayed in Kaiyuan.
Compared with these small border towns, what he got was the entire southwest being handed over to Kang Yingqian.
This arrangement is indeed consistent with his status as the number one hero of Conglong.
"Thanks to the trust of Marquis Ping Liao, I am very moved. When I first met Marquis Ping Liao, I knew that it was not something in the pond. In just one year, I have become the Lord of Liaodong. How could I be like this if I didn't inherit the destiny?"
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand, interrupted Kang Yingqian's praise, and said doubtfully:
"It's just that She Chongming has not rebelled for a long time, which is puzzling. Could it be that my intelligence is wrong?"
Liu Zhaosun told Kang Yingqian that he had obtained accurate information that Yongning chieftain She Chongming would rebel in the near future.
It's just that I have been waiting for a month now.
"When the southwest is pacified, no chieftains can stay. When the time comes to change the situation, we will need the support of talented people like Kang Jianjun."
Kang Yingqian said a few words of modesty and had forgotten the purpose of his trip.
"These days, I have been spending more generously, just waiting for the southwest to quell the rebellion."
Jin Yuji and Yang Qing'er finished eating first and were too lazy to listen to these boring situation analyses.
Jin Yuji went back to the study to write her storybook, and Yang Qing'er took out the account book to help her husband count the accounts submitted by the Commerce Department.
Shaoyao served the tea and also withdrew.
Liu Zhaosun and Kang Yingqian were the only two people left in the main hall.
Hearing Marquis Ping Liao talk about spending money, Kang Yinggan slapped his forehead and settled the account for Mr. Liu.
According to the current training intensity of the cavalry battalion, food, horse materials, armor, gunpowder, and various consumptions are superimposed and converted into silver. Each ride will cost at least ten taels of silver per month.
These four thousand cavalry alone would consume forty thousand taels of silver every month.
"Master Liu, there are more than 8,000 soldiers in Kaiyuan, and Qi Jin and the others are still recruiting people every day."
Kang Yingqian pinched his fingers and calculated for a long time, but he still didn't know how many taels of silver the Kaiyuan Four Thousand Headquarters would cost every month.
Liu Zhaosun picked up the account book from the coffee table next to him. It was densely marked with neat small characters and was left by his wife Yang Qing'er.
"Military uniforms, spears, waist knives, grain and grass, fire guns, gunpowder, armor, coconut ladles, belts, and decoctions, all plus military pay. Soldiers consume four taels of silver every month. Eight thousand soldiers, which is exactly 40,000 taels. Of course. I am still recruiting troops, and the number is getting bigger and bigger."
Kang Yingqian was stunned after hearing this. He did not expect that the Kaiyuan cavalry and infantry alone would consume 80,000 taels of silver every month.
Not to mention the navy that North Korea is recruiting...
"The army is a gold-swallowing beast. There is nothing we can do about it. The trading company has earned fifty thousand taels of silver in the past two months, and it has been filled in. To be honest, I am now placing all my bets on the southwest. To counter the rebellion, we need more soldiers and There are at least ten thousand cavalry, so I cannot stop. Having said that, if we can successfully suppress the rebellion, the benefits will be more than a hundred times."
"Kang Jianjun participated in the pacification of Bozhou with my adoptive father. He should know how rich these southwestern chieftains are."
Kang Yingqian obviously didn't want to mention this past incident, so he nodded helplessly.
He is different from Liu Zhaosun. He doesn't like gambling, let alone gamble with tens of thousands of people's wealth and lives.
Liu Zhaosun even specially called two white-pole soldier commanders to give lectures in each battalion, so that other officers could become familiar with the southwest terrain and the combat characteristics of the chieftain soldiers.
Kang Yingqian went to the capital in person and told Fang Congzhe, Wei Zhongxian and others in advance that when the Southwest War started, he must get the emperor's consent for the Kaiyuan Army to go south to quell the rebellion.
Kang Jianjun's trip to the capital cost more than 20,000 taels of silver.
Liu Zhaosun was completely at the end of his rope.
Unexpectedly, Liu Zhaosun's eldest brother actually accepted the money this time, and his attitude was not as enthusiastic as before. He only said that he would do his best to facilitate it.
Kang Yingqian went to Zhenfu Division twice but failed to find Shen Lian. It was said that this boy was now hanging out with a woman from Jiaofang Division.
Kang Yingqian was speechless, why were he surrounded by such pig teammates?
Marquis Pingliao couldn't control so much, so he placed all his bets on the She'an rebellion.
May passed quickly, and the Southwest Chieftain was still calm. Qin Jianxun sent back information saying that She Chongming was very well-behaved in Chongqing, and there was no sign of rebellion at all.
In June, the weather in Liaodong became increasingly hot, and more and more refugees from Shandong came to the sea from Wendeng, Yantai and other places. It seemed that something big was happening.
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