The reconstruction of the army is quite professional. Zhao Hao didn't know much about this aspect, and Shi Hao didn't have any military expertise. Therefore, the reconstruction of the army of the three capital commanders was left to the Privy Councilor Zhang Jun to take full responsibility.
Next, there is the navy.
The direct consequence of this war between the Ming and Song Dynasties was the annihilation of the main force of the navy, which led to the loss of the river defense, which led to the loss of the sea defense, which further led to the massive landing of the Ming army's infantry and cavalry, destroying the Song army's Jianghuai theater in one fell swoop.
In Zhao Hao's view, such a situation must never happen again, so while training the army, Zhao Hao must also train the navy.
In this battle, the Southern Song Dynasty lost three local naval forces and one main navy. Most of its water power was lost, and its strength was greatly reduced.
But fortunately, they have nearly 20,000 ships. It is not difficult to transform them into warships. It is also not difficult to recruit navy soldiers. It is easier to quickly build up a reliable navy than it is for the army.
Therefore, Zhao Yan gave the task of rebuilding the navy to Hu Quan, the Privy Councilor of Tongzhi, and had high hopes for him.
Funds for rebuilding the army and navy are earmarked and implemented to the greatest extent possible.
Zhao Yan squeezed money out of his teeth to rebuild the army, which was considered a desperate effort.
At the same time, the court was still responsible for cleaning up some of the local messes after the Southern Song Dynasty. Of course, those officials who fled in panic when they heard that the Ming army was coming could not be used, and new people had to be selected.
Zhao Xun also took this opportunity to select a group of young officials from the main war faction to take up posts in these places to clean up the mess, rebuild administration, repair city walls, and stabilize defenses.
One after another, things cost money everywhere. That is to say, Zhao Xin ransacked the homes of some officials so he had some money on hand. Only then can these things be carried out smoothly.
But this is the first time to use money. There will be many times to use money in the future.
When the post-war reconstruction work was in full swing in the Southern Song Dynasty, on June 13, the Ming Dynasty envoy Xin Qiji made his second mission to the Southern Song Dynasty and arrived in Lin'an City.
Because this time Ming Guo was no longer a friend, but a father, so even though the Southern Song Dynasty had a lot of unhappiness, they gritted their teeth and gave Xin Qiji top treatment.
Not only were they given good food and drinks, but they were also given special treatment no less than that of royal relatives.
Because Xin Qiji was not used to the hot weather in the south, the court of the Southern Song Dynasty specially gave Xin Qiji ice cubes.
They used the summer ice cubes specially provided by the palace to cool down Xin Qiji's carriage. Xin Qiji was sitting in the car. There was a jar of crystal clear ice cubes in the car, with a hint of cool air and fragrant incense.
As a result, the interior of the car is not only very cool, but also has a light fragrance, which is very comfortable on a hot summer day.
Not only that, these ice cubes can be directly knocked down to make cold drinks, paired with milk, honey, and fruits, providing Xin Qiji with a high-end dessert that only senior officials in the Southern Song Dynasty can enjoy, which is comparable to modern ice cube fruit scooping.
So Xin Qiji happily enjoyed cold drinks and ice cubes and went all the way south to Lin'an.
To be honest, when Xin Qiji went south to the Southern Song Dynasty for the second time, he still felt that the level of treatment was completely different from that in the Ming Dynasty.
After returning to Zhongdu last time, Xin Qiji felt that the station was unsatisfactory, so he told Su Yonglin about the Ming Station system, and Su Yonglin paid attention to it.
So Su Yonglin ordered that all those cooks who were unqualified or even suspected of insulting the ingredients were brought to the Huotou Army of the nearby army for further training, and they were asked to hone their skills with the Huotou Army chefs who cooked for army soldiers.
Until the meal is made that satisfies the army soldiers, then return to the original post.
After completing the three-month training, the cooks returned to their original jobs.
Later, based on the feedback from officials who often traveled on business, the overall food standard of the Daming Station system has been greatly improved. Officials who often travel on business said that it tastes really good.
As a result, the phenomenon of bringing cakes by yourself and going out for dental festivals has become much less common.
This time Xin Qiji went south and felt what the post system would look like after the changes. The food in the three thunder bombing posts that he remembered deeply made him taste like a big pot of rice in the army.
Although it is not so refined and the dishes look rough, they are very fragrant and make you want to eat rice and pancakes. Even the vegetable soup feels like you want to wipe it clean with steamed buns.
This feeling just meets the needs of officials on business trips who are tired from traveling and hungry.
With three dishes and one soup, Xin Qiji was still very satisfied.
However, the food standard of this improved version of the Ming Dynasty business trip was still many times worse than the treatment of high-ranking officials and powerful people in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Merely providing ice cubes and ice cube fruit fishing is not something that the Ming Dynasty would provide to officials.
However, simple cold drinks were not so rare in the Ming Dynasty. It can even be said that it became a more conventional means of cooling off during the hot season for officials and even the people in the Ming Dynasty.
Xin Qiji asked about the price of cold drinks in Lin'an during the Southern Song Dynasty and made a comparison. He found that the prices of cold drinks in the Ming Dynasty were lower than those in Lin'an during the Southern Song Dynasty.
The price of cold drinks has generally dropped and even flowed into the private sector. The reason is the advent of the gunpowder era.
Starting from the late Tang Dynasty, the army's demand for gunpowder soared, and gunpowder manufacturing technology developed. Craftsmen gradually discovered that when saltpeter dissolves in water, it absorbs a large amount of heat and can cool the surrounding water until it freezes. It is very surprising.
Over time, some skilled craftsmen began to use saltpeter to make ice. They put water into a jar, took a larger container, put water in the container, then placed the jar in the container, and continued to add saltpeter to the container. As a result, the jar The water inside turned into ice.
After the saltpeter dissolved into water, craftsmen gradually developed a matching cooling crystallization method or evaporation crystallization method to extract the saltpeter for reuse.
With this technology, the expensive nature of cold drinks has been greatly reduced, making it possible for cold drinks to further enter the private sector.
The Ming army under Su Yonglin had a particularly huge demand for gunpowder. While skilled gunpowder craftsmen made granular gunpowder, they also produced a large amount of ice as a by-product.
This by-product has two uses. One is that Su Yonglin put it into official summer welfare, providing cold drinks to relieve the heat of officials who still have to work hard in the hot summer. It was warmly welcomed by the officials.
Officials cannot consume such a large amount of ice production, so the second use is to invest it in the private sector.
Su Yonglin set up the Water and Ice Department under the Ministry of Finance, which was responsible for taking over the by-products of gunpowder manufacturing. Except for the welfare ice required by the government, all other ice was put into the Water and Ice Department.
The Water Ice Division is responsible for the research and development of cold drink products, and invests in the establishment of factories to mass-produce cold drinks, and then sells them to the private sector to earn additional funds. The profits earned are directly included in the public accounts of the Ministry of Finance and are classified as national funds.
