Accompanied by Hu Gui, Li Yuan walked around again. Although he has not yet refined a satisfactory formula, Li Yuan is quite satisfied with the layout here. In the future, once there is an opportunity to produce gunpowder in large quantities, this place can be used as an arsenal. In addition, houses can be built on the large open space enclosed to produce various gunpowder-related materials needed.
Before leaving, Hu Gui brought in the account books and reported the details of the money spent to Li Yuan in detail. Li Yuan also roughly understood that apart from the huge amount of money that had to be spent to build twenty alchemy furnaces and construction facilities here, the rest of the money was used to purchase raw materials such as sulfur and saltpeter.
The output of these gadgets is not high, and apart from being used by alchemists to make alchemy, they can basically be used as medicine. In these troubled times, the price is ridiculously high, and the amount consumed by twenty alchemy furnaces is even more astonishing.
These sorcerers who are almost fanatical about refining alchemy don't care how expensive the materials are. Anyway, they are protected by a big financial owner. They just refine it one furnace after another. They don't care how much they spend, so they have twenty pills. The furnace turned into twenty large furnaces that burned money, emptying Li Yuan's money bag at an alarming speed.
Li Yuan was glad that he had made the decision to close the eighteen alchemy furnaces today. In fact, this was also the purpose of his coming here today. The business of refining the formula cannot be stopped, but I cannot spend money to burn it for them either. At the beginning, Li Yuan had the idea of casting a wide net, thinking that if there was no light in the east, there would be light in the west. Among the twenty alchemists, there would always be someone who could do something famous, but now Li Yuan didn't think so.
Since you have promised in front of your family that refining gunpowder will no longer be spent from the inner treasury, you must keep your word. Before solving the money problem, you can only gather the warlocks together and use the small amount of raw materials in the existing inventory. Continue to refine the recipe. Although Li Yuan saw some disappointed expressions on the faces of some warlocks, Li Yuan did not care about their feelings.
On the way back to the Governor's Mansion, Li Yuan was thinking about how to solve the money problem.
Making money is actually a long-term solution. What can you do without money? It's not just about refining gunpowder. Many ideas about the army in the future will need the support of money. The various ideas in your mind cannot be restricted by money and cannot be implemented. This will be the biggest limitation on your development and strength. hinder.
In the main hall of the Governor's Mansion, before Li Yuan sat down and took a sip of tea, he heard a commotion in front of the mansion from a distance. On the staggered steps, Luo Erhu cursed loudly and seemed very angry. look.
"What are these things? Are we being treated like beggars? Even if we have less money and food, we are sending these rags. The court is going too far! Is the Grand Governor in the house? I want to see the Grand Governor Commentary, what on earth is the court trying to do? Damn..."
Li Yuan frowned slightly when he heard this. When he put down the tea cup, he saw Luo Erhu leading four or five generals into the main hall. When they saw Li Yuan sitting on the upper seat, they hurriedly came forward to salute.
Li Yuan got up from behind the eucalyptus and walked to the hall. He smiled and said, "Er Hu, why are you so angry?"
Luo Erhu shouted angrily: "Grand Governor, the money and grain escorted by the imperial court have arrived! But the amount is completely inconsistent with what is on the list. The money is only 300,000 guan, and the grain and fodder are also missing by about a hundred carts. The official who escorted him said that the money and grain were missing. The deficiencies will be filled with armor and weapons allocated by the Ministry of War, but...but when I look at those things, I feel really bad!"
It turns out that the "ransom" from the court has arrived! This is really a timely help... While overjoyed, Li Yuan asked doubtfully: "How much are the armor and weapons allocated by the Ministry of War? That's fine. It costs a lot of money to make our own armor and weapons. Not to mention the armor and weapons allocated by the Ministry of War. It has always been used by the Forbidden Army and is considered to be well-equipped, so why does it look so bad?"
Chai Kewu on the side shook his head helplessly and sighed: "What Commander Luo Du said is true. Grand Governor, why don't you go to the warehouse and have a look in person! Those armors and weapons are really, really horrible..."
Li Yuan exhaled a breath, stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look with the governor."
Everyone rushed out, got on their horses and went straight to the armory one street away from the Governor's Mansion. After a while, I arrived at the flat ground outside the warehouse, and saw hundreds of large vehicles parked full of the field at the entrance of the warehouse and on the street leading to the warehouse. Except for the hundreds of vehicles in the front loaded with money and grain, all the vehicles in the back were full. Piles of armor and weapons.
Li Yuan and others rode their horses along the gap next to the motorcade to the warehouse door. They saw two court officials wearing official robes standing in front of the warehouse door talking loudly, seemingly arguing with the treasurer official in charge of the Wuping Armory. What are you wearing?
Seeing Li Yuan's arrival, the treasurer officials quickly stopped arguing and came forward to salute respectfully. Li Yuan turned over and dismounted from his horse and shouted in a deep voice: "Secretary Wang, what happened?"
The treasurer Wang hurriedly bowed his hands and said: "Report to the Governor, these two officials from the imperial court escorted money, grain and materials to Wuping. They asked us to unload these armors and weapons into the warehouse. But Luo Du made an order not to put them into the warehouse, so we went to Wuping. There was an argument here.”
Luo Erhu puffed up his chest and said: "Yes, I asked Treasurer Wang not to put it in the warehouse! Since the things have been sent to our Langzhou, we have to ask the chief governor to see what they have sent, right? Hu Li Hu Tu has been put into the treasury, and you thought we got some kind of treasure from the imperial court!"
Li Yuan frowned and glanced at the two trembling court officials. Naturally, the two officials knew that the visitor was the famous Governor of Langzhou, Li Yuan, and hurriedly came forward to salute.
One of them, a fat official, humbly raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, please pay homage to the Governor! Your Majesty is Zhong Ming, a member of the household branch, and Li Shouji, a doctor in the Treasury Department of the Ministry of War. He was ordered to escort the money, food and supplies to Langzhou to show His Majesty's reward and favor to the Governor.
But for some reason, the generals of the Wuping Army were unwilling to unload the trucks into the warehouse. What was the reason for this? Is it possible that the lower officials are required to escort all these armors and weapons back to Jiangnan? "
"Open your eyes and take a closer look. What kind of rags are they sending? Are you sending beggars away? Take them away as soon as you want. I don't care about it." Luo Erhu said angrily from the side.
"You, you, you...how can you be so rude? How can it be so unreasonable, how can it be unreasonable!" Zhong Ming turned red with anger and was very angry at Luo Erhu's rudeness, but Langzhou was Li Yuan's territory, after all, it was not Jinling. No matter what grievances you have here, you have to hold them in honestly.
When Li Yuan saw this, he just waved his hands and said expressionlessly: "Er Hu, please restrain yourself. These two are officials of the imperial court, why bother them. They are all working on food and errands. It is not easy to walk from Jinling to Langzhou."
"Oh, the Commander-in-Chief is still reasonable! He is worthy of being the number one general in our dynasty. He is courteous both in civil and military matters! How can you be so reckless and unreasonable in your words..." Zhong Ming seemed to have found a savior. , bowed and said with a smile on his face.
Luo Erhu and several surrounding generals were about to get angry, but Li Yuan snorted softly, and they had to hold back their anger.
Li Yuan slowly walked to a nearby cart. The tarpaulin had been lifted off the materials on the cart, and half of them were unloaded on the ground. Chai Kewu, who had always acted calmly, could no longer hold back at this time. He quickly stepped forward, randomly picked up a piece of armor from a pile of armor on the ground, and unfolded it for Li Yuan to see.
"Grand Governor, this is the armor that the imperial court gave us Wu Ping. Look at this piece. Half of the armor plates on it have fallen off. Also, this piece even has holes on it, and the places where the armor pieces are there are also holes. It's badly worn. Can brothers wear this kind of crude thing on the battlefield? It has no protection at all. Wearing this armor is not as tight as wearing a raincoat..."
Li Yuan frowned and looked at the armor. Judging from the style, it was not the standard armor worn by the soldiers of the Southern Tang Forbidden Army. This seems to be a piece of leather armor, and it is a type of armor that was eliminated at least fifty years ago. The so-called armor is actually a layer of leather, and another layer of leather armor is put on the front and back.
The entire nail stomach was in dilapidated condition, with many pieces of skin peeling off and most of the sewing threads coming out. The leather in several places was worn to the point of being almost transparent. Not only is it an outdated armor stomach, but it should also be one that has been used for a long time. It is probably from the old warehouse of the local state capital in the late Tang Dynasty. Over time, the gaps are full of dust and dirt, and it emits an unpleasant smell. odor.
Li Yuan personally picked up a few more items to check, and found that they were almost all tatters. They were just for show, and had little protective effect.
"Grand Governor, have you seen this? Isn't the imperial court perfunctory with us?" Luo Erhu said angrily.
"Be patient for a moment, and take a look at the big car behind." Li Yuan's face gradually became gloomy, and he waved his hand and said coldly.
Everyone moved to the cart loaded with weapons and lifted the tarp. Bundles of weapons were stacked on the cart. The smell of rust immediately hit their noses. The weapons in the cart were all rusty and looked like scraps. heap.
Li Yuan reached out and pulled out a long knife. The handle and blade were covered with rust, and the edge was mottled with red rust. Li Yuan swung his knife and chopped down a tree trunk as thick as an arm next to him. The blade could penetrate several inches, but it was awkwardly stuck in it and could not even be pulled out.
Now everyone's faces became even more ugly. Using this kind of weapon against the enemy was simply asking for death. How could they cut through the opponent's armor and stomach? This weapon is almost useless.
Then Li Yuan came to the cart full of spears, pulled out a spear with a "swish", and looked at the blunt tip of the spear in silence. Everyone saw that the Governor's face was completely gloomy and they were all silent. No one dared to speak freely. They just suppressed their anger and stood silently behind Li Yuan.
At this moment, Li Yuan knew in his heart that there was no need for any more random inspections. As Luo Erhu said, these armors and weapons were indeed all in tatters. I was afraid that the Ministry of War would move out all the tattered and rotten goods that had been suppressed at the bottom of the warehouse for a long time. , all sent to Langzhou.
"Grand Governor, have you seen this? How can we collect these rags? Tell me, it's better to ask them to take all these armors and weapons back and let the court exchange them for money and food. We don't want these things." Luo Erhu He suppressed his blush and whispered.
Li Yuan quietly stared at the two court officials in front who were whispering, hesitated for a moment and sighed softly: "That's it, order people to unload the truck and put it into the warehouse."
"What?" Luo Erhu opened his eyes wide, almost thinking that he heard wrongly. The generals such as Chai Kewu and others around him also looked surprised.
Li Yuan shouted loudly: "Do you want me to tell you a second time? Put them all into the treasury, repair what needs to be repaired, mend what needs to be mended, and polish what needs to be polished. In short, don't waste anything. This is the intention of the imperial court. His Majesty’s wishes!”
After that, Li Yuan left Luo Erhu, who was standing blankly, and walked towards two officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War. He forced out a smile and said with his hands, "Thank you for your hard work coming all the way! The governor has already asked people to unload the truck and put it into the warehouse. Why don't you You two will follow me to the Governor's Mansion to drink some tea. At noon, the Governor will host a small banquet to entertain you personally. You came from Jinling to Langzhou, and it was not easy to walk through mountains and rivers. It was really hard."
In the entire Southern Tang Dynasty, who has not heard of Li Yuan's reputation? Zhong Ming and Li Shouji were a little worried at first, but when they saw that Li Yuan actually agreed to unload the truck and didn't say a word of blame, he was actually kind and friendly. They were surprised and secretly relieved at the same time.
At that moment, the two of them hurriedly thanked him and followed Li Yuan to the Governor's Mansion. Luo Erhu, Chai Kewu and the generals stood in front of the warehouse door and stared at each other. Treasurer Wang came up and whispered: "Master Luo, can we unload this truck?"
Luo Erhu said angrily: "Unload! Didn't you hear what the Governor said?! Just go ahead and unload the truck and put it into storage! Repair the armor, sharpen the swords and guns, these things will be left to you!"
After saying that, Luo Erhu angrily got on his horse and rode away. Treasurer Wang stood there with a mournful face, and cast a look for help at Chai Kewu and other generals. Unexpectedly, Chai Kewu and other generals also had indifferent expressions, and then they got on their horses and left neatly. .
Treasurer Wang, who was left alone, shook his head and sighed, and murmured in a low voice: "Oh, it's unlucky to be in a humble position after all... Come here, unload the truck and put it in the warehouse!"
