And when Jiang Tian finished his follow-up work in the Lower Alps Province/Frontier Region and returned to his base camp in Avignon, he received news again; the first round of auctions hosted by Miss Flanders in Marseille City had ended. It brought an income of 770,000 ECU to the Free Army.
Therefore, Jiang Tian ordered the accounting team and engineering construction consultants headed by Xiao Eju to make plans based on this income; Provinces, roads connecting major cities will be widened.
At the same time, more than 20 temporary military stations set up in cities along the way were converted into permanent fixed establishments; at the same time, manpower and livestock were recruited from the laid-off soldiers to restore the Kingdom's long-abandoned postal and post station system. ; Improve the efficiency of troop mobilization and material transfer.
Another good news is that the Kingdom Iron Works has already produced its first batch of products after resumption of work. In addition to the traditional weapons used to equip the army: swords, guns, spears and arrows, a batch of roller bearings, yes, roller bearings, were also produced in accordance with the standard requirements specified by Jiang Tian.
Although it looks very rough, after simple debugging, polishing and oiling, it can be used in the production of new freight carriages. Although in this time and space, due to the exchange between the East and the West, the Western Continent has live-axis steering four-wheel carriages. But there are no rollers and shock-absorbing springs yet.
Therefore, after the first batch of new freight carriages in production are put into use, they can be upgraded to the basic carrying capacity of one ton to one and a half tons on the existing long box mail stage carriages and flatbed freight cattle and mule carriages. Several times; and greatly improve the logistics support and transportation efficiency of the army.
Of course, the benefits after taking over the Port of Marseille continue to be reflected. For example, after suppressing the royalist nobles and other hostile forces, various valuables other than real estate confiscated, and even various agricultural products confiscated under the rule of the Free Army, could also be cashed in.
The large amount of wealth accumulated by the Free Army in a short period of time also has a large-scale multi-party purchasing channel. Because the Port of Marseille is not only a port city, but also the central hub and leader of many ports in the southern part of the kingdom, and is also connected to many overseas provinces and colonies.
More importantly, it also gained the opportunity to cross the Italian peninsula and conduct trade with the Eastern Empire, which occupies the hub position of the three continents, and even have contact and exchanges with the Seris merchants known as the People of Silver who are active in the Eastern Empire. Opportunities to get more information about the times.
In this way, Jiang Tian does not have to worry about the Free Army, which will cause large-scale purchases in the Southwest Five Elements Province, leading to the risk of local inflation; because wherever the Free Army goes, in addition to suppressing and raiding the middle and upper classes, it also purchases large-scale purchases from local farmers and handicraftsmen. remaining product on hand.
To this day, it has brought about significant price increases. There are also some resources that are relatively scarce or unproductive in the kingdom, and can be obtained from a relatively long-term and stable source at a relatively appropriate bargaining price; such as saltpeter, asphalt, and ore in North Africa.
After the source of gunpowder is guaranteed, Jiang Tian can also start to advance and uniformly transform, upgrade and replace the existing matchlock guns of various types and calibers into flint guns that are less affected by the weather and are easier to operate. firing guns; and producing paper-wrapped custom bullets.
On the other hand, as a necessary common sense and accomplishment for all travelers, the Free Army has begun to hire ships to go out to sea to mine the struvite stones accumulated all year round on the coastal islands; then use water-powered mills and mortars to slightly crush them, and mix them with plant ash. After mixing, the fields can be fertilized to increase production.
You must know that Provence, as well as the surrounding Dole, Vaucluse, and Maritime provinces, are all located in the Rhone Valley basin of the Greater Provence region; it is also the most developed agricultural and animal husbandry and rich-producing essence area in the southern part of the Kingdom; and The Great Crown Territory occupies the best land among them.
At the same time, many noble territories, knightly fiefs, and knightly estates were entrusted. They were rich in various grains, wine, olive oil, figs, citrus, sugar beets, as well as large numbers of herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. They also provided considerable supplies. Some of the wood needed for naval shipbuilding.
The coastal zone also has considerable fish catches and income from trade routes around the Mediterranean. Therefore, the province of Provence, as the central area, can support and maintain a larger number of knights than other places. In the classical kingdom era, it was called the hometown of knights.
In addition, Provence and Maritime provinces have complex coastlines, but most of them are relatively rugged and difficult-to-reach headlands and tidal flats, so they are not suitable for traditional salt-drying operations; however, Jiangtian can completely settle for the next best thing. , using cheap coal transported from the nearby river to boil salt.
After all, labor costs in this era are quite low, and Provence is a large and populous province; you don’t even need to pay with money, you just need to use grain, cloth, grease, bacon, etc. as payment. Remuneration; there are many people in coastal areas who are willing to come and work.
The salt from the coast, like the sugar from the New World, is one of the hard currencies that can be directly used and paid in lieu of currency in the inland West Continent, which is currently in turmoil. At the same time, it can also be used as a trade product and sold to overseas provinces and colonies on the other side that lack the ability to produce salt.
And Provence is worthy of being the hometown of classical knights; under the strong call of Duval and others, in the name of recruiting retinues, people with their own mounts were quickly recruited from local knights, knights, businessmen and other wealthy families. There were more than 3,000 people; almost all the young people of the right age were wiped out.
In this way, the Free Army not only obtained at least a dozen cavalry companies as reserve soldiers, but also eliminated the last hidden security risk in the local area in a disguised manner. Young people who have been trained in armed forces since childhood and have nothing to do and no future are undoubtedly potential sources of instability.
You know, some of them had family members or relatives who died fighting under the city of Avignon as knights' retinues. Although the Third Corps of the Free Army currently only targets aristocratic groups related to the royal party for liquidation and inspection; many people were still coerced and instigated before;
Joined the small-scale riots and mass resistance incidents initiated by the remnants of the local nobles; but after Duval and others openly promoted the Free Army and visited the corresponding families one by one with commitments and guarantees, these resistances quickly Falling apart from within.
Because, compared to the wealthy upper-ranking nobles, these knights and knight families at the bottom of the countryside undoubtedly understand the local folk customs better and have appeal and influence. What's more, the current leader of the Free Army is also a knight of the fief and has a perfect bloodline.
In addition, according to the propaganda of the Free Army, in addition to retaining their family properties, during their service, they can also be exempted from taxation and corresponding corvee recruitment according to the level of their military positions; therefore, these newly defected knights' retinues, Often they bring three to five followers.
It can also be organized into at least twenty or thirty auxiliary/white soldier companies, equipped with donkeys and mules for transportation; therefore, for a time, the city of Avignon was bustling with noise and drums and trumpets. As the saying goes, red flags are waving, and there are huge crowds of people... The firecrackers firing at the training ground merge with the sound of artillery fire.
However, it was mixed with the constant neighing of many animals and horses; because this was the soldiers of the Free Army, who were training the accompanying animals and mounts recruited from various places, and responded to the artillery bombardment and volleys of fire cannons, all kinds of noisy sounds. Adaptability; thereby eliminating some inappropriate existences.
However, as the supreme commander, Jiang Tian gradually became more relaxed as all aspects were on the right track. Therefore, he finally had time and leisure to calm down and write a standardized military doctrine and training manual. ; This is also a process of slowly recalling.
Because the current Free Army only has a simple military rule called "Ten Commandments and Seven Covenants", which has been popularized among most soldiers through morning exercises after getting up every day and collective recitation before three meals. Among them, the Ten Commandments are military discipline in wartime, and the Seven Covenants are the norms for daily behavior.
The content is also quite simple and straightforward. For example, it is impossible in this era to completely prohibit soldiers from robbing; then it is stipulated that robberies must be carried out in an organized and orderly manner under the leadership of officers, non-commissioned officers and sergeants at all levels; and in this way, unnecessary killing and destruction are prohibited.
Because the final value of the spoils of robbery determines how much everyone will share afterwards; therefore, soldiers will also take the initiative to ensure that the spoils are intact and do their best to search every corner; and even actively stop and contain all kinds of robbery-like situations. acts of looting and vandalism.
Another example is the physiological problem of excessive energy in the daily life of soldiers. In addition to increasing recreational activities such as competitive sports, local cities will also hire professionals in the name of the city hall to conduct regular comfort activities and health examinations, and severely punish those who violate their will. acts of violence.
However, after the territory and scale of the Free Army have expanded, they have encountered endless problems, large and small, and require more precise and detailed regulations; and follow-up guidance for military construction. But fortunately, Jiang Tian did not create it out of thin air. He had ready-made teaching materials and templates from another world, the Tang Dynasty.
That was the peak period of the classical feudal dynasty and cold weapons, and Jiang Tian had probably read all the books that had been sent to the Little Round Face World/Haidong Regime, more or less. Therefore, as long as he used daily memoirs, Just speak and write down slowly what you want to do.
In addition, Jiang Tian is still privately within the Free Army, offering rewards to collect various details and opinions; there are also a large number of former Kingdom officers and non-commissioned officers who are willing to provide suggestions for this, just to be included in the preliminary compilation of the "Code of Conduct" Among them, leave traces of yourself and even your name.
Just after this "Cao Code" had been compiled into a small part, Jiang Tian also received news that the Third Corps led by Pauline had completed most of the suppression and purge tasks, and had changed defenses and returned to the outskirts of Avignon for repairs.
