Seeing that Li Shuheng had listened, Liu Heng said, "Only if we are strong enough, the Datong Mansion and the imperial court will worry about us and not dare to use weapons easily. But if we want to become stronger, our soldiers must continue to expand and our cavalry must also strengthen. These all require money, and with our current financial resources, raising two thousand-man troops and one cavalry is already the limit."
"You want to expand the army?" Li Shuheng was surprised.
Liu Heng nodded and said, "We are like sailing against the current. If we don't advance, we will retreat."
"Is it really that serious?" Li Shuheng didn't believe it.
There are more than 2,000 soldiers and cavalry in the Tiger Flag. The only ones in Datong who are more powerful than them are the border troops.
"It's more serious than imagined." Liu Heng said, "As soon as Huang An took office, he would take action against us. It's because the Dongshan Iron Station is in the hands of the Tiger Flag. If we hadn't gotten through the Datong General Soldier through Li Huaixin relationship, what do you think our fate will be now?"
As he spoke, he looked at Li Shuheng.
Li Shuheng trembled when he heard this.
In the end, there is no need to even guess. The Tiger Flag can only end up being wiped out. There is no second possibility, and everything the Tiger Flag has will become a passing cloud.
After a slight hesitation, he said, "If you want to expand the army, you must open up new ways of making money. Otherwise, we cannot afford it with our current financial resources. The most important thing is that if we raise so many soldiers at once, it will be difficult for someone to spread the word." The imperial court will not send troops to suppress it.”
Liu Heng said, "On the financial road, we can sell the iron to the Japanese country through the Qianhu in Tianjin, which should be able to temporarily support our military expansion."
Li Shuheng said worriedly, "Datong is not close to the sea, and the distance from Datong to Tianjin is not close. Someone who wants to deal with us will directly cut off the road of our convoy to Tianjin. Without the profits from the sea, our expansion of troops will be equivalent to our own Dig a grave.”
"Brother Shuheng, you are right. The sea cannot be our main source of profit for the time being." Liu Heng said, "In fact, the most suitable place for us is the grassland. The Tiger Character Flag can learn from the Shanxi merchants and communicate with the northern barbarians. "
Li Shuheng frowned and said, "The path is correct, but we don't have anyone familiar with the Beilu to lead the way. Even if we send things to the grassland, they will only be robbed by the Beilu."
"It didn't happen before, doesn't mean it won't happen in the future." Liu Heng smiled mysteriously.
"What do you mean?" Li Shuheng frowned and immediately realized, "You mean the Fan family!"
Liu Heng nodded with a smile and said, "Why else would I waste so much effort to force the Fan family to agree to use our mules and horses? We will use the Fan family to go to the caravan on the grassland and make friends with the Mongolian nobles on the grassland, for the future." Let’s prepare ourselves to deal with Beilu.”
"Will the Fan family be willing to let us have a relationship with Beilu? I'm afraid it won't be that easy!" Li Shuheng frowned.
No one will easily get in the way of your own good business.
"This matter is actually not difficult." Liu Heng said, "The Ming Dynasty has been restricting the flow of iron weapons into the grassland. Naturally, there is a shortage of iron weapons in the Beirut region, and iron weapons are the strength of our Tiger Flag. Even the Fan family has Not as good as us, I believe that as long as Beilu knows that our Tiger Flag can continuously produce refined iron, they will definitely come to us for cooperation."
Li Shuheng looked thoughtful.
Liu Heng continued, "Li Huaixin is a staff general in Xinping Fort. Tiger Flag can send a convoy to the grassland through Xinping Fort. Of course, this kind of business cannot be monopolized by Tiger Flag. To bring in the General Military Mansion, it is best to be able to Winning over the governor of Datong to do this together, if the governor and the general are behind us, we may not be able to replace the Fan family in the future and monopolize the benefits of smuggling from the North."
Li Shuheng raised his head and said, "Have you already considered smuggling with Beilu?"
Liu Heng did not hide anything and said, "When I learned that Li Huaixin went to Xinpingbao to serve as a general, I thought about it. Later, the Tiger Character Banner's financial resources were no longer able to expand its troops, so I decided to do the same thing as the Shanxi merchants, smuggling northern captives. Earn money and in turn expand your army."
Worried that Li Shuheng would object, Liu Heng added, "We are all deserters from Liaodong. Even if we have established a foothold in Lingqiu now, we can't escape the word bandit. If we want to survive, we can only make the tiger-character flag stronger. Otherwise, even if everything is fine now, there is no guarantee that no one will come up with the idea of raising a tiger-shaped flag in the future."
Li Shuheng sighed.
He knew Liu Heng was right. Even though people like them had everything they needed in Lingqiu, they were still bandits in essence.
"Now that it's all decided, let's do as you say! I have no objection." Li Shuheng's voice became hoarse.
Liu Heng felt relieved.
He heard that Li Shuheng did not call himself a subordinate, but called me, indicating that the other party never agreed with his decision.
It wasn't that he couldn't force Li Shuheng to agree, but that doing so would only cause disunity within the Tiger Flag, which he didn't want to see.
After talking for a long time, his mouth was a little dry. Liu Heng took a sip of tea and said, "Brother Shu Heng will go back and rest early tonight. Come with me to the Ordnance Bureau tomorrow. Huang Zhong sent news that the self-made fire gun has been greatly improved." It has made progress and is now comparable to the Lumi gun currently used in all aspects."
"Then I'll take my leave first." Li Shuheng stood up and left the signing room.
Zhao Wu sent the man away, and when he came back, he gave Liu Heng another cup of hot tea.
……………………
early morning.
Liu Heng followed the soldiers of the Tiger Flag and ran around Xujiazhuang.
Returning to the signing room, Zhao Wu brought a basin of water.
After Liu Heng washed his face, wiped the water stains on his hands and face with a dry cloth, sat down at the table and started eating breakfast.
Breakfast has been prepared long ago, and is the same as what ordinary soldiers eat, a bowl of millet porridge, a pancake, half a salted fish, and a plate of pickles.
Everyone has a quota of pickles and salted fish, and Liu Heng, the boss, is no exception. There is no limit on millet porridge and pancakes, so you can eat them as you like.
"Master." Zheng Tie came to the signing room.
"Sit." Liu Heng pointed to the seat opposite and said, "Wait until I finish eating."
Zheng Tie did not sit down, but waited on the side like Zhao Wu, even though he was no longer a guard.
Liu Heng didn't say anything about this, but continued to eat on the table. He didn't put down the bowls and chopsticks until he finished the last bite of pancakes.
Before Zhao Wu could step forward, Zheng Tie came over first, put away the empty dishes on the table, and handed them over to people outside for cleaning.
Zhao Wu presented him with a cup of hot tea at the right temperature.
Liu Heng picked it up and took a sip. After putting it down, he said, "Wait a moment. Deputy Director Li will come with us later."
Not long after he finished speaking, he heard someone outside shouting, "Deputy Director Li."
It was the guard outside the door who spoke.
Liu Heng laughed and said, "I can't help but say, as soon as I mentioned it, people came, let's go!"
As he spoke, he stood up from his seat, picked up the Yan Ling Dao hanging on the wall behind him and hung it on his waist, and put his blunderbuss in his belt.
At this time Li Shuheng walked in.
