After a while,
A high-pitched and loud voice resounded through the silent night sky outside Ganlu Hall.
"Xuan, Qin Ming, a man from Lantian County, comes to see you!"
As soon as Wu Gu's words fell, everyone in the hall looked at the door of the hall at the same time.
Not long after, they saw a young man dressed in a green shirt with a jade hairpin on his head walking into the main hall.
Qin Ming dusted himself off, bowed to Li Shimin and said:
"Wei Chen, please see..."
Li Shimin waved his hands impatiently and said:
"No gifts, no gifts, Qin Qing's family, do you really have a way to get the army to Lanzhou seven days in advance?"
After speaking, Li Shimin stared at Qin Ming with a pair of tiger eyes, for fear of hearing a negative answer.
Li Shimin, Li Jing, and Changsun Wuji were all the most intelligent people in the Tang Dynasty.
They knew very well what it would mean for this war if the army could arrive in Lanzhou seven days in advance.
With this, the imperial court was not only able to relieve the siege of Lanzhou, but also catch Tuyuhun and Dangxiang by surprise.
Qin Ming straightened up and said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone:
"Yes, I came here overnight just to report this matter to His Majesty."
Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard this, he waved his long sleeves, walked up to Qin Ming, and said eagerly:
"Let me tell you what you can do."
Although Li Jing only had contact with Qin Ming once, he had a very good impression of Qin Ming.
He also attached great importance to the military exercises proposed by Qin Ming.
I have also discussed the feasibility of this military exercise with His Majesty in private.
Just waiting for Cheng Zhijie's left-leading military guard to return in triumph, they will start the first military exercise of the Tang Dynasty.
Things are unpredictable, and no one expected that the Dangxiang people would stab Datang in the back.
Li Jing has been leading troops in wars all his life, and he is well aware of the difficulty of marching. It is simply a dream to reach the battlefield seven days in advance!
He knew that Qin Ming's family was rich, but even if Qin Ming was willing to spend all his wealth, it was impossible for the army to set off seven days in advance!
[Hey, this kid is still too young! ]
[Forget it, at worst I can beg for mercy for him later. ]
Changsun Wuji had the same idea as Li Jing, and he also felt that Qin Ming took it for granted.
[The young man is eager to make contributions! ]
[Forget it, seeing as he saved Chong'er, I will help him smooth things over for a while, which is considered as repaying the favor. ]
Qin Ming cupped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, you must have seen the four-wheeled transport vehicles transporting cement and gravel back and forth on the Changlan Cement Road, right?"
Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard this, and the first thing he thought of was those four-wheeled carriages, which had a terrifying cargo-carrying capacity.
"You mean, use this four-wheeled transport vehicle to transport grain and grass?"
Qin Ming nodded and shook his head.
"Four-wheeled carriages can be used to help the court transport grain and grass, which can reduce a lot of manpower."
"But what Weichen wants to say is that these four-wheeled transport vehicles can not only carry fifty shi of goods, but also can carry forty soldiers of the Tang Dynasty and their weapons."
Li Shimin, Li Jing, and Changsun Wuji couldn't help but widen their eyes after hearing this.
Yes, why didn't they think of using carriages to transport soldiers before?
Qin Ming continued:
"Chang'an is more than 1,400 miles away from Lanzhou. Even a forced march will take at least fourteen days. But if most of the infantry ride on four-wheeled carriages, the army can march at least two hundred miles in one day."
"In this way, the army can reach Lanzhou in only seven days."
Li Shimin was overjoyed when he heard this. He patted Qin Ming on the shoulder and laughed:
"Okay, okay, okay, you are indeed my good son-in-law."
Qin Ming's mouth twitched when he heard this.
[I don’t even have a formal marriage gift. What kind of virtuous son-in-law am I? ]
Li Jing automatically filtered it, Li Shimin's words about a virtuous son-in-law. He took two steps forward, raised his hands towards Qin Ming and asked:
"Mr. Qin County, do you have many transport vehicles like this in your house?"
"It should be noted that the army sent by the imperial court this time has no less than 60,000 infantry. If they are all pulled by horse-drawn carriages, it will require at least more than a thousand horse-drawn carriages!"
Li Shimin also suppressed his smile when he heard this. He was just so happy that he actually forgot about it.
Qin Ming admired Li Jing, the military god of the Tang Dynasty!
What's more, Li Jing is also the prototype of the King Pagoda in mythology.
Last time he had dinner, he wanted to ask Li Jing if he had three sons.
...
Qin Ming smiled faintly, cupped his hands towards Li Jing and said:
"Back to Weiguo, I have already made arrangements before entering the palace. The palace will build thousands of carriages within seven days regardless of the cost for the use of the army."
Li Jing nodded slightly when he heard this, then he held his hands towards Qin Ming and said with a smile:
"You have courage, I admire you!"
Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief. If Qin Ming said it, wouldn't it be possible to produce more than a hundred vehicles in a day?
[How many craftsmen need to be recruited? Will it be too difficult? ]
At this time, Changsun Wuji, who was standing beside him, stroked his long beard, suddenly took a step forward, and said:
"Mr. Qin County, I heard that the transport truck in your house is priced at 500 guan each. According to this price, a thousand carriages will cost 500,000 guan."
"What's more, more transport vehicles will be needed later to transport grain and grass. In total, it will take at least two thousand carriages."
"The Ministry of Accounts cannot come up with such a large sum of money."
Li Shimin and Li Jing gasped when they heard this!
The two of them didn't expect that Qin Mansion's carriage was so expensive.
This is a good idea, but it’s too expensive!
It was completely beyond the capabilities of the imperial court.
But with such a good idea in front of him, Li Shimin would really be reluctant to give up.
But even though he is a mighty Khan, he can't lick his face and ask for things from Qin Ming's family for nothing!
This is not hundreds of strings, tens of thousands of strings, but millions of strings!
When Li Shimin was extremely confused, Qin Ming's calm voice sounded in the hall.
"Mr. Qi, I'm afraid I've misunderstood. Weichen are not here to make money for the country! Weichen can rent these transport vehicles to the court."
After speaking, Qin Ming turned towards Li Shimin, cupped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, I am willing to rent each transport vehicle to the court at a price of one hundred cash per day. I wonder what your Majesty would like?"
"If the court thinks it is expensive, Your Majesty, you can send a group of carpenters from the Ministry of Industry to help in the Qin Mansion's village. In this way, the rent can be reduced by another 50%."
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell into a dead silence.
Changsun Wuji, Li Jing, and Li Shimin were all stunned when they heard this.
Li Jing: [How does this kid’s head grow? Why is he so smart! It seems that Dejian will have to make good friends with him in the future. ]
Changsun Wuji: [Hey, I underestimated him! ]
Li Shimin thought about it for a while and felt that the price was very good value. So he took Qin Ming's hand, laughed and said:
"So good, so good!"
After speaking, Li Shimin turned his head and said to Wuji:
"Wuyu, please send someone immediately to call back the Prime Minister, Dai Zhou, and Hou Junji for me."
"I have ordered Duan Lun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to send all the carpenters from the Ministry of Industry to the Qin Mansion early tomorrow morning to follow the orders of the men from Qin County."
"Here."
........
