Yue Fei couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing this: "Xuanfu, how can we estimate national affairs like this? What if the Jin army is really cast and invades the south in large numbers?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Because it takes so much time to cast a cannon. Observe, have you ever seen a cannon?"
Yue Fei said: "I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I heard it from others, so I know its general appearance."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "That's good. Do you think the Jin Army can make a bronze weapon like a cannon barrel? How long will it take?"
Yue Fei said: "Although it is difficult to cast, it is not impossible. During the Jingkang period, the Jin army came too quickly, and many craftsmen in the Central Plains fell into their hands. Although the craftsmen did not know how to cast cannons, they had cast bells and Something similar. There are patterns and artillery, and they can be copied very quickly."
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "The craftsmen who cast bells can indeed cast cannon barrels. Even here, I first hired bell casters to cast cannons. But, how long does it take to cast a bronze bell like a cannon?"
Yue Fei was stunned after hearing this. I was walking in a hurry, so I didn't ask this question.
Wang Xiaolie said: "It will take at least three months, or even half a year. How many cannons can the Jin Army cast in a year?"
Yue Fei asked hurriedly: "What about Xuanfu?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "I am very fast here. There is a special gun factory, which can usually produce one or two guns a day, and about four hundred to five hundred guns a year. If time is tight, it can be faster, and it can be made in one day." Five, six, or even a dozen doors came out.”
After hearing this, Yue Fei spread his hands: "Xuan Fu is like this, how come the Jin Army can't do it?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "Because we have special machines, which are more than ten times faster than workers doing it by hand. When we are in a hurry, we can turn over the machines that make other items and make cannons together. The Jin Army wants to make these machines , Not to mention whether they know it or not, even if the Jin Army learns all our technologies, they will definitely not be able to build these machines in one year. So, the Jin Army will not be able to build a few cannons in one year."
Yue Fei looked at Wang Xiaolie and his mind was a little confused for a moment. I don’t know if what Wang Xiaolie said is true or not. Is it so difficult to make a cannon? If it was so difficult to make, why did Wang Xiaolie's army have so many equipment?
Wang Xiaolie said: "Now I have to go all out to build the cannon, but there is still a problem."
Yue Fei asked hurriedly: "What's the problem?"
Wang Xiaolie asked: "Where does the capital for making cannons come from?"
Yue Fei said: "The imperial court will call it on its own."
Wang Xiaolie said: "If I send this money from the bank, how long will it take? Do I need to count this time?"
After saying that, Yue Fei looked embarrassed. Wang Xiaolie asked again: "Do you know how much a cannon costs?"
Yue Fei said: "I heard people say that artillery is really not small, it must be worth a lot of money. I think a cannon may cost several hundred guns -"
Wang Xiaolie couldn't help laughing after hearing this. Said: "So, you don't know anything, so you rush to me to ask for cannons. Where can I get them? How many cannons can be made with a few hundred guns? The imperial decree states that each of your armies must have a hundred cannons." . Even Privy Zhang of Shaanxi has fifty guns. It seems that this cannon is so easy, it comes out as soon as the upper and lower lips touch it. How is it possible!"
Yue Fei felt a little unhappy after hearing this, thinking that Wang Xiaolie was deliberately making excuses. If you don’t want to build cannons, you must build them and ask for more money.
Asked: "According to Xuanfu, how much does a cannon cost?"
Looking at Yue Fei's expression, Wang Xiaolie said: "We are not doing business or bargaining. But without this money, a cannon cannot be made. I will tell you how much it costs. The cannon is made of copper. The net weight is 1,200 kilograms, and 1,800 kilograms of copper are used. Not to mention the price of copper outside, all the money is used to cast it. A typical coin weighs six kilograms and six taels, and 60% is copper. It takes about 500 kilograms of gold. , copper is enough."
After hearing this number, Yue Fei took a breath of cold air.
There was a strange phenomenon in the Song Dynasty: copper was more expensive than money. If you destroy the money and cast it into bronze, you will get five times the profit. If instead of using money to cast the cannon, copper would be used directly, and the copper price of one cannon would be more than 2,000 guan. This number is very astonishing.
Of course, Wang Xiaolie's use of banknotes in his territory has always been to destroy copper coins and make cannons. But if you can do that, how can others do it? You don't need to use copper on the market, even if you use copper coins, you still have to transport the copper coins, and the cost of destroying the coins is included.
Wang Xiaoxing said: "After the barrel is made, the barrel must be bored, the fire door must be drilled, the lugs must be installed, and so on. In the end, it must be installed on the gun carriage. A gun carriage also needs One or two hundred guns. The above I am talking about the cost of materials, not including labor. Including labor, the price will approximately double. In addition, if you are so anxious to get artillery, you must stop doing other things and let Many factories came to help. What should we do about the losses caused by these factories? Do we need to compensate them? Add another 30%, it’s not too much, right? After all, I don’t make a penny, how much does a cannon cost?”
After hearing this, Yue Fei couldn't help but sigh and said: "Xuanfu said that it is impossible to make so many artillery? But Xuanfu's army has a lot of artillery."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "You want to equip artillery like our army. Do you have that much money?"
After finishing speaking, he sighed and said: "Observation is also a person who leads troops. You should know that the most important thing for an army is money and food. The most important thing is to have food and money. I have been in Xiangyang for several years, not to mention the personal He is penniless and is still poor compared to other generals. Where did the money go? It was spent like this."
After hearing this, Yue Fei didn't know what to say. Compared with other generals, Yue Fei is not a greedy person. Most of the rewards and the like are given to subordinates. Even so, the money now is not much less than that of Wang Xiaolie. Not to mention other generals.
More importantly, Wang Xiaolie has no assets and only has cash in hand. Apart from cash, I sold the house in Xiangyang and bought a real estate in Luoyang, but nothing else. Which of the other generals doesn't have a lot of land? There are so many like Zhang Jun that he can’t even tell how many farms there are. Although Yue Fei had just formed an independent army, his family also had land to collect rent to support his family.
After being silent for a long time, Yue Fei said: "Xuanfu, what do you think should be done about this matter?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "When the money comes from the court, I don't know how long it will take to wait. It's not that I'm short of money here, but there's not that much copper. Of course, you all know that I still have cash in hand when I use Huizi under my rule. . However, there must be capital for the issuance of Huizi. How much cash I use will increase the risk of Huizi. So you have to bring cash, or use gold and silver to cash in my money. I don’t make money from you, We only charge the principal, one thousand six hundred guan for each cannon. If you bring gold and silver, everything will be at the market price. One tael of gold can be exchanged for thirty guan in cash, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for two guan of cash and two hundred guan. How about that?"
After hearing this, Yue Fei knew that Wang Xiaolie had indeed set the price according to the market price and did not take advantage of the opportunity to set the price randomly. As for the 1,600 kilo for one cannon, judging from the cost, it is not overcharged. If the price is not raised at this time, Wang Xiaolie will be completely benevolent and righteous.
As the commander-in-chief of an army, Yue Fei certainly knew the importance of artillery, otherwise why would he come in person? But it is indeed not easy to come up with 160,000 yuan at once. Especially since Yue Fei had just formed an army, money and food were already tight.
(End of chapter)
