However, Zhang Yangquan was overjoyed when he learned that Qin Lingjun had helped him find a talent for refining artillery. Early the next morning, he and Qin Lingjun came to the Ordnance Bureau.
Hu Guangcao and Jia Ban came earlier, and they were both waiting outside the door.
Jia Ban put on a clean brocade robe, his beard and hair were carefully taken care of, his eyes were bright and lively, and he seemed to be several years younger.
In contrast, Hu Guangcao's eyes were bloodshot and he obviously didn't sleep well last night.
Everyone entered the Ordnance Bureau and came to Jiancheng Yamen.
Zhang Yangquan asked Jia Ban about artillery-related matters and confirmed that he could really make artillery. He was very happy and immediately appointed Jia Ban as the right supervisor of the Ordnance Bureau and Hu Guangcao as the left supervisor. The two jointly managed the Ordnance Bureau.
When the two heard about the appointment, one couldn't help but feel happy, the other breathed a sigh of relief, and both raised their hands and said: "Thank you, manager!"
Zhang Yangquan asked Jia Ban what else he was good at, and Jia Ban replied: "In addition to artillery, my subordinates can also make weapons, armor, crossbows, return cannons, shields and other ordnance!"
Zhang Yangquan thought about weapons, and Hu Guangcao could also make armor. Qin Lingjun specifically mentioned that Jia Ban was good at making arrowheads. After thinking for a long time, he said:
"From now on, the Ordnance Bureau is divided into the Artillery and Arrow Department and the Armor Department. Jia Jiancheng is in charge of the Artillery Department, which is responsible for manufacturing artillery and crossbows. Hu Gong is in charge of the Armor Department, which is responsible for the manufacturing of swords, guns, swords, halberds, shields and armor!" Both of them took their lives together.
Zhang Yangquan asked Jiaban how long it would take to make a cannon. Jiaban replied: "It takes half a month to pour the barrel, plus quenching and grinding, casting and welding chamber, and tailpiece. It probably takes a month to build a cannon."
."
Hu Guangcao hurriedly added: "With the scale of our Ordnance Bureau, we can prepare ten molds and pour them at the same time, so that ten artillery can be manufactured at one time!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded. If the Yuan army attacks in spring, calculating the time, they should be able to build more than thirty artillery pieces before the war begins, which will be enough to defend the city.
At this time, Jiaban suddenly said: "General Manager, to make a large number of artillery, we need to prepare a large amount of pig iron. I wonder how much iron ore the General Manager's office currently reserves?"
Zhang Yangquan looked towards Hu Guangcao.
Hu Guangcao hurriedly said: "It's about more than 600,000 kilograms, which is enough to make artillery."
Jiaban frowned and said: "General manager, this little iron is too little. Although there are enough artillery, there are not enough arrowheads. We can't even make one million arrows!"
Hu Guangcao did not refute Jia Ban this time, and said: "Manager, our iron ore is indeed insufficient. Although we have no shortage of weapons, the number of armors is too small."
Qin Lingjun heard this and asked: "If every soldier is given armor, how much iron will be missing?"
She is responsible for managing the army, and she knows very well that the Jiangdu Army's armor wearing rate is very low. Among the more than 50,000 Jiangdu Army, only officers with less than 5,000 sets of armor can wear armor.
In fact, the local armies of the Yuan Army were similar, and their armor coverage rate was not high. However, Qin Lingjun knew that the armor coverage rate of the main force of the Yuan Army was astonishing.
Hu Guangcao was thinking slowly and while he was still calculating, Jia Ban had already rushed to answer:
"Each pair of armor requires at least 1,800 pieces of armor. Counting the armor, it weighs about 50 kilograms. If 600,000 kilograms of iron ore is smelted into pig iron, the amount will be less than 500,000 kilograms. Even if you save a little, it will only be enough.
Can make ten thousand sets of armor!"
Zhang Yangquan raised his eyebrows and said to Hu Guangcao: "Mr. Hu, didn't I ask the General Administration to allocate 100,000 taels of silver to the Ordnance Bureau to purchase private railways? Why is there such a big gap? We don't need to save money now!
”
Hu Guangcao whispered: "An official from the Agriculture Department once came to me and said that the Ordnance Bureau had bought all the private iron because of the reaction of the people. As a result, there was no iron among the people, and the people could not make iron hoe tools, which affected farming. So I
So I only bought half of it."
Zhang Yangquan frowned and said nothing. Compared with wooden farm tools, iron farm tools are naturally much better. People also need to use kitchen knives, iron pots and other iron tools on daily basis. If private iron is monopolized, it may indeed affect people's livelihood.
Hu Guangcao continued: "In fact, the number of private railways is very small. Even if we buy them all, it will be a drop in the bucket compared to the needs of the General Administration."
Qin Lingjun suddenly said: "Do you know where those private irons come from? Is there any way to get them from the source?"
Hu Guangcao shook his head and said: "Most of them were smuggled in from the iron yards of the Yuan Dynasty by businessmen. They bribed the iron yard officials to obtain a small amount of private iron, but they could not obtain large quantities."
The Yuan Dynasty had extremely strict control over iron. Mining was done by smelting households designated by the government, and officials were assigned to supervise it in order to prevent iron ore from being lost to the private sector.
Some corrupt officials will take risks in order to make money, but the quantity cannot be large, otherwise they would have been discovered long ago.
Jiaban didn't know the situation in Jiangdu, so he asked directly: "Are there no iron mines near Jiangdu?"
Hu Guangcao glanced at him sideways and said, "There is only one copper mine in the west of the city. You are still working in the Ministry of Industry, so you don't even know the distribution of the iron mines?"
Jia Ban was unconvinced and said: "Do you know that?"
Hu Guangcao held his head high and said: "The imperial court has thirty-one iron smelting institutes, all of which are located in the north of the Yangtze River. There are actually iron mines in the south, but the imperial court is afraid that we Han people will obtain iron tools, so they have not opened them. I heard that some rebels have opened several iron mines privately.
An iron mine."
Zhang Yangquan hurriedly asked: "Which rebel army owns the iron mine?"
Hu Guangcao hesitated for a moment and said: "I just heard about it, but I'm not sure. It should be Xu Shouhui's rebel army."
Qin Lingjun turned to Zhang Yangquan and said: "Uncle Chen knows the things about the rebel army best, why not go ask him!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and told Hu and Jia to continue building artillery and armor without saving iron ore. Then he and Qin Lingjun left the Ordnance Bureau and headed towards the General Manager's Office.
At around 4 o'clock in the morning, the two returned to the manager's house and ordered someone to call Chen Ji, but Fang Yuan also followed.
When Zhang Yangquan asked about the rebel iron mines, Chen Ji laughed and said: "Yes, Xu Shouhui did open three iron yards in Jinxian, Huangmei and Xingguo counties. In addition to him, Liu Futong also built an iron mine from the Yuan Dynasty.
Field!"
Zhang Yangquan hurriedly said: "Haozhou is also selling weapons, isn't there an iron yard?"
"The iron ore in Haozhou was given by Xu Shouhui. When Xu Shouhui revolted, Guo Zixing gave him a batch of coal ore, which helped Xu Shouhui a lot. So after Xu Shouhui opened the iron yard, he sent ten times the amount of iron ore to Guo Zixing
."
Zhang Yangquan said blankly: "Does Guo Zixing also have a coal mine?"
Fang Yuan said in a rough voice: "Yes, it's just north of Dingyuan. Guo Zixing and the others rely on these coal mines to exchange supplies with other rebels."
Zhang Yangquan nodded. From this point of view, the rebels should often exchange resources with each other.
"We want to ask Xu Shouhui or Liu Futong to buy a large amount of iron ore. Does Uncle Chen think they will agree?"
Chen Ji sighed and said: "Liu Futong's iron mine is located near Runing Mansion. It has been conquered by Chahan Timur. Now only Xu Shouhui has an iron mine."
After a pause, he continued: "Xu Shouhui is a very generous person. As long as the rebels come to him to buy, they will basically sell it, and the price is very cheap. But there is a difficulty in this."
When Qin Lingjun heard that the price was cheap, her eyes lit up and she quickly asked: "What's the difficulty?"
Chen Jidao: "You all know that cargo ships coming from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River must pass through Hezhou and Jiqing Mansion. The Yuan Dynasty has heavy troops stationed in these two cities and blocks the river roads, so transportation is a big problem."
"Then how did you buy it in Haozhou?" Zhang Yangquan asked.
Chen Jidao: "They invited Chaohu Water Village for help and forcibly broke through the blockade of the Yuan army. Therefore, all rebel armies who wanted to use the Yangtze River waterway to transport important goods would go to Chaohu Water Village. All they had to do was provide them with some food or property!"<
/p>
The most important thing Jiangdu Army lacks is food and supplies. Zhang Yangquan hurriedly said: "Then ask them for help!"
Chen Ji smiled and said: "Okay, then I will go there myself and ask Chaohu Water Village to be our guard."
Fang Yuan said hurriedly: "I'll go too!"
Zhang Yangquan thought for a while and suddenly said: "Uncle Chen, Uncle Fang, do you think it is possible for us to surrender the Chaohu Water Village?"
Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said: "It's difficult. There are more than 10,000 tribesmen and more than 1,000 boats in Chaohu Water Village, which can be called a heroic force. And there are three forces inside. If you want to surrender them, you must let the three forces surrender at the same time.
All agree."
"Which three parties?"
Chen Ji slowly said: "The first force is Li Pusheng. This person is nicknamed Li Batou. He is a disciple of Peng Yingyu. He is a sworn brother with the marshal Zhao Pusheng of the Tianwan regime and is relatively close to the Tianwan regime."
Zhang Yangquan nodded and asked: "Besides him?"
"The second force is the Yu family father and son. They once followed Zhao Pusheng, but later there was a rift between the two parties for unknown reasons. The Yu family father and son withdrew from Zhao Pusheng's army and took refuge with Li Pusheng and the Liao brothers in Chaohu."
Zhang Yangquan said slowly: "The third force is the Liao brothers!"
"That's right. Chaohu Water Village was originally founded by these two brothers and Li Pusheng, and later the Yu family and his son joined."
Qin Lingjun suddenly said: "If we can convince two of the forces, the third force will not be able to oppose it!"
Chen Ji pondered: "Li Pusheng is impossible to persuade, but the other two families can try. Without further ado, we will set off tomorrow to Chaohu to ask for their help, and win over the Yu family father and son and the Liao family brothers!"
Zhang Yangquan said happily: "Do you need to bring anything with you here?"
Chen Ji thought for a while and said: "They have formed a stronghold to protect themselves. They have a large population and are inevitably short of money and food. I may have to spend some food to negotiate this time. If I want to win over them, I will send another batch of gold, silver and jewelry."
OK."
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "As long as they are willing to take action, they can ask for whatever price they want in terms of money and food."
Qin Lingjun opened her mouth, wanting to say something, hesitated, and closed it again.
Fang Yuan did not notice Qin Lingjun's strangeness, and laughed loudly: "People in the green forest love gold the most. I think it is best to give gold as a gift!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and said: "Then give each of their families a thousand taels of gold."
Qin Lingjun said hurriedly: "Is a thousand taels too much?"
Chen Ji waved his hand and said: "Not too much, not too much. And it's only given to two families. I'm afraid Li Pusheng will block it after learning about it. Why not also give Li Pusheng a thousand taels of gold. Even if he doesn't want to join then, at least he won't get involved."
Making trouble!"
Zhang Yangquan and Fang Yuan both nodded in agreement, while Qin Lingjun sighed.