Chapter Seventy-Three: Asking for silver, discussing resistance (2)
There were just a few snapping sounds, and Du Qing was hit with more than a dozen sticks on the ground, with several scars on his back, but he didn't even say a word, which made the soldiers secretly sweat for him.
"Okay?"
"yes……"
Du Qing stood up, put his coat back on, and ordered everyone: "This time I will take the punishment for you, as a warning; but if you don't train diligently in the future, you will be punished according to military law and will never be punished."
Forgive me! Do you understand?"
After hearing this, all the soldiers felt guilty in their hearts, and they became even more grateful for his great kindness. They immediately fell to their knees and said, "We are willing to obey Duke Du's military order!"
"Okay, that's good!" Du Qing laughed.
After Ye Yongjia gave some instructions, the two of them immediately left the school grounds. Seeing that they were far away, Du Qing suddenly said "Ouch", gritted his teeth, and leaned against a stone pillar nearby.
"Are you okay?" Ye Yongjia came anxiously to ask.
Du Qing knocked on his spine and waved his hand to him: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I just endured it all the way and it's really uncomfortable..."
Ye Yongjia sighed with emotion: "You are such a man! I will help the general back to the camp and go to the pharmacy to ask for some plaster."
When Ye Yongjia came back from the pharmacy, he saw Cai Xianqing already sitting in the camp, holding a sheet in his hand, and talking to Du Qing.
"Tinglong is back?" Cai Xianqing said with a smile, "Sit down."
"Have you finished the investigation?" Ye Yongjia asked as he went to get the plaster.
"That's what he's holding in his hand. He's just waiting for you to come back so that the three of us can look at it together," Du Qing said.
"Then tell me first." Ye Yongjia motioned to Du Qing to lift his clothes.
"I remember that this list contains all the expenses for casting guns and cannons," Cai Xianqing lowered his head to look at the bill, "The cost... is really not small."
"Did the accountant give this to you? What else did you ask them?" Du Qing asked hurriedly.
"That's right. I asked them a few questions, and they all believe that the current number of firearms is small. If we want to rectify armaments, the cost of border customs is completely insufficient. The only way is to borrow money from the Ministry of Household Affairs." Cai Xianqing answered one by one.
After hearing this, Ye Yongjia frowned and applied the plaster tightly to his back, then turned around and stretched out his hand: "Mr. Cai, let me take a look at this list."
"Here." Cai Xianqing handed it over and pointed out a few key points for him, "Don't worry about the cost of hiring the craftsman for now, let's take a look at these items: fish line glue, this thing costs eight cents of silver, and the amount is larger than others.
There are a lot more; iron, charcoal, etc., not to mention, are also in large quantities here; sulfur, brass, etc. are also expensive..."
"How much does it cost to make a gun?" Du Qing also wanted to come over and take a look, but he had no choice but to face these dense words and really felt a headache.
After reading it, Ye Yongjia made an estimate in his mind for a long time and said hesitantly: "About two taels..."
"How many people are recruited into the new army?" Cai Xianqing looked at Du Qing with a heavy emotion.
"Three thousand five hundred people."
"Even if we don't equip everyone with blunderbuss, we can save at least five thousand taels."
This huge number made the three of them silent. Ye Yongjia glanced around, not even knowing where to look.
"The only way is to ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money," Cai Xianqing gritted his teeth and said, "Why don't you two take charge of the overall situation here? I will go back to the capital and report the situation to the Prime Minister. Maybe there will be a change."
"It's so difficult..." Ye Yongjia looked up to the sky and sighed, "This test is not only the determination of the Prime Minister, but also the determination of Liu Zhennian, the determination of the Hu and the Second Bing Department... Who can guarantee that there will be no mistakes in any of them?"
Cai Xianqing stood up and said: "Now we are in a lonely place. If the reform fails for the second time, how can I be willing to accept it? I don't expect him to give up easily!"
Ye Yongjia looked at Du Qing again, and the latter also praised this strategy: "Mr. Cai's words are reasonable. The enemy is in front of us, and I am afraid that the Manchu ministers will not dare to discuss this matter. I will write a memorial to you.
Strong momentum!"
Seeing that both of them had made up their minds, Ye Yongjia waved his sleeves enthusiastically and said: "In that case, let's involve the imperial court together. The bigger the storm, the better!"
Cai Xianqing set out. He only carried some minor expenses with him, as well as memorials from Du and Ye. One was "The Minister of the Ministry of War asked for silver memorials for the guns and artillery of the frontier army", and the other was "The Commander-in-Chief of Xuanhua reported the urgent situation."
', separate the tables, which looks very convincing.
He was already very familiar with the way back and forth, so he took a fast horse and took advantage of the road to return to the capital overnight.
In the morning, a beam of faint sunlight shines directly into the palace walkway, making the vermilion palace walls more vivid, and the plaque on the east side also shines with little golden light in the sun, with the two characters "Hubu"
Extraordinarily eye-catching.
Jie Wenwu looked at it with satisfaction for a while, then slowly walked in.
He walked through the middle courtyard and walked straight to the study in front of him. With a gentle push of his hands, the door creaked open.
Jie Wenwu immediately sat down in front of his pear wood table. He looked up and saw that there were only a few calligraphy and paintings on the wall. He needed to add something. When he got interested, he studied ink and prepared paper, and soon wrote four lines of poetry.
Come on, pick it up gently and plan to frame it.
"Sir, Mr. Cai has returned to Beijing." A clerk reported to him.
"Huh?" Jie Wenwu was still pasting the poem, "When?"
"Not long ago, I heard that I entered the Meridian Gate."
Jie Wenwu turned around, stroking his beard and said: "This old actor has never repaid me, so he must be playing tricks... This guy often encourages Tinglong to do unjust things, so you must be on guard. Send people everywhere to watch carefully.
Yes, if you see this actor, you must drag him over for questioning."
"Yes!" The clerk took the order and went down.
Jie Wenwu closed his eyes for a moment to regain his composure, and suddenly heard a shout from outside: "Master Jie, we have called Master Cai!" Then he suddenly opened his eyes and saw Cai Xianqing being pushed into the study room reluctantly.
"Your Majesty... I have paid my respects to Mr. Jie." Cai Xianqing kept a straight face and saluted politely.
"What are you going to do when you come back in such a hurry? Why didn't you tell me in advance?" Jie Wenwu asked in a stern tone.
"I want to submit a few memorials to the Zhongshu Provincial Department, which have nothing to do with the affairs of the Ministry of War. I hope that the superior will let me finish important things first."
"You still know that I am the chief!" Jie Wenwu was so angry that he slammed the table and dropped several pens. "What kind of memorandum do you deserve to hand over? Take it out and keep it!"
Cai Xianqing said seriously: "This is what Minister Ye is going to present to the Prime Minister. Don't stop it, Sir!"
"Isn't he my subordinate?" Jie Wenwu's face turned red with anger, "Stop talking nonsense and take it out for me!"
The clerks on both sides saw that Xian Qing was still motionless, so they forcibly searched him, took out the two memorial books, and presented them to Jie Wenwu Inspector.
Jie Wenwu only glanced at it briefly, and became even more angry. He immediately threw the memorial to the ground: "These two memorials are not allowed to be submitted to Zhongshu!"