Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 744 Are You Rich?

Yue Fei couldn't help laughing bitterly after hearing this: "Xuanfu, how can you estimate the important affairs of the country like this? If the Jin army is really forged, what should we do if we commit crimes in the south?"

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've heard it from others, so I still know the general appearance."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "That's good. Do you think Jin Jun can cast a bronze vessel like a gun 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 from the Central Plains fell into their hands. Although the craftsmen did not know how to cast cannons, they had cast bells and Something like that. There are patterns, there are guns, and they can be imitated very quickly."

Wang Xiaolie sighed: "The craftsman who casts the bell can indeed cast the barrel of the cannon. Even here, I first hired the craftsman to cast the cannon. However, how long does it take to cast a bronze bell like a cannon?"

Yue Fei was stunned when he heard this.I walked in a hurry, but I didn't ask this question.

Wang Xiaolie said: "It will take at least three months, maybe even half a year. How many cannons can the Jin Army cast in a year?"

Yue Fei hurriedly asked: "What about Xuanfu's place?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "I am fast here. There is a special gun factory, which can produce one or two guns a day, and can produce about [-] to [-] guns a year. If time is tight, it can be faster, and it can be made in a day. Five or six doors, or even a dozen doors will come out."

Yue Fei heard this, and spread his hands together: "Xuan Fu is like this, why can't Jin Jun do it?"

Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "Because we have special machines, which are more than ten times faster than workers' hands. When in a hurry, we can turn over the machines that make other items and make guns together. Jin Jun wants to make these machines Not to mention whether they will know it or not, but our Golden Army has learned all the technology, and it is absolutely impossible to build these machines in a year. So, in a year, the Golden Army can’t make a few guns. "

Yue Fei looked at Wang Xiaolie, and his mind was a little confused for a while.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 make cannons, but there is still a problem."

Yue Fei hurriedly asked: "What problem?"

Wang Xiaolie said, "Where does the cost of making the cannon come from?"

Yue Fei said: "The imperial court will call."

Wang Xiaolie said: "If the capital is delivered from Xingzai, how long will it take? Do you want to count the time?"

After finishing speaking, he was embarrassed to see Yue Fei's appearance.Wang Xiaolie said again: "Do you know how much a cannon costs through observation?"

Yue Fei said: "I've heard people say that artillery is really not small, and it must be very valuable. I think a cannon might cost several hundred rounds—"

When Wang Xiaolie heard this, he couldn't help laughing.Said: "So, you don't know anything, so you rush to my place to ask for guns. Where can you get them? How many guns can you make with a few hundred guns? The imperial court ordered that each of your troops need a hundred guns. .Even at Zhang Shumi's place in Shaanxi, there are fifty guns. It seems that the cannon is so easy, and it comes out with the touch of the upper and lower lips. How is it possible!"

Hearing this, Yue Fei felt a little displeased, thinking that Wang Xiaolie was deliberately making excuses.If you don't want to build guns, you must build them, and you need 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, not bargaining. It is a cannon that cannot be made without the money. I will tell you how much it costs. The cannon is made of copper. The net weight is [-] catties, and [-] catties of copper are used. Not to mention the price of copper outside, it is to destroy all the money to cast it. Usually, the money weighs six catties and six taels, and [-]% is copper. It takes about five hundred copper coins. , Copper is enough."

Hearing this number, Yue Fei took a deep breath.

There is a strange phenomenon in the Song Dynasty, that is, copper is more expensive than money.If the money is destroyed and made into bronze, there will be five times the benefits.If instead of using money to cast cannons, copper is used directly, and the copper price of a cannon is more than 2000 guan.This number is astonishing.

Of course, when Wang Xiaohun used banknotes in the territory, he always destroyed copper coins and made cannons.But if you can do that yourself, how can others do it?If you don't use the copper on the market, even if you use copper coins, you have to transport the copper coins, and the cost of destroying the coins will be counted.

Wang Xiaolie said: "When the gun barrel is built, the gun bore must be bored, the fire door must be drilled, the gun ears must be installed, and all kinds of things. In the end, it must be installed on the gun carriage. A gun carriage needs to be One or two hundred guan. All of the above, I am talking about material costs, excluding labor. Adding labor, the price will be doubled. In addition, if you are in such a hurry to get artillery, you have to stop doing other things, so that Many factories came to help. What should I do for the losses caused by this factory? Should I compensate them? Adding another [-]% is not too much, right? After all the calculations, I don’t earn a penny, how much does a cannon cost?”

After hearing this, Yue Fei couldn't help but sighed and said, "Xuan Fu said so, but it is impossible to make so many cannons? But there are quite a few cannons in Xuanfu's army."

Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "Do you have so much money to equip artillery like our army?"

After finishing speaking, he sighed and said: "Observation is also a person who leads troops. You should know that the most important thing in the army is money and food. The most important thing is to have food, but also to have money. I have been in Xiangyang for several years, not to mention my body. No money, compared with other generals, he is still poor. Where did the money go? It was spent like this.”

Yue Fei didn't know what to say when he heard this.Compared with other generals, Yue Fei is not a greedy person.Most of the rewards and the like are given to the subordinates.Even so, the money now will not be much less than Wang Xiaolie's.Not to mention the other generals.

More importantly, Wang Xiaolie doesn't buy assets, all he has is cash.In addition to cash, I sold my house in Xiangyang and bought a real estate in Luoyang, nothing else.Among the other generals, which one doesn't have a lot of land?There are as many as Zhang Jun, and I can't tell how many farms there are.Although Yue Fei has just become an independent army, his family also has land for rent to support his family.

After being silent for a long time, Yue Fei said: "Xuan Fu thinks, what should be done about this matter?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "When the imperial court allocates money, I don't know the year of the monkey. I can't wait. It's not that I'm short of money here, but that I don't have so much copper. Of course, you all know that I still have cash when I use the club under my rule. ...However, there must be capital for the issuance of the club. As much cash as I use, the risk of the club will increase. So you have to bring cash, or use gold and silver to cash the money with me. I don’t earn your money, Only the cost is charged, a cannon is [-] guan. If you ship gold and silver, everything will be at the market price. One tael of gold is exchanged for [-] guan in cash, and one tael of silver is exchanged for two hundred guan in cash. How about it?"

After hearing this, Yue Fei knew that Wang Xiaolie's price was indeed based on the market price, and he didn't take the opportunity to set the price randomly.As for the [-] full guns for a cannon, it was not too much to charge.If the price is not raised at this time, Wang Xiao is exhausted.

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 really not easy to take out 16 coins at once.Especially when Yue Fei had just joined the army, money and supplies were already tight.

(End of this chapter)