I want to be emperor

Chapter 1127 Face Issue

Since the lifting of export restrictions on single-shot rifled rifles for vassal states, the defense industry of the Great Chu Empire has received another large wave of orders.

After all, this is not about the upgrading of rifles in one or two countries, but the upgrading of weapons in more than a hundred vassal countries... What, you don't want to upgrade? If you still want to use an outdated percussion gun or even a flintlock gun, then your neighbor can beat the shit out of you with a single-shot rifle. When the country is lost, the war reparations will be much higher than the cost of simply purchasing weapons.

Therefore, regardless of whether the indigenous countries have money or not, they will order single-shot rifles as much as possible.

Not to mention those who are rich, even those who have no money will ask the Chu people for loans to purchase... The Chu people are not worried that they will not be able to repay the loans to these vassal countries in the future, because such loans are usually made with fiscal revenue such as tariffs. Mortgated, and after the tariffs are mortgaged, the tariffs are often controlled by the Chu people... In order to collect tariffs, the Chu people are very efficient in managing the tariffs of indigenous countries.

Coupled with the arrival of the Chu people, the import and export trade of these indigenous countries was very frequent and the amount was very large, so the amount of tariffs was also quite large.

In many indigenous countries, tariff revenue has become one of their main financial revenues. To exaggerate, it can even account for more than half of the financial revenue sources.

By raising their own money or seeking loans from the Chu people, these indigenous countries successively purchased single-shot rifles for upgrading... and the scale of these swarming orders was very large.

Not only were the more than one million second-hand single-shot rifles that were replaced refurbished and sold, but the expanded production capacity of the five major defense companies after refitting their production lines was also in short supply...

After all, this is an order for at least four to five million single-shot rifles that has exploded in a short period of time, and there is a shortfall of more than three million units in a short period of time.

The most important thing is that it is impossible for the Chu people to directly expand the production capacity of single-shot rifles to an annual output of two to three million units... although it is completely possible with the industrial strength of the Chu Empire.

Although the main user is only the Guards, and the Army and Navy rarely purchase them, they are expensive.

For example, with the latest Type 27 rifle, with the huge industrial production capacity of the Chu Empire, if you want to produce more than one million units per year, there will be no problem at all... But again, building such a huge production line What happens after all the dressing needs are met?

Will the production line be scrapped directly?

This kind of thing cannot happen, so even though the military has an urgent need for new rifles, the output of new rifles in the national defense industry is still limited to about 400,000 units. Among them, Huguang Arms Company mainly produces Type 27 rifles, and Hebei The weapons company produces small quantities of the Type 28 rifle, and the other three weapons companies, with the intervention of the military, produce small quantities of other sub-models of the Type 27 rifle under patent authorization, such as cavalry carbine models, naval short-barreled rifle models, etc. .

At the same time, in the past two years, they have also used the performance advantages of ship-based rapid-fire guns to develop 75-mm advanced rapid-fire guns, 105-mm rapid-fire howitzers, 120-mm rapid-fire field guns, and 150-mm rapid-fire cannons. Field guns...the price of these rapid-fire guns is basically more than two or three times that of similar products from several other arsenals.

A 250 mm main gun with a caliber of 45 times the caliber costs hundreds of thousands of Chu Yuan... while the 75 mm field gun purchased by the Army costs more than 6,000 Chu Yuan. The difference is nearly a hundred times.

Of course, even if the military intervenes, it will only allow other companies that did not win the bid to maintain the most basic production capacity. As for those who want to eat and drink enough, make more profits for research and development of new products, etc. Then you have to rely on other aspects.

This is also the tradition of the Dachu Empire's defense industry for the production of main equipment for a large number of equipment. That is, the company that won the bid eats the meat, and the other companies that did not win the bid eat the soup. It will not be said that one company eats all the meat, causing other companies to eat the meat. Four companies cannot even maintain their production lines.

As for the R&D and manufacturing business of warships, they mainly engage in the integrated design of warships and the research and development of some important subsystems... Although warships are manufactured in those shipyards, the shipyards are at most just outsourcing processors. The profits were not high, and the real profits were all taken away by Jiangnan Arms Company.

To put it bluntly, a considerable part of the navy's shipbuilding and research and development funds have gone into the pockets of Jiangnan Weapons Company...

The Great Chu Empire purchased a wide variety of military supplies, including firearms, artillery, battleships, auxiliary ships, food, textiles, mules and horses, motor vehicles, auxiliary individual equipment, optical products, etc. …

Not to mention supplying goods to the indigenous people, even if it is providing various weapons and equipment to the Chu people's own army, the national defense industry pays attention to long-term development.

The other four weapons companies are just eating scraps.

Among so many military procurements, the five major defense companies will always have some projects with their own advantages.

In addition to Huguang Arms Company, the other four arms companies still maintain their basic production capabilities for new rifles.

After all, weapons and equipment and various military supplies include more than just one rifle... In fact, rifles are only an inconspicuous part of military procurement, and the total amount is not large.

There are also a larger number of 150mm rapid-fire naval guns, 120mm rapid-fire naval guns, and various advanced ship-borne tube retractable rapid-fire guns, which have almost taken over the navy's medium and large-caliber rapid-fire gun business, and they are expensive...

Why?

Because they occupy most of the naval gun business and warship R&D and manufacturing business

After all, the orders for single-shot rifles from these indigenous countries can only be so large in a short period of time. After these indigenous countries have upgraded, there will not be so many orders in the future. Under such circumstances, if the arsenal suddenly If the production capacity is increased to two to three million units per year, what will happen to these production lines in a few years?

What to do with the workers recruited to expand production?

The defense industry is all about steady flow and maintaining the production line!

The famous Dangtu Artillery Factory and Songjiang Naval Artillery Factory are both their factories.

But it's not necessary...

For example, Jiangnan Arms Company, although it has not been very good in rifles and field artillery for decades, its revenue has long been ranked first among the five major arms companies.

Finally, Jiangnan Arms Company has another product that may not have much impact on the military, but is an absolute hit in the civilian weapons market: the Qiming shotgun.

The cumulative production of this thing far exceeds that of any military rifle. The cumulative production of various improved models has long exceeded 10 million. In many overseas territories, almost every household has a Qiming shotgun for self-defense. .

Jiangnan Arms Company makes more money from this thing than Huguang Arms Company makes from Type 24 rifles and Type 27 rifles.

Similarly, the other four weapons companies each have their own advantageous products. For example, Hebei Weapons Company is the leader in the field of ground artillery. The Army's current and new field artillery are basically their products. There are seven main products. Fifteen-millimeter field guns, mountain guns, 70-mm infantry guns, 150-mm light howitzers, etc., and then there are one to five trucks.

Today, Huguang Arms Company's main products are Type 27 rifles and Type 43 series air-cooled heavy machine guns. In addition, they also have some artillery business and the leading military textile business.

Shaanxi-Gansu Weapons Company also has a Type 42 series water-cooled heavy machine gun business, and also has a very outstanding military tricycle and two-wheeled vehicle business.

Guangdong and Guangxi Weapons Company, they have done quite well in some ship-borne artillery fields, such as 75mm rapid-fire cannons, 40mm single-barreled and multi-barreled rapid-fire cannons. In addition, they have also done well on small and medium-sized warships, as well as the Army There are also some in the field of artillery. Finally, they are currently competing with Jiangnan Weapons Company for the large-caliber rapid-fire artillery market.

In terms of light weapons, their rifles have no advantages. Well, it can even be said that they have never had any advantages. However, they can make some progress in the pistol business. Their 49 semi-automatic pistol has been identified as a new generation of standard pistols. At present, Currently in mass production and service, the carbine model of this pistol has become the only gun choice for armored soldiers...

Moreover, the civilian version of the 49 rifle is also very popular in the civilian market. It has replaced Hebei Arms Company’s flagship product of the past, the He5 revolver, and has become the new darling of the civilian pistol market...

Finally, the police pistol version of this new pistol also defeated many opponents in the police market and became the new police pistol in many provinces.

If all goes well, the cumulative production of this pistol will also be terrifying!

The reason is simple, because this thing is currently the only mature and available semi-automatic pistol, and it has no competitors at all.

In the field of semi-automatic firearms, the technology of Guangdong and Guangxi Arms Company is very complete and mature, and now it has begun to concentrate its technical strength on the development of more advanced semi-automatic carbines and even new products such as semi-automatic rifles.

In the semi-automatic field, they have no competitors for the time being...

In addition, their arms export business is very powerful. Even though they produce some old products, such as early flintlock guns, flash cap percussion guns, current single-shot rifles... and some smoothbore cannons, their output is huge. Profits are not low either.

In the new motor vehicle business, their Guangsan-type light armored vehicle has been widely praised by the military after a series of actual combat tests. Unsurprisingly, this armored vehicle will become the army's first choice of light armored vehicle.

Armored vehicles these days are not cheap. Each one is more expensive than the last. An order of hundreds or thousands of vehicles is a lot of money.

The five major weapons companies in the Dachu Empire basically each have their own leading businesses, which are used to provide huge profits to support the operation of the entire huge company and the research and development of new technologies. But...these five major weapons companies are all comprehensive weapons companies. Each weapons company has basic production capabilities for various types of firearms, artillery and even other military supplies.

For example, the Guangdong and Guangxi Arms Company, which is not doing well in the firearms business, would be a little difficult if you ask them to develop a rifle similar to the Type 27... But if you let them produce it, as long as the military helps them solve the technical licensing issue, it can be provided in minutes. You can increase the production capacity to 20,000 to 300,000 pieces per year, or give them a certain amount of time to produce one million pieces per year.

But... being able to expand production does not mean that we can expand production.

The most the military can do is to coordinate and allow them to obtain production authorization for a small number of sub-models of Type 27 rifles. It is impossible to directly cede the meat of Huguang Arms Company to them.

Similarly, although among the five major arms companies, only Shaanxi-Gansu Weapons Company and Huguang Weapons Company have patents for heavy machine guns so far, the other three arms companies actually have small-scale production lines for heavy machine guns...

This is the consistent layout adopted by the Da Chu Empire in the defense industry, that is, any kind of military product must ensure that there are more than two suppliers. It is impossible for one company to control the entire supply of a certain military product. This is not It is in the interest of the military and not in line with the national defense security as a whole.

Even on some specific important main equipment, it ensures that the five major weapons companies can carry out large-scale mass production, such as rifles, machine guns, and army artillery.

At the same time, in order to maintain the production line, there are also certain restrictions on the purchase of most military products. We will not purchase everything needed in a short time, but purchase and replace a batch of equipment every year based on the service life of the equipment. , to ensure that the production line can maintain normal operation for a long time.

The most typical one should be the production of top-level battleships.

The Dachu Empire Navy purchased first-class battleships because they were too expensive and of little use... However, the reason why the Navy insisted on placing an order for a battleship every three or four years was not only to meet the Navy's own needs, but also to a certain extent. It was also to allow the defense industry of the Chu Empire, especially the shipyards and naval gun factories, to maintain their production lines.

Therefore, even if the price is extremely expensive and the outside world continues to ridicule, the Navy is still determined to purchase a top-notch battleship in every three or four years.

The Navy adopts a cost-effective and cost-control model in the procurement of many ship equipment, but it never does this in the procurement of first-class battleships. Basically, it will use any good things, unless the technology is not mature enough to use it.

Of course, this in turn has caused the Navy's first-class battleships to become more and more expensive, and they are ridiculously expensive.

For example, America-class battleships. If this thing were built by various countries in the original time and space, the purchase cost of a single ship is estimated to be only about 4 million Chu Yuan. However, in the Great Chu Empire, the apparent cost is 5 to 6 million Yuan. In fact, the navy In order to look good and not give outsiders a chance to criticize, they also concealed many hidden expenses. For example, the research and development expenses of many subsystems are tied to other projects.

In real terms, six to seven million is probably not enough.

Why is it so expensive?

This is not simply because the technology is more advanced, but because the number of constructions is too small, and the costs of many projects cannot be diluted by scale.

For example, for a 300mm naval gun, the cost difference between producing one hundred guns and ten years is huge.

But even so, the Navy has the guts to do this... It can't be said that it builds first-class battleships on a large scale just to spread the cost. The extra cost is not millions of dollars, but tens of millions or even more. billion cost.

At the same time, it is impossible to give up first-class battleships in order to save money, never build them again, or build battleships with poor technology. As a technical branch, the navy's pursuit of new technologies is engraved in its bones.

Besides, without the big 300-millimeter pipes and without the more than 20,000-ton battleships serving as mascots on the docks, how can we improve the navy's status among the people, especially among young students? How to attract top students to apply for the Naval Academy?

This involves competing with the army's bandits and the Guards' bandits for top talent, so how can we give up so easily?

Asking the Navy to give up its first-class advanced battleships is the same as asking the Army to give up the large-scale military parade in front of the palace on the founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China every five years. An opportunity to show their faces in front of the public and demonstrate the bravery of Army officers.

In addition to the regular performance troops that require special training, there is also the 'Prince Review and Commendation Ceremony' specifically for battalion and regiment level combat troops. In order to obtain this opportunity to receive the Imperial Review and Commendation, many combat troops train and fight with their lives... …the only opportunity for military-wide competition.

Being reviewed and awarded in the imperial military parade held every five years is the highest collective honor for a battalion-level combat unit in the Chu Empire Army... This represents the military's achievements in the past five years. It is the absolute ace unit among the more than one million army troops of the Chu Empire (excluding the Foreign Legion).

This is an activity where the Army specifically shows off its bravery. If you say you don't want to do it, you won't do it. Believe it or not, the Army will insert the barrel of a 75mm field gun into your lungs.

This is directly related to the issue of status among the people, His Majesty, and the high-level officials of the empire. The status is related to the issue of allocation of funds, the issue of attraction to top students, and the issue of the face of the respective military services...

Therefore, whether it is the navy or the army, many of their actions seem meaningless and even suspected of wasting military expenditures. It is not that they can be canceled just because they can.

The Navy's First-Class Battleship Museum regularly holds open days at various coastal ports, and every once in a while, a large number of warships will be placed in the port for so-called public ship reviews;

The Army’s gaudy Jinling Imperial Military Parade, as well as the so-called live-fire shooting performances held in various places from time to time. Note that this is not a drill, but a performance... The Army’s bunch of bumpkins will stage large-scale live-fire shooting performances in some places from time to time. Consuming a large amount of expiring ammunition, just to entertain the people...

Even the Guards will hold a war reenactment event every year, mobilizing thousands of soldiers and leading a group of civilian war enthusiasts to recreate a certain battle... There are also many people who come to watch the fun.

On the other hand, the armed tax police keep a low profile and basically do not engage in these public activities... On the one hand, their source of funding does not rely on military expenditures, but direct allocations from tax agencies. And even if the Dachu Empire is short of money, it is impossible to lack tax agencies. funds; on the other hand, the reputation of tax agencies in the empire is not good to begin with, and the reputation of profit-making organizations as tax agencies is even worse...

No one wants to evade taxes, but this group of armed tax policemen use artillery to block the door...

But what’s more interesting is that although the reputation of the tax agency in the Dachu Empire is not very good, after the annual rural examination and the general examination, when the candidates of the new high school apply for positions in various agencies, the positions of the tax agency have long been is one of the most popular departments.

How should I put it? In the Chu Empire, everyone hates tax officials and everyone wants to be a tax official...

Suppose you passed the provincial and rural examinations, and then successfully passed the job interview with the provincial taxation authority. After several years of study and became an official tax officer, even if you only occasionally mention a certain wealthy person in private, Name, after the news spread, this rich man had to be on tenterhooks.

Well, not just rich people, but also nobles, serving officials and even generals...

Being targeted by tax officials in the Chu Empire was much more troublesome than being targeted by the censors in the Supervisory Council.

Let's put it this way, in the Great Chu Empire, there were many more dignitaries who were imprisoned because of tax issues than there were who were imprisoned because of corruption and other issues.

Therefore, in daily life, the people of Chu basically walk around the tax officials... Even the powerful and wealthy businessmen can have as little contact as possible... After all, in the eyes of the tax officials, these powerful and wealthy businessmen are all invisible. It’s potential performance…

No sheep likes to hang out in front of wolves!

Therefore, the overall reputation of the tax authority among Chu people is actually not very good, and everyone is afraid of it... But, precisely because of this, many people also want to enter an authority such as the tax authority.

In many complex situations, as the armed law enforcement agency of the tax agency, armed tax patrols, that is, armed tax police, generally keep a low profile. At the same time, because of their highly specialized military functions, armed tax police are generally not deployed in directly-governed territories, but mainly in Deployed in administrative territories to combat various tax crimes in overseas territories!

For example, there are indigenous enterprises or governments, and commercial houses in the administrative territories use smuggling and other methods to evade taxes... and their personnel are basically in the vassal country area. At this time, armed tax police need to be dispatched to enforce the law in the vassal country area... Bring your guns and go enforce the law.

It can also be seen here that the scope of law enforcement of the tax police of the Da Chu Empire is different from that of ordinary patrol police. The scope of law enforcement of the patrol police is limited to the direct jurisdiction and administrative territories of the Da Chu Empire, which is the place directly ruled by the Da Chu Empire. .

But the tax police are different. Their law enforcement scope is global... Even the areas controlled by primitive tribes in the interior of Africa are within the scope of the tax police's law enforcement.

As long as you dare to evade taxes, no matter whether you are a Chu or an indigenous person, once the tax police find out and take it seriously, it will be useless even if you are the king of an indigenous country hiding in the palace of your own capital. The armed tax police can directly They beat you in and catch you, and then you will be sentenced if you should be sentenced, and you will be fined if you are fined.

This is why the taxation agency of the Chu Empire still maintains tens of thousands of armed tax policemen!