afterglow

Chapter 544 Chapter : What do you want the money for? Please don’t bother.
"That's all we can say here." Zhu Lingjing said unhappily: "Don't you know how many people are staring at you now? You're asking for trouble."

She had heard about Zhou's reselling of seized cars before, but because the amount was too small, she didn't take it to heart at all.

She was curious about why Zhou needed to make money in this way. It didn't make sense to go through so much trouble.

"Yes, I didn't pay attention at the time, but I'll pay attention to it later." Zhou Changfeng responded immediately and bowed, "Does this matter need to be clarified?"

"No, it will be suppressed. The high-ranking general will not rely on plundering rags to make profits."

"Too……"

"You might as well tell me what you want the money for?"

This question is difficult to answer, and there is no way to guarantee whether Zhu Lingjing is suspicious - such behavior of making money privately is obviously quite abnormal.

The risk of lying is too high now. If the emperor orders an investigation, it is indeed possible to trace the whereabouts of the funds. No one will believe me if I explain then.

Zhou Changfeng had imagined the current situation before, and the answer he gave now should be as close to reality as possible, but he should not directly say that it was for the nuclear program.

"Wait a minute, if someone mentions your incident later, just deny it outright." After Zhu Lingjing finished speaking, she reminded him again, but her tone was a little helpless, "The merits are real, so there is no need to worry too much."

Zhu Lingjing stared into his eyes, "So you spent money to train private soldiers there?"

Zhou Changfeng, who was a little nervous, pretended to be helpless and said, "There is no follow-up, Your Majesty. The US military continues to send more troops to Panama. Now there are tens of thousands of troops. There is no chance."

Zhu Lingjing didn't want Mr. Zhou to continue to be so arrogant. If he got used to it, it would be difficult to restrain him. He might cause a lot of mess, and in the end he would have to help clean it up.

"Naive, do you want to do something on your own that the whole country cannot do?"

"The matters related to the two companies will be taken over by the imperial court, and the matter ends here." She said calmly.

This matter sounds like a scandal, but in fact there is really no need to worry too much. The public's tolerance for heroes and generals has always been very high, not to mention that this is not a bad thing that is harmful to nature.

"Is there anything else, Your Majesty? If not, I will leave." Zhou Changfeng was about to run away.

It is indeed extremely difficult, but after all, there is a glimmer of feasibility.

Maybe the ridiculed dignitaries themselves don't care, but there are inevitably people who do smart things in order to curry favor with them. These guys must be the ones who were reported in the newspaper this time for smuggling trophies for profit.

The way of thinking is often determined by status. In the final analysis, Zhu Lingjingsuo's worries are related to "controlling subordinates" - if someone from Zhou dares to recruit a private army, then the nature of this act is too bad.

"You have to give it a try anyway. Giving up after trying is two different things than giving up without trying."

The small room fell into a brief silence.

Otherwise, it will appear too outrageous and cause unnecessary suspicion-the chain reaction has just been discovered not long ago. Why are you so sure that this phenomenon can be militarized? Also accurately predicted that the Americans would locate their core bases in New Mexico and Tennessee?
"Your Majesty, I was thinking about how to paralyze the Panama Canal, a key hub, but it seems that no one has thought of such a surprise attack." Zhou Changfeng spread his hands and pretended to be relaxed: "So I thought of a way myself."

"That's not true. I just opened two companies as a base."

"It's not necessarily a good idea." Zhu Lingjing said nonchalantly: "Such an important place must be heavily guarded, so the chance of success is very slim."

In order to protect the "Red Sand Castle" of the Jinwu Project's reactor factory, the Ming army deployed a reinforced battalion, an armored vehicle platoon, and two chemical defense platoons, with a total number of nearly 800 people.

For example, this time, just saying it casually can offend an entire group.

"That's it? What's next?"

The U.S. military also had many troops guarding the Oak Ridge Factory, including infantry, engineer, and military police units. The number at its peak was more than a thousand.

"Your Majesty, don't be in a hurry to abolish it. I'm afraid it will still be of great use in the future." Zhou Changfeng was worried that the two strongholds that were finally established would be immediately invalidated. He explained: "We have placed the research and development site of the Golden Crow Project in the remote Hexi. The Americans It’s possible that this is the case, and maybe I’ll be able to do it in the future.”

This is why you have to be cautious in your words and deeds when you are in a high position. Apparently, Zhou Changfeng, who has been fighting abroad for several months, has forgotten that he has to be careful of the ubiquitous hidden arrows even in his hometown.

Later, he came to the duty room where the military aircraft was awaiting orders.

Luo Fu was busy with paperwork as usual, but today he looked in high spirits. Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but asked curiously: "What's going on? You're so happy?"

"Zhuo Jing is confirmed to be pregnant." Luo Fu said seriously, but could not hide the smile on his face.

"Oh?" Zhou Changfeng said with a smile while pouring tea: "Do you want more sons?"

"That's enough, that's enough. Madam, she wants to have a daughter. It's good for me to think about it."

"My daughter is fine. I heard that my daughter is good, so I won't worry."

The two of them chatted away, and while working, they unknowingly finished all the files to be done that morning.

"You, Zhou Kexing, have become the shopkeeper. Since the war started, I have been doing most of the work. This is the first time that I have finished it so early." Luo Fuchang stretched and sighed.

Zhou Changfeng laughed and patted his shoulder, "Let's go, I'll treat you to dinner today."

Half an hour later.

The two of them stopped at the entrance of an alley next to Danfeng Avenue in Beicheng District. In front of them was a series of small stalls, such as wonton stalls, noodle stalls, etc.

Zhou Changfeng came to a wonton stall, casually pulled out a stool and sat on it directly.

"Two big bowls of wontons!"

"Oh, do you want spicy oil?"

"You want what you want."

Luo Fu, who was speechless, had no choice but to pull up a stool and sit down, and whispered: "I said why do you have to change clothes? Why are you here to eat this when we invite guests to dinner?"

"What's wrong here? Isn't it good?" Zhou Changfeng knocked on the wooden table nonchalantly, looked at the steaming pot and said, "How fragrant it is."

"Tsk, Zhou Kexing, you are really at ease."

"My father-in-law is open-minded and has a big picture. He said that the happiest thing in life is to do whatever you want, do whatever you want, and don't do what you don't want to do. Right? It makes sense." Later, the wontons were cooked. Two full bowls cost only twenty cents.

The aroma of chicken soup wontons with chopped green onions and oil stars filled his nostrils. Luo Fu picked up the vinegar bottle and started to add vinegar for seasoning. "By the way, the imperial court plans to send foreign missions and military inspection groups to Europe."

Zhou Changfeng became interested, "What? Do you want to discuss something important with Defa?"

"That's natural. The future trend of the Eurasian continent is to divide the world into two. It is very helpful to draw a clear sphere of influence. By the way, we can discuss how to deal with Britain and the United States."

"Where's the inspection team?"

"Let's check for leaks and fill them up. We are seizing the opportunity to make up for the shortcomings and deficiencies of our country's North Korean weapons. The Air Force has always hoped to purchase some ready-made equipment as a reference to see if Germany and France have any good stuff available."

The dividends of technology transfer are undoubtedly very affordable. It only takes a small cost to obtain second-rate technology or technology between first-rate and second-rate.

As a late-developing industrial country, both the Ming Dynasty and Japan in history have enjoyed such dividends. However, with the outbreak of the war, such dividends came to an abrupt end.

Thanks to China's huge size, the resources and talents that Ming Dynasty can invest in scientific research are not comparable to those of Japan in history. This is a major benefit of the size advantage, and it will not fall into the dilemma of stagnation or slow progress.

But then again, it is of course easiest to cross the river by feeling for the stones. For Akito, who has insisted on pragmatism hundreds of years ago, it would be great if the required technology could be traded from Germany and France. .

More efficient laminar flow wing manufacturing processes, more powerful magnetrons, more powerful engines... these are the results expected by the technical department.

What the Ministry of War and the Governor-General want more is theoretical experience. To this day, only the Germans and the French have organized modern offensive and defensive warfare with millions of mechanized armies. This is a valuable experience that Jin Buhuan can learn from. Every bit is earned.

"It's good. Let's play a few more casual chess moves. Now that the war is not tense, we can consider taking the opportunity to change our clothes." Zhou Changfeng stretched out his index fingers and made a sign of the cross, "Set a small goal and transform ten divisions. "

"Motorized?" Luo Fu picked up the bowl and took a sip of the fragrant soup, "Tossing the ten heavy-armed motorized infantry divisions you mentioned? That's a lot."

"We don't expect to get it right in one step. Although motorization is very important, other equipment can also be satisfied first."

With the commissioning of the expanded production lines of Yangyue Company and Junda Company, as well as the improvement of national mobilization level, Daming's truck output is actually not low - as of August this year, 5.7 units have been produced, and it is expected that the annual output will reach 8.5 units. vehicles.

The average annual truck production in Britain during the war was about 9.6 units, and in Germany it was 9.9 units.

But this does not mean that Ming Dynasty can surpass Britain and catch up with Germany, because Britain has built 11.3 tracked Bren machine gun vehicles alone, and Germany has also built tens of thousands of half-track vehicles.

For this type of vehicle, Daming's production capacity is very limited, and in order to ensure that economic construction does not come to a standstill, the trucks shipped from the factory are not fully guaranteed by the military.

Zhou Changfeng once described a grand blueprint when chatting with Luo Fu, which was a heavy motorized infantry division equipped with armored personnel carriers, armored reconnaissance vehicles, tanks, and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

Luo Fu agreed with the combat effectiveness of this combat unit, but questioned its supply consumption, and believed that hundreds of armored personnel carriers per division were too extravagant.

So Zhou Changfeng had to cut back on his grand blueprint and reduce the armored transport vehicles to only one independent transport battalion, which was responsible for safely transporting various infantry battalions and infantry teams into high-intensity combat areas.

The armored personnel carrier looks thin and bulky. The armor can only withstand medium-caliber rifle rounds and artillery shell fragments. If it encounters any decent anti-tank weapon, it will be pried open like a can.

But this is not the way armored personnel carriers are used. A typical scenario is this - now it is necessary to dispatch reserves to a forward position, but the enemy has deployed two artillery blocking lines.

If it is a dismounted infantry or motorized infantry unit, it will be troublesome to cross the artillery blockade area, which will not only delay the time but also may cause losses in the process.

If you switch to armored personnel carriers, you don't have to worry about this situation at all. Officers and soldiers can use them to shuttle between artillery fire confidently and boldly, quickly reach the target and get off the vehicle to join the battle. As for the armored personnel carriers themselves, they should not participate in the front line.

There was not a single wonton left and a third of the soup was left. The satisfied Zhou Changfeng finally took out a one-yuan note and handed it to the stall owner, "Check out."

When the stall owner was looking for change, Zhou Changfeng saw a soldier's insurance contract on a nearby table, and a brother and sister were waiting for the wontons to be delivered.

Without thinking much, he asked directly: "Did you buy insurance? How about it? Who in the family is in the military."

The two of them should be from Beijing or Gyeonggi Province. They are about the same age and look like middle school students.

The girl hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice: "My brother has gone to the army. He... we received a notice a few days ago saying that he disappeared during the war..."

"Is the insurance company cheating?"

"Well, we went to look for it, and they said that if the whereabouts are unknown, they can't pay the full compensation, and they will only give a quarter at most."

Luo Fu also came over, raised his hand to look at his watch, and said casually: "This has happened a lot recently, and all three counties of Yingtian Prefecture have received such lawsuits."

All kinds of things and concepts have emerged under the operation of capital. Modern insurance companies originated in the 19th century. The economically developed areas of the Ming Dynasty are not far behind. Now it is a war period. Of course, smart businessmen will spare no effort in marketing. own products.

Soldiers' insurance is highly touted, attracting many families of military officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to buy it. However, it is not surprising that there are hidden secrets in these contracts. When it comes time to pay compensation, they can refuse to pay compensation on the basis that various clauses do not match.

Today, Ming Dynasty’s market supervision system is far from perfect, and there is still a long way to go before it can mature. According to historical experience, major events often accelerate this process.

So Zhou Changfeng took Luo Fu to the Yingtian Mansion Office, claiming to seek help in litigation, and then clamored to see the official, but not surprisingly, he was given a cold shoulder.

"What does this kind of thing have to do with the government office? If you want to find one, just hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit." The receptionist was very impatient and complained that the two people came over at noon and disrupted the summer vacation.

Seeing that he was not allowed to enter, Zhou Changfeng asked: "So all the Yingtian Mansion officials are here?"

"Why are you talking? I'm busy with official duties and you're still bothering me all the time?" After saying that, the official shook his head and waved to the guard to chase him away.

The two retreated to the corner of the street.

Luo Fu was still anxious to quickly resolve the rest of the afternoon's affairs when he went back. He couldn't help but said helplessly: "Aren't you asking for trouble? How can the local government pay attention to it? Besides, petitioning cannot go beyond the level. If you want to find it, you have to go to Shangyuan." county."

Zhou Changfeng looked at the gate of the government office not far away and suddenly said: "The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. The emperor is right. The virtue of government affairs is not to leave without kicking, to go slowly if you kick lightly, and to go quickly if you kick hard."

"It's time to go back to the palace. Just give me a call when I get back."

"No, I'm going to kick you now."

Luo Fu, who was dumbfounded, pulled his arm and said, "Please don't trouble General Zhou. I know that coming out with you will not do anything good. Are you going to order this government office?"

(End of this chapter)