Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 361 Operation of Military Equipment Upgrade

Hou Junji has one characteristic, that is, he is good at learning and exploring.

Li Shimin gave him the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. After returning to Chang'an, he only took one day to get familiar with all kinds of things in the Ministry of War.

When Sun Xiangfu came over, he was still checking the roster with dozens of military officers. There was a lot of food on the table, which was still warm and hadn't been touched. It should be dinner from the house. When Xiangfu came in, he remembered that he should stop and have a rest, and he just took advantage of the time after dinner to chat about work matters.

"Zhengming hasn't had dinner yet! It just so happens that we're together, and I'll take the time to give you an overview of the needs of the various armies in terms of supplies."

"Okay, but I have to trouble Lugong to arrange a few people to help me find some materials about the military department's previous recruitment of supplies. After we finish talking, I will take them back to have a look."

"A few trivial things, not to mention trouble."

After Hou Junji greeted him, some of his subordinates went to work. The two sat facing each other in front of the case, chatting while eating.

"Today, the old man led people to check nearly half of the roster of government soldiers. It is estimated that the number of soldiers who will be able to go to Goguryeo next summer should be more than 23. In addition, there are more than [-] civilian men who are responsible for transporting various supplies. After the assembly order is issued, except for the two guards stationed on Hebei Road, the rest of the soldiers and horses will gather in Chang'an or Laizhou, Shandong within two months.

At that time, you will provide me with the first batch of grain and winter clothes. Of course, the soldiers themselves have some clothing to cover their bodies, so they only need to bring the grain and grass in advance. Clothes, armor, weapons, and other equipment can wait a little longer. Some, as long as they are ready before the expedition. "

Hearing this, Sun Xiangfu nodded. The training before the start of the war is very necessary. Two months later, it will almost be the twelfth lunar month, which is a good time for winter training. However, at that time, the food consumption will be very large. Sun Xiangfu I did a little calculation in my mind, and with the addition of the transfer of civilian husbands, if there are 28 people, it is considered appropriate to prepare at least 45 shi of grain per month for the army to consume.

This year's autumn harvest is over, so before next year's summer grain comes out, except for Lingnan and Jiangnan, there is still a season of rice to be harvested, the grain output in other places has basically been put into storage, and it can be bought with money There was a lot of food. Thinking of this, Sun Xiangfu asked again, "I wonder how many soldiers will gather in Laizhou at that time?"

"About [-] soldiers and horses, plus the [-] soldiers and horses that Liu Hongji and Zhang Liang have brought over, it's about [-] to [-]."

Hearing this, Sun Xiangfu thought for a while, and then said, "My Tang Dynasty has advanced ships to defend the sea, and the land of Laizhou is a strategic location with excellent offensive and supply. There are more than [-] troops stationed there, so it should be as stable as Mount Tai.

In this way, I ordered that Jiangnan Road and Lingnan Road directly ship the grain to Laizhou. I believe that the grain produced in the last season of this year and the first season of next year will be enough for all the troops to eat for a year. By then , the main force located in Hebei Road only needs to escort food from Laizhou to the frontlines. "

"By sea? Is it safe?"

"Don't worry, it's very safe. Moreover, we transported the grain to Laizhou in advance. If Goguryeo's ships dare to go out to attack our sea grain road, I believe they will regret it." Sun Xiangfu said with a smile.

Not to mention that Zhang Liang has tens of thousands of sailors at the Laizhou Wharf, the Lingnan navy and Sun Xiangfu's private armed forces, every time they face the Goguryeo or Japanese navy fleets at sea, it will be a devastating blow to them. Sun Xiangfu was afraid that they would give him too few captives, which would not be enough to support various departments that needed labor.

Hou Junji nodded when he heard the words and asked again, "If we go by sea, we can save a lot of civilians. What about the food for the Guanzhong army?"

Sun Xiangfu thought about it again, and replied, "There are few fields in Guanzhong to grow grain this year. Fortunately, a lot of grain has been hoarded in the surrounding areas before, and there is still a lot of grain on the market. Moreover, we only need to supply 10,000+ for winter training in Chang'an." The food for the soldiers is enough, the gap is not big, 200 million shi is enough, if you buy it at the market price, you should be able to buy it for two 10,000+ guan.

And when the army goes out to fight, next year's summer grain will come out, and then we can buy some more and take it with us on the road.As for fodder, beans and other livestock materials, the Anbei Army will escort them directly from Shanyang to the front line. "

Shanyang has a lot of livestock, and hundreds of thousands of cattle and horses can be recruited at will. It is more convenient to transport larger fodder and other materials. Moreover, these are produced everywhere in the Northland. It is very convenient to supply an army. If Sun Xiangfu directly Equip the army with a certain number of lawn mowers, and you don't even need to bring so much grass to the front line.

"So, it saves a lot of money, but no matter how much money is saved, the money in the treasury is probably not enough to pay for these military rations. Yesterday I met with Shangsun Shangshu. He said that the autumn tax has not come up this year. The treasury The money that can be used in li is less than 100 million yuan."

Usually, it would be good to be able to collect the autumn tax before the twelfth lunar month. Now it is only mid-September, not long after the autumn harvest, and the local officials in various places may not have collected the tax yet!How could the money be released to Beijing so quickly.

However, from the very beginning, Sun Xiangfu had no intention of taking this huge sum of money out of the treasury, and taking loans from the bank is the right way.

Sun Xiangfu doesn’t know exactly how much deposits there are in Chang’an’s Datang Bank, but at least it is more than two or three times that of Shanyang. There are still tens of millions of deposits. Should be able to afford it.

"Money is not a problem, as long as there are enough supplies on the market, people in Guanzhong and Shanyang have grown a lot of cotton this year, and the output can easily equip the entire army with cotton armor."

"Equip the whole army with cotton armor? That's a good feeling, but even if you have one person, you have to prepare more than 20 sets. Can you make it?"

Cotton armor is a good thing, especially when fighting in the cold Northeast region. Hearing Sun Xiangfu say that the entire army should be equipped with cotton armor, although Hou Junji is a little hard to be confident, he is full of joy and anticipation. You know, Yang At least a few percent of the million-strong army in Guangzhou were killed by the cold weather in the Northeast.

It was precisely because of the cold weather in the Northeast that Sun Xiangfu wanted to equip the entire army with cotton armor. He nodded and said with a smile, "Cotton armor should not be a problem. Not only that, I also want to equip each sergeant with a thick bed. Quilts, but if this is the case, the military expenditure account may have a large amount."

"The cotton production in Guanzhong can still equip every sergeant with cotton quilts? As long as you have it, you must have it! For money, you owe it first! If it is true that the entire army can be equipped with cotton clothes and quilts, there is a chance to win Goguryeo At least it can increase by more than [-]%, and then we can use the money in the Goguryeo treasury to pay off the debt."

All right!It turned out that Hou Junji's desire to move other people's treasury was not formed in a day or two. In history, after the destruction of Gaochang Kingdom, he used other people's treasury without authorization, which made Li Shimin hate him and forced him to treat Li Chengqian as a At straw, follow the rebels.

Hou Junji himself was not greedy for money, maybe he owed huge debts because of some military problems before he attacked Gaochang, and he must have planned it long ago!

"It's not a big problem to pay off the debt, but if the money is spent, I'm afraid the princes in the court will have objections."

A set of silk is covered inside, plus a cotton armor stuffed with full-width steel rods, the cost is about ten guan, two 10,000+ sets, that is more than 200 million guan.

As for the quilts that can resist the cold in the north, Sun Xiangfu naturally can't make them light and thin. They are wide enough to wrap the soldiers' whole bodies, and thick enough to resist the invasion of cold air, which is a must.

In this way, a quilt is about ten catties, plus the leather quilt cover that is more resistant to cold air penetration, and the wages to pluck cotton. More than three pennies.

That’s not counting weapons and siege equipment!About 300 million guan has already been set aside for equipment. Sun Xiangfu is afraid that this proposal will owe the court tens of millions of guan, and the Manchu guilds will not agree.

"Don't worry, His Majesty and all the generals will definitely support you in this matter. With these good equipment, the morale of the soldiers will be much better. You don't know, in that kind of icy and snowy place, morale is very important to an army." How important."

With Hou Junji's words, Sun Xiangfu was relieved, and asked again, "Apart from the standard swords and guns, what major shortcomings does the army have?"

"Of course there is! Goguryeo has a dangerous terrain and many cities. Like the bed ballista, continuous ballista, and catapult that you Shanyang showed this time, you can equip us with as many as you have. With these things, you can save a lot of sacrifice. Erlang's life."

"The cost of those things is even higher, and the cost of using them is also high." Sun Xiangfu gave Hou Junji a warning.

Considering Sun Xiangfu's fear of death and the importance of Shanyang, he only dared to build 30 of each chariot, which shows how expensive it is to build and use. In order to build [-] chariots, light Steel materials, bow strings, pulleys and other things cost at least [-] guan.

On the one hand, building is more expensive to maintain. 1 chariots require nearly [-] heavy-armored warriors to control. The key is to raise more than [-] war horses, because a chariot needs two horses. In order to fight, then the reserve horses must be at least four or more. Just three thousand chariots, the number of horses reached nearly [-]. Ten thousand cavalry units cost money to raise.

That is to say, Shanyang's financial affluence is enough to dare to produce [-] such chariots to defend the city. If as Hou Junji said, the more the better, as long as [-] are produced, the military expenditure for the Eastern Expedition is estimated to be It has to be doubled, because these things are activated on the battlefield, and that is when the most money is spent.

The fine iron arrowheads with strong penetrating power each cost about half a catty of iron. Each arrow shaft of the bed crossbow needs a small tree trunk to make it. When the wheels go out, hundreds of guns will be gone. If thousands of chariots are fired on the battlefield, tens of thousands of money can be wiped out within an hour. War is the economy of war, and the resource reserves of war are both ancient and modern. it's the same.

However, no matter how expensive these things are, they are not as expensive as the lives of soldiers. Sun Xiangfu supports the Tang army in equipping more such heavy weapons. In terms of money, he must find someone to pay the bill. If the weapons produced by the industry are suspected of making war fortunes, although he has no intention of making money from these projects.

"Made, if conditions permit, it must be built. For this matter, the old man will write a memorial for His Majesty, and let him find a way to do the work of the ministers. In terms of materials, you can start preparing." Hou Junji patted the table and said.

Seeing that he had to do it, Sun Xiangfu didn't say much, nodded and said, "Okay, anyway, the money spent on making these things is from the court, and there is no need to deduct the salaries of officials. I believe they have no reason to object. Let’s order people to prepare materials for production first, and we can make [-], not just [-]…”

He said this specifically for Hou Junji. Only when the interests of the courtiers are not involved can their voices of opposition be reduced. Using more advanced equipment with high lethality on the battlefield can save a lot of people from dying. As long as there are people around, How much money can't you earn back?

(End of this chapter)