Returning the flintlock to Lin Feng, Lu Xiangsheng said,""Look at your cannon!"
The soldiers pushed out the six-pounder cannon and demonstrated it on the drill ground.
The cannon fired a few times and hit a large circle three miles away. It shot out a few more times and broke a few large wooden planks 400 meters away.
None of the generals and soldiers were equipped with cannons, so they had no concept of cannons. They did not know that this light cannon had been reduced by more than 100 catties, greatly improving its mobility and reducing its cost. Instead, they all felt that Li Zhi's cannon was ordinary. They all felt that this was just an ordinary small-scale Hongyi Cannon. The various military towns on the nine sides had some of the Hong Yi Cannons, but Lin Feng had an astonishing number. Such a volley of 40 cannons on the battlefield must be very spectacular. No wonder Old Hui fell for Lin Feng's trick.
However, how much money would it cost to have so many Hong Yi Cannons?
"How much does this cannon cost?" Lu Xiangsheng asked. How did the deputy thousand household have so much money to make cannons?”
In the Ming Dynasty, a copper coin weighed six catties, and seven hundred and fifty catties of copper required more than one hundred and twenty taels of copper. Lin Feng's six-pounder cannon was made of 60% bronze and 40% crucible steel, which was even cheaper. The cost of casting a six-pounder cannon was only 100 taels.
However, he would not directly report his family background. Instead, he said,"Forging a cannon is very difficult. The rate of good quality is only one-tenth, and each cannon costs six hundred taels of silver! I have some weaving workshops and rely on the money earned by these weaving workshops to support the army.”
These 40 cannons were worth 24,000 taels of silver!
So these valiant soldiers were all made of silver.
Hearing this, the generals stared at each other. A small defense officer actually relied on his own property to raise an army horse! They had only heard of officers earning money by embezzling their pay, but they had never heard of anyone paying for their own soldiers. How high must one's mental state be to pay for the country's army out of their own pockets?
He was truly an anomaly.
Even Lu Xiangsheng was very disappointed when he heard this number. He secretly thought that Lin Feng's method of strengthening the army was costly and could not be replicated. It was probably the only case in the Great Ming Dynasty.
After watching the soldier's performance, Lu Xiangsheng and the generals were interested. They could not find anything to learn from, so they left.
On the 25th day of the 9th month of the 8th year of Chongzhen, the Eternal Army, which had ended the Battle of Ruzhou, broke camp and opened Tianjin.
The soldiers had come on foot, but on the way back, there were more than a thousand warhorses and pack horses. When they repelled 2,000 Tang horses in Luoyang, they seized 200 warhorses. When they defeated the old Hui, they seized 10,000 uninjured warhorses. In addition to the 1,000 pack horses that Lu Xiangsheng had given them, the Vanguard Selection Group had more than one horse per person. It was much easier to march.
Adding on the 10,000 silver taels that Lu Xiangsheng had obtained, this trip was considered a fruitful one.
The troops traveled north for two months and returned to Fan Manor on November 21st.
The members of the Vanguard Selection Group had returned and gained countless military achievements. The people of Fan Manor were extremely happy. They gathered at the south gate of Chongwen Gate, setting off firecrackers, beating gongs and drums to welcome the triumphant return of their soldiers.
Firecrackers were hanging on the city gate, like dancing fairies, welcoming the return of a hero. Because of his promotion, many people came to pay their respects. After the chief officer of the Fan manor was promoted to the position of integrity officer, the two nearby defense officers were placed under the jurisdiction of the integrity officer. The two thousand households were originally at Li Zhi's level, but now they had become Lin Feng's subordinates. The news of him being promoted to their Shangguan had long been notified. When the two thousand households heard that they had returned to the Fan manor, they hurried to the Fan manor to meet him.
The two thousand households were wearing official uniforms of the fifth rank. One of them was an acquaintance. The thousand households of the Jinghai Thousand Households were the defense officers of the transport workshop, You Huachao. The other one was Su Gong, the former guard of the Tianjin Left Guard, who served as the defense officer of Stone Castle. Stone Castle was also very close to the Fan manor. He had heard of Su Gong before. It was said that he was a distant relative of Lord Bing Bei.
As soon as You Huachao entered the commander's office, he put on a big smile. She saw that his slightly chubby face was so sweet that honey could drip from it. He knelt on the ground and sang loudly,"I, You Huachao, pay my respects to Lord Justice!”
The other thousand-man, Su Gong, looked a little dull. He had no expression on his face and lowered his head."This subordinate Su Gong greets Lord Justice!”
"No need for formalities!" he said indifferently.
The two thousand-men stood up and handed over the list of gifts.
He looked at You Huachao's gift list. It was nothing more than some silk tonics worth about thirty taels. This You Huachao was an official ruffian who knew how to read people. Now that Lin Feng was in the limelight, he naturally knew that he had to curry favor with him. He was not stingy when he attacked. He nodded and accepted it.
"You Qianhu has spent a lot of money!"
"It's just a little token of my appreciation," said You Huachao hurriedly.”Pausing for a moment, You Huachao said,"At this time last year, Commander Qian Shi was still a sixth-rank hundred households. Now, Sir has risen to the top and is already a fourth-rank Commander Qian Shi! You're really a young hero!"
Although You Huachao was praising him, there was still a hint of resentment in his words.
Ignoring You Huachao, he opened Su Gong's gift list, but saw that there were only a few pieces of silk worth a few taels. He couldn't help but feel a little unhappy. It wasn't that they lacked the dozens of taels of silver, but the officialdom of the late Ming Dynasty had its own unspoken rules. If they used such a small gift to pay a visit to the superior of the ethics officer, they would look down on them.
Although he didn't earn money from his official position, he had been a defense officer before, so he naturally knew the benefits of being a defense officer. A defense officer had more than a hundred soldiers, and he could earn dozens of taels of silver a month by deducting the soldiers 'pay. In addition to the filial piety of his subordinates and the income from enslaving the soldiers to cultivate private fields, it was common to earn 70 to 80 taels a month. What was the point of bringing a few taels of silver as gifts to meet his superiors?
Just because he wasn't greedy didn't mean that his subordinates could look down on him.
If he didn't lose his temper, he would be looked down upon by Su Gong in the future. Su Gong wouldn't take all kinds of instructions in the future to heart.
He closed Su Gong's gift list and returned it to Su Gong. He said indifferently,"I don't think you need to give me a gift! I'll return this gift list to you!"
Seeing Su Gong's gift fly into a rage, You Huachao's face lit up with joy, and he put on an expression of watching a show.
Su Gong took the gift list with a frightened expression. Finally, he put on a smile and said,"Honorable Sir, it's not that I'm stingy, but I really don't have any money. Lord Justice, you're so rich, you don't care about this humble official's gift, right?”
"Alright, Su Gong!" Then I'll go to the Stone Castle with you in the afternoon to check if you've eaten empty pay and drank the blood of soldiers, and if you've privately occupied the military fields and used soldiers? If you don't commit any of these crimes, I will definitely report to the governor and promote you greatly!”
"If you've committed a crime, then I won't be polite!"”
Hearing Li Zhi's words, Su Gong's face gradually became a little afraid. He knelt down with a plop and said loudly,"Lord Feng Dian, I have two concubines and seven children. My expenses are really huge, and I can't make ends meet!”
Hearing Su Gong's words, You Huachao, who was standing at the side, burst out laughing. You Huachao secretly cursed this good-for-nothing who only knew how to feed women with the blood of soldiers. His brain was so bad. What did the number of concubines in your family have to do with his spending? Should Lord Justice help you raise your woman and child?
"What do you mean?" Lin Feng asked coldly.”
Su Gong, who was kneeling on the ground, finally understood when he heard the cold tone. He suddenly dug into his pocket and took out another gift list. He put it together with the gift list from before and handed it to Lin Feng.
He looked at the new list of gifts. There were more than forty taels of silver on it. When he closed the old list, there were a total of fifty taels of silver.
It turned out that Su Gong was testing him just now. If the test failed, he still had a backup plan. He probably thought that it would be easy to fool someone so young. The useless remarks just now were all faked.
Looking at the two gift lists, he pondered for a while. If he forced Su Gong to give him a gift like this, Su Gong wouldn't say that he blackmailed him and forced him to give him a heavy gift, right?
Fortunately, the amount on the gift list was very small. It was only a few dozen taels. Even if Su Gong went out to spread rumors, no one would take it seriously. However, since he thought of this, he hated this Su Gong even more. He secretly thought that he had to punish Su Gong no matter what. Otherwise, he would not put him in his eyes.
I heard that Su Gong is a distant relative of Lord Bing Bei?
So what? If he really wanted to make things difficult for him, even water from afar could not put out a fire nearby.
"Su Gong! This official will take some time to visit your Stone Castle this month to inspect the military situation! If someone stops my horse and reports you, I will definitely investigate seriously!”
Hearing his words, Su Gong, who was kneeling on the ground, had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He began to regret his probing and said loudly,"This lowly official will definitely welcome Lord Justice at the castle gate and accompany Lord Justice for an inspection!”
He looked indifferently at Su Gong who was kneeling on the ground and did not call him to get up. He only said loudly,"Alright, let's get down to business! The two of you have probably heard of my style. My request for the two of you is very simple!”
The other forts outside the Fan manor still didn't want to interfere. In Ming Dynasty's officialdom, all kinds of relationships were complicated. Once someone else's rice bowl was smashed, it would attract all kinds of revenge. He did not want to find trouble. However, he still had to make basic requirements for his subordinates.
"First, eat well and don't cause a mutiny! If you stir up trouble, I will definitely investigate all of your actions!”
"Second, we can only farm more seeds! If it's missing, I'll find out why!”
"Satisfy these two conditions and I won't do anything! If you can't do these two things, don't blame me for being ruthless!”
After a round of probing, the two of them knew that Lin Feng was not easy to get along with. At this moment, they were already very respectful and quickly replied,
"Understood!"
"Understood!"
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