They didn't know how powerful the artillery was or how to use it. Li Yanxian and Wang Ruohai looked at it for a while and asked a few questions, then they had nothing to say. Looking back and forth, it seemed a little boring here.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Gunpowder has been used in the military for a long time. But in the past, gunpowder was flammable and mostly used to make rockets. The most commonly used ones are poison smoke balls, tribulus fireballs and artillery. Most of them are Use stone cannons to fire, or use fire to damage the enemy, or use smoke. The formula has ten or twenty kinds of medicine, which is very complicated. Today's artillery only uses three raw materials for gunpowder. One is sulfur, the other is flame salt, and charcoal. They After more than two years of trial production here, I found that except for these three raw materials, the others are basically useless."

Wang Ruohai said: "The gunpowder recipes in the army have been used for a long time and are actually useful. Can't you say they are useless?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course it is useful as it was used in the past. But what we use now is that gunpowder can explode, which is different from the previous use. The formula of gunpowder was produced after many trials. It’s the highest-level secret in our military, and not many people know about it.”

Li Yanxian and Wang Ruohai nodded, understanding what Wang Xiaolie meant.

It is difficult to hide the raw materials, so the formula has become a secret. Now, in Wang Xiaolie's army, except Wang Xiaolie and Song Yan, there are also a few technicians who specialize in making gunpowder. Even Li Yanxian and Wang Ruohai don't know it now. of.

What Wang Xiaolie remembered was the ratio of gunpowder. During the experiment, he found that this was not the case. In retrospect, maybe this was not the mass ratio for preparing gunpowder. After many experiments, he found the truly practical ratio. After thinking about it carefully, he realized Understand the coefficient ratio of the chemical reaction equation.

The gunpowder produced using this ratio is sufficient as propellant for artillery. Of course, the truly accurate ratio is still slightly different from this ratio. Researchers have been conducting experiments and the finished gunpowder produced is slightly different from this data. gap.

The uses of gunpowder are different, and the proportions will also be different. Some require more nitrate, and some require more sulfur. They are all different. For Wang Xiaolie, everything has just begun, and many problems need to be solved in practice.

Returning to the yard and sitting down, Wang Xiaolie said: "With artillery, the way of war is different from before. The organization, establishment, composition of the army, and the way of commanding operations are all very different from before. I plan to use the Chinese army to reorganize the artillery and artillery in one year. It is very important that you two pay attention to this matter."

Li Yanxian said: "There are twenty to thirty thousand people in the Chinese army. Isn't that too much?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Indeed. But the number of people is small, and many things cannot be effective. As you just saw, there are three kinds of artillery: large, medium and small. Among them, the large cannon and the medium cannon are similar in type, and they are both pulled by three horses. However, the cannon is slightly smaller than the cannon. The reason for this is that the cannon is not only larger, but also much less maneuverable. In actual combat, the cannon can only be assigned to the division level. If it is assigned to the regiment level, it will It greatly affects the mobility of the army. The small cannon is not only much smaller, but the barrel is also much shorter. The use of small cannons is different from that of large cannons and medium cannons. Generally speaking, large cannons and medium cannons mainly shoot directly. , small cannons mostly shoot in a straight direction. Moreover, the barrels are short, use less gunpowder, and the range is far less than that of large cannons and medium cannons. In actual combat, they are a close combat weapon. When the enemy is close, use small cannons to fire Shotguns are extremely lethal. Therefore, small cannons are assigned to battalions and used in military formations."

Li Yanxian and Wang Ruohai nodded and understood Wang Xiaolie's arrangement.

The use of artillery not only adds a sharp weapon to the battlefield, but also greatly changes the shape of war. How to arrange artillery on the front line, how to cooperate with infantry and cavalry, and how to command is a system. This system smoothes the ecology of the entire battlefield

Also changed.

Not to mention, artillery must not only transport artillery, but also gunpowder and shells, which has increased logistics requirements. If artillery is to be truly integrated into the war system, the changes will be huge.

Wang Xiaolie said: "However, the Chinese army cannot all participate in the exercise at the moment. Artillery is not easy to make, the price is high, and we cannot equip them all in a short time. My idea is to first equip all the artillery directly under the Chinese army, including artillery. And then

The first regiment below is equipped with other artillery. Use the first regiment and the troops directly under the Chinese Army to do this. The other troops will wait."

Wang Ruohai said: "I think the cannons are all made of copper. Although the small cannons are made of iron, I'm afraid the labor is not cheap."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Nowadays, the labor cost of small iron cannons is high, and it is indeed not cheap. I asked them to calculate it in detail. One cannon, not including mules and horses, costs about two thousand guan. A medium-sized cannon

, it costs about 1,300 guan. And a small cannon costs more than 700 guan. How many cannons can we build with the money we have?"

Guke

After hearing the price, Li Yanxian and Wang Ruohai couldn't help but open their mouths and didn't speak for a long time.

"If we want to build one hundred cannons, it will cost us two hundred thousand dollars. This - this -" Wang Ruohai couldn't stop talking.

Li Yanxian said: "In the past two years, the Zhenfu Division has built a lot of industries, and it should have made a lot of money, right? I often hear people say that, among other things, there are restaurants and inns in every state and county.

Don’t you want to make more than a million dollars?”

After hearing this, Wang Xiaolie looked at Li Yanxian and suddenly laughed.

Wang Xiao made him laugh inexplicably. Li Yanxian asked: "Why is Zhen Fu laughing? Am I wrong?"

Wang Ruohai sighed: "It's not just wrong. It's outrageously wrong! Du Tong, you are in charge of military affairs and you are not familiar with these things. I will tell you by doing the math. Most of those hotels and inns were built within two years.

Especially in the past year, all states and counties have built them. Building these hotels and inns requires capital. Until now, the Zhenfu Division has not recorded a penny in its accounts, and all of them have been capital expenditures. This does not count,

Because too much has been built in the past year, not only has there been no income, but there has also been a lot of debt."

"Capital?" Li Yanxian murmured. Then he remembered that Zhenfusi was really doing business, so of course it had to spend capital.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course it requires capital. These are Zhenfusi's properties. Without capital, where will the industry come from? It's not just restaurants and inns. Zhenfusi has built many industries in the past two or three years. In addition to

A few items, such as supply and marketing cooperatives, have already made stable profits, while most of the others have to continue to spend money. Earn a million dollars? Dutong, now I still have to spend a million dollars every year!"

Li Yanxian was startled: "Such money is spent. Where does the money come from?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course it's borrowed. Everyone knows that taxes are not heavy under the rule, so where can the money come from if we don't borrow it?"

Li Yanxian said: "Borrow? To govern the ten states, where can there be such a rich man? Where can I borrow?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course there is no such rich man in the world. This money was borrowed from the people of the world. We printed the huizi ourselves, and the printed huizi was counted as a debt, and then it came into my hands. The money in the world is

I owe as much debt to the people as there are Xiangyang Huizi."

Li Yanxian nodded, finally understanding a little bit.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Whether it is the imperial court or local officials, they all think that Yinhuizi is a business with no capital and huge profits. How can such a good thing happen in the world? Whether it is our Huizi or Jiaozi from Sichuan and Shu,

Only when the people recognize it can it be circulated throughout the world. Once the people don't recognize it, it becomes a broken contract. How can we get the people to recognize it? This is our responsibility. So I say, this money is borrowed from the people of the world.

.”

The Song Dynasty was not ignorant of the depreciation and other social problems caused by the excessive issuance of currency. The people's 20 deposits were discovered when Emperor Daojun was in power. Correspondingly, there was also a corresponding "art of mentioning". However,

Most of the local officials who issue Huizi and Jiaozi have no overall awareness. Basically, they print as much as the court allows. If they print too much, they really can't spend it, so they will buy things at a discount from the beginning. Moreover,

Except for Wang Xiaolie, there are no fixed denominations for Hui Zi in other places, making it much easier.

According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, those with iron coins were called Jiaozi, such as those in Sichuan and Shu areas; those with copper coins were called Huizi, such as Wang Xiaolie.

The government must be very careful with the credit currency issued by the government. Don't issue it indiscriminately unless it is absolutely necessary. If it is not too much, the impact will be eliminated at a high cost later. Most people understand this truth, but very few can do it.
Chapter completed!