Lord of the House

As the night got darker, Jun Xun's maid, Cai'er, came in and said that the old lady wanted to leave her to sleep here at night.

As a son-in-law, Lin Fu could not stay at Gu's house. I don't know how long it will take to talk. Jun Xun is pregnant and can't stay up late, so she stays at her mother's house for one night, and she can spend more time with her mother.

After Cai'er left, the conversation here was going to continue. Zhao Qinmin leaned over and asked Lin Fu, "How much money does Huaidong need a year to barely make enough money?"

Lin Fu glanced at Zhao Qinmin. Most of the food and salaries of the Huaidong Military Division were self-raised, so it is still a mystery to outsiders how many soldiers the Huaidong Military Division had.

Lin Fu did not take the initiative to disclose the details of Huaidong Military Division to Gu Wuchen and others before.

Lin Fu thought to himself, could it be Gu Wuchen who asked such a question?

"If the Huaidong Army only needs to keep troops, 300,000 taels a year is almost enough; in addition, it will cost 100,000 taels to build warships," Lin Fu said. Now, all the money from the salt and silver to protect the grain will be used to repair and defend the sea wall. Last year, I copied the Ma family, and this year the shortfall is relatively large. Even if there is no such discussion, I will come to Jiangning to fight..."

Gu Wuchen, Lin Tingli, and Zhao Qinmin all laughed. Gu Wuchen said: "You have seized Ma's house, and now it has become a public case. The king of Chu did not dare to stay in Xuzhou city, and asked his vassal to change to Haozhou. I'm a little scared..."

"I can't do it without raiding the Ma family. In order to prepare for the Huaisi war, I expanded my troops in Chongzhou by more than 20,000 and more than 12,000 elites, and dragged them to Huaisi to fight for half a year. Only two fortresses were built. With six buckets of rice and three silver coins per soldier per month, how can it be enough for the war?" Lin Fu said, "The King of Chu and the Ma family want me to spit out the silver, so that the county commander can make up for the Huaidong Army in Huaisi. The war will consume it."

Last year, when the Huai Si war was in full swing, the Ma family in Huai'an was hit by bad luck, and Lin Fu and Liang Wenzhan, the magistrate of Shanyang County, convicted the Ma family of smuggling salt and ransacked their home.

The accounts of the searched home were not concealed, and the fields and houses were all returned to the public, so that the Huai'an Prefecture and the Lianghuai Salt and Iron Company made a big splash. The Ma family's gold and silver inventory, Lin Fu also made a big stroke, and directly made up the military resources of the Huaidong Army. A total of nearly 700,000 taels of silver was obtained from the raiding of the home and the previous extortion.

This amount of money supported the Huaidong Army in the Huaisi area for half a year of war. Even if there were savings, it was very limited.

Ma Fu's wife is the head of Shanyang County, the daughter of the King of Chu, and naturally hates Lin Fu. The Chu palace has never been bullied like this, so naturally they complained everywhere. Even if they couldn't bring down Lin Fu, they still wanted to take back the stolen property from Lin Fu. Seven hundred thousand taels of silver, all in black and white with detailed accounts.

Whether it is Zhang Xie or Yue Lengqiu, they all regard Lin Fu as a political enemy. It is precisely because the detailed accounts are written in black and white that they will not support the Ma family in this matter.

First, there is solid evidence of the Majia smuggling illicit salt.

Second, Huai'an Prefecture and the Iron and Salt Division have benefited a lot from this case. Huai'an and Shanyin counties alone have seized more than 100,000 mu of public land from the Ma family, which can provide more than ten thousand acres for Huai'an and Shanyin counties every year. Tens of thousands of stone public land rental income. These benefits, Huaian Mansion has already eaten in the stomach, how can it be spit out?

In addition, the Huaidong Army spent 700,000 taels of military resources during the Huaisi War, which is not too much.

If Lin Fu wanted to spit out the money, he had to subsidize the money to Huaidong. Didn't that cost Wang Tian's life? The county chief gave more to Huaidong, and less to Changhuai's army. Of course, Yue Lengqiu would not throw a stone at himself in the foot.

"Last year, after copying the Ma family, Huaidong's expenses were evened out," Gu Wuchen asked. "How big is the shortfall this year?"

"About 150,000 taels!" Lin Fu said.

Gu Wuchen glanced at Zhao Qinmin, Zhao Qinmin touched his chin, looked back at Gu Wuchen, and seemed to be sure of the real number reported by Lin Fu.

Gu Wuchen thought for a while and said to Lin Fu, "Huaidong is one of the foundations of Jiangdong today, so I think Ning Wang's mansion will not be too fond of one or the other. When you discuss matters tomorrow, you might as well open your mouth a little more, if you want 300,000 taels of silver, you will also give A chance for them to bargain. As for Dongyang, it would be a good thing if they could make less money in the end..."

Lin Ting nodded.

Unlike the Huaidong Army, which had many troops and horses, the source of salaries directly controlled by Lin Fu was only one county in Chongzhou, and the rest had to be allocated by the county chief. Although the Dongyang Army is self-financing, Lin Tingli also controls the civil and financial affairs of the entire eight counties of Dongyang Prefecture.

In one prefecture and eight counties, it is easy to raise eight thousand elites.

Tomorrow morning, I will go to Prince Ning's Mansion to discuss matters. This discussion is related to an adjustment of Jiangdong County's power, so it cannot be sloppy. Seeing that it was getting dark, Lin Fu and Lin Tingli said goodbye and left.

Lin Tingli also had a private residence in the city, while Lin Fu, surrounded by guards, returned to Jiyunju.

****************

After Lin Fu and Lin Tingli left, Gu Wuchen didn't go to rest immediately. He sat and talked with Zhao Qinmin in the pavilion in the back garden.

"Lin Fu said that there is a shortage of 150,000 taels of silver every year for Huaian's military support. Do you think he told me the truth?" Gu Wuchen asked.

Zhao Qinmin said: "Lin Zhizhi, there is no need to hide from you!"

Gu Wuchen shook his head and sighed, and said, "The person I have never seen through all these years is this kid."

Zhao Qinmin knew that Gu Wuchen said this because he regarded him as a trusted confidant. He was naturally happy in his heart, but he couldn't show the joy on his face, and said, "I think the numbers mentioned by the envoy Lin Zhizhi still fit..."

"What kind of contract?" Gu Wuchen asked.

"In addition to the summer tax and autumn grain in Chongzhou County being paid to the Huaidong Military Division to make up for the insufficient military resources, there are two clear sources of the Huaidong Military Division's grain salaries," Zhao Qinmin said. "One is that the court used 20,000 yuan to The number of troops is paid to the Huaidong army commander, which is about 200,000 taels of silver every year. This part of the money is controlled by the Huaidong army commander; If you can really get the hands of the envoy of the Lin Zhizhi, the amount of food, military uniforms, ordnance and other materials will be 890,000 to 90,000 taels of silver. Fortunately, Lord Liu Tingzhou is impartial and did not deduct from it; the other is that Haiyu and other counties The subsidy for the Shengsi defense line is mainly based on grain, cloth, meat and vegetables, and about 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver can be obtained a year. The sources of grain salaries in Huaidong are basically semi-open, presumably Yue Lengqiu and Zhang Xitong, He also knew an approximate number in his heart. In addition, after Lin Zhizhi entered Chongzhou, he reduced rents and taxes on a large scale, exempted miscellaneous donations and apportionment, but he ruled with an iron fist, checked the fields, and reclassified the quality of grain fields. As a result, Chongzhou's summer tax and autumn grain supply has increased sharply, reaching 300,000 shi. These money and grain will be used by the forest system, but it must also be reported to the county minister. This number is also true and credible, and the forest system is really going to fake it. , just use the previous number to report, there is no need to triple it. In the summer and autumn grains, the local expenditure must be deducted; It is only 112,000 taels. Adding the above three items, the outside world can roughly estimate the total amount of grain and salaries of the Huaidong Army Division, which is about 250,000 taels of silver. The annual cost is 400,000 taels, and there is still a shortfall of 150,000 taels, which is in line with these three figures."

"According to this, it fits, but his account is too clear, too fit, anyway, I can't believe it," Gu Wuchen said, "He occupies a lot of land in Chongzhou, but no one else has this figure at all... "

"Occupying a lot of land, Lin Zhizhi may have regarded these as private property, and the public and private must be separated. These land properties cannot be counted as military assets." Zhao Qinmin kept explaining for Lin Fu, he knew that Gu Wuchen treated him to himself. His son-in-law can't fully trust him, and it's useless to say anything he says.

Of course, the biggest source of Huaidong's military rations is salt and silver.

Gu Wuchen and Zhao Qinmin can check the real number of salt and silver guarantee food from Qingzhou and Jinhai.

Lin Fu collects a high amount of lichen from it, which is mainly used for large-scale projects such as dredging the salt river and repairing seawalls. And these two projects are really huge. Gu Wuchen, Zhao Qinmin, Lin Tingli, and even Yue Lengqiu, Zhang Xi and others believe that before the seawall is completed, Lin Biao cannot use the extra silver from the salt and silver to protect the grain. military.

This is also the main reason why Yue Lengqiu and Liu Tingzhou supported Huaidong in repairing and defending the seawall in the later period. They were all afraid that Lin Fu would use the money to support the army.

Zhao Qinmin also did not mention the matter of food security with salt and silver.

"There should be 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers in Huaidong. He brought Jiangning this time, and he suddenly has 2,000 elite cavalry. I heard Yang Pu say that all those horses are neck-high, and Jiangning city wants to see one. They are all high-quality military horses, and it is hard to find a hundred gold. I really doubt that 400,000 taels of silver each year can support such an elite army of horses, infantry and water camps?" Gu Wuchen asked suspiciously.

The Huaidong Army's 28,000 soldiers' rations, supplementary ordnance, and warship repairs, calculated by the standard of the town army, only cost about 400,000 taels of silver every year.

Whether an army is elite has a lot to do with its leader, but it is also inseparable from the foundation of material security. Generally speaking, as long as the leading generals can be impartial and selfless and do not deduct food and salaries, the morale of the troops they lead will be good, and the combat effectiveness will not be much worse.

The Huaidong Army is much more elite than the ordinary town army, and naturally there should be stronger material support behind the ordinary town army.

Yue Lengqiu's daily supplies to the Changhuai Army were 50% higher than the standard of the ordinary town army, so the combat effectiveness of the Changhuai army was obviously stronger than that of the ordinary town army. But from the point of view of past battles, the Changhuai Army was not enough to compete with the Huaidong Army.

Gu Wuchen also directly manages the Jiangning Water Camp and is familiar with this, so when Lin Fu said that Huaidong only needed 400,000 taels of silver per year for military resources, he suspected that Lin Fu was deliberately lying, as if he was blocking something in his heart. uncomfortable.

In fact, Lin Fu did not hide the report. The Huaidong Military Department allocates 400,000 taels of silver materials from outside to support the army every year~www.wuxiaspot.com~ It's just how these materials operate and circulate in the Huaidong Military Department. Outsiders don't know it, so they can't infer the true strength of the Huaidong Army from the money spent.

The Jinhai-class warship was sold by Lin Fu to the Saga Clan and the Dongzhou Governor's Office. One piece cost 30,000 taels of silver, while the Huaidong Military Division calculated it at cost and calculated 10,000 taels of silver; times.

The fine iron mo knife, which the Ordnance Superintendent sold to the outside world, was worth eight taels of silver, and the cost price was calculated internally, which was less than a thousand dollars; the difference between the inside and outside was more than eight times.

The first-class military horses, which Huaidong purchased and sold from Danluo and the island of Honzhou, only cost a dozen or twenty taels of silver, which was slightly more expensive than ordinary mules and horses. In Jiangdong County, which lacked excellent war horses, a first-class military horse was less likely to be used. It takes seventy or eighty taels of silver.

For meat, poultry, eggs, etc., Huaidong Military Division has done everything possible to produce it by itself. The scale of poultry farming on Xisha Island alone has reached 300,000 to 400,000 birds. Although they are also fed with miscellaneous grains every year, they are mostly fed with algae snails, which almost reaches the level of one catty of eggs from one catty of miscellaneous grains.

If the Huaidong Military Division had not established a complete production system in Chongzhou, all supplies, ordnance, and warships were purchased from outside, and the 800,000 taels of silver a year would not be enough.

There are a large number of workshops in Chongzhou and Guanyintan. Gu Wuchen also knows about it, but he does not know that the production efficiency of the Chongzhou and Guanyintan workshops controlled by the Huaidong Military Division has long been far higher than that of government-run workshops.

In terms of smelting refined iron alone, after Chongzhou adopted the double-furnace smelting method, the same manpower and a slight modification of one blast furnace resulted in four times the amount of refined iron produced, and the quality of refined iron was no worse than that of frying iron with charcoal.

It is impossible to know the details of the internal operation of Huaidong, and even if outsiders are proficient in calculations, it is impossible to estimate the true military potential of Huaidong. My QT room is open! More vulgar official QT room number [9167] Click to enter