New Shun 1730

"Master Liu is joking."

Bai Yunhang didn't know if he was being sarcastic, so he could only apologize first.

"Master Bai, are you afraid that I studied under Dai Jinxian and am a Catholic, so I have to wear small shoes for you? If you think so, you are totally wrong. Although I am not a Confucian scholar, I am not a Christian either. Don't worry, Master Bai. Besides, I am a garrison, and although the military and the civilians do not interfere with each other, there will inevitably be times when Master Bai’s help is needed in the future. If Master Bai thinks so, is it possible that he should ask me to treat Master Bai to a meal and explain it in detail? "

Liu Yu had a good impression of Bai Yunhang. He knew that he was also a gambler who was good at figuring out his motives. He was able to win over Zhou Mu by taking advantage of the opportunity. His courage was worthy of admiration.

Thinking that he would definitely be useful in the future, he didn't have to be so polite. Instead, he explained things straightforwardly like a young man.

Bai Yunhang finally felt relieved, thinking that he was really a fool and didn't speak in an official tone. But you are neither a Christian nor a Confucian scholar. Could it be that you believe in Buddhism or Taoism?

I couldn't guess it for a moment, but I thought that as long as you are not a Christian, it doesn't matter what you believe.

"What Mr. Liu said is just to shame me. On the contrary, the lower official is judging the gentleman's belly with the heart of a villain. Now that your Excellency is here, the lower official should prepare a table of light wine and ask your Excellency to appreciate it."

"No need. I don't accept invitations and I don't accept gifts. Besides, even if I want to accept a gift, it doesn't make sense to accept a gift of thirty or fifty taels. If I accept a few thousand taels, I'm afraid you may not be willing to give it. I'll go again then. Tell me in the capital, why bother?"

"Uh...hehehe."

Bai Yunhang didn't know how to answer the call, thinking that this person was really strange and very different.

"Sir Bai, I went to Wendeng and saw that under your rule, the people's livelihood is prosperous and there are many merchants. It's a good scene. When training and purchasing troops in the future, I can't help but mention it in the memorial."

The so-called mention is of course not directly talking about the governance of Wendeng Prefecture. Liu Yu was neither a supervisor nor a governor, so he had no authority to take charge of local affairs. Weihaiwei was also abolished and all were given civil status. He could not even control the people in Weihaiwei City.

Bai Yunhang understands the meaning of this. In memorials, just a seemingly unintentional mention on it can often have miraculous effects.

While I was feeling grateful, I was also full of doubts.

They all say that if you don't have any profit, you won't be able to do it early. The two of them are neither relatives nor friends. Although it is just a simple task, it is of great significance. I am afraid that I will have something to ask for.

Just when he was thinking about what the other party would ask for, Liu Yu cupped his hands and said, "Master Bai, let's say goodbye. I have something else to do."

Bai Yunhang hurriedly returned the gift, feeling more and more confused. He stood there in a daze and watched Liu Yu enter the barracks before he came back to his senses.

"Could it be that you are playing a long game to catch the big fish? Neither accepting invitations nor accepting gifts, your ambition is not small."

…………

What Weihaiwei abolished was the guard system and military fields, and the army was converted into a civilian one. There are still barracks and coastal forts.

This is one of the best ports in the Bohai Bay, a real ice-free port.

There are mountains on both sides, and Liugong Island is directly in front of the bay. If a fort is built on Liugong Island, Weihai will be perfect as a naval base.

If you want to get in and out, you can only come in through the waterways on both sides of Liugong Island. The waterway on the north side is less than a thousand meters, and the waterway on the south side is slightly wider, which can be suppressed by the forts on both sides.

The sea was bumpy, and the warship was at a great disadvantage against the fort.

However, at this time, there were only two stone forts on Weihai side, and there were no forts on Liugong Island. There is one pier with several boats docked.

The barracks can accommodate about a thousand people. After the camp was moved, the barracks were all empty, and those people brought by Liu Yu were temporarily accommodated.

All the flintlock guns captured in the battle against Rakshasa were collected from the capital, and a group of Westerners had obtained them before from various noble families, totaling less than four hundred guns.

The group of people who followed Liu Yu were practicing reloading on the school field according to the drill.

There are no instructors in military school courses, so everything has to start from scratch.

With so many things to do and no idea where to start, Liu Yu could only let these people practice loading and shooting first, so as not to make these people sick and cause trouble.

Kang Buyao, who had been assigned the first task by Liu Yu, saw Liu Yu coming back. He did not tell him what Liu Yu had arranged for him to do first, but asked: "Master, are you planning to expand the barracks? You need to organize and train For the first battalion, we need to open the Jinghai Palace Official School. The barracks and the school are the first priority. After that, we have to recruit troops and train them. Time is very tight. "

Liu Yu looked at Liugong Island in the distance. The clear blue sea had an unobstructed view. There were several fishing boats on the sea, accompanied by white gulls. There were not many homes on Liugong Island, so he wanted to move the official school and military camps to Liugong Island.

"We want to expand the barracks. But not in Weihai, but on Liugong Island. Business is developed here, and prostitutes and prostitutes are running around. We moved the barracks to the island to isolate them. Weihai will be reserved as a family area for future family members. In Weihai, soldiers and officers must practice on Liugong Island."

"His Majesty has also allocated money for the establishment of an official school and recruitment expenses. There is no shortage of labor here, and it is not difficult to build a few barracks. I will go up and have a look, plan a rough map, and contract it out."

Kang Busu thought about it for a while and felt that this method was indeed very good. The military camp and school were moved to the island. Although it was not far from the coast, it would be very difficult to enter and exit at will.

My family members live in Weihai, and I can see them during holidays, but not on weekdays.

"Sir, what about recruiting soldiers? In my opinion, are you building barracks and preparing to recruit soldiers at the same time?"

Liu Yu smiled, shook his head and said, "Recruiting troops? Don't worry, let's talk about it in two or three years. Zhongxian thinks what's so difficult about training troops?"

"Young Master is joking. I don't know much about military affairs. But is it too late to talk about it in two or three years? Your future depends on this battalion. Even if the navy rises and there is no war, I don't know how to use it. No. For the Army, the battle against Junggar is an opportunity to test it. If the Young Master’s ability is better than that of other troops, the Young Master’s future will be bright, and the military system reform that the Young Master wants will be more possible.”

Liu Yu laughed and said: "It's not too late at all. As long as the officers are trained, the ordnance bureau is opened, and the military school system is prepared, if it takes two years for farmers to become an army, what is the advantage? Recruit troops early, Spend money early; recruit troops later, spend money later. Just train these four or five hundred people first, and recruit the rest later."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. When it comes to recruiting troops, it's the last time you tremble. But Zhongxian, how did you do what I asked you to do?"

Kang Buyao saw that Liu Yu was sure that it would be too late to recruit troops in the future. He knew that he did not understand military affairs and had already said what needed to be said, so he did not mention it.

The first thing Liu Yu asked him to do was quite simple.

Soldiers need to eat food, but in addition to food, they also have to eat meat. In the Jiaodong area, there was not a lot of meat, but there was a lot of fish. Liu Yu asked Kang Bulao to inspect the price of fish to see if he could afford it when training troops in the future.

The money given by the court was definitely not enough, so Liu Yu wanted to engage in smuggling, but even if he smuggled, he could not be said to be rich, and there were still many places to use the money.

Especially if you want soldiers to eat fish on weekdays, if you don't know the price of fish, it will be a big expense.

"I've already taken care of the young master's matter. It's definitely not cost-effective to buy fish. I walked around twice and made some inquiries. There are fishermen in the dock markets along the way. You can't sell it without going through their hands. This is called The price of fish is a bit higher.”

"Furthermore, the imperial court only accepts tins of silver. The gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger and bigger. Three cents of silver for the rich is nothing, but three cents of silver for the poor is a catastrophe. Many poor fishermen do not have boats, and the tidal flats on the shore are occupied by fishing tyrants and landlords. You can't fish on the tidal flats, you can only rent a boat for several people, and it's called "Everyone takes the responsibility."

"There were several people in one boat, each with a fishing net, and they rented a boat to go out to sea. After returning, they paid back the rental fee, but the price was lowered by the fishermen. They paid a small amount of silver every year and performed corvee labor. It can only be said that they will starve to death."

After briefly introducing the situation, Kang Bulao expressed his thoughts.

Buying fish is definitely expensive.

When soldiers are recruited to go fishing, they become local garrison troops, not field troops at all.

So Kang Busha wondered if Liu Yu could spend some money to build several fishing boats and buy several sets of fishing nets.

Hiring these poor fishermen to fish, on the one hand, they can be reported as corvees, taking advantage of the loopholes to exempt these people from service; on the other hand, three cents of silver per year for a person is not much.

Give some rice and wheat on weekdays, three to five dou a month will be enough. For a period of three years, during these three years, all the fish caught will be returned to the military camp. Three or five years later, the boats and fishing nets were all owned by the fishermen, and the Yin army from Dingkou went out. Liu Yu, the corvee, came forward to find someone to relieve them.

Kang Bunuo made a calculation. If he calculated based on the future recruitment of 7,000 soldiers, he would be guaranteed to have fish to eat every day. If he had to buy it, the cost would be huge.

But if we use this method to cooperate with poor fishermen, these poor fishermen will definitely be willing, because they will not be able to save enough money to buy a boat within three to five years, and they will save the pain of corvee.

Seven thousand people would require thirty boats and one hundred fishermen. Such a year's expenses would actually be three taels of silver, a small amount of silver, and thirty or fifty shi of rice and wheat per month. A few bucks.

And now it can be tried temporarily. Anyway, there are only a few hundred people in the military camp at this time, so let's try it with some fishermen first.

As for the tidal flats occupied by fishermen and landlords, there is no need to worry about them. Places near the Weihai barracks, Liugong Island and other places are military-controlled areas. If any fishing tyrant dares to occupy them, they will be driven away.

After listening to Kang Busao's method, Liu Yu thought about it and it seemed feasible.

"Zhongxian's method is indeed feasible. I think they will be willing to do it. Anyway, we won't need much for the time being, so just go and get this thing done. I'll give you a month to calculate the total number of fishing boats, fishing nets, etc. After the money is calculated, you can collect it from me. I’ll see the fish within a month. Is there any problem?”

Kang Busao thought that if this thing could be done in a month, then I wouldn't have to be a guest, so he said: "One month is certainly enough. Sir, you might as well think about what you want me to do next month, and then I said it. When it’s done, I can take a two-month vacation. Wouldn’t it be a waste if I didn’t visit Penglai?”

Liu Yuzhikang has a not-so-slouchy temperament, and his idea for this matter is also very feasible, which shows his ability to do things, mainly because his ideas are not so rigid.

As promised at the beginning, Liu Yu just wanted to finish the work and leave the rest alone, and said: "Okay, I will give you one more month of work, and you can go around various places and make friends with wealthy intellectuals, especially those who work in mining. Yes, hit me Just go with the staff's banner. You can eat, drink, compose poems and talk nonsense. It's up to you. You don't have to ask too much. I will allocate you another two hundred taels of silver. You will always take someone else's money. You have to reciprocate. Anyway, it's just a matter of eating, drinking and having fun. mission."