Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Seeing Huangfu Fan begging for mercy in a panic, Li Tai was a little surprised.

Putting aside their other official titles, they were both high-ranking soldiers in the Armor Division. Even if the other party messed up things, he had no power to punish him. Why did this guy put his head down so low?

When he heard Huangfu Fan stammering about the so-called crime, Li Tai remembered that this guy had offended him before, during the review last year.

This incident did make him very unhappy at the time, but since it had been so long, Li Tai did not intend to pursue it. The most important thing now was to quickly find out how the personnel in the Armor Division had become so corrupt?

"Let's not talk about the past, but what are the details of the current Armor Cao case? Please tell us carefully, General Huangfu, and don't hide anything!"

When the soldiers left by Yiluo Mu finished cleaning the hall, Li Tai took the responsibility to sit in the hall, summoned Huangfu Fan, who was still nervous, and several other important officials into the hall and said in a deep voice.

"Of course, I dare not hide anything..."

Huangfu Fan said hurriedly, and hurriedly asked the staff to sort out the account books related to the case and submit them. These account books filled several large boxes, and the matters that were judged as important accounted for nearly half.

Li Tai frowned when he saw this scene.

Although he has not worked in the Taifu for a long time, the administrative procedures of the various departments of the Taifu now follow the evaluation method he created. The affairs of the various departments are divided into four levels: important, trivial and miscellaneous. The important affairs have extremely strict time regulations. If they cannot be completed within the specified time, it is a very serious dereliction of duty.

Now, Li Tai alone has hundreds of important matters to deal with, all of which need to be handled urgently, but the expressions of the people in the hall seem to be indifferent to this.

Li Tai snorted coldly, grabbed a book and browsed it, and found that the matter was not complicated. It was nothing more than sending a certain number of armor and equipment to a certain army within a limited time, which was also one of the basic affairs of the Armor Department.

The production, maintenance, repair, storage, and allocation of various types of armor and weapons are the main contents of the Armor Department's work. Li Tai picked up a few books at random, and the contents were mostly related to this. Although the number of weapons involved was not small, the matter itself was not complicated.

However, because of this, Li Tai became more and more angry. If it was accumulated because of the complexity and difficulty of the matter, it would be fine, but it was obviously a simple matter that squeezed so many things. No wonder the foreign soldier Yiluomu was so angry in this direct hall. If the matter that Li Tai was responsible for was delayed like this, he would have to tear down this direct hall!

Seeing Li Tai's frown deepen, Huangfu Fan and others secretly thought that something was wrong, and hurriedly picked out the account book from another box and presented it to him, and hurriedly explained: "We dare not delay our duties. The reason why the cases are so crowded is due to other reasons..." Li Tai listened to his explanation while opening the account book. This was not a big deal, but his face suddenly became even uglier: "Since the beginning of the year, there has been no storage in the armory?" "Yes, the commander-in-chief is right. At the beginning of the year, the six armies were reorganized and expanded, armor and weapons were frequently purchased, and the armory The reserve was not rich to begin with, and it was quickly withdrawn. In the past period of time, it was all maintained by the new production of Xiayang and other smelters and the surplus and shortage of the internal and external armies. But now the grand review is imminent, and all the needs of the army are urgent..." Huangfu Fan said with a bitter face, as the saying goes, a good housewife cannot cook without rice. If a woman in a household does not cook well, she will be despised and scolded by her father-in-law and husband. Most of the staff of the military supply system need to deal with arrogant soldiers and fierce generals. It is conceivable what kind of treatment they will receive if they do not do things well. Like today, Yiloumu led his people to attack the door. It has happened many times in recent days. Compared with other fierce generals who really dare to kill, Yiloumu only smashed some tables and furnishings, which is considered a gentle means. Another armor officer Liang Rong, although his mount was convulsed and fell off his horse, he was actually hit by the six army soldiers who repeatedly demanded armor and weapons but never got them. These arrogant soldiers and brave generals don't care whether there is anything in the armory. Anyway, it's your fault that they can't see our armor.

Damn, I've been cheated again!

After learning about these situations, Li Tai cursed in his heart. He knew that Yuwen Tai was not so kind to arrange him, a big rat, to guard the rice warehouse. It turned out that this warehouse was empty long ago, and he was asked to come to take the blame and vent his anger!

Although he was complaining in his heart, since he had taken over this mess, he couldn't just pat his butt and leave without doing anything. He wanted to do so, but Yuwen Tai might not agree.

So he flipped through the headache-inducing account books again, and carefully asked about the personnel details in the government office. He put together all the clues in his mind and gradually outlined a general trend of the gradual deterioration of the armory affairs.

The Western Wei regime has always been a military-first politics with the military ruling the government. Therefore, all military-related matters are highly valued and have a high priority. The armory department under the Daxingtai Mansion is naturally no exception.

Initially, the Armor Cao was only in charge of the armor and weapons of the personal soldiers in the Daxing account book, and its authority and personnel were very limited. But after several major battles, especially the Battle of Shayuan, the Western Wei army had rich trophies, and naturally needed to manage and digest these spoils, so the personnel authority of the Armor Cao grew.

The Armor Cao had the largest number of personnel around the eighth year of Datong, when the six armies were initially established, and all the weapons and weapons were provided by the Armor Cao. During this period, the Armor Cao was in charge of thousands of soldiers and slaves inside and outside the Bafu, and often needed to be led by Bafu officials of Su Chao's level.

But after the glory comes the desolation. With so many personnel concentrated in one department, it is inevitable that the efficiency is low and things are chaotic. Some of the powers of the Armor Department were gradually stripped away.

Now the Armor Department is no longer responsible for the production of armor and weapons. It is only responsible for the deployment of active military equipment, damage reporting and other literary matters. There is a workshop composed of hundreds of skilled craftsmen, which is specially used to repair the fine armor and weapons allocated to senior generals.

The various reserves of the Western Wei Dynasty were already sloppy. They could barely be maintained before, and they were mainly distributed on a mobile basis. In addition to the allocation of some troops responsible for specific combat and garrison tasks, the use of other military equipment has a time limit, and when it returns, the Armor Department will allocate it to other troops for use.

However, now that the Grand Review is imminent, all troops need to be carefully equipped to strive for an excellent performance, so they directly squeezed the Armor Department out of the warehouse.

Li Tai flipped through the military equipment and armed data recorded in the Armor Department. This can be said to be the core of Yuwen Tai's family assets. This is also the first time he has come into contact with these data. After reading it, he can only say that it is very shabby. No wonder Yuwen Tai is always stingy.

But in terms of armor, there are slightly more than 50,000 types of armor recorded in the Armor Department. This number is quite impressive, but nearly half of them are not metal armor, and the number of half-body armor in metal armor exceeds the number of full-body armor. If we look at the elite soldiers with armor on horses and men, there are still less than a thousand.

Moreover, these are all literal data, which can only mean that the Hegemony once had these armors for a short period of time, but it is not certain whether they are still there at the moment.

Because armor will be worn, lost, and lost during use, if it is the military equipment used by the central army directly under the Hegemony, the damage can also be summarized in the Armor Department.

However, the increase and loss of military equipment scattered under the various public offices will not be recorded by the Taifu Armor Department. In other words, even if you take off all these armors and arm your trusted troops, the Taifu will not be able to control it.

Just like the ten Mingguang armors given to Li Tai by the Daxingtai before, it was stated that they were only for temporary use, but Li Tai regretfully said that he didn't know where they were lost. This is the answer when you remember to ask, if you forget to mention it, I'm too lazy to say it. And taking advantage of the convenience of being a military officer in the Armor Department this time, I directly crossed out the records of the entry and exit of these ten armors!

Li Tai simulated the situation of embezzlement in his mind, and put himself in other people's shoes. He immediately felt that the national destiny was worrying. It was really hard to say how many of the tens of thousands of armors on the list of the Armor Department were left.

Of course, even if everyone took these armors into private households, it was mainly for fighting against the Eastern Wei, but it would be very troublesome for the Armor Department responsible for managing and allocating these armors.

There are three main ways to increase armor. The first is the production of various official smelting workshops, the second is war spoils, and the third is donations from the public. Except for the first way of increase, which is relatively stable, the other two ways fluctuate greatly.

The problem faced by the Armor Department now is that there is basically no storage in the arsenal, and the gap in the armaments of the various armies is very large. If there is no major incremental turnaround, it is almost impossible to pay the various armies with enough armor and weapons before the review.

When Yuwen Tai appointed Li Tai as a military officer in the Armor Department, he did not stipulate that he must complete the task. I think he also knew that his family background was too thin, so he just had to do his best.

Li Tai also asked the people in the hall if they had any suggestions to change this situation. Regardless of whether the operability was high or low, at least it could give him some inspiration.

But everyone just shook their heads when they heard this question. Huangfu Fan said with relief: "General Li is a famous young man in the world. Now he is in charge of the Armor Department. At least I don't have to worry about being humiliated and blamed..." Li Tai rolled his eyes after hearing this. It seems that I came here just to support you and stop you from getting beaten? Not to mention that my face is also very limited. If I just sit there helplessly and do nothing, I can't fish in troubled waters to enrich myself. Although the Armor Department is poor and uncomfortable at present, at least there is a skilled craftsman in the workshop who can repair and process high-quality armor. My Mingguang armor also needs someone to polish it. It is the basic quality of an ambitious young man to not leave empty-handed! He was still pondering what to do here, and a rough and violent roar sounded outside the office: "You thieves in the Armor Department, when will you pay me the armor and equipment?"