Guo Shao woke up from his sleep with the sound of a rooster crowing. There were no chickens in the palace, but the eunuchs imitated the crowing of roosters.
Guo Shao opened his eyes and was stunned for a moment, because there was a strange woman lying next to him, with her smooth bare shoulders still outside the quilt. It took him a while to come back to his senses. This woman was Lu Qiongxian. The images and sounds of last night were like fragments of a damaged disk, pouring into his mind sporadically.
She curled up, still in her sleep. The women seemed to dislike each other, but Guo Shao felt that although Lu Qiongxian had a bad reputation, she was still very cute and a little pitiful when she was asleep.
Guo Shao turned his head to look at the window. It was still dark. However, the eunuch's crowing was very accurate, even more accurate than that of a real rooster.
He gently pulled the quilt to cover Lu Qiongxian's bare shoulders, then moved the corner of the quilt under her body to press it firmly, and climbed up from the wide bed.
At this moment, a lazy voice said: Your Majesty is not someone who can conquer the world with his power, but a careful and gentle person.
Guo Shao turned around and said: I have official business, you sleep a little longer.
This woman always says things that people like to hear. A tyrant must like such people, such as the former king of Southern Han.
At this moment, she said quietly: "I left after sleeping. It's always sad at this time. Your Majesty, will you still look for me?"
Guo Shao said nothing, for he was most reluctant to make promises. He picked up a purple round-necked robe and put it on. At this time, Lu Qiongxian stood up wearing an outer coat and came over to comb Guo Shao's hair.
She whispered: When I get up I feel like my bones are all loose.
Guo Shao smiled and said: I will take it as a compliment.
He prepared, washed up, had breakfast, and went straight to Jinxiang Hall by car. Going up from the inside of Jinxiang Hall, the layout inside was very complicated, as if there were countless corridors, courtyards and houses. If an ordinary person could enter here, he would definitely get lost.
But the front rooms facing the outside are grand and square, with a very simple layout. Just this Jinxiang Hall makes Guo Shao feel like it is the politics of the dynasty. It looks grand and even dull on the outside, but behind it is a myriad of threads and not transparent at all.
Today, Guo Shao neither discussed state affairs with ministers nor attended a grand court session. He first went to the study and asked someone to bring out the memorials and files from the expedition.
When he opened the file, he first saw the administrative layout written by Fu Jinzhan, which combined the waste materials of the gunpowder workshop with the farm. Guo Shao's heart was slightly moved when he saw the elegant and neat small calligraphy.
His mind flashed back to Fu Jinzhan's fingers smoothing his clothes, and the meticulous care that was done for him. Even the purple robe he was wearing was sewn by Jinzhan. Guo Shao had no warning signs, but he had an indescribable feeling in his heart.
He exhaled and continued looking at the things on the table.
At this time, he found that there was one very important thing that had not been done. The last time he was at the front, he ordered to equip the Jiaolong Army warships with new bronze cannons, but it had not been done yet.
There were many drawings below. Guo Shao flipped through them and said: Come, summon Han Tong, Zan Jurun and Li Xin to the East Palace to see me.
Yes, Your Majesty.
After waiting for a long time, two eunuchs at the door opened the wooden door, and the three of them strode in, clasped their fists and bowed, saying: "We are here to see you by your order. May Your Majesty live a long life."
Guo Shao raised his robe sleeves and waved them, then said directly: We have also obtained the shipbuilding structure of the Arab merchants, but if the ships are not equipped with cannons, how can we have an advantage in naval battles? We will still have to fight on the board with swords and knives, and it will be useless no matter how far we sail.
Guo Shao thought: Naval warfare cannot form an absolute advantage. How can we attack Dongdao? We can't attack Dongdao. Where will the gold and silver come from to mint huge military expenses? With the current rules, the cost of fighting is extremely high. The battle of Pingxia went so smoothly, but when we counted the accounts after returning and receiving the rewards, we found that we had lost a lot of money.
The officers and soldiers only know that the emperor treats them well, and now that he is rich and powerful, their brothers' treatment cannot be worse than before, but they don't know where the money comes from. Most of the taxes collected are in kind, but the expenses require a lot of cash. The current situation is actually the consequence of the conscription system.
Guo Shao knew from the files written by Jinzhan that the treasures looted from the palaces of the southern countries were now almost gone. Guo Shao also knew that the wars had been too frequent in recent years.
He didn't care about anything and said: You must move the guns onto the warships
Han Tong turned to look at Li Xin, who bowed and said, "Your Majesty, calm down." The biggest difference between the ships of the Arab Empire and those of the Central Plains is that they are narrow and long, and have longitudinal sails, which are convenient for long-distance travel on the sea; but the shipbuilding technology is not much better than that of the Central Plains ships.
The disadvantage of the Arab ships is that they are too small. The copper cannons are too heavy. According to your Majesty's intention, cannons should be installed on both sides. If there are only five cannons on each side, they will weigh tens of thousands of pounds. Once the cannons are fired, the hull will almost capsize. It is absolutely unbearable.
We found a craftsman and tried every possible means to build a wooden rail gun carriage for the cannon, which was tied with iron chains. When firing, the cannon moved backward along the wooden rail, and the iron chain was used to buffer the impact. We wanted to reduce the back shock force in this way, but we found that it was still not working. The only way was to have a large ship.
Guo Shao listened to his nonsense and almost blurted out: Since you want a big ship, why not enlarge the hull
But he was not a shipbuilder, although he had read a lot of documents and learned a lot. But it was no joke that different trades are like different mountains. He immediately asked: Can the Arab ship be made into a big ship
Li Xin said: Your Majesty, I have asked the master craftsman of the shipyard. The shipbuilder cannot enlarge it as it is, because the keel is the obstacle.
Longgu Guo Shao had heard of this term.
Li Xin bowed and said: "The bigger the ship, the heavier it is. The hull needs to be strong, and the keel needs to be stronger. With the keel of the Arab ship, it will fall apart if it is built too big."
We can also build large ships, but they are flat-bottomed boats. They are fine on rivers, but they are unstable on the sea and cannot withstand strong winds and waves.
Guo Shao was at a loss, saying he could not help. As for the structure of firearms, he could figure out how to make a matchlock gun, but he did not know much about sailing ships.
He knew that the treasure ship that Zheng He used to sail to the West during the Ming Dynasty was very large, but this was not the Ming Dynasty anymore, and he had no where to get the shipbuilding plans for the treasure ship.
You guys think of another way. Guo Shao waved his hand. He couldn't force people to do things against their will. Even if he was the emperor, he couldn't tell his ministers that he wanted an aircraft carrier and ask them to satisfy the emperor.
Han Tong and others did not accomplish their task, so they did not dare to say much and said, "We thank you and take our leave."
At this moment, Guo Shao suddenly thought of Lu Qiongxian, who said she could find shipbuilding talents.
A military camp of the Konghe Army was very lively. Li Chuyun, the founding duke, came to the outside of the military camp on horseback with several followers wearing cloth clothes. Li Chuyun looked into the military camp, and his followers said: Lord Li, we need to go in and inspect the subordinates and talk.
Li Chuyun immediately waved his hand and looked down at his clothes: No need, I'm just taking a look.
He turned to an old man and said: The current Control Crane Army is not the same as before, and now all the imperial guards infantry belong to the Control Crane Army.
The old man clasped his fists and bowed, and the soldiers seemed to be receiving their salaries.
Li Chuyun stroked his beard and said: People from the Ministry of War are sending them out.
The old man nodded, looking understanding.
At this time, some soldiers came out with sacks and papers in their hands. Li Chuyun rode forward and said: The military pay you received is in full.
It is enough, but at this time, some soldiers looked at Li Chuyun's big beard, and someone shouted: Isn't this General Li, the founding duke
Li Chuyun smiled but said nothing. Everyone hurriedly saluted: "Greetings, Lord Li."
What are you twisting? Li Chuyun asked.
A soldier opened the sack and said, "Salt, cloth, and these. The official in charge of distributing salaries at the Ministry of War said they are tickets. When the grain ships from various places arrive in Beijing, we will go to the grain ship at the Watergate Wharf with our respective generals to collect the wheat and rice with the tickets."
Li Chuyun said: Don't worry, the court has a letter, you will definitely get it if you take it.
The soldiers did not seem to be very dissatisfied. The attendant asked for a ticket and showed it to Li Chuyun. Li Chuyun saw that half of it was numbered and had fingerprints. The method of the Ministry of War was still safe. Soldiers had to follow their respective generals to sign when they received food, and there were numbered tickets, so there would usually be no mistakes.
The main thing is that the ticket can be exchanged for physical goods very quickly, so there seems to be no need for everyone to resist. As Li Chuyun asked in the first sentence, it doesn't matter whether it is enough or not.
Li Chuyun did not stay long and left the military camp with his entourage.
Not long after, the old man next to him said: The court seems to have little money left.
Li Chuyun nodded and said: "Hundreds of thousands of imperial guards rely on military pay to survive. When a war breaks out, they need to pay for resettlement before they go out, and they need rewards when they return. This has been the rule for decades, and the expenses are really not small."
The government has recently been reorganizing the troops in the border towns. Liu Renzhan, Gao Yanchou, Zhe Dejian, and Yang Ye alone have more than 100,000 soldiers. Adding the original two batches of 200,000 guards, the number of guards may reach 400,000 in the future.
The guards did not receive military pay, but they were different from the Tang Dynasty's garrison troops. They still had to receive money, and all the expeditions, garrisons, and training were paid for by the central government. There was no other way. The government wanted the central government to control the troops of the world, so first of all, the military supplies had to be paid for by the central government.
The old man said calmly: As long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a big deal for the court.
Li Chuyun turned his head and looked at him, and the two looked at each other without continuing.
Li Chuyun said: What is your opinion, Mr. Zhong
The old man said: This is the result of a strong trunk and weak branches, and it is done too radically. The soldiers are recruited quickly, but the financial collection is slow, so there will be a shortage of money.
Li Chuyun said: The government is like that. It does things with the force of thunder. If it is to be done, it must be done with great force.
The old man said calmly: "But in all dynasties, the world was unified, and warriors were not treated like this." He added that the Han and Tang dynasties were fiefdoms, but they were prone to separatist strife.
Li Chuyun pondered for a moment, and now the civil officials had something to say. Those people were talking without any hesitation. If the court neither gave us fiefdoms nor money, how could we, the commanders of the army, get our brothers to fight to the death