Whether it's copper or iron, as long as you have money, you can buy it.

Although the Ming Dynasty is said to be a monopoly on salt and iron, such as salt has a salt transportation department, and iron has a household department, a clear officer, and a gold department. However, by the Wanli period, both salt and iron had been transformed from the government to the private sector, or the commercial monopoly system allowed by the government.

Therefore, as long as the father-in-law has silver, he can buy the raw materials needed by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. The problem is that the father-in-law doesn't want the raw materials to get stuck in someone else's hands. In this case, the risk will be great.

No matter which dynasty or generation, the ironware thing is let go again, and it is always inextricably linked with the government. For example, the iron tools in the two capitals and thirteen provinces have been liberalized, but that is only in the country, and it is still difficult to sell the iron tools outside the customs. Because, this is a collaborator.

And the identity of Gonggong Wei is destined to be less than the same pot as the court and local officials, which cannot guarantee that the supply of raw materials to Gonggong will not be deliberately cut off. After all, he offended too many people.

So, it is necessary to have its own mine.

Having a mine at home is the standard configuration of local tyrants.

Mine, mine...

The father-in-law suddenly laughed, he really didn't know how to be blessed in the midst of blessings.

How did you forget the mine supervisor!

The emperor has entrusted all the mines in the world to the inner court!

It is said that Wanli competes with the people for profit, and the profit of this competition mainly refers to mineral profits!

Why did Wanli send a wide range of mine supervisors, isn't it because he can't collect a penny of this mining tax!

There is no mine supervisor on the Nanzhi side, but there are iron factories, Tongshan and Liyang, which are nominally managed by the Jinyi Weinan Town Fu Division, but now the specific business is not clear. There are copper mines in Xuzhou, but the most impressive one is undoubtedly Ma'anshan.

It's easy to do with a mine, a mine is 10,000 taels, and the emperor should be satisfied with this price. No matter what, Xiao Wei has just given you 100,000 taels of filial piety, and you have to look at the money without looking at the face.

There is no difficulty in operating this matter at all, and it is not a trivial matter to have a lieutenant of a certain mine in addition to the title of Admiral Maritime Eunuch. Chen Zengneng asked for Dongchang Mining Tax, and he Wei Liangchen could also ask for it.

What is it? This is to take the initiative to share the worries of the emperor and take the initiative to generate income for the leader, and there is no reason for the leader not to agree.

As for what the original "bosses" of those mines think, the father-in-law doesn't care, if they know each other, they can cooperate with them, if they don't know each other, let them taste the power of the iron fist of the father-in-law's dictatorship.

How bold is man, how fruitful is the earth.

The father-in-law was pleased that he was able to sort out the resources quickly and that it was possible to integrate them. So he walked around the ship, first, to make an appearance in front of the officers and men to encourage them, and second, to see if there was anything that could be immediately improved on these guns.

Time is money, speed is life.

Regardless of whether the cannon is ugly or good, if you can hit it before others, it is a good cannon!

"So that my father-in-law knows that all guns of the same caliber, regardless of the old and new styles, have the same charge here, no matter how many. That is to say, some cannons may have five or six taels, while others have only two or three taels..."

Wang Dali led a group of subordinates to follow behind his father-in-law, introducing a few words from time to time. He didn't dare to underestimate Father-in-law Wei now, because his father-in-law said such a sentence casually, which would always make them unable to reply for a while, but what his father-in-law said was extremely reasonable, not the kind of layman's random finger marking.

Come to think of it, this is where the talent is different from ordinary people, otherwise, why are people's fathers-in-law and they are not fathers-in-law.

Listening to Wang Dali's talk about the charge, the father-in-law was thoughtful, looked at the gunner who was charging, smiled, patted the gunner's shoulder, and said in a harmonious voice: "Little ghost, how much medicine is loaded with this cannon at one time, do you know in your heart?" You can't make a mistake, right? ”

The gunner is no younger than Father-in-law Wei, but Father-in-law's "little ghost" can make people tremble, and he is very nervous: "No... No, no, I'm familiar with this cannon, but I don't dare to make a mistake. ”

The father-in-law laughed and pointed to another cannon not far away: "You won't make a mistake with this cannon, but what about changing that cannon, do you dare to guarantee that you won't make a mistake?" ”

"This..."

The gunner is also a little unsure about this, he has always played this copper cannon, replaced by that iron cannon, although he knows how much it should be loaded, but some deviations are inevitable.

Wang Dali explained on the side: "Father-in-law, each cannon has a special gunner, the gunners are familiar with the artillery, how much medicine will not be wrong, saying that it will not be loaded with five taels of extra money, this father-in-law can rest assured." Moreover, each cannon is equipped with a scale. ”

"Reassured? Each cannon has a special gunner, but in the event of a battle, what if the gunner and filler of this cannon are killed, and other gunners come to charge? Who among you can guarantee that he won't pretend to be the wrong medicine? The consequences of pretending to be wrong, we don't say it, you also understand. ”

What are the consequences of pretending to be the wrong medicine?

Blow up!

Wang squeaked vigorously and did not dare to speak.

The father-in-law was a little unhappy and said: "You guys, why do you have to let the gunners estimate it themselves, do you have to weigh it every time you fire a gun?" This will be calm, if on the sea, strong winds and waves, will this scale be stable? ”

"Yes, yes, my father-in-law taught me."

Wang Dali couldn't help nodding, and his subordinates were also like chickens.

"It's not that we don't teach a lesson, it's that you have to think of ways to improve this matter, and if you find a problem, you can correct it in time, and you can't wait for the battle to be on the battlefield."

If it weren't for the indelible contribution of this king to the establishment of the Royal Navy, he really wanted to remove him immediately.

Of course, this is also an angry thought, and the father-in-law will definitely not do this. When the navy was first established, his father-in-law also pointed to Wang Dali, a group of Guangdong generals, to stabilize the navy for him. This will remove Wang Dali, and the army's morale will be unstable immediately.

"Let's talk about what can be improved. Our family will work on the spot, and it can be said that whether it is an official or a soldier, whoever proposes a reasonable method will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver and an additional official. ”

My father-in-law is really a resolute character, and today's things are done today, and they will never be left for tomorrow.

As soon as they heard that there was a reward, the officers and men immediately became lively and made suggestions one after another, but they did not get to the point. Wang Dali also put forward an idea, meaning that the artillery on each boat should be arranged in a unified manner, that is, the same caliber should be placed on one boat, so that there would be no miscellaneous cannons, and there would be no problem of filling error.

This method is good, the question is not the answer that the father-in-law wants!

It doesn't make sense to change it, and there are so many guns of a unified caliber for the navy to assemble.

"Li Yanzhao, tell me about it."

The father-in-law pointed to the small flag Li Yanzhao who was standing silently at the back of the officer from the crowd, and the sentence of "one sentence and three sentences" the day before yesterday was very popular with the father-in-law.

Li Yanzhao seemed to have been thinking about this, but he wasn't sure whether the method was feasible or not, so he was a little nervous when he was named by Gonggong Wei, but seeing that everyone and his father-in-law were looking at him, he couldn't allow him to think about it, so he had to say it first.

"Father-in-law, the little one thinks that as long as the medicine is wrapped in a certain amount of things, indicating which kind of cannon it is used for, and pouring it directly into the cannon chamber when it is used. In this way, no matter what kind of gun it is, in what environment, there is no risk of making mistakes. ”

After saying this method, many officers nodded, they are all old soldiers, and those who have really seen blood understand that this method is better than what Wang Zongbing said.

"Yes, that's a good idea."

The answer in my father-in-law's heart was actually this rationed charge, and the reason why he did not say it, but let the officers and soldiers discuss it by themselves, and think by themselves, was to let the officers and soldiers brainstorm it. Three stinkers, one Zhuge Liang. As long as this good habit is formed, many things can be changed in the future.

As soon as he heard Gonggong Wei say that his method was good, Li Yanzhao couldn't help but feel relieved.

"People say that interlacing is like separating mountains, and that's true, but this matter of rationing, our layman thinks it's good when he hears it, as a senior admiral of the navy, why can't you think of it one by one, can't get it out, and you have to let the gunner estimate it himself? Small things can be seen in the details, and details determine success or failure. ”

The father-in-law was serious, and he had high hopes for the navy.

"Not only the Navy, but also your Army. The matter of the quantitative and fixed distribution of medicine should be carried out immediately. Remember, don't take this as a trivial matter, you can only live if you are always faster than others! Only by living can you be promoted and make a fortune. ”

The father-in-law's heartfelt words made the generals feel deeply.

"Well, the method is what you think, this matter will be left to you, at the latest in seven days, our family will see the results, what is needed, make a list, how much it costs, we will give it." In short, you have to get this thing right. If it's done, our family will protect you from a hundred households, if you can't do it, continue to be your little flag. ”

After Wei Gonggong finished speaking, he nodded to Li Yanzhao, who was surprised, and then walked to the front of the ship and ordered a second round of shelling.

The second round of shelling was also a signal, and the beacons on the outside of several sections of the city wall that had already come ashore and were potentially Zhenjiang would be blasted as soon as they heard the signal.

"I picked their skin, we don't believe they don't cover their crotch!"

Wang Dali immediately instructed the standard-bearers to raise flags and inform the ships to open fire. The flag language was originally owned by the sailor, and it was much simpler than the flag language of later generations.

After seeing the flags of the commander-in-chief, the ships immediately ordered the gunners to take position, and soon the second round of shelling began.

The Navy's mobile detachment participating in this joint military exercise had a total of 4 Fuku, 2 three-masted gunboats, 8 building ships, 7 Cang boats, 10 coastal defense ships, and 5 other miscellaneous ships.

Each ship carried 185 artillery pieces (including Franc machines), 210 light and heavy copper and iron cannons, more than 120 tiger squat cannons, and 1,720 troops participated in the exercise, which was almost three-quarters of the strength of the mobile detachment.

The second round of shelling will last for a column of incense, and the cost of pellets is not a small expense. Therefore, before the operation, Wang Dali and other generals had persuaded Wei Gonggong to reduce the time of artillery bombardment in order to save gunpowder.

But Gonggong Wei waved his hand and said that if he didn't subdue Zhenjiang City, what was the use of more medicine and cannonballs. Fight, but fight hard, and don't have to save money for his old man.

The Admiral and the ministers have all said so, and the Navy has nothing else to say.

With the first cannon sound, the sky above Jinshan Temple and even Zhenjiang City once again resounded with a rumbling shelling.