At this time, the shocked expression on Zhang Wu's face became even stronger.

After taking a deep breath, he asked loudly: "Four million three thousand taels, where did he earn so much silver from a small Taiyuan general soldier... Could it be that he was corrupt and greedy..."

"However, it is impossible for him, Sun Tianwu is only a Taiyuan general soldier, and he is not the prefect of Taiyuan. How many things can ordinary people ask him for and bribe? ”

At this time, Vice Admiral Wang spoke again: "My lord, I may know some ...... situation."

"Among the civil and military officials of our Taiyuan Mansion, there has always been such a thing, but I don't know if it's true."

After glancing at the slightly melancholy Vice General Wang beside him, Zhang Wu directly waved his hand and said: "General Wang, the Mr. Sun in your mouth is no longer there, if you have anything to say, don't hesitate..."

"Yes, my lord...."

Under Zhang Wu's gaze, Vice General Wang replied with a mysterious face: "Among the civil and military officials in Taiyuan Mansion, there have been rumors that Sun Tianwu has resold military funds. In addition, Sun Tianwu is also meddling in the salt and iron trade of the entire Taiyuan Mansion..."

"Reselling military funds and meddling in the salt and iron business....all of them are profitable and very profitable transactions....Now I finally know where Sun Tianwu's silver came from. However, what he didn't expect was that the silver he had earned for half his life was now all ours..."Zhang Wu said with emotion.

Then, he ordered directly to Li Jiazhong: "Battalion Commander Li, the silver here will be handed over to you... Remember, not a single box is missing, and all of them will be sent back to Taiyuan Mansion..."

"Vice Admiral Wang. You also sent a thousand elites from the army to escort..."

"Also. I am the deputy chief soldier of Shanxi. Temporarily appoint you as the commander-in-chief of Taiyuan Prefecture. After returning to Taiyuan, I will report your matter to the chief soldier, and then report to the imperial court. As long as you are willing to serve the commander-in-chief and listen to the commander-in-chief's command, a position of the Taiyuan commander-in-chief will definitely not be able to run. ”

"Please rest assured....The last general swears allegiance to the commander-in-chief, and for the sake of the commander-in-chief, he will go to the soup. It's not too late..."After following Zhang Wu for so long, he finally heard the answer he wanted to hear. Vice General Wang could no longer hold back the excitement in his heart, knelt on one leg in front of Zhang Wu, and assured loudly.

Zhang Wu nodded, changed his words, and continued: "Of course, loyalty to the general army is only one of the aspects, and the general's ability to command troops is also a very important aspect..."

"I have another task here that you need to complete in half a month, and whether this task can be completed smoothly. It is directly related to whether you can succeed in becoming the chief soldier of Taiyuan..."

"I won't say much about your ability in training. But. One of the biggest problems in Taiyuan Prefecture is that the shortage is too large....Even if you count the 2,000 private troops who have just disarmed, there is still a shortage of 4,500 people in Taiyuan General Military Mansion. And you, in the next half month, will fill all the shortfalls of 4,500 people..."

"In addition, I have another request, the shortage of 4,500 people can only be replenished among the displaced people outside Datong Mansion, and the new recruits must be guaranteed."

"As for the food and salary of the 15,000 garrisons of Taiyuan Prefecture, from today onwards, all of them will be distributed in full. On the first day of every month, the Shanxi General Military Office will send the full amount of food and salary to Taiyuan, and the documents sent by the General Military Office will be directly distributed to each soldier, so as to completely put an end to the bad habit of eating empty salaries and deducting the salaries of soldiers in the army..."

Zhang Wu, deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi, began to carry out large-scale army reorganization and raiding homes in Shanxi. Wei Zheng, who had just taken up the post of commander-in-chief of Shanxi, also began preparations for the expansion of the Tiger and Leopard Army.

The Haw Par Army expanded from 15,000 to 50,000, and the most basic preparation was equipment. However, with the current production capacity of the craftsman battalion, the equipment of 15,000 Haw Par Army is difficult, let alone the equipment of 50,000 Haw Par Army.

More importantly, behind the 50,000 tiger and leopard army, there are also 100,000 local garrisons that Zhang Wu is about to command.

There were so many troops, and all Wei Zheng had was a small artisan battalion. Such a deformed development will obviously bring a very fatal blow to Wei Zheng and the entire Tiger and Leopard Army at a critical moment.

As a result, whether it is Zhou Shuyuan, the military advisor, Wang Feng, Zhao Yun and others, they all have a figured out idea: If the army wants to expand the army, there must be a premise, to expand the craftsman battalion.

Otherwise, the current production capacity of the artisan battalion will not even be able to replenish the usual consumption of the Haw Par Army, let alone expand the Haw Par Army. Therefore, the expansion of the craftsman camp is already on the verge and has to be sent.

After a day of thinking, Wei Zheng had already made a very huge plan in his heart.

Under the gaze of Zhou Shuyuan and others, Wei Zheng said as calmly as possible: "Brothers, my thoughts on the expansion of the craftsman camp are: the craftsman camp should not only be expanded on a large scale, but also transfer the production site..."

"As the Haw Par Army becomes more and more prestigious, the flintlock muskets that our Haw Par Army has just equipped will definitely attract everyone's attention. When the time comes, whether it is the imperial court, or the Tartars who are far away outside the pass, or even the rebels, they will not hesitate to peep at the flintlock muskets produced by our craftsman battalion. ”

"When the time comes, our craftsman camp will definitely become a base for all forces to get a glimpse of what is going on..."

"And we all know that the flintlock pistol is the foundation of our Haw Par Army's current foothold in this troubled era, and once the secret of the flintlock pistol is revealed, our firepower advantage will be lost."

"So, my idea is that in order to ensure the safety of the Craftsman Camp and to keep the flintlock pistol secret, we must move the Craftsman Camp to a very secret production base..."

Military advisor Zhou Shuyuan nodded with a tacit face, and then said: "I support the general's opinion, since we want to expand the craftsman camp, then we will make a very thorough change to the craftsman camp..."

"First of all, choose a new base for him that is secret enough to ensure the secrets of flintlock pistols and other advanced weapons, and ensure that our foothold will not be snooped on by others at all."

Speaking of this, Zhou Shuyuan's words suddenly changed, and he urgently said: "In addition to this, this base must also meet some other conditions...."

"First, this base must ensure that there are enough raw materials for supply...."

"Second, the base must be defensive, and if attacked, the limited number of troops guarding the base must ensure that the base can hold out until reinforcements arrive..."

"You may not know that the current situation of the Yijiang Camp will not change much every month, even if the scale is increased tenfold, and the monthly output of firearms will not change much. One of the most important reasons is that pig iron, which is an essential raw material for the production of firearms, is in very short supply..."

"If you want to expand your workshop, you have to find enough raw materials......

At this time, Wei Zheng opened his mouth and said with a firm face: "Firearms are the lifeblood of our Tiger and Leopard Army's continuous development and growth, and all kinds of pig iron and gunpowder needed to produce firearms are the lifeblood of this lifeline. ”

"In order to ensure the continuous development and growth of the Haw Par Army, this lifeline must not be in the hands of others."

"Therefore, I plan to take this opportunity to set up a series of workshops such as mining, ironmaking, gunpowder production, and firearms production, and set up a department to manage them all."

Wang Tiezhong, the commander of the craftsman battalion who made an exception to participate in this secret meeting, asked Wei Zheng with a thoughtful expression: "General, in the capital, the imperial court has a department dedicated to managing the production and distribution of ordnance, called the arsenal, which is subordinate to the Ministry of War. Could it be that the general also intends to form a department of the same. ”

Wei Zheng didn't hide it, and nodded very affirmatively and replied: "What you said is right, however, in order to avoid suspicion, the department I want to set up is not called the Arsenal Division, but directly called the Equipment Division, and you, Wang Tiezhong, are the first director of the Equipment Division, and in terms of level, it is equivalent to the division commander of the 5,000 troops of the Tiger and Leopard Army..."

"Huh..." After listening to Wei Zheng's answer, Wang Tiezhong directly gasped.

Not only Wang Tiezhong, but also Zhou Shuyuan, Wang Feng and others also showed an unprecedented shocked expression on their faces.

Because, in their eyes, even if Wang Tiezhong is valued by Wei Zheng, he is just a skilled craftsman. However, such a craftsman not only became an official for the first time, but also became a big official, which had to shock these people who had been poisoned by the ideology of Shinong and Gonggong.

Under everyone's gaze, Wei Zheng replied in a firm tone again: "You heard it right, the level of the director of this equipment department, if calculated according to the grade of the imperial court, is the fourth grade." ”

"As for the reason why I am doing this, a very important reason is to make everyone pay attention to these craftsmen and the equipment department."

"Brothers who want to follow my Wei Zheng to continue must change your previous views: craftsmen are no longer inferior people who can be bullied, but talents with exquisite skills."

"It is precisely because of the existence of these talents that our Haw Par Army can be equipped with such good firearms. With these qualified firearms in hand, our Haw Par Army will be able to win battle after battle..."

"Therefore, in our Haw Par Army, we should not only pay attention to those intellectuals, but also pay attention to those craftsmen with exquisite skills, and encourage everyone to learn technology and become craftsmen..."

At this time, Wang Tiezhong, who was excited, suddenly knelt in front of Wei Zheng and said loudly: "The general is wise... Thank you General for your understanding... Here, on behalf of all the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, I kowtow to you, the general. If it weren't for you, the general, we, the craftsmen, would still be living on the line of life and death with hunger and cold. ”

"Not only do you not have enough to eat, but you are also bullied, looked down upon, and inferior........."