In the dead of night, when Sun Jingxuan and Hu Zhiyong came over, Qin Chengzu and Lin Mengde entered the city with them and went to the Xicheng Post House to see Chen Huawen, Chen Mingzhe, Su Pinxiao and others.

"The Huaidong Army is stationed in Shengsi, and Haiyu has replenished grain and straw for nearly two years now," Chen Huawen first complained bitterly, "However, in the past few years, what is the situation of Haiyu, you should also see it clearly across the shore." Today's rice price in Pingjiang will double compared with the past; The price of raw silk has fallen and even more than doubled. This rise and fall can be said to hurt everyone's vitality even more than the East China Sea raid in Chongzhou in the ninth year. In the past two years, it has also been supported by the previous family foundation, and if the world situation does not improve for a long time, I don't know if it can drag on for three or five years! ”

Lin Mengde remembered a new word "economic crisis" that Lin Lian usually said, the economy of the world is often interpreted as helping the people through the world, Lin Lian explained that this word is more simple, the economy is livelihood.

Most of the area of Jiangdong County was not directly affected by the war, but the livelihood of the vast majority of people in Jiangdong County was seriously affected by the war, not only the general public, but also the powerful gentry and tycoon.

Lin Jian pointed out early on that there would be a big problem in Pingjiang Mansion, and now the facts only confirm his prediction.

Although Pingjiang Prefecture has the most fertile land in the southeastern counties, because the income from growing mulberry, cotton, and tea is much higher than that of growing grain, a large area of fertile grain fields in Pingjiang Province has been converted into mulberry nurseries, tea gardens, and cotton fields in the past 100 years.

Although Pingjiang Prefecture has become rich in the world because of this, the reduction of grain fields requires a large amount of grain from other prefectures and counties every year to meet normal demand.

The war caused the prices of many commodities, including raw silk, to plummet, and the prices of essential materials such as rice and iron tools to skyrocket, and Binh Giang Province was almost severely hit by a double blow. Chen Huawen said that this kind of blow was more serious than the nine-year raid of the East China Sea in Chongzhou, and it was not an exaggeration.

Lin Mengde knew that Chen Huawen had other intentions when he proposed this, he glanced at Qin Chengzu and the others, and still pretended to be confused and said: "My family has also noticed this phenomenon in Pingjiang Mansion, and once said that Pingjiang Mansion should be led by the county magistrates and gentry and wealthy households to convert part of the mulberry and cotton fields into rice and grain on a large scale, instead of sitting there and waiting for the world situation to improve!" ”

Chen Huawen thought about it secretly, what Lin Mengde said was undoubtedly a way to solve the problem, but he was also hesitant in his heart. Who knows if the world situation will improve in the next three to five years? If the situation improves again after the mulberry garden is converted into a grain field, it will take a lot of effort to change the grain field into a mulberry garden. Toss it like this twice, the Chen family doesn't know how much vitality they have to hurt! The Chen family didn't dare to take this risk easily.

In addition, in Pingjiang, Hailing and other cities, a large number of urban households rely on silk weaving and dyeing for a living, and suddenly the mulberry garden is turned into a grain field.

"As far as I know, the Huaidong Military Division built a silk factory in Chongcheng, recruited thousands of people, and purchased silkworm cocoons from merchants in Chongzhou, Gaocheng, Xinghua, Hailing, Jianling and other places," Chen Huawen said. ”

Chen Huawen made this request straight to the point, and Lin Mengde also found it difficult to do; At this moment, there was the sound of horses' hooves galloping outside.

Qin Chengzu and the others sat up straight and looked out of the door, it was strictly forbidden to gallop horses in the city if it was not critical, and listening to the sound of horses' hooves would inevitably make people nervous.

"Your Excellency is back!" At this time, someone was spreading the word outside.

"Isn't it tomorrow that you will come back the day after tomorrow?" Lin Mengde and the others muttered, and stopped outside the post house when they heard the sound of horses' hooves, knowing that Lin Tie went straight to this side, and Chen Huawen, Chen Mingzhe, Su Pinxiao and others hurriedly went out to greet them, and it was really Lin Tie who rushed back.

"Why did you come back today?" Lin Mengde walked over and asked.

"This is General Pin Hyo?" Lin Jian also grabbed the horsewhip in his hand, looked at Su Pinxiao who was standing beside Chen Huawen and asked, seeing that he didn't recognize the wrong person, he explained the reason why he rushed back at night, "Lord Chen, General Su and Ming Zhe came to Chongzhou as a guest, especially General Su came back to Chongzhou for the first time, how dare I slack off?" It just so happened that Hecheng sent a few good horses, and I had the heart to try the foot. We set off from Yanqing in the afternoon, went to Hecheng to fight, rested, and rushed back at this time, these horses are not bad! Hurry Ming'er back and lead two horses for each of you! ”

No matter how true Lin Lian's words were, but hearing him say this, Chen Mingzhen was still very useful; Su Pinxiao's face was a little excited that he couldn't hide.

Although Su Pinxiao was the leader of the Bai Nao Army, and at this time he was the deputy general of the Haiyu Army, but he was only from a fisherman's family. It was only because during the great plundering of Taihu Lake in the East China Sea that he gathered the villagers to resist the most fiercely, won the most, and made good use of soldiers, so he was pushed out to lead the Bai Nao army.

Lin Jian washed his face, washed off some of the dust on his face, came out to meet everyone again, sat in the main seat in the center, and asked Lin Mengde, "What did you talk about?" ”

"We also just came back from Hecheng, not long ago......" Lin Mengde gave Lin Jian a rough idea of what he had just talked about.

Lin Jian lowered his head and thought for a moment, looked at Chen Huawen, and said, "A gentleman treats people sincerely, I can introduce you to the situation in Haidong, and I also want to know from you how serious the situation in Pingjiang Mansion is?" ”

Chen Huawen and Chen Mingzhe's uncle and nephew glanced at each other, Chen Huawen hesitated for a moment, and said: "The situation in Hailing is better, but there was almost a mess in Pingjiang Mansion last month. Almost half of the city people in Pingjiang Mansion rely on this to eat, thousands of craftsmen secretly contact, want to call a break to blackmail the owner to increase the wages, fortunately got the news in time, the leader of the head arrested, not long after, probably sentenced to Chongzhou prison city. ”

Lin Jian frowned, tilted his head sideways and said to Qin Chengzu: "Everything is in a dead end and you can't get out." ”

Qin Chengzu sighed slightly, seeing that Chen Huawen was puzzled, and said: "In the past two years, among the exiles received by Chongzhou Prison City, there are more and more artisans who have stopped making trouble because of the difficulty of making a living. ”

Not only will the peasants who cannot survive raise the banner to rebel, but also the urban households who cannot survive in the city will also make trouble.

"Calling for a break to make trouble" is actually a "strike" in later generations.

Although the world was still in an agrarian society, there were rare urban agglomerations between Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

There are 160,000 Chengfang households in Jiangning, more than 80,000 Chengfang households in Weiyang, more than 40,000 Chengfang households in Pingjiang and Hangzhou, and more than 10,000 Chengfang households in Haiyu County.

Such a huge number of urban households, on the one hand, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are located in a rich area, with fields and hired people to cultivate people, and they are used to living in the city to enjoy; On the other hand, Jiangsu and Zhejiang have developed handicraft industry and commodity economy, and a large number of urban households can make a living from weaving and dyeing without having to work in the field.

Chen Huawen said that half of the urban households in Pingjiang Province rely on weaving and dyeing for their livelihood, and there is no exaggeration.

Commodity trade has suffered a setback, while the price of rice has continued to rise, and those engaged in the handicraft industry have suffered the most, making it difficult for most people to make ends meet.

The peasant households have no food to eat, no way to live, and will raise their banners to rebel. If these urban households have lost their livelihoods, will they sit idly by?

"The price of silk in Haidong is high, several times higher than that of Jiangdong, but the amount that Haidong can bear is very limited, almost three or four thousand quintals are saturated," Lin Jian said to Chen Huawen, "How much raw silk can Pingjiang Mansion produce every year?" 20,000 quintals or 30,000 quintals? ”

"About 28,000 quintals of silk are produced every year." Chen Huawen said.

Pingjiang Mansion Silk Industry Hall, the head of the Chen family, the raw silk output of Pingjiang Mansion is a mystery to outsiders, Chen Huawen is clear in his heart, Pingjiang Silk Industry has been so bleak in the past two years, and there is no need to hide this figure from Lin Bin.

"It's about the same as I expected," Lin Jian said, "The amount of Hailing Mansion plus Huai'an Mansion is less than one-fifth of Pingjiang Mansion, and the raw silk production of Pingjiang Mansion is too high!" I can eat 2,000 quintals of raw silk from Haiyu every year, which is almost the limit of my ability, after all, I want to ensure that Hailing and Huai'an do not cause trouble......"

Chen Huawen didn't dare to covet too much, Huaidong could help digest two thousand loads of raw silk, and he could almost solve the problem of the Chen family.

Of course, he was more concerned about the price of raw silk offered by Huaidong, and he suddenly found it difficult to speak, because Huaidong could get cheaper raw silk from other places.

Lin Lian saw the hesitation in Chen Huawen's eyes, and said: "The price of raw silk, I won't give you too high, but I won't treat the Chen family too badly, after all, the Chen family has helped Huaidong a lot in the past two years," asked Lin Mengde sideways, "The ripe fields in Pingjiang Mansion can produce three catties of raw silk and three stones of japonica rice, so let's calculate the price of silk for Haiyu according to one catty of silk and one stone of rice?" ”

"Yes!" Lin Mengde said.

Lin Jian asked Chen Huawen again and said, "Can Haiyu accept this price?" ”

Chen Huawen was not greedy enough to allow the Chen family to directly allow the Chen family to send ships to the sea to transport silk, and the price given by Lin Tie was actually four or five percent higher than the current market price. The key is that the rise in rice prices will be a general trend in the future, and Lin Jian promised to fold silk with rice, so that the Chen family would not have to worry about the problem that the rise in rice prices would cause the price of silk to fall, which would be more beneficial.

"Haiyu is grateful for being so faithful." Chen Huawen said.

Lin Lian smiled and said, "Repay Li Ye with a peach, Lord Chen doesn't need to be polite." ”

Lin Mengde was secretly heartbroken, Huaidong was able to get cheaper raw silk from the market, that is, Huaidong purchased silkworm cocoons and produced silk spontaneously, and only half of the price of silk was given to the Chen family.

The price of silver is about to become unbalanced, and rice will become the new standard for measuring the scarcity of resources. Huaidong had just obtained 300,000 stone of rice and grain reserves from the feudal mansion and from Yudong Gongzhuang, and Lin Jian promised to buy 2,000 quintals of raw silk from the Chen family with 200,000 stone rice every year, so that Lin Mengde could not feel heartache!

But weighing the pros and cons, we can't simply limit ourselves to monetary benefits, the Chen family and Haiyu, who have collapsed economically, have no benefit to Huaidong!

Lin Jian first wanted the Chen family to support him, to keep Dong Yuan's tentacles out of Pingjiang Mansion, to help the Chen family tide over the difficulties and hold the Haiyu army in his hands, and to let non-Haiyu generals including Su Pinxiao unite around the Chen family.

If the Chen family completely relies on Huaidong's support to reluctantly hold the Haiyu Army in their hands, it will undoubtedly be equivalent to the lifeblood of Huaidong in their hands, and they will cooperate with Huaidong's actions in more aspects.

Chen Huawen, Chen Mingzhe, and Chen Huazhang, the current head of the Chen family, all have a pivotal position in the Wu Party; The Chen family's ability to continue to control the Haiyu Army was also the result of the Wu Party's forces.

Needless to say, the grievances in the past need to be in the same force as the Wu Party at this time to fight against the Ning Wangfu family.

"In the past, with the support of the Chen family and the Haiyu family, our army could gain a firm foothold in Shengsi," Lin Jian said, "Now the military department can get more food and salary from Hailing Mansion every year, and Shengsi doesn't have to work for Haiyu anymore, but the previous help, I and the members of the military department, all of them, have ...... in mind."

In the past, Haiyu and other counties wanted Huaidong to protect the flanks, so they subsidized money and food for Huaidong's garrison on the Shengsi Islands every year according to the actual number. Now Haiyu wants to expand the number of soldiers, and his own money is also tight, and after the increase in troops, his own strength will be strengthened, and there is no need for Huaidong to help protect the flanks.

Chen Huawen came here this time in the hope of canceling the previous money and food subsidies for the Shengsi defense line. However, it was difficult to speak, but I didn't expect Lin Jian to take the initiative.

Even though they knew that Lin Tie was trying his best to repair the relationship between the Dongyang Department and the Wu Party, but it was so easy, Chen Huawen and Chen Mingzhe's uncle and nephew still felt that Lin Tie was reasonable and far easier to deal with than Dong Yuan.

These two things set the tone, and the rest is much easier.

On the basis of the Haiyu Township Battalion, the Wu Party should draw backbone cadres from various counties and township battalions to form the Haiyu Army, including the infantry army and the water battalion, and expand the establishment to 20,000, but most of the armor and equipment should be maintained at the level of the township army, and it needs to be improved.

The continuous large-scale war has caused a serious shortage of ordnance and armor reserves in Jiangning City, and the production capacity of the ordnance workshop is limited, and now the number of troops is being expanded in various places. It was too late for Ning Wangfu and Yue Lengqiu to restrict the Haiyu army, so how could they squeeze out how much from the already scarce armor and materials to the Haiyu army?

Ning Wangfu and Yue Lengqiu would rather allocate more silver taels for the Haiyu army to raise their own funds.

Where can the Haiyu Army go from? Dong Yuan's side is still very lacking. Pingjiang Mansion also smelts iron, and there are many blacksmiths, so it is not a problem to create ordinary spears and arrows, but if you want to make excellent knives and armor, it is not just anyone who can do it.

The only way to ask Huaidong for help.

Huaidong has won a lot of great victories in recent years, most of which are great victories of the nature of great creation and near-annihilation, and this kind of great victory is the most capable of capturing soldiers.

Huaidong's initial armor and ordnance were almost all replenished by capture.

However, after careful calculation, the initial windfall in Huaidong was the cheap purchase of a large number of armor from the defeated army in Jinan, so that before the Yannan War, the armor and equipment of the Jiangdong Left Army reached the level of crossbowmen abandoning longbows, each man wearing a strong crossbow, and Mo swordsmen wearing heavy armor. That is, the Jiangning Workshop can only produce more than 100 sets of fish scale armor a year, and the Jiangdong Left Army also has 70 or 80 sets!

With the increasing scale of the Huaidong Army, the armor and equipment can no longer rely entirely on the capture, Lin Jian has long promoted the production of armor and ordnance, and now the scale of the craftsmen in the workshops under the jurisdiction of the Ordnance Supervision of the Huaidong Military Division has reached more than 4,000 people.

In addition to iron, Huaidong also purchased a large amount of leather from the Haidong area, which was used to make light armor such as leather armor and composite armor.

Lin Jian originally planned to sell armor to the Haidong region to make up for the lack of expenditure, and it was expected that the Haiyu Army would be an ally in Huaidong for a long time, and the controlled sale of armor to the Haiyu Army was also a planned thing.

Chen Huawen and the others came over this time and made a list: 5,000 steel knives, steel guns, and steel spears, and 5,000 bundles of arrows; The Haiyu Army mainly guarantees the armor of the military attaché, and only needs to replenish another thousand sets.

The Haiyu army needed bows and crossbows, but the production cycle of bows and crossbows was longer, and Huaidong also lacked reserves of bows and crossbows, so they were only provided with 400 longbows and 400 crossbows with arms.

Huaidong is settled at the cost price and doubled the profit, which is much cheaper than the market price.

On the basis of the Bai Nao Army, the Haiyu Army should organize a water battalion with considerable combat power. The production of warships, the Guanyintan Shipyard under the jurisdiction of Huaidong, has surpassed the Longjiang Shipyard under the Jiangning Ministry of Industry by digging the corners of the wall, and the Haiyu Army also wants to buy a batch of warships from Huaidong.

Lin Jian was also worried that after the Haiyu Army's water battalion combat power was strengthened, it would come to Huaidong to fight for control of the Haidong trade route, and naturally he would not help them develop their combat power in the far sea.

On the grounds that Hecheng needed a large number of fishing boats to catch marine fish, Lin Jian only provided the Haiyu Army with three Jiyun-class warships, and there were no restrictions on small and medium-sized warships.

Since ancient times, the Hecheng Fishing Ground has been on a par with the open sea fishing grounds of Mingzhou Prefecture. It's just that since the power of the East China Sea Kou was at its peak, the fishing industry in Hecheng was almost destroyed. The Huaidong Military Division needs a large amount of meat, and raising pigs and sheep occupies a lot of land resources, and also consumes a considerable amount of rice and grain.

Compared with providing so much help, Huaidong's request to the Haiyu army was to ensure that coal, iron, wood, lime and other resources in the southwest of Taihu Lake could be transported to Chongzhou through Taihu Lake without hindrance.