Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 130: Recruiting Craftsmen
When the Zhaoyong army entered the city, the rebels immediately scattered. Nguyen Phu Quang was deserted by his friends and relatives, and only a few of his close associates remained, fighting to the death in the streets.

By noon, the Zhaoyong army had completely controlled the five tuns. Danchu, escorted by his personal guards, rode to the Qianhu Mansion. During the period when Nguyen Phu seized the five tuns, he called himself the King of Chanping, changed the Qianhu Mansion to the King of Chanping Mansion, and accumulated a lot of wealth in the mansion.

Dozens of rebels, led by Military Advisor Wang, knelt at the gate of the mansion to welcome Danchu.

"Are you Nguyen Phu Cuong's military advisor?" Dan Chu had no good feelings towards Nguyen Phu Cuong and looked down on his military advisor.

"It is me." Military Advisor Wang did not dare to look up and leaned forward to answer.

"Get up and follow me in. I have a few questions for you. If you answer them truthfully, I will not blame you."

"promise."

When they arrived at the lobby, Dan Chu sat directly in the main seat, while Military Advisor Wang was still kneeling on the ground.

"Who is in charge of the Wutunso Military Equipment Bureau?"

"He is a craftsman named Liu Sanhu, who is good at making rockets."

"Where are you now?"

"This?" Military Advisor Wang raised his head, wanting to say something but stopping himself. He didn't know why Cen Danchu was so concerned about the Military Equipment Bureau.

Feng Lin, the deputy battalion commander of the standard battalion, immediately shouted, "Be honest and watch your head."

Military Advisor Wang was terrified and said, "Liu Sanhu is the most filial. He has a blind mother at home, so he must be hiding at home to take care of her."

Danchu took a command arrow and whispered to Feng Lin, "Send someone to invite Liu Sanhu over. Be polite and don't scare him."

"How much money is left in the palace?"

The Zhaoyong Army had already captured Wutunso. Military Advisor Wang did not dare to lie and confessed, "We still have about 9,000 taels of silver, more than 800 taels of gold, and countless other treasures."

"Is there anything missing?"

"No, no. Nguyen Phu Cuong managed the treasury very strictly, and there were two keys to the treasury. The heavenly army attacked the city too quickly, and the treasury was intact."

Danchu was delighted. A large amount of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty, and the price of gold rose. Eight hundred taels of gold was worth at least ten thousand taels of silver. The Zhaoyong Army had an additional nineteen thousand taels of silver, and the cost of expanding the army was settled.

He asked knowingly, "How can there be so much gold and silver in such a remote town like Wutunso?"

Without hesitation, Wang said, "Nguyen Phu Cuong usurped the title of King of Suppression, and called for the elimination of the powerful and the equalization of the rich and the poor, and gathered a lot of loyal followers. They killed all the rich and powerful people in and around Wutunso City, and obtained countless gold and silver, but they did not share it with the poor, but only spent it on themselves."

The turbulent times when dynasties changed were often the time when a large amount of private wealth was transferred. Although Wutunso was small, it had tens of thousands of people. If they were emptied, it would not be a problem to get tens of thousands of taels of silver. Nguyen Phu Quang drained the pond to catch fish, but in the end he only made wedding clothes for others.

"You took the lead in surrendering. Were you doing it out of spite or were you forced?"

Military Advisor Wang was also exhausted by the attack last night. Ruan Fuqiang was supervising the battle on the top of the city, while Military Advisor Wang stayed behind in the Qianhu Household Office. Unexpectedly, the Zhaoyong Army launched a surprise attack early in the morning. Military Advisor Wang was still asleep, and the Zhaoyong Army had already rushed into the city.

He lied, "I have read a little poetry and have some knowledge of loyalty and righteousness. I have long heard that the commander is loyal, faithful and righteous, and I have long wanted to surrender."

Danchu sneered and said, "Ruan Fuqiang is a perpetrator of all kinds of evil. You are his military advisor, so you are also an accomplice to his evil deeds. Considering that you took the lead in surrendering, I will spare your life and allow you to make meritorious contributions while serving your sentence. During this period of time, you must do your best to do your job."

Military Advisor Wang was terrified and said tremblingly, "Yes."

At noon, Danchu was having dinner. The guards brought Liu Sanhu into the mansion. Danchu put down his bowl and chopsticks to meet him. He was a man in his early forties, with dark skin and a short and sturdy figure. Although he knelt down to salute Danchu, his eyes revealed a bit of arrogance.

"Are you Liu Sanhu?"

"That's me."

Liu Sanhu's tone was neither humble nor arrogant, which was surprising. There were many hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the wild. This Liu Sanhu seemed to be quite interesting.

"Have you had lunch?" Danchu didn't take it as an offense and asked an unexpected question.

"No." Liu Sanhu answered truthfully, and then said: "Ruan Fuqiang claimed that he would make wealth equal, and confiscated money and grain from the rich to fill the charity granary. We, the artisans, all depend on the charity granary for our living. When the Marshal came, the charity granary was tightened, and the people had to rely on the grain they stored on weekdays to survive. The Marshal came into the city today, and the porridge factory was not open, so the poor can only go hungry."

Throughout history, the lower classes have often revolted in the name of robbing the rich to help the poor. This egalitarian advocacy has no chance of taking root. In order to avoid decline, Nguyen Phu Quang, a self-proclaimed king, could only brutally plunder the rich and treat the common people harshly.

Danchu's heart trembled, he took out a command arrow and handed it to his personal guard, saying: "Pass my order, the porridge factory will open immediately to make porridge. Tomorrow, the warehouse will be opened to help the people, and each family will be given a bushel of rice first."

Liu Sanhu was overjoyed, knelt down again and saluted, saying: "I dare to thank you on behalf of the people of Wutun."

"Please get up. Eat."

Liu Sanhu was not polite either, he picked up his bowl and chopsticks and started to eat voraciously. He was obviously very hungry, he ate a bowl of rice with simple salted vegetables with gusto. After finishing one bowl, he ordered another, then wiped his mouth with satisfaction and said, "Thank you, Marshal, for the food."

Danchu patiently waited for him to finish his meal and asked, "Did you make all the rockets used by the rebels in yesterday's battle?"

Liu Sanhu was afraid of this, so he said, "Ruan Fuqiang was born into a military household, and he took good care of the military households and artisan households after the uprising. Therefore, I was bewitched by him and made rockets for him. But I didn't know that the commander-in-chief was going to attack the city. If I knew, I would never make rockets for Ruan Fuqiang even if I died."

"Haha," Danchu smiled and said, "When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. I don't blame you for making rockets for Ruan Fuqiang."

He paused, and seeing that Liu Sanhu looked somewhat relaxed, he asked, "What was your original position in the Arms Bureau? Besides making firearms, what other skills did you have?"

"I am the head of the firearms shop of the Arms Bureau. My family has inherited the skill of making firearms. I know how to make almost all kinds of firearms. I can make rockets, gunpowder, cannonballs, bird guns, falconets, etc., but I am best at rockets and gunpowder."

"Can you make a bird gun?"

"Yes, I have made a Lumitar."

"How many craftsmen do you have under your command?"

"The Wutunso Military Equipment Bureau originally had more than 200 artisan households, divided into three lines: bows and arrows, armor, and firearms. Now there are only more than 30 households left, all of which are in the firearms line. Some artisan households have become civilians, but their skills have not been lost."

Danchu wanted to recruit these artisans, so he said, "I plan to set up an artisan camp in the army to specialize in the production of military weapons. You can make firearms, so you can serve in my army. I will allow you to be the leader of the artisan camp, what do you think?"

Liu Sanhu had already prepared to die, but he did not expect that Cen Danchu would not only not blame him, but also give him an official position. He could not help but be overjoyed and said, "Thank you for the favor, Marshal. May I ask, Marshal, can the craftsmen camp be set up in Zhaoping or Yong'an?"

"Of course it is."

"General, I dare to make a suggestion. There are saltpeter mines in the east of Wutun City, sulfur mines in the north of the city, coal mines in the west of the city, and many forests outside the city, which are convenient for making gunpowder. Therefore, the country set up a thousand households in Wutun at the beginning. Now that you have seized Wutun, you must not abandon it lightly for the sake of military equipment."

Wutunso was far from Yong'an and Zhaoping, and was originally the territory of Chen Bangfu. Danchu originally planned to give Wutunso to Chen Bangfu in exchange for the seal of the general of conquering the barbarians. After listening to Liu Sanhu's advice, he resolutely decided to occupy Wutunso and operate the nearby mineral resources.

(End of this chapter)