nanming man

Chapter 646
The imperial examinations of the Western Wei Kingdom were successfully concluded, and there was one less thing to do in the feudal mansion.

There are only two things that Gao Yihuan has to do now, one is to raise a sum of military expenses for the expedition to Sichuan and Shu, and the other is to marry the princess.

He doesn't have to worry about the big wedding, the Ministry of Rites is in charge of supervising it, and he has to come forward to raise military expenses.

In the morning, Lu Yifang came to report to him that the financial gap of the feudal government needed at least 100 million taels. Without this money, the army would not be able to go out.

During the war between the Western Wei Dynasty and the Qing army, the vassal mansion was basically exhausted, and the rewards for soldiers could only be replaced with land.

In fact, the Western Wei Dynasty had a lot of resources, such as food, mines, cattle, sheep and livestock, but it was short of money, and not only the feudal government was short of money, but the localities generally had no money.

In the Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was developed, and most of the silver was concentrated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The wealthy gentry in the southeast only needed to control the silver circulating in the market, and they could easily exploit the people.

For example, when there is a good harvest of grain, they only need to cover up the silver, reduce the silver in circulation, and make the market lack of silver, so as to increase the purchasing power of silver and lower the price of grain.

Or when the people want to pay taxes with silver, the circulation of silver is also tightened, so that the people can't find silver, so that the original [-] Wen copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver, and it takes [-] Wen to exchange for one tael of silver. , increasing the tax burden on the people.

After the tax was paid, they relaxed the circulation of silver and restored the exchange rate between copper coins and silver to achieve the purpose of collecting money.

This is also an important reason why the taxes of the Ming Dynasty brought such huge pressure on the people.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, the imperial court has never obtained the right to control the currency.

One of the reasons why Gao Yihuan wants to establish a modern financial system, run a bank, and issue bank notes is to put all the control in the hands of the vassals.

This can not only regulate the economy and solve financial problems, but also resist the impact of overseas silver.

After sending Li Yan away, Gao Yihuan leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes for a while, then opened his eyes, called a guard in, and ordered: "Go, inform Mr. Lu and Gao Xinghao, let them send the leaders of the various chambers of commerce Call, come to the palace to discuss matters tomorrow morning, I have nothing to discuss with them."

The guard saluted, then hurriedly turned and left.

Gao Yihuan rested for a while, stood up, changed into his normal clothes, and took the guards out of the palace, heading for the workshop outside the city.

At this time, the Wei army had nearly 30 soldiers, and there were less than 10 armored soldiers. Many of them wore armor and used old weapons.

Gao Yihuan repeatedly asked that the workshop should increase production, but the funds allocated by the feudal mansion were limited, and each department of the feudal mansion had a budget. It was impossible to use all the tax revenue for the workshop to make weapons and armor, so Production will never go up.

When the manpower and scale cannot be further expanded, how to improve efficiency has become a problem, and it has also become a direction for the workshop to break through.

Not long ago, a head of the Ministry of Industry named Tu Shaoxing borrowed water power to manufacture a forging machine driven by water power.

This Tu Shaoying is also a good friend of Song Yingxing, a famous historical figure. It is said that he has such an idea because of his correspondence with Song Yingxing.

Right now, the main link that restricts the output of the workshop is in forging. Using human power to swing a hammer and smash violently, even a man with a very strong body will lose his strength after a few blows.

If water power can be used for forging and stamping, it will undoubtedly liberate craftsmen from heavy physical labor and greatly increase the speed of forging.

Therefore, when Gao Yihuan heard the news, he attached great importance to it and asked about it almost every day.

Although it was already afternoon, Gao Yihuan, surrounded by guards, galloped to the eastern suburbs, the workshop by the Bashui River.

When they came to the workshop, Chen Huiting and Tu Shaoying greeted each other, and the group came directly to the edge of Bashui.

The Bashui River is a tributary of the Weihe River. It originates from the Lantian Mountains at the eastern foot of the Qinling Mountains. The drop is relatively large, and the power of the water flow is barely enough.

At this time, Gao Yihuan, accompanied by the two, stood in front of a large machine that looked like a waterwheel. The river water hit the blades of the waterwheel, making the waterwheel keep turning round and round.

Tu Shaoyong connected the waterwheel through a connecting rod, and brought the generated power to a stamping hammer suspended by a bracket. The hammer was falling continuously and then pulled up again.

At this time, Tu Shaoying introduced: "Your Highness, using this method to forge iron blocks can save labor for the craftsman, and there is no problem in continuously forging for four hours a day, and because the power is borrowed from water, the power is continuous, and the strength of each forging is almost the same. , much more stable than human beating."

Gao Yihuan didn't understand it very well, but he still looked quite powerful.He remembered that there was a hydraulic stamping machine that could forge plate armor.

Gao Yi smiled happily, and asked the question he was concerned about, "Can this device increase the output of the workshop?"

Tu Shaoyun said: "Reporting to Your Highness, we can only carry out preliminary forging now, and craftsmen are still required to forge detailed parts. I am currently trying to adjust the strength of the hammer so that the hammer can be used according to various needs. Strength and speed, forging the components. But there is no clue yet.”

When Gao Yihuan heard that the output could be increased, the smile on his face became stronger, "This device is very good, Mr. Tu, you continue to study it, don't be afraid to waste energy and money, in short, you must perfect the function of this device."

Speaking of which, Gao Yihuan turned to look at Chen Huiting, "Chen Qijian, the workshop must fully cooperate with Master Tu, and when this hydraulic forging equipment is perfected, I will only credit you."

Chen Huiting seemed to have something on his mind, he was stunned for a moment, and then he clasped his fists and said, "Uh~ I take orders!"

Seeing his expression, Gao Yihuan couldn't help frowning slightly, "What's the matter?"

Chen Huiting's face was tangled for a while, and he said in a low voice: "My lord, I have something to report to the feudal mansion."

Seeing that he was so mysterious, Gao Yihuan took a step, walked aside with him, and asked in a deep voice: "What is it, tell me!"

Chen Huiting saluted first, and then said coyly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, a female agent recently came to the minister's mansion, and seduced me to get information about the workshop. I don't know whether she is from the north or the south. In order to find out her identity, The minister will use his tricks and put her to sleep!"

Gao Yihuan was stunned for a while, frowning, "Have you figured out her identity yet?"

"I'm ashamed to say that she hid it very well, and I really can't figure it out, so I can only report it to the king, and ask the king to send Xuanyi guards to identify it." Chen Huiting's forehead was sweating.

Gao Yihuan fell silent. It is estimated that Chen Huiting took a concubine. After he fell asleep, he realized that it was a secret operation. A lot of information might have been leaked. He chose to report it out of fear.

"I know about this matter, don't startle the snake, I will let Xuan Yiwei handle it!" Gao Yihuan pondered for a while before speaking.

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(End of this chapter)