Jia Lian of the Red Chamber

"Second Master wants to forge a sword?"

Jia Lian waved his hand: "No, I'm going to make a batch of chain mail. I'm looking for the top blacksmith in Shuntian Prefecture, and ask how much silver is needed to make a 25 kg fine steel chain mail. The sooner the better."

After seeing Wang Ziteng's Mi Zha, Jia Lian felt the urgency of the war.

Jia Lian remembered that when he was 30 years old, his home was confiscated, and the naval battle was the year before.

Prior to this, our department fought countless times with Japanese pirates, resulting in heavy casualties.

After a year of cold war, the pirates intensified, and the imperial court was forced to go to war.The result was a hasty battle and a disastrous defeat.Finally had to get married.

Tanchun's sacrifice also failed to save Rongfu's decline.

Calculated in this way, it will be two years after the Japanese pirates harassed them in large numbers, and it is already May, to be exact, there is less than two years to prepare for the war.

Today, the imperial court's preparations for the war have been advanced by more than a year, and it is not known how long the Yongding Army will be able to resist the Japanese pirates.

Pan You'an's work efficiency was very high. Three days later, Pan You'an went to Xishan to meet Jia Lian.It brought Jia Lian a very difficult problem. Private iron shops can make armor, but the fine steel has to be provided by oneself.

Jia Lian slapped his forehead, he was just worried that the money would not come from, and only now remembered that salt and iron were monopolized items by the imperial court.

As a last resort, Jia Lian had to find King Xijun again.

King Xi poked Jia Lian's nose with his finger: "You will really give me problems."

Jia Lian bowed and bowed with a smile.

King Xi stretched out his hand: "Bring it!"

Jia Lian was taken aback: "What?"

Prince Xi stared at him: "Yinzi, are you asking me to rob you?"

Jia Lian took out [-] silver and put it in the hands of King Xijun: "This is all I have for you, if there is more, I will give you an IOU."

King Xi threw away the silver ticket, turned around and left.

Jia Lian hurried forward to stop him: "How much do you want?"

King Xijun stretched out his hand: "I want to beat you. Thirty thousand kilograms of fine steel will require a lot of manpower and material resources. You just give me this little silver, which is not enough for half of the cost. What do you want me to do? Buy salt or not, buy it!" The vinegar is not sour. This king can't afford to lose face!"

Jia Lian had no choice but to give Prince Xi another five thousand silver, and then opened his arms: "Is there really no more? If you don't believe me, you can search it? Can I make an IOU?"

King Xi looked at Jia Lian with contempt on his face: "Didn't I just give you one hundred thousand silver?"

Jia Lian suddenly complained: "You also said that the clothing of our Imperial Forest Army is only a single suit, and they must be changed and washed, otherwise they will wear all kinds of clothes. You know that the imperial court is short of funds, but you don't know that you think we are bandits occupying the mountain for the sake of it." Where is the king!"

"This is a summer dress. It will be autumn soon. I have to change the jacket. The manufacturing office needs money to give the military uniform. This is two sets. How much money do you need? 20 taels of silver per person, and one set is [-]. , Do you calculate the two sets? The [-] silver is gone. Hua's humble minister is bleeding in his heart.

"It's winter in a blink of an eye. Soldiers must wear warm clothes when climbing ice and lying on snow. Fur robes are even more expensive. The worst dog fur robe is 50 taels, which is not even trousers! So 6 taels are gone Tell me, I spent 11 taels of [-] silver. You asked me for [-] silver. To whom should I complain? To be honest, I stole my wife’s silver from the bottom of the box for your [-] silver, my lord. Ah, in order to lead this team well, I don’t even want this face!"

The king of Xijun looked at Jia Lian and was worried. Just buying fine steel, there is no [-] silver that he can't get out of. Seeing that Jia Lian is worried about state affairs, he has to be chivalrous. : "Come on, don't cry for me, I will give it a try."

Jia Lian was busy bowing and saluting: "Thank you, my lord!"

Jia Lian was still chattering with King Xijun: "Didn't the Ministry of War promise to give us the front and rear breastplates? The breastplates are worth a few taels of silver, right? And the breastplates, can you give them to me this time?"

King Xijun stared at Jia Lian and smiled sinisterly: "You are really hugging grass and beating rabbits, or you can go by yourself?"

Jia Lian hurriedly laughed when he heard the words, and retreated behind King Xijun and remained silent.

As a result of King Xijun’s intervention, the Manufacturing Office agreed to supply fine steel, but his fine steel could not be sold in the market. After Jia Lian paid the silver, he made it at the Manufacturing Office. It is also possible for a professional craftsman to help, but the wages have to be counted, and people take time off to take a bath, so it must be a little hard work. "The workmanship of the manufacturing office is quite different from that of the craftsmen outside. Of course it would be nice to invite them. Jia Lian bargained with them. A piece of armor plus ten taels of silver for labor.

This is the blood-vomiting price that the manufacturing office sees on King Xijun's face. Who will let King Xijun be in charge of the Ministry of War!

Jia Lian is still hesitating.

King Xijun kicked him: "You are a chain mail, not a fish scale armor. The chain mail is linked one after another. A chain mail has tens of thousands of buckles, and more than 1000 pieces of fish scales are enough. Do the math yourself."

Jia Lian frowned: "Only three taels outside? How much more than three times here?"

Prince Xi squinted: "Can the craftsmanship be compared? Can the workshop be compared? Do you still want a breastplate? They can install it for you together. You will spend [-] silver for [-] sets of armor, which is very cheap." , Others don’t care enough, if it’s not for this king’s face, who will look at you!”

Of course Jia Lian knew that this price was considered cheap, if he came to approach him, he would definitely be kicked out with a spitting face if he didn't get the cost of 100 taels of silver.

But Jia Lian is poor!

He acted as if he was cutting his flesh, and he was heartbroken: "It's done!"

But in his heart, he was happily calculating that this batch of armor cost thirty-two thousand.According to Father He's price of 50 taels, he also saved almost [-] silver, which is cheaper than a dog fur robe.

This is a life-saving thing, for the sake of the lives of the brothers, it is nothing to pretend to be crazy!

The price of the building office here was negotiated and started to build, so Jia Lian returned to Xishan with peace of mind, and called the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army Langguan to discuss the matter of building the armor.

Jia Lian first said: "Originally we were the Imperial Forest Army, and the armor was built by the Ministry of War, but the Ministry of War has no money right now. Therefore, we have to arrange for this sum of money by ourselves. However, making armor cannot affect the normal operation of our Imperial Forest Army. Therefore, the Ministry of War Called you and others to brainstorm. "Shuiwen was the first to ask: "Dare to ask Mr. Captain, what is the use of this chain mail? The Ministry of War said that it will be built at that time, why did you build it in advance?"

Jia Lian said: "That's a good question. The reason why the imperial court established the Imperial Forest Army is to prepare for war in the coastal areas. Who are the enemies in the coastal areas? They are the Japanese pirates. The Japanese swords are the usual weapons of the Japanese pirates. The main function of the chain mail is to defend against the Japanese swords of the Japanese pirates. .”

Shui Wen's eyes lit up when he heard the words: "So, we are going to the sea to fight Japanese pirates?"

Jia Lian smiled: "Very likely, the reason why I want to build it in advance is to let everyone get used to the weight of the chain mail in advance. Also, we have to adapt to the state of wearing chain mail in advance, don't think it's just more clothes , or carrying fifty catties on the back, the feeling of oppression and carrying things are two different things. We must be familiar with that feeling in order to be invincible on the real battlefield."

Shuiwen first stated: "I will solve the expenses for the chain armor by myself in my Shuizi camp."

Jia Lian waved his hand: "That's not what it means." Jia Lian waved at Luo Shicheng as he spoke, "Next, let's ask Du Weizhuan to announce all the expenditures and balances of our Imperial Forest Army. Then, let's discuss how to get the money out of the account."

Luo Shicheng's words were very simple: "The Ministry of War has allocated a total of 15 yuan, and we have a total of 200 soldiers in the Imperial Forest Army. The food expenses for two months are 900 taels, including rice, noodles, oil and vegetables, and there are also small kitchens for soldiers who are sick. The monthly salary of the soldiers is 2000 taels, and the soldiers are dressed for a set of 12 taels. The soldiers' barracks, beds, and office utensils are all provided by the Holy Army and are not spent by the Imperial Forest Army. The remaining funds of the Imperial Forest Army are 100 taels. "Shui Wen rolled his eyes: "I haven't heard about the salary of Lieutenant Jia Du?"

Luo Shicheng said with a smile: "Jia Duwei's salary is not spent by the Imperial Forest Army. Not only that, in April and May, Jia Duwei privately paid 1000 taels of silver to make body-hardening medicinal wine for the soldiers. Everyone has enjoyed these, and it should be You know."

Shui Wen was very touched by his three acting officials, who was not an official for making money, and this was the first time he heard about being an official for money.Several people hurriedly said that they each raised the armor cost of their Lang team.

Jia Lian waved his hand: "This is not good. This involves every soldier. That's what I think. From this month onwards, the soldier's salary will only be paid two liang for the time being. If we spread it out like this, we won't have to worry about our two-year salary. Armor It can also be built in advance. However, I promise that this sum of money will never be owed to everyone. When the Ministry of War makes it up, I will send it to everyone. I hope you will go back and explain to your subordinates. Yinzi married a wife."

Shuiwen's good brother Zhang Jun is a careless person: "Is there any explanation for this? The armor is made for my own personal safety. There is less bloodshed and less sacrifice on the battlefield. Otherwise, life is gone. What do you want money for?"

Shui Wen got up and slapped him on the head: "You are stupid, you say that, and you still don't scare those cowards away? In fact, Shui Ziying is not short of money. Let me tell you that I don't have a lot of money recently. , I want to borrow it for a year, and I will take care of them and dare not fart."

Jia Lian said: "Although they are not short of money, I think it's better to make it clear in advance. We are in the army now, and everyone should not hide things, but face each other calmly. This matter is that I, the officer, am ashamed of you. Let you It's hard."

Jia Lian bowed and said, "I would like to thank everyone here first. If someone has difficulties, you should also report their names. In special cases, we have to deal with them specially."

In fact, Jia Lian knew in his heart that the problem probably came from the original Pingziying. These children were all from military households. At first, everyone thought that a tael of silver was very good. Now that they took five taels for two months, and then went back, they probably felt a little disappointed. , unacceptable.

So after the meeting, Jia Lian left Tang Hui, the captain of Pingziying, and Wang Lei and Wu Yong, the deputy officials, so that they didn't have to go back to work. Jia Lian decided to pay for the expenses of Pingziying by himself.

Tang Hui, Wang Lei, and Wu Yong all have Juelu, although not many, but enough for them to build armor. The three of them declined Jia Lian's help.

However, Jia Lian waved his hands and said with a smile: "There are a lot of things in your family. Also, the task I gave you is that you must have a daughter-in-law for the New Year this year. This matter cannot be delayed. There are seventeen of them. You should supervise each other. At the end of the year, marry me a daughter-in-law for the New Year. When the time comes, I will give your daughter-in-law a pot of daughter red as a dowry. If you want to drink, hurry up and marry a wife." Wu Yong immediately went to Jia Lian after hearing the words: "Captain, we are old friends. Older than them?"

Jia Lian asked with a smile, "And then?"

Wu Yong stretched out two fingers: "Can my wife want two jars of daughter red?"

Jia Lian stretched out his hand and said with a smile, "It will be valid until the end of this year, and it won't wait until it expires!"

Wu Yong was small, so he hopped his heels and clapped Jia Lian's hands: "It's a deal."

Wang Lei suddenly laughed: "Master Duwei, you have been fooled. Since this kid was awarded the title, a crooked cousin of his family has been living in his house for half a year. It's just that this kid despises his cousin's illiteracy, is it awkward?" Agree. Going back now is just a matter of letting go."

Jia Lian looked at Wang Lei and smiled: "If you marry a wife before Wu Yong, I will also give you two altars, and you, Tang Hui."

In August of this year, Jia Lian was at home celebrating the fourth birthday of his elder brother and sister Qiao. Wu Yong happily sent Jia Lian a wedding invitation. "

Jia Lian laughed loudly, and immediately ordered people to bring out two jars of daughter red, wrapped in bright red brocade, and ordered Sister Feng to seal 50 taels of silver as a congratulatory ceremony, and asked Wu Yong to take them back to make the wedding more festive.Although Wu Yong has a title, Lieutenant Yunqi's salary is only 80 taels, which is very little.

The next day, Wang Lei and Tang Hui came again. The two of them were waiting for Wu Yong to get married.

Jia Lian was overjoyed when he heard the news. Another two jars of fine wine, one red pick, and 50 taels of silver were packed in a red lacquered box as a congratulatory ceremony.

In the next three days of rest, Jia Lian's family never lost the good news. In the end, every day after August [-] was full of wedding dates. Fortunately, these people's ancestors lived in Xishan, so Jia Lian didn't have to travel around.

Sister Feng recently sealed out 1000 taels of He Yi, and couldn't help asking Jia Lian: "Hey, what is a good date this year, why are the two rushing to get married?"

Jia Lian sighed: "The sea is getting more and more noisy!"

Sister Feng was taken aback: "You mean, you are going?"

Jia Lian nodded: "It's possible!"