Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 733: Soldiers raised for 1 hour

"No matter what method we use, the production capacity of weapons must keep up." Liu Ye set the tone. "But we cannot only pursue speed and not quality. Our quality supervision system is working well and must be maintained. If serious problems such as weapons exploding are found, we must investigate to the end. The craftsmen and supervisors in charge must be held accountable. At the very least, their wages will be deducted, and at worst, they will be kicked out of the factory. Those who deliberately neglect their duties will be sent to do hard labor in the mines."

Sun Yuanhua frowned. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Increasing production capacity and speed inherently contradicts ensuring quality. Craftsmen are mortals, not gods; they can't be both fast and good. He pondered, "I understand what the general means. But ensuring the supply of weapons to tens of thousands of people in a short period while also guaranteeing quality is probably a bit difficult. There are only so many craftsmen in total..."

Liu Ye waved his hand magnanimously and replied, “Mr. Sun, don’t keep focusing on this small piece of land in Lingao. We now actually control Guangdong and Guangxi and Shandong. If we don’t have enough craftsmen, we’ll ask the local governments in those areas for help. We’ll send all the blacksmiths and craftsmen they can find, and then teach them as we go. After a few months, they should be quite familiar with the trade…”

Sun Yuanhua, being a technocrat by training, lacked tact and hesitated upon hearing this: "Isn't this inappropriate? After all, the general is only the garrison commander of Qiongzhou..."

Yan Guang chuckled from the side, “Mr. Sun probably hasn’t fully grasped the meaning of the imperial edict. Back at Chengtian Gate, the Grand Secretary personally conveyed the decree, ‘Appointing him as a Grand General of the Superior Rank, above all other generals, commanding the troops of Shandong, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces, and assisting in the administration of state affairs.’ He not only commands the troops in these areas but also has the authority to assist in the administration of state affairs. What’s a few craftsmen compared to that? Besides, this is military affairs. The Qionghai Army needs to prepare for battle and march to the capital to defend the emperor. Who can bear the responsibility of delaying military operations?”

Sun Yuanhua wasn't stupid; he understood the situation quickly. He shook his head with a wry smile and said, "That makes sense. If I were a local official, I wouldn't know how to refuse either." Then he cupped his hands and said, "In that case, as long as the craftsmen can guarantee it, I will do my best to equip tens of thousands of troops with enough firearms as soon as possible."

Liu Ye said to Yan Guang, "Mr. Yan, please draft an official document for me, in my name, to Guangzhou Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture, requesting that they send the craftsmen to Lingao within half a month. Jinan is far away, so the deadline can be extended appropriately. As for the Guangdong Governor's Office and the Dengzhou-Laizhou Governor's Office, they are all on our side, so we can skip the official document and just send someone over to say that we ask them to help me out."

Yan Guang agreed, then asked, "What's the signature?"

"The signature reads: Marquis of Pingnan, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, Left Commander-in-Chief, and General Liu Ye."

The signature is deliberate; it avoids mentioning military ranks like the General of Qionghai Town, as that would be too restrictive and wouldn't allow one to dictate to local officials. The titles of Marquis, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, and Left Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies, while honorary, transcend the limitations of a local military commander. Combined with the imperial decree appointing him as a Grand General of the highest rank, the power of the Qionghai Army was enough to force the government to submit.

Yan Guang pondered for a moment and felt that this signature was the best choice. He nodded admiringly, then went back to think about how to draft the official document.

The reporting process was over. Liu Ye looked around and said loudly, "Gentlemen, we've been training for this moment, and we've painstakingly built up our strength in Lingao over the past few years, hoping to one day leave Qiongzhou Prefecture and carve out our own territory. Now the world is in chaos, and the court is incompetent. This great land belongs to the capable! Li Zicheng has already reached Beizhili and is not far from the capital. If the government and troops are incompetent, the capital will not be able to hold for long. We don't have much time left—we must arrive in the capital right after Li Zicheng and seize the opportunity during the chaos, rather than letting him establish a foothold in the capital first. That would be a waste of our strength and a losing proposition. I order: from this day forward, all resources, both military and civilian, must be directed towards the army. All other matters must be suspended to make way for the army's northward march. Whether we can conquer the Central Plains or not depends on this one battle!"

The crowd's blood boiled with excitement. They had waited so long, all for this chance to serve the emperor! They answered in unison, "We will obey the general's orders!"

After establishing the strategy of focusing everything on the northward advance, Liu Ye assigned specific tasks: "Mr. Yan, please relay my orders to Xu Yifan in Tainan and Su Hongtu in Shandong to bring the newly trained troops back to Lingao for reorganization. At the same time, the Military Staff Office should begin studying the strategy for the northward campaign, taking into account the possibility of Huang Taiji's intervention. Mr. Sun, urge the arsenal to speed up production. Once the craftsmen are in place, go all out to arm tens of thousands of reserve troops in the shortest possible time. If there is not enough time, let the main force go first, and the rest of the new troops will be armed in batches and follow in turn. Li Ergou, you are responsible for concentrating all the grain reserves in Qiongzhou Prefecture to ensure the supply of provisions for the army..."

The people whose names were called readily agreed.

"War is expensive, especially for a firearms-equipped unit like ours. This war will definitely cost the most money ever. There can't be any mistakes with the money..." Liu Ye looked at Li Fu, Duan Mengrou and the others, "As the saying goes, when the cannons roar, gold pours in. You two, one of you is responsible for providing the money, and the other is responsible for spending it. Coordinate well with each other and don't cause any trouble for me."

Li Fu was the first to issue a statement: "Your subordinates will do their utmost to complete the mission. Tomorrow I will send people to the money shops in Guangdong, the customs office in Tainan, as well as the customs office in Bofu, the cloth shops, and the wineries to collect all the funds and transport them back to Lingao to fully guarantee the army's expenses."

Duan Mengrou also stepped forward and replied, "This servant... I will certainly do my best."

Liu Ye looked at her: "Your burden is heavy too. Although we are not short of money now, an army of tens of thousands costs hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels of silver, and we must also consider the subsequent conflict with the Tartars. Money is flowing like water. You have to keep a close eye on things. Every penny must be spent wisely, not a single tael can be wasted, and no one is allowed to take the opportunity to line their own pockets. If such a traitor appears, I will naturally punish him severely, but it is more important for you to control the source, understand?"

"I understand," Duan Mengrou nodded. Having grown up in an environment like a money exchange, she understood the principle that "too much purity leaves no room for fish." How many people could remain unmoved by dealing with money all day? Relying on morality and self-discipline to restrain oneself is empty talk; a combination of systems and punishments is the only way to succeed.