In the battle with Jiangbei, Donghai Town not only lost elite troops, but also lost a large amount of weapons and supplies.

After Zhao Ming returned to Jiangdong, in order to restore his strength, he still did not stop the production of military funds despite financial difficulties.

At this time, Zhao Ming and his group entered Huaxing Company to inspect a large workshop outside Suzhou City.

"The Grand Marshal, plate armor and firearms require water conservancy forging machines, so they are placed in Taiwan for production. This workshop mainly produces quilts, military boots, cotton armor and other items." Chen Yujie led Zhao Ming through the workshop, watching the hired workers sitting next to the long table, and producing in an orderly manner, while introducing to Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming nodded slightly, "How much does the workshop produce? Can it meet the needs of the army?"

Chen Yujie said in a deep voice: "After the peace talks between the north and the south, the imperial court no longer purchased military funds and equipment from us. The Zhejiang Army generals are now short of money and have been cut off more than half of the orders. Marshal Li even had a final payment, but it has not been settled yet. Now, the major military weapon workshops almost only produce arms for ourselves, so the military funds produced basically meet the needs. The only problem is that flintlock muskets are produced slowly and cannot be cast too much in a short period of time."

The north and the south negotiated peace, and the imperial court's military expenditure decreased, especially non-direct troops, and almost no imperial government could receive the imperial court's allocation of silver.

This made all the troops and towns have to tighten their pants and live without much money to purchase equipment.

After hearing this, Zhao Ming was silent for a moment, "How much is the final payment for Li Chengdong owes?"

Chen Yujie looked at Chen Mingyu and immediately said, "Master, there are still 50,000 taels of silver that have not been settled."

Li Chengdong has always been quite happy, but now he has become a deadbeat. Zhao Ming licked his lips and waved his hand: "This 50,000 taels will be exempted from Li Chengdong. I will give him another 200 muskets and ten boxes of grenades."

Half a year ago, Zhao Ming was trapped in a heavy siege and Li Chengdong sent troops to rescue him. Now Li Chengdong is in trouble. Zhao Ming expressed his feelings, which is considered to be a thank you for Li Chengdong's troops to rescue him.

After saying that, Zhao Ming continued: "Mr. Chen means that now the production of clothing and armor and military funds can meet the demand, but the production of muskets is not enough?"

Chen Yujie replied: "Master, the manufacturing of flintlock flint guns is quite complicated. In the past, the workshop could produce less than 5,000 shots a year. Recently, the production was expanded and it only increased by 7,000 shots."

This means that it will take about four years for Donghai Town to resume combat readiness.

At this time, Zhao Ming obviously couldn't accept it and frowned, "What restricts the production of muskets?"

Chen Yujie said: "The great commander is mainly due to the number of craftsmen and the raw materials."

Previously, the equipment of Donghai Town was accumulated over several years, but now Zhao Ming has not. Wait for a few more years.

Zhao Ming looked at Chen Mingyu and said, "Sir, the vassal treasury can allocate another batch of money and grain to encourage and expand production and restore the strength of the army as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, the vassal government will urge Huaxing Company to produce arms as soon as possible to meet the needs of the army!" Chen Mingyu reminded: "But Beizhi feels that there is another thing that the priest has ignored."

"Oh?" Zhao Ming raised his eyebrows and said, "Tell me, what did I ignore?"

"Expand the army!" Chen Mingyu said slowly: "In the battle of Jiangbei, we lost 30,000 soldiers. Now the vassal states have only more than 60,000 people in the water and land army, of which only more than 30,000 troops are left. If you want to do big things, the vassal state needs at least 100,000 troops. Now, Huaxing Company has produced a lot of equipment, but recruiting soldiers has not been very smooth. Now, it has been more than half a year since the battle of Jiangbei. If the general wants to restore the strength of the vassal state, in addition to urging the workshop to speed up the production of military funds, he also needs to recruit enough new soldiers as soon as possible. After all, the training of new soldiers still takes time."

The prosperity of the Yangtze River is that the soldiers and the people have a low desire to fight. Now that the north and the south are in peace, no one wants to join the army.

After Zhao Ming returned to Jiangdong, Donghai Town began to recruit new soldiers to make up for Zhao Ming's losses, but the recruitment progress was relatively slow and not many people were willing to join the army.

Zhao Ming picked up a cotton armor made in the workshop. The red armor was covered with copper nails. The quality and craftsmanship were quite good, and the quality did not decrease due to the expedited speed.

Zhao Ming looked and pondered, "Before, the vassal state has formulated a policy of giving newly recruited soldiers land and tempting interests. Why hasn't it been implemented?"

Chen Mingyu said: "Reporting to the general, if the number of land given to the new soldiers is increased, then the old soldiers must be rewarded first. In this way, the land in the hands of the vassal states may not be enough! And now that the north and the south are peace-making, it is also a problem for the vassal states to expand their troops for the reasons."

"The excuse for expanding the army can be found. Although the north and the south are peaceful, the sea is not peaceful. You can use the excuse of guarding against the red-haired rifle to recruit soldiers." Zhao Ming put down the cotton armor produced in the workshop, picked up a military leather kettle, and while looking at it, he said in a deep voice: "The recruitment of the army takes time, and it also requires training. It may take at least a year and a half to wait until the new soldiers form combat power."

Zhao Ming paused and waved seriously: "You can't drag it out anymore. Take out the existing land, first reward the old soldiers, and then use them all to recruit new soldiers and restore the troops of the vassal government as soon as possible."

Chen Mingyu nodded, "I understand!"

At present, Zhao Ming and his group inspected the workshop. When the court no longer purchased from Huaxing Company and the Zhejiang general was short of money and reduced orders, Huaxing Company's production capacity was completely used to meet the military capital produced in Donghai Town. It was enough to deal with the military equipment and recruit new troops.

Zhao Ming was in the workshop and checked various equipment, then returned to Suzhou City.

The next day, several teams of cavalry sent a message to the city of Suzhou and went to Jiangdong counties to post notices of recruiting troops from the vassal states.

For a time, notices of recruiting soldiers were posted at the gates of each county town, which attracted the attention of the people entering and leaving the city. Someone shook his head and said, "The Governor of the East China Sea and Duke Zhao Ming, telling the elders of Jiangdong. The sea pirates are becoming increasingly rampant, affecting maritime trade and tyrannical coastal areas. In order to ensure smooth trade, brave men are specially recruited as soldiers. Anyone who signs up for recruitment can get 30 acres of military land and exempts taxes for ten years, and benevolent for descendants. Looking for the bravery of Jiangdong, they actively sign up to contribute to the vassal states and ensure peace in the area!"

The people gathered in front of the city gate couldn't help but talk about the content after listening to the notice.

Many people can't accumulate this family business after working for a lifetime. Now, as long as they join the army, they can get 30 acres of land and become small landlords, which immediately made many people feel a little moved.

"The general is in charge of Jiangdong and treats us well. We should respond to the call of the vassal state and contribute to the vassal state!" The crowd called out a man and shouted.

Someone was infected at the moment, "The recruitment site is in the city, let's take a look."
Chapter completed!