Chapter 178: Shandong Tax Bank Robbery (Part 4)
"Each village must be presided over by our people. When letting the villages rent out the land, we cannot collect the tenant money! Secondly, we must never let the landlords transfer the tax money to the people, so we tell the people that if the landlords' rent exceeds 50%, let them farm on our land. We also need to open some farms..." Huo Chong arranged the work.
The cadres had different looks on their faces, and they all took notes. After the arrangement was completed, Huo Chong asked, "Do you think we are targeting the landlords?"
Some shook their heads, some nodded.
"We are not targeting the landlords, we want to help the poor people. As long as we help the poor people, the landlords will feel uncomfortable and offended by us. In Mouping County, the gentry attacked us. This time the landlords are afraid of us, but once they think we are weak, they will take action and launch an armed attack."
The viciousness in the cadres' faces suddenly increased.
Huo Chong knocked on the table. "That's the problem. Right here! We are not targeting the landlords, because it is not very useful to target the landlords now. What is our top priority right now? Everyone, answer this question."
When everyone was hesitant, Qian Qing was the first to answer: "Increase the number of our troops as soon as possible."
"Yes! We need to increase the number of troops and find people from good families. Of course, we have to be with the farmers. After we go there, we will directly attack the local lords. What do you think the locals think of us?"
After finally completing the arrangements, Huo Chong immediately ran to the Mechanical Design Bureau, which he considered to be the most important department.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw someone fiddling with a big thing inside. This was the gray iron 10-jin cannon that Huo Chong made after he finished the reverberatory furnace. 10 jin in the Qing Dynasty was about 12 pounds. Huo Chong didn't care about the slight difference in the middle. Anyway, Huo Chong had no interest in the so-called British measurement units.
When the crowd saw Huo Chong coming in, they rushed over like they saw a savior and started asking questions with various small notebooks in hand.
Huo Chong also answered and talked with everyone at ease.
"Sir, how do you increase the force on the bearings of a twelve-pounder?"
"We use bearings when we are on the march, and switch to sliding parts for battlefield use before the battle. Since we can't do that, let's face reality."
"Sir, the stirring device used when firing glass..."
"Sir, how do you measure temperature..."
"gentlemen……"
"gentlemen……"
Even with so many people asking questions, Huo Chong did not get impatient. These people are one of Huo Chong's most important pillars.
After finally answering, Huo Chong came to the two most advanced weapons at the moment, which would be used for a long time. They were the three-jin cannon and the ten-jin cannon.
The three-pound cannon has been finalized . It is made of gray iron cast in the newly completed reverberatory furnace and undergoes an 800-degree annealing process.
This thing has a range of about 350 meters and is very light. It can be transported in the mountains and is an excellent weapon for dealing with enemies without artillery.
The 10-jin cannon is suitable for large-scale field combat. It is also made of gray cast iron and annealed. Not only is the firepower strong, but the weight of the cannon is greatly reduced, and the sturdiness is improved a lot.
The problem now is not the gun, but the gun carriage. Designing a gun carriage for this thing weighing more than 2,000 kilograms is a very difficult task.
It was really difficult, especially the bearing part of the artillery vehicle. If it was carried out over a long distance, the bearing part would easily have problems. That's why the Qing Dynasty adopted a very traditional artillery vehicle. In other words, it was a civilian vehicle with a device that was convenient for placing artillery.
However, Huo Chong wanted everyone to design a gun carriage to maximize the advantages of the artillery. In other words, the gun carriage itself is not necessarily an accessory part of the artillery, but a part of the artillery itself. This design idea did not exist in the Qing Dynasty, and these people had no place to learn from it.
After talking for a while, everyone felt that they had a clear direction, but they still had no idea. They could only turn to talking about the design of the gun mirror. After all, Huo Chong had glass and had been engaged in eyeglass processing for several years, and was proficient in the production methods of convex and concave lenses.
This is Huo Chong’s daily life, as he and a group of people struggle to move forward.
However, there was a lot of good news, for example, the Spanish fleet commander Bai Siwen came again. The so-called fleet commander was really no joke. After several years of trade with Huo Chong, Bai Siwen bought five new ships and formed a fleet.
Because Huo Chong occupied the coastline, Bai Siwen's fleet was able to reach the seaside which had been impossible to reach before.
Small boats travel back and forth, carrying goods from the ship down and carrying goods from the land up to the ship.
Bai Siwen, who was dressed in a commander's uniform, shook hands with Huo Chong, and then gave Huo Chong a big hug, "Dear Lord Huo, you have finally established your own business. I heard that you claimed power from a weak position and declared yourself the heir to the Han regime. It's amazing. I didn't expect you to have such a noble bloodline."
Huo Chong laughed dryly. If he hadn't played Paradox games for a few days, he would have really thought that Bai Siwen was talking nonsense.
However, in this era, the right of declaration is indeed something that can be brought to the table in Europe, especially in the aristocratic circle.
Of course, what made Huo Chong feel the most was that it had nothing to do with these nonsense. Bai Siwen got thousands of cowhides in one go, and also got the sisal that Huo Chong wanted very much. It seems that the leather made of tannin blended leather, which is far ahead of this era, has a good sales volume overseas.
After reading the list, Bai Siwen asked in a low voice: "Mr. Huo, do you need mercenaries?"
"I don't...no...I need it. Your artillery instructor, give me a few dozen." Huo Chong's tone was very relaxed, but he was very excited in his heart.
Bai Siwen showed a very proud look on his face. This Latin devil could not hide his pride. "Sir, our Spanish Empire's artillery is the best! The Dutch and the French can't compare with us!"
Huo Chong didn't know how to expose this guy's scam for a moment.
Looking at Huo Chong's expression, Bai Siwen thought Huo Chong had been deceived and continued to brag.
Finally, Huo Chong couldn't help himself and slowly began to tell a story about an event in Europe that happened more than a hundred years ago.
In order to compete for maritime hegemony, Spain and Britain fought a world-renowned, fierce and spectacular naval battle in the English Channel in August 1588. In this naval battle, Spain was powerful, with advanced weapons, powerful warships, and more than 30,000 soldiers, known as the "luckiest invincible fleet." At that time, the British army was small, with only 9,000 combat personnel in the entire fleet. Compared with the two armies, the disparity in numbers was huge, and Spain clearly had an absolute advantage. However, unexpectedly, the outcome of this naval battle ended with Spain's devastating defeat, and the "Invincible Armada" was almost wiped out. From then on, Spain declined sharply, and its position as the "hegemon" of the sea was replaced by Britain.
There are several ways to describe destruction:
The first is the basic theory:
Spain's prosperity was only a temporary false prosperity. King Philip II of Spain strengthened his autocratic rule, plundered the people's wealth, waged wars year after year, was tyrannical and cruel, and spent money without restraint, which aroused the anger of the people and created crises all over the country. This war was completely unpopular.
The second is improper command:
Other scholars believe that the disastrous defeat of the "Invincible Armada" was caused by the king's improper use of personnel. The fleet commander-in-chief came from a prominent family and had a high prestige among the nobles. He was deeply trusted by the king, so he was appointed as the fleet commander. However, he was originally a land general and had no knowledge of naval warfare. He had no experience in commanding a large fleet at sea and was seasick. He was caught off guard by this appointment and had no mental preparation or confidence to command this war. He also asked Philip II to find someone else, but was not allowed. Just imagine, how could such a general command a naval battle without defeat?
The third is the natural disaster theory:
This theory holds that the Invincible Armada encountered a natural disaster, not a man-made one. The first opponent it encountered was the terrible and invincible Atlantic storms. This was caused by the wrong timing of the march. Not long after the Invincible Armada set sail, it was hit by an Atlantic storm. Many of the Invincible Armada's ships were destroyed, fresh water leaked from hastily made barrels, a large amount of food rotted and spoiled, the sailors were exhausted, and most of the infantry lost their combat effectiveness due to seasickness. The Invincible Armada lost soldiers before it even fought with Britain, and its combat effectiveness was greatly weakened.
The battle with the British army with such a fleet that had lost its combat effectiveness led to the disaster. When returning home, they encountered a big storm again in the northern waters of Scotland, and some ships were swallowed by the waves or sank on the reefs. At this point, the "Invincible Fleet" was almost completely annihilated.
…
When Huo Chong was talking, many of his subordinates gathered around to listen. Of course, a small number of Spaniards who knew Chinese also came over to listen.
Bai Siwen's expression changed over a dozen times during this not-too-long statement. Finally, Bai Siwen suddenly put away all his unserious expressions and asked, "Are you trying to humiliate me?"
Huo Chong shook his head. "No, I just want to say that I don't know nothing. If you think so, we can work together on a cooperative basis. Can you understand my dilemma?"
"Your Excellency's difficulty? I thought the biggest difficulty you encountered was the lack of an excellent navy."
"Yes, so I am willing to cooperate with anyone with good intentions. If I become the emperor of China, I will open all ports for trade. Therefore, I hope that everyone can cooperate with me in the most reasonable way. Including sending the best artillery instructors, including providing military equipment, and a very reasonable price."
"You are not rich, sir." Bai Siwen politely gave Huo Chong a rebuff.
"Just because I am not rich, I hope that all my money can have a better return. Of course, I am never stingy with my partners."
Bai Siwen pondered Huo Chong's meaning and finally gave his suggestion, "If you need it, I can provide 48 artillery personnel. They are all very experienced gunners and artillery instructors."
