mesbooks Chapter 123 Speaking Eloquently
Chapter 123 Speaking Eloquently
When they heard Xi Zhicai speak frankly and openly about the Chang'an court, Xun Yu and the others who originally had some attachment to the imperial court turned pale. Yes, they had all acknowledged Chen Er as their master, but they still had some longing for the imperial court and still hoped that the court could be restored. However, after Xi Zhicai said those words, their dreams were completely shattered.
However, what Xi Zhicai said was indeed true. These people had some contact with Gongsun Zan and knew the situation of the Chang'an court very well. Indeed, Gongsun Zan had completely controlled the Chang'an court. The current Chang'an court was just a fig leaf in Gongsun Zan's hands, a shield used to protect him from harm.
"Hmm." Chen Er nodded. Seeing Chen Er nod meant that he agreed with Xi Zhicai's statement. Xun Yu, who originally wanted to say something, also sat down at the right time. He was first and foremost Chen Er's subordinate, and only then a subject of the empire.
"My lord, the First Reserve Legion has begun its preparations, but the position of legion commander is currently vacant. I wonder which general will be appointed as the legion commander?" Guo Jia asked.
“The position of corps commander can be left vacant for the time being. We can directly appoint the division commanders who will take orders from the General Staff,” Chen Er said. “As for the reserve officers, we can select some veterans with minor injuries from the wounded soldiers’ resettlement farms, such as some veterans with only hand injuries, to serve as grassroots instructors or even officers. Anyway, our army is already fighting with firearms, so losing a hand will not affect command and combat.”
"We must change the old notion that judges an officer's competence solely by his martial prowess," Chen Er emphasized.
"I'll wait to understand."
"The main purpose of establishing this reserve corps is to ensure that there are enough troops in the rear for defense during a possible large-scale war in the future. Although each city has a security bureau, the duties of security personnel are different from those of soldiers. Moreover, security personnel are certainly not as numerous or capable as soldiers. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a large number of reserve divisions. These reserve forces are just a framework. Normally, they only have a small number of officers and soldiers, so the military expenditure burden is not large."
“This is the same as the vacant positions in the existing legions,” Xi Zhicai added.
Chen Er's reserve plan was actually forced out by the financial expenditure. The current financial expenditure of the autonomous region is very high. Although the autonomous region's army is not large, the military expenditure is high. Therefore, Chen Er has never dared to build too many main army corps, so he can only find a way to make up for it in the reserve.
The meeting lasted for an hour. Based on the battle report from the Tianshui battlefield, everyone made some targeted suggestions for reforming their own tactics and strategies. More than an hour later, Chen Er announced the end of the meeting. Next, everyone went to the arsenal outside Yuyang City to visit the new equipment and also took the opportunity to talk to his father-in-law about the issue of miniaturized artillery.
The problem is that the fixed-color bullets haven't been manufactured yet, which is making Chen Er a little anxious. Ying Qiuyu is pregnant and won't be able to focus on equipment development for over a year. Losing such a talented researcher has slowed down the progress of various research projects at the arsenal. Fortunately, the team has trained many apprentices, some of whom are quite talented. However, they lack experience and are not yet proficient in equipment development. But young people have one advantage: they have many creative ideas and dare to innovate, which is what Chen Er values most.
Of course, there are relatively few Han Chinese with research capabilities because the level of education among Han Chinese has not kept up. In the past, the scholars looked down on the artisans from the social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.
The autonomous region has made great efforts to improve the social status of workers and businessmen, and we are only seeing initial results. It may take several more years for there to be greater changes.
However, Chen Er is not particularly worried about the current state of technology. Compared with the overall social environment, Chen Er still has a great advantage. But Chen Er is a very anxious person. In the words of his previous life, Chen Er is a person with a lack of security. There is also a saying that he has cell phone syndrome. He starts to get anxious when his cell phone battery drops below 50%. To put it nicely, this kind of person has a sense of crisis!
"Look, this is the latest equipment developed by the arsenal." After arriving at the arsenal, Chen Er led everyone to the spacious weapons testing ground behind the arsenal and pointed to a pile of cloth, saying to everyone.
"What is this?" Everyone was confused. Was this just a pile of cloth that their lord had told them about? What kind of equipment was this? Guo Jia looked at it for a long time but still couldn't figure out what kind of equipment it was.
Guo Jia asked Chen Er, "My lord, is the equipment you mentioned hidden down here?"
Guo Jia walked over and lifted it to take a look, but there was nothing underneath. It was a rather strange shelf, but Guo Jia still couldn't figure it out.
"It's normal that you guys don't understand," Chen Er said to the crowd with a tone of exasperation, then added, "Andeli, have a few operators demonstrate it for you gentlemen."
"Yes, Your Highness, Prince Wei."
Chen Er arranged for Andeli to demonstrate for everyone, while he himself walked over to Ying Xiong and asked, "Father-in-law, has the fixed-mount bullet been developed yet?"
"Sigh, this is a bit difficult. Although we have produced some finished products, after experiments, the paper wrapping these bullets is not easy to burn cleanly. There is too much residue in the barrel, which is very difficult to clean, and it may even cause a barrel explosion if we are not careful," Ying Xiong said helplessly.
Upon hearing Ying Xiong's words, Chen Er immediately understood that this matter was not easy. However, this was not an easy task to begin with. Chen Er said to Ying Xiong, "It's alright, Father-in-law. At least we have found the direction. The next step is to experiment with the best paper formula."
Chen Er suddenly had an idea. He said to Ying Xiong, "Father-in-law, perhaps we can think about it differently?"
"Hmm?" Ying Xiong looked at Chen Er curiously, wanting to know what kind of good idea his son-in-law, the Prince of Wei, could come up with. Chen Er said to Ying Xiong, "Father-in-law, if we can't get the cardboard shell to work, why don't we try solidifying the gunpowder directly?"
"Condensed gunpowder?" Ying Xiong fell into deep thought immediately after hearing Chen Er's words. Chen Er, who was standing to the side, was not in a hurry. He looked at the astonishment of Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia and others not far away. It was too difficult for a pile of cloth to fly. This was simply beyond their understanding.