Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 884 - 730: Li Qianzhi Digs His Own Grave_2

Chapter 884: Chapter 730: Li Qianzhi Digs His Own Grave_2

Bronze, although heavier than iron, does not rust easily, and has good malleability. It’s less likely to explode upon firing, and it’s easier to work with. The barrels of guns and cannons can be made thinner, greatly reducing their weight.

Even the "Rune Flintlock Rifled Guns" and "Field Smooth-Bore Cannons" produced by the Shenji Camp featured copper linings with steel wrappings.

Of course, the bronze and iron they used were made with special processes and formulas.

Upon hearing this, Li Xuan could only laugh and cry in frustration, thinking that The Court naturally wanted to print as many silver yuan as it pleased, but it was his own "Shenqi Union" that would suffer.

It was like he was lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet. Since the New Year, the Ministry of Revenue had begun to pay Shenqi Union’s bills with ’silver yuan’.

The Court decreed that the new silver yuan would be equal to one silver tael, and Shenqi Union could not refuse to accept it.

However, when Li Xuan had originally set the purity of the silver yuan, he was particularly ruthless: the coins contained only seventy-five percent silver, the rest being aluminum and copper.

Then, when the Ministry of Revenue paid Shenqi Union in silver coin, Li Xuan felt particularly awkward.

It felt like he was shearing his own fleece, and he and Leng Yurou had no choice but to accept it. If even the Shenqi Union didn’t recognize The Court’s silver yuan, then how could the currency possibly circulate throughout the realm?

However, for the short term, Leng Yurou had no plans to accept any more orders from The Court. She intended to spend the tens of millions of ’silver yuan’ in her hands first.

Otherwise, no matter how one looked at it, the business would be a loss—

Moreover, the current production capacity of Shenqi Union had other uses for Li Xuan, and it was extremely urgent.

Li Xuan sighed, "Shaofu, that’s not how you calculate it. If the Shaofu has spare time, he might consider reading the ’Political Theory’ I wrote."

It was actually an ancient text version of Adam Smith’s "Wealth of Nations", but Li Xuan didn’t copy it directly.

He believed that there were many errors in "Wealth of Nations", and one couldn’t entirely follow the capitalist model.

Some theories were inappropriate for the time and even shocking and radical, so he slightly modified the wording and even omitted parts directly.

"If Shaofu can understand it, he will realize that currency cannot be issued recklessly, or else the value of money would depreciate. The reason the baochao of Jin depreciated to worthlessness was precisely due to The Court’s excessive printing and distribution. Currency devaluation isn’t conducive to the issuance of new currency, and ultimately, it’s the common people who will suffer."

Li Xuan’s plan was to limit the issuance of The Court’s silver yuan to two billion yuan within three years, and the total of various denominations of aluminum coins to about four billion yuan, thereby maintaining the people’s craving for new currency.

Although The Court issued a decree, stating that it would abolish copper coins and silver taels within three years, Li Xuan knew it was impossible with Jin’s current transport conditions.

This decree was only meant to create a sense of urgency among the people, aiding in the issuance of the new currency.

After three years, once the people had adapted to the silver yuan and aluminum coins, the currency system could stabilize.

Shaofu Yu Jie’s expression, suddenly and subtly darkened.

He had naturally studied Li Xuan’s "Political Theory" and marveled at Li Xuan’s talent, understanding that the excessive issuance of money did no good for the people of the world.

But firstly, he believed that Shenqi Union had the capacity to absorb this amount of money; and secondly, there was a reason for his urgency to fully equip the ten army camps and five military camps.

"I heard from the Jianguo Princess that County Prince Your Highness believes there will be an inevitable battle with the Meng Wu this year?"

"Indeed, there is such a matter."

Li Xuan responded indifferently, "Isn’t it obvious? With the cold and frozen earth this year, the Meng Wu people would have a tough time if they didn’t move south. Yexian endured the first year, but he won’t the second. If he doesn’t come, the position of the Khan of Vala won’t be secure."

Yexian, this Khan of Vala, this Mongolian Shaman, was actually no more than a slightly stronger tribal chieftain.

His strategic decisions had to be made with considerable consideration to public opinion.

When the various tribes on the steppe started to entertain the idea of raiding south, even if Yexian was reluctant, he had to follow the wishes of the tribes.

"Moreover, how could he re-establish his prestige without another victory similar to Tumu Fort, aiding him in usurping the throne to become the great Khan of all Meng Wu?

I’ve heard that since Yexian returned to the steppe last April, no new Mongwu Khan has been elected, and the politics of both Datan and Shiwei are entirely decided by him. But this is ultimately a position lacking legitimacy and approval, with many unhappy hearts across the steppe."

Yu Jie couldn’t help but nod slightly, he agreed with Li Xuan’s judgment.

Although Li Xuan achieved a great victory over Meng Wu a year ago and captured Tuotuobuhua, the forces involved in that battle were primarily the Datan and the three guards of the Duoyan.

The Oirat clans were not very convinced, believing that the Jin’s victory was more due to the stupidity of the Khan Tuotuobuhua and Jin’s deception.

These Oirat people had not yet experienced the full power of firearm tactics—

"Yu surmises that this will be an unprecedented great battle. Yexian will definitely mobilize fully, and the scale will undoubtedly far exceed last year’s battle of Datong. However, Yexian is deeply versed in military strategy, and he will certainly not engage our army in battle but will mainly pressure us by attacking from all sides, forcing us to divide our forces."

Yu Jie’s face turned grim, "If we do not have three hundred thousand musketeers, how can we ensure the safety of so many newly-established Weisuo Institutes outside the walls, and those nomads who have pledged allegiance to our court?"

If this battle were merely a defensive one for Jin, then within the Great Wall should we expect to be safe and sound.

But the situation beyond the Great Wall would revert to how it was a year ago.

Yu Jie would only accept losing the newly recovered lands of Jin from his control if absolutely necessary.

"That’s why I have Shenji Camp and the ten regiments practice horsemanship and prepare to use them as mounted infantry. By then, their mobility should be no less than that of the Meng Wu Iron Cavalry."

Li Xuan thought for a while and felt that his words were not persuasive enough to convince Yu Jie.

So he dismissed everyone present, letting all of them leave to fifty yards away.

Only then did Li Xuan take out an object, "Speaking of which, it’s quite timely. I was just thinking of placing an order with the Junqi Bureau and the Inner Weapon Staff Bureau to customize this type of firearm."

Yu Jie examined it closely after receiving it and then revealed a puzzled expression.

The gun Li Xuan took out was very short, not even as long as a person’s forearm, and in front of the handle was a strange wheel.

While Yu Jie was examining it carefully, Li Xuan’s lips slightly lifted and he said, "I call it a revolver. This gun is designed for a Wu cultivator of the second level and has an effective range of less than ten yards, but it can fire six rounds in the blink of an eye. It is much cheaper, requiring only eighty taels of patterned silver."

Since the gun body was shorter and did not need an effective range of several hundred yards, it was much cheaper to produce.

And the manufacturing process was much simpler, so the Junqi Bureau and the Inner Weapon Staff Bureau could handle it, but the materials for making the guns had to come from the Shenqi Union.

Yu Jie’s pupils shone brightly; he did not simply take Li Xuan’s word for it but instead loaded the bullets one by one and personally went to the target range to test it.

After six consecutive gunshots from Yu Jie’s hand, this reigning Shaofu looked at Li Xuan with an astonished gaze, "How many orders are you preparing to place?"

"One hundred and fifty thousand!"

Li Xuan gestured a number, "It will require twelve million silver yuan, which I believe the court officials will be more willing to accept."

Yu Jie understood and realized that these one hundred and fifty thousand revolvers could just equip the thirty thousand cavalry of Sanqian Camp, as well as the one hundred and twenty thousand cavalry from the Weisuo Institutes in north Zhili and Datong, along with Jizhou.

"That’s too few!" Shaofu Yu Jie shook his head, "Let’s set it at two hundred and fifty thousand! Yu believes that Shenji Camp and the ten regiments can also be equipped with some!"

He thought that the revolver was not only suitable for mounted combat but also particularly for close-range infantry combat.

Li Xuan’s expression became a bit awkward, although he had handed off this business to the Junqi Bureau and Inner Weapon Staff Bureau.

But the problem was that the key material for the revolver still had to be supplied by the Shenqi Union.

Yu Jie seemed to have made up his mind and was not going to back down, but how was Li Xuan going to persuade Leng Yurou and his sister-in-law to take on that over ten million worth of seventy-five percent pure silver yuan?

Li Xuan also thought of the tens of millions of taels of silver bars in his hands and silently sighed.

He thought that dedicating himself to the country and the people without any personal gain like this was indeed rare in this world.

All he wanted now was to stabilize prices fully. As long as prices did not drop, the actual value of the silver funds would not be diminished.