Chapter 35

At this moment, Li Er couldn't help but think of Su Liang asking him for the Qianniu Guards not long ago.

After a little thought, Li Er immediately grabbed Su Liang's arm and said: "Virtuous son-in-law, you asked me for the Qianniu Guards before; could it be that you want to help me build an army that uses firearms entirely?"

"That is indeed the case!" Su Liang immediately admitted.

"Not only to help Your Majesty build a brand-new army, but also to help Your Majesty train them well."

The training method Su Liang taught Li Er and the others did not include the application of firearms; all of this required Su Liang to do it.

Only if Su Liang has enough time to train him and train them well will it be the most important step to change the entire Great Tang.

After hearing this, Li Er laughed loudly: "Good, good, good... this matter must be done by you, virtuous son-in-law."

"Currently, in the entire Great Tang, only you can train them well."

"Hehe... then please Your Majesty name it!" Su Liang said calmly.

"Hehe... virtuous son-in-law, you are joking; these were all invented by you, so you should name them," Li Er chuckled, immediately pushing the matter to Su Liang.

Su Liang didn't know what name to choose for a moment; Snow Leopard? War Wolf? Or Flying Tiger?

Su Liang then pondered to himself...

Seeing that Su Liang was thinking seriously, Li Er and the others didn't make a sound to disturb him, waiting quietly for Su Liang to name it.

At this moment, countless terms flashed in Su Liang's mind: Gao Shun's Camp-Breaking Battalion, Wu Qi's Wei Martial Soldiers, Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Chen Qingzhi's White-Robed Army, Yue Fei's Back-Carrying Army... Zhu Di's Three Great Battalions...

Just when he thought of Zhu Di's Three Great Battalions, Su Liang's eyes focused, and he had it!!

He then looked at Li Er and the others and said: "Your Majesty, what do you think of calling it the Divine Machine Battalion?"

Divine Machine Battalion... Divine Machine Battalion...

After Su Liang's voice fell, several people muttered to themselves, thinking secretly.

A moment later...

Cheng Yaojin immediately said: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Son-in-law chose a good name. The Imperial Son-in-law's White-Robed Guards and the warhorses' armor and weapons only weigh fifty jin, so they can be as fast as shadows and wind."

"Now that the new army has firearms, they naturally don't need to wear heavy armor. In this way, each soldier can carry a mortar and a few mortar shells, which is just fifty jin."

"If there is a war, they will definitely be able to catch the enemy by surprise!"

Everyone nodded in praise, all feeling that what Cheng Yaojin said made sense.

But Su Liang disagreed and chuckled: "Hehe... Duke of Lu, this is inappropriate; a mortar requires at least a group of three. Equipped with one grenadier, one observer, and one loader."

"In addition, it is best to arrange two more people to be responsible for the surrounding alert! Each team can act independently."

"In this way, the shells carried will be more; what is the use of just having more mortars?"

Hearing this, Cheng Yaojin immediately stopped talking; he was very clear about what Su Liang said in his heart. After all, this was developed by Su Liang, and he naturally knew best how to use it.

Seeing that the few were still silent, Su Liang continued helplessly: "This arrangement can not only catch the enemy by surprise, but also has stronger mobility."

"No matter what kind of terrain or method of combat, the soldiers can easily execute it."

Du Ruhui, who had reacted, also followed up: "Not bad, the Imperial Son-in-law is right; whether it is infantry or cavalry, they can easily shuttle back and forth on the battlefield with mortars."

"The other four people can also carry enough shells; having too many mortars is not a good thing."

"If a soldier feels tired holding a mortar, they can change people halfway."

After hearing this, Li Er also felt it made sense.

He then looked at everyone and said: "Then let the name of the new army be the Divine Machine Battalion; the 10,000 people missing from the Qianniu Guards... will be filled later."

"As for casting firearms and training soldiers, I will trouble you, virtuous son-in-law, hahaha..." Li Er laughed loudly after finishing.

A moment later, Li Er seemed to remember something.

He then looked at Su Liang and said: "By the way... virtuous son-in-law, I am preparing to recast a batch of fish tallies for the ministers in the court these days; what are your opinions?"

"Fish tallies, aren't those worn by officials of the fifth rank and above in the court?" Su Liang immediately asked.

Fang Xuanling explained: "Fish tallies are not only a symbol of the identity of our Great Tang officials, but can also be used to mobilize troops and appoint or dismiss officials at critical moments."

"The Crown Prince uses jade, princes use gold, and ordinary officials use copper; ordinary people will not have them."

Su Liang was also aware of this; the Tang Dynasty fish tally was a fish-shaped tally used by Tang officials. It was generally about 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. It was divided into left and right halves, with a "tong" (same) shaped mortise and tenon in the middle that could fit together. The formal use of fish tallies as ID cards was an invention of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan. The fish tally was divided into left and right; the method of use was that the left tally was placed in the inner court as a "root," and the right tally was carried by the holder as proof of identity.

The term "fish tally" sounds much better than the modern ID card, with the meaning of a carp leaping over the dragon gate... implying good luck.

This couldn't help but make Su Liang think of other thoughts...

He immediately looked at Li Er and said: "Why doesn't Your Majesty have all the people of our Great Tang wear fish tallies? This would also prove the identity of our Great Tang people."

"This... this..." Li Er was speechless for a moment.

Li Er had indeed not thought about this matter, and at this moment, he couldn't help but think to himself: Letting the people use fish tallies might not be a bad thing.

It can not only prove the identity of the people, but also avoid unnecessary trouble.

Li Er then scanned Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and seeing that both of them nodded slightly, he smiled and said: "Good, good, good, this move is a good thing; I will let the Ministry of Works handle this matter properly when I go back."

"As for the material for casting the people's fish tallies, Your Majesty might as well use steel instead; officials use copper, and the people use steel," Su Liang also put forward his own ideas again.

Everyone agreed with Su Liang's proposal.

After a long time.

In the afternoon, Su Liang and the others finally arrived at Changan City.

However, Su Liang did not return to the Furong Garden, but after sending the others back to their respective mansions, he and Er Hu went straight to the West Market.

Nowadays, road construction needs money, building workshops needs money, casting firearms needs money, and business operations also need a large amount of capital...

Money is needed everywhere; just the wages for four million people are 500,000 taels of gold!

Su Liang had to pay attention to business...

Su Liang went to the West Market at this moment to scout the market; after all, Su Liang didn't care about many things before, but now he couldn't.

The West Market of Changan City is different from the East Market; there are many foreigners doing business in the West Market.

The area near the West Market is generally for ordinary people, and the goods are relatively popular and civilian-oriented, mainly including clothing shops, medicinal herb shops, silk shops, scale shops, bran shops, silk shops, and consignment shops; because there are many foreign merchants, most of them are foreign goods.

The East Market is close to the Taiji Palace, Daming Palace, and Xingqing Palace, and there are many residences of high officials and nobles in the surrounding area. The economic strength of the customers is much higher than that of the West Market, so there are more valuable items in the East Market.

The "Ballad of Mulan" of the Northern and Southern Dynasties also reflected this point long ago: buy a fine horse in the East Market, buy a saddle in the West Market.

This is the reason why Su Liang put businesses like ice shops and restaurants in the East Market at the beginning.

Overall, the sense of presence of the West Market is far higher than that of the East Market; the West Market is a masterpiece of the glorious trade of the Tang Dynasty, while the East Market is just a consumption place for some powerful people.

Due to different consumer groups, Changan presents the phenomenon of "the East Market is expensive, the West Market is rich," and the differentiated competition between the two markets also shows the all-encompassing spirit of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

And what Su Liang is scouting this time is the market for glassware!

As the saying goes, grape wine and luminous cups, if this thing can appear in large quantities in the Great Tang, it will inevitably cause a huge sensation.

Those who sell things in the West Market value ornamental value the most, not practicality.

After all, there are many foreigners doing business in the West Market; the things they want only need to look good, and they don't need any other functions at all.

After strolling for a long time, Su Liang also found out the market price of glassware; a glass cup costs 100,000 guan!

Higher-grade artworks costing hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands of guan are everywhere.

Seeing this, Su Liang and Er Hu looked at each other and smiled.

At this moment, the glass workshop in Taoyuan County is full of glass crafts...

Just as Su Liang and Er Hu were about to leave, Su Liang found dozens of handmade ceramic jars on an old man's stall in front of him. Their airtightness was truly impeccable. Su Liang took a fancy to these jars at a glance; the winery really needed such jars, and the more the better.

However, what puzzled Su Liang was that the old man had such craftsmanship, but his life looked a bit miserable. Su Liang looked closely at the old man's hunched appearance; he was at least fifty or sixty years old, so he immediately stepped forward and asked: "Old man... did you make these jars yourself?"

"Hehe... that's right, it was made by the old man himself; is this young master going to buy jars?"

Seeing that business had come, the old man's eyes flashed with light, and he looked at Su Liang with anticipation.

Su Liang nodded upon hearing this, then cleared his throat and said: "Ahem... old man, the jars I need here might be a bit many; I will take as many as you can prepare for me."

"As for the price, I will definitely not treat you badly."

As his voice fell, the old man frowned slightly; he had been doing business in the West Market for a while, and this was the first time he had seen such a customer.

However, the old man did not refuse, and seeing that the old man agreed.

Su Liang immediately put down two taels of silver and asked Er Hu to move all the dozens of jars in front of him to the carriage.

"Old man, to tell you the truth, it is no problem for me to need thousands or tens of thousands of jars like yours every day."

"I will take as many as you have there, as long as these jars are handmade by you," Su Liang said calmly.

"This... this... young master, you wouldn't be deceiving the old man, would you?"

The old man looked at Su Liang in disbelief and said.

Usually, he couldn't sell a few jars a day, but now Su Liang asked for thousands of jars in one breath and even said he would take as many as he had, which made the old man suspicious.

If this matter were true, wouldn't it mean that as long as he could take on this job for Su Liang, he and his grandson would no longer have to worry about food and clothing from now on?

"Naturally, I will not deceive you, old man; you can rest assured about this."

Seeing the old man's miserable appearance, Su Liang decided to help him again and said tentatively to the old man: "Not only that, I have a profitable business and want to cooperate with you."

The old man had not yet woken up from his excitement, and hearing this sentence from Su Liang, he also frowned: "Hehe... the old man is already very grateful to you, young master; where would I want to do a more profitable business?"

"Thank you, young master; besides making jars, I don't know how to do anything else." For the old man, Su Liang buying so many jars was already a profitable business; the old man hadn't thought about anything else at all.

Seeing this, Su Liang deliberately changed the subject: "Old man, is there anyone else in your family?"

"Alas... it's a shame to say."

Hearing this, the old man sighed deeply and continued: "The old man's eight sons have all died in the war; now only I and a little grandson are left to depend on each other."

Eight sons died on the battlefield...

Hearing this sentence from the old man, Su Liang's heart could not be calm for a long time... and in the end, he sighed helplessly.

Alas... the eighteen years from the end of the Sui Dynasty to the beginning of the Tang Dynasty have been full of wars, and now there are still many families like the old man's in the Great Tang.

Just at this moment, Su Liang also had many ideas in his heart.

A moment later, Su Liang looked at the old man and said: "Old man, may I ask, how old is your grandson this year?"

"Hehe... the old man's grandson is six years old this year." The old man saw that Su Liang's identity was extraordinary and must not be someone he could provoke, so it was better to answer honestly.

"Old man, forgive me for being abrupt; how many more years do you think you can raise your grandson with your physical condition? Just relying on selling jars, how can you support the two of you?"

"Although I bought a lot of jars from you, it is only enough for you to keep warm and fed."

As Su Liang's voice fell, the old man suddenly became extremely sad.

Su Liang was right; they had no way to change the status quo, and the two of them had to do their best just to survive; they couldn't even imagine a life like Su Liang's.

"Think about the profitable business I told you about before, how about considering it?"

"If you don't agree, then I won't say anything more today; if you change your mind, you can come to the Furong Garden to find me."

After Su Liang finished speaking, he casually put down more than ten taels of silver.

"This silver is the deposit for buying your jars; in the future, send the finished jars to the Zuixian Restaurant."

The old man held the heavy taels of silver and looked at Su Liang's appearance, as if he suddenly remembered something, and muttered to himself: Furong Garden... Zuixian Restaurant...

Could it be the Prince of Chu, Su Liang, who can live in the Furong Garden and has a connection with the Zuixian Restaurant?

The old man walked slowly to Su Liang and asked in a deep voice: "Is the young master surnamed Su?"

Seeing Su Liang nod slightly in acknowledgment, the old man immediately knelt down and said: "Young Master Su, the old man doesn't want money; the old man will make jars for you for free. I only ask Young Master Su to take care of my poor grandson after I die."

"If the young master can agree, this old man's life will be yours."

As his voice fell, the old man knelt on the ground and refused to get up...

No matter how Su Liang tried to persuade him, he didn't make any move.

In the end, Su Liang agreed helplessly; the old man's request was just a small matter for Su Liang, but it was different for the old and weak man. He then looked at the old man and said: "Good, good, good... I promise you; you will make wine jars for the Zuixian Restaurant in the future."

"After a few days, when the new students of the Taoyuan Academy enroll this year, send your grandson to study as well."

Hearing this, the old man burst into tears of joy; studying is the dream of how many poor families.