Chapter 150: Lengbao Strategy

"Lengbao."

The Prince's study.

Zou Rong gazed at the object Yan Wang had drawn on the paper.

This was a hexagonal-shaped structure, with each star point extending outward.

The central area was for soldiers to train and rest.

Moreover, this structure had two levels; below was a large hexagon, and above it was a smaller hexagon.

He had never seen such a structure before, and for a moment, he felt it was novel.

"Your Highness, I understand the lower level; it can be used to fire at enemies from every corner, but isn't the second level a bit of a waste?" Zou Rong asked.

"It is not a waste at all; you will understand in the future," Zhao Xu laughed.

Zou Rong's understanding was still limited to using bows and arrows as defensive weapons, so he felt the second level was of little use since it was further from the battlefield.

But what he did not know was that this level was for mounting Artillery.

Once this Lengbao was built, it would become an unsinkable Warship, staring down the enemies coming from the deep mountains.

Zou Rong nodded; this task was much harder for him than building the Chengde Workshop.

Yan Wang had already explained to him in detail how to build the Lengbao.

The Weaponry Department would provide something called Steel Bar.

They would let the Steel Bar serve as the skeleton, have carpenters secure it with wooden boards on the outside, and pour in Concrete.

They would build two high walls five meters apart and fill the inside with earth.

He only half-understood these things, but since Yan Wang said he would personally supervise, he felt much more at ease.

The next most important issue was the people to build the Lengbao, as this was a massive project.

Before he could speak, he heard Yan Wang say: "As for the people to build the Lengbao, I remember that at the end of the war, forty or fifty thousand people who had been plundered by the Northern Di arrived in Yan Commandery. You may select the young and strong from among them; give those willing to go a monthly wage of one tael of Silver."

Zou Rong knew of this group of commoners who did not wish to return.

This group of commoners was basically all young and strong men and women; the Northern Di would not abduct the old and the young.

Excluding the women, at least thirty thousand young and strong individuals could be selected.

So many people were enough to build five Lengbao.

"Additionally, you can recruit commoners. Once the autumn plowing is finished, the commoners will be idle. These five Lengbao must be built simultaneously. In winter, heavy snow will block the mountains, and the Northern Di will be unable to cross them again. From now until next spring and summer, you have more than half a year," Zhao Xu said.

In ancient times, there was corvée labor.

Logically speaking, he could completely conscript commoners for corvée labor.

But because corvée labor was unpaid, the commoners detested it and would not work earnestly.

Therefore, he decided to turn the construction of the Lengbao into a policy of infrastructure development to stimulate the economy of Yan Commandery.

The commoners were idle in winter, and naturally, they would be eager to earn Silver, so their enthusiasm for work would also rise.

The construction cycle of the Lengbao would certainly be shortened.

Although this meant the Prince's Mansion would have to spend quite a bit of Silver.

But once the Silver reached the hands of the commoners and they had money, the commerce of Yan Commandery could flourish.

Through commercial taxes, this money could return to the Prince's Mansion.

Even if a portion reached the merchants, the merchants cooperated with the trading firm and took goods from the Prince's Mansion, so a portion would still return to the Prince's Mansion.

Thus, the money would complete a circle and return, while also stimulating the economy.

It would also complete the infrastructure; why not do it?

However, he could only do this because it was based on the foundation of being able to harvest wealth from the nobles and rich merchants of the Great Song through commercial goods.

And this was the reason why he valued the Yan Commandery Trading Firm.

Next, he also had to reform the trading firm to make it more convenient for accumulating wealth for the Prince's Mansion.

Just as trees need roots to absorb nutrients from the soil to grow.

In the modern era, the development of Western industry was built on exploiting the wealth of colonies.

He could not go out to sea now and had no maritime power, so he could only complete his primitive accumulation by extracting wealth from outside his fief through commercial goods.

"Your Highness, if that is the case, these five Lengbao will likely cost millions," Zou Rong made a rough calculation and felt a shock.

In such a short time, he planned to recruit at least sixty thousand people; after all, they still needed to transport cement and mine mountain rocks to crush into gravel.

Thus, the monthly wages for seven or eight months would be nearly five hundred thousand.

This did not even include the cost of materials.

Zhao Xu felt a pang of heartache, but he had to endure it.

Fortunately, the Prince's Mansion had earned over a million taels of Silver from the monopoly rights last time, so they could still produce one million five or six hundred thousand taels from the mansion's accounts.

Moreover, the project would not be completed in a day, so there was no need to take out so much Silver at once.

But even so, he had to continue scraping for Silver.

The recovery of Shanggu Commandery and Yan Commandery, the pay and equipment for the thirty thousand new soldiers, as well as the plans for shipbuilding and opening up maritime trade routes.

Of course, there was also the Artillery.

"My head aches..." Zhao Xu tapped his own head; the great cause of making money still had a long way to go.

However, he still gritted his teeth and said to Zou Rong: "Do not worry about the matter of Silver; just go ahead and do it."

"Yes, Your Highness," Zou Rong replied.

At this moment, Zhao Xu gave the drawn Lengbao diagram to Zou Rong and told him to go arrange it immediately.

Zou Rong had just left.

Feng'er suddenly poked her head in from outside the study, "Your Highness, someone named Mo Yu outside the Prince's Mansion is asking to see you."

"Mo Yu?" Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard.

"Yes, he said he is the son of General Mo Di," Feng'er said.

When Mo Yu arrived, he did not come to the Prince's Mansion, but went directly to battle.

Therefore, she did not recognize Mo Yu.

"How did he enter the city?" Zhao Xu wore a puzzled expression.

Generally, the city gate guards would stop anyone bringing troops and horses.

"He was alone."

Zhao Xu frowned, stood up, and walked outside, "This Prince will go and see."

Arriving at the gate of the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xu indeed saw Mo Yu standing at the entrance.

Moreover, he was not wearing Armor, but only casual clothes.

"Captain Mo," Zhao Xu smiled, "what wind blew you here?"

"Greetings, Your Highness Yan Wang," Mo Yu cupped his hands.

Then he sighed, "To tell you the truth, I have been dismissed from my post and am now just a commoner. My father says that in Yanzhou, only Your Highness truly resists the Northern Di, so he sent me to seek refuge with Your Highness, hoping Your Highness will take me in."

Zhao Xu pondered slightly and then understood.

He had been wondering why Mo Yu was able to lead troops to assist him; now it seemed that Mo Di, as a general in the field, had acted on his own authority to send Mo Yu here.

Now that it had reached the Imperial Court, someone must have been stirring up trouble.

Thus, Mo Yu was made a scapegoat and dismissed.

"This Prince is not an ungrateful man. If not for Captain Mo's assistance at the time, the war would not have ended smoothly, and this Prince would not have been able to capture Kutu and gain Shanggu Commandery," Zhao Xu said.

Mo Yu had held back Charha, helping Lv Chang capture him.

Otherwise, if Tamu and Charha had joined forces at that time, with over ten thousand Northern Di Cavalry rampaging through Yan Commandery, he would have been powerless to resist.

In this matter, they had indeed been a great help.

Now that Mo Yu had lost his official position because of this, and was recommended by Mo Di, it would be unreasonable not to accept him.

Furthermore, Mo Yu was personally trained by Mo Di.

His military ability was likely no worse than Chang Wei's.

At present, he was about to expand his army, and it was exactly the time he needed generals.

There was indeed a position for him.

Thus he said, "Captain Mo has come at the right time; the Emperor has permitted this Prince to expand the army to..."

Mo Yu was overjoyed and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness. From now on, Mo Yu will surely serve Your Highness with the loyalty of a dog or horse."