Chapter 657: Reservists

"How many garments can one bolt of cloth make?"

"Two?" the manager of the Weaving Mill said cautiously.

Zhao Xu nodded, "I am ordering one hundred and fifty thousand bolts of cloth from you."

When he first established the Workshop, he had set a rule.

Anyone wanting to take goods from the Workshop must pay Silver.

Including himself.

This was done to ensure the normal operation of the Workshop.

For instance, if he took away one hundred and fifty thousand bolts of cloth without paying Silver, the Weaving Mill's accounts would have problems, and there would be no Silver to purchase cotton yarn to continue production.

When that time came, he would still need the Government Office—which is to say, the current Imperial Court—to allocate Silver for an emergency.

Since that was the case, it was better to follow market rules.

Moreover, this was also to establish a procurement system for the Imperial Court.

If a certain workshop's efficiency was unsatisfactory and it could not sustain itself, the Imperial Court procurement method would be activated to save important workshops.

Leaving the Weaving Mill, Zhao Xu returned to the Wangfu.

Immediately, he ordered someone to call Chang Wei over.

His ordering a large quantity of cloth from the Weaving Mill was naturally not a whim, but rather something he had been hanging onto in his heart that had not yet been settled.

This was the issue of the uniforms for the Prince's Personal Army.

At present, the uniforms of the Prince's Personal Army were still the traditional military uniforms of Great Song.

Furthermore, when fighting, they still wore Armor over their uniforms.

After the battles during this period, Chang Wei and the generals in the army unanimously agreed that the Armor did more harm than good.

Because under the Rifled Musket, very few of the opposing soldiers could get close.

On the contrary, the twenty-five-jin Armor restricted the soldiers' agility, making the soldiers appear more clumsy, and it also consumed more physical strength.

Therefore, after careful consideration, he decided to completely abolish Armor for the Infantry.

Furthermore, the powerful clans' armies were also fully equipping themselves with firearms, and the scale of cold weapons was becoming smaller and smaller, so there was even less need to retain Armor for the Infantry; only the Cavalry would retain breastplates.

There was one more point: during Zhou Yi's attack on Malka City this time, he had seen the infantry uniforms of the Frankish Kingdom and reported to him about the standardized uniform style of the Frankish soldiers.

This further solidified his idea of customizing uniforms for the soldiers.

However, this would require designing a uniform specifically for the Wangfu Infantry; after all, the previous uniforms were merely linings for the Armor and were integrated with the Armor.

Before long, Chang Wei arrived at the Wangfu study.

After the second Lu City Alliance, intelligence from all sides indicated that the Anti-Yan Alliance needed three months of preparation time.

Therefore, this window of time would be exceptionally calm for both sides.

The powerful clans would step up training their armies and forging firearms.

Yanzhou also needed to stockpile Yellow Gunpowder and Hand Grenade.

At the same time, for him, this was also an excellent opportunity to carry out reforms in industry, government affairs, and the military.

"I just ordered one hundred and fifty thousand bolts of cloth from the Weaving Mill."

Zhao Xu said.

Chang Wei understood the implication immediately and was delighted, "Is Your Highness planning to sew unified uniforms for the Prince's Personal Army?"

Zhao Xu nodded; during the time it took for Chang Wei to arrive, he had already drawn the style of the uniform on the blueprint.

In this Battle of Malka City, Zhou Yi had seen the uniforms of the Frankish soldiers.

According to his description, the color of the Frankish uniforms was blue, the soldiers wore black bicorne hats, and they wore leather boots on their feet.

This type of uniform was the common style for armies in the Western Lands at present.

The only difference was the color of the uniform; otherwise, they were much the same.

Zhao Xu did not design the Prince's Personal Army's uniforms according to this style, but instead adopted a trench coat style.

The uniform color was dark green, but the hem was shortened to just knee-length.

The hat was also not a bicorne hat, but rather a peaked cap.

"This is the uniform for the Wangfu soldiers." Zhao Xu handed the blueprint to Chang Wei.

Overall, the uniform he designed had both the style of ancient long robes and the characteristics of modern armies; it could be said to be a perfect combination, and it looked very stylish when worn.

"This subordinate has never seen this kind of uniform, but it looks exceptionally handsome and dashing." Holding the blueprint and staring at it for a while, Chang Wei scratched his head and laughed.

Then, he pointed to the soldiers' legs on the blueprint and asked, "Your Highness, what is this thing wrapped around the legs?"

"This is called leg wrappings," Zhao Xu said.

On his blueprint, there was a full-body image of a soldier wearing the uniform, with bandage-like things wrapped around the soldier's calves.

"Leg wrappings?" Chang Wei had never heard of this thing.

Zhao Xu smiled; leg wrappings were inconspicuous, but their effect was not small.

During long-term marching, soldiers' calves would become sore, which would make the soldiers more prone to fatigue and slow down the speed of the march.

But by wrapping them with leg wrappings, this soreness could be relieved, which was more conducive to long-distance trekking.

In the contemporary era, soldiers before the founding of the nation often wrapped this thing around their calves.

This was also a skill that every soldier at that time had to master.

Now, he was teaching this craft of leg wrappings to the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army in order to build a Light Infantry that could come and go like the wind.

Thinking of this, he explained it to Chang Wei.

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei's mouth opened wide, "To think there is such a magical thing; I will try it when I go back later."

Having spoken to Chang Wei about the uniforms, Zhao Xu added, "There is one more thing: from now on, abolish the single-knee kneeling military salute and switch to this military salute."

Having said that, Zhao Xu raised his hand and pointed his fingertips at his temple.

Whether it is the military uniform or the marching, this all belongs to the reform of the Prince's Personal Army, transforming the Prince's Personal Army into a modern military.

After all, the crushing superiority of a modern military over a feudal military lies not only in weapons but also in institutional advantages.

Chang Wei was stunned for a moment, and mimicking Zhao Xu, he gestured; he was just about to say that this military salute seemed insufficiently solemn.

Zhao Xu immediately interrupted him: "I know what you are thinking—you keep saying you treat your soldiers like your own limbs, but do you make your own limbs kneel on one knee all day to salute you? To raise the status of soldiers, one must lead by example."

Chang Wei was instantly rendered speechless, his expression awkward.

Chuckling twice, he said: "Your Highness's lesson is correct; this is not bad either."

Having said that, he performed a salute to Zhao Xu in a proper manner, and Zhao Xu smiled and returned the salute.

These are minor matters within the military reform.

This time he had Chang Wei come over for a more important matter.

This matter even concerns the overall future military strength of Great Song.

After pondering for a moment, he said: "Starting from next year, we will fully implement the Reserve Service system. Able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty are obligated to serve three years of military service. After retiring from service for three years, they will transfer into the Reserve Service; once the country has a need for war, they must respond to the recall."

Having said that, he explained the Reserve Service system to Chang Wei in detail.

This Reserve Service system is a product that emerged alongside modern warfare.

Its purpose is to ensure the number of a country's standing army and to have sufficient reserve soldiers to fill the ranks when expanding the military during wartime.

This belongs to the issue of a country's war potential.

If there is no Reserve Service system, once soldiers are depleted too much, it will be too late to recruit a military on short notice.