Chapter 3535
Tokugawa Ietsuna really didn't understand how they could raise huge amounts of funds and secretly purchase more Kaihan weapons than the shogunate, since there was no gold or silver in the territories of the Kyushu daimyo.
According to the battle reports sent back from the front line, the opponent's array was equipped with ten times as many artillery pieces as our own, but the Haihan cannon cost a thousand taels of silver to start with. The larger the caliber, the higher the price. These guys from Kyushu bought such There are so many artillery pieces that I'm afraid the family's wealth has been emptied.
In fact, what he expected was not bad. In order to prepare for this war, the Jiuzhou family had indeed dug three feet into the ground, and all the places that could be scraped had been scraped. Some small vassals were annexed by them last winter, and the people within their jurisdiction were immediately levied ten years' grain tax in advance.
Even so, there is still a huge gap in military expenditures, and the only way to purchase military supplies from Haihan is through special loans and credit. Although he owes a lot of debt, he can't care about that much at the moment. He has to defeat the shogunate army before he can think about other things.
The shogunate, which had stronger financial resources, was subject to some invisible restrictions when it purchased Haihan's armaments. Whether it was quantity, model or delivery period, they were all under the overt or covert control of Haihan.
It's just that the Kyushu vassals had done a relatively good job of keeping secrets. The shogunate didn't notice the gap in the armament levels of the two sides until the war started. Naturally, they would suffer a big loss after the fight.
Realizing that the current breakthrough on the other side had actually hit the steel plate, Tokugawa Ietsuna tried to adjust the combat deployment and find other breakthrough directions.
"Although the Kyushu Army has many guns and artillery, its strength is limited after all, and it is impossible to deploy defenses according to this standard everywhere. As long as we find the target, we will definitely be able to break through their defense line!"
As the commander-in-chief, Tokugawa Ietsuna is well aware of the dangers of frustrated morale. At the moment, he can only try to find factors that are beneficial to his own side to encourage his generals.
The shogunate army has hundreds of people from all over the country. Just coordinating the interests of all parties is an extremely complicated task.
Although the authority of the shogunate allows each feudal clan to send troops according to orders, if some of the weak clans' troops are deliberately arranged to be used as cannon fodder, or if the Tokugawa clan's troops are used to seize military glory, it will definitely affect the morale of one's own camp.
How to level this bowl of water is a great test of the ruler's political acumen, and is even more troublesome than directing the war itself.
But at this juncture, Masato Masuyama brought another bad news to Tokugawa Ietsuna.
Masato Masuyama has always been in charge of the shogunate's foreign military purchases. Even during the war, he has not lost contact with Kaihan.
Judging from the intensity of the fighting after the war began, the ammunition reserves of the shogunate army may be difficult to support long-term operations. Therefore, continuing to purchase weapons and ammunition from Haihan has become a rigid need of the shogunate army.
Taking into account the delivery period after placing the order, Masuyama Masato did not dare to wait until the inventory dropped significantly before renewing the subscription. On the second day of the war, he had already talked with the liaison officer sent by Haihan to the Maori Mansion, hoping to renew the order as soon as possible. Replenish a batch of arms.
The reply from Haihan made Masato Masuyama very angry. Fireline would just raise the price. Not only did it require cash settlement, but it also could not guarantee the delivery period required by the shogunate.
"The Haihan people said that now their arsenal is operating at full capacity and it is difficult to meet the needs of export, so they can only give priority to buyers with high bids and quick settlement... But the specific delivery period will depend on the production situation of the arsenal. …”
Before Masuyama Masato could finish speaking, Tokugawa Ietsuna interrupted him angrily: "So abominable! Do you really think that without them, the shogunate army would not be able to conquer Kyushu?" There was dead silence among the surrounding subordinates, and no one was there. Dare to take up this topic.
Judging from the battle situation in the first two days, the Kyushu Allied Forces have installed a large number of Haihan weapons. If the shogunate army wants to win this war, they will definitely not be able to rely on the cold weapons of the past. They will also need a large number of muskets and artillery.
Haihan is currently the most important weapons and equipment supplier to the shogunate. Without Haihan's support, the shogunate army may not be able to deal with the more armed Kyushu coalition forces.
In the end, it was Sakai Tadaki who helped Tokugawa Ietsuna down the stairs: "No matter what, we will defeat the Kyushu rebellious party, but if we can get the support of Haihan, the process will be easier. And since Haihan claims that production capacity is limited , then if we buy more, Haihan will sell less goods to the other side, which actually weakens the other side’s strength in disguise.”
Tokugawa Ietsuna's face brightened slightly and he said: "Sakai-sama is right. If we fall out with Kaihan and cut off trade, then the happiest thing will be the Kyushu gang across the strait!"
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Tokugawa Ietsuna didn't know the importance of Haihan as a weapons supplier, but in front of his subordinates, he had to show a tough side and not let others think that the shogunate had been easily manipulated by Haihan.
As for the arms purchase, it must not be cut off. Even if Haihan offers extremely harsh conditions, Tokugawa Ietsuna can only endure it at the moment.
As for what Sakai Tadakiyo said in a scene, the people present could only listen to it, and they would definitely not take it seriously. How could they not know that Haihan's words were just excuses for him.
And these excuses may not only be aimed at the shogunate, but the people in Kyushu will also be oppressed by Haihan.
Now that he had descended the steps, Tokugawa Ietsuna was no longer reserved and ordered Masuyama Masato: "Then Masuyama-sama, please handle this matter as soon as possible and don't delay the opportunity to fight!"
Masato Masato took the order and left, quickly went to find Haihan's liaison officer, submitted the already prepared order to him, and said that he would deliver the relevant funds to Haihan in the next few days.
The liaison officer probably didn't expect that Masuyama Masato would persuade the shogunate to accept the various conditions proposed by him so quickly. It seems that the battle situation in the past two days has really made Tokugawa Ietsuna a little anxious.
"Master Zengshan is very prompt in his work. I will submit this order as soon as possible. When the price is calculated over there, I will inform you to bring the money for settlement."
After hearing this answer, Masuyama Masato slowly let go of his anxious heart. However, before he left, he did not forget to give the liaison officer a small gold bar and asked him to take more care.
The liaison officer did not refuse too much and accepted it with a smile. There seems to be no need to refuse this kind of benefit that can be easily obtained when running errands.
Taking people's money and eliminating disasters, the shogunate's additional arms order was sent by telegraph to the expedition camp across the strait later that day.
This order still needs to be reviewed by the executive committee and the military industry department to see if the items the shogunate wants to purchase are within the scope of Haihan's allowed exports, and whether it is necessary to limit the quantity purchased.