Chapter 49: Base Development Strategy (II)

  After Old Man Chen sat down, a middle-aged man in his 40s wearing a long shirt and a melon hat stood up and said: "Report to the young master, I am Qin Xuecheng, the manager of the grain warehouse. Originally, I was the head of the Taiyuan branch of the Chen family's grain business. There are 48 granaries on the mountain, with a total storage of 16 million catties of wheat, 3 million catties of rice, and 6 million catties of millet, sorghum, and other miscellaneous grains. In addition, there are more than 20,000 catties of sesame oil. The troops and workers on the mountain consume more than 34,000 catties of grain per day, which means that the stored grain is only enough for the troops' rations for one year. This data was before the expansion of the troops, now that the troops have expanded, I'm afraid the grain will be enough for the troops to consume for at most eight months."

  The Chen family's business spanned several provinces in the north, and there were many people who followed the Chen family to make a living. Now, most of the Chen family's businesses have stopped operating, leaving only some important and hidden shops as strongholds, while others have been sold or mortgaged. As a result, many people have nowhere to go, and these people are mostly old men who have followed Chen Bing Gong for over a decade. How can Chen Bing Gong bear to ignore them?

  Moreover, Chen Feng's side had just set up a flagpole and lacked people, lacking all kinds of talents. So with a single order from Old Master Chen, the shop assistants and managers of Chen's Grain Store and Fur Store all gathered at Xinghe. Many important positions on the mountain were managed by these big and small managers.

  "Grain is easy to say, now it's already September, and in about a month or so, the new grain will be harvested. This year, our place has been blessed with good weather, and the crop yield is very good. After the autumn harvest, there will definitely be a large batch of grain stored, and Qin Zhanggui should make preparations in advance."

  "No problem, young master."

  After Qin Xue sat down, a middle-aged man who was dressed similarly and sitting below him stood up and said: "Young master, I am Tian Ming, in charge of the medicine warehouse. Originally, I was the store manager of the Gui Su branch office. There are three medicine warehouses on the mountain, with more than 40 carts of medicines stored, but now nearly one-tenth has been consumed, and bandages and anti-inflammatory painkillers have been consumed relatively heavily."

  "Uh, medicine is a big problem, we can't produce it ourselves, now the little devils have listed medicine as a strategic material, and the cards for large-scale medicine transactions are very dead. Now our medicine is used up a bit at a time, and we must think of a way to replenish it, otherwise in the future there may be no medicine to treat wounded soldiers." Chen Feng said with furrowed brows.

  "Master, I think we can consider a solution from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine. Although traditional Chinese medicine takes effect slowly, it has no side effects. For some common diseases, they can be cured without using Western medicine at all. If there are a large number of traditional Chinese medicines as supplements, a lot of Western medicines can be saved." Tian Ming suggested.

  "This idea is not bad, although traditional Chinese medicine may not be suitable for use on the battlefield, it can still serve as a supplement to Western medicine in terms of people's livelihood. Moreover, personally speaking, I prefer traditional Chinese medicine." Chen Feng said with a smile.

  The person in charge of the arsenal was Wei Jingguang, a company commander from the original Security Regiment No. 2. Since the arsenal was one of the core targets of the base, Security Regiment No. 2 specially dispatched an infantry company to guard the arsenal and also built a large number of pillboxes and firepower points around it.

  "Reporting to the instructor, the arsenal inventory includes 14,421 Mauser rifles, 112 Mauser pistols, 1,000 standard rifles, 300 Hanyang-made rifles, 130 Type 38 Arisaka rifles, 2 Type 92 heavy machine guns, 4 'crooked handle' machine guns, 344 Czech-style light machine guns, 82 Maxim heavy machine guns, 322 Model 80 mortars, 64 infantry cannons, 1.5 million German long-handled grenades, 800,000 Japanese 'sweet melon' hand grenades, over 26 million rounds of ammunition, and over 20,000 artillery shells."

  "Hmm, there are quite a few stockpiled things, but the models are a bit mixed. I remember I don't think I've ever bought Japanese military equipment, so why do I have Type 38 Arisaka rifles and Type 92 heavy machine guns?" Chen Feng asked in puzzlement.

  "Those Japanese military supplies were transported into the warehouse together with the large vehicles carrying military supplies. I heard Captain Xu Bao say that they seemed to be captured equipment, and since their caliber of guns and ammunition was different from ours, they were thrown into the warehouse."

  Thanks to Sui Jingguang's reminder, Chen Feng suddenly remembered. During the second transaction with Delixi, he was stared at by a small ghost, and halfway through, he had a battle with the small ghost, annihilating more than 100 people in the small ghost's squadron, capturing some weapons and equipment, but unexpectedly these equipment were thrown into the warehouse.

  "Haha, I remembered that the little devil's weapons and equipment may not be as good as those of the Germans, but throwing them into the warehouse is also a waste. This time we went south to fight, and we also captured a lot of the little devil's weapons and equipment. It should be no problem to organize a full-armed division. Moreover, this time the troops were expanded, and with just this amount of resources, it can't withstand the consumption. I estimate that in another half month, your arsenal will starve to death." Chen Feng said with a smile.

  "Heh heh, Master, even now the mice can't eat their fill. Those iron-clad mice can't gnaw through them either. It's just us who feel relieved seeing so many weapons and equipment, it's a comfortable sight." said Wei Jingguang with a smile.

  In charge of the treasury was an old man from the Chen family, named Chen Si, who was Chen Tiebao's father. He was already 51 years old this year. In this era, few people could live to be 70 years old, and being 51 years old was considered half a lifetime gone. Chen Si was no exception, with deep wrinkles on his face, just like the bark of an old tree.

  "Master, we currently have 835 million taels of silver in our account, plus over 13,000 taels of gold and 50,000 taels of silver. However, the monthly military salary for our troops is already over 500,000 taels, and this was before the expansion. After the expansion, it will be at least 1.3 to 1.5 million taels. Additionally, each factory needs 150,000 taels per month for workers' wages and purchasing materials, not to mention other expenses. The total monthly expenditure of the Chen household is approximately 2.5 million taels, which may reach 3.5 million after the expansion. The most important thing is that we currently have almost no income, this money is only going out, not coming in. When I first took over the treasury, there were nearly 7 million taels inside, and later Master borrowed another 7 million from various banks, now it's just this much left. Master, you've spent 6 million taels in just a few months, you must be more frugal!" Chen Si reported the situation of the household's finances to everyone.

  "Hey, Fourth Uncle, I'm also helpless. If it weren't for those little devils, I'd still be the young master of the Chen family, with assets worth tens of millions, spending my days fighting chickens and dogs, and occasionally teasing the young girls. That's the life! But now that these little devils have come, can we still have good days? They're always killing people, setting fires, and stealing things, sometimes even massacring entire villages. Our family's business is suffering greatly because of this. So we must resist, no matter how much money it costs to fight against the Japanese. If we don't, we'll lose everything and die as heroes." Chen Feng grew up with Chen Tiebao, while Chen Si grew up with Chen Binggong from a young age, so Chen Feng always treated Chen Si like family, addressing him as "Fourth Uncle" at all times.

  "Fighting with chickens and playing tricks on little girls, only you, a little rascal, can do such things. When are you planning to marry Qingya and Tana?" Old Man Chen was furious when he thought of Chen Feng's past misdeeds.

  "Dad, aren't we in a meeting? Can't we talk about it when we get home?" Chen Feng said with a bitter face.

  "Damn it, you little brat! You go out to fight for three or five days and you know how worried I and your mother are? We're afraid that something will happen to you. Our Chen family only has you as the sole descendant, even if you want to die, you have to leave a seed for our Chen family. No way, hurry up and get married, I'll talk to your uncle about it, let's do it by the end of the year." Old Master Chen didn't give Chen Feng any face at all, forcing him to get married early.

  "Yes, young master, the old master is right. Now you've led such a large army and have such a big base, all of this is your property. If there's no heir, people's hearts won't be at ease. You should get married early." Chen Si also helped Old Master to persuade Chen Feng.

  Chen Feng also knew that now it's a matter of taking over the family business, and if there isn't someone to take charge, things won't go smoothly. However, with the war having just started and half of China in chaos, he didn't have the mood to deal with that.

  "Dad, Fourth Uncle, this marriage will definitely happen, but not now. You think getting married is that easy? To be honest with you, two days ago, Fu Zuoyi, the commander of Yanmen Pass, sent a telegram to act as matchmaker, and General Yan agreed to marry his adopted daughter and niece, Yan Changxi, to my son as his wife." said Chen Feng.

  "Really a son? This is great, Yan Changguan is the emperor of Shanxi and Suiyuan provinces, if you become his son-in-law, you'll be the imperial son-in-law, our old Chen family will finally have some glory!" Old Master Chen said excitedly.

  "Dad, our ancestors were famous for their heroic deeds, but now I'm infamous for my troubles. Is it a good idea to marry the daughter of Yan Dashi's family? Just like you said, she's a princess, and there are many people watching her every move. If we take in Yan Chenxi, we'll have even more enemies in the Jin-Sui army. Moreover, can a princess really find peace after marrying into our family? How will you explain this to my uncle? What about Tana, what will she think? That's why I'm now a troublemaker with two big problems."

  "What's the big deal, since it's so troublesome, can't you just push it away? Just say you already have a wife and two concubines, would Magistrate Yan still be able to force you to divorce your wife and concubines?" Old Master Chen said.

  "I said so, but they say it doesn't matter, no matter how many wives and concubines there are, as long as Yan Changxi becomes the eldest after marrying in. Who is that person? It's Yan Changguan, Yan Dashuai! What am I, your son? Just a humble security team leader, not even part of the regular army's roster. Can a small arm twist a big leg?" Chen Feng said with a scowl.

  "What's to be done? Are we really going to invite that great Bodhisattva into our home?" Old Man Chen was anxious this time.

  "It's better to wait a bit for this marriage."

  "It doesn't matter, as long as she, Yan Qian Xi, the eldest princess of the Yan family, doesn't restrict you from sleeping with Tana and the Wang family's maid, and that foreign girl too. We'll just treat her like a Bodhisattva. You must get this done quickly, or else you won't be able to touch a single cent of our family's money." After finishing speaking, the old man swung his long robe and walked out of the conference room, leaving behind a group of suffocating military officers and factory directors, as well as Chen Feng with a helpless expression.