Chapter 731
At the national war meeting before, Yanhuang distributed a secret recipe for making military rations to everyone, which may have limited effect on this ordinary person, but it was a great help to Shang Ji!
Objectively speaking, Yanhuang's secret recipe for making military rations is very effective. The military rations produced according to this secret recipe can be divided into four grades. They are low-grade military rations, middle-grade military rations, high-grade military rations and super-grade military rations. In addition to this, there is a level that does not count as a level-defective military rations!
There are quite a wide range of raw materials for military rations. Rice, millet, millet, wheat, bean and other grains can be the main raw materials for making military rations. It is suitable for both the north and the south of the Huaxia District!
Select one or more grains as the main raw material, mix with some salt, oil, sugar, tea, vegetables and other auxiliary materials, and go through multiple procedures to produce the corresponding grade of military rations.
The prepared military rations are easy to carry, greatly reduce the difficulty of transportation, and are resistant to moisture and corrosion, which is very suitable for long-term storage.
Of course, military rations are not without their shortcomings. The taste of low-grade military rations is quite reluctant. Consuming low-grade military rations for a long time will lead to a slow decline in army morale, which may seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the army.
However, as the military ration level increases, these negative effects gradually disappear. The taste of middle-grade military rations is not bad, and the taste of high-grade military rations is better. According to the raw materials of the military rations, some other auxiliary states, such as accelerating physical strength and mental recovery, etc.
Even super-grade military rations not only taste quite good, but also have the effect of speeding up the recovery of injuries and slowly improving the strength of soldiers. Of course, correspondingly, the production process of super-grade military rations is quite complicated, and the raw material requirements are also very strict.
Low-grade military rations have the lowest requirements, and only need some ordinary grains, with some cheap auxiliary materials such as oil, salt, sauce and tea. It is simple to make and the cost is low. On average, one stone of grain can produce 80 servings of military rations, and each serving of military rations can almost feed a soldier for a day. However, Shang Ji, a powerful and wealthy man, does not plan to produce low-grade military rations on a large scale, mainly because the taste is too unpalatable!
Yanhuang also brought some finished products when distributing the secret recipes, Shang Ji tasted them, and found that the low-grade military rations tasted quite unpalatable. Put yourself in the situation and think about it, the soldiers in front are fighting bloody battles with the enemy, but also gnawing on this terrible ration, the morale will not be high at all!
The middle-grade military rations are much better, at least Shangji feels that it is acceptable. However, compared with low-grade military rations, the production process of medium-grade military rations is much more complicated, and the cost is rising steadily.
The biggest difference from the low-grade military rations is that the middle-grade military rations have a strict ratio of high-nutrient raw materials such as meat, eggs, and milk. That is to say, making mid-grade military rations requires not only food, but also meat!
The merchants sitting on the grasslands have no shortage of meat. Billions of cattle and sheep are the main source of meat every year. However, beef and mutton are expensive!
Compared with beef and mutton, the price of seafood is much lower. And from some perspectives, the nutritional value of seafood is still higher than that of beef and mutton!
Thanks to Yanhuang's powerful secret recipe, it is completely feasible to use seafood instead of beef and mutton to make military rations, and it can even greatly increase the proportion of seafood in military rations, making things similar to canned fish. Fishing's fishing has long-term power!
As for the higher grades,
It needs to select high-quality grains, select high-quality meat, supplement with a variety of nourishing medicinal materials, and make it with complicated craftsmanship. The cost is high, and it is only suitable for a small number of elite troops, and it does not have the possibility of popularization by the entire army.
Of course, super-grade military rations are even more exaggerated. The effect is basically equivalent to the weakened version of the elixir, and the cost is quite expensive.
Top-grade and super-grade military rations cannot be produced on a large scale by the Ta family. It requires the cooperation of alchemy skills, and the Ta family obviously does not have this ability. Shang Ji mainly took a fancy to Tashi's fishing ability, sourced local materials, and mass-produced medium-grade military rations suitable for the entire army.
Deng Yan had already done an estimate before, and the cost of making middle-grade military rations with seafood as meat was only about 50 coppers per serving, which was quite cost-effective. If beef and mutton are used as raw materials, the cost will soar to one hundred coppers, which is doubled!
Don't underestimate the fifty coppers. With the current size of the Pingzhou Army, hundreds of millions of rations are consumed every month. Over time, the difference is tens of millions of gold every year!
In addition to Pingzhou's own use, the Ta family can also rely on this price advantage to start large-scale trade with the mainland princes. Shang Ji sits on the grasslands of Pingzhou, and the cost of making a medium-grade military ration is still one hundred coppers. The cost of other princes will only be higher. Adding up the two, the profit is quite considerable, and it will become a pillar industry in the long run! Although the profit is far inferior to that of the elixir industry, it is better than the strategic industry related to life, and its importance is self-evident.
In addition to the upper, middle and lower super, there is a fifth type of military rations-that is, defective military rations!
As the name suggests, defective military rations are military rations that have failed to be produced, or military rations made with defective products as raw materials. The cost is very low, the taste is even more anti-human, and eating substandard military rations will quickly reduce the combat effectiveness of the army. No matter how poor the princes are, they would not do this, or the army might mutiny!
However, defective military rations have an unrivaled advantage--low price, large quantity and full supply!
The production of defective military rations is like black-hearted manufacturers, but they can add all kinds of edible and inedible things to it. It is not uncommon to make two hundred copies of defective military rations for one stone of grain.
On average, the cost of a defective military ration is less than one copper coin!
Of course, this price is measured by the current grain price. At present, although the general trend of the separatism of the princes has been achieved, the melee among the princes has not yet started. The overall environment is still relatively peaceful. Although the grain production is not abundant, it is not a food shortage, and the price of food is naturally not high.
When substandard military rations are used on a large scale, the cost is far more than a copper coin.
To put it bluntly, the position of defective military rations in Shang Ji's mind is emergency food reserves, and it is the kind of emergency disaster relief food that is used only as a last resort. Under normal circumstances, even if a large-scale natural disaster occurs in a certain place in Pingzhou, the disaster relief will generally use low-grade military rations.
The purpose of defective military rations is just in case. It will be used on a large scale when there are really super-large natural disasters and man-made disasters such as thousands of miles without chickens and thousands of miles without people.
Li Lin's eyes lit up immediately after seeing the secret recipe for making military rations. With his eyes, he could naturally see the significance of the secret recipe to the Ta clan at a glance.
"Magistrate Li, I think you also know that the general will lead an expedition to a foreign land in more than two months. As the saying goes, soldiers and horses go first before food and grass are used. County magistrate Li should know the significance of this army ration to this general!"
"This subordinate understands that this subordinate has already mobilized the entire city's human and material resources to help the lord make military rations!"
"Very good, I will ask you to produce two billion rations in two months, is there any problem?"
"Two billion copies?"
County magistrate Li was slightly startled, and began to calculate quickly in his mind.
He has already seen the general production process of military rations. Although it is cumbersome, it will not be difficult once the large-scale production starts. With the current manpower and material resources of the Ta family, it is not a particularly big problem to produce two billion military rations in two months, provided that the raw materials are sufficient!
Thinking of this, Li Lin said solemnly, "My lord, if you need to make two billion military rations, your subordinates will need sailors to assist in fishing. With the current fishing capacity of the Ta family, it may be difficult to complete this task alone. In addition, the subordinates also Sufficient raw materials are needed, mainly a sufficient amount of selected grains and oil-salt sauce tea, etc.!"
"No problem, I will ask Hong Zhuo to allocate materials for you, and order Degao to dispatch sailors to assist you. In addition, I will also allocate 500,000 gold for your production. What equipment do you need to buy? I don’t care about how many civilians there are, I just take away two billion rations in two months!”
"Subordinates promise to complete the task!"
Shang Ji nodded, and then said, "Don't worry, I have something to tell you. This time, the military rations are made, the food and ingredients are allocated from Pingzhou, and even the seafood is caught by the navy. This kind of development is very important to The Da family is not good for Pingzhou. Our army's demand for military rations is endless. Not only this expedition to foreign lands, our army will need billions of military rations every year in the future.
The general plan was to stop taking care of these matters. Every year in the future, Xiangping would purchase military rations at an appropriate price based on the current food market. Taking this year as an example, if Pingzhou purchases it, it will cost about 60 copper coins. What do you think? "
As soon as Li Lin heard it, a few numbers quickly appeared in his mind, and then he began to calculate quickly. After a little calculation, Li Lin's eyes began to shine!
If it is really according to what Shang Ji said, the Da family can make a profit of two million gold a year through the production of military rations!
Don't look at the high price of tens of millions of gold in the previous auction and think that two million gold is nothing special. You must know that Dashi, as the largest city in Liaodong County, paid just over three million gold in taxes last year!
This business directly increased the fiscal revenue of Dashi City by 70%, and most of the increased two million gold did not need to be paid to Xiangping's local taxes!
"No, no!"
Li Lin thought about it and shook his head repeatedly. The two million gold is pure processing fee. In order to produce military rations, Tashi must vigorously develop the fishing industry, which has not included the overall development of various industries such as shipbuilding, fishing, transportation, and processing.
Large-scale production of military rations will inevitably lead to a further reduction in the production cost of military rations. Conversely, profits may continue to increase!
Counting all aspects, the Ta family's financial revenue is expected to exceed 8 million gold next year!
"If the Ta clan still has enough energy, after completing the order from Pingzhou, I would have been able to introduce the Ta clan to other princes and sell the military rations produced by the Ta clan to the entire Han!"
Li Lin's whole body trembled when he heard the words. He felt that the Dashi under his rule was likely to become the first large city in Pingzhou with an annual income of more than 10 million gold!
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