Chapter 32

（Thank you to NiCoCo_Tang, bankling, Nalan Piaoxue, Yuezhong Team, Xiaopaobing085, Yin Sanwen, 0Ciqingbuguangfengyue0, Gu Yuanqin02, and Lang Xiangru for your support. Thank you all!）

With the strong backing of the current heads of the leading Mei and Li families among the four major clans, the other clans naturally had to give them face. Moreover, the Liu family also provided strong support, so they could not fall behind. One family contributed two hundred taels, another one hundred, and the various families and major merchants of Macheng who were invited to the event also made significant contributions today. Liu Jun stood there, listening to these contributions, almost unable to believe it.

Each family contributed real silver, and almost everyone knew the reason for this dinner before they came. Therefore, they all brought money with them, and at this moment, the servants of each family brought up boxes and cases, taking out the silver they had reported.

Li Chunjiang led Liu Jun to collect the silver from each family, bowing deeply to express gratitude after each collection.

In the end, the silver filled a large chest.

The fundraising banquet hosted by the Li family was a great success, raising a total of 5,700 taels of silver. In addition, there were 46 horses and 550 stones of grain promised by the various families.

Liu Jun was overjoyed. With this money, maintaining the current seventy people was already sufficient, and they even had enough horses for each person.

Of course, receiving so many benefits came at a cost.

The cost was being forced to drink a lot of alcohol. Those who contributed money all wanted to know Liu Jun's background, but since the Mei, Li, and Liu families were so supportive, they all took the initiative to be friendly, one cup after another. Unconsciously, a lot of alcohol was consumed. In the end, he couldn't favor one over the other, so even when he was almost drunk, he gritted his teeth and drank it all.

By the time he was completely drunk, Liu Jun's steps were unsteady, and he didn't even know when the banquet ended.

When he woke up, the outside was already filled with the chirping of birds and the clear morning light.

Shaking his slightly painful head, Liu Jun got up and realized he had stayed at the Li family's residence for the night. As soon as he woke up, a Li family maid came to serve him, bringing water, towels, and even green salt and a toothbrush for him to brush his teeth. Finally, she brought him a new set of clothes, shoes, and socks.

"Jiye, your head must still be hurting, right?" Li Chunjiang, rubbing his head, appeared at Liu Jun's door.

"I didn't say anything impolite when I was drunk last night, right? I don't even remember how I got here, I was so drunk." Liu Jun laughed.

"Although being drunk is uncomfortable, it was worth it to drink so much last night. 5,750 taels of silver, 46 fine horses, and 550 stones of grain. It was worth it, very worth it. If getting drunk again could get us this much money and grain, I would be willing to get drunk again." Li Chunjiang said.

"Ha ha ha!" Liu Jun couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"Get dressed, and come with me."

Liu Jun, while tidying his clothes, asked, "Where are we going?"

"Of course, we're going to get equipment. Now that we have people, horses, money, and grain, the only thing we lack is equipment." Li Chunjiang said, almost impatiently.

Speaking of this, Liu Jun was a bit puzzled. Their militia, which was part of the local gentry's armed forces under the leadership of the major gentry member Mei Zhihuan, where did the equipment come from?

He raised this question to Li Chunjiang, but Li Chunjiang just smiled, not treating it as a problem.

"That's not a problem. As long as you have money, you can get any weapons and equipment you want."

After Li Chunjiang's explanation, Liu Jun's doubts were somewhat resolved. It turned out that due to the chaos in various regions, especially after the peasant uprisings in Shaanxi, not only Shaanxi but even half of Central China had been ravaged by the rebels. The rebels' movements also led to the rise of bandits and pirates in various regions.

The military preparedness of the local garrisons had long been neglected, and the troops recruited by the court were mostly concentrated on the northern border. Although ministers were sent to the Central Plains to suppress the bandits, it was always like pressing down one end of a seesaw and the other end rising. In this awkward situation, the court supported the local gentry in forming militias and training the people.

However, the local government often lacked the funds to form militias, so they allowed the local gentry and landlords to raise funds and recruit troops to form militias to protect their regions. In name, the militias were still under the command of the local government, but in reality, they often became the private armies of the gentry.

For example, in Macheng, there was not just one militia under the Mei family. The Mei family's Baosheng Fort militia was just the most powerful one. Macheng had many powerful families, such as the four major clans of Mei, Li, Zhou, and Liu, each with over a thousand servants. Each family maintained a team of household guards. Originally, they were only equipped with sticks, but as the peasant army grew stronger, each family began to equip their guards with swords, spears, and arrows.

As for Mei Zhihuan, he even used his connections to obtain many cannons and muskets, and even borrowed a 300-strong musket unit from the south of Jiangxi.

Similarly, the Li, Liu, and Zhou families also used their connections to equip their guards with swords, spears, bows, arrows, horses, and firearms. In short, as long as you had connections and money, you could get any weapons and equipment you wanted. Even iron armor, muskets, and cannons, which were strictly controlled by the state, could now be obtained.

Therefore, Liu Jun's militia cavalry did not need to worry about equipment. As long as they had money, they could obtain various types of equipment through existing channels.

Of course, these weapons and equipment were actually obtained from the local garrisons or even the state's military workshops, which was a well-known fact and posed no risk. Although it seemed unbelievable that the gentry could easily obtain large amounts of state military equipment, that was the reality.

Li Chunjiang was taking Liu Jun to Shen Zhuang Baosheng Fort to find a confidant of Mei Zhihuan, who was specifically responsible for equipment. Liu Jun and his team could directly contact him for any equipment they needed. There were dedicated people selling various types of equipment. They just needed to prepare the money, find the appropriate contact, place an order, agree on a price, and wait for delivery, without worrying about any other issues. Their reputation was excellent.

"What equipment are you planning to buy? Do you have a list?" The confidant of Mei Zhihuan was a middle-aged scholar with a very beautiful long beard. He was not at all surprised by Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang's intentions, as if Liu Jun was not there to buy military equipment but just to buy soy sauce.

Li Chunjiang then slapped his head, "Well, let's start with 100 sets of iron armor, 200 three-barreled muskets, 200 waist knives, and some gunpowder..."

"Wait a minute." Liu Jun couldn't listen anymore. Are you really treating this important equipment purchase like buying soy sauce? You just decided on a whim without careful discussion?

"Gongji, I think we should discuss this more carefully. For example, we currently have about seventy people, so let's buy equipment for that number. Also, our cavalry doesn't need iron armor, and the three-barreled musket might not be very suitable for us."

Li Chunjiang thought they should buy more, "We currently have about seventy people, but we will definitely increase in the future. Training and combat will also cause some damage, so it's better to buy more to be prepared. Also, the three-barreled musket is very good. I heard that the Liaodong cavalry was once heavily equipped with three-barreled muskets, and the soldiers said they were very useful. They can fire three shots in battle and can be used as a mace after firing, making them effective for both long-range and close combat."

Although Liu Jun didn't know much about firearms, he knew that the three-barreled musket was not the best firearm in the late Ming dynasty. He had practiced with the three-barreled musket in the military academy and knew that it was a relatively outdated matchlock musket that required a slow match to ignite the gunpowder, which was far inferior to even the most outdated matchlock musket in his memory.

Not only was its accuracy very low, but its range was also very short. According to his memory of the three-barreled musket he used in the military academy, it only had lethal power at a distance of about two zhang (about 6 meters). Beyond that, it was almost useless, unable to hit or kill anyone.

The only advantage, as Li Chunjiang mentioned, was that it could be used as a mace after firing. After all, it was essentially a wooden stick with a few pounds of iron barrels attached.

"I've used the three-barreled musket, and it's not a powerful firearm. In my opinion, it's better to buy matchlock muskets. They are more accurate and can penetrate iron armor within a hundred steps." Liu Jun said.

"But I heard that matchlock muskets are very difficult to use. It might take a long time to load and fire, and many people don't even know how to use them."

"That's only if they haven't been trained. With proper training, a matchlock musket can fire at least once in the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and sometimes even twice."

Li Chunjiang was a bit surprised, "Are matchlock muskets really that good? Then why don't the northern border troops use them?"

At this point, the middle-aged confidant interjected, "Matchlock muskets are indeed stronger than three-barreled muskets, but weapons are dead, and people are alive. If the users are not accustomed to the better matchlock muskets, what's the point? As he spoke, he looked at Liu Jun, surprised that this young martial student knew so much about firearms.

"However, matchlock muskets are indeed very complex to use. Without adequate training, they cannot perform as well as they should. On the other hand, three-barreled muskets are simple to use, especially for the northern troops who often use firearms as maces. If a matchlock musket is not used for shooting, it's not even as useful as a firewood stick." He smiled as he explained.

"So it's that complicated. Should we buy matchlock muskets?"

Liu Jun still shook his head, "Matchlock muskets are powerful, but they require training. Without adequate training, they are hard to use effectively. Our cavalry is newly formed, and I think it's not suitable to equip everyone with matchlock muskets. We can buy some matchlock muskets, some bows and arrows, and some hook guns and waist knives for close combat."

"You make a good point. Let's draft a list according to your suggestions." Li Chunjiang did not insist