Chapter 208 Not Ordinary
Ma Linger told him that with the gold and silver sent by Wang Youling last year, Fengxiang Prefecture successfully overcame the difficulties. Later, Chen Chen sent two batches of new currency in succession, which completely solved the problem of insufficient military pay. After collecting taxes, we will no longer be short of money and can do whatever we need to do.
Zhao Yulin nodded and asked her how the bank was managed.
Ma Ling said that with a talented person like Shen Baiyi leading the business, the bank was running very well. At the end of the year, after receiving their dividends, the shareholders donated a sum of money to support the city building. After discussing with General Miao, she used half of the money to reward the brothers and the other half to build the city.
He said that they did a good job and it was time to reward the brothers.
Fenghuang told him that after the army was reorganized, she and General Miao called together several brothers in charge to discuss that the soldiers needed encouragement, so they recommended brothers who had military merits and praised them. After that, Sister Ma Ling raised money to reward the three armies, everyone was very happy.
As they were talking, Qiu Ju brought them a secret document.
Qiuju originally served as the manager of Shunfeng Office in Hanzhong. Now that Yuqi is in confinement after giving birth, she had to be transferred to Chang'an to take over the responsibility.
Fenghuang opened the secret letter and saw that it was sent by Master Lu Youpeng from Yibin.
After the Dali Kingdom borrowed 5 million strings of money from the Shenwei Army, the Zhennan King Duan Xiaolin came to ask for help again, asking him to support a column with new equipment and train a new army for the Dali Kingdom.
After Zhao Yulin read it, Fenghuang felt that this matter should be handled with caution. She was worried that the ruler of Dali would break his promise and not keep his word. Because they broke the alliance and the agreement in the two wars with Dali, if they were to equip a column for them this time, that would be a new army of 20,000 people. This combat power should not be underestimated.
If this armed column of the Dali Kingdom were to turn around and deal with Mahujiang's Shenwei Army, the destructive power would be extraordinary.
If they can get the weapons of our Shenwei Army and imitate them, how many new troops will we need to equip?
Zhao Yulin thought so too and asked them to take it to the big tent for discussion.
After dinner, Fenghuang hooked her hand affectionately at Zhao Yulin and asked him to go to her room for something urgent. The women looked at them knowingly. Zhao Yulin pretended not to see anything and got up to go out first. Immediately, there was a burst of laughter behind him.
Fire Phoenix fell into his arms before entering the house. After the couple had an unreserved fight, Phoenix curled up in his arms and dozed off comfortably. He said, "There are so many brothers watching us, can't we be more reserved?"
The woman responded by sticking her butt up at him. Zhao Yulin stopped talking and soon began to snore evenly.
In the Dali Kingdom Palace, the Southern King of the Small Town Duan Xiaolin was also having a night chat with Zhao Sihan.
Although it was the end of the first lunar month, Dali was close to the south and the temperature was already warm. Zhao Sihan was counting stars under the flower vines, but Duan Xiaolin was listless.
Zhao Sihan asked him, "Third brother has already given us five million strings of cash. We have bought a large amount of earth, cement and new construction materials, and a large number of new tools have been shipped to the border. What else do you have to worry about?"
Duan Xiaolin said that his third brother went to Hanzhong, and Master Lu could not make the decision in Cuiping Mountain. The task assigned by the emperor to him to bring back equipment for a column could not be completed, and he was in a dilemma.
Zhao Sihan thought that clothing, shoes and hats were easy to deal with, but asking the third brother to provide weapons for a column would be difficult, and anyone would have to think twice. We broke the contract for no reason and beat the third brother twice. Even if the third brother agreed, his brothers would probably not agree.
Duan Xiaolin also knew the whole story, and hesitantly said that it would be easier to report to his father if he gave a corps of equipment. The problem was that there was no news about his third brother. It had been almost a month since he came back from Xuzhou, and there was still no news.
Zhao Sihan said that the third brother was on the road and it would not be easy for him to receive the news, so let's wait a little longer.
Duan Xiaolin began to lobby Zhao Sihan, asking her to write a letter to Zhao Yulin to persuade them to help them build a new army...
The next day, Zhao Yulin presided over a meeting in the central military tent.
The first thing discussed was the issue of helping the Dali Kingdom to form a new army. Several brothers disagreed. The most vocal opponents were Lai Chuanfang and Gao Jin. They had participated in the battle against Dali and saw so many brothers killed and injured, which must have been a deep impression on them.
Zhou Ping, on the contrary, didn't care. He suggested not to give Dali new boats and ships. Dali doesn't have the strength to fight against us for a while because of arming a battalion or a corps.
Zhao Yulin said that the equipment of a column is definitely not enough, we are still short of weapons, new boats and ships cannot be given to them, and mortars cannot be given to them , so let's just give them the conventional equipment of a corps.
Firstly, they still need to select soldiers for training, and it will take time to form combat effectiveness. Secondly, their spies have already spread their nets in Xinshi, and they must have obtained the secrets of our weapons. They will copy them whether we give them or not, so let's give them.
But we need to exchange them for silver. We have our patents in them. We sell them at five times the cost. We give them as much silver as they can. They will naturally treasure them and won't fight us to death with their little property.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Zhao Yulin asked him to talk about the current military situation.
After Miao Gui briefly introduced the situation, Gao Jin added that the enemies in Lingzhou were also ready to make a move. Lai Chuanfang believed that it was very likely that the enemies would attack from Yan'an Prefecture. Years ago, the northern barbarians were conducting reconnaissance and harassment near Luochuan. Logically, they would not move south until autumn. I wonder what's wrong with them this year ?
Miao Gui said that he was not afraid, because after the reorganization of the army, our personnel and equipment were complete, and our combat capability was greatly enhanced, so we were not afraid of where they came from.
Zhao Yulin knocked on the table and asked Lai Chuanfang why the march into Shanzhou was not successful last year?
The brothers immediately fell silent.
He said that this was to sum up the experience and lessons learned, and he had no intention of criticizing or punishing, but just to find out why the failure occurred.
Miao Gui stood up and said that it was his fault for commanding improperly and he would take responsibility.
Lai Chuanfang immediately stood up and said that it was his responsibility. He failed because he did not conduct a thorough investigation and underestimated the enemy's strength.
Zhao Yulin smiled and asked everyone to sit down. There was no criticism or accountability here. The brothers should discuss the gains and losses heart to heart and be casual.
He asked Lai Chuanfang to explain it in detail.
Lai Chuanfang confessed honestly that a reconnaissance team and the Mongolian army suffered heavy losses. After the incident, the brothers in charge of reconnaissance had actually begun to have doubts, fearing that our military schematics would be exposed.
Because this reconnaissance team carried an advanced crossbow and two telescopes, but only one telescope was brought back. If the enemy was more careful, they would definitely have thought of it.
However, they were so eager to fight that they did not pay attention and did not report these details to the central military tent, fearing that General Miao would be cautious and would terminate the battle plan.
In fact, three days after the attack, the troops discovered that the enemy was on high alert and had obviously strengthened the defense of the Xiaohan Road.
So , they, the Dong Group, should take responsibility.
Miao Gui went on to say that the failure was also closely related to his overcautiousness. When the troops' continuous offensives were not going smoothly, he did not adjust the deployment in time and increase the military strength to implement a forced breakthrough, which resulted in all previous efforts being wasted.
Miao Gui believed that with our military strength, it would be no problem to force our way through if we went to Hangu Pass more often.
Zhao Yulin nodded and criticized Lai Chuanfang, saying that the military situation changes rapidly and as a commander one must not act recklessly. If you don't explain the actual situation clearly, how can General Miao grasp it?
He knew in his heart that his brothers were afraid to lead the troops because they saw that he was not there, which led to Miao Gui ordering a retreat after discovering that the enemy was prepared, instead of sending additional troops to attack, resulting in the battle being abandoned halfway.
Zhao Yulin asked Shunzhidi, who was sitting at the back taking notes, to refill water and serve tea to the brothers. After a brief analysis of the enemy situation, he believed that it was unlikely that the enemy would march into Guanzhong in early spring. They had taken a bite in the east last year, and all they got was fat meat. If they wanted to attack in the spring, they might still go east. It was like eating peaches and picking up rakes in the middle of the night.
The brothers burst into laughter.
He said that the enemy in the Zhejiang and Sichuan directions had not moved, but they did not leave last year. Why? Maybe they were planning to launch a sneak attack this year.
If this is true, then the enemy's actions in Yan'an Prefecture and Guyuan are just feints, intending to tie down our forces.
He planned to go south to Wuguan to see that Guanzhong was still under the command of Miao Gui and his brothers. Based on the principle of defending, he could do whatever he wanted. If the Mongolian army dared to come, he would resolutely defeat them.
Miao Gui suggested that he go to Wuguan, and that his brother stay in Guanzhong. The brothers all looked concerned and didn't want him to take risks again.
Zhao Yulin thanked everyone for their concern and said that there was no news from Zhejiang and Sichuan, so what were they going to do there? Did they want to be lazy?
Each of the guys smiled naively.
Zhao Yulin told everyone that the territory was getting bigger and bigger, and future wars would become bigger and bigger, so everyone had to command the operations independently.
The brothers discussed for a day and left separately the next day. Zhao Yulin held Miao Gui's hands and said that Guanzhong would be handed over to him, and he should not have any concerns and just go for it.
Huo Fenghuang said that Ma Ling had taken a rest, and she would ensure that all the prefecture and county government offices in Guanzhong would be mobilized to support the front-line operations.
Miao Gui felt more confident, and told him not to worry, Chang'an would be safe. He said goodbye to his brothers, waved to Fenghuang, and rode to chase the guards.
On the top of the city wall, Xiao Yan was staring at him as he rode away in a cloud of dust. This girl worked for Fenghuang and over time she heard that Zhao Yulin was leaving, so she went to the city wall to wait for him early. Finally, she saw her beloved Third Young Master.
Because Zhao Yulin had saved her and their skin had had close contact, the impression of Zhao Yulin was deeply imprinted in Xiao Yan's heart. She was sad when Zhao Yulin was injured, and she was happy when Zhao Yulin recovered. The two people's pulses seemed to be connected together.
Luo Mingqiu saw the girl wasting away because of lovesickness, and he had long wanted to find Huo Fenghuang to explain the situation. However, he was worried that the emperor in Lin'an would be furious, and he was also afraid that if Xiao Yan's secrets were exposed, a group of women would compete with each other, making it difficult for him to do anything.
Seeing that Zhao Yulin's group had long disappeared from the official road, he went up and whispered, "Little Princess, everyone has left. Let's go back."
Xiao Yan looked into the distance helplessly and walked towards the city listlessly.
In the Lin'an Palace, Xiao Yan's father, the emperor, was also very depressed.
