Volume 3 Chapter 13: The Emperor and His Ministers Stay for Fun
"Where did so many Jin troops come from? Are the Jin troops indestructible? Don't they need to rest? The last time the 120,000-man army marched south, apart from the 15 Meng'an left behind in Changsha, the rest of the scattered casualties were no less than 10,000 or 20,000. Don't they need to replenish soldiers and horses? Besides, the Jin people have been unable to tolerate the heat for many years, so why did they suddenly change today? I agree with Lords Yue and Lu on this matter. It is very likely that Liu Yu borrowed the Jin people's clothing to strengthen his own military power and to intimidate them..."
When Qu Duan entered the hall, he saw a young man in a red robe talking on the throne. He knew that this man was the emperor of Zhao Song, so he tried to salute him despite the pain in his back. However, the young man on the throne looked down at him from afar and just raised his hand without paying any attention. But he never stopped talking, and it seemed that he was talking about the incident of the Pseudo-Qi.
"But if that's the case, there's one thing I don't understand."
Han Shizhong, who entered the palace first, no longer had the arrogant look he had just shown outside the palace. He just saluted as if nothing had happened. "How many soldiers does the Pseudo-Qi have now? How strong is their fighting power? Who gave them the courage to attack?"
Emperor Zhao turned his head and looked at the person below the stairs. It was none other than Lu Xing, who had been stationed in Nanjing during this period and was leading the frontline in the confrontation with the Pseudo-Qi.
"There must be 200,000 soldiers, right?" Lu Xing was about to speak when Zhang Jun laughed. "There are seven or eight large states. Can't one state afford 20,000 soldiers? If we gather some civilians, we can get 200,000 soldiers. It's not unusual to claim to have a million."
"How can one state afford 20,000 soldiers?" Han Shizhong frowned immediately.
"General Han naturally doesn't understand this kind of thing, otherwise there wouldn't have been an almost uprising in Huaixi." Zhang Jun was not afraid at all, but took the opportunity to mock the other party.
Han Shizhong secretly hated the emperor, but managed not to show it... Firstly, he couldn't do it in front of the emperor, and secondly, the matter had already been concluded, and it was indeed Han Wu's fault.
But what can I say? If there is a chance, Han Shizhong will never let Zhang Jun go.
You have to know that Wang Yuan deliberately provoked the two of them to oppose each other in the early years to balance the court, and the two were not fools, they just cooperated. But as time went by, there were too many grievances, coupled with the bad habits developed in the army, it was hard to tell the truth from the false... Anyway, now Han Liangchen felt that Zhang Boying was not good at fighting, but only greedy for money, so how could he be called the same as Han Wu?
As for what Zhang Jun was thinking, it’s hard to say.
"Of course a state cannot support 20,000 soldiers, but it depends on whether there is military pay, whether there are drills, whether the soldiers are well fed, and whether they have hot water." Prime Minister Wang Boyan was too lazy to pay attention to the two and just stood there with his hands folded. "I remember that when Wang Shan, the former commander of the Imperial Camp, came to Tokyo from Hedong, he had 200,000 soldiers..."
"That's the truth." Lu Xing also spoke up. "As for conscripting men, if the Jin people had a stick, let alone 200,000, the population of Jingdong is there, there would be 400,000... However, from my observations at the front line, there are still some troops in the pseudo-Qi army that are quite powerful, such as Liu Yu's headquarters in Jinan and the pseudo-marshal Kong Yanzhou's army in Yanzhou. In addition, there is also a pseudo-general Li Cheng's army in Qingzhou, and it is said that his leadership and military management are second only to Kong Yanzhou!"
"I've heard of these two." Zhao Jiu nodded in response. "Kong Yanzhou is known as the Little Yue Fei, and Li Cheng's martial arts are on par with Peng Ju's... To be able to reach this level, they are certainly great figures... How many core combat forces like this do they have?"
"Liu Yu has about 10,000 men, and his son Liu Lin leads them personally; Kong Yanzhou has fewer, only 7,000 to 8,000; Li Cheng has a larger territory, so he may have more, but it will never exceed the limit of 15,000." Yue Fei bowed.
Zhao Jiu finally frowned slightly.
Zhang Jun below saw this and stepped forward carefully: "Good instructor, as you know, when I was in Xuzhou, after I conquered Yizhou, Li Cheng sent someone to greet me. Maybe this person can be persuaded to surrender..."
"Zhang Qing has misunderstood." Emperor Zhao on the throne finally laughed. "Although I value talent, I don't want everyone. Since Li Cheng has become the Grand Commander in the Jin court, how can I still want him? Zhang Rong from Liangshanpo in Dongping Prefecture, although he didn't come from Heyin, has been reluctant to come to see me this time, saying that he is free in Liangshanpo, but after all, he is sure of the right and wrong, so I don't care..."
Several military leaders below immediately became solemn, and a few familiar faces finally turned around and took a look at Qu Duan who was standing in the corner inside the palace gate.
"In fact, this is why Liu Ni dared to mobilize troops and try to provoke us." Wang Boyan spoke up at the right time to formally summarize the previous question. "Think about it, since this villain has proclaimed himself emperor, he must know that he can no longer coexist with the Song Dynasty, so he must do everything he can to be our enemy... Before he ascended the throne, he issued a manifesto and offered sacrifices to Chen Dong, and then he respected Confucius and held the imperial examination. Today, he has mobilized troops. For a spring and a summer, it seems that the two countries of Song and Jin combined are not as big as his Jinan Prefecture... Isn't he left with no choice?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, and they all felt that what Minister Wang said was of high quality. Firstly, he hit the nail on the head, and secondly, his tone was similar to that of the emperor, which was really impressive.
"So, there is no need to discuss this matter further." Emperor Zhao nodded and gave the order calmly. "If he really dares to take action, the three officials Zhang, Yue, and Lu on the front line don't need to report, they can just fight back directly, but they must be quick, ruthless, steady, and not greedy... In short, remember one thing, the Jin people are the real enemy, don't get stuck in the mud of Jingdong for a while, and give the Jin people a chance for nothing!"
Zhang Jun, Yue Fei and Lu Xing formally stepped out, then bowed and responded with a serious look... It seemed that this issue was about to be passed.
"What should I say?" Zhao Jiu had a blank expression on his face. He asked Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng again.
"War horses, quotas, military expenses!" Xu Jingheng was very frugal with his words.
"Yes, war horses, quotas and military expenses." Zhao Jiu nodded, as if he had really forgotten these things. "Just talking about war horses... before Liang Chen left the palace just now, he actually said almost everything. Let Guanxi keep some and send them here to count as a whole of 10,000... Among them, the rear army will be the reserve, so they will not be divided; then the central army has Li Yanxian, Wang De, and Wang Yan, so they will get more, 4,000 horses, and the front army, left army, and right army will share the remaining 6,000 horses equally... How do you think?"
Everyone looked at each other, but had nothing to say... This kind of thing would never end if there was a fight, and Emperor Zhao actually wanted to use all the forces in a centralized manner at the beginning, but no one accepted it, and no one knew who would own the cavalry brigade if it was really established.
This is already a relatively fair solution at the moment, and compromises have been made.
Just like that, seeing that everyone quietly accepted the plan, they continued their discussion.
"When it comes to the quotas for each army, they are linked to military expenditures." Emperor Zhao continued to talk in the imperial throne. "According to the calculations that Liang Chen made for me before leaving the palace, one cavalryman in the Central Plains needs one hundred strings of cash and other materials per year to support him and his horses. If these ten thousand cavalrymen come here, it will cost a full one million strings of cash per year?"
"That's right, Your Majesty," Han Shizhong said with a stiff face.
"This also requires the collection of specific items for military use... right?" Zhao Guanjia continued to ask. "Beef tendons, fodder, etc."
"yes……"
"If we don't count the cavalry, and only talk about the ordinary armored soldiers, how much does it cost a year to support an elite warrior who dares to fight?" Emperor Zhao was very bad at math today.
"Fifty strings of cash plus ten dan of grain..." Han Shizhong responded carefully. "We have to consider the expenses for the soldiers' families."
"What about General Zhang?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask.
"Is that so?" Zhang Jun rarely gave the same answer as Han Shizhong.
"Yue Qing..."
"If you want full military pay and daily training, it's naturally what Han Taiwei said , fifty strings of cash plus ten shi of grain." Yue Fei answered honestly. "However, this is of course a rough figure."
Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly: "Then suppose the imperial army is carefully selected to be fixed at 200,000 soldiers, and then according to Zhang Jun's memorial, we boldly set the number of cavalry to 30,000. That would be 13 to 14 million strings of money a year, plus 3 to 4 million dan of grain... This would require the entire southeast economy to recover to the level before the Jingkang period, and then empty the southeast to be enough... right?"
Everyone shook their heads, but no one dared to respond. Even Qu Duan shook his head, secretly sighing that the Zhao Song official really did not know the customs of the people. Moreover, Qu Da hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should remind the official .
"Not enough!" At this time, Wang Yuan, the commander of the Imperial Camp, rarely spoke. "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being frank. Your Majesty's argument is only accurate in calculations. In fact, it costs more... because the revenue collected is one number, the transportation to the army is another number, and the actual payment is still another number... I'll be bolder. If Your Majesty really wants to support 200,000 elite soldiers in the Imperial Camp and 30,000 cavalry, it will require 25 million strings of cash per year, plus 5 million shi of military rations. No other amount will be discussed."
Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, he just nodded slightly, and said in a normal tone: "So, you guys are eating empty salaries and drinking the blood of soldiers, so you actually have to drink half of it?"
Qu Duan in the corner was stunned, and the several generals below were even more embarrassed.
Wang Yuan had no choice but to explain carefully: "Sir, this is not just a waste of money... The transportation losses and the use of civilians along the way are the biggest expenses. Even if you really go to the army, the salary of an officer cannot be calculated based on a mere fifty strings of cash."
"That's the truth." Zhao Jiu nodded in response. "I was wrong... You guys are eating empty salaries and drinking the blood of soldiers. You only drink 30%, which is really amazing."
No one dared to speak up, not even Wang Yuan.
"But if that's the case, wouldn't twenty-five million strings of cash plus five million grains of food drain all the income of Southeast and Bashu, and even Jingxiang?" Zhao Jiu sighed. "If that's the case, it's easy for me to deal with it. I can still shoot a few rabbits in Genyue to supplement my family's income. If that doesn't work, I can become a son-in-law of Wu or Pan and borrow some grains to get by. Anyway, there are only four or five people, and we can always have enough to eat... But what should the officials of Tokyo, the civil and military officials, and the officials of hundreds of states and armies in the world eat?"
"Your Majesty!" Qu Duan couldn't help himself. "You only counted the imperial camp troops. Don't you think there's any military pay for Guanxi? Isn't Chang'an going to be defended?"
"Oh!" Zhao Jiu seemed to have just reacted, pointing at Qu Duan with a look of sudden enlightenment on his face. "Yes, this newly arrived General Qu is right. In fact, judging from the transportation losses, it is more worthwhile to directly supply the money and food from Bashu to Guanxi, and we should also support 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers there... But if we calculate this way, wouldn't the Imperial Camp be able to support 200,000 soldiers even if we spent all the wealth in the world?"
"Your Majesty... Liang Huai is still here, don't forget to calculate Huainan's tax revenue." Xu Jingheng reminded coldly. "Huainan's wealth can offset Bashu."
"That's right." Zhao Jiu nodded and spread his hands. "You see, things are back to normal... I still have to go to the Wu and Pan families to beg for money and live off them."
"Your Majesty!" In the silence, Yue Fei was the first to lose his patience and raised his head. "In the front of the imperial camp, Your Majesty only provides one soldier with fifty strings of cash and ten stones of grain. I will not ask for a penny more..."
"I feel the same." Before Zhao Jiu could speak, Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun almost simultaneously stepped out and bowed their heads.
After Han and Zhang left, Wang Yan and Lu Xing also expressed their views in the same way.
Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly: "Some of you I really believe, and some of you I cannot believe...Good ministers?"
"I'm here." Han Shizhong bowed his head.
"I will give you 50,000 troops for the Imperial Camp Left Army and 50,000 soldiers. When the battle starts, if the Jin army has 50,000 soldiers, I will ask you to lead them. I'm afraid you can only lead 30,000 soldiers, right?" Zhao Jiu said indifferently. "And Boying, I will give you 50,000 troops and 50,000 soldiers. You can actually bring out 50,000 soldiers, but how many of them can wear armor and how many can be trained? If I really believe you, I will suffer a great loss... But then again, how can I believe you? We have been together for a long time, why do you two have to play such tricks in front of me?"
Zhang and Han were almost ashamed.
"Your Majesty, please don't blame the two generals." Lu Haowen finally spoke up at the right time. "In the current situation, Han and Zhang are capable of fighting, and the money is not embezzled by the two generals. The commanders and leaders, all the way to the captains, all share some of the profits... The country's military and political corruption is a problem accumulated over more than a hundred years. Relatively speaking, it is not necessary to blame the two generals!"
"Of course I know, otherwise why would I be frank with them?" Zhao Jiu still didn't care. "I'm not forcing them to do anything, I'm just explaining the country's difficulties to them."
Zhang Han and the others were about to speak again, but Xu Jingheng beside Lu Haowen spoke again seriously:
"Sir, there are only two ways to deal with this matter... One is to increase taxes in the southeast and Jingxiang, and the other is to raise fewer soldiers... That's all."
Zhao Jiu fell silent, and the ministers and generals below were also silent... In fact, this was also a commonplace talk. After Lu Yihao arrived in Yangzhou this time, he even sent a strategy to increase military pay in the southeastern Huai region. This was because he had known for a long time that if he wanted to support the army, he could only increase taxes. Otherwise, with the tax revenue that was severely damaged after the Jingkang Incident, he was destined to not be able to support so many soldiers.
After a long while, Emperor Zhao finally laughed and said, "The Jin army's east and west routes have a standard 200,000 households. If we don't have 200,000 soldiers, how can we resist the enemy?"
Many people below breathed a sigh of relief instinctively, because they knew that this was the most important sentence today.
"But if that's the case, we can only support it by promising to increase taxes in the southeast and Jingxiang..." Zhao Jiu really said this, but he continued in the throne. "And I called all the generals here today, not only to assign you troops and horses to the northwest, but also not to say anything about the pseudo-Qi... I really don't take these things seriously, what I want to do is to settle this account in front of you!"
At this point, the red-robed Zhao Emperor stood up from the throne and said to them in a stern voice: "I hope all the generals will remember that there are some things I have to endure, but that doesn't mean they are right. I will endure them in the future! This is the first point! What you eat and use are all the blood and sweat of the people in the southeast, Jingxiang, Bashu, and Lianghuai. If they rebel in the future, you can attack them, but you must remember that they were forced to do so by you and me! This is the second point!"
After saying this, without waiting for the generals to kneel down and apologize, Zhao Jiu turned around and walked down the imperial steps, then walked out of the side door.
Soon, Yang Yizhong, who had gone out with the emperor, came back and said, "The emperor has said that we shot two more rabbits this morning. Wanqi Canjun and Yue Taiwei will keep them for dinner, and the rest of the ministers and Taiweis can go straight away."
