Chapter 1074: Analyzing the Stakes

"Hmm? What?" "Nothing." He Lingchuan patted his shoulder. "Meeting again ten thousand miles away is fate; if you have any requests, just mention them, and I will definitely do my best to help."

The Lu family's talent was withering, and it was hard to produce two young commanders; counting the generations, they were his cousins. Now that Lu Qingbin was defending Baili against foreign insults, He Lingchuan naturally hoped he could persist.

"Thank you, Brother He!" Lu Qingbin also felt strange; he didn't have the personality of making friends, but as soon as he saw this "Brother He," a sense of intimacy welled up.

"Is the situation on the eastern front very bad?" Lu Qingbin was at an age that didn't know worry, but his brow was not open. He Lingchuan judged that it was mostly because of the war on the front line. After the veteran Baili general Miao An was injured, the conflict with the Ya Nation seemed to have an uncertain future.

"On the contrary, two months ago, my sister and I won several consecutive victories, pushing the Ya Nation's army back beyond the border. Since then, they haven't invaded again."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan looked surprised and gave a thumbs up. "That's quite good; you're still worried after winning a battle?"

In fact, this news had reached him long ago. After nine months of careful management, the Yangshan Archipelago's intelligence system was much more perfect than when he first arrived.

Lu Qingbin sighed: "I used to watch my grandfather fight, and even if he won, he was worried. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but now that I lead troops myself, I understand that Baili has Baili's troubles."

He Lingchuan smiled: "It's the insufficient provision of food and pay on the front line, right?"

Lu Qingbin was stunned: "How did Brother He know?"

"Seven or eight out of ten armies on the front line face this problem." On the northern front of the Yuan Nation, resisting the Grand Marshal, they were also worried about food and pay all day, the soldiers were starving and howling, and the general Ke Jihai even rushed back from the front line to the Yuan capital to ask for money; He Lingchuan borrowed millions of silver for the Yuan Nation, and the Yuan court immediately treated him like a God of Wealth, with their attitude from top to bottom being extremely good.

"Besides, I also heard from Gan Sanye Lu that last winter, he paid out of his own pocket to donate more than eight hundred sets of winter clothes to the front line." He Lingchuan smiled. "At that time, Gan Sanye Lu was drunk and scolded your uncle for a whole night, saying that he didn't solve the shortage of food and pay on the front line, only knowing how to send money to the west."

Lu Qingbin's uncle was the patriarch Lu Zhensheng, and "the west" naturally referred to the Mou Nation.

He Lingchuan and the third and sixth Lu sons had maintained a long-term trade partnership. The two Lu sons were wary at first, but as time went on, with more coming and going, they couldn't resist the sugar-coated bullets He Lingchuan precisely fed them.

Lu Zhensheng and his son were hostile to He Lingchuan, but the third and sixth Lu sons were on good terms with him, always eating and drinking together.

Sixth Master Lu was more introverted, but Gan Sanye Lu was a big mouth after drinking, and once he drank too much, he would spill all the Lu family's business.

Scolded for a whole night? Lu Qingbin was ashamed; it seemed that his third uncle had already poured out everything that should and shouldn't be said.

Since others already knew, he didn't hide it:

"When my grandfather led the troops, there was a difference in the pay issued each time, and the soldiers were dissatisfied. The winter clothes ordered by the army last autumn didn't arrive until mid-December. In the end, it was still Third Uncle who paid out of his own pocket, otherwise those eight hundred soldiers would have frozen."

He looked at the bonfire on the beach and sighed: "And food, it's actually not enough, it's just that my father subsidizes the front line every few days. The supply line is short, and the loss on the road is small, so it looks okay for now."

A son fights a war, and his father feels heartache; the front line lacks food and clothing, so Sixth Master Lu naturally had to find ways to help.

Thanks to the money he had earned in the past year or so, he could afford to subsidize it.

Where did the money come from? Of course, most of it from He Lingchuan.

This was also He Lingchuan's intention. Before revealing his identity, there was no alliance more secure than a relationship of interest. Besides, he was unwilling to sit idly by and watch Baili's soldiers starve and freeze, and unwilling to see Baili get beaten up by the Ya Nation.

He Lingchuan looked enlightened: "No wonder Sixth Master Lu, this big grain merchant, ordered thousands of shi of grain from me for the first time; it turns out it was to support the eastern front. Since that's the case, I will give some more discounts on the price."

Lu Qingbin said gratefully: "Thank you, Brother He."

"Don't thank me, I don't like the Ya Nation either." He Lingchuan said lightly. "I have tribes under my command who were hunted down by the Ya Nation."

Lu Qingbin shook his head: "The Ya Nation people wanted to burn our granaries twice. They don't go to empty granaries at all, which shows they know our logistics quite well."

In a puddle not far away, another crab poked its head out. He Lingchuan flicked a small stone, instantly scaring it back. "You won a battle, logically these shouldn't be problems."

There was nothing that couldn't be solved by a victory; if there was, just have a few more.

"It is a problem, in Baili it is a problem." Lu Qingbin scratched his head. "My father ranks sixth in the clan, and is not the main family. I have only been back from my studies for a year, and I only have that bit of experience on the battlefield."

At this point, he suddenly stopped talking.

He Lingchuan continued for him: "Is your trouble that you can't win the main family's support for the front line?"

Lu Qingbin scratched his head; talking to a smart person was truly effortless. He couldn't bring himself to speak of those things in the clan.

"First of all, you have to know what the main family is thinking." He Lingchuan analyzed for him. "Lu Zhensheng, as the patriarch of the Lu family and the master of Baili, should have put the welfare of the Baili people first, and the safety of the border first, but he chose to prioritize the Mou Nation. From the perspective of the main family's responsibility, it is a dereliction of duty."

Lu Qingbin was silent.

He Lingchuan knew it was inconvenient for him to express agreement; silence was acquiescence.

This was not just Lu Qingbin's emotion alone; as far as He Lingchuan knew, the Lu clansmen were also very dissatisfied. Not to mention the distant ones, Lu Zhensheng's eldest son, Lu Qingan, had argued with his father about this issue several times.

"But from Lu Zhensheng's perspective, his second son, Lu Qinglin, is only one step away from success, so he naturally has to go all out to help. Lu Qinglin's status in the Mou Nation is rising, and the importance of Baili is also rising. As long as the Mou Emperor allows Lu Qinglin to return to his hometown to lead the army—as far as I know, there are many such precedents—Baili will be safe from now on. Whether it's the Qing Nation or other surrounding countries, they will have to show respect to Baili."

Lu Qingbin wanted to speak but stopped.

"But there is a problem here, and that is before he achieves his goal, which is the current period, Baili is isolated and helpless. The Mou Nation is fighting Beijia; as long as it doesn't think the Ya Nation can swallow Baili in one bite, it won't send troops to help; and Lu Qinglin is in the Mou Nation, far water cannot quench Baili's near thirst."

He Lingchuan patted Lu Qingbin on the shoulder: "You are fighting so hard, ultimately because Baili has no money. Baili was originally wealthy, but on one hand, it has to transport food and pay to the Mou Nation, and on the other hand, it has to deal with the Ya Nation's insatiable demands; even a mountain of gold and silver would be hollowed out."

Thanks to book friend 20190413234236896 for the reward.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1075 =====