Chapter 477

Grand Minister of Revenue, not counting the shortfall of armor and weapons, just considering grain and fodder, how long can the Northern Border treasury sustain the food and drink of 100,000 troops?

The Grand Minister of Revenue immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, the treasury's remaining surplus is only the tribute just submitted by the various states; the contributions from the Xiongnu and several Western Regions states have not yet arrived, and even combined they are not enough for a 100,000-strong army to leave the Northern Border."

The Great King had merely asked casually to let everyone face the reality of returning to the Northern Border with no resources; hearing this stark truth hit him hard, and he almost cried from poverty.

Immediately, a minister petitioned, asking the Great King to stop taking in refugees from the south, because supporting so many people through the winter would be too burdensome for the Northern Border, and the treasury's modest surplus would be drained by the endless stream of refugees before winter even ends.

Others chimed in, saying that the more foreign refugees there are, the more incidents arise; at Luoshui Pass they not only have to provide food and quarantine, but also manage medicine.

The Great King looked at the several bigwigs below and asked, "Do you all think this way? Minister of Justice, have incidents of poor security increased with refugees entering the Northern Border?"

Lu Tong: "Not at all."

They argued back and forth all morning, but it all boiled down to the word 'poor'; regardless, the refugees cannot be ignored.

The Great King really wanted to do something, but he needed a just cause; he had already said he would never be the first to march south.

Putting that aside for later, before the court dispersed, the Great King first sent a warning document to the south.

What is a warning document?

"... It means sending a formal written notice to all forces, telling them not to cause trouble and start wars in a famine year! From today onward, whoever first raises arms, causing great loss of life among the Great Jin populace and shaking the foundations of the state, will be deemed an enemy of this king. At that time, this king will march south to uphold justice and lend a hand to the... mountains and rivers inherited from our ancestors? I hope they don't give this king that opportunity. Not that this king is boasting—all the anti-kings combined are no match for the Xuanjia cavalry! Ah, the last sentence need not be written; it's not steady enough."

Xie Yuan: "... Only the last sentence?"

By accident, their eyes met with the Great King, who immediately named him: "Have Doctor Xie draft it."

Xie Yuan: "…Follow the edict." Anyway, it's not signing his name.

Upon hearing this, the few who had their heads down looking at the floor tiles all lifted their heads.

After Xie Yuan finished writing and stamped it with the Northern Border King's great seal, the newspaper engravers began carving the plates that same day; after sending out a few copies stamped with the bright red seal, they started distributing them.

Lu Tong finished reading, first laughed a while, "…I don't know what reaction the various rebel kings will have; if I put myself in their shoes, I'd be angry." This attitude is even more arrogant than that lunatic in Chang'an; those who don't know would think he's sitting in the Jianzhang Palace.

Xie Yuan took it back with a blank expression, "That Chang'an guy has no means to say this. We're just short of grain, while they lack everything."

"That's right, not counting the refugee vanguard, it's said that forty thousand of the Jing King died on the desert by the sea. I heard their equipment wasn't bad, that's enough to make one feel heartbroken for a while. This number actually shows that the Cui family still isn't desperate enough!" After saying that, Lu Tong's face turned solemn again: "Do you support the Northern Border Army marching south to fight war to end war?"

Xie Yuan sighed, fell silent for a moment: "Sooner or later this day will come; without destruction there is no establishment."

After the King finished shouting his harsh words, he summoned Zhu Ti to start inventorying all his property.

If they really need to march south, he'll have nothing in his hands. Given the drought in the south, even if he shamelessly goes to seize grain, could he really get any?

Zhu Ti pulled out all the silver from the Ministry of Commerce's surplus and the money shops, totaling exactly five million taels; the King's private treasury still had another 2.6 million taels, most of which came from silver and copper mine output, adding up to exactly seven million taels, which the King then all at once recharged into ingots.

He plans to use these to purchase a batch of armor and weapons, and spend the rest entirely on grain.

Zhu Ti even withdrew the silver from the money shops, leaving his hands almost clean; after a quick calculation, he said, "If our granary's reserve grain and grass were to supply the 40,000 Xuanjia cavalry of Youzhou, it would last at most… about two months."

The King picked at his fingers, "Without fighting, just marching, we wouldn't even make it to the farthest Hanshou before running out of food!"

Zhu Ti: "…So poor it's heartbreaking."

The king had swept through all the neighboring villages, and he truly had no idea where else he could go to beg.

He even had the armor and weapons of the forty thousand soldiers of Jing Wang who died in battle stripped and melted down into farming tools, swearing that his aim to become an agricultural strong nation would not change.

Zhu Ti left, and the king summoned the chief steward of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

"Have you finished the batch of ritual vessels I ordered you to make newly?"

The Internal Affairs Bureau was a bit bewildered; it's still far from the New Year, why are they urging us already? Large ritual vessels normally take years to make, and they've already added many hands.

He honestly replied to the king, "Only eight pieces are done." The king didn't mind the eight, and ordered them to be taken immediately to the Mingguang Hall for him to look at when he has time.

The Internal Affairs Bureau, completely confused, sent them ahead; the king waved his hand, and the ritual vessel set was added to his stall's small bundle.

I don't know what the officials will feel when they see the bare warehouse during this year's New Year heavenly sacrifice.

The king, carrying the newly released product, rushed ahead to the manor, first buying twenty thousand sets of armor and weapons from John Pu, then going to Baiyang to place a large grain order.

With seven million silver from in-game purchases plus his original ingot balance, the king's account flow had never been so rich. He set aside a portion to spend with Qiao Yi, and planned to use the rest to buy grain and store it in Taotie's pocket in preparation for the coming chaos.

Baiyang heard he intended to buy grain worth one million ingots continuously, his hand trembled—over a hundred million!

"Your Majesty, are you going to have this delivered to me?!"

The king still didn't understand, and asked where it was to be sent.

"The prison! Even with my supermarket, I couldn't possibly buy a hundred million worth of grain all at once; I've been setting aside a proportion from the shipments for you, but buying a hundred million of stale grain at once would definitely draw attention—listen, let's take it slow!"

"Then how much can you give me at once?"

"I've recently stockpiled sixteen tons to give you first, and thereafter I can give you six tons each week."

The king tapped his fingers, thinking it a bit slow but not insignificant; he now couldn't buy grain anywhere in Da Jin.

Baiyang first delivered sixteen tons of rice to him, and the king paid.

When asked why he was so lavish in spending huge sums on grain, the king explained the situation: "…I don't know which day I'll have to head south. Da Jin's territory is not small; just the army's consumption while on the march could drain resources, utterly ruining the already meager economy of the northern borders."

Baiyang, upon hearing this, became excited: "Here we come, here we come—is the showdown of the world's chosen one about to begin?!"

He shifted the topic: "Just eating rice—how much would that cost? Just spending manpower and material to transport grain, in ancient wars the supply corps would eat up half on the road, which is utterly speechless. Listen to me: without oil and water you'll starve fast; you need to stockpile protein and fat! Doesn't your armory still make compressed biscuits? Buy some meat and oil, process them yourself—you have plenty of people, and buying a variety spreads the target small; my supermarket has channels for all that food."

Beef was too expensive, so the king reallocated another hundred thousand ingots to order pork and lard, and also bought some of the inexpensive foods Baiyang recommended—such as the main ingredients for energy bars, both finished and semi-finished—spending another hundred thousand.

After leaving Baiyang's, the king went to Qiao Yi to order a batch of elixirs, and the huge sums quickly found their purpose.

Having scattered money around, even the money shops had been tapped, the king diligently set up his stall to fill the gaps, his first item being a silver-and-gold inlaid chi dragon pattern mother-of-pearl encrusted square copper table.

His brother Qiao almost had his eyes dazzled by the flash: "Here we come, here we come—another imperial ritual vessel?!"

The king gazed heavenward, worried: "For this year's New Year heavenly sacrifice, we can only bring out the dining tables of the Suiyu Hall to use!"

Qiao Yi laughed uncontrollably: "…With such perfunctory offerings, heaven will hardly protect you!"

The king feigned ignorance: "It's fine, I have a dragon."

Qiao Yi: ……

Isn't it a dragon you have no idea about?!