Chapter 367: Each Taking What They Need

Thang Long City.

"Ministry of Revenue, how much longer until the money and grain are fully raised?"

With the date of sending troops approaching, Hu Xinbo paid more and more attention to the issue of money and grain.

Unlike previous external expeditions, where one could just send out an army.

Facing a behemoth like the Great Dayu, one must exhaust all efforts.

"Your Majesty, as of now, the Ministry of Revenue has raised one million dan of grain, one million five hundred thousand taels of silver, two hundred thousand bolts of cloth, salt..."

Before Ruan Xinjie could finish, Hu Xinbo's face changed.

The amount raised seemed not small, but it was still far from the number he expected.

Logically speaking, the Great Yue Dynasty had enjoyed favorable weather for decades, so the national treasury should have some savings.

It was just that the previous emperor liked external expansion and launched external wars every few days.

Even if it was bullying indigenous tribes, the consumption of money and grain was not small.

The territory area had expanded by a circle, but the newly added national territory was mostly undeveloped areas.

The taxes collected were not enough to cover administrative expenses.

From a rational point of view, what they needed most now was to organize immigration to develop these new territories, rather than starting a war with the Great Dayu Dynasty.

"The efficiency is too slow!"

"The Dayu people next door can raise two million four hundred thousand taels of silver just in the Two Guangs region; could it be that my Great Yue Imperial Dynasty cannot even compare to their two provinces?"

Hu Xinbo reprimanded sternly.

From the moment the major war broke out, they had strengthened their intelligence gathering on the Great Dayu, especially intelligence on the Two Guangs region.

Li Mu raising military pay in the Two Guangs region was originally public, so obtaining intelligence was not difficult.

With comparison, there was hurt.

No matter what, Hu Xinbo could not accept that the Great Yue Empire could not compare to the two provinces of its neighbor next door.

"Your Majesty, our situation is different from the Great Dayu's.

Since the rise of overseas trade, the Great Dayu has been a trade black hole, and all the silver in the world is pouring into the Great Dayu.

When it comes to private silver reserves, I am afraid that any province of the Great Dayu has more than ours.

However, we also have our own advantages; domestic prices are much lower than the Great Dayu's.

With the same silver, we can purchase more supplies."

Ruan Xinjie explained hurriedly.

Comparing financial strength with the Great Dayu was purely asking for humiliation.

The Great Dayu court was poor because its own system was rigid and its tax system had gone astray, unable to mobilize private wealth.

After delegating power to local Viceroys, without excessive levies and without touching the core interests of the scholar-officials, they still raised enough military pay for suppressing the rebellion.

If a thorough tax reform were carried out and the taxes that should be collected were collected, the Great Dayu court's fiscal revenue would definitely exceed the two Songs.

A solid foundation was not something their vassal state could touch.

"Hmph!"

With an indignant cold snort, Hu Xinbo helplessly accepted reality.

Looking at any place in the world, the Great Yue Imperial Dynasty could be considered a major power, except in front of the Great Dayu.

This kind of geopolitics became their nightmare.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

"No matter how powerful the Great Dayu is, that is all a thing of the past.

The Great Dayu, with its constant internal strife, has long been plagued by internal and external troubles and could collapse at any time.

The Dayu Emperor is still arrogant and conceited, daring to provoke the powerful Great Yue Imperial Dynasty; it is purely seeking his own destruction.

Once we march north and annex the Two Guangs, we will definitely be able to make the Yongning Emperor bow his head and pay tribute!"

Minister of Rites Ruan Yixiu immediately spoke to persuade.

As a confidant of the new emperor, he did not know how to solve the problem, but the emotional value had to be pulled to the max.

Making the emperor happy made everyone's life easier.

"Ministry of War, don't tell me that you are not prepared either?"

After his emotions calmed down, Hu Xinbo turned and asked.

It was normal that the money and grain issue was not easy to solve; any dynasty that had been established for more than a hundred years would find that money was not enough to use.

The constantly bloated bureaucratic system was the biggest gold-swallowing beast, and no matter how much money there was, it could be swallowed up.

The army was different; the Great Yue had not "put horses to pasture on the southern mountains," and during the late emperor's era, they had annihilated countless countries.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the three hundred thousand-strong army is already prepared, but there is a serious shortage of weapons.

Many weapons were forged decades ago and need to be replaced.

Especially the quantity of armor, the shortage is even more serious.

The Ministry of War has issued a document urging the Ministry of Works to rush the production of weapons as soon as possible; the specific progress should be asked of the Ministry of Works."

Minister of War Chen Chuyang immediately played the game of shifting the blame.

The number of three hundred thousand troops was gathered, but how many were just making up the numbers, no one knew.

Eating empty military pay was not unique to the Great Dayu Dynasty.

In the face of interests, bureaucrats of all countries were the same.

Following the example of their big brother, their military household system had developed to the present and was also on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, there was a shortage of everything in this world, except for people.

Recruiting some strong men from the civilian population could quickly fill the quota.

As for how much combat effectiveness these new recruits had, that was not something the officials cared about.

Anyway, the main force on the battlefield was always those few elite troops.

Whether they could win depended mainly on the decisive battle between the main forces of both sides; other troops were just following along to fight a smooth battle.

"Ministry of Works!"

Hearing the emperor call his name, Minister of Works Tai Mochuan immediately stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, all weapons are being rushed into production.

However, there are too many weapons that need to be replaced, and many weapons that should have been replaced long ago were not replaced in time, which increased our workload.

The Great Dayu is different from the enemies we have encountered before.

Considering that the Northern Expedition requires sieges, we specially rushed to produce a batch of large-caliber cannons.

Now the workload below is too heavy, the craftsmen are a bit too busy to handle it, and the supply of raw materials has also encountered trouble.

The Ministry of Works can only prioritize the production of essential weapons first, and without affecting the army's combat effectiveness, the others will be supplemented later."

The twisty answer made Hu Xinbo very satisfied.

That is exactly the attitude I wanted.

It didn't matter if there were difficulties, as long as they found a way to solve them.

What he hated most was that whenever there was a difficulty below, they pushed the problem to him, the emperor.

However, as the protagonist, Tai Mochuan was secretly suffering.

In the past, when bullying indigenous people, whatever weapons were forged, they were all crushing advantages.

The funding for researching and developing firearms had long been embezzled by the Ministry of Works.

The funding for daily construction of weapons was also frequently deducted, and firearm explosions were the norm.

When supporting the White Lotus Sect rebel army earlier, after they purchased a few batches of firearms, they didn't want them anymore.

Now that the enemy had changed to the Great Dayu, there was no such good thing.

If the gap in weapons between the two sides was too large and the truth was revealed on the battlefield, it would be very fatal.

Of course, this was not the most fatal thing.

The gap in quality could be excused, as the emperor did not know the specific situation.

Not being able to complete the quantity was the real difficulty in explaining.

In the era of pure manual forging, apart from the Great Dayu Dynasty, whose military industrial production capacity could make up for the equipment shortage of nearly two hundred thousand people in just a few months!

It was just that the emperor was not a reasonable creature; once the task was assigned, it had to be completed.

After a brief hesitation, Tai Mochuan made a decision that followed his heart.

Soldiers, as long as they had weapons in their hands, it was fine; as for what they were holding, it didn't matter.

Gather the equipment for the main force, and as for other troops, whether they were holding long spears or big swords, they could all go to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

Anyway, when it came to making money, everyone had a share, and the Ministry of War could only help them cover it up.

……

Office of the Provincial Military Commander.

With the start of spring plowing, the smell of gunpowder in the air also became rich.

As the actual person in charge of the Two Guangs' military and political affairs, Li Mu also became busy.

"My Lord, representatives of pirates from all over have arrived at the reception hall."

Wu Dage stepped forward to report.

Throughout the dynasties, carrying out large-scale amnesty was never an easy task.

In past amnesty cases, officials suddenly turning their faces, or thieves pretending to accept amnesty, happened from time to time.

Wanting to amnesty pirates, not only did one have to report to the emperor for approval, but one also had to solve the trust problem between the two sides.

"Serve tea and entertain them first; I will be there later."

Li Mu said slowly.

The size of pirates along the coast of the Great Dayu was as numerous as the hairs on an ox.

Those invited today were all pirate groups with a scale of over a thousand.

Among them, the strongest group even possessed hundreds of ships and over ten thousand armed subordinates.

In terms of comprehensive strength, these pirates were stronger than the court's navy.

Li Mu had previously imitated the West to build sailing warships, and their combat effectiveness was not bad, but the sailing ships were too complex to control.

The East China Sea and South China Sea had numerous islands, reefs, and changeable climates, which were simply not suitable for them to exert their power.

Using them to guard the near seas was fine, but going out to encircle and suppress pirates, the risk factor was really too high.

If force could not solve it, then one could only use political means.

With his status and position, a small matter like amnestying pirates did not require him to go out personally.

Lowering his status to meet these people was because they would be useful later.

……

"This commoner pays respects to the Marquis!"

In the hall, a group of pirates respectfully performed a kneeling kowtow ceremony.

It could be seen that the temptation of being incorporated into the system for this group of pirates was not ordinary.

"Everyone, no need for formalities!"

"I invited everyone here today mainly to discuss two things.

One is about the amnesty for everyone, and the other is about sending troops to Annan.

In my opinion, these two things can also be combined into one thing.

The Annan people do not submit to the royal transformation and have repeatedly challenged the majesty of our Great Dayu, so the Emperor has decided to send troops to Annan.

For everyone, this is the best opportunity.

I will take charge; as long as everyone here cuts off the head of one Annan soldier, the court will pardon one person.

Cutting off the heads of ten thousand Annan soldiers will pardon ten thousand people.

The heads exceeding the portion will be directly calculated as military merit, and one can obtain an official position granted by the court.

The level of the official position will determine the establishment of the soldiers under your command in the future.

Of course, as an imperial army, you certainly cannot continue to plunder, but appropriate tax collection is feasible.

How to collect specifically, after the amnesty is completed, everyone can sit down and discuss it together."

After receiving the ceremony from everyone, Li Mu directly threw out the amnesty plan.

Frankly speaking, this amnesty plan had the suspicion of borrowing a knife to kill someone.

It was just that for pirates, they were not afraid of the court setting conditions; they were afraid of the court having no requirements.

For no reason, no one would run to amnesty a group of pirates at the risk of losing their official position.

A pie falling from the sky often meant risk.

"My Lord, the court does not pay a cent of military pay, yet asks us to send troops; isn't this a bit too...?"

A man with a scarred face took the lead in questioning.

He was originally a military household of the Great Dayu, and because he could not live on, he took a group of people to sea to be pirates.

After engaging in the "profitable" industry of being a pirate, Zhu Zhongxuan's career reached its peak, and he quickly became a major pirate in the coastal area.

He knew that the profession of licking blood from the edge of a knife as a pirate was not a long-term plan.

After robbing for a few years and making enough money, he gradually developed the intention to retire.

Hearing that the famous Marquis of Hanshui intended to amnesty pirates, he suddenly became interested.

Being able to return to the court's ranks, who would want to be a pirate!

No matter how much one earned overseas, it was hard to enter the elegant hall, and after death, one could not even enter the ancestral grave.

In comparison, being an official was much more comfortable.

Not only could one sleep peacefully at night, but one could also return home in glory and become the object of envy for childhood playmates.

"Boss Zhu, you have misunderstood the situation; you are still pirates now, not the Great Dayu Dynasty's army.

Before the formal incorporation, don't mention any military pay to me.

How rich the sea is, I know very well; none of you are people who lack money.

Giving you an opportunity to send troops is because I think highly of you.

If you don't want to do it, there are plenty of people outside willing to do it.

Among those sea merchants, there is no shortage of people who want to be officials.

The Great Dayu Dynasty lacks nothing but people; a shout can pull out a team.

A mere Annan, cleaning it up won't take much effort.

Letting you do it is because you are the most professional at plundering and can clean out Annan.

I want a stable Annan; your task is to replace me in clearing out the local gentry and officials, leaving behind a clean Annan!"

Li Mu's strength startled a group of pirates.

The huge aura suppressed many people until they were almost suffocated, awakening the fear of the government in everyone's bones.

Fortunately, the momentum came fast and went fast.

After coming back to their senses, everyone became excited again.

Even setting aside the amnesty matter, plundering Annan was also very promising.

Once the imperial army sent troops, the main force of the Annan people would inevitably be attracted.

The empty Annan country in the rear was a huge fat sheep.

Letting them clean up the officials and gentry inside Annan was clearly letting them go over to make a fortune.

These pirates, besides robbing merchant ships, would occasionally rob some small countries in the Nanyang.

Attacking the Annan people, everyone had no psychological pressure.

Compared to simple robbery in the past, this action belonged to legal robbery.

The heads cut off could not only remove the wanted orders on their heads, but there was also a chance to obtain official positions.

As for the notoriety caused by slaughtering Annan, it was completely not a problem.

Li Mu, this noble with a red-rooted and seedling-straight background, needed to cherish his feathers, but they, this group of pirates, did not need to.

Even if it spread out, it was just a case of "too many debts don't weigh one down."

"My Lord, I am just a rough person; please don't hold a grudge against a small person, and don't be the same as the small one.

Isn't it just cleaning up the Annan people!

My Lord, just watch; this time I, Zhu Zhongxuan, will definitely cut off the heads of twenty thousand Annan people to apologize to you!"

After piercing the window paper, the sensible Zhu Zhongxuan immediately apologized.

Seeing this scene, the other pirate leaders were instantly annoyed.

Where was there any unruliness; it was clearly wanting to find an opportunity to get closer.

At this moment, everyone could be sure that no matter what explanation Li Mu gave, Zhu Zhongxuan would bow his head and apologize.

There was no other reason, just because Li Mu was the Marquis of Hanshui, who had the most illustrious military achievements in the Great Dayu Dynasty and was in charge of the Two Guangs.

Wanting to return to the court's camp, if one didn't hurry to hug the thigh in front of them, it would be hard to even meet once in the future.

As for the promise of cutting off Annan heads, that was simply not a problem.

Asking them, these pirates, to deal with the Annan regular army, indeed existed a certain degree of difficulty.

But Li Mu had already shown his cards, letting them clean up the officials and gentry of the Annan country; the heads of these people were also counted.

After plundering all the way, the heads would be gathered.

As a military bigwig, with Li Mu's status and position, there was absolutely no need to fool them, these pirates.

Such a money-making thing, if they didn't do it, there were plenty of people outside who wanted to do it.

As long as the news was released, letting everyone know that the rear of Annan was empty, pirates would come to visit.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 368 =====