Chapter 481

In the Administrative Hall of Western Jin, the Prince of Jin sat at the head of the table with an expressionless face, staring at the image of the Northern Border in the hall. Standing beside the map projection was not the Right Chancellor, but the Prince of Ying.

The Prince of Ying, dusty and haggard, said, "In the Battle of Lesu Valley, the New Army of 40,000 against 20,000 of the Liao tribe was a minor victory; we killed 10,000 of the enemy and lost 10,000 of our own. In the Battle of Tatu River, the New Army of 35,000 against 15,000 Liao cavalry was a great victory; we killed 10,000 of the enemy and lost 7,000 of our own."

The Right Chancellor then said, "Using infantry to control cavalry and achieving comparable casualties—the strength of the New Army is no longer inferior to the Nine Armies of Great Tang; it is truly the premier border army of our Great Jin. This old official has heard that the New Army's training is extremely rapid; no wonder the national fortune of our Great Jin has been flourishing recently."

At this moment, a mocking voice suddenly sounded from the side: "The national fortune of our Great Jin has clearly been tinged with black recently, with turbid Qi filling the sky, signaling a major disaster. Having served as an official for many years, it seems the Right Chancellor cannot avoid the chronic illness of reporting only good news and not the bad. Does the Right Chancellor want to have this old man's head?"

This time, the Rain Kingdom invaded on a large scale, and the importance of cement finally improved. A disciple of the Tiangong Hall was specifically responsible for this matter, and more than a dozen Dao Foundation cultivators were assigned as assistants, and finally, there was a breakthrough, but the performance of the prepared cement was very average. Yu Yu Zhizhuo judged based on experience and the Dharma Form bird that this problem should be the same as gunpowder, belonging to the problem of the formula material ratio.

This old man is the newly appointed Supervisor of the Imperial Observatory; it is said he is a genius the Prince of Jin sought out from who knows where. His techniques for altering Feng Shui and observing the heavens to discern fortune are quite terrifying, and the Prince of Jin follows his every word.

This person's influence is too great, and the Right Chancellor did not want to provoke him, so he said, "This old official was merely speaking on the matter at hand."

The Prince of Jin then asked, "Does the New Army still have any flaws?"

The Prince of Ying sighed, "The New Army's training is very easy, and it does not have high requirements for Body Forging. However, the New Army's equipment consumption is enormous; the cost to fully equip one New Army soldier could fully equip an elite cavalryman. Moreover, the New Army moves slowly and requires strict formation during battle; once the enemy charges and disrupts the formation, it is a disaster. In the two great battles against the Liao tribe, most of our casualties occurred after the enemy cavalry disrupted our formations. But the primary problem still lies in the equipment."

"To turn the tide of the northern war, we need to organize and train another 100,000 New Army soldiers, with military expenditures of exactly 5 million taels of immortal silver."

After the Prince of Ying finished speaking, he returned to his seat and sat down.

The Prince of Jin slowly said, "Recently, the Dingxi Military Governor Wei Yuan stated that the Shaman tribe is invading on a large scale, mobilizing over a million troops, and is requesting reinforcements. How should this matter be handled?"

The officials suddenly fell silent, and not a single person spoke.

The Prince of Jin frowned slightly and said, "Does the Yunxiang Military Governor have a reply?"

The Minister of War said, "Lord Lu said that Eastern Jin and Northern Qi have been moving frequently recently, and coupled with the fact that the troops previously transferred to the Northern Border have not yet returned, military strength is tight and it is difficult to mobilize. Moreover, the military funds within the territory have been exhausted and provisions are empty; if troops are to be mobilized, the imperial court must supplement the military pay and provisions first."

The Prince of Jin's expression turned somewhat ugly, and he turned to ask the Prince of Cheng, who was sitting on the other side, "What solution does the Prince of Cheng have?"

The Prince of Cheng said slowly, "Over the past month, the Liao tribe has launched a large-scale offensive, and we have been retreating all the way, having already withdrawn over 400 li. At this time, the military strength in the Northern Border is already insufficient, and rashly mobilizing the border army will likely cause the entire Northern Border to collapse. If the Western Regions are truly in crisis, then it would be better for this Prince to make a trip and meet with the You Wu."

The Prince of Jin's expression cleared slightly, and he said, "What movements do the Xu family and Lu family have?"

"The Xu family is holding their position, and the Lu family is still fighting fiercely in the north; they should have no remaining strength."

The Prince of Jin gave a heavy snort, his dissatisfaction evident, while the Minister of Revenue, Xu Gong, acted as if he didn't see it, lowering his head and remaining silent.

The Prince of Jin said, "All of you may disperse; Prince of Ying, follow me."

A moment later, the Prince of Ying followed the Prince of Jin into the study. The Prince of Jin said, "How is it that the New Army we are training is so much worse than the Azure Void's?"

The Prince of Ying said, "I have also been pondering this matter; there are parts that can be solved, and parts that cannot."

The Prince of Ying took a black box out of his storage magic treasure and opened it in front of the Prince of Jin. Inside the box was a breastplate, a muzzle-loading firearm, and several rounds of ammunition.

"The solvable part lies in the equipment. These are the military weapons used by the elite Azure Void infantry. The breastplate's protection is comparable, but the Azure Void armor is five jin lighter than ours. For the same style of firearm, the quality of our craftsmen's imitations is uneven; I have checked, and only about one in ten has a quality comparable to the Azure Void's. Finally, there is the ammunition; the power of our gunpowder is clearly weaker than the Azure Void's, and furthermore, the power varies from time to time. Added to the fact that the guns are not up to standard, after two battles, every battle saw about a thousand firearms explode, and three or four thousand firearms could not have ammunition inserted after firing one shot, leaving them with no choice but to draw their blades and fight the Liao cavalry to the death."

"How can it be so much worse?" The Prince of Jin was displeased.

"Our craftsmen are not yet skilled."

"Nonsense! Our craftsmen are not skilled, so Wei Yuan has skilled craftsmen there?! How long has his Azure Void been established?"

The Prince of Ying said, "I heard that many people from the Tiangong Hall of the Taichu Palace went there, and Yu Yu Zhizhuo, who is regarded as the next Hall Master, also went over. Perhaps the gap lies here."

The Prince of Jin snorted, picked up the firearm produced by the Azure Void, and examined it carefully for a long time before suddenly saying, "You say, could it be that among all those military supply officers in the Azure Void, there really isn't anyone greedy for silver? Those craftsmen who handle the materials don't hide a little for themselves?"

The Prince of Ying gave a bitter smile and said, "I have also thought about this question, but looking solely at the quality of the military weapons, I fear that the people who handled them really weren't greedy. This is the part I don't understand."

The Prince of Jin was silent for a long time before saying, "I don't envy him for having so many incredible military weapons; I only envy him for having so many officials who aren't greedy for money!"

The Prince of Ying gave a long sigh and said, "When the ancestors first established the capital here, at that time, the civil officials were not greedy for money, and the military officials did not cherish their lives. When Minister Liu passed away, the family property and farmland he left behind totaled no more than a thousand taels of immortal silver. Now..."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Regarding the Western Regions, can we still send some troops over?"

"It is truly impossible to mobilize even a single soldier. We can only let the Xu family send troops."

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The Prince of Jin sneered, "The Xu family is dying for Wei Yuan to die; how could they send troops?"

The Prince of Ying suddenly said, "I heard that Wei Yuan has already prohibited the transport of grain out in order to prepare for war. Although there isn't much immortal silver in the national treasury now, there is still a surplus of newly harvested grain; why not take some out and sell it in the Xu family's territory?"

The Prince of Jin pondered for a moment, a flash of light in his eyes, and said, "Just as you say!"

A huge flying boat streaked across the sky; it was fully 150 zhang long and extremely luxurious.

In the main cabin of the flying boat, Wei Wei Boyang suddenly opened his eyes, summoned a follower, and asked, "Where have we reached?"

"In three more days, we will enter Zhao Guo."

Wei Wei Boyang calculated the time and instructed, "Activate the concealment formation, increase the altitude, and do not let those below discover us. When we enter the territory of Zhao Guo, remove the concealment formation, lower the altitude to 100 zhang, slow down the speed, play music and beat drums, and then fly according to this route."

A flight route map appeared in front of the follower; this map was winding and twisted, passing through almost all the major cities of Zhao Guo, and naturally, it had to pass over the Royal Capital as well.

The follower was startled and asked, "The Royal Capital of Zhao Guo prohibits flight; should we bypass it?"

Wei Wei Boyang gave a cold sneer and said, "What is there to fear? We are currently sitting on the Regent's flagship, and it bears the Emperor's emblem! As long as Li Li Shenji dares to shoot an arrow, then the history books will surely leave behind the infamy of a treacherous official!"

"We will pass right over the Royal Palace; I want to see if Li Li Shenji dares to shoot the boat down, if he dares to kill me!"

(End of chapter)