"Are all the winter clothes you give out like this?"
The two guards looked at each other and nodded. [0↑ 9 △ Small ↓ Say △ Net]
"Basically, it's like this. Our brothers all feel that it's a bit thin, but we feel that the northerners also wear so thin. We are embarrassed to ask for thicker ones, lest the northerners look down on us."
The soldier spoke without much thought and didn't notice that Xiao Ruxun was also a northerner. However, Xiao Ruxun didn't care. He just nodded and let the two of them leave. Then, Xiao Ruxun brought a few guards to the military warehouse, where the spare winter clothes were stored. These few days, supplies from Pyongyang had been continuously arriving at Kaesong. The military supplies of the Ming Army were almost all here. They were on the brink of war.
The quartermaster saw Xiao Ruxun coming over with a black face and didn't know what happened. He quickly came over and was about to greet Xiao Ruxun, but he was pushed away by Xiao Ruxun. Xiao Ruxun went straight to the place where the winter clothes were stored. He picked up a set of winter clothes and weighed it in his hand. His face became even darker. He tore it open, and a thin layer of cotton and some reed stuffing fell out.
"Is the amount of cotton stuffing in the army's winter clothes only this much?"
Xiao Ruxun pointed at the small amount of cotton scattered on the ground and looked coldly at the quartermaster. The quartermaster immediately knelt down and said, "I deserve to die! I deserve to die! But Admiral, this … this has always been the case for the winter clothes! Although the imperial court has a fixed amount, the winter clothes that were distributed have never been sufficient. It's already not bad to have 80% of the winter clothes! I … I can't do anything about it! "
Xiao Ruxun looked at the torn winter clothes as if he could see the Daming Dynasty that was about to be emptied through the winter clothes. [0↑ 9 △ Small ↓ Say △ Net]
Strong on the outside but weak on the inside. This was enough to describe the current Daming Dynasty, right?
Who emptied the Daming Dynasty? Who asked the Daming Dynasty to have no money? Who asked the Daming Dynasty's farmers to not have enough to eat? Who asked the soldiers of the Daming Dynasty to be unable to wear thick cotton clothes? Who asked the soldiers of the Daming Dynasty to be unable to use superior muskets?
"Get up. I won't kill you. Do what you need to do. Also, give the Southern Army another set of winter clothes. Now!"
Xiao Ruxun turned around and left, leaving behind a dumbfounded Quartermaster who was kneeling on the ground in fear.
The war was about to start. As a general outside the system, he couldn't solve this kind of problem. At least, he couldn't solve it now. But one day, when he had the power of life and death, he would make every single one of them pay the price.
Xiao Ruxun gritted his teeth and looked to the west, then turned his cold gaze to the Japanese pirates on the east bank of the Imjin River.
On the night of the 27th of November, Xiao Ruxun received an urgent secret report from the Imperial Bodyguard. An Imperial Bodyguard sent a small flag under the cover of the night and told Xiao Ruxun that it was the Emperor's handwriting.
Xiao Ruxun quickly took it and opened it. He only saw a small piece of paper. On it was written: I know of your loyalty, but there is too much resistance in the court. The navy spends more to go to war, and the national treasury can't afford it. I don't know if there are any other strategies.
After reading it, Xiao Ruxun knew that the civil officials were threatening the Emperor to use the treasury's money to supplement the country's expenses. Feeling helpless, he decided to use his trump card — Sado Island and Ishikami Ginzan.
These two places were world-famous. Sado was famous for its gold, and Shimane, where Ishikami Ginzan was, was naturally famous for its silver. Most of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's military expenses for attacking Korea came from Ishikami Ginzan. It was because of this silver mountain that could produce millions of liang of silver a year that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had the confidence to declare war on Korea.
And Sado Island was not famous at this time. Speaking of which, it would be almost 10 years before a large-scale gold mine was discovered. Right now, there was only a little silver mine, but the annual production of 400 kilograms of gold was not a small amount. Not to mention the long mining time, which would take hundreds of years to dry up. For the Wanli Emperor, who was crazy about money, wasn't this a fatal temptation?
Defeat Japan and force them to cede Sado Island and Shimane as the Daming's colonies. On one hand, they would station troops to deter Japan, and on the other, they would mine gold and silver. They would use external incentives to ensure the Daming's ability to sail on the sea and ensure the Daming's ability to transport goods. This would lay the foundation for expanding further in the future.
Didn't the civil officials like to say that there was no benefit in fighting these small countries? I'll show you the benefits now. As long as there are enough benefits, what reason will these bastards have to stop the navy from sending out troops? Do the navy's military expenses need a million taels of silver and eight thousand taels of gold a year? Not to mention the manpower and resources that the Daming had mobilized. They might be able to mine even more, instantly filling the Emperor's pockets.
The Emperor paid to support the navy's attack. What they conquered would naturally be the Emperor's. How could the scholars who occupied the peak of morality have the nerve to fight with the Emperor for food? Do you believe that Zhu Yijun will come down and greet you with a heavy flogging?
Xiao Ruxun asked the Imperial Bodyguard flag to wait for a moment. Then he picked up his brush and wrote down the large amount of gold and silver production and mines on Sado Mountain and Shikami Silver Mountain. Xiao Ruxun believed that the Emperor could not help but be tempted.
"Please hand this to His Majesty as soon as possible. His Majesty must personally open and read it. No one else is allowed to read it. This is top secret."
Xiao Ruxun very solemnly handed the information to the Imperial Bodyguard flag. The flag nodded and quickly disappeared into the night.
Not long after the flag left, Xiao Ruxun received a report from the guards that the Linjin River had started to freeze. The water had stopped flowing and a thin layer of ice had formed. Xiao Ruxun was overjoyed and immediately rushed to the Linjin River. He stretched out his hand to feel the layer of ice on the surface of the river, feeling the temperature and thickness of the ice. Then he gave the order to immediately dispatch cannoneers to set up an artillery base here under the cover of night.
That night, the artillery camp dispatched two hundred cannons to set up an artillery base here. Then, they dispatched three thousand sword and shield bearers, one thousand crossbowmen, and one thousand musketeers to prepare for battle.
If he could discover that the river had frozen, so could the Japanese pirates. In order to prevent the Japanese pirates from shooting at the ice, Xiao Ruxun planned to use the cannons to wipe out the Japanese pirates on the other side of the river. Then, he would lead the army to cross the river safely.
The person in charge of guarding the Linjin River was Shimazu Yoshihiro. He didn't know the power of the Ming Army's cannons. Those who knew were all dead. Although some people escaped and said that the Ming Army's cannons were powerful, it wasn't enough to attract the attention of the Japanese central government. Li Rusong relied on his cavalry and bravery to defeat them. Naturally, they were afraid of Li Rusong's cavalry. However, they had the protection of the river. The Ming Army didn't have ferries, so they couldn't cross the river.
Xiao Ruxun was also depressed. Liu Chenglong had tried his best to collect ferries, but he only managed to find twenty or so sampans. The rest of the ships were either destroyed in the previous battle or burned by the Wokou pirates. They couldn't possibly let the soldiers rely on these twenty or so sampans to cross the river, right? How long would it take to transport the forty thousand soldiers across?
The only way was to wait for the river to freeze and then everyone would cross together.
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