"Borrow rations?"
In Ze Tian Hall, several important officials of the empire stood on the left and right while Lin Muyu and Tang Xiaoxi stood together in the center aisle, looking up at Qin Yin on the throne.
Tang Lan seemed to be the most sensitive about borrowing rations. After all, he was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue.
"What's wrong, Duke Lan?" Qin Yin was surprised. "Can't the empire even provide three million catties of rations?"
"Your Highness …" Tang Lan looked troubled.
"After Your Highness ascended the throne, you pardoned the world and reduced taxes by half. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue's funds and rations are very tight. Three million catties of rations may not seem much, but … Your Highness might not know this. A soldier's rations are about two catties a day, and the rations of ten thousand soldiers are twenty thousand catties a day. The empire has a total of two hundred thousand soldiers stationed around the empire, and we have to provide four hundred thousand catties of rations to these troops every day. We are already tight on rations, and if we give it to the demons, I'm afraid …"
Tang Xiaoxi bit her red lips and said, "But these three million catties of rations are too important to the demons. It can even save a hundred thousand demon casualties …"
Lin Muyu interceded, "Duke Lan, you are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. If you squeeze a little, you should be able to gather three million catties of rations, right? If you really can't, we can always buy it with money. "
Tang Lan cupped his fists and said, "Commander Yu might not know this, but Lanyan City's harvest today isn't too good. Moreover … to transport rations from Lanyan City to the Forest of Infinity, war chariots can't be used in the forest, so we can only rely on commoners to carry them. With the commoners' speed, it will take at least fifteen days to reach the Forest of Infinity. They have to eat one catty of rations a day, which means fifteen catties of rations in fifteen days, and thirty catties for a round trip … A commoner can only carry sixty catties at most, so transporting rations to the demons isn't three million catties, but six million catties!"
Tang Xiaoxi's pretty face darkened. "But Grandpa …"
Tang Lan looked at Tang Xiaoxi, the granddaughter he doted on the most, and his gaze couldn't help but soften. "But Xiao Xi, don't worry, Grandfather will think of a way for you. For these six million catties … the national treasury will provide two million catties, and Grandfather will help you gather the remaining four million catties. Don't worry, the first batch of grain will be on the road tomorrow."
As she spoke, Tang Lan looked at Qin Yin respectfully and said, "Your Highness, I wonder if this is appropriate?"
Qin Yin nodded and smiled. "The Monster Race is our vassal nation. We should help them. As long as we can save the Monster Race, anything is fine. Thank you, Master Lan, for putting in so much effort for the nation."
Tang Lan: "Thank you, Your Highness, for understanding this old subject. Oh right …"
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes."
Tang Lan cupped her fists and said, "Recently, the Longdan Army Camp seems to have built quite a number of camps at the edge of the forest north of Lanyan City. When this old subject's men patrolled the city, they saw many people who didn't belong to the Imperial Army holding weapons and wearing armor, practicing fighting tactics. There were quite a number of them, at least thirty thousand. Moreover, the North Ridge Mercenary Corps seemed to be there as well. Does Your Highness know about this?"
Qin Yin was taken aback. "I know … Those are the reserve forces of the Longdan Army Camp."
"But Your Highness." Tang Lan raised her head and said, "The Empire's military law strictly stipulates the number of people in each legion. Once someone privately recruits soldiers, it will be seen as a rebellion. Your Highness, please investigate this."
"If that's the case …" Qin Yin stood up slowly, her eyes full of smiles. "The Longdan Army Camp Commander Lin Muyu has made great contributions in saving the nation. The Longdan Army Camp has defeated the Demon Race and Yihe Nation's armies on the Qinling Mountains, greatly raising the nation's prestige. Immediately draft a decree to expand the Longdan Army Camp to an upper limit of fifty thousand people. This is in line with the will of heaven and the will of the people. I believe Master Lan and Grandfather will not have any objections, right?"
Tang Lan was taken aback.
Su Muyun bowed calmly but didn't say anything.
On the other hand, a few generals of the Su Family showed indignant expressions. One of them was Su Long, the commander of the Steel Blade Army of Muyu City. He cupped his fists and said, "Your Highness, the Empire is currently experiencing a disaster of food shortage. It doesn't seem right to expand the army when the people don't have enough to eat. I hope Your Highness can consider the people."
"Is that so?" Qin Yin looked at Su Long and said, "Master Lan, Grandfather, actually Xiao Yin has a decision. I plan to reduce the salaries of all the officials of the Empire by twenty percent from next month onwards. This money will be used to encourage farming, planting, and other businesses. What do you think?"
Su Muyun bowed and said, "I support Your Highness' decision. I'm just worried that those officials who are used to living a good life will not be convinced."
"It's okay. They will be convinced."
Qin Yin smiled and said, "Draft an imperial decree. When the Empire is in danger, all the officials' salaries will be reduced by twenty percent. In addition, the Ministry of War will provide all the weapons, food, and horses needed for the expansion of the Longdan Army Camp. Do not neglect them."
Everyone cupped their fists and said, "Yes, Your Highness!"
At the side, the Minister of War, Xue Ling, looked at Lin Muyu with a smile and said, "Congratulations, Commander Yu. You have finally been promoted from a Battalion Commander to a Corps Commander."
According to the Empire's military system, an army with less than twenty thousand people could only be considered a Battalion. An army with more than twenty thousand people could be called a Corps. There was no upper limit to the number of people in a Corps. The prestige and authority of a Corps Commander was obviously much higher than that of a Battalion Commander. The biggest beneficiary of the expansion of the Longdan Army Camp was undoubtedly Lin Muyu. Currently, he was an indispensable existence in the Empire's army.
"Thank you, Sir Xue Ling." Lin Muyu smiled humbly and said, "In the future, we will still have to rely on Sir Xue Ling to take care of the Longdan Army Camp. Otherwise, we will not be able to provide food and weapons. This number of people will be useless."
Xue Ling laughed and said, "Don't worry, Commander Yu. This is a decree personally issued by His Highness. I will definitely take care of it personally. I will not let the Longdan Army Camp be neglected in terms of military supplies."
"En, thank you."
…
In the afternoon, a hundred carriages full of food left Lanyan City for the Demon Subduing Pass. Tang Lan valued Tang Xiaoxi's affairs very much. This efficiency was really admirable. According to Tang Xiaoxi's order, after this batch of food arrived at the Demon Subduing Pass, the Guardian Army of Tang Town would send it to the Forest of Infinity. The Demon Tribe in the Forest of Infinity would also send people to receive it. In this way, the rations and manpower of the people could be saved. It was not as terrible as Tang Xiaoxi described.
However, it seemed that Tang Xiaoxi still could not forgive Tang Lan. She only promised him to go back to the Duke's Mansion for dinner at night. In the afternoon, she still followed Lin Muyu with dozens of guards.
In the afternoon, Lin Muyu's task was to check the newly built Longdan Army Camp. In fact, he was very worried. Although Situ Sen used to be a senior imperial general, he had been a big hooligan for four years after all. His way of doing things had gradually changed. He was not like Wei Chou, Fengxi, and the others who scrupulously abided by their duties.
As expected, the newly built Longdan Army Camp outside the northern part of the city was very chaotic.
Lin Muyu led a thousand-man Longdan Army Camp heavy cavalry into the camp slowly. On both sides of the camp were tents that were randomly set up, and the mud on the ground had not been filled up. In the wilderness, many Heaven Execution Society disciples from the slums were fighting over the few pieces of armor and emblems of the Longdan Army Camp. All of them were red in the face from arguing. On the other side, there was a bard sitting in the mud playing the horse-head zither. A group of recruits from the Longdan Army Camp surrounded him and cheered. Further away, there were a few burly recruits wrestling. Some even started a bet.
Tang Xiaoxi looked around with her bright eyes and couldn't help but laugh. "I say, Commander Mu, your recruits from the Longdan Army Camp look really good … I really don't know how you are going to train them in the future …"
Lin Muyu's face was ashen. "Damn … I'm so angry! Someone, where's Situ Sen? Get him here! "
"Yes, Commander!"
In the chaotic crowd, Situ Sen rode over on his horse. He wore a Captaincy rank with two gold stars on his neck. He was wearing a fiery red general robe of the Longdan Army Camp. He cupped his fists respectfully and said, "Greetings, Commander!"
"Situ Sen."
Lin Muyu pointed at the group of people in the camp and said, "Are these … the recruits you brought me? You used to be a general of the empire. Is there anyone who leads troops like you? "
Situ Sen said solemnly, "Commander, you don't know that these people were originally ruffians. It's not easy to train them into real soldiers of the empire. It can't be done in a day or two. Since they can't adapt to the barracks life for the time being, and there are no concubines in the Longdan Army Camp, I have allowed them to go to the Flower Restaurant in Lanyan City twice a week. If conditions permit, they can have a concubine, but they can't bring her into the barracks. They are allowed to fight once every three days, but they can't be killed. They are allowed to pick their nostrils during combat training, but not more than three times a day."
Lin Muyu was so angry that she almost fainted. "Situ Sen, you … you treat my Longdan Army Camp as a cattle farm …"
Wei Chou also said, "Situ Sen, is there anyone who leads troops like you?"
Situ Sen immediately glared at him and said, "Wei Chou, don't think that you're great just because you're the deputy commander. Let me tell you, I, Situ Sen, can defeat you within three moves with 50% of my strength. The commander can scold me, Situ Sen, but you, Wei Chou, don't have the right to do so!"
Wei Chou almost died of anger.
Lin Muyu narrowed her eyes and asked, "General Situ Sen, are you really going to lead troops like this? Can such a Longdan Army Camp really fight against the demons? I'm very worried … "
Situ Sen cupped his fists respectfully and smiled. His eyes were full of deep meaning. He said, "Commander, if you trust me, Situ Sen, then give me the full authority to train the new soldiers. Don't worry … Once we really fight against the demons, I can guarantee that these grandsons will immediately forget about the prostitutes in the brothel. They will carry their weapons and risk their lives to fight against the demons with us!"
"Yes."
Lin Muyu nodded approvingly and said with a smile, "Perhaps, only blood can let them know what war is like. There will be such an opportunity."
Situ Sen nodded. "Commander, further north is the camp of Ah Xue's Third Corps. North Ridge Mercenary Group will definitely satisfy you."
"Yes, let's go."
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