Gentlemen, listen to the sword chant

Chapter 53 Wuyue Two States, Empire in Miniature

When Chen Ci and the princess traveled to Guangling in a carriage accompanied by fierce soldiers, as soon as they arrived at the east gate, they saw people gathered at the entrance of the city like a long dragon. There were many soldiers in the crowd. Notices were posted on both sides of the city wall, It's a conscription notice.This time, the situation in Wuyue and Yue was heating up, King Wu spent all his money, and there was no thunder and rain.In the past, King Wu also recruited soldiers, but never with such a big fanfare like this time.

With so many people stuck outside the city, they might not be able to enter the city in a short time.

Under the platform, Yu Xiong, wearing armor and a helmet, introduced the benefits of joining the army with a loud voice.

The reason why the notices were posted outside the city was because conscription was generally imposed on the peasant household class. Who would join the army if they had a living in the city?

Joining the army means bloodshed and sacrifice, and at the same time, it also means making contributions and countless honors.Since ancient times, the two righteous ways to change the class are either to study or to join the army. These two ways are to cross a single-plank bridge through the barren hills where bones are piled up, which is not easy.In peacetime, you still need a recommendation to join the army. If you don’t have any money in your pocket, you want to join the army if you want to make good connections. The barracks are even higher than private schools; but in wartime, it’s different. For example, in the Battle of Jingzhou after the Lianchi Uprising, countless poor people joined the army to serve the country, changed their class by virtue of their military exploits, and became clans.

I saw Yu Xiong shouted with righteous indignation at the top of his voice:
"Damn it, Dongying people don't talk about martial arts, they covet our Wuyue community, and they assassinate our generals repeatedly, intending to incite the flames of war."

"This group of hungry wolf cubs monopolized the arms and paper trade between Wu and Yue, and let our real gold and silver flow into the Japanese army for no reason. This is naked blood-sucking and blatantly eating our flesh. Now, These wolf cubs are full of food and drink, and they think they are amazing, so they set their sights on my Wuyue mountains and rivers, what should they do?"

"You are all men of Wuyue, born in Wuyue, living in Wuyue, the vast fertile land of Wuyue is under our feet, now these wolf cubs are staring at our land, wanting to enslave our men and take away the shame of our women, What should I do?"

"..."

Yu Xiong is worthy of being a general of the generation.

With just a few words, the people gathered in Wu Yangyang were incited, and they had a strong intention to join the army.

Chen Shi was mixed in the crowd, didn't say anything, just frowned.At this moment, Fan Chu came over and said in Chen Ci's ear that His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness, invited him. Chen Ci smiled: "Murong Tong's news is really well-informed, so you know I'm here?"

He appeased the princess and let the guards protect her, then got out of the carriage, followed Fan Chu to squeeze into the crowd, and sure enough, he saw the eldest son wearing a refined long gown in the military tent built under the tower.There are still many military officers gathered around the prince, and the conscription and filling out the list are in full swing outside the military tent.

"Meet your son."

Chen Ci made a bow.

Murong Tong smiled wryly, supported Chen Ci, and signaled him to sit down: "My lord, the situation is serious, and now the palace is facing many challenges."

After hearing the statement, I thought to myself, could it be that he came to borrow money?No matter how the Wu Palace is, it has a big family and a big business, so it is not possible to borrow money from him.

"Yes, the situation is serious."

"My son-in-law, to tell you the truth, I have something to ask you."

"Your Highness, please speak."

Then, Murong Tong began to talk about his difficulties.

After a few days of conscription, the palace discovered a major problem.And King Wu just woke up like a dream. Unknowingly, in his fief, the three cities, six counties and 18 counties have decayed to this point.What made Queen Wu feel cold and relieved was that fortunately, she discovered it early, and it doesn't seem too late now.

The first is the discovery of a large number of empty pay.

King Wu has four major armies, which can be regarded as naval forces, with a total of 15 armies and 150 banners.But in fact, the King of Wu found that, except for the full establishment of the Guangling Army, the other several legions were more or less understaffed. In fact, the army of King Wu may be less than 12.Although the king of Wu knew about it, he didn't say anything. He didn't want to scare the snake away. After all, the current situation is already very serious. If the king of Wu got angry and wanted to execute the county guards below, causing panic, what would they do if they raised their troops to rebel? ?
The second is that King Wu had a big financial problem.

The ordnance, armor, food and salaries needed for conscription, and most of the money needed for the conscription, were borrowed from the Zhongzhou Chamber of Commerce with the cheek of King Wu.King Wu calculated an account late at night. According to the interest of the Ministry of Accounts, if there is no war within three years and if the war is lost, the gold and silver owed to the Zhongzhou Chamber of Commerce is an unimaginable amount. Now King Wu He put all his hopes on winning this war. As long as he won the war, he would ask the Japanese people to pay compensation and pay back all the losses.But then again, what if there is no conflict in a short time?The interest owed will only increase. Once King Wu becomes unable to repay and the Zhongzhou Chamber of Commerce cuts off his food and payment, King Wu will fall into a passive position, and the army will collapse in an instant; moreover, what should we do if we lose the war? ?
In short, no matter what the result is, Wuyue Sheji is at stake.

Of course, in addition to these big problems, the bureaucratic system under King Wu also has major problems, such as the power of the aristocratic family is too large, and now it is the eve of the war, and the rain is about to come, and many powerful clans have transferred their assets to the east through the Zhongzhou Chamber of Commerce.These clans are superficially obedient, but most of these families have official positions in the army. They transferred the funds away, and their family members also ran away, leaving a few people who resisted the flag. The King of Wu was worried that the war would start, and these officers had no worries. , fleeing on the battlefield, what should I do?

Wu Yue, at this moment, is like a huge rotting wood inside.

Hearing the statement, he let out a long sigh, isn't Wu Yue the epitome of this huge empire?

"What does your Highness need me to do?"

Murong Tong, he stared at the statement, hesitating.

The statement was at a loss.

Then, Murong Tong explained his prayer.

He said that Chen Ci's father, Xin Wuji, is the current Prime Minister, quite prestigious in Jianghu, famous in fourteen prefectures, many people in Jianghu all over the world are not stingy with showing Xin Wuji's face, they have all received his favor.Murong Tong hoped that with Chen Ci's rallying cry, he could also be a leader in this troubled world, using his father's prestige to call knights to Wuyue to help the country.

Chen Ci thought to himself, isn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?I was worrying about how to have a legitimate excuse to recruit troops, Murong Tong took the initiative to send the excuse, but even though he thought so in his heart, the statement remained calm: "Your Highness, it is just a rumor after all, and besides, if I am not good at writing, I will not be able to do it." , no one in Jianghu is willing to sell me a face."

He really wasn't bragging.

Entering Guangling in March last year, and then March this year, food and grass were first robbed along the way, and gambling shops were robbed, and I didn't see any hero from the rivers and lakes jumping out?

Murong Tong chuckled: "As long as the son-in-law thinks, someone will definitely come."

In this way, Chen Ci nodded readily: "Then let me try."

Entered Guangling City, the villa.

Chen Ci settled the princess, and took out the map of Wuyue area to browse carefully. Hearing what Murong Tong said, now he feels that the situation in Wuyue is indeed serious, but it is said that there are millions of soldiers.Now he is eager to know an answer, that is, how many troops does the Japanese have?
Theoretically speaking, Dongying is a small country with the largest number of troops on the same level as Wu Yue. This cross-sea battle is a severe challenge to supplies. Are the people of Dongying really conceited to start a war?
You know, this is not the era of Chen Ci's technological prosperity, long-distance combat, and the front line is so long. With this technology that is better than nothing, how to maintain supplies?
in a few days.

The statement got a shocking news.

Fan Chu came to report that when the samurai of Xiaoqianye Kendo Hall organized some Dongying people to evacuate Guangling, they were robbed in the Tiangu Valley on the first line of Tuolong Mountain and suffered heavy losses.

"Oh?" Chen Ci jumped up happily, "This group of reckless people are quite courageous. They dare to blatantly fight with Dongying people at this juncture. They are really heroes. Let's talk about it in detail."

Fan Chu nodded, and then said: "Yesterday, on the afternoon of March 23th, 19rd year in Tai'an, the samurai Tanaka Hitoshi and Matsuihara of the Little Chiba Kendo Hall escorted [-] Dongying people to evacuate from Guangling. About a hundred people were shot and killed on the spot, Matsuihara died tragically, Tanaka escaped by chance and just returned to Guangling.”

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Chen Ci was held in his hands, thinking that he had underestimated the recklessness of Tuolong Mountain, and thought it was a group of grass bandits who only knew how to bully the weak, but he didn't want to be so bold that even Dongying people dared to snatch it?
"What about the others? Aren't there seven or eight hundred Dongying people?"

Fan Chu said: "The rest were all captured."

"Well, just wait and see."

The matter fermented quickly.

Because two days later, an old farmer escorted the donkey cart and was stopped at the gate of the city. The officers and soldiers checked and found that there were more than 300 human heads in the donkey cart.Immediately, the old farmer was detained, tortured, and tortured, but the old farmer still refused to admit it, saying that it was a man from a nearby village who asked him to escort his things to Dongying Street in the city and gave him a large sum of money.

The officers and soldiers gasped in amazement: "You are so daring, you will accept all such deals."

The old farmer cried and sighed: "If I knew it was such a short-lived way of life, I wouldn't quit if I was killed."

The officers and soldiers didn't have a good impression of the Dongying people, and they didn't make things difficult for the old farmer. They let him go, and then asked people to send all the heads to Dongying Street.

Originally, it was only spread in a small area. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, teahouses in the streets and alleys were talking about it. Some drunk old men talked about Zhang Shun, the master and bully of Tuolong Mountain. He is really a hero in the world.But there are also many people who sneer at it, thinking that Zhang Shun is just pretending to make a fortune.At the same time, many people think that Zhang Shun has no morals in his eyes.It is said that Zhang Shun committed the crime this time by killing a samurai from the Little Chiba Kendo Hall, shooting more than a hundred Dongying civilians, and capturing more than 600 people. These heads were the captured Dongying people who were cruelly cut off by Zhang Shun. The head of a man is used to intimidate and provoke the Little Chiba Kendo Gym.

(End of this chapter)