Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 495 Military Expenditure (Special thanks to book friend gcflysnow for the monthly ticket!)

Mo Zang Liuyun pleaded for a long time, knowing that Chai Zongxun's mind could not be changed, and cried:

"That's all! I was born with bad luck and was not able to meet Your Majesty at the right time, which led to this.

Since your majesty has made up your mind, I have no choice but to obey.

But I have a request, I wonder if Your Majesty can agree to it?"

Chai Zongxun thought of the past few years of getting along with Mo Zang Liuyun, and he couldn't help feeling sad. He said:

“Aiji, you can say whatever you want.

Since Aiji has agreed, everything else can be discussed easily."

Mei Zang Liu Yun's tears were streaming down her cheeks as she said:

"Your Majesty, I only ask that Fei'er and Zhen'er know who their biological mother is, and that I can meet them once in a while!"

Chai Zongxun looked at Mei Zang Liuyun's pitiful appearance, and finally softened his heart and sighed:
"Aiji, I promise you.

Well, it is not completely impossible to bring Aiji into the palace, but it may take many years.

I will give you the title eventually."

Mei Zang Liuyun thought of a possibility in his mind, and had no choice but to accept Chai Zongxun's arrangement.

In the evening, Chai Zongxun returned to the palace from the "Bao'en Temple" and went to the Baoci Hall first.

When I entered the hall, I saw Empress Dowager Fu and Concubine Gong sitting in the hall with the siblings Chai Jifei and Chai Yingzhen.

The hands of Empress Dowager Fu and Concubine Gong and the table were filled with toys, snacks and other things. However, Chai Jifei and Chai Yingzhen, who were sitting next to them, pursed their lips tightly and were about to cry.

When they saw Chai Zongxun enter the hall, the brother and sister immediately jumped off their chairs and ran towards him crying.

"Father, where is mother?

Woohoo...I want to see my mother!"

Chai Zongxun quickly squatted down, hugged a child in one hand, and said with a smile:

"Fei'er, Zhen'er, from now on you will live with your father in the palace. Concubine Gong is your new mother, and she will take good care of you!

Your mother will diligently practice Daoist scriptures for your father and will come to see you often."

Chai Yingzhen hugged Chai Zongxun with her little hands and cried:

"Father, why did mother go to the monastery? Did I disobey you today and make you angry?"

Chai Zongxun kissed Chai Yingzhen on the cheek and said:
"Zhen'er is so well behaved, why would your mother be angry with you?
You see, father is usually busy with many things every day, and it takes many days for him to come to see you and your brother. Before, it was father who was busy, and now it will be your mother's turn to be busy.

As long as the emperor is here, you can rest assured."

Queen Mother Fu smiled and said:
“No wonder His Majesty wanted to bring Fei’er and Zhen’er into the palace, these two grandchildren are as adorable as jade dolls!
But he is really stubborn. Just now, when the Queen Mother fed him and his sister some snacks, they refused to eat. "

Chai Zongxun and others coaxed the brother and sister for a long time before they finally stopped crying. With the help of the palace maids who had always served the brother and sister, Concubine Gong finally succeeded in taking them back to the bedroom.

Chai Jifei and his sister Chai Yingzhen lived in the palace from then on.

On the sixth day of the third month in the thirty-seventh year of Kaixi, there was an early morning court session.

The chief military minister Hu Yanzan came out and said:

“Your Majesty, the army that conquered the Angkor Dynasty has sent back news: since Your Majesty sent troops to the expedition last summer, the eastern and western corps arrived in Dali and Annan in mid-December and late December last year respectively.

On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year after the New Year's Eve this year, the Gaohua Division of the Ninth Corps invaded Angkor from Dali and fought with its 7-strong army at Tanglong City (a transliteration of the Angkor language, the same below), captured it, and killed more than enemies.

On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Liang Ying's 12th Corps invaded Angkor from Annan and fought with its 170,000-strong army in the city of Chapa, annihilating more than half of its troops and defeating it.

Now the two armies are following the battle plan they made when they set out to conquer the nearby Angkor Prefecture, in order to secure their food and grass supplies and advance step by step.

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"With the powerful weapons of our Great Zhou, mainly firearms, and high morale, it will be easy to defeat Angkor.

Just always follow strict military discipline and don’t disturb or harm the people, but if it happens, you will be severely punished according to military discipline!"

Hu Yanzan said:

"I will obey your majesty's order!
The Longxiang Army has always taken military discipline seriously, and I believe the soldiers on the front line will not let Your Majesty down."

Chai Zongxun immediately discussed with the cabinet and civil officials the issue of supplying the army, as well as the officials and garrisons to be sent to take over the Angkor territory.

The new Minister of War, Ren Zhongzheng, came out and said:

"Your Majesty, the newly formed 26th to 30th Longxiang Army Corps have just completed their two-year training period and can be deployed to garrison various provinces in the interior.

The soldiers sent to take over this time were from the 20th to 25th Corps and went to Angkor.

In the next few years, if Your Majesty wants to mobilize troops against the Indian states, or send a large army across the sea to attack the remnants of the Liao Kingdom, I am afraid that the current military strength will not be enough. "

Ren Zhongzheng, courtesy name Qingzhi, was born in Jiyin, Caozhou, during the Xiande period. His father, Ren Zai, was once the Right Picker of Relics.

In the 23rd year of Kaixi, he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. He was appointed as a judge in Dali, Tongpan of Shaozhou, and later as a secretary of Taifu Temple and Tongpan of Puzhou.

Zhongzheng was filial to his parents, lived a simple life, and ate delicious food. He had a friendly relationship with Ding Wei.

At the beginning of this year (the 37th year of Kaixi), after Li Fang retired, Ren Zhongzheng, who had excellent performance in the examination, was recommended by all the ministers and promoted by Chai Zongxun to be the Minister of War and enter the cabinet.

Chai Zongxun was slightly surprised and said:
"Not counting the Imperial Guards, the Dragon Guards, and the Military Virtue Division, our Great Zhou already has thirty regiments of the Dragon Guards. How could we still be at risk of insufficient manpower?"

Ren Zhongzheng quickly explained:
“Reporting to Your Majesty, there are now five garrisons stationed in the hundreds of newly established prefectures in Central and West Asia; one garrison each in Khwarezm and Khitan.

A total of six corps were stationed in Tubo, Liao and Dali, and one corps was stationed in Goryeo and Annan.

The Beiming area is extremely vast. Although its population is much smaller than that of the inland areas, it is necessary to station troops in cities with important terrain, totaling three corps.

Although the number of garrison troops in the inland prefectures and cities has been reduced to only 500 per state, the more than 1,000 prefectures and cities have also used six garrison corps.

Your Majesty, in total, the national garrison has used 24 corps, plus the two corps currently on the march, the 30 corps of the Longxiang Army can only be mobilized to 4 corps. "

Chai Zongxun pondered for a while. The annual expenditure of the national treasury to support each corps was nearly 10 million taels of silver. At present, there were 30 corps of silver, and the annual expenditure was nearly 300 million taels of silver.

If we include the 200,000 imperial guards, the 100,000 Dragon Guards, the Wude Division, and the Royal Navy, the annual military expenditure exceeds 350 million taels, accounting for 20% of the national treasury's tax revenue. The expenditure is a bit too high.

Chai Zongxun said:

“Maintaining too many soldiers consumes too much of the national treasury, which is not good for the country.

I think that with a few more years of economic development, the number of garrisons in the newly expanded territories such as Central Asia, West Asia, Khitan, Beiming, Tubo, and Dali will continue to decrease like the inland provincial capitals.

We are not considering expanding the military for the time being, at least we have to wait until the tax revenue of the national treasury reaches a higher level before we decide on it."

(End of this chapter)