Chapter 1022: Xiangyang City Breaks
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The King of Liang rebelled, and the Ministry of Revenue sent money to the Ministry of War to buy military supplies for the army.
It was also because of this that the news of the large-scale invasion of the Northern Barbarians reached the royal court, and the Ministry of Revenue was overstretched. “If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have given so much money when the Marquis of Yongle asked the Ministry of Revenue for money.” The Marquis of Yongle was the main general who led this attack.
He was a fierce general under Duke Xue Otherwise, the Ministry of Revenue wouldn’t have given him the money so readily!
Immediately, some people agreed.
“Even if Thief Liang caused a ruckus, it’s only at home. If the Northern
Barbarians really broke through the defense line of Jinzhou, broke through
Shanhai Pa.s.s, and entered the Central Plains, the tragic incident of the
Upheaval of the Five Barbarians in China would still happen.”
“Isn’t that so? When the Liang resistance army pa.s.ses through the areas of Hebei and Henan, which place isn’t a vital place for producing food? When they don’t have enough rations, they will order the gathering of rations in the name of the Imperial Court. How can the famous families everywhere not cooperate obediently? How can they lack rations? Look at what’s in the North.”
“It’s been a long year since there was a drought, and we’ve accepted so many refugees. It’s all thanks to Eldest Princess Shaoyi promoting the planting of sweet potatoes that the drought has barely eased. However, once this war starts, the amount of rations exhausted will be ten times or even a dozen times more than usual . How can we withstand it? If the Imperial Court doesn’t support the battle, do we have to wait for the Northern Barbarians to attack our homes?”
“As soon as the battle started, the Di people gathered 100,000 troops and even mobilized two brave generals, Meng Duo and Harmon. I think there will definitely be more than 300,000 troops in the future. This battle will definitely not be easy. We can’t be careless with our rations…” The scale of the battle was no less than the emperor’s personal expedition to the North back then.
Yu Zongshen nodded to himself. All of them were still quite clear-headed. “First, in the name of the Imperial Court, send out ration collection doc.u.ments to all over the country and order all the famous families in the North to support the battle. Anyone who doesn’t cooperate will be treated as colluding with the enemy and betraying the country. They will be punished according to military law. To outsiders, they have disobeyed the emperor’s orders. This matter will be handed over to King Yue Fei to decide for himself.”
This was handing over the power of life and death to King Yue Fei.
The eyes of the cabinet flashed, but they did not refute.
Yu Zongshen continued, “Let’s not talk about military matters for the time being. The Ministry of War will prepare the military supplies first. Prepare as many as you have and send them to Liaodong in batches. The military needs to focus on cotton armor, weapons, horses, and medicinal herbs for thermal defense. The rations will be delayed. Last year, Eldest Princess Shaoyi promoted the planting of sweet potatoes throughout Liaodong. In October this year, there was frequent news of a good harvest in Liaodong. I think the North doesn’t lack rations for the time being.”
The Minister of War agreed repeatedly.
Everyone in the cabinet felt sad. In war, weapons and supplies were a big deal, but they were not temporary consumables.
The consumption of medicinal herbs and rations accounted for most of the military supplies.
The medicinal herbs were fine, but food was definitely indispensable. If the soldiers did not have enough food, how could they have the strength to fight?
Now that Eldest Princess Shaoyi had resolved the problem of rations, the Imperial Court could still slow down in this aspect.
The cabinet discussion lasted from morning to afternoon. Finally, they sorted out the military supplies in the North one by one and quickly sent all the doc.u.ments to various places in the country.
Fortunately, Yu Zongshen firmly controlled the Ministry of Revenue and had a close relationship with the Ministry of War. Only then could he grasp the overall situation of the Imperial Court. If it were anyone else, the court would have long been in chaos.
After the cabinet meeting ended, Yu Zongshen saw that it was not late, so he went to the Ganji Palace to see the emperor.
The old ministers in the cabinet knew that the emperor had suffered a stroke.
His mouth was crooked and he was drooling. He couldn’t even speak properly. It was uncertain who they would see.
The next morning—
Eunuch He asked Eunuch Zhu to send a handwritten decree to the cabinet. It was by Eunuch He. The emperor had stamped it with a seal. A bunch of keys were attached.
After Yu Zongshen received the items, he quickly knelt down and shouted,
“Your Majesty is wise.”
The ministers followed closely behind.
After that, Yu Zongshen and Eunuch Zhu went to the inner vault.
The inner vault of the palace was the emperor’s private vault. Without the emperor’s permission, no one was allowed to enter. Most of the rare treasures inside were tributes from various places, and they were often priceless.
The eunuchs of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Internal Affairs counted the items in the inner vault and picked out the items with clear origins. They were precious, rare, and did not have any inside information or doubts. They moved these items out of the inner vault one by one.
When the Empress heard about this, she also opened her private vault and picked out a batch of rare items to support the war in the North. She even called for internal and external mingfu to start donations.
When the news spread to the commoners, many businessmen also took the initiative to raise donations.
Many ministers in the court had been rewarded for various reasons. This seemed to be a signal. Anyone who had received the reward knew that it was time to show their “loyalty” to the Imperial Court.
Yu Zongshen found the owner behind the bank and sold a batch of items from the inner vault to the bank. Using this method, he transferred a large amount of money from the bank.
It was said that one should buy gold and silver in troubled times, while one should keep antiques in prosperous times.
It wasn’t that the bank didn’t understand this principle, but since Yu
Zongshen had personally taken action, they still had to give him respect. Otherwise, if they were accused of causing a military delay, even if the bank had connections, how far could they go?!
Now, Yu Zongshen was “Heaven.”
The items in the emperor’s private vault were indeed priceless. The bank did not suffer a loss. The merchants behind the bank were all extremely rich. They were definitely interested in such rare items from the palace.
In addition, the bank and the Imperial Court were bound together.
If either the Northern Barbarians or the King of Liang invaded the capital, the first to bear the brunt would be the bank. These places with money hoped more than anyone else that King Yue Fei could repel the Di people.
This way, everyone was happy.
The owner behind the bank couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “Grand Secretary Yu is indeed a powerful figure. His methods of making money are all tricks. As expected of a man who has lifted the sea ban.”
Putting this aside, after he returned to the court after being aksed for help, he had stabilized the rules of the royal court alone. Otherwise, who knew how chaotic the Great Zhou Dynasty would be?
The heavy snow in the border city fell and stopped for more than ten days before finally stopping.
At this moment, the Liang resistance army had already arrived in Hubei.
At the same time, the King of Liang personally led his troops to break through the Xiangyang Fortress. General Hu Wei, who guarded Xiangyang, felt that he was too ashamed. Thus, he cut his throat and died in front of the Imperial Court.
A young general under him fought his way out of the encirclement under the cover of the soldiers. He brought a blood letter from General Hu Wei before he died and handed it to the Imperial Court.
General Hu Wei’s words were filled with tears and blood. He a.n.a.lyzed the many details of the battle between the two armies, including the troops, equipment, rations, and so on of both sides, revealing the weaknesses of Thief Liang. Thief Liang had been planning for a long time. The soldiers were all sacrificial soldiers who had been trained for many years. He asked the Imperial Court to be careful and warn the Imperial Court.
After that, General Hu compared the Liang resistance army to all aspects of the Liang army and came to a conclusion. Thief Liang was risking everything and did not care about life and death. The Marquis of Yongle could not resist. He asked the Imperial Court to send another brave general to preside over the Liang resistance army.
General Hu Wei had also recommended useful generals in his letter.
Then, he said, “These generals have been through hundreds of battles and are experienced. It’s enough to restrain Thief Liang. When King Yue Fei calms the border and returns to protect the capital, Thief Liang will be nothing to be afraid of..