Chapter 156
After Zhu Dashuai surrendered, the first problem was the handover of the army. Zhu Dashuai had over 70,000 soldiers under his command, and it was impossible for them to provide food and fodder while he continued to command them all.
The general pondered for a moment, then spoke, "Marshal Zhu, we're all on the same side now. The situation is urgent, so I won't waste time on formalities. Let's first discuss the arrangements for the over 70,000 troops under your command."
Marshal Zhu tensed up. If there was a reason he had been resisting joining the gang, it was this very question he was most reluctant to face.
The general first offered a sweet treat, "Well, you can pick 10,000 soldiers yourself to form your personal battalion, which will be directly under your command."
Upon hearing this, Marshal Zhu's eyes lit up. He was truly satisfied, and his heart settled down, no longer feeling uneasy.
Seeing his reaction, Yao Chunnuan smiled. They had discussed this briefly before their arrival. Someone who had always led troops suddenly became a cursor commander, and no one could adapt. Ten thousand personal soldiers were just a small consolation, not to mention that he had chosen them himself.
The general continued, "The remaining 60,000-plus troops will be disbanded later and reorganized with the Xing family army. From now on, they will be collectively known as the Yichun Corps."
"Of course I should." Marshal Zhu nodded repeatedly, then he continued, "I've given you the army, but what about the food and fodder?"
The general replied affirmatively, "We are responsible!"
Upon hearing this, Marshal Zhu felt like he had thrown off a heavy burden.
Yao Chunnuan asked with a smile, "By the way, Marshal Zhu, are you selling the grain in your granary?"
Since Marshal Zhu had surrendered, they were of course responsible for supporting the army. They still had to provide food and fodder for the 10,000 personal soldiers, and if Marshal Zhu wanted any additional subsidies, that was his business.
She estimated that his granary had a lot of food, and they still had to continue fighting the Northern Di army, so food consumption was very high. Purchasing it locally would save them the trouble of transporting it from Xinyichun.
Marshal Zhu hesitated, "You want to buy it?"
Yao Chunnuan naturally guessed why he was hesitant. "Yes, we'll buy it from you with real money. Otherwise, with so much food, how long will it take for your family to eat it all? Don't worry, we'll buy the food in your warehouse at a 20% premium over the price in Xinyichun. And as long as those two treasure houses of yours belong to us, we won't touch them in the future. That's our promise."
A 20% premium was acceptable, and Marshal Zhu was satisfied with the price. Although the price would be higher if sold outside Yichun, the transportation would require a lot of manpower and material resources, and would also involve risks.
But when he heard the last sentence, his eyes widened. Look, what did he hear? Yao Chunnuan was indirectly admitting that they were the ones who had robbed his first secret vault.
"My first secret vault..."
“We did it.”
Admit it, admit it, finally admit it! I guessed it was them a long time ago!
Marshal Zhu asked, "How do you know the specific locations of my secret vaults?" This was the most puzzling thing for him. If he didn't figure this out, he felt that even if he lay in a coffin, he would not be able to rest in peace.
Xing Changfeng replied, "The specific locations of your secret vaults were actually inferred by Yao Gongcao based on historical records."
Upon hearing this, Marshal Zhu's eyes widened. Was Yao Chunnuan's deduction so powerful? He couldn't believe it.
Yao Chunnuan asked jokingly, "Is Marshal Zhu still thinking about the first secret vault?"
Marshal Zhu shook his head with a bitter face. He wanted to, but did he dare to say it? Yao Chunnuan had such ability, wouldn't finding his treasure be as easy as taking something from a sack? "I didn't think about it. At that time, we were still in two different camps. There were bound to be gains and losses in the competition. I, Marshal Zhu, can afford to lose!" It's just a secret vault, he comforted himself, just a secret vault...
Yao Chunnuan wanted to laugh, but held it back.
Marshal Zhu quickly changed the subject, "There's still plenty of grain in the granary, but the salt reserves are running low..."
The daily salt consumption of the Yichun camp and the three towns was enormous. He had been holding on for the past few days, and now he could finally throw the bag out. To be honest, he was relieved, but he also wanted to see if Xing Changfeng and the others could handle such a heavy bag.
"And the weapons are all blunt." Marshal Zhu listed the current difficulties one by one.
The Crown Prince issued a ban on salt and iron in three areas, and the Yichun camp and the three areas were also within the scope of the ban. The Crown Prince did not subsidize him privately, which made him sad. Thinking of this, he joined Xing Changfeng without any psychological barriers.
Yao Chunnuan smiled and said, "If you're worried about not having enough salt, there's absolutely no need to worry."
"What does this mean?" The salt consumption of the Yichun camp and the three towns was not a small amount. But she told him that there was no need to worry about it.
Marshal Zhu knew that New Yichun was incredibly wealthy. But he secretly calculated how they made their money. Aside from the pharmaceutical factory in Bayuan and the workshops in the former Yichun military settlement, the new workshops in the main city were newly built and likely hadn't yet seen much profit. Furthermore, the Yichun military settlement had indeed experienced a good harvest. But the two men were generous and treated the people well, collecting very low taxes. I heard they were spending a lot of money on public education, and the tuition fees were just a symbolic amount. So, how much silver could they have saved?
Apart from the above ways of making money, the only floating wealth left is the two secret vaults taken from him and Ray-Ban. However, the treasures in these two secret vaults have been in his hands for so long, I'm afraid they have been almost all spent, right?
"What I mean is, you don't have to worry about the salt at all. Not to mention supplying your army with salt for half a year, we can even have it for a year, three years, or even longer."
Marshal Zhu was secretly surprised when he heard this. Could it be that these workshops really make so much money?
Marshal Zhu had guessed wrong. The City Lord's Mansion's warehouse wasn't really short of silver. The workshop did make money, but not all the silver in the City Lord's Mansion's warehouse came from the workshop.
After the heavenly fire burned down the backyard of the prefectural mansion, Lei Peng ordered it sealed off. After they took over Yichun's main city, Yao Chunnuan took time to visit the site. At the site of Lei Peng's former treasury, she discovered a mixture of gold, silver, iron, earth, and ash. Yao Chunnuan then had alchemical craftsmen refine the mixture, separating the gold, silver, and iron. Other treasures, such as calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain, could not be salvaged.
A portion of it has been refined so far, and the craftsmen conservatively estimate that the total amount of gold and silver refined in the end will be about one million silver coins.
After Yao Chunnuan found out, she simply nodded, indicating that she understood. Millions of silver, no wonder he went completely crazy after they burned down Ray-Ban's only treasure trove.
These were all off-topic, but Yao Chunnuan's next words interrupted Zhu Dashuai's wandering thoughts, "Have you heard of iodized premium salt?"
Zhu Dashuai: Iodized premium salt? Of course he'd heard of it. He'd even seen and eaten it. The salt looked really good, even better than the official salt. But why were they bringing this up?
He remembered that iodized premium salt first appeared in Yichun. Could it be? Could it be! Marshal Zhu stood up suddenly. "You don't mean what I think you mean?"
Yao Chunnuan nodded, and her words confirmed his suspicion. "Iodized premium salt is one of the products of our Yichun military village."
Marshal Zhu found that his guess was right. Sure enough, the private salt field that produced iodized high-quality salt was actually theirs!
With salt and medicine as their two greatest weapons, it's no wonder they have an endless supply of silver. The prince's blockade of salt and iron is completely harmless to them.
"What about those curled-edge weapons the soldiers use?" Marshal Zhu asked, suppressing his excitement. He couldn't help but be excited. He hadn't expected Xing Changfeng, Yao Chunnuan, and the others to be so quietly powerful. They had solved a problem that had troubled him for so long, and he couldn't help but yearn for more.
Yao Chunnuan and Xing Changfeng exchanged a glance, "Change! Change into the same outfit!"
Weapons were of paramount importance. The newly established military workshop, with its military supplies, was being managed by the Sima, General Wu. He had recently reported that, with all his might, a new batch of weapons had arrived. As a precaution, this batch of weapons was sufficient to outfit the Yichun camp.
Hearing this resounding answer, Marshal Zhu's breath caught in his throat. Strong, too strong. Through this conversation, the strengths revealed by Xing Changfeng and Yao Chunnuan had made him feel formidable, but he knew they were probably far more powerful than that. Who knew what else they might be hiding? Following a lord with so many hidden cards, he felt incredibly secure, completely free from worry and unable to harbor any rebellious thoughts.
Never mind, Marshal Zhu thought, isn't the Crown Prince just as young? Xing Changfeng, Yao Chunnuan, and the others were about the same age as the Crown Prince. He could bow down to the Crown Prince, and so could he to them.
Next, they met with their generals and informed them of the situation on both sides, saying that Marshal Zhu had brought the Yichun camp and one county and three towns to merge into the new Yichun.
The generals present were not surprised by this. After all, the sight of General Xing and General Yao Gongcao visiting Marshal Zhu together had not been concealed. Everyone had seen it and had speculated about it. This news simply confirmed their suspicions. The generals on both sides were delighted with this outcome.
For a moment, the scene was quite lively. The generals of both sides got to know each other and exchanged a few words.
Time was running out, so General Xing didn't give them much time to exchange pleasantries before convening a battle meeting. Based on their current strength, they discussed the allocation of troops for the two-front war.
Before deploying their troops, everyone agreed that the war with Daliang would likely be a long one. They had the manpower to fight on two fronts, but it would be best to quickly conclude the war with the Di Luo army and then decide whether to unite their forces or fight on a separate front.
And because of Marshal Zhu's surrender, unity has now been achieved in Yichun. It is time to drive the Diluo people back to their hometown and maintain the integrity of Yichun's territory.
As soon as the combat meeting ended, the news of Marshal Zhu's surrender spread throughout the camps of both armies.
After Yu Feng got the news, regardless of how late it was, he immediately jumped to the Xing family army camp, hugged Qi Lao San's neck and laughed heartily, "Haha, from now on we will be in the same pot!"
Qi Laosan pushed him away in disgust. The stench of sweat was so strong that it filled him with disgust!
The soldiers in the Yichun camp began to secretly look forward to the day when they could also eat meat from tomorrow.
They hadn't expected to receive the order to replace their weapons before they even had a chance to eat. Such a big surprise left them stunned. They were both in disbelief and jubilant. But every soldier in the Yichun camp knew exactly who had replaced their weapons. It certainly wasn't their commander-in-chief, whose warehouse was so empty that rats could escape.
The Xing Family Army only replaced some of the damaged weapons, but they didn't complain. Some soldiers even complained to the familiar soldiers of the Yichun Camp, "I'm not saying anything, but your weapons should have been replaced long ago. The blades are so bent!"
"Yes, yes, you are right!" You are a soldier of your general, and I allow you to say whatever you say today is right!
"Look at my sword, it's so sharp!"
"I've decided. She's my new wife."
"My rifle, the barrel and the tip are so well made, so easy to use!" The soldier who was speaking even performed a few gun tricks, which attracted several cheers.
After receiving their new weapons, these soldiers couldn't let go of them. On the battlefield, weapons were their closest friends and their lifeblood.
The exchange of weapons was a pleasant surprise, and the next day, the soldiers at the Yichun camp also received five pigs. Yao Chunnuan's older cousin, Li Dahai, was also sent over to help with the slaughtering.
His identity was no secret in the military.
While he was sharpening his knife, some curious soldiers from the Yichun camp gathered around to watch.
After he had butchered five pigs in a row with his knife, there was a burst of applause from the audience, "Your pig-killing skills are really good, so clean and neat."
Li Dahai smiled innocently. His family was a butcher, so how could his skills be bad? After slaughtering the pig, he would water it and shave it! His hands moved without a pause.
A curious soldier came over and said, "Brother Li, I heard that Yao Gongcao is your cousin? How come you are still a centurion? Why don't you let Yao Gongcao promote you?"
"It's true that Yao Gongcao is my cousin, and that guy is actually Yao Gongcao's brother." Li Dahai raised his chin and pointed at his second brother Yao who was checking accounts nearby. "But our elders never allow us to use her name to do anything wrong outside. If we dare to do so, we'll break our legs! There are so many opportunities in the army now. As long as you dare to fight and take risks, you won't be afraid of not getting ahead. Whether you are a dragon or a worm depends on your ability. My cousin can climb up with her own ability, so why can't we, the big men, rely on ourselves?"
Li Dahai was talking, but it did not stop him from cleaning the pigs.
He didn't notice that when he was speaking his true feelings, he was surrounded by soldiers from the Yichun camp.
After he finished speaking, the audience erupted in applause, "Well said!"
Cousin Li smiled innocently. He was very content. With his cousin around, all competitions were guaranteed to be fair. As long as he accumulated enough military merits, he could be promoted. No one could steal his military merits. That was enough.
Later, the Yichun camp served its meal, and all the soldiers had their fill of meat as they had hoped. It wasn't really meat, after all, four or five pigs were needed to feed tens of thousands of people. It was just that the food was a bit fattier than usual. But eating the same fare as the Xing family army, they were all satisfied. It felt so good to be pampered by their superiors. From today on, they, too, were the ones being pampered by their superiors.
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