Chapter 2671 Strong Pressure
This time the palace banquet was held in the Wude Hall. When Manbao and the others walked slowly over, they saw palace maids and eunuchs constantly coming in and out carrying fruit plates, drinks, etc.
It was a sunny day and the officials were too lazy to waste time in the hall, so they mostly stood in the corridors, chatting in groups of three or two.
The officials' wives went to the garden on the east side of the Wude Hall for fun. Those with more noble status were invited by the empress to enter the harem and had the honor of meeting the empress first.
Manbao stood in the corridor and thought for a while. He felt that it was not appropriate to talk about state affairs during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so he pulled Zhou Liru and went to the east garden to play with the familiar young ladies.
As soon as she turned around, Xiao Yuanzheng called her and waved at her.
Manbao glanced at the Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue who were standing with Xiao Yuanzheng, and asked Liu Huan in a low voice, "Didn't you say you entered the palace early? How come your grandfather is here too?"
Liu Huan said, "Grandfather has been busy in the Imperial City. Last night, even after I went to bed, the light in his study was still on. Oh, I was just about to ask you, are you going to take Li Ru to the front lines?"
"Yeah, are you going or not?" Man Bao saw Xiao Yuanzheng looking at him again, so he straightened his official robe and whispered, "Let's talk about it when I come back. Take Li Ru out to play first, and don't let her get bullied."
Manbao smiled and walked towards Xiao Yuanzheng.
Bai Shan took a look and said to Yin Huo, "This is probably the official business of the Imperial Hospital. We can't interfere. Let's go and find a quiet place to sit down. Bai Er and the others will come over soon."
Yin Huo agreed, looked around, pointed in a direction and said, "Let's go there."
Manbao walked forward, bowed, and looked up at the old ministers. He couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow!" and after looking around, he asked, "What did you old gentlemen do at night?"
The dark circles under her eyes are even darker than those she had after staying up late to deliver a child.
Minister Liu said, "Not everyone is as lucky as Lord Zhou. Since Your Majesty made up his mind to lead the expedition personally, we haven't had a single peaceful night's sleep."
It sounds pretty miserable.
Xiao Yuanzheng said: "Master Zhou is also very busy."
He defended Zhou Man and then asked, "Have you made all the lists I asked you to make?"
"Yes," Man Bao said, "We have an army of 120,000. I used the casualty ratio from the last emperor's eastern expedition to create a data set. I've compiled a list based on the main symptoms. The memorial has been written and can be submitted tomorrow."
Minister Liu immediately asked, "Can you figure out the budget?"
He only cares about how much money it will cost.
Manbao paused and said, "It's just a rough calculation, based on the current market price. But I think if you buy too much, if it's still within your budget, then it will definitely be cheaper. If it's not, then... the price will definitely go up. So I think we should just look at this budget. Money is only useful when it can save lives."
Telling a Minister of Revenue that money is something outside of one’s body?
Minister Liu stared at her for a long moment, then turned to Xiao Yuanzheng and said, "Since you're unwilling to tell me the budget, let me tell you the Ministry of Revenue's bottom line. The budget for your Imperial Medical Bureau must not exceed five million yuan. You'll have to figure out how to raise more than that."
Xiao Yuanzheng was unhappy and said to the Duke of Zhao who was standing beside him, "Minister Zhao, a portion of medicinal material could cost a soldier's life. We can save on other things, but not this one."
Duke Zhao looked at Minister Liu.
Minister Liu said angrily, "Then tell me what can be saved?"
"Is it the military rations that can be reduced, the military horses that can be reduced, or the military ships?" he asked. "Is it the armor and robes used by the soldiers that can be reduced, or the swords and guns that can be reduced?"
He said angrily, "It won't be long after Mid-Autumn Festival before the weather turns cold. The Goguryeo region will be covered in snow once the twelfth lunar month arrives. Even if Your Majesty mobilizes more Hu people from Liaodong for battle, they'll still need leather and thick clothing. Winter consumption of food and fodder will also be greater than usual. Do you really think the national treasury is inexhaustible?"
In order to raise military supplies and armaments, Minister Liu slept only two hours a day for three consecutive days. He couldn't help but get angry when he saw his old wife, not to mention the group of old men who always asked him for money. He was simply annoyed when he saw them.
Xiao Yuanzheng and Duke Zhao remained silent, and Manbao stood aside with his head lowered.
Minister Liu finally calmed down and said, "This is not only my opinion, but also that of Lord Wei. We can't afford to deplete the national treasury for a major war. His Majesty also agrees."
It's only five million yuan, it's impossible to use it all up. However, medicinal materials and medical supplies only account for a small part of the armaments. The bulk of the money is actually food, horses, weapons, etc. This time, warships will also be included.
Bai Shan said that His Majesty was going to send a group of troops from Dengzhou to cross the sea and attack Beisha City. The two of them had secretly discussed this at night while looking at the map in their memory. As long as the army attacking Liaodong City was successful, Goguryeo would not be able to hold out for long under the double-sided attack.
Bai Shan said, "Although I don't know much, I have heard that someone from the Honglu Temple has secretly left the capital and headed for Silla and Baekje, hoping to persuade the two vassal states to temporarily put aside their prejudices and jointly attack Goguryeo."
Manbao was a little curious at this time and asked Duke Zhao, "Duke Zhao, do you think Baekje will agree to fight together?"
"Who knows?" Duke Zhao clasped his hands and said, "I've heard that Baekje is leaning towards Goguryeo."
Minister Liu glanced from Zhou Man's face to Xiao Yuanzheng's. Seeing that they didn't object and instead cooperated to change the subject, he automatically assumed that they agreed to the budget. So he put aside his worries and joined in the gossip, "If you ask me, the feud between the three kingdoms is unbreakable. The eldest brother shouldn't criticize the second brother. Silla is also ungrateful. They were fighting well, and it was agreed that whoever occupied the territory would own it. But he took advantage of the chaos in Baekje and turned around to seize Baekje's territory. Humph..."
Duke Zhao said, "No one can be a hero without being cruel. We should kill him while he is sick. There is nothing wrong with seizing his territory."
"Pah," Minister Liu said, "Did he hold on? The situation was originally very good, and it would have been great if we could have joined forces to seize territory from Goguryeo. But because Silla went back on its word and broke its promise, Baekje retreated and started fighting with it."
The cause of this war was that Goguryeo was strong in military power and ambitious. It wanted to seize the Yingzhou area, so it began to send troops to harass the border of the Jin Dynasty.
Seeing this, the governor of Yingzhou organized the garrison to resist, and quietly bypassed Goguryeo and went to Baekje from the sea. He consulted with Baekje and Silla and said, "See, Goguryeo's ambition has not been extinguished, and it wants to attack us, the Great Jin, and you again."
The Great Jin is so powerful, yet he still dares to take action, let alone you two small countries. So why not work together and kill him together?
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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