Wang Yushi assigned a royal infantry regiment to escort military supplies to Suyab in the Western Regions, but before they could set off, Emperor Zhaowu stopped them. Wang Yushi then wanted to allocate thirty cannons to her mother city of Suyab, but Emperor Zhaowu thwarted that as well, both times with the same reason—"These are national treasures and cannot be moved lightly."
Originally, Wang Yushi's royal workshops only supplied cannons to the Imperial Guards. Later, Emperor Zhaowu intervened and allowed the workshops to supply the Central Army at cost price, which in turn distributed them to various Imperial Guards and border troops.
Later, even at cost price, the Central Army Mansion rarely gave them any. Wang Yushi, being wealthy and powerful, didn't care much and would let them take the goods as long as they wrote an IOU.
However, ever since Emperor Zhaowu intervened twice in Wang Yushi's affairs, the Royal Workshop has been urging the Central Military Bureau to repay the money. The Central Military Bureau then went to the Ministry of War to ask for the money. Due to the back-and-forth, the Royal Workshop simply stopped work a few days ago. Moreover, the quality of the cannons from the Ministry of Works was too poor, and none of the commanders of the Imperial Guards were willing to use them.
As for the salaries of the Imperial Guards, although Emperor Zhaowu said that the Ministry of War did not need to worry about it, the Minister of War was actually quite skeptical.
For a long time, whether it was the Royal Infantry Regiment or the Divine Machine Battalion, as long as they belonged to the Royal Guard, all their extravagant spending was supported by the Imperial Treasury. Their salaries were twice as high as those of ordinary Imperial Guards, and their weapons were more than twice as good. This gave the court officials a completely new understanding of the wealth of the Imperial Treasury.
All of this was because of Wang Yushi. Before Wang Yushi started her business, the Imperial Treasury was not so extravagant, and even the maintenance and repair of the palace were done with frugality.
Nowadays, the Imperial Treasury is more like Wang Yushi's private treasury than the Imperial Treasury. Over the years, many people have gone to Wang Yushi's newly built, enormous private treasury to withdraw silver, but they have no idea where the original Imperial Treasury is located.
Moreover, ever since the Da Yuan Bank opened in the capital, the salaries of the Imperial Guards, as well as the payments for iron, copper, and charcoal purchased by the Royal Workshops, were all paid directly by Wang Yushi through "checks," which were then used by the suppliers to withdraw Da Yuan currency from the Da Yuan Bank.
It seems like everyone got the benefits, but in reality, without Wang Yushi's seal, the imperial treasury wouldn't have given out a single penny.
"Your Majesty, you say that you have the final say in the Imperial Treasury, but I wonder if you can draw up those intricately patterned 'checks'!"
The Minister of War looked around and suddenly had a strange feeling that he was not the only one who shared the same mentality.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com