Chapter 195 The Taker
As the old saying goes, a young boy will eat his father into poverty.
If a family has five or six young boys, eating is basically the same as fighting.
Any dish that is served will be gone in the blink of an eye.
When he was in the Huo Gang, Yun Chen and a few of his personal guards would fight for food like wild beasts.
What if there were a million good guys waiting to make a name for themselves, wanting food, clothing, weapons, and fighting at every turn? Wouldn't that be scary?
Zhao State had a million strong soldiers guarding the national borders, and the trend of practicing martial arts and joining the military was prevalent throughout the country, so that no other country dared to invade for more than ten years.
But the price paid behind it is also huge.
Military spending accounted for 90% of Zhao State's annual fiscal expenditure.
If a million men carrying swords and guns did nothing but sit there and eat, they could eat up an entire continent in three days.
Not to mention buying military uniforms, weapons, food and fodder, and medical supplies...
Everything costs money, and I invest real money everywhere, but I don’t even hear a response.
Military funds were being spent like water, but the troops stationed everywhere kept crying poor. In some places, the troops didn't even have decent uniforms.
Take the brothers Rong Jiang and Rong Yi for example. Huo Gannian originally thought that they had dressed up in tattered clothes and looked like bandits in order to cooperate with the "exercise".
Unexpectedly, the two of them had not changed a single thread from head to toe, and the "military uniform" they were wearing had been washed more than 200 times and passed down for three generations.
The same went for the other several thousand soldiers, all of whom were brought directly from the garrison in their original form.
On the day of the military parade, Huo Gannian looked down at the dark mass below, with no end in sight.
A group of guys, each one dressed in rags and more motivated than the other.
The veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he felt like he had been made a scapegoat and had been severely tricked by the Emperor of Zhao.
He said, how could the Emperor of Zhao be so kind as to lend him troops, and lend him an army of 300,000 at a time? It turned out that he could no longer afford to support them.
When Huo Gannian opened the list of accounts that the emperor had promised "General Huo would be rewarded" at the end of the "exercise" at Daxing Mountain, he couldn't help but gasp.
The first reward: 30 million taels of silver.
The emperor said that it was best for a new official to win the hearts of the people. If he wanted to reward them, he could not only reward the soldiers who participated in the exercises, but the entire army.
Only with the reward money could the soldiers take care of their families, wives and children without any worries.
Almost all of the 300,000 descendants of the Black Armor Army are descendants of the first generation of Black Armor Army entrusted by the Queen Mother when Zhao Kingdom became an independent country. They are brave and good at fighting, loyal and nostalgic, and they all hope to return to their real homeland of Nan Kingdom.
Even though we are far away from our homeland, we cannot treat our soldiers badly.
Huo Gannian said "Okay, okay", and then the second account of the placement of military uniforms, weapons, vehicles, and food appeared in front of him.
The second military expenditure: 97 million taels of silver.
He hasn't even taken a single step out of Zhao State.
Not a single battle has been fought.
Just spend more than 100 million silver first...
Even Huo Gannian, the richest man in Nan Country, almost didn't recognize the tens of millions.
He has been by Nan Lijun's side for many years, and he knows exactly how many copper coins there are in the Nan Kingdom's treasury.
The military expenses will most likely be paid out of the Huo Gang's own pockets.
Huo Gannian's face turned black, and he couldn't help but say to the accountant who was presenting the accounts:
"Ninety-seven million, why not add three million to make it a round number..."
The forensic officer didn't hear the teasing in Huo Gannian's words and replied seriously:
"General, I haven't even figured out the real accounts for the clothing, food, housing, transportation, monthly pay, armaments, and on-site training of 300,000 soldiers, so I can't make fake ones for now..."
Zhi Luo, standing by, couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, General. These are just the profits of a few branches of the Huo family for half a year."
At this time, Yun Chen, who had just finished an archery competition with Rong Jiang and Rong Yi, and wrestled with Luo Dongdong, ran in and excitedly said to Huo Gan:
"Master, I just promised to treat them to mutton hotpot tonight! Let's go buy some mutton!"
Huo Gannian responded, "Okay, ask the purchasing manager to buy some—how many people are eating?"
Yun Chen made a big circle with his hands and answered as a matter of course:
"All the soldiers—everyone!"
Huo Gannian's expression froze and he swallowed a mouthful of blood.
The judge next to him clapped his hands and said happily:
"The whole army had a mutton hotpot meal, about 10,000 sheep, 5,000 carts of radishes, corn, vegetable leaves, and bread... exactly 3,000,000 taels!"
Yun Chen exclaimed in amazement, "Wow!" "That's amazing! A meal costs three million taels. But it's okay. My young master is not a stingy person!"
Huo Gannian forced a smile and silently broke the pen in his hand.
…
…
Now that the matter of borrowing troops has been agreed upon, the signing of documents and other matters will follow.
Huo Gannian and Yun Chen followed the emperor into the capital, Tianlang City.
The former was busy handling the procedures for borrowing troops according to the rules of the Zhao Kingdom. He had to sign 800 documents a day and was so busy that he was dizzy.
The latter was bored, so with the emperor's approval, he strolled around the palace and became a free tourist.
Unlike the solemn and majestic style of the Nan Kingdom Palace, the Zhao Kingdom Palace is mainly decorated in clean water colors, supplemented by red and gold embellishments, and mostly decorated with clusters of flowers.
Yun Chen strolled around, feeling like he was strolling in a big garden.
Therefore, when a palace with a completely different style appeared before her eyes, it immediately attracted her attention.
The palace was of a style she had never seen before, with white jade steps, a dark blue roof, flowing eaves, and a god-like shape.
And unlike the usual dragon and phoenix reliefs in the imperial palace, the wall of this palace is carved with a huge saber-toothed tiger.
The tiger's claws are strong and its body is huge. It is in a crouching position, ready to charge, as if it wants to carry the palace into the sky.
The entire palace was majestic, solemn yet elegant, yet it could not conceal its imposing and powerful aura, which made Yun Chen stunned and even gave him goose bumps.
"This is the temple dedicated to Amu, do you want to go in and take a look?
The voice of Emperor Zhaoguo suddenly sounded, calling back Yun Chen who was almost in a trance.
Amu.
Yun Chen now knew that this was the maiden name of the late Queen of Nan Kingdom.
She had heard it from the mouth of Emperor Dongyan, and had heard it repeatedly from the dying words of Emperor Daxing of Nan Kingdom.
Now, when Emperor Zhaoguo mentioned it again, Yun Chen was not surprised at all.
"Let's go in and take a look. Governor Huo is busy signing documents and won't be available for a while. Let's go..."
Unlike others who spoke of the late queen in a very sad tone, Emperor Zhaoguo spoke in a very relaxed tone.
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