Even the common people in the capital knew about Laji's repeated sneak attacks, which naturally aroused huge discussions in the court.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the main war faction. He relayed my mother's words in court and asked the emperor to send him to defeat the Laji Kingdom." Zhao Sidan said, "The ministers in the court also understand that if the Laji Kingdom is not killed, Then the battlefield would be in the suburbs or in the capital. No one wanted this to happen. Therefore, after the morning dynasty, more than half of the main war factions in the dynasty were occupied, and all the first and second-rank ministers were called by the emperor to go to the imperial study room to discuss again. ”
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "It seems that this battle must be fought."
Everyone is afraid of war, and everyone is afraid of sacrifice. But if we don’t fight now, the people who will suffer in three to five years will be the ones who suffer.
Now the Laji Kingdom is lurking in the dark because they are not that strong yet, and it is the best time to declare war at this moment.
Sure enough, after the morning court ended the next day, the emperor issued an edict.
The hussar general led 30,000 garrison troops to stay in the capital, and must capture all the Laji Party members within a month.
In addition, Master Zou of the Ministry of War was appointed as the general of the auxiliary country, and the prince of the current court was appointed as the lieutenant general. He led 100,000 soldiers to Ji Province and defeated the Laji Kingdom.
"Of these 100,000 sergeants, 50,000 will be recruited from the west and 50,000 will be dispatched from the north to meet in Ji Province." Cheng Zhao said, "General Fu Guo and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will take the lead in setting off with 1,000 imperial troops and food and grass. In January Then we can reach Ji Province and start the war at any time."
Ji Province is the northernmost province of Dayu Kingdom. It is separated from Lachi Kingdom by a narrow coast. It only takes two days to go to Lachi Kingdom by boat.
It is not an easy task for one hundred thousand soldiers, plus food and logistics personnel, to cross the sea.
She raised her eyes and asked, "How many troops does Dayu have in total?"
"Dayu Kingdom has about 400,000 generals, 100,000 of whom control the southern kingdoms, 150,000 of whom guard the western frontier of Xirong, and one hundred thousand who defend the northern frontier. There are also 30,000 in the capital, and another 70,000 distributed in the military headquarters of various provinces." Cheng Zhao replied. He said, "The emperor also has some troops on hand, but the exact number is unknown. It should be enough to send one hundred thousand to flatten the Laji Kingdom."
Cheng Wanwan nodded. Four hundred thousand soldiers were considered a very powerful force in any dynasty of China. This should also be the experience summed up in the history of blood and tears.
Sending 100,000 cavalry to the Laji Kingdom may not be a problem in terms of numbers, but if the supply of food and grass is cut off, the consequences will be quite serious.
It is now May and June, the autumn before the harvest, and there should not be that much food in the treasury granaries, so this battle must be fought quickly.
But if you encounter any situation, it is easy to end the calf. For example, once a war breaks out, the price of food will definitely skyrocket and skyrocket again. It is not uncommon to rise to 100 cents per catty. If enough food cannot be mobilized by then, What should I do with food... Everything must be fully prepared in advance, and we must not fight an unprepared battle.
Cheng Wanwan said: "Zhao'er, please help me make an appointment with the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I would like to donate some food and grass."
Zhao Sidan raised his head in surprise: "In May and June, many farmers are running out of food. They all tighten their belts and wait for the harvest in August and September. Even if they have money, they can't buy food. The imperial court plans to first It shouldn’t be a problem to bring a month’s supply of grain and grass to Kyrgyzstan, and then send another batch there after the harvest.”
"As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, food and fodder go first. You can't wait until the war is about to start before sending food and fodder. This will cause the morale of the army to be unstable." Cheng Wanwan showed a smile on his face, "I just arrived in the capital half a year ago, isn't it? I went to the military camp to see Sanniu. The military camp entertained me with the best wine, but the wine didn’t taste very good. At that time, I thought about making my own wine, and bought a lot of grain in advance and stacked it in a warehouse on the outskirts of Beijing. I have been so busy during this period that I forgot about this. Instead of using the grain to make wine, I might as well send it to the front line as grain and grass, which can be regarded as my contribution to this battle. "
Zhao Sidan has been busy studying, so it's normal for him not to know. He doesn't find it strange.
Cheng Zhao lives on the outskirts of Beijing, and it is even less likely that he knows Cheng Wanwan's movements.
Therefore, her words did not arouse any suspicion.
Of course, except for Cheng Yi who has always been by her side.
If Cheng A was also in the capital, he would feel exactly the same as Cheng Yi.
After knowing that the second aunt had a large amount of grain, Cheng Zhao immediately went to make an appointment with the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.
Cheng Wanwan and Cheng Yi rented a warehouse on the outskirts of Beijing overnight and filled the warehouse with grain overnight.
Food in the peaceful and prosperous times was not expensive, and white rice only cost ten cents a pound. However, it was not yet the harvest season, so it was difficult to buy that much.
So, she simply bought more than five million catties of grain at the mall at a sale price of two cents per catty, spending a total of more than ten thousand taels of silver.
She calculated that 100,000 sergeants could eat at least 3 million jins of food a month. She donated 5 million jins, which could feed 100,000 sergeants for nearly two months. Plus the amount reserved by the court, it would be three months. Not a problem.
When Mrs. Chaosui donated five million grain and grass to the imperial court, word spread throughout the capital in one night.
The ministers in the court were all excited.
"Five million catties of grain, Mrs. Sui is really generous."
"The national treasury doesn't even have that much food. How could Mrs. Sui hoard so much?"
"Master Cheng, where did your second aunt buy so much food and grass?"
Cheng Zhao: "..."
When the second aunt mentioned this, he thought that 200,000 to 300,000 jins of grain was as high as the sky, but little did he know that it turned out to be 5 million jins.
The price of five million catties of grain is actually not expensive. Ten cents per catty is almost fifty thousand taels of silver. This amount of money is not expensive at least for many Zhongding families, but it is very difficult to buy. No one can buy it. It’s not easy to buy so much food and pile it up at home.
"My mother plans to use these grains to make wine." Zhao Sidan came over and said, "In the past two years, my mother donated 30,000 cotton-padded clothes and quilts to the garrison in the capital. It can only be said that it barely solved the garrison's cold problem. , my mother just wanted to brew some strong liquor to give to the garrison. When it snows in winter, drinking a glass of strong liquor will warm the body, and the soldiers will have more energy to protect the imperial city, right?"
It takes ten kilograms of grain to produce one kilogram of strong liquor. Five million kilograms is half a million kilograms of liquor. If it is donated to the 30,000 garrison, one person can drink more than ten kilograms, which is one jar, and it is almost gone. In fact, this amount is not counted. many.
With this thought, the ministers all accepted the source of the food.
When the ministers were shocked by Cheng Wanwan's behavior, the Queen of Kunning Palace felt deeply.
The prince went off to war, and her son was about to go to war. She was more worried than anyone else, so she was trapped in her own woman's mind.
However, she is not only a mother, but also the mother of a country. How can she be trapped by the love between mother and child?
Mrs. Sui does everything from the standpoint of the country, so should she do something?
In the afternoon of that day, the queen donated five thousand taels of silver to the army in the name of the Yan family.
Mrs. Sui and the Queen took the lead, and the noble ladies in the capital followed suit. Some donated grain and grass, some donated silver... Military supplies suddenly became abundant.
