After the words fell, Huang Qiong ignored them. Liu Jinli, who was still looking at the map in a daze, walked to the door of the study and looked at Lu Mengzheng and Kou Zhun waiting outside. He hesitated and walked out, leaving the study room to him. When he came to Lu Mengzheng and Kou Zhun, Huang Qiong briefly talked about his previous conversation with Liu Jinli. The two were stunned when they heard Liu Jinli's offer.
The Guilin County Prince's Palace is the richest in the world. They have monopolized the right to trade for more than a hundred years and have amassed an unknown amount of money. They all know this. But five million taels of silver, plus hundreds of thousands of taels of gold, and three hundred thousand kilograms of fine copper, he agreed without blinking an eye, and without even counter-offering, he was indeed extremely wealthy. That's five million taels of silver, not five million taels of money.
You know, from the founding of Da Qi to the present, I am afraid that the total amount of silver handled by the national treasury in the past hundred years does not amount to this much silver. Daqi is short of silver and copper. Compared with this dynasty, which is still somewhat abundant and several surrounding countries also produce a lot of copper, silver is even more scarce. The annual output is only a few tens of thousands taels. Even if you include imports from Japan, it's almost 100,000 taels.
Thirty percent of it goes into the internal treasury, and the rest goes into the state treasury. This kind of silver rarely enters the market. Basically, it is the last resort that can be used when one cannot make ends meet. This dynasty still mainly focuses on making money, and silver is only used occasionally. Not to mention the common people, they have never seen silver ingots at all. Even among those officials, few saw more than one hundred taels of silver.
But when it was the turn of the Guilin County Prince's Palace, he took out five million taels of silver without blinking an eye. This is still the Guilin County Prince's Mansion that has actually fallen into decline. If it were at its peak, wouldn't it be even more serious? The Prince of Guilin County is known as the richest man in the world, and his spending is indeed extremely generous. I just don’t know how much wealth they have accumulated over the years? ,
But looking at the two confidants who were extorted by him and were stunned by such a large sum of money, Huang Qiong gritted his teeth and said: "There is another thing, I am afraid you will be even more shocked when you hear it. Nanning City It has been breached by Cao Rui, and the pseudo-emperor's coffin has been found. Cao Rui is escorting the coffin and the pseudo-emperor inside the coffin, traveling all night under the stars."
"Presumably, this half day should be here. I think this guy is too excited. Not only did Nanning city fall, but he didn't write a report first. He also left tens of thousands of troops to his deputy, but he grabbed a five-year-old man. A good military attache can do this job. I really don’t know what this guy is thinking. His credit is his credit, even if he didn’t come, no one would take it away.”
"He ignored tens of thousands of troops in danger and went to Jingjiang Mansion so recklessly. Doesn't he know that Nanning City is connected to Annan to the south and Dali Kingdom to the west, with various barbarians in the territory, and its strategic position is extremely important? And what about that? Nearly half of the elite troops of the imperial court were gathered together, and they were all left behind by him. And he came to Jingjiang just to deliver a coffin. He is really crazy. "
After Huang Qiong said this, Lu Mengzheng and Kou Zhun were not surprised, but instead had a wry smile on their faces. Now, the two of them somewhat understand why Cao Rui is so eager. His real purpose is to get rid of his crime. Since the officers and soldiers from all walks of life entered Guangnan West Road, they have been like a group of tigers opening the gate. Almost grabbing all the way, grabbing all the way, looking for every opportunity to make a fortune.
Although Wang Zong, the prince of Guilin County who was captured, did not dare to do anything because of repeated strict orders from the court. Are you dealing with those tribes that are dependent on the false emperor? Are you not so thorough? The imperial court allocated a batch of money to collect grain and grass on Guangnan West Road. But these Qiu Ba, it seems that they never know what it means to pay for something. To say that they robbed is actually a good thing.
Along the way, how many tribes have completely disappeared and their villages have been burned to the ground? Cao Rui even publicly announced that if his soldiers were killed there, he would select ten times as many men from that tribe to take revenge. Nowadays, in the military camps around Nanning, not to mention the piles of property, how many women are hidden? This group of Qiu Ba really fought like a grate.
As the head coach, Cao Rui may not be involved. But the trophies given to him by military attachés at all levels who had made a fortune were enough for him to make a fortune. After learning that the emperor had arrived at Jingjiang Mansion, he probably felt a little scared in his heart. Although he directly launched troops and plundered without realizing it, he could not escape the charge of lax military management and poor control in causing the current situation.
That guy must have been so anxious to take credit for his crime after finding the coffin of the false emperor that he forgot about writing the document. Lu Mengzheng, who both knew this clearly, looked at Kou Zhun and didn't know what to say. This leader has always been a leader who does not rub sand in his eyes. If he knew that the armies going south were so indulgent in military discipline, Cao Rui might not have anything big on his mind, but his military exploits might be compromised.
Although this master also arrived at Guangnan West Road, he stopped when he arrived at Jingjiang Mansion. If he passed Jingjiang Mansion and saw mourners everywhere along the way, he would probably be furious. But even if he knows that the matter of wiping the butts of these people will eventually fall on the two of them, he can't interfere too much in this matter now. At least now, it's not time to teach a lesson.
The two of them were silent, but Huang Qiong didn't know the reason. He also knew that those bastard soldiers under Cao Rui had made countless foreign fortunes on Guangnan West Road, harmed many people, and corrupted many state capitals. Although the overall situation of Guangnan West Road has been decided, the peace of the past has not been completely restored. There are still a large number of stragglers living in various places and going up the mountains to become bandits.
If we deal with this group of officers and soldiers at this time, I'm afraid there will be more troubles. Cao Rui is not so bold about raising bandits to respect themselves. But if there is a mutiny or a bigger incident, the possibility is not that high. What's more, Cao Rui may not really be able to restrain these soldiers who have been fighting for three years and have barely received any rest.
If he restrains himself too harshly, he might be attacked by those red-eyed soldiers who want to get rich. What happened in Xiaoying may not be impossible. If he could really restrain him, those soldiers who were like wolves and tigers would not violate taboos again and again and ask for rewards from him. Isn't it just for the sake of roughly restraining the troops going south to maintain military discipline and not to plunder too much?
But judging from the silence between Lu Mengzheng and Kou Zhun, I am afraid that 90% of Cao Rui's painstaking efforts were secretly done. And what he repeatedly emphasized, that he was not allowed to plunder civilians, was probably forgotten by this group of soldiers who were used to it. The elite soldiers of the four major battalions are indeed fierce in combat. And military discipline is indeed strict. But that was in the capital, and if they were released, they would be a pack of hungry wolves with red eyes.
He initially led the Xijing camp to quell the rebellion in Ningxia Prefecture, but later on he was somewhat unable to control military discipline. If he hadn't personally been in charge, he would have picked off so many people's heads before sending out troops to suppress some people's desire to make a fortune. Maybe Cao Rui's experience would definitely happen to him too. Cao Rui is not himself. It is actually not easy to do this.
It has been three years since the armies went south. Fighting in the south of the Yangtze River, whose climate and environment are very different from those in the north, they have barely received a complete rest. The casualties and fatigue caused by continuous battles cannot be calmed down by rewards from the court alone. Especially after entering Guangnan West Road, the climate and miasma here, as well as various poisonous snakes everywhere, as well as the Yi tribes in the mountains and forests.
Not to mention those who were born and raised in the north and have always been used for drying. The four major battalion officers and soldiers in the north with four distinct seasons have been extremely unsuitable since they went south. If nothing else, I am not used to this climate. Not to mention the venomous snakes scurrying almost everywhere here. Because there are many trees and vegetation in Guilin County Prince's Mansion and many mountains in Jingjiang Mansion, they can be seen occasionally even here.
Snakes in the north are still hibernating at this time, waiting for the first spring thunder to wake up from hibernation. And it's only February, and the venomous snake on Guangnan West Road is already scurrying around. Last night, even a several-foot-long rice head came into my study. Only after he asked the people here did he find out that the palace always had snake killers on hand.
It is because I am worried that the palace has lush vegetation, many kinds of precious flowers and trees, and is connected to the outside by waterways. Poisonous snakes scurry in and injure all the masters, but even this is sometimes impossible to prevent. The false emperor was originally a beloved concubine. She was bitten by a silver armor belt in her bedroom in the royal palace and died after being bitten by a snake that hid in her bedding.
As for the servants in the palace, especially those in charge of the woodshed, some were bitten to death by poisonous snakes hiding in the woodpile that year. Most of the snakes on Guangnan West Road are venomous. Finally, the old servant reminded Huang Qiong that he must pay attention to the poisonous snakes here. Because the original snake hunter has been driven away and this year's snake poison has not yet been distributed, the snake will soon come out of hibernation.
You must be careful, the venomous snakes here are very venomous, and once bitten, it can be said to be a narrow escape. Originally, there was a snake doctor in the palace, but many times the snakes were not rescued in time, resulting in deaths and injuries. Not to mention, now the snake killers in the palace have been driven away, and the snake doctors have also been driven away. When a large number of snakes come out of hibernation and are eager to find food, there will probably be more and more snakes in the palace.
And everything here, I have only been on Guangnan West Road for a long time, and I am extremely uncomfortable with it. What's more, those soldiers who have been fighting on Guangnan West Road for such a long time? The beasts are better, but they still dare not get too close if there are many people or bonfires. Even if you get close, there are bows and arrows that can kill you, so it’s not a big deal. But there are venomous snakes that are hard to guard against and a bite can be fatal.
But it makes people feel tortured and go crazy at any time. Didn't Cao Rui say in the memorial that more soldiers were killed and bitten by poisonous snakes than those killed in the battle on Guangnan West Road? Most of those war horses also died in Shekou. Not to mention going into the mountains, even in the military camp, it was common to find a venomous snake under the bed in the middle of the night. Even he, the coach, often suffers from it.
Although every night, his guards would carefully clean his tent. Moreover, even if you sprinkle realgar powder for free, venomous snakes often come uninvited. Let alone getting into his bed, just looking at it is scary enough. These poisonous snakes are simply more hateful than those rebels, and the threat is even greater. The key point is that once you are bitten by some snake, you will not even be given time to rescue.
Coupled with the miasma that arises from time to time in the mountains, the hot climate, and the supply lines that cannot be fully guaranteed, they all torture these soldiers like a plague. The officers and soldiers of the imperial court today are not the army in his previous life that starved to death without grabbing food. If the entire Guangnan West Road is not completely wiped out, it will already give the court face.
