"Yanglian Silver? Does Taichung Prime Minister still remember Yanglian Silver?" Lu Youren said with a smile: "Taichung Prime Minister holds a high position as governor, but he still doesn't know that now Shaanxi's Yanglian Silver has nothing to donate or borrow.

?Now the fourth year of Jiaqing has not passed yet, the two counties of Chang'an and Xianning have already borrowed all the Yanglian silver for the sixth year of Jiaqing! Those counties outside Xi'an Fucheng, Gaoling, Weinan, Pucheng, Sanyuan... have also been borrowed.

As early as this summer, the Yanglian Bank for five years in Jiaqing was borrowed in advance, but even so, the prefectures and counties in Shaanxi are still unable to make ends meet? Originally, public funds were insufficient, so Yanglian Bank had to be used to fill the shortfall.

At the end of the year, armies from all walks of life were crossing the border, appeasing the Hannan villages, and preparing for defense... Which of these expenses were not ordinary expenses? The day before yesterday, Chang'an County came to inform Yu Xiaguan that even the red heart paper for the coming year was now going to be cut in half.

Taichung Prime Minister, do you think we can still cut expenses to provide food and wages? I would also like to ask, which item of expenses in Shaanxi can withstand continued reductions at the moment?!"

"Lu Fantai, in these troubled times, we still have to put the overall situation first." Hengrui on the side changed his expression at this time, and smiled calmly at Lu Youren: "The top priority for Shaanxi right now is to suppress the bandits. If the bandits are not suppressed, what will happen to Shaanxi?

How can peace be achieved? Then, when your Excellency came to Shaanxi this time, he brought with him all the elites from the capital. What is the purpose of this? Isn’t it because the emperor has made up his mind and is preparing to wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop? In this case, why should we spend more in Shaanxi?

Is it an act of loyalty to serve the country?"

"Aha, stop talking." Just as Hengrui was speaking eloquently, he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him. Naturally, it was Na Yancheng. Na Yancheng stepped forward slowly, signaled Hengrui and Taibu to be silent for the time being, and continued walking.

When he came to Lu Youren, he bowed again and said: "Lu Fantai, it was my negligence that failed to restrain my subordinates. It should be me who apologizes to you. Shaanxi's finances are so tight right now. I didn't know it before. So,

The military expenditure is unknown at the moment. Now that your Excellency has made the current situation clear and you have done your best for the general affairs of Shaanxi Province, as an imperial envoy, how can I watch you work so hard and ignore it at all? Since it is wartime now.

, the soldiers do not have food and pay, so naturally they are unwilling to fight as hard as they can, so why don't you just give me three times the salary of the Eight Banners in the capital to support my horse and foot troops. I also report to the emperor that I will first spend on my own upbringing.

Military supplies. As for the subordinates, they all follow the rules of the vest. If they complain again, I will restrain them. For other war matters, I will notify Gansu as soon as possible and send troops south within ten days.

What do you think, sir?"

Lu Youren couldn't help but be a little surprised when he listened to Na Yancheng's words. Although Na Yancheng took into account the wartime needs, the food payment requested was still more than the regular expenditure, but compared to what the previous leaders said, it was only one-fifth. If

Na Yancheng could really follow his promise and go south to attack the White Lotus Sect as early as possible. Maybe the war would end as soon as possible and the treasury would be able to support it. He couldn't help but wonder: "Sir, are you... are you serious about this?"

"Of course it is true." Na Yancheng said: "Lu Fantai, when I was an official in Beijing, I knew your name and knew that you have always been honest and honest. You have served as magistrate and minister until the vassal, and you have achieved great results wherever you go. So I

I believe that most of what you said is true. If you say you can't do it, it means that the Shaanxi treasury is really powerless. How can I sit back and watch the Shaanxi treasury become depleted and ignore it? After that, I will dispatch grain, grass, gunpowder, and Lao Lu Fantai

Already."

Hearing Na Yancheng's words, Lu Youren felt grateful in his heart. Although the treasury must be tight due to the large army passing through the border, after Na Yancheng cut down the expenditure, he thought that if he was more frugal, he could still supply this army and horse for half a year.

So he quickly went back to pay homage to Na Yancheng, thanked him for his tolerance, and then returned to the Chief Envoy's Yamen.

But when Na Yancheng looked at Lu Youren's leaving figure, he also vaguely felt that this trip to Shaanxi was by no means as simple as he thought when he left Beijing...

The reality in Shaanxi is even more complicated than what Na Yancheng felt at this time.

After arriving in Xi'an, Na Yancheng also supervised the training of soldiers and horses while waiting for information from Gansu and preparing to send troops at any time. On this day, he was also watching the drills of his subordinate officers and soldiers at the Eight Banners Campus. He was thinking that several days had passed and Song Yun's letter should also be received.

When we were already on the road, a senior attendant suddenly walked up from the side and said that Hengrui was in the audience and wanted to discuss something with him.

After meeting Hengrui, he was as polite as ever and said to himself with a smile: "Dongfu, you've been here to watch the drills these past few days. You've worked really hard. But Aha still feels that you don't have that."

We must take Lu Youren's words seriously. It is true that Shaanxi has been fighting for several years, but after all, it has been peaceful for a long time. There is still some savings in the treasury, and it is definitely not enough to supply these five thousand troops.

of."

"Aha, although I am not involved in the affairs of the Ministry of Finance, I have heard about the current treasury situation." Na Yancheng still had his own opinions on Hengrui's words. "Don't talk about Shaanxi now, the whole world

The treasury was in deficit, but Heshen had been in power before and had been deceiving the provinces. Now that the emperor is in charge, they have found out one by one. What Mr. Lu said is also true of all provinces in the world. Shaanxi has experienced war.

How can I survive alone for several years? And in order to encourage the military morale, I also specially told Mr. Lu that I would provide food and salary three times the salary. In this way, I am the one who makes things difficult for Mr. Lu."

"Dongfu, isn't this as easy as you think?" Hengrui said with a smile: "Actually, those of your long-term followers are the ones who have really seen what happened in Zhi province. Aha listened to them report their food and salary that day.

In fact, the reinforcements from the capital that came to Xi'an before were paid as they said. As for the salary quota, these soldiers may not care. It seems that you have paid twice as much as the ordinary salary.

They, but what about them? They don't think so. They just feel that the food and salary they receive is more than half less than that of the people from the capital who came to Xi'an before. That's it. So they may not be grateful for your increase in salary.

On the contrary, I will hate you. Aha also knows that you don’t want to offend either these subordinates or Lu Youren. But now, you don’t want to offend anyone, but you might offend everyone?"

"Aha, Aha may not know as much as I do about matters in the capital." Na Yancheng still didn't want to believe Hengrui, and said: "When I was in the capital, I was well aware of the income and expenditure of the imperial court.

This year, there are only 17,800,000 taels left in the national treasury. After the Holy Ancestor Dynasty, the national dynasty's silver reserves have never been lower than this year. If we add in the shortfall and temporary military expenses,

At present, the imperial court is unable to make ends meet. At this time, if you still want to worry about the country, you should try your best to cut down on non-urgent needs. How can you continue to spend as much as before? Aha, in the days after I was in Xi'an, during this banquet

That day, Aha took over the task for me. Half of the generals in the Eight Banners Battalion and the governor’s comrades put together dozens of tables of dishes. This meal alone would cost more

It's more than a hundred taels of silver, how can I afford it?"

"Dongfu, isn't it the same with Aha... It's also because it's your first time to supervise important things in person, so I want to care about you and want you to do things more smoothly?" Hengrui also knew that Na Yancheng was not easy to persuade, so he had to gradually transfer.

After a while, he asked Na Yancheng again: "Then what are you going to do? Are you really going to do what you said to Lu Youren that day and send troops to Hannan Laolin in a few days?"

"Aha, I received a secret report from the front line yesterday. The high school sophomore and Ma Wu Division have now left the Qinling Mountains and are about to go south to the Hannan Old Forest. They have newly captured the bandit leader. For a while, they should not be able to fight our army again. Take advantage of this

It's the right time to take this opportunity to go south. And, has Aha forgotten? The troop dispatch letter to Master Song was sent out five days ago. According to this calculation, in one or two days, Master Song's reply should arrive. By then

We, Shaanxi-Gansu, will conduct a campaign and block the main roads respectively. The thieves must have no way to escape, so they will have to fight our army decisively. By then, if the enemy can be retreated as soon as possible, the people of Shaanxi-Gansu can also be relieved, right?" Na Yancheng said about the frontline battle.

I'm still very confident about it.

"Dongfu, don't you also know that if you want to go south to fight, you have to wait for Songyun to send troops with you. But Aha seems to think that this is the problem. Songyun may not be able to

In such a timely manner, we will send troops together with you? In the past, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces worked together to encircle and suppress, but why did they fail every time? Did Dongfu know nothing about it?" Unexpectedly, Hengrui still had no trust in Songyun.

"Then tell me, Aha, what exactly is going on?" Na Yancheng said.

"We actually had discussions between Shaanxi and Gansu regarding the previous campaign." Hengrui said, "Aha also knows that because Aha accidentally got closer to He Shen, the emperor asked him to

My continuing to be the general of Xi'an is the greatest gift to me. Of course Aha must report the emperor's favor? So this year, Aha has been carefully investigating the bandit suppression in southern Shaanxi. Every time there is information,

, they would immediately mobilize their troops to fight south. But what about Songyun? Every time Aha wrote to him, asking him to send troops to suppress the enemy, he would ostensibly agree to send troops, but in fact, he never defended several key passes. What happened?

, the thief easily escaped every time at the passes between Shaanxi and Gansu. Aha once asked him why there was so much delay, but he was always perfunctory and prevaricated, and even once or twice recently, he didn't even believe him.

I have replied. Dongfu, Aha thought, this time the letter to Lord Song was probably not answered. But you can’t wait for the ten-day appointment? If it takes two more days, Songyun has been

I refuse to reply to you, but what are you going to do?"

"Aha, I think Mr. Song has always been a fair person. How could he deliberately be perfunctory and not cooperate with us in suppressing the bandits?" Na Yancheng still didn't want to believe that Songyun would watch the fire from the other side, and said: "What's more, in the past two provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu,

We have always been fighting independently. This time I came as an imperial envoy to supervise the war. Regarding the deployment of troops, Lord Song should obey my orders. The previous problem may not happen again today. But even if Lord Song does not reply, if the Han Dynasty

There are other generals in Hannan, so it is not difficult to join forces to encircle and suppress them. Aha, who is supervising military affairs in Hannan right now?"

"As far as I know, it should be Funing, the deputy capital commander." Hengrui said. Funing had been deposed by Jiaqing due to long-term battles with no results, but later because he was familiar with Shaanxi and there were not many people in Hubei's terrain, Jiaqing only had

He was able to be used again, but this time he was only given the position of deputy governor to show his temporary use. In terms of official status, it seems that Funing can no longer keep up with his old enemy Hengrui.

But Na Yancheng also heard a little bit about the old grudge between Hengrui and Funing, and said: "Fu Ning... Aha, is it because you were not on good terms with him before, so you never trust him?"

"Of course not." Hengrui said with a smile: "Dongfu, you should also know, right? Aha was indeed confused for a moment and got close to He Shen. It happened that Fu Ning also befriended He Shen many times, so Aha

In the eyes of you outsiders, Ha has always been at odds with Funing. But the world has changed now? Since the emperor is in charge, everything has been reformed, and he doesn't care about us, then why should we think about the old grievances in the past? Now, Ah

Ha and Funing are both dedicated to serving the emperor. State affairs are the most important. And Dongfu, look, he, Funing, has been demoted to deputy commander, and Aha is still the general of Xi'an, and his official rank is higher than his.

Too much, is Aha so stingy as to be jealous of a vice-captain?" Hengrui's last few words were all true. Na Yancheng listened and felt that what he said was reasonable. His previous doubts about Funing also disappeared.

Can't help but feel a little missing.

"Then...if that's the case, if I lead my troops south, Funing can naturally help me?" Na Yancheng asked.

"Of course, you are the imperial envoy, and he is the deputy commander, how can he stir up trouble in front of you?" Hengrui said with a smile.

"In this case, Aha, I think no matter whether Lord Song's letter does not reach here, it will be enough for me to bring these men in Beijing, plus Funing's subordinates in Hannan, to wipe out the leaderless bandits in two days.

When the time comes, I would also like to trouble Aha to lead another army behind my troops to support each other. Aha will be behind, so that the thieves will not be the first to target. Even if our troops are unfavorable in the battle, Aha will be behind to cover them.

, thinking about it, there won't be much danger. So, Aha is still satisfied?" Hengrui naturally also knew that Na Yancheng was eager to fight, and his own arguments would probably have no effect. Moreover, Na Yancheng's arrangement was also not effective.

He calculated carefully and took all his own risks into account. He had no reason to reject Na Yancheng, so he had no choice but to agree to him.

With Hengrui's help, Na Yancheng was naturally more relieved. Thinking that there was still a matter of military supply dispatch, which needed to be discussed with Taibu, Lu Youren and others, he bid farewell to Hengrui for the time being and went to the governor's office in the outer city. But Hengrui watched.

As Yancheng left, there was an unnoticed secret smile at the corner of his mouth...

Sure enough, as Hengrui said, two days later, Na Yancheng did not receive a reply from Song Yun about sending troops to support him. But Na Yancheng had made up his mind, so he ordered his troops and horses to march westward, out of Fufeng, down the sloping valley, and headed radially.
Chapter completed!