As soon as Chen Zhao, an "outsider", ran away, Zhu Lian's eyes became even fiercer.
Zheng Qingyun, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but burst out laughing when he saw Zhao Huan sweating profusely and looking like a tiger in fear of Zhu Lian.
This sweet smile saved my life!
Zhao Huan quickly borrowed the donkey from the slope, rushed to Zhu Lian, held Zhu Lian's little hand tightly, and explained with great sincerity.
"My beloved, you really misunderstood me."
"The lifeblood of the Song Dynasty lies in Yizhou, and Yizhou is rotten to the core. If you want to turn Yizhou into a key town and a frontier fortress of the Song Dynasty, the money required is beyond imagination."
"I sent all the money to Yue Fei and Zhao Kun to Yizhou, but it is still difficult to build a powerful army to fight against the Jin soldiers."
"Do you know how much it costs to make an ordinary pair of armor?"
Although Zhu Lian was not familiar with the art of war, he still heard about the various constructions of the Song Dynasty.
She considered it for a moment and responded softly: "Thirty strings?"
Zhao Huan patted the back of Zhu Lian's cool and delicate hand repeatedly, nodding like pounding garlic.
"As expected of my beloved concubine, she even knows about such things."
"That's right, a pair of ordinary iron armor used by infantry archers costs thirty strands."
"If it's a heavy armor required by a heavy-armored soldier, one pair would cost at least eighty pieces."
"This is just the armor itself. You know... one helmet is half armor, and the helmet is always counted alone."
"To build a heavy armor, from the helmet to the waistband boots, a complete set of armor will require at least 150 pieces."
"In addition to armor, you also need to be equipped with weapons!"
"A good bow costs three to five guan."
"A long weapon requires five or six spears..."
Zhu Lian waved his hand to interrupt, frowning slightly: "Just tell me how much it will cost to build an anti-gold army. It's too long-winded!"
Zhao Huan sighed, and his liver trembled every time he thought of this.
"Take the 2,500 Tiger Wing Army as an example. If you want to turn it into a heavily armored force, you will need at least... 500,000 taels of silver."
When he heard Zhao Huan's quotation, even the well-informed Zhu Lian couldn't help but be shocked.
"What?! How come there are so many!"
Zheng Qingyun also covered his mouth with a look of surprise on his face: "Your Majesty...even if everyone wears silver armor, it doesn't require so much money, right?"
Although the sadness on Zhao Huan's face was all fake, the pressure in his heart was really increasing day by day.
"A tiger-winged army alone cannot fight a war."
"Heavy-armored soldiers are a war platform. With heavy-armored soldiers as the core, the rest of the arms cooperate with each other to form an army."
"If you want to win, you don't necessarily need heavy-armored soldiers, but if you want not to lose, you definitely need heavy-armored soldiers."
"When the armored soldiers form the resistance line, each heavily armored soldier must be equipped with two servants."
"This alone requires 7,500 people."
"In addition, there are also infantry archers, logistics... All in all, there will be at least 10,000 people to support the 2,500 people of the Tiger Wing Army."
"That's all, it's because our Song Dynasty lacks horses and it's difficult to raise cavalry. Otherwise, it will cost one or two times more silver."
Zhu Lian knew that fighting a war was expensive, but he did not expect that just building an army in Yizhou would require so much money.
Five hundred thousand taels...
You know, holding a fund-raising conference only raised 920,000 yuan.
To build a Yizhou army, half of the yearly coins would be spent? This was beyond Zhu Lian's understanding.
As everyone knows, Zhao Huan deliberately kept the money low in order to avoid surprising them.
There is another "big head" that Zhao Huan did not dare to mention, which is the "arrow".
Since ancient times, arrows have never been consumables.
It is nonsense to fire thousands of arrows together and then ignore them after shooting. These arrows must be recovered after the war, otherwise the loss of arrows alone will be enough to bring down the army.
A qualified arrow requires extremely complex craftsmanship. There are hundreds of types of arrowheads alone.
Take the most famous "rocket" as an example. That thing is not just a piece of cotton tied to the shoulder, lit and shot out.
Instead, the arrows are made into "hollow ball hoops" and igniters are plugged into the hollow interior.
Just making a rocket arrow costs more than 100 yuan, and this does not include the arrow shaft with more complicated craftsmanship.
Precisely because arrows are expensive to make, the ability to fire arrows without missing a point and pierce the Yang with a hundred steps is not a magical skill that only generals possess.
It is the minimum military literacy of the infantry archers and accurate shooting that can save arrows and thus save military expenses.
What troubles Zhao Huan the most is that arrows are not only equipped by infantry archers, but also by servants and even heavily armored soldiers...
Just making arrows is an astronomical figure.
Zhu Lian finally understood why Zhao Huan suddenly fell in love with money and tried every means to make money whenever he had the chance.
It is absolutely impossible for Your Majesty to allocate funds to Zhao Huan to build an army in Yizhou alone.
After all, throwing away dozens or even millions of taels of silver in one go was too risky for the Song Dynasty's current national strength.
Zhu Lian understood Zhao Huan's difficulties and his eyes softened.
"Since the prince is so short of money, there is no need to send money to the prince's palace in the future."
Finding that the murderous look in Zhu Lian's eyes had dissipated, Zhao Huan breathed a sigh of relief.
He gently stroked the back of Zhu Lian's hand and was extremely moved: "I am very relieved to have the support of my beloved concubine."
"But the expenses of the palace cannot be reduced any more. I am not willing to let my beloved concubine live a hard life."
Speaking of this, Zhao Huan sighed: "So far, I haven't even bought you a new coat."
Unexpectedly, Zhao Huan still remembered that ragged coat...
Zhu Lian felt soft in his heart, but he still had to keep wearing that coat. At least it could spur Zhao Huan not to forget his original intention.
"Now that I know about it, I will no longer interfere with the prince's making money from now on."
"But there are two things that I still need to remind the prince."
"First, I don't like greedy ministers like Chen Zhao. Although he is beneficial to you, the current situation of the Song Dynasty is caused by too many greedy ministers."
"Second, let go of your hands!"
Zhao Huan, who took the opportunity to wipe the oil for a long time, quickly retracted his hand as if he was electrocuted.
Zhu Lian flicked his long sleeves, and his small hands as white as snow were instantly hidden by the cuffs.
Zheng Qingyun couldn't stop laughing. She felt that the prince was so interesting. He was obviously famous in Bianjing and feared by everyone, but he was as timid as a mouse when it came to his family members...
"Your Majesty, the slave family doesn't know so much, but no matter what the prince does, the slave family will support you."
Zhao Huan reached out and touched Zheng Qingyun's head, and couldn't help but admire: "The concubine is still sensible."
It wasn't until Xiaochai coughed and felt Zhu Lian's increasingly cold eyes that Zhao Huan restrained himself.
Zhu Lian stepped to the window, looked at the school grounds that were gradually being built, and his tone gradually became deeper.
"When the Xiaoyuan Poetry Festival is held, it is the day when Yizhou's big bet is fulfilled."