Wang Xingchao glanced at everyone and saw that no one said anything, so he couldn't help laughing.
He laughed so horribly that all the generals raised their heads and looked at him in surprise.
"Well, this meeting doesn't need to continue anymore." Wang Xingchao said: "I will draw up a table of surrender now and surrender to Qin Xiao. What do you think?"
All the generals were surprised and said one after another: "General, why is this?"
"In the past, when you were making money, you would have turned a blind eye and not paid much attention." Wang Xingchao sneered: "But now the enemy's knife has been placed on his neck, and he is still thinking about his own selfish interests. This battle
If we can win, even this general will feel that God has no eyes." He raised his hand and pointed at Zhao Fu and said: "Zhao Fu, you have built more than a dozen granaries and piled them full of grain. I heard that the grain in the granaries has become moldy and rotten. Over the years,
Come on, your Zhao family’s food store is more than 100,000 shi? In addition, the Zhao family’s gold and silver treasures are piled up like mountains. I heard that the children of the Zhao family use jade treasures as toys.”
When Zhao Fu heard this, he looked embarrassed and lowered his head.
"And you, General Meng, although you are just a guerrilla general, your family is probably richer than the Dazai of Kyoto, right?" Wang Xingchao said lightly: "I heard that you made a bet with someone the year before last, and after losing, you got fifty thousand taels of silver.
I threw out my bet without batting an eye."
"Yes, Ningyuan General Tan Yong, there was a big event in your house last month. Your son got married. How old is he this year?"
Tan Yong stood up and said in panic: "Nineteen!"
"Young talent." Wang Xingchao said with a smile: "My son is not very old, but he has many wives and concubines. Last month was the seventh concubine, right? It seems that it will take less than two years.
More than your thirteen-room concubine, General Ning Yuan." His face darkened, and he said sternly: "The ladies in your mansion all wear gold and silver, and the young masters also spend a lot of money. Now that the enemy is facing us, no one wants to
With the Liaodong Army. If you really think that Long Rui's army has conquered Liaodong, will you be lenient?"
All the generals dared not speak.
"After Qin Xiao took over western Liaoning, the first thing he did was to take back the occupied land." Wang Xingchao said: "Any officials who have anything to do with the Liaodong Army had their property confiscated and returned to the public. You still want to keep your property, etc."
Qin Xiao is here to spare you all, it is simply a wishful thinking." His eyes were cold and stern, and he said slowly: "If you defeat Qin Xiao, the wealth you donated will soon be back in your hands. If you lose this battle, don't do anything.
Speaking of family wealth, your heads will be hung on the top of the city."
Zhao Fu gritted his teeth, stood up and said: "General, I am willing to donate 20,000 taels of silver!"
"Oh?" Wang Xingchao smiled and said, "Finally someone took the initiative to stand up."
Immediately, all the generals present stood up one by one, some donated ten thousand taels, some donated five thousand taels, and more than ten generals added up to a hundred thousand taels of silver.
"One hundred thousand taels of silver is quite a lot." Wang Xingchao said calmly: "If it is just used to pay the current soldiers' military pay, it can last for two months."
Everyone naturally heard the sarcasm in Wang Xingchao's words.
The Liaodong Army originally had a strength of 20,000 men, and the cavalry's military pay was higher. On average, one month's military pay required one hundred thousand taels of silver, which did not include the soldiers' food and grass.
The war horses of the Liaodong Army are all intensively raised. The cost of horse feed for a month is not even
Under the soldiers.
Coupled with various miscellaneous expenses, it is impossible to maintain a Liaodong army of 20,000 people without 300,000 taels of silver a month.
This is still a period of peace. Once there is a war, the consumption will be greater, and the silver coins required will at least double.
Fortunately, the taxes from the four northeastern counties and the money allocated to the military treasury from the profits of the trading center can still maintain the expenses of 20,000 soldiers and horses.
After just a few battles, the Liaodong Army lost many troops and now has less than 10,000 troops. Even so, it would need at least nearly 200,000 taels a month to maintain its strength.
But to fight against Long Rui's army, the troops on hand are naturally far from enough.
The Liaodong Army, which numbered less than 10,000 people, still needed to detach a part of it to stay in Xuantu County to guard against the Bohai people taking advantage of the situation. Therefore, Wang Xingchao's troops were already stretched thin.
Recruiting soldiers and bravery has become imperative.
The seven thousand young men in the new barracks are still in training. Taking advantage of the cold winter that Long Rui's army is not able to march eastward for the time being, it is natural to speed up the recruitment of soldiers. And for every additional soldier, the cost will be one more point.
Without strong financial resources and sufficient food and grass, it is simply impossible to raise an army.
All the generals present knew clearly that if they really recruited 20,000 soldiers before the beginning of spring, and the weapons and equipment plus military pay and other expenses, it would naturally be a huge sum. Three hundred thousand taels of silver a month would probably be spent.
Can't live.
Now a group of generals have collected one hundred thousand taels of silver, which is of course an astronomical figure for ordinary people, but when used in the army, it is only a drop in the bucket.
The current situation in the Northeast is extremely unfavorable to the Liaodong Army. If the army is short of silver and food,
This battle really does not need to be fought anymore.
"I have an account in my hand." Wang Xingchao walked slowly to the edge of the general's chair, finally sat down, and said slowly: "I know exactly how much wealth you have. Not only you who are here today, but also
I have all the general financial accounts of the civilian and military generals above the sixth rank. Since you asked me to be this chair, I will take on the heavy responsibility of leading the Liaodong Army out of the predicament. Starting today, within three days, the sixth rank
The above civil and military generals, no matter who they are, must donate at least half of their family wealth. Starting from the generals, if anyone is unwilling, they can leave Liaodong with their family wealth and join Long Rui's army now!"
Half of the family wealth?
Many people's eyes twitched and their hearts ached.
"Don't worry, there will be an account of the money and food donated." Wang Xingchao said: "After the rebels are wiped out, you will all receive double compensation."
Everyone looked at each other and didn't know what to say.
Wang Xingchao glanced at him, his eyes were sharp, and he said coldly: "I know that I ask you to give up your family wealth, and I will definitely be dissatisfied. However, I have to consider the survival of the entire Liaodong Army. Even if you are dissatisfied, I can't do anything. If anyone thinks that
What I have done is inappropriate, and it is not too late to object now. I can still give up my chair."
"Since the general said so, we should obey his orders."
"Yes, this is for the survival of the Liaodong Army, and everyone must work together in the same boat."
"General, my subordinates will make preparations when they return today. They will definitely donate money and food within three days!"
"This general has assigned a team of people to help you count the money and food." Wang Xingchao said: "If you count all the donors,
I am grateful and will write it down in the account book. Since none of you object, let me start with the ugly words. Anyone who deceives others, cheats, and fails to pay the full amount is intentionally collaborating with the Liaodong Army.
Enemy." His eyes were like daggers, and he said word by word: "When the time comes, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Cleaning up military discipline, recruiting new soldiers, and raising money and food. These matters cannot be delayed and must start immediately." Wang Xingchao said: "But even so, it is still very difficult to wipe out the rebels with our current strength." He paused.
After a while, he said: "So we must borrow other forces."
Zhao Fu immediately said: "The general is talking about Bu Liu Daren?" General Shu Bei boldly said that those Yi Di people are really capricious and cannot be believed. The last time they were mobilized to help out, those Yi Di people didn't even have an arrow.
Let go and walk away in a panic."
"That's right, General, you can no longer trust Bu Liu Da Ren."
"If it weren't for the Liaodong Army, Buliuda would have been annexed by Zhenyu long ago." Some people said bitterly: "The Yi and Di are ungrateful and even escaped before the battle. We will not spare them until Long Rui's army is wiped out."
For a moment, the hall was full of curses and contempt for Bu Liuda.
Wang Xingchao looked at everyone coldly. After a while, everyone seemed to realize something was wrong when they saw that Wang Xingchao didn't speak, and they all fell silent.
Wang Xingchao then sneered and said: "You are spending the winter in a warm mansion, so I'm afraid you don't know what is going on outside. Do any of you know that Qin Xiao went to Buliuda?"
As soon as these words came out, all the generals present changed their faces in shock.
"General, are you saying that Qin Xiao is in Buliuda?" Zhao
Fu opened his eyes wide and felt puzzled: "How is this possible? Isn't he in western Liaoning?"
"Not only did he go to Buliuda, but he also became sworn friends with Buliuda Tower." Wang Xingchaoleng said slowly with a stern face: "He was already in Buliuda half a month ago. I just got the news the day before yesterday.
, Qin Xiao followed Bu Liuda's Zuo Dudu Lieutenant Chile Mountain, sneaked into the Bohai camp in the black forest, and captured Yuan Gaijian's son Yuan Gaiyue alive, making great contributions to Bu Liuda. Bu Liuda had already been killed by Qin
Merchants from Xiaoyuanluo and Buliuda tribes have been banned from going to Fucheng trading market to trade, and they all started to trade in Heishan."
Everyone present was shocked.
In the eyes of the Liaodong generals, Bu Liuda was just a dog following the Liaodong army. Give Bu Liuda a few bones and he could drive the barbarians at will.
Although the Zhenyu tribe had already started trading silk and horses with Long Rui's army, the Zhenyu tribe had long been resentful of the Liaodong army and defected to Qin Xiao. The Liaodong generals were not surprised.
But no one expected that Bu Liuda Ren, who had always been as loyal as a dog to the Liaodong Army, would also defect to the Long Rui Army.
Originally, the generals thought that even if the Buliuda people did not contribute, they had a close relationship with the Liaodong Army, which would at least ensure that the north would be worry-free.
However, after hearing such shocking news from Wang Xingchao, the first reaction of the generals present was that there would be big trouble in the north.
Bu Liuda Ren fell to Long Rui's army and became an ally of Long Rui's army. Then it is very likely that he will cooperate with Long Rui's army to launch a military operation against Liaodong. Once this happens, the Liaodong army will have to deploy troops to strengthen the defense of the north. In this way
Come, deal with Long Ruijun
Military strength will also be further weakened.
This is of course extremely bad news for the Liaodong Army.