Longzang

Chapter 482 Gap
In the Western Jin Dynasty's government hall, the King of Jin sat expressionlessly at the head of the table, staring at the image of the northern border displayed on the screen. Standing beside the image was not the Right Chancellor, but the King of Ying.

The King of England, looking travel-worn and haggard, said: "In the Battle of Lesu Valley, the new army of 40,000 against the Liao army of 20,000 was a minor victory, killing 10,000 enemies but losing 10,000 of its own; in the Battle of Tatu River, the new army of 35,000 against the Liao cavalry of 15,000 was a major victory, killing 10,000 enemies but losing 7,000 of its own."

The Right Chancellor then said, “By using infantry to subdue cavalry, we can achieve a balance of casualties. The strength of the new army is no less than that of the Nine Armies of the Great Tang Dynasty, and it is truly the foremost border army of our Great Jin. I have heard that the training of the new army is very rapid. No wonder the fortunes of our Great Jin have been rising steadily recently.”

At that moment, a mocking voice suddenly rang out from the side: "The fortunes of our Great Jin Dynasty have recently turned from red to black, with turbid air filling the sky, a sign of impending great disaster. It seems that even the Right Chancellor, after serving in office for many years, has succumbed to the ingrained habit of reporting only good news and not bad. Is the Right Chancellor trying to take my head?"

The Right Chancellor turned his head and saw an old man with white hair and a youthful face sneering at him.

This old man was the newly appointed Imperial Observatory Director. It was said that he was a prodigy whom the Prince of Jin had found from who-knows-where. He was skilled in altering feng shui and his ability to observe the heavens and predict destiny was quite formidable. The Prince of Jin almost always listened to him.

This man was too prominent, and the Right Chancellor was unwilling to provoke him, so he said, "This old minister is merely stating the facts."

The Prince of Jin then asked, "Are there any shortcomings in the new army?"

The King of England sighed, “The new army is easy to train and doesn’t require high physical strength. However, the new army consumes a huge amount of equipment; the total cost of all the equipment for one new army could equip an elite cavalry unit. Moreover, the new army is slow-moving and requires strict formations in battle; if they are disrupted by the enemy, it will be a disaster. In the two major battles against the Liao people, most of our casualties occurred after the enemy cavalry disrupted our formations. But the primary problem lies in the equipment.”

To reverse the tide of the war in the north, we need to train another 100,000 new troops, at a cost of five million taels of silver.

After speaking, the King of England returned to his seat.

The Prince of Jin asked slowly, "Recently, Wei Yuan, the military governor of Dingxi, reported that the Wu tribe has launched a large-scale invasion with an army of over a million and has requested reinforcements. What should we do about this?"

The officials suddenly fell silent, and not one of them spoke.

The Prince of Jin frowned slightly and asked, "Has the military governor of Yunxiang replied?"

The Minister of War said, "Lord Lü said that the Eastern Jin and Northern Qi have been making frequent moves recently, and the troops previously dispatched to the northern border have not yet returned, so there is a shortage of troops and it is difficult to mobilize them. Moreover, the military funds within the country have been exhausted and the food supplies have been depleted. If troops are to be mobilized, the court will need to replenish the military funds and food supplies."

The King of Jin's expression darkened, and he turned to the King of Cheng, who was sitting on the other side, and asked, "What solution does the King of Cheng have?"

King Cheng said slowly, “In the past month, the Liao tribe launched a major offensive, and we have retreated more than 400 li. At this time, the northern border is already short of troops, and rashly drawing troops from the border may cause the entire northern border to collapse. If the western region is really in danger, then I might as well go and meet with Youwu.”

The Prince of Jin's expression softened slightly, and he asked, "What's the Xu and Lü families up to?"

"The Xu family is holding back their troops, while the Lü family is still fighting fiercely in the north. They should have no strength left."

Prince Jin snorted heavily, his dissatisfaction evident in his words, but Xu Gong, the Minister of Revenue, pretended not to notice and remained silent with his head down.

The Prince of Jin said, "Disperse, everyone. Prince Ying, come with me."

A moment later, the King of Ying followed the King of Jin into the study. The King of Jin said, "How come our newly trained army is so much worse than Qingming's?"

The King of England said, “I am also pondering this matter. There are aspects that can be explained, and aspects that cannot be explained.”

The King of England then took out a black box from his storage treasure and opened it in front of the King of Jin. Inside the box was a breastplate, a muzzle-loading musket, and several rounds of ammunition.

"The solution lies in the equipment. This is the weaponry used by the elite Qingming infantry. The breastplates offer comparable protection, but the Qingming armor is five pounds lighter than ours. As for the same type of muskets, the quality of our craftsmen's imitations is inconsistent. I've seen it, and only about one in ten is of comparable quality to the Qingming's. Finally, there's the ammunition. Our gunpowder is significantly weaker than the Qingming's, and its power also varies. In addition, the muskets are substandard, so in both battles, about a thousand muskets exploded in each battle, and three or four thousand muskets couldn't be reloaded after firing just one shot, leaving them no choice but to draw their swords and fight the Liao cavalry to the death."

"How can there be such a big difference?" King Jin was displeased.

"Our craftsmen are not yet skilled enough."

"What a joke! Our craftsmen aren't skilled, but Wei Yuan has skilled craftsmen?! How long has his Qingming been established?"

The King of England said, "I heard that many people went to the Heavenly Craft Hall of the Taichu Palace, including Yu Zhizhuo, who is regarded as the next Hall Master. Perhaps the difference lies here."

The Prince of Jin snorted, picked up the firearms produced by Qingming and examined them carefully for a long time. Suddenly, he said, "Tell me, do you think that among all the quartermasters in Qingming, not a single one is embezzling money? And don't the craftsmen keep any materials for themselves?"

The King of England smiled wryly and said, "I've thought about this issue too, but judging from the quality of the weapons alone, I'm afraid the people handling them really didn't embezzle much. That's what I don't understand."

After a long silence, the King of Jin said, "I do not envy him for having so many incredible weapons; I only envy him for having so many officials who are not greedy for money!"

The King of England sighed deeply and said, "Our ancestors first established their capital at this time, when scholars were not greedy for money and warriors were fearless in the face of death. When Minister Liu passed away, he left behind a family fortune and land totaling no more than a thousand taels of silver. Now..."

"Forget about that. Can we still send some troops over to the Western Regions?"

"We simply cannot spare a single soldier. We have no choice but to ask the Xu family to send troops."

The Prince of Jin sneered, "The Xu family would love nothing more than for Wei Yuan to die, why would they send troops?"

The King of England suddenly said, "I heard that Wei Yuan has banned the transport of grain out of the country in preparation for war. Although there is not much silver in the national treasury, there is still a surplus of newly harvested grain. Why not take some out and sell it in the Xu family's territory?"

The Prince of Jin pondered for a moment, then his eyes flashed, and he said, "Just as you said!"

……

A gigantic flying ship streaked across the sky; it was a full 150 feet long and extremely luxurious.

In the main cabin of the airship, Wei Boyang suddenly opened his eyes, summoned an attendant, and asked, "Where are we?"

"We will enter the State of Zhao in three days."

Wei Boyang calculated the time and instructed, "Activate the concealment formation, increase altitude, and do not let the people below discover us. Once we enter the territory of Zhao, remove the concealment formation, decrease altitude to 100 zhang, slow down, play music and drums, and then fly along this route."

A flight route map appeared before the attendant. The map was winding and passed through almost all the major cities of Zhao, including the capital.

The attendant was startled and asked, "The capital of Zhao has a no-fly zone; should we go around it?"

Wei Boyang sneered and said, "What are you afraid of? We are now on the Regent's ship, which bears the Emperor's insignia! If Li Shenji dares to shoot an arrow, the history books will surely record his infamy as a traitorous minister!"
"I'll just pass over the palace. I want to see if Li Shenji dares to shoot down the ship and kill me!"

(End of this chapter)