Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 372: Year-end Military and Political Conference (I)

When the good news came from eastern Zhejiang, everyone in the Marshal's Mansion was immediately delighted. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Lu Jin now had at least 300,000 or 400,000 troops under his command. He also owned the Huaiyang Salt Field, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang grain-producing areas, and the three strategic locations of Anqing, Luzhou, and Huai'an. The situation was much stronger than that of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Apart from anything else, just Luzhou (Hefei), the birthplace of Lu Jin, is something Sun Quan would dream of getting.

Now that the Shengwu Army has occupied the important cities of Huai'an, Anqing and Luzhou, it can attack Qi and Lu in the north, advance to the Central Plains in the west, and govern Jiangxi in the south. With the population, wealth and resources of Huaiyang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang behind it, it is no exaggeration to say that it has the potential to conquer the world!
However, eastern Zhejiang had just been conquered. If one wanted to transform eastern Zhejiang into an advantage, he had to digest it first.

It was just the end of the year, so Lu Jin held a small court meeting in the Marshal's Mansion, inviting the civil and military academies and the secretariat to hold a year-end summary meeting and arrange the work plan for next year.

In Jiankang City, in the central hall of the Marshal's Mansion, Lu Jin sat at the head of the table, with civil and military officials on his left and right, each of them moving a stool and sitting there. Only when everyone was present did Lu Jin speak.

"Today is the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month. It is almost the end of the year. The Eastern Expedition has ended. The best areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been taken by our army, but many matters are still pending. That is why I have summoned you to a small meeting to discuss the military and political affairs of this year and next.

"In national affairs, survival comes first. Only by keeping the enemy out of the country can we ensure survival. So let's talk about military affairs first. Mr. Feng will speak first. I will also give everyone a briefing so that you can understand the current situation of our army, where our advantages are, and what shortcomings need to be improved. Let everyone understand what we are going to do next."

"Yes!"

Feng Guoyong immediately stood up with the prepared materials and then spoke to everyone.

"At present, the Eastern Expedition has come to a perfect conclusion. All the targets in the plan made before the expedition have been achieved. The East China Front Army has occupied the plain area in northern Zhejiang and pushed the defense line to the mountainous area in central Zhejiang. Governor Yang has blocked all the mountain passages. The Yuan army in southern Zhejiang is temporarily unable to attack. Even if they want to go north, it will be difficult to break through those mountain defense lines.

"Fang Guozhen, who occupied the Taiwen Road, was defeated by us in the Kunshan naval battle. A large number of his ships were seized by our army, and his navy soldiers also suffered heavy losses. In addition, our East China Front Army has already reached the north of Taizhou and is capable of conquering the Taiwen Road at any time. Therefore, Fang Guozhen has surrendered and does not pose a threat to us for the time being.

"In Anqing, the Yuan army in Jiangxi has been repelled and has lost Huangmei County. It has now retreated to the south of Leichi, with Jiangzhou as the center of defense. The 40,000 to 50,000 Yuan army in Jiangxi has lost at least 20,000 this time. They have been fighting from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and their troops are tired and their food and grass are scarce. They have suffered a great defeat this time. It will be difficult for them to make a comeback in at least two or three months. Therefore, Anqing is temporarily safe.

“But Anqing is facing the Jiangxi army directly, so we still need to be more vigilant. We also need to increase our forces on the southern front and the western front of Luzhou as soon as possible. If we hadn’t sent troops from Luzhou to support us, it would have been difficult for Anqing to launch a counterattack and drive the enemy away. Therefore, we must learn from our lessons and increase our forces to deal with another attack by the Yuan army.

"The battle situation on Ningguo Road is somewhat stalemate now, but that is because we have too few troops on the southern front, resulting in insufficient offensive capability. This is also related to the withdrawal of all mobile main forces for the Eastern Expedition. Now we only need to increase the troops on the southern front to quickly achieve a breakthrough and push the border to Huizhou, Raozhou, and Xinzhou. Although the offensive is insufficient now, the southern front has more than enough to protect itself. There is no strong enemy on Huizhou Road, and there are three divisions of troops guarding it. The Yuan army cannot defeat us for the time being.

"On the northern front, Tuotuo's main force is currently confronting our army in Huaibei, but they have limited food and grass. Even if Tuotuo is unwilling, he will soon be unable to fight. In a month at most, Tuotuo will have to withdraw his troops.

"At present, the threats on all sides of our army have been almost eliminated. Since crossing the river in September this year, our army has expanded several times and its strength has greatly increased. Our temporary survival is still guaranteed."

Everyone nodded frequently after hearing this, and they were all very relaxed. Now the four directions of deployment were all safe. The offensive had achieved the intended goal, and the defensive had resisted the attack of the Yuan army. Their own territory was not lost, and they had expanded their territory by thousands of miles. This was a net profit! Moreover, the strategic security environment of their own forces had also greatly improved.

What's more crucial is that there is one thing Feng Guoyong didn't say, that is, now that the 100,000 or so troops of the East China Front Army are freed up, not only is the safety of the Marshal's Mansion guaranteed, but more importantly, they can pick up this giant hammer and strike back!
Seeing him finish, Lu Jin also concluded, "Expanding the territory by a thousand miles, great! This is the foundation we have laid after a year of hard work. Thank you for your hard work, and please keep up the good work. Let us work together to pacify the world as soon as possible and bring peace to the people and the country!"

Yang Xian, who was standing by, immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "My lord is wise and brave, and cares about the people of the world. He will surely clean up the world, unify the country, and rebuild China!"

The others were about to stand up, but Lu Jin quickly waved his hand to interrupt them, "Alright, alright, it's just a small meeting, there's no need to do this. If you want to follow me to pacify the world soon, you just need to be serious and do your job well. To pacify the world, you can't just shout a few slogans to destroy the enemy."

"Yes, thank you for your teachings, my lord!" everyone said in unison.

Yang Xian returned to his seat alone without knowing the embarrassment. This guy is really thick-skinned, acting as if nothing happened.

Then Lu Jincai said, "If there is anything else to be done in the military field, please tell us about it, Mr. Feng."

"Yes." Feng Guoyong immediately said again while holding the information.

"There are five things to do now. First, to provide compensation to all the soldiers who died or were injured since the crossing of the Yangtze River in September until the end of the Eastern Expedition. Second, since the Eastern Expedition has ended, the rewards for the soldiers from all directions must be distributed as soon as possible, otherwise it may hurt the morale of the army.
"Third, the reorganization of the newly expanded army, including the temporary expansion during this Eastern Expedition and the expansion during the Battle of Jiangbei. Also, where should these new soldiers be allocated land? Since crossing the Yangtze River, about 300,000 immigrants have been settled in Luzhou Road and other places, and a lot of wasteland has been allocated. Will these new soldiers still have land to allocate when they go to Luzhou? And then there is Jiangbei. Should we form a North China Front Army?

"Fourth, the question of how to deploy defenses in the newly annexed Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. The East China Front Army is such a large and elite main force. Now that the Eastern Expedition has been completed, they cannot be left idle. If they withdraw, how should the local areas be deployed? The key points are who should be sent to garrison and how many troops should be left behind.

"Five, in planning for next year's war, in which direction will the freed-up East China Front Army be used?"

Everyone nodded again upon hearing this. These were indeed the most important things at the moment, especially the pensions and rewards. It would not work without giving out rewards after the war.

Lu Jin also nodded and said, "I won't talk about the war planning for next year and the expansion and reorganization of the army here. Let's talk about pensions, rewards, and the distribution of land for the new army. Does Mr. Baishi have any suggestions?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang quickly stood up and said, "My lord, the matter of compensation and reward is easy to handle. After the Eastern Expedition, there are many warehouses reported by various places. Although the statistics have not been completed, there are at least more than 3 million dan of grain."

When everyone heard this number, they all looked sideways. More than three million shi, this pile would be piled up into a mountain, right? Li Shanchang continued, "As for pensions and rewards, the newly expanded army does not need to be given. These were originally reorganized from the captives and have no merit. We are willing to reorganize them, give them land, and reward them with official positions. This is already the grace of the lord, so the pensions and rewards do not need to be calculated for them.

"As for the rest of the rewards, this Eastern Expedition mobilized about 130,000 to 140,000 troops, and the battle in Jiangbei mobilized about 30,000. Anqing did not attack externally, and Ningguo Road captured a few cities but they were limited, so the total force was also about 30,000.

"All these troops that need to be rewarded add up to about 200,000 people, not counting the newly recruited troops. Even if each person is rewarded with one stone of rice, it will only take 200,000 stones. The dead soldiers can each receive 10 stones, and the disabled soldiers can each receive 5 stones. All of these add up to at most a few hundred thousand stones of grain, which we can still afford."

Everyone couldn't help but gasp when they heard this. Lu Jin couldn't help but roll his eyes in his heart. Li Shanchang, you've become rich now. You give out hundreds of thousands of dan of grain at a time without blinking an eye.
Li Shanchang then said, "If my lord thinks one stone of rice is not enough, you can also reward us with salt and cloth. We have no shortage of salt, and we can produce it ourselves if we are short of it. But if you reward us with cloth, we may have to purchase it separately, or wait until next year when taxes are collected.

"But this reward cannot be given out casually, as it will affect the entire body. Moreover, the lord now has to print money and mint coins, set up supply and marketing cooperatives in various towns, and implement salt and iron monopoly.

"Therefore, I believe that this reward should be implemented together with the issuance of new banknotes, salt and iron monopoly, and taxation."

Everyone nodded when they heard this. Lu Jin also thought it made sense, so he looked at Liu Zhang, who was in charge of printing the new banknotes at the Academy of Literature, and asked him, "Mr. Liu, how is the printing of the new banknotes going?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang immediately stood up and said, "My lord, the new banknote sample has been produced, and I am just about to let you and my colleagues check it."

"Where is it? Bring it up."

So Liu Zhang immediately called a clerk to bring a box, put it in the hall and opened it. Inside there was a copper coin mold, a string of newly minted copper coins, an envelope of silver dollars, and several stacks of freshly printed banknotes.

Liu Zhang personally distributed these sample coins to everyone, which immediately caused a burst of surprise from everyone.

"Tsk, this new banknote is so small and so exquisite?"

"This paper seems to be unusual. It doesn't feel like mulberry paper, nor does it feel like bamboo paper. The paper is so white and not thick, but it feels extraordinarily heavy, stiff and tough. What kind of paper is this?"

"What do the numbers on this page mean? The numbers on my copy are continuous. Is there any explanation?"

"This is the first time I've seen colored banknotes. They are indeed much more beautiful than the Yuan court's Jiaochao. Once they are issued, the people will probably be happy to use them. But aren't these banknotes a little too small?"

Everyone looked at the sample coins in their hands and couldn't help but comment in surprise. However, their reactions were normal because the design, printing process and papermaking of these banknotes were all personally directed by Lu Jin.

The style of the new banknote is not much different from that of later banknotes. The only difference is that later banknotes are horizontal, while the Lu Jin Salt and Iron Voucher is vertical. In fact, it is more like the border currency before the founding of the People's Republic of China, that is, the famous "Border Area Ticket", which is a vertical banknote.

Lu Jin originally wanted to make it a horizontal version in one go, but the people were already accustomed to the vertical version of the Jiaozi and Baochao of the Song and Yuan dynasties, so he decided to continue using them as a transitional currency. It would not be too late to change to a horizontal version after the founding of the country and the issuance of new banknotes.

The reason why everyone was surprised was that, first of all, the size of the new banknote was much smaller than the Zhizheng Baochao of the Yuan Dynasty. The Baochao of the Yuan Dynasty was about 26 cm long and 18 cm wide, which was a very large piece of paper, while the size of the Salt and Iron Voucher was similar to that of later banknotes.

The new banknotes are divided into four types: Wen, Fen, Jiao and Yuan, with a four-level decimal system. Each type has three denominations: one, three, five and one. There are a total of 12 versions. The Wen currency is brown, the Fen currency is blue, the Jiao currency is green and the Yuan currency is red.

There are dragon watermarks, micro-carved patterns, blue and red silk threads, and color printing on both sides. Each banknote also has a unique serial code, screen-printed face value, Chinese and Arabic numerals, letters, and the year.

Compared with the Yuan Dynasty treasure notes, the look and feel and grade have been greatly improved. You should know that the Yuan Dynasty treasure notes are a very large piece of paper, in black and white, printed on one side, with no words on the back, and the ink and layout are not printed very clearly. Moreover, the Yuan Dynasty treasure notes are divided into ten denominations, but there is only one layout. No matter what denomination the treasure notes are, the appearance and pattern are all the same, only the denomination numbers on them are slightly different.

These salt and iron certificates are not only small and exquisite, but also printed in multiple colors, with watermarks and silk-screen printing. The technical level has been improved by more than one level. The paper for the new banknotes is even more special. The materials are not difficult to find, but the production process is complicated. The most important formula is kept secret and is not something that ordinary people can easily imitate.

Seeing that everyone was amazed at the new banknotes, Liu Zhang showed off a little and shouted to the clerk outside.

"Bring a basin of clean water."

After the clerk came into the hall with a copper basin of clean water, Liu Zhang held up two banknotes, one printed on mulberry paper of the Yuan Dynasty, and the other a newly minted salt and iron voucher, and introduced them to everyone.

"Although the paper of this new banknote is not thick, it is as tough as leather and durable. With the special colored ink, even if it is accidentally soaked in water, it will not blur, stain or fall apart. It can be used just as it is after being fished out and dried. The mulberry paper of the Yuan Dynasty treasure banknote does not have this ability. It will break into pieces after being soaked in water for a while and stirred a few times. It is far inferior to our new banknotes."

After that, he put the two kinds of banknotes into water and soaked and stirred them. As he said, the new banknotes were almost not damaged except for being wet, while the writing on the Yuan Ting Baochao had already blurred, and the paper would rot if you just shook it.

Everyone was immediately stunned by her beauty.

(End of this chapter)