Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 754 Unprecedented War Preparations

"Alright, no one has any objections, right? From today onwards, all of you will be stripped of your military ranks and sent back to your hometowns."

After Old Zhang finished speaking, everyone present was dejected and ready to leave. However, Old Zhang suddenly spoke up: "But I heard that you also need to earn money to support your families. Cutting off your livelihood is not a good thing. If you soldiers become outlaws, you will definitely cause endless trouble in the future."

His words rekindled the hopes of those present, and one of them immediately turned around and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Old Zhang: "Please, Prime Minister Zhang, show us the way."

“I have a route in Japan. It’s risky, but the profits are high. It’s just a matter of whether you’re willing to take it.” Old Zhang raised his eyes slightly: “So, are you guys brave enough?”

Everyone realized what was happening, and they all clasped their hands in unison, saying, "This humble general would gladly die a thousand deaths!"

"Remember, from now on you are just commoners." Old Zhang raised his chin: "Your military status will be retained, but your positions will be revoked. We'll give you twenty boats. As for how you use them, that's up to you."

The generals immediately perked up, whispering among themselves and discussing the matter. Old Zhang, however, wagged his finger and said, "Although the official letter has been sent, the actual start of the war will still take about a year. I don't want them to have too much of a comfortable year. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I will finally understand!"

“I issued a new military order from the imperial court and requisitioned twenty ships. Two of them are large ships, each twenty zhang long, and the rest are small ships, ten to fifteen zhang long. These ships were definitely intended for the new navy, not for your use. But who would have thought that you would rob these ships and their supplies at Dantu Pass? You will be wanted by the Great Wei and have no choice but to flee eastward. Do you understand what I mean?”

With things explained to this extent, how could they not understand? Everyone nodded frequently and forcefully.

"After you fled east, what you do is neither my concern nor my responsibility. Then, we'll just have to wait for the two countries to go to war."

At this point, Old Zhang's face suddenly turned extremely gloomy: "This is a war of annihilation, and it may be the only war of annihilation that your commander has ever seriously planned and prepared for in his life. After the war begins, you should do what you were supposed to do. After the war ends, you should surrender as a righteous army. As for whether your commander will kill you after you surrender, that depends on the abilities of you political commissars."

“General Zhang…” At this moment, a general who had been dismissed from his post stepped forward.

"Looks! What's so handsome about him? Don't talk nonsense, I'm telling you."

"Yes, yes, Prime Minister Zhang...you mean you want us to become pirates too?"

"The Master said, 'Repay kindness with kindness, and repay evil with evil.' They play this game, so we'll do the same. Are you all inferior to those short, scrawny warriors?"

“That’s not what we meant…” Several generals were even a little flustered at this moment: “We can’t bring ourselves to do it. It’s not that we are not worthy of being soldiers, but the things that the commander taught us from the beginning did not include anything about cruelty and bloodlust. We have heard that those Japanese pirates are extremely cruel, and we are also very angry. But we simply cannot bring ourselves to do it to a woman who is eight months pregnant or an infant in swaddling clothes.”

"Um……"

Old Zhang stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth: "Indeed, this is a big problem. The people of our superior country would not do such a despicable thing."

He pondered for a moment, then walked to a candlestick next to him, examined it, broke it in half, and handed a piece of wood about 1.3 meters long to the person in front of him.

"Any man taller than him, send him away!"

"Order!"

After returning to their respective camps, the generals began selecting soldiers from among their troops. Those with families or parents were excluded; these were the only two criteria. After this selection process, they narrowed it down to approximately five thousand men.

The very next day, these five thousand able-bodied soldiers voluntarily went to Old Zhang to resign from their posts, and Old Zhang didn't waste any time and completed all the formalities for them.

Then this group of people began to move eastward one after another. At the same time, twenty ships to prepare for the new navy also poured into the port of Dantu County from various shipyards. Everything on board was neatly equipped, from food, clothing and daily necessities to various weapons, and even small hand-made presses for pressing bullets. Each ship was also equipped with a rather awesome life committee member.

The life committee members were specifically responsible for supervising and mediating these young and strong soldiers for the imperial court. Some graduates from academies were also assigned to them. These people were cultured and capable and could solve many problems that the ordinary soldiers could not solve. From medical care to navigation expertise, there were more than a dozen people assigned to each ship.

These five thousand people, chanting and singing all the way, arrived in Dantu County in a grand procession. When the checkpoints along the way saw them, they routinely questioned them, and the answer was always the same: they were planning to become fishermen.

Looking at this group of people who, though dressed in civilian clothes, looked exactly like the old squad leader, if it weren't for the fact that none of them were carrying weapons, one would really think they were here to attack the county town.

Upon arriving at Dantu Port, they were quickly led onto the ship. They then stayed at the port for training to get used to the sea conditions. Only after they had set sail did Dantu County report that "thieves had seized twenty large ships at night. The county's soldiers fought them but were no match for them, and the villains were seen heading east."

By this time, Lao Zhang had already returned to Jinling. After the news from Dantu County reached the Ministry of War, the Minister of War came to find Lao Zhang with the report.

"Appearance, as we agreed before, 30% of their profits would go to the Ministry of War. Look, the Ministry of Revenue can openly invest, so why can't our Ministry of War?"

"What? Your Ministry of War is investing in the war, are you planning a rebellion?" Old Zhang looked up and asked, "After the Ministry of Revenue gets that money, do you think they can just swallow it all up? This money is meant to be used to even out taxes, build water conservancy projects, and increase military spending. What? You don't think they're going to divide it up among themselves, do you?" "No, no, no... I'm just... I'm just a little envious. What a huge achievement that would be!"

"You also contributed twenty large ships, don't worry, you won't lose out," Old Zhang joked. "You're a high-ranking official, why are you still so stingy?"

"Prime Minister Zhang, you don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. His Majesty is setting up the battlefield at the front, but the mobilization, military rations, pack animals, and so on in the rear all cost money, and each one is very expensive. Alas... life is tough these days."

"Don't worry, it won't be difficult soon."

The Minister of War immediately understood: if we become strong, we can expand outwards; if we expand outwards, we can become even stronger. We should associate with civilized people and do civilized things. As for those who send pirates to kill civilians, we should naturally treat them well. I heard that the area is rich in minerals, gold, and silver. If we don't conquer it, we'll be tainted with bad luck.

"By the way, Prime Minister Zhang. What are the higher-ups planning this time? Are they going to make them submit, or...?"

“I don’t know, but Xia Daosheng said he wants them to fight for fourteen years. If they can hold out, they can talk; if they can’t, they’ll die.”

"what?"

The Minister of War nearly overheated. He knew perfectly well the current state of the Great Wei's military strength. To say they could fight the Li Tang for fourteen years was possible. The Li Tang was also developing rapidly; fighting the Northern Han for fourteen years wasn't impossible, given their nomadic nature and vast territory. If they were truly determined to wage guerrilla warfare, they would be incredibly difficult to deal with.

But... but that tiny island nation will be at war for fourteen years? Wouldn't that mean plowing them up from south to north three times over?
"Really fourteen years? Is there any explanation for this number?"

"Who knows about him?" Old Zhang shrugged. "But according to the results of my students' exploration over there, the proven reserves of gold and silver over there are two to three times that of ours, conservatively estimated."

"beat!"

The Minister of War slammed his fist on the table: "Don't even mention fourteen years, we'll fight even if it's twenty-four or thirty-four years!"

At this moment, the Minister seemed to realize his loss of composure. He sat down again and cleared his throat: "Well, committing mass killings indiscriminately may offend the will of Heaven."

"I plan to appoint your second son, Zhu Ci, as the garrison general."

"Hmm... it can't really be considered a massacre. They are from a foreign land, uneducated and uncivilized, so their deaths are not a pity. Alright, since Prime Minister Zhang has nothing more to say, I will take my leave."

"Be careful on the road."

Meanwhile, war preparations were still ongoing. Although the warships had not yet been finalized, the terrifying mobilization and transportation capabilities were already nearly bursting the port of Ningbo. After the frantic filling in the area in the previous period, some of the cargo now had to be diverted to Hangzhou Bay.

Emperor Jingtai had no choice but to return to his former fiefdom of Hangzhou and begin to treat it as a second court.

Xia Lin wasn't exactly idle either. After learning of Lao Zhang's arrangements, he immediately went to meet with the sailors in the Ryukyu region.

They were already in the port of Ryukyu. In recent years, due to the prosperity of ports such as Quanzhou and Yi'an, Ryukyu has also developed quite well. Ryukyu, which used to be called the land of barbarians of Yizhou, is now quite prosperous. Moreover, because it is not small in size and is relatively suitable for growing cash crops such as sugarcane, a large number of Han people have already migrated here to grow crops and do business.

In the fourth year of the Jingtai reign of the Great Wei Dynasty, the local natives of Liuqiu submitted a written letter of pledging to be incorporated into the Great Wei Empire. After the bill was passed, Liuqiu has been an important intermediate port for the Great Wei's foreign export trade since the fourth year of the Jingtai reign.

Xia Lin saw the group of veterans he had trained here, and he was immediately furious: "You guys really have nothing better to do than cause trouble for me."

"General, it is our duty to fight. Don't blame the other brothers. It was all my idea."

"Get out of here!" Xia Lin shouted angrily, his face flushed. "Da Hai is unpredictable. Do you know you're risking your lives? If this happens again, see how I deal with you."

"Don't worry, General. This time, Prime Minister Zhang has shown us the way, and I know how to handle the situation."

"Did you bring cannons?" Xia Lin frowned. "I don't see any on your ship."

"Well... the Ministry of War can't produce it, so we can't take it from the warehouse."

“I knew it.” Xia Lin pointed outside: “Let’s go to the dock and take a look.”

(End of this chapter)