Chapter 38 (1/2)
Yun Qijun did not come slowly. They stayed in Yangcheng County for several days before they arrived at Jingnan County, the most important foundation of Zhao Yuanjin.
The two brothers, Qingyuan and Qinglin, sitting opposite each other, were looking at the secret report in their hands. Their faces were obviously confused.
This restaurant is actually one of the many secret strongholds set up by lingcangshan in the south. It is usually run by its own responsibilities, and it also takes the advantages of accumulating wealth for the clan, purchasing living resources, spying and collecting intelligence, looking for children with root talent, and replenishing blood for the clan.
“…… Zhao Yuanjin's subordinates still have a few capable people who have been following us for so long. ”
For a long time, the cloud Qi Jun side passes the first light way.
”It's just that we didn't do it, or none of those nasty guys would survive.” Qinglin Taoist said disapprovingly.
”It's just a bunch of ordinary people who obey orders. What's the matter?”
Yun Qijun smiles with disapproval. Her jade hand reaches out and takes the secret newspaper. She looks at it at will. Her smile in her beautiful eyes fades away: ”this Zhao Yuanjin has developed very well recently, which is far beyond my prior estimation. It's unbelievable.”
Taoist of Qingyuan nodded: ”yes, according to the information above, the number of new troops under his command is as many as 40000, and with the original 30000 troops, the total force has reached 70000! It is said that 30000 people will be recruited. How can a small vassal who was almost wiped out a few months ago have such a rich family background to support such a huge army? ”
How many troops a vassal can have depends on many factors. Of course, the most important is financial resources. Only when we have enough money and food can we raise our troops and our elite soldiers.
If you want to recruit and train elite soldiers on a large scale, the amount of money and food needed is by no means a small amount. It is absolutely impossible to describe it as ”spending money like water”. In all dynasties, military expenditure has always been a heavy burden on the imperial court, but it is also an essential cost to maintain the stability of the country.
In terms of the size of the army, Zhao Yuanjin can no doubt be regarded as a great prince with the appearance of a hidden dragon. However, his territory is only three counties, and he is still a new one. In theory, he can not provide enough money and food to support such a huge army.
It has been two years since Wu zhence started his career in Huaiyang. Now he has nine prefectures and the support of lingcangshan and many southern clans. At present, he has only 100000 troops under his command, and only 40000 new troops are being trained.
Wu zhence didn't want to continue to expand the army, but his own financial resources could not support it. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers ate horses and chewed corn, white flour and grass every day to make several mountains. Once there was a war, all kinds of consumption would be even more exaggerated!
I'm not afraid to be laughed at by others. The Wu surnamed Qianlong now owes a lot of debts. Many of the ious are issued in his own name, the creditor Naturally, they are the rich families in the south. In any case, we should borrow resources such as money, grain and rice, fine iron, cloth, timber and so on.
After winning battles in the future, seizing more land, killing a number of unsatisfied rich landlords and depriving them of their property and wealth, they will naturally be able to pay their debts and borrow more resources by the way.
This kind of borrowing money to fight a war, paying off the debt after winning the war, and borrowing more debt to expand and develop by the way. Many vassals and princes play in this way. Even the European powers that dominated the world in the early 20th century, such as Britain, France, Germany and the Soviet Union, borrowed a lot of debt from the richest United States at that time.
Some greedy and tyrannical vassals and princes will also apportion taxes and corvees to the common people. Even taxes for many years to come will be collected ahead of time. They will squeeze out the last trace of oil and water from the common people regardless of the consequences, so that they can have more capital to expand.
What about losing? There is no need to ask this question. Since ancient times, the world has been fighting for dragons. If it fails, it will die. The loser dies and the family dies, and the creditors only have to admit that they are unlucky. It's good not to be settled by the winner after the fall. How dare you hope for more?