The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 133: This King Throws Tantrums, Regardless of the Consequences

Everyone set off...

As soon as he went out, Guan Sheng felt that the archers' morale was low.

These archers were typical local soldiers. They could still help defend their own homes, but when they heard that they had to go to the neighboring county to collect gold mines, they were not very motivated. The morale of the entire army was quite low, and they even walked listlessly.

Guan Sheng saw this and couldn't help but wonder: Archers are useless after all. It doesn't take much brains to guess that they are not willing to fight to the death.

Yue Wenxuan also saw this scene, but he had guessed this would happen a long time ago and was not worried. Although the archers' combat power was low, the imperial guards were not much stronger, so there was no pressure at all.

As Yue Wenxuan walked, he gave the archers a lesson on ideological construction: "Fellow villagers, you are all from good families, right?"

The archers nodded quickly, "Yes! Mostly."

There are still a small number of desperate criminals among the archers. They were all "specially recruited" after Wu Jialiang became the county magistrate. A normal county lieutenant would not want such people to be archers.

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "You all came out to be archers to protect your wives, children and elders, right?"

The archers responded. It was obvious that if it weren't for the need to protect their wives and children, who would join this informal military organization? There was no salary to be collected, and there was no reward for killing bandits. At most, the government would cover their food during training and when they were fighting bandits, but beyond that, they didn't care about anything else.

A good family doesn't lack a few meals! If you can't even afford those few meals, how can you still be a good family member? You would have turned to thieves long ago.

Yue Wenxuan laughed and said, "If you can get military pay, how many of you are willing to join the army?"

No one answered...

The entire army was silent...

This question is obviously a bit difficult to answer.

After a long while, a brave archer finally spoke up: "That depends on how much the military pay is. Is it worth my life?"

Yue Wenxuan: "I think that for something that makes people risk their lives, you should at least pay five strings of cash a month."

"Five strings of cash?"

As soon as the amount was announced, all the archers' ears pricked up instantly: "Mr. Duo?"

"Five strings of cash!"

Yue Wenxuan repeated it again.

"Ouch!" the archers cried out in unison. "If I could earn five kan a month, why would I farm? I'd definitely join the army."

Yue Wenxuan: "I don't have money now, and I can't pay the soldiers five strings of cash a month. But if I confiscate the gold mines, I will be able to pay them. When the time comes, I plan to organize an army specifically for resisting the Jin army. The monthly salary will be five strings of cash. If you are interested, you can come and sign up to join the army. Of course, the commander-in-chief will definitely be your old boss, Mr. Wu Jialiang. Otherwise, the generals will not know the soldiers, and the soldiers will not know the commanders."

When the archers heard this, their eyes lit up instantly.

The morale of the entire army soared instantly. Originally, they were going to attack the gold mine in the neighboring county, which made them unmotivated, but now that they could get military pay by attacking the gold mine, they were very motivated.

Yue Wenxuan thought to himself: In an era lacking patriotic education, the only way to improve the military's combat effectiveness is to throw money at it. First, spend money to lay a solid foundation, and then carry out patriotic education to improve the overall quality of the soldiers. This is something that can be done.

Wu Jialiang, standing nearby, was also stunned. He thought, "Your Highness, you're really outrageous! You've seized the imperial gold mines for your own use, built an army, and appointed yourself a general. This is truly tantamount to treason." But fortunately, I don't really mind this. If you really dare to build such an army, I'll be the general myself. I'm not afraid of anything."

Guan Sheng, who was standing beside him, also heard this and his eyes lit up. He whispered, "Brother Jialiang, why do I feel like this prince is planning a rebellion?"

Wu Jialiang: "If you want to rebel, then so be it. What kind of world is this these days? So what if you rebel?"

Guan Sheng thought about it carefully and said: "That's true. I am also interested in rebelling, but I am afraid that my wife will make trouble."

Wu Jialiang said angrily, "Brother Guan, you were such a brave man back then, why are you henpecked now?"

Guan Sheng: "That's not called being henpecked, that's called loving my wife."

Wu Jialiang: “…”
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The next day, Yue Wenxuan and his party finally arrived in Zhaoyuan County, and the county magistrate came out to greet them in person.

The county magistrate was under the jurisdiction of the prefect of Laizhou, and of course he had long known about the affair with Wang Zhaoye. He was extremely respectful upon seeing Yue Wenxuan. When he heard that the prince was coming to collect the gold mines to resist the Jin, his expression became a little awkward, and he whispered, "The official guarding the gold mines is a stubborn and arrogant person. He doesn't look down on officials like us, and I'm afraid he won't be able to persuade the prince either... You'll have to work hard to persuade him when you get there."

Wu Jialiang pointed at the archer and said with a chuckle, "If talking doesn't work, I'll just fight."

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate was shocked and thought: What kind of scoundrel is this Jimo County Lieutenant? You beat me up when I can't convince you? Are you a bandit? The prince hasn't even expressed his opinion yet!

You can't do things like that in official circles. If you really hit the transport official, you'll even accuse the prince of treason.

He glanced at the prince, but saw Yue Wenxuan smiling, as if he didn't care much about Wu Jialiang's words.

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate couldn't help but secretly shake his head: Crazy, the prince is crazy too. It seems that after visiting the Jin Kingdom and being soaked in the sea water, he has completely gone crazy.

Yue Wenxuan said, "The Jin thieves could come at any time. I don't have the time to chat with a mere prison official right now. If he obeys my orders, that's fine. If he doesn't, I might resort to extreme measures."

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate had no choice but to say, "How can it be so easy to attack? The Zhaoyuan gold mine is the imperial purse. It is guarded by the imperial guards. Moreover, these imperial guards only obey the orders of the transport commissioner. No one can stop them."

Yue Wenxuan was surprised: "The gold mine is guarded by imperial guards?"

The county magistrate whispered, "They were the imperial guards responsible for escorting the grain transport. When the Jin bandits started making trouble, these imperial guards simply hid in the Zhaoyuan mines and joined forces with the grain transport officials."

Originally, the Song Dynasty court preferred to use the Imperial Guards to escort grain transport, and there was often collusion between the Imperial Guards and the Grain Transport Commissioner. Later, the Grain Transport Commissioner was also responsible for escorting the Flower and Stone Gang, and would also use the Imperial Guards to deliver the goods.

The Green-Faced Beast Yang Zhi in the Water Margin was the imperial guard whose cart carrying the Flower and Stone Gang overturned. Of course, this is not historical fact, and Wu Jialiang did not deceive Yang Zhi.

Wu Jialiang just wanted to curse MMP. The last time he asked the prefect if he had any soldiers left, the prefect said there weren't any. Who would have thought that there were imperial guards hiding in the gold mine?

Well, these imperial guards are under the jurisdiction of the Caosi, not the prefect, so it makes sense for the prefect to say that they don’t have any.

Yue Wenxuan asked, "Didn't the Zhaoyuan gold mine be taken down by the Jin bandits the last time they attacked? How could there still be soldiers there?"

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate replied, "The Jin bandits came to Zhaoyuan, but they only attacked the county town and surrounding villages. They didn't have time to go to the mountains to harass the Zhaoyuan gold mines, so there are still troops stationed there."

Yue Wenxuan understood everything now. "In short, let's use courtesy first, then force. Magistrate of Zhaoyuan County, you should go to the gold mine first and inform them that I'm here. Tell them about the world situation outside and my origins. Finally, warn them that I am irreconcilable with the Jin bandits and I don't want to fall into their hands again. Anyone who disrupts my anti-Jin plan is asking for my life. When I get angry, I don't care about the consequences."

(End of this chapter)