The three ministers left by Lin'an, Lu Xiufu, Ying Jieyan, Liu Fu and the Chief Censor Deng Guangjian, Chen Zeweng, Minister of Revenue, Chen Renweng, Minister of War, Han Zhen, Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, General Secretary of the Si Zhuang Shilin, and Zhou Xiang, Minister of Works, gathered in the inner hall of the Secretariat of the Secretariat to discuss matters. However, the scene seemed a little nervous. Lu Xiufu looked solemn, and Deng Guangjian also had a stern face. Only Zhou Xiang had a relaxed expression and talked with Zhuang Shilin and Chen Renweng in a low voice, and chuckled from time to time.

"Linzhou!" The meeting was to solve the financial difficulties of the court. As the war expanded, the Song army participated in the war had reached 400,000 yuan, and the money spent a lot of money every day was a huge expense. The national treasury was about to be exhausted, and the finances were also in crisis. Chen Zeweng looked at the three people who were still joking, and was embarrassed by their rude occasions, especially their own brothers, and frowned and coughed twice to remind his younger brother.

"Oh!" Chen Renweng heard the reminder and turned his face to see his brother's bad expression. He also realized that it was inappropriate for him to talk and laugh in the hall. The two brothers were very different in age and had always treated their brother like their father. Although they were both Shangshu, they were still very afraid. They quickly curled their smiles and sat up straight. The other two glanced at him and quickly lowered their heads to make me think.

"Everyone, this time Your Majesty has personally fought for the Northern Expedition for nearly half a year. The military has consumed huge military funds. The imperial court has spent nearly 30 million guan, and the national inventory is less than 5 million guan. Your Majesty has issued an order to urge the quick adjustment of food and grass, and officials who go to the newly harvested places have also frequently requested the imperial court to allocate funds. However, it is still several months before the collection of summer taxes. What good plans do you have for your colleagues to overcome the difficulties?" Lu Xiufu took a sip of tea and moistened his voice and put on the topic.

"Master Land, our Ministry of Works' Military Equipment Workshop is almost out of stock, but the departments are still urging military funds. The court has already owed tens of millions of yuan in various amounts. If the craftsmen are not allocated, it will be difficult to pay the salary of the craftsmen..." The Military Equipmenthop is no longer the 100 people who started the business. It has been expanded into a large factory with more than 40,000 craftsmen. It is not limited to mining, smelting, manufacturing of warships, muskets, artillery and ammunition, and it also involves auxiliary equipment such as quilts, shoes, hats, saddles, horse whip, etc., and even military food manufacturing. Anyway, there are all military projects. The more projects you engage in, the more people you employ, and the expenses will naturally be huge. Zhou Xiang, the general manager, pays debt collection.

"The court has no money to pay now, you can raise it yourself first!" Lu Xiufu simply refused.

"Master Lu, we can temporarily owe the wages of craftsmen, turn over copper and iron on ore, and equipment can be temporarily settled, but materials such as silk, fur, wood, charcoal, and sulfone all need to be purchased from outside. The court does not allocate money, so we can't let us rob it!" Zhou Xiang said with a bitter face.

"Mr. Zhou, I don't care about how to raise the stakes, but the supply of military supplies in front of me is not enough. Your Majesty will come to you to settle the score!" Ying Jieyan did not listen to his complaint, and stroked his beard and said with a smile.

"This..." Zhou Xiang was choked and rolled his eyes, but he was unwilling to accept it. Ying Jieyan knew that he could not afford to offend him, so he recommended Deng Guang, "Deng Zhongcheng, it is natural to kill people and repay their lives, owes debts and pay them back. The court cannot rely on the debt. You have to uphold justice for me!"

"After that being said, it is true that the court has no money. Besides, the court did not say that it would not pay, it was just arrears for some time. When the finances have a surplus, they will naturally repay it!" Deng Guangjian pondered for a moment and said.

"Why did Deng Zhongcheng say that too? The money owed by the court can be dragged, but the military weapon yard cannot miss the military supplies. What's the reason?" Seeing that Deng Guangjian also began to cheat, Zhou Xiang said anxiously with anger.

"This... you can write to Your Majesty to impeach me unreasonable!" Deng Guangjian pondered for a moment, then turned his face away.

"Everyone in the government and the country said that Deng Zhongcheng was the most fair and honest, and he would not reason..." Zhou Xiang became even more angry, and the fat on his face shivered. He impeached him for this matter. Not to mention whether His Majesty would pay attention to him, he might even scold him for not knowing the general idea and wanted to criticize him for his two words to calm down. However, the less-reading student could not remember any appropriate words for a moment, and could only mutter without tears.

"Love is not necessary, love is not necessary!" Deng Guangjian wanted to ignore it, but he knew that he was arguing and did not take it. He blushed and bowed to him with apologies.

"Mr. Zhou, you are already an important official of the court. At that time, the head of the general's office will be held. The court will admit the arrears and try to return them as soon as possible. However, you still need to understand the difficulties of the court and don't be too concerned." Liu Fu said at this time.

"Master Lu, the Mongolian Yuan has sent 150,000 personal guards to Xuzhou, and dispatched the troops of the ten thousand houses of Shaanxi and Gansu to Xiangyang. Our army has gathered in Lianghuai and Xiangfan. Your Majesty has issued several orders to send the military rations to the front line within a month, and must not cut off the supply!" At this time, Chen Renweng said again.

"Shangshu Chen, how much military ration is needed to meet the military needs?" Lu Xiufu asked.

"If the war is over in two months, Xiangfan will need two million stones, and the two Huaihe Rivers will need no less than five million stones!" Chen Renweng replied.

"Didn't you falsely report it? According to the current dietary standards, one stone of food per soldier is enough for each soldier. Even if there is some loss during the war, you have already ten times the need. No wonder the military weapon shop is not able to keep up with the supply today. It turns out that it is false report it was the Ministry of War!" Before Lu Xiufu could speak, Zhou Xiang was shocked and said dissatisfied.

"What are you talking about? You, a person who makes swords and guns, can only calculate small accounts. How do you know what the army needs to expeditions?" Chen Renweng turned his face and refuted.

"Don't say too much. What Chen Shangshu said is right. I'm afraid there will be more. We must raise at least tens of millions of stones of food to meet the military needs!" Lu Xiufu's face was also bad when he heard this, but he still confirmed that the needs were correct, and even more were needed.

When Lu Xiufu entered the official position, he served as a staff member in front of Li Tingzhi's tent, in charge of military aircraft and supplies. Later, he entered the dynasty and fought thousands of miles. Of course, he knew the importance of food and understood that it was not just about adding or reducing the number of people. Although soldiers also had to eat every day, they had to say something else when it came to war...

As the saying goes, before the troops move, food and grass will come first. In war, no matter how strong the combat effectiveness of an army is, once the food supply is cut off, it will immediately turn from a tiger into a sheep. There are countless cases of defeat or even annihilated due to food cuts in history, such as the Battle of Qin and Zhao Changping, Heng Wen's Northern Expedition to the Former Qin Dynasty, the Battle of Song and Liao Qigou Pass, etc.

First of all, from the institutional perspective, many dynasties adopted the conscription system, that is, the military is in agriculture, and the main identity of the soldiers is self-cultivation farmers. They serve the country for a certain period of time, and some even bring their own clothing and food. The advantage is that they are exempted from their own corvee service. They are ordinary people outside the service period, so they naturally do not need to worry about the daily rations. The conscription system of the Han Dynasty and the prefecture system of the early Tang Dynasty were similar to this situation. If there is no combat task and the army stationed in one place for a long time, they need to open up land and farm and be self-sufficient, which is the so-called military garrison system. The Mongolian and Yuan garrison system is also similar to this situation, but the Song army is indeed dedicated to fighting and does not settle down, and the military ration is all dependent on the supply of the court.

It is not difficult to see that if a war is to be launched, you must first predict how long the war will last, and then calculate the approximate total amount of food and grass required based on the scale of the dispatched army, and allocate from the official warehouse. If the war is extended, it must be replenished. After all, whether the soldiers bring their own dry food or self-sufficiency in military farms, once a long battle occurs, the daily supply of food and grass cannot be continued, so you must prepare enough military food. This battle has been going on for several months, and no one can predict how long it will take to fight.

Under normal circumstances, you can raise grain on the spot without scheduling tens of thousands of miles. However, where the war is fought is often impossible, so transportation becomes a big problem. In other words, food is not a problem, but the territory is large and it is often not allowed to be transported to the battlefield in time. Even if it is transported, the price is too high, which also increases the pressure on the supply of food and grass in the previous few days. If you encounter rugged terrain, hundreds of times the food will be consumed on the road.

In addition to the consumption on the road, an army also contains a large number of non-combatants or combat auxiliary personnel, and their number is often larger than the number of combat soldiers. When Shen Kuo was in charge of military affairs in the northwest, he once said, "Three people pay one soldier, it is extremely high. If the army is 100,000 and one of the baggage is one, only 70,000 soldiers stationed in the battle will be used to transport grain. It is difficult to add more." "The Han Dynasty connects the southwest Yidao, and the authors are tens of thousands of people, and they are responsible for feeding grain for thousands of miles, and they are more than ten minutes to earn a stone." Therefore, as the journey is far away, the corresponding civilians consume several times the food that the regular army has.

In order to save food and grass, if conditions permit, the civilians transporting grain will return in batches, but the front line will always maintain a team of civilians of a considerable size. They consume a large amount of food every day. Over time, this will become a very terrifying number. In addition to war soldiers and civilians, there are also a large number of mules and horses in the army, including war horses that need essential feeding, pack horses that feed coarse materials, horses, donkeys and mules and other animal powers.

Although horses can eat aquatic plants on the spot, they still need to prepare special feed. The feed they feed can be hay, rice and wheat straw, beans or even millet. Generally speaking, ordinary livestock are fed with hay, and war horses are fed with mixed feed and grain to ensure physical strength during combat. There is no absolute standard for the ratio of forage and grain, and it depends on the grain reserves, and the amount varies.

Therefore, tens of thousands of soldiers eat horses and feed them. The total amount of food and grass required cannot be accurately controlled, and the combat time is even more unpredictable. The commander must collect as much food and grass as possible and organize transportation. Once the supply of food and grass is problematic, there is no need to wait until all the food is eaten up. When the food storage is below a certain warning line, the entire army may panic, and it is difficult for the war to continue here. At this time, unless the retreat route is cut off, ordinary commanders will choose to withdraw, resulting in the failure of the war...
Chapter completed!