Chapter 41: The New Army (5)

  Yang reform and Sun Chengzong were silent for half a day because of the cost of the chariot camp. The cost of the chariot camp was indeed high. Of course, it's not necessary to say more about how "luxurious" the "configuration" is.

  Sun Chengzong saw that the Emperor was unhappy and explained: "Your Majesty does not need to worry so much, this war chariot camp cannot be built in one or two days. Your Majesty can first focus on the ordinary infantry camp, after the ordinary infantry camp is established, then slowly prepare for the war chariot camp. My war chariot camp configuration is not perfect and there is still room for improvement. This requires a knowledgeable person to improve, Your Majesty can discover such talent."

  The chariot camp is extremely expensive, it's a joint force of infantry, cavalry and chariots, requiring a lot of time to train, and also needs actual combat to hone and test its power. It requires a large amount of silver to maintain, only then can it be taken out for battle against the wild boar skin barbarians. This is a bit of a headache for Sun Chengzong, but an even bigger headache for Yang Reform.

  Yang reform thought about his family's financial situation again.

  Inside the palace, there are also 20-30 million taels of silver. The Ministry of Revenue doesn't have a single tael of silver, don't even think about it. My own glass business hasn't even started yet, and I've already encountered a cold current. Western glass has been out for N years, and even telescopes have been out for N years. My auction plan hasn't even landed yet, and those who slightly understand the trade take one look at this stuff from the palace and don't even dare to look. Most of them are failures.It's just the Wei case, collecting some "crime money", which is still somewhat successful. Now that they've confessed, the negotiated amount already has over 30 million taels, and it's estimated that some more can be squeezed out, so getting a total of 40-50 million taels shouldn't be a problem. However, this kind of thing is just a one-time deal, once you've done it, it's gone. Taking advantage of my recent ascension to the throne, using the excuse of a general amnesty, I'll also take care of the Wei case at the same time. In the future, killing officials and confiscating their assets will probably not be as good as this.

  The sugarcane harvest this year, whether there will be any news next year is still hard to say. In an era where people rely on heaven for food, it's best not to have high expectations. Moreover, the person in charge of this matter is not very capable.

  The Ministry of Revenue loses 4-5 million taels of silver every year, which needs to be supplemented by Yang's reform funds. There are also the arrears of nearly 2 million taels for the second half of the year that have been promised, as well as the military salary promised to Mao Wenlong. Yuan Chonghuan will also set out in a few months and I need to prepare money for him. And then there's the suppression of bandits in the south, natural disasters in various places, training new troops, building ships to go to sea...

  Yang thought to himself, "If I calculate it carefully, my scalp is going numb, a complete slave to debt!! Every month, every year, at all times, I have to remember to repay on time, otherwise, heaven will send someone to seize our family's property! At that time, it'll be the outcome of hanging oneself from Coal Mountain!"

  Yang's reform fell silent for a long time, even when Sun Chengzong said those words, he didn't quite hear them clearly. He pondered for half a day and still returned to the starting point - how to get silver, if there was silver, he could do whatever he wanted, even if it meant suddenly bursting into ten "super masters" at once. Unfortunately, there was no silver, and he had to remember to repay the loan on time, otherwise the bank would call to urge him at any moment. If he didn't repay, the court would come to seize his house, car... making this housing slave, car slave, card slave... X slave go bankrupt.

  Yang is heartbroken! What kind of world is this?! He finally managed to travel through time and space, thinking that becoming an emperor would bring him joy, but it turns out he's still a "slave" at the end of the day. Looks like tomorrow he'll have to intensify his search on Baidu for ways to make money.

  "Your Majesty? Your Majesty?" Sun Chengzong saw Yang Guifei in a daze and couldn't help but remind her.

  "...? Master Sun, what's going on?" Yang Reform was startled awake and asked immediately.

  "Your Majesty, I have nothing to say, just seeing Your Majesty staring blankly, so reminding Your Majesty..."

  "Alas... this, uh! Right, Master Sun, I'd like to ask, how many literate people are there in my new army, and how many are illiterate?" Yang Reform finally asked the question that had been on his mind. He had heard that many mid-to-low-level military leaders at the end of the Ming dynasty were illiterate, unable to recognize even a single character. Yang Reform thought this was truly a "cold joke", very cold indeed! If it were just an ordinary soldier who couldn't read or write, that would be understandable, but if even the leaders were illiterate, all one could say is that the downfall of this country was truly beyond words.

  Ordinary soldiers may not have the financial means to learn, which is understandable. However, a general, who belongs to the ruling class, cannot even read or write, and this can only be said that the ruling class of this country has degenerated severely, with their abilities having retrogressed greatly, and they completely lack any spirit of progress. As for spreading combat experience, updating combat equipment, and refining combat ideology, they are utterly helpless. This country can be said to have already stagnated, and what awaits them except for extinction? Is there any other choice?

  ……

  "Your Majesty, how did you think of asking this? I've thought about it and roughly half are probably illiterate. The term 'illiterate' fits perfectly." Sun Chengzong said.

  Half of them, Yang Reform's heart turned cold! These people who were released from prison, many of whom were hereditary thousand households, couldn't even recognize characters. The literacy rate of low-ranking military officers was probably even lower. Without culture, that is to say, they didn't even have the ability to read documents, and couldn't understand battle reports, maps, or even printed materials. They also couldn't understand military writings to motivate themselves. More accurately, if the enemy gave them a fake document or false intelligence, they wouldn't have the analytical skills to detect it. This was very deadly. Many systems, such as the city gate system, were designed so that during wartime, gates would not be opened without proper documentation. Without culture, it was difficult for them to execute such systems. Others could easily deceive them by writing a few sentences on a piece of paper, and they wouldn't recognize it, randomly opening the gate for others. This kind of thing often happened in battles with the Wild Boar Skins later on. Many city gates were said to have been opened from within. Yang Reform thought that the Wild Boar Skins probably didn't have many spies or such great capabilities, and at most they were just a group of bandits trying to plunder the Ming dynasty and then leave. They hadn't occupied any cities in the interior of the country. In the interior, there were not a few people who had deep grudges against the Wild Boar Skins, and no officials were willing to surrender to them. It was better to live as a normal person than to go with the Wild Boar Skins to the outside world and become a slave. Therefore, Yang Reform estimated that it was more likely that fake documents were used to deceive people into opening the city gates, rather than having insiders open them from within. Otherwise, wouldn't it be easy for them to rely on "insiders" to open many military strongholds? For example, Zunhua, a military stronghold, could be easily taken by just a few people setting fires inside the city and causing chaos among the defenders.

  At the end of the Ming dynasty, during the battle with Yehe's forces, a large quantity of Ming dynasty costumes were captured, ranging from those for low-ranking officials to high-ranking ones, as well as official documents and credentials. With these items, Yehe's forces could easily impersonate Ming dynasty officials and deceive the Ming dynasty's gatekeepers by dressing up in authentic Ming dynasty attire, carrying authentic official credentials and seals, and marching into the city with confidence. Moreover, there were Ming dynasty scholars who had defected to the Later Jin regime, so they were familiar with internal Ming dynasty affairs. The possibility of this event occurring is extremely high.

  If the defenders of the city are illiterate, have no analytical skills, and their brains are a mess, when they see this "authentic" official document, seal, and uniform, how can they not believe it? So, they opened the city gate to welcome the friendly army, and thus, a military stronghold was easily opened.

  Thinking of this, Yang Gaofei's body felt a chill run down his spine.

  "Master Sun, I've thought of something that's really frightening and also very cunning on the part of the Eastern Barbarians. Master Sun, please analyze for me the possibility of this matter." Yang Reform was sweating profusely on this cold day, which shows just how scary this thing is.

  Sun Chengzong was also greatly shocked: "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Why are you so flustered?"

  "Master Sun, our dynasty has suffered several major defeats in battles against the Eastern Turks. Have they taken away large quantities of official robes and uniforms of our officials and soldiers, even official seals and credentials?"

  Sun Chongzong listened to the emperor's words and suddenly woke up! He was shocked, his eyes wide with fear. This matter, thinking carefully, is really frightening. The Ming dynasty had been defeated several times by the Later Jin, and they had lost badly. The clothes, official documents, and seals that had been captured were in vast quantities, enough to fill a sea. If the Eastern Barbarians, the Later Jin, used these genuine official documents and seals to disguise themselves as Ming reinforcements, they could deceive those illiterate gatekeepers into opening the city gates... This is truly terrifying! The Eastern Barbarians probably thought they could open any city gate they wanted.

  "Your Majesty! It's really terrifying, I'm so scared! I'm uneasy." Sun Chengzong's forehead was also covered in cold sweat as he panted heavily to calm himself down. In the simulation, the Eastern Barbarians had already invaded the Great Wall through Mongolia many times, and this possibility was almost 100% certain. Combining this with these neatly prepared costumes and seals, it would be easy to deceive one or two major towns without any difficulty in the Ming dynasty's unguarded state. No one would have thought that within the pass, there were enemy troops disguised as their own people, acting freely. If the gatekeepers were illiterate, it would be even easier. In this way, both the forward base and the rear base were established, and the Eastern Barbarians and the Later Jin dynasty immediately stabilized their foothold within the pass. They could now plunder with abandon.

  Yang's reform on this cold day is full of sweat, originally just wanting to improve the cultural level of his own army, didn't expect to pull out such a terrifying thing. Just thinking about it makes me feel afraid afterwards. What I saw from history, opening the city gate from within, was just a later excuse for Houjin. History, indeed, is like a little girl, dressed up by people!

  In a military stronghold, how many insiders can open the city gate? Unless everyone in the city is dead, you are free to open the gate. Moreover, there is also a moat outside the city gate, and dozens of people think that opening the door from inside is possible only if these people are all as fierce as Lü Bu. Furthermore, during the early years of Chongzhen, who would give up being an official in the Great Ming Dynasty to be an insider for the Later Jin? Then go together to the outside of the pass and become a savage, becoming a slave for the Later Jin? Is it really that they are so full that they have nothing better to do? Whoever has low intelligence is still not at that level.

  So, in history, what was recorded as the inner response to open the gate, Yang Reform, is more reliable. It's like a special operation, using the authentic Ming Dynasty seal, attire and deception to trick the gatekeepers of the heavily fortified city into opening the gates. A few hundred people easily entered the city, took control of the gates, and then the Later Jin army swarmed in, effortlessly occupying the unguarded Ming military stronghold. If they encountered an illiterate gatekeeper, this possibility became even greater.

  Yang Gaizhi felt a chill all over his body and asked: "Master Sun, what do you think about this? How should we handle it?" Yang Gaizhi's mind was in disarray, without any idea.

  Sun Chengzong did not immediately respond to Yang's reform, and after pondering for half a day, he said: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. I suggest that Your Majesty discuss countermeasures with the other ministers and come up with a practical and reliable plan as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be disastrous! Fortunately, it is still early in the year, and General Mao is holding back the Eastern Barbarians, so we don't have to worry about them sending troops for now. There is still ample time, Your Majesty doesn't need to be so anxious..." Sun Chengzong was indeed more astute, quickly judging the situation and making a correct assessment. This matter was too big, it was no longer just his own affair, but required a grand meeting of all ministers to make a decision. He also had a clear judgment on the possibility of Houjin sending troops.

  After being comforted by Sun Chengzong, Yang reform felt a bit more at ease. Thinking about it, it makes sense that now that Mao Wenyong is still alive, the wild boar skin would dare to swagger into the pass? Hehe, they really aren't afraid of their old nest being snatched away! The explosion was very damaging and had severe consequences! If Mao Wenyong didn't die, then their "deception" plan wouldn't have a foundation. No wonder in history, Houjin and Mao Wenyong fought fiercely, using every trick to win him over, and there were even rumors that Yuan Chonghuan would kill Mao Wenyong before negotiating. It seems that this is also reasonable. There really was a "conspiracy"!

  Thinking of this, Yang Reform is speechless! The group of elites in the Ming Dynasty are truly pig-like "teammates", they have no other skills except for causing trouble. It's really not afraid of a god-like opponent, but afraid of a pig-like teammate! [Boss, we're on stage again...]

  ……