spend time

"This Yu Chong came really quickly."

Feng Changshi complained to Chen Changshi: "They must be here to ask for money and food."

Chen Changshi smiled and said, "A round trip for 4,000 Nanyang troops would indeed consume a lot of food. We also need to prepare some weapons, war horses, and supplies, as well as military pay. It's not a small amount when added up. General Yu will naturally have to come in person."

After receiving the letter from the princess, Feng Changshi had already started to make preparations, which meant he just complained verbally out of habit: "I can't just give you as much as you want. I have made a budget, and it depends on how much General Yu asks for."

Chen Changshi had dealt with Yu Chong several times before and admired him very much. He smiled softly and said, "The person the princess values ​​will not be such a greedy and shameless person, so you can rest assured!"

Drinking the blood of soldiers was a common practice. Otherwise, what would the generals eat and drink? With only a meager salary, they couldn't even support their families.

After Zuo Zhen was dismissed from his post for exploiting him too much, Yu Chong became the commander of the Nanyang Army. In the past few years, the soldiers of the Nanyang Army have received full military pay. This is unique among all the garrisons in Daliang.

The number of soldiers in the Nanyang Army's military register is 5,000. The military expenditure allocated by the Nanyang Palace every year is also based on the standard of 5,000 people. In other words, the extra 1,000 vacancies were specially given to Yu Chong by Jiang Shaohua. It is 20% in total.

Yu Chong did not eat alone, but distributed the extra 20% of the military funds to the generals of all ranks according to their ranks. He also paid for extra meals and meat for the soldiers from time to time, and clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments. As a result, Yu Chong quickly secured his position as the chief general.

"Your humble servant, Yu Chong, greets Chief Clerk Chen and Chief Clerk Feng."

Yu Chong, a garrison military commander of the fourth rank, still saluted respectfully when he met two fifth rank chief secretaries of the royal palace.

Li Tie did not dare to be negligent and immediately bowed together.

Chen Changshi and Feng Changshi each stretched out their hands, helped the two generals up, and after exchanging some greetings, they got down to business.

Yu Chong said sincerely, "To be honest with you two, I came to the palace immediately after receiving the letter from the princess. Once the food is allocated, we will transport the military rations to Sizhou."

Li Tie rubbed his hands and said shamelessly: "We have to eat and drink while delivering food along the way. We need to ask Feng Changshi to prepare the food and grass. Also, we need to prepare a batch of weapons, armor and horses."

Now that you are here, you should ask for what you want.

Feng Changshi and Chen Changshi looked at each other and said calmly, "It is customary to send food and grass before the army moves. I don't know how much food and grass the Nanyang army needs. Please tell me a number, General Yu, and I will coordinate the preparations."

Yu Chong was well prepared and gave a number.

Feng Changshi was relieved when he heard this. It would take more than a month for 4,000 soldiers to travel to Sizhou and back, and they would have to stay for a while, so they would have to prepare at least four months of food and grass. The number Yu Chong said was not much, and it was even 20% less than he expected.

Feng Changshi's expression immediately became much better, and he said with a smile: "General Yu, please rest assured. I will prepare everything within three days."

Yu Chong was overjoyed and bowed to express his gratitude repeatedly.

Chen Changshi smiled and said, "General Yu rarely comes to the palace, so why not stay for a few days? When the food and grass are ready, take them to the Nanyang Army."

Yu Chong readily agreed.

Privately, Li Tie couldn't help but mutter a few words: "If I had known that Feng Changshi deserved such a happy reward, I should have asked for more money before. Going to the border army may require me to fight with them. My brothers are risking their lives, so I should at least get more money."

Yu Chong glared at him and said, "There is no mountain of gold and silver in the palace. We have already taken a lot. Don't be too greedy. Look at other garrisons, they are almost starving. Our food has been getting better and better in recent years. We all have war horses and everyone has weapons and armor. Without the princess's kindness, we would not be where we are today." Li Tie blushed a little and slapped himself, "Yes, yes, the general is right. I was too greedy."

Yu Chong's eyes gleamed, and he whispered, "Li Tie, I have ambitions too. What's gold and silver? Men join the army for military merit. We are stationed here to protect the peace of the area, and the opportunities to go out to fight are few and far between."

"This time, delivering food to the border troops is the best opportunity the princess has found for us."

"The princess said in the letter that if we stay in Sizhou for a few more months, we might be able to wait for the Rouran cavalry to attack in large numbers. This is our chance to make achievements."

Li Tie's blood boiled when he heard this, and he rubbed his hands repeatedly: "General Yu is right. I am short-sighted and shallow."

"Let's go fight and make achievements. Who knows, we may become famous generals in the future!"

Yu Chong laughed: "It's not a possibility, it's a sure thing! I, Yu Chong, have already decided on the princess. No matter what the princess does in the future, I will fight for her!"

Li Tie also clenched his fists tightly, with excitement flashing in his eyes.

……

Three days later, Yu Chong and Li Tie returned to the Nanyang military camp with a large amount of food and supplies.

The morale in the military camp was high. Everyone packed their luggage, mounted their horses, and began the journey of transporting grain.

When the news reached the Imperial Guards, Qin Zhan and Meng Dashan could not help but ride to the Third Camp and complain to Liu Hengchang: "The princess is the same. Such an important matter as delivering military rations should be handed over to our Imperial Guards."

"The Nanyang Army's formations are just ordinary, and they are no match for our Royal Guard Battalion."

Liu Hengchang said, "Our personal guard battalion is the princess's trump card. Outsiders don't know how strong we are. We can't reveal it easily."

"The Nanyang Army is different. They are a legitimate imperial garrison. It is reasonable for the princess to send the Nanyang Army to deliver food. No one can find fault with it."

Qin Meng looked at each other and stopped complaining.

Liu Hengchang whispered again: "We are secretly recruiting personal guards in the northern states and counties. We need to be extremely cautious in this matter. It is better to be slow than to attract attention. We must not recruit people with bad intentions. The most important thing is loyalty."

Qin Zhan nodded and said, "Don't worry, we will recruit personal guards. We don't want to be alone. We must have relatives and friends."

Those who have relatives to tie them down come to Nanyang County with their whole families, and they are more devoted to the country in order to support their wives, children and the elderly.

Now, the three battalions were secretly expanding their forces. They only knew the true strength of their own battalion, and only the princess knew the total number.

"The princess has been in the capital for so long, she should be back soon." Meng Dashan said with a smile, "When the princess comes back, I will ask her to let Sanbao and Yinzhu get married. Then I can put my mind at ease."

Qin Zhan and Liu Hengchang immediately bowed and congratulated him.

As they were talking and laughing, a personal guard suddenly came in and reported with an unpleasant look on his face: "There's news from the farm that someone sneaked into the farm and tried to assassinate Lord Changning!" (End of this chapter)