My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 236 What, Old Li is the ancestor of Li Jinglong’s family?

"Thirty million rounds of ammunition?"

Li Jinglong couldn't help but be dumbfounded. What does 30 million mean? If they were piled together, they would probably form a mountain.

He looked to the back of the team and saw carriages loaded with bullets that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"So, nephew, you don't have to worry about bullets at all. Your uncle and I fought in the Northern Expedition for so long, and we only consumed tens of millions of bullets in total. The 30 million bullets here are more than enough!" Zhu Di said with a smile.

"Thirty million rounds of ammunition, how much money would it cost to make them?"

Li Jinglong couldn't help but sigh, "Now I know the true meaning of the saying that fighting a war is just a waste of money."

"The cost of a new armor-piercing bullet is four coins, plus the labor cost is about five coins. Thirty million bullets would cost one hundred and fifty thousand coins, or one hundred and fifty thousand strings of cash!"

As Xu Huizu was calculating, he suddenly remembered that at the martial arts arena, his father Xu Da had once boasted that he would pay for the production of bullets.

Now that I think about it, his father is a pure man who only knows how to fight wars and doesn't know how to settle accounts!

"Although 150,000 guan may seem like a lot, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the profits from maritime trade. The Ming Dynasty's finances can fully afford it."

Xu Huizu said: "Once the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade is fully developed, I am afraid that more gold and silver treasures will flow into the court, and then making bullets will be a piece of cake."

"Now that I think about it, it's only been a little over a year since my father met that strange man. The changes in the Ming Dynasty are really dazzling. Sometimes even I can't understand it."

Zhu Di sighed, "Let's talk about other things. Take fighting as an example. The various tactics of deploying troops and battle arrays written in various military books in the past are completely useless now. Now when the Ming Dynasty fights a war, as long as we ensure sufficient firepower, we will be invincible!"

"That's not the case. Although the form of war has changed for our Ming Dynasty due to the development of weapons, the essence of war has not changed. Therefore, the chapters on strategy and calculation in the Art of War are still very enlightening."

Li Jinglong had a different opinion. "Take this southern expedition for example. Although my uncle could have launched a massive attack on Annan on the pretext of 'attacking the disloyal' after learning that Le Chilwan had sidelined the Queen of Annan, I did not do so. Instead, I waited for the opportunity for Le Chilwan to send troops to Laos.

Why? It was to justify the war, and also to show the foreign states of the Ming Dynasty that the Ming Dynasty sent troops to respond to the attack from Annan and to protect its territories. In this way, the Ming Dynasty completely occupied the moral high ground.

Xu Huizu and Zhu Di looked at Li Jinglong with interest and motioned for him to continue.

"This is also in line with what Mencius said: those who are in the right path will have many supporters, while those who are in the wrong path will have few supporters. It is also a perfect application of the concept of 'harmony among people' in military books!
I think behind this, it's not just about the war. My uncle must have considered more things, the most important of which is to make those foreign countries more willing to be incorporated into the Ming Dynasty's industrial production system, or the economic system.

Perhaps this is the true meaning of the saying that war is the continuation of politics!"

Xu Huizu and Zhu Di's eyes lit up. Xu Huizu said, "War is the continuation of politics. This is a good sentence. It summarizes it very well. Jiujiang, I didn't expect you to have so many tricks up your sleeve!"

"Come on, my nephew must have heard the saying that war is the continuation of politics from somewhere. He himself has no ability to do it." Zhu Di ruthlessly dismantled Li Jinglong's plan.

Li Jinglong was not angry, but directly admitted, "I did hear this sentence from my uncle. I thought it made sense at the time, so I kept it in mind. Now that I think about it carefully, the more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense!"

"I think even my father couldn't come up with such a brilliant idea. He must have heard it from a strange person."

Anyway, he was not in the palace and had already left Yingtian Prefecture. The emperor was far away and Zhu Di was enjoying making up stories about his emperor father.

Speaking of strange people, Li Jinglong suddenly seemed to think of something, and his eyes shone with light.

"Tell me, when my uncle called me the Ming Dynasty God of War for no reason, did he hear it from that strange man?"

When Xu Huizu and Zhu Di heard this, they couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Zhu Di couldn't help but hit him: "Come on, you're out of breath when I say you're fat. Qiren is such a free and mysterious person. He cares about the Ming Dynasty. Why would he care so much about you, young master?" Li Jinglong didn't care about Zhu Di's ridicule, but muttered to himself:
"My uncle didn't let me participate in the Northern Expedition at the beginning. He must have been tempering my will. Mencius said that when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it will first test his mind and will, exhaust his muscles and bones, starve his body, deprive him of all poverty, and make him feel frustrated. This is to stimulate his heart and harden his nature, and increase his ability to do what he was not able to do before..."

Seeing that Li Jinglong was completely immersed in his own imagination, Zhu Di and Xu Huizu looked at each other, shook their heads helplessly and smiled.

Well, let the "Ming Dynasty God of War" indulge himself.

Suddenly, Li Jinglong raised his head with a solemn and pious look.

"I heard from Huaiqing that this strange man also has the surname Li, and his name is Li Han. Maybe he is an ancestor of my Li family!"

Zhu Di couldn't stand it anymore and slapped Li Jinglong on the head.

"Go ahead and dream about your life. Look through your family tree to see which ancestor is called Li Han!"

……

Annan, Jiaozhou Prefecture, inside the Prime Minister's Palace.

Li Jilian had just returned home. He was smiling and looked very proud and seemed to be in a very good mood.

Today we have finally sent away the envoys from the Ming Dynasty, and I can put a worry to rest.

During this period, the Ming Dynasty envoys were very rude and their attitude towards him was extremely arrogant. Their words were both overt and covertly mocking him as a disloyal minister.

He is just short of asking himself to beg for his life and return the power to Chen Riwei!
What’s even more infuriating is that Chen Riwei, relying on the support of the Ming envoy, has become increasingly hostile towards him.

However, Li Jilian has experienced ups and downs in the political arena for many years and has long developed the ability to swallow insults. Humph, you Ming envoys want to imitate the Han envoy, forcing me to kill you in a rage and then give the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty an excuse?

I, Li Jilian, will never let your conspiracy succeed. I am familiar with the history books of the Central Plains!

You scold me and I bear it, but you won't go so far as to hit me, will you?
Fortunately, these Ming envoys were all scholars who had passed the imperial examinations, and they did not have the hot tempers like the Han envoys. Historical records show that when the Han envoys were on a mission to the Western Regions, they actually drew their swords and killed people in front of the other country's monarchs!

Now that the Ming envoy has finally returned to the capital, I have finally made it through and can breathe a sigh of relief.

At this point, the situation between him and Chen Riwei has become a life-and-death situation, and he has to find a way to make Chen Riwei step down!

He ordered the servants to prepare a sumptuous meal and wine, and called the singer over. After drinking a few sips of good wine, eating delicious food, and looking at the singer's enchanting figure, he felt relieved of the boredom he had felt in the past few days.

After eating and drinking, he was about to have a good rest when suddenly a servant came to report that the Minister of Rites Chen Wentai wanted to see him.

Chen Wentai is an official from the Ministry of Rites in my department. He just helped me see off the Ming Dynasty envoys today. Why did he come to see me at this time? Could something have happened again?

He ordered his servants to bring Chen Wentai in. After Chen Wentai paid his respects, Li Jiliu asked, "Minister Chen, why did you come to see me?"

Chen Wentai came over and whispered, "Prime Minister, do you know why the Ming envoy returned in such a hurry?"

Li Jilian frowned and said with some displeasure: "Just say it!"

Chen Wentai said quickly: "I have received news that Liu Chengde, the Yunnan envoy of the Ming court, issued an order a few days ago to summon the officers and soldiers of the garrison to quell the rebellion. The Ming court has begun to take action against the chieftains!

Therefore, I think that the Ming court must be too tired to deal with the chieftains in Yunnan and have no intention of interfering in the affairs of Annan, so they can only recall the envoys in a hurry. I think they don’t want to provoke Annan, a powerful enemy, again when they are suppressing the rebellion! "

(End of this chapter)