I can bless thousands of magical powers.

"shoot!"

Along with Zhang Yuan's deep shout, the sound of the bowstring continued.

Hundreds of arrows flew across the sky and landed on the slope half a mile away, turning the scarecrows standing there into hedgehogs. Almost none of the arrows missed the target.

"Enter!"

Three hundred cavalrymen galloped forward at the same time, and the sound of their horses' hooves shook the four directions.

"Throw!"

The next moment, three hundred javelins intertwined in the air to form a dense web of death.

Covering most of the slope.

The javelins whistled through the air, piercing through the scarecrows that served as targets and then penetrated deep into the soil.

Its power is enough to penetrate armor!
"receive!"

Battle flags were waving, horns were blasting, and the cavalry that had rushed to the bottom of the hill turned around one after another, as united as one. Their movements were as smooth as flowing water, without any delay.

Zhang Yuan, who was riding on Red Hare, witnessed this scene and nodded with satisfaction.

After the Mo family's reinforcements arrived in Xiyuan, they not only quickly filled the vacancies of the Taoist soldiers, but also through a series of military reorganization operations by the two lieutenant generals Mo Wei and Sun Yujiang, the Xiyuan Taoist camp quickly restored its combat effectiveness.

Among them, the surplus Taoist soldiers were selected and a group of useless ones were eliminated, and then they began to show their elite qualities.

During this period of time, Zhang Yuan led three hundred soldiers out of the city every day to practice battle formations.

Although he was not from a military background, he had no experience in commanding a cavalry unit.

But Zhang Yuan had read military books, his own martial arts skills were strong enough, and his learning ability was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Therefore, he grew up with the three hundred soldiers.

After just a few days of running-in, although it is not yet as smooth as if they were using one's own arm, they have been able to enforce discipline and advance and retreat in moderation.

The three hundred soldiers already possess the momentum of a strong army!

Leaving the cleanup work to the auxiliary soldiers, Zhang Yuan led the Taoist soldiers back to Xiyuan City.

Upon seeing this cavalry galloping along the official road, the soldiers guarding the city gate immediately removed the barricades and drove away the nearby merchants and travelers to clear the passage.

Soon, the cavalry led by Zhang Yuan rushed through the city gate like a whirlwind.

Passersby stood on both sides of the street, watching them go away with awe in their eyes.

And such scenes have been happening every day in Xiyuan City in recent times.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians in and outside the city, as well as merchants and wanderers traveling east and west, all know that the Taoist camp has revived and is stronger than before.

Although it has not been tested in actual combat, the reputation of the new Taoist general Zhang Yuan is rising steadily in Xiyuan!
At the same time, many people were waiting to see the reaction from the Dao Yamen.

Because in the eyes of many people, Zhang Yuan's actions were like a demonstration to the provincial government.

The Xiyuan City was in turmoil.

When Zhang Yuan led his troops back to the Daoying, he had just jumped off his Red Hare when a middle-aged scholar with gray hair on his temples immediately stepped forward and reported, "Sir, the Daoya has once again refused to allocate this month's military expenses."

Zhang Yuan was not surprised at all, he smiled coldly and said: "That's all you can do."

This middle-aged scholar came here on the third day after the Mo family's reinforcements arrived in Xiyuan.

His name was Mo Yanchang. He was a poor young man from a side branch of the Mo family. He had once passed the imperial examination and became a juren, but he had experienced many setbacks in his official career and had never been successful in his life.

In fact, if it weren't for the protection of the Mo family, Mo Yanchang would have died in prison long ago.

Although Mo Yanchang was weak and powerless, he had served as a military commander and had rich military experience.

Now he is the new lieutenant in the Xiyuandao Camp, responsible for many affairs such as administration and logistics management, as well as financial work.

Sun Yujiang once told Zhang Yuan in private that Mo Yanchang was an expert at accounting.

Unfortunately, he can only settle other people's accounts, but his own accounts are a mess.

Because he owed a great favor to his master, as soon as Mo Huaian sent a letter, Mo Yanchang obediently ran to Xiyuan, thousands of miles away, to work for Zhang Yuan.

Mo Yanchang said helplessly: "According to the regulations, this month's military expenses should have been allocated five days ago, and the Daoying will pay the salaries tomorrow. Now there are only 376 taels, 5 cents and 3 cents of silver on the account."

He did not mention Zhang Yuan's previous increase in pay for the road soldiers and auxiliary soldiers, and could only complain inwardly.

According to the regulations formulated by Shang Jingtian, the Daoya and Daoying in Daocheng are not subordinate to each other, but have a cooperative relationship.

However, the Dao Ya held the power to levy taxes, while the Daoying had to rely on the military expenses allocated by the former to maintain its operations.

Therefore, the Dao Ya can control the Daoying through financial power.

If the Taoist officials and Taoist generals have a good relationship, this problem will not be a problem at all.

The problem is that the current Xiyuan officials are not in harmony with each other. Zhang Yuan asked Mo Yanchang to send people to the Dao Yamen to collect the money again and again, and he was also very helpless.

Zhang Yuan reached out from his bosom and took out a stack of banknotes and handed them to him: "Take these and spend them first."

Mo Yanchang took the stack of banknotes in a daze, and was shocked to find that they were all in denominations of ten thousand taels - large bills issued by Fu Ji Money House.

Ten silver notes mean one hundred thousand taels of silver, which is enough to support the expenses of the Taoist camp for a long time!

There is a branch of Fu Ji Money House in Xiyuan City, so Mo Yanchang can exchange these silver notes for cash.

The biggest problem at present is solved!

But the new lieutenant felt incredible: "Sir, are you really going to pay for the soldiers yourself?"

He had been in the officialdom for many years, and had served in prefectures, counties and the army, and had seen many officials and generals who embezzled money.

This is the first time I've seen someone like Zhang Yuan using his own money as military expenses!

Mo Yanchang originally thought that Zhang Yuan would complain to Shang Jingtian, or put pressure on the Xiyuan Dao Yamen through the Mo family.

He even thought of the possibility that Zhang Yuan would bow to Fei Hongming.

But I didn't expect Zhang Yuan to be so tough!
"I lent this money to Daoying."

Zhang Yuan said calmly: "Wait until the money comes from the Dao Yamen and then pay it back to me."

Mo Yanchang swallowed his saliva and couldn't help asking, "What if the government office keeps dragging its feet and refuses to disburse the funds?"

"Then it's not my problem."

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "I hope Fei Hongming can be so tough."

Previously, Mo Yanchang had sent people to ask for military expenses three times but was rejected. The reason given by the provincial government was that the tax items were unclear and needed to be sorted out, and that the trade routes had been attacked some time ago, resulting in a serious drop in tax revenue, and there was not enough silver to pay for the time being.

These excuses obviously do not stand up to scrutiny. No matter how strong Fei Hong's reputation is, he can only delay it for one or two months at most.

Zhang Yuan let him drag it on, and then they’ll see who can’t hold on first!

Mo Yanchang was speechless.

The new lieutenant knew in his heart that Zhang Yuan was determined to fight Fei Hongming to the death!
He then listened to Zhang Yuan continue to say: "As the saying goes, increase income and reduce expenditure, our Taoist camp cannot just rely on the funding from the Taoist Office. We must find other ways to earn some military expenses so that the brothers can have enough resources for cultivation."

Zhang Yuan said it lightly, but Mo Yanchang felt a chill when he heard it.

He felt Zhang Yuan's murderous intent! (End of this chapter)