The king behind the empress

Chapter 35 Equipment of the Eastern Territory

Hearing Mo Zizai's question, Tao Qiong, the person in charge of the Weapons Bureau, felt a little tense.

Although Mo Zizai is now an idle prince with only a false title, he came here with the empress' warrant, and it is not a particularly secret news that Mo Zizai spent the night in the palace for the past two days, Tao Qiong naturally knows it well.

If Mo Zizai had any prejudice against him, and went back to the empress to blow the pillow wind, then he might have to eat and walk away.

So Tao Qiong quickly explained: "My lord, it's no wonder our Armament Bureau is responsible for this matter."

Speaking of this matter, Tao Qiong also felt very wronged. The raw material warehouse of the Armament Bureau had been empty for more than ten days. He had already asked the Ministry of Accounting for funds to purchase ore, but the Ministry of Accounting had no money.

For this matter, he submitted more than a dozen papers in a row, but those papers seemed to have disappeared without any reply until now.

"My lord, our Armament Bureau doesn't know how to create spells out of nothing. There is no ore, what do you want us to use?"

Speaking of this, Tao Qiong, who was so angry, didn't care about Mo Zizai's identity, and said angrily: "What's more, the Ministry of Households doesn't even issue monthly tributes from our Military Weapons Bureau. Now the craftsmen in the bureau, It has been two full months without receiving the monthly payment, so how will they live!"

Although Tao Qiong is a weapon envoy of the Military Weapons Bureau, his temperament is more like a pure craftsman, like a straight tube, he just pours out what is in his heart, and doesn't care whether he will offend others.

So Mo Zizai didn't care about his somewhat unfriendly tone, but frowned slightly, "So, the Armament Bureau has been closed for half a month?"

"That's right." Tao Qiong's face wrinkled like a bitter melon, "The less money you have, the more orders will be placed in the imperial court. In the past half a month, there have been uncles who have come to kick the gate of our Armament Bureau almost every day. , There are people from the east, some from the north, and some from the local security forces, forcing me to get equipment every day."

"But our Weapons Bureau basically hasn't fired for half a month. Where can we go to get equipment for them?"

Having said that, Tao Qiong couldn't bear it anymore, and cursed bitterly, "I wish I could kneel down and beg for these sons of bitch household officials, and they won't give you a penny. !"

After saying this, Tao Qiong suddenly realized that the person in front of him was Mo Zizai, not the craftsmen who usually complained with him, and he panicked all of a sudden.

He is a small grade nine, in front of the prince, insulting the second grade and third grade of the household department, isn't he courting death?

"My lord, I... I just..."

Tao Qiong, the military envoy, was selected from among the craftsmen for his superb skills, so he was not good at speech, and under the extreme tension at the moment, he couldn't even speak.

"you are wrong."

Seeing Tao Qiong's desperate expression, Mo Zizai shook his head slowly and said, "Not only the officials of the household department, but the whole household department is a son of a bitch."

"what?"

Hearing this sentence, Tao Qiong was a little dazed, "My lord, this..."

"Okay, these have nothing to do with you."

Mo Zizai, who comforted Tao Qiong, didn't want to talk to Tao Qiong, but changed the subject: "You said just now, did the people from the Eastern Frontier Army ask you for equipment? How much do they want?"

"Yes, my lord."

After Mo Zizai also scolded the household department, Tao Qiong suddenly felt much more secure. Hearing Mo Zizai's question now, he hastily replied: "Not only the people in the east, but also the army in the north and other places."

"Among them, the eastern frontier army needs [-] sub-armors, plus [-] hard bows, and the northern border needs about the same amount."

"It's just that the local army in the customs area needs a little less, and it only needs a few hundred pairs of soldiers, but they can't stand it. There are so many places, and the sum of the scattered ones is more than that of the eastern frontier army."

"Old General Zhang of the Eastern Border is at war, so it's understandable to need some soldiers and armour. What's the fun with the Northern Frontier Army and the local garrison?"

Mo Zizai's face was slightly gloomy, "Do they all have His Majesty's warrant?"

"That's not it."

Tao Qiong shook his head and said, "Only the Eastern Border Army has His Majesty's warrant in their hands, and the rest have approval slips from the Ministry of Industry."

"Hmph, the Ministry of Industry..."

Mo Zizai snorted coldly, didn't talk about this topic any more, and asked, "How many armors, bows and crossbows do you have in the reserve of the Military Weapons Bureau? Is it enough for the Eastern Frontier Army?"

The eastern border is now guarded by Zhenyuan Hou Zhangyuan. He is now relying on the little miscellaneous soldiers in his hands and relying on the city wall to resist the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms. If General Zhang makes a mistake, the entire eastern border will be completely lost.

And if the eastern border is lost, then Great Zhou will lose its barrier to stop the Three Kingdoms. At that time, the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms will be able to drive straight into the hinterland of the capital of Great Zhou.

So Mo Zizai decided without thinking at all. The needs of the Eastern Frontier Army must be met as soon as possible.

Hearing Mo Zizai's idea of ​​using the reserve, Tao Qiong hesitated for a moment, and said admonishingly: "My lord, the reserve is the foundation of the capital, so don't tamper with it."

The so-called reserve warehouse refers to a batch of additional equipment produced by the Armament Bureau every year. This batch of equipment is not provided to anyone, but is sealed in the warehouse. No one can use it except for emergencies.

"Whether you should move or not is not your concern."

Mo Zizai looked at Tao Qiong, and said lightly, "You just need to tell me whether the weapons in the reserve are enough for the border troops."

"Not enough, my lord."

Tao Qiong shook his head and said: "All the sharp weapons sealed in the reserve are specially equipped for the elite, so there are not many of them."

"Among them there are [-] sets of armor, [-] twelve-stone bows, [-] crossbows, and [-] city-breaking crossbows."

"It can almost meet one-third of General Zhang's requirements, but they are all fine armor weapons, which should be able to meet the needs of the frontier army to some extent."

After pondering for a while, Mo Zizai said, "Ambassador Tao, call the people from the Eastern Frontier Army and ask them to quietly transport these weapons to the Eastern Border. Try not to disturb anyone."

"This……"

Tao Qiong looked at Mo Zizai and hesitated for a long time, but finally had to bite the bullet and said: "Well, my lord, you have no right to control the things in the reserve."

After saying this, Tao Qiong was ready for Mo Zizai to be furious and even beat him up, but to his surprise, Mo Zizai didn't overreact, just nodded lightly , Said: "Well, this king knows."

"You just have to prepare the weapons in the reserve. This king will ask His Majesty to give you an order. When the time comes, you can ask the Weapons Bureau to cooperate."

Mo Zizai's natural tone made Tao Qiong wonder a little, why did he feel that Mo Zizai's attitude was so similar to his own mother-in-law at home, could it be that the husband and wife of the emperor's family were also so harmonious?

Tao Qiong, who had speculated a little about the emperor's family affairs in her heart, quickly collected her thoughts and said respectfully: "I understand, I will ask the Military Weapons Bureau to prepare for the party."

"By the way, I heard that the prince came with His Majesty's warrant. I don't know what equipment the prince needs."

(End of this chapter)