Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 622 - 620

Chapter 622: 620

Di Shaowei soon took over Qi Valley, and at the same time, numerous weapons and account books were found in the mining area and Qi Valley, along with some records that listed the quantities of various weapons.

Shangguan Xuanyi and Xiao’er inspected each page and tallied them up, realizing that in the past half a year, all the iron produced from this private mine had been turned into weapons, totaling up to as many as one hundred thousand pieces!

However, only ten thousand spears that were yet to be transported were found here.

That means the whereabouts of ninety thousand weapons remained unknown.

Could these high yield weapons be nothing but scrap metal? Xiao’er wondered.

"I once found a lead suggesting that Bat Island may be a storage place for weapons but the exact quantity is still unclear."

"Do we know about the conscription situation in Lianyun County? How many soldiers were conscripted in total? Were there any conscriptions in other counties too?" Xiao’er asked, recalling earlier discussions about private conscriptions.

Having soldiers alone was not enough for a war, they also needed to arm these soldiers.

"Lianyun County conscripted fifteen thousand, Lianmai County twenty thousand, and Yunhe County eighteen thousand, a total of fifty-two thousand people!" Shangguan Xuanyi revealed the encrypted message he had just received two days ago.

"That many?" Xiao’er was immensely surprised. How could she not have known that people in ancient times had such a passion for joining the military? In Shengping County, many common folks used to be greatly upset when they heard they were to serve in the military! Some would even prefer to pay silver instead of joining.

"The counties that were conscripting soldiers offered an annual salary of twenty taels!" Shangguan Xuanyi explained.

Xiao’er: Indeed, money can do anything! No wonder so many people went.

Twenty taels, to ordinary folks, meant several years’ earnings.

When the Imperial Court conscripted, they only gave an annual pay of ten taels. Xiao’er glanced at Shangguan Xuanyi, feeling that his father was a bit stingy.

However, the money from the national treasury was not solely used for military affairs. It was also used for construction projects for the people, as well as disaster prevention and relief. A private vault, on the other hand, could be allocated primarily for military affairs, so the two scenarios were incomparable.

Shangguan Xuanyi sensed that Xiao’er was looking at him strangely. He turned his head to look at her: "What’s the matter?"

"General Li is truly a wealthy tycoon!" Xiao’er exclaimed.

Did all generals possess such wealth? Li Mingfang hadn’t hesitated to give away one hundred thousand taels. Even though she probably planned to recover that amount, she was at least capable of pulling out one hundred thousand taels in banknotes at the time.

Now that over fifty thousand new soldiers have been conscripted, the annual salary alone would cost over one hundred thousand taels. This money came from the wars, proving that war was indeed lucrative.

It made her want to become a general.

"What does ’tycoon’ mean?"

"It refers to someone who is wealthy and flamboyant, or someone from the countryside who has a lot of money but no taste. But I just wanted to say that General Li has a lot of money." Xiao’er chose a more polite interpretation.

"I don’t think that’s quite right. General Li is quite low-key and not one to flaunt. However, he does indeed have a lot of money. The Eastern Jin Dynasty is rich in fine jade, Nangong Country is abundant in resources, and Xiyue Country has numerous gold mines. General Li has been stationed in the northwest for many years, and through numerous battles with the people of Xiyue Country, has seized plenty of gold and silver. That’s not surprising, and I think he’s probably got the most money."

The northwest is rich in gold? How did she not know this vital piece of information! If she had known this earlier when she was in the northwest, she would certainly have gone gold panning every day!

"Why didn’t you tell me that there are many gold mines in the northwest?! What about Minze Country? What is most abundant there? Why do I feel like there’s not much of anything?

"Our dynasty is vast and rich, so we have everything, but mostly, we have people."

Xiao’er blinked, feeling like Shangguan Xuanyi was saying, ’I know a little about everything, but I’m not an expert in anything.’

Xiao’er forced a terrible, insincere smile on her face, saying, "A large population is good, after all, this world is ruled by humans."

Still, she felt it would be better if they had more silver.

"Or you could say we have the most grain. Ever since the news of our near thousand-pound yield per acre got out, along with the large population, other countries stopped getting any ideas. They are now courting us for marriages and alliances."

In reality, whether it’s marriage or other forms of diplomatic relationship, they all just aim for our thousand-pound yield method.

Shangguan Xuanyi felt it was a great thing that these high-yield seeds needed to be hybridized every year!

As long as they controlled these seeds, they could check the other two countries.

In the past, food shortage was the major issue faced by all four countries. Now that they’ve solved this problem, and with the development of various workshops, agriculture, and handicraft industries, the living conditions of the common people have become more comfortable.

As long as the people have enough food to eat and live peaceful lives, the country would be stable. The population of their country is the largest, and with the addition of territory from Xiyue Country, it’s also the largest in terms of land area. In other words, Minze Country has clearly superseded the other two and has become the strongest among the three.

"This is my achievement!" Xiao’er proudly declared.

"Yes, it is your achievement." Shangguan Xuanyi, with a smile, lightly tapped her nose and solemnly nodded in agreement.

This was her achievement that nobody could take from her. That was why she had secured the title of countess of Rui’an overnight, funded her intelligence and the peaceful lives it brought to the people.

Why did Shen Chengyao become a marquis? And why was General Li unable to become a marquis despite his whole family’s loyalty?

That was because food was truly too important for the people and for a country.

However, if Xiyue Country had been taken over by General Li, he would also have deserved to be a marquis, given the great achievement of land annexation that could make one a marquis or even a chancellor.

Unfortunately, General Li, stationed in the northwest for many years, barely held Xiyue Country in check, neither gaining nor losing ground. Later, their city was almost breached by soldiers of Xiyue Country, and he nearly died. Had it not been for this girl’s pill, he would have died long ago. He couldn’t understand why Li Mingjun wanted to hurt this girl. After all, she could be considered as their life-saving benefactor!

"General Li already has sixty thousand troops stationed in the northwest. Now, with an additional fifty thousand plus new recruits, he commands an army of over one hundred and ten thousand." Xiao’er’s expression turned solemn.

With such numbers, once the war started, it wouldn’t end in a short time.

Plus, the words ’internal unrest and external aggression’ often appeared together in history.

Shangguan Xuanyi placed his hand on Xiao’er’s head: "Don’t worry, new recruits do not pose much of a threat. As for General Li’s sixty thousand troops, not all of them would necessarily be willing to rebel. Also, look at these weapons!"

Shangguan Xuanyi picked up a sword and with a slight force, it broke!

Seeing this, Xiao’er couldn’t help but pick up another sword, imitating his action. Without exerting much force, the sword indeed broke.

As expected, so many weapons produced in such a short time couldn’t be good.

Xiao’er could imagine what General Li’s reaction would be during a battle upon finding that these weapons were nothing but a pile of scrap metal.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.