Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 525: Military Provisions

"This Yu Chong sure came quickly."

Chief Historian Feng complained to Chief Historian Chen, "He’s definitely here to ask for money and provisions."

Chief Historian Chen chuckled, "Four thousand Nanyang Army troops, making a round trip, indeed consumes a lot of food. Weapons, warhorses, and supplies also need to be prepared, along with military pay. Altogether it’s not a small amount. Naturally, General Yu must come in person."

Since receiving the letter from the Commandery Princess, Chief Historian Feng had already begun preparations; it was merely habitual grumbling, "I can’t just give however much is asked for. I’ve already made a budget, so we’ll see how much General Yu requests when the time comes."

Chief Historian Chen had dealt with Yu Chong a few times and admired him greatly, he said with a low laugh, "The person the Commandery Princess values wouldn’t be someone greedy and shameless, so rest assured!"

"Squeezing soldiers for supplies is common. Otherwise, how would the military generals eat and drink? Just from their meager salaries, they can’t even support their families."

Previously, Zuo Zhen was too harshly oppressive, and after he was stripped of his post, Yu Chong became the main general of the Nanyang Army. Over the years, the soldiers of the Nanyang Army received full military pay. This is unprecedented among all the garrison troops in Da Liang.

The official record of the Nanyang Army lists five thousand soldiers. The Prince Mansion of Nanyang allocates the military funds each year according to the standard for five thousand soldiers. This means the extra one thousand empty slots were intentionally given to Yu Chong by Jiang Shaohua, accounting for about twenty percent.

Yu Chong didn’t keep it all to himself; he distributed the extra twenty percent of military funds to the military generals of various ranks in the army. He also occasionally gave out silver for the soldiers to have extra meals with meat, rewarding and punishing as appropriate. Because of this, Yu Chong quickly secured his position as the main general.

"Subordinate Yu Chong, greets Chief Historian Chen and Chief Historian Feng."

The stationed military general Yu Chong, of standard fourth rank, respectfully saluted the two fifth-rank Chief Historians of the Prince Mansion.

Li Tie dared not be negligent, promptly cupping his hands together in salute. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Chief Historian Chen and Chief Historian Feng each extended a hand to support the two military generals, and after some pleasantries, they got to the main topic.

Yu Chong, with an earnest expression, said, "To be honest, after receiving the letter from the Commandery Princess, I came to the Prince Mansion immediately. Once the grain is allocated, we will transport military provisions to Si State."

Rubbing his hands, Li Tie shamelessly remarked, "We will be transporting provisions all the way, and there will definitely be eating and drinking on the road, so I must trouble Chief Historian Feng to also prepare this. In addition, weapons, armors, and warhorses all need a batch prepared."

Now that we’ve come, we ought to ask for what we need.

Chief Historian Feng and Chief Historian Chen exchanged a glance and said calmly, "Before the troops move, provisions must go first; this is standard practice. Not knowing how much provisions are needed by the Nanyang Army, please tell us a number, General Yu, and this Chief Historian will coordinate the preparations."

Yu Chong was prepared and stated a number.

Upon hearing this, Chief Historian Feng felt relieved. Four thousand soldiers, making a round trip to Si State, would take over a month and need to stay for some time; at least about four months’ worth of provisions should be prepared. The number Yu Chong mentioned was really not much, even twenty percent less than what he had expected.

Chief Historian Feng’s expression immediately looked better, and he said with a smile, "General Yu, rest assured, within three days, this Chief Historian will have everything ready."

Yu Chong was overjoyed and repeatedly cupped his hands in gratitude.

Chief Historian Chen smiled and said, "Since General Yu rarely visits the Prince Mansion, why not stay a few days? Once the provisions are ready, you can take them along to the Nanyang Army."

Yu Chong gladly agreed.

Privately, Li Tie couldn’t help but mutter a few words, "If I had known Chief Historian Feng would agree so readily, I should have asked for more earlier. Going to the border army, we might have to fight; the brothers are risking their lives, and certainly, we should take more silver."

Yu Chong glared over, "The Prince Mansion isn’t a mountain of gold and silver; we’ve already taken quite a lot, so don’t get too greedy. Look at other garrisons; they’re almost starving. These past years, our diet has been getting better day by day, and we all have warhorses, everyone has weapons and armor. Without the generous treatment from the Commandery Princess, how could we have what we have today."

Li Tie, slightly embarrassed, gave himself a slap on the face, "Yes, yes, the General is right, I was too greedy."

Yu Chong’s eyes flashed, and he said in a low voice, "Li Tie, I also have ambitions. What are gold and silver? A man joins the army for military merits. Our garrison protects a region’s peace daily, but the real opportunities to mobilize and fight are very rare."

"This time, going to the border army to deliver provisions is the best opportunity the Commandery Princess has secured for us."

"The Commandery Princess mentioned in her letter that if we stay in Si State for a few more months, we might wait for a large-scale invasion by the Rouran cavalry. Then, we’ll have a chance to build our merits and achievements."

Listening, Li Tie felt a surge of excitement, rubbing his hands repeatedly, "General Yu is right. I was shortsighted and shallow."

"We go to fight and achieve merits. Who knows, in the future, we might also become famous generals of a region!"

Yu Chong laughed heartily, "Not who knows, but definitely will! I, Yu Chong, have long pledged loyalty to the Commandery Princess, and whatever she does in the future, I’ll charge ahead for her tirelessly!"

Li Tie also clenched his fist firmly, his eyes flashing with excitement.

...

Three days later, Yu Chong and Li Tie returned to the Nanyang Army Camp with a large batch of provisions and supplies.

The military camp was teeming with energy; everyone had readied their gear, mounted their steeds, and embarked on the journey to transport supplies.

This matter spread to the Personal Guard Camp, causing Qin Zhan and Meng Dashan to lose patience; they rode to the Third Camp and complained to Liu Hengchang, "The Commandery Princess, too. Such a significant task of delivering military provisions should have been entrusted to our Personal Guard Camp."

"The Nanyang Army’s formations are just mediocre at best; how can they compare to our Personal Guard Camp?"

However, Liu Hengchang said, "Our Personal Guard Camp is the Commandery Princess’s trump card; only outsiders don’t know our true strength. It shouldn’t be exposed easily."

"The Nanyang Army is different; it’s a legitimate court garrison. The Commandery Princess dispatching the Nanyang Army to deliver provisions is reasonable, and no one can find fault."

Qin and Meng exchanged a glance and then stopped their grumbling.

Liu Hengchang then whispered, "We are secretly recruiting trusted aides in the northern states and counties; this must be done cautiously. Better slow and steady than drawing attention, and we mustn’t recruit those with untrustworthy intentions. The most important thing is loyalty and faithfulness."

Qin Zhan nodded, "Rest assured, when we recruit trusted aides, we ask for those with families and dependents."

Those bound by family connections, who come with their entire family to Nanyang County, will be more determined to serve loyally to support their wives, children, and elders.

Nowadays, each Third Camp secretly expands its forces. They only know the real manpower of their own camp; only the Commandery Princess knows the total number.

"The Commandery Princess has been in the Capital City for so long; she’ll probably come back soon." Meng Dashan casually laughed, "When she returns, I’ll plead with her to arrange the marriage between Sanbao and Yin Zhu. Then I’ll have one less worry."

Qin Zhan and Liu Hengchang immediately cupped their hands to offer congratulations.

As they were joking, a trusted aide suddenly rushed in, looking disturbed, and reported rapidly, "News has come from the field manor, saying that someone infiltrated the manor to assassinate Elder Changning!"