I suddenly realized that after this battle, everyone would return to their respective countries. Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally not afraid of the Song Dynasty crossing over to attack him, and Zhao Kuangyin didn't need to worry about Qin Shi Huang's people invading his territory. These guys were mainly sending troops to secure strong allies for their future, so naturally they had to curry favor with me first.
Seeing that the most difficult problem had been solved, I immediately moved on to the second item on the agenda: to discuss a way to get Jin Wuzhu to compromise.
I said, "Currently, our allied forces are strong and well-equipped, but that Jin Wuzhu is unrepentant. The negotiations have failed. Let's come up with a foolproof plan—but try to avoid a life-or-death battle. Although wiping him out is a piece of cake, we will inevitably suffer casualties. I suppose none of you want to bury your loyal bones in a foreign land?"
The crowd exchanged glances, then Hu Yier bowed and said, "Grand Tutor..."
I waved my hand and said, "If you feel uncomfortable calling me Xiaoqiang, you can call me Marshal or something, but don't call me Grand Tutor." It sounds too much like a villain. According to Wei Xiaobao's observation, those who are officially appointed as Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince usually don't have a good ending. But according to my own observation, Grand Tutors are usually not good people, especially those who have connections in the palace.
Hu Yier said, "Yes, Marshal. I suggest we wait a few more days. Brother Liu from the Song Dynasty said that his troops haven't all arrived yet, and the same is true for our Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the secret weapon sent by our Emperor is still on its way."
I asked curiously, "What secret weapon did your emperor acquire? As Grand Tutor, I order you not to say you don't know."
Hu Yier said with a bitter face, "I really don't know... I only heard the Emperor mention it before I left. It seems that the secret weapon is still under construction and will not be successfully completed for another day or two."
A deadly weapon? Besides being able to make roast duck, did Zhu Yuanzhang also master the technology of refining uranium-235?
At this moment, Muqali stood up and said, "Xiaoqiang, I have no objection to continuing the siege, but we Mongols have run out of food."
I slapped my forehead; I'd forgotten all about that. Genghis Khan and I had agreed that they would only bring three days' worth of rations. If I wanted to keep the Mongols, I'd have to solve the food problem myself. The warm and honest Mongols had given the Tang and Liangshan armies a treat of mutton when they first arrived, and for the past two days they'd been eating Liangshan's rations.
Qin Qiong said somewhat embarrassedly, "We can share half of our flatbread with our Mongolian friends, but it won't last for more than a few days." Li Shimin had given his men a 10-day supply.
I quietly asked Wu Yong, "Our Liangshan..."
Wu Yong shook his head and said, "It's only enough for 1 million people for half a month." That's already considered a lot.
I shouted, "Each army unit shall report on its food and fodder reserves."
The Song and Qin armies, in particular, only had a month's worth of supplies, while others had half a month or ten days' worth. This was understandable; with hundreds of thousands of troops, the consumption of supplies was staggering. Even Ying Bu, the fat man, gritted his teeth and managed to scrape together a month's worth. Xiang Yu was also at war and short of funds. As for the major powers, their wealth was only relative; their GDP wasn't high, and they had done their best to supply so many people on their campaigns.
Well, now that we haven't figured out a way to deal with Jin Wuzhu, a fatal problem has surfaced for us – what about our food supplies? We didn't expect Jin Wuzhu to be so stubborn; we were hoping to resolve the situation in two or three days.
I looked at Wu Yong, who whispered, "If all else fails, it seems we'll have to reduce the number of troops."
At this moment, someone stood up and shouted, "Brother Qiang, let me think of a solution."
I recognized him as Jin Shaoyan. Ever since Li Shishi was captured, this kid's been running around in circles. He only calmed down a bit after the Tang army arrived, and now he's panicking because I'm planning to reduce the army. I said, "What can you do?"
Jin Shaoyan said, "I'll give everything I own to rescue Shishi. Do you think we can use the money to buy some grain from somewhere else?" We all forgot that this victim was actually a wealthy man...
I scratched my head and said, "I know you have money, but you can't just use RMB to buy food from someone else, can you?"
Jin Shaoyan said, "We can exchange it for gold."
"...Don't squander our New China's gold reserves. Besides, if you exchanged all your money for gold to support an army of millions, it would be like blowing fire with a fart."
Jin Shaoyan firmly replied, "Let's just do what we can for one day at a time."
Wang Ben muttered to himself, "Even if they had money, where would they buy so much grain?" Judging from his tone, Qin's grain reserves were definitely only enough for its own needs. Back then, productivity was low; they probably ate year after year. I looked at the gentlemen from a powerful, prosperous nation and asked, "Which of you has abundant grain?"
As a result, no one was wealthy; even the landlords had no surplus grain—Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shimin were the biggest landlords, after all. In reality, if they had enough, it wouldn't be a matter of money; they had already borrowed from millions of people, and borrowing some grain from them would have been enough. But who would be willing to risk their very survival to fill this bottomless pit?
Ersha took out a banknote he'd somehow acquired and examined it in the light, muttering, "This money is so nice, why did I have to exchange it for gold? It's heavy and dirty—Fatty still owes me 300 yuan."
Jin Shaoyan and I exchanged a glance and suddenly burst out laughing. Yes, why exchange for gold? Where is the RMB most valuable? In the new China! And grain is cheapest in the 21st century; we always hear about grain surpluses and farmers losing sleep over them.
Jin Shaoyan asked with concern, "But how do we transport it back and forth?"
Outside the tent, 300 soldiers, accustomed to modern drills, passed by our door chanting, "One, two, one, one, two, one..." Hu Yieryi hurriedly ran out, asking, "Who's calling me?"...
I looked at Wang Yin and asked, "Is your flatbed cart for transporting people still there?"
Wang Yin understood what we meant at this moment and nodded, saying, "Yes, yes, but aren't you afraid that the things we bring here will melt?"
Li Yuanba, leaning on his cow dung hammer, said in a muffled voice, "Are you worried about the grain melting? Are you out of your mind?"
We all laughed when we saw Li Yuanba's cow dung hammer—I remember he tied it to the roof of his cart before he came. I didn't think much of it at the time, but later I wondered why it didn't turn into a pile of pots and pans in the timeline. Now it seems that after the military roads were opened, goods should have been able to circulate, otherwise wouldn't the Ming army have all turned into tadpoles by the time they reached the Yuan Dynasty?
I said to Wang Yin, "No matter what, why don't you try pulling one cartload first? Whether it works or not depends on it!"
Jin Shaoyan pulled out two gold bricks and offered them to Wang Yin. Wang Yin refused, saying casually, "It's just a truckload of instant noodles, right? We can afford it—of course, you have to reimburse me for it in the end. No need for gold bricks, just RMB of the same volume will do."
After Wang Yin left, Yuchi Gong said, "I think we need to come up with a more foolproof plan. Going to such a distant place to get supplies may not necessarily be successful, and getting them one truckload at a time is just a drop in the ocean. At most, it will only solve part of the problem."
"What do you think?"
Yuchi Gong smiled slightly and said, "I ask you, for whom are all of us fighting?"
I sensed something was off about his tone, and he said uncertainly, "It's for me, I guess."
Yuchi Gong shook his head and said, "No."
"...For whom?"
"From an emotional standpoint, we are certainly acting in your best interest, but objectively speaking, whoever benefits the most from this battle is the one we are working for—but who benefits the most?"
"...Yes, who is it?"
Yuchi Gong prompted, "If I'm being driven to the brink of national collapse by an army of hundreds of thousands, but suddenly millions of soldiers appear to hold them off, who do you think benefits the most?"
I slapped my forehead and exclaimed, "You mean that bastard Emperor Huizong of Song!"
Yuchi Gong laughed and said, "That's right. We have millions of people helping him keep the enemy at his doorstep for so long. Shouldn't we ask him for some benefits?"
I laughed and said, "That's right! How could we forget the main target? We should have asked him for food a long time ago!"
Jin Shaoyan whispered, "Brother Qiang, I can handle this by myself."