Chapter 20: The Astonishing Revelation Behind His Majesty's Command!
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Fang Xuanling frowned thoughtfully, then carefully reached into his chest and pulled out the imperial edict. He had kept it safely close to his body, and now, as he took it out, it still carried the warmth of his own touch.
He handed the edict directly to Li Ji, his expression grave as he said, “The Xueyantuo are attacking our borders. Those barbarians, fierce as wolves and tigers, have invaded the frontiers of Youzhou, Shuozhou, and Bingzhou. The people along the border suffer greatly, tormented by the marauding armies of the Xueyantuo.”
“The Emperor himself has personally appointed you, Li Ji, to lead the troops into battle.”
Fang Xuanling continued, his tone solemn. Just then, Li Shimin suddenly coughed twice, the sound strikingly loud in the quiet room.
Fang Xuanling glanced at Li Shimin and shook his head helplessly, then corrected himself, “It is the Crown Prince himself who has appointed you to lead the troops to confront the main force of the Xueyantuo.”
Li Ji took the edict as if it were a priceless treasure, scrutinizing every word repeatedly, as if trying to carve each character into his heart.
After reading, he looked at Fang Xuanling with astonishment, his voice trembling, “The edict says that all military expenses—pay, provisions, equipment—are to come from the Emperor’s, no, the Crown Prince’s personal funds?”
He paused, disbelief still lingering, then added, “And that all logistics are to be doubled from previous campaigns? Plus, I’m to be given twenty thousand sets of fine iron armor?”
At these words, the other three men were stunned speechless, as if frozen in place by a spell.
Especially Li Shimin, his eyes wide open, and Fang Xuanling could clearly see him unconsciously swallowing his saliva.
“It must be a joke, right? Deploying an army costs astronomical sums. That boy has just risen to power—how could he have so much money?”
Li Shimin’s voice grew quieter as he spoke, though deep down he knew that since the edict had been issued, this was no joke at all.
Still unwilling to believe it, he snatched the edict from Li Ji’s hands and read it word by word.
“Twenty thousand sets of fine iron armor, each soldier provided with personal rations separate from the main army’s supplies, five hundred thousand bows and arrows, over a thousand war chariots, twenty thousand Tang-forged horizontal swords…”
With each phrase he read aloud, Li Shimin swallowed hard, the shock in his eyes only deepening.
Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Yaojin swallowed their saliva along with him, equally stunned by the extravagance of the provisions.
“Over the top! Absolutely excessive! Who’s ever fought such a well-supplied war?”
Cheng Yaojin couldn’t help but exclaim.
By the time Li Shimin finished reading, his hands trembled. He looked at Fang Xuanling with disbelief, “Xuanling! How much money must this be?”
Having spent the last few days with Li Chengqian, Fang Xuanling’s perspective had shifted beyond measure. Looking at his old comrades now, he felt almost like a city bumpkin.
Feigning seriousness, he pulled out a packet of tea leaves from his chest and boasted, “The Crown Prince has distributed this tea to the ministers. You just need hot water to brew it, and the tea soup is clear and bright.”
“Unlike those black, burnt brews we used to drink—I can’t stomach those anymore!”
Seeing Fang Xuanling’s showiness, Li Ji snorted and stood up, heading out.
Shortly after, he returned carrying a freshly boiled kettle and several cups, placing them on the table with a loud voice: “Come! Brew it! You old codger and the rest of you, stop pretending! I want to see just how good this tea really is!”
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Fifteen minutes later, each of the four held a small cup, sipping the tea eagerly like children with a treasured toy.
Li Shimin gazed at his cup with a look of utter delight, as if savoring the world’s rarest vintage.
“Xuanling, this is truly something special. Do you have more? Give each of us some!”
Fang Xuanling smiled wryly, helplessly replying, “Your Majesty, we drink this at the office whenever we want. I didn’t take any extra.”
Seeing Fang Xuanling’s lackluster attitude, Li Shimin chided him with a tone of frustrated affection, “You! Remember to take more tomorrow! Don’t let the state’s resources go to waste!”
Fang Xuanling was momentarily dumbfounded, secretly thinking: So you’re the biggest government resource of all!
“By the way, Xuanling, with such abundant logistics, how much will this cost?”
Li Shimin suddenly remembered the matter at hand and hurriedly asked.
Fang Xuanling immediately set down his tea and replied, “Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue initially estimated the campaign expenses at twenty million coins.”
“Twenty million coins? Why didn’t the Ministry of Revenue just seize it?”
Li Shimin exclaimed in disbelief. The richest campaign he had ever fought cost no more than eight million coins!
He was well aware of the situation—frankly, for a campaign like this, he would have spent at most five million coins.
Three million coins would have been sufficient.
Five million coins was considered a wealthy campaign!
Fang Xuanling looked a bit embarrassed, then continued, “Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue’s original proposal was five million taels, but the Crown Prince rejected it outright.”
He paused and imitated Li Chengqian’s tone, “‘War is all about logistics. Without sufficient supplies, how can the soldiers fight with peace of mind?’”
“That was the Crown Prince’s exact words.”
Listening to Fang Xuanling, Li Shimin sneered disdainfully, “Humph, the older you are, the wiser you get. Ask old Cheng, ask Yuchi Jingde, ask Li Ji—when we fought, what logistics did we have? And we still won!”
The other three nodded vigorously, Cheng Yaojin chiming in, “That’s right. The Crown Prince just doesn’t understand what it means to be a fierce general!”
Yuchi Jingde slammed the table excitedly and shouted, “Logistics? Who needs logistics? Everyone knows—Prince Qin wields the bow, Yuchi Jingde wields the spear, who can stand against us? Why spend so much money?”
Li Ji glanced at the two brothers and agreed, but the lavish details in the edict lingered persistently in his mind.
Li Shimin, delighted by his old comrades’ support, laughed heartily and asked, “And then?”
Fang Xuanling, looking at this group of old-timers with childish tempers, was both amused and exasperated. He continued, “Since the Crown Prince deemed it insufficient, the Ministry of Revenue kept increasing the budget.”
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“The first increase was to ten million coins—rejected by the Crown Prince. The second, fifteen million—rejected again. The third, twenty million—still rejected!”
“Three rejections by the Ministry of Revenue in one day!”
Hearing this, Li Shimin laughed uproariously, nearly in tears, “Looks like that boy doesn’t have that much money—he’s just toying with the Ministry of Revenue!”
As he spoke, he completely forgot the edict he had just read.
Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde joined Li Shimin’s laughter.
Only Li Ji gripped the edict tightly, furrowing his brows deep in thought.
Fang Xuanling cast a solemn glance at Li Shimin and his two brothers-in-arms.
Then, he slowly and deliberately uttered, “The Crown Prince had Qin Rushao bring people… to move the entire sum, a full fifty million coins…”
“All the way to the Ministry of Revenue’s doorstep!”
The moment Fang Xuanling said this, the room fell deathly silent, as if time itself had stopped.
Li Shimin leaned on the table, eyes wide, murmuring, “Jingde, Jingde, come support me—I fear I’m losing my mind!”
Yuchi Jingde heard the call and immediately stood, but his legs gave way, and he collapsed beneath the table. He shouted, “Your Majesty, it’s over! We heard correctly!”
His face was full of regret and disbelief.
“Fifty million coins for one battle! Li Ji got off easy! I, Yuchi Jingde, refuse to accept this!”
He shouted as he struggled to rise.
“Just one Xueyantuo? How can I be inferior to Li Ji! No, I must enter the palace—I must see the Crown Prince…”
“Oh no! Your Majesty! Let Your Majesty fight this battle for me! Don’t stop me!”
Though his legs were weak, Yuchi Jingde resolutely crawled toward the door.
As he crawled, he suddenly found he could not move further. He looked back with effort and saw Cheng Yaojin firmly gripping his calf. Cheng Yaojin’s face was resolute as he said, “Yuchi Jingde, I can’t do it as a person, and you can’t do it in battle.”
His eyes gleamed with determination.
“This battle must be fought by me—the Mischievous Demon King, Cheng Yaojin!”