Chapter 148 The Prince of Jin's Southern Expedition: Rewarding the Three Armies

Zhuozhou City, Longcheng Military Camp.

Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin had personally led three thousand Iron Cavalry of Longcheng on a thousand-mile raid from his fiefdom of Longcheng to Zhuozhou City a few days ago.

On the same day, Chen Huai'an took over the military command of the 350,000-strong Longcheng army in Zhuozhou City from Chang Yuchun, the deputy marshal of Longcheng and the general in charge of the southern expedition.

The army will set off south in three days, its advance aimed directly at Mozhou City.

"Report—"

"Your Highness Prince Jin, a secret report from the capital city!"

At this moment, Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, who was gathering the generals of Longcheng in the central command tent to discuss the southern expedition, once again received a secret report from the Longcheng inner guards stationed in Jinling.

When Chen Huai'an took the secret report from the messenger and glanced at it, he couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile on his face.

Inside the tent, General Pang Xianchu couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, a secret report from the capital—is there some unusual activity on the court's side?"

Hahaha!

Chen Huai'an smiled and said, "There's nothing unusual, but there is something interesting!"

As he spoke, he waved the secret report, gesturing for Pang Xianchu to take it and read it.

Upon seeing this, the latter hurriedly stood up, took the secret report from Chen Huai'an's hands, and quickly scanned it, unable to help but show a look of surprise.

"Your Highness, General Pang, what exactly is the matter in the secret report?"

Seeing Chen Huai'an and Pang Xianchu's reactions, Chang Yuchun couldn't help but ask curiously.

Meanwhile, Pang Xianchu handed the secret report to Chang Yuchun, saying with a smile, "Your Highness, this is not a good omen!"

"To make that traitor Qin Ruhui, and his parasites who leech off the Great Xin Dynasty, willingly part with their own money to reward the Tiger Army stationed in Ying and Mo prefectures;"

"This shows that Wu Sanjia, the new commander of the Tiger Legion, is indeed a tough opponent. His new Tiger Legion is probably not as easy to deal with as the Imperial Army's Cloud Banner Army or the Japanese Pirate Guards!"

"Your Highness, General Pang is absolutely right!"

As they were talking, Chang Yuchun, the deputy marshal of the army, also finished reading the contents of the secret report.

The secret report stated that the Daxin court had allocated seven million taels of silver to Wu Sanjia a few days prior to pay the military salaries of the Tiger Army soldiers stationed in Ying and Mo prefectures.

The secret report also stated that of the seven million taels of silver in military pay, five million taels were lent to the Ministry of Revenue of the Daxin Dynasty in the name of a puppet merchant supported by Prime Minister Qin Ruhui.

The extra two million taels were subsidized by a group of court officials, led by Luo Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, who paid out of their own pockets.

In fact, the two million taels of silver did not even leave the Ministry of Revenue's accounts.

Even the imperial court and Prime Minister Qin Ruhui were unaware of the existence of this money.

It was information secretly gathered by the Dragon City Inner Guards stationed in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War.

Chen Huai'an and the other generals of Longcheng all knew that of the twelve million taels of silver allocated by the imperial court to Wu Sanjia and the Tiger Legion, only one million taels remained.

Chen Huai'an also felt a bit gloating, thinking that the Great Xin Dynasty was rotten to the core, and even if Zhuge Liang were alive or Han Xin were reborn, he couldn't save it.

However, to his surprise, the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui corrected this mistake in such a short time.

This move surprised Chen Huai'an and the other generals of Longcheng.

Chang Yuchun continued, "Your Highness, I have fought against Wu Sanjia and the Tiger Warriors, and the fighting strength of this imperial army is indeed different from any imperial army we have fought before."

"This elite new army exudes a wildness from top to bottom, a wildness like that of wolves!"

Then, Chang Yuchun recounted his first defeat in the southern campaign to Chen Huai'an and the other generals of Longcheng:

"After my defeat at Mozhou City, I have been reflecting on the reasons for the loss. Besides what I reported to Your Highness before—that I was too hasty and reckless, falling into Wu Sanjia's trap of luring the enemy deep into my territory;"

"In addition to the Ironclad Heavy Cavalry force of about three thousand men under Wu Sanjia's command, there is another point that I previously overlooked;"

After a pause, Chang Yuchun continued, "That is—the Tiger Warriors under Wu Sanjia's command have an extremely generous military reward system;"

"It was only later that I learned that the Tiger Warriors recruited and trained by Wu Sanjia were mostly from the fierce and warlike Yan and Zhao regions."

"Before the first Battle of Mozhou, Wu Sanjia established a system in the Tiger Warrior Army where a soldier's head would be rewarded with thirty taels of silver."

"Therefore, when his elite new army saw our Dragon City soldiers on the battlefield, they were all like they'd been injected with chicken blood, charging forward recklessly."

"To these elite Tiger-like soldiers from the Yan and Zhao regions, our Longcheng troops were nothing more than walking thirty-tael silver ingots, so naturally they fought them with all their might."

"Therefore, I said that before the army marched south, the imperial court allocated seven million taels of military pay to Wu Sanjia, which was not good news for our army."

Finally, Chang Yuchun cupped his hands to Chen Huai'an and said, "Your Highness, we must not be careless in this campaign against Mozhou!"

hehe!

Hearing Chang Yuchun and Pang Xianchu's words, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but sneer, saying, "The more you say that, the more it arouses my curiosity to see the true quality of this martial arts master and weigh his worth."

"I'd like to see just how much fighting power these seven million taels of silver can unleash on Wu Sanjia and the Tiger Legion!"

"The top three warriors have the reputation of 'a generous reward will surely bring forth brave men'; I, too, have the morale of 'the people's will and the will of the people'!"

"Chang Yuchun, Pang Xianchu, and Fan Wuji, listen to my command!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

The three of them stepped forward in unison, clasped their hands in greeting, and accepted the order.

Chen Huai'an said, "Send the order down: the three armies shall assemble. Before the southern expedition, I will personally reward the three armies!"

"Your subordinate obeys!"