Wenhua Hall was warm and cozy, yet the atmosphere was even more solemn than in the Ministry of War Yamen.
The three Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet—Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu—sat around a table, reading over and over the military report sent by Yang Hong, the Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu, along with the "logistics list" attached to it.
Each of their faces was full of disbelief.
"Five hundred li in a single night, without man or horse showing any sign of fatigue... Warhorses drinking strong liquor, soldiers eating beef and mutton..."
Yang Shiqi set down the report and let out a long sigh. His tone was complicated as he said, "I have spent my whole life reading, and I dare say I've read widely, yet I've never heard of an army like this."
"This is already beyond the bounds of what military strategy can explain."
Yang Rong's brows knitted into a knot. "The items on that list—black beans and fodder, strong liquor—are all terribly costly."
"Especially those three hundred head of cattle and sheep. Xuanfu is a key border town, and supplies are already scarce there. He just opens his mouth and asks for so much. It's simply... simply asking for the moon!"
Yang Pu tapped the table, getting straight to the heart of the matter. "The key is, why can they travel so fast?"
"It makes no sense."
"No matter how magnificent the warhorses or how elite the soldiers, a forced march at this pace would take an enormous toll on their stamina."
"How are they maintaining their combat strength?"
At that moment, the three greatest minds in the Great Ming Dynasty were like three bewildered students faced with an exam full of questions beyond their curriculum, unable to make heads or tails of it.
Just then, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi and Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji walked in.
Zhu Gaochi spotted the military report on the table at once, and a knowing smile appeared on his face. "You three have all seen it, then?"
"Your Highness!"
Yang Shiqi rose and cupped his hands, his expression grave. "This matter is of the utmost importance!"
"The Ruin the Barbarians Vanguard Camp's combat strength is certainly gratifying, but its mysterious conduct and enormous expenses have already exceeded the Court's ability to control it!"
"I believe we must immediately send someone after them to bring them under control!"
"Otherwise, they'll become too powerful to rein in, and will surely pose a grave threat!"
"Bring them under control? How?"
Zhu Gaochi countered, "Who would you send?"
"Who could catch up with them?"
"And who could keep Zhanjun in line?"
Yang Shiqi was at a loss for words once again.
That was true. They had reached Xuanfu in a single night, and by now they had probably already ventured deep into the grasslands.
Were they supposed to send an Imperial Envoy riding after them, eating their dust?
As for keeping Zhu Zhanjun in line, even he, the Regent Crown Prince, couldn't do it. Who else could?
"Your Highness, that's not what I'm worried about."
Xia Yuanji stood to one side, wearing a pained expression. "I'm worried about the money!"
"His Highness Prince Zheng did leave behind three million taels, but at this rate, spending it will be a bottomless pit!"
"Just the list from Commander Yang Hong alone comes to tens of thousands of taels of silver!"
"And that's only one day's expenses!"
"If they fight for a month, even ten treasuries won't be enough to fill that hole!"
Xia Yuanji handled finances, and he always looked at things from the perspective of cost.
In his eyes, Zhu Zhanjun's army was a silver shredder—a silver shredder of terrifying efficiency.
A voice came from outside the hall. "You needn't worry about the money."
Everyone turned around. A young man dressed in the uniform of the Crown Prince's Mansion's guards had walked in.
He had an ordinary face, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. He was the contact Zhu Zhanjun had left behind before departing: a Commander of a Hundred in the Great Snow Dragon Riders, using the alias Zhu Qi.
"Who are you? How dare you barge into Wenhua Hall!"
Yang Shiqi shouted sternly.
"I have come by my prince's command to answer your questions, my lords."
Zhu Qi bowed without a trace of deference or arrogance, then took a ledger from inside his robes and handed it to Xia Yuanji.
"Lord Xia, my prince asked me to deliver this to you."
"These are the account records for some of the businesses under his name over the past month. Please take a look."
Xia Yuanji took the ledger skeptically. He had only opened it to the first page when his eyes nearly fell out of his head.
"T-Tianxiang Pavilion Glass Workshop, monthly income... three hundred and seventy thousand taels?"
"Xihai Tongda Fleet, East Ocean Route, monthly income... six hundred and twenty thousand taels?"
"Kunshan Fine Iron Mine, monthly output of eight hundred thousand jin of fine iron, value... incalculable?"
Xia Yuanji's hands began to tremble. He turned the pages one by one, the expression on his face shifting from shock to numbness, and finally to complete stupefaction.
The ledger was packed with the astonishing profits of more than a hundred businesses, workshops, mines, and fleets.
Glass, soap, White Sugar, fine iron, Maritime Trade...
Every one of them was a unique business with profits high enough to frighten anyone.
The combined monthly net profits of these businesses actually exceeded five million taels of silver.
"This... this can't be possible..."
Xia Yuanji murmured to himself. He felt that his understanding of wealth, built over a lifetime, had been overturned. "Since when has the Great Ming Dynasty had so many profitable businesses?"
"How come I don't know about a single one?"
"Of course you don't know, Lord Xia."
Zhu Qi smiled slightly and explained, "My prince said that most of the technology and channels behind these businesses came from overseas."
"For example, the glass is made using a new firing method from the Western Regions, which keeps costs extremely low."
"The White Sugar is extracted from sugarcane grown on a southern island. It's far more efficient than using maltose."
"As for the fleet and the mine, they are the result of my prince's secret plans, laid over more than a decade."
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