Zhao Yun closed the account, was silent for a while, and finally said: "In the training of the new army, weapons cannot be lost. You take back the 30% of the worn-out weapons and replace them with high-quality weapons."
Li Chong raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, because there are too many weapons that have been damaged over time, and the imperial treasury is tight, Fan Chufan, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, issued an order at the beginning of the year to reduce the number of new weapons to avoid waste.
There are very few new weapons in the inventory this year.
Weapons from various armies have been shipped out one after another these days, and now there are not many new weapons in the Lin'an Armory. If your Majesty needs it, I can report to Fan Shijun so that the Ministry of Industry can step up the production of weapons."
Zhao Yun closed his eyes helplessly and asked leisurely: "How long does it take to build weapons?"
Li Chong thought for a while and replied: "If the treasury has money and can allocate it in time, it should be enough within three months. But if the treasury has no money for the time being, then it's hard to say how long it will take."
On one side, Meng Gong and Cao You heard that they were all in a hurry. The weapons required for training were huge. If they were to fight, it would consume countless amounts. They could not wait in a hurry.
Zhao Yun was disappointed, waved his hand and said to Li Chong: "You go back first."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Chong raised his hand, feeling quite proud, and left.
But when Li Chong returned to Lin'an City, there were people waiting at the city gate soon.
Li Chong followed the visitor to a quiet house. Li Chong was waiting in the living room. Not long after, someone came, and it was none other than Cheng Ju, the envoy of the Third Secretary.
At this time, Cheng Ju was dressed in regular clothes and walked in a low profile. If he didn't know him, no one would know that he was the third envoy of the imperial court.
"I have seen the envoy."
Li Chong quickly stood up and raised his hand in greeting. Cheng Jue waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite, sit down and talk."
After sitting down, Cheng Jue asked Li Chong what happened when he met Zhao Yun, and Li Chong told him everything.
Finally, Li Chong said: "The commander's plan is indeed brilliant. The officials have nothing to say. The new army lacks weapons and naturally cannot train normally. If there is another jam in the food supply later, the new army will not be far away from being disbanded."
Cheng Ju was relieved when he heard that Zhao Yun had nothing to do. He nodded and said: "The official establishment of a new army is not good for the government. I and Mr. Qiao have repeatedly advised me to no avail, so I can only take this policy."
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Li Chong nodded and said: "The officials are young and energetic, and they trust the military commanders too much. They actually bypassed the court and the Privy Council and directly established a new army. If things go on like this, the military commanders will inevitably become powerful. If an accident occurs, wouldn't it be like the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties?
The chaos caused you to make far-sighted plans for the sake of the country, the country, and the country, and you did not hesitate to take risks and offend the officials, and your subordinates admired you."
Cheng Jue looked calm and selfless. He said: "There is no danger to speak of. The official is young and has little experience in government affairs. I will do some tricks in private. Naturally, I can achieve the goal in roundabout ways. But all this is for the sake of
The officials and the family have to do this for the sake of the future of the Song Dynasty."
After speaking, Cheng Ju praised Li Chong: "You have done well. When the time comes, I will recommend you in front of Mr. Qiao."
"Thank you very much, envoy."
Li Chong was excited and finally left happily.
However, when Li Chong returned to the armory, he was surprised to see Zhao Yun already sitting in his seat waiting!
Li Chong was shocked and had no mental preparation at all. He couldn't recover for a long time.
What surprised him even more was that there were several scribes looking through the accounts of the armory, which made Li Chong realize that something was wrong.
Involuntarily, Li Chong became flustered.
"snort."
Zhao Yun snorted coldly, picked up an account, and said: "Li Chong, do you think you can hide your tricks from me? You are a small skill, but you dare to try your best."
"Your Majesty, I have been wronged. This was all done by the Third Chief of Staff, Chen Shijun, who forced me to do this."
At this time, Li Chong had no confidence at all. He knelt on the ground and shouted that he was wronged, and sold Cheng Ju directly.
At this moment, he didn't dare to risk that Zhao Yun couldn't see anything. If this really happened, then he, Li Chong, would be the biggest fool in the world.
"Tell me what's going on."
Zhao Yun's casual question naturally put a huge amount of pressure on Li Chong.
Li Chong had no choice but to confess honestly that in order to prevent Zhao Yun from organizing the new army, Cheng Jue approached Li Chong and asked him to tamper with the weapons. Li Chong was worried about angering Zhao Yun, so he did not dare to do it.
But Cheng Jue's calculation was very powerful. In the past, more than half of the weapons provided by the armory to the Xiang army, county soldiers, and militia were old and damaged, while only a small number of the imperial guards and garrison troops were unqualified. But on average,
Thirty percent are unqualified.
It was precisely because 30% of the weapons that had been shipped out of the warehouse over the years were unqualified, and the accounts were clear, so Cheng Ju asked Li Chong to provide 30% of the unqualified weapons to the new army, so that they would not be afraid of tracing.
But Li Chong never imagined that Zhao Yun could see the problem at that time, because what Li Chong showed Zhao Yun was the annual summary of accounts, but there were no detailed accounts for each batch. There is a big difference.
Yes, how could Zhao Yun not know?
So as soon as Li Chong left the military camp, Zhao Yun rushed to the armory to see if his guess was true or not, and now it was confirmed.
Knowing the whole story, Zhao Yun couldn't help but feel disappointed with Cheng Jue. This guy was also a follower of the dragon to him in the beginning, but now he was stumbling upon him behind his back just because he disagreed with him. It was really annoying.
What makes Zhao Yun even more disappointed is that there are still people who dare to cooperate with him. This shows that these guys have done this before. It is estimated that the former officials were also played by these civil servants.
"Come here, take this Li Chong to prison and give me a good trial."
Zhao Yun did not hesitate and directly ordered people to arrest Li Chong. Then Zhao Yun returned to the palace and ordered Xiao Huangmen to summon Cheng Ju to the palace to see him.
At this time, it was already the time for the subordinates of the Sanyamen. The Xiaohuangmen came to summon Cheng Jue with Zhao Yun's message. Cheng Jue was stunned when he heard that someone from the Xiaohuangmen was coming.
After reacting, Cheng Ju said urgently to his servant: "Go and tell Mr. Qiao that the officials know about the armory. Go quickly."
After the servants left, Cheng Jue saw Xiao Huangmen, who indeed wanted him to enter the palace to see the emperor.
Although Cheng Jue felt a little panicked, he insisted that his behavior was just and he had some confidence, so he followed Xiaohuangmen into the palace.
Arriving at Funing Hall, he waited in the main hall, but Zhao Yun was nowhere to be seen, so Cheng Ju could only wait obediently.
After finally waiting for Gao Shi, Cheng Jue quickly asked: "Eunuch Gao, would you like to ask the official to ask why I haven't seen you yet?"
Gao Shipi smiled but said: "The officials have gone to bed."
"Ah, the official has gone to bed? Should I stay or leave?"
"The official didn't say anything, so I'll leave it up to you."
After saying that, Gao Shi left, leaving Cheng Ju standing there alone, not knowing what to do.