Ch.279Proxy (4)

New currency called “Alyeong”… no, “Jiaochao” began to spread throughout the Ulus. To be precise, government bonds were issued and then immediately purchased with Jiaochao, which is how they were released into circulation.

This naturally created credit for the government bonds.

As credit developed, some people began to view these bonds as a type of risk-free interest rate.

These people were none other than merchants.

“Buying government bonds guarantees profit!”

Consequently, merchants began purchasing the bonds.

Each time, the Ulus government paid the corresponding value.

The problem was that this value came in the form of Alyeong.

Still, most merchants didn’t actually intend to use these Alyeong.

Because they were too heavy.

So they either hired people to carry them or built up their own muscles to use them.

But this was merely a stopgap solution.

Therefore, merchants naturally began buying and selling government bonds as if they were actual currency.

“I’d like to buy rice with government bonds.”

“How much is this house? I want to purchase it with the government bonds I have.”

Anyway, that’s how the national currency began to circulate.

As a result, the Ulus’s financial health began to recover rapidly.

“As soon as we recover, I’ll create massive weapons and increase the debt ratio again.”

From the perspective of those concerned about household debt, this might seem absurd.

But from a national structural perspective, debt was a necessary evil.

Debt was needed to justify issuing government bonds, and those bonds were necessary for Jiaochao to circulate in the market.

Therefore, for the Ulus, debt was a necessity.

In any case, with such massive funding invested, the already powerful Ulus forces could only grow stronger.

“These supplies are no joke.”

“Not only quality armor and swords, but also well-dried rice and mixed grain bread… this is even more luxurious than eating at home.”

“This makes fighting worthwhile!”

Soldiers risked their lives on the battlefield.

As such, they were always heavily influenced by supplies.

If supplies were poor in quality or insufficient in quantity, it affected combat effectiveness.

They could only perform properly when supplied with quality weapons and sufficient meals.

Therefore, more supplies were always better.

Of course, too much could lead to complacency.

But the Ulus had a fundamental reason why they couldn’t become complacent despite such luxurious supplies.

“Take only as much as you can carry.”

“Don’t lose your life carrying too much.”

“Sure, carrying heavy things is good strength training, but you need to think about your life too.”

New recruits could only nod at the senior soldiers’ words.

Their survival was due not only to luck but also to following such guidelines.

As repeatedly mentioned, the Ulus had been associated with war from its birth until now.

Therefore, it was fair to say that Mongol history was a history of war.

With so many men constantly conscripted for war, there was always a shortage of men.

Setting aside these details, the key point was that listening to seniors was essential for survival.

“Hmph, I can handle it.”

“I’ll be different.”

Of course, there were soldiers who showed such defiance.

Seeing this, the senior soldiers looked at the recruits with expressions like they’d found new toys.

“I like your spirit, rookie.”

“Good, now walk like a duck with all that gear.”

“That’s… a bit…”

“It seems… difficult, sir.”

“Oh my… who’s your squad leader?”

“Should I call everyone under my command to assemble?”

“I-I’ll do it!”

As repeatedly mentioned, the Ulus was like a massive military camp.

Therefore, the hierarchy was necessarily clear.

The new recruits began duck-walking with their heavy loads.

With each bead of sweat that rolled down their foreheads, they regretted their decision not to follow the senior’s advice.

* * *

“All muscle cannons have been installed at the front line.”

I nodded at Elunka’s report.

Muscle cannons.

The name was a bit odd, but they were weapons expected to play a crucial role in our army.

“Um… Great Khan.”

“What is it?”

“About these muscle cannons… are they truly operational weapons?”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re extremely heavy, and firing is difficult even after loading. After firing, the entire barrel heats up and takes dozens of hours to cool down.”

“Get to the point.”

“They’re too impractical.”

The muscle cannon was modeled after none other than Urban’s great cannon.

Created by the Hungarian Urban, it was a weapon used by the Ottoman Empire when they conquered Constantinople.

Its power was so tremendous that it could destroy the supposedly invincible walls of Constantinople.

The muscle cannon was this excellent Urban cannon enlarged by three times.

When size increases, power increases.

This seemed like an obvious principle, but for cannons, which were direct or indirect fire weapons, what mattered was how much power the projectile could deliver rather than the size of the launcher.

In other words, a cannon was useless if it couldn’t fire cannonballs, no matter how large it was.

In this sense, the muscle cannon failed to fulfill its role as a cannon.

“It’s fine.”

“But a muscle cannon that can’t properly fire cannonballs…”

“It wasn’t made with the expectation of functioning as a cannon in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a weapon that threatens the enemy by its mere existence.”

Intimidating weapons had deterrent power just by existing.

The prime example in the modern world would be nuclear weapons.

I intended to use the muscle cannon in that way.

“If we place muscle cannons on the Song Dynasty front, they won’t dare approach rashly. Then we can deploy fewer troops there and send more to the Jin Dynasty front.”

“Wouldn’t building walls be better then?”

“If we build walls, the enemy will think we fear them. It’s more effective to install huge cannons to create the impression that we can attack at any time.”

“Will the Song Dynasty fall for it?”

“They have no choice but to believe it.”

The Song Dynasty had been thoroughly defeated by us.

Moreover, they were constantly being raided by the Mongol Pirates, so they couldn’t help but have a deep-seated fear of the Mongol army.

In such a state, if the Mongols were to build walls, the Song would naturally become suspicious of us.

Then they might join hands with the Jin Dynasty and counterattack.

“If we can tie down the Song with large cannons, it’s a bargain.”

“But we can’t fool them forever. Eventually, the Song will discover the truth and attack to capture the cannons.”

“There’s nothing worth capturing anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“If the enemy captures the cannons, they’ll need to mobilize numerous soldiers or horses and oxen to operate them. The Song is a wealthy country, so they’ll think they can operate them.”

From the enemy’s perspective, they would definitely want to get their hands on the muscle cannons when they saw them.

Because for the Song Dynasty, which had been suffering at the hands of the Ulus, the massive muscle cannons would be an excellent opportunity to boost military morale.

“But the Song commanders are capable and likely to notice our plan.”

“I plan to use the Song court.”

“How do you intend to use the Song government?”

The way to manipulate skilled field commanders was simple.

All you had to do was give a little push to those who were putting on airs without actually going to war.

* * *

Song Dynasty Commander-in-Chief Meng Gong assessed the soldiers’ morale through Li Zhengzhi.

To win the soldiers’ hearts, he deliberately assigned the children of local magnates who troubled the soldiers to dangerous front lines.

And he encouraged fights among the magnates to weaken them.

Unaware of Meng Gong’s plan, the Ulus soldiers quickly dealt with these magnates.

Thanks to this, Meng Gong’s control over the army grew rapidly.

In contrast, the magnates’ influence declined.

Although Meng Gong had indeed assigned the magnates’ children to dangerous front lines, it was entirely their children’s choice to go to the front lines themselves.

As a result, the magnates were even bribing Meng Gong to have their children assigned to the rear.

“Place it on the right. And don’t worry, all your children will be assigned to the rear as planned.”

After saying this, Meng Gong assigned all the magnates’ children to the rear.

Since there were no major difficulties in the rear, there was no need to station soldiers there.

So only the magnates’ children gathered there, where they merely fought among themselves.

“You are remarkable, General.”

Meng Gong waved off Li Zhengzhi’s praise.

“Not at all. It’s all thanks to General Li Zhengzhi’s help.”

“I’m grateful for your kind words. But these…”

“Are you perhaps interested? If you want, I can share them with you.”

“N-no! I never thought of such a thing!”

Meng Gong smiled.

“I’m glad to hear that. I almost sent my most valued general to the rear. Hahaha.”

Li Zhengzhi realized this had been a test.

He sighed in relief and wiped away his cold sweat.

“Then what do you plan to do with these bribes?”

“I have a personal use for them.”

A momentary look of disappointment crossed Li Zhengzhi’s face.

But since such embezzlement of bribes was common, Li Zhengzhi was about to let it go, thinking this was relatively decent behavior.

As if aware of Li Zhengzhi’s thoughts, Meng Gong smiled and continued.

“I will use this to protect the army.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Based on my analysis of the Ulus’s actions so far, they will certainly approach our corrupt officials.”

Li Zhengzhi couldn’t readily answer.

Meng Gong continued, as if telling him not to worry.

“Then the corrupt officials who receive money will exert influence on the army for their own benefit.”

“His Majesty the Emperor will protect us.”

“The Emperor is one person, while the corrupt ministers number in the dozens.”

Understanding his meaning, Li Zhengzhi could only close his mouth.

Even the Emperor was human and would inevitably be swayed by those around him.

Having convinced Li Zhengzhi, Meng Gong shrugged and looked at him.

“Using bribe money as bribes serves its original purpose, so what’s the problem?”