Free Web NovelChapter 550: Chapter 550: Paying Out of His Own Pocket
"Shoot!"
With Zhang Yuan’s deep shout, the twanging of bowstrings echoed continuously.
Hundreds of feathered arrows simultaneously sliced through the sky, landing on the dirt mound half a mile away, turning the straw men standing there into porcupines, with hardly any arrows missing their targets.
"Advance!"
Three hundred iron cavalry charged forward simultaneously, the rumble of hooves shaking the surroundings.
"Throw!"
In the next moment, three hundred spears wove a dense net of death in the air.
Covering most of the dirt mound.
These spears howled through the air, piercing through the straw men used as targets and embedding deeply into the soil.
Their power was enough to penetrate armor!
"Withdraw!"
The battle banner waved, the bugles sounded, and the cavalry, having reached the foot of the hill, turned back in unison, moving as smoothly as flowing water, without the slightest hesitation or delay.
Zhang Yuan, riding on his Red Rabbit Horse, witnessed this scene and nodded in satisfaction.
After the Mo Family’s reinforcements arrived at West Plain, they not only quickly filled the vacancies among the Daoist soldiers but also restored the combat effectiveness of the West Plain Dao Camp through Mo Wei and Sun Yujiang’s array of military maneuvers.
The surplus Daoist soldiers, after a round of selection, eliminated those who were unfit for duty, initially revealing their potential as elite troops.
During the past period, Zhang Yuan led three hundred Daoist soldiers out of the city every day to organize battle arrays.
Although he did not come from a military background and had no prior experience commanding cavalry units,
Zhang Yuan had studied military texts, possessed formidable martial prowess, and had a learning ability far exceeding that of ordinary people.
Thus, he grew together with the three hundred Daoist soldiers.
After a few days of training, even though they hadn’t reached the point of perfect coordination, they were able to follow commands with proper discipline.
The three hundred Daoist soldiers already exuded a formidable military presence!
Leaving the cleanup work to the auxiliary soldiers, Zhang Yuan led the Daoist soldiers back to West Plain City.
Seeing this cavalry unit galloping along the official road, the soldiers guarding the city gates quickly moved aside the barricades, driving away nearby merchants and travelers to make way.
In no time, the cavalry unit led by Zhang Yuan swept through the city gates like a whirlwind, thundering past.
The onlookers stood on both sides of the street, watching them pass with awe and admiration.
Such scenes had played out daily in West Plain City recently.
The hundreds of thousands of civilians inside and outside the city, along with the merchants and wandering heroes traveling east and west, all knew that the Dao Camp had now been revitalized and was even stronger than before.
Although not yet tested in actual combat, the reputation of the new Dao General Zhang Yuan was rising steadily in West Plain!
Meanwhile, many were waiting to see the response from the Daoist Government Office.
Because, in the eyes of many, Zhang Yuan’s actions seemed to be a show of defiance against the Daoist Government Office. freēwebnovel.com
Causing undercurrents of tension throughout West Plain City.
When Zhang Yuan led his troops back to the Dao Camp, just as he dismounted from his Red Rabbit Horse, a middle-aged scholar with graying temples stepped forward to report: "Sir, the Daoist Government Office has again refused to allocate this month’s military funds."
Zhang Yuan wasn’t surprised at all; he smiled coldly and said, "That’s all they’ve got."
This middle-aged scholar had arrived on the third day after the Mo Family’s reinforcements reached West Plain.
His name was Mo Yanchang, a down-and-out collateral descendant of the Mo Family, who had once passed the advanced scholar examination but faced setbacks throughout his career, never finding success.
In fact, if not for the Mo Family’s protection, Mo Yanchang would have long died in prison.
Though Mo Yanchang was feeble, he had previously served as a Sima in the army, having considerable military experience.
Now, he was the newly appointed Captain in the West Plain Dao Camp, responsible for various administrative and logistics affairs.
This included financial matters as well.
Sun Yujiang had privately told Zhang Yuan that Mo Yanchang was a master at accounting.
Unfortunately, he could only manage others’ accounts, while his own accounts were a mess.
Owing a great debt to his clan, when Mo Huai’an sent him a letter, Mo Yanchang obediently traveled thousands of miles to West Plain to serve Zhang Yuan.
Mo Yanchang said helplessly, "According to the regulations, this month’s military funds should have been allocated five days ago, and the Dao Camp needs to pay salaries tomorrow. Right now, there’s only three hundred seventy-six taels, five qian, and three fen of silver left on the books."
He didn’t mention Zhang Yuan’s previous move to increase the pay for Daoist soldiers and auxiliary troops, choosing to keep his thoughts to himself instead.
According to the procedures established by the Upper Scenic Celestial, the Daoist Government Office in Dao City and the Dao Camp were mutually independent, operating in a cooperative relationship.
But holding the taxing power, the Daoist Government Office provided the military funds necessary for the Dao Camp to operate.
Hence, the Daoist Government Office could exert control over the Dao Camp through financial means.
If the Daoist Official and Dao General had a good relationship, there wouldn’t be any problem at all.
The problem was that everyone knew the West Plain’s official and military leaders didn’t get along, and Zhang Yuan, having repeatedly sent Mo Yanchang to the Daoist Government Office to request funds, was quite frustrated with the situation.
In response, Zhang Yuan reached into his robe and took out a bundle of silver notes, handing them over: "Use these for now."
Mo Yanchang took the bundle of silver notes in a daze, only to find, to his astonishment, that each was worth ten thousand taels, issued by the Fuji Money Shop.
Ten silver notes amounted to one hundred thousand taels of silver, enough to support the Dao Camp’s expenses for quite some time!
With a branch of Fuji Money Shop in West Plain City, Mo Yanchang could exchange these notes for actual silver there.
The pressing financial issue was thus resolved!
Yet, the new Captain found it incredible: "Sir, are you really going to pay for the military expenses out of your own pocket?"
Having served for many years, both in local administration and the military, he had seen numerous officials who embezzled funds.
This was the first time he had seen someone like Zhang Yuan use their own money as military funds!
Mo Yanchang had initially thought that Zhang Yuan would file a complaint with the Upper Scenic Celestial or leverage the Mo Family to pressure the West Plain Daoist Government Office.
He had even considered the possibility of Zhang Yuan conceding to Fei Hongming.
The only scenario he hadn’t expected was Zhang Yuan being so uncompromising!
"This silver is a loan to the Dao Camp."
Zhang Yuan said calmly, "Pay me back when the Daoist Government Office allocates the funds."
Mo Yanchang swallowed hard, unable to resist asking, "What if the Daoist Government Office keeps delaying and refuses to allocate?"
"Then it won’t be my problem."
Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "I actually hope Fei Hongming is that stubborn." freewebnøvel.com
Previously, when Mo Yanchang had sent people to request funds three times and got rejected, the Daoist Government Office had used excuses like unclear tax items needing to be sorted out and recent attacks on trade routes severely decreasing tax revenue, thus lacking sufficient funds to allocate.
These excuses clearly didn’t hold water; even if Fei Hongming was stubborn, he could at most delay for one or two months.
Zhang Yuan let him drag it out, curious to see who would cave in first!
Mo Yanchang was speechless.
The new Captain knew Zhang Yuan was determined to fight Fei Hongming to the end!
He heard Zhang Yuan continue, "As the saying goes, ’Open source and reduce expenditures,’ our Dao Camp can’t solely rely on the Daoist Government Office’s allocations. We need to find other ways to earn military funds so that the brothers have enough cultivation resources."
Though Zhang Yuan spoke casually, Mo Yanchang felt a sudden chill.
He sensed Zhang Yuan’s killing intent!
