Don't underestimate the perseverance and perseverance of the various forces within an empire to restrain each other, sometimes an empire that is so powerful that it is impossible to increase eventually declines, and the reason for this is more or less the factor of party struggle or group forces tilting against each other.

The battle between the north and the south of the Ming Dynasty, the struggle between war and peaceful development, the struggle between the hegemony of the countries and the widespread benevolence of the kingdom to achieve the royal road of Confucius and Mencius - it is difficult to unify even the basic internal opinions, let alone unite as one.

On the other hand, this also illustrates the problems of the big countries themselves: the territory is too vast, the population is too large, and the undesirable consequences directly caused by the huge foundation are that it is not easy to rule or manage, and in the end it is impossible to achieve the short-term effect that small countries can achieve.

In the vast land, not only countless hot-blooded men have been born, not only countless fearless heroes have emerged, but also countless dark corners, countless traitors and villains have been hidden.

While the training of the New Army was in full swing in several bases in Tangshan, in a secret arsenal on the outskirts of Mukden, more than a dozen officers were counting the various weapons and ammunition stored in the warehouses with a few businessmen in decent suits.

"8 mm rifle rounds, 290 million rounds...... I said, General Lu, this is the standing weapons and ammunition depot of the Mukden Defenders, and if you embezzle it without authorization, if something goes wrong...... How do you deal with the people above...... "A middle-aged soldier in a major's uniform triumphantly played with an officer who looked like a jade ring of a lot of money standing there.

The officer, surnamed Lu, put the ring in his hand back on his thick fingers, sneered and patted the major officer's shoulder, and said, "The ammunition on the front line has to be replenished every month...... I also spent a lot of money to buy a lot from the arsenal in Shaanxi as a supplement...... If you don't say it, if I don't say it, who will know? ”

Compared with drinking the blood of soldiers, the border guards of the Ming Dynasty have one more thing, which is to buy and sell faster with money. Misappropriate a part of the arms, sell them to countries such as Japan or North Korea, exchange them for real money and squander, and then report that there was a conflict with the Jin country, and how much ammunition was used up, and just ask the Jingshi court to allocate funds to replenish it.

Anyway, it's the wealth of the country that is lost, and it doesn't have much to do with the individual, does it? These bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty, who once enjoyed the wealth of the world, had an innate instinct to use their power to exchange countless wealth to improve their lives.

In the past few years, this has been done by selling ammunition abroad, and then buying from some of the country's inland military camps to supplement the amount of arms sold on the border...... Then the accounts are closed to eliminate these disappeared munitions, and the state continues to produce ammunition replenishment, and so on.

And in this process, countless people have shared the wealth, the wealth of the country, and how many people have added all kinds of fashionable equipment to their homes, such as the latest German radio, American Indian blankets...... Now that everyone has received the benefits, how the country is going is not in everyone's consideration.

Sometimes, people are just so realistic. Hearing General Lu say this, the major lowered his head and stopped talking, while several men in suits in front of him smiled and handed over a very beautiful-looking check: "This is what General Lu deserves, please smile." ”

The Ming Dynasty was the first country in the world to issue paper money, and the basic common monetary unit was silver coins, which means that ordinary people used two monetary units in their daily lives: copper coins and silver coins. Bulk transactions are settled using gold coins, based on 100 silver coins for one gold coin. In fact, the current currency in circulation in the world is the gold, silver and copper currency system of the Ming Dynasty, although it is not very convenient at some times, but because it has been used for a hundred years, the status is unbreakable.

The British Empire, which had risen to prominence, had issued the pound sterling in the hope of competing with the Ming gold coin for the international monetary unit, but the result was so disastrous, and so far no country has recognized this currency except for the British local compulsory use. In the international market, the Ming gold coin is still used as the settlement unit, which is a direct testimony of the Ming Dynasty's incomparable strength.

It is conceivable that the 1 billion gold coins stolen from home by Wang Jue, a loser, is really a considerable amount of money. But he didn't even think about it, so in the name of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he took it out and opened various state-of-the-art factories and introduced many of the latest foreign technologies.

He worked hard to form a new army and actively prepare for war, creating a strong force worthy of war for the Ming Dynasty. But outside the Fengtian City of Jiliao, the general surnamed Lu sold the ammunition that Wang Jue tried to raise every day to these Jin merchants with deep backgrounds in front of him.

After taking the check and gently patting it twice in his hand, General Lu nodded, pointed to the ammunition boxes that had been loaded into the carriage, and commanded triumphantly: "The pass has already been completed, and you will not encounter any obstacles all the way to Yingkou, but ...... The whereabouts of this batch of munitions ......"

"General Lu, don't worry!" One of the leaders of the Jin merchants at the head smiled and explained in a low voice: "Naturally, it is by sea, and my father has already arranged it to be transported to Ceylon to make a windfall...... If there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely come to Jiliao to thank General Lu for his kindness. ”

"Well said! Say! General Lu laughed, sent the team of arms carriers away with his hands behind his back, and then took out a check with a lot of denomination from his arms, handed it to the major officer beside him, and said slowly in a long voice: "You have just arrived in Jiliao with your general Wang Nu, and there must be a place to use money, and it costs a lot of money to buy a house...... Brother got on my Lu someone's boat, let's give each other a convenience, right? ”

This stunned the major behind him, and then the major quietly took the check and slipped it into his jacket pocket. There may be people in this world who regard money as dung, but he is not one of those noble people after all, and no one can be left alone in this rotten land.

Seeing that the other party accepted the benefits he gave, General Lu's heart also relaxed, and he was in a good mood, and he asked a few officers to go into the city to drink together at night, and also called many local Qinglou women to accompany him...... For a while, the shouts of "Lord Xie" came and went, and they were noisy.