Facts have proved that Huang Daozhou's influence in Yangzhou was not established. He just gathered the salt merchants together and repeated what Ma Shiying told him. Many salt merchants donated generously!

These businessmen have their own channels. They all found out what Li Xiao was doing in Shandong and Hebei a few days ago through their own channels!

They are all wealthy families and have been rich for generations. All salt merchants are afraid that the Liao soldiers will really attack. Many families are so afraid that they have begun to collect salt and are ready to flee to Jiangning or Zhoushan Island at any time.

But later they heard that Liao soldiers' warships had appeared at the mouth of the Yangtze River. They had no choice but to give up the idea. Since they had nowhere to run, they could only spend money and make a desperate move. As long as they could defend Yangzhou, they would be defending their own wealth.

Under the huge pressure to survive, the Lianghuai salt merchants burst out with great enthusiasm for donating money. You have ten thousand taels, I have twenty thousand taels. Those who give more will be looked at with admiration, and those who give less will be despised.

In just seven days, Huang Daozhou actually raised 200,000 taels of silver from the Lianghuai salt merchants. If you include the people of Yangzhou, they raised 30,000 taels of silver one copper plate after another. Huang Daozhou actually had 200,000 taels of silver in his hands.

A huge sum of thirty thousand taels of silver!

Ma Shiying's eyes almost fell to the ground. He had thought that the Lianghuai salt merchants were rich, but he never thought that the Lianghuai salt merchants were so rich. He originally thought that it would be good to raise hundreds of thousands taels, but he didn't expect that in just three

In one day, a huge amount of 230,000 taels was raised.

Really stupid people with too much money, good leeks!

The question now is how to get money into your own pocket. Anyone who understands now knows that with the current strength of the Liao army, Jiangbei cannot be defended. Jiangnan does not seem to be reliable. Ma Shiying’s bottom line is Yunnan and Guizhou because the mountains there are high.

Lin Mi is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Li Xiao, who was busy occupying the whole country, would not have bothered to go on an expedition to attack Yunnan and Guizhou.

As for where to go after Yunnan and Guizhou, isn’t there Myanmar? As long as you have money, you can live happily wherever you go.

I thought that I would go to Huang Daozhou's place frequently in the past two days, and wanted to make money to show my relationship. But I didn't expect that Huang Daozhou came to visit Ma Shiying first. But this makes sense, after all, Ma Shiying is the leader. No matter how old Huang Daozhou is,

It's just a local platform.

"Mr. Huang! Mr. Huang, please sit inside." Ma Shiying saw Huang Daozhou as if he were seeing a relative, and hurriedly made way to the hall.

"This is this year's new Yuqian Shifeng Longjing, please try it." Ma Shiying personally brought the fragrant tea and put it on the table. As a dignified minister of the Ministry of War, this is enough to meet the standards of a polite corporal.

"We have the Lao Ma Military Department!" Huang Daozhou didn't feel flattered and sat down on the chair upright.

"I don't know why Mr. Huang came here today...!"

"Nowadays, the defense of Yangzhou is entirely handled by 20,000 garrison troops. The garrison troops and horsemen must also know this. If we want to fight a fierce battle with Li Xiao's troops, the city of Yangzhou must be lost. The Japanese military minister promised to send two divisions to Nanjing

The Forbidden Army is here to garrison. I don’t know if this can be done correctly!”

"Of course! The defense of Yangzhou is now the focus of my defense in the north of the Yangtze River. As long as we defend Yangzhou, we can prevent the Liao army from going further south to attack Jinling." Ma Shiying is so smart. He understood the old guy's purpose with just a quick thought. He only talked about Yangzhou in his words.

Important, they never mentioned when reinforcements would arrive.

Huang Daozhou is seventy-three this year, and of course his brain is not as flexible as that of Ma Shiying in his prime. The reason why he can still hold the position of governor of Yangzhou is entirely because of his high prestige within the Donglin Party.

"I heard that the Liao army has surrendered in many places in Henan and Shanxi recently. The Liao army is now strong. If they attack Yangzhou at this time... they will have no troops to defend it!" Huang Daozhou specially sent people after listening to Ma Shiying's words.

Xuzhou secretly inquired.

The result of the reward is that Xuzhou is dividing the land of big families. Many big families in Xuzhou who are unwilling to resist will be beaten to death by the mob. There is even news that the entire family has been wiped out. Some of the big families who fled Xuzhou have already fled to Yangzhou.

.When he cried to Huang Daozhou, he burst into tears and howled in agony.

After listening to the words of those wealthy people in Xuzhou and the spies' reports, Huang Daozhou completely believed Ma Shiying's words. At the same time, he also thought about what would happen to Yangzhou if it fell into the hands of the Liao army.

Therefore, today he specially came to invite Ma Shiying to dispatch two divisions of the Nanjing Forbidden Army to Yangzhou to help Yangzhou defend the city.

"Hey...! There is nothing we can do about this. I told you a few days ago. Ma wanted to send two divisions of the Nanjing Forbidden Army to garrison in Yangzhou, but the army went ahead without moving food and grass. Now the court is extremely short of food and pay.

, the Nanjing Forbidden Army is now short of food and ammunition. Ma is also full of ambition, but not strong enough!" Ma Shiying's face was full of sorrow.

"If there is a shortage of food and fodder, I can solve it here." Huang Daozhou nodded. It is normal for him to send troops to help defend Yangzhou. It is normal for him to provide some money here.

"Resolve... one or two?" Ma Shiying looked at Huang Daozhou carefully.

"I...I can first allocate thirty thousand taels of silver to the imperial court. When the army arrives in Yangzhou, I can pay another thirty thousand taels." Huang Daozhou immediately gave his price. As long as the Nanjing Forbidden Army is willing to help guard Yangzhou, sixty thousand taels

Silver Zodiac Zhou thinks it is worth it.

"Old gentleman! Old gentleman! You really don't know what's going on today!

Let’s not talk about anything else, let’s just talk about the food and ammunition.

Forget it! Let’s not talk about food, let’s talk about ammunition. Every time a new gun is fired, the gunpowder plus projectiles cost five cents. A division has 7,500 combat personnel, and one salvo is enough.

Thirty-seven taels of silver. If there is a big battle, the bullets will hit you all day long. How much money of ammunition do you need to prepare?

This is still the cheapest bullet. According to the standards of the Liao Army, a mortar shell costs one hundred taels of silver. A larger field artillery shell costs three hundred taels of silver. When you hear the "bang" sound, how many

A hundred taels of silver were shot out."

"Three hundred taels of silver, just listen to it?" Huang Daozhou began to sweat on his forehead, and he calculated it like this. It seems that more than 200,000 taels of silver can't last long!

"Isn't it just to listen to the sound? The Liao army also has a special word, a cannon goes off and gold is ten thousand taels. This war is no longer the era of sword and gun competition in the past." Ma Shiying shook his head helplessly, knowingly

The advantage gives him the right to despise the Zodiac Week.

"When the cannon goes off, you get ten thousand taels of gold!" Huang Daozhou stroked his beard in a daze. What Ma Shiying said just now really shocked him.

"Hey...! So, if we don't have enough money and food, the army can't move out!" Ma Shiying waved his hands helplessly.

"The Lianghuai salt merchants and the people of Yangzhou have raised a total of 230,000 and 8,453 taels from Yinliang. I am willing to pay 200,000 taels of silver in the hope that the Nanjing Forbidden Army can immediately support Yangzhou." Huang Daozhou bit.

Gritting his teeth, he reluctantly offered the maximum price he could afford.

"Two hundred thousand taels!" Ma Shiying was very happy. This was a huge sum of money. With this money, not only would he no longer have money worries in his life, but even his sons and grandsons would be able to spend it all.

"The Horse and Soldiers Department, this is the limit of what I can do. If there are any shortcomings, I hope the Horse and Soldiers Department will contact the court to help solve it." After hearing the words "Golden Wan Liang" from the cannon, Huang Daozhou was not sure what to rely on.

Can the Lianghuai salt merchants defend Yangzhou?

This war is a bottomless pit of money!

"When Yangzhou is in trouble, the imperial court will naturally go all out. I will do my best to help Yangzhou defend the city, but...!"

"Just what?"

"Mr. Huang, you also know that you have to take care of things in this court. This is a rule, and even Ma's Minister of War is no exception." Ma Shiying's face was full of embarrassment.

"I have a bill of lading for 60,000 taels of silver here. I can withdraw the silver immediately upon seeing the bill. The Cavalry Department can take it to Jinling for management, as long as two divisions of the Nanjing Forbidden Army are stationed in Yangzhou. The remaining 140,000 taels will be delivered to the Cavalry Department immediately."

"Okay! Just a word from a gentleman!"
Chapter completed!