In the dimly lit secret chamber, the torchlight flickered. Lu Fei and the others watched the scene before them in astonishment.
Before them were piles of gold and silver. Copper coins were innumerable, and many strings holding copper coins had even rotted.
With just a glance, Lu Fei could determine that the silver before him was at least six million taels, and according to Sima Ying, this was not all.
“Lu Fei, we’re really rich now! These two months were worth it, worth it!” Luo Xin excitedly patted Lu Fei’s shoulder, laughing heartily.
Lu Fei was dumbfounded, his mouth almost watering.
He said to the generals beside him, “You all watch these things closely for me! If even one tael of silver is missing, I’ll skin you alive! You all are holding the most advanced rifles, while most soldiers are still using old firearms. With this silver, they can all be equipped.”
“Yes, Army Commander!” the generals shouted loudly.
After instructing the generals, Lu Fei and Luo Xin continued to follow Sima Ying to other secret chambers.
To their delight, these secret chambers also hid large quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and jade.
However, this was only the Prince of Chu’s residence’s treasury for storing gold and silver.
Then everyone followed Sima Ying to the city’s important grain depots.
Here, a vast amount of grain and fodder was stored. Connected to the grain and fodder warehouses were cotton, cloth, furs, etc., collected as taxes. In addition, they also went to see the confiscated property of the powerful families.
After inspecting all the supplies in Lin’an City, Lu Fei took a deep breath. He said to Luo Xin, “We really hit the jackpot this time! With all this grain and fodder, we can completely garrison Lin’an and continue south from here to fight the council army.”
Luo Xin nodded in agreement. He said, “If that’s the case, let’s quickly inventory the supplies and transport the captured wealth to Qingzhou City. The imperial court is short of money everywhere now.”
“And all the wealth confiscated from the powerful families in the State of Chu over these past two months should also be transported together. Now, the soldiers are all waiting to be equipped with Falcon Rifles, and these hand grenades are simply weapons for conquering trenches. Now that Sima Hao is proficient in trench warfare, it’s clear that the merchants’ council is well-versed in this type of warfare, and we must be on guard,” Lu Fei said.
Having agreed on this, the two immediately ordered the soldiers to inventory the wealth in Lin’an City. On the third day, they presented the figures to the arriving Niu Ben.
“Just the gold and silver alone amount to forty-seven million taels. Other shops, residences, land, workshops, grain, silk, etc., converted to silver, amount to eight hundred and ninety million taels!” Niu Ben’s eyes almost popped out.
“Old General, this is just a rough estimate. A more detailed count is still ongoing. People used to say that the Cao family’s wealth in the Great Yu Empire amounted to hundreds of millions of taels of silver. Now it seems what they said was true. This State of Chu is truly too wealthy.”
Compared to Niu Ben, Luo Quan was much calmer. He said, “The State of Chu has been managed for over three hundred years since its founding. If it didn’t even have this much wealth, then that would be truly saying something.”
Niu Ben took a deep breath. He said, “Organize all the gold and silver immediately and transport it to Qingzhou. Silk, porcelain, cloth, surplus grain and fodder, copper, and iron should also be transported as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, General,” Lu Fei and Luo Xin responded.
Luo Quan then looked at the streets of Lin’an and said, “Excellent. This battle did not cause much damage to Lin’an City. It will probably recover its prosperity very soon. When merchants bring steam engines and establish workshops here, this place will likely quickly become a major commercial hub for the Great Yu Empire.”
Niu Ben did not comment on this. Compared to the north, which was constantly harassed and plundered by barbarians every year, the south had been peaceful and prosperous for a long time. Even after this war, the common people’s situation was still much better than that of the north during wartime.
Moreover, the southern climate was warm and suitable for rice cultivation, and it had a dense river network. As long as it stabilized, grain production could recover in one season.
…
Fuzhou. This place was once directly under the Great Yu Empire’s imperial family, but for centuries, the State of Chu constantly exerted its influence here. After the feudal lords’ rebellion, Fuzhou was nominally imperial land, but secretly it came under the rule of the Prince of Chu.
However, after the merchants’ council army arrived, this place quickly became a paradise for the merchants’ council.
At this time, Cao Kun personally came to the Fuzhou pier. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a merchant ship bearing the character “Cao” enter the pier.
After the ship docked, Cao Kun immediately had soldiers escort the people on board down.
“Earl Carey, I told you I wouldn’t disappoint you.” Beside Cao Kun stood a British man, who was precisely Earl Carey, in charge of the British East India Company.
And to Cao Kun’s right stood Basile and Richard. Their eyes avidly watched the six people disembarking from the ship.
“Cao Kun, we did not misjudge you.” Carey looked at Cao Kun with approval, while simultaneously glancing at Basile and Richard with disdain, making no attempt to hide his dislike for the two.
Now, in the North American colonial war, they had initially gained an absolute advantage, but the French had intervened at this point, choosing to support the common people in the colonies.
Although they were now being undermined by the French in America, they shared common interests in the Great Yu Empire.
The French did not want to lose their French Indochina, and they did not want to lose their British India, Malacca, and Australia.
Moreover, the defeat of the northern nomadic tribes and Japan made them even more wary of this, especially since the mercenaries also brought back new types of shells used by the Great Yu Empire navy.
For this damned shell, they paid an exorbitant price of three hundred thousand pounds.
However, in his opinion, this expenditure was worth it. The precise structure of this shell astonished their military officers.
Precisely because of this, they decided to focus on gathering technology and talent from the Great Yu Empire, making chaos a secondary concern.
Today, after giving substantial support to the merchants’ council, they finally obtained what they had long yearned for.
“Earl Carey, we French want to choose first,” Basile said impolitely. The sea was too dangerous. This time, Carey had traveled through their French Indochina to reach Fuzhou by land. Carey had no choice.
Shrugging, Carey maintained a smile on his face, but in his heart, he cursed the entire female lineage of the French. “Of course, we will keep our promise. But you had better keep yours too, otherwise I guarantee not a single French ship will return to Europe.”
Basile’s face changed slightly. He snorted and walked directly towards the six people who had disembarked from the ship. After observing them, he chose three who looked relatively strong.
Carey breathed a sigh of relief. He understood Basile’s thoughts; he was probably worried that weak individuals wouldn’t survive the sea voyage.
But he didn’t care, because the configuration of British warships was much more sophisticated than the French.