How much money is in the national treasury, and how much will it cost to reforge the military supplies?

Apologies, but Wei Yu really didn’t know.

Not only did Wei Yu himself not know — one could say that the vast majority of people present didn’t know the answer to that question either.

Maybe someone who understood pricing and arithmetic well could make a rough estimate, but for someone who didn’t manage finances, they truly had no idea how the country operated, or how much the Ministry of Revenue would need to adjust in the process.

From the daily expenses of each department and bureau, down to the land taxes, tariffs, and disaster relief across each state and city — anything the others couldn’t even think of, the Ministry of Revenue had to handle.

As major as the matter of reforging military supplies was, it could indeed be managed in an orderly manner by the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of War, and Ministry of Works. But!

The same problem remained.

Where’s the money?

Where would the money come from?!

Would reforging military supplies require raw materials? Yes, all sorts of materials. And where would the money for those materials come from?

Would it be necessary to pay the craftsmen? Yes, everyone involved, from top to bottom, needed to be paid — and where would those wages come from?

Would transportation fees be needed during the process? Of course — to bring the materials in, and to transport the supplies out — and again, where would that money come from?!

Grand ideals of serving the nation — Qi Tishou understood those well.

But as the Minister of Revenue, and the one guarding the national treasury, every time he looked at the few scattered copper coins left in the treasury, he could only feel heartbroken.

No money! No money!! No money!!!

It must be said three times: there was simply no money in the treasury!

So stop coming to him for money — he didn’t have any!!!

And even if he did, he wouldn’t hand it out casually.

Whatever could still be used should continue being used — don’t go around wasting money unnecessarily.

—

Caught off guard by the question, Wei Yu suddenly became the center of attention in the court.

He ignored the stares of others, calmly rose to his feet, turned to face Qi Tishou, and denied the question without hesitation.

“Lord Qi raises a good point — but this prince does not know.”

The Eighth Prince, who had been holding onto some hope: …

Qi Tishou drew in a breath. “Since Your Highness does not know the expenditure of reforging military supplies, then allow me to inform Your Highness!”

He slightly raised his head, his eyes downcast, but his voice was forceful and his words precise and clear.

“Great Wei’s army numbers more than six hundred thousand. I will not speak of the rest, but only cite the thirty thousand Imperial Guards stationed in the capital! Among the thirty thousand, there are distinctions between combat and support forces. Ignoring the support troops, among the elite soldiers, there are ten thousand — including two thousand cavalry, one thousand swords and shields infantry, and two thousand spearmen…”

“For a cavalryman, each is equipped with a lance, saber, armor, and saddle. To forge one lance requires three taels of silver, one saber two taels, one suit of armor five taels, and one saddle five taels. Horseshoes for warhorses also need to be replaced, about two taels each… Thus, for two thousand cavalry, the total expense would be around forty thousand taels…”

“A single horizontal saber costs around ten taels, a lance around ten taels, and a shield around thirty-five taels… Altogether, equipping ten thousand elite soldiers would cost around seven hundred thousand taels!”

“Just for the thirty thousand Imperial Guards, reforging the military supplies would require nearly seven hundred and forty thousand taels!”

Qi Tishou’s expression was grave, and when he spoke to the point of emotion, he even raised his head to look directly at Emperor Wei, his tone earnest and sorrowful.

“Your Majesty, what I have presented today is merely an estimate based on past military expenses. The figure of seven hundred and forty thousand taels is only a rough number — there are still many overlooked costs. To truly reforge everything, the actual amount of silver needed would surely be even greater!”

Just the thirty thousand Imperial Guards required seven hundred and forty thousand taels — as for the armies stationed along the borders, with more types of soldiers and greater equipment needs, if they were also to be reforged, the sum would reach astronomical levels.

The Ministry of Revenue truly couldn’t come up with that much money.

Once Qi Tishou finished speaking, many ministers who had already been opposed immediately stepped forward to express their dissent.

“Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, unless it is absolutely necessary, it would be best to postpone the reforging of military supplies…”

“Your Majesty, this humble minister also believes that Lord Qi’s words are most reasonable…”

“Your Majesty…”

More and more ministers stepped forward.

And in the face of such openly stated costs, even Yu Wenzhi and Du Xing, who had been in favor earlier, found it difficult to argue back.

After all, even they themselves felt the expense was too excessive.

To empty out the treasury like this was simply not something a wise minister should advocate for.

In the increasingly noisy court, only Wei Yu remained calm.

That kind of calmness was rather conspicuous — especially since it was precisely because of him that Qi Tishou had spoken up in the first place. As the one being questioned, such composure was really inappropriate.

Pei Zhi keenly noticed this.

He felt suspicious and shifted his gaze — and happened to meet the Emperor’s eyes.

Then, Pei Zhi saw the Emperor giving him a meaningful glance.

That look…

Pei Zhi’s gaze then fell on the composed and confident Ninth Prince.

Oh—

He understood.

“Your Majesty, this humble minister also has a question, and would like to ask His Highness the Wise King.”

Pei Zhi suddenly stepping forward, with a topic so different from the rest, stood out dramatically among the sea of opposition — like a crane among chickens!

Everyone turned to look at him.

Then looked over at the Wise King being mentioned again.

The crowd was confused.

The Wise King had only just attended court today — a young, inexperienced newcomer — so why were even the ministers all directing questions at him?

What could possibly be worth asking?

Since they couldn’t figure it out, they simply kept quiet and continued watching.

Emperor Wei nodded, “Lord Pei, speak freely.”

After speaking, he even glanced toward Wei Yu.

Wei Yu didn’t know what kind of mood the old man was in, but he definitely felt the old man’s malicious intent…

Damn it, don’t think he hadn’t noticed that little exchange just now!

He saw everything, okay!!

So, Lord Pei, could you not stick so closely to the plan? Couldn’t you just stand there silently like a block of wood? Why did you have to get involved!

Feeling sullen, Wei Yu silently stood up, raised his hand, and returned the salute. “Lord Pei, please speak.”

Thus, Pei Zhi asked:

“This humble minister observed Your Highness’s expression just now and noticed that you seemed not to agree with Lord Qi’s words. It seems Your Highness has another plan in mind. May I ask if Your Highness would be willing to share it?”

The opposing faction’s eyes all fixed intently on Wei Yu — especially Qi Tishou, whose gaze even carried an odd, inexplicable hint of anticipation?

In response to the question about his plans, Wei Yu only smiled faintly, then sincerely asked a question in return:

“To sustain a household’s livelihood, one must practice both opening new sources of income and cutting down expenses. Dare I ask the esteemed ministers: regarding the treasury of Great Wei, can you only think of cutting expenses, but not of opening new sources?”

What a good question!

“And may I ask, Your Highness,” Qi Tishou immediately followed up, even before Emperor Wei could respond, “does Your Highness already have a specific plan for opening new sources of income?”

He spoke so fast that even those standing right next to him were caught off guard!

“I do.”

In contrast to Qi Tishou’s urgency, Wei Yu merely nodded calmly. “The money in the treasury has always come from two main sources: taxes, and government monopolies on salt, iron, tea, and the like.”

“Taxes cannot be easily changed — so the court can leave that part untouched, and focus instead on expanding government monopolies. Since these industries do not compete with the people for profits, whatever additional earnings they generate can be fed directly into the national treasury. As for what enterprises…”

Wei Yu trailed off mid-sentence, then turned around under everyone’s gaze, bowed to the Emperor, and said loudly:

“Your son requests permission to travel personally to Jiaozhou, to find ways to fill the national treasury and thereby strengthen Great Wei’s military! In doing so, I shall absolutely not engage in any illegal or unrighteous acts. I humbly beg Royal Father to grant his approval!”