Iron Dynasty Chapter 994

“Young and promising…”

Fei Ji was about to retort but suddenly closed his mouth. He suddenly realized a problem: Zhu Sansi was personally promoted by Xiao Ming, and he immediately understood the crucial point.

Xiao Ming was waiting for Fei Ji to speak. Seeing him suddenly silent, he understood that Fei Ji had figured it out and why he had done so.

Since ancient times, military power had been a thorny issue. If mishandled, it could lead to eternal damnation. His purpose in establishing the six military regions, in addition to facilitating deployment, was also to subtly ensure mutual checks and balances.

If one military region had a problem, he still had five military regions to deal with, so he would not be in a situation where he was surrounded by enemies.

Therefore, he could not risk having two military regions controlled by the Luo family at the same time, as this would create an imbalance.

As for why Zhu Sansi was chosen, the reason was simple: he wanted to break the solidification of the army’s hierarchy and give ordinary soldiers hope for promotion, rather than letting his army fall into the awkward situation of being controlled by military families again.

“Elder Fei, do you have any other objections?” Xiao Ming asked again.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, I have no objections.”

Xiao Ming’s question today was clearly meant to probe.

“En, since you have no objections, this matter is settled. Niu Ben and Luo Quan have both signed this memorial, so you two should sign it as well.” Xiao Ming showed a mischievous smile and laid the memorial for the six military regions on the table.

Pang Yukun and Fei Ji looked at each other with a hint of helplessness. Their emperor was becoming more and more cunning. This military reform bore all four of their names, meaning that this decision was jointly discussed by them. Those powerful noble families whose interests were harmed would probably come to their doors to curse them.

But even so, they had no choice but to sign. Who could say no to the Emperor?

With a bitter expression, Pang Yukun and Fei Ji wrote their names on the military reform memorial and were then allowed to leave.

After the two left, Qian Dafu said, “Your Majesty, Chief Grand Secretary Pang and Elder Fei are still the same, seemingly in harmony but inwardly divided.”

“It’s good that they are seemingly in harmony but inwardly divided. It would be strange if the two of them were completely united.” Xiao Ming had now given up on mediating the relationship between the two.

Because he found that it was all in vain. Both were important ministers of the state, but the interest groups behind them were different, and this conflict was irreconcilable.

This situation was somewhat similar to the competing political parties in Western countries, serving the same monarch but representing the interests of different classes.

Therefore, his only demand on the two of them was that they must not harm the national interest, otherwise, he would not show mercy to anyone.

Qian Dafu chuckled softly, “Your Majesty is absolutely right. It would be troublesome if all the court officials were united.”

After a pause, he said happily, “This battle on the grassland has broken the power of the Golden Tent Khanate. Now they are just fish on a chopping block. Most importantly, from now on, these thousands of miles of grassland will be the Empire’s horse pasture.”

Xiao Ming laughed when he heard this. Although the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun were excellent pastures, it was a waste to use these areas as pastures. In later generations, this place was rich in resources and was an important industrial area.

Now that the Chinese Empire had vast grasslands, the pastures in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun could be relocated, thereby rebuilding prosperous cities there.

Thinking of this, he said, “The battle on the grassland proved that the era of cavalry has ended. The era of large-scale horse breeding will also face its demise. Therefore, I only plan to retain a limited number of horse farms and turn more of them into cattle farms, and even dairy farms. We will strive to ensure that every citizen of the Chinese Empire can drink milk.”

“Dairy cattle?” Qian Dafu had never heard of such a thing. “I’ve only heard of yellow cattle. I’ve never heard of dairy cattle.”

Xiao Ming said, “These dairy cattle are called Holstein cattle, and they originated in the Netherlands. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently in contact with the Dutch embassy, preparing to import some dairy cattle from the Netherlands. If that’s not enough, I also plan to import them from other European countries.”

“So it’s from the Netherlands. The Netherlands is fine, but other European countries…?” Qian Dafu shook his head, feeling it was somewhat impossible.

Xiao Ming understood Qian Dafu’s thoughts. He said, “Don’t think that just because I defeated the combined fleet, the relationship between European countries and the Great Yu Empire will freeze. On the contrary, they will soon send envoys here, and when that happens, I will have ways to deal with them!”

Qian Dafu revealed a knowing smile. It was said that people on the grassland were strong because they drank mare’s milk and goat’s milk from a young age. If the people of the Great Yu Empire could drink cow’s milk, their bodies would definitely be even stronger than those of the barbarians.

The two chatted for a while, and Xiao Ming again looked at the world map in front of him. This map was now colored with a large expanse of red. These red areas were the areas currently controlled by the Great Yu Empire, extending south from the extreme north of Heilongjiang, across the ocean to the Philippines and Malacca.

From Japan in the eastern seas to Goryeo, then westward to the contemporary Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia grasslands, the outline of the Chinese Empire was gradually becoming complete.

The remaining uncompleted areas were the contemporary Xinjiang region and the Tibet region. The former could be recovered soon, while the latter would be a bit more troublesome.

However, he was confident about this because he could take them whenever he wanted. The most important issue now was to complete the military reform and equip every regimental unit with machine guns, as well as stockpile large quantities of ammunition.

As the saying goes, sharpening the knife doesn’t delay cutting firewood. Only when the army was sharpened would the subsequent wars be unstoppable.

Moreover, his main enemies next were in Europe. These troublemakers had caused him trouble for so long, and it was time to play cat and mouse with these European rats.

Thinking of this, he issued an oral decree, telling Qian Dafu to find Yang Chengye. Yang Chengye was currently mainly responsible for industrial production, including military industry.

With the use of metal bullets, the military industrial capacity was severely insufficient. He wanted to expand the scale of military factories, and at the same time, refine military industrial production, separating ammunition production lines, firearms production lines, and artillery production lines, and establish a more systematic and comprehensive military industrial system.

Cabinet.

Upon receiving Xiao Ming’s order, Yang Chengye immediately took action. The next day, he summoned the main figures in the military industry, including Song Changping, Chen Qi, Lu Tong, and Zhang Liu.

After informing everyone of Xiao Ming’s oral decree, he said, “The consumption of ammunition in this grassland battle was severe. It can be said that it almost exhausted our reserves during this period. One grassland battle alone has left us with almost no ammunition. If we face a larger war, our firearms and artillery will become mere decorations on the battlefield, and our soldiers will face life-threatening danger. Although I and you all do not go to the battlefield, logistics are the guarantee of the army’s combat effectiveness. Therefore, you all must work with me to establish a perfect military industrial system and classification to ensure the supply of ammunition.”