hsntnovel Chapter 2286: Weapon Inventory
Chapter 2286: Weapon Inventory
When Li Shen smelled the moldy smell, he couldn't help but frown.
The armory shouldn't smell like this. He had been to the armory in Prince Ji's mansion, and it smelled of grease.
Weapon maintenance basically involves using grease.
After changing his breath, Li Shen walked in. There were rows of weapons neatly arranged inside, as well as boxes.
"Ding~~~"
Li Shen casually picked up a knife and flicked it. It was made of ordinary iron and could not be compared with the equipment of his guard camp.
The blade is covered in rust, but the edge is polished to a bright shine, indicating frequent use.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, except for the officers and soldiers on duty, all other weapons are here."
Su Haizheng also reported.
Only officers and soldiers on duty and during training will be issued weapons. Those not on duty will not be issued weapons.
This is also to avoid adverse consequences after carrying items, or to prevent mutiny.
Li Shen could understand this because his guards were the same. Only the guards on duty would wear weapons and equipment, and the others did not have weapons.
"Are the rest here?" After taking a look around, Li Shen found something wrong, so he asked.
"Your Highness, only half of the military equipment is here. The other half is in the south of the city." Su Haizheng replied.
Li Shen frowned, feeling that it was a little insufficient, so he asked:
"How many soldiers are there in the border army?"
"Your Highness, the Anxi Border Army has twelve thousand men."
"Only 12,000 people?" Li Shen was greatly surprised. He thought that the border army must have at least 20,000 or 30,000 people.
This is the western gate of the Tang Dynasty, how come there are only 12,000 people? Isn't this too few?
From what he knew, every time the enemy attacked, the number of people was at least 100,000.
Songtsen Gampo of Tubo led an army of 300,000 to attack Songzhou. The Eastern Turks and Xueyantuo did not send an army of 100,000 or 200,000.
The Western Turkic army also has hundreds of thousands of troops, so they only rely on these 12,000 people to guard it?
Thinking of this, Li Shen couldn't help but ask:
"General Su, why are there so few border troops? Could they have been taken away by Guo Xiaoke?"
"Your Highness, Prince Ji, the total strength of the Anxi Protectorate is 36,000 men. The border troops are 12,000, and there are 24,000 garrisons throughout the Anxi Protectorate."
Su Haizheng said truthfully.
"Such a large Anxi Protectorate has only 36,000 people?" Li Shen was a little surprised.
The Tang Dynasty boasted an army of one million, and Anxi was a frontier region, so it must have at least 50,000 troops, right?
The Qinghai Protectorate still has 50,000 troops.
Seeing Li Shen's confusion, Wang Xuance explained:
"Your Majesty, although Anxi is a large area, its population is not large. Moreover, our Tang Dynasty has a strong military force and does not need so many troops.
Furthermore, this place is not within the territory of the Great Tang, so the garrison is naturally not as strong as that of a pass like Liangzhou."
"Nonsense, how come this isn't part of the Great Tang? Your idea is wrong. Although we use barbarians to control barbarians, this place is called the Anxi Protectorate, and it is an inseparable part of the Great Tang.
Don't think that all the people here are barbarians. It's not important. I have told Your Majesty that the barbarians here are also the people of our Tang Dynasty.
After ten or twenty years, the ideas of the people of the Tang Dynasty will be deeply rooted, and they will regard themselves as Tang people.
From now on, they will be a branch of our Tang people, just one ethnic group."
Li Shen, upon hearing Wang Xuance's words, immediately emphasized that the constant harassment from the north since ancient times was primarily due to the fact that these people were not considered their own.
Use barbarians to control barbarians. When the court is strong, they will rely on it. But when the court declines, they will rebel because they have no sense of belonging.
Over and over again, what Li Shen wanted to do was to turn the next generation of these people into Tang people, into a minority ethnic group.
"Your Highness is right. I will keep your teachings in mind." After hearing this, Wang Xuance quickly apologized.
"There are still 50,000 troops in the important city of Qinghai. I will have to advise His Majesty after returning."
Li Shen sighed.
"Your Highness, there are 50,000 troops in the important city of Qinghai because its location is very important.
Secondly, it's because...it's too expensive to rent a city in Qinghai," Wang Xuance explained.
"Too expensive?" Li Shen was stunned.
"Yes, Qinghai Yaoyi is a magnificent city that the prince spent tens of millions of strings of cash to build. Both its location and its significance are extremely important.
That’s why the imperial court stationed 50,000 troops to prevent mishaps.”
"Besides, I just feel sorry for the money." Li Shen curled his lips after hearing Wang Xuance's explanation. It was indeed his father's style.
"Your Highness, you may not know that when the Anxi Protectorate was first established, the first Grand Protector was Qiao Shiwang. At that time, the entire Anxi Protectorate had only a few thousand soldiers.
After Guo Duhu took over, the army expanded to 24,000 people.
The current 36,000 people were only added in recent years.”
Su Haizheng added on the side.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Send someone to count the weapons immediately."
Li Shen stopped worrying about it and just muttered in his heart that only his father had the courage to manage hundreds of thousands of people with just a few thousand.
This place is not only inhabited by the remnants of Gaochang Kingdom, but also by the remnants of Tuyuhun.
At Li Shen's command, one hundred guards filed in, and Wang Xuance was responsible for taking notes with a pen.
Take inventory of all weapons, including swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows, shields, arrows, crossbow bolts, and armor, leaving no weapon or equipment behind.
It took more than an hour to count the items in the two warehouses.
After returning to the Protectorate, Wang Xuance began to organize things, while Li Shen waited patiently.
"Your Majesty, everything has been counted."
Soon Wang Xuance came to report.
"Go ahead." Li Shen took a sip of tea.
"Your Highness, we have checked the court distribution records for the past five years and compared them with the reported damage records.
The final result is that more than 5,000 sets of equipment and more than 20,000 arrows are missing."
"What did you say?" Li Shen stood up suddenly when he heard the number, and even Su Haizheng next to him was shocked.
"You calculated it correctly, didn't you?" Li Shen asked immediately.
"Your Highness, I have calculated it several times and there is no mistake." Wang Xuance replied affirmatively.
"General Su, what's going on?" Li Shen sat down again with a gloomy face.
"This...this humble official doesn't even know about this." Su Haizheng was a little frightened. If this matter went wrong, he would be beheaded.
"Not aware? As the general defending the city, haven't you checked these records?" Li Shen asked sternly.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, I really don't know anything. I have only been in office for two years." Su Haizheng stood up in horror and bowed.
"Didn't you take inventory when you took over?" Li Shencai asked.
"Your Highness, I have taken inventory, but I only checked to see if the weapons and equipment are sufficient. I have not reviewed the previous records in detail.
This is my dereliction of duty, but I was completely unaware of this matter. I am loyal to the court and would never do anything that would harm the court.
I hope His Royal Highness Prince Ji will understand this."
(Guess who it is)