"Mo Jiuye, have you ever thought about what would happen if Emperor Shunwu discovered that all the men of our family are alive?"
Mo Jiuye had indeed considered this point.
However, he had been busy with the family matters and searching for the whereabouts of his father and brothers during this time. Moreover, he hadn't come up with a good strategy yet, which caused the delay.
Besides, he was always vigilant, watching out for spies sent by Emperor Shunwu or the Southern Border.
He had planned to deal with these issues after rescuing his father and brothers and settling the family down.
Now that his father asked him, Mo Jiuye helplessly shook his head, "Son hasn't come up with a good solution yet."
Mo Qing sighed helplessly upon hearing Mo Jiuye's reply.
Even though he had some plans in mind, it was impossible to carry out such actions without sufficient funds.
He knew that He Zhiran, who had been quiet all along, already had some ideas, and she also guessed some of Mo Qing's thoughts.
"Father, there's no need to worry about the silver coins. I can find a way to solve that problem."
Stealthily raising an army?
What's difficult about that?
Not to mention that she had an endless supply of silver coins in her space, she also possessed powerful weapons.
Raising an army didn't require thousands of soldiers, just about a thousand or eight hundred elite troops would be enough.
Moreover, since the last invasion by the barbarians, she had a thought in mind.
She wanted to wait for Mo Jiuye to return so they could discuss the development of gunpowder.
Once gunpowder was successfully developed, they could create powerful weapons. Although these weapons couldn't compare to the ones in her space, they would be invincible in this era of cold weapons.
Furthermore, there were many men in the Mo family, and they were all righteous individuals. When it came to developing gunpowder, they could assign their own people to do it.
Considering today's presence of Tao Ran and the others, He Zhiran did not mention this idea.
Even so, she made it clear that there was absolutely no problem with the Mo family secretly raising an army.
Moreover, they had purchased a large piece of land and built a camp in a concealed area in the mountains, which allowed them to raise an army without anyone noticing.
In fact, Mo Qing was not the only one who realized this. The Mo brothers were also concerned about raising an army.
Now that their father was the first to bring it up, it meant that this matter needed to be officially put on the agenda.
However, they were well aware of the expenses involved in raising an army, and it was not something that could be achieved with just a small amount of money.
Even if they tried their best to earn money, it was probably impossible for them to raise an army.
Surprisingly, their younger sister Jiu Ye casually said it without any confidence.
Not only that, Jiu Ye also said that there was no need to worry about the silver coins, as she could find a way to solve that problem.
Jiu Ye was indeed good at making money, but they also saw that although the family had daily income, that profit could be considered abundant for ordinary people. If they used that income to raise an army, it would be like a drop in the bucket.
It seemed that Jiu Ye hadn't realized how expensive it was to raise an army, which was why she said such things.
But compared to the ninth brother and sister, they seemed to lack confidence. Currently, they could only live an ordinary life like commoners and probably didn't have the ability to earn even a small amount of money.
However, this matter was crucial and had to be considered.
Lacking the means and solutions, the Mo brothers could only wear a troubled expression and remain silent.
They wanted to see how their usually decisive father planned to arrange things.
The sisters-in-law were perceptive and worried that someone might eavesdrop on such an important family discussion. They pulled Mo Hanyue out of the room and dispersed to stand guard outside.
Only He Zhiran, they all knew that the intelligence and talent of the ninth brother and sister far surpassed those of the Mo brothers. She had to stay and discuss it together.
Inside the hall at this moment, everyone was serious.
Mo Qing scanned the room and finally rested his gaze on Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.
The one who spoke confidently earlier was the ninth daughter-in-law. However, if he were to ask again at this moment, as the father of the family, he still couldn't bring himself to speak. Therefore, he could only ask Mo Jiuye.
After all, he and He Zhiran were husband and wife, and they communicated the most. It was impossible for a daughter-in-law not to share her thoughts with her husband.
"Jiuye, what do you think about this matter?"
Mo Jiuye hadn't been informed about He Zhiran's plan to develop gunpowder, so he hadn't come up with a foolproof solution either.
However, he knew better than anyone about the unlimited money in his wife's possession. In this regard, Mo Jiuye still had confidence.
In addition, he had his own plans to some extent.
"Father, when Zhiran and I passed through the border on our way to the Southern Frontier, we heard the soldiers who used to follow us talking about their intention to join the Mo family.
Therefore, the issue of personnel can be easily solved.
As for the funds for maintaining the troops, I can come up with a solution."
As for the rest, Mo Jiuye hadn't planned it in detail yet.
With He Zhiran's intelligence, she naturally understood that her father-in-law's questions to Mo Jiuye were indirectly asking her.
After Mo Jiuye finished speaking, she added, "Also, I suggest that we don't have too many troops, preferably not exceeding a thousand."
He Zhiran had learned from Mo Jiuye that there were fewer than a thousand soldiers who still followed the Mo family in the South. In her opinion, having a force of less than a thousand was sufficient.
From the perspective of expenses, there was a tenfold difference between maintaining a force of a thousand and ten thousand.
In addition, she considered that if more people were needed, they would have to recruit externally. New recruits wouldn't have a thorough understanding of their background, and if someone with impure intentions managed to infiltrate, it would be a loss.
Upon hearing He Zhiran's words, everyone's gaze focused on her, including Mo Jiuye, and they all felt that her suggestion was somewhat unrealistic.
Mo Qing couldn't hold back and asked, "Ninth sister, have you forgotten? Some time ago, it was just a group of barbarian people who came to rob us, and their numbers were over five hundred.
Once the barbarian army wants to use this place as a breakthrough to attack, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as five hundred people. Saying they number in the thousands is an understatement."
In case we encounter such a situation, we are far from being a thousand people strong. How should we deal with the enemy?"
The concerns of Mo Chuhan were not unreasonable in the minds of the members of the Mo family.
After all, they all had a military background, and during battles, the number of troops was always a disadvantage.
Back then, Seventh Brother had also participated in that fight at home and understood the severity of the situation.
Being someone who rarely spoke, he couldn't help but raise a question.
"Ninth Sister, what Eighth Brother said makes sense. Building an army is not child's play."
He Zhiran knew that once she uttered such words, she would undoubtedly face the scrutiny of everyone.
With confidence, she explained, "If I can create a weapon that can single-handedly take on a hundred or even a thousand enemies, would you still consider a thousand people to be few?"
Upon hearing He Zhiran's words, Mo Jiuye immediately thought of the hand grenades in her space.
He had personally witnessed the power of those things. When he left Southern Border with the Emperor's corpse, he threw a few of them, and he saw countless Southern Border soldiers instantly killed or injured.
That was only because he was trying to escape and hadn't intended to massacre anyone.
If she were to throw a few more, it was feared that the Southern Border camp would no longer exist.
Was Zhiran planning to create such weapons?
