"The imperial court has quelled the rebellion for five years, and today it has finally seen the dawn, deserved, deserved!"

Fifth Qi was a little excited and dancing, his personality was not as restrained as Wei Jiansu, whether he was happy or angry, more or less showed his face. Although this kind of character is not conducive to the power struggle, as long as he is conscientious and dedicated to his official affairs, he has Qin Jin behind the scenes to escort him, large and small rights and wrongs can be easily blocked by just moving his fingers and waving his hand, and the only thing to watch out for is the open and secret fight between him and Xia Yuanji and Wei Jiansu.

Recently, although the smell between them has faded a lot, Qin Jin still doesn't dare to relax his vigilance, if he doesn't notice it a little, maybe there will be something that even he can't predict.

Now, the Fifth Qi is obviously full of energy, and the salt and iron presided over by him are very successful, and the income of the imperial treasury is more than three or two times more than that of the first year of Zhide?

Therefore, Qin Jin also felt more and more that the fifth Qi was pleasing to the eye, and in addition to official business, there was more gossip on weekdays.

"Yes, yes, yes, it should be revealed, but there is a ban in this army, no alcohol is allowed, why not replace wine with tea?"

Hearing this, Fifth Qi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled:

"Why is the doctor confused? This is in the political affairs hall, but it is not in the Shenwu army, even if you drink alcohol, how can the ban in the army be violated?"

Qin Jin also patted his head and smiled awkwardly.

"But that's the case, it's just lunchtime, so why not eat and drink!"

As he spoke, the assistant had already gone down to arrange it with great eyesight, and because there were people on duty all year round in the political hall, there was also a kitchen yard, and there was everything to eat, including wine, of course.

Soon, the simple wine and meat were served up one by one, and when they landed, the aroma of wine and meat in the hall was tempting. Qin Jin and Fifth Qi are not the kind of Xia Yuanji, people who don't get tired of eating and don't get tired of being fine, and simple wine and meat can be regarded as heavenly delicacies.

After drinking two glasses, the two discussed the situation in Hebei again, generally speaking, the timing of sending troops, and how much the rebels' infighting was beneficial to the imperial court.

However, these things can only be inferred from known news, and no one can pat their chests to guarantee that a certain day and a certain place will definitely win a big victory, but overall, as long as all the Shenwu armies play normally, Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Jia will be in an orderly manner, and success and victory are still predictable.

Fifth Qi's alcohol consumption is not very good, after a few glasses, his face is already red, and he speaks more boldly. I don't know if it's because of the gains and losses, he began to worry again, where did the battle situation in Hebei not be thought through, in case there was a mistake, resulting in a failure, wouldn't it be embarrassing?

Qin Jin laughed at him for worrying about the sky and thinking too much.

"The history thief is unpopular, the success of the imperial court to quell the rebellion is the general trend, even if this opportunity is missed, there is a next opportunity, and it will not be delayed for three or five years. ”

Fifth Qi Dao:

"The truth is this truth, and the subordinates also know it, but the situation in Hexi is as tight as a day, and the emergency documents piled up in the political hall are more than one person, and every time I see these, they are just some simple replies, so that the Hexi place can do what it can, but there is nowhere to do it, and as the prime minister, I feel uneasy every midnight dream!"

Qin Jin could see that these words were all from the bottom of the fifth Qi's heart, if he hadn't drunk some wine, maybe he wouldn't have the gaffe he has now. However, it was his gaffe that illustrated his anxiety about the situation in Hexi.

According to the latest news, Zhuhu in the Western Regions colluded with the Great Cannibal to launch a fierce offensive against Hexi, and now the only thing that worries people is whether the abolished prince Li Yu colludes with Zhuhu and the Great Cannibal, if that is the case, I am afraid that the trouble will be much more than imagined.

After thinking for a while, Qin Jin finally spoke:

"Today, I will have a solid bottom with Xiangbus, I am ready to give up Hexi, the rice does have to be eaten one bite at a time, if Hebei Province is not peaceful, the imperial court will not be able to let go of the westward expedition, and the Khitans in the north are also likely to take advantage of the weakness, so they can only go east and then west!"

Qin and Jin are indeed afraid of the influence brought by the abolished prince Li Yu, but compared to Li Yu's influence, Hebei Province, known as half of the world, must be the first to be pacified, millions of displaced people must be properly settled, Hebei Province is the great protector of the imperial court in terms of grain production and conscription of soldiers, when An Lushan had not yet rebelled, just relying on the soldiers of Hebei, the border army of the three towns fought the Khitan people all over the place.

Now that Hebei's vitality is greatly damaged, I don't expect them to beat the Khitans all over the ground to find teeth, as long as they can keep the peace of the Tang border, it is already a great achievement, as for whether to completely pacify the Khitans, that is a matter to consider after the Western Expedition.

Hearing Qin Jin mention the Western Expedition, Fifth Qi was even more excited, and poured two sips of wine in a row.

"The doctor only said that the Western Expedition needs how much food and money is needed? The subordinates will definitely make the treasury sufficient!"

Qin Jin smiled, this Fifth Qi is indeed capable, and almost all the wishes he made have been fulfilled, especially in terms of opening up sources and reducing expenditure, which is very effective. Although there is inevitably a suspicion of accumulating wealth in some aspects, in times of war, it is inevitable that there will be some expedient measures, as long as it can ensure that the big machine of the imperial court can continue to operate benignly, and then gradually return to the benefit of the people after the war is completely calmed down in the future.

At that time, there was a degree of subtlety in the meantime, and Qin Jin had been very careful to control it.

"The supply of the Shenwu army is self-contained, and there is no need for the imperial treasury to burden too much, and now the first priority of the imperial court is to ensure that the large abandoned fields are cultivated and there is grain to be harvested. ”

"Doctor Rongyu, the Western Expedition is far different from fighting in the Central Plains or Hedong, and it is thousands of miles away from the Western Regions, all of which are uninhabited Gobi, and it is almost impossible to supply them on the spot. During the Tianbao period, the imperial court made frequent expeditions in the Western Regions, and the extravagance accounted for almost half of the annual income, and even the Hebei army array, which raised the most soldiers, could not compare!"

Qin Jin was stunned for a while, of course he also knew that running the Western Regions was an extremely expensive matter, and the specific numbers were also familiar to him, especially after Zheng Xianli rushed to the Western Regions, the Shenwu Army's own supply lines also fed back a lot of corresponding figures, which also showed how expensive the soldiers and horses in the Western Regions were.

However, the extravagant money and food accounted for half of the annual income, but it had to give Qin Jin a headache. This is also the negligence of Qin and Jin, without considering the thoughtfulness, Tianbao was already the most prosperous and prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, if you push back according to the state of the heyday of operating the Western Regions, the income at that time was forty or fifty million yuan.

"Is there a good plan for the fifth minister?"

Qin Jin humbly asked for advice, after all, he lacked experience in this area. However, Fifth Qi shook his head and smiled bitterly:

"The army is conquest, the military supplies are not opportunistic, not tricky, the real money has to be spent, the only foreseeable thing is how long this war will have to be fought, if it lasts for a long time, even the strongest country is in danger of destruction!"

In the early years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong took Yao Chong and Song Jing as the prime ministers, and the first admonition of these two famous ministers was to stop the war and stop the army. The key to stopping the war is not only to fight less wars and consume less food, but the key lies in the national strength it consumes, from the population to the all-round consumption of grain reserves, and even a vicious circle will be formed.

If there are more people fighting and more people die, the labor force for cultivation will inevitably decrease, and the corresponding grain production will be reduced, and there will be a possibility of insufficient supply when the grain production is reduced, and once the food supply is insufficient, the displaced people will appear, and starvation and death of disease among the displaced people will be commonplace. The appearance of displaced people means that a large area of arable land is about to be abandoned, and so on on in a vicious circle, for an agrarian country, this kind of damage is often deep in the heart, the initial symptoms are not obvious, but once the attack is a terminal illness that will kill people.

After the Qin Dynasty unified the six countries, how prosperous was its national strength? However, after only a dozen years of reckless military recklessness, there were many popular uprisings, and the country was finally wiped out. Another example is the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the wanton conquest of Siyi, under the continuous war, the same is the displacement of the people, can not make a living, fortunately, this emperor has a keen sense of smell and superb enough ability, the precipice to rein in, so as to avoid repeating the mistakes of Qin Shi Huang.

The obscurity of what Fifth Qi said was actually already hinting at Qin and Jin that the Western Regions was a bottomless pit, and if it was rashly trapped before it was ready, it was likely to drag the entire Tang Dynasty into a bottomless abyss.

Of course, Qin Jin understood the hint in the fifth Qi's words, so he said:

"The conquest of the Western Regions is a later story, the top priority is to hurry up and end the war in Hebei, if you can't seize this great opportunity for historical thieves to fight, I'm afraid that the land west of Hexi will have to endure the pain and break your wrist!"

When Qin Jin first negotiated with the Fifth Qi, he was not urgent about the war in Hebei, but it did not mean that he did not have a plan to look at the overall situation, after the strategy of first east and then west was set, he had already prepared for the worst, temporarily abandoned Hexi, and reduced his forces to defend Longyou and Shuofang with all his might.

When Fifth Qi heard Qin Jin's plan, he was still taken aback, he didn't expect that Qin Jin had already made such a bad plan, and even made up his mind to give up Hexi temporarily. But only in this way can all preparations be more sufficient, and when you really encounter these troubles, it is possible to deal with them calmly and step by step. Otherwise, the harm caused by temporary blindness will be even more unacceptable.

"The doctor is far-sighted, and his subordinates are ashamed of themselves, but even if the Western Regions Zhuhu adds the big cannibals in the west of the Western Regions, can they easily seize the land west of the river?