Vertical arch hall.

Emperor Zhao Gou, Prime Minister of Wei Qin Hui, Governor of the Privy Council Yu Yaobi, and the former secretary of the Gongguo Palace all commanded Yang Cunzhong, and the four monarchs and ministers sat opposite each other.

The weather was unbearably hot, and there were beads of sweat on everyone's foreheads.

After pausing the discussion, Zhao Gou ordered someone to send cold soup, one bowl per person, to relieve the heat and cool down.

After eating the cold soup, rinsing his mouth with water, the idle people and others retreated, and the monarch and ministers continued to deliberate.

I only heard Zhao Gou say: "Yu Aiqing, recently there is an excerpt that Yanjing is being expanded in the north, do you get the exact news?" ”

Yu Yaobi said: "The minister also got a secret report not long ago, the gold lord did order the expansion of Yanjing at the beginning of last year, and requisitioned 100,000 people, and is currently stepping up the work. ”

Zhao said: "What do you think about this? ”

Yang Cunzhong said: "The Jin Kingdom has always coveted the land of the Great Song Dynasty, and after ten years of recuperation, they have now changed their new masters, and the construction of Yanjing must be preparing for the soldiers and horses to go south." The territory of the Jin country is vast, the capital is in the extreme north, the army goes south, it has to travel thousands of miles, the march is inconvenient, the cost is great, it is not as good as the heavy army in Yanjing, between Yanjing and the Huai River, a horse and a flat river, the army can be in the Huai River to threaten the Yangtze River, and the retreat can defend the capital of the Jin country. The minister thought that Jin Guo's move was very likely to prepare for the southward march of the army, and the Great Song Dynasty needed to prepare early and prepare for war as soon as possible, so as not to make it difficult for the Jin thieves to go south and be in a hurry. ”

Yang Aiqing's words are not unreasonable. What does Yu Aiqing think? Zhao Gou asked.

Yu Yaobi said: "The new lord of the Jin State usurped the throne, obtained the throne improperly, and soon ascended the throne, they must not be stable internally, and at this time they are likely to launch a war to establish their authority, one is to take this opportunity to get rid of those who oppose him in the country, or the former ministers of the former dynasty, the second is to promote some henchmen to win the hearts of the people, and the third is to deter the surrounding countries or internal forces with dissenting intentions." And there are four countries around Jin, Liao is in the extreme west, too far away, and it is a long yellow sand, it is not good to fight Liao, Xixia has always been an ally of Jin, and it is also a land of wind and sand and bitter cold, and it will not attack it, Goryeo is mountainous, the region is barren, and the gains and losses of attacking Goryeo outweigh the losses. Therefore, the minister thought that the expansion of Yanjing by the Jin State at this time must be to prepare for the south, and the day the expansion is completed, I am afraid that it will be when the Jin people wave their army to the south, and my Great Song Dynasty should also make preparations as soon as possible. ”

"Qin Aiqing, Yu Aiqing, and Yang Aiqing all think that Jin Guo's move is for war, what does Aiqing think?" Zhao Gou asked again.

Qin Hui replied slowly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Lord Yu and Lord Yang are a little alarmist. ”

"How?" Zhao Gou asked.

And Yu Yaobi and Yang Cunzhong didn't say anything when they heard Qin Hui's words, they sat there without squinting, and their eyes only looked at the area not far in front of the emperor.

Qin Hui said: "The Song and Jin countries have long had an alliance, and they have fulfilled the agreement for decades, the two countries have stopped fighting, the world is peaceful, the Manchu Dynasty is happy, and the people of the two countries are also happy, and there is no reason to tear up the alliance at all." Last year and this year, the financier sent envoys to congratulate him many times, and the relations between the two countries were friendly and there was no suspicion, which shows that the financier did not mean to tear up the covenant. Moreover, the gold lord did not take the throne properly, and he succeeded to the throne not long ago, and the internal troubles have not yet subsided, so it is not wise to start any war with stability first. Therefore, the minister thought that the financier would never start a war within ten years. ”

After a pause, he said: "The expansion of Yanjing by the Jin Kingdom, in the opinion of the ministers, should be to prepare for the relocation of the capital. ”

Without waiting for Zhao Gou to ask, Qin Hui continued: "The Jin Kingdom originated in the White Mountain and Black Water, almost all the clans and other nobles gathered in the Jin Kingdom in Shangjing, and the Jin lord is not right, he will be hated by the clan and the nobles who support the monarch of the previous dynasty, he cannot kill all the people who oppose him, even if they are all killed, there will definitely be some omissions, once one day the gold lord has words and deeds, or natural disasters come, the subjects of Shangjing see things and think about people, as long as someone ascends to the heights, how did the gold lord get the throne, how will he lose." In the opinion of the ministers, the Jin Lord avoided this trouble in the future, and the easiest way was to move the capital and move the capital out of the white mountains and black waters, and Yanjing was not too far to the north, nor too far to the south, and the Jin Lord really wanted to move the capital, and this place was the most suitable. And there is another advantage of moving the capital, that is, it is easy to distinguish which people are defending the new dynasty, which people are still guarding the old dynasty, and then the depreciation of the depreciation, the promotion of the promotion, if the gold lord is extreme, after the relocation of the capital, you can also burn the old capital, cut off the thoughts of the old ministers, and his rule can be more stable. ”

After Qin Hui finished analyzing, Zhao Gou sighed: "Aiqing's theory is also reasonable. ”

Yang Cunzhong said: "Qin Xiang thinks that the Jin Lord built Yanjing to move the capital, then can you think that after the Jin State moved the capital to Yanjing, the distance between them and the Great Song Dynasty is closer, the gold thieves occupy the land of the Great Song Dynasty, and they have always coveted the Great Song Dynasty, when they move the capital to Yanjing, I am afraid that the greed is even more than before, it will not be long, the gold thieves will definitely tear up the covenant, wave the army south, and then it is inevitable to fight, when the time comes, be vigilant, early preparation." ”

"What Yang Aiqing said is not unreasonable, the Jin people have always been thieves, and the defense of the Huai River line cannot be abandoned because of the covenant." Zhao Gou nodded slightly, and then said: "Yu Aiqing, if there is any news about the Jinren's construction of Yanjing, report it immediately." The defense line of the Huai River and the Yangtze River must also be strengthened to prevent the Jin people from suddenly invading south. ”

Yu Yaobi said: "The minister understands that there are always our people watching in Yanjing City, and they will send news if there is news." ”

After a pause, he immediately said: "The defense line of the Huai River and the defense of the Yangtze River have been lax for a long time, almost abandoned, and if you want to rebuild it in a short time, you need a lot of money. ”

Zhao said: "The money that should be spent must be spent, and the defense must not be relaxed." Qin Aiqing, Aiqing bothered about the matter of food and salary. ”

Qin Hui said: "Your Majesty, the annual food and salary of each army is allocated in full as usual, and there is no shortage of it, there is no problem at all in supporting the army, and there is no need to allocate additional money and food." At present, there are hundreds of wastes to be revived, and money is spent everywhere, not to mention anything else, just talking about state learning, Taixue, and martial arts have been restored successively, and the recovery of state and county schools is very slow, because of the lack of money, the annual income of the household treasury is already limited, and there is a downward trend, where can we get more money and food. ”

Yu Yaobi said: "The state school and county education are all funded by the local government, where do you need the Ministry of Household Funding?" The money and food allocated by the imperial court to the armies every year were repeatedly discounted, and they were reduced year by year, and although the soldiers did not starve to death, they were no different from refugees. Because of the lack of food and clothing, the morale of the border troops is low, and their combat strength has long been much worse than before, and some of the troops are about to become empty shells, and if they do not allocate money and food to boost their morale, let alone the Jin people will attack, but if there is a wind and grass, many troops will collapse. ”

Then he turned his head and said: "Prime Minister Qin said that there is no money in the treasury, the Great Song Dynasty is big, there are hundreds of states in the sixteenth road, and tens of millions of dollars in taxes every year, where does the money go?" Such a vast and rich land, but he can't come up with the money to support the army, Qin Xiang should rectify the style of officials and measure the land. ”

Qin Hui didn't raise his eyes, and replied: "If you are not in your position, you are not in power, Lord Yu is no longer the middle of the imperial history, and you shouldn't say this." If the treasury has no money, it is not a good government? This is a biased statement. Why is the army demoralized, its combat effectiveness declining, and becoming an empty shell? Is it just because there is not enough money and food? More than ten years ago, when the army of the Great Song Dynasty was in turmoil, lack of food and clothing, it defeated the army of the golden people, tigers and wolves several times, and now the annual allocation of money and food has increased several times compared with before, and the army has become what it is now, can you blame the court for giving less money? I think it's the army, not the officials, that should be rectified. ”

Yang Cunzhong frowned and said: "Prime Minister Qin's words are biased, the Great Song army has rarely fought since the Song and Jin Dynasty negotiated peace, and it is normal for the military strength to decline without fighting for ten years. As for Qin Xiang's doubts, why the Great Song Dynasty army was able to defeat the gold thieves without food and clothing in the past, but now with food and salary, the combat power has declined, and the reason for this is difficult to explain clearly, if you want to say the main reason, that is, the gold thief is coming, and when the country is in trouble, aspiring young people generously join the army, vow to fight the gold thief, and never die. And after the peace discussion, the world is singing and dancing everywhere, the heroes in the eyes of the world are only the students of Donghuamen, and the envy of only the high-ranking officials Houlu and the peace are on the rise, and the people who once fought for the country are scarred and lingering, but the world sneers at them, and the whole country is allowed to wither by veterans! ”

He was emotional, and his eyes were slightly red when he said this.

"In this world, but there are other ways out, ways to live, and how many people are willing to join the army? The local armies have not recruited for many years, and it is not that they are not recruited, but they are all homeless people who are waiting to die, so what is the use of asking them? Go and see, which army is not old, weak, sick and disabled? How many young people in the world look up at Lin'an with books in hand, and how many people walk into the barracks with knives and guns? Everyone is looking forward to the day when they will be nominated for the gold list, and then the gold will roll in, and a high mansion will be built, with beautiful women and beautiful families, and a group of wives and concubines. For this dream, how many people started scientific research from teenagers, failed again and again, and continued again and again, from teenagers and young people to the prime of life and twilight years, perseverance, and never gave up until death. If there were so many determined young people in the army, why did the Great Song army do this? Qin Xiang, is this a problem of the army or a problem of the imperial court? ”

Qin Hui was speechless when asked these words, and Yu Yaobi was also silent.

Zhao said: "Yang Aiqing, don't get excited. After the world is peaceful, of course, we must focus on literature, select officials, go to all parts of the country to encourage agriculture and mulberry, and restore people's livelihood. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yang Cunzhong humbly accepted.

After recuperating from his thoughts, Qin Hui suddenly said: "Lord Yang, the reasons for the weakening of the army's combat strength are complicated, so let's not talk about it for the time being. But in the eyes of Lord Yang, the army with weak combat power does not show weakness when collecting money! ”