"PS: The chapter owed will continue to be filled tomorrow, and tonight I have to concretely conceive of the dispute between King Su and the court officials about the competing interests."

Today's celebration banquet in Jiying Palace, well, in fact, there is nothing to describe more, it is nothing more than to invite the meritorious men who assisted in repelling the Chu army to have a meal according to the usual practice.

The real drama actually lies in the fight between the military and the imperial court in the next few days about the division of benefits obtained after the war.

Oh, the military mentioned here is actually just a concept, referring to the "six garrison battalions" such as the Junshui Battalion, the Dangshan Battalion, and the Fencheng Sai, including the Yanling Army, the Shangshui Army, and the Yanshui Army newly established by Zhao Hongrun after the war.

It's just a generalized name.

In Zhao Hongrun's original idea, he only planned to hand over about 50% to 60% of the post-war benefits to the household department of the imperial court, and the remaining 40% or so, he would use 90% of them to subsidize the military expenses of the six armies of different sizes, namely the Junshui Battalion, the Dangshan Battalion, the Fencheng Army, the Yanling Army, the Shangshui Army and the Yanshui Army, including the reconstruction of several important cities such as Shangshui, Changping and Yanling.

However, the sudden visit to Daliang by the group of princes and princes of the Ji clan, typified by Zhao Chengxiu, the prince of Yuanyang, and the reminder of his second uncle Zhao Yuanyan, made Zhao Hongrun realize that the huge amount of materials he had transported from the Chu State was likely to be coveted and watched at the moment.

However, Zhao Hongrun was not worried about this, because during the celebration banquet, he had a tacit understanding with Sima An, the general of the Dangshan Battalion, and Xu Yin, the general of Fenshansai, through his eyes.

It is not difficult to guess that these two generals returned to Daliang day and night, not just to participate in this celebration banquet, I believe that the general of the Junshui Battalion, Bailiba, had already conveyed his meaning to them through letters, so for the sake of military expenses. These two generals are bound to go back to Daliang in person, whether to express their gratitude to Zhao Hongrun, or to secretly stand up for him, lest the imperial court take away the funds that should belong to their military.

Well, even though the word "military" is just a concept, it is undeniable. It seems that Bailiba, Sima An, Xu Yin and other generals who have led troops and garrisoned abroad all the year round, in fact, their relationship with the imperial court military department and household department is not tacit.

Think about it, like Bailiba, Sima An, Xu Yin and other generals, they can't wait for the army under their command to expand tenfold, they can't wait to change their armaments every six months, and they can't wait to have adequate military salaries, but on the side of the imperial court, the military department can be said to be thankful for changing the armament every two years, and the household department is even more proposed to reduce military spending every year. Therefore, if there is no contradiction between the "military" and the imperial court, it is called strange.

I have to say that sometimes, even if they are all people who have their hearts set on the country, because of their different positions and different views, it will inevitably stimulate contradictions.

At this point, though. Zhao Hongrun is obviously in favor of the military, after all, in his opinion. No matter what aspect of the cost is cut, the military budget cannot be reduced, after all, this is related to the survival of the entire Great Wei.

Don't look at the defeat of a Xuancheng Jun Xiong Tuo at the moment, but the problem is that the Chu State has hardly been affected by the defeat of the Xuancheng Jun Xiong Tuo, in the final analysis. The state of Chu is still only afraid of the state of Qi and the king of Qi.

Not to mention that in the north of the Great Wei, there is also a South Korea that is eyeing the Shangdang, Hanoi and even the entire Wei State, and cutting the military spending of the Great Wei at the moment is simply self-defeating.

Mencius said, those who convince others with force. If you are not convinced, you can't see it.

In a word, it is necessary to convince people with virtue.

However, in Zhao Hongrun's view, the sage's remarks are too idealistic, after all, not everyone in the world speaks with reason, thinking that because of the attack on the envoys of Chu, Wei repeatedly explained to Chu, but Xiong Xu, the king of Chu, still ordered a declaration of war on Wei, trying to coerce Wei to return to Chu with his fists and force.

In this case, reasoning alone will not work at all.

Therefore, Zhao Hongrun has always believed that if he Wei wants to gain a certain right to speak in diplomatic communication with its neighbors, then the premise is that he Wei must be strong enough, even if the national strength is not strong, but at least the army must remain strong. Only in this way will powerful countries like Chu and South Korea restrain their desire for war and sit down to negotiate with their Wei State calmly on the premise that they cannot kill their Wei State in a short period of time.

Otherwise, just like the battle half a year ago, the two-way army of Chu attacked Wei, how could the Wei people use reason to retreat?

Because of this, Zhao Hongrun not only straightened the Yanling army, transforming it from the original Weirong army into a regular army, but also added two armies, Shangshui and Yanshui, after all, the total of 80,000 regular troops in the "six battalions of the garrison" alone was not enough to deal with the worst situation that Zhao Hongrun had imagined: Chu and Han combined.

However, he also understood that neither the military department nor the household department in the imperial court would easily admit these three newly established armies, after all, it meant that the imperial court would spend more military expenses and salaries every year.

All in all, today's celebration banquet is just a formality, the real big drama lies in the dispute with the six departments of the imperial court in the two days after the Ming Dynasty, fortunately, Zhao Hongrun has a big card in his hand, for example, at this moment, it has been tightly guarded by more than 5,000 Junshui battalions, and the batch of Chu specialties stacked in Xiangfu County.

However, to Zhao Hongrun's surprise, his second brother Yongwang Hongyu, who came to congratulate him during the banquet, mentioned something to him that he didn't want to do.

Well, to be exact, it's not that it has nothing to do with him Zhao Hongrun, it's just that he's not interested in it.

“…… After a few days, I heard that my father intended to set up an altar to worship the sky, and the foolish brother felt that there should be no one who was more suitable to preside over the ceremony than Hongrun. ”

"Worship the sky?"

Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, after all, he really didn't know about it: "Because of what?" ”

"What else could be the matter?" Yongwang Hongyu smiled and said in a low voice: "For my Great Wei's victory this time...... Is Hongrun interested? ”

Zhao Hongrun glanced at the second brother who couldn't see through his mind suspiciously, he always felt that he was planning something, he thought about it and said: "Whether there is interest or not is secondary, the question is...... It seems that this kind of ritual of worshiping the heavens has always been presided over by the emperor? ”

When King Yong Hongyu heard this, the look on his face was unpredictable, and he said lightly: "This was the case in previous years, but you also know that my father has finally reached the age of half a hundred, and he has to work through the entire ritual of sacrificing to the heavens. I'm afraid that the dragon's body will not be safe, so my father should choose one of my brothers to assist him in presiding over the ritual of worshipping the heavens. …… Is Hongrun interested? ”

Zhao Hongrun glanced at the second brother with a strange expression, because in his opinion, remove the superstitious color. It seems that the greatest effect of this ritual of sacrificing to the heavens is nothing more than to calm people's hearts, well, by the way, it is just to increase the prestige in the minds of the people of Wei near Daliang, to put it bluntly, it is a political show.

As for this kind of errand that is not actually profitable, Zhao Hongrun doesn't have much time to make do, after all, he has a lot of things to do, such as arguing with the household department and the military department. Conceive the reconstruction of Shangshui, Yanling, Changping County, etc.

He planned to take advantage of his victory to put the southern county of Yingchuan in order, at least first consolidate the defense along the border between Chu and Wei, and connect the garrisons of the four armies, namely Fen Chengsai, Yanling Army, Yan Shui Army, and Shang Water Army, so as not to repeat the mistake of being attacked into the hinterland of Great Wei by the Emperor Xiong of Xuancheng a while ago.

"The second brother's kindness is understood by the younger brother, and the younger brother is afraid of trouble, like this kind of thing...... Forget it. He said. Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yongwang Hongyu a few times, and said tentatively: "Second brother is interested? ”

It's no wonder that Zhao Hongrun thinks in this direction. After all, King Yong Hongyu wants to compete with the crown prince of the East Palace, even if he is bound to get more support from the government and the opposition, so if he can help their father and emperor to support the ceremony of worshipping the sky, I believe it will be of great help to him.

If that's the case, for the sake of getting along well with this second brother. Zhao Hongrun helped him and recommended it to their father on his behalf, which was not a big deal.

But to Zhao Hongrun's surprise, after learning that Zhao Hongrun was not interested in this, Yongwang Hongyu showed a smile like "sure enough". He immediately laughed at himself: "How can a foolish brother be qualified to assist my father in presiding over the ceremony." ”

With that, he toasted Zhao Hongrun, then turned around and returned to his seat.

"This ...... What do you mean?'

Zhao Hongrun was at a loss.

He didn't expect that not long after King Yong's Hongyu, Hongli, the prince of the East Palace, who had never crossed paths, actually came to Zhao Hongrun's table with a wine bottle and sat down to talk to him.

"This time, Hongrun, you repelled the Chu army, raised my great Wei national prestige, and there is nothing to give you for my brother, only a song composed by his staff Luo Ying "Su Wang Breaks Chu Xuancheng Jun Soldier Array" ......"

As soon as the words fell, a generous and solemn military music gradually sounded during the banquet, as if there was a faint sound of Jin Ge Iron Horse.

"......" Zhao Hongrun silently looked at the court musicians in military uniforms in the center of the main hall, dancing in the sound of Jin Ge's iron horse-like music, although he looked very awkward, but he had to admit it, looking at the soundtrack of those musicians and the movements of the musicians, I believe that this time the prince of the East Palace did not work hard.

"In order to win me over, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the East Palace can be described as painstaking......

Zhao Hongrun smiled faintly in his heart, to be honest, there should not be any contradictions between him and the prince of the East Palace, Hongli, after all, the two of them were originally in their own unrelated circles, and there was almost no intersection, except for that time, when they happened to meet by King Yong.

"By the way, Hongrun, in two days, my father intends to set up an altar to worship the heavens, and pray to the heavens for this great victory. …… Brother Wei feels that since you are the greatest hero in repelling the Chu army this time, it is up to you to assist your father to preside over the ceremony of worshipping the sky. ”

"Hey, if you really have nothing to do, it's either a traitor or a thief......

Zhao Hongrun glanced at the expression of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and found that his eyes seemed to be a little anxious when he said that, and he secretly shook his head in his heart.

"The younger brother is not interested in this, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not strange."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Hongrun was suddenly stunned in his heart, and glanced at Yongwang Hongyu quietly.

Only then did he realize that the second brother was sitting in the distance, communicating something with Xiangwang Hongjing in a low voice.

『……』

Zhao Hongrun hadn't come back to his senses yet, and after hearing Zhao Hongrun's words, Hongli, the prince of the East Palace, couldn't wait to show a look of joy, and immediately praised Zhao Hongrun's exploits, and then left satisfied.

Looking at the back of the prince of the East Palace, Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yongwang Hongyu again, but saw that Yongwang Hongyu had finished his whispered conversation with Xiangwang Hongjing, smiled and raised the wine bottle to toast him.

"I see...... Are you going to attack the East Palace on the day of the festival?"

Zhao Hongrun suddenly realized, and then realized that his second brother Yongwang Hongyu deliberately mentioned the matter of sacrificing to the sky by congratulating him, not to seriously ask him whether Zhao Hongrun intended to preside over the ceremony of sacrificing to the sky, but out of the same position, to communicate with him and give a signal.

"But what's my business?"

muttering in his heart, Zhao Hongrun also raised the wine bottle in his hand and gave the second emperor brother a glass in return. (To be continued.) )