With Wu's national strength and Wu's tradition of issuing treasury bonds, it stands to reason that there should not be no money, but the reality is that Wu is indeed out of money now.

At the beginning, for the Northern Expedition, Wu saved up for six years before it was finally launched; Although the war went very smoothly, the nearly 200,000 troops fought for more than a year, and the weight of grain and grass consumed was still very amazing.

After the war, the rewards for meritorious soldiers and the bereavement of the wounded soldiers were also huge, Yang Wu was originally a person who spent money lavishly, and he was naturally not stingy when rewarding soldiers and compensating for casualties, which certainly kept the morale of the Wu army high, and finally eliminated the Liang State and defeated the Jin army, but the money and food consumed were also extremely amazing.

In addition, after the elimination of the Liang State, although a large territory was seized and a large number of people were obtained, because Yang Wu issued an edict to exempt the people of the newly acquired land from taxes for two years, the territory of the Wu State was expanded, but the tax revenue did not increase.

On the contrary, the territory seized from the Liang State had been war-torn and had long been dilapidated, and a large amount of money and grain was needed to rebuild.

In addition, the expansion of the army, the relocation of the capital to Luoyang, the relocation of the common people, the appeasement of exile, and the recent ascension of Yang Wu to the throne as emperor have put tremendous pressure on finances.

So today's Wu State seems to be strong, but it has really reached the extreme in terms of finance, not only the previous savings are exhausted, but also a lot of debts, if you don't recuperate, there may really be chaos.

Of course, in addition to financial considerations, there are other considerations as well.

For example, although Wu won a complete victory in the first battle at the end of last year, everyone knows that the Jin army is not so easy to deal with.

Now that the state of Wu has just been established, if he rashly starts a war with Tang but fails to win, or even returns defeated, it will affect the prestige of the new emperor at that time.

Therefore, it is better to keep the status quo for the time being, while recuperating and thoroughly digesting the new territory, while patiently waiting for the opportunity.

After all, when it comes to governing the world, Yang Wu is obviously much stronger than Li Cunqiao, and the ability of Wu officials is also stronger than that of Tang officials, so time is on Wu's side, and there is no need to be too anxious.

……

Time passed, more than two years have passed in a blink of an eye, and it is already February of the eighteenth year of Wuyi.

After two years of recuperation, the national strength of Wu has been greatly improved at this time, and the national debt owed before because of the Northern Expedition has been basically paid off at this time, and there are even some savings in the treasury.

The first reason why they were able to recover so quickly was that the states in the south of the Yangtze River had bumper harvests in the past two years.

Since Yang Xingmi raised troops to pacify Jianghuai, it has been more than 30 years now; If it is counted from the time Yang Wu led the army to eliminate the Yue King Qian Hao, it has been twenty years now, which is almost equivalent to a generation.

After 20 years of recuperation, today's Jiangnan has the prosperous atmosphere of Jiangnan in later generations, Jinling, Jiangdu, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yuezhou and other places are now large cities with a population of hundreds of thousands, and their prosperity is much stronger than the Central Plains region that has just begun to recover from the war.

Not only is the population prosperous, but the agriculture in Jiangnan is also extremely developed.

First, the land in the south of the Yangtze River was originally fertile, and Wu attached great importance to water conservancy, and invested money and grain to build some projects every year, which made agriculture develop greatly; Second, now Champa rice has long been popularized in Jianghuai, and this kind of crop that is harvested twice a year is much more than the previous rice harvest.

It just so happened that in the past two years, Jiangnan has had bumper harvests one after another, and the tax revenue of the imperial court has naturally benefited greatly.

Not only Jiangnan, but also other Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Lingnan and other places, after so many years of development, have also made great progress, although its economic level can not be compared with the Ming and Qing dynasties in the later generations, but also far beyond the Tang Dynasty, enough to compete with the Northern Song Dynasty.

Of course, the most important point is the restoration of the Central Plains.

The Central Plains was originally the most prosperous area, and Zhu Wen attached great importance to agriculture at the beginning, which made the population and economy of the Central Plains region have developed greatly; Although the Central Plains was somewhat decayed due to the impact of the war, after all, it had a deep foundation and recovered after more than two years of recuperation.

When these areas had just been seized by the Wu State, Yang Wu had ordered that the tax burden be exempted for two years, and at this time the two years had long passed, and the tax revenue naturally returned to normal.

The resumption of taxation on such a large area of land has greatly increased the financial revenue of Wu, so for more than two years, the financial difficulties caused by the Northern Expedition have long ceased to exist.

Although the savings in the government treasury are not enough to support a long-term large-scale war without borrowing new debts, if you fight a war with no more than 100,000 troops and no more than half a year, these savings alone are enough.

So recently, Yang Wu has been planning to launch a big war, and the target of this big war is the Shu Kingdom, which has been silent for many years.

In this battle, Yang Wu's purpose was not to defeat Shu and seize some land, but to destroy Shu in one fell swoop.

At this time, Luo Zhixiang, Yan Keqiu, Guo Chongtao, Zhou Ben, Chai Zaiyong and other important civil and military generals, as well as the crown prince Yang Jiong and others all gathered in the Wuying Palace, quietly listening to the report of Zhang Yanhan, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites who had just returned from the envoy to Shu.

"The minister entered Shu at the end of November last year, and the lord of Shu, Wang Yan, met with the minister in the Shangqing Palace, and the people of Chengdu, regardless of whether they were high or low, gathered in groups, and welcomed ...... in the middle of the road."

"The minister met with Wang Yan and bluntly said that His Majesty is virtuous and has the ambition to mix up the whole world. And persuaded Wang Yan to go to the emperor and pay tribute to my Wu State. The southern section of Shushan made Wang Zongyu think that the minister's language offended the lord of Shu, so he asked the minister to be beheaded; But Wang Yan did not listen. ”

After that, Song Guangbao, the northern envoy of Shu Xuanhui, wrote a letter, asking the lord of Shu to select good generals, accumulate money and food, and prepare the army for war; The lord of Shu took him as the observer envoy of Zizhou, and ordered Wang Zongyi, the commander of the right Dingyuan army, to be the envoy and lead the army to garrison Yangzhou......"

Zhang Yanhan slowly recounted the situation of this envoy to Shu, while the others listened carefully, asking one or two questions from time to time.

After he finally finished speaking, Yang Wu asked: "I have heard that Shu is prosperous, and there has always been a saying of 'one promotion and two benefits'. Zhang Shilang has personally been to Shuzhong this time, and I don't know what the situation in Shuzhong is. ”

Zhang Yanhan replied: "Back to Your Majesty, according to what the minister has seen all the way, Shuzhong is indeed rich in products and has a prosperous population, which is not much worse than the land south of the Yangtze River. ”

Yang Wu said in a deep voice: "Then what do you think of Wang Yan, the lord of Shu?" If I want to raise an army to crusade against Shu, I don't know if Qing thinks it is feasible? ”

Zhang Yanhan thought for a while and replied: "Wang Yan is arrogant and lascivious, absurd in political affairs, and rejects the old and is close to the villain. The ministers it uses are like Wang Zongbi, Song Guangsi and others, all of whom are flattering, greedy and insatiable, and since Wang Yan succeeded to the throne in Shu, the punishment and reward are disorderly, the virtuous and foolish are transposed, and the monarchs and ministers only know pleasure, not military affairs. ”

"If Your Majesty sends troops to attack Shu, in the opinion of the ministers, as long as the army arrives, the Shu Kingdom will inevitably collapse!"

Yang Wu and the others immediately showed joy when they heard this.

Zhou Ben immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Shu has been comfortable for many years, and its combat preparations are relaxed, and now it is the opportunity to send troops to fight. The minister suggested sending troops from Fengxiang and Guizhou, and he would definitely be able to exterminate Shu in one fell swoop. ”

Guo Chongtao, Yan Keqiu and others also said: "The ministers seconded the proposal, and the troops were sent in two ways, and the maximum number of troops to be mobilized was only about 80,000, which took half a year, and it was enough to take Shu down." ”

Luo Zhixiang nodded and said: "If the number of troops used is only 80,000 and the time is not more than half a year, then there will be no problems in terms of finance." ”

At this time, Chen Yanqian had already served as a first-assistant scholar for too long, far exceeding the rule that Yang Wu had set at the beginning that the first-auxiliary scholar should not be in office for more than ten years, coupled with his hard work for many years, and now he is old and sick, so he died last year.

Many people were thinking about who would replace Chen Yanqian, but everyone didn't expect that in the end, it was Luo Zhixiang, the head of the household, who succeeded in taking the position and became the new first assistant scholar.

Seeing that everyone thought that it was feasible to cut down Shu at this time, Yang Wu also thought it was feasible in his heart, but he still asked: "I don't know what the situation is on the Jin side, is there any new situation recently?" ”

His question was aimed at Cheng Zong, the deputy commander of the Long Sword Capital, Cheng Zong's uncle Cheng Xun, who was deeply trusted by Yang Wu as the commander of Yang Wu's guards in the past, but at the end of last year, Cheng Xun suddenly died of illness in Luoyang, which made Yang Wu deeply sad.

And Cheng Zong also grew up in the Wu Palace since he was a child, and there is no doubt that he is Yang Wu's cronies, but he is calm and quiet, although he has no problem loyally, but it is impossible to lead the troops to fight, so Yang Wu transferred him to the Long Sword Capital, which can be regarded as a reuse of it.

At this time, in the face of Yang Wu's inquiry, Cheng Zong replied: "Back to Your Majesty, I heard that the Khitans are about to enter Kouyouzhou again, and the King of Jin has made Shi Jingjiao the envoy of the Lulong Festival with the Anyi Army, responsible for resisting the Khitans. Otherwise, there is no big news. ”

"Shi Jingjiao has become the envoy of the Lu Long Festival?" Yang Wu was a little surprised.

In the past two years, in addition to the great changes on the side of Wu, there have also been great changes on the side of Tang.

The first point is that after becoming the emperor, Li Cunmiao, I don't know if it was because the hope of fighting for the world had been shattered, or for other reasons, in short, he became a little comfortable.

In the past two years, the Khitans have often entered the Kou, if it is usual, I am afraid that Li Cunqiao would have personally led the troops to fight the Khitans, but now, he is more inclined to sit in Yecheng and order the generals under his command to lead the army to fight.

In addition, at the beginning of last year, Li Cunqiao ordered Shi Jingjiao to command 30,000 troops to go to the crusade because Zhu Youqian surrendered to Wu in the middle of the river; The Wu side ordered Chai to lead 20,000 troops to the rescue.

However, before the arrival of Wu reinforcements, Shi Jingjiao withdrew his troops in advance.

After that, the Wu army took the initiative to attack Luzhou, and Shi Jingjiao sent an envoy to Li Cunqiao for help, but in the end, Li Cunqiao did not personally lead the troops to rescue, but only ordered Zhao Zaili to command the troops to repel the Wu army.

Whether it was fighting with the Wu army or with the Khitans, Li Cunqiao no longer personally led the troops as he did in the past.

In addition to this, another change in the Tang State was the rise of young generals.

In April last year, the veteran Li Cunxian died of illness in Youzhou, plus Li Siyuan, who was killed by Wu Jun before, which means that the famous generals who followed Li Keyong back then came to a complete end at this time; Young generals such as Shi Jingjiao, Zhu Shouyin, Zhao Zaili, and Fu Xi began to become active.

For Li Cunxuan, without Li Cunxian's defense of Youzhou, coupled with the fact that the Khitans are becoming more and more serious, there is such news almost every month, so it is imperative to strengthen the garrison of Youzhou.

However, what Yang Wu didn't expect was that in the end, Li Cunqiao would choose to let Shi Jingjiao come to guard Youzhou.

Thinking that it was precisely because Shi Jingjiao colluded with the Khitans and ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in history that a series of problems appeared in later generations, and now Shi Jingjiao has become the envoy of the Lulong Festival, Yang Wu couldn't help but feel a little worried.

With Li Cunxuan's character, it is impossible for him to collude with the Khitans, but Shi Jingjiao, it is difficult to say.

Of course, today's Khitan is not the powerful Khitan that came later after all, and Wu State is not the Northern Song Dynasty, even if Shi Jingjiao colludes with the Khitans, Wu State may not be able to do anything about him.

After inquiring about the situation in Tang Kingdom, Yang Wu then asked about the situation on Feng Xiang's side.

Cheng Zong said: "There is no major incident on Fengxiang's side, and Li Congyi is very obedient to His Majesty's edict. ”

Yang Wu nodded when he heard this.

Li Maozhen, who was named King of Qin after surrendering to Wu, died of illness last year, and Yang Wu canonized his eldest son Li Congyi as the new envoy of the Fengxiang Festival and crowned him as the Duke of Qin.

In the past year, Yang Wu has not made any small moves against Fengxiang's territory, as long as Li Congyi can always be safe, he doesn't want to cause trouble for the time being.

After inquiring about all aspects of the situation, Yang Wu finally made up his mind and prepared to start an army to attack Shu.

However, in terms of the selection of the unified army, Yang Wu has not yet made a decision.

Shu has been peaceful for many years, the monarch and the minister are content with pleasure, and have long forgotten about the soldiers, and it should not be difficult to level it, but Shu is remote, and there is the danger of mountains and rivers, it is really a good place to stand on its own.

In history, after Zhong Hui and Deng Ai led the army to destroy Shu, Zhong Hui gave birth to the idea of separating and standing on its own; After the Tang Dynasty eliminated the former Shu, Meng Zhixiang, who went to take office, finally separated himself and successfully established the Later Shu regime, which are all historical lessons.

If the general who commanded the army of Pingshu succeeded in eliminating Shu this time, but he had a different heart, this would be a big problem, and Yang Wu would have to take precautions.

Of course, the control of the army by the Wu court is still much stronger than that of the Later Tang Dynasty in history, and as long as there is no major turmoil in the Wu State, the generals who lead the troops will not easily have the idea of separating themselves from each other.

However, if someone from the clan can personally lead the troops, it will naturally be more assured.

Thinking of the people of the clan, Yang Wu's eyes looked at the crown prince Yang Jiong who was standing aside, and his heart couldn't help but move.

"The crown prince is now over twenty years old, and he has always liked literary affairs, but his foundation in the army is not solid enough, and if he is allowed to lead the army, it will just allow him to establish prestige in the army, and allow him to get sufficient exercise; This time, who is more suitable than him? ”