The fact that the Su family army was preparing to send troops to the Cangyu Empire was not only known to the Shalad Empire, but also the Cangyu Empire also knew the news of the Su family's imminent attack through its own intelligence system in the Purple Moon Empire.

On the morning of March 10, 3012 in the Tang calendar, in a large hall of the imperial palace in Cangyu City, the capital of the Cangyu Empire, the pale-faced Emperor Zhao Zhi said in a deep voice to dozens of court ministers: "Ahem - according to reliable intelligence, the Su family army that leased Dingnan Province, Luochuan Province, Lianshan Province and Shaanjiang Province of the Purple Moon Empire is expanding its army on a large scale, preparing to invade our Cangyu Empire under the banner of dealing with the Shalad Empire, what do you think about this?" ”

The crown prince Zhao Kai immediately came out and said: "Father, since the armistice treaty was signed with the Salad Empire, the size of our Cangyu Empire's army has been reduced again and again, and now there are only ten infantry corps left in the Royal Army, and the army units of the nobles in various places are combined, and there are only about five legions left, but the Shalad Empire still requires our Cangyu Empire to abide by the armistice treaty and control the royal army and the army of the nobles in various places to the scale of ten infantry corps. ”

After a pause, the crown prince Zhao Kai continued: "Erchen believes that in order to resist the invasion of the Su family's army, we should first negotiate with the Shalad Empire, and let the Sharad Empire lift the restrictions on the number of troops of our Cangyu Empire. ”

Article 3 of the armistice agreement signed between the Cangyu Empire and the Shalad Empire stipulates that the total strength of the Royal Army of the Cangyu Empire and the army units of the nobles in various places must be limited to three million, and according to the establishment of the Cangyu Empire's army, three million people is only the size of ten infantry regiments.

Emperor Zhao Zhi nodded slightly and said: "Ahem-the prince is right, this time the Su family army wants to invade our Cangyu Empire, which is equivalent to tying the Sharad Empire and our Cangyu Empire together, presumably the Shalad Empire should be relieved." ”

At this time, Shi Jian, the prime minister of the Cangyu Empire, said bitterly: "Your Majesty, the empire's financial deficit is serious, and it is no longer possible to come up with any more money to expand the Royal Army, and there are still ten infantry regiments in the Royal Army, and there are almost three months without military salaries. ”

Emperor Zhao Zhi sighed and said: "The state affairs are difficult, but the army will not be able to expand, what good suggestions do you have?" Ahem—"

After Emperor Zhao Zhi finished saying this, the hall fell into silence, the previous war with the Shalad Empire almost bankrupted the finances of the Cangyu Empire, and then because the people of the Cangyu Empire were strongly dissatisfied with the armistice agreement signed with the Shalad Empire, the Cangyu Empire was in turmoil, which made the Cangyu Empire's finances with a serious deficit even worse.

In order to resist the Su army, if the Cangyu Empire wants to expand its army, it must at least expand millions of land forces, and only millions of army weapons and equipment will need at least hundreds of millions of taels of silver, and these ministers of the Cangyu Empire can't think of any good way to conjure hundreds of millions of taels of silver.

In the end, it was the crown prince Zhao Kai who broke the silence in the hall, "Father, the army of the Salad Empire is in the Purple Moon Empire, and it has suffered a big loss in the hands of the Su family's army, maybe the money for the expansion of our Cangyu Empire can be found from the Sharad Empire." ”

Soon the request of the Cangyu Empire was sent to the hands of the Emperor Herris of the Sharad Empire.

"Prime Minister, what do you think of the Cangyu Empire's request?" Emperor Herris asked Prime Minister Shurik.

Prime Minister Shurik pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that he can temporarily agree to the request of the Cangyu Empire to expand the army, after all, if the Su family army invades the Cangyu Empire, the army of the Cangyu Empire can also share a lot of pressure for our Salad Royal Army, but the minister does not recommend helping the expansion of the Cangyu Empire, a weak Cangyu Empire is in the interests of our Sharad Empire." ”

Emperor Herris thought for a moment and said: "The Cangyu Empire is actually not a concern, the Su family army is a big trouble for our Sharad Empire, in the war with the Cangyu Empire, didn't our Sharad Royal Army capture a lot of weapons and ammunition, I feel that we can return a part of the Cangyu Empire." ”

Considering the threat of the Su family's army, the Shalad Empire finally agreed to relax the restrictions on the number of land forces of the Cangyu Empire, and also gave the Cangyu Empire two million old breech single-shot rifles and 200 million rounds of ammunition at one time.

In a dormitory in the imperial palace of Cangyu City, the capital of the Cangyu Empire, Emperor Zhao Zhi coughed and said to Prime Minister Shi Jian and Prince Zhao Kai: "Ahem-no matter what, before defeating the Su family's army, the Salad Empire will not oppose the expansion of our Cangyu Empire, ahem-how much do you say our Royal Army of the Cangyu Empire should be expanded this time?" ”

The crown prince Zhao Kai did not immediately answer Emperor Zhao Zhi's question, but said with a concerned face: "Father, the matter of expanding the army is still discussed by the sons and the prime minister, and now for the father, the most important thing is to take care of the illness." ”

Emperor Zhao Zhi sighed, "Ahem-my body, I know in my heart that it is an old problem, the prince does not need to worry, let's talk about how much the Royal Army should expand this time!" ”

Prime Minister Shi Jian said: "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, since the Shalad Empire has given two million breech single-shot rifles, then our Royal Army can expand its army by another two million, but with the addition of the original three million, the strength of our Royal Army will be restored to five million, so the pressure on the finances will be very huge." ”

The crown prince Zhao Kai hesitated and said, "Father, can our Cangyu Empire unite with the Su family's army?" ”

Before Emperor Zhao Zhi could speak, Prime Minister Shi Jian hurriedly said: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, you must not consider the matter of uniting with the Su Family, after all, the Salad Empire is the second most powerful country in the world, although the Su Family Army can be brave for a while, but the final loser must be the Su Family, not to mention that the Su Family's ambitions for our Cangyu Empire are likely to be above the Shalad Empire." ”

Emperor Zhao Zhi nodded and said: "Ahem - the prime minister is reasonable, no matter what banner the Su family army is fighting, as long as the Su family army invades our Cangyu Empire, it will be the enemy of our Cangyu Empire, the Salad Empire only wants to obtain enough benefits in our Cangyu Empire, and Su Yi of the Su Family Army is likely to want to replace the royal family of our Cangyu Empire!" Prince, don't have the idea of uniting with the Su family's army! ”

"Yes, Father!"

"By the way, when I streamlined the Royal Army some time ago, didn't there be nearly a million more breech single-shot rifles, plus the two million given by the Shalad Empire, I feel that our Royal Army of the Cangyu Empire can be expanded by ten more infantry regiments, and as for the issue of military spending, the royal family can come up with 50 million taels of silver for emergencies."