Kaifeng Mansion, Qionglin Palace.

A map table has been set up in the main hall.

Zhao Ji, an official of the Great Song Dynasty, circled around the map platform with a blue face, followed by several important ministers, all of whom were also full of melancholy.

Wu Haode had already returned to Kaifeng Mansion a day earlier, bringing back frightening news. Wu Yijiu, the head of the Zhou state, prescribed harsh peace conditions - to kill the retro gentleman, and also to hand over the land of Hejian and Cangzhou.

Such conditions are, of course, unacceptable! It's okay to kill the six gentlemen of the retro, how can it be possible to cut the land of two roads? After the cut, the Hebei fortress defense line will not exist, and the Zhou army will be able to drive straight into the city of Kaifeng.

Since it can't be accepted, then there is nothing to say, so I can only prepare for war, but fortunately, Da Song now has a little capital.

"Your Majesty, the Hebei defense line is impregnable, there are more than a hundred fortresses, and the Zhou people don't want to break through for ten years!"

Knowing the Privy Council, Uncle Zhang was full of confidence. Because Da Song is still prepared! In the past ten years, although Zhao Ji has lost his enterprising spirit, he still spares no expense in defense.

Moreover, the Great Song Dynasty and the Great Zhou Dynasty were actually progressing together - the current progress of civilization on the Chinese continent actually began with Confucianism acquiring the "tools of Gewu". That is, a series of changes triggered by the rise of positivism more than 20 years ago.

And the original base camp of the positivists was in the land of the Song Dynasty! Therefore, the Song Dynasty was not an ancient country left behind by the rapid development of capitalism, but a country that was also at the forefront of the times like the Zhou State.

The relationship between the two countries is somewhat like that between Prussia and Austria before the Austro-Prussian War. Although Prussia was strong, Austria was not a backward colony. It's just that the historical baggage is a bit heavy, stumbling on the pace of progress.

Of course, the weakness of the Great Song Dynasty now is only relative to the Great Zhou. With the 300,000 new army and powerful fleet of the Great Song Dynasty, it was enough to defeat any powerful country except the Zhou State.

Even the Jin State, which destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty in history, is not the opponent of the new army of the Song Dynasty at all now - the Jin army has no tricks when it encounters the camel city of the Empress Dowager Xiao, and of course it has to be killed against the new army of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Lianjin Anti-Zhou has now become a dispensable thing.

"What about the sea?" Zhao Ji is not too worried about the Hebei defense line being broken through, what he is really worried about is the sea.

The coastline of the Great Song Dynasty is very long, and the navy is still not as good as that of the Zhou Kingdom. So Zhao Ji was very worried about the invasion of the Zhou Kingdom from the sea......

"Of course, the Zhou State has the advantage at sea, and their warships and cannons are better than ours."

Uncle Zhang said: "However, artillery forts have been built in various critical sea ports, which are enough to resist the fleet of the Zhou State.

It's just that the defenders of Haikou everywhere are limited, and there are no artillery fortifications in non-critical harbors. In particular, the coastal entrances of Jingdong East Road, except for Haizhou Jingdong Port and Mizhou Banqiao Port, are relatively empty.

Four prefectures, including Dengzhou, Laizhou, Victoria, and Qingzhou, are the most dangerous. However, the four state cities have been converted into fortresses, and each has a new army to defend. ”

Zhao Ji's gaze swept over the long coastline of the Shandong Peninsula, and he also felt that there were loopholes everywhere.

But the coastline is too long. The Shandong Peninsula alone is close to the Bohai Bay, there are nearly 1,000 miles of twists and turns, although there is only one Dengzhou in Dagang, but there are many fishing ports. If you want to blockade with bastions, you need at least a few dozen.

Moreover, the artillery and army field artillery possessed by the naval fleet of the Zhou State are not of the same rank at all. Therefore, the cost of building coastal defense fortresses is too high, if you want to build dozens of fortresses in the north of the Shandong Peninsula, it is enough to bankrupt the finances of the Great Song Dynasty!

In addition, even the Great Song Dynasty built dozens of fortresses at any cost. As long as the Zhou navy bypassed the Shandong Peninsula, these fortresses would still be given in vain.

Therefore, after repeated trade-offs, the Song army had only four fortresses in the northern part of the Shandong Peninsula, among which the Dengzhou fortress that controlled the port of Dengzhou was the most fortified.

"There are too few defenders!" Zhao Ji said, "Increase to three, no, four will!" ”

Uncle Zhang said: "That's 12 generals, almost 60 battalions.

The eastern coast of the southern line also needed to deploy heavy troops, and the officers and troops built forts in Wendeng, Rushan, Jimo, and Banqiao towns, and also stationed a general each. ”

"Double." Zhao Ji said.

"That's 8 generals, plus the previous 12 generals, a total of 20 generals, about 100 battalions."

Uncle Zhang frowned and was settling accounts, "Haizhou Jingdong Commercial City, Yuzhou Island, Lianshui Army, Tongzhou, Yangzhou, Xiuzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou, Runzhou, Jiangning Mansion, Hangzhou, Yuezhou, Mingzhou, Taizhou, Wenzhou and other southern coastal state armies also need to arrange defenders. Where it matters, a fortress must also be built...... It's really going to be deployed everywhere! ”

Zhao Ji's brows are getting tighter and tighter, the Great Song Dynasty has thousands of miles of sea territory! If defenses have to be deployed everywhere, how can the new army of 300 battalions be enough?

"Can Zhou's sailors transport soldiers and horses to Jiangnan?" Shaozai Su Chi looked at the map and interjected.

"How not?" Ji recalled, "Even Annan and Java can go, what can't Jiangnan go?" ”

Zhang Shuye said: "It is difficult for ordinary land soldiers and horses to go into battle immediately after sailing thousands of miles, but the Zhou Navy has a so-called marine. The army numbered about 10,000 men, was extremely strong, and adapted to the wind and waves of the sea. It can sail thousands of miles and go ashore to fight without resting. ”

Ji Yi thought for a while, "Then we have to deploy at least one new army in the coastal states of Fujian, Jiangnan, and Huainan." Guangnan Road also has to put two or three generals, that is, ......"

"At least 23 generals are needed!" Zhang Shuye frowned and calculated, "Counting the 20 generals who were placed along Jingdong East Road before, it is 43 generals, at least 215 battalion heads...... Not enough! Now there are 150 battalions in Hebei, and Hedong, Kaifeng, Shaanxi, and Shuofang must also have elite soldiers.

In addition, the imperial court also needs an elite army that can travel from all over the place for reinforcements. I'm afraid another 200 battalions will need to be recruited. ”

Now the Great Song Dynasty has 320 battalions of new troops in its hands, divided into more than 60 generals. The total number of troops is about 300,000!

There are a lot of them, but there are as many as 700,000 troops that can be mobilized on the Zhou side.

It also has the advantage of being able to land all along the long coastline of the Great Song Dynasty.

So 300,000 new troops are clearly not enough......

"How can a new army of 200 battalions be built so easily?" Tongzhi Privy Council member Zong Ze just shook his head, "Nearly 180,000 people!" Even if soldiers can be recruited, they still have to be trained and equipped...... I'm afraid I won't be able to form an army in one year! ”

He sighed: "The "Guangfu Bao" is right, compared with the Zhou State, we are inferior in 'suppressing annexation' and 'granting military fields'. If there are hundreds of thousands of military households, wouldn't 180,000 new troops be at your fingertips? ”

When he said this, everyone in the hall was silent.

Not to mention the "suppression of annexation" and "granting military land", hundreds of thousands of military households are not allowed to hundreds of millions of acres of land? Where to get it? It's 180,000 soldiers, which is enough to give people a headache.

This is not a time of peace, but a time of war! Being a soldier is life-threatening, and it's huge!

Without a 180 settling-in fee, can you recruit a strong man? 180,000 sturdy men are 18 million ...... Then at least 90,000 yuan of military salaries and 10,000 stone of military rations were spent every month. They also had to be equipped with armor, horses, artillery, and vehicles (the Song army's main focus was on the tactics of the car fort), and they had to be equipped with officers.

In addition, when these old soldiers are out, when they go into battle, and when they are finished fighting, they have to be rewarded again!

The 200 battalions must be ready at any time with tens of millions of dollars, otherwise it will be too late to allocate them.

Zong Ze then said: "If you want to raise 180,000 Ding Zhuang, you have to prepare 20 million, and after the recruitment is completed, the monthly military salary will be 100,000, and the military food will be at least 10,000 stone." It is estimated that all kinds of equipment, horses, and vehicles will cost 10 million, and the reward will be 10 million.

In addition, it is necessary to repair the fortress and build a warship. As for it, it will cost tens of millions.

To be rich, the imperial court has to prepare 50 million yuan, and there is a budget of 150,000 yuan per month. ”

Zhao Ji immediately looked at Ji Yi and Su Chi. Although the Great Song Dynasty was wealthy, its various expenditures were extremely huge, and they were in deficit almost every year. Relying on the Dasong Bank in Xuzhou and the bond market in Jingdong City to raise loans, it can barely survive. Now I have to take out an additional 50 million all of a sudden, but it really costs the life of the imperial court.

"Ji Qing, Su Qing, are you rich?" Zhao Ji asked Ji Yi and Su Chi.

"Yes, yes." Ji recalled, "The imperial court can issue bonds to raise funds, but it's a big deal to raise the interest a little higher, and 50 million yuan is not a problem." ”

Su Chi also said: "The minister will go to Xuzhou immediately and find a way to raise funds with his brother." Within three months, 50 million can be raised! ”

"Give you a month!" Zhao Ji said, "No matter what, we have to raise 50 million!" ”

Su Chi glanced at Ji Yi, Ji Yi nodded, and Su Chi said, "The minister will not be dishonored!" ”

I have to say that the progress of the Song Dynasty is still huge! There are not only hundreds of thousands of new troops standing on the threshold of hot weapons, but also a group of industrial and commercial cities that have crossed the threshold of capitalism, and financial markets that can raise large sums of money.

Compared with the Great Song Dynasty in history, it can be regarded as a rebirth, and it can even be said that it has touched some fundamentals!

Of course, this kind of fundamental progress was made under the pressure of the Great Zhou Republic.

The Great Zhou Republic was a Han country, and the pressure on the Great Song Dynasty could be imagined. If the monarchs and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty dare not make progress, they will not even have the strength to resist at this time.

However, the real reform of the deep-water areas - the land system and the imperial examination system - is still stubbornly preserved. This made the Great Song Dynasty, which had 100 million people, a completely weak country in front of the Great Zhou, which had more than 10 million people.

To put it more thoroughly, this "civil war" in China was actually a war between hundreds of thousands of citizens and hundreds of thousands of Song Dynasty scholars.

Citizens fight on their own, while scholars collect taxes and then recruit troops to go to war...... After going around in circles, the efficiency has naturally decreased a lot.

So when the war broke out, the initiative completely fell into the hands of the Zhou State.