Bo Yao raised his chin at Gong Huiran, and the fat on his face shook twice, "Lord Gong Hui, you have worked hard this year, I have long wanted to invite you to a meal alone, but I have been busy with business recently, and I finally have a little free, hehe, you're welcome, although you eat and drink well." ”

"Thank you, Dazai-sama." Gong Hui saluted again.

"This year's fiscal and tax matters are really bothering the princess, right?"

"Don't hide it, it's true, this year, the king is fighting against the country, the consumption is huge, the military expenditure is more than 100,000 taels of gold, and the country's finances and taxes are almost stretched."

"What Lord Gonghui said is right, I looked at this year's fiscal and tax calculations, and the wealth accumulated by the country in the past few years will be wiped out in a few months. Hehe, but then again, after the country has money, it still has to be used to fight wars after all. Otherwise, what's the use of asking for money? It can't all be spent on those poor people, right? Lord Gonghui has to think clearly, the king's mind is different from that of our courtiers. ”

Gong Wanran nodded, although he did not approve of the king's reckless force, but he knew that the king's mind was indeed as Bo Yao said. As a courtier, although he wanted to dissuade the king from destroying the country, he could not do anything after all, he could only do what he could do to the best of his ability.

Gong Wanran continued: "Our country's military spending has been overwhelmed, not only that, but other expenses are also surging, in order to maintain the expenditure, subordinates have to increase taxes, the two years of fiscal and tax surge, the people have been unable to afford it......

Before he finished speaking, Bo Yao hurriedly raised his hand and interrupted: "Hey, don't say that, Lord Gonghui, how can you say that the people can't afford it?" I think the people of our country are still doing very well. If you go to compare with the Chen State, the Yue State, and even the Chu State, our people's lives are much better, speaking of which, this is really thanks to Lord Gonghui. ”

"I'm ashamed."

"Lord Gonghui doesn't need to be modest, my biggest achievement in the past few years is to promote you. Since the princess was promoted to the secretary of state and was in charge of the country's finance and taxation, our life has been much better. The people are well fed and clothed, and the king doesn't have to worry about money when he fights. ”

"It's the responsibility of the subordinates."

"Lord Gonghui doesn't have to be subordinate to his subordinates all day long, although you were promoted by me, but you are also an important member of the DPRK and the Central Committee, if you let people know that we have such a close relationship, you still think that we are forming a party for personal gain, haha, haha. Come, Lord Gonghui, drink. ”

Gong Wanran was upset, but he had to raise his glass and drink with Bo Yao.

Bo Yao cut off another piece of pork leg, and while feasting, he said to Gong Wanran: "Don't just drink, eat meat, hehe, eat meat, this suckling pig is tender!" ”

Gong Wanran nodded, but did not eat meat, only chewed a little corn.

"That's right." Bo Yao gulped down the meat and said with a smile: "I heard that Zhang Xun applied for an engineering instrument and iron equipment from the king? ”

Gong Wan's heart trembled, and he suddenly felt uneasy. He deliberately pretended not to know and said, "Yes, I heard about it, but I don't know if the king approves it yet." ”

"Oh? How could Lord Gonghui be so unaware? Bo Yao raised his eyebrows, and his voice was a little strange.

Gong Wanran smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "I really don't know." ”

"Then let me tell you, the king agreed to Zhang Xun's application, and is ready to allocate 50,000 taels of gold to him specifically for this matter."

"Oh......" Gong Hui nodded thoughtfully.

"What? Is the princess worried? ”

"Yes, the king opened his mouth for 50,000 taels, but I can't get so much money anyway."

"Haha, yes, I was also shocked when I heard about this, where are you going to get 50,000 taels of gold? If you can raise 15,000 taels, that's good, isn't it? Princess? Ha ha. ”

When he heard Bo Yao say this number, Gong Wan was shocked in his heart, although he knew that Bo Yao knew about finance and taxation, but he never expected that Bo Yao would have such a clear understanding of the situation of finance and taxation, if he was not familiar with all the accounts, how could he say this number?

Gong Hui was terrified in his heart, but he didn't seem shocked on the surface, "Dazai-sama's calculation is very accurate, I should only be able to raise so much money." ”

"Hehe, it's really embarrassing for Lord Gonghui, so let's do me an idea, but I can do Lord Gonghui a favor."

"Oh? Help me? ”

"yes, I can help you. As long as the public is as smart as ever, this matter, hehe, it will not be difficult to do. ”

Four days later, Chinese New Year's Eve.

In the morning, the weather is sunny and sunny, the ice and snow in Huiji City melt, as the saying goes, the snow is not cold and the snow is cold, at this time, even if you stand in the sun, you will be shivering.

He Yu stepped on the mud and came to Ji Zheng's residence, he wanted to send Ji Zheng some frost-wrapped dumplings, of course, if Ji Zheng agreed, he hoped that Ji Zheng could go to their residence to celebrate the New Year with them. But after coming, the housekeeper told him that Ji Zheng was not at home but went to the palace early in the morning to discuss matters. He Yu wanted to put down the dumplings and go back, but after thinking about it, he should still hand over the dumplings to Ji Zheng himself, even if Ji Zheng didn't celebrate the New Year with them, some blessings would still be said before the year.

So, Heyu picked up the bamboo basket containing the dumplings and walked towards the palace.

It didn't take long for He Yu to come to the outside of the palace, there were only two guards outside the old and narrow palace gate, and the low palace walls looked very dilapidated. The so-called imperial palace is nothing more than a high platform and a few mansions, which really can't be compared with the state of Wu.

He Yu waited outside the door, and before he knew it, half an hour had passed, and his feet were numb from the cold, so he had to pace back and forth, and when he was bored, he suddenly saw a tall stone pillar standing not far away. The stone pillar was inlaid with several bronze beast faces, each with exaggerated teeth, and one of the beast faces had a sword mark that slanted downward, which evoked Heyu's memories.

I remember that when I was very young, He Yu followed his mother to Yueguo, and they lived in Huiji City for nearly a year. Because he was still young at that time, He Yu had no impression of Huiji City, but he vaguely remembered this stone pillar.

Once he was playing outside, and he ran to the side of this stone pillar while running, and he didn't pay attention to it at first, but when he suddenly looked up and saw the beast face on the stone pillar, he was so frightened that he cried, and the servants couldn't coax it.

It happened that his uncle came over, grabbed him and led him to the stone pillar. His uncle gave him the sword and told him to hold it in both hands and cut down the faces of the beasts, telling him that the only way to overcome his fear was to face it and overcome it.

The young Heyu stopped crying, he seemed to understand something from his uncle's words, he grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands, and raised the sword high with all his strength, accompanied by a shout, Heyu slashed down at the terrifying beast face.

At this time, in the Huiji Palace, King Yue was rubbing the sword that was always by his side.

"Great King, this is the envoy of the Qi State - Guo Shu, General Guo." Xiao Shi introduced to King Yue.

Guo Shu took a step forward and saluted King Yue, "Under Guo Shu, meet Your Majesty." ”

King Yue nodded and said: "General Guo, I have admired for a long time, in the battle of Yigu, General Guo had the courage to skip people, went deep into the enemy camp to deceive his husband, and divided the 140,000 army into two with a little trick, which is really wise and brave!" ”

"Guo Mou's plan is clumsy, I am really ashamed, the situation at that time was compelled, and there was no way to take the risk, but fortunately, King Wu had a plan."

"Huh." King Yue waved his hand and smiled: "Not clumsy, not clumsy, as long as it works, it is a good strategy." The husband will inevitably fall for the scheme, and he wants to win too much. ”

"Your Majesty sees it. However, Guo still lost to General Ji in the end. Guo Shu said and turned his gaze to Ji Zheng on the other side.

Ji Zheng arched his hand and said: "General Guo is modest, he is just taking advantage of the fisherman, and he is not enough to worry about." ”

King Yue got up and stepped down from the throne, came to Guo Shu and said: "General Guo should know that if you let the husband know that you and I have a secret meeting, you will definitely immediately send troops to conquer, so that no matter whether it is Yue or Qi, I am afraid that it will be destroyed." ”

"Your Majesty is right, so I have to disguise myself as a dead person and visit on Chinese New Year's Eve in order to hide people's eyes."

"It seems that we have all taken a big risk, so in that case, we might as well have an open and honest conversation."

"Yes, Your Majesty. My lord is young, and he has just inherited the throne, but he has high aspirations, how can he endure this great humiliation? Wu Guobing came to the city and almost killed my Qi country, this hatred is so great that it is not worth the sky! My king is willing to make an alliance with His Majesty privately to jointly crusade against the Kingdom of Wu! ”

After hearing these words, King Yue was overjoyed, stepped forward and grabbed Guo Shu's hand, and laughed: "Haha, haha, if our two countries form an alliance, then Fucha will die!" ”

"Exactly!"

"Good! General Guo, if you have any plans, let's talk about it! ”

"Your Majesty, now that Wu Guo is newly victorious, Fucha's desire to dominate the world for many years is finally about to come true, but for him, this overlord is only in fact, and has no name."

"Oh? Only in fact, but not in name? What do you mean by that? ”

"Today, the strength of the Wu State is naturally undoubted, the princes of the world are terrified, except for the Jin State, there is no one who can compare, and even the Jin State may have to give up three points."

"Well, you're right, today is the strongest in the Wu Kingdom."

"However, no matter how strong the Wu State is, as long as there are no alliance princes, the overlord of this world is still not his husband."

King Yue suddenly realized, nodded and said: "Well, yes, if you want to really become the overlord of the world, you must go through such a ceremony, and only by being hegemonic by blood and canonized by the Son of Heaven can you be regarded as a hegemon in the true sense." ”

"More than 100 years ago, the first king of our Qi country, Huan Gong, attacked Shanrong in the north, attacked the barbarian Chu in the south, and rescued the Son of Heaven from danger, so he was canonized by the Son of Heaven and was elected as the first overlord on the land of China when the princes met the alliance. At this point, there was a saying of dominating the world, and the princes also had the ambition to pursue the position of overlord. Therefore, what Fucha wants to do most at this time is to meet the princes of the alliance and dominate with blood! ”

"Hehe, hehe, that's right, the husband must be crazy!"

"That's right! On the day of the alliance, in order to show his prestige, Fucha must lead the army to the Central Plains, then the country will be empty, if His Majesty leads the troops to raid Wu and go straight to Gusu, then Fucha can only rush back to rescue, and our country is ambushed along the way, at that time, Fucha will inevitably kill a piece of armor! ”

"Good! So much better! It's just that...... The army is abundant, even if he brings a large army, the country will not be empty, right? ”

Guo Shu shook his head and said with a smile: "Although the State of Wu defeated our country, it suffered heavy losses in its troops, with casualties approaching 50,000. As far as I know, the regular army of Wu is only 60,000 or 70,000 people, and the reason why we were able to gather 100,000 people in this attack on our country is because a large number of militia and reserves have been mobilized. I estimate that the regular strength of Wu is now around 20,000! ”

King Yue nodded and said, "I know my husband too well, he values face more than anything else, so when he goes to the Central Plains Alliance, he will bring at least 20,000 people!" ”

Guo Shu smiled contemptuously, "If the husband meets the alliance in three years, the strength of the Wu State may still be restored, but if it goes to the Central Plains to meet the alliance within two years, then the Wu country will definitely be empty!" ”

"Haha, Fucha is hegemonic, and he will inevitably go north to the Central Plains as soon as possible! Three years? Haha, he couldn't wait that long! ”

"What Your Majesty said is very true!"

"Haha! Good! So much better! Then you and I will secretly make an alliance to join forces to take revenge when the husband goes north! ”

"Good!" After that, Guo Shu bowed deeply to King Yue.

"Today's Chinese New Year's Eve, General Xiao will accompany you in the evening, the Yue country and the Qi country are far apart, and the customs are very different, General Guo may wish to feel the taste of the Yue year."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After the council was over, everyone left the palace. As soon as Ji Zheng left the palace gate, he saw Heyu not far away. He Yu was leaning against the stone pillar, rubbing the sword marks on the face of a bronze beast.

"Heyu? Why are you here? ”

"Oh, Brother Ji Zheng, I'm waiting for you."

Ji Zheng saw that Heyu's face was red from the cold, and hurriedly pulled Heyu back, "Wait for me?" What's the urgency? ”

"I didn't ...... It's nothing urgent......" He Yu sniffed and said tremblingly: "My sister made some dumplings and asked me to send them to Brother Ji Zheng." ”

He Yu said and lifted the bamboo basket in his hand.

Ji Zheng took the bamboo basket and said with some emotion: "Thank you, thank you for helping me." ”

"Don't ...... You're welcome, Brother Ji Zheng. In addition......"

"Huh?"

"Evening ...... Well...... Does Brother Ji Zheng have any arrangements for the evening? ”

"Me?" Ji Zheng smiled bitterly: "What arrangements can I make alone?" ”

"That'...... Then let's celebrate the New Year together. ”

Hearing this, Ji Zheng's heart was hot, and he suddenly thought of a Chinese New Year's Eve a few years ago, on that day, everyone gathered together for the New Year, and there was no shortage of one, although there were many people missing today, but it was better than himself.

"Okay, I'll go over in the evening, let's celebrate the New Year together."

"Good! That's great! That's great! ”