In troubled times, strong strength is the last word.

As long as the emperor can survive for a few more years, there will be a rare few years of calm for all forces. In Yang Zhi's view, this time is extremely precious.

Yang Zhi's first stop when he left Beijing again to take up his post was in Shandong instead of Jinling's customs governor Yamen, because the most important task was to expand armaments.

Now Yang Zhi is not short of money, although the armament is money, but he can't rely solely on financial resources. It is no exaggeration to say that the fleet under the command of Shandong Sea Bear Zhan is invincible when looking at the world. Yang Zhi has always called it a fleet because he stubbornly believes that it is at best an armed fleet, too far away from the fleet in the true sense of the word in his mind. At any cost, it should be too late to build more than three fleets across the seas.

The procurement, attachment and modification of ships, the configuration, installation and improvement of weapons, ...... to the final self-construction and research and development, still cost a lot of money, and the important thing is that it takes time. Yang Zhi had been hesitating whether to come up with some modern firearms development methods, and it was time to come in handy.

On the contrary, the recruitment and training of personnel is not too much of a problem. With the temptation of land and money, coupled with the straightforward propaganda and incitement of Yang Zhi himself, it is enough to make an illiterate farmer memorize a "Thousand Character Text" within three days, and the order to prohibit it when he sails to the sea to make a fortune is not a problem.

According to the strategic plan agreed between Yang Zhi and Qin Kongyun, the Qin clan will also use the past few years to gradually shrink the structure and transfer human, material and financial resources to the coastal area. The two companies joined forces to find several other ports or islands in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, as fulcrums to echo each other with the islands off the coast of Shandong, and landed in Yizhou and Qiongzhou within three to five years to establish a stable rear base, and then expanded Southeast Asia as a springboard. It's time to reach the wider and farther ocean.

After leaving Chang'an all the way east, Yang Zhi only stayed in Jinan for three days and Penglai for two days. After landing on Dangji Island, he only rested for a day before rushing into Xiong Zhan's military camp. Accompanied by Xiong Zhan, he goes out early and returns late every day, and all his leisure is dedicated to accompanying Linglong and a pair of children, and he has a very fulfilling happy life. I soaked in Xiong Zhanjun for half a year. It was not until the Duanyang Festival on the fifth day of the fifth month of May that he set off for Jinling.

Yun Niang really lived up to Yang Zhi's expectations. After more than a year of dedicated efforts, the Commercial Investigation Department directly under her responsibility began to take shape and began to operate according to Yang Zhi's original vision. In addition to the more than 30 people who were left in the Yamen of the Customs Governor's Yamen to fill the façade, there were also 120 registered field secret agents and nearly 300 outside secret agents.

Because of the special profession in his previous life, Yang Zhi knew very well how important the role of an efficient spy agency was, so he was extremely concerned. For the sake of cost and efficiency. Yang Zhiyan ordered Yun Niang to control the scale of the secret spies within 500 people. The ranks of secret spies at all levels imitated the practice of the Great Xia Forbidden Army, and the salary and reward were issued at three times the current regulations of the forbidden army.

I have stayed in Jinling for more than three months, and it is already summer and autumn.

On the third day of September in the 28th year of Wucheng in the summer calendar, the emperor issued an edict: Zhao Qi, the fourth son of the emperor, King Yue, had reached the age of 16 and opened the mansion. The Western Turkic Soli Khan sent tribute, and Zhao Qi, the king of Yue, presided over the reception with the Ministry of Rites.

According to the regulations of Great Xia, the prince must move out of the palace when he reaches the age of 16 and has reached the age of becoming a king. Kaifu lived in another place. On the face of it, the emperor was just doing business as usual. But in the eyes of many. But it's quite intriguing.

After the crown prince was deposed, the two princes, King Ning and King Kang, were relieved of their military powers and recalled to Chang'an almost at the same time. Now King Ning is in the center of the cabinet, and King Kang serves as the governor of Chang'an. Fools know that the possibility of the crown prince being abolished and re-established is extremely small, when the three princes of the prince, King Ning, and King Kang are full of wings and have become their own forces, Zhao Qi, the king of Yue, is just a little kid who has just been weaned. That kid didn't have a proper shape when he was young. When he grew up, I didn't see him go anywhere. Although he is also legally qualified to succeed to the throne, it is difficult for people to associate him with the throne in terms of knowledge, ability, virtue and strength. In the eyes of the vast majority of people, except for Wang Yi is Wang II, there is nothing to do with Wang San. The new monarch who succeeded to the throne was either King Ning Zhao Dang or King Kang Kang.

But in the eyes of the old captain Chen Wenyuan, the first auxiliary university scholar Wang Yunong, the forbidden army general Zhou Ting, the Wuyingdian university scholar Geng Jin, the general Zeng Yingming, and even the Fu King Zhao Xing, Ning Wang Zhao Dang, and Kang Wang Zhao Dang, it is different.

At present, the two princes of King Ning and King Kang are working hard in front of the emperor, it can be said that you are chasing me and catching up, the emperor suddenly issued an edict to let the king of Yue open the mansion and set up his own door, and the tributaries of the foreign domain are responsible for the reception, although it is an innocuous errand, but it can be regarded as a stage appearance, how many meanings does your old man mean? When Zhao Qi was competing for the position of the general, he feasted the ministers as the prince of the prison country, although it was short-lived, but how deep was the impression left on people?

Yang Zhi saw this seemingly inconspicuous edict from the newspaper of the Ming Dynasty, especially when he learned that the palace of the king of Yue was only a stone's throw away from the Qin mansion, and what he immediately subconsciously thought of was that the emperor inadvertently ordered him to participate in the selection of generals of the forbidden army as the personal guard of the king of Yue, the first meeting with the Duke of Qin in the countryside inn at the end of the South Mountain, the deep conversation with the emperor in the secret room of the Qin Mansion, the showdown with the emperor in the stone pavilion of the imperial garden, and the ...... of the emperor's meaningful instructions to him in the imperial study.

If all this was deliberately done six years ago or even earlier, then the emperor's scheming is simply terrifying! …… Yang Zhi knows that Zhao Qi is talented and intelligent, that kid is idle every day, eating and waiting for death, and he seems to have always disdained and avoided the throne, if this virtue is from the emperor's instructions, deliberately disguised to show people, wouldn't it be even more terrifying? !

Although the turtle is long-lived, there is still a time. What about people? At that time, Yang Zhi tried his best to help the emperor thwart the crown prince and seize power, but after thinking about it, it may not be really so reasonable. In terms of its own strength, it is no longer what it used to be. Even if the old emperor wants to move him, I'm afraid he has to weigh it, I don't care who the the new emperor is!

After the Double Ninth Festival, Yang Zhi put on a pomp and circumstance like the governor of the Customs, and went to the Yuhang Customs Branch Office to inspect. Not long after Wu Yue's new destruction, Yang Zhi had no foundation in Wu Yue before, and if it weren't for Qin Kongyun's great help, the establishment of a branch office in Yuhang would definitely not be so smooth. The high-profile patrol shows the prestige, and it is also to cheer up the sub-office's strategic envoy Gao Kejing.

Geng Chao commanded the troops to guard Yuhang as the general of Pingnan, and belonged to the super martial arts. Yang Zhi is the governor of Sanpin Customs, who holds a lot of power, and he can be civil and martial, and the identities of the two are basically equal. The background of Yuhang Prefect Feng Ze is similar to that of Jinling Prefect Zhou Renjie, and his rank and power are much worse than Yang Zhi. After Yang Zhi and his entourage arrived in Yuhang, they followed the official system of Daxia seriously and visited Geng Chao and Feng Ze respectively.

As the saying goes, different ways do not conspire with each other, Geng Chao once crisscrossed the desert with Yang Zhi, fighting side by side, and they should have formed a brotherhood of life and death between each other, but they didn't want to become the most familiar strangers inexplicably. The meeting between the two in Yuhang was as plain as water, and both parties were business-oriented. Except for a few words of greetings on the scene, there was no more than half a sentence.

Geng Chao personally sent Yang Zhi out of the barracks, looked at his back and was stunned, and was silent for a long time. Geng Chao's father and son were generals for two generations, both of whom had great military achievements and had a high prestige in the army. Seeing Geng Chao's intentions, the accompanying deputy general kindly comforted: "This person is a merchant child, and he was just a small five-grade army under the command of the general, and he relied on the general's tiger power to become famous in a battle. Now it seems that he can be on an equal footing with the general, but the current emperor Shengming has not let him return to the army to take charge of the army. It can be seen that in the battle of the unified army, the emperor thinks that the general is better than Yang Zhiduo! ”

Unexpectedly, Geng Chao suddenly dumbfounded and angrily reprimanded: "What do you know? Run off at the mouth! If it weren't for Yang Zhi's courage and resourcefulness, would Geng Mouyan be able to live to this day? There are not many people I sincerely admire in Geng Chao's life, and the first one is him Yang Zhi! If there is really a day when Yang Zhi is in charge of the army in the future, even if he is only a little fart captain under his account, Lao Tzu is willing! ”

As everyone knows, Yang Zhi has never had the slightest interest in military power, and he never thought that one day he would lead a large army to fight and destroy anyone on the land of the Chinese Dynasty. In fact, even this possibility is getting more and more distant.

According to the Mingfa Prefecture and County Mansion Newspaper in November of the 28th year of the reign of Wucheng of the Xia calendar, in the past two years, Great Xia has reduced 300,000 local government soldiers and 50,000 forbidden troops. The emperor's next goal was to reduce and withdraw another 150,000 border troops from Shuofang, Youzhou, and Suizhou. More than half of the original standing army of one million people in Great Xia has been reduced and maintained at about 500,000 people, and since it is enough to defend the territory and defend the country, the heavy pressure on the national treasury brought by the huge military expenditure over the years can also be greatly reduced.

Forge a sword into a plowshare, and do what you say. Even the blind can see that the emperor really doesn't want to fight. Not only the neighboring Shu Kingdom, Southern Chu, and Northern Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but it was undoubtedly a blessing for the people of Great Xia.

In the turbulent times of the world's strife, what kind of determination and courage is needed to disarm 500,000 people in three years? But if the emperor is willing to let go of the idea of dominating the world, it is absolutely false.

Since the emperor had seen the equipment of the customs officials in various places as stated in Yang Zhi's chapter, he was actually very greedy. Wouldn't the cost of raising troops and the money saved be allocated for the purchase of horses and the gradual improvement of equipment, wouldn't the combat effectiveness of the Great Xia Xiong Division be even stronger?

After consulting Yang Zhi's opinion in a secret decree, the emperor successively issued edicts in October of the 28th year of Wucheng: the annual selection of generals of the forbidden army was officially set as the military system of Great Xia, and no changes were allowed. The triennial martial arts remain unchanged, except for martial arts and cavalry archery, and the consideration of military books and battle strategies is added. The triennial imperial examination remains unchanged, and engineering scholars are added. In addition to the manufacturing office that was originally subordinate to the Ministry of Industry, a craftsman's office was added, and the chief officer of the two offices must be an official above the head of the Ministry of Industry. In other words, the manufacturing office and the craftsman's office have been upgraded to vice-ministerial units.

Do not be belligerent, do not forget to fight. Focus on the long-term, prepare unremittingly, and be descendants. These few words in Yang Zhimi's recital, the emperor thought it was true! (To be continued.) )