The prime minister's meaning Zhou Pu soon understood, and he hoped that Zhou Pu would take the Japanese imperial family into his own hands by marching into Kyoto, and then borrow the authority and reputation of the Japanese imperial family to obtain the right to dispose of Japan's gold and silver deposits, as well as other powers.

"Xiaguan understands!" Zhou Pu nodded immediately.

"It's good to understand."

……………………

Just when Cheng communicated privately with his ministers, another large group of military members in the Han court was not idle. The three most important military personnel present today -- Marshal Cai Guogong Shi Manqiang, Xingyang Bo Zhao Song, and Jiujiang Marquis Liu Tao -- also met in another tea room.

After the three military giants exchanged a few words over tea, Marshal Shi Manqiang no longer said any more polite words, and directly led the topic to the next topic, and then he explained to Liu Tao what he had just said to Zhao Song, hoping that in the next meeting agenda, Liu Tao could represent the navy and echo the army's proposal.

"Do you mean that after defeating the shogunate, it would be better for the Han to force the Japanese to sign a peace treaty, so that the Han would have a monopoly on the management of Japan's gold and silver mines, and then treat it as the private property of the imperial family? But does the Cabinet mean that these management rights will be placed in the hands of the Cabinet? ”

"That's exactly what it means." Marshal Shi Manqiang nodded, and then pointed to Zhao Song, who was the chief general of the Japanese expedition next to him, "I have already communicated with Xingyang Bo just now, and he also agrees with me and agrees to wait at the meeting." Our army has already unified its views, as long as your navy also makes a joint statement, then you can create a momentum at that time, and the emperor will not object! ”

Liu Tao, the head of the Military and Political Department of the Navy, Jiujiang Hou, did not immediately answer the marshal's words, but lowered his gaze and thought slowly.

"It's not a good idea to openly express disagreement with the cabinet at the court meeting, right?"

"As long as it is beneficial to the country and the emperor, what if it is at odds with the cabinet? The prime minister is not a person who holds grudges. Marshal Shi Manqiang said disapprerovingly, "Besides, we didn't do anything to damage the public and private interests, we conquered Japan and shed blood and died, didn't we just show off our imperial prestige?" In this case, what is so surprising about the spoils of war and giving them to the emperor? Right? But the Cabinet ...... If you don't have to shed a drop of blood, you want to easily take away all the results, how can you convince the soldiers when you say it? ”

As he spoke, the marshal looked at Jiujianghou with blazing eyes, and his burly body brought him indescribable pressure.

Under this pressure, Jiujianghou slowly tended to agree with the other party's opinion.

Although the army and navy are different, they are both military systems of the Han court, and they have a common friendship with each other. Although it is true that the navy was not particularly concerned about the ownership of Japan's gold and silver mines after the war, Marshal Ishimitsu's prestige in the army was so high that he did not want to disobey the marshal's will.

Besides, everyone is a member of the army, so what reason is there to only let the army curry favor with the emperor?

"Okay, since you've all said this, then I'll join in the grand event! I'll join the Navy in a moment agreeing to your proposal. After a while, Liu Tao, the Marquis of Jiujiang, made up his mind, "The emperor must be very pleased to see the sincere heart of the loyal monarch waiting for us!" ”

"It must be so." Marshal Shi Manqiang and Zhao Song looked at each other and smiled, and then the three of them walked out of the tea compartment again.

In this way, in the short interval between meetings, the differences between the opinions of several important ministers, which had been originally personal, quickly expanded because of their prestige and power, and formed the opposing opinions of the entire cabinet and the military, which will be openly spread out in the Council of State.

This is not the first time in the short history of the Great Han, and it certainly won't be the last.

As the bell rang, the ministers returned to the conference hall from their resting places, and when the ministers had gathered, the emperor took the crown prince and sat back on the throne in the salute of the ministers.

"Yes, it looks like you're resting well." Seeing that the ministers were refreshed, the emperor smiled and waved his hand, "Okay, let's discuss it next!" ”

"The next thing to discuss is the terms of peace talks with Japan." As soon as the emperor's words fell, the prime minister took over, "Since it is an expeditionary operation, we will definitely consume a lot of military expenses this time, and this kind of expenditure cannot be a loss-making business, and we have to make up for it from the Japanese." However, our aim is to achieve a quick victory, so we cannot open our mouths and put forward conditions that the Japanese will not be able to fulfill for a while, so as to artificially delay the war, so it is very important to negotiate a reasonable terms for peace talks, so that we can make a profit and not make the Japanese unable to afford to lose. Ladies and gentlemen, please take a good look at it. The army and navy will first talk about the estimated military spending. ”

Then, the senate officers of the army and navy who were present at the meeting said their previous estimates of military expenditures -- a total of 2,170,000 taels of silver, but of course this was only an estimate, and the actual situation depended on the specific situation.

In addition to the direct military expenses, this expedition also had to requisition the fleet warships and transport ships in the north and south seas, so it would also cause very large losses to other places, and this expenditure naturally had to be paid by the Japanese.

After the military officers of the Army and Navy had finished speaking, the officials of the Ministry of Commerce spoke again.

"Since the war against Japan is being waged against Japan, then for a period of time in between, trade with Japan will definitely be cut off, and this part of the loss also needs to be compensated by the Japanese, and the annual trade volume between China and Japan last year was 2.25 million taels of silver, and judging from this figure, if the trade is cut off for half a year, they should compensate our country for the trade loss of 1.125 million taels of silver."

"Why don't you let them pay three million, what are you going to do with them if they win the battle?" At this time, Marshal Shi Manqiang said directly, "One million taels, take it to compensate our maritime merchants, and if there is a balance, put it into the imperial court account to meet the needs of the time." ”

The marshal's statement was endorsed by the ministers.

In the end, everyone discussed again, and in addition to military spending and expenses, punitive reparations must be necessary. Since Japan is rich in gold and silver, there must have been a lot of gold and silver accumulated over the years, and this windfall cannot be spared.

After deliberating for a while, they came up with a figure of at least fifteen million taels of silver for Japan to pay reparations.

Of course, it is impossible for the Japanese to come up with this figure all at once, so everyone's preliminary opinion is to let the Japanese pay it off in 15 years, with customs as collateral. In the past 15 years, ordinary Japanese people from top to bottom must have to bear extremely heavy taxes, but no one in the Han Dynasty who attended the meeting cared so much.

"That's a lot!" However, the emperor, who had been silent, denied the outcome of their deliberations.

The emperor's judgment made the ministers stunned again, and they looked at each other in the commotion, but no one said anything for a while.

Fifteen million taels, to be repaid in 15 years, was seriously discussed by the ministers, who deduced the income of the Japanese shogunate and the daimyo from the trade figures between the Han and Japan, and at the same time referred to the distribution of gold and silver mines in Japan proposed by Zhou Pu and others, and came to this conclusion -- one million a year, and the continuous payment of indemnities for 15 years, would not make the Japanese people poor and have no livelihood, but would allow the Han to reap sufficient benefits.

From any point of view, this is a huge amount of money, considering that the Han Dynasty, whose population and size far exceeded that of Japan, and whose annual revenue was only 16 million taels of silver - of course, this was also due to the fact that the new dynasty was founded and that the agricultural and commercial taxes were set low in order to encourage the people to recuperate.

If the conditions for the indemnity are really realized according to the conditions envisaged by the ministers, then it means that the Han court can get an additional income of one million taels per year, and this huge amount of money will greatly alleviate the financial situation of the Han court, which was originally very embarrassing.

However, the emperor denied the result of the ministers' deliberation in one sentence, feeling that it was too little.

The emperor's words can indeed represent the will that cannot be disobeyed, and no one wants to disobey him, but because of this unquestionable power, the emperor rarely says conclusive words at meetings, because no matter what conclusion he says, the ministers will suspend their dissenting opinions and think about how to implement the emperor's will instead.

Today, it is extremely rare for the emperor to directly overturn the conclusion that the ministers have discussed.

This extremely rare direct denial made the ministers a little at a loss for a while, and they were all thinking about what the holy will was.

However, after stating his conclusion, the emperor did not continue, as if he was planning to let the ministers figure it out for themselves.

This sudden silence made the atmosphere in the hall a little strange, and the crown prince also curiously secretly looked at the ministers and the emperor, trying to absorb the experience he had gained from his first participation in the State Council.

After being silent for a while, Prime Minister Wang Zhaojing felt that he needed to find out what the emperor really meant.

Because of his highest status and prestige, he still has the power to seek explanations at some point.

"The ministers are stupid, please forgive the emperor. Dare to ask the emperor, if you think our requirements are too low, how many numbers should be used as the benchmark? He looked at the emperor carefully.

"Fifteen million is a lot, but it's too little for a country like Japan, which is rich in gold and silver. Japan has been producing gold and silver for hundreds of years, and they have unearthed a lot of gold and silver over the years, and they have a large amount of inventory in the country, so they can afford to pay a higher price. When the prime minister came to ask again, the emperor finally spoke, "If we can force the shogunate to sign a peace treaty, the appetite of fifteen million is too small!" In my opinion, it will take at least 30 million to make the army worthwhile! And fifteen years, twenty years at most, it must be taken out! ”

*********

Thank you all for your subscriptions, monthly passes, and tips, thank you