Headquarters of the Imperial Army, conference room.

"What! This year's military spending is only 100,000 silver coins? Are you letting the army eat the northwest wind! ”

A big bearded man jumped up suddenly, slammed his right hand on the table, and a loud sound echoed in the air, making the soldiers outside the door startled.

"Hmph, now the national tax revenue is not good, and your military department is not going to fight and there are more than 100,000 silver coins, do you want to pull it down."

A sharp-beaked monkey-cheeked official glanced at the bearded man and said disdainfully.

This person is the quartermaster in charge of the army's logistics, and he is a person from the Minister Earnest line, in fact, Earnest allocated 300,000 silver coins as military expenses, but the officials of the Minister Department naturally do not have any incorruptible qualities, and the 300,000 is only 100,000 after layers of deductions.

However, this result is already very good, at least those officials did not go too far for the sake of the army, if the usual relief money for the disaster victims, it is estimated that only one or two thousand of the 300,000 will be left at most, and in the end, the one or two thousand is estimated to go to the hands of some profiteers who have a relationship with the officials, and the high price is exchanged for some expired grain.

"You guy! Want to die! ”

The bearded man had blue veins on his forehead, and the anger in his eyes seemed to burn the person in front of him to ashes, like a lion that wanted to burst out and hurt people.

"Lanka! Pay attention to your words. ”

The deputy commander-in-chief on the first seat frowned slightly, glanced at the beard, and signaled him not to be impulsive.

As General Budd's right-hand man during his lifetime, Smoot understands very well that now that General Bud is dead, the military department is no longer the military department that had the confidence to negotiate terms with Minister Earnest.

Lanka had a bad relationship with one of Ornest's subordinate officials, and now that General Bude, who is the umbrella of the military department, has left, if Lanka clashes with him again, the consequences may not be so good. As a colleague and boss, Smoot naturally didn't want anything to happen to Lanka because of this.

"Hmph, it's just a reckless man." The quartermaster glanced at Lanka with disdain, and then said haughtily to Smoot:

"The military expenses have already arrived, so I won't stay long, so I will leave."

Saying that, the quartermaster didn't wait for Smoot to say anything, and walked out of the conference room directly despite the angry eyes of the audience.

As the quartermaster of the army, he belongs to the civilian category of officials, and he is not subordinate to the military department, so he does not need to look at the face of the military department. Moreover, General Bude is fine, and the quartermaster is not going too far, but now that the pillar has fallen, how can there be anything to fear.

"Damn! Outrageous! ”

When the quartermaster's back disappeared, the anger of the officers in the conference room erupted on the spot.

"Many soldiers are barely able to make ends meet, and now that military spending has been reduced dozens of times, what should we do next......

Smoot was a little depressed, sitting on the chair weakly, there were not a few soldiers in the army who were from poor families, they had to rely on the military salary issued by the military department to support their families every day, plus the food prices in the imperial capital have been continuously high these days, if the military salary is drastically reduced like this......

"That guy must have embezzled! Let's go to him and ask for it! Lanka said hatefully.

"It's useless, even if they embezzle, they don't dare to be so blatant, most of the money allocated by Earnest is not much ......"

"Ornest? The general's death has nothing to do with him. Lanka muttered in a low voice that no one else could hear.

"According to the minister's character, it is very likely that this drastic reduction in military spending is his handiwork, and it is estimated that there will be further reductions in the future......"

There was silence in the conference room.

Smoot took in everyone's reactions, sighed softly in his heart, and then said:

"The matter of military spending will be discussed later, and if there is nothing to do, the meeting will be dismissed."

No one spoke, everyone knew that no matter how much they discussed this issue, there would be no result, and it was impossible for such a thing as military spending to fall from the sky, so what could be done?

And Ornest, it's not something they can move.

The military department needs a qualified, talkative person to fight for the interests of the military department.

Watching the room full of people gradually leave, Smoot thought to himself.

As an old man in the military department, his feelings for the military department are not ordinarily deep, as long as someone can support the current military department, he does not mind handing over his power to others.

"Estes is good, as the other strongest in the Imperial Army, he has qualifications and strength. But she herself is an ally of Minister Ornest, and it is rumored that her own imperial tool is also provided by Minister Ornest......"

"The general's death is probably related to Earnest, and it's not a good thing for someone who is too close to him to take control of the military headquarters......"

"Could it be...... Is the military department really out of place......"

At night, Smoot walked home full of thoughts, and it was late at night, and there was no one on the street.

"What people!"

When a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of him. Smoot was startled, and quickly glanced around, only to find that he had unknowingly walked into a strange dead end!

"What the hell is going on?!!!"

Smoot's face was full of horror, and he swore that it was definitely not that he wanted to be here, it must have something to do with the dark shadow in front of him.

"Who are you? What do you want to do? ”

Smoot was ready to strike at any time and said vigilantly.

"It doesn't matter who I am, the important thing is that I ask you if you would like to serve Prince Jiang Chuanyue."

A hoarse voice sounded in the darkness, like a worn-out bellows. He didn't talk about anything else, and directly explained his intentions.

"What if I say I don't want to......"

There was not much change on Smoot's face, but there were turbulent waves in his heart.

Jiang Chuanyue's name Smote is not unfamiliar, the royal bloodline, the disciple of General Bude, and the extremely powerful southwest territory.

Now someone actually came over and asked if he wanted to work for Jiang Chuanyue? What the hell is he trying to do!

"Don't want to?"

In the darkness, there was something playful in the man's tone.

I saw him take a step forward, and a puff of white smoke drifted by, revealing a face that was exactly the same as Smot's!

"You! You! ......”

Faced with such a strange plot, Smoot was so frightened that he couldn't speak.

"If you don't want to, then you die, and I'm Smoot from now on."

The man said, both in tone and in a voice almost identical to the real Smoot.

"Okay, I do!"

Seeing that the person in front of him was about to make a move, Smoot hurriedly replied. No matter what, the person in front of you can definitely kill him easily, and everything will be saved first.

"That's right, give me a copy of your blood."

"Why?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, by the way, a friendly reminder, the adult's emperor can clearly know whether his subordinates have betrayed, don't mess around."

The Shadow took Smoot's blood and left, leaving him with a cloudy face......