() "Ah, there's a war at the border?" The uninformed person was full of surprise when he heard this, and immediately asked, "Where is that fighting?" Is it east or west? ”

"I don't know, I heard it's the east, but I've heard that the west is also fighting." The speaker shook his head.

"Ah, this ..... Is the news accurate? “

When they heard that there was a fight, all the people who passed by raised it.

Don't look at them as just ordinary people, the things that are fighting seem to have nothing to do with them, but they are actually closely related.

From the big one, whether the country can be saved, and whether they can survive depends on whether the border soldiers win or lose, and at the small level, the huge manpower and material resources spent to support the war are not all from the people.

Whether it is the collection of military rations or the conscription of soldiers.

So as soon as I heard the topic of war, the hearts of passers-by were hanged.

"I don't know, I'm just hearsay, but you don't have to think about it, since the imperial court has no conscription order, I think the situation won't be too bad, and the rest, we ordinary people can't be the master, let's live the current life first."

"It's not, whether we can eat enough depends on whether God appreciates the face, what's the use of worrying so much, let's hurry up." An old man picked up the salute scattered on the ground, patted it, shook his head and left.

As they spoke, the three people and three horses had already disappeared at the end of the road, and when Xu Qingyan looked out, only three blurred backs disappeared in the afterglow.

The next morning.

The entire hall was filled with a kind of low pressure, and Emperor Zhou Qing's heart was extremely heavy as long as he remembered the battle report that was sent from all over the country last night.

The four kingdoms of Dongyin, Nanqing, Xiqin, and Beiyi really launched attacks on the east, west, north, and south borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty in half a month.

Embattled, wolf smoke everywhere............

What made Emperor Zhou Qing feel the most chilling was that in addition to a few small victories from Beiyuan Pass, the other three places turned out to be big defeats, and the military report sent back by the three main generals for 800 miles was rushed, and the number of casualties superimposed on him made his heart tremble.

The low pressure permeated the entire hall, and the civil and military officials were affected by this, and they were silent one by one, and even their breathing was lightened.

For a long time, Emperor Zhou Qing suppressed the pain in his heart and asked the eunuch to read out this heavy military report.

"Minister, Xie Zhengyang, the commander of the Nanqing Army, respectfully invites St. Ann................ In the first battle of Luyuan, Nanqing sent 100,000 soldiers, 30,000 of our soldiers were killed and wounded, and 8,000 were killed and wounded in the battle of Lihua Fort...... The battle of Tiemudu, dead and wounded...."

The faint sound of discussion gradually sounded in the main hall, and the accumulated numbers on the military intelligence were like a bell ringing in the hearts of the hundred officials.

"Minister, Cao Hongsheng, the commander of the Western Cadre Army, respectfully invites St. Ann.............. In the battle of Xiliang, our army was killed and wounded......."

"Minister, Ni Zhengqing, the commander of the Eastern Eagle Army, respectfully invites St. Ann................ The Battle of Huaishan ......."

By the time the eunuch finished reading, the entire hall was in an uproar!

Emperor Zhou Qing sat above with a sinking face, looking at the various expressions of the officials below who were shocked or angry, afraid or afraid, and his heart was extremely complicated.

After a moment, he reached out and pressed it, and when he lowered his head, he immediately fell silent.

"I've heard the battle report, now tell me what you think?"

Opinion?

The hundred officials looked at each other, and the last heroic official stood up: "The four countries have joined forces to attack my Great Zhou, the ambition of the wolf son is obvious, according to the opinion of the ministers, we should fight to the end!" ”

"No." Hearing this, the white-bearded man on the right stood up: "The emperor must not listen to General Li's words, the four countries attack together, and the defeat of the Great Zhou is the inevitable end. ”

"The ministers seconded the proposal." After the right minister finished speaking, there was an immediate echo below.

At this time, General Li shook his sleeves and said: "The right minister is too simple, since the four countries have formed an alliance to attack Zhou, they just want to divide the Great Zhou and eat it, and now the two armies are already at war, and the manpower and material resources consumed in this are not enough benefits, how can the four countries give up." ”

"That's better than draining the national strength and being eaten by others in the end."

As soon as these words came out, the hall was silent for a moment.

Then General Li frowned coldly and said, "Then the right minister thinks that suing for peace can keep the Great Zhou?" ”

"At least for a moment of respite."

"No, once we sue for peace, it will be a show of weakness to the four countries. Showing weakness in front of jackals means that there is no longer life, and then they will pounce like hungry wolves, and there will be no room for turn. ”

"General Li is reasonable, and the ministers seconded it." At this time, the faction that supported General Lee stepped forward.

Emperor Zhou Qing looked at the ministers below who had been divided into two factions, and then looked at Wu Feng, who was standing at the end and had not spoken out, and said, "What do you think of Wu Aiqing?" ”

Wu Feng didn't expect Emperor Zhou Qing to name him, and after a moment's pause, he arched his hand and said: "Weichen doesn't understand military affairs, so he doesn't dare to speak at will." ”

"It's okay, everyone has already seen it, the war is no longer fighting, I will consider it myself."

At this time, the officials in the palace had been divided into two factions, the main peace faction and the main battle faction, and there were only a few neutral officials like Wu Feng who neither sought peace nor fought the main war.

Emperor Zhou Qing wanted to see how many of the pillars of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty were bloody.

"If you talk about personal opinions, the minister agrees with General Li's statement and fights to the end."

As soon as these words came out, the officials were stunned, especially those on the right.

Because most of the people who agreed with General Li's ideas before were military generals, and Wu Feng was a real civil servant, it stands to reason that he should be in the same mind as the right minister, who knew that he actually agreed with General Li's ideas.

The ministers immediately looked down on him, thinking that he was as brainless as General Li's generals, and could only be brave.

Next, the courtiers who were divided into two factions quarreled on the topic of peace or main war, and they were just struggling quietly before, but the more they talked about it, the more excited they became, and the more they talked, the more excited they became, and finally they almost became shrews scolding the street.

Emperor Zhou Qing was already irritable, and when he saw this, he slapped the table and shouted, "Okay!" Shut up! “

The scene fell silent for a moment.

After that, the ministers reacted and hurriedly knelt on the ground to plead guilty: "The ministers are guilty, please calm the emperor's anger." “

"Alright, I'm here to let you have your opinions, not to quarrel." Saying that, Emperor Zhou Qing turned to the Hubu Shangshu, who had not spoken: "Liu Qing, I ask you, if you fight to the end, how long can the treasury last." ”

When Lord Liu heard this, a thin layer of cold sweat immediately soaked out of his forehead: "Back to the emperor, a total of 43,000 taels of silver were deposited, which is equivalent to about 5 ....... of grain Five thousand quintals. ”

What the! It's only 5,000 quintals!

When the main battle faction heard this number, their hearts instantly cooled by half, and the peace-seeking faction showed a look that was indeed the case.

When Emperor Zhou Qing heard this number, his heart was also shocked!

He knew that the treasury was empty, but he didn't expect it to be so empty!

He glanced at it, and the officials of the main battle faction, who had already been half wilted by this time, were still full of excitement, and his heart was full of complexity.

Lord Liu, the head of the household department, was also very depressed at this time, he was in charge of the treasury, and naturally hoped that the treasury would be full more than anyone else.

It's a pity that the sky does not fulfill people's wishes, the previous emperor was arrogant and extravagant, and after the emperor took office, he experienced several natural disasters. The grain stored in the state treasury was depleted by these natural disasters, and relief was given to the victims.

Finally, the lord of Le'an County developed a nutrient solution that could increase grain production, and introduced high-yield crops from foreign countries.

You said that it was easy to be a household secretary!

Every time the emperor asked about the treasury, he could only carefully hold his tail and return to an emptiness!

It's tears just to think about.