Yan Du had no choice but to go back and say good things to the generals, let them miss the old feelings, and let King Suping go out of the funeral first. But no one gave him face, so angry that he simply turned around and went back to the inn.

As soon as he returned to the post house, Feng Zheng brought a person, who turned out to be Hongxuan.

The old Taoist priest was in a hurry, and sat on a chair when he entered the house, shouting for tea.

Liu Yunxiang personally poured him a cup, and Hongxuan poured it down.

"Ouch, my throat is going to smoke."

Liu Yunxiang was amused, poured him another glass, and he poured it again, which made it better. He breathed a few breaths and saw Yan Du sitting on the main seat, squinting at him.

He smiled and stood up and saluted, "Your Highness, it's great to see you again." ”

Yan Du snorted, "What, you still think you won't see this king?" ”

"You are in danger and trapped in Western Vietnam, the possibility of escaping is too small, no wonder Poor Dao is so pessimistic."

"Don't think that this king can't hear that your words are hurting this king."

"Is there one?" Hong Xuan laughed dryly, "The matter of you escaping from Xiyue and transferring troops to Xizhou is already known to the court." The emperor and the old prince of Shunping sent poor Dao to tell you a very, very important thing. ”

Hearing these very, very serious words, Yan Du couldn't help but sit up straight and straighten her face, "What's wrong?" ”

Hongxuan coughed dryly, "Our Darong treasury is empty, and it can't support you and Xizhou to fight this battle at all, so the two nobles please think twice before you act, and try not to fight this battle as much as possible." ”

Yan Dui's face was a little ugly, "Are you really so poor?" ”

"This winter, and then the beginning of spring, there are too many places to spend money, and I don't know where these come from."

Liu Yunxiang sighed slightly, "When I left, my financial income was already better, why did it become like this again?" ”

"King Suping embezzled a large amount of treasury silver without permission to fill the military salary of Xizhou, and when the imperial court wanted to recover it, it could not be recovered." Hongxuan Road.

Yan Du frowned, "A large amount of treasury silver has been embezzled, and as a result, Xizhou still owes the soldiers military salaries, which shows how big this hole is." Lu Changan, Lu Changan, he was really relieved. ”

Hongxuan was a little confused when he heard this, "What do you mean?" ”

Liu Yunxiang was amused, "Don't you know that King Suping has died?" ”

Hongxuan blinked, "I don't know, the poor road is in a hurry, I just heard that the two of you were in the post house in the city, so I didn't think much about it, and I thought you and Lu Changan were negotiating." ”

"He hung himself, and the military power was handed over."

Hearing this, Hongxuan was overjoyed, "That is, there is no need to fight!" ”

"But then there's another problem."

"What?"

"The military salary owed by Lu Changan needs to be made up by the imperial court."

Hongxuan smiled and took it back, "Then we are really powerless." ”

"But if you don't take care of the 100,000 troops in Xizhou, it will become a disaster, a great disaster, even greater than the chaos when Lu Changan led the troops to fight against the imperial court."

A group of soldiers who do not listen to the command cause chaos everywhere, which can instantly make Xizhou a hell on earth.

Yan Du thought for a long time, slapped the table and said: "There are 100,000 soldiers in Xizhou, but in fact, the number of people who are not registered is more immeasurable. For the sake of today, let the generals of each city hand in the military register, and then reduce the military strength, from the surface of 100,000 to the actual 30,000. ”

Hongxuan nodded, "We are going to sign a peace alliance with Xiyue, and at the same time, we are friendly with Beijin, and we are at peace with Nanjin, so Xizhou can't use these soldiers." Reducing military strength and saving military salaries can completely solve the troubles in Xizhou. ”

Liu Yunxiang sighed, "I'm afraid that these soldiers don't agree." ”

Yan Dui squinted, "I can't help them." ”

In the afternoon of the same day, Yan Du summoned all the generals of the five cities of Xizhou to the council hall of the post house, and asked them to go back to sort out the military registration books and hand them over here three days later.

"Lord Wang, what are you going to do?" The white-faced general asked.

Yan Du did not hide it, and bluntly said that he would reduce the military strength.

As soon as these words came out, several generals blew up.

"Lord Wang, we soldiers have fought on the battlefield for Darong, bleeding and sweating, we can't say that we will cut it. Moreover, there is little land in Xizhou, what do you do after you let them quit the military, many of them have been in the army for twenty or thirty years, and they have no relatives at home, and they are even homeless! ”

"Doing so is equivalent to forcing them to their deaths, and you won't be afraid ......"

Yan Dui had a calm face, "Let me tell you the truth, the imperial court can't afford to support so many soldiers in Xizhou." At the beginning, Lu Changan recruited so many soldiers for his ambitions, but you can also see that in order to support these soldiers, he dragged down the entire Xizhou. After all these years of war, the treasury has long been emptied, and it needs to recuperate for several years to recover, and it is impossible to let Xizhou drag it down. ”

"We can't agree." The stubble-faced general was a little more grumpy and vetoed it directly.

Liu Yunxiang said softly at this time: "Generals, what the prince is talking about is the predicament of the imperial court, which is really in front of him, and I believe that a few of you can understand." And the Xizhou soldiers you said did sacrifice a lot to protect Darong and Taiping, and the court must also remember their good. But the court can't get the money, so what can it do? ”

Liu Yunxiang patrolled these generals again, and when he saw that they were frowning one by one, he was obviously also in a dilemma.

"In this way, I will take out a sum of money in my personal name, and each soldier who quits the military can receive a subsidy of ten taels, and as for their livelihood in the future, I think so. Xizhou is vast and sparsely populated, you can scatter them into five cities, help them settle down, cultivate fields or raise cattle and sheep, do some small business, and the imperial court will give them preferential treatment, what do you think? ”

She discussed with Yan Dui, one singing white face and the other red face.

Hearing her words, the faces of several generals really softened a little.

At this time, another general hesitated for a moment and said, "Some soldiers are not included in the military register, how should this be counted?" ”

Liu Yunxiang exhaled, "How much?" ”

"Fifty thousand."

50,000 people!

Liu Yunxiang couldn't help but sigh again, Lu Changan is indeed ambitious, but he really didn't think it through, there are 50,000 more people, what will he raise?

"If it is not included in the military register, then another book will be counted, and after verification by the imperial court, it will be subsidized and resettled like other soldiers who have withdrawn from the military register."

Hearing this, the five generals all breathed a sigh of relief.

"You see, the imperial court has already given a plan, so that King Suping can always be funeral, right?"

"What about the salaries you owe?"

Liu Yunxiang's face sank, "The military salaries of the soldiers recorded in the records are not owed by the imperial court, and those who are not disciplined on the register are the responsibility of King Suping and you, and the imperial court cannot make up for it." You don't have to be delusional about having a full meal, what the court can do has already been done, don't the last ten taels of subsidies are gone. ”