To the north, the most powerful military group of the Chu State was assembled. In order to deal with Rong Di on www.biquge.info the grassland, the state of Chu sent almost all the cavalry in that direction. With the Great Wall as the boundary, dozens of military towns have a total strength of up to one million. It is no exaggeration to say that this part of the force is the elite of the Chu army, and it is also the most serious burden of Chu State's military expenditure over the years. But no matter what, in the face of the cruel and cold-blooded grassland Rongdi, who comes and goes like the wind, no matter how much effort is necessary. Otherwise, he could only watch Rong Di whip his horse in the hinterland of Chu State, wantonly burning, killing and plundering.

Barbarians never say anything polite to you. In the eyes of those madmen, what is yours is mine, and if I don't have enough things to live or have a difficult life, then of course I will break into your house and steal everything.

Barbarians have never had any laws. Telling them this is tantamount to playing the harp to a cow.

Maintaining the military foundation in the three directions has stretched the financial resources of Dachu. In contrast, the military forces invested in the southern frontier are bound to be much less.

Emperor Shunming's face was full of anger, but his mind did not lose his mind. He knew very well: The blame for the tragedy of Qingsui's destruction cannot be attributed to Cao Hui, the assassin of Anzhou. It is true that as a assassin, the failure to send reinforcements in time certainly has an unshirkable responsibility. But in the final analysis, if Cao Hui had more available troops, he would not have encountered the entry of the Yue barbarians, so he would have traveled thousands of miles to send urgent documents to the Jingshi. With such a long distance and inconvenient transportation, even if you receive the news and send troops immediately, it will be too late in time.

Thinking of this, Emperor Shunming's fierce and violent face became slightly calmer. He took a deep breath, sat back on the dragon chair, and a pair of eyes scanned back and forth on the civil and military officials, and said coldly: "For the current predicament of Anzhou. Do you have any good advice from your ministers?"

Emperor Shunming directly omitted the title of "Aiqing". Now is definitely not the time to entrap his subordinates, and the emperor will also be angry and furious.

Li Shaoming, the secretary of the military department, was the first to come out, holding a tooth wat and saluting to Emperor Shunming, his words were sonorous, and he said: "The minister thinks." The Yue barbarians entered the country and plundered, and the target was not just Qingsui County. The neighboring Caixian, Nuliu, Hongze and other places will inevitably be affected. Assassin Shi Cao Hui wrote very clearly in the emergency document: This time, the Yue barbarians entered the country, and the total number of troops was as high as 150,000. Qingsui is the closest to the Yue sphere of influence. Next, the spearhead of the attack of the Yue barbarians will inevitably be directed at other neighboring states and counties. Now it is necessary to send a strong reinforcement to the south. ”

As soon as these words came out, the ranks of civil and military officials immediately exchanged heads and discussions. If you listen closely, the opposition is far higher than the approval.

Cabinet Mandarin Hall Scholar Yu Bo'an stepped out of the ranks. shook his head again and again and rejected Li Shaoming's proposal: "The mountains in southern Xinjiang are high and the road is long, and it is difficult to do. The number of thieves entering the country this time was as high as 150,000, and the city defense in the direction of Anzhou was weak, so how could it resist it? Even if reinforcements were sent, it would be too late in time. According to the old minister's opinion, it is better to abandon Anzhou in the south and order Shi Caohui to lead all the soldiers and civilians. All of them retreated to Suizhou, Pengzhou, and Gongzhou. ”

"How to retreat?"

Li Shaoming's temperament is as fierce as fire. He became furious on the spot, and waved his tooth wat fiercely in the air: "There are hundreds of thousands of people in Anzhou, and they live scattered. The relocation of all residents across the state is definitely not something that can be done in one or two sentences. How should the people be fed and lodging on their way? What should the soldiers send along the way to maintain order? And how should the people in remote areas deal with Caixian, Hongze, Mokang, and other prefectures and counties?

Yu Bo'an was not a person familiar with military affairs, but he just wanted to take the opportunity to show his knowledge in front of Emperor Shunming. Present. After being asked a few questions by Li Shaoming, he wanted to be angry but had no reason, and he opened his mouth and glared at Li Shaoming angrily for nearly half a minute before he said: "Won't those people run? As long as Your Majesty issues an edict, the people will definitely give up everything and return to the interior of Great Chu." It's hard to do it. Will they stay there honestly, waiting for the Yue barbarians to come and kill and cut them?"

"Give up everything and go back to the mainland?"

Li Shaoming was so angry by Yu Bo'an that he was almost speechless, he opened his eyes, pointed at Yu Bo'an and roared: "You are a vegetarian corpse." You know what a fart! If the barbarian army were to besiege Jingshi now, how would you deal with yourself? Even if you want to run, can you just pull up your feet and walk? Do you know how many people will die under the butcher's knife when the barbarians chase and kill along the way?

Xuan Guangjing, the servant of the ministry, walked out of the ranks, and stood between Li Shaoming and Yu Bo'an, who were glaring at each other, and persuaded each other repeatedly: "Lord Li, Lord Yu, in front of Your Majesty, don't be noisy and presumptuous. There is some truth to both of them. However, has Master Li ever thought that it is too late to send troops now? Lord Yu's statement is also inconsiderate. In the following opinion, it is better to send an envoy to contact the Yue barbarians and negotiate peace between the two sides. Even if the outcome fails, at least some time can be gained, and this is the most pressing issue at the moment. ”

The anger on Li Shaoming's face subsided slightly. Xuan Guangjing's suggestion is not bad, although it does not fundamentally solve the problem, at least not as ignorant as Yu Bo'an.

Emperor Shunming sent a message from the dragon chair: "Cao Hui has already sent a messenger before. The outcome of the negotiations is not yet known. ”

Ye Mingkong, the Qing of Guanglu Temple, walked out of the ranks sideways and bowed deeply to Emperor Shunming: "The minister thinks that the advice of the scholar is very good." Anju is remote and difficult to navigate. The Vietnamese people have repeatedly violated the border, and our troops have consumed a lot of money. In the long run, it will be overwhelming. This is chicken ribs, and there is no meat to eat, so it is better to discard it. ”

In fact, this is also the opinion of most officials.

From the interior of Chu to Anzhou, a complete transportation system has not been built. The Chidao project is huge, and it can no longer continue when it reaches the territory of Suizhou. From south to north, the total length is more than thousands of miles. Money and food were very expensive, and the road construction plan was repeatedly rejected between the household ministry and the cabinet. All the ministers agreed that it was not cost-effective to build a large road to Anju, and that the existing scattered roads were sufficient.

There is also a basis for this statement.

The most produced thing in Anju is grain. In the state of Chu, wheelbarrows have been widely used. Although there is a lack of horses and animals to carry goods, the people of Anzhou are very keen to bring grain to Suizhou to sell. This was also the business rules formulated by the previous emperors of the Chu State. Suizhou is prosperous in business, and the price of one stone of rice is two percent higher than that of Anzhou. Such a heavy profit is that both businessmen and the public are eager to pursue it. Over time, the empire did not have to bear the burden of transporting grain from Anju. Although the road is difficult. But in the eyes of businessmen who are bent on seeking wealth, it is actually not a big deal, at most it is just a few more days on the road, eating and sleeping.

No one thought that the invasion of the Yue barbarians would make the situation in Anzhou so dangerous.

In fact, there is no shortage of land for production in the state of Chu. The empire was crisscrossed by rivers and cultivated land. The food produced each year is largely self-sufficient. In the eyes of the court officials, if the situation in Anzhou gets out of control, it is better to give up than to spend money in vain to send troops to fight. Anyway, it's also a place of disintegration. As long as all the soldiers and civilians retreat to the interior and hold the rocky pass leading to southern Xinjiang, they will naturally have peace of mind.

More than a dozen officials walked out of the ranks one after another, bowed to Emperor Shunming, and proclaimed: "The minister seconded the proposal." ”

Emperor Shunming's face was cold. His eyes were full of cold light that suppressed his anger.

As an emperor, he values every piece of territory. Although Anzhou is located in a remote area, it was fought down step by step by the ancestors of the Chu State. There, the bones of countless soldiers were buried, and too much blood flowed. It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why Anzhou City was able to be established in that wild land was because the pedestal under the city wall was filled with layers of thick bones of the dead.

There are soldiers of the Chu State who died in battle. There were also Yue barbarians who were killed at that time. The strife and chaos between civilization and barbarism has always been so bloody. There is no reason at all.

The geographical location of Anju is very important. It was a strategic point between the Yue and the Chu State. If there is no Anzhou in front of it, a single rock pass will not be able to stop the overwhelming Yue barbarians.

They also don't want to think about how the price of grain in Chu could have remained stable for hundreds of years without the continuous grain import from Anzhou...... Every time a natural disaster occurred, the imperial court had to transport grain in large quantities from the direction of Suizhou. If there is no huge amount of grain reserves. It is impossible for the state of Chu to be so strong, and it has long been overwhelmed by the ensuing disaster relief problems.

The writing of Mandarin Hall scholar Yu Bo'an is excellent. This person's poems and essays were famous all over the world decades ago, and he was fascinated by many students. Five years ago, Yu Bo'an compiled the book "Quotations of Wensheng", which became a model for literati from all over the world to collect. The book is full of punchlines. Extraordinary insight.

Xuan Guangjing, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, is also a master of poetry. The women of Jingshi are all proud to sing Xuan Guangjing's poems. Flipping through the music list of the singers in the brothel restaurant, more than half of them were made by Xuan Guangjing. There are even people who call Xuan Guangjing "Qu Sheng" in private.

The officials who bowed down at the foot of the jade ladder all agreed with Yu Bo'an's proposal to abandon Anzhou.

Are they really Chu State officials? It's just that I don't look like each other. A group of vegetarian corpses don't think about how to solve problems at all, they all shrink their heads and shirk their responsibilities.

Abandon?

Well said.

Even if the entire territory of Anzhou were to move towards the interior of Chu, would Suizhou and Pingzhou be able to accommodate so many refugees? What kind of conflict of interests would occur between them and the locals? Although the Yue people are barbarians, they are fools with dull minds from time to time. The simplest truth of chasing and killing along the road is understood by any leading general. From Anzhou to Suizhou, the road is long, if it is really according to what these bastards say, even if hundreds of thousands of people of Chu can really go to Suizhou, I am afraid there will not be a few people left.

Yes, the roots of these court officials are all in the land of Chu. They didn't have any land in Anzhou, and they had no interest in expanding their territory there. That's the duty of a general. There is no conflict of interest, and it doesn't matter if the people in his land live or die. Anyway, there are so many people in Dachu that hundreds of thousands died today, and they will be able to have many children in a few years. The Yue people like to eat human flesh and drink human blood? It wasn't my father or my mother who was killed? Why fight with their lives? As long as the court is safe and sound, the amount of money that should be distributed every year will definitely be half a cent. Even if the Chu State Mansion is about to fall, I can still take the gold and silver I have saved over the years and take refuge in other countries by virtue of my reputation among the literati.

For a while, Emperor Shunming suddenly had an urge to pick up a knife and kill someone.

Where is this ****** or what important minister of the state?

It's clearly a bunch of pigs waiting to die!

The forms in the court are distinct. More and more officials gathered around Xuan Guangjing and Yu Bo'an, and there were more than 100.

On the other side, only Li Shaoming, the secretary of the military department, was left alone.

Li Shaoming's eyes have turned red. He spun around in place, only to find that no one had come forward to agree with him. For a while, he was anxious and angry, gritted his teeth, and was speechless.

"You ...... How dare you do that?"

"Eat the king. But he doesn't think about repaying the country's kindness. Are you not afraid of God's wrath?"

"That's hundreds of thousands of people from the Chu Kingdom! Can you really sit back and watch them being killed by the barbarians?"

Thick-skinned people will not make any action no matter how much they scold.

After a long time, Li Shengjie, the head of the household, sighed, and said to Li Shaoming, who was angry: "Lord Li's words are wrong. If you want to send troops, you must have enough food. Departing from Kyoshi. It will take at least a few months to reach Anju. Cao Hui's emergency document clearly stated: As many as 150,000 Yue barbarians entered the country this time. It is easy for the Yue people to go back and forth between the mountains, the terrain is familiar, and most of our soldiers and soldiers are northerners, and they are not accustomed to water and soil, but they are afraid that they have not yet arrived in Anzhou, and the patients have as many as thirty percent. The barbarians are strong, and if I send troops to Dachu, if it is less than 200,000, it will not be able to form an advantage over it at all. Master Lee. 200,000 people, a full army of 200,000 people! The household department really does not have so many taels of silver, and it is difficult to mobilize so much rice and grain from the surrounding prefectures and counties at one time. Taking a step back, even if this battle can really be won, the end will only be that the Yue barbarians will withdraw from the border, and we will get a piece of wreckage that has been burned and plundered. If we want to rebuild, we will have to spend a lot of money and food, and a large number of people will migrate from the interior. ”

Yu Bo'an, a scholar of the Mandarin Palace, nodded with a gloomy face. Echoed: "The barbarians are greedy and have retreated this year." Next year again. The Hongling Urgent Newspaper from Anzhou is sent out several times a year, and the content is no different, it is the invasion of the Yue people. From the successive emperors of Houzong, Mingzong, Qingzong, and Lizong to the present, Anzhou has been in turmoil and turmoil, and millions of people have died and a large amount of silver money has been spent. But nothing but the status quo can be maintained. Xuan Shilang said well, Anzhou is a chicken rib, rather than keeping it to make trouble for Dachu every year, it is better to simply throw it to the Yue barbarians. It is also good to leave a large sum of money to renovate the fortifications of the rock pass. Firmly seal the way for the Yue people to go north. ”

Strictly speaking, civil servants are not uninformed. It's just that the level at which they consider the problem remains in the way of the country's internal affairs. From this point of view, Yu Bo'an and others are not wrong.

Li Shaoming could not agree with this statement in any case. He has always been an extremely hard-line main fighter. At that moment, Li Shaoming rushed to Yu Bo'an and roared angrily: "According to this, will those people in Qingsui County die in vain?"

Yu Bo'an was also tough, and refused to back down at all: "Since you are a citizen of Chu State, you must have the consciousness of dying for the country." Since they chose to move to Anzhou in the first place, they must have thought about the outcome of their death today. ”

Li Shaoming only felt that a chaotic flame suddenly rose in his head, and he continued to approach forward, and his forehead almost hit Yu Bo'an's face: "Then why don't you die in place of those people? If you were facing a crisis, would you still talk and laugh like this?"

Yu Bo'an also glared at Li Shaoming angrily, but he really couldn't find what words to refute. All the words that could be found by searching the intestines and scraping the stomach felt pale and weak.

"Enough!"

On the dragon chair, there was a low roar from Emperor Shunming's Xiang Zhong: "What kind of system is it to quarrel so much in the main hall?"

Before the ministers could react, Emperor Shunming had already shouted: "Li Shengjie." ”

Hubu Shangshu's body trembled, and he subconsciously responded: "The minister is here." ”

He couldn't help but feel frightened, Emperor Shunming did not call himself "Li Aiqing" as usual, but called him by his first name.

Fortunately, Emperor Shunming's next words didn't seem to mean anything to himself: "How much silver can the household department take out now, and how much money can be maintained for the soldiers?"

As the money bag of the Chu State, Li Shengjie is quite clear in this regard: "Your Majesty, if you start from Beijing, it will be 50,000 horses at most." No matter how much it is, the household department will not even be able to take out the usual money. ”

Emperor Shunming frowned: "Why is it so little?"

Li Shengjie said eloquently: "The overhaul of the Yellow River dam was decided the year before last. Since last year, six million taels of silver have been disbursed. The summer silver of the Northland Frontier Army had been transferred two months ago, and it was thought that the remaining silver taels would last until the autumn tax season, and the treasury would become sufficient. The salary of the 50,000 army mentioned by Wei Chen is still counted in the latest batch of summer business taxes. If there is no money, I am afraid that at most I will be able to come up with about 2,000 people's food. ”

Emperor Shunming's face froze.

Li Shengjie is by no means empty nonsense. How much money and food is in the household, Emperor Shunming himself also has an account in his heart.

That's pretty much it. No more, there really isn't any.

50,000 soldiers is not less.

Thinking of this, Emperor Shunming's gaze turned, and his gaze fell on the ranks of military generals and nobles who had been silent.

Most of the people standing there are obese. Although he was wearing a military attache uniform, he did not have the courage of a martial artist at all.

It is no wonder that the generals who can fight are either defending the East China Sea or defending the border in the north. Xungui's children stayed in the court, these people are all Mengzu Shangyin, when it comes to going into battle to kill the enemy, I'm afraid some people can't even hold a knife. (To be continued.) )