It's only been a month.

At least twenty percent of the people in Jizhou are infected with this strange disease similar to wind and cold, and red rashes will appear on their bodies.

In addition, at least 20 percent of patients are unable to stand up after falling ill on the bed.

Such a terrible and strange disease is better than any plague ever recorded!

No doubt!

This is a new plague!

And it has begun to spread in the city.

By the time the prefect of Jizhou realized this and wanted to stop the spread of the plague, it was too late!

At this moment.

In the main hall of the Yamen of the Fucheng City.

The prefect Shen Lian paced back and forth, his face extremely solemn.

Several officials on the side also looked anxious, not knowing what to do.

"My lord, if it goes on like this, within a month, tens of thousands of people will die of illness in the capital city of Jizhou! When the time comes, if the court investigates it, we will all be to blame!"

Jizhou passed the anxious road.

When Shen Lian heard this, he glanced at him, and said angrily: "Who doesn't know this truth, and I want you to say it, even if you are in a hurry, what's the use? Is this disease going away because you're in a hurry?

The most important thing now is to let this disease stay in Jizhou and not spread to other state capitals, and the second is to find a cure!

This official asked you to send someone to the Yamen of Zhaozhou and told their people that no one was allowed to approach Jizhou, and no one from Jizhou was allowed to leave, did you do it?"

The general judgment said: "The lower official sent someone to say it, but the prefect of Zhaozhou said that this matter is very involved, and he can't do it without an official document from the imperial court."

When Shen Lian heard this, his brows furrowed.

He knew in his heart that the prefect of Zhaozhou was right.

In the final analysis, they are just small prefects of Sipin, and they have no authority to make such decisions at all.

Unless everything that happens here is reported to the court, but once it is reported to the court.

The imperial court sent a messenger to investigate the source of the plague, and he secretly opened a sea ban, and the business with the Euros would inevitably be hidden.

When the time comes, he will have to shed a layer of skin even if he doesn't die!

However, it was not reported to the imperial court, and the plague spread.

The imperial court can also find out that the plague first came out of Jizhou!

If you don't report it, the crime will be added to the first degree.

The plague must be reported, but the business with the Euros must not be discovered.

That's it.

He gritted his teeth, looked at the few people beside him, and said, "This official will report the plague in the imperial court today, and if His Majesty sends him down to send him down, where does this plague come from, do you know what to say?"

The officials in the yamen more or less got a share of the business with the Euros.

Therefore, they are tied to Shen Lian, so naturally they will not report and expose him.

The next two hours.

Shen Lian and several others were all discussing how to conceal their business with the Euros.

It took another three days to kill people and destroy evidence.

Three days later.

The chapter of the plague in Jizhou was written and sent to the Yanguo Jingshi.

By the time Emperor Yan and the left and right ministers received this letter, it had been nearly two months since the plague spread.

The location where the plague occurred was no longer limited to the land of Jizhou, but spread to the entire eastern part of Yan Kingdom!

Meanwhile.

The other side.

Fang Xiu, who had returned to Chang'an, was still thinking about how to deal with Yan Guo.

Palace.

In the warm pavilion of the Yamen of Zhongshu Province.

Fang Xiu sat in the first seat.

On both sides sat Du Chen'an, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Qin Xingyan, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Qian Haonan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Xie Qian, the first and auxiliary minister of the Zhou Cabinet who followed Fang Xiu to Chang'an.

"Although the Yan Kingdom does not attach importance to the research and development of firearms, their iron cavalry is very strong

The southern part of the Yan Kingdom is a plain, the terrain is conducive to cavalry combat, and when the logistics supply reserves are sufficient, it is difficult to defeat them head-on."

It was Qian Haonan, the secretary of the military department, who spoke.

Ever since he defeated the Zhou Kingdom, he had spent his spare time pondering how to deal with the Yan Kingdom.

On weekdays, he often looks left and right with the map of Yan Kingdom, so among the few people present, he knows the situation of Yan Kingdom best.

As the secretary of the military department, although he is not like Bai Qi, he can strategize on the battlefield and fight well, but he also has his own understanding of strategy, which is not top-notch, but definitely first-class.

Side.

When Xie Qian heard this, he nodded quite approvingly, and said, "When the minister was still a household secretary ten years ago, he once went to Yan Country as an envoy, and saw Emperor Yan inspect the Yan Country Iron Cavalry, which is indeed very strong, and no one is their opponent when they encounter the plains."

The meaning of the two is clear.

Even if the two countries formed an alliance, it would still be difficult to threaten the Yan State in a short period of time.

Fang Xiu didn't have any expression on his face, he looked at Du Chen'an and Qin Xingyan on the side, and said, "What about the two of you? What do you think?"

The two looked at each other.

It was Qin Xingyan who spoke first: "Xiaguan doesn't know anything about military affairs, and Xiaguan can't judge whether the coalition army can win the Yan cavalry in the plain, but Xiaguan, as the head of the household, can assure Fang Xiang here that if the war starts, there will be no problems with logistics and supplies!"

When Xie Qian heard this, he opened his mouth and wanted to say something.

When the words came to his lips, he didn't open his mouth after all.

Du Chen'an, who was on the side, saw this scene, thought about it, and said, "Zhou was greatly affected by the war last year, and the treasury is only afraid that it is not as full as my big cadres, and if the war starts again, we must also consider whether the people of Zhou can bear it."

These words simply spoke to Xie Qian's heart.

He didn't dare to speak just now, because he was afraid that the regent would think too much.

After all, the attack on Yan was something that the regent had been planning for two or three months.

He poured cold water on it once, and it was almost enough.

If it is poured cold water one after another, it will inevitably be annoying.

Fortunately, Du Chenan spoke his heart for him, which weakened his sense of guilt for the people a little.

Fang Xiu, who was sitting in the first seat, heard the words of the four council members, and his face showed a thoughtful expression.

A few days ago, Shangguan Haitang handed over the information of Yan Guo to him.

He studied it for several hours before coming to a conclusion.

Now is indeed not the best time to crusade against the Yan Kingdom.

Yan has not suffered any natural or man-made disasters in recent years, and the grain reserves are sufficient.

Although the 100,000 Dayan Iron Cavalry was defeated once in Yongzhou.

But that's based on a lot of factors.

First of all, Yongzhou is hilly terrain, which is not conducive to heavy cavalry.

Secondly, Fang Xiu chose to clear the wilderness and not leave a chance for Yan Jun.

In the end, the coach of the Yan army was greedy and reckless, revealing flaws.

Even so, Fang Xiu relied on hot air balloons and newly developed firearms to repel the Yan army.

Moreover, the Yan army's biggest losses were the 200,000 ordinary soldiers.

The 100,000 Yan National Iron Riders were actually not greatly affected.

When he arrived in the territory of the Yan Kingdom, facing a plain, no city walls, and no fortifications, it was very difficult to win the cavalry of the Yan Kingdom again.

In addition, Emperor Yan has reigned for decades, and he has quite a prestige among the Yan people.

With him, the whole Yan Kingdom will definitely unite as one, and if they want to win against them, they will never be as easy as defeating the Zhou Kingdom.

Of course.

This does not mean that there is no chance of capturing the Yan Kingdom.

Emperor Yan is very old, and if nothing happens, he won't last for many years.

Therefore, they will easily not start a large-scale war, but will only do some assassinations that cannot be put on the table.

This gave Daqian and Dazhou room for development.

In addition, the Bai clan has been created on the side of the engineering academy

The musket, that is, the Gatling, is trying to figure out how to mass-produce it.

The Makqin, which was built according to the drawings in the firearms workshop, also has a prototype.

It won't be long before it will be delivered to the shooting range.

Mass production can take up to one year.

Of course, this does not mean that after the mass production of Gatlin and Makqin, the new army will be invincible in the world.

Because the cost of raw materials for the manufacture of these muskets is not low, and the firearms workshop also produces projectiles and ordinary rifled guns, even if it is mass-produced, it will not produce much.

In the face of how much of a role 100,000 cavalry can play, it has to go through a series of experiments and evaluations before a reliable conclusion can finally be drawn.

All in all.

The time is not yet ripe for the Northern Expedition to Yan.

If you want to take the Yan Kingdom at a relatively small price, you have to wait at least a year later.

Moreover, it must be that there are no large-scale natural and man-made disasters in the territory of Qianguo and Zhou.

That's it.

Fang Xiu finally made up his mind, looked at a few people, and said lightly, "In this case, the matter of the Northern Expedition will be put on hold for the time being, and we will discuss it in a year."

The voice fell.

Xie Qian was obviously relieved.

He is the only Zhou person in the Council of Ministers, so he naturally wants to consider the people of Zhou.

Zhou Guogang experienced a war, although the main battlefield was limited to the south, but the people were still greatly affected.

If there is less than a year apart, and there is another war, I am afraid that Zhou Guo will poke his backbone and scold him up and down.

In comparison.

Du Chen'an and the three of them seemed relatively calm.

They are the core of the Fang Party, and they have followed Fang Xiu for many years, discussing these important matters, and they do not have too much psychological burden.

"This is the end of the Northern Expedition, the next thing is the trade with the Wu State, three years ago, Fang Xiang signed an agreement with the Wu people, the commercial tax at the border of the Wu State was agreed by my Daqian, and the result of the original agreement was to pay a 10% commercial tax!

However, half a year ago, Wu raised the commercial tax from 10 percent to 30 percent without the consent of our cadres.

Now, because of the commercial tax, my businessmen have been unable to open the market of Wu for a long time.

The white sugar and refined salt produced by Zhenbao Zhai have even been unsalable......

Before Du Chenan threw out the topic, he first explained the whole story.

Mainly to Qian Haonan and Xie Qian.

In the past, there was a high probability that such a thing would be decided by His Majesty in the early dynasty.

Now that there is a Council of Ministers, it is up to them to draw up a rough plan for how to deal with it.

Then put it on the morning court and hand it over to those officials to find faults.

If those officials can't find any big loopholes, His Majesty will make the final decision.

In fact, the latter step is more like going through the motions.

After all, after experiencing the finger of the deer as a horse, the speech officials in the court, except for Hai Rui, who is a core member of the Fang Party, not many people dare to pick the loopholes of the Fang Party.

"According to you, what should be done about this matter?"

Du Chenan looked at Qin Xingyan and the three of them and asked.

The Council of Ministers is dealing with matters that are difficult to decide or difficult to solve.

There are only two things in this month.

The first is the Northern Expedition.

Second, the commercial tax of Wu State.

Qin Xingyan, as the secretary of the household department, naturally has the most say in this matter.

Really.

The first to speak was also Qin Xingyan.

"Wu Ren didn't believe in his words, he delayed the time three times and twice, and he was not prepared to properly solve this matter at all, according to the meaning of the household department, they must be taught a lesson!"

When Xie Qian heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Qin Xingyan, and was curious in his heart, Wu Country was rich in products, and the most important thing was money and food, how can you teach them?

Do you send troops to fight?

As soon as he thought about this, he heard Qin Xingyan say loudly:

"According to the intention of the lower officials, if the Wu State insists on going its own way and refuses to lower the commercial tax, the imperial court can send troops to fight!"

「......」

When Xie Qian heard this, he didn't know what to say for a while.

However, this matter mainly involves the Qianguo, and even if it really wants to send troops to fight, it will also be the Qianguo army.

He didn't have to get involved.

Side.

When Qian Haonan heard this, he followed up and said: "The state of Wu was attacked by the Yue State last year, losing thirty percent of the fertile land, and the 300,000 army lost more than fifty percent, which can be described as a heavy loss.

When discussing the Northern Expedition just now, Qian Haonan was resolutely opposed, and the object was changed to Wu Guo, and his attitude immediately changed.

In the final analysis, it is human nature that persimmons are still soft and pinched.

Fang Xiu thought for a moment, looked at Du Chen'an, and asked, "What do you think?"

Du Chenan replied: "According to the idea of the lower officials, it is not impossible to send troops to fight, and there are even many benefits, one is to deter the whole Wu State, the second is to hone the newly recruited 100,000 soldiers, and the third is to solve the business tax matter."

The three of them were of the same opinion on this issue.

Fang Xiu glanced at them and said lightly, "Besides that, there should be other benefits."

When Qin Xingyan heard this, he smiled awkwardly and said, "If you go back to Fang Xiang, for the lower officials, there are indeed other benefits, the commerce and trade of Wu Country is developed, and the people are rich, if shops such as Zhenbao Zhai can enter Wu Kingdom, the dividends of the lower officials will be more.

Because of this, the court, as long as the hundred officials who can receive dividends, hope to solve the matter of Wu State's commercial tax as soon as possible, and it is also everyone's unanimous idea to use troops in Wu State.

In addition, many merchants also thought the same way, and as far as the lower officials knew, if the imperial court used troops against the state of Wu to settle the matter of commercial taxes, many merchants were willing to donate money and food to the imperial army."

In the final analysis, Wu's commercial taxes involved their direct interests.

In addition, Wu Guo is a soft persimmon who is easy to bully, and using soldiers is the simplest and most direct solution.

Fang Xiu was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Since this is the case, the military department will prepare and draw up a charter to prepare for the southern expedition to the Wu State."

The dispatch of troops will be a matter for the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

The Metropolitan Governor's Mansion is under the command of Fang Xiu.

Therefore, after the Council of Ministers made the decision to march south.

Fang Xiu also had to convene the people of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion to discuss specific plans.

Of course, before that, you have to discuss it with the little empress first, and then put it in the early dynasty to discuss.

Even if Wu Guo is a soft persimmon, it is not something that can be beaten with a casual sentence.

(End of chapter)