The early dynasty of the Great Qi Empire was a daily routine. Because it's a routine, it's generally nothing serious, and unless there are some emergencies, it's just a formality every day.

The Great Qi Empire adopted a constitutional system, which was actually written down a long time ago, but it had already undergone great changes before it was implemented. After Lu Mingyi became emperor, he made some changes on the basis of the text at that time. Every morning in the court, under the leadership of the six Shangshu of Wenban and the five marshals of Wuban, the hundred officials asked the emperor of Daqi to ask for peace, and if there was something important, he handed over the fold to show that this matter was important, and he must speed up the instructions, and then he would retreat back to the court to rest. The Great Qi Empire has now been established for 19 years, and all kinds of systems have been running in place for many years, and there has been no mistake. After the ceremony, when he was waiting for the salute to say that he would retire from the court, the salute said loudly: "Please ask the eleventh emperor to stay in the retreat hall for the time being, and the rest will retire from the court." ”

The eleventh elector is the head of the six Shangshu and the five marshals, the civil and military classes. The Great Qi Empire was founded, and the emperor set this system of electors in view of the fact that the empires in the past were always out of control for the establishment of the prince, and even some people died because of the destruction of the country. All imperial clans have the right to become princes, but who really ascends the throne is the right of these eleven electors. In the middle of the retreat hall, there is a golden treasure with only a very small mouth. To decide who will succeed to the throne, first the people are elected, and finally the two most popular people are decided, and then the eleven emperors and princes write the name of the ideal successor in their minds on a golden page in turn, and then put it into the golden scarf, and then split it with a giant axe in public at the hundred official conferences, and succeed to the throne by the one who gets the most gold pages. Because there are eleven electors, there is no chance of a draw, and if the gold page is put in, it will be impossible to take it out again if it is not broken, and the fairness of the election can also be guaranteed. At the same time, the Eleventh Elector must also swear allegiance to the new emperor, regardless of whether the final election is his favorite or not. The emperor advocates meritocracy, which can ensure that the virtuous is established rather than just talking about intimacy. It's just that now that the emperor himself is in the prime of life, this gold has naturally never been used, and the eleventh emperor has never chosen the emperor. Among the eleventh electors, although the six members of the political side are all in the court, only three of the five marshals of the military are now in Wuyun City, among which Dai Chengxiao, the king of Diming, and Shen Yangyi, the king of Fengming, are both stationed in the military region, but when it comes to it, they are still counted.

When the hundred officials retreated, and the nine people in the court among the eleven emperors entered the retreat hall, there were already screens, tables and chairs lined up inside, and wine pots and fruits were placed on each small table. Although the emperor is the supreme, he has always been quiet, very diligent in government, and when he convenes these important ministers' meetings, his food has always been ordinary. When the third marshal and the six Shangshu sat down as observers, Chief Sha walked out and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty has arrived." ”

As soon as they heard that His Majesty had arrived, several people all stood up. The emperor came out of the apse, sat down in it, stretched out his hand and said, "Sit down." Father-in-law Sha, give each of you a copy of the copied pond report. ”

The empire is vast, and there are Tang soldiers stationed in various places to deliver news. Some urgent news must come very quickly, otherwise it will be a major mistake, and the duty of the Tang soldiers is to report the emergency at any time. It is precisely because the price of the report is expensive, so everything must be important. Fu Yanshu heard that the emperor said that he wanted to send a report, and his heart moved, and he wondered: "What happened?" ”

What was reported in the Tang newspaper was an important matter, and it should have been announced in the early days, but for some reason, it was only announced to the eleventh emperor separately in the retreat hall. He opened the newspaper in his hand and read it at a glance. As soon as I saw it roughly, my heart suddenly felt like I had been pierced by a steel needle, and I almost wanted to stand up. He was afraid that he was in too much of a hurry, so he hurriedly looked back again. This time I read it very carefully, I didn't dare to omit a word, I just read half of it, but I heard the Marshal of the Forbidden Army Pang Songnian lose his voice and said: "Wuyang City has fallen?!" ”

Pang Songnian has been the emperor's personal companion for many years. Although he is listed in the martial arts class, in fact, there is no military merit, but for many years to defend the emperor, naturally the credit is not small, when the emperor changed the five Shangshu to six Shangshu, the corresponding four marshals must also add one, Pang Songnian was able to be listed in the eleventh electoral emperor. He also knew that he could not be compared with the four marshals of water, earth, fire, and wind, who had made great achievements in war, so he had always retreated calmly, and did not dare to be the first in the world in everything, but he was not jealous. It's just that this time he screamed out loud, obviously too shocked in his heart. But as soon as he shouted, he immediately saved his temper, stood up and stood upright, and said: "Pang Song is dying every year, please forgive your majesty." ”

The emperor said: "Pang Shuai, please take a seat." He paused, and then continued, "The princes should have understood, right?" ”

The fall of Wuyang City can be said in just one sentence. What is more in the Tang newspaper is the origin of this army that caused the largest city in southern Xinjiang to fall. This army, known as the "Sunflower King Army", because of the use of unprecedented and peculiar tactics, forced the five amniotic water army with good combat strength to bend their knees in the first battle. As soon as his words fell, the Huo Ming King, who was the most anxious among the Four Ming Kings, suddenly said: "Your Majesty, are the tactics of the Sunflower King's army all true in this Tang newspaper?" ”

"At present, the Sunflower King Army is tightly sealing the news of Wuyang City, so what comes is also from rumors. It's just that," the emperor said this, but he also hesitated for a moment before he said: "This kind of tactics is unheard of, it may be a false rumor, but it should not be a shadowless thing." ”

Wang Li gasped. The tactics of the Sunflower King's army were so unbelievable that Wang Li couldn't believe it. If it is true, he really doesn't know how to deal with the law.

Wang Li was thinking about it, but he heard Fu Yanshu say: "Your Majesty, what is the intention of this army?" ”

"It is said that these people are from the far west. Coming across the sea, it is obvious that the request is not small. ”

The expedition of thousands of miles is certainly not seeking one city or one pool. Wang Li lost his voice and said, "Are they going to go north?" ”

"It's entirely possible."

The emperor said it lightly, but everyone could hear the weight of the sentence. The Great Qi Emperor, very different from the emperors of the previous dynasty, was himself an immediate general. Wang Li is known as the "gun, horse and bow" three uniques, almost the world's bravest strength, but the three uniques he is most proud of are still inferior to the emperor. It is precisely because the emperor himself is a famous general that what he said is by no means alarmist. The six Shangshu were originally civil ministers, and they did not have the right to speak on these military affairs as the five marshals, but when they heard this, several people couldn't help but be moved. Fei Yinghai, the oldest of them, said: "Your Majesty, how should you deal with it?" ”

Fei Yinghai is Fu Yanshu's father-in-law, and he is also the oldest among the six Shangshu. The emperor said: "Does Fei Gong have any high opinions?" ”

Fei Yinghai swallowed his saliva and said, "Weichen is a civilian, so he doesn't dare to say anything. But since the Sunflower King Army is not good, he must take precautions and take precautions as soon as possible. ”

This is a general statement, but it is true. The emperor said: "What Fei Gong said is very true. Miao Gong, how much savings are there in the treasury now? ”

The revenue and expenditure of the state treasury are under the exclusive management of the Ministry of Households. From the beginning of the household book, Miao Bo, the age is only in his early forties, not very big, and the biggest feature of this person is that he has an excellent memory. More than ten years ago, he was still a small official in the treasury of the Ministry of Industry, and once a member of the Ministry of Industry came to the warehouse to reconcile the accounts, the staff was very rough and sparse, and a bowl of water poured the account book to a damp, so he had to put it by the stove to dry. Drying is very time-consuming, and the clerk who directly reconciles the account has a complaint, so he directly checks the sub-account for checking. The annual treasury account book was hundreds of pages thick, with a total of more than 2,000 items, and the auditor did not believe the results of Miao Boqi, so he checked the wet account book again after drying. As a result, this time he checked and Miao Boqi's self-examination was exactly the same, and he believed that Miao Boqi had memorized all the more than 2,000 accounts. After this incident, Miao Boqi's memorization and recitation became a sensation, and then he was promoted all the way to the end of the book. In addition to memorizing far beyond ordinary people, Miao Boqi is also very rich in financial management ability, since he became a household secretary, the treasury has a surplus every year, so it is also very trusted by the emperor. Hearing the emperor's question, Miao Boqi hurriedly stood up, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, from this year to yesterday, the treasury revenue has exceeded 323 trillion and the expenditure has been 151 trillion. Together with the 1,135 trillion carried forward from the previous year, the total savings are 1,307 trillion. ”

One trillion is one million copper coins. In order to save money, the imperial currency was still used in the previous dynasty, which was divided into three types: gold, silver, and copper. Among them, copper coins are divided into large, medium and small three, in turn, five small for one, ten for one large, ten for one silver, ten silver for one gold, the household calculation of the local currency unit is large copper. The average family of three or four spends about a little bit of hardware every year, but just over half of this year, the surplus of the national treasury has reached 172 trillion copper, which is equivalent to 1.72 million gold coins. Raising soldiers is a little more expensive than usual, counting two gold per year, so that the surplus of the empire in the first half of the year is enough to raise 860,000 soldiers for a year. At present, the total number of garrisons in all provinces is only more than 300,000 soldiers, and this revenue and expenditure are naturally more than comfortable. It's just that in the event of a war, the cost will be ten or a hundred times higher than usual. In the event of a stalemate in the war, all the current surplus in the treasury will only last for three to four years. And once the war breaks out, income is completely unguaranteed, and it is even more difficult to support one or the other. Miao Boqi paused, and then said: "Among them, in the first half of the year, Wuyang City handed over sixty-three trillion. ”

The empire, including Wuyang City, has a total of nineteen provinces. These nineteen provinces are very unbalanced, roughly rich in the southeast and poor in the northwest, the poorest Langyue Province is basically not self-sufficient, and the richest is Wuyangcheng. The balance in the first half of the year totaled 172 trillion, of which Wuyangcheng only handed over and did not allocate it, so the 63 trillion in Wuyangcheng was the net income. However, now that Wuyang City has been occupied by the Sunflower King Army, it will definitely not be able to hand it over in the second half of the year. Although the first half of the year was larger, without the income of Wuyang City, the income of the entire empire would be reduced by one-third at once, and the pressure can be imagined.

A few people in the audience listened to Uncle Miao's eloquent talk, although he was also temporary, but everyone knew that his memory was amazing, and there would be no mistake. As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Qide, the secretary of the military department on the side, frowned and said: "Miao Shangshu, in this way, according to the current balance, how many times is it enough to fight?" ”

Mu Bo paused. Zhou Qide's question was not very easy to answer, he said: "This is not good. However, Bo Qi once consulted the files of the previous dynasty, and in February of the 25th year of Tianbao of the previous dynasty, he sent 100,000 troops to expedition to southern Xinjiang, and broke through the high eagle city in January of the following year, which was about a year of soldiers, and it cost a total of ......."

When he said this, he paused. Zhou Qide is a scholar of the military department, and he is familiar with these war histories, but he pays attention to the development and changes of the war, but he has never paid attention to how much money was spent on this war. He said, "How much did it cost?" ”

"Eighty-five trillion."

The southern expedition of Tianbao in the 25th year used 100,000 soldiers, and if you count 10,000 soldiers, it will cost more than 8 trillion. At present, even if half of the more than 200,000 soldiers in the empire are used, it will probably cost so much in a year. Zhou Qide smacked it and said, "Eighty-five trillion words are not too much." ”

"It's just military spending. In the twenty-fourth year of Tianbao, the balance of that year was 17 trillion, and by the end of the twenty-fifth year, there was a deficit of 13 trillion that year. ”

Zhou Qide was taken aback and said, "So much! ”

"With the war, income has plummeted. Even if you try to save money, you still can't make ends meet. ”

Zhou Qide did not speak again. Tianbao 25 years, that was more than 50 years ago, although the current national strength is much stronger than that time, but there is no essential difference. Once the war breaks out, it is precisely this military that is the most difficult. At this time, everyone couldn't help but be silent, although the military people were calculating how long the current national strength could support the war, and the political people were calculating whether they could open up sources and reduce expenditures, and whether they could not make the deficit so big for the first time. At this moment, he heard the emperor say: "What Duke Miao said is very true. But things are man-made, swords and soldiers are in the field, and it is impossible not to fight. Zhou Gong, how many troops are available at present? ”

The four major corps of the Great Qi Empire, including three army forces and one navy army. In the army, the largest area under the command of Dai Chengxiao, the king of Diming, has a total of more than 80,000 people, and is stationed in three military regions. Feng Ming King Shen Yangyi's wind department is less, and there are more than 50,000 troops stationed in the southeast and southeast regions. Coupled with the 40,000 people of the Fire Department of Huo Ming Wang Li, Pang Song's annual forbidden army of 8,000, and then the 30,000 naval army under the command of Fu Yanshu, there are about 210,000 troops directly under the empire in total. In addition, the number of provincial armies in each province varies, a total of about 100,000, and the total strength of the empire is more than 300,000. Hearing the emperor's question, Zhou Qide said: "Your Majesty, now that the northwest is stable, and the northeast is even more fine, these two places should be able to allocate more than 50,000 soldiers." Coupled with Marshal Wang's fire department, the nearest provincial army will be mobilized at that time, and 100,000 troops should be summoned at any time. ”

The emperor pondered for a while and said: "The northwest and northeast roads are far away, and both of them are important border defense places, don't be careless, 10,000 each is enough." With the addition of the reserve troops, 50,000 troops are currently concentrated in Dongping City. ”

Fu Yanshu was stunned and asked, "Dongping City?" ”

Dongping City was the capital of Zhijiang Province and the largest city on the eastern coast of the empire, as well as the two garrisons of Fu Yanshu's naval army. It's just that Dongping is the most important gateway to the lower reaches of the Great River of the Zhongfen Empire, and the Zhijiang River is rich, so Dongping City is often regarded as an outpost when the army goes south. The emperor wanted to concentrate 50,000 troops in Dongping City at once, obviously, he was preparing to march south.

The emperor nodded and said: "Nan'an is too close to Wuyang and too far away from the fog clouds, Dongping City can be attacked or defended, the best of both worlds." Speaking of this, he suddenly waved his head and said in a deep voice: "Princess, when you go back today, you will immediately prepare for the southern expedition and prepare a plan for the near future." ”

As soon as these words came out, Wang Li was also taken aback and asked, "Going south soon?" ”

A sneer appeared at the corner of the emperor's mouth, and he said indifferently: "These barbarians have already pointed the sword soldiers in front of me, which is unbearable. He paused, and then said in a deep voice: "Instead of sitting and waiting, it is better to strike first." This battle will surely sweep away these barbarians in one fell swoop, so that they will never dare to covet our state. ”

Fu Yanshu's heart moved slightly. Of course, he knew what the emperor was like, but he didn't expect that although he was no longer young, the blood in his chest was still as hot as a teenager. Hearing that Wuyang City was captured so easily, he couldn't help but be a little stunned, but the emperor didn't seem to have a trace of fear at all. Listening to his arrangement, in fact, it has been carefully considered, but when I met him yesterday, I didn't hear the emperor talk about it, so the news must have arrived this morning. In just this short period of time, the emperor has already drawn up this plan, and this person's ability is indeed extraordinary.

Although he is the first of the Four Ming Kings and has the power to control the whole army, Fu Yanshu has always disagreed with the emperor. It's just that this disobedience has gradually faded with the passage of time, and Fu Yanshu thinks more about making this huge empire run smoothly, but although this disobedience has faded a lot, it has always lingered after all. Now, however, this unhappiness has vanished.

At present, these officials and generals were all subordinates of the republican government, although Fu Yanshu did not have too many obsessions, but when the emperor restored the imperial system, he was still quite dissatisfied. However, over the years, the Great Qi Empire has been thriving, and for ordinary civilians, the difference with the Republic is not only the name of the country, but as a subject of the empire, life is more comfortable, and the speech is more relaxed than before, so there are more and more people who support the empire. Just a few years after its establishment, the troupe would perform some plays from time to time that pointed at Sang and scolded Huai, and people knew at a glance that it was scolding the emperor for restoring autocracy, which would be intolerable to the world. It's just that facts have proved that the restoration of the emperor not only did not be tolerated by the world, but on the contrary, the original destitute class was able to live and work in peace and contentment after the restoration of the empire, thus supporting the empire even more. And Fu Yanshu really recognized the emperor at this time.

In troubled times, heavy classics are used, and fierce medicine is heavy. Emperor, it's a dose of tiger and wolf medicine. Fu Yanshu thought, and the emperor's self-confidence also calmed his mind a lot. Indeed, the soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, no matter how powerful the Sunflower King's army is, after all, it has come from afar. Now this step by step is like a fist before striking with all its strength, it must be retracted first, so that it can have more power.