At this time, Jing Li's face had returned to normal at this time, but he did not speak when he heard King Chu's inquiry.

Zhao Ju waited for a moment, and then spoke: "King, the time to build the canal is still too long. For example, the people of Huaishui need to guard against the Qi country, and the ministers think that they cannot be transferred to Hanshui to participate in labor. ”

"And if the situation is unpredictable today, even if we don't attack other countries, I'm afraid other countries will come to attack our Chu State. Moreover, if the people are called up to build canals every year, the people will be exhausted and embarrassed. Therefore, considering the actual situation, I am afraid that it will take more than ten years to build an aqueduct. ”

"Therefore, the minister thinks that it takes too long to build the canal, please think twice."

When Xu Xing heard this, he immediately retorted: "Since more than a hundred years ago, there are only five countries left in the west of King Zhou, and now more than 100 years have passed, and there are still five countries in this place, although the strength of each country has changed, but it has never been seen that country is destroyed, so it is difficult to say that the conquest is difficult." ”

"Sima said that it is too difficult to build a canal, will it be more difficult than attacking a city? Sima said that if it takes too long to build the canal, will it take longer than it will take to destroy other countries? ”

"Besides, when it comes to building canals, the sages of Chu built a series of projects such as Shaobi, which are much more difficult than now, when the former monarch Zhuang Wang fully supported the sage Sun Shuao to build the canal, will it affect the Zhuang Wang's struggle for hegemony in the world?"

"No, the fact is the opposite, it is precisely because of the construction of a large number of canals that Sun Shuao will become a generation of virtuous ministers of the Chu State, and King Zhuang will also dominate the world and win the title in Zhou."

"This..." Zhao Ju was speechless for a moment.

Don't mention the more the plan.

Zhao Ju naturally knew that it was beneficial to build a canal, but what about after the construction was completed?

Ten or fifteen years later, Zhao Ju himself is not sure if he is still alive, and even if he is still alive, can he still lead the army to fight?

It's all a question!

In the end, Zhao Ju had no choice but to give up his hand and say: "King, please think twice!" ”

Xiong Huai hadn't spoken yet, Xu Xing saw that Zhaoju was defeated and retreated, and immediately took advantage of the victory to pursue and said: "Great King, the ministers and ministers of Chu are all keen to dominate the world, so the ministers will talk about how the construction of water canals is conducive to fighting for hegemony in the world. ”

Xiong Huai opened his mouth and said, "Please sir explain a little bit more." ”

Xu Xingying said: "To dominate the world, we must have a strong army, and a strong army needs to be well-trained and well-armed. The training of the army and the armament of weapons and equipment all need to be done by people. ”

"Craftsmen build weapons, then there is no time to farm, and soldiers train all year round, so there is no time to farm."

"Therefore, craftsmen, soldiers, the basic of these strong armies, in addition to the foundation of population, then food is the most important factor besides population."

"The only source of food is from the fields, and in today's world, the small number of middle fields and fertile fields are only explained for most of the lower fields. One husband coerces five people, governs 100 acres of land, and now one mu harvests about two stones, which means that a farmer can harvest less than 200 stones of grain a year. ”

"Although the amount of food for a family of five is very small, the average person per capita is about one and a half stone a month, that is, each family needs to eat 90 stone of grain every year. The other more than 100 stones, either paid taxes or sold for household use, were all used to support others. ”

"And a soldier in the army, if he doesn't train, then he needs two stone of food in a month, and if he fights or trains, then he needs more than two stone of food, that is, a soldier needs to consume thirty stone of food for perennial training."

"That is to say, if a farmer earns all year round, if he supports the soldiers, he only supports three or four people, and if he supports the craftsmen, it is only to provide for the needs of the family."

"However, if the harvest is raised to three stone per acre, then a farmer will produce an extra hundred stone of grain per year. 60,000 hectares of land is 6 million mu of fields, which means that Chu State harvests an extra 6 million stone grain every year, and Chu State's tax revenue is about half, that is, Taifu has an extra 3 million stone grain every year. If all this food is used for military purposes, then it will be enough for the training of 100,000 troops for a year. ”

"If each soldier trains for half a year, it is 200,000 troops, and if it is trained for three months, it is 400,000 troops. Coupled with the food provided by Dongting Huainan, the state of Chu can train nearly a million troops every year, and with these troops, the king will not be able to succeed. ”

Xiong Huai was gradually attracted by the picture depicted by Xu Xing, if it is really as Xu Xing said, then Chu State will have an extra 100,000 standing army, no, not only that, Xu Xing said that it is only one gain a year, if you count the wheat rice, that is, two wins a year, in this way, Chu State can train an additional 200,000 standing army.

And it's not just 200,000, because Xu Xing's data are all conservative data, at least the corn production between Jianghan and Han has not reached two stones, and the grain output of the irrigated land in Shaobi generally exceeds three stones, and there are many five stones and ten stones of fertile land, not just three stones.

Therefore, it is not a problem for the state of Chu to increase the training of 200,000 standing troops.

Hundreds of thousands of standing troops, plus conscripted soldiers, then...

At this moment, Xiong Huai seemed to see the situation of the Chu State pushing the world twenty or thirty years later!

Now Qin's Dujiangyan and Zhengguo canals have not been built, in terms of strength, Qin is still weaker than Chu, if Chu's canal in Yunmeng is built, as long as Chu's Han water is not lost, then even if Qin builds these two canals, Chu is still stronger than Qiang, even if it is discounted, Chu is not worse than Qin.

Such a Chu country, that country can be compared.

Not only Xiong Huai, but also the other ministers after Xu Xing finished speaking, they all fell into a vision for the future.

For a long time, Tang Fu, who had been silently listening to Xu Xing's debate, sighed, shook his head and said, "If Wu Qi could get Mr. help in the past, then..."

Tang Yu didn't say the rest of the words, Wu Qi attacked the nobles before, wasn't it because he trained the army that caused the Taifu to be empty and had no money and food?

If Wu Qi had food, where would there be a turmoil in the Chu State, and it would take many years to regain its vitality.

All the people present thought of the things that Tang Yu could think of, and then all their faces changed, each with their own ideas.

After Xiong Huai saw that after Tang Yu finished speaking, the faces of the ministers changed, and he asked: "I don't know what the ministers think of what Xu Zi said!" ”

Hearing King Chu's question, the ministers were silent for a while.

It's not that Xu Xing's proposal to repair the canal is bad, but it was Xu Xing who made this suggestion, which is a bit inappropriate.

In the silence, it was still Tang Yu who sighed and said, "King, the minister thinks that it is feasible to build a canal. ”

"Besides, the construction of water canals is not something that cannot be interrupted, even if various countries come to attack, or the situation in the world changes, we can completely suspend the construction of water canals and call up a large army to fight abroad."

"Even if it costs twenty years, as long as the canal can be built, then my Chu State will have the foundation of a century-old hegemony."

Xiong Huai said meaningfully when he heard this: "Yes, that's exactly the reason. Even if it is not suitable to build at this time, then there is always a suitable time to build! ”