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After reading An Ruhai's excerpt, Min Ruoying finally showed a rare smile on her face, raised the fold in her hand, and smiled at several important ministers such as Shoufu Ma Xiangdong and Cheng Wuben, the secretary of the military department: "This time, An Ruhai boasted to me about Haikou, and before the Chinese New Year, he will inevitably recover the Luoying Mountain Range and bring back all the things we lost four years ago." ”

Cheng Wuben smiled: "Your Majesty, An Ruhai has always been calm, if he doesn't do anything, he won't say anything, it's rare that he is so confident this time, it seems that we don't need to worry about this battle." ”

"Guogong is right. An Ruhai is really such a person. Min Ruoying laughed and looked back at Shen Xian, the head of the household: "Lord Shen, it seems that you have to prepare a large amount of silver to reward our soldiers on the Western Front." ”

Shen Xian had a sad face: "Your Majesty, I don't know how much?" ”

Min Ruoying, who was on the head of Xing, didn't notice Shen Xian's face, and muttered: "There are 50,000 soldiers on the Western Front, so you have to prepare one million taels." ”

"Your Majesty, is this too much? The last time the Eastern Front won a battle, people could only rely on four or five taels of silver. Shen Xian said: "If there are one million taels on the Western Front, the number of people will be twenty taels, which is too much difference." ”

Min Ruoying's face changed slightly: "This battle on the Western Front is a shameful battle, and An Ruhai only has 50,000 soldiers, but the Qin army on the opposite side has more than 100,000 soldiers. ”

Shen Xian's mouth opened, and he didn't argue again, just lowered his head, and the corner of his eye looked at Shoufu Ma to the east from time to time.

Ma Xiangdong coughed lightly: "Your Majesty, it's not that Lord Shen is reluctant, it's really a little too much financial resources." Lord Shen made careful calculations, and finally smoothed out this year's accounts, and next year's budget arrangement can barely be supported, suddenly more than one million taels, and the household department is indeed a little embarrassed. ”

"A million taels is a bit embarrassing?" Min Ruoying was slightly angry: "I am a great Chu rich country, when did I worry about silver?" Shen Xian, how did you become a household secretary? ”

"Your Majesty, it's not that Lord Shen doesn't care, but the Eastern Front has been fighting for two years in a row, hundreds of thousands of troops, spending money like running water, no matter how big the family foundation is, it can't withstand such consumption!" Cheng Wuben opened his mouth, "Lord Shen, you can give Your Majesty a rough description of the expenses of the Eastern Front in the past two years. ”

"Your Majesty, the situation is roughly like this." Shen Xian glanced at Cheng Wuben gratefully, the eastern front has become a black hole in the finances of the Chu State, countless silver coins have been thrown, and the water splash has not jumped out and disappeared, but Luo Liang, the marshal of the eastern front, is still asking the court for food and pay for silver, and for the requirements of the eastern front, His Majesty the emperor has not discounted it, and has always given whatever he wants. This also made Shen Xian full of resentment, if it was like the Western Front, the money invested could finally see the brilliant fruits, then it would be considered a gain, but like the Eastern Front, there was no hope for the endless investment, so there was only despair left.

After listening to Shen Xing's report, Min Ruoying's face was cloudy, the battle of alignment on the eastern front was launched under his strong leadership, but in the past two years, the earliest advantage has been eaten away little by little, and now it is the Qi people who have begun to gain the upper hand, and the battle of alignment is now difficult to ride a tiger.

"Luo Liang, really disappointed me." Min Ruoying said fiercely.

Hearing the emperor's words, Ma Xiangdong looked at Cheng Wuben. Cheng Wuben looked at his nose and his nose and his nose looked at his heart, but what he said made Ma Xiangdong a little surprised.

"Your Majesty, our national strength is still inferior to that of Qi, and our military strength is even more so, before the war began, we occupied a surprise advantage and were able to achieve results, but unfortunately the battle of Gaohu was not won in one fell swoop, looking at Luo Liang's use of troops, there is not much flaw, and now the form of the Eastern Front is the comparison of the strength of the two countries. Your Majesty must not destroy Luo Liang, lest he take risks and rash progress, but he will suffer a big loss. ”

Listening to Cheng Wuben's words, Ma Xiangdong admired it in his heart, thinking that Luo Liang wanted to replace Cheng Wuben back then, but he didn't give him eye medicine in front of Min Ruoying, but now Luo Liang is in a difficult situation, Cheng Wuben is excusing him, although it is a state affair, but the conduct of the two can be seen from this.

If Cheng Wuben said this, it would make the emperor even more embarrassed, Ma Xiangdong glanced at the emperor, and sure enough, the emperor's face was even more ugly. At the beginning, Cheng Wuben opposed the war with Qi, and bluntly said that the two countries would eventually suffer from the war, and now Cheng Wuben's prophecy is becoming a reality little by little, and the emperor will feel better?

"Your Majesty, the Western Front will definitely be victorious, and the whole country will definitely be encouraged at that time, and the soldiers on the Eastern Front will also be ashamed and brave, and it is only a matter of time before the Qi people are repelled, this year the minister is discussing with Lord Shen to introduce some new strategies to increase the treasury revenue, and now there are eyebrows, this point of reward, Your Majesty does not have to take it to heart, no matter how much this million taels of silver, no matter where you squeeze it, it can be taken out." Ma Xiangdong smiled and said: "Lord Shen doesn't have to worry about saying that the east and west are unevenly rewarded with silver, and when the east repels the Qi people and wins the battle, we will also give so much, and there will be no silver in the treasury at that time, and I, Ma someone, will sell all my belongings and make up this money." ”

Seeing Ma Xiangdong playing a round field, Cheng Wuben smiled and said: "Your Majesty, if the Eastern Front wants to reverse the situation, the key now is not on us, but on the Ming Kingdom, if the Ming Kingdom can move a little, it will immediately affect the deployment of Qi State's troops, but Qin Feng is as slippery as a fox, and it is not easy to let him flow into this water." This time, Her Royal Highness the princess returned to Beijing, but it was a good time. ”

"I'm afraid it's not easy." Ma Xiangdong shook his head and said: "Qin Feng surrounded the four northern counties without fighting, what kind of heart can be seen at a glance, what his abacus is, no one can understand it now." ”

"What kind of intentions can you have!" Min Ruoying snorted coldly: "He just wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, we have a scalp and blood with the Qi people, and he is the happiest when he can solve the problem." Xi'er, this stupid girl, how can she say that Qin Feng, a cunning wolf. ”

"Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness the Princess's influence in the Ming Kingdom should not be underestimated, don't look at anything else, just look at this time Her Royal Highness the Princess made a move, Li Zhi's stubborn stone was easily moved, and it is precisely because of this that there will be this twist and turn of An Ruhai on the Western Front! This time, Her Royal Highness the Princess can connect the three kingdoms of Ming, Chu and Qin, you can see the ability of the princess, as long as Her Royal Highness the Princess is willing, why not connect Chu Ming again? "Horse to the east." There is no need for the Ming Kingdom to really send troops, as long as they put on a posture. ”

"Your Majesty, now Qin Feng's eyes are only afraid to look at the Qin State, and I am afraid that it is unlikely that he wants him to intervene between Qi and Chu." Cheng Wuben shook his head: "On the one hand, he is cleaning up internal affairs, trying his best to heal the sores caused by the war over the years, and secondly, he is also working hard to enrich the country and strengthen the army, no matter what, now the Ming State is still relatively weak among the four countries, when Qin Feng wants to expand externally, in fact, he only needs to look at one thing to understand." ”

"What's the matter?" Min Ruoying asked.

"Let's see when he swallows the barbarians of the four counties of the Northland in one bite." Cheng Wuben said categorically: "When Qin Feng attacked the four counties of the Northland on a large scale and annihilated the group of barbarians who came down the mountain, when was the time for the Ming Kingdom to change its national policy and expand outward." Now Qin Feng is just laying out, and his next target must be the Qin State. Killing Li Zhi, the Qin State will inevitably have continuous internal strife in the future, and the Deng clan will be in charge, which will change the previous self-defense national policy, and it is inevitable to expand outward. And we will be the first choice of the Qin State. That's why we have to take the Lok Ying Mountains. Your Majesty, the battle on the Western Front will not end with this battle, but will continue to unfold, so I would like to ask Your Majesty to seek an opportunity to end the war on the Eastern Front and shift the focus to the West. ”

Min Ruoying glanced at Cheng Wuben with sharp eyes.

"Guogong, why do you assert that the Qin Kingdom is targeting us?" He sneered and said: "If we take the Luoying Mountain Range, we will control the strategic initiative against Qin, as long as the Luoying Mountain Range is in our hands, what am I afraid of them?" Let them suffer more, knowing that we are not easy to provoke, they will inevitably turn their heads to attack the Ming State or find trouble with the Qi State. ”

"Your Majesty, because we are tight on the Eastern Front." Cheng Wuben shook his head: "If the Eastern Front is not over, it is impossible for us to invest too much manpower and financial resources in the Western Front, how can the Qin State not see this?" ”

"Don't forget, there is still a dispute between Qin and Deng!" Min Ruoying snorted: "Shoufu, after An Ruhai's battle, he will immediately start negotiations with the Qin State, no, it is with the Bian family." Hasn't Ming Guo been supporting the Deng family? Very good, our Chu State will vigorously support the Bian family, and the Bian family is in the same branch as the Qin royal family, as long as they are strong enough, they can control the state politics, unless the Deng family wants to rebel. Even if they can't be instigated to use force against the Ming State, it is not impossible to join Qin and attack Qi. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ma Xiangdong nodded: "This is also a way, the Bian family can't be too weak, and the Qin country can't only have one voice from the Deng family, this strategy is very good." ”

"Guogong." Min Ruoying looked at Cheng Wuben again: "I know that you want to end the battle on the Eastern Front, but I tell you today that the battle of alignment, if you don't win, it will never end, you are my military secretary, don't think about how to end the war, but think about how to win this war!" Qin Feng can be vertical and horizontal, is my Min Ruoying worse than him? The battle on the Eastern Front is certainly unfavorable now, but as long as we think about the Triple Alliance, we can turn the passive into the active. ”

Cheng Wuben said helplessly: "Yes, Your Majesty, I know." ”

A eunuch walked in lightly, stood beside Min Ruoying and whispered: "Your Majesty, Princess Zhaohua has entered the city and returned to the princess's mansion. ”

Min Ruoying shook her head helplessly: "After all, she is still a stupid girl, are you still angry with me?" No matter what, no matter what, I only have such a sister after all, so I will tolerate it. That's all for today's business, and I'm going to meet this stubborn sister. ”