Yuan Fang frowned and said, "In that case, why don't we send those uncertain troops to the border?" Your troops are mobile, isn't this solved? ”

Chen Xin shook his head and said: "This is not safe, if those people defect, it will have a greater impact on us." ”

Yuan Fang patted the armrest of the table depressedly and said: "This is not good, that is not good, since those generals are not trustworthy, then just arrest them and replace them." ”

Yang Xing said with a sad face: "It's not that it's not untrustworthy, there will be sincere allegiance among so many people, if you don't ask Qinghong before all the people are replaced, those people will be dissatisfied, besides, we don't have so many people to supplement the various troops, and those generals have their own set, and the troops they have followed for many years, we suddenly change the generals, and those people below will inevitably have grievances, and it will backfire if the newly sent people can't be deterred." ”

Yuan Fang remembered Xueqin's words yesterday, his eyes lit up and said, "By the way, there is another way." ”

Yang Xing, Chang Xun and Chen Xin asked in unison: "What way?" ”

Yuan Fang said solemnly: "Recruitment." The three of them looked at each other when they heard this.

Chen Xin frowned and said, "With our current national strength, the number of troops has reached the upper limit, and if there are more, I am afraid that the empire's finances will be difficult to sustain." ”

Yang Xing nodded and said: "Yes, boss, the silver you got is just enough, if you save a little, the state tax and the industry of the Chamber of Commerce plus your arrangements, it will take a few years to reach a balance of payments, and then you can replenish the treasury, if you are conscripting soldiers now, it is indeed very difficult, and if it takes a long time, it is likely to drag down the empire's economy." ”

Yuan Fang frowned and asked, "If you recruit soldiers, how long can you hold out with the current state of the empire without being too affected?" ”

Yang Xing can be said to have worked hard during this time, and he has a general understanding of the current situation of the empire, and he pondered for a moment and said: "If you recruit 100,000 troops, you can probably last for three to five months. ”

Yuan Fang took out a thick stack of silver tickets from his arms and handed it to Yang Xing: "This is what I knocked from the envoy of the Yuanhe Empire yesterday, 40,000 taels of silver, you take it first." ”

Yang Xing doesn't care about tens of thousands of taels now, and every decision he makes now is tens of thousands of taels of silver, to be honest, this amount of silver is really nothing to an empire. Yuan Fang smiled faintly and said: "I know what to do with this little bit of silver, don't worry, listen to me, I remember that there is a saying called fighting to feed war, this time the three countries jointly bullied us?" We can't sit idly by, and you don't want to ruin your country as soon as you ascend the throne, do you? Hearing this, Chang Xun and Chen Xin's expressions became very exciting, that is, Yuan Fang dared to say such a thing, and if it was someone else, it was estimated that he would have been pushed out and cut a long time ago.

Yuan Fang continued: "Since we have to give it a go sooner or later, then let's hurry up sooner rather than later, anyway, the population base of our Eastern Saint Empire is here, it shouldn't be difficult to recruit troops, and forming a new legion as soon as possible can also thank you for more time to train and run-in and improve combat effectiveness." ”

Chang Xun frowned and said: "What you said makes sense, but people are not fools, if we really do that, they don't even have to send troops, just wait for us to collapse ourselves because of the lack of economy, wouldn't it be better for them to send troops at that time?" ”

Yuan Fang nodded: "General Chang is right, they are indeed very likely to do that, but I also said just now, since we want to fight to support the war, even if they don't fight, we can take the initiative to fight over, as long as our troops are enough, there should be no problem in snatching a few counties from them." ”

Chen Xin's eyes lit up: "If it's a surprise, just a robbery instead of an occupation, it should be fine." ”

Chang Xun pondered for a moment: "But in that case, the casualties will be very large." ”

Yuan Fang said helplessly: "The casualties are large, it is better than the country, rather than waiting for the other party to fight and finally we will all become slaves of the country, it is better to seize the opportunity and give it a go, maybe there will be other gains." ”

Chen Xin agreed: "Well, what Dr. Yuan said is right, if this is the case, we can attack the Ningyuan Empire first, with Dugu Zhen on the side, I believe it will be much easier, and we can be regarded as fulfilling the previous promise, if it goes well, Dugu Zhen wins the throne, then even if we have one less strong enemy, as long as we send a part of the troops to garrison Dongzhou, plus Dugu Zhen's deterrence, we can completely contain the Yuanhe Empire, at that time, we can mobilize the main army of the whole country to concentrate on fighting against Liusang, The Liusang Empire is just a small country, with a limited population, and an army of 100,000 is already their limit, as long as they defeat it, they will not be able to fight again in a few years, and without the threat of Liusang, the Yuanhe Empire is not at all strong. ”

Yang Xing raised his concerns: "However, who can ensure that Dugu Zhen will definitely stand on our side after he gets the throne?" If he also unites with the Yuanhe Empire, what should we do? ”

Yuan Fang shook his head and said: "Dugu Zhen is not worried, let's just help him attract some troops, and the matter of seizing power has to rely on himself, Yang Xing, you should have a deep understanding now, the empire is turbulent after a coup d'état, our Dongsheng Empire is an example, do you think, Dugu Zhen is not the same as us, he is a real rebellion, even if he gets the throne, can those people under him take care of the entire empire?" At that time, he will encounter the same problem as we are now, people's hearts are unstable, so if he wants to keep his hard-won throne, he must continue to maintain friendly relations with us, and even we can sign a strategic offensive and defensive alliance with him, and we can also send troops to help him clear the rebellion and help him stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, so he should not turn his face against us, the worst, that is, to maintain neutrality. ”

Chang Xun was puzzled and asked: "Why do you have to cooperate with us, wouldn't it be better if he cooperated with the Yuanhe Empire?" Once we conquer our Eastern Sage Empire, they will also be able to share a lot of benefits, and with such merits, he will be able to accumulate prestige faster and stabilize the domestic situation. ”

Yuan retorted: "He wouldn't do that. ”

Chang Xun was puzzled and asked, "Why are you so sure?" ”

Yuan Fang smiled and said: "Because the emperor is all face-saving, we helped him, if he bites us in turn, it will be treacherous, think about it, if such an emperor is recognized, can he be recognized by the people?" Can even the Yuanhe Empire trust him? Even with the ambition of the Yuanhe Empire, once we are destroyed, the next target will definitely be the Rather Empire, which is weaker than us, Dugu is really not stupid, he should be able to see this, so he will not give up an ally like us who keeps his promise and go to an ambitious neighbor. ”