As long as it is a group that exists by power, there is no group that does not have the ambition to expand, and the difference is whether it has the strength to expand. Wusun has no ambition to dominate the Western Regions? I don't know how Kuaitong came to such a conclusion.

It is extremely irresponsible to say that Wusun has no ambition for expansion, Wusun naturally has expansion**, and must have been moving forward with the ideal of unifying the Western Regions. It's a pity that Wusun has never found a good opportunity, but when the opportunity comes, there is chaos within himself, and the Yueshi people who moved west also intervened, resulting in Wusun's plan to unify the Western Regions forever left on the parchment and failed to act.

In Lu Zhe's memory, Wusun really did not unify the Western Regions, but it was based on the rise of the Xiongnu, and after the rise of the Xiongnu, the Western Regions not only turned the Western Regions into his own back garden, but also subdued Wusun in the process of marching. Wusun became one of the vassals of the Xiongnu, the Yue clan killed the king of Wusun with resentment, and the little prince of Wusun, who was facing the death of the family, was adopted by Maoton, and after Hunt Jiaomi grew up, he also successfully ascended the throne and revived the Wusun clan again.

Lu Zhe saw the self-confidence of the imperial officials from Kuaitong's remarks, and the reason why Kuaitong said so was definitely not to refer to Wusun's lack of ambition for expansion, but to "predict" that the Wusun people would not be able to dominate the Western Regions.

Maybe? In the original history, Wusun's plan to unify the Western Regions was forever stopped on parchment because of the rise of the Xiongnu. In this time and space, Lu Zhe led a group of people to complete the rise in a short time, and the empire already had a plan to conquer the Western Regions, and the army began to take action.

The actual situation and geographical environment are plaguing the Wusun people, they are not only hostile to the Xiongnu, but also the new enemy in the near future, Hujie, Ding Ling, and the Xiongnu will make a big move to assemble a large army. No matter who the various ethnic groups gathered to target, the direct result was that Wusun became the object of encirclement.

It is already difficult for Wusun to protect himself under the multifaceted cover, how can he have any ability to dominate the Western Regions, and he only hopes to make friends. With the help of a strong friend, it would be good to make sure that you don't get killed.

“…… Therefore, even if the Wusun people have the ambition to unify the Western Regions, the reality does not allow them to do so. Kuaitong showed great self-confidence: "Because they are not only facing competition from fellow Hu people, but also facing resistance from us." ”

Kuaitong thought it would be beneficial to temporarily ally with the Wusun people. This advantage lies in the fact that it can defeat the Touman Department trapped near the source of the Yellow River in the shortest possible time, and it can also bury a nail in the grassland, which is of great benefit to the empire's conquest of the grassland. In contrast, it would be most beneficial for the empire to form alliances with distant Parthia, Bactria, and other countries at this stage, and to form alliances with the Uzun at this stage.

"We can't sustain a million-strong army to fight in the grassland for a long time, and it is necessary to win over a nomadic tribal alliance," Kuaitong looked at Xiao He: "Presumably the ruling government thinks so too, right?" ”

It is true that it is not possible to deploy more than a million troops on the steppe for a long time. Xiao He has submitted a report, which pointed out that the more than 2 million people maintained on the logistics line have greatly slowed down the pace of the ruling government's revival of local construction. Maintaining a million-strong army on the grassland for a long time will not only slow down the pace of local construction, but also the materials accumulated in the past six or seven years will also be consumed.

Lu Zhe was just listening quietly, and he could understand that the Taiwei Office was expounding from a military point of view, but the ruling government was showing a conservative attitude belonging to the civilian bureaucracy.

There is no way to blame the fact that they can accomplish military goals more quickly, and they exist to do that. And there is nothing wrong with the ruling government considering the internal construction. The mistake lies in the wrong estimation of "value", and the biggest mistake is to think that the occupation of the grassland does not have much benefit, and it is a little careless.

Whether the grassland has value and what benefits can it produce. The most unacceptable thing for Lu Zhe is that the ruling government does not recognize the importance of expansion.

Of course, Xiao He saw Lu Zhe's displeasure, but he still had to express his worries: "We plan to spend five years gradually healing the wounds caused by the civil war, and we are building the interior while the foreign war. The financial support can be supported, but the supply of grain is too difficult. ”

Mining is practiced in various places, and the iron ore mined is smelted and made into various weapons and agricultural tools. Copper, silver, and gold became money, so they were not financially tight, and they could even be said to have been financially rich.

After nearly ten years of war, the agricultural system in the Central Plains was basically destroyed and scattered, and it was impossible to rebuild the complete agricultural production before the war in a short period of time.

There are many grain producing areas in the south, and the climate in the south also ensures the smooth production of grain, opening up the production areas of the Qianzhong Plain, and the Lingnan land has also been produced under the construction of the Tuntian Corps, and with the support of the Shu Plain, the original accumulation plus the quarterly output, although the grain is slightly tight, but it can still be supported for two or three years, and the only worry is that the growth of the population and the use of the long-term huge military force have formed a phenomenon of making ends meet.

"Gradually recover within a year, and achieve the goal of fully resuming production within three years, and the strength of relying on southern transportation will become less and less, right?" Lu Zhe's face was not good-looking, and his tone was a little stiff.

Xiao He gave a positive answer: "Self-sufficiency in various places will gradually recover, if nothing else, three years is enough." ”

Lu Zhe heard the voice: "What is the so-called accident?" ”

Xiao He hesitated at this time, there were too many possible accidents, not only in the military, but also in the empire's own policies, which were part of the interference, he didn't dare to say that Lu Zhe was radical in some national policies, so he could only say euphemistically: "Your Majesty, our consideration of increasing the population is slightly insufficient......

"Huh?!" Lu Zhe was reminded by this, and the facial muscles that had been relaxed were tensed again.

Encouraging childbearing has led to an explosion of population growth. The emergence of a large number of newborns has led to the fact that too many women are confined to caring for newborns, resulting in a decrease in the workable population.

At the same time, because of the relationship between taking care of the baby boom, the country also needs to establish a health system, which is not only a simple distribution of money or food, but also needs to be invested in many aspects.

Xiao He has calculated, since the implementation of the country's incentive policies. The funds spent under the incentive policy have reached an exaggerated 4 million yuan, more than 3 million stone of various plant grains, and more than 300,000 catties of meat, and this is still the investment so far, and the cost of building a health system is even more amazing.

Of course, the construction of the health system is not simply to take care of the emergence of the baby boom, but also to the people's usual illness and medical treatment, so Xiao He is not simply counting the construction of the health system in the policy of encouraging childbirth.

"To deal with foreign wars, domestic construction and encourage childbearing......" Xiao He looked very stressed, and his tone of voice was full of grievances: "It's not that the minister shirks." It's really ...... It's a bit breathless. ”

Is Lu Zhe in too much of a hurry? Indeed, compared to the fact that a policy of all dynasties has been carried out for at least five years, ten years, or even decades, his time planning for some plans and deployments is really too urgent.

People who are accustomed to the fast-paced living environment have the foundation to adapt to no matter how urgent the time is, and it does cost some people to let people who originally procrastinated to carry out high-paced operations.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lü Zhe had the first five-year plan, establishing two grain-producing areas in the south, and taking advantage of the convenience of water transportation on the Yangtze River, a set of industrial systems were also established along the Yangtze River. This five-year plan was not only aimed at internal affairs construction, but also the Han army, which had been preparing for five years, also roared northward. Completed the occupation of the Central Plains, Yandi and other regions. It can be said that the first five-year plan has achieved the expected goals and handed in satisfactory answers.

After the completion of the first five-year plan, the emergence of the second five-year plan was extremely natural.

Second Five-Year Plan. The ruling government had to restore production everywhere and push the empire's population to a height of 50 million, not only in terms of infrastructure but also in the education and health systems of some small categories. If it is only the internal affairs construction, although it is a bit difficult. But there is always a little confidence to complete, but if you still have to supply a series of war logistics supplies for the army, it is a bit like a mountain pressing on Xiao He's chest.

Military expansion above. In the first two years of the Second Five-Year Plan, the army should devote itself to eliminating the Xiongnu and other more living forces close to the local territory, complete the occupation and digestion of the Monan grassland, and from the third year onwards, it will march into Mobei and launch a series of campaigns against the Western Regions.

Thanks to the success of the first five-year plan, the national military industrial system can provide the army with enough weapons, but the problem is that even if there are two crops of rice to ensure production, the most important thing is to organize a huge number of manpower to maintain transportation!

"The minister thinks that the counteroffensive against the southern invasion of the Hu people is imperative, and the ruling government will definitely complete the logistics supply of this war, but it is just ......" Xiao He tried to word: "...... If production in the Central Plains can be restored first, so that the production of areas north of the Yangtze River can help, a large number of manpower transported from the south of the Yangtze River to northern Xinjiang will be saved, and the consumption of grain during transportation will also be reduced. Using the Central Plains as production bases closer to the battlefield would be a very benign thing for the Empire. ”

Seemingly sighing slightly, Lu Zhe asked, "How many years will it take?" ”

Seems to be relieved, huh? Xiao He, who was aware of this, perked up: "It will not be more than five years, and after five years, only relying on the production north of the Yangtze River will be able to ensure the logistics needs of the Northern Expedition Army alone." ”

Lu Zhe didn't say anything, but those people in the military were in a hurry, and they talked in a low voice, generally believing that five years was too long.

Kuaitong immediately asked: "Ruling the government, that is, after the end of this war in northern Xinjiang, the army cannot launch a large-scale campaign on the grassland within five years?" ”

"This ......" Xiao He's eyes glanced over, Kuai Tong's calm face seemed to want to go crazy, and when his eyes turned to Lu Zhe, he found that the monarch was repeatedly clenching his fists and releasing them. He seemed to feel that as long as he answered "yes", Kuaitong would pounce and scuffle, while Lu Zhe would just watch a good show, and sweat broke out on his forehead in an instant: "We, we...... Isn't it discussing the need to maintain an army of less than 300,000 and continue to expand outward? ”

"Hah!" Kuaitong really went crazy, almost roaring: "The south needs at least 100,000 to maintain the expansion of the southern invasion, 50,000 on the sea, 50,000 on the peninsula, 10,000 on the plateau, and the ruling means that the grassland can only use 90,000 soldiers at most!?" ”

If he could, Xiao He hoped that no war would break out, and that the empire would usher in a few years of complete peace, not to use even a single soldier outward, and to use all his strength for internal construction. He was confident enough to build a huge empire into a beautiful home in ten to fifteen years, a home where everyone would have food and money, but he also knew that it would be impossible.

Lu Zhe repeatedly emphasized the necessity of expansion countless times, expounding the significance of maintaining the intensity of expansion to a nation from astronomical to geographical perspectives.

In some ways, Lu Zhe's "brainwashing~brainwashing" of a group of core officials was definitely successful, making a group of people realize how favorable the environment is currently in for their own ethnic group.

At this stage of history, there are no powerful alien races around the Huaxia ethnic group, and as long as the Huaxia ethnic group does not stop expanding, the territory of the empire will be amazingly large. Once a powerful and difficult alien race appears in the surrounding area, the Huaxia race will be trapped in a region, and it will be unimaginable to pay the price of expansion.

"Does the ruling know? Once we miss this opportunity, and do not immediately use troops to Mobei after inflicting heavy losses on the Hu people in the grassland, the Hu people will flee far away, far away to places we can't find, waiting for them to come back after adding scars, and what could have been solved with 500,000 people is very likely to require several times more troops, and it is even possible that no matter how many troops are used, they will not be able to gain an advantage. Kuaitong was really roaring: "At that time, the internal affairs construction was very good, but all the good things will be drowned under the hooves of the Hu people, the farmland will be trampled, the homes will be burned, and the people will be displaced. ”

Xiao He opened his mouth, Kuaitong, the drunkard, usually laughs, but he didn't expect it to be so terrible to be angry, those saliva with the smell of wine were about to spray on Xiao He's face, not only could he not stand the smell of his mouth and nose, but even Kuaitong could pounce at any time with his teeth and claws, the appearance was really terrible.

"That means that the limited 300,000 is for the grassland, and no soldiers outside the grassland are counted?" Xiao He didn't stop until he stepped back and retreated to Lu Zhe's side.

"The grassland uses no less than 300,000 soldiers, this is the bottom line of the military!" Kuaitong's roar wafted through the main hall...... Waft...... Drift again...... (To be continued......)