Outside the door, Major Nie Wenqing, the adjutant of the close attendant, who was about to shout a report, collided with Liu Ping, who kicked out the door.

"Your Highness......"

"Go away!"

Liu Ping pushed away Nie Wenqing, who was about to apologize, and ran away with a strong face.

"Who's out there?" The man in the room asked.

"Minister Nie Wenqing, I have something important to report to the emperor."

"Come in."

As soon as Nie Wenqing entered the door, he saw the Queen Mother pounding her thighs there, the princess biting her lip there, the prince looking at the ceiling there, and the empress looking at him with a sad face.

"What's the matter?"

"The prime minister just called and wanted to enter the palace in the afternoon to meet him."

"Didn't you tell me what's going on?" The empress seemed to be depressed and weak to speak.

"It is said that there is an important state matter, and it must be played in person."

"Yes, ask the minister of the palace to arrange it."

"Yes......"

"Stand down."

Your Majesty must have encountered troubles again, but even Li Ruishi, the love saint, can't be relied on by His Majesty, so why should I ask for trouble-Nie Wenqing muttered in his heart, and obediently bowed his head and retreated.

The atmosphere in the house has not changed in any way.

"This Ping'er, how is it good to call this palace......" The Queen Mother was angry and anxious, and suddenly burst into tears, "I'm sorry for the emperor, I didn't teach Ping'er well, so that I became like this......"

"The Queen Mother doesn't have to be sad, listening to what Ping'er just said, she probably already knows it, we just need to ask the object of his favorite, and then we can do it?" Qianhua persuaded with some impatience.

Without waiting for the Queen Mother to agree, Qianhua instructed Liu Fan and Yuchun: "You two go back with the Queen Mother first, I still have business to do, Ping'er's affairs, I will naturally deal with it, you also advise the Queen Mother, don't be too anxious to get angry, it's not good to hurt your body." ”

Liu Fan and Yuchun naturally received the order, and Qianhua had to get out, hurriedly went to the next room, and ordered the attendants on duty to bring up the six-person group waiting in the waiting room.

"I'm exhausted...... I really don't want to take care of things at home. Qianhua leaned lazily on the sofa, her eyes sleepy.

It would be nice if there was someone to share it with you......

Fool, you let out that kind of big talk, and now you regret it - you should fight!

Forget it, let's think about the prime minister, there are still a few days before the next report day, and he suddenly said that he wanted to come, is it because of ...... That thing?

Finally, is it coming......

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Premier Ma Feng, Foreign Minister Chen Siguang, and Defense Minister Hu Ke entered the small living room of Xinhua Palace on time.

After a brief audience ceremony, Ma Feng got straight to the point: "Your Majesty, the German government yesterday officially announced that it would increase its troops to suppress the Alsace riots, and the French government announced today that it would accept Alsatian refugees. ”

Sure enough, this is the case-Qian Hua stared at the slightly rotating black tea in the cup, and said lightly: "The negotiations on the alliance have been going on for three years, and there has been no pain or itch before, and there has been no progress, and now I suddenly take the initiative to say that I want to form a military alliance, what do you Aiqing think?" ”

"The minister thinks that this is a good opportunity, which shows that Germany is determined to go to war this time, and the minister is willing to personally go out and negotiate with the other party's plenipotentiary envoy." Chen Siguang was eager to try.

"It may also be a trap, just trying to use the alliance with our country to force France, Britain and France to make concessions, and then sell our country." Ma Feng was very calm.

Hook nodded in agreement: "What Prime Minister Ma said is that it cannot be ruled out that Germany is only using the alliance as a diplomatic bargaining chip, and once it is used by Germany and then betrayed, our country will be completely isolated, and all planned plans will inevitably come to naught." Moreover, this time it was Germany who asked for me, and I thought that Germany would either follow the steps of our country or do it on its own, and there was no room for negotiation. An alliance will only be possible when they are willing to act in accordance with our war plan. ”

Qianhua sighed and took a sip of mellow black tea: "Indeed, the heart of guarding against people is indispensable...... But even if Germany agrees to our terms from the start, are we really ready? ”

Ma Feng and Hook glanced at each other, touched the black leather bag he was carrying, and took out a stack of papers and placed them on the coffee table.

"Your Majesty, these documents were originally going to be taken out on the next report day, but today I brought them in advance because I considered that the emperor would ask such a question."

"Premier Ma has a heart."

"Emperor Xie, these are the overall strength briefings of the empire last year, and the relevant data has been repeatedly verified, which is enough to ensure the authenticity."

Qianhua casually flipped through a few pages, all of which were densely packed with numbers and charts, as if a large number of ants and spiders were crawling on the paper, and he suddenly panicked in his heart, and he didn't have the heart to read it carefully, so he casually ordered Ma Feng: "There are so many, I can't finish reading it for a while, just talk about it briefly." ”

"Yes, first of all, the industrial aspect. As far as coal and steel production is concerned, the empire's coal output reached 450 million tons last year, second only to the United States at 570 million tons and higher than Germany's 280 million tons. Steel production reached nearly 15 million tons, slightly second to Germany and the third largest in the world. The industrial output value reached 20 billion yuan, equivalent to about 10 billion US dollars, slightly second to Germany, slightly higher than the United Kingdom, ranking third in the world, and about 40 percent of the industrial output value of the United States in the same year. In addition, last year, the country's automobile production reached 50,000 units, twice that of Germany and 10% of that of the United States. ”

Last year, the empire achieved a total agricultural output value of 17.1 billion yuan, equivalent to $8.55 billion, higher than the United States' $7.5 billion, ranking first in the world, but because China's population is five times that of the United States, the per capita agricultural output value is far lower than that of the United States. Although it could not be compared with the United States, which was the world's largest exporter of agricultural products, the Empire's agriculture was not only sufficient for itself, but also slightly supplemented the shortcomings of its allies, and it was in an advantage over Britain and Germany, which needed to import large quantities of grain. ”

"Thirdly, in terms of finance, last year the central government of the empire achieved a total of 3.7 billion yuan in fiscal revenue, ranking first in the world, of which 32 percent was spent on military spending, and the military expenditure of the navy alone reached 400 million yuan, an increase of more than three times that of 11 years ago. The total military expenditure is comparable to that of Germany, 1.6 times that of France, and much higher than that of Britain and the United States. In terms of finance, thanks to the large export of new products with high added value, by the end of last year, the gold reserves of the Imperial Central Bank had reached 500 million yuan, equivalent to 250 million US dollars, higher than Britain's 200 million US dollars, second only to the United States' 700 million US dollars, and ranked second in the world. ASEAN's overall gold reserves amounted to US$280 million, and of course, under the policy of economic integration, all the gold of foreign vassals and allies was deposited in the Imperial Central Bank. ”

Ma Feng took a sip of tea and continued to run his human computer with excellent memory empty-handed: "The last is in terms of armaments, as of the end of last year, the Imperial Navy has 14 dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers in service, many of which are under construction, second in number to Britain and Germany, higher than the United States, and have several aircraft carriers that are unique in the world. The total tonnage of all types of ships in active service and reserve of the Navy exceeds 1.2 million tons, second only to the United Kingdom, slightly higher than the United States and Germany, and second in the world. In addition, the total registered tonnage of the Imperial merchant fleet reached 4.1 million tons, second only to Britain, the United States, and Germany, ranking fourth in the world. ASEAN as a whole has a total tonnage of 5.2 million tons of merchant ships. ”

By the end of last year, the army had basically completed its 1912 reorganization plan, with 1.4 million troops on active duty, including 1.2 million field troops, ranking first in the world. After the completion of the mobilization for the war, the strength of the front-line field troops of the empire could reach 2.7 million, and the total strength could reach 7 million. ASEAN's mobilized front-line field troops can reach 3.4 million, with a total strength of more than 8 million. ”

Qianhua patted the pile of documents: "That is, it is ready." ”

"Yes, it's ready."

"So, how are the negotiations with the countries of the absolute circle of interest going?"

Chen Siguang shook his head again and again: "There is no progress, but the United States has asked ASEAN to open up more, further reduce tariffs, and promise not to change the status quo in the Pacific by force." ”

"Convene all ministers, senators, and military leaders, and convene an enlarged meeting of the Imperial Front in three days."

……

Forbidden City, Imperial Garden.

Yuchun quietly approached Liu Ping, who was sitting under a Bodhi tree, with his hands behind his back, and suddenly leaned down and bit his ear: "Brother, I finally found you!" ”

Liu Ping closed his eyes and did not move.

Yuchun pouted: "It's not fun, my brother likes to pretend to be deep." ”

"Yuchun, what the hell do you think?" Liu Ping suddenly opened his eyes.

Yuchun combed her skirt, sat down beside Liu Ping, looked up at the broken sunlight separated by the leaves, and shook her head slightly: "I don't know what I think, I'm just tired and don't want to do meaningless struggles anymore." ”

"Do you really like that kid from Shang Chang?"

"Huh...... Brother is jealous? Yuchun threw out an evil but seductive evil smile.

"Come less, be honest with me."

"I don't know how to do it, maybe I like it, it's really strange, although my heart will beat hard at first, but after I get acquainted with it, I don't feel that way, it really comes and goes quickly...... What about my brother? Haven't you ever met a heartbeat? ”

Liu Ping bit his lip: "I'm waiting for someone." ”

"Sister Xin?"

"When I visited Europe three years ago, I secretly went to Switzerland, and she promised me that she would come back as soon as she finished her studies."

Yu Chun straightened out the flowing sea in front of his forehead that was dyed golden by the broken sunlight: "So what? The Queen Mother will not agree to you being together. ”

Liu Ping glanced at his sister unhappily: "You say the same thing?" ”

"Ten years ago, when they were kicked out of the Jingshi, I realized that no one can have unlimited freedom, even if you are a prince and princess, there must be things that cannot be obtained and taboos that cannot be broken. Brother, it's better for you to come to your senses earlier. ”

"I don't believe it, I don't want to be manipulated like a puppet, I can fly freely in the sky, and I want to live freely on the earth, no one can stop me!"

"Smack!"

A resounding slap in the face.

Liu Ping was stunned.

Standing in front of me is the beautiful sister, the sister who once made the teenager's face blush and his heart beat at night.

Now, she is much more mature or senile than ten years ago, the season of roses has passed, but there is still some time before it withers - that kind of beauty that is a little too gaudy is no longer the resentment that Liu Ping pursues.

My sister's white hand, with the fragrance of magnolia, gave Liu Ping a slap in the face.

"Sister Huang...... Your Majesty's ......"

Yuchun looked at Qianhua and then at Liu Ping, a little overwhelmed.

Her Majesty the Empress spoke, her voice was not loud, but it was like a gunshot: "As the crown prince of the empire, how can you say such irresponsible words!" Are you worthy of your father? Is it worthy of the queen mother? Is it worth 500 million subjects? ”

A beautiful sister, a majestic empress, and a mother who hates iron but not steel...... At this time, the images of the latter two overlapped into one in Liu Ping's eyes, completely replacing the front one.

"Twenty-three-year-olds still have that kind of naïve stuff in their minds that they can't take the table! You're still not a man! Which person you like, just say no, you have to hide it, so that your mother is so anxious that she can't sleep well. Even if the Queen Mother doesn't agree after saying it, isn't there still me? What is there not to negotiate? Could it be that the Queen Mother and I will not let you have a good time? ”

Liu Ping lowered his head, looked like he was not resisting, and did not say a word.

Qianhua saw that he was soft, so he slowed down: "I know that Lu Dao, you are in love with that Zhu Xin, and I also know the origin of this matter, but in fact, it is not a big deal, and I am destined to suffer from that hurdle." For the sake of your obsession, I will leave this matter to me, don't think nonsense, and do your part. ”

Seeing that Liu Ping hadn't reacted for a while, Qianhua turned to Yuchun again: "Look at your brother, persuade him when you have time, you must still be able to listen to your words." ”

"No...... This is ......" Yuchun muttered and patted his brother's shoulder, "Don't you want to thank the emperor Xie Lu, the emperor is in charge of the affairs of you and Sister Xin." ”

Liu Ping nodded dumbly and didn't say anything, just reached out and touched the face where he was beaten just now.

Qianhua sighed, took out a handkerchief and dipped it in the pool on the side, and handed it to Liu Ping: "It hurts, my sister doesn't hate you, I just want you to be like my father, to be a responsible man." Can it be done? ”

Yuchun took the wet handkerchief on behalf of Liu Ping and helped him put it on his face, but he was pushed away.

"I'll do it." After Liu Ping finished speaking, he stood up and strode towards the palace gate.

"Brother......

Yuchun wanted to follow him uneasily, but was pulled by Qianhua.

"He needs to be alone and think about some problems, you can't help him."

Yu Chun paused for a moment, and suddenly pulled away his hand coldly: "Me too, there are a lot of questions to think about, go first, Your Majesty, please take care of yourself." ”

Qianhua's heart tightened, and at that moment, she seemed to hear something fall on the ground and shatter crisply......