Emperor Chu had already been summoned by King Xian.
However, the Emperor of Chu who was summoned by the wise king was obviously very unhappy. Yesterday he was very late approving the papers, and today he hurriedly went to court. After finally going to court, he was finally able to go to the Queen's Palace to catch up on some sleep. He had just closed the curtain,
Before I even had time to take off my coat, the imperial brother hurriedly called me over to discuss matters.
Who can be in a good mood if this is done to them?
Xu Qing cupped his hands and said, "I have met your Majesty."
Emperor Chu waved his hand and looked at the wise king and said, "Okay, okay, brother, please tell me if you have anything to do. I'm still in a hurry to go back and catch up on my sleep!"
The wise king asked doubtfully: "Did you not sleep well last night?"
Emperor Chu said, "Have you slept well? Brother Huang, why did you call me over in such a hurry?"
The wise king rubbed his hands and said, "Isn't this the Japanese envoy's intention to steal gunpowder? He is guilty of conspiracy! Shouldn't he send some troops to fight? This is the military expenditure..."
When Emperor Chu heard the word military expenditure, he immediately shook his head and said: "No!"
The wise king looked at the Emperor of Chu and said, "We don't need many soldiers in a small area, so why don't we give them a symbolic amount?"
Emperor Chu continued to shake his head firmly and said, "Not a penny!"
Wise King: "Don't force me to grab it!"
The Emperor of Chu grabbed the sleeve of the wise king and said: "Brother, please listen to my advice, can we stop for two years? We have been fighting for two consecutive years, and the national treasury can no longer bear it! Even if the treasury can bear the imperial military armor,
I can’t take it anymore!”
The wise king shook off Emperor Chu's hand: "Pull, pull, pull, make it decent."
Emperor Chu said firmly: "Anyway, I don't agree to send troops to the Japanese country! Which court can afford to fight for three consecutive years? Brother Huang, you really don't know how expensive food, rice, oil and salt are. The treasury just has some money now, so I can't let you squander it like this!"
King Xian looked at Emperor Chu with disdain: "I'll spend some money to see how distressed you are..."
Emperor Chu said, "Is that just a matter of money? Brother Emperor, you have led the troops to fight, and you have enjoyed the battles every time. Have you ever thought about what the rear is like? In addition to paying for this war, you must prepare
How much food, how many people are mobilized to transport food, have you ever thought about it, my dear brother? Moreover, to go to Japan, you have to cross the river and sea. Have you calculated how many ships we have at sea? Do you think our Chu State is as rich and rich as Zhao State?
Can you make it as you like?"
The wise king said in a deep voice, "But it is a definite fact that the Japanese country intends to steal the gunpowder formula. If there is no punishment, what will be the national prestige of our Chu country?"
Emperor Chu said: "Isn't this simple? Wouldn't it be enough to just send an imperial edict to the Japanese country and ask them to pay the money?"
The wise king murmured: "It makes sense. When the time comes, we will use the money they compensate to beat them."
When the Emperor of Chu heard the words of the Xian King, he almost knelt down to the Xian King: "Brother Emperor, I beg you to stop for two years, okay?"
Xu Qing looked at King Xian and then at Emperor Chu, feeling that he was a bit redundant here.
The Emperor of Chu's intention was very clear. Two consecutive years of war had almost exhausted the Chu State's war potential, and both its soldiers and treasury needed to be restored.
It is even more necessary to resume the recruitment of civil servants.
The wise king only managed the troops when fighting the war, and the Emperor of Chu was responsible for all logistics. Excessive recruitment of corvees would inevitably cause instability among the people, and the national treasury would not be able to withstand the pressure.
The most important thing for Chu State now is to recuperate and recuperate, and it is simply not suitable for another large-scale war.
It is necessary to take at least one or two years of rest to give the Chu State court and the people of the world a buffer.
Moreover, the Chu State has not had a naval battle for a long time, and there are not many warships. Even if the Chu State wants to wipe out the rebellious Japanese country, it will still need a large number of sea ships and relearn the art of naval warfare.
For the Chu State, it could be said that it was the next best thing to launch an army to conquer the Japanese State at this time.
At least we have to wait until the Chu State builds a sufficient number of sea ships and practices naval battles before embarking on a conquest.
The final result of this matter was that the wise king compromised with the Emperor of Chu, and after the Emperor of Chu's repeated pleas, the wise king decided not to use any weapons for at least a year to give the people of the world time to recuperate, and also give the treasury some time.
This made Xu Qing couldn't help but sigh that the Japanese country's life was really good, and they could live for a few more years.
However, Japan's stealing of gunpowder this time was naturally a heinous crime, and he would definitely face punishment from Chu, and it would be severe punishment.
The imperial court responded quickly and sent envoys to the Japanese country carrying the imperial edict from the Central Plains, informing the Japanese country that what they had committed was a serious crime of treason!
Now Japan has two ways to go:
Either the Chu State could lead its army and fight all the way to the Japanese state to replace the Japanese state with a king, and by the way, kill all the nine tribes of the current Japanese king.
Either the Japanese state will compensate the Chu state with 20 million taels of silver, which can be repaid in installments over twenty years, and the nine tribes of the people who made this mission will be sent over to make the Chu state prosperous.
When the imperial edict of the right way arrived in the hands of the Japanese king, it naturally surprised the Japanese king. He mentally condemned Inoue Saburo and Onizuka Twenty-four for being stupid. At the same time, he hurriedly presented the nine tribes of the people who were sent on this mission, and agreed to the proposal of the Chu State.
20 million taels of silver.
Fortunately, the Japanese country still had a lot of money, only one million taels a year in twenty years.
The Japanese king naturally understood that the Chu State could give them a second choice at this time, and it must be because the Chu State did not have the conditions to conquer the Japanese State. If there was a Chu State, it would definitely send troops directly.
But there isn't one now, and he can't guarantee that there won't be one in Chu State in a few years...
The most important thing is that even if he has to pay money, it will be the support of the people below, and his quality of life will not decline. However, if he disobeys the wishes of the Chu State, he and his nine tribes will be in danger in a few years.
God knows how Chu's firearms will develop by then!
Now the Japanese king has no choice but to appease the Chu State first, and insists that it must be some of their envoys who want to obtain the gunpowder formula and return to the Japanese country with the intention of using the power of fire to seek power and usurp the throne. The Japanese king has been serving as ministers of the Central Plains for generations, and he definitely does not dare to commit such a treason.
things.
Moreover, the Japanese king also thanked the Chu State for eliminating these future rebels in advance for his Japanese state.
It can be said that the Japanese king was very sincere for himself and his nine tribes.
The current Japanese king does not even dare to think about changing the name of his country, for fear that Chu will be angry and think of this tributary country that once committed treason.
Compared to the current heavy mood of the Japanese king, the Chu emperor is undoubtedly happy. Although it is 20 million taels in twenty years, the feeling of receiving one million taels without doing anything is quite good.
The worst thing is not the Japanese king, the worst thing is the envoys and their nine tribes. From ninety-nine to just able to leave, no one is alive after the treatment.
The crime of treason was forcibly placed on these people.
They have also become victims of this political game.
Originally, Emperor Chu thought that things would calm down a bit after dealing with the affairs of the Japanese state, but he did not expect that there would be some friction with the Zhou state, which was not big or small.
