Prince Su Zhenxing of Xiang considered himself the founder of the country.
Not even half of the time the king started his business, the middle path collapsed.
There is nothing wrong with this sentence describing his father.
His father laid the foundation for Xiangguo's founding, but he did not establish a perfect system, let alone establish the prestige of the royal family.
This caused the Xiang Kingdom to lose its father and immediately fell into chaos, giving the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Su Zhenxing played both sides, and held the banner of the empire, barely saving the country of Xiang from the brink of destruction.
The fear of national subjugation has always been buried in his heart.
He made a wrong move and the country of Xiang would be destroyed.
If the country of Xiang is destroyed, his branch will definitely be liquidated by the thieves.
Prince Xiang Su Zhenxing is willing to pay all costs to avoid this situation from happening.
He now saw Zhou Hai, the imperial reporter stationed in Zhao, reporting on Zhao's strategic trends.
He had seen a rebellion in the border area between Zhao and Xiang, and his good mood was immediately filled with fear.
Zhao State actually wants to take advantage of the economic crisis to bring down countries like them.
Zhao would rather pay a huge price to reverse the domestic decline caused by the economic crisis.
The balance of power will be broken, and Zhao will now have the strength to compete for regional hegemony.
The strength of Xiang State is now very different from that of Zhao State, but the industrial level of the two countries has not yet widened the gap.
King Xiang Su Zhenxing mobilized desperately and could definitely bring out hundreds of thousands of troops equipped with firearms and artillery.
These troops were on the plain battlefield and could not stop Zhao's army from charging with chariots.
But with the help of the mountainous terrain of Xiang State, they fought a mountain battle on the inner battlefield with Zhao State's army.
With the ammunition supply advantage of machine guns and artillery, Su Zhenxing was confident that Xiangguo's army could block Zhao's attack.
However, the State of Zhao was not prepared to compete with Xiang State in terms of strength, but instead played tricks and tricks to weaken Xiang State's strength in disguise.
King Xiang Su Zhenxing thought that Zhao State had overcome the economic crisis and vigorously developed industry.
Heavy industry can ensure enough ammunition for the army, and light industry, in addition to ensuring food for the army, can also provide a large amount of taxes, allowing the country to have money to wage war.
The Zhao State was ready for war, and their Xiang State was still trapped in the quagmire of economic crisis.
Domestic companies have gone bankrupt in large numbers, workers cannot find jobs, and industry has stagnated or even regressed.
This is only when Zhao Guo did not intervene.
The State of Zhao will definitely intervene. They will recruit unemployed workers from Xiang State at high prices, directly cut off the wages from the bottom of the cauldron, and cut off the foundation of Xiang State's industrial development.
Zhao State will even instigate unemployed workers to rebel, making the situation in Xiang State worse.
King Xiang Su Zhenxing used himself to push others, and Zhao fell into decline. He will definitely do this.
In order to ensure that the country is not destroyed, the only thing Xiang Guo can do is to follow Zhao Guo's approach and solve the domestic difficulties caused by the economic crisis.
As long as Xiang's industrial strength is not far behind Zhao's.
If the two armies fight, the ratio of casualties will not be too disparate.
If Zhao State wants to attack Xiang State, it must pay a huge price.
There is also Yan State to the north of Zhao State, and their internal rule is not very stable.
Once Zhao Jun pays a heavy price, Zhao will be prone to big problems.
King Zhao will definitely judge the benefits of sending troops based on the strength of the two countries.
Xiang Guosu Zhenxing took a deep breath. The development of the situation had left him no choice.
Xiang State must be allowed to get out of the quagmire of economic crisis and closely follow the development of Zhao State, and Zhao State must not be allowed to abandon Xiang State.
King Xiang Su Zhenxing looked at the courtiers who showed no sense of crisis. He waved his hand to the eunuch on duty to distribute newspapers to the courtiers.
He said in a bad tone: "Don't just focus on domestic affairs, read the newspapers from the empire's large newspapers every day.
At least you need to know what major events are happening in each country.
Top wise men can deduce the development of the future situation from only limited information.
We cannot be as wise as we are, but paying attention to the latest information will help us see the current situation clearly.
I will give you time now to take a look at the front page headlines of the international section of the Hualian Associated Press.
After reading it, tell me what you think."
After King Xiang Su Zhenxing successfully wooed the military, he became increasingly displeased with the civilian families he had wooed in order to stabilize their status.
Military generals fought for him in order to deal with the threats from Zhao State in the north and Cao State in the south.
The State of Xiang must implement a heavy military policy, and the rise of military power cannot be stopped even by the rejuvenation of Prince Su of Xiang.
He also wants to promote the rapid growth of military power.
However, these civil servant families gradually became more aristocratic and had begun to erode the power of his monarch.
Su Zhenxing planned to take this opportunity to clean up the court of Xiangguo.
Only by cleaning up these cancers can the country of Xiang develop better.
It is difficult to find generals who are proficient in fighting, but there are countless civil servants to govern the country.
The children of common people who came from the imperial examination have long been dissatisfied with people from aristocratic families occupying high positions.
If Prince Xiang Su revitalizes and cleans up the family, he will get the support of civilian officials.
He has secretly investigated many officials with commoner backgrounds, and has not taken refuge with officials from aristocratic families.
Because these people have not experienced much training, their ability to govern the country is very immature, but they are loyal to the monarch and the country and can execute the monarch's orders 100%.
This alone was enough for Prince Xiang Su Zhenxing to make up his mind.
After reading the contents of the newspaper, Li Kejing, the Minister of Household Affairs of Xiang State, stood up and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, we in Xiang State are not capable of learning Zhao State's methods.
Zhao State learned from the empire's policies, and they solved the survival problems of the people at the bottom by distributing relief grains.
Then through the construction of large-scale projects, the problem of domestic enterprises suspending production will be solved.
But the current situation is mainly that the national treasury is out of money.
Whether it is food relief or large-scale projects, the court needs to invest a large amount of silver coins.
It’s hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, and there is no money in the treasury, so we have no choice.”
Prince Xiang Su Zhenxing looked at Li Kejing, the Minister of Household Affairs, with an indifferent attitude.
This is the Li family of Honghe, one of the largest families in Xiangguo.
He was also one of the forces that promoted King Xiang Su's rise to power.
King Su Zhenxing of Xiang sneered: "When Xiang was in the hands of the Kingdom of Spain, it was the largest silver producer.
The early foreign silver coins of China, Yingyang, were produced here.
There are dozens of large-scale silver mines in Xiangguo, and tens of millions of taels of silver are dug out every year.
This is because we control the production of silver, fearing that too much silver will be produced, causing the price of silver coins to shrink.
Now you tell me, there is no money in the treasury, how on earth do you, the Minister of Household Affairs, become the Minister of Household Affairs?
Has all the money in the treasury been embezzled by you?"
Li Kejing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty is aware of this, and this old minister has been wronged."
King Xiang Su Zhenxing waved his hand, and the guards who had been prepared immediately stepped forward to take it away from Li Kejing, the Minister of Household Affairs.
He said angrily: "If the Account Department can't figure out the accounts, then let the Logistics Department of the Governor's Office come and check the accounts.
Master Lu Jing, I will leave this case to you to investigate. You must find out everything for me.
Don't wrongly accuse a good official, let alone let go of a corrupt official."
Shangshu Lu Jing immediately accepted the order and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that if you leave this matter to me, we will definitely get to the bottom of it."
When things have developed to this extent, some astute officials have already noticed it.
This was Xiang Wang Su Zhenxing's use of the topic to eliminate dissidents.
Many civil servants were trembling with fear. They did not have an army in their hands. Once the monarch made up his mind, they had no possibility of resisting.
During this period, due to the economic crisis, all countries are struggling to take care of themselves.
Prince Xiang Su Zhenxing seized this rare opportunity and chose to have a complete showdown with the domestic aristocratic families.
Some people have already thought that Prince Xiang Su Zhenxing is planning to clean up the family.
He took out the resources occupied by the family and redistributed them. The domestic economy, which was trapped in the economic crisis and stagnant, will surely usher in development.
All the major silver mines in Xiang Kingdom have been divided up by aristocratic families, and the royal family has taken the silver mines back into their hands.
Just relying on the silver produced every year, a large amount of materials can be obtained from the empire.
The empire was the first to experience an economic crisis, and goods there devalued, which meant that the purchasing power of silver coins increased.
Xiangguo only needs to purchase corresponding materials from the empire to maintain domestic economic vitality.
This is where small countries are flexible. They can successfully overcome difficulties by paying a certain price.
When these officials thought of this, they felt sad.
Since ancient times, when a country encounters difficulties, it either plunders its people or plunders its businessmen.
The state of Xiang chose to raid officials, which was really unreasonable.
…
King Cao Li Dazhuang called the governor Kong Erniu and the general Liu Yuankui to accompany him to eat roasted whole lamb.
Liu Yuankui was eating the leg of lamb given to him by King Cao Li Dazhuang. The leg of lamb was very unpleasant to him.
If he hadn't led the troops to attack the Wei State and retreated in despair after losing his troops, Cao State's current situation would not have been so difficult.
King Cao Li Dazhuang saw General Liu Yuankui's guilty expression.
He took a bite of the mutton and said with a mouth full of oil: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. Liu Yuankui, what you have to do now is to learn your lesson and think about how to fight the next time you lead the army.
I have been on the battlefield for so many years, but I am not victorious in every battle.
The key is to not be arrogant in victory and not discouraged in defeat.”
Liu Yuankui lowered his head and said: "I have trained the king so much that more than 6,000 people have been sleeping on the land of Wei.
I will definitely learn a lesson and will not let this happen again."
After King Cao Li Dazhuang drank a glass of wine, he asked: "General Liu Yuankui, after you have reflected on this period of time, what was the biggest mistake our army made at that time?"
Liu Yuankui did not hesitate at all and said firmly: "Your Majesty, I think it is because of insufficient firepower.
Limited by the rugged mountain roads, ammunition transportation is very difficult, and large-caliber artillery train guns cannot be transported to the front line to support the battlefield.
If there were sufficient firepower, this war would not be so difficult.
Our soldiers are very brave. Even though they are running out of ammunition, they still rush towards the enemy positions.
But the soldiers' willpower could not resist the artillery shells, and they failed to capture the enemy's position despite several charges."
Governor Kong Erniu lamented: "It's not just a matter of ammunition transportation. In the later stages of the war, all the ammunition stored in the country was exhausted, and the ammunition produced by the military factories was simply not enough for frontline consumption.
Before we started the war, our estimate of ammunition consumption was completely wrong.
It was not just a matter of ammunition consumption, but the treasury was running out of money at that time.
The state treasury has no money to purchase raw materials and machinery for the production of weapons and ammunition, and this war cannot be fought at all."
After Liu Yuankui's defeat, he kept himself locked up at home and reflected, believing that his personal command errors accounted for a large part of the defeat.
He did not expect that the domestic situation at that time had become so bad that even if he persisted, the final result would not change.
Liu Yuankui also understood that he saw several private shops opening on the street during this period.
Cao Guo had previously restricted the development of private companies in order to unify the power of the country.
It should be the war between Cao State and Wei State that made Cao King Li Dazhuang see the weakness of Cao State, so he relaxed his control over private companies.
King Cao Li Dazhuang took out a newspaper and asked the serving eunuch to hand it to Kong Erniu and Liu Yuankui.
After Kong Erniu read the content in the newspaper, he asked doubtfully: "What is an economic crisis? How come there is no economic crisis in our country?"
King Cao Li Dazhuang chuckled and said: "Economic crisis is something that can only occur in free market countries.
In our Cao State, everything is controlled by the government.
We will produce as many products as we plan to use, and there will be no overproduction, so how can there be an economic crisis."
When Kong Erniu heard what Cao King Li Dazhuang said, he also understood.
He knew that King Cao Li Dazhuang was managing the country using the model of managing the army.
The Cao State is a large army, and its requirements are to enforce orders and prohibitions. It must overcome difficulties and carry out the orders of its superiors.
Regarding the domestic commodity market, Cao Guo is also a command market.
In order to strengthen the monarch's rule over the country, the companies that controlled Cao's trade were basically controlled by the royal family and the government.
The situation before Cao State was that even if family members of officials wanted to set up a company, it would be very difficult.
After the Battle of Cao Wei, King Cao Li Dazhuang realized the shortcomings of doing so, so he relaxed his control over private companies.
However, these private companies have just started and are not at all capable of affecting Cao's economy.
The economic crisis that broke out this time had minimal impact on Cao State.
Cao State is a country without economic vitality, so how can it be afraid of an economic crisis?
Governor Kong Erniu immediately understood what King Cao Li Dazhuang meant.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the economic crisis will definitely affect the state of Wei.
Our Cao State can definitely take this opportunity to develop vigorously and surpass the Wei State that was affected by the economic crisis in one fell swoop.
Zhao Guo could use this method to become a regional hegemon.
We, Cao State, can also use this method to dominate."
When Cao King Li Dazhuang heard what Governor Kong Erniu said, a smile appeared on his usually stern face.
"The economic crisis may have a major impact on other countries.
But it is good news for our country.
A war will inevitably break out between the Cao State and the Wei State to determine who is the undisputed overlord of this area.
This economic crisis is a great opportunity.
Most countries in the world have been affected by the economic crisis, but in our country of Cao, very few people have been affected by this.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as we seize this opportunity, dominance in the Americas will not be a luxury."
When King Cao Li Dazhuang learned the news, he was very excited.
When he saw Zhao Guo's choice, Cao King Li Dazhuang also made up his mind.
