His Majesty the Emperor was sitting on the main seat, looking at Shen Yi who was sitting next to him, with a smile on his face: "It was really fun just now!"
"I have been in the imperial position for sixteen years."
He is in a good mood.
"I have never felt so comfortable as I do today."
"Zhao Kai, the capital of Yan, will be so angry that his life will be shortened for at least ten years!"
Shen Yi also smiled and said: "I have received news that after Zhou Yuanlang returned to Yandu, he was dismissed from his post and imprisoned. Tu Yuan, the general of Northern Qi, will probably be prosecuted in the future."
"Obviously, Hu Qi's emperor is very angry."
The emperor lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and said with a smile: "If he didn't punish these two people from the nine tribes, then Zhao Kai would have some tolerance."
Shen Yi said softly: "These two people were the so-called ministers of the dragon when Zhao Kai usurped the throne. Zhao Kai would not kill them easily, and Jinan's fault..."
"Most of the blame was put on Zhao Lianghu by the two of them. After all, Zhao Lianghu is not in Yandu, so there is no way to refute."
The emperor nodded first, then looked at Shen Yi, coughed, and said, "Shen Qing, there is one thing that we, the emperor and the ministers, need to discuss in private to avoid any misunderstandings as the new year begins."
Shen Yi quickly lowered his head and said, "If there is anything, just follow His Majesty's instructions."
The emperor shook his head: "I said, I want you and me to discuss it."
"Maybe Shen Qing already knows about this matter."
After a pause, he continued: "There is not much money and food in the court."
Emperor Hongde thought for a while and continued: "I am not saying this because I want a truce. With Wang Shi's current momentum of consecutive battles and victories, if we continue to fight next year, there will be no resistance from the court."
"However, if the war continues next year, we will probably have to raise taxes on the people."
The emperor said solemnly: "Otherwise, the Northern Expedition will be unsustainable."
Shen Yi thought for a moment and continued: "Your Majesty, it is obviously inappropriate to increase taxes on the people."
"If this is the case, it will really become a militancy."
Mr. Shen thought for a while and asked: "Your Majesty, has the income of the Shipping Department recovered this year?"
The emperor nodded and said: "This year it should be more than 10 million taels."
Shen Yi thought about it carefully and said, "Your Majesty, can you transfer the income of the Shipping Department to Xu Fu, who will buy grain south of the Huaihe River and north of the Huaihe River, and then send it to the army in your Majesty's name?" "
Shen Yi whispered: "Next year, the fields in Shandong Province should be able to resume production. The court will not tax the Shandong people and will pay to buy grain from the Shandong people. There will always be no problem."
The emperor thought about it for a moment.
"The money from the Shipping Department has been transferred to the Household Department. With Zhao Changping here, it shouldn't be a problem to take the money out of the Household Department's pocket."
"But the Northern Expedition, not just the Huai'an Army..."
"Besides, food is not a big problem, the main problem is lack of money."
The emperor looked at Shen Yi and asked: "Is the income of the Shipping Department enough to support two armies of more than 200,000 people?"
A lot of money is spent on war, but food is only a small part.
If calculated based on current grain prices, if 200,000 people each eat two kilograms of grain per day, they will not eat more than 200,000 taels of grain in a year.
But there are so many soldiers, armor, weapons, gunpowder, artillery, pay, and even more silver rewards.
In addition to these expenses, there are also transportation costs for food, weapons, and armor.
Two hundred thousand people are fighting on the front lines, and there will only be more civilians in the rear responsible for logistics, not less.
These people, even if they serve the imperial court, still need to eat.
And these are just major categories of expenses. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people are fighting on the front lines, and there are too many other places that require expenses!
Even Shen Yi couldn't explain clearly.
All these things come together, and ten million taels of silver may not be enough for one year.
Shen Yi looked at the emperor, thought for a while, and continued: "Your Majesty, Xu Fu has been running the business for your Majesty in the past few years, and he should have a lot of money in his hands. Plus, if the frontline war goes well, he can support the war with war. The cost of fighting will come down immediately."
Emperor Hongde nodded silently. He smiled at Shen Yi and said, "It seems that Qilang does not agree with the truce."
"Of course I don't agree."
Shen Yi looked calm and said: "As the saying goes, the momentum of the Northern Expedition is strong and the troops are sharp. If we take a rest for two or three years or even three to five years, we will not be able to defeat the Northern Qi Dynasty. , whether we can hold Shandong will probably become a problem."
After hearing what Shen Yi said, the emperor nodded first, and then seemed to have made up his mind and said: "Since Shen Qing said so, we will continue to fight for another year next year. I want to see how big a loss can be even if we lose money in one year." deficit."
Having said this, he looked at Shen Yi again and said with a smile: "There is one more thing that Pei Jun mentioned to me."
"Shichiro should know, right?"
Shen Yi nodded: "General Pei also mentioned it to me, but I don't think it's feasible."
He said methodically: "First of all, I have little qualifications. If I lead the entire Northern Expeditionary Army, I will be criticized."
"Secondly, I don't have the experience to lead so many people. The Huai'an Army was established by me. It will be easier for me to lead it. If I rush to take over other armies, it may be counterproductive."
"So I think it would be better for the Western Route Army to be led by General Pei."
The emperor squinted his eyes and looked at Shen Yi, and smiled dumbly: "When it comes to the qualifications of leading an army, no one in the Chen court can compare with you now. Next year, you will be asked to lead the two Northern Expeditionary armies, and it will be the old men like Zhongshu. , and I have nothing to say.”
"But I am considering other issues."
"The two armies are scattered too far, and you are not familiar with the generals and soldiers under Pei Jun. If you, Qilang, are allowed to lead the two armies next year, if the West Route Army suffers a slight defeat, the imperial court will definitely be splashed with dirty water. It's on you."
Shen Yi's expression changed slightly, he bowed his head respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, you are wise."
The emperor shook his head slightly and said, "So, my idea is to let you control the Western Route Army."
Although there is not much difference between moderation and direct army leadership in practice, there are still some nominal differences.
If Shen Yi becomes the generalissimo of the Northern Expedition, then both the east and west routes will be under his command, and he will bear full responsibility.
In terms of moderation, it means that the West Route Army is relatively independent, but strategically, it has to obey Shen Yi's orders.
Shen Yi looked serious and whispered: "Your Majesty, I think this matter needs to be considered slowly. It is best to let General Pei lead independently for a while. It would be better for me to lead the Huai'an army..."
The emperor shook his head slightly: "The civil servants in the imperial court can't embarrass you now, but it's easy to embarrass Pei Jun. Qi Lang, you should take more responsibility."
Mr. Shen remained silent and did not answer.
The emperor stood up, walked up to him, patted Mr. Shen on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "However, these matters need to be discussed slowly, and it is not good for you and I to decide in just two or three sentences."
"Pei Jun should also return to Jiankang in a few days. Then you two will sit together with several prime ministers, as well as people from the Ministry of War and the Governor's Mansion to discuss this matter."
Shen Yi stood up, bowed his head respectfully and said, "I obey."
His Majesty the Emperor glanced at him and said: "The Queen Mother said that she would invite Shen Qing and his family to have a meal at Kunde Palace tomorrow."
He sighed: "I know that Shen Qing is probably not willing to go, but when the queen mother asks, I can't refuse."
Shen Yi lowered his head silently.
In his early years, he had conflicts with the Queen Mother.
Since then, Shen Yi has almost never seen Queen Mother Sun, avoiding her whenever possible.
Fortunately, in the past few years, he had not really spent much time in the court, and indeed he had not seen much of the Queen Mother Sun, but now, it is obvious that he cannot avoid it.
After all, she is the boss's wife...
He could only lower his head slightly.
"Wei Chen obeys your orders..."
Seeing his appearance, the emperor smiled dumbly.
"Don't worry, I will make time to go with you tomorrow, and my mother will not embarrass you."
Shen Yi sighed inwardly.
The person Empress Dowager Sun wants to invite tomorrow is not himself, but his family.
Including his eldest son Shen Yuan.
At this time, he was not worried about Empress Dowager Sun embarrassment for him, but was worried about...
