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Chapter 217 Borrowing a knife to kill

The Chu Dynasty became increasingly prosperous, and the Emperor Chu's administration was at its peak. He was even more enthusiastic about political affairs to the point of obsession. It seemed that as long as the emperor saw those ministers bickering and arguing in the golden palace, he would be very happy.

Therefore, Da Chu has changed its system in recent years. In addition to the initial court meeting held once every two days, there is also a relatively large court meeting held at the beginning, middle, and end of each month.

This once made the officials living outside the suburbs of Beijing seem miserable, but facing such a diligent emperor, you can't say anything. On the contrary, you have to say a few beautiful words and write two poems about the prosperous times to praise him.

The wisdom of today’s saints.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ergou had left the capital for three days. Chu Wushuang and Chu Fusheng, who got the news during this period, naturally scolded him. However, they who had known some inside information over the years did not particularly blame him. If they did not distinguish between family affairs and state affairs,

The size between Jiang Ergou and Jiang Ergou is actually not much less than them.

It fell in the middle of June, and in a blink of an eye it was the day of the great court meeting held once every half month in Da Chu. There was a lively scene outside Donghua Gate in the early morning.

Leaving aside the group of people closest to the door, many of the middle- and lower-level officials in Jingzhong behind are actually new faces.

Some people are already able to chat and laugh with the people around them, with a calm demeanor, and a sense of pointing the country freely when waving their sleeves.

In fact, these people are not uneasy, but many court meetings have taught them to act sophisticated.

Others looked more nervous. Even if they occasionally spoke a few words to the people next to them, they would appear absent-minded. If they were called by the emperor in the court, they would be speechless.

These people are the newly promoted officials in the capital. In addition to moral writing, they also have more or less mastery of other skills.

In the past two years, when the literary style of Chu Chu was flourishing, a few scholars also issued pragmatic slogans, saying that the words of sages and sages govern the mind, and the principles of hundreds of schools of thought serve the people.

After that, there are some minor officials from Beijing who are over fifty years old but have never entered the front half of the Jinluan Palace.

For them, the court meeting has nothing to do with them, there is no possibility of promotion, and it is difficult for partisan disputes to affect them.

What's more, the person in the Jinluan Palace is extremely familiar with the golden mean. It seems that there has never been any party disputes in these years. There is harmony in the court, up and down, inside and outside.

Even between the civil servants and military generals, there were no major conflicts. Every year, the two sides would argue about military expenditures. But under the weighing and comfort of the wise emperor, everyone could live happily.

The civil servants thought that the generals suffered a big loss, but the generals always felt that they had made a lot of money.

Outside the Donghua Gate, all the officials were in full display. It was not until the palace gate was opened that everyone restrained their expressions and lined up respectfully into the imperial city.

Above the main hall, Chu Tian sat high up, and the civil and military officials stood on both sides. Chu was on the left, so at the bottom left, Chu Tian's two sons Chu Wushuang and Chu Tianxiong stood aside.

After that came Su Wang, the Prime Minister, Lu Xiangrui, the Grand Master, and Cheng Yijie, the Minister of Secretariat.

As for the generals led by the old marshal Dou Xianzhang in Beijing, naturally they could only stand on the right.

"When there is something to do, start the court, and when there is nothing to do, leave the court."

There have been no major events happening in Beijing recently, so after mentioning some things as usual, Wuchan asked the officials to start.

If it had been in the past, it would have been over at this point, and some officials in the back row would no longer even hide their tired faces, waiting to go home and rest next time.

But today is obviously not simple.

After Wu Chan finished speaking, the second prince walked out from the side.

"Father, I have something to report."

"Oh! I wonder if Tianxiong has anything to say."

Chu Tianxiong's every move touched the hearts of the ministers in the DPRK. Everyone focused their attention on him, and the officials in the back row also cheered up again.

"Father, in the past two years, the weather has been good in Dachu. Even though some places were still hit by drought last year, it was successfully over with the help of the imperial court. Compared with last year, this year will be a bumper year, and the Jiangnan area is expected to be able to

With three rices ripe, Erchen estimates that granaries all over the Yangtze River will be full this year."

What Chu Tianxiong said earlier was quite satisfactory. It could be regarded as praising the peace and prosperity of the country and the people in Da Chu, but of course it was no big deal for him to flatter his father.

Some officials in the court even nodded, looking a little pleased, because the second prince had not bothered to do this before.

But what Chu Tianxiong said next scared the others.

"Father, the people of Da Chu have become a lot richer in recent years, and the national treasury is also relatively abundant. In the past two years, there has been no need for money in the court, so I feel that now is the time to expand the military equipment of Da Chu.

It’s time.”

Expanding the army? The words of the second prince made some civil servants start to feel uncertain.

However, everyone also knows that the second prince has been obsessed with martial arts in recent years, and the bumper harvests in the past two years have also made Dachu's treasury richer than in previous years.

Therefore, even if the second prince really wants to expand the military armament, even if it is to build another martial arts academy, these ministers will just mutter in their hearts and will not have any substantive objections.

But at this time, the second prince had not yet made it clear what he wanted to do, so no minister spoke for a while.

"Father, in the past two years, the grassland has become more and more uneasy. The border soldiers are running around and the defenses are gradually becoming incompetent. In the long run, there will inevitably be omissions, and the grassland people will definitely take advantage of the loopholes. I think

, we can take advantage of the prosperity of the past two years to expand the number of fifty thousand black-armored black knights to prepare for side needs."

Fifty thousand? The ministers in the court suddenly started arguing. These were not ordinary fifty thousand troops, but the black-armored black cavalry that had long been famous in the Chu Dynasty. They were no less inferior to the superior cavalry from the grassland.

From the selection of black armored black knights to training and then to actually being able to defeat them on the battlefield, it would not be possible without three years of hard work.

In the past three years, these 50,000 people have to eat food in their stomachs, and the military pay they have to get is an astronomical figure. Even for today's Dachu finance, it is also a big problem. After all, these three

It’s impossible to use all the annual income for military training.

Among the civil servants, the first one to stand out was Zhao Yunqing, Fatty Zhao, the Minister of Household Affairs who was in charge of Da Chu's money bag.

Fatty Zhao looks a little fatter than he did two years ago, and he doesn't know how much money he has secretly enriched himself in these years.

Over the years, the only thing that has remained unchanged may be Chu Zheng's trust in him, and this fat man is now the only old man who dares to go to the court and wallow in mischief.

I saw Zhao Yunqing crawling out from the ranks of civil servants and throwing himself on His Highness Jin Luan. When he raised his head, his face was already full of tears. In addition, his fat body was really easy to attract people.

laugh.

"Your Majesty! Second Prince! We can't expand the army! Even if we really want to expand, we can't do so much at once! Da Chu has no money. In the past two years, it has only looked better on the outside, but there really isn't much money left in the treasury.

Last year, there was a flood in Jinzhou. People in several counties had no income and relied on the relief provided by the court. This year, it is estimated that they have just recovered. There are still many other large or small disasters across the country that need relief.

, those who are officials outside only know how to ask the court for money, but for the sake of human life, the old ministers have to give it! Although this year is a good harvest year, no one knows what next year will be like. If it continues like the previous two years,

Like...Your Majesty, we have to take precautions before it happens!"

Zhao Yunqing cried with runny nose and tears, completely regardless of whether such behavior would damage his image as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

But I'm afraid this fat man has no image in the court anymore. Even most of the newly promoted officials have seen this scene too many times.

However, some officials behind the Jinluan Hall looked at the scene in front of them with the attitude of watching a show after dinner. Anyway, in the end, whether or how much the army can be expanded has nothing to do with them.

The officials in the front half were somewhat prepared. Is this the second prince's sudden whim or the general's preparedness?

It would be fine if this was the second prince's sudden idea, but if it were actually instigated by some military generals in the court, it would be a bit intriguing.

Is this because the military general wants to improve his status and regain some power from the civil officials, or is it because the military general wants to lose face with the civil officials and fight against each other in the court from now on.

At present, the possibility of the former is not high. The generals do not have such courage. Even with the support of the second prince, the top one will not watch such a thing happen.

But even the latter is unacceptable to civilian officials. If it is some insignificant power, then these civilian officials may still let it go, but this is a full army of 50,000!

What's more, they are the most intimidating black-armored black knights in the army. After this army is cultivated, someone must lead it!

Even if it is in the name of the second prince, he will never take care of too many things until the moment of departure.

So under such circumstances, 50,000 black-armored black knights can definitely create a large number of powerful generals.

Different from the position of civil servants, who have the highest power, although military commanders also look at their official ranks, the most important thing is to have soldiers in their hands. A fourth-grade general with military power in his hands absolutely does not need to look at the face of a third-grade military attache with a false position.

Even most of the time it is the latter who asks the former for help.

So when the second prince Chu Tianxiong proposed to expand the army by 50,000 people, the civil servants felt like they were mourning, but the generals were all happy.

But it was not easy for the general to speak out about this matter, otherwise he would be suspected of forming a party with the second prince.

Forming cliques is strictly prohibited. Although everyone knows that these generals have nothing to do with the Second Prince's plan to expand the army, it is still impossible to speak out.

So for a while, the only people in the court were the second prince Chu Wushuang, who was standing straight in the middle, and the crying Minister of Household Affairs Zhao Yunqing.


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