Chapter 1 The Appearance of Locusts

A long drought brings locusts, and the outbreak of this locust plague is enough to tear away the last fig leaf of "prosperity" from the already incredibly struggling Great Yan.

No matter how well the wars of foreign expansion are fought, even if victory after victory continues to arrive, will the people, who are already struggling to feed themselves, still cheer for it?

Ji Lao Liu asked He Sisi to bring a large sea bowl, rice at the bottom, vegetables on top, and a pair of chopsticks, and then sat in the carriage.

Driving the carriage was Eunuch Zhang, and the direction of the carriage was outside the city, to… the back garden.

Ji Lao Liu frowned as he ate,

Right now,

The desire to fight for power and gain has actually faded. He didn’t even have people investigate whether the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace had set off for the back garden.

Logically speaking, if his side received the memorial, the Crown Prince's side would only be faster.

He worked so hard, like a paper mender, trying his best to make the house of Great Yan look like it wasn't leaking everywhere. Now, this job can't be patched up anymore.

The beam is about to collapse.

Since ancient times, there has never been a dynasty that lasts forever. Back then, the Great Xia created the Huaxia civilization, and the Three Marquis opened up the borders, spreading the seeds of Huaxia to the entire East.

And yet,

Great Xia is long gone.

As for Great Yan,

Eight hundred years of Great Yan’s reign,

It's very long, really long, so long that many people take it for granted that the world of Great Yan should last as long as the sun and moon.

But the truth is, it's not like that.

Ever since his father trampled down the aristocratic families, Ji Lao Liu felt that this method was a bit too radical. Yes, attacking Qian, swallowing Jin, chasing the Wilds, and striking Chu, Great Yan's national power seemed to be soaring.

But this ball of false fire was too strong. A basin of cold water wouldn't cool it down, but would cause the bottom of the pot to explode directly.

In the past, during disaster years, the imperial court could use its own grain reserves. If that wasn't enough, they could transfer grain from normal counties to the disaster-stricken counties. If that still wasn't enough, they would raise donations, apportioning it among the aristocratic families, who had a tradition of storing grain. The imperial court would send imperial envoys to order them to release the grain.

Those who obediently complied would always get a decent outcome. Those who didn't would be labeled as "plotting rebellion."

In the end, everyone would grit their teeth and sell their ancestral lands, becoming tenant farmers for wealthy households, and they could always survive. Even if people starved to death, only a small portion would, and the problem wouldn't be too big.

But the problem was that after trampling down the aristocratic families, there was unprecedented centralization of political power, but a huge vacuum appeared in terms of production and people's livelihoods. In addition, the Great Yan had been hollowed out by years of continuous foreign wars. The methods of squeezing layer by layer that could be used in the past had long been used. Now, if you squeeze again, there's no grain left. Where can you squeeze?

When the carriage reached outside the city, Ji Lao Liu finished his meal.

This time, he rarely ate every grain of rice in the bowl. Finally, he poured water from the teapot into it, swirled it around, and drank even the little bit of oil.

In the past, Ji Lao Liu, whenever conditions allowed, was also someone who ate only the finest and most exquisite foods. Today, he was really starting to take grain seriously.

"Master, it's the Eastern Palace's team."

Eunuch Zhang, who was driving the carriage, reminded him.

Ji Lao Liu lifted the curtain and looked ahead. Sure enough, the Eastern Palace's team had arrived earlier than him.

In addition to the Eastern Palace's team, there was also the Prime Minister's carriage and the carriages of several other high officials.

Ji Lao Liu lowered the curtain, a faint smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

Earlier, he was compassionate and worried about the future of Great Yan, cherishing every grain of rice for this reason.

Now, he had returned to the true colors of the fox of the political hall, stepping into this black vortex.

This,

Perhaps this is the true majesty of an emperor;

Being in the back garden, not asking about court affairs, but everyone above and below knows who is the real master of Great Yan now.

Ji Lao Liu shook his head.

His father's authority was no longer something that the Directorate of Ceremonial or the Grand Secretariat could shake. He could hand over a lot, but in reality, he hadn't handed over anything at all.

No one dared to ignore him,

Unless...

"Zhang banban."

"This servant is here."

"Return to the Ministry of Revenue."

"Yes, Master."

Ji Chengjue's carriage turned around. He came, but he left again. This scene would inevitably be seen by others, but he still left like this.

The locust plague had broken out, and the prefect of the Tiger Might County had already predicted that it would spread to Tiancheng County. If this possibility wasn't high, he wouldn't dare to write these words in the memorial.

Going to the back garden to find his father was a kind of instinct as a son and a subject.

But when he really reached the entrance,

Ji Lao Liu didn't want to go in anymore.

The affairs of natural disasters are beyond human power. Finding his father would be useless. Moreover, he clearly knew what kind of proud person his father was.

The war against Chu was personally promoted by him, so he would never agree to end the war at this time.

No matter how great the cost, no matter how riddled with holes the family fortune was, the emperor's will could not be changed.

Since that's the case,

What's the point of going to see his father?

The Crown Prince went with a group of high officials,

Could they really dare to confront their father and ask him to issue an edict to stop the war?

No,

They wouldn't dare.

All they could do and dared to do was hint, hint, and hint again, placing the disaster memorials on top, using every possible method to hint.

It was like acting in a shadow play, playing with what could only be understood implicitly.

Ji Lao Liu sat in the carriage and entered the city again.

His hands gently rubbed his face.

He didn't know how long the war in Chu would last, and he didn't know how long his father's health could last.

He could do a lot of things, but most of them were meaningless in the face of these two unknowns.

Arriving at the Ministry of Revenue, Ji Chengjue could clearly feel the low pressure here.

The common people might still be ignorant, other officials might not see it clearly, but only the officials here knew to what extent the seemingly huge empire of Great Yan was now hollowed out.

Ji Chengjue sat back in his seat, picked up the reports, and began to review them.

Seeing him like this, the others slowly began to resume their work.

"Your Highness, this is a memorial from the east." A vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue sent a memorial to Ji Chengjue.

For the war against Chu, the Yan Emperor had opened all doors of convenience early on. Therefore, the memorial from the Jingnan King could bypass the central authority and directly appear on the desk of the Ministry of Revenue. Of course, the central authority would definitely have a copy.

In short, if the Jingnan King needed anything, the rear could directly connect and implement it without giving any opportunity for arguing or shirking responsibility.

It could be said that in this regard, the treatment of the Jingnan King was enough to make all the marshals of other countries collectively envious.

This was truly the case that the entire Great Yan stood behind this marshal.

But the problem was that the Jingnan King would directly state what he needed. If it followed the usual process and routine, if you requested ten points, the central authority could change it to eight points, and when it came to actual implementation, the lower levels would complain and only give six or seven points.

This was the standard procedure.

But here, the ten points had to be solid and real.

Ji Lao Liu took a deep breath and opened the memorial. In his mind, he already envisioned how many more civilians, how many more military equipment, how many more warhorses, and how much more grain would be requested...

Indeed,

It was a request for the next season's military supplies.

Ji Lao Liu reached for his teacup, then the teacup shook, and the tea spilled on the table. Fortunately, it was cool tea and not scalding.

Putting down the teacup, Ji Lao Liu picked up the memorial again and placed it in front of him.

This was the military supply that had to be delivered to the front line in winter, which meant before the new year, because both preparation and transportation took time, so it had to be requested now.

However,

The numbers on it...

The demand for warhorses hadn't changed;

But the number required for grain and fodder was only... 20% of the previous season!

The other aspects were also only 20%, or even less than 20%.

The most outrageous was the civilians,

On the civilians, the Jingnan King's annotation was actually: Return as appropriate.

What did this mean?

It meant that there were enough civilians on the front lines and there was no need to add more manpower. Some of the civilians in the rear could also be sent back.

Ji Chengjue would never believe that the Jingnan King knew about the Great Yan Ministry of Revenue's current financial situation and the hardship of the people, so he was deliberately being considerate of the rear.

This was not something the Jingnan King would do.

The reason why there were these changes in demand,

Was because,

Because,

Because...

Ji Chengjue leaned back in his chair, holding the memorial tightly in his hand;

The Jingnan King felt that,

The war,

Would soon come to an end.

Ji Lao Liu reached out and covered his chest. The locust plague news before made his chest feel like it was blocked by a huge stone, and this memorial, although it didn't directly state the front-line plans and progress, already revealed enough information.

The stone pressed and shifted,

This person couldn't stand this kind of up-and-down tossing, it was even more unbearable than Sisi after sitting for a month.

Things,

Had to be done one by one. In any case, the war in the east should see the light of day. Next, he had to consider how to resist the disaster.

As much as possible,

Let fewer people die.

Actually,

Ji Chengjue had always wanted to ask his father,

If the old Yan people ended up greatly weakened,

Even if you wiped out the four great nations and unified Huaxia,

In the end,

Who would benefit?

After dealing with the matters at hand and explaining what should be explained,

Ji Chengjue got up again and left the Ministry of Revenue, getting into Eunuch Zhang's carriage.

"Did you see him?"

Ji Chengjue asked.

"Reporting to Your Highness, I saw him, but it is said that His Majesty was furious and said that if you, the supervising prince, don't have the ability to supervise the country, then get out of the Eastern Palace yourself."

"Did Father really say that?"

"Yes, Master. The news came from our people, and the Crown Prince and Zhao Jiulang also looked like they had been scolded when they came out of the back garden. The Crown Prince almost fell when he got on the carriage absentmindedly."

"Hehe." Ji Chengjue smiled, "He's pretending."

They should have known they would be scolded before they went in;

And Father, before learning that they were going to enter the back garden, already knew that he would scold them later;

One was prepared to be scolded, and the other was prepared to scold,

This was the reason why Ji Chengjue turned around at the entrance of the back garden,

The situation was bad,

But no matter how bad it was, someone had to do something,

What was the point of going through that established process there?

"Master, Wen Yin sent a message that a confidant of the Fourth Prince's mansion met with Li Yinglian last night."

After the Fourth Prince Ji Chengfeng took charge of a part of the capital garrison, he came to him to ask for military equipment and supplies, but he was denied because of the tense situation on the front lines. Later, Ji Chengfeng went to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince issued an order, which he rejected;

After that, the Crown Prince opened the armory of the Forbidden Army and allocated military equipment and money and grain to the Fourth Prince from there.

In the eyes of outsiders,

This meant that the Fourth Prince, like the First Prince, had chosen a side;

It was just that the First Prince stood on the side of the Sixth Lord's faction, and the Fourth Prince stood on the side of the Crown Prince.

"Has Li Liang Shen's army gone south?"

"Yes, they have already gone south. The vanguard left today."

Li Liang Shen's army went south to put pressure on the Qian people, making them reconsider whether they dared to gamble on a Northern Expedition.

"Notify the people in the west to pay more attention to the situation in the Zhenbei Marquis... the Zhenbei King's mansion."

"Does Master think that one will have something to say?"

"It is undeniable that Father's health is deteriorating, and the war in the east is about to yield results. Do you remember when the Zhenbei Marquis entered the capital four years ago? That was the beginning;

I think,

He may come to the capital again as the end."

"Master, if that one comes again, then we..."

"Except for Zheng Fan, the rest of the people on my side are planning for a way out in the future, at least, to protect my family so they can leave this capital and ensure peace in the martial world.

From the beginning, I never thought of interfering with real military power or using military power to coerce.

If I really thought that way, I would underestimate my father. The Crown Prince is actually the same.

Everyone, we can play, we can make noise, and if it really doesn't work, we can punch and kick in the court, but if anyone wants to interfere with military power and start a civil war, hehe..."

Sometimes, I really think I'm just a cricket, being watched, fighting there with people."

"Master, this servant is the cricket, Master, you are..."

"In Father's eyes, everyone is a cricket, just big or small."

Ji Chengjue sighed,

And said:

"Is that crazy woman being peaceful now?"

The Yan Emperor moved into the back garden, and the princess who originally lived in the back garden naturally had to move out. The back garden was very large and could definitely accommodate her, but it was against the rules, and the princess had half the status of a daughter-in-law.

Therefore, the princess now lives in a royal villa in Xishan Residence.

Before the back garden was built, it was where the Ji family emperors of past generations used to escape the summer heat and soak in the springs.

"Master, the princess went to the Tian family's old house the day before yesterday."

Ji Chengjue was silent when he heard this.

Counting the days,

It was almost time for the Tian family's annual sacrifice.

After a long time,

Ji Chengjue spit out two words;

"Crazy woman."

………

If viewed from the sky, a large area of ​​camps can be clearly seen north of Zhennan Pass.

The Yan army has been building siege equipment, but for so long, the Yan army has never really launched a battle against Zhennan Pass;

Not only Zhennan Pass, but also the east and west large military camps under Zhennan Pass, the Yan army turned a blind eye.

The Chu army has been on standby, but the Yan people are not interested.

In addition,

An extremely strange scene appeared on the battlefield. Unlike the tense atmosphere on the front line where the two sides confronted each other at Zhennan Pass, the Yan army began a series of military exercises behind the military camps.

The so-called military exercise is actually training soldiers.

Among the Yan army that attacked Chu, the Zhenbei Army and Jingnan Army naturally had good qualities, but other troops were somewhat uneven.

Under the banner of the Jingnan King, all parts of the Yan army began to train strictly according to the original requirements of the Jingnan Army. What they trained was no longer the Yan army's weakness in siege warfare, but cavalry field battle formations, charging, crossing, maneuvering, and other tactical details.

For other troops, with the Jingnan Army as a blueprint in front, when these soldiers train, they have an object of reference. Moreover, the atmosphere in the army is that no one is convinced by anyone, so after this momentum rises, the soldiers are more motivated to participate in training and improve their rankings in the next military exercise.

Therefore, the effect of the military exercise is indeed very good.

This move is incomprehensible to outsiders.

The national war has begun and has been fought for so long. The Yan people have already pulled out the military camps and fortresses north of Zhennan Pass. Instead of taking advantage of the situation to launch an attack on Zhennan Pass, they stayed there and started training soldiers, wasting a lot of military supplies every day. If the marshal of another country dared to do this, he would probably be immediately charged with dereliction of duty and malicious intentions.

But the Jingnan King's prestige in the army is too high. Since the start of the war, the only edict issued by the Yan Emperor was still an oral edict, so no one in the Yan court dared to criticize his decisions.

Sharpening the knife does not delay the work of chopping wood, everyone can say this, but no one really dares to grind the knife calmly under the eyes of hundreds of thousands of enemy troops.

After a military exercise ended, rankings were determined and rewards were distributed.

All the generals gathered in the king's tent, waiting for the Jingnan King's routine comments after each military exercise.

Finally,

The Jingnan King walked into the king's tent.

"Greetings, King!"

"Greetings, King!"

The generals paid their respects.

The Jingnan King walked to the commander's seat, his eyes swept across the audience,

Said:

"The Chu people's food supply line has been cut off."

The generals were in an uproar.

Immediately,

Many people thought of one person, one who had never appeared from beginning to end in the second round of battles.

Then, everyone's faces showed excitement;

Because all the generals present knew that once the food supply line of the hundreds of thousands of Chu troops in front was cut off, it would mean that even if they continued to defend the strong cities and fortresses, they would fall into decline and panic.

It meant that the battlefield situation would undergo a qualitative change!

"Pass down my military order, all troops, sharpen their swords and prepare their personal rations, waiting for my military order to start the army. In the past, I surrounded the Chu people's 40,000 Green Luan troops in the Jade Plate City by the Wangjiang River. This time, I want to take you to surround a larger one."

"This subordinate obeys!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

"Li Fusheng stay, the rest, go and prepare."

The generals left the king's tent one after another, quickly returning to their respective troops to call the shots.

Inside the king's tent,

Li Fusheng stepped forward and asked:

"King, what are your orders?"

"Li Fusheng, your troops must prepare for a long-distance raid. When the army moves out, you will be responsible for directly attacking Jing City."

"King, did that kid Zheng Fan send a letter saying the situation is critical?"

Li Fusheng really cared about Zheng Fan.

The Jingnan King shook his head and said: "Since he led his troops aboard ships and entered Chu, I have not received any news from him."

The battlefield spans too wide, and even an urgent message of eight hundred li would have a very long lag, not to mention that the Chu people are now heavily guarded in the Zhennan Pass area, and ordinary message soldiers can hardly pass through.

Li Fusheng quickly asked: "Then how does the King know that Zheng Fan has captured Jing City? Burned the Chu people's stored food?"

Faced with Li Fusheng's inquiry,

The Jingnan King just casually responded:

"I'm used to it."