The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 324: War or peace?
"If our Great Qin and Qi go to war, do you think it is okay?"

When Emperor Qianyuan finished saying this, the important ministers present in the Wuying Hall were first stunned, then shocked, and then they lowered their heads one by one, looking at their noses and their hearts, in silence.

The entire hall suddenly fell into an awkward silence.

Your Majesty, are we really going to go to war with the State of Qi?
Just because Qi destroyed Annan in just ten days?
Does the Great Qin have to start a national war with the State of Qi for this vassal state?
That’s the State of Qi!

Although the Hanzhou homeland occupied by Qi State is thousands of miles away from our Great Qin, they have numerous military strongholds and overseas territories around our Great Qin, from which they can continuously deploy their powerful military forces.

In addition, Qi also supported a number of small countries and foreign vassal states in the Nanyang region. Once the war broke out, they would certainly follow Qi and be willing to be the vanguard to jointly attack our Great Qin.

What is even more frightening is that the three countries of Beiming, Dongdan and Bohai also maintain very close relations with Qi and have long accepted Qi's military assistance and economic support. If Qin and Qi go to war, they will inevitably launch a full-scale attack on our Great Qin from the directions of Korea, Liaodong and Mobei.

As a result, our Great Qin will be subjected to all-round military attacks from Qi from north to south and from the sea to the land.

Can our Great Qin withstand it?

Even if we were able to resist Qi's fierce offensive in the end, the coastal areas of our Great Qin would inevitably be reduced to a wasteland, especially the south of the Yangtze River, which was relied upon as an important tax base for the empire, and would be destroyed in the war.

You can’t hit me!

"Mr. Cui, do you have any advice for me?" Seeing that all the ministers were silent, Emperor Qianyuan glanced at Cui Daoxing, the chief minister of the cabinet, the prince's tutor, and the grand secretary of the Huagai Palace.

"Your Majesty, I think that our Great Qin must not lightly provoke a war with Qi." Cui Daoxing sighed secretly, clasped his hands and said, "Qin and Qi are both rare great powers in the world. Once the war starts, it will surely shake the world. By then, the scale and scope of the war will be so large, the destruction will be so huge, and the casualties will be so heavy that it is hard to imagine and bear. Even if our Great Qin wins the war by chance with its geographical advantages and large numbers, it will not cause any damage to Qi's homeland, but our Shenzhou mainland will suffer from the destruction of the people, and the people will be displaced. This old minister implores your majesty... think twice!"

"..."Emperor Qianyuan looked expressionlessly at Luo Renjing, the Second Assistant of the Cabinet, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace.

"Your Majesty, I second your opinion. We must not start a war with Qi without permission." Jin Zuyi's scalp tightened and he bowed in response.

"..."Emperor Qianyuan glanced at the ministers in the hall one by one.

"Your Majesty, I think we should not start a war with Qi without authorization..."

"Your Majesty, hastily starting a war with Qi for a remote vassal state is really disadvantageous to our Great Qin..."

"Your Majesty, you must not raise an army out of anger..."

"..."

"Your Majesty..." Bai Shiguang, the commander-in-chief of the central army and Duke of Huai, originally wanted to echo the voices of many civil officials and persuade Emperor Qianyuan not to go to war with Qi. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly realized his status as a military official. How could he retreat and compromise when our Great Qin was threatened by foreign enemies and our king was humiliated by other countries?
"Your Majesty, Qi has gone too far. They knew that Annan was a vassal state of Qin, but they still raised an army to attack it, captured its capital, captured its king and ministers, and destroyed its country, without any regard for the face of Qin. This is intolerable! I think that Qin should respond with force, send troops to Annan, restore its vassal status, and demonstrate the power of Qin! ... I am not talented, but I am willing to lead the troops and lead the king to conquer Qi to extinguish its arrogance."

When these words came out, all the ministers in the hall were shocked and turned to look at him.

Well, you know what you're talking about?!

The corners of Emperor Qianyuan's mouth twitched slightly, and he squinted at the hereditary meritorious official without showing any expression of admiration.

"Duke Huai wants to conquer Qi. May I ask how many troops are needed?" The Minister of Revenue Song Shiyi asked in a cold voice.

"Qi is a great and powerful country in the world. If we want to defeat it, we must use all our national strength and the whole country's army to launch a thunderbolt attack. Only then can we win." Bai Shiguang said: "Fortunately, Qi's homeland is far away from our Great Qin, and it is inconvenient to transport military supplies, so we can't use our full strength. And Qi's strongholds around our Great Qin, except for Ryukyu and the pseudo-Ming Yunzhou, which cannot be attacked across the sea, the rest are all within the reach of our Great Qin army. If we use the whole country's army to attack, a million troops will attack with all their strength, like a mountain pressing down on your head, who can stop it?"

All the strength of the country?

The whole nation’s army?

A million troops?
Listen, what is this saying?

So, for the sake of Annan, my Great Qin is willing to fight a life-and-death battle with Qi?
Are you crazy?
In the pre-Ming Dynasty, Emperor Wanli did not mobilize the entire country to fight against Japan in order to defend the vassal state of Korea. In total, he only mobilized 30,000 to 50,000 troops, and the battlefield was limited to a small peninsula.

According to the Duke of Huai, our Great Qin will mobilize all the military forces in the country and launch an all-out war with Qi in all directions, from the desolate desert, to Liaodong with its white mountains and black waters, to Annan with its dense forests and swamps, and even to the vast ocean. We will invest all the troops and huge amounts of supplies in a national war of life and death.

"May I ask Duke Huai, do you know the huge...gap between Qin and Qi?" Song Shiyi asked angrily, "Qi's navy is the strongest in the world. How can we protect the vast seas of Qin? How much financial resources do we have to support a million-strong army? Can we guarantee victory in a long expedition? Can we take care of the people's livelihood and economy when we devote all our national strength? Duke Huai, do you know how much is Qi's annual financial revenue? More than 600 million taels of silver!"

"..." Bai Shiguang blinked, still wondering how big the number of "six hundred million taels of silver" was.

"Last year, the financial revenue of our Great Qin was only about 50 million taels of silver, which is more than ten times that of Qi!" Song Shiyi said bitterly, "Do you know what this means? It means that Qi can recruit more troops, equip more ships, and deploy more muskets and cannons, which will form a more powerful combat force and more intensive artillery fire on the battlefield."

"Grand Tutor (another name for the Minister of Revenue), if wars were fought on the basis of financial strength, the Early Song Dynasty would not have been destroyed by the Jurchens and Mongols respectively." Bai Shiguang retorted.

"Then what do you think, Duke Huai, in terms of current combat power, Qi State is stronger or weaker than Jin and Mongolia?"

“How can we compare them if they are not in the same period?”

"..." Song Shiyi was stunned by the retort, then smiled bitterly and continued to ask: "Compared with the State of Qi, how is the fake Ming better?"

"..." Upon hearing this, Bai Shiguang was speechless and didn't know how to respond.

The small Northern Ming occupied a few "tiny places" such as Yunzhou, Zhenzhou, and Kuye Island. It had no more than a million people under its jurisdiction, and its entire national army did not exceed 100,000. However, our Great Qin fought against it several times and did not gain much advantage (instead, it suffered repeated casualties), and was never able to defeat it completely.

However, the Northern Ming was supported by Qi State alone, and the soldiers it used were guided and trained by Qi State. Based on this, we can roughly estimate the military strength of Qi State to be 70% to 80%.

You know, the population of Qi is 30 million, and if you add the population of the vassal states and colonial territories they control, there are at least hundreds of millions. Therefore, if there is a national war, the human resources that Qi can mobilize may not be less than that of our Great Qin.

"What if our Great Qin and Qi only engage in a limited local war in Annan?" Yu Wen Ke, a cabinet councilor and student at Wenhua Palace, suddenly spoke up.

Well, when everyone heard this, they all looked at him strangely.

A military official is so ignorant of his own limitations as to talk about war. How come you, a cabinet member, are so ignorant as to jump out and call for war and killing against the State of Qi?

"Your Majesty, gentlemen..." Yu Wen Ke bowed slightly to Emperor Qianyuan, then raised his hand to show respect to the important officials present, and said slowly: "The State of Qi destroyed Annan in just ten days with a thunderbolt attack. To be honest, such a strong fighting force is really shocking and makes people feel deeply afraid. I guess that the court and the generals in the army will all have a thought of not daring to fight. Ask yourself, with the power of our Great Qin, do we have the ability to destroy a country in ten days?"

"...I don't think we in the Great Qin can do it." Bai Shiguang responded honestly.

"Yes, destroying a country in ten days shows the strength of Qi and its military might." Yu Wen Ke nodded and said, "But I think Qi wants to use this method to intimidate, intimidate and force Qin. With such powerful military force, destroying a country in ten days, who in the world can withstand Qi's attack?"

"Yu Qing, do you think that Qi's quick war is designed to show off its power to our Great Qin?" Emperor Qianyuan's face became increasingly gloomy.

"Your Majesty, I am only guessing, I have not verified it." Yu Wen Ke bowed and replied, "But Qi's move is an attempt to settle the Annan issue before my Great Qin makes any response, making it a fait accompli and not giving me the opportunity to interfere again. If my Great Qin tacitly agrees with Qi's actions on the Annan issue and does nothing, I am worried that this will further encourage Qi to make some radical moves, making it unable to satisfy its greed and continue to threaten and contain my Great Qin."

"Your Majesty, given the current situation of our Great Qin, we must not become enemies with Qi!" Cui Daoxing saw that Emperor Qianyuan seemed to be moved. After glaring at Yu Wenke, he took two steps forward and earnestly advised: "Sun Tzu said that war is a major event for a country, a matter of life and death, a matter of survival and destruction, and we must be cautious! Even if our Great Qin tries its best to limit the scope of the war to Annan, once the war starts, who can guarantee that Qi will do as I wish and stop its troops in Annan?"

"Your Majesty, Qi's strength lies in the sea. If a war breaks out, will they give up their own strengths and compete with Qin on land?" Cabinet Councillor and Wuying Palace Grand Secretary Luo Shiliang also stepped forward and tried his best to dissuade him.

War is no joke. How can we expect the opponent to abide by the rules, follow the path drawn by both sides, and fight a war of a certain scale on a designated battlefield and at a designated time?

Do you still think this is the Spring and Autumn Period, when everyone is fighting a gentlemanly battle?
"Your Majesty, our Great Qin must not put our millions of people in danger because of the small country of Annan!"

"Your Majesty, if Qin and Qi go to war and suffer a setback, it will cause chaos in the world and even endanger our country, the Qin Empire."

"Your Majesty, think twice..."

"..."

Emperor Qianyuan saw that all his ministers were strongly opposed to it and mentioned the various bad consequences that would be brought about by a war between Qin and Qi, urging people not to start a war lightly. He couldn't help feeling annoyed.

Is it true that our Great Qin cannot compete with the State of Qi?

No one dared to fight him!
Oh, not really. There were two others who insisted on taking a tough stance against Qi and resorting to force to show that the Great Qin could not be easily humiliated.

However, these two men, one is an illiterate military official, and the other is a political scholar ranked at the bottom of the cabinet. They do not have enough weight and voice, and it is difficult for them to provide decisive support.

Of course, as the emperor of Qin, he could act arbitrarily and insist on going to war with Qi to express his feelings.

But can our Great Qin really afford the consequences of a war?
I ascended the throne at the age of thirteen, took power at the age of eighteen, and took full control of the court at the age of twenty-two (after the Empress Dowager returned to power, I participated in the regent for four years before completely retiring from the palace). Up to now, I have been on the throne for fifty-one years. I have been working diligently and conscientiously, and I have been busy with state affairs from morning to night every day, and I dare not slack off in the slightest. This effort and dedication is definitely dozens of streets ahead of those lazy emperors of the former Ming Dynasty. Among all the emperors in history, I am probably the most diligent.

The remnants of the Qing invaders were driven to the northern desert, and the Dzungars were driven to the Western Regions. U-Tsang and Qinghai were recovered in the southwest, and Liaodong advanced to the Ussuri River and Heilongjiang River, preventing the pseudo-Ming from eyeing China. The world was at peace and the country was prosperous. The annual financial revenue far exceeded that of all previous dynasties. It is not an exaggeration to call it a prosperous age.

But, looking back, when we compare the Great Qin with the State of Qi, why is the gap in strength getting bigger and bigger?

Since Annan was a vassal state of the Qin State, most of the weapons in its army, including artillery and firearms, were purchased from the Qin State. Their equipment was almost identical to that of the new army of the empire. However, under the all-out attack of the Qi State, they could not even survive ten days.

If our Great Qin army were to confront it, what would be the result?

What if, like Annan, it was defeated badly by Qi? Would it completely lose its power as a great country?
"It's so hard to accept!" Emperor Qianyuan said in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, we are terrified!" When the ministers in the hall heard Emperor Qianyuan's mutterings, they knelt down in panic and apologized.

When the lord is humiliated, the minister dies; when the lord is worried, the minister is humiliated!
But for the sake of the country and the people of the world, we still need to be patient.

"Can't we really... fight?" Bai Shiguang muttered.

"Duke Huai, do you want my Great Qin to follow in Annan's footsteps?"

"Following Annan's footsteps? How can Qi State still fight as far as Nanjing?"

"The Annan capital of Dongjing is not far from the mouth of the Red River." Cabinet councilor and Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace Jin Zuyi said leisurely.

"Humph, it is precisely because of this that the Qi fleet was able to advance straight into the country. Otherwise, Qi might not have been able to defeat Annan within ten days. Uh..."

As Bai Shiguang was talking, he suddenly thought that Nanjing was not far from the Yangtze River estuary. Could Qi also do the same thing, drive its ships up the river, and attack the center of the Qin imperial capital?

Alas, with the weakness of our Great Qin Navy, how can it stop the Qi Navy at all!

Moreover, most of our Great Qin's elite troops are in Liaodong, Mobei and the Western Regions, and Nanjing City has only one town of the Royal Guards. By then, it is still unclear whether it can be defended.

"Alas..." Emperor Qianyuan suddenly became a little bored. He waved his hand, signaling all the ministers to leave. He walked straight out of the hall, leaving everyone with an old and sad figure.

(End of this chapter)