Molested Zulong at the beginning

She looked at the contents of the letter, and couldn't help laughing: "Who is this Han Xin lying to? The transport of things in the past six months is fake, and delaying time to prepare for the war is the truth."

The high priest on the side couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, what are you going to do?"

"Um..."

Nero bit the slender nails of his thumb, and after pondering for a moment, he said: "Although even if you wait half a year, Siris can't do anything against our 70 coalition forces, but let her delay the time like this." , it's not the case."

"In this way... send an envoy to Han Xin for the final report. We only give her two months. Whether it is shipped from the Central Plains or prepared from the Tianzhu Protectorate, within these two months, the things must be delivered. Come here, otherwise don't blame us for being rude."

The high priest on the side couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, why did you give her two months? If she builds fortifications, won't it be more difficult for us to attack the city in the future?"

Nero twitched his lips slightly, and said with a smile: "Then Han Xin only has 6 or [-] horses, no matter how much he repairs the fortifications, he is not our opponent, and giving her two months will make it easier for her to dispatch a large amount of supplies from the rear. Come, gather together."

"In this way, when the city is broken in the future, it will be more convenient for us to rob. Otherwise, we will cross such a long distance and search everywhere every day. Maybe the property we rob is not enough for the daily logistics consumption."

The high priest on the side couldn't help but praised: "Your Majesty has a good opinion."

Nero dragged his chin with one hand, looked at the white goddess statue with his green eyes, and couldn't help laughing: "I heard that the commander of the Xia army who defeated the Maurya Dynasty was named Bai Su. I have long been aware of this man's name. I have heard so much, if this man can be captured, that would be great.

"Let him crawl under my feet and lick my toes. If he doesn't obey, put shackles on his feet and forcefully throw him into the Colosseum. Let him fight with lions with bare hands and see if he is His legs were weak in fear, he surrendered to me, or he chose to be bitten to death."

"When I think of the high-ranking coach in Siris, bowing his knees in front of me, licking my toes, um... Just thinking about that picture, I feel a strong joy in my body and mind, ah, I'm so looking forward to it .”

The high priest on the side looked at himself, the distorted, black-bellied monarch, his eyelids couldn't help but twitch.

My own monarch is good everywhere, has a good strategic vision, and also has a high prestige in the army. He led Rome to control the entire Mediterranean Sea. He is a rare monarch.

But only this distorted character really made people frown.

The high priest looked at Gong'e who left with Nero's order, and suddenly felt an inexplicable beating in his heart, and a faint feeling of unease.

It seems that this trip will be in great danger, and it will give Siris an excuse to attack Rome.

But when she thought that Seris was too far away from Rome, and Anxi was in front of her, she couldn't fight at all, so she shook her head slightly, thinking that she might be too tired, and she was thinking too much.

Chapter 470 The Second Political Sister's Choice

Xianyang Palace.

Above the main hall, the atmosphere was solemn for a while.

Sister Zheng looked at the officials who were arguing below, tapped the table with her slender jade fingers, and fell into deep thought for a while.

The reason for everyone's debate is simple. They are hesitating whether to send troops to the west.

Now that Anxi and Rome are pressing harder and harder, their appetites are getting bigger and bigger. The lion's mouth is really gritted with hatred.

The military generals in the court were filled with righteous indignation, wishing to send troops to wipe them out immediately and defend the national prestige of Great Xia.

However, some more rational civil servants opposed sending troops one after another.

After all, for a large-scale expedition spanning thousands of miles, the daily consumption of money and food is an astronomical figure.

Although Daxia's treasury is ample now, it is still far from reaching the level where it can support hundreds of thousands of troops for expeditions at will.

What's more, the alliance of two great powers, Rome and Anxi, with 70 soldiers and horses, and geographical advantages, it is too difficult for Daxia to win, so it is better to give in temporarily.

The war faction and the peace faction in the DPRK were arguing endlessly for a while, and no one could convince the other.

Sister Zheng looked at the officials below who were as noisy as the vegetable market, and she glanced at Prime Minister Li Si below with her phoenix eyes, and couldn't help but ask, "What's Li Aiqing's advice?"

Li Siqing rolled up her sleeves, she pondered for a moment and then said: "For the establishment of Yichen, it is better to talk about peace."

Sister Zheng raised her slender eyebrows slightly, and said, "So, you are supporting and agreeing to the conditions of the two countries, giving them money and gifts?"

As her words fell, the eyes of all the officials in the court focused on Li Si. Those eyes were like looking at a traitor, like a knife, which made people's scalp tingle.

There was no change on Li Sibai's pretty face, she cupped her hands and said, "I know His Majesty is unwilling to agree to such a humiliating condition, but there is no other way."

"Right now, although our Great Xia has brought back a lot of money from Japan and has ample finances, it is still far from being able to maintain an army of hundreds of thousands and launch a long-term war in a place thousands of miles away from the Central Plains. scale war."

"Once it is delayed by Anxi and Rome, let alone whether we can win or not, just the confrontation between the two sides will drag down our finances alive."

"A warlike army will lead to death. Therefore, I oppose the Western Expedition."

After listening to her words, many civil officials in the court nodded.

What Li Si was talking about was also their aspirations. Today's Great Xia seems to have a vast territory, with a group of younger brothers around it, and it seems to be as stable as Mount Tai.

However, in fact, the maintenance method of Daxia is like an egg.

In addition to the garrison in the core area of ​​the empire, more than half of the soldiers and horses of the imperial court are stationed in various places on the border, like an egg shell that is hard on the outside and soft on the inside.

Only when the army is stationed in various places can the Western Regions, grasslands, Liaodong, and Tianzhu be integrated into the system of the Central Plains. Through trade, they are in the stage of gradual digestion.

Once hundreds of thousands of troops go on an expedition, it's okay to win, but once they lose, a big hole will appear in the seemingly hard egg shell of Daxia, and a large area of ​​Xianyang will lose control.

At that time, it may not only be Bactria that will be lost, but it may shake the foundation of Daxia.

Therefore, instead of taking risks to gamble on the fate of the country, it is better to take the initiative to take a step back and concentrate on stabilizing the basic market of the Western Regions of Great Xia and the land of Tianzhu.

After all, as long as Tianzhu, a super granary, can be defended, Daxia's status as the overlord of the world cannot be shaken.

After Zheng Jie pondered for a while, her phoenix eyes glanced at Wang Jian, who was at the head of the general, and asked, "Wang Aiqing, what's your opinion?"

Wang Jian rubbed his chin, pondered for a long time and said: "Your Majesty, I will fight according to my minister's advice."

Sister Zheng glanced at her with great interest, and asked, "Could it be that you have a countermeasure?"

Wang Jian shook his head slightly, and said: "No, I have no countermeasures. I just think that we both cannot avoid the fate of war no matter what. Instead of being forced to give in step by step and go to war, it is better for me to go to war earlier. Take the initiative to fight."

Sister Zheng was taken aback for a moment, and asked curiously, "What do you mean by that?"

Wang Jian walked out from the team, cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, when I was drinking and chatting with Master Bai, I had some understanding of the national conditions of Anxi and Rome."

The Roman state was a slavery country. It plundered land everywhere on weekdays. When the population came back, these slaves were traded and traded like livestock, and slaves were asked to farm and work for them.

This short period of time has indeed brought great prosperity to Rome. However, as the empire expands, the disadvantages of this governance method will become more and more obvious.

Ordinary farmers have worked hard for a year, and the grain they grow can be sold for five cents a catty, which is barely enough to maintain their daily lives. This was originally a relatively healthy and long-term governance model.

However, since they brought back a large number of slaves, they worked desperately, and they didn't need to pay a penny, and they didn't need to eat enough on weekdays, just barely survived.

In this way, the original grain price of five cents a catty will be reduced to three or two pennies due to the squeeze of a large number of slaves. The nobles and lords of Rome, relying on a large amount of land, farmers can still earn some money.

However, ordinary Roman farmers would be horrified to find that after a year of hard work, not only did they not make any money, but it became more and more difficult to survive.

As a result, a large number of Roman farmers, blacksmiths, fishermen, and miners could not survive and became refugees.

In order to prevent the empire from falling apart, Rome chose to absorb these refugees into the army one after another, train them into professional troops, plunder wealth through foreign wars, and barely maintain the operation of the empire's finances.

The original model can still be maintained.

But since Bai Su opened up the Silk Road, it was different.

Every year, a large number of goods from the Central Plains are continuously shipped to Rome, causing Rome to be in a state of trade deficit for a long time.

The gold and silver that was finally plundered from the surrounding area was replaced by porcelain, tea, and silk before it was warmed up, and it was continuously lost and slowly flowed into the Central Plains.

This led to a further strain on Rome's finances. They could only choose to start a larger-scale plunder of gold and silver from neighboring countries, and squeeze the bottom slaves even more desperately.

This will lead to conflicts within the empire, which will continue to soar and gradually tend to fall apart.

Especially the Bactria from the East, when conquering a country, they will liberate the local slaves, give you land and provide jobs.

By farming and selling grain, or mining, digging coal, and picking spices, you can sell them to caravans in the Central Plains to make money, and you can even buy luxury goods such as porcelain, tea, cotton-padded clothes, and quilts that only nobles can enjoy. .

This made the slaves in Anxi and Rome envious, and even many people directly regarded Daxia as the savior.

Once the influence of Daxia is allowed to continue to spread towards the west, sooner or later, the slaves and untouchables in the country will revolt one after another, and they will become the leading party, welcoming Wang Shi into the city along the way.

Therefore, whether it is to curb the influence of Great Xia, or to compete for the right to trade on the Silk Road, to reduce the outflow of gold and silver.

Rome will find a way to join hands with Anxi to jointly contain the Great Xia.

In order to maintain its own country, Daxia can sell a large number of things produced by workshop merchants.

While earning a large amount of money through trade every year, the prices of spices, cotton, grain and other crops are suppressed, so that the people of the country can enjoy them at extremely low prices.

It is also impossible to give up the control of the Silk Road and let others charge high tolls to get stuck in your neck.

After all, it is easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but difficult to go from extravagant to frugal.

The people in the Central Plains have gotten used to it. Every winter there is enough cotton, and they wear warm clothes for the winter.

You suddenly announced that due to the loss of the origin of the cotton, the cotton shipped from Tianzhu will be charged high tariffs by the other party.

In the future, under the new trade rules of the world, the price of our cotton clothes will soar ten times, and only the rich can wear them, and the poor cannot wear them for the time being.

The scholars in the world, as well as the common people, will definitely be dissatisfied with the imperial court.

It can be said that under this inherent contradiction, the two forces between the East and the West competed for the trading rights of the Silk Road, and the outbreak of war was inevitable.

After listening to Wang Jian's words, Sister Zheng tapped the table lightly with her slender jade hands, and fell into deep thought for a while.

With her personality, she definitely wanted to fight.

After all, her principle for many years is not to make barbarians and diners, not to underestimate the Central Plains, to mess with officials and thieves, and not to spy on divine weapons.

A mere frontier country dares to covet the land and city of my Great Xia, it is simply courting death.

But if she really wanted to fight, facing this western alliance, she really didn't have a good chance of winning, and she was in a difficult situation for a while.

At this moment, Wang Jian suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I know someone, maybe he has a way."

Sister Zheng raised her head and hurriedly asked, "Who is it?"

Wang Jian said with a smile: "Your Majesty, why don't you ask the miraculous Lord Bai."

Sister Zheng was taken aback for a moment, and said in surprise, "Bai Su?"

Wang Jian nodded, and said with a smile: "No one in the Manchu Dynasty knows about civil and military affairs. There is one talent in the world, and Mr. Bai has all the talents. When it comes to subtle ideas, no one in the world can compare with Mr. Bai, Your Majesty." You can call him to come, maybe there is a way to deal with it."

Sister Zheng's phoenix eyes couldn't help but a smile lit up on her face: "Why did I forget about this guy, what about Bai Su?"

An official below stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Mr. Bai is now drinking tea with a group of musicians and tailors in the city to discuss matters."

Sister Zheng was taken aback for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Why is this Bai Su messing around with a group of tailors and musicians?"

The official shook his head, cupped his hands and said, "I don't know the specific officials, but I heard that Mr. Bai is studying how to improve musical instruments, making war drums easier to carry, and at the same time plans to order a batch of uniform uniforms."

Sister Zheng laughed a little and said: "This damned sycophant, when is he still free to make clothes, go...bring him here quickly."

"Yes."

The official bowed his hands and stepped back.

Chapter 470 Three Expedition to Rome

Xianyang City, in a restaurant.

Bai Su was holding a blueprint in his hand, talking to the tailor beside him from time to time.

Hu Yan was wearing a long black dress. She dragged her cheeks and blinked her eyes with strange colors. She couldn't help but asked curiously: "Sir, it is clear that the Central Plains has the most sophisticated armor-making technology in the world. Why don't you Let soldiers wear armor instead of clothes that have no defense at all?"

I saw some tried-on clothes on the table beside me.

Compared with the often thick armor of the armor, this suit is made entirely of ordinary fabrics, and it can keep warm, but it can't withstand the arrows shot at all on the battlefield.

After explaining a few words to the tailor beside him, Bai Su turned his head and said with a smile: "Armor will be eliminated in the future battlefield."

Hu Yan blinked his strange eyes, and asked with some doubts: "Why?"

Bai Su smiled and said, "Because starting today, the times will change."

In the past, when wielding weapons and throwing arrows from a long distance, the lethality was very limited, and it was rare to be able to kill with one arrow. Many of them died slowly by enlarging the wound and continuing to bleed.

Therefore, in this case, whoever has more armor and higher defense will have a stronger army.

However, since the Central Plains equipped with flintlock guns, a new version of damage overflow has been opened, and armor has become useless.

Wearing armor weighing tens of catties, he was already slow to move. At close range, he was completely a living target for flintlock guns. At long range, there were artillery, thunderbolts and other weapons that exploded directly in the range, and cavalry cooperated with the charge.

In this case, it is meaningless to strengthen the defense, and the future battlefield will focus on increasing flexibility.

Moreover, after changing to lighter clothes, it is easy to take off in case of injury, and the wound can be treated and bandaged in the shortest time. "

Unlike armor, it takes at least ten minutes to remove the armor. If the injury is too serious, it will bleed to death.

After listening to Bai Su's explanation, Hu Yan's fair and pretty face showed a look of surprise. She didn't expect that the clothes worn by the soldiers had so many tricks.

Just when she was curious and ready to continue asking, there was a sudden commotion outside.

The two looked stunned for a moment, opened the window and looked at the street, only to see a large number of Imperial Forest Army coming over, standing neatly on both sides of the street.