The Three Kingdoms

The unity of the people is the beginning of a court's prosperity.

Today's Great Wu Dynasty is no longer the precarious court that just unified the world.

Today's imperial court, not to mention as stable as Mount Tai, has at least begun to take root in the hearts of the people.

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Outside the imperial court, there is a storm of popular sentiment among the people, but inside the Forbidden Palace, a fierce storm of debate over military expansion is also starting.

The palace of the imperial court.

Sun Quan wore a brocade robe with dragon patterns and a jade crown on his head. He looked like a quiet and handsome man, sitting cross-legged in the first place. Guo Jia and Zhuge Jin sat on the left and right behind him, writing and taking notes.

The court ministers sat down one by one, their eyes met in silence, you glared at me, I glared at you, after staring for a while, they started the day's discussion.

"Army expansion?"

After watching Sun Quan bring up this issue with a blank face, everyone began to think in their hearts.

Some of them couldn't grasp Sun Quan's intention to expand the army at this time.

Great Wu's army now has more than one million troops.

This number is already quite a lot.

The annual military expenditure is as much as three-fifths of the government's taxation and national debt, which has already exceeded the cabinet's budget.

It is not a small problem to expand the army at this time.

The expansion of the army is not only a matter of personnel, but also of weapons and equipment, the implementation of the establishment, and the allocation of officers.

The most important thing is the cabinet.

This year, because of the bumper harvest, the Silk Road leading to the Western Regions was opened up. The commercial routes are unblocked in the Western Regions, and the income will naturally increase. It is not easy for the Ministry of Households to be able to make some surplus. But once the army expands, the entire court will have to tighten their pants Belts live.

"How many legions does His Majesty plan to expand?"

Zhang Zhao instinctively felt that Sun Quan should have a big appetite, so he asked cautiously.

"I am initially planning to expand the army to five legions!"

Sun Quan said calmly when he heard the words.

Fifteen legions are not too many.

His goal is at least [-] legions to have enough strength to fight a decisive battle with the Roman Empire.

"Five legions?"

"It is impossible to recruit 80 million troops at one go!"

"Your Majesty, what a great handwriting!"

"No, absolutely not, it's too urgent!"

"This will directly crush the court!"

"The imperial court treats the soldiers very high. They usually receive allowances, and even those who die in battle will receive a staggering pension. Once the army expands to 80 or [-], our cabinet will basically stop functioning!"

It was difficult for the ministers to accept such a big appetite of Sun Quan.

The five legions, according to the current scale of the main force, would require at least 60 troops, a little more than 70, 80, or a lot.

"I agree with His Majesty's proposal!"

Cheng Pu, the leader of the military aircraft, was the first to stand up and express his opinion.

As the head of the Military Aircraft Department and the boss of the military, he naturally agrees with the proposal of expanding the army. The stronger the army, the more stable his power will be. Whether it is public or private, he is in favor of it.

"The battle in the western battlefield is obvious to all. Although we have an advantage against the powerful Roman army, we must expand our army at this time because of insufficient troops and heavy casualties. We are few, only by expanding our army can we maintain our future victories!"

Cheng Pu said in a deep voice: "Besides, when we invade the Roman Empire in the future, we need a considerable force to suppress the Romans. You should all know the attitude of the Romans towards us Wu people. If there is no strong force to suppress, we will even capture Rome." The territory will also cause turmoil!"

"The first one even said that the expansion of the army is for future battles!"

"The army must be expanded. Only after the expansion can we guarantee victory!"

Sun Ce and Huang Zhong looked at each other and spoke one after another.

No matter what they think in their hearts, since the head of the military aircraft has raised the flag, they naturally cannot back down at this time, and must maintain the unity of the military aircraft department.

"I agree with the military expansion, but it cannot be expanded on a large scale, especially not at this time. I think His Majesty's proposal is a bit anxious!"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao thought about it, but finally shook his head and said calmly: "Expanding the army at this time will affect every decision of our cabinet for the next three years. Now our cabinet can't satisfy the food and clothing of the people all over the country. , This winter, in the cold weather in Liaodong, many people died of starvation and freezing to death, but we put all our money into the military at this time, isn't it tantamount to militarism!"

From the standpoint of the cabinet, this proposal is absolutely unwinnable.

He also promised the military that he could bring down the Roman Empire.

In this way, those who have titles in the cabinet can get fiefdoms.

But Sun Quan's appetite was too great.

Just one or two legions.

At most, they will reduce their expenditures, grit their teeth and respond.

But five legions, that is half of the military expansion, they simply cannot bear such a large-scale military expansion.

"I agree with what the Chief Assistant said. The Military Aircraft Department wants to expand its army, but it has to wait until the court has more surplus. I am not opposed to expanding the army. I also know that if you want to occupy Rome, you need more troops, but What's important is to take it step by step, and we can't continue to expand the army because of the tightness of the western campaign!"

"I think that the people must have enough to eat first, and everything should be based on enough to eat, and only when they are full can we talk about other things!"

"The offensive in the west can be slowed down, there is no need to rush to expand the army!"

"Our cabinet has accommodated your military aircraft department many times because of the western campaign. This time, we can't say anything. We can't retreat. Our cabinet can't give up our strategic deployment in response to your military expansion. The lives of tens of millions of people in the 54 states of the world Make it more important!"

Naturally, several court ministers who stood in the cabinet closely followed the chief assistant's footsteps and opposed this with all their strength.

Because of the battle in the west, their cabinet has accommodated the strategy of the Military Aircraft Department several times over the years, and even had to give up some civilian construction, and several large-scale projects of the Ministry of Industry have stopped.

This time they will not choose to regress.

"Only by expanding the army can we have a future. In order to unify the world, we must expand the army!"

"That is the future of your military, and our cabinet cares more about the lives of the people!"

"Nonsense, this is the future of the imperial court. After capturing Rome, the imperial court will be more prosperous and the territory managed by the cabinet will be allowed!"