Chapter 149 Chapter 134 The Trouble of the Empire (Part 2)

When the father of the current emperor, Augustine VI, was in power, he was a magnanimous monarch who carried out a policy of appeasement against this nation that had repeatedly harassed the empire. He gave up the policy of stationing troops on the grasslands and replaced blindly At the same time, they tried to use internal differentiation methods to weaken those stubborn prairie wolves. Thirty years of hard work have paid off.For thirty years, those alien races have not had any rebellion. However, after Augustine VI succeeded to the throne, he changed his policy and adopted a high-pressure policy against the foreign races. As a result, the alien races that had been divided into pieces were finally reunited, and a rebellion was set off 20 years ago. The empire organized an army of 100,000 Crossing the desert to conquer, spent nearly tens of millions of gold coins in military expenditure, killed and injured almost half of the army, and bloodbathed the grasslands. Finally, the rebellion was quelled, and for demonstrations, they massacred 100,000 people, including prisoners of war and civilians!

"In that war, the empire spent nearly tens of millions of gold coins and lost tens of thousands of elite troops, a large number of which were non-combat losses in the desert! What did the empire gain? What it got was to satisfy the father's desire to conquer, but But they failed to get even a single gold coin from those alien races, and even formed a bloody feud with them! Now there are 20,000 troops stationed on the grasslands. To cross a desert to supply an army of 20,000 people, and to suppress those alien races, it must be all expensive cavalry! The consumption is almost ten times that of an army of the same size! It is equivalent to a local garrison of 20,000 people. But it has to spend the military expenses of a legion! The empire spends an extra legion of military expenses every year, but only to maintain such an army of 20,000! It has been maintained for so many years... the military expenditure is a terrifying figure!"

Hearing this, Du Wei suddenly couldn't help but said: "It's a pity, if it was done once and for all..." A strange color suddenly flashed in Prince Chen's eyes, and he took a deep look at Du Wei: "What did you say?" With a cold look on Du Wei's face, he said coldly: "In the war twenty years ago, 100,000 people were slaughtered on the other side, and the deep hatred has been forged! If this is the case, why not, don't do it, don't stop..." He raised his hand, made a gesture of cutting down with one palm, and said lightly: "The area of ​​that narrow grassland is only the size of a province of the empire! How many people can there be in total for the alien races on the grassland? A population of one million is almost enough. Among one million people, excluding the old and weak, women and children, there can be 300,000 strong and strong men, which is already the limit! Such a force, why not just completely wipe out the grass? After paying 100,000, it is not impossible to kill another 900,000! With the national strength of the empire, another legion will be conscripted to wipe out those alien races once and for all! Although it will cost a lot in the short term, but in the future Avoiding frequent small rebellions can be regarded as getting rid of a cancer on the empire!"

Prince Chen was surprised... Where did this little boy in front of him come up with such a ruthless method? ! "You're right." Prince Chen smiled wryly: "Back then, my father also had the same meaning... Humph, after all, my father was not confused, and he also knew the truth that long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. If you do this, even if you bear the reputation of a butcher, you can at least bring a permanent and peaceful northwest to the empire! However, it is the temple that came out to obstruct him! Those god sticks have ulterior motives, so naturally they don’t want to see our royal family sit down. It’s safe! Hmph, at that time, the pope suddenly entered the palace, talked with his father all night, and forced his father to submit with doctrine... Hmph! When he had already killed 100,000 people, the pope did not appear! Enmity has been formed, but he came to obstruct father from continuing! This way, the intention is extremely insidious!"

Du Wei nodded, thinking to himself: Naturally, the temple will not see the peace of the royal family of the empire... Leaving an internal trouble in the northwest, where the royal family is distracted, is naturally good for the temple.From the perspective of Du Wei's previous life, the conflict between the temple and the empire is absolutely irreparable!How could the opposition between divine power and imperial power be merged? "The troubles in the Northwest, here we go! Twenty years have passed, and the military expenses of a legion have been spent every year, and countless military expenses have been spent to support those 20,000 people... Hmph, but if the other party really wants to rebel, there will be a desert , the empire's army cannot be rescued, and the 20,000 garrison troops will probably be eaten by the other party in less than ten days! Twenty years have passed, and the vitality of those alien races has recovered. It is probably a matter of time before this turmoil breaks out. !” Prince Chen sneered: “But what about now? With the strength of the empire, once again going to the desert and fighting a fruitless war, how long can the empire last? And at least the crisis in the northwest has not yet erupted... But the biggest problem is now. The problem is in Nanyang!"

Mentioning Nanyang, Du Wei's spirit lifted.Because his father, Earl Raymond, was promoted to the current position of military leader by virtue of his three military exploits in leading the fleet to the South Seas. "The opening of the Nanyang sea route and the frequent expeditions of the empire were a huge mistake! Hmph, the sea route is difficult and dangerous. Although Nanyang is rich, no matter how fertile the land is, it cannot withstand such frequent harvests! According to my calculations, It is not impossible to conduct expeditions to the South Seas, but it is better to conduct them at least once every seven or eight years! But now, the fleet expedition is almost once every two or three years... The result is a show of force, and the empire built a fleet for this purpose. A navy that is so huge that it is almost wasted! Hmph... But is it just to deal with those aborigines in the South Seas?! I calculated that twenty years ago, the three expeditions led by your father, Earl Raymond, Your Excellency Du Wei, were at least It can maintain the balance of military expenditure and harvest. However, in the past fifteen years, four more expeditions to the South Seas have been carried out...especially the most recent one. The empire's navy spent 16 million gold coins in military expenditure, but the harvest from the final expedition was only so Less than one million gold coins... The rich South Seas have become barren! Those aborigines have traveled far south to form the United Kingdom in the far southern seas, a place that is difficult for our imperial navy to reach... …Oh, this is also a worry! It’s a pity that my father didn’t listen to my advice. In order to satisfy his great success, he recently planned another expedition...Recently, he forced the finance to approve three million gold coins for the construction of a giant ship.”

Prince Chen frowned: "With such fruitless expeditions time and time again, such acts of showing off force at the cost of wasting the empire's national power... the current financial situation of the empire has reached an extremely dangerous situation! The empire must To maintain nearly 500,000 local garrisons, to maintain several main battle legions headed by the Storm Legion, as well as the imperial guards, as well as the 20,000 expensive garrisons in the northwest, the military expenses for naval expeditions...all of these are superimposed Get up, plus father's great success, the grand triumphant ceremony every two or three years, the celebration...you may not know, because of the issue of military expenditure, several big men in the command department are almost graying their hair."

Du Wei was silent, recalling the appearance of his father when he returned home this time, he was indeed much older. "Now the local garrison has begun to be partially self-sufficient. I know that several local garrisons in the south have not changed their weapons and equipment for three years! Even the elite Stormtroopers can only get 60% of their military expenditure every year! The only one The only ones who can get the full military expenditures are the Guards Corps of the Imperial Capital. The other main combat armies can only get 50% to 60% of the military expenditures, and the rest can only be figured out by themselves." Prince Chen smiled wryly, pointing behind him The banquet hall, and then pointed around: "Here, this place! Its backstage is some military generals and commanders headed by the Storm Legion in the north! They have no choice but to use this method to make money, otherwise If you don’t, you won’t be able to raise enough military expenses!”

Du Wei was sighing. He had already sensed that there were many hidden dangers in the empire, but he did not expect that the situation had deteriorated to such an extent! Seeing the dancing and dancing in the banquet hall behind him, the streets of the imperial capital are still bustling every day, but the foundation of this huge empire has been quietly and slowly corroded without anyone knowing! "So, I advise you not to make any trouble here." Prince Chen smiled wryly: "This place is for raising military expenses. If something goes wrong here, then it will offend those powerful generals in the military and offend Offended the Storm Legion, and offended several main battle legions! Now, money is their lifeblood, and if you touch people’s lifeblood, how can the other party give up with you?! Therefore, even I will not easily provoke you here. What happened."

Du Wei bowed slightly: "Your Highness, thank you for your reminder, I will remember your words...but I have some questions." He raised his head and looked directly at the prince: "Just now you told me There are a lot of things about these, I am afraid they have already involved confidentiality? Your Highness, you are so confiding in me, I really don’t understand, how can I, Du Wei, be so favored by His Highness?" "Du Wei." Prince Chen met Du Wei's gaze, and suddenly said in a deep voice, "Are you willing to serve me?" Du Wei was taken aback.