Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

In the Golden Palace, Chu Ning shocked everyone with his words.

No one expected that Chu Ning would actually recruit 600,000 soldiers at one time!

The ambergris in the hall seemed thicker than usual, and the smoke from the bronze crane incense burner condensed into an undercurrent under the nine-foot dome.

Chu Ning sat upright on the Panlong Chair, the sleeves of his black dragon robe pressing down on the map spread out on the imperial desk, his fingertips stroking the newly engraved tiger talisman pattern on the green jade ring.

In the silent hall, all the ministers turned their eyes to the Minister of Revenue Liu Shouren.

Conscription is not the problem; the problem is how to feed so many people.

After all, this requires money!

And the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of silver!

"Six hundred thousand new troops will require at least 24 million taels of silver and 8 million dan of grain and grass in the early stages."

The voice of Minister of Revenue Liu Shouren was particularly clear in the silent hall, and the peacock patch on his dark crimson official robe glowed with dark gold as he bowed.

"And a few days ago, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also wanted to add compensation for the fallen soldiers."

He raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his chin; his temples beneath his black crown were already wet.

Although he didn't explicitly say that there was not enough money, the meaning was very clear.

The court could not afford so many expenses at once.

"Your Highness, think twice!"

Ling Haoran, the Minister of Justice, sighed deeply, and finally stepped out of the line tremblingly. His old voice echoed among the Panlong Pillars:

"Last year, the Yellow River diversion cost the treasury 8 million taels of silver, and this spring, the locust plague in Huainan..."

He suddenly fell silent because the veins on the back of Chu Ning's hand, which was resting on the imperial desk, were slightly bulging, and the half of his wrist bone exposed by the black cuffs was pale and bluish.

The copper clock at the corner of the hall suddenly made a strange sound, and the sword of the guarding general was unsheathed three inches.

Chu Ning narrowed her eyes slightly, and swept her gaze across the heads buried deep under the steps, finally stopping on a gilded key tied around Liu Shouren's waist.

That's the key to the treasury!

"The salt tax in Qin is worth six million taels of silver."

Chu Ning tapped his fingertips on the location of Yangcheng marked on the map, where there remained a cinnabar mark from when the city was captured half a year ago.

"I will order all taxes from Zhao's copper mines and Yan's horse farms to be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue."

He suddenly stood up, and the nine-section white jade belt around his waist hit the edge of the imperial desk, making a clear sound of jade hitting each other.

The tablets of the ministers trembled in unison with the sound.

"As for food and fodder—"

His wide sleeves brushed across the green mountains and waters of Huainan Road on the map: "Pass on this palace's order, anyone who changes mulberry trees to wheat this year will have their taxes reduced by 20%; anyone who reclaims more than 50 mu of new land will be rewarded with three oxen."

"In addition, the treasures in the Three Kingdoms Treasury can also be taken out and sold. It should be able to exchange for a lot of silver."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shouren suddenly took a deep breath and counted rapidly with his fingers in his sleeves.

The glazed cups in the Yan Palace are worth 100,000 shi of grain, and the bronze chimes buried in the tomb of King Zhao can be exchanged for 3,000 pieces of armor, not to mention the jade bi buried deep in the underground palace of Qin.

While thinking, Chu Ning said slowly: "If it is really not enough, the East Palace can provide millions of taels of silver, which should be able to meet the early and mid-term needs."

Chu Ning's words were shocking, and there were gasps from the audience.

No one expected that the prince would be willing to open his own private vault.

For a moment, all the ministers fell silent and dared not speak out in opposition.

A smile finally appeared on Chu Ning's lips. His eyes swept across the old ministers who were hesitant to speak, and stopped at the newly installed hourglass next to the imperial desk.

The golden sand in the glass tube is flowing slowly. I believe that the four countries should also form an alliance at this moment. Once they reach an agreement, it will be time to unite and attack Chu.

"Three months is the limit."

The prince suddenly grabbed the hourglass with his slender fingers, and the golden sand stopped at the curved part of the glass tube.

"Before the summer solstice in June, I want to see the prototype of the eight legions."

When he turned around, the air flow from his black python robe blew up the map on the imperial desk, revealing the densely packed cinnabar annotations on the back, all of which were the number of people and taxes in each prefecture.

All the ministers responded and bowed and took their leave.

When the last old minister left the palace, the morning sun was shining through the Panlong caisson, stretching Chu Ning's figure and casting it on the "Nine Provinces Mountains and Rivers Screen" behind the throne.

The territory of Chu on the screen was quietly spreading towards the alliance of the four countries marked in red at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Chu Ning narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Zhao Yu, immediately send someone to spread my decision today."

Zhao Yu, who was guarding outside the palace, was slightly displeased when he heard this, and he quickly advised: "Your Highness, if such a confidential matter were known by the envoys of the three countries, I'm afraid they would cause trouble."

"If they don't cause trouble, how can I have a reason to kill people?"

Chu Ning chuckled, stroked the screen with his right hand, and said softly: "Those three messengers are not ordinary people. If we let them go back safely, I'm afraid it will cause great disaster."

“It is better to kill a tiger in its cradle than to let it go back into the mountains.”

Once these three people take action, the State of Chu will have a reason to kill them.

Otherwise, killing the envoy for no reason would have a great impact on the prestige of the Chu State.

"I understand!" Zhao Yu responded and immediately went down to make arrangements.

Two hours later, the news that Chu Ning had recruited 600,000 soldiers spread throughout the entire Kyoto city.

Upon receiving the news, Zhang Qian immediately sent someone to invite Wei envoy Xun Yu and Tang envoy Du Ruhui to come to the post station.

The two people who learned the news were thinking about how to deal with it. Seeing Zhang Qian's invitation, they immediately rushed to the Dahan Inn.

The living room of the inn is filled with the aroma of tea.

The three of them sat in the main seat and at the left and right sides of the seat.

Although the aroma of tea was refreshing, the three of them had no interest in it.

The atmosphere in the hall was weird. After the three people met, no one spoke for a long time.

After a long while, Du Ruhui couldn't help but break the silence: "Master Zhang invited us here, don't you want it to continue like this?"

Zhang Qian raised his eyebrows and said coldly, "Of course not. The reason I invited you two here is to discuss countermeasures."

"Chu Ning is so bold that he wants to recruit 600,000 troops. With their current 200,000 troops, the total will reach a terrifying 800,000."

"Even when Qin was at its most powerful, it didn't have so many soldiers and horses. Chu Ning's expansion is clearly intended to deal with our four countries at the same time."

"If we can disrupt his plan to recruit soldiers, once our four countries form an alliance, it will be the end of Chu."

After these words were spoken, Du Ruhui and Xun Yu looked at each other.

Although Zhang Qian's plan was good, they thought it would be very difficult to implement.

The two of them shook their heads and refused.

Du Ruhui said in a deep voice: "This is the Chu State. If you and I make any move, Chu Ning will definitely kill us."

Xun Yu also said solemnly: "The Crown Prince of Chu is not an ordinary person. He always takes action without leaving any trouble. Once he finds out that it was us who did it, he will definitely kill us all here."

"Besides, Chu Ning only said he wanted to recruit soldiers, but he may not be able to recruit 600,000 soldiers!"

"I have other things to do, so I'm sorry I can't keep you company!"

After saying that, Xun Yu stood up and left.

Du Ruhui then stood up, bowed and left.

Zhang Qian looked at the two people's departing backs with cold eyes, a hint of amusement appearing on his face.

"I'm afraid this matter is beyond your control!"