Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

After the court was over, Kou Xiao and Li Xu went out of the palace together. Along the way, civil servants came to greet him. Some people were in awe of Li Xu's courage, while others thought he was too conceited to challenge the entire army. This was simply asking for trouble.

After returning to the palace, the two shut themselves in the study, and Kou Xiao asked, "What does the prince think? Do you really want to mobilize the army now?"

Li Xu stood all morning, his legs and feet were sore, he lay on the bed, stretched his long legs and asked Kou Xiao to beat his legs, jokingly said: "This king's little wife is really virtuous!"

Kou Xiao unbuttoned his belt, took off his heavy court coat and trousers, and only wore a small vest on his body.

"Although this decision was made impulsively today, I don't regret it. Some cancers should have been eliminated long ago. The more you indulge them, the more difficult it will be to deal with them. However, I understand your worries. After all, you are the one with the gun in your hand. If you Collective rebellion, this king can't stand it."

Kou Xiao knew from the early years that the guards on the border were bandit-like characters. Of course, their Kou family army was not in vain. After all, they were really poor, and they couldn't even eat enough if they weren't barbaric.

The initial situation of the frontier army was actually similar to that of the Kou family army. The imperial court always had excuses to default on the payment of the army, and the military rations were pushed back and forth again and again, which made the frontier soldiers develop the habit of taking advantage of the advantage. I don't know, for a few years, caravans traveling to and from the border were often robbed by bandits, and some of the more vicious ones took their goods with them, and these bandits were all disguised as frontier soldiers.

Kou Xiao would know the news because Lei Yang traveled to the northern border all the year round. In order to make his goods go more smoothly, Kou Xiao personally wrote a letter to the generals of the border army, hoping to take care of the caravan in South Vietnam for the sake of comrades-in-arms.

Lei Yang's goods are not too much every time, and they don't pay much attention to them. If he offends Kou Xiao and stabs the basket out, the gain will not be worth the loss, so Lei Yang has been living in peace all those years when he ran north.

"Then why didn't the prince send envoys to check the accounts in the army, but let them come to the capital instead? Is it because he is afraid that he will be controlled by others when he goes to someone else's place?"

"This is only on the one hand, and on the other hand, I also want to ease the atmosphere. Sending envoys in the past is too noisy, and it is easy to mislead them, thinking that the court doesn't trust them. They want to find fault, so they call people to the capital. They know that the king just wants to investigate as a matter of routine, if there is a problem, then try to solve it."

"I'm afraid this is not easy to solve. After all, it is the silver taels that have been eaten into the stomach. If you haven't eaten it, forget it. It will be difficult to go back to live the hard life after you have tasted the sweetness."

Li Xu rubbed his chin and thought about it. This is indeed a problem. If he is the leader, he doesn't want the soldiers under him to continue to live in hardship. If it is another matter.

At least let them know that the treasury's money is not blown by strong winds, and they can't just give them as much as they want. If asking for money is so easy, who will take military achievements to heart.

But Li Xu knew that the Kou family's army went to the battlefield to earn military merits with all their lives, just to get more rewards. To put it bluntly, they were promoted and made a fortune. If they could live well without military merits, who would still work hard on the battlefield?

Kou Xiao is the head coach himself, so when he thinks about the problem, he will definitely think from the point of view of a general. He said: "The prince just wants to reduce the military expenditure, not to deduct the military salary. If they can't even accept this, then they should just change a group of generals. Over the years, The imperial court has fattened up the generals from all over the country, and getting rid of these people can also enrich the treasury."

"It's not easy to say, the generals guarding the border are not experienced in many battles. Not everyone can replace such generals. Before there is no suitable candidate, it is not appropriate to move them for the time being. Moreover, Ye Changqing sent a message before saying that something is wrong with the Huns recently. The Northwest Army took it for granted that there was a fire in the capital city on the prairie, saying it was a battle between various tribes, but Ye Changqing felt more like someone was unifying the prairie."

"The court of the Huns has been fighting for many years, and it's time to decide the winner. It's not surprising that the new king wants to unify the grassland. It depends on the new king's ability. If he integrates the forces of various tribes, then It's time to be vigilant at the border."

"That's true, so the frontier army needs to be rectified, and it is imminent." In recent years, the border has been peaceful, and there is a lot of money to supply it. The frontier army has become much more lazy. It is impossible for such a team to resist the fierce grassland elite soldiers.

The weather was really hot, and the servants came in with ice buckets. Ice buckets were placed in the four corners of the room, which quickly cooled the room down. Liu Shu followed the little princess to the west mountain. will be arranged properly.

The new manager is a eunuch born in the palace. He is in his thirties and is a year older than Liu Shu, but he procrastinates a lot in his work. Fortunately, Li Xu is not too strict. He is an employee with an ordinary salary Of course, it is impossible to do the work of an executive.

"Take the Northwest Army as an example. In fact, the veterans who have guarded the border for many years are still trustworthy. Even if they are a little cautious, they will not be bad, and the foundation is there. As long as the First Prince's troops are brought back, the Northwest Army can restore its previous strength. Order, and further training, will be stronger than it is now."

"This is even more difficult. The eldest prince has been guarding the northwest for ten years. Everyone thinks that he has worked hard and made no mistakes. He withdraws people back for no reason. It is difficult for the common people. And how do you know that the Northwest Army is willing to leave the eldest prince? Daddy What does the prince rely on to be the uncrowned king for so many years? It can't be because of his charisma, right?"

To be convincing is nothing more than that, coercion plus temptation, the eldest prince has status and money, the two are two pronged, it is not difficult to win over the Northwest generals.

"Actually, there is only one best way, and that is to wait for the war to come. With the current capabilities of the frontier army, they will undoubtedly lose. If they lose, they will naturally be punished. It is only natural to send someone to replace them at that time."

"But that sacrifice is too great, and the enemy may not give us time to react. The capital is not too far from the border. If the enemy breaks in all the way, the capital will be in danger."

Kou Xiao shrugged his shoulders. This is indeed a very risky thing. No one likes to fight unprepared battles in the future. Even if a new general is sent to gather the remnants in a short period of time, it is simply impossible to turn from defeat to victory. Kou Xiao didn't dare to boast that he would definitely win.

Li Xu changed into a set of home clothes. The weather was hot, and no one would come to the door at noon. The two of them had a simple lunch and then went back to their room to take a nap.

As soon as he lay down, Li Xu sat up suddenly, grabbed Kou Xiao's arm and said, "I thought of a way!"

Kou Xiao lay down with his arms around him, lying face to face with him, just listening to him like this, Li Xu's solution is very simple, since he wants to cut military expenditures and steal people's money, he just needs to compensate all the troops in terms of money.

But this compensation is not in the form of appropriation from the national treasury, but to give them a chance to make money by themselves. It is better to teach people how to fish than to teach people to fish. The treasury is not abundant. The gap in military expenditure is a bottomless pit. Earn it yourself!

If someone else made this proposal, Kou Xiao would definitely make him drool, but the person who said this was Li Xu, he said that if he could help them earn money, he would definitely be able to do it, which has been recognized in many places in the south confirmed.

"This is a good idea, and I would like to change it to the same way, just like the Northwest, if the prince donates the wool factory to the Northwest Army, and then gives them cotton crafts, they will no longer hold on to the court's military expenses. "

"It's impossible to give them away, but I can let them participate in the shares, or let them participate in the management. This matter needs to be discussed carefully." Li Xu got up from the bed after finishing speaking. Wouldn't it be nice if he wanted to fall asleep at this time? It's possible, but it's better to write out the plan when he has inspiration. Before sending the account books from all over the country to the capital, he needs to study the current situation of each army and the projects that can make money, and make a quick decision.

Kou Xiao had no choice but to get up, and when Li Xu was writing and drawing, he would grind on the sidelines, or tell him about the general situation of the frontier troops in various places.

Don't ask Kou Xiao why he knows so much. From the day he followed Li Xu out of South Vietnam, he knew that the battlefield in his life would not be limited to South Vietnam. Dayan's real opponent was in the north, and that would also be his main battlefield in the future. , so prior knowledge is necessary.

"Actually, if you want to make money from doing business, it is mainly to transfer goods from the south to the north to make money from foreigners. Firstly, they have a superior geographical location and low transportation costs. Second, they know more about the Northland. What kind of goods sell? It is definitely clearer who will make more money, but it is still necessary to do some business. With the industry taking root, it will not only provide employment opportunities for the local people, but also give them a sense of belonging to their hometown, and it will also help the people and the army to enhance their relationship. .”

Kou Xiao didn't understand what he heard, but the meaning was understandable, just like Li Xu built so many factories in the suburbs of Fujian Province, the benefits are not just about making money.

"Then build a factory? Can't everyone build a wool factory?"

"Of course not. Wool products will soon be imitated by other businessmen. Nanyue will only produce high-quality goods in the future, but cotton factories can do it. This thing can also be grown and processed locally, which is very convenient. In addition You can also try porcelain. Porcelain is fragile, and the loss of transporting it from the Central Plains to the Northland is too great. Even the Sun family can't bear the loss. There are very few porcelains sold to the Northland, and the price is sky-high. If they can The production of porcelain is bound to quickly occupy the Northland market."

Kou Xiao couldn't comment on these, he just felt that Li Xu's head seemed to be enlightened, how could he think of so many ways to make money all at once?

"There is also tea. Nanyue can authorize it to a certain frontier army, and let them act as an agent to earn the difference, so that we can save time and effort..." Li Xu picked and picked, and wrote more than a dozen ways to make money that he thought were good. We are going to decide how to implement it according to the actual situation of the frontier troops in various places, and it is not what he says, it must be agreed by those big bosses.

In this way, I still have to meet the big shots, and the eldest prince will definitely not cooperate, so I have to try to get rid of this stumbling block.