Xia Qi did not know that Zhao Man, whom he had been searching for so hard, was in the Imperial Palace. Moreover, she was only a few walls away from him.
At this moment, in Xia Qi's residence, Big Brother Zheng, Wang Jian, and Xia Qi were gathered in front of a copper pot that was bubbling with steam.
Ever since Xia Qi had treated Brother Zheng and Brother Li to hotpot, the two of them had tasted it and could not stop.
Recently, as long as they were free, they would come together to freeload.
Wang Jian ate until his mouth was full of oil. His mouth was a little swollen from the spiciness. His actions were not slow at all.
He spoke to Brother Zheng as he picked up some food.
"Your Majesty, the Longxi army spent three months and finally built twenty blast furnaces. Meng Tian reported that Longxi alone could produce a thousand jin of refined iron per day. The soldiers in the army were all ready to fight.”
When Brother Zheng heard Wang Jian's words, he nodded and said,""Their morale is commendable."
Every time Brother Zheng and Wang Jian came over for a meal, they would habitually talk about some court politics.
Among them, Xia Qi was related to the progress of the sweet potato and corn trials.
However, other things had nothing to do with him.
Every time this happened, Xia Qi would want to cover his ears.
There was no other reason. As a pure businessman, he knew one thing too well.
Many people died from knowing too much!
However, since they were eating at the same table, he could not refuse to listen or simply refuse Brother Zheng and Wang Jian to come over and freeload.
There was no other way. At this time, Xia Qi could only bury his head in his food and try not to listen to the conversation between the two.
"I heard that the Craftsmen Bureau's wine sales have increased sharply recently, and the national treasury is already full.”Wang Jian turned his head and said to Xia Qi.
Xia Qi did not reply.
Wang Jian's words actually had a layer of subtext: "Your Majesty, now that the national treasury is full, the soldiers are strong, and everything is ready, it's time to send the soldiers out to fight!”
Xia Qi couldn't answer this.
As the Great Qin General, Wang Jian held both the position of Great General and Grand Preceptor.
As the number one person in the military, it was his duty to represent the soldiers and ask Brother Zheng to fight.
In Xia Qi's opinion, this was quite normal, but he absolutely could not interrupt!
Ever since Big Brother Zheng arrived at the court at the age of 21, Great Qin's foreign wars had never stopped.
After decades of war, Great Qin had created countless famous generals.
The rank-20 system was the fairest promotion system in this era. It could allow ordinary people to rise to the top in one step and even directly enter the ranks of nobles.
As such, Great Qin's army had always had Legatees who dared to fight and even liked to take the initiative to fight.
Don't look at how tactful Wang Jian was speaking now.
However, Xia Qi was certain that since this old man dared to speak, he would definitely pester Brother Zheng and not give up until he achieved his goal.
The old man had a criminal record!
Back then, before the world was settled, Brother Zheng favored the young general Li Xin, so much so that Li Xin's military power was almost the same as Wang Jian's.
When Wang Jian saw this situation, he was very jealous.
Once, he complained to Brother Zheng face to face, and the words he said were extremely fierce.
"As a general of the Great King, you will not be granted the title of Marquis after meritorious service.”
The resentment in his words was obvious.
Brother Zheng ignored him.
After all, the world had yet to be pacified, and it was a little too hasty to reward them based on their achievements.
In the end, Wang Jian became addicted to complaining.
Turning around, he ran over to talk to Wei Liao, the national guard of Qin State.
"The King of Qin doesn't believe me!"
Wei Liao also had a big mouth and ran over to talk to Brother Zheng.
In the end, Brother Zheng laughed out loud and promised Wang Jian the title of Marquis Che on the spot.
Wang Jian might seem vulgar, but he understood too well the logic of a crying child getting milk.
Great General Wang Jian put down his pride and was just short of rolling on the ground and begging Brother Zheng for a fight.
As long as Xia Qi wasn't a fool, he wouldn't interrupt.
Seeing that Brother Zheng and Xia Qi both ignored him, Wang Jian could not help but sigh.
"Sigh, I'm already old. In another two years, I'm afraid I won't be able to get on a horse or lift a saber. He fought for his country all his life. He looked around. The Xiongnu in the north had not been destroyed, and the Baiyue in the south had not been pacified. If I can't settle these two places before I die, I won't die in peace!”
Xia Qi widened his eyes and looked at Wang Jian who was blinking his eyes vigorously.
You're the shameless one!
"Old General, don't just drink. Eat more!”
Xia Qi picked up a piece of meat from Wang Jian's bowl with his chopsticks and secretly threw in a few red chilies.
"Aren't you afraid of losing face in front of me?”
Brother Zheng pointed at Wang Jian and snorted coldly.
After a pause, he continued," I know what you are thinking. But let me ask you, how many troops do you think are needed to destroy the Xiongnu and the Bai Yue?”
Wang Jian was stunned. Subsequently, he smiled bitterly and sighed.
After Great Qin unified the Xia, there were only two hidden dangers left: the Xiongnu and the Bai Yue.
Even though Lingnan, where the Hundred Yue was located, had already been included in Great Qin's territory.
However, the local people, the Bai Yue, did not submit.
Brother Zheng guarded Lingnan and sent 600,000 troops to guard the area.
As for the Xiongnu in the north, they were even more of a threat.
The 300,000 troops led by the Meng brothers were targeting the Xiongnu.
Even though Great Qin's army was invincible in the world, it was not just about military power.
The army's expedition, military supplies, grain, and other things were all of utmost importance.
However, with Great Qin's current situation, it would be quite difficult to provide for this army of nearly one million soldiers, let alone fight a war.
"Great Qin can destroy the Xiongnu first. Lingnan can be slowly planned!"
Seeing that Brother Zheng was serious, Wang Jian also said with a solemn expression.
"The army is short of horses!"
Brother Zheng's one sentence blocked all of Wang Jian's excuses.
The old man's expression was gloomy as he picked up the wine pot and poured himself a mouthful of wine.
Xia Qi was a little curious. He could not help but ask,"Great Qin has many horse farms, so why is there a shortage of horses?”
"You don't know, but war horses are different from ordinary horses. They travel a lot, and regardless of the road conditions, their hooves are extremely worn out. A warhorse could only be ridden in the army for three to five years. After the hooves were worn out, the horse would be crippled.”Wang Jian said with a sigh.
Today, Brother Zheng and Wang Jian talked for a rather long time. Xia Qi unknowingly drank a few more cups.
Hearing Wang Jian's words, he laughed loudly and pointed at Wang Jian as he mocked,"Great General is really funny. You know that people wear shoes because they wear shoes. Wouldn't the problem be solved if the horses wore shoes on their hooves?”
As soon as Xia Qi finished speaking, the room suddenly fell into an extremely strange silence.
Brother Zheng and Wang Jian both looked at Xia Qi, especially Wang Jian, the old fogey. His gaze was fixed straight as if he wanted to eat him up.
"Kid, do you really have a way to solve the problem of the hoofs being worn out?”Wang Jian asked while panting heavily.
Xia Qi was filled with regret.
He also did not expect that such a simple matter could actually become a problem for Wang Jian.
He had blurted out the secret in a moment of rashness. How could he cheat others?
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。