"But these are not the decisive factors, Xiaodongzi!"
"Now the Great Zhou Dynasty is in a precarious moment. If Hou Jin sends his troops south at this moment, it may shake the country's foundation. Do you understand?"
The empress frowned slightly, and her phoenix eyes carried the pressure of a king.
However, Yang Dong was already immune to these, and instead felt a special sense of excitement.
"Your Majesty, you don't know. The first and second of these are just to temporarily delay Hou Jin's army. What I really want to say is the third."
"Xiao Dongzi, if you keep talking nonsense like this, I don't mind letting you become a real eunuch!"
The empress snorted coldly, a flash of displeasure flashed between her eyebrows.
"Don't think that because I favor and trust you, you can do whatever you want!"
"Okay, okay, I got it!"
Today's Yang Dong is like a piece of meat on a hob, and he doesn't care at all about the threats from the empress' mouth.
However, he also understood that he could not go too far. After all, his leverage was still in the opponent's hands, so he said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, you don't know. Now I have opened up all the joints on the Wucheng side and have begun to build the high-speed official road from Beijing to Wucheng."
"Even with today's transportation capacity, if the caravans continue to transport supplies there, and then use Wucheng's existing walls and troops, it can be delayed for at least a few months."
"In fact, the reason why Youzhou fell so quickly was because military pay was withheld and could not be paid as scheduled. The soldiers' low morale gave Houjin an opportunity. And now, not only do I have to pay for their previous shortfalls, I made up for it and made an investment.”
Speaking of this, Yang Dong's cheek revealed a sinister smile that showed a successful conspiracy.
"Your Majesty does not know that the tolls on the expressway from the capital to Youzhou have been auctioned off."
"As long as these wealthy merchants in Wucheng want to keep their wealth, they have to defend the city for us honestly. Even if they want to transfer their assets, they can't do it in a moment."
After hearing this, the empress's originally tense cheeks gradually turned soft.
"Xiao Dongzi, if that's the case, I'm relieved."
"But having said that, on your way back, did you hear any information about General Yang Yan?"
"I have calculated the days. According to the ordinary marching speed of the Great Zhou Dynasty, we should have arrived in the suburbs of the capital yesterday. Could it be that something happened over there in Pingzhou?"
This time, Yang Dong did not choose to deceive the empress like Qingniao did.
After all, he has come back, so what if Yang Yan doesn't lead an army to rescue the capital?
It's just Lin Chunqiu, but it's not a problem for me to deal with him.
"Ahem, before talking about this matter, Your Majesty, you must make preparations first."
Hearing this, the empress' face couldn't help but become tense. She stared at Yang Dong with her phoenix eyes and said word by word:
"Tell me, what happened?"
"General Yang Yan...has rebelled."
Yang Dong started, and then like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube, he told all the information he knew.
"General Yang Yan, now based on Pingzhou, declares his independence."
"There are a total of thirteen armies in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, including the recently established Yongwu Army."
"Now, except for the four armies stationed in Beijing and Luozhou, namely the Soul Guard Army, Yongwu Army, Huwei Army, and Longwu Army, all the rest are under the command of General Yang Yan and bow to him."
"And now Lin Chunqiu's old dog rebellion in the capital has gathered nearly half of the Huwei Army and Longwu Army soldiers, and cooperated with the upper city defense army to start this rebellion."
"That is to say, apart from the most complete Spirit Guard Army, the Huwei Army and the Longwu Army each have only half of their strength. And the Yongwu Army..."
"Alas... my Great Zhou has fallen to this! Xiao Dongzi, you don't have to comfort me. I still understand the situation of the Yongwu Army. The number of them is small. Even if they all come back now, they will not be able to affect the overall situation. "
"But Xiao Dongzi, your vision makes me very happy. If you hadn't proposed to form a brave army, I would have lost another card in my hand."
Hearing this, an unnatural look flashed across Yang Dong's cheeks.
He coughed lightly and said:
"Uh... Your Majesty, you seem to have misunderstood me. It is no exaggeration to say that today's brave army can fight one against two! If it can be equipped with the latest detonator tube developed by Lenggong Manufacturing Institute, it is possible to fight one against ten. It’s not a bad idea.”
"What did you say!?"
The empress was startled at first, and then a look of disbelief appeared on her cheeks.
"Xiao Dongzi, how did you do it?"
"It's actually very simple. It's just taking money to open a road."
Yang Dong scratched his head in embarrassment, as if he had said something shameful.
"Youzhou itself is poor and poor, and the people have no livelihood. In fact, many soldiers of the army that was defeated by Houjin's iron cavalry did not die, but just escaped."
"So, I took the opportunity to find out. Most of these people are veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time, and they still have feelings for Da Zhou in their hearts. It's a pity that the military pay has been delayed, and there is no rice to cook at home."
"Later I took out the silver and said it was reissued by the imperial court. They didn't even hesitate and joined the brave army."
Upon hearing this, the empress's eyes lit up slightly, and she couldn't help but applaud Yang Dong's operation.
Obviously, Xiao Dongzi also saw Hou Jin's ambition, so he did not hesitate to use money to open a way, but also to strengthen his own power as much as possible.
It's just... I'm afraid only he can think of this method.
After all, the amount of money consumed to support an army is simply an astronomical figure. Even in the heyday of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it only supported sixteen armies at most.
And even with the existence of these sixteen armies, even the most powerful Qin at the time still treated the Zhou with courtesy and did not dare to go too far.
It's a pity that today's Dazhou is no longer what it used to be.
Thinking of this, the empress sighed again.
But soon, another question popped up in her mind. That is, even if these troops rebelled, given the poverty in Pingzhou, how could Yang Yan feed so many troops?
Is it possible...
She seemed to have thought of some possibility in her mind, and her face darkened again.
"Xiao Dongzi, I don't understand something."
"You said it's bitterly cold in Pingzhou, so what does Yang Yan rely on to support eight armies?"
"Even if half of these eight armies are lost, the military expenditure is still an astronomical figure!"
Hearing the empress suddenly raise this question, Yang Dong was stunned for a moment.
Not to mention, he has never considered this issue.
