After the Yellow River was unblocked, Qi State successfully completed spring plowing.
At this time, wars in various parts of the world were ending. Meng, Qi, and Song were all working hard on internal affairs, intending to increase national power and waiting for the next war to begin.
Yecheng is located on the banks of the Zhangshui River. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was one of the most prosperous metropolises in Hebei. King Cao Cao of Wei, Hou Zhao, Qian Yan, Eastern Wei, and Northern Qi successively established their capitals here.
However, the Yecheng where Zhao Tai is now is not the former Yecheng, but Linzhang County.
Because the King of Qi had his palace here, Linzhang was renamed Yecheng.
At this time, with the King of Qi, many officials of Qi State, and a large number of troops stationed in Yecheng, many gentry and businessmen moved to Yecheng one after another.
For the gentry and wealthy households, being able to gain a place in Yecheng not only brought them closer to the core of power and made it easier to obtain more benefits, but it was also a way for them to show their identity and strength to outsiders.
Businessmen are completely interested in Yecheng's business potential and want to make a fortune from Yecheng.
At this time, Yecheng was like a big construction site, with construction going on everywhere to build new houses and shops.
Zhao Tai stood outside Yecheng, by the Zhangshui River, listening to Wang Wentong say: "Your Majesty, the Imperial College is built in this area."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "This Yecheng is not the capital of our Da Qi. If we take over the Central Plains and unify the world in the future, I will definitely move the capital. Therefore, the Imperial College needs to be built, but the scale of the liberal arts academy and the martial arts academy need to be controlled. For the time being, Just enough, don’t spend too much money and food.”
Wang Wentong said: "I understand! The scale of the Wen Yuan and Wu Yuan will be controlled at the road level. Even if the capital is moved, they can still be used by local governments."
At this time, Zhao Taizheng was inspecting with officials, and Yang You came over in a hurry, "Your Majesty, I have something urgent to report!"
Zhao Tai looked at him, "What's the matter?"
Yang Youdao: "The Mongolian mission arrived in Lin'an to discuss a joint attack on Huainan."
Zhao Tai frowned, looking serious, "What's the attitude of the Southern Song Dynasty?"
Yang You said: "Not sure yet."
A few months ago, the Mongolian cavalry marched across Hebei and massacred several prefectures and counties of Qi State, causing considerable losses to Qi State.
However, because Zhao Tai's heavy troops were stationed in Hebei, and the Mongolian and horse troops were unable to attack the strong city, Qi's rule in Hebei was not shaken.
Before the Yellow River thawed, the Mongolian cavalry was worried about being trapped in Hebei and hurriedly retreated to Henan.
This time Mongolia sent an envoy to the Southern Song Dynasty, hoping to unite with the Southern Song Dynasty to attack Huainan. Zhao Tai knew the reason after thinking about it for a moment.
That was the Mongolian army. They learned from the experience of the previous few months and wanted to make up for the shortcomings of the Mongolian army in attacking the city. They invited the Song army to attack the city.
At that time, the Mongolian cavalry surrounded the city to prevent the Qi army from rescuing, and the Song army stormed the city. Except for a few heavily garrisoned cities in Huainan that they would find difficult to capture, all the county towns in Huainan would definitely be captured by them.
In this way, when the Yellow River thawed, they would not have to retreat in a hurry, but could seize Huainan from Qi.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tai's expression became solemn, "Let Xizuo continue to monitor. I want to know every move of the Mongolian mission and the attitude of the Southern Song Dynasty."
Mongolia sent a mission and colluded with the Southern Song Dynasty, which made Zhao Tai feel the crisis and had no intention of continuing the inspection. He returned to Yecheng after not wandering for a while.
Mongolia was an enemy of Qi, and the Southern Song Dynasty, as a big country, was beyond Zhao Tai's control.
Therefore, it is difficult for Zhao Tai to intervene in the final negotiation between Meng and Song Dynasty and what conditions were reached.
Now Zhao Tai can only control the state of Qi. Now, the most important way to deal with Mongolia and Song Dynasty is to increase the national power of Qi.
In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, Zhao Tai was woken up by Xiao Fei Zhang while he was sleeping.
After the princess became pregnant, Zhao Tai successfully got Concubine Yan pregnant again. Now he spends the night at Zhang Rou's daughter's place every day.
"Where's the daybreak?" Zhao Tai opened his eyes.
"Didn't the king say that he would summon important ministers to discuss matters today?" Concubine Zhang reminded with a smile.
Zhao Tai stood up and said gratefully: "Yes, I was so tired last night that I almost overslept!"
Zhao Tai got up from the bed, washed and dressed under the service of the palace maid. By the time he finished breakfast, it was already dawn.
Today's discussion was originally scheduled for the end of the month, but after Zhao Tai heard that the Mongolian mission was heading to the Southern Song Dynasty, he felt that time was running out, so he asked Wang Wentong if he could advance the discussion.
After getting Wang Wentong's consent and confirming that there were two hours in the morning, Zhao Tai decided to discuss matters this morning.
At this time, in the lobby, there were more than 20 cabinet bachelors, ministers, ministers of various ministries, and the governor of the Five Army Governor's Mansion in Yecheng participating in the meeting.
Everyone stood in the lobby, gathering in twos and threes, talking about recent events.
At this time, a guard shouted: "The king has arrived!"
In the lobby, everyone suddenly became quiet and hurriedly separated into two sides. Zhao Tai walked in surrounded by guards.
"Welcome your Majesty!" The ministers on both sides bowed and saluted.
Zhao Tai went straight to the throne and sat down, then waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite, gentlemen."
Zhao Tai glanced at everyone, and when he saw that everyone was here, he said loudly: "We are calling everyone here today to discuss two things. One is to expand the army and prepare for war, and the other is to weaken the Southern Song Dynasty."
Expanding the army and preparing for war was an issue that was originally set, and the exhausted Southern Song Dynasty was a plan that Zhao Tai temporarily added.
After speaking, Zhao Tai looked at Wang Bin and said, "Sir, please tell me first the plan of the Ministry of War!"
Wang Bin immediately came out and said: "Your Majesty, our army suffered heavy losses in the battle at Sui Lang Mountain last year. However, by the beginning of winter last year, the new soldiers recruited by the Ministry of War had been replenished, allowing our Qi army to recover to 300,000. .In the Battle of Langshan last year and the Mongolian invasion of Hebei in the winter, the Ministry of War summarized the weaknesses of our army. Therefore, before the end of the year, in addition to replenishing the Tiger Cavalry and Xiaoqi armies, the Ministry of War will also add one or two more armies. The cavalry army."
Zhao Tai asked: "If we add two more horse armies, will there be enough horses?"
Wang Bin said: "In the Battle of Langshan, we captured a large number of war horses. At present, the horses for the new corps are in place, but the horses for the second corps are lacking. However, I think we can train them first and replenish the war horses later."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "Aiqing, continue."
Wang Bindao: "During the Battle of Suilang Mountain last year, the Shenji Battalion performed very well in the face of the Mongolian cavalry attack. The Ministry of War suggested that the Shenji Battalion should also be expanded into the Shenji Army."
Zhao Tai looked at Wang Bin and asked, "Ai Qing, have you finished speaking?"
Wang Bin said: "The main plan of the Ministry of War this year is to expand the cavalry army and the divine machine army. I've finished."
Zhao Tai immediately said: "I would like to add that in addition to the horse army and the divine machine army, I suggest that the navy army be increased by 10,000, and the number of gunboats should be at least doubled."
It is impossible for Qi to attack the Southern Song Dynasty in the near future, so it has no plan to expand its navy.
Now that Mongolia is contacting the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Tai feels uneasy, so he wants to expand his navy and show his strength to make the Southern Song Dynasty calm down.
