Chapter 639: Discussion

Huangfu Chaobo immediately changed the subject and said: "Come here, quickly get a handkerchief for General Zhou. Oh, Youping. In this way, you can wipe off all the water stains on your face first. Regarding the naval expansion plan, I I’ll take a good look at it first, and then discuss it with everyone before deciding on the final result, okay?”

Huangfu Chaobo handed the towel handed to him by his personal guard into Zhou Tai's hand, then took his army expansion plan and said: "In this way, tomorrow, the Japanese general will gather everyone to discuss the navy expansion plan. At that time, both you and Gong Yi came to attend the meeting. That’s it for today. You two will go back to your residence first and prepare to think about how to deal with your remarks tomorrow, okay?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai and the others knew that their idea of ​​trying to find out the navy's organization from Huangfu Chaobo while Tian Feng and others were away had failed. However, fortunately, although it was impossible to achieve their expected goal, at least the navy Expansion was inevitable, so there was no further entanglement. After the two people stepped forward to salute Huangfu Chaobo, they said goodbye and left General Pingdong's Mansion.

However, after leaving, the two of them did not go back to their respective homes, but went directly to Zhou Tai's home. They knew that tomorrow's plan would definitely be in response to everyone's questions, and they had to think carefully about how to deal with it, otherwise, Shui Even if the army expands, it will certainly not be large in number. Especially given the personalities of Tian Feng and others, the two of them heard that the formation of several battalions of soldiers was finally decided after many days of discussion with Tian Feng and others.

Early on the next morning, Zhou and Tai rushed to the general's mansion. Seeing the two people in a hurry, Huangfu Chaobo felt helpless and funny. He didn't expect that the two of them were so anxious about Zhou Tai's naval expansion. I have read the plan carefully several times last night, and I already have a general plan in my mind. However, I still have to listen to the opinions of everyone in the shogunate on these matters.

"Two generals, I'm afraid you haven't had breakfast yet?" Huangfu Chaobo smiled at the two of them;

When the two of them heard this, their faces turned red, and Zhou Tai said: "My lord, the army expansion plan..."

Huangfu Chaobo waved his hand and said: "Hey, there's no need to worry about this. Since I promised you two to expand the army, then we will definitely expand the number. Let's have breakfast first, and we can discuss it slowly after breakfast." After that, he also Without letting the two of them speak again, he ordered someone to bring breakfast in.

When the two of them heard this, they couldn't say anything else, so they had to sit down and eat quietly. Huangfu Chaobo was eating breakfast slowly. When he was almost done with breakfast, he heard a personal guard at the door reporting that members of the shogunate were outside the house asking for an audience. When Huangfu Chaobo heard this, he immediately ordered everyone to come in, and he finished his breakfast in a few seconds.

Seeing this, Zhou and Tai looked at each other, knowing that their little thoughts had been seen through by their lord again. It seemed that they could only honestly fight with the shogunate.

A moment later, I heard footsteps outside the door, and then I saw people filing in, led by civil and military officials led by Tian Feng and Huang Zhong. Everyone had received an order from Huangfu Chaobo as early as last night, saying that they would discuss the expansion of the navy at the General's Mansion today, so everyone hurried to the General's Mansion after breakfast.

As soon as they entered the door, everyone saw the two generals Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin sitting majestically in the lobby. Not knowing what the two generals were thinking, everyone smiled at each other tacitly.

After everyone walked to the middle of the hall, they all saluted Huangfu Chaoboji: "The official (the last general) pays homage to the general (the lord)!"

"Without courtesy, please take a seat!" Huangfu Chaobo nodded and said;

After everyone thanked them again, they went to their seats and sat down.

After everyone was seated, Huangfu Chaobo ordered people to serve tea, and then slowly said: "Everyone knows that we are summoned here today to discuss the expansion of our Sizhou Navy. Here is Navy Zhou Jiang The two generals have handed over the naval expansion plan to me. Please take a look at it, and then we will discuss the naval expansion in detail. "

With that said, Huangfu Chaobo waved his hand, and the soldiers who had been prepared handed over several army expansion plans copied overnight to everyone.

Everyone took it, looked at Zhou Tai and Zhou Tai with half-smiles, and then lowered their heads to look through the army expansion plan carefully.

Both Zhou Tai and Zhou Tai nervously scanned the people in the shogunate, hoping to see some clues from everyone's faces. Unfortunately, Huang Zhong and other generals had no objection to his plan, and the main resistance came from the civil servants. However, Tian Feng, Lou Gui and others, who have become mature, can't see any change on their faces. This makes Zhou Tai and Zhou Tai feel like they are hiding twenty-five mice, scratching their hearts with hundreds of claws.

After a while, everyone stopped. As expected, Tian Feng was the first to speak.

I saw him take two steps forward and said to Huangfu Chaobo: "General, I don't agree with General Zhou's plan to expand the navy. Our Sizhou navy now has 12,000 sailors. If we follow General Zhou's plan, the navy will be The increase in military needs to 60,000 means that nearly 50,000 sailors are needed. According to the establishment of the navy, 50,000 sailors require about 50,000 sailors to operate the ships, which is equivalent to an increase of 100,000 soldiers and civilians. Calculated every month The cost is ten thousand gold.”

"This is not only about personnel, but also about ships. According to the establishment of our state army and navy, the ships required by the navy of the first school are 15,000 gold, and the ships required by the navy of the eighth school are 120,000 gold. This It’s just the cost of purchasing the ship, and there is also the cost of maintenance every month. Our state is now full of waste, and a lot of capital investment is needed everywhere. It has already cost a huge amount of money to form three combat troops, and now it still needs a lot of money. How can three naval forces be able to sustain this?"

Zhou Tai got anxious when he heard this, and quickly stood up and said: "Lord Tian, ​​the river and waterway in our Sizhou is about a thousand miles long. How can our 12,000 navy alone guard it? In addition, the navy is now needed to escort the trade route between Youzhou and Luoyang, which makes the navy even more incapable."

Tian Feng said slowly: "The river and waterway mentioned by the general is about a thousand miles long, but there are Jizhou navy in the east of our Sizhou, with tens of thousands of Jizhou navy. Is there anyone who can break through their defense line and enter our Sizhou territory? As for the west, now we only need to reach Hongnong. Besides, Dong the thief does not have many navy, and our army can defend it with just a few soldiers and horses. In this way, even if we add the escort navy, in my opinion, the three schools of navy are enough to protect all parts of our Sizhou."

Zhou Tai got anxious when he heard this. He originally wanted to increase the number of soldiers and horses by 30,000 to 50,000, but he did not expect that when it came to old man Tian Feng, he directly rounded off the number to 30,000 to 50,000.