Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 83 Unexpected Changes

Although the Liao emperor is not dead yet, according to current information, it will only be a year or two before he dies.

It is impossible for the Great Zhou to resolve its internal problems and raise enough grain and fodder to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun within one or two years.

In other words, even if there is internal strife in the Liao Dynasty, it can only weaken the Liao Dynasty's strength to a certain extent.

After the new emperor of Liao ascended the throne, peace was maintained on the Zhou-Liao border for a short period of time.

Once the Liao Dynasty recovers its strength, and its new emperor harbors ambitions, the border will be difficult to maintain stability.

Under those circumstances, the Great Zhou Dynasty simply did not have the energy to solve its internal problems.

"Those who are not in a position should not concern themselves with its affairs."

Zhou An patted him on the shoulder and said, "The changing situation is a holistic one. Even if you don't seize the current opportunity, new opportunities will arise in the future!"

"Um."

Sheng Changbai smiled; he wasn't the type of person to overthink things.

In his view, if Prime Minister Fan's new policies had succeeded, the Great Zhou would have already accumulated enough strength by now.

The internal strife in Liao is a golden opportunity for the Great Zhou to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

But since the opportunity has already been missed, there's no point in complaining anymore.

"Zecheng has studied the situation between the Great Zhou and the Liao Kingdom, so he must be very familiar with the current border situation. Could you tell me about it in detail?" Zhou An said.

"I don't actually know much about it, but since my brother-in-law wants to hear it, I'll tell you."

It was rare for Sheng Changbai to meet someone who, like him, wanted to understand the situation in the north. He became very enthusiastic and explained to Zhou An in detail what he knew about the situation on the northern border.

Zhou An felt very heavy-hearted after hearing this.

Living in the Jiangnan region, neither ordinary people nor scholars rarely discussed the situation on the northern border.

Firstly, the two countries have maintained peace for decades without any major incidents, so naturally no one is discussing it.

Secondly, it's too far from the south. To put it bluntly, most southerners don't even care whether the north has been lost.

In their view, even if the north was lost, the Yangtze River would be a natural barrier, and the flames of war would not reach the south.

It's actually quite normal to have this kind of thinking; we shouldn't use the nationalistic sentiments of later generations to define the ancients.

It's not that people in ancient times didn't have a sense of national and familial responsibility, but such people were few and far between.

Therefore, those who are revered as national heroes are truly precious.

Most importantly, the South has never been ruled by a foreign ethnic group.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they fought for so long but never conquered the country, and in the end, it was the Han people who ruled the world.

Because of the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, people in the south felt secure and naturally didn't bother to pay attention to the situation on the northern border.

Living in such an information cocoon, Zhou An had only a superficial understanding of the situation on the northern border.

Only through Sheng Changbai's narration did I gain a more intuitive understanding.

Although the two countries maintained peace, the imperial court stationed 300,000 troops on the northern border to guard against the Liao Dynasty and another 200,000 troops to guard against the Western Xia Dynasty.

In other words, the imperial court alone had 500,000 border troops.

What does this mean?

The standing army at the peak of the Han and Tang dynasties was roughly this size.

During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han had a total military force of between 600,000 and 800,000 during his frequent foreign wars.

At its peak, the Tang Dynasty had a military force of only 500,000 to 600,000.

The Great Zhou alone has 500,000 border troops, and the cost of supplies and provisions for these 500,000 troops is an astronomical figure.

In addition, because there were no natural defenses around Bianjing, the troops stationed near Bianjing, plus the imperial guards inside the city, numbered nearly 500,000.

Including the local garrison troops in various regions, the imperial court supported a force of around 1.2 to 1.3 million troops.

This force was almost twice the size of the standing army of other dynasties.

Moreover, unlike other dynasties, the Great Zhou Dynasty adopted a system of recruiting soldiers, which required soldiers to be paid military wages.

Many people don't know that, in fact, soldiers in most dynasties throughout history did not receive military pay.

From the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the Fubing system was used.

The soldiers of the Fubing (府兵) did not receive military pay if they did not advance, and they had to provide their own weapons, armor, and food. They farmed during the busy farming season and trained during the slack season.

The garrison system used in the Ming Dynasty was essentially a variant of the militia system.

The core of both the Fubing system and the Weisuo system was land.

The imperial court distributed land to the soldiers, and the soldiers fought for the imperial court.

The Great Zhou Dynasty directly paid its soldiers silver coins, without granting them any land.

The high cost of military expenditures has already accounted for more than 60-70% of the imperial court's spending.

This is under the condition that there is no war. Once there is war, the consumption of food and supplies will increase, and soldiers who die in battle will also need to be compensated.

Under such circumstances, where would the imperial court find the funds and provisions to support foreign wars?

However, Sheng Changbai was a scholar who had never been to the border. His knowledge of the court's military strength and expenditures was due to his father, Sheng Hong, who was an official.

He didn't know the specifics.

The two chatted and discussed the map for a long time until a servant came to inform them that the guest room was ready, and then they ended their conversation and went to rest.

According to etiquette, married couples are not allowed to share a room when staying at the homes of relatives or friends.

It is customary for people with different surnames to not share a room.

In other words, they can share a room when they visit Zhou's relatives.

You can't do that if you live in a family with a different surname.

Although the Sheng family is her maternal family, once a daughter is married, she is no longer considered part of her family. When a daughter and son-in-law return to their maternal family, they are visiting, not returning home.

Therefore, even in the Sheng family, Zhou An could not share a room with Shulan.

I could only share a room with Sheng Changsong, but luckily there were two beds, one for each of us.

After washing up and chatting for a while, Zhou An fell asleep.

The next day, Zhou An, Shulan, and Sheng Changsong, led by Sheng Changbai, toured Yangzhou City.

While sightseeing in the afternoon, I overheard people talking that the Yuan family's betrothal boat had arrived at the dock, so I ended my sightseeing and went home.

At this time, the members of the first and second branches of the Sheng family were in the main hall. After they returned, they were also invited to the main hall by the servants.

Once inside, Zhou An could clearly sense that the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

There were almost no smiles on anyone's faces, and even if there were, they seemed forced.

After Zhou An and the others bowed, Sheng Hong invited them to sit down.

"Nephew-in-law, the Yuan family's betrothal ship has arrived at the Yangzhou dock. Since it is the eldest son of the Yuan family and his wife who are coming, we need to trouble you and Bai'er to go and greet them!" Sheng Hong said.

"Uncle Yue, you're too kind. This is what I should do!"

Zhou An understood why they looked so unhappy; it was customary not to send a junior to handle such matters as betrothal.

Even if Mr. and Mrs. Yuan don't come in person, they should at least ask an elder from the Yuan family to bring Mr. and Mrs. Yuan Wenchun.

Even if you are marrying above your station, you still need to show the proper etiquette.

If the Yuan family sends a junior over, what will people think when word gets out?

Although it was the Yuan family that was impolite, some people might think that the Sheng family was trying to climb the social ladder by being arrogant.

Zhou An remembered that Yuan Wenshao's father had promised that the couple would come together to present the betrothal gifts, but when they arrived, he found out that only the eldest son and his wife had come.

Because of this, Madam Wang even had a falling out with Sheng Hong.

Actually, the best solution right now is to just overturn the table and cancel the engagement.

Although the matter will escalate and public opinion will be somewhat unfavorable to the Sheng family.

However, as long as the situation is explained, most people will still support the Sheng family.

Moreover, this also showcases Sheng Hong's literary integrity.