Chu Huan immediately frowned and said, "Has the war changed in the southeast?"

Pei Ji said solemnly: "I'm afraid Lei Guheng can no longer stop the Tianmen Dao. Although the Tianmen Dao was in the southeast before, he was very powerful and conquered the city and land, Lei Guheng led his army to stalemate with the Tianmen Dao and was not at a disadvantage."

Chu Huan nodded and said, "Tianmen Road was initiated on Jianghuai Road. At the beginning, the local army was enough to deal with it. However, no one expected that the development of Tianmen Road was too rapid, and the local area spent a lot of effort to suppress bandits, but Tianmen Road became stronger and stronger, and its power spread across Jianghuai and Donghai Roads. It was precisely because of the crisis in the southeast that the court sent Lei Guheng to suppress bandits."

"Lei Guheng won several big victories at the beginning." Pei Ji said slowly: "But he can't help but fight again. Tianmendao has spent many years of hard work, based on the Jianghuai Road, which can be regarded as the old nest of Tianmendao. Not to mention the peddlers, even the deep courtyard of the government office, there are many believers of Tianmendao. When Tianmendao rebelled, those people became crowded by Tianmendao...!"

Chu Huan looked solemn: "Brother said that no matter how strong the troops are, it is difficult to win a battle without the hearts of the people."

"Lei Guheng relies on his commanding talents and his elite soldiers and generals, plus the supply from the court." Pei Ji said seriously: "Although Tianmendao is not as good as the Guanjun, it relies on the hearts of the people who are bewitched by them. As long as he has the hearts of the people, even if he loses a few battles, he can still recover his vitality. When Lei Guheng first arrived in the southeast, he also regained many lost lands continuously, but he was not even hot enough to sit on his butt, and was snatched back by Tianmendao's disciples... The victory at the beginning gradually turned into a deadlock."

Chu Huan was silent for a moment before asking: "Brother, is it that the balance in the southeast has been broken now, and Tianmen Dao has the upper hand now?"

"It should be so." Pei Ji said: "We are in the northwest, too far from the southeast, and a lot of news over there is also intentional blockade to prevent people from chaoticing people's hearts. However, there is no airtight wall in the world, and there is still some news over there." After pausing, he said softly: "We can actually think that the treasury is empty, which is reasonable. The treasury of the Daqin treasury was originally based on the sixteen taxes. The northwest has been in chaos in recent years. In order to deal with the people of Xiliang, not only can they collect taxes from the northwest, but they have to allocate materials from the treasury to the northwest. This has not only left but also lost the taxes from the three northwest roads, but at least two other taxes have to be subsidized. In this way, the northwest can only fight against the people of Xiliang, and wait for the court to lose five tax inputs."

Chu Huan stayed in the Ministry of Revenue and knew that what Pei Ji said was true, he nodded slightly.

"This is only part of it. In recent years, the southeast Tianmen Road has been very turbulent. The taxes on the Jianghuai and East China Sea are probably not evenly collected. With the previous five roads, seven of the financial inputs have been gone. In addition, the Hexi Road we just mentioned, the eight roads have lost their inputs." Pei Ji said calmly: "If half of the sixteen roads of the Qin Dynasty is gone, it is natural to have half of the world's harvest, and other natural disasters and man-made disasters, the national treasury is empty."

Chu Huan sighed: "Actually, when I was in the Ministry of Revenue, I knew that the treasury was empty and the court was weak. Otherwise, the court would not have known that Zhu Lingyue was in the northwest to be self-respecting, but he did not dare to act rashly to Zhu Lingyue...!"

"Yes...!" Pei Ji said: "The court dared not attack Zhu Lingyue because it was very clear that Zhu Lingyue was strong in the northwest. Once he really wanted to move Zhu Lingyue, Zhu Lingyue would not sit still and wait for death. In order to deal with the war in the southeast, the court would be overwhelmed. If Zhu Lingyue rebelled again, the court would be even worse...!" He stared at Chu Huan and smiled and said: "The emperor sent his second brother to come here, which was a helpless choice."

Chu Huan laughed and then frowned and said, "The treasury is weak and powerless. In recent years, the emperor has spent a lot of money to cultivate the Tongtian Palace in order to practice Taoism. Duke of Anguo Huang Ju controlled the Ministry of Revenue during his lifetime. No one knew the details of the treasury. It was not until I was in the Ministry of Revenue that I found that the treasury was really not enough to make ends meet and was extremely weak." After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "The Huang family destroyed the family and the family was raided, which was surprising. Fortunately, the huge family wealth was collected from there. Otherwise, the military expenditure in the southeast would have been a long time ago."

"That kind of money can only solve the urgent problem for a moment and cannot solve the fundamental problem." Pei Ji smiled faintly: "A penny stumped the hero. Not to mention a country, even a person, he could not use his money without money. If there is a financial problem in this huge country, the entire empire will have problems from top to bottom. It is precisely because I know that the Qin treasury is empty that I feel that the war in the southeast may not be able to hold on."

Chu Huan understood what Pei Ji meant and said softly: "Does the eldest brother think the court can no longer provide the war in the southeast?"

"A good woman can't cook without rice. Even if Lei Guheng is a famous general who has been through many battles, he cannot fight this battle without the logistics support of the court." Pei Ji chuckled: "It's not a year or half a year for the stalemate between the Southeast. In fact, it has always been one and the other. Lei Guheng had no quick battle and was doomed to be defeated."

Chu Huansuo frowned.

"The second brother is very clear that the government army cannot fight quickly, so the court can only continue to supply it. For the weak Qin State, the war between the northwest and the people of Xiliang in the northwest has already made Qin State weak. If the war in the northwest ended, the emperor could work hard to recover with the people and wait for three to five years, and perhaps he could still recover his vitality slightly. Even if the Tianmen Dao was in chaos, the official army would have abundant treasury support. It was not too difficult to calm the Tianmen Dao. Since the Han Dynasty, it has been a turbulent state.

After the Taiping Dao, this kind of rebellion caused by religions occurred frequently, and it was almost wiped out in the end." Pei Ji said seriously: "But the time to choose the Tianmen Dao this time is really good. Speaking of which, the people of Xiliang really helped Tianmen Dao a big favor. Although the people of Xiliang evacuated, the Qin State had no time to recover. The Tianmen Dao quickly spread in the southeast... Lei Guheng did not defeat the Tianmen Dao in a short time, and was in a stalemate with the Tianmen Dao. The competition was the supply of logistics...!"

Chu Huan frowned and said, "Brother, although the treasury of the court is indeed empty, the Ministry of Revenue has indeed imposed taxes. Although it makes the people resentful, the empire's territory is too large, and it is possible to mobilize some materials... The real power of Tianmen Road is only in the Jianghuai and Donghai Road, and it cannot completely control these two roads. Although they have control of the coast and the salt road is in their hands, the official army has blocked the road northward. After all, they have salt, but they cannot turn sea salt into silver, and they cannot trade with other places to obtain what they need. Their needs can only be sourced from the Jianghuai and Donghai Road...!"

Pei Ji smiled and said, "What I mean by the second brother, I understand. You want to say that although Tianmen Dao is a fierce one, the real resources are actually very scarce. If you cannot open up trade in the north, you will not be able to replenish your needs..."

"That's true." Chu Huan said: "Jianghuai has never been an economically developed place. It can even be said that among the sixteen roads of the empire, the Jianghuai is relatively barren. It is precisely because of this that the people there live a poor life and are chosen as a bewitching place by Tianmendao... There is a lack of minerals and food there. As for war horses, none of the eight horse farms in the empire are in the Jianghuai and the East China Sea. Therefore, in terms of logistics, whether it is weapons, armor, war horses or food, it cannot be considered full...!"

Pei Ji smiled and said, "Second brother, don't forget that the entire East Coast is under their control. If you cannot go north to trade, why not go south?"

"Going south?" Chu Huan was stunned.

Pei Ji looked solemn, "When forced to do anything, they would definitely think of going to the sea to trade in the South China Sea. The Central Plains and the South China Sea have almost no contacts, but it does not mean that they will never contact each other. The largest naval fleet in the empire is in Donghai Road. As early as after the Tianmen Road rebellion, the East China Sea naval military was defeated by them, and the fleet has fallen into their hands. With the fleet, they will certainly not waste it. Perhaps they had already secretly headed to the South China Sea. There are many islands in the South China Sea, and the minerals there are very rich."

Chu Huan sighed and said, "If this is true, General Lei seems to be in danger." He paused and looked at Pei Ji and asked, "Brother, you just said that the emperor was on the northern tour, first because of the Immortal Palace, and secondly because of the war in the southeast. If the war in the southeast really changes, he should be in charge of Luo'an and stabilize the hearts of the people. How could he leave the capital at this time?"

Pei Ji pondered for a moment before saying, "Maybe the emperor knew that Luo'an Jingcheng was no longer as solid as he imagined."

Chu Huan frowned and said, "Does the emperor think that the Tianmen Dao will attack the capital?"

"From south to north, there is no natural barrier to defend along the way." Pei Ji said slowly: "If Lei Guheng really can't hold on, the defense line is torn open by Tianmen Road, and the Tianmen Road disciples can reach the capital...!" sighed: "Second brother, don't forget that there is Tianmen Road in the south and the Qingtian King in the north. Both the north and south roads in the capital are threatened."

"Brother said before that even if the King of Green Heaven takes over Hebei Road, it is very likely to turn eastward to seek Fuhai Road." Chu Huan said thoughtfully: "Will the King of Green Heaven go south to take over the capital before he takes over Fuhai Road?"

Pei Ji said: "If the King of Qingtian's eyes have a long-term vision, of course he would turn to take down Fuhai Road, but this is our guess. Who knows whether the King of Qingtian can't resist the temptation of the capital and force the capital? Taking Luo'an is to penetrate the heart of Qin. If Qin is destroyed...!" Fuxu smiled, "The King of Qingtian may not want to leave a name in history. Although taking down the capital will bring him great trouble, it can also bring him great benefits."

Chu Huan understood and lowered his voice: "Brother, is the emperor worried that Luo'an's capital would be attacked by the north and south, and was in danger. So he used the name of the Northern Tour to escape from the capital?"

But I felt incredible. In Yingyuan, the iron-armored lion was fighting south and north, and a generation of emperors, with iron-blooded and ruthless. Could it be that he really had the desire to escape?
Chapter completed!