Faced with the proposal of military hall to expand the army, the civil servants were unanimously opposed.

The Minister of Finance still insisted on opposing the issue on the grounds that the national treasury was empty and could not provide military expenditures for expansion.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhou Rulin was in charge of the government affairs of the Far Eastern dynasty for a long time. His reasons were quite sufficient: "The severe drought in the past few years and the cold winter led to a reduction in grain production. Years of war also led to countless fields being deserted. Now agricultural production is urgently needed to be restored. If the army is now expanded and young and strong people are entering the army, then who will farm and resume agricultural production?"

As an old minister, Zhou Rulin was born into a noble family, but he devoted himself to the Far Eastern dynasty. He was in charge of the government for many years and knew the actual situation of the Far Eastern dynasty better than Emperor Long Han and some people in the Military Hall, so his speech had to attract attention.

After hearing Zhou Rulin's reasons, the Chief of Military Affairs Yang Yanxu could only settle for the second best: "Since agricultural production requires a large number of young and strong people, then we can reduce the scale of expanding the army and only add twenty flag regiments?"

"No, let alone twenty flag groups, even one flag group cannot be added."

Faced with Yang Yanxu's concessions, Zhou Rulin still refused to let go and firmly opposed the expansion of the army.

"Mr. Zhou, I know that agricultural production requires young and strong, but our army is under great pressure. If we don't prepare early, then if a war breaks out, it will be difficult for us to deal with the existing troops. If it really comes to that time, it will be too late."

"General Yang, it's not me, Zhou Rulin, that's why we are embarrassed by you, but it's not appropriate to recruit soldiers now. From 19801 to now, three years have passed. We have experienced severe drought, cold winter, and military disasters. If agricultural production is not resumed, we can only eat wild vegetables next year."

"But we only expanded the army to twenty flag regiments, and each province has half a flag regiment. Isn't that much?"

Zhou Rulin was extremely stubborn at this moment and insisted on not regressing: "Since General Yang said this, I have to calculate the accounts with you. In the 19801, the 400,000 prisoners in the Imperial Mausoleum were rioted. Although they were wiped out, our Central Army and the Imperial Guard lost 200,000 people. Later, the military hall was added to recruit soldiers and recruited 200,000 from the five provinces around Wangjing."

Speaking of this, Zhou Rulin glanced at Lin Chuan and Lin Nuoyan who were sitting there, but they were all expressionless, as if they had nothing to do with them.

"In 19802, the Central Army lost 50,000 people in the remaining troops of Xingtu Army, and several small-scale wars between the Northern Army and the Rong people also lost 30,000 people. Zhenxi Army fought with the barbarians, losing more than 10,000 people."

"In 19803, the Semitic people in the Far East rebelled, and the Far East Army lost 50,000 five banner regiments, and the Central Army in the Mainland lost more, a total of 100,000, and the garrison troops of 56 provincial governments lost 300,000."

"This year, the 200,000 imperial guards were directly defeated. The 300,000 troops in the Zhenxi Army are now less than 80,000. The Central Army and the Inner Guards have lost at least 100,000 people. With the rebellion of the King of Rain, Longjing, the Southern Army recruited 200,000 people this time."

Zhou Rulin's eyes swept across the faces of everyone and raised the volume: "Your Majesty, sir, we have lost 1.06 million people in just four years! This is not more than one million pigs and dogs, but strong young people! There are millions of broken families behind them!"

"I want to ask Lord Yang, how many 1.06 million young people do you think we can consume in the Far Eastern dynasty? I'm afraid that another large-scale war will happen, and we will destroy the country ourselves without others taking action!"

Zhou Rulin was excited and his voice was loud. None of the emperors present and these high-powered officials spoke, because they had never thought that the situation of the Far Eastern dynasty had reached such a point, and civil strife had consumed so many elite troops.

Long Han was silent after hearing such amazing data. Zhou Rulin was right. If the army continued to expand and the young and strong were sent to the battlefield to die, then the Far Eastern dynasty, which was left with only orphans and widows, would have the only way to perish.

"So Lord Yang, it's not that I am against the expansion of the army. I also know that the Hanhai people and Rong people are ambitions, but now our dynasty is really unable to afford to lose. There will be no war in at least three to five years, and we need to rest and recuperate." Zhou Rulin stretched out five fingers and said.

Military Chief Yang Yanxu wanted to hold on, but Long Han spoke: "You are already very clear about the situation in the dynasty now. There are people inside but not enough food, and there are strong enemies outside and they are eyeing each other. Now I need you to work together and we will overcome the difficulties together."

"Working together to overcome difficulties--" Everyone expressed their opinions in unison.

"Zhou Aiqing is right. Our dynasty needs to rest and recuperate, so let's slow down the expansion of the army." Long Han rejected the proposal proposed by the military hall in one sentence.

Yang Yanxu hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, what should I do if the Far East and the Northern regions?"

"This matter is left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send people to the Rong clan and the Hanhai Empire. As long as the war can be avoided, I will give it as much as they want! As long as we recover for three or five years, we will get it back!" Long Han said this and his tone was very helpless and his expression was very painful.

The Far Eastern Dynasty has been established for three hundred years, and it has always been rich and powerful in the country. However, in the past century, the national strength has declined so much, especially when Emperor Long Han took over, he was a dynasty full of holes and was about to be divided.

If it weren't for the assistance of loyal ministers and good generals, the melee between the princes and the situation in various places was quickly stabilized, then the country would have been dead in name only.

Although the situation in various regions has stabilized, new problems are placed in front of everyone, that is, to restore production that has been stagnant due to natural disasters and wars, to restore commerce, and to restore the prestige of the central government. However, it is easy to destroy, and it is impossible to recover within three to five years.

Take the villages that were damaged by war for example. It takes a lot of manpower and material resources to rebuild them. It takes at least one season to replant the barren fields until they are harvested. However, because young and strong people have died in the battlefield, it is now even more difficult.

Natural disasters and wars also led to the collapse of social order. Famine and wars gave birth to countless bandits. Their composition was complex, including defeated soldiers and refugees who could not survive. Now they occupied countless villages and villages. At the same time, there were tens of thousands of rebels in the dynasty, and public security issues also plagued the rule of the Far Eastern dynasty, and they threatened the foundation of the dynasty.

So now the Far Eastern Dynasty can no longer withstand a war. Just like a terminally ill old man, who cannot withstand even a little wind and cold, fragile rule requires time to be repaired. What is imminent now is that he needs restoration.

This is Lin Chuan's first military and political meeting. From morning to late at night, the issues discussed are more serious. It is because of participating in such a meeting that Lin Chuan felt how dangerous the dynasty was. Why did Emperor Long Han forget to eat and sleep? He also felt the heavy feeling of everyone. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!