In Jianye, the capital of Wu Kingdom, the sky was still cloudy and drizzle was falling.
Trucks full of soldiers were racing through the rainy streets.
Imperial businessman Zhen Zhihui was entrusted by friends from the same chamber of commerce to come to European countries to inspect the business environment while he was doing business in Europe.
He had already arrived at the Suez Canal and immediately decided to turn back and head north.
Zhen Zhihui has already inspected the Min and Tang states and is currently inspecting the Wu state.
With his businessman's acumen, he immediately discovered the unusual situation of Wu State mobilizing its army.
Zhen Zhihui found a tavern with many businessmen.
In the hall, he ordered a bottle of wine and the tavern's signature dish, and listened to the discussions of the local businessmen in Wu while eating.
Business people are usually the most well-informed group.
This tavern is suitable for collecting public information.
Secret information usually circulates among powerful groups.
As for Zhen Zhihui's identity, it was impossible for him to find out this level of information.
He had just tasted a truffle when he heard the businessmen next to him starting to talk about it.
"Before I entered the tavern, I saw many troops changing defenses.
The rain has not stopped yet, and these troops are anxious to change their defenses. Is there a conflict at the border?
That’s true, I need to stock up on more medicines and steel.”
"Brother, you don't even read the newspaper. This is something a qualified businessman must do.
The Danube River burst its banks, and there were three breaches. The other two places were less than half a meter deep due to the low flow of the river.
Local factories and farmland were severely damaged, but there were few casualties.
Lingyin Mansion is different. When the Danube River bursts its banks, not only the flood peak comes from Rui Kingdom, but also the upstream reservoirs can't hold it and release the flood water.
When the two phases are superimposed, the flood in Lingyin Mansion is extremely violent.
Where the floodwaters broke out, the depth was as high as four meters.
The water depth of four meters has already submerged an ordinary bungalow.
People standing on the roof can easily be swept away by floods if they don't have something to hold on to.
"Wu Guo Daily" reported that preliminary casualties from Lingyin Mansion were as high as 70,000.
The final number of casualties must exceed 100,000.
The main purpose of the imperial court sending troops to Lingyin Mansion was to provide disaster relief.
Of course, the imperial court also had the idea of suppressing the local area by sending troops there.
We Han people will not make trouble. The buildings in Han residential areas are made of reinforced concrete, which can block the erosion of floods.
The wooden houses built by the local indigenous people in Lingyin Mansion are quite good.
Even if the flood destroys the wooden houses, these people can probably survive holding on to the scattered wooden beams and planks.
If it is a mud house, it will easily collapse once it is soaked by floods.
No matter how good the swimmers are, they will not be able to survive the flood if they are trapped by the collapsed mud house.
It is because of this that the casualties in Lingyin Mansion are so great."
A businessman drank a glass of wine in surprise and said happily: "It turns out that most of the dead people were blond and blue-eyed barbarians, so I feel relieved.
Now the cost of recruiting immigrants from the empire is too high, and the Han people are the stable foundation of our country of Wu.
A sufficient Han population is the cornerstone of national strength.
As long as the casualties of the Han people are not large, even if some property is lost, the impact on our country of Wu will be limited."
When the businessman at the same table heard this, his face changed slightly and he shouted: "Old Wang, you drank too much and you are talking nonsense."
After saying this, he told his friend Lao Wang to shut up, stood up and bowed to the businessmen around him: "Please be patient when you are away from home.
Lao Wang drank too much and said these unintentional words."
Zhen Zhihui saw that businessmen were more cautious towards the aborigines.
He judged that Wu State should treat the aborigines equally, at least in terms of public opinion.
The powerful have always treated the people at the bottom like cattle and horses.
Whether they are cattle and horses of the same race or cattle and horses of a foreign race, they are basically treated equally.
Now the powerful people are covering it up, just to let the cows and horses play a stronger role.
Zhen Zhihui judged from this that the powerful people in Wu State had always wanted to expand through war.
Only then did they relax their exploitation of cattle and horses and turn to gain greater profits.
It can also be seen from this point that the endogenous contradiction in Wu State is not big.
As long as there is no major turmoil in Wu State, the business environment can be maintained.
Zhen Zhihui knew what had happened. He was going to leave the tavern after finishing the meal and continue to inspect the business environment of Wu State.
If a flood occurs in a certain place in Wu State, this is just a trivial matter.
The empire is vast and has more knowledge about natural disasters.
There were sandstorms in Australia, volcanic eruptions in the South Ocean, massive floods in Siam, and extremely cold weather in the North Sea.
This extreme climate happened on the same day.
As an imperial citizen, Zhen Zhihui naturally has a sense of superiority in his heart.
He only felt a little funny when he saw people from the vassal country making such a fuss just because of a small flood.
Before Zhen Zhihui left the tavern, the owner of the tavern walked in with a stack of newspapers.
He said angrily: "Da Wu Daily distributes special editions for free just to make all of us Wu people remember this hatred."
The tavern owner gives each guest a newspaper.
The sound of banging on the table could be heard from time to time in the tavern.
Zhen Zhihui saw the newspaper in front of him. This newspaper only talked about one thing.
The Criminal Department of the State of Wu arrested more than a hundred criminals, all of whom were spies sent by the State of Gui.
These spies did one thing. They took advantage of the surge in the Danube River to blow up the banks of the Danube River and let the floods ravage the land of Wu.
Banging sounds were heard one after another in the tavern, which was the sound of bottles falling to the ground.
"The Gui State has gone too far to bully others. They actually added insult to injury when our Wu State was experiencing difficulties.
The three prefectures suffered at least 100,000 casualties, and the blood debt must be paid with blood.
Wu Guo must not back down and let the Gui people see the bloody nature of our Wu people.
If the imperial court really wants to attack Gui, I will donate 30,000 taels of silver coins to the imperial court.
If the imperial court issues war bonds, I will do my best to buy them."
Zhen Zhihui saw angry shouts rising one after another in the tavern.
Businessmen who are best at protecting themselves wisely all have this attitude.
Zhen Zhihui can already imagine the attitude of the farmers and workers in Wu State?
What will happen to those whose families were killed in this flood?
The cases in the newspapers must be real cases.
The details are very clear and it is by no means a fabricated case.
But this newspaper continues to guide people's thoughts through words.
Zhen Zhihui could already smell the smoke from the contents of this newspaper.
He was happy to hear about this situation. If a war really broke out in Wu State, it would be difficult for Wu State to support its consumption of industrial products with its industrial strength.
In this case, that's when ocean-going merchants like them come on the scene.
No war broke out in Wu State, and Zhen Zhihui still had some doubts about Wu State's market.
If war really breaks out in Wu State, he will definitely try his best to build factories in Wu State.
Zhen Zhihui left the tavern and sent the news to his friends in the Chamber of Commerce via telegram.
…
When Wu Wangqi Gangyi saw the losses reported by the three governments, he slammed the table in anger.
"Why didn't we take good protection and let Gui Guo's spies succeed in a sneak attack?
If we dare to release floodwaters to the lower reaches of the Danube River, Gui will definitely dare to blow up the river embankments."
Wu Wang Qi Gangyi was extremely angry, and he knew something about Gui Wang Qutian.
Knowing that Wu State chose to release the flood upstream, Gui State would inevitably face crazy revenge.
He has informed officials to be prepared to guard against Gui Guo's retaliation.
Zhou Quan, the governor of Wu State, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, our military has always guarded the border and has never allowed a small group of troops from Gui State to penetrate into Wu State.
What's more, things are progressing too fast, and it's not someone who came from Wu recently."
The Grand Governor Zhou Quanjin could stay out of the matter this time and watch the jokes of the civil servants.
The protection of river embankments is the responsibility of local governments and has little to do with the military.
Cabinet Minister Li Biaofu said with a grimace: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Tang Lai has been in charge of overall control of this matter.
Before the flood discharge plan was implemented, the level of confidentiality was too high.
Since I haven’t been exposed to the whole plan, I can’t handle all the work properly.”
When the civil servants saw what Cabinet Minister Li Biaofu said, they were all impressed.
Li Biaofu pushed out the most important responsibility in just a few sentences.
King Wu Qi resolutely saw the slippery behavior of cabinet minister Li Biaofu.
He wanted to punish, but couldn't find a reason to punish.
He could only ignore the topic.
“Our country suffered heavy losses this time, but Gui’s losses were even more heavy.
The conflict between the two countries was already intense, and this incident accelerated the hatred between the two countries.
Our country must be prepared for war to break out at any time."
Governor Zhou Quanjin puffed out his chest and promised: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that our military can definitely defeat the enemy.
Our country is a coastal country, so it is very easy to supply supplies.
Gui is a landlocked country, and if they want to obtain supplies, they have to pay a higher price.
Only in terms of material supplies, Gui is lagging behind our country.
There is no generational difference in the training level and equipment of the armies of the two countries.
Which side I think can win depends entirely on which side has the highest fighting will.
This time, guided by public opinion, the soldiers all believed that they were the righteous party. They took up their guns and asked Gui Guo for guilt on behalf of the compatriots who had suffered from the flood.
The soldiers' fighting will is very good, and future victory will definitely belong to our army."
Cabinet Minister Li Biaofu praised: "The imperial court distributed free newspapers to let more people know that the flood broke out because Gui State blew up the river embankment.
This is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster.
When the people learned the news, they united together like never before.
Even some aboriginal people who usually do not obey the imperial rule were very angry when they heard the news, and they were more willing to integrate into the imperial court."
Wu Wangqi smiled resolutely and said: "The morale of the military can be used, and the moral support of the people can be used.
Starting today, Wu State has officially entered a state of preparation for war.
The time for the war to break out should be after the autumn harvest.
Prime Minister Tang Lai also sent good news. Our potential allies are also very angry about Gui Guo's actions.
The chances of these countries forming alliances with our country are great."
King Qi of Wu was resolute and ordered the country of Wu to prepare for war in the summer.
The country of the Han people is an agricultural civilization.
Industrialization is now underway, but during the autumn grain harvest, a large part of the industry's production capacity must also be invested in grain harvesting and deep processing.
Only when the autumn harvest is over will sufficient manpower and material resources be available to promote the development of the military industry.
Wu Wang Qi Gangyi was also waiting for allies to formally conclude an alliance so that Wu could obtain support from its allies.
With allies supporting you from the rear, even if you exchange money for supplies, the battle will become easier.
The monarchs and ministers of Wu State were in tacit understanding and did not mention the flood in Gui State.
The people of Wu State were unable to learn the truth of the matter through any means.
The information that the people can know can only be the information that the court wants them to know.
…
In the palace of King Gui of Xuanjing.
When Gui Wang Qutian saw the loss of wheat, the muscles on his face twitched with heartache.
This flood caused at least 500,000 acres of wheat to be harvested.
How many acres of wheat were lost in Fuping Province?
This requires waiting until the floods subside and the court compiles statistical information from grassroots officials.
When Gui Wang Qutian saw the casualties, he showed a relaxed smile.
This massive flood exercised many officials.
Only the villages near the breached embankment suffered some serious casualties.
The floods continued to advance, spreading their force across the vast plains.
There has been a significant decrease in both the strength and depth of floods.
The number of casualties caused by this flood in Fuping Province was only over 12,000.
King Gui Qutian ordered: "With the outbreak of this flood, many capable officials have appeared in Fuping Province.
The cabinet and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will conduct a detailed inspection of Pingping Province to confirm that their achievements are genuine, and I will promote these people.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate should not be lenient to some officials who escaped during the battle. They will identify and punish each of them."
Prime Minister Tong Heguihui reported: "Your Majesty, the people of the country have been guided by our public opinion for several days.
They all already know that the entire responsibility for the flood lies with the State of Wu.
The people of the whole country share the same hatred of the enemy and will never regard the people of Wu as compatriots again.
Especially the people in the disaster area of Fuping Province actively signed up to join the army.
Our country also used various methods to expose Wu’s criminal behavior in newspapers from various European countries and empires.
During this process, our country also discovered many countries that were hostile to Wu.
These countries are my country's natural allies.
We are now contacting these countries to jointly deal with Wu."
King Gui Qutian slammed the table and said loudly: "I have received news that the Kingdom of Wu has entered a state of preparation for war.
Our country must also enter a state of war preparation and must not fall behind the state of Wu.
In this war between us and Wu, whoever wins will be the overlord of the region.
A country that loses the war has no future at all.
We must fight this war with all our strength.
Even if we have to pay a certain price, we must actively contact other countries and persuade them to become our allies.
If our country has one more ally, Wu will have one less ally."
Prime Minister Tong Hegui took the order and said: "The cabinet will strictly follow the king's instructions, and our country will be fully prepared for war.
Accelerate the stockpiling of weapons, ammunition and combat supplies."
Bayi, the Grand Governor of the Gui Kingdom, then said: "I am confident that I will lead the Gui army to defeat the Wu army.
There is not much difference in size between my country and Wu.
Our country focuses on cultivating the army, but Wu State needs to additionally cultivate the navy.
When two armies fight, details determine success or failure.
The combat capabilities of the army that our country has fully cultivated will definitely surpass Wu's army."
King Qutian of Gui saw that all civil and military officials were very confident and believed that Gui had great advantages in this war.
However, he was not complacent and tried his best to expand Gui's advantages.
Governor Bayi just said it very well. When the strength of the two armies is equal, details determine success or failure.
