"Ugh..." Zhao Kai looked pale and lay on the shoulder of a chamberlain, retching into a washbasin, as if he wanted to vomit out everything in his stomach.
He had just made an irrational decision: he ordered a video recording from the front line to be played in his hall.
As the Tang Dynasty's film industry flourished, cameras were no longer so mysterious. Many countries purchased this expensive equipment to record some strange and bizarre things.
For example, similar equipment would appear at palace banquets. A few years ago when film was still very expensive, nobles used it to show off their wealth.
The camera will record the extravagant aristocratic life. In the silent film without sound, the aristocratic woman looks curiously at the camera, showing off her gorgeous clothes.
These images are also precious. They record the lives of nobles and reflect the customs and customs of various places, as well as the changes in clothing and makeup over the years.
It has to be said that the makeup and clothing of the Tang Dynasty have profoundly influenced many countries. The skirts of the Tang Dynasty have gradually become the mainstream of clothing for noble women in various countries. The only difference is that the popular styles in each region are slightly different.
At the same time, various countries are also trying their best to form their own film teams and film some stories to counter the insignificant cultural invasion of the Tang Dynasty.
For example, before the war, the Tang Dynasty exported more than 30 movies to various countries every year, and most of them were very popular.
These movies spread the ideology of the Tang Dynasty, and they contained many contents that annoyed the old aristocrats.
For example, the positive images in Tang Dynasty movies are often the new type of aristocrats who are kind and charitable. These aristocrats are social elites who have made outstanding contributions. In the movies, they are handsome and wealthy, and they punish those villains who are rich and unkind, and they are favored by the audience.
Our warm welcome.
One of the most famous movies is a movie called "The Count of Kunlun Mountain", which tells the story of a commoner who had his wife taken over by an old local noble. He was pushed off a cliff by the old noble, and was eventually killed by a Tang warship captain.
He was rescued and sent to Dragon Island to learn and progress, and eventually learned a skill and became an earl of the Tang Dynasty, worth hundreds of millions. He finally rescued his wife and took revenge.
Originally, this story didn't have much to offer, it was just an old-fashioned revenge story. However, the background of the rise of the Tang Dynasty was added to make it more convincing.
Many people found their first pot of gold in Bunas, and many people changed their life and destiny in Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, one could indeed become a respected and beloved consul by studying, and one could indeed realize one's political ambitions through hard work.
Therefore, when a very realistic story about ideals is placed in front of everyone, the impact is real and fascinating.
As a result, many countries began to shoot their own movies and tell their own stories - this method of recording images also spread and spread rapidly in a wider range of fields.
Later, after it was discovered that cameras could record real situations in distant places, shooting, recording and then bringing back these precious on-site images became an important use of cameras.
Cyric engineers use this method to analyze the battlefield performance of weapon systems, so they often bring cameras to the front lines for use.
Then, as the new weapons and equipment of the Tang Dynasty began to be put into the battlefield in large quantities, taking some pictures of the weapons of the Tang Army became an important part of recording and analyzing the weapons and equipment of the Tang Army, and copying the appearance of the weapons.
This time, a camera happened to capture the Tang Dynasty's white phosphorus bomb air attack on Fengjiang City. Cyric sent the film back to Dahua Imperial Capital for development and analysis because the conditions here were better.
After receiving the news, Zhao Kai was very curious about the white phosphorus bomb that Feng Kezhi mentioned in his report. He really wanted to know how powerful the weapon that could make Feng Kezhi's capital fear was.
So Zhao Kai summoned Cyric's advisers and ordered them to play footage of the front line being attacked by white phosphorus bombs in his palace.
Cyric's engineers refused at first. After reading the content, they felt it was too shocking and not suitable for Zhao Kai to watch.
However, Zhao Kai insisted on seeing it with his own eyes, and even called in Shen Chuan and Chu Muzhou, as well as Minister of Industry Chen Jing and other ministers.
In the end, Cyric agreed to Zhao Kai's request. Anyway, if you want to see it, I'll show it to you. If you see the problem, don't blame us for not warning you.
As a result, Zhao Kai saw on the big screen the attack of white phosphorus bombs that suddenly exploded in the sky like thousands of meteors falling to the ground.
He saw with his own eyes the soldiers contaminated by the burning white phosphorus twisting and rolling on the ground like an eel, struggling incessantly.
In the picture, the house was burning, and there was thick smoke everywhere. The officer waved his hands helplessly, and beside him there were already burning soldiers shouting at him.
Because there was no sound, Zhao Kai couldn't hear the miserable cries of the soldiers. But he could clearly see the other party's mouth wide open, and the hysterical despair could be clearly felt through the screen.
The scene soon became densely packed with wounded soldiers, including wounded soldiers whose arms had been burned off, as well as broken walls and barricades made of rubble.
The entire city is burning, and there are black smoke pillars in the distance. Fengjiang City can no longer see its original appearance, and it has almost been destroyed.
Dahua soldiers holding weapons stared at the camera with numb faces, and some even had wrinkles on their foreheads. Many were no longer young, and many were underage.
These soldiers who were recruited to fight for their country had just experienced a disaster, and the disaster was not completely over when they faced the camera lens.
The fire burned for three days and nights before it subsided. A large number of wooden structures were burned down, leaving only piles of dark ashes.
"This is not a weapon that belongs to this world at all." Chu Muzhou looked at the emperor Zhao Kai who was vomiting with a pale face, and then said to Chen Jing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry beside him.
Chen Jing sighed and sighed to the old prime minister: "We just fumbled to make some airplanes and tanks, and they came up with a lot of new things... The craftsmen have tried their best, but..."
Chu Muzhou also knew that the Ministry of Industry had actually done its best. Chen Jing had been living in his office these days, personally supervising some craftsmen to improve weapons and equipment as soon as possible to bridge the gap between the Dahua army and the Tang army.
But the results of their efforts were minimal. What Cyric's craftsmen couldn't come up with, the Dahua Empire's craftsmen also couldn't understand.
The Dahua Empire's ability to produce new tanks and aircraft is already a national effort, and it is the limit of this empire's technology.
The Ministry of Industry really has no way to deal with this kind of bomb that is more terrifying than the devil - even if they have the ability to obtain white phosphorus, the Dahua Empire does not have bombers that can penetrate deep into the Tang Kingdom to drop these bombs, right?
As for new bombers? Don't even think about it in the short term. The new aircraft production line set up by the Dahua Empire is not enough to produce and assemble the new Dahua 1 fighter jets, and there is no way to produce bombers again.
Even if there is a second production line, now it should be to meet the Air Force's demand for fighter jets and vigorously produce fighter jets for air defense. Where can we produce bombers?
Coupled with insufficient engine production capacity, the Dahua Empire simply does not have more engines to supply bomber production. Even if it can manufacture the fuselage, there are no engines available.
"Producing artillery, anti-aircraft guns, tanks and aircraft...the Ministry of Industry no longer has any spare manpower, so we don't have to worry about anything else..." Chen Jing shook his head, looking like there was really nothing he could do about it.
"Of course I know how hard Chen Shangshu has worked." Chu Muzhou didn't mean to blame Chen Jing, and immediately comforted him: "It's just that the white phosphorus bomb is really too vicious. It really makes people feel scared after seeing it."
Not to mention that the civil servants of the Dahua Empire have never been on the battlefield. Even if they have led troops and fought in battles, the battlefields they are familiar with are not like the images in front of them.
Compared to the wars they knew or heard about, the scene of this burning and collapsing city was simply a hell in the scriptures.
"It is a miracle that we have fought against such an opponent and persisted until now without losing." Wang Yucai, the Minister of Household Affairs, sighed with emotion to Jiang Run, the Minister of Rites next to him.
Jiang Run wiped the cold sweat from his face and nodded in agreement with Wang Yucai's words: "What Mr. Wang said is absolutely true! This Tang country is really like a wolf and a tiger, rude...inhuman!"
Everyone was frightened by the horrific scene in the picture. It was only then that the ministers present finally had an intuitive understanding of the horror of this war.
To them, the previous war was just a cold number. Hundreds of thousands of people died and millions of gold coins were lost... To them, these numbers were too abstract and unreal at all.
At this moment, the most real thing was placed in front of them, and they finally began to seriously think about whether it was necessary to continue this war.
Of all the people present, none were more proud than Shen Chuan. As Minister of War of the Empire, he had always been scolded and the one who took the blame and was disliked by others.
It's okay now. Everyone has realized how much pressure he was under before. Now he can fight back. He can finally bow his hands in a humble manner and say the classic line "You're on your way".
"Master Shen..." The emperor over there was still retching, and the meeting could not go on for a while. Chu Muzhou moved to the side of Shen Chuan, lowered his voice and asked: "In your opinion, what should we do? Is good?"
He didn't say what it was, but Shen Chuan knew what he was talking about.
What Chu Muzhou asked was how to clean up this war...or this mess.
Finally, Zhao Kai recovered. Although many people thought that it might be better for him to vomit until he died, he still recovered and sat back on his throne.
His face turned pale, and he looked down at the ministers and ministers at his feet. It took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence: "Everyone...what do you want to say?"
The reason why his face turned pale was partly because he was frightened by the cruel scene, and partly because he was suppressing vomiting just now.
Being so embarrassed and embarrassed in front of all the ministers, Zhao Kai, who wanted to save face the most, felt that he was not feeling well.
While he was complaining in his heart that these people in Cyric were ignorant and should not have brought such disgusting things to him, he also hated the Tang Kingdom even more for making him embarrassed in public, and hated that bastard named Tang Mo.
Zhao Kai, who was born with great wealth, has never hated a country or a person so much. Because in the past, if he hated, he could vent his hatred immediately.
If someone disobeys him, just kill him. If a vassal country offends him, just issue an imperial edict to reprimand him and send troops to the border to intimidate him.
But the emergence of the Tang Kingdom added a being next to the Dahua Empire that could not be offended and could not be killed, a being that Zhao Kai hated but could not solve.
The ultimate hatred only made Zhao Kai furious and angry, but just now, when Zhao Kai was lying there vomiting stomach acid, he suddenly thought of a terrible question.
The imperial city of the Dahua Empire, the imperial capital... it was also an old city with most of the city built with wooden buildings! If the Tang army bombed the imperial capital with white phosphorus bombs, then this city that had been glorious for hundreds of years might really be destroyed.
Zhao Kai could not imagine that his palace would be set on fire and his body would be burned to pieces.
So he was afraid, he was terrified. This feeling that he had almost never experienced before made him strange and confused. At the same time, this feeling was so uncomfortable, so Zhao Kai unexpectedly calmed down.
Some ministers stood up and began to denounce the Tang Dynasty for being extremely evil, inhumane, and like a devil. They deserved to die!
But if their curses were effective, it is estimated that the Great China Empire would have unified the world a hundred years ago, and would not have waited until today to be beaten by the Tang Dynasty to become like this.
But no matter what, the tone still needs to be set. There always have to be a few minions who speak up and talk about the situation, so that the real senior officials who speak later have a chance to talk about serious things.
After the ministers finished shouting slogans, the first one to stand up was Jiang Run, the Minister of Rites. This time, he was extremely bold and said bluntly that the war was out of control and should be ended as soon as possible.
"Your Majesty! The empire needs to recuperate and make a living for the people. It should send a special envoy to make peace with the Tang Dynasty!" Jiang Run lowered his head and gave his own suggestion.
As the Ministry of Rites, he was in charge of the diplomacy of the Great China Empire. This time, the Ministry of Rites could not delay the request for peace after the defeat, so he took the initiative and reminded the emperor of his courage in doing things.
Zhao Kai raised his eyebrows when he heard someone mention the word peace for the first time since the war started. He really wanted to scold him, but he swallowed it back.
Although he still hated the incompetence of his generals, and hated the fact that the Tang Dynasty cooperated without asking for help, he still had to admit that suing for peace might be the best solution he could think of now.
"I think it is better to increase the number of troops on the front line and stabilize the defense line..." Shen Chuan came out at this time, but what he said was not a suggestion for peace.
Chu Muzhou glanced at Shen Chuan's back and lowered his head again. He had just communicated with Shen Chuan, and Shen Chuan, the Minister of War, also told Chu Muzhou, the prime minister, his thoughts.
Shen Chuan's idea is very simple: If you can't win on the battlefield, everything is zero. Only when the peace talks are stable on the battlefield and you show your strength can there be hope for talks!
If Fengjiang City was lost, there was another major defeat before winter, and the Tang army penetrated deep into the hinterland of Dahua, under such circumstances, how could the Tang State be willing to negotiate with the Dahua Empire?
Chu Muzhou also felt that if the Tang army was victorious, he would not be willing to negotiate peace easily if he were the prime minister of the Tang state.
That's why Shen Chuan proposed to increase troops on the front line. This is his view of the situation as Minister of War: "Your Majesty! If we can't stop the Tang army from advancing, then even if the Tang Dynasty agrees to negotiate, the demands will be frighteningly high!"
"That's right..." The ministers behind him murmured to each other. Instead of their previous cynicism towards Shen Chuan, they began to talk and praise Shen Chuan's wisdom: "Master Shen's suggestion still makes sense."
"We still need to increase the number of troops? Didn't we just recruit 500,000 troops a few days ago and send them to the front line?" But there were different voices. Some ministers immediately expressed their disgust at the recruitment.
Recruiting civilians to join the army is not a trivial matter. The Great China Empire has conscripted troops five times in a row before. Now it can be said that the people are boiling with dissatisfaction.
The first conscription was for the purpose of attacking the Tang state with a million troops and capturing Xicong. Dahua recruited 700,000 new soldiers, and basically all of these troops were taken as prisoners with Qian Jinhang.
The second conscription was in response to Tang's counterattack. 300,000 troops were recruited across the country, but these troops had basically been lost.
The third time was when the Tang army stormed Nanfengkou and recruited 200,000 people nearby. Before the 200,000 people could exert their strength, the Tang army captured Nanfengkou, and the 200,000 people dispersed like birds and beasts.
The fourth conscription was for the Zangjian Gorge defense line - Zhao Chen conscripted 900,000 troops in the southern region in one fell swoop. Even now, the southern region is still unable to resume production due to floods and conscription.
The fifth time was when Feng Kezhi defended Fengjiang. He recruited 300,000 new soldiers along the way, and almost all of them filled up the Fengjiang defense line. Now the reserve team is almost used up, and there is an urgent need for follow-up replenishment.
Before and after, a total of 2.4 million strong men were recruited, which in the past would have been enough to fight ten wars. As a result, this war was not even finished, and all of them were lost.
Therefore, Shen Chuan would bring up this new round of conscription plan that was very criticized before at this meeting.
Although it is a headache, the Great China Empire has indeed reached the point where it has to recruit troops to fight again.
"Your Majesty! General Feng Kezhi is in Fengjiang. He has to deal with the Tang army and also beware of Qin's 200,000 barbarians. If the support is cut off, the consequences will be disastrous!" Shen Chuan lowered his head and his voice echoed in the hall.
Zhao Kai also knew that the soldiers borrowed from Qin were borrowed soldiers after all, not his own.
If these Qin soldiers are lost, the Great China Empire will have to pay for it! And if Qin withdraws these soldiers, he cannot do this to Qin.
Therefore, the Great China Empire should indeed use its own troops to replace them on the front line as soon as possible. Only in this way is it safe.
Zhao Kai was in favor of conscription. In his opinion, adding more troops to the front was much more pleasing to the eye than the proposal to directly sue for peace.
In addition, he had just seen the horror of white phosphorus bombs with his own eyes, and his impression of Shen Chuan, who had been maintaining the front line from collapse, had changed, so he was more willing to support Shen Chuan.
So, Zhao Kai asked: "I wonder how many recruits Mr. Shen thinks is appropriate to recruit?"
When he asked this question, he was already thinking that if Shen Chuan's request was not high, he would directly decide to satisfy Shen Chuan.
But who knew that Shen Chuan replied directly: "Report to Your Majesty! I believe that 1.5 million new troops should be recruited immediately and sent to the front line as soon as possible."
"No...how much?" Hearing the number that Shen Chuan said, Zhao Kai felt that he was not feeling well. What is one and a half million? Are you awake or not?
If 1.5 million people were really recruited, the Great China Empire would have recruited nearly 3 million troops for this war.
Can't you survive this day? You must know that those who go to the battlefield are all young and strong! What do you mean by young and strong? Youth! The prime of life! They are all working labor force! They are all precious production cores!
Those people all have to farm, and they will farm and engage in agricultural production in the coming spring! If they are killed in the war and lost, what will happen to next year's spring plowing? Will the dams and canals be repaired? Will the mines be dug?
Now that officials have reported that every household wears filial piety and wears sackcloth, if another 1.5 million people are recruited, is it possible that someone will rebel?
"I think it's 1.5 million!" Shen Chuan felt that he should take advantage of this good opportunity to get more things no matter what to support Feng Kezhi who was fighting hard on the front line.
The reason why he proposed this number was actually carefully calculated. If the 200,000 Qin army, which is now increasingly unwilling to do anything, is excluded and wants to hold the line of defense, then prepare enough reserves so that Feng Kezhi can continue to surround Feng Kezhi. If Jiang makes a fuss, then at least 1 million people are needed.
But now looking at the war situation and looking at the new weapons of the Tang Dynasty, an additional 500,000 yuan is needed to fill the defense lines in other areas, so as to be foolproof.
After such a calculation, 1.5 million is actually a very conservative number. Under normal circumstances, 2 million is not too much.
"Master Shen! Not to mention that His Majesty can't agree to what you said, our Ministry of Industry can't gather so many weapons to equip your 1.5 million people!" Seeing Zhao Kai showing signs of an outbreak, Chen, the Minister of Industry on the side, Jing came out first and relieved Shen Chuan.
Shen Chuan sighed. He knew that Chen Jing had good intentions, but if Chen Jing explained like this, he would have no hope of wanting these 1.5 million people. You know, this can be said to be the last thing he fought for Feng Kezhi. A little bit of hope.
Without this hope, Feng Kezhi probably wouldn't be able to hold on for long in Fengjiang.
Listening to the words of these ministers in the court of the Great China Empire, Cyric's advisers also looked solemn. The war they planned now seems to have been lost. But if you lose, you need someone. Take the blame, someone takes responsibility... Last time, someone died. What about this time?