Life in Chu State has been pretty good these years. To use a fashionable saying, what's wrong with being a rich man's dog?
Because it became a slave state of the Tang Empire, Chu State's economy developed very fast. In two years, it even built a water conservancy system that had not been built in more than a hundred years.
The establishment of the dam allowed the Chu State to finally get rid of the state of relying on the sky. It could regulate floods and irrigate the surrounding areas. The electricity provided by the hydropower station also brought convenience to the surrounding mountain towns and farms.
With the improvement of infrastructure, Chu State gradually developed many industries: the railway from Chu State to Shu State and then to the Orc Empire has also become an important transportation line for Chu State to make money.
In order to supply the needs of the Orc Empire, the Chu State, with the help of the Tang Empire, established a complete light industry, service trade, footwear, socks and daily necessities. These things allowed the Chu State to make a lot of money from trade with the Orcs and Shu.
With the money, the Chu State continued to develop many higher-level heavy industries. For example, Chu State's Nanshan Port has made great progress and even received many ship orders from the Tang Empire.
Because of the Dragon Island Incident, the Tang Empire even placed the training of foreign pilots in Chu State's Nanshan Port. This is enough to show that Chu State has developed very rapidly in the past two years.
Coupled with the bonus of oil exports, King Xiong Biao of Chu State has lived a happy life in the past two years - even though his son Xiong Fei went to Tang State as a hostage and never came back for two years, he still felt that
It is worth sending a son to Chang'an.
But the good times seem to have come to an end recently: Angels from the Tang Empire arrived at Yecheng, the royal city of Chu State, and brought some not-so-good news to Chu State.
As the suzerain state, the Tang Empire requested the Chu State to donate 100 Butcher fighter jets and 100 IL (i.e. IL 2) attack aircraft to Fengjiang.
The Chu State has these two types of aircraft. As a slave state of the Tang Empire, the Chu State's air force was established with the help of the Tang Empire. Naturally, their aircraft were sold to them at a discount by the Datang Empire.
In fact, many of the C-47 transport aircraft were second-hand aircraft used by the Tang Empire and donated to the Chu State for free.
Coupled with the relationship between master and servant, logically speaking, it is impossible for the Chu State to refuse the request of the Tang Empire.
But the problem is that doing so will anger the Great China Empire, which was the suzerain state of Chu for the past hundreds of years.
The current wife wants her husband to slap his ex-wife... It seems like something fatal will happen if he doesn't do this.
In fact, this was something that the Tang Empire had no choice about: if the Fengjiang defenders had done their best, there would be no need for the Tang Empire to play such dirty tricks.
But the Fengjiang garrison was not strong enough - the battle plan to go south to Shanping was almost implemented openly, but Zhao Zheng blocked it under Shanping City. The attack failed, and the war turned into a trench warfare and a war of attrition.
If Fengjiang is not supported with some heavy weapons and equipment, Fengjiang may lose. After thinking about it, the Tang Empire thought of the Chu Air Force, which was equipped with the same aircraft as its own air force.
Therefore, the officials of the Tang Empire came up with such a foolproof method: let the Chu State take the lead and donate some fighter jets to Fengjiang.
These planes only played a role in disturbing people's sight and hearing. If they lost a lot later, the Tang Empire could just replenish the same type of planes. Anyway, the Dahua Empire couldn't tell which plane was donated by the Chu State and which plane was lost.
It was the Tang Empire that secretly supported Fengjiang.
The reason why Yangmu Empire, which also has Butcher fighter jets, is not allowed to "donate" is because the Butcher fighter jets that Yangmu Empire spent a lot of money to purchase have not yet been fully delivered.
From the perspective of the Yangmu Empire, shouldn't the Tang Empire's Butcher Fighter be provided to those who paid for it first? What's the point of calling it Fengjiang?
In the Chu State's court, after seeing off the angels of the Tang Empire, the ministers suddenly began to whisper among themselves.
The Minister of Rites of Chu State looked at the prime minister on the side and asked tentatively: "The Great China Empire is now weak, so there is no need to consider it at all? Can't we just agree to the request of His Majesty the Tang Emperor?"
The Minister of Civil Affairs on the side shook his head, feeling that this matter itself still needs to be considered: "But after all, it doesn't look good... We used to be vassals of the Great China Empire, but now we have surrendered to the Great Tang Empire, and we actually openly support it.
The civil war in the Chinese Empire, this... it doesn’t sound good to talk about it.”
The military commander standing on his right heard the speech of the Minister of Rites and immediately became dissatisfied: "It doesn't sound good? It offended the Tang Empire. How will we end up?"
The Minister of Household Affairs in the distance also seemed to remind him kindly: "His Royal Highness is still in Chang'an... This kind of thing... should be done in threes and fours."
But everyone present knew that the Minister of Household Affairs was a ruthless man who just had the word "Tang Dynasty" written on his forehead. He didn't act at all. He usually supported the Tang faction and had a clear-cut stand.
He had no choice but to sit in the position of the Ministry of Household Affairs and deal with businessmen of the Tang State every day. Even if he did not favor the Tang State, no one would believe that he was a loyal person of the Chu State.
Seeing that there were still ministers pretending to be serious and wavering, the general who had spoken earlier shouted anxiously again: "What a nonsense. The Tang Empire is coming, can you hold it?"
Just kidding, the civil servants present could still pretend, but if things really got serious, they would be the generals who died. They would feel sorry for anyone else's life, and they would never dare to let them go to the front line to risk their lives against the Tang army.
Upon hearing his words, some civil servants immediately became reluctant and sarcastically said: "Isn't it your duty as soldiers to defend the land? How can you let me go?"
The general was even more excited. He was pulled by several colleagues and still refused to let go: "Bah! Old man, you came up with the idea to antagonize the Tang Empire, and then asked me to go to the Tang army to die, right?"
"Shut up! Shut up!" King Xiong Biao of Chu slapped the armrest of the throne and shouted angrily.
"Your Majesty, calm down!" The civil servants immediately fell silent.
The generals also shut their mouths: "Your Majesty, calm down!"
"Stop arguing! Now we have no border with the Dahua Empire. It's just a bit ugly...what are you afraid of?" Xiong Biao had his own ideas. He felt that he should just settle down and become Tang Mo's younger brother. After all,
Today's prosperity and wealth are all achieved by this skill.
"Shang Shu of the Ministry of Rites! After you retire from the court, you will reply to the angel... and tell me that Chu will do everything in its favor without any delay!" He waved his hand and ordered directly.
"My lord, I obey the order!" The Minister of Rites bowed his head and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
…
On the outskirts of Nanshan Port, in the pilot training base, a group of pilots gathered together with joy written on their faces: "This is a good thing. The Air Force of the Great China Empire is not invincible. We can earn tuition fees and learn more."
something."
They had just received news that Fengjiang was recruiting pilot mercenaries. The pay was quite generous and applicants could gain enough practical experience.
These pilots who came to learn civil aviation, as well as some who learned to fly fighter jets, were very excited about the favorable conditions.
On the one hand, it is because they can get a lot of money, and on the other hand, they can also gain enough practical experience, and the latter is likely to be a boost to their promotions in this life.
Another student nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. When we return to China, with this resume, we will definitely be able to become officers!"
A roommate next to me was more thoughtful: "I heard that everyone who goes there is insured, and even if they die in battle, they will receive huge compensation!"
Everyone immediately told him to shut up: "You crow's mouth! Stop talking! What kind of compensation... Just with our skills, what danger can we face?"
"Be careful what you say, the people next door...are all students from Dahua." As they spoke, their voices gradually became louder, and soon a cautious student reminded them.
"Are they also going back to China?" After hearing what their classmates said, everyone immediately became more vigilant and lowered their voices to confirm.
A Shu pilot who knew about this said affirmatively: "Yes, I heard that I will return to China to join the war..."
The pilots here come from all over the world, some are from the Lions Empire, some are from the Dorne Empire, and there are even some elves and dwarves.
Several roommates looked at each other, then looked at the wall on the side, and said with emotion: "We will be enemies rather than friends from now on, and we will meet on the battlefield."
The leading student seemed to have made up his mind: "Do you still remember what the instructor said to us? I will drink from the golden cup with you, and you will not be spared! We in the flight class will die!"
"Yes! Compare with them!" Everyone became excited again when they heard this sentence that the flight instructor often taught them.
"Dang Dang Dang!" Just as they were talking, someone knocked on the door from outside.
The student closest to the door walked over and opened the door: "Who is it!"
"Me! Next door." The door was opened, and a group of student pilots stood outside. They were all from the Great China Empire.
"You... why are you here?" The student who opened the door was a little embarrassed, and he couldn't close the door again.
The student from the Dahua Empire who headed him was very calm and told the purpose of knocking on the door: "We are here to say goodbye."
The leader in the dormitory, a student from Shu, knowingly asked: "Are you going back to Dahua?"
The pilot student from the Dahua Empire nodded: "Yes! The country is in trouble, and we have to return home to join the war. Although we are civil aviation pilots, our tuition fees are paid by our benefactors. Now we must go back and repay this favor."
"Then we'll see you later!" The students in the room said in unison: "Just like the instructor said, I will drink from the golden cup with you, and you will not be spared! I'll see you on the battlefield tomorrow, don't show mercy! I won't show mercy!
Secretly, we are all going to Fengjiang to try our skills."
"Ah?" Hearing what the students in the room said, the pilots from the Dahua Empire standing outside the door actually showed surprised expressions.
Then, one of the pilots from the Dahua Empire explained awkwardly: "Well, then we can go together and drop by..."
"Huh?" This time it was the people in the room's turn to be confused.
"Um, um... we are all sponsored by Fengjiang's trading company to study here." One of the Dahua Empire pilot students outside the door explained sheepishly: "We are going to Fengjiang to participate in the war, not back to Dahua Empire.
magnificent."
"Uh..." The awkward atmosphere spread to the room, followed by a burst of laughter.