Zhang Jun added, "The Holy Emperor has said that not only will Dali's trade with the Song Dynasty be the same, but the Song Dynasty will also send people to help Dali develop agriculture, sericulture, and handicrafts. Furthermore, the imperial court will fund the construction of roads leading to Dali, making trade between Dali and the Song Dynasty more convenient!"

Gao Liangcheng asked, "Angel, if I may be so bold, what should the tax system be?"

Gao Liangcheng asked a very direct question: Could it be that the imperial court is trying to take the opportunity to annex the Dali Kingdom by offering such tempting conditions to Dali?

The new policies of the Song Dynasty were in full swing, especially the tax system.

Gao Liangcheng was well aware that, according to the new tax system of the Song Dynasty, tax revenue would be greatly reduced, but this was nothing for the vast and resource-rich Song Dynasty.

However, if the emperor were to implement the Song Dynasty's tax system within the Dali Kingdom, the Dali Kingdom's finances would face collapse.

"The Dali Kingdom is the Dali of the Duan family, assisted by the Gao family. It is inappropriate for the emperor to interfere in the internal affairs of Dali!"

Gao Liangcheng was relieved after Zhang Jun said that.

"The Emperor's Holy Virtue".

Duan Zhengyan suddenly said to Yue Fei, who had been silent all along, "General Yue, please just say how you need our assistance. We are deeply grateful for the Emperor's grace, and it is our duty to share the Emperor's burdens!"

Duan Zhengyan and Gao Liangcheng were both familiar with Yue Fei's name.

Who was Yue Fei?

The Emperor's brother-in-law, Commander of the New Army of the Great Song Dynasty!

In the battle in the south, he swept away the rebel army and his reputation spread far and wide!

Yue Fei quickly replied, "Just as the angel said, your country only needs to assist me with five thousand armored soldiers, but they all must be familiar with jungle warfare!"

Duan Zhengyan replied, "I will certainly not fail the Emperor's trust!"

After Yue Fei and Zhang Jun left.

Duan Zhengyan asked Gao Liangcheng, "Prime Minister, do you think the Song Dynasty can defeat Jiaozhi?"

"The Song Dynasty has a large army and many generals, so Jiaozhi is no match for them. It is easy to defeat Jiaozhi, but the Song emperor does not want to simply defeat the Jiaozhi army. He wants to destroy Jiaozhi!"

Duan Zhengyan frowned: "I have heard that the current emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is determined to become a great ruler like Emperor Taizu."

"Difficult! Most of the Song Dynasty's elite troops are in the north resisting the Jin and Xia kingdoms. This time, Yue Fei only brought 10,000 men, while Jiaozhi has 100,000 troops. The disparity between the two sides is too great. No matter how capable Yue Fei is, it is absolutely impossible for him to fight against 100,000 with only 10,000 men!"

"So, if that's the case, wouldn't sending 5,000 troops from our Dali Kingdom be like lambs to the slaughter, resulting in the needless loss of 5,000 men's lives?"

"Your Majesty need not worry. Yue Fei had no intention of letting our five thousand armored soldiers fight a major battle in Jiaozhi within the territory of the Song Dynasty."

"Prime Minister, what do you mean by that?"

"Yue Fei himself said that he only needed our army to play a supporting role, mainly assisting in jungle warfare. Now that the 100,000-strong army of Jiaozhi has entered the Song Dynasty, it is not jungle warfare at all! When will jungle warfare be fought? When Yue Fei defeats the 100,000-strong army of Jiaozhi, invades Jiaozhi, and forces Jiaozhi into a dead end!"

Duan Zhengyan was slightly taken aback: "Yue Fei actually has such ambition. Does he really think that his 10,000 men can defeat the 100,000-strong army of Jiaozhi?"

Gao Liangcheng said, "I think so. The Song emperor will definitely send troops again, but in any case, our five thousand armored soldiers are safe."

Upon hearing this, Duan Zhengyan nodded in agreement.

On the way back, Zhang Jun couldn't help but ask, "Brother Pengju, there is something I don't understand."

"Shangguan, please speak freely."

"With 100,000 troops from Jiaozhi pressing in, Brother Pengju only has 10,000 men. Why doesn't Zong Gong request reinforcements from His Majesty?"

Could it be that you can't bring yourself to say it?

He knew the emperor's new army was strong, but the enemy had an army of 100,000. Judging from their posture, they were determined to annex Guangnan West Circuit of the Song Dynasty.

Fifty-one years ago, the Kingdom of Jiaozhi invaded the Song Dynasty and killed hundreds of thousands of Song people!

The Li family of Jiaozhi is cruel and greedy. If Guangnan West Road is breached again this time, who knows how many more people will suffer. This is not the time to talk about face.

Yue Fei said, "The key to an army is quality, not quantity! Ten thousand men are enough!"

Seeing that Zhang Jun was still somewhat uneasy, Yue Fei continued, "When Fu Jian led an army of 800,000 south, he had the same spirit as Cao Cao who could quell the rebellion of the world. However, in the Battle of Fei River, he saw enemies everywhere and his 800,000-strong army collapsed instantly. Does General Zhang know why?"

Zhang Jun was well-read from a young age, so he naturally knew about the Battle of Fei River. Although Fu Jian was a Hu (non-Han) ruler, he was the most benevolent of all Hu rulers.

He unified the north and eased the conflicts between various ethnic groups in the north.

He then led an army of 800,000 to press on the northern border of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, showing great potential to unify the world.

However, defeat came in an instant.

"All of this was due to Fu Jian's poor judgment in choosing his subordinates, which led to the disastrous consequences."

Yue Fei said, "That's only one reason. The most important reason is that Fu Jian's system of rewards and punishments is unclear, his army is chaotic and bloated, and the people are not united. Everyone has their own agenda. With so many people, internal strife arises, and the generals cannot manage the army in a unified manner. This makes it easy for morale to waver, which is a major taboo in military operations! Hence, the age-old joke of 'the wind howls and the grass and trees are all enemies'! If Fu Jian had only led 50,000 personal guards and 30,000 foreign troops, Xie An would have been in danger!"

Upon hearing Yue Fei's words, Zhang Jun couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Yue Fei didn't mean that having more people was bad, but rather that under the circumstances of the Former Qin Dynasty, the contradictions between various parties were very sharp. Within the army, there were many factions, and the morale of the army was unstable, making it easy for the army to collapse.

Furthermore, Fu Jian was unable to clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments when managing his army, and instead indulged in excessive leniency, which fostered arrogance and conceit in his troops. Such an army, let alone 800,000, would have been defeated even if it numbered 8 million.

He had only known Yue Fei for a short time, but observing Yue Fei's demeanor and speech, he couldn't help but marvel at how extraordinary Yue Fei was.

No wonder he was able to sweep away hundreds of thousands of rebel troops with only 10,000 men, and the southern rebels were terrified at the mere mention of Yue Fei's name.

Listening to his views on the Battle of Fei River, one can't help but admire Yue Fei's talent as a general. No wonder the emperor was willing to marry his princess to him!

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!