The war in the South China Sea broke out very quickly, and the Song army wiped out more than half of the fresh troops of Srivijaya in one fell swoop.

News of the victory spread like wildfire back to the Song Dynasty, much to the delight of its merchants.

With Lingyamen and Sanfoqi under the control of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty's Maritime Silk Road was completely unblocked and no longer affected by any external factors.

In order to completely assimilate the countries in the South China Sea, the emperor enfeoffed all 21 princes in the South China Sea and had Yu Yunwen fully implement his "Four Policies for the South China Sea".

Yu Yunwen selected exiled prisoners from Lingnan to accompany the princes to Southeast Asia, where they became the first people to develop the region.

Although the number was small, it was enough to establish a nation.

The natural environment there is excellent, there is no war, and the population will grow rapidly.

After the destruction of Srivijaya, the kingdoms of the South China Sea were no longer a threat. Each prince had a thousand troops, enough to sweep away any dissent in the region.

Although the war in the South China Sea ended quickly, a war broke out on the southern continent.

The Song Dynasty launched an attack on Zhenla (Cambodia) on the grounds that Zhenla refused to pay tribute, and the war officially broke out.

Military spending in the Southern Continent suddenly surged, and food consumption also increased dramatically. Fortunately, the development of Jiangnan had been relatively smooth in the past two years, and the increase in military food consumption in Jiaozhou did not increase the food pressure on the Central Plains and Jiangnan.

Zhao Huan has not been focusing his energy on the war in the southern continent recently. Zhang Jun is on the front line, Chen Gongfu is in charge of logistics, and the military police of the Censorate have already taken root in Jiaozhou.

The military governor's office kept a close watch on the pace of the war, so the emperor didn't need to worry about it all the time.

During this period, Zhao Huan would often go to the Central Army's camp to review the troops and inspect the soldiers' meals.

After the inspection, Zhao Huan felt that the nutrition of the soldiers' food in the Song Dynasty needed to be further improved.

On this day, during the imperial council meeting, the emperor specially invited Physician Hu to attend.

"Li Gang, I believe the meat served to the army needs further improvement!"

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

Li Gang was also completely baffled.

The supplies for the Song army are now absolutely luxurious, with half a pound of meat at every meal.

This was unthinkable before the Jingkang Incident; it was a privilege reserved for civil officials. In the army, at least the commander-in-chief could eat meat at every meal.

The emperor actually complained that the food wasn't good enough?

Do we need to increase the amount of meat?

It should be noted that the army's pork is supplied by a special trading company. If the amount of meat is increased, the supply of meat in the civilian population may decline, leading to a rise in pork prices.

Moreover, the number of soldiers in the Song Dynasty increased year by year.

Xu Churen was also sweating bullets, as the army's supplies were barely holding up for the time being.

Further increases would inevitably alter the supply in the private sector, leading to price increases.

With prices rising, the emperor will once again target Xu Churen.

So, before Zhao Huan could say anything, Xu Churen had already stepped forward: "Your Majesty, if the amount of meat is increased further, it may affect the price of pork among the common people. In that case, it will be the people who will be affected. Please think it over carefully, Your Majesty."

"I don't intend to increase the amount of meat," Zhao Huan suddenly said. "I want to introduce beef into the army!"

The ministers were stunned when the emperor said this.

Eating beef was perfectly normal for Zhao Huan in later generations, but it was quite unusual for people in ancient times.

At the very least, eating beef is illegal!

China has been an agricultural nation since ancient times. Even in dynasties like the Song Dynasty, when commerce was extremely prosperous, agriculture remained the foundation of people's livelihood.

Otherwise, what should we eat?

Since agriculture is the foundation of people's livelihood, the value of cattle, as the most important tool in farming, is irreplaceable.

Eating beef is tantamount to destroying the tools farmers use for farming.

This is severing the very foundation of the nation!

Even the infamous tyrant and incompetent ruler Yang Guang in history wouldn't have done such a scoundrel and foolish thing.

The ministers stared at the emperor as if trying to read his face.

Has the emperor lost his mind today?

Did you not sleep well last night?

Or rather, did it go crazy again?

Holy crap!

The ministers all thought to themselves at the same time.

If Your Majesty wants to kill people, slaughter the rebels, even if it means a massacre, we can still make it sound good, and history books will sing your praises as a wise and sagacious ruler.

But if you were to lift the taboo against eating beef now, wouldn't that be tantamount to the downfall of a nation?

Even if the Song Dynasty is wealthy now, at least the food it eats still comes from the fields!

Seeing that his ministers were almost in tears, the emperor said, "Imperial Physician Hu, tell these ministers about the benefits of eating beef!"

"Yes!" Physician Hu smiled bitterly, while in his heart, a million grass mud horses were galloping.

He felt that the way his husbands were looking at him was as if they were trying to kill him.

It's as if it's saying: Watch your mouth, or we'll eat you up!

Physician Hu said, "Eating beef in the cold winter has a warming effect on the stomach and is a good tonic for the winter. Beef also has the effects of replenishing qi, nourishing the spleen and stomach, strengthening muscles and bones, resolving phlegm and relieving wind, and quenching thirst and stopping salivation. It is suitable for people with qi deficiency, shortness of breath and weakness, sore muscles and bones, anemia, chronic illness, and those with a sallow complexion and dizziness."

The ministers looked at Physician Hu with eyes that seemed to want to devour him, as if they wanted to beat him up on the spot.

You quack doctor, why don't you go to the inner palace to treat patients? What are you doing here in the imperial court spreading heresy and misleading the public?

Physician Hu was about to continue speaking when Xu Churen interrupted him: "Nonsense! If eating beef were beneficial, the ban would be lifted, and everyone would eat beef. Who would then cultivate the fields!"

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