Xiao Yu never expected that the boss Xiao Ding could achieve the results he achieved now.

Not even in my dreams.

Xiao Ding is only twenty-five years old now, and he is already the marching commander. Looking at the founding of the Song Dynasty, there has never been such a young marching commander.

Even the old man of the Xiao family, who started his career with military exploits, is only a general at this age!

Blue is better than blue!

For a long time, Xiao Yu heard nothing but praise, and he himself was very proud of it.

But gradually, this kind of praise disappeared, and was replaced by some strange looks from colleagues, and even the wary look of officials.

This, of course, comes from Xiao Ding's changes.

The Western Army really didn't receive much money from the imperial court. Up to now, the official establishment of the Western Army still only has three armies. The Guangrui Army, the Dingbian Army and the Zhenrong Army are all less than 10,000 people.

However, Xiao Ding traveled across the northwest and had more than 100,000 troops under his command.

The imperial court only gave Xiao Ding military pay for three armies, and Xiao Ding raised the rest by himself.

Controlling military pay, food and fodder was originally a very useful magic weapon for the imperial court to control the lower armies, but when it came to the Western Army, it failed.

Because the imperial court never had real control over the northwest, especially the area north of Hengshan.

This was the case in the Li Xu era, and it was still the case in the Xiao Ding era.

But the people in these places still have to pay taxes.

Where did the taxes go?

Of course it was used to raise troops.

The army under Xiao Ding's control was larger than that of Li Xu, and his strength was stronger than that of Li Xu, because compared to Li Xu, Xiao Ding was more orderly in local management.

More importantly, Xiao Ding defeated the Tubo tribe in the Qingtang area, completely controlled Qingtang, and continuously launched attacks on the Western Regions and other places. One after another, the cities in the Western Regions submitted to Xiao Ding's banner. Qingtang

The trade routes and the trade routes in the Western Regions are now all controlled by Xiao Ding.

Xiao Ding built roads and canals and encouraged mulberry farming. A large number of party members in the Hengshan Mountains were mobilized down the mountains and settled in the fertile Xingling Plain. Countless Tubo nomadic tribes were encouraged to give up their past itinerant herding life and also picked up hoes.

Fields were cultivated.

In Xiao Ding's words, it is to build a Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall.

Countless workshops have been set up, and countless merchants have flocked in. The salt produced in Yanzhou has defeated the government-run salt on Shaanxi Road, and these northwest salt merchants are now expanding to Hedong Road, Qinfeng Road and other places.

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No one dared to do anything to them, because everyone knew that behind them stood the behemoth Xiao Ding.

Lan Sixin's battles with Xiao Ding on Shaanxi Road all ended in a disastrous defeat. This made the pacifier lose face on Shaanxi Road, and basically no one listened to his words. The words of the dignified pacifier were not as useful as the words of Cheng Deqian, the prefect of Yan'an. Because Cheng Deqian

Guicheng Deqian was Ma Xing's old friend and could speak well in front of Xiao Ding.

Xiao Ding's reputation for domineering spread throughout the world.

The court could do nothing about it.

Unlike Li Xu, who turned against Zhao Zhao, generally speaking, Xiao Ding still showed loyalty to the court. At least, Xiao Ding was full of malice towards the Liao people, which made the court more tolerant of him.

Xiao Ding has never given up the attack on the Liao people. Yelvhuan of the Liao people on the Xijing Road has been suffering from Xiao Ding for a long time. Moreover, when the Hebei Road was defeated, it was Xiao Ding who launched a large-scale attack on the Xijing Road, which also effectively contained

The Liao people invested more troops on the Hebei Road on a larger scale, which gave the Song State a chance to breathe a sigh of relief and mobilize more troops from Hedong and other places to enter Hebei.

It seems that Xiao Ding is loyal, but his domineering behavior cannot be tolerated by the court for long.

Taking him back, raising him as a high-ranking official with a generous salary, and at the same time sending a general who could be controlled by the imperial court to lead the Western Army became what the imperial court wanted to accomplish.

King Jing conspired to rebel, and Xiao Yu was involved, which became a good breakthrough point for the court.

The name is true and the words are true. Using this excuse to recruit Xiao Ding back put the court on the upper hand of morality and justice.

If Xiao Ding doesn't come back, the reputation of being unfaithful and unfilial can be slapped on his head. Reputation is still very useful at this time of year.

Xiao Ding is back, and the court is certainly in good hands.

High-ranking officials, generous salaries, and false titles can be piled on Xiao Ding for free to reflect the court's regard for Xiao Ding and the unparalleled rewards.

Of course, the premise is that Xiao Ding can never return to the Western Army.

No matter the official Zhao Suo, the chief minister Xia Jie, or the Privy Council Chen Gui, they all believed that this was a way to get the best of both worlds.

Xiao Yu didn't know whether his eldest son would come back.

Having reached the level of Xiao Ding, he is no longer a problem for one person. He represents a huge interest group. Xiao Ding cares about him, but does this interest group care about him?

The current de facto second-in-command of the Western Army Group, the former teacher Zhang Yuan;

The former leader of the Hengshan Party Committee rose to prominence, Nan Renzhong;

Xin Jian, who was ostracized in the capital and framed until he could barely survive, has now become an important general of the Western Army;

There is also the Tubo noble Yu Zanghuama;

There are also those big and small people who have followed Xiao Ding until now, whose names Xiao Yu didn’t know at all;

These people are all recipients of vested interests.

If Xiao Ding leaves, some of them may still be able to maintain their status, but most of them will probably lose everything in front of them. How can they be willing to do so?

Xiao Yu smiled bitterly.

Since when did the eldest son begin to slowly transform into what he is today?

But what makes Xiao Yu even more puzzled is his youngest son Xiao Cheng.

Outsiders don't know, but Xiao Yu knows very well that the younger son was in charge of the planning from the very beginning for the eldest son to go to the northwest.

Ten cavalry to challenge one hundred to the fourth army; the frontier army rotation plan, etc. were all actually made by the younger son, and his ultimate goal was to push Xiao Ding to the northwest.

Then the younger son personally went to Hengshan to serve as an outpost for the elder brother. By the time Xiao Ding's army arrived at Hengshan, Hengshan's party members had already been subdued by the younger son.

With the current situation in the northwest, I'm not sure what role my younger son played in it.

Looking back at Qianzhou today, we can imagine the fierceness of the younger son's methods.

For many years, the dozens of Jizhou prefectures under the jurisdiction of Qianzhou have been aloof from the imperial court. If they don't rebel against the local officials, Amitabh will do it. But after the youngest son left for a year, Da Bangmi Tang took a two-pronged approach, and the entire Qianzhou was under its jurisdiction.

The huge area has become the private area of ​​​​the younger son.

Of course, outsiders don't know these things, but Xiao Yu generally knows them.

Sometimes he was even scared.

Because speaking of it, the power of the Xiao family is really huge.

Xiao Yu didn't care that the officials locked him up here, because sooner or later he would be let out. Whether it was the eldest son's current strength or the younger son's hidden strength, it would make the court think twice before taking action.

Or after leaving, I will no longer be able to hold the position of Third Secretary Envoy.

It would be best for the eldest son not to come back.

This is Xiao Yu's final conclusion.

This is not only Xiao Yu's selfish intention, but also public intention.

If someone else went to the northwest, it might not take long to destroy the Western Army. By the time the Song Dynasty conquered the Liao Dynasty, it would not have any effect at all.

"Xiao Xiang, it's time for dinner!" Hearing the enthusiastic voice outside and the clattering of the iron chains on the door, Xiao Yu raised his head and looked at the small window on the wall. It was indeed dark there. I don't know how much time he had in a day.

Before I knew it, it passed again.

The cell door opened, and the cell leader directed someone to lift up a food box and take out the dishes one by one and place them on the table. Although he was in prison, the food prepared for Xiao Yu was really not bad.

"Where is the food again today?" Xiao Yu said with a smile.

"The superiors know that you, Mr. Xiao, like your taste, so they will change the store for you every day. Today is the Caojia Zhengdian. Try this wine. It has a rich aroma and is really good. How can ordinary people afford it?"

The prison head said.

"Come on, come on, drink with me." Xiao Yu said as he lifted up the wine pot, which weighed two or three kilograms.

The prison head waved his hands repeatedly: "Xiao Xiang, I don't dare to drink at the same table with you. It will shorten my life."

"Where did you come from? Now, I am just a prisoner of the first level, and you are the one in charge of me!" Xiao Yu said with a smile.

"Xiao Xiang is joking, who dares to treat you as a prisoner!" The prison guard laughed and said: "Besides, I don't drink this wine because I am afraid that my mouth will become slippery! We all drink bad wine, and we are used to it.

Well, if such a good wine goes smoothly, then drinking bad wine in the future will inevitably be tasteless. Doesn’t this make me lose a lot of fun? "

Xiao Yu was startled, but he laughed. It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Isn't that what the prison chief said? Or maybe he didn't understand the truth here, but he was taking action.

Practice this truth faithfully.

"You're right." Xiao Yu poured himself a glass and drank it in one gulp. It's difficult to change from luxury to frugality. The eldest son has great power and has already tasted the taste of power. That feeling is definitely not comparable to fine wine. If it is true

If he wants to return to Beijing, he will inevitably lose everything. For him, this is probably more uncomfortable than death.

It’s better not to come back!

Unknowingly, Xiao Yu drank a large pot of wine completely.

Although the wine in Caojia's main store is good, its alcohol content is not high. It is far inferior to the spirits brewed by the Xiao family. Although this pot weighs two or three kilograms, it is difficult to get Xiao Yu drunk in normal times.
To be continued...