Yelu Chucai raised his head, looked at the sky, retracted his gaze from the dark clouds, and looked straight ahead.
In front of him, the water level in Lushui was a bit too high. The sea breeze blew, white waves piled up, and the open water surface undulated and stirred. When the water surface surged, it hit the bottom of the trestle, making a "pengpeng" sound, as if dozens of twigs were driven into the bottom of the river.
The big piles are shaking.
This has been a long-standing problem on Zhongdu Road.
Many rivers, including Lushui and Lugou Rivers, dry up in autumn and winter, making it difficult to afford water transportation. When the water rises in spring and summer, heavy rains in the upper reaches will lead to uncontrollable flooding in the lower reaches. Xu Ding is busy at this time.
In order to deal with the flood, they had been living on the river embankment for three to five days, so the only official who came out to welcome the Southern Dynasty envoy was Yelu Chucai.
In the past three years, Dajin's Zhongdu Road was directly facing the flames of war. The capital was besieged three times, had two coups, and was invaded once by outsiders. It was an extremely embarrassing situation. During this process, the Southern Dynasty sent several waves of envoys, but none of them were able to enter the country.
.The latest group of envoys had to come from the sea. As a result, soon after arriving in Zhongdu, they ran into the Mongolian army and almost lost their lives.
Now that Zhou Guogong is in power and the government has a new government, he can no longer lose face. So this time when the Song Dynasty envoy went north, he was not greeted at the dock by some doctor and the emperor's side, but directly replaced by Yelu Chucai, the privy envoy of the current dynasty. I will give him a gift later.
The banquet and other etiquette were also carefully arranged according to higher standards.
The water on the river was filled with water vapor, and Yelu Chucai had piled up the documents he reviewed every day. His eyes were a little less than before, so he asked the attendant next to him: "Has the envoy from the Song Dynasty disembarked?"
"Prince Qi, we have disembarked. But..."
"But what?"
"Li Yun is not on the ship, will something happen?"
"Where is Li Yun? The person following the ship north is Jia Sidao from the Song Dynasty!"
Yelu Chucai scolded in a deep voice and said: "You don't have to worry. Jia Sidao took the boat back to the Southern Dynasty on the way. At this time, he should be traveling in the Southern Dynasty and declare that our navy is about to send troops to Hebei to suppress the rebellion in Kaifeng.
"
The attaché was surprised: "Let's just talk about my government's military and state affairs like this, okay?"
Yelu Chucai coughed twice and said, "We have been spending too much recently and rely heavily on maritime trade for our finances. Since the Southern Dynasty has something to ask for, we can help a little bit, but there is no need. However, we are not the target of the Southern Dynasty's demands.
Jia Sidao was traveling in the Southern Dynasties to spread some news to let the Song people feel at ease as soon as possible; but I am here to have a good talk with the Song people's envoys and get some benefits. As for when to send troops and whether to send troops, then
We must first see the outcome of the negotiation, and then we will see when Zhou Guogong returns from Shandong."
The attaché was sincerely convinced: "The Prime Minister is brilliant! In this way, he will become the guest-centered, and he will be able to take advantage of the Song Dynasty people!"
Suddenly there were officials shouting in front. It turned out that the boat, driven by the efforts of the four boatmen, had cut through the waves and was about to approach the trestle.
Yelu Chucai and his entourage all faced the direction of the boat, showing reserved and polite smiles.
"Don't mention Jia Sidao's matter again. But the merchants here in Tianjin Prefecture are probably eager to know the court's judgment on the war in the south. What I just said, you might as well spread the word. Well, just say that Zhou Guogong is interested.
Send troops from all over to threaten Kaifeng's rebellion and quell the chaos, but the conditions still have to be negotiated, and this matter cannot be rushed."
The attendant hesitated for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
"Merchants do not know the importance of things. If I open my mouth, most of the people in China will know about it within a day or two. Will it spread too fast? The merchants will definitely take the opportunity to hoard, and maybe there will be trouble in the market.
"
"Hoarding is another thing. But Zhou Guogong wants them to know earlier. If they know earlier, they can rest assured."
"……yes."
Because floods are prone to flooding in summer, the entire Tianjin Prefecture is composed of several small towns located on dry highlands, and there are no fully planned city walls. Two small towns were even built specifically for cargo transfer and merchant exchanges, and there are no city walls at all.
, so it is too convenient to enter and exit, but not majestic.
Within the Tianjin Prefecture, there have always been people who were making money to order the navy, but they were secretly disconnected from Kaifeng. Some thoughtful people even arranged secret channels for this purpose and used fast horse relays to relay messages.
Zhang Lin, the governor of Tianjin, went to the Marshal's Mansion several times to ask for the assistance of the Recording Department and the Left and Right Department to eradicate these scoundrels. However, the Recording Department and the Left and Right Department were both very busy. Two doctors, Xu Jin and Li Yun, had spent the past six months.
Rarely seen in Zhongdu.
Zhang Lin can only rely on the government officials of Tianjin Prefecture to do things, and it is difficult to clear them up in a short time. Therefore, the attaché can be sure that as long as he opens his mouth, in three days, not to mention Zhongdu Road, even Wanyan Heda on Hebei West Road
Everyone will know the news. In five days at most, Kaifeng Mansion will also hear the news.
In this way, when we use it, will the Kaifeng court be prepared?
The attendant was still hesitant, but since Yelu Chucai had given the order, he had to do it to the letter. He secretly planned in his heart that he would first summon a few businessmen he was familiar with in the evening...
Alas, that's all. The words of merchants are better than those of deceivers. Even if I only told three or five people at home, the whole Tianjin government would know about it that night, and there would be no way to stop me!
at the same time.
Li Yun, who had just been mentioned by Yelu Chucai, was now kneeling in the side hall of Lin'an Prime Minister's Mansion, sweating profusely, not daring to look up.
"In other words, the Duke of Zhou was obviously in Haizhou, but after hearing the news, he rushed from Shandong to Zhongdu. He and Xuan Zhen happened to miss it?"
"yes."
"Humph." Someone in the hall sneered: "I'm afraid it's not just a coincidence, but a deliberate decision. After Xuanzhen arrived in Zhongdu, they would still put all kinds of etiquette into full play, but shirk formal negotiations. These barbarians wanted to sit down and sit down.
Watching the snipe and the clam fight. If we hadn't killed and injured tens of thousands of people in Huainan, they wouldn't even move!"
"But they will eventually take action."
"oh?"
"Their behavior actually shows their weakness. They just want to get more benefits from us. And they are so dedicated to seeking benefits because the north is broken. They really need benefits and cannot live without them for a moment.
We provide support in terms of food, money and materials. Therefore, they will take action sooner or later, whether it is one step earlier or one step later."
"Hey, it can't be early, it must be late!"
"So what if it's late? Can you still hurry up instead of Xuan Zhen?"
The dignitaries in the hall argued for a while, and then a majestic voice said: "Jia Sidao, I heard that you are a bit clever. At this time, do you have any ideas?"
The person who spoke was Shi Miyuan, the most powerful official in the Southern Dynasty.
"The villain has no idea..." Jia Sidao bowed deeply: "But when the villain's boat passed by Huangshuiyang, he replenished water at Taizhou Fengli Farm and heard something."
"speak."
"My father, Huaidong, has appointed Jia She, the deputy envoy, and is mobilizing all the grain ships on the canal to supplement the march of the loyal army."
There was silence in the hall. Someone chuckled: "It's the same thing again! You two, father and son, are all full of business methods. While posing for the Navy to see, threatening to cut off the grain and fodder trade; while using loyalty to The army supplies supplies and earns money for the court; at the same time, it can also force merchants to give a favor... Jia She is going to eat from three families again, right?"
Someone else said: "The method is simple and crude, as long as it works. The people in the north are short of food, so we only focus on food, and that is natural. For example, when raising dogs and eagles, don't we all think of ways to eat?"
Shi Miyuan also laughed a few times: "Jia She's family fortune has been squandered by his good son, so we must make some money back as soon as possible."
After a pause, he said: "Tell Jia She, Li Dadong and others that no matter what, we must ensure the food and fodder of the Loyal and Righteous Army so that they can fight hard. Over there, where the troops are garrisoned, your supervisor must also supervise them."
"Yes. Don't worry, Prime Minister, we will handle it separately."
Kaifeng's penetration in the Southern Dynasties was far inferior to that in Zhongdu. They could not understand what happened in Lin'an, but the Song people suddenly increased their investment in Huainan, and more and more troops were entangled with their own side. You can't hide it from others.
In fact, it took less than a month to finish the entire war. However, the scale of the war and the number of troops invested gradually became out of control. It seems that the consumption caused by looting money and materials has almost exceeded half of the previous looting. In other words, this battle If the war continues for another month, the Kaifeng court will lose money.
The people of Song Dynasty have had this kind of virtue for hundreds of years. They may not win on the battlefield, but they always seem to be stuck with the brown sugar and refuse to let go.
In the past, when the Jin Dynasty was ruthless, it mobilized the northern armies to go south and gave the Song people a hard blow until they became obedient and paid money and food. Now the Kaifeng government is very poor in finances, but it cannot support the big war. .What's more, news came one after another from Zhongdu that the navy Guo Ning might respond to the Song Dynasty and send troops from Zhongdu, so the garrisons in Hebei and Datong Prefecture in Xijing could not move.
In the end, the Nanjing Road Tongjun Division could only write a series of documents to urge the troops originally intended to move south quickly. This force included a considerable part of the town defense troops from various places on Nanjing Road and the troops of the Thirteen Captains of Kaifeng Prefecture. Kaifeng issued strict orders There is no need to be eager to fight, as long as the Song Dynasty's entanglement is forced away, all the troops will be gathered together and withdraw together.
