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Chapter 767: Struggle for Balance (Part 2)

"A rat-proof device?"

Originally all the energy was focused on how to capture Kaifeng, but suddenly something changed, who could be happy? Hearing these words, the generals wanted to refute at first, but looking at Guo Ning's expression, they suddenly thought of the reason, and felt a little resentful.

Since the rise of Ding Haijun, it has always relied on force to overcome all difficulties. Not to mention the weak Song Dynasty, even if the king of heaven comes, he will have to eat an iron bone first. At this time, if the generals' usual thoughts are

, who dares to seize food from the tiger's mouth in front of Ding Haijun, it is natural to defeat him with force.

This was not the first time that the Song Dynasty sent troops to steal in front of their powerful neighbors, and it was not the first time that the Jin Dynasty attacked the Song Dynasty people because of this.

Before and after the founding of the Jin Dynasty, Song and Jin entered into a maritime alliance to jointly destroy the Khitan. As a result, the Song army fought back and forth, and even a hundred thousand troops could not do anything to defeat the remaining Liao army. Instead, they were defeated in repeated battles, all because of the blood and sweat of the Jurchens.

After the two families settled in Yanjing, the Song people repeatedly used their words to cause trouble. Finally, they provoked the Jurchens' arrogance and went south in one go, taking away half of the Song people's country.

This is the story of the founding of the Jin Dynasty. Many people know it, and therefore they have become more and more contemptuous of the Song people. The same is true for the generals in the Ding Navy. Under this common understanding, the Song people blocked the maritime grain trade earlier.

, some people proposed to weigh the weight of the Song army and let them know the power of the navy.

But regardless of the contempt or the eagerness of the generals and commanders, Guo Zhongyuan was right in saying that the naval power was indeed a weapon of war.

They voted for the poor rat of the Kaifeng court, and what they were taboo about was not to damage the exquisite but fragile equipment of the Song Dynasty.

In recent years, trade between Song and Jin has become more and more prosperous, especially maritime smuggling, which has been ten times larger than the legal trade on the surface. Previously, sea trade was supported in the north, but could not escape the smuggling in the south.

Suppression by the Municipal Shipping Department and the Navy.

But since the second half of last year, as more and more people in the Song Dynasty benefited from maritime trade, many relevant institutions in the Song Dynasty began to turn a blind eye. As a result, many maritime merchants and private ports gradually established

The trend from darkness to light brings everyone's expectations for the future to be very optimistic.

The interests of this area, the share belonging to the Song Dynasty, were carefully distributed by Li Yunzai to all relevant people along the line. Down to the clerks in the Shipping Department, the boatmen and sailors of the coastal navy,

Up to the high-ranking officials who came in and out of the Prime Minister's residence, everyone benefited, and many high-ranking officials became shareholders of the Maritime Merchant Guild one after another, which prompted Shi Miyuan to change his ways.

However, the impact of commercial exchanges on the Jin Kingdom was no less important than the impact on the Song Kingdom.

Although Guo Ning's Dinghai regime made profits by exporting horses and northern specialties, the Central Plains and the north also needed food, medicine and other materials produced by the Song Dynasty.

The inflow of millions of shi of grain from the Song Dynasty every year brought local stability. After the war with Mongolia came to an end last year, at least hundreds of thousands of people in Zhongdu were saved from starving to death; there were also huge amounts of supplies.

It was filled with the armaments of the Ding Navy.

In addition, the benefits of sharing profits among senior officials within the regime, as well as the top and middle-level military leaders are considerable.

When Guo Ning first started his army, there were only a hundred defeated soldiers surrounding him. All people thought about was struggling to survive in this world. But since his rise, Guo Ning's power has continued to grow, and his subordinates have long since changed their minds from seeking survival.

In order to seize glory and wealth.

This is human nature, inevitable, and simply unstoppable.

Although Guo Ning's own family is not extravagant, it cannot prevent his subordinates from seeking wealth or enjoyment.

On the other hand, Guo Ning's military household system has been implemented so far, and many people at the bottom have benefited. The number of ordinary people's children who are interested in the hundreds of acres of farmland of military households and the benefits of the output of shady households is willing to join the army. But this system

At the beginning of the setting, we strived to be roughly equal, limiting the benefits that generals can obtain from the land.

No matter how high your status is, you can only get more land through your military exploits, maybe two to three hundred acres at most; but the number of shady households will not increase any more, and there is nowhere to exploit them if you want.

If anyone is brave and wants to attack the fields and shade houses of his subordinates, it will be even more troublesome.

Every sergeant is a small landowner who is self-armed and may not be willing to be bullied; and because of the existence of the military academy, there are various connections between the grassroots soldiers in each department. If something goes wrong, they may be blamed at any time.

When Ding Haijun first took control of the three states of Ninghai and Ninghai, some officers worked hard on it. However, the matter was exposed and they were killed by Guo Ning.

Since this road is blocked and people's hearts want wealth and honor, what should they do? Guo Ning has to open another road for his subordinates, otherwise his subordinates will become disloyal sooner or later.

Therefore, in the past two years, the benefits that Guo Ning has given to middle-level and high-level generals, in addition to political dividends and salaries, a very important one is the right to invest in the official maritime caravan, that is, the right to travel to Shanghai.

This trading company held hundreds of ocean-going ships as stock capital, and could freely travel to the ports of the Jin Kingdom, Goryeo, and Song Dynasties, and the profits it earned were extremely generous.

After Guo Ning proposed to divide this piece of interests, many people immediately cheered and praised Zhou Guogong's generosity.

Not to mention others, people like Guo Zhongyuan, who were born as vagrant hawkers, have smarter minds than ordinary people, so they invested all the salary they had saved for a long time in the Shanghai trip early in the morning.

In the past two months, the Shanghai Bank reported to Guo Zhongyuan that he could earn the equivalent of one hundred guanwen per month. Considering that this number continues to grow, and ships used for maritime trade are also constantly being built, the whole country

There are at least two thousand guan per year, and it is not impossible to expect 3,000 guan.

You know, not everyone is like Jia She, Jia Shidao and his son, who hold gold and silver in their hands every day. Guo Zhongyuan became one of the few important generals in the navy, and was worshiped as a third-rank military governor, and received a decent salary every year.

According to the rules of gold, it is only sixty stones each of money and millet, ten stones each of corn, rice and wheat, twenty-five pieces each of silk, and one hundred and twenty taels of cotton.

This income is ten times higher than his salary. Why shouldn't people be overjoyed?

With this money, Guo Zhong did not spend it on his own life, but on a monthly basis supported many old troops who had fought under him and later retired due to injuries and illnesses. This was certainly due to his temperament, and it was also the reason why he used military personnel.

part of the means.

Another person who invested all his money in Shanghai was Monk Luo. After he received the dividends, he built a large temple in Yidu. The monks in the temple recited Buddhist scriptures, but they could drink wine and eat meat, which made them very happy.

Of course, they are not as discerning as Guo Zhongyuan and others, so there are many officers who cling to their salaries. But generally speaking, almost all high-level generals benefit from sea trade, and once they benefit, the benefits are several times their salary.

The middle-level managers, all of whom are at this level, also invested half of their capital in the sea, and they also became wealthy because of this.

This created a situation, that is, in terms of military affairs, the Ding navy generals could treat the Song Dynasty as an enemy; but in terms of daily life and the actual benefits of individuals and families, they and many officials of the Song Dynasty

, is actually deeply bound to one place.

If in the early years of the founding of the Jin Dynasty, the Jurchen military nobles were all barbarians who drank their hair and drank their blood, and the only way they could think of to gain benefits was to fight and plunder on the battlefield, then they would naturally fight and plunder without any scruples.

But Guo Ning's regime is not the Jurchen regime. To a certain extent, Ding Haijun was a regime that relied on trade from the beginning. Their military advantage comes from economic advantage, and some military operations are even simply to ensure or seize

economic advantage.

Therefore, even if the Song Dynasty blocked sea trade last year, the navy's response strategy was not to use force. Because everyone knows that if the two families fight, sea trade will be affected, and the interests of countless people within the two families will be lost.

Under this circumstance, the Song people's attempt to rely on the economy to balance the situation in the north cannot be said to have completely failed.

At this moment, they are coming with their troops, and if they take the initiative to turn against them, it goes without saying that the generals will definitely retaliate with their swords and kill them with blood. But if the Song people come under the banner of allies and mutual help, the generals of Dinghai Navy will really be a bit embarrassed.

Be cautious, lest the Song army suffer any additional injuries that may affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In this case, if the Song army plans to Kaifeng, how can we stop it? If Kaifeng intends to rely on the power of the Song people to seek self-protection, wouldn't we just throw a trap into a trap?

"Send an envoy to ask the Song people what their plans are," someone suggested.

Before he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves sounded again outside.

This time, a messenger came: "To inform Duke Zhou, Mr. Jin Qing has arrived. Also accompanying him is the envoy from the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, Wailang Xuanzhen, a merit examiner... He has brought a letter written by Shi Miyuan, the right prime minister of the Song Dynasty."


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