When it comes to having strong soldiers and brave generals, the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty have always had absolute confidence. After all, the north has experienced decades of turmoil, and many generals have been on the battlefield for many years and fought countless fierce battles. Not to mention the direct descendants brought by Guo Ning from Hebei, even the Red Coat Army
To be fair, those who were able to gain a foothold in the new dynasty had to go through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
The army composed of these warriors is like a giant with strong muscles and bones, with infinite strength. Only due to nutritional deficiencies, it leads to thin body. But after the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, huge resources were poured into it, and they naturally became more muscular and stronger.
Like a mountain.
Yin Chang often reviewed the armies of Kaifeng Prefecture on weekdays and had a good understanding of the troops and horses in various places. He said that among the 40,000 troops on Nanjing Road, there were two thousand archery masters who could compare with Meng Gong, which was a bit of a boast.
But it’s not much different.
After all, the Zhou Dynasty was a prosperous country. The officers and soldiers of the Zhou army looked at the Southern Dynasties, just like the Song Dynasty, which was dominating the Central Plains, looked at the Southern Tang Dynasty. The famous sentence "How can we allow others to snore on the side of the couch" is also what many officers and soldiers of the Zhou army thought about.
.
Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, many rich men have been created in the army due to the blessing of trade income. But after all, the ones who can obtain such wealth are the generals with higher positions. Ordinary soldiers also have benefits, but they all want to make meritorious deeds.
To win greater wealth.
Naturally, their target was only the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. Therefore, Yin Chang had such courage because he did not act arbitrarily. To a certain extent, a considerable number of the officers and soldiers of the Southern Zhou Army shared this intention.
Having said this, Yin Chang relaxed his mind and continued: "Li Langzhong, I have been in Kaifeng for three years, not just for free. In these three years, there is nothing we don't know about the situation of various armies in the Southern Dynasties."
?Just like you invited Ambassador Zhao Fangzhao, he is considered a very talented person among the border commanders of the Southern Dynasties. We dare not be less vigilant against him. But you know that he has participated in
How many businesses did he have with us? Do you know how much money he made? "
"Want to hear the details."
"Tea, wine, salt, porcelain, and medicinal materials, this person has had a hand in at least five major items. To this end, he also misappropriated a large amount of military pay allocated by the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty in return for trade. In the past year alone, he has done a lot of work here
The money earned from above is no less than 400,000 yuan!"
Speaking of this, Yin Chang looked at Li Yun's expression. Seeing that Li Yun was not surprised, he turned his eyes and understood.
"That's right. Mr. Li, of course I can't hide this from you. After all, those firms that do business with the Southern Dynasty, most likely you are behind them. Even Zhao Fang came here probably to discuss business with you!"
"Ahem, Jinghu and other places are naturally a land of fish and rice, and their output is rich. It will be profitable for me, Dazhou, to interact with them."
"That's natural. We have all admired your business methods, Mr. Li, for a long time. But right now, we are only talking about Zhao Fang... This Zhao Fang is called Shuai Chen. After all, he is a scholar. He is not the same as those of us who live by swords.
.Guess how much this guy can focus on fighting with the benefit of 400,000 guan a year? Guess what he can get for his subordinates every year when he loses money and gold? Ordinary soldiers and generals below him can compete with him.
Do you have one heart?"
Having said this, Yin Chang raised his finger and pointed at the serious-looking young man on the reed shed: "Aren't the people of Song Dynasty weak? Isn't Zhao Fang weak? Or is this boy named Meng Gong not weak? Why should they?"
"I don't know yet, but I'll find out soon."
Li Yun responded and raised his hand. He waved to the reed shed, which quickly attracted Meng Gong's attention. Meng Gong bent down and said a few words to Zhao Fang. Zhao Fang then looked happy and stood up.
He nodded slightly to Li Yun.
Li Yun quickened his pace and walked towards the reed shed, and Yin Chang followed up.
At this time, everyone in the troupe saw that no new moths were born in the reed shed, so they boldly continued the performance. The melodious music sounded again, quickly attracting the audience's attention.
Li Yun and others quickly got out of the crowd and climbed onto the reed shed. The reed shed was very large, and two unlit glass lanterns were hung at the stairs on the second floor. When Li Yun walked up the stairs, Zhao Fang was already there.
Waiting here.
The ministers of the Zhou Dynasty were also active in Lin'an of the Song Dynasty, and they could speak well in front of the prime ministers of the Song Dynasty. Such a figure involved too many powerful people in the Zhou and Song Dynasties, and also represented
There are too many interests hidden under the water. These interests are so great that they have surpassed the military and political relations between the two countries. Even Zhao Fang, who is the ambassador of Beijing and Huzhou, is also involved in it. He has benefited deeply from it and has no choice but to deal with Li.
Yun was extremely polite.
Zhao Fang was very polite, but Li Yun's attitude seemed a little more serious. There was no smile on his face, and there was even a little doubt in his expression.
Without sitting down to exchange greetings or exchanging names, Li Yun said directly: "Last year and two years ago, I invited Ambassador Zhao to be a guest in Kaifeng. Both times, Ambassador Zhao declined. I thought that this time in Kaifeng,
You will still see Mr. Mianzhi or General Hu."
Mr. Mianzhi refers to the Hubei transit judge You Jiugong, and General Hu refers to the Ezhou army and horse commander Hu Zaixing. These two people are Zhao Fang's right-hand assistants, and it is obvious that they are also deeply involved in the relationship between Zhao Fang and Li Yun.
business dealings.
Yin Chang couldn't help but snorted coldly, thinking: "The people in the left and right department can really stretch their hands long enough."
Zhao Fang just ignored it and said with a smile: "What needs to be reported this time is the important results brought to us by the trade exchanges between the two companies in the past three years. After thinking about it, I have to come here to show my respect for your country.
, your contribution.”
Li Yun sighed: "To be honest with Ambassador Zhao, I just arrived in Kaifeng this morning and I had other things on hand. I didn't think much about this meeting. I always felt that the two families have cooperated many times and have become friends. Now we can have a drink
Good wine, let’s talk about friendship.”
"This is what I wish for," Zhao Fangwen said solemnly.
Li Yun shook his head: "No, no. Ambassador Zhao came here in person, not for friendship. I guess that what you reported may not be a good thing for me, Da Zhou."
Zhao Fang chuckled a few times: "Mr. Li, you are completely wrong. This matter is definitely a good thing for the cooperation between our two families. Please see..."
As he spoke, he took out a scroll from his puff sleeve and spread it out on the table.
Li Yun and Yin Chang took a half step forward at the same time and saw that what was described on the scroll was actually the geography of the Jinghu Third Road of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty. Especially in the area of Zaoyang, which is close to the border between the two countries, there was a lot of writing and ink.
"This is?"
"In the past three years, we have built Pinglu Weir in Zaoyang. Pinglu Weir runs from Zaoyang City to Shishibali Junxi, and runs from the Badie River to Jianshui side.
Zhang, irrigated nine thousand hectares of farmland, established ten villages and three jurisdictions, and divided the army and civilians into villages. Last year, we collected 800,000 dan, and this year we will receive more. Naturally, this is possible because our two businesses are prosperous.
The hundreds of thousands of dollars in my hands have all been settled in this area."
Perhaps it was brought back memories of hard work. When he said this, Zhao Fang sighed and said with emotion: "It is really difficult to run such a large business quietly under your eyes. Fortunately, you gave me
The money is abundant, and I have enough confidence to drive my subordinates to do things. I have been going back and forth for a long time, and now I have finally decided..."
I don’t know how much civilian power was used to build such a large-scale farm, not to mention how far away Zaoyang is from the border of Dazhou? Although it is separated by the remaining veins of Tongbai Mountain, it can only take half a day to go from Xinye to Zaoyang by a fast horse. Zhou
The daily interactions of military outposts and spies did not feel any hindrance at all.
However, before Zhao Fang took the initiative to talk about it, neither the detectives from the Left and Right Division nor the reconnaissance cavalry under the Nanjing Tongjun Division mentioned the matter. Such a large project was really completely concealed by Zhao Fang!
Both Li Yun and Yin Chang's expressions darkened.
Zhao Fang continued: "Based on this farmland and the thirteen attached military fortresses, the Zhongshun Army in Zaoyang has expanded to three times its original size; the number of weapons and armor is five times its original size. By the way.
, thousands of war horses purchased from the northeastern hinterland of your country are also of excellent quality. I am here to ask Lieutenant General Li to convey this news to your country's Nanjing Military Command Department and Caizhou Zhennan Army Jiedu Envoy Department.
Lest your country misjudge the situation and waste the lives of your soldiers in the depths of Tongbai Mountain."
In the first year of Shaoding in the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Gong built Pinglu Weir in Zaoyang City. According to historical records, 100,000 hectares of farmland were irrigated. The army and civilians were divided into villages and harvested 150,000 kilograms of grain. Judging from the area of cultivated land on the Southwest Road of Beijing, irrigated fields were too large.
It’s a lot. Based on the grain yield per mu in the Song Dynasty, the grain harvest was too little. I don’t understand the reason, so I’ll adjust the numbers here to suit the needs of storytelling...