Without Shi Qing's warning, the knights scattered on the periphery naturally urged their horses to outflank and investigate.
After a while, several riders came back. The leader jumped off his horse several feet away and staggered a few steps before standing still. There were weeds on his head and face, and there were traces of mud all over his body. He looked very ugly. A few holes were drilled.
Looking at Shi Qing and others, the man laughed and said: "Good news! The scale of the mining and metallurgical ruins nearby is much larger than expected. From here to there, there are mineral veins on the southern slopes of four consecutive mountains. And along the Excavation of existing tunnels can be directly exploited without the need for additional surveys! Manager Shi, you have defied all opinions and went deep into the grassland this time. It is really a good deal! I think the income may be several times more than originally thought! "
Having said this, he shook off his robe, and a dozen pieces of ore fell down: "These were picked up in the old mines on the four hills. The manager can find someone else to look at them. They are all good materials!"
Shi Qing looked around at the others, barely suppressing the smile at the corner of his mouth, and reservedly asked others to take it away, preparing to take it back to Linhuang Mansion for closer inspection.
However, the person in front of me who was exploring the mineral vein was already a master craftsman who had made a special trip. With his words, the situation of the mineral vein had been finalized to the fullest.
Who among those working with Shi Qing these days doesn’t know the value of copper mines?
In addition to the Mongolians who do menial work, dozens of officers lead people to guard the perimeter, and they come back from time to time to inquire. Linhuang Mansion also has relevant government officials who are waiting for news here, and they follow Shi Qing eagerly every day. I heard that there is something about the mineral veins. The good news made several soldiers overjoyed and clapped their hands first.
The Great Zhou Dynasty respected warriors, but it did not completely indulge the frontier generals in doing business. It also established a set of regulations to restrict them. One of the most important ones is that it is strictly forbidden for a general to take advantage of his position to take advantage of the benefits. Strategically located areas such as copper mines are prohibited. Meaningful resources must be included in government agencies.
After the official establishment, even if the benefits have to be distributed among many military expenditures, ordinary soldiers will also need additional subsidies, which may be no worse than a big victory. Several soldiers are already planning to build a few new houses in northern Xinjiang.
Furthermore, in order to protect this financial source, the superiors are likely to allow the Linhuang Mansion to expand its military establishment. This is a rare good thing when the court's attention is increasingly tilted to the southeast. Even if most of the new troops come from the Central Plains and When people are transferred from the mainland, the establishment will be larger, and more official positions will always be available. Everyone has the hope that the tide will lift all boats.
Naturally, the foreman who directed the construction could not benefit from the copper mine, but he also knew that just to develop a single vein discovered previously, tens of thousands of dollars would have to be invested in roads, residences, warehouses, smelting furnaces and even defenses. Facilities have to be built quickly, which is a big deal for the boss.
Not only that. Several workers holding windlass were also smiling happily.
In recent years, various constructions have been carried out in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Only relying on the local government to mobilize corvees often fails to solve urgent problems. Therefore, more and more farmers are taking advantage of the leisure time to form teams to work in distant places to earn some extra money. The wages quoted in the capital city of Dayi are as high as seventy or eighty cents per day, which is about to catch up with the wealthy land of the Southern Dynasties.
In Northern Xinjiang, of course, the money is not that big. Fortunately, the group from the foreman on down all have their own fields in the Central Plains. With fields and land, they have basic food and clothing, and they are not greedy. But they are enter When farmers are busy in autumn, half of the wages they receive must be allocated as food and wine money for hiring people in their hometown to help with the harvest... This reduces the profit out of thin air. Now that the manager has discovered a large mineral vein, he has more work to do, he said. You may have to work here all winter, and there are many benefits to bagging.
Shi Qing himself was even more happy.
During his half-year stay in northern Xinjiang, he came into contact with the Mongolian tribes, each of which was poorer than the last. Even though there was a trade in livestock furs and rug factories were constantly opened, in fact, most of the benefits were still taken away by a chain of merchants. Officers like him Use every possible means to ensure that the northern Xinjiang defense line does not become a financial burden and avoid the old path of the border trench defense line that dragged down the Jin Kingdom's finances.
Viewed from this perspective, His Majesty the Emperor's previous statement that he would draw troops from Northern Xinjiang and deploy them to the Southeast Sea, and even to Goryeo, Japan, and other places, is indeed correct. Moreover, the Southeast Sea is full of waves, the sky is high, and the Emperor is far away, so many strategies are only limited to Only a loyal and reliable army can carry it out.
As for Northern Xinjiang, the actual conditions determine that the Zhou Dynasty's military investment and expansion have its limits. Instead of continuing to invest regardless of consumption until it is unsustainable after reaching the limit and being beaten back by a wave of Mongolian troops who are sharpening their swords, it is better to make preparations in advance. , stop when appropriate, and maintain a stable defense line with elite troops and strong generals.
But if a copper mine can be opened on the grassland to make the interests of the grassland more abundant, the grassland will be more important in the emperor's heart. Perhaps, the total balance of the entire army will become larger as a result. Then I will Not only can a person make a lot of money for himself, but his position may also be promoted. In the future, he may not be able to lead thousands of people across the desert and live in a wolf.
Just as he was feeling proud, a deputy next to him interrupted: "General manager, after all, this Yuerluo area is separated from Linhuang Mansion by hundreds of miles, and there are hundreds of pine forests blocking the road. If something happens, it will not be easy for soldiers and horses to rescue them. Since Now that the situation is settled, should the general manager return to Linhuang Mansion as soon as possible to take charge? If you are worried, you can transfer more defense forces from Shuoping and Changtai? Or, send someone to contact Huanzhou... "
Before he could speak, Shi Qing shook his head repeatedly and glared at the deputy.
When Shi Qing established his foothold in Tengzhou, Shandong in his early years, the two generals he relied on as his right-hand men were Suo Zhen and Du Guoen. These two men were able to carry out Shi Qing's wishes, and their methods of doing things were smooth and deceitful, which made Shi Qing wander among the Jurchens. , to gain benefits between the Red Coat Army and Ding Haijun.
However, later on, the Ding Navy's power expanded rapidly, and the two men's ambivalent behavior offended Monk Luo, who found an excuse to kill him. The subordinates Shi Qing later promoted all took warning and were much more careful than before.
This subordinate's intention was clearly that he was worried that Shi Qing, as the commander-in-chief of troops and horses garrisoned in an important town, would be far away from the garrison, so that he would be overlooked by the Mongols. He also vaguely blamed Shi Qing for not coordinating closely enough with neighboring ministries.
The emperor had earlier written to various ministries, saying that since there were rumors that he was going to reduce the number of troops in the northern frontier, the Mongols, whether out of revenge or greed, would inevitably raise their troops to attack. When the storm is about to come, there is no big mistake. .
But even if the Mongolian army takes action, the targets should be Chang, Huan, and Fuzhou, Jinshan, Juyongguan and Daxing Prefecture in Zhongdu behind it, and Xijing Datong Prefecture under the cover of Fengzhou and Jingzhou... Why rush Coming to Linhuang Mansion?
Although Linhuangfu was the capital of the old Liao Dynasty, it had been devastated by military disasters at the turn of the Liao and Jin Dynasties and was in extreme decline. By the Dading period of Emperor Shizong of the Jin Dynasty, Linhuangfu Road was just an outpost for subordinates of the Northeast Recruitment Department. There are only 720 households in the 24 forts along the boundary trench within the territory, and the residents are less than 3,000.
That's why Shi Qing was given the title of general manager when he was in charge of Linhuang Mansion. What he was thinking about was mainly how to recruit people in order to gain a stable foothold.
From a certain point of view, it is precisely because of the weakness of Linhuang Mansion that the emperor put Shi Qing in this position to have a special effect, and it is precisely because of Linhuang Mansion itself that it seems particularly safe. This kind of seemingly dangerous security is actually The situation is exactly where Shi Qing's ability to stand firm in troubled times lies.
At that moment, Shi Qing patted the car's shaft and wanted to explain it to his deputy carefully. At this moment, another stream of smoke and dust rose up in the distance.
"Where did this news come from? Hasn't it been reported to the mine?"
For some reason, Shi Qing's heart trembled.
Soon the knight rolled off his saddle and dismounted, and rushed straight in front of Shi Qing. Shi Qing recognized that this person was one of his confidants who had arranged to set up a delivery shop on the road in the pine forest. He had always been confident, and he had never done anything like this. His face was pale? He was obviously frightened and suppressed. Something serious had happened!
"How?" Shi Qing asked in a low voice.
The knight was panting like a bellows, and his voice had long been hoarse. Others hurriedly got a water bag and let him drink a few sips. After a while, he reluctantly said: "The Mongolian army is attacking! Shuoping, Changtai, north of Linhuang Mansion , there are traces of the enemy in the forts in Zuzhou, Huaizhou and other places, and beacons are lit one after another. In the south, there was no news from Heihepu, Fengzhoupu and other places yesterday, and most of them have been lost! When I set out, there were sentries risking their lives to report. , it is said that the main force of the Mongolian army has passed through the Dashanluo Qunmu Division, and the people and horses are overwhelming, I don’t know how many!"
Cold sweat broke out on Shi Qing's forehead. The tension and fear almost overwhelmed him, so much so that he stood still on the carriage for a long time, his whole body seemed to have become a sculpture, and he couldn't extricate himself for a while.
"General manager! General manager! What should we do!"
After a while, the people around him suddenly started asking impatient questions. It was as if a plug had been removed from Shi Qing's ears, and the sound was like hot water pouring into the ear canal, which made the Linhuang Mansion's military commander regain his composure.
"What should we do? Send a few people with good riding skills and three horses to urgently notify the Northeast Recruitment Department, the Northwest Recruitment Department, and the Fengsui and Jiehao Tun troops along the way! The rest of the people will follow me back to Linhuang Mansion,** , defend the city! What else can we do!"
In just a short moment, the true nature of a warrior overwhelmed the true nature of a politician and businessman, and Shi Qing ordered so sternly that his voice broke.
His old subordinates were the first to react, like thorns who immediately huddle up in a ball when faced with danger.
At the same time, in Zhongdu City, far away from the border, in the main hall of the Capital Marshal's Mansion, military reports from various sources came like a tide, one after another. At the most intensive time, there were as many as half an hour. A dozen copies.
Through these military reports, and through the paragraphs of text in the military reports, the staff rushed back and forth, moving the wooden chess pieces representing the army, or marking on the palm-wide paper, and then posted the paper in a specific location.
The huge map that was originally hung on the wall was taken down and placed flat on the ground for the staff to operate. The civil servants and generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty gathered here to look around the map. The intensive messages were sent to Jiu Jiu. The generals on the battlefield tried their best to construct a realistic and vivid scene, so that they could almost feel the sound of iron hoofs treading the ground in the distance through these signs and words.
Yelu Chucai withdrew his gaze from a stack of books. It was information that the Recorder had spent a lot of effort to collect, recording the huge strength of the Mongolian army.
He stroked his beard to regain his composure and said in a deep voice: "The Mongols are mobilizing on such a large scale, I'm afraid they won't be able to concentrate their efforts on one point... According to their habits, they would probably spread out hundreds or thousands of people on a vast front, threatening them everywhere. , contain them at every turn to make our army exhausted."
Although he did not lead troops, he had seen a lot. When he spoke now, he seemed to have the demeanor of a veteran on the battlefield.
"What Prime Minister Yelu said is absolutely true." Wang Shixian tapped a certain spot on the map with his riding whip: "If we sort out the threats from the Mongols from east to west, the first one to be threatened is Linhuang Mansion."
"How can you see it?" Guo Ning asked.
Someone said: "The Mongols first defeated Linhuang Prefecture, and then went south to Dading Prefecture, thus cutting off the connection between the northeastern hinterland and the Central Plains. This was the same trick that Mu Huali used when he led the five surrendered troops to go south."
"Not necessarily. There is a sea connection between the Central Plains and the Northeast. Before the sea ice freezes, the Mongolian army cannot cut it off... They must also understand this. So I estimate that the soldiers and horses along this route will pretend to go south, but in fact they will go eastward, starting from Lin. The Huang Mansion attacked Taizhou, and even Zhaozhou and Huining Mansion. Their purpose was not to block, but to directly contain the troops of the Jurchen, Bohai, Khitan and other tribes in the Northeast."
Having said this, Wang Shixian paused and scratched the back of his head. He had been hit hard on the head earlier and was almost decapitated, but his recovery has not been good since then. His skin and flesh often swelled and hurt. Fortunately, every day he gets cold and swollen and hurts. The stool subsided, leaving only unbearable itching.
"Hey, we didn't count on those tribal troops..." Someone muttered in a low voice.
"There are tens of thousands of cavalry on foot, why can't we count on it?" someone immediately objected.
"Who is the guard of Linhuang Mansion?" Yelu Chucai asked.
"It's Shi Qing." Several people answered at the same time. One of the staff immediately wrote a note and posted it in Linhuang Mansion.
Guo Ning suddenly thought of something and asked quickly: "What Zhong Ming just thought about, has it been included in the plan and sent to Linhuang Mansion?"
"...There is a plan for the third version, but it was only shipped five days ago."
Then it's probably impossible to catch up.
No matter how thorough the preparations are in advance, once the two countries and two armies confront each other, there will always be various omissions and cannot be forced. I hope Shi Qing will be smarter and not just focus on the southern route and deceive the group of Jurchen generals in the Northeast Recruitment Division.
Guo Ning's thoughts changed and he said: "Zhong Ming, please continue. Where is the second threatened point?"