After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, the real center of the imperial court has always been in Tianjin, which is close to the sea. After all, money is mainly produced by sea, and the transportation of materials also relies mostly on sea routes. It is also very convenient to connect Shandong, a strong naval base, by sea routes.
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However, the status of Zhongdu Daxing Mansion has not been weakened.
The imperial court itself that maintains the operation of the country is still in Daxing Prefecture; Daxing Prefecture's ideological inertia as the central city of the Northland still exists; the grain transportation route relying on the Cao River is still in operation; its position as the rear area of the northern Xinjiang defense line has not been shaken. More importantly,
Although the luxurious and beautiful appearance accumulated over hundreds of years in the Liao and Jin dynasties was not completely destroyed by the Mongols, it still has great appeal.
In particular, Tongyuan Garden to the west of the palace was originally a garden built during the heyday of the Jin Kingdom. It included many carefully crafted scenic spots, known as "Ruizhu Palace and Peng Ying", and "Water returns to the mountains and restores several peach fields".
It was originally used as a place where the royal family held willow shooting and polo competitions, and was not open to the public. Many wealthy officials and wealthy people built houses around it, hoping to have a terrace near the water and a comfortable view.
During the rise and fall of the two dynasties, the dignitaries gathered here were cut down like weeds, and the casualties were extremely heavy. Since the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, the size of the palace has been reduced to less than one percent of its original size, with several peripheral
The gardens were open to the public. As a result, the newly wealthy people of the new dynasty occupied the place one after another, forming a wealthy area with Tongyuan as the center.
Of course, most of these upstarts of the new dynasty were not in the inner circle of Zhou Xungui. According to their place of origin, there were a few who came from Ding Haijun and Northern Xinjiang, and a lot of them came from Shandong Red Coat Army.
The leaders of the Red Coat Army include long-standing rebels, common people who were forced to rebel, and deserters who had no food and clothing. They suffered a lot in the confrontation with the Jurchens, and they were also wasted by Yang An'er's failure.
Jingqi, but he has never been able to adapt to the rules of the navy.
Up to now, except for a few people who still maintain a positive and enterprising mentality and try to gain wealth through meritorious service on the battlefield, most of the leaders are satisfied with the wealth and honor given by the emperor. Although they have not been treated like a cup of wine to relieve their military power, they are not much different.
Among these people, the one with the most seniority and the highest status is none other than Liu Erzu. This leader of the Red Coat Army, second only to Yang An'er in fame, is a farmer. He has been fighting in the depths of Mount Tai for many years and has never developed any great ambitions. He just wants to help those around him.
The desperate brothers are just looking for a way to survive.
Now that he has a way to survive, he is relieved. Although he has the title of Duke and Marshal on his head, he never cares about anything and only cares about the comfort and ease of his own family.
At this moment, he set up a banquet in the front hall of his residence.
The mansion was given by the imperial court. It is large in scale and has a spacious hall. It has three rooms in front and wing rooms on both sides. If the main hall in the middle is squeezed in, it can hold thirty banquets. When Liu Erzu first moved into this mansion, he was frightened.
He jumped and asked around: "Did you occupy some big temple? This is not respectful."
At this moment, there is only one table in the middle of the hall, and the rest of the space is empty. There were originally some video screens or Duobao shelves used as partitions. There were also some exquisite antiques and treasures on the Duobao shelves, but now they have been removed.
After leaving. Even the famous calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall to show elegance were ordered to be taken down by Liu Erzu.
Liu Erzu suddenly did this, and his only daughter, Miss Liu, couldn't laugh or cry. Liu Erzu only got a daughter when he was in his forties, and she cherished her very much. It was hard for the daughter to accuse her father of being messy, so she had to ask people to do what he wanted. In addition,
Ask people to set up the banquet and wait for the guests.
When the food and wine were served, Ms. Liu was shocked again.
Wealthy families at that time usually paid attention to the rules of decoration and eating and drinking, and strived to be calm and refined. However, what Liu Erzu arranged did not include any dried fruits, plates, etc., and it was not a separate meal, but a steaming but half-cooked roast lamb.
To accompany the meal, there are wild leeks with an earthy smell.
As for the wine, not to mention, it was mare's milk wine packed in a sheepskin bag. Through the tightly tied opening, you could smell the overly unique smell.
Miss Liu said unhappily: "So much meat! A few days ago, the Taoist priest of the Quanzhen Sect said that peace is most needed in autumn and winter, and food that is burnt should be avoided!"
Liu Erzu laughed twice and said harmoniously: "I am an old man and I can't eat these. But some of today's visitors may want to eat, so you have to prepare... You go, I have serious guests, let's talk
It’s business!”
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a rush of footsteps outside, and a scraping sound was heard. The hall door was pushed open. Fang Guosan was seen standing at the door, panting: "Marshal, have you heard about this? Linhuang
The mansion is lost! Shi Qing is dead!"
Miss Liu quickly turned back to the inner hall.
When the Red Coat Army was at its peak, two leaders controlled Dongping Prefecture. One was Fang Guosan, and the other was Zhan Hui.
Fang Guosan was a powerful man in Mizhou, and he always had his own team. After the rebellion, he moved to Haiyi, and later retreated to Mount Tai and took refuge with Liu Erzu. When Liu Erzu decided to cooperate with Ding Haijun, Fang Guosan led his men to participate in various attacks on Henan.
Junzhou's attack was one of the main forces.
Starting from that attack, Ding Haijun swept across the north in a short period of time. Many of Fang Guosan's subordinates were promoted due to their merit. Therefore, among the generals who came from the Red Coat Army, he was among the most well-informed group.
"Of course I heard about it... Come on, take a seat. It's dinner time now. Eat some first and wait for others."
Fang Guosan was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed that the arrangement in the hall was different from the past.
He was not the kind of person who was very thoughtful, so he didn't think too much and sat down immediately.
Everyone has spent half their lives licking blood from their swords. No matter how cool it is, or whether they want to wear it, Shi Qing will die anyway. A general cannot escape death in battle, but who can escape death? As for Linhuang Mansion,
Even the cities on the frontier are far away. The things he cares about really need a few more people to explain clearly.
After sitting down, he used a knife to cut off the mutton and eat it. Although Fang Guosan was from Shandong, he had lived in Daxing Prefecture for two years and had many daily contacts with northern caravans, so he was used to such a hearty diet.
Besides, the mutton is really delicious, the skin is crispy and tender, the freshness of the meat is mixed with the spiciness of the chive flowers, and when paired with kumiss, it has a unique flavor.
After eating and drinking for a few times, there were footsteps outside again. The two of them looked up together, and it turned out that Zhan Hui was coming.
Zhan Hui's origins are different from those of Liu Erzu and Fang Guosan. He is Yang An'er's old subordinate. He was one of the four generals of the so-called Tiewa Ganzhan Army in the early years. He is as famous as Ji Junli, Guo Yao'er and others. Yang An'er built
When he claimed to be the king and tried to separate Shandong, he first sent Fang Guosan to seize Dongping Mansion, but he was not worried about Fang Guosan, so he ordered his own general Zhan Hui to monitor him.
As a result, the two were at odds and fought several times. It was not until Yang An'er died and Liu Erzu came out to maintain the situation that they stopped.
Later, Liu Erzu sent troops to support Ding Haijun. Dongping Prefecture was the only way for the army, and Zhan Hui was also included in the army. He also had many relatives and friends from his old army who were promoted for their merit and were scattered throughout the Zhou army system.
The Great Zhou Dynasty accomplished things very quickly, and the officers and men under his command did not take long to form one body. There were many mountains, and they each introduced some banner figures to speak for themselves. The banner of the old Red Coat Army was Liu Erzu.
Under the big hilltop of Liu Erzu, there are small hilltops formed one by one according to their positions and closeness. The leaders of the small hilltops may have some quarrels with each other, so when major events happen, the big hilltop of Liu Erzu should be used as a platform to discuss.
Zhan Hui got the news earlier than Fang Guosan, but because he lived far away from Liu Erzu, he arrived a step later.
In his early years, he was treated as Yang An'er's military advisor by the Jurchens, so his temperament was obviously better than that of Fang Guo San. As he walked in, he said: "Shi Qing has always been quick-witted and able to reap benefits. After he became the military commander of Linhuang Mansion,
, we all pooled our money and smart manpower to go with him to Northern Xinjiang to make a fortune."
At this point, Zhan Hui turned around and closed the hall door before continuing: "Actually, these money capitals can be invested in the trading houses in the south, in the fleets at sea, in Goryeo, or in Yin Chang. The reason for investing
When I went to Northern Xinjiang, I listened to Shi Qing's words for a while, and secondly, I was flattering our Emperor. But..."
Zhan Hui's heavy body made the seat creak. He looked at Fang Guosan, who was eating meat, and shook his head disdainfully. Then he turned to Liu Erzu:
"Previously, because of Lao Yin's troubles, everyone was a little disgraced, so we invested a lot of money to show compliance with the imperial court's plan. Well, now that the imperial court's plan has gone awry, our capital will be lost first?"
After saying this, Fang Guosan also had a sad face.
The Great Zhou Dynasty was a military power, and the old branch of the Red Coat Army was an important group among the military people. Of course they received very good treatment. As long as they had enough seniority, or had achieved meritorious service and military rank, they would receive bonuses from a certain trading firm.
The soldiers at the bottom used it as a guarantee of ensuring harvests despite droughts and floods. But for Fang Guosan, at Zhan Hui's level, two or three thousand guan a year is definitely available, which is not bad money. Plus other income on hand, everyone is a rich man.
Usually when you have too much money, it is inevitable that you will be confused if you care about it. When they heard that something happened in Beijiang, several people immediately thought that their family's investment in Linhuang Mansion was over.
As the economic cooperation between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty deepened, coupled with the prevalence of overseas trade, a large amount of copper coins poured into the north, and the wealth of the military aristocrats who enjoyed political privileges increased dramatically. This growth prompted the military aristocrats not to stop.
Instead of buying land, invest the capital in industry and commerce or very profitable animal husbandry.
For example, the leaders of the Red Coat Army invested most of their money in Tongzhou and relied on Shi Qing's power as Tongzhou's defense envoy to do some transshipment business.
After Yin Chang's accident, the emperor kept a close eye on the transportation of supplies, and Shi Qing was appointed as the general manager of the military and horse capital of Linhuang Mansion.
There is naturally business to be done in Northern Xinjiang, and the Emperor Guo Ning of the Great Zhou Dynasty has been encouraging investment in order to protect the expenses of the defense line in Northern Xinjiang. Everyone has followed suit.
So now, these people who have just tied their own interests to Northern Xinjiang are starting to jump around.
Jumping is normal. After the news of the incident in Linhuang Mansion reached Zhongdu, there was no way to cover it up. Four or five different versions of the battle report had been circulated, and jumpers were everywhere.
Everyone is a warrior, not a saint, and they all take the word wealth very seriously. So all kinds of shocks, questions and anxieties gather, and they will think, how could something happen to Linhuang Mansion? How could something happen to Linhuang Mansion?
Once something happens to Linhuang Mansion, it shows that the Mongolian army's ability to attack fortresses has been greatly strengthened. So where are the military and civilian villages west of Linhuang Mansion and along the boundary trench? What about the felt yards and herbal medicine shops? What about the warehouses, cutting yards and car shops?
And what about the many ranches east of Linhuang Mansion that were established in cooperation with the Jurchens who took refuge in the Zhou Dynasty?
Everyone is in danger! There is big trouble!
The door of the hall was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and Shi Gui stepped in.
Shi Gui was also born in Taishan, but he had a close relationship with Yang An'er in his early years. When Yang An'er raised an army in Moqishan, Shi Gui was one of the first people to accept Yang An'er's appointment. Later, the Red Coat Army failed, and Shi Gui's troops were reorganized and adapted.
He stumbled and stumbled. The navy's system would not tolerate anyone, and as a result, he became an empty-headed general and was slow to get news.
Shi Gui rushed into the hall with a look of unhappiness on his face and shouted: "I only have damn money left! Now I'm going to have no money either... We can't win this battle!"
