Li Sihai said that if the silver mine is in the Xia country, it will be fine, as long as the silver mine mining rights are taken out and bid, a large amount of cash can be steadily obtained, but now the mine is not in the Xia country. At that time, it is difficult to say that other wealthy businessmen and tycoons in Xia Kingdom will not participate. In the past, in other countries, there were Xia merchants who fought with each other for the right to exploit mineral deposits, but they cheapened the bad precedent of the Fanbangyi people.

"Li Sihai's worries are not unreasonable." Zhao Xingde groaned, "The businessmen are too powerful. He placed the silk books on the candle flame, and since the identity of the letters was revealed, he had been extra careful in handling these confidential letters. Zhao Xingde saw it turn into a wisp of green smoke, but he remembered the rich businessmen and giants in later generations, who also fell in love with each other because of some businesses, so that outsiders benefited, and he sighed. Thinking of this, his heart suddenly moved, and he remembered a disposition that he had vaguely known before, and he thought about it several times in his heart, and felt that it was quite feasible.

"Dongying Silver Mountain, it is inevitable that businessmen will scramble. There are many parties involved in this matter, and according to the law of our dynasty, the imperial court cannot interfere more. In order to prevent the Yi people from profiting from this, it is advisable to bid for the concessions of such businesses abroad in accordance with the law on bidding for the right to exploit domestic mineral deposits. Regardless of where the mineral deposits are located and who they belong to, once a certain Xia State Commercial Bank bids for the concession of the mineral deposit, then other Xia National Commercial Houses cannot compete with it abroad. The Xia State Commercial Bank, which owns the concession rights, can exploit the mines on its own, or can combine with other Xia Guo Commercial Firms, and even transfer them. In this way, it avoided the Xia State Commercial Bank from competing with each other in Fanbang and benefiting other people. The extra money paid by Xia Guo Commercial Bank due to infighting was ultimately benefited by the Xia people. As for the benefits of discovering extraterritorial mineral deposits, they are also in this bidding money, and the imperial court is divided between the account. After all, in Fanbang, the strong are respected, and it is impossible to protect the interests of ordinary discoverers. Only the powerful and powerful can subdue the earth snake and fight for the greatest interests of the Xia Kingdom. ”

Zhao Xingde thought in his heart, and immediately picked up the pen and ink and wrote on a blank piece of paper. He read the letter from beginning to end, and secretly thought: "Dongying has always been rich in gold and silver, and Dongmu is not the only one who is familiar with this sea route, and the bidding for silver mining concessions must be very fierce. If only Dongmu Bank participates, I am afraid that the financial resources are not enough, if necessary, Yajiao Bank, Dongmu Bank, Chunyu Iron Works and Gao Changhang will join forces to bid, so that there is some certainty. The Eastern Ying Kingdom has always been reckless, and the government regards wealth as life. Even if the trading house bought the concession of this silver mine and excluded the competition from other Xia merchants, it would not be able to suppress this local snake if it did not have considerable strength. ”

After he finished writing the letter, he handed it to Shi Jingkui casually, and said with a smile: "Zhao wants to make an open source strategy for the Protector Mansion, and Jing Kui also refers to it in detail. "Shi Jingkui is a marching Sima, and along the way, Zhao Xingde found that he also has a lot of insight into the government and politics. This matter is very important, so Zhao Xingde listened to his opinion.

Shi Jingkui took the secret letter, looked at it from the beginning, and was taken aback when he saw Zhao Xingde's mention of Yinshan at the beginning, and said secretly: "How much money is involved in this, General Zhao told him calmly, which shows that he is in his heart." His heart was hot, and as he read on, the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and gradually turned from surprise to admiration. When he saw the end, he folded the letter and sighed: "If the imperial court has done this policy earlier, why wait until recent years to subdue Dali, our Shu Kingdom alone is already enough to subdue the Southern Barbarians." ”

The merchants in Shu walked in Dali, Jiaozhi, Zhancheng, Zhenla and other countries, and these vassal forces obtained the goods of Shu, but they mostly took advantage of the mentality of the merchants in Shu, monopolizing special products such as local mines and gems to be sold at a price. However, the Shu merchants often competed to reduce the price, and the local Tuwang Shengfan benefited. However, the Shu court was trapped in the self-defense of the city and could not interfere. If Zhao Xingde's policy against the imperial court was followed, the merchants and merchants in Shu would naturally merge into one, and the benefits of Shu in the Nanban trade would be much greater.

"But," Shi Jingkui hesitated, "can the laws of my dynasty control the affairs of other countries?" ”

"Although we can't manage the business and mineral deposits of other countries," Zhao Xingde said in a low voice, "but if you can manage the people of our Xia Kingdom, you won't kill each other, that's enough." ”

"So what if the trading houses that initially bid for the concession are unable to develop the deposit? He can't do it, and I can't do it to other trading firms, isn't it cheapening outsiders for nothing? Shi Jingkui questioned again. There are no undefeated generals on the battlefield, and the ups and downs in the mall are also common. If a Xia country firm bids for the concession, but is unable to realize it due to poor management, it is indeed a problem.

"In that case," Zhao Xingde pondered, "the firm will also sell the concession and turn it into a tangible benefit." Holding a golden rice bowl and starving to death, normal businessmen should not do it. The only thing to worry about is that the foreign comptoirs took this opportunity to buy the concession in our court and exclude our comptoirs. Therefore, it is necessary to set the rule that this concession can only be given to the commercial banks of our dynasty, and the commercial banks of other countries are excluded from participating in the bidding, and the concession will be invalid immediately. ”

Shi Jingkui nodded in approval, and after the two discussed for a while, Zhao Xingde picked up the pen again and officially wrote a recital to the General's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion. Then he wrote a letter to Li Sihai, attached the recital to the back, and sent it to Li Sihai along with the letter, and if he had no objections, he submitted it together in the names of the two of them.

"The general is far-sighted," Shi Jingkui said happily, "the country has an extra financial resource, and Prime Minister Liu Cheng will be very happy." ”

Zhao Xingde nodded and said with a smile: "This is also Shi Sima's hard work. He handed the letter to Shi Jingkui and asked him to hand it over to the pigeon post of the Military Intelligence Department early tomorrow morning. Li Sihai's actions are not leaky, he used the pigeon post of the Military Intelligence Department to contact Zhao Xingde, although it is a bit irregular, it seems to be a fake public and private, but this matter is serious, and he has also avoided greater suspicion. Zhao Xingde realized his intentions, so he also wrote back to him through the pigeon post of the Military Intelligence Department.

The stars and moon were dark, the night was dark and dreary, and there was some mist in the night wind. In order to save lamp oil, ordinary people often go to bed not long after dark, but on this night, in the courtyard of the guest house in the water village, many houses and wooden sheds are brightly lit inside and outside, and the sound of loud discussion spreads far away.

............

In the same dark night, within the Dengzhou Mansion, the governor made an appointment like a pin. An edict was quietly placed on the desk, and the candle flame flickered, illuminating his face flickering.

After the Liao army captured Bianliang, in addition to sending a partial division south to invade Jianghuai, the main force of the Liao army was stationed in Bianliang for more than two months. During this period, Feishu between Luoyang, Jiankang and Bianliang continued to come and go. The Luoyang court sent envoys to test the possibility of peace, and even proposed that the Yellow River could be used as the boundary, Hebei could be returned to the Liao State, and Henan should be returned to the Song State, and the two countries would stop fighting. The Northern Court of the Liao Kingdom was only vague and never gave a clear answer, but the Luoyang Imperial Court always had hope. Even when the Liao army attacked Jiankang, the Song army was able to avoid it and did not put up much resistance. However, it was just wishful thinking to talk about peace, just after the cold winter, the grass and trees were green for a long time, and the wind and clouds changed color, and the bad news came that the Liao army was marching south, and the soldiers were pointing directly at Xiangyang.

Dengzhou, also known as the Wusheng Army, is the gateway to Xiangyang and the first to bear the brunt of the Liao army's main force in the south.

Jing Chao, the head of the soldiers and horses, saw that Xu Yue kept pacing back and forth, but he couldn't make a decision, a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes, and he urged: "Most of the Liao countries are cavalry, and now there are Liao army scouts and cavalry outside the city, and if it drags on for a day or two, the army will be killed under the city, and Lord Xu should have an idea as soon as possible." ”

In the southeast camp, he is known as the enemy of 10,000 people, but he is not Liu Yanqing's descendant. The dispatch stationed in Dengzhou made Jing Chao very dissatisfied. He asked Liu Yanqing to retreat to Xiangyang, but Liu Yanqing just refused to allow it. Jing Chao suspected in his heart that this was a murder with a knife, but he didn't dare to disobey. This time, the Liao army went south and was menacing, but in the name of Emperor Zhao Ke of the Song Dynasty, he first gave a decree to Dengzhou, so that the civil and military officials of Dengzhou could cooperate with the Liao army to crusade against the rebel Liu Yanqing. Yelu Tiege, the privy envoy of the Northern Court, also sent someone to bring Jing Chao a letter written by Qin Hui, the privy envoy, promising him a false title of envoy of the Wusheng Army. The official title of the Song Dynasty was nothing in the eyes of the Northern Court of Liao. For Song Jiang, this is a dream.

Xu Yue stopped and asked, "General Jing, look, this, this will, how should it be?" ”

Jing Chao turned his face to the side and avoided answering: "According to the imperial court system, matters involving the city and the soldiers and horses are decided by Lord Zhizhou, and the last general is a rough man, who only knows how to act according to orders." He said that, but he expected that the promise would not be able to bear it. Xu Yue was cowardly, and when Cao Di asked him to congratulate Zhao Qi in Luoyang, he immediately went to the table. Today, under the persecution of the Liao army, it will be changed to respect Zhao Ke's will, and this lord should still ask Lord Zhizhou to carry it.

Sure enough, Xu Yue hesitated for a long time, and finally lowered his head and said: "The battle is invincible, in order to protect the people of this city, since the official family has made a will, let's act on the edict." With a long sigh, he ordered the scribe to come in and make some preparations for the passage of the army.

Qin Hui made it clear in the letter that if Dengzhou was used by Zhao Qi and Liu Yanqing and resisted behind closed doors, once the city was broken, it would be likely to be a situation of slaughtering the city. As long as the Dengzhou government provides the Liao army with the food and grass it needs, and the soldiers and horses of the forbidden army are stationed outside the city, and cooperate with the Liao army to attack Xiangyang, the Liao army will only be stationed outside the city, and will not enter the city without special changes.

The same edict was placed on the table of the government offices in Tangzhou, Yingzhou, Suizhou, Caizhou, and Fangzhou. Some of them were swaggered by the envoys of Bianliang under the escort of the forbidden army, and some were secretly sent through the old guards of the guards. In the past few days, the prefectures and counties near Xiangyang Daying have been in a state of panic. Even Liu Yanqing, who was deployed in the southeast camp, also received an edict from Zhao Ke, ordering him to change his past mistakes and cooperate with the Liao army to attack the usurper ministers in the southeast prefecture and county. Liu Yanqing was not summoned, and he even refused to allow the envoy to enter Xiangyang City. The envoy from Bianliang had to read Zhao Ke's edict aloud under the city, and then left haughtily.