In the northwest corner of the outer city of the Daimyo's Mansion, close to the place of Zhangshui, there is a rather grand pavilion, with white walls and blue tiles, pavilions and pavilions, arches and cornices, the portal is tall, and there are listless box soldiers standing guard outside the archway-like door. At first glance, it is known that it is an official office, but this is not an ordinary official office, but a pavilion that receives officials who come and go.

The officials of the Song Dynasty were treated very well, not only in the place where they were in office, but also when they traveled, they could fully enjoy the superiority of feudalism in the Great Song Dynasty. The pavilion is used to serve the traveling officials, and the officials go out on business or leave their posts to go to work, and they are given museum tickets by the government road where they are located, and they can stay at the pavilion along the way, and eat, drink and stay at no cost.

Of course, officials have different levels of dignity and inferiority, and different levels enjoy different treatments, not only can they live in higher rooms and courtyards, but also get different daily meal supplies. In addition, if high-ranking officials go out on business, they can also be entertained by local officials along the way, eat, drink, and play along the way, and travel slowly, which is more leisurely than the publicly-funded tourism in later generations.

Today, it seems that the hall post located in the outer city of the Daimyo's Mansion has come to the big official, and the street outside the gate of the hall is full of carriages and horses, as well as many guards and soldiers of the Daimyo's Mansion, coachmen, horses, and even servants who follow, and it is so full that almost the entire street is blocked.

There is also wine and meat in the pavilion to entertain these servants, all of whom are eating and drinking in the autumn north wind while shrinking their necks.

It seems that today, the high-ranking officials here in the Daimyo's Mansion personally went to the pavilion to set up a banquet for the officials who passed by, and washed the dust.

At this moment, there is the best scenery in the pavilion, close to a pavilion on both sides of Zhangshui, there are not many people sitting, in the center are two elderly scribes, both wearing soft hats and hats, dressed in casual clothes, both refreshing and chic, are about sixty years old. One of them is younger, it is Wu Haogu's new boss Zhang Shangying. The other is older, with a graceful bearing and five locks of long hair, and at first glance he is a high-ranking official who has been up and down in the sea for many years. This is the official of the parents of the Daimyo's Mansion, the Bachelor of the Senior Administration Palace, and the Daimyo's Mansion Han Zhongyan.

This Han Zhongyan is a remarkable figure, he is the eldest son of Han Qi Han Zhongxian, who is the founder of the three dynasties of Lishi Renzong, Yingzong, and Shenzong. Moreover, this Han Zhongyan is still a Jinshi outside the Donghua Gate, and it can be said that he is an excellent Song bureaucrat in the reincarnation examination.

Because he is the eldest son of Han Qi, the leader of the old party, he is also regarded as the core of the leadership of the old party, which is dying of talents. However, people who really know Han Zhongyan know that Han Qi's son is actually a weak character and poses no threat to the New Party.

Therefore, although Han Zhongyan is recognized as the leader of the old party, Zhao Xu and Zhang Dian hit him just by throwing him to "stand aside" in the Daimyo's Mansion. And Han Zhongyan and the New Party figures also maintain a relatively harmonious relationship on the surface. Today, a banquet was held in the pavilion of the Daimyo Mansion to wash the dust for Zhang Shangying, who was passing by.

Wu Haogu and Zhang Shuye were also in the pavilion at this time, both of them were wearing their respective official uniforms, not at all chic, and they were all sitting upright. Talking, laughing, and talking are all fun and suitable for the occasion, and they don't say anything official, but talk about poetry, writing and painting. Wu Haogu is also a literati, there is no doubt that painting is the first, the brush writing is also very neat, the poetry is a little worse, but it can also be with the last two sentences - he has also read seriously in this life, although he can't compare with his younger brother Wu Haowen, but he can also say a few words, and he still has half a piece of word cards!

The content of the conversation gradually shifted to the Jiehe Shang City, Han Zhongyan frowned and said: "Brother Tianjue, why is this Jiehe Shang Market built, I am afraid that there are not a few people who know it in our dynasty, and the Liao people also have eyes and ears, how can they not know anything?" If he has insight into the inside situation, it may be difficult for the business market to succeed, right? ”

Zhang Shangying glanced at Wu Haogu when he heard this, "Chongdao, you can talk about it." ”

"Whoa."

Wu Haogu responded, and then asked rhetorically: "I don't know what the Dafu knows about the Jiehe Shang City for?" ”

Han Zhongyan replied: "Didn't it build for the invasion of Liao? ”

Wu Haogu said with a smile: "That mansion must be hearsay." ”

Han Zhongyan squinted his eyes and looked at Wu Haogu, his brows furrowed, and he didn't know what he was thinking. Wu Haogu's expression did not change, and he said with a smile: "The Shang City was not built for the invasion of Liao, the official family is a benevolent king, and he does not want the Song and Liao countries to go to war and cause countless lives to be ruined." ”

Sure enough, it's a lucky villain! Han Zhongyan thought to himself: This martial arts ancient mouth is really sweet, so now such a warlike lord has become a benevolent monarch.

Wu Haogu continued: "Moreover, how can a single commercial market restore the land of Yanyun? If you want to take Yanyun, you need to attack the field and destroy the fortified city. If the battle cannot be won, there is no hope of recovery. ”

"Didn't the imperial court set up a military academy department, and now it is preparing to coach elite soldiers, right?"

Wu Haogu shook his head and said: "The matter of military training is as difficult as climbing to the sky in our dynasty, and the establishment of the Military Science Department is only to teach the loyalty and righteousness of the junior generals of the Western Army. ”

The role of the Privy Council is very vague. Zhang Dian may have wanted to train his troops by training his team leaders and generals. But he didn't dare to say so openly in the court, after all, the separation of the right to command and transfer troops was the ancestral family law of the Song Dynasty, which also involved the interests of Kaifeng Jiangmen, Western Army Jiangmen and palace officials. It can be said that it affects the whole body!

If the Privy Council Military Academy Department is used to train generals, and then the Privy Council directly controls the training of "military generals", it is equivalent to breaking through the ancestral family law and implementing civilian officials in charge of the army! The Song Dynasty's Yiwen Yuwu was not such a method......

Therefore, the Military Science Department promoted by Zhang Dian only said that it was to teach the miscellaneous military officials below the junior envoy the knowledge and the way of loyalty, which was equivalent to opening a moral essay cram school for the junior military attache of the Great Song Dynasty, which was not a civilian official to train the army.

Han Zhongyan smiled: "What you said is also a little reasonable...... My dynasty's family law is better than that of previous dynasties, but the way to win with soldiers is not as good as that of the Han and Tang dynasties! ”

Wu Hao Gu said: "What the mansion said is extremely true. It is precisely because the way of our dynasty to win with troops is not as good as that of the Han and Tang dynasties, so the imperial court wants to set up a boundary river merchant market to monitor the Liao State just in case. ”

"Just in case?" Han Zhongyan was puzzled, "Just in case the Liao Kingdom goes south?" ”

"No," Wu Haogu sighed, "doesn't the mansion know that the current Liao State has already had signs of national destruction?" ”

Is the Liao Kingdom going to die?

Han Zhongyan was stunned and stunned, how is this possible? That's a lot of panic! It is a lingering nightmare in the heart of the Great Song Dynasty, in order to let Kaifeng Fucheng have a moat when the Liao State may go south, the Great Song Dynasty has poured the power of the country to toss the Yellow River, making the river erosive, and flooding for many years! In the summer of June and the early autumn and July of this year, the Yellow River burst near the Daimyo's Mansion and almost submerged the castle.

How could such an iron-blooded strong Liao, who could make the Great Song Dynasty suffer heavy losses without moving a single soldier, perish? Who can destroy Da Liao?

Wu Haogu smiled bitterly and said: "Of course the Liao people will not be destroyed by our dynasty, no matter how weak the Khitan people's force is, it is still more than enough to suppress the forbidden army of our dynasty." But now they can't suppress the Mobei grassland tribes and their daughters...... The Battle of the North Blockade has been fought for almost eight years, and the Second Room Wei and the Sixth Academy, the Special Manchu Qunmu, and the Gongfen armies have all fallen into the enemy, which is really a heavy loss! ”

Han Zhongyan has also heard of the war between the Khitan and the Northern Divination, and he doesn't know who wins and who loses, but the dignified Daliao and a group of nomadic people who have been fighting for eight years have not won or lost, which has already explained a lot of problems.

If it weren't for the weakening of the Khitans' force, I'm afraid that the Northern Blockade people would be particularly capable of fighting!

"Will the divination people rise up on behalf of Liao?" Han Zhongyan asked.

"Maybe." Wu Haogu pretended to be worried, "If this is the case, I am afraid that the new obstruction in the future will be more dangerous than the weakened Khitan now, and it will be a great disaster for my dynasty!" ”

Han Zhongyan nodded slightly, and then asked, "But what does this have to do with Jiehe Commercial City?" ”

Hearing this question, Wu Haogu's heart, which was originally a little hanging, had completely let go. It is actually a good thing that Han Zhongyan is now chasing the Jiehe Commercial Market and asking questions, which shows that Han Zhongyan really wants to understand why the commercial market was established, and not just because it was created by the New Party.

Today's court and later generations have people who use "cowardice" to evaluate Han Zhongyan and his person, but in Wu Haogu's view, "cowardice" may mean that he is more reasonable and will not bite people indiscriminately.

Therefore, Wu Haogu wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to go north to pass through the Daimyo Mansion to have a relationship with Han Zhongyan, explain to him the meaning of the existence of Jiehe Commercial City, and if possible, "sell" his younger brother to Han Zhongyan as a son-in-law.

In this way, even if Han Zhongyan replaces Zhang Dian as the prime minister in the future (Han Zhongyan has been the prime minister for a period of time in history), it is possible that Jiehe Shangshi will continue to receive the support of the imperial court. As for his identity as a member of the Cai family's loyal party, he should not be lost due to his closeness to Han Zhongyan.

After all, Cai Jing himself will be unlucky because of Zhezong's death, and he is still reused by Huizong by Tong Guan's recommendation in history, and I am afraid that this time and space will depend on himself......

"Dafu," Wu Hao Gu Dao, "the Jiehe Commercial Market can make the north and south of the Jiehe River blend the commerce and people's livelihood." ”

What do you mean?

Han Zhongyan looked at Wu Haogu in a daze. Wu Haogu explained: "Regardless of the rest, just talk about the people's food as the sky. If the land of Yanyun will return to our dynasty tomorrow, does the mansion think that our dynasty can hold it? ”

Will you not be able to hold it?

Before Han Zhongyan could figure out what was going on, Wu Haogu had already continued: "Xia Guan thought he couldn't hold it!" Because the land of Yanyun is in the Liao country, it is a place where industry and commerce are prosperous and all people gather. In Yanjing alone, there are 300,000 Li people! Longyan Iron Mountain, and the gathering of miners, iron workers and their families, no less than tens of thousands. And in the rest of the cities, there were also people of commerce and commerce, and monks and soldiers, all of whom did not cultivate or plant. However, the land available for cultivation in Nanjing Road of the Liao Kingdom is limited, and it is simply not enough to support these hundreds of thousands of people. Therefore, the Liao State needs to transport millions of stones of grain from Liaodong every year for the consumption of Yanyun Zhucheng. If the land of Yanyun belongs to my Great Song Dynasty, where can the court find millions of stone rice grains to feed hundreds of thousands of Yan people? ”