Zheng Lang stared at the vast Yin Mountain in the north, and said, "There is another reason, and that is overseas. ”

"There are many intentions for setting up a town and a distant prison, and money is not a problem for the imperial court," sold some islands and received more than 40 million yuan, which seems to be a huge number, but in fact compared to more than 200,000 square kilometers of land, this money is really nothing.

But with this money, it was enough to supply the military expenses of the Song Dynasty's expedition.

And there is another intention, because of the arrears over the years, several large-scale battles have been launched, and the whole country has been extremely miserable, and Yuanfeng has not paid it off clearly during the five-year summer war, and because of the war, new bank arrears have been accumulated.

It wasn't until after last autumn that it was finally clean. Zheng Lang was not in the capital, and it is said that after learning the news from the third division that day, Gao Taotao and Zhao Ji almost cried with joy, and then feasted the ministers in the palace. Gao Taotao personally threw his head away, raised his glass and said to the ministers: "Today's mourning family is overjoyed, and I have finally paid off the debts of Emperor Renzong and the first emperor." ”

is mainly due to the debt accumulated by Zhao Shu, but Zhao Shu is Gao Taotao's husband after all, and Zhao Shu's responsibility is a little less when he hangs up Renzong.

The process took fifteen years, not the five years Han Qi claimed. Of course, many major things were also done in the process, resolving the seven-year drought in Xining and recovering Hehuang and Western Xia.

Then on New Year's Day this year, Zhao Ji had a rare occasion and took out 10 million yuan to reward officials and soldiers.

This repayment is not difficult, it is rare that it has not been exploited from the hands of the people, the country has lived a tight life in the past ten years, but the private economy is booming, and there are many powerful people who have accumulated terrible wealth.

This wealth will be terrible if it is not sparsely released.

Of course, you can't channel it to real estate, and you can't channel it to stocks.

The town will play a role in the middle, except at the beginning, the imperial court will send officers and soldiers to suppress, and then not only the management rights. Including the right of management, the right of security, etc., are handed over to the owners of each island. There are cultivated fields, minerals, spices, and local specialties in various places, and can develop planting and breeding industries, industry and commerce. But it's not that after paying the auction money, you don't spend money, and you want to make a fortune out of these lands. Previously, it was necessary to invest in road and water reclamation. You need to invest more money to pay off.

Zheng Lang said that it is necessary to treat the people who have migrated from the Central Plains well, and formulate various policies to protect them. In fact, there is no need, for the time being, the owners of the islands will treat it well, so let the local natives manage it for them?

But this is not in Lingnan, but overseas.

If life can barely get by, who wants to leave their homeland and go overseas? There are even some people who would rather beg than go, and the country is so peaceful.

The court didn't care, and wanted to help them. The owners of each island can only use those destitute households to go over, and if they want to survive, they must take care of their food, drink, and shelter, and that's it. Not many people were willing to leave, and as a result, all kinds of benefits were promised, so some people left, and most of them were people from the southeast coastal areas. It's going to cost another amount of money. Then the pressure of wealth accumulated in the country will be unblocked.

In fact, the difficulty lies in the beginning, because of the safety prison and close contacts with overseas. After a few years, the lives of these migrants in foreign lands are getting better and better, and more poor households are willing to leave their homes and seek a living overseas.

However, the current population pressure is not great, and the population growth will not bring significant contradictions in at least a decade.

After the passage last year, Layue began to commotion, but the result was not too ideal, the area was not small, and the number of households allowed by the imperial court to move was also quite large, and the island owners used all kinds of means, and the people who really let the island owners move out were only tens of thousands, not more than 700,000 households as stipulated by the imperial court.

For this reason, Zhao Ji also wrote a letter to make fun of Zheng Lang. In fact, he was still very happy in his heart, which showed the attraction of the imperial court to the people and the recognition of the imperial court by the people.

Economically, it did not bring problems to the Song Dynasty, and even made a little money, even in the future, the imperial court did not expect it to make much money, but overseas development will make industry and commerce more prosperous, then the commercial tax will gradually increase, and the imperial court will get some invisible income.

It's the army on the surface that's hard.

After taking the money of the powerful and powerful, the imperial court needed to send troops overseas, which made the Khitan have some illusions.

In fact, it would be a mistake for the Khitan people to think so, the current overseas is a guide to the ocean, the weather is humid and hot, and there are not many forbidden soldiers dispatched by the imperial court, most of them are from the south with thick silk and half-life and half-hired nature, and some township soldiers and hired militia are transferred.

The center of gravity of the entire Song Dynasty's military power was still in the north.

Now that this situation has arisen, there are two ways to deal with it, one is to arrest these rebels immediately, and without them to respond, the Khitan does not dare to send troops. One sat back and watched them develop, led the Khitan army westward, and fought a battle.

Zheng Lang analyzed these situations, and then asked, "Sixth Highness, what do you think should be done?" ”

This is Zheng Lang's enlightening education.

"Can you win the battle with the Khitans?"

"If you say that in the past, when our dynasty did not sign the alliance with the Khitan, the actual battle between the two sides won and lost each other, but the battle of the Gaoliang River cast a shadow on everyone. But to be fair, the combat effectiveness of the Khitan army was still above the combat effectiveness of our Korean army at that time. But now our weapons are far more advanced than the Khitan, the battle of Hehuang and Xia, many soldiers have been tempered in actual combat, get the northwest, and also get a large number of cavalry, the Khitan lord and the ministers are dark, not as clear as the politics of our dynasty, if there are no other factors, our army and the Khitan can slightly gain the upper hand, at least the two sides can be equal. ”

"Then you can fight a dozen."

"Tell me why."

"The war needs money, and I will repay the debt, so I don't have to worry about money."

"It can also be counted as a reason."

"The people of Lingxia Road are not as loyal as Hedong in Hebei, but the court has done its best, and this is the home of most of my dynasty."

"It can be counted."

"I have lived in the shadow of the Khitan for many years, and now that the country is strong, I should also fight a dozen to wash away this shadow and the previous shame."

"Yes, it's a big reason."

"And Zheng Gong's military ability."

"Hehe, the military is not my chief, but there is one person."

"Who?"

"Zhang Qi."

In the Vaxia War, Zhang Qi was transferred to Beihetao, and he was a little unhappy in his heart, but seeing Wang Guo's fate, he should be happy now. In fact, Zheng Lang attaches great importance to Zhang Qi, and even thinks that there are only two people who can surpass Zhang Qi in Song Song. Yue Fei and Meng Hui. It's not that other people can't, Pan Mei, Yang Ye, Li Jilong, Cao Wei, Wang Shao, Di Qing, Han Shizhong, Di Qing, Li Bao, Liu Ji, Yu Jue, and Du Gao can all be regarded as a generation of famous generals, but these people will not exceed too much compared with Zhang Ji. As for Cao Bin, Liu Guangshi, and Zhang Jun, they went to sleep.

Zheng Lang asked again: "Your Highness, although the country's financial situation has improved, the treasury does not have much surplus, and the outbreak of war with the Khitan is not something that can be solved by spending a few million, it will reach tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions." If that's the case. What should I do? ”

Zhao Xu pondered, obviously this question was beyond his age.

After most of the day, Zhao Xu asked rhetorically: "Gong Zheng, what should it be?" ”

"Quick Fix!"

"And there is another reason, because of the two traitors Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao, the Western Xia established orthodoxy, although our dynasty spent countless money and silk, and even His Majesty agreed with the old minister's suggestion, and adopted the trade law for the entire Lingxia Road Salt Administration to resolve the contradiction between the salt administration. But there were also some nobles who were obsessed with the old Xia Kingdom. Before the draw. It can be suppressed, and only appeased after pacification. But these people have always dreamed of recovering the country, and there are Khitan on the side to be bewitched, which is ultimately a hidden danger of Lingxia Road. No seizures. It's not easy to do it, and if you do it, it will make the people resentful. As soon as it breaks out, it can be justifiably suppressed and this malpractice can be completely solved. ”

Zheng Lang began to sit down and think.

Xiang Zhao Xu said a lot. It was just a flexible way of education, and with his age of ten, Zheng Lang couldn't expect Zhao Xu to have any good way.

But Li Xian was excited: "Gong Zheng." Make me an overseer. ”

"Aren't you afraid?"

Li Xian was depressed and couldn't answer.

……

It's April in the blink of an eye.

Zheng Lang wrote a list of words: the minister was young, and then he held his own words, and the Empress Dowager Renzong Emperor Nai Zhangxian assigned his ministers to the suburbs and acres, and knew the heavy responsibility of Taiping Hangzhou as a young man, and the ministers became more and more light...... Anyway, he was reused by several emperors, did not do a good job, made a lot of mistakes, such as today, a little too peaceful, and he is also old, and asked Zhao Ji to allow him to give him a career.

Zhao Ji disagreed, and wrote a letter to reproach Zheng Lang, the master said that the country is clear, when you are born to govern the country and the people, you are living alive and jumping in the northwest, why ignore the people of the country and ask for Zhishi? No one inside and outside the government and the opposition is jealous of impeaching you, I am not allowed, and I have to stand up at work.

Zheng Lang wrote a recital again, saying that when the summer war had not yet begun, the old minister had said that when the Western Xia affair was over, the minister would tell the old man to return to his hometown. Now Lingxia Road is peaceful, and the minister has a word, and he must abide by it.

Zhao Ji did not reply, and at the court meeting, he initiated a controversy in the newspaper about Zheng Lang, whether the oath is important or the state is important.

When the news came out earlier, not only the people of Lingxia Road were retained, but the people and scholars from all walks of life wrote to ask the court to retain Zheng Lang. Fan Zhongyande is good, but he is too steep, but Zheng Lang's temper is very good, and the reform has caused a lot of controversy, but he did not cut it off with a knife, and in turn used various means to resolve it. There are few people who hate, and many people who love. Even if you are in the northwest, you occasionally work in state affairs. And for the sake of the country, where it is necessary to go immediately, never care about the official title.

When he reached his height, he needed to look up, and even when the sergeant doctor attacked Wang Shao, Guo Kui, Gao Zunyu, he didn't dare to attack Zheng Lang.

Especially for the people of Lingxia Road, Zheng Lang's methods are not soft, such as the brutal suppression during the summer season, but he is very attentive and fair in governance, staying in Lingxia Road for several years, and has traveled to every corner of the fifteen state armies on Lingxia Road, mediating conflicts and disputes for various tribes, and asking the people for warmth.

And unlike other Han officials, Zheng Lang has never had any sense of disdain for the Qiang people and the Fan people, at least he has achieved the big words written by Zhao Ji: respect, mutual assistance, friendship, and win-win!

Hearing that Zheng Lang was going to pay tribute to the official and leave the northwest, many people were mourned.

In this atmosphere, Zhao Ji is even more prohibited.

Although Zheng Lang stayed in Xingqing Mansion, the people's hearts were somewhat uneasy.

Just when the people of Lingxia Road were uneasy and a little worried about hesitation, the Khitan suddenly launched an attack on Lingxia Road in four ways under the banner of helping Li Bingchang to govern and returning the homeland of Western Xia. There are not many troops, Tiyin Yelutan, Xi Liubu Balry Yelu Guo San led an army of 40,000 from the Jinsu army to the west, one refers to Fuzhou, and the other refers to Yinzhou. Yelu Yannu, the general of the right prison gate, led 20,000 soldiers and horses from the Qing army of Hehe, and the soldiers pointed to the ground. The northwest road recruited Yelu Aru Sagu to lead 20,000 troops recruited by Bai Dadan, Dadili, and Pasimu, and the troops went out of Yinshan and pointed directly at Beihetao. Yu Guyun and Ai, the chieftains of Obstruction, led 30,000 Obstruction Coalition troops to attack Helan Mountain. The Khitan army directly under it had only 60,000 soldiers and horses, and the rest were the coalition troops of the Khitan Bondage Tribe.

However, at this time, it was not the time when Yelu Yange's soldiers and horses went to Western Xia, when the Song Dynasty piled up nearly 600,000 soldiers and horses in Western Xia. More than 200,000 people, Yelu Yan didn't dare to move. At this time, the entire Lingxia Road Song Dynasty only stationed less than 40,000 forbidden troops, and 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers. And because Zheng Lang is leaving, people's hearts are a little confused, at least no matter how they change, the ministers who come are definitely inferior to Zheng Lang in government affairs. And that confidence......

There are not many soldiers and horses, but they surpass the Song Dynasty on the cards.

supported Li Bingchang in righteousness, and also received the support of some people in Lingxia Road.

It came very suddenly, and there was some strange effect.

And after three and a half years of governance by Zheng Lang. The Song Dynasty invested in a big way, and the north and south Hetao were full of forbidden grazing areas, woods, and pastures, and June was the time when the grass grew. He also planted corn and wheat in many places, far from the bitter Western Xia in the past, and he didn't even need to bring grain and grass on this trip.

The soldiers and horses of the four roads came in a mighty way, and the speed was extremely fast, all the way south. It's overwhelming.

Although the two countries are peaceful on the surface, but in fact they have their own intentions, it is true that they have not gone to war for a long time.

Hearing that the Khitan army was coming, Zheng Lang was a little at a loss. The armies of the state capitals of Lingxia Road had to be transferred to the front line together.

At this time, the Western Xia clan Wei Shi Awu, Wei Ming Mahu and others joined forces with some nobles and chieftains of the original Western Xia to launch a riot in Xingqing Mansion, Youzhou, Xiazhou, Yinzhou, and Shixian in the rear.

Xingqing Mansion has Zheng Lang in charge, and there are also troops left behind. Although hundreds of people suddenly rioted, they were quickly defeated, most of them killed on the spot. Only a few escaped. However, in the other three states and one county, due to the evacuation of troops, the scale of the rebellion quickly increased and spread to the tribes outside the city.

That is to say, the Song army in the front is fighting fiercely with the Khitans, and the soldiers who have defected from the party clans in the rear are likely to join forces with the Khitans to attack the Song army.

The scale of the rebellion is rapidly expanding, but the changes in the states over the years are obvious to all, and there are not many tribes and civilians who are really willing to participate in the rebellion. So these rebels, in their anger, burned and plundered.

It wasn't until the situation became worse that Li Shunqing, the governor of Gyeongju, and the governor of Yanzhou, led 10,000 iron horsemen from the two states to support.

However, as soon as they moved, the speed of the two armies became very fast, and in addition to the fact that many roads have been repaired over the years, the transportation is convenient, and the speed of the march has been increased.

With the arrival of two Song armies, the rebellion was quickly stifled.

Almost at the same time, You Shixiong, the governor of Daizhou, led the Hedong general Zhang Cheng and others out of Yanmen Pass and quickly captured the Khitan Wuzhou.

Li Hao and Yao Xiong's two generals went out of the volcanic army, and at this time, the entire strength of the Khitan West and Dongshengzhou was withdrawn, and the Song army fought fiercely on the bank of the Quye River, and the cities were empty. The second general quickly captured the city of Yongbyon State, the military city of Jinsu, and pounced on the military city of Ha Qing.

Wang Hou went out of Yin Mountain again, in fact, there are many valleys in the vast Yin Mountain, and it is too easy to lurk a small army. But this Song army just cut off the back road of Yelu Alu Sagu. There is another one, that is, the Obstruction Army that attacked Helan Mountain. However, Zheng Lang did not regard them as the same thing, not that he was not brave, but that the Song Dynasty had close business contacts with Zhubu in recent years, and the relationship was very friendly, although the two patriarchs of Yu Guyun and Ai were loyal to the Khitan, but most of the tribes in the Northern Bu tribe were not evil to the Song Dynasty, and even the two of them had some warriors in their own tribes who were full of yearning for the wealth of the Song Dynasty. The small number of troops in themselves, coupled with the lack of morale, is not enough to do harm.

At this time, Zhang Qi appeared on the front line.

deliberately transferred him, but in order to make the other party despise, he deliberately concealed the news.

Under his command, the generals of Zhe Kexing, Zhe Keshi, Gao Brothers, Yan Da, and Qu Zhen officially counterattacked in the three directions of Qu Yehe, Dijinze and Fengzhou City.

In this battle, a new type of weapon appeared in the Song army.

Zheng Lang's most desirable rifle has never been successfully studied, not because the theory is not good, and the theory is at the forefront, but because the entire industrial base and science and technology in this era are too backward, and Zheng Lang's drawings are rear-loading guns, and the knowledge he remembers is incomplete, so there is not much progress. But worked out another weapon, the grenade. It's a primitive grenade, but it's very powerful.

Until now, when there was a stalemate on the front line, the Song army used artillery and a divine arm bow, but in order to confuse the Khitans, this weapon has not been used. After Li Chong and the others suppressed the rebellion, they rushed to the front line to support, and the Song army opened the horn of a counteroffensive.

And because the back road was cut off by the Song army, the Khitans were uneasy. Grenades, in particular, are a somewhat unsightly technique that even have to be thrown before they can explode. But it is light, it contains a lot of iron sand, and the gunpowder is also yellow powder, and as soon as it came out, it became a nightmare for the Khitan army.

After dozens of battles, large and small, the Khitan army was finally defeated.

In this battle, the Song army suffered thousands of casualties, but killed nearly 10,000 Khitan soldiers and captured more than 10,000 prisoners of war.

However, when the Khitan reinforcements did not arrive, You Shixiong and Zhang Cheng slowly retreated to Yanmen Pass with the materials collected from Wuzhou City, and Li Hao and Yao Xiong also returned to the Volcano Army with the supplies.

The war came and went quickly, the Khitan invasion in early June, and the war ended in mid-July, with heavy casualties on both sides, but for the two huge countries of Song and Liao, it was nothing. Guan Jian's battle was a brilliant victory for the Song army.

Then Zhao Ji sent an envoy to ask Yelu Hongji why he sent troops to the northwest regardless of the friendship between the two countries for no reason? Do I have a negative state for you? During the Qingli War, the Khitan did not mediate, but extorted the New Year's coins. There was a great drought in Xining, and the Khitan once again extorted territory. In addition to the New Year's coin, in order to relieve your financial embarrassment, you have repeatedly purchased fur and livestock produced in your country at high prices, and the imperial court alone has allocated more than 7 million yuan for this purpose. Also, considering that your Khitan is short of food, you have spent countless money and silk in the front, and the miscellaneous grain seeds obtained by the casualties of many soldiers will be sent to inform your country later, and the seeds will be handed over to you along with the cultivation method. But your Khitan practices are too disappointing.

If we want to fight now, we will fight, and the Great Song Dynasty will no longer make any concessions to your Khitan. If you want to make peace, you will even be given Khitan coins, but it is not a payment, not a sacrifice, but a New Year's gift. If it is according to some tough ministers, it is not even possible to give it in the New Year, but in the New Year's reward. Reward for you Khitan.

The Western Xia problem was solved, the state finances were healthy, the soldiers were strong, and the Song Dynasty roared angrily against the Khitan for the first time. (To be continued......)