Fenghou

The leader of the escort pushed the shopkeeper away, and said coldly to everyone: "I warn you first, don't talk about the court if you are underestimated, and you will have to suffer if you arrest the Plum Blossom Guard."

Everyone still bowed their heads and drank tea, pretending not to hear anything.

At this moment, there was a loud sound of running outside, followed by a tabloid shouting in a crisp voice, "Beijing News! Beijing News! The latest news is that the Western Army wiped out 20 golden soldiers and recovered Hebei Road."

The news was so shocking that everyone ignored the presence of the Plum Blossom Guards and ran out to buy newspapers. For a moment, almost everyone in the teahouse had a copy of the "Beijing News" and were reading the newspapers. The Plum Blossom Guards were quite boring. After asking for two pennies from the shopkeeper, he waved his hand, "Let's go!"

He led his men away in a hurry. As soon as the Plum Blossom Guard soldiers left, the teahouse couldn't help cheering.

"Recover Hebei! Take back our Han country!"

"The golden man is finally gone!"

The cheers in Lin'an City were one after another. Many people ignored the hot weather and ran to the streets to beat gongs and drums to celebrate the victory. Many people from their hometown in Hebei knelt down and cried bitterly. There were more and more cheers, and the whole Lin'an City seemed to be boiling. up.

The parade of Tai students came out, bringing the spontaneous celebrations to the climax. Thousands of Tai students walked in front, holding high banners and slogans, "Expel the Tartars, restore the mountains and rivers!" 'Eight vigorous characters.

There are many banners at the back, such as 'Suddenly heard that Hebei has been recovered, the Zanxi Army poured down tears', 'The blood of the soldiers of the three armies casts a new tripod' and so on.

More and more people joined the parade, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands, and finally to 10,000+ people. They cheered and marched on the street, beat gongs and drums, sang and danced, and celebrated the victory of regaining Hebei.

……

Some people are happy while others are disgusted. For example, Qin Hui is extremely disgusted. Today happened to be a holiday. Qin Hui stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back. Hearing the cheers outside, he snorted heavily, turned and walked into the study, and closed the door heavily.

"Master doesn't seem to be worried at all!" There was a trace of worry in Wang's eyes.

"What am I worried about?" Qin Hui asked a little displeased.

"If Chen Qing replaces Da Song Jiangshan, will Chen Qing let the master go?"

"That's for the future. When he comes from the west, I will go east. I won't be his official, I won't eat his salary, and I won't be his citizen. What can he do to me?"

"Master has arrangements?"

Qin Hui said indifferently: "People have no long-term concerns, and they must have near-term worries, but it is best to keep it secret. Don't send your son to King Yong to be an official like some people, and this side is still pretending to be loyal to the king and patriotic!"

"Are the rumors true?"

Wang asked with great interest: "Did Xu Xiantu really send his son to King Yong to be an official?"

"There is no evidence, but it should be true. That person is the magistrate of Yuchi County. Isn't Xu Xiantu a native of Yuchi County?"

"Is this evidence that the master took the opportunity to bring down Xu Xiantu?"

Qin Hui thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't intend to impeach Xu Xiantu!"

"why"

Wang was shocked and said: "Isn't the master always doing everything possible to impeach him? And he will oppose the proposals made by the master. Everyone is saying that he and the master are incompatible."

"There's nothing wrong with these statements, it's just a moment of time. I used to want to kick him to death, but now I want him to stay in the phase."

Looking at his wife's stunned expression, Qin Hui sneered and said, "Now that Xu Xiantu has fallen, the benefit is not me, but Zhang Jun. The emperor wanted to use him again, but there was no suitable opportunity for a while, so he demoted Xu Xiantu. , could it be that Zhang Jun happened to be in the position?"

Mrs. Wang nodded, "I understand, it's just because of Xu Xiantu's advantage. Back then, Zhao Ding was completely demoted because of Zhe Yanzhi's betrayal. Now Xu Xiantu is also betrayed, and he is still his son, but he is safe and sound. It's... I don't even have it." There is something to say!"

"It won't be cheap for him!"

Qin Hui proudly said: "I have to hold on to this handle, if he dares to oppose me at a critical moment, I will warn him about it, but I still have to send someone to Yuchi County to make sure that the county magistrate is his son. "

"Has the master sent someone?"

"A few days ago I asked He Li to go. He is capable of doing things, and I believe there will be results soon."

Mrs. Wang nodded, she looked at the newspaper, and said: "The emperor read today's newspaper, will he ask the master to discuss countermeasures?"

"It should be possible, but what can be done? Attack the newspaper again? Chen Qing is just waiting for the opportunity!"

At this time, the butler's voice came from the yard, "Master, someone is coming from the palace!"

Qin Hui and Wang Shi looked at each other, and they really came.

……

In a waterside pavilion in the imperial palace, Zhao Gou sat on a large soft chair. There was a wooden stage in front of the pond. More than a dozen dancers were dancing on the stage. The melodious sound of silk and bamboo lingered around the stage. There were more than a dozen concubines, all of whom were colorfully dressed.

Zhao Gou's face was gloomy, he was still thinking about today's "Beijing News", the Western Army regained Hebei, and the thing he was most worried about was still coming.

He really hoped that the Western Army's conquest of Hebei would fail, preferably a disastrous defeat, but the Western Army still won, no matter if it won, so why can't it be silent, and insist on making the world known, so what's the face of the court?Where is my face?

The more Zhao Gou thought about it, the more angry he became, the original melodious sound of silk and bamboo became extremely harsh. He couldn't bear it anymore, and suddenly shouted angrily, "Enough!"

The concubines were stunned. Seeing that the situation was not good, the eunuch immediately stopped the music, and the dancers also stopped.

Zhao Gou snorted heavily, got up and went to his inner study, leaving behind all the concubines who were looking at each other.

"Your Majesty is probably angry at the Beijing News at noon!" someone whispered.

The girls were relieved, they all subscribed to the "Beijing News", which was the only channel for them to understand the outside world, and they all knew that the Western Army had recovered Hebei.

……

Just as Zhao Gou sat down in the inner study, an eunuch reported, "Mr. Qin, please see me!"

"Acclaim him an audience!"

Zhao Gou also knew that Qin Hui often came up with bad ideas, but those bad ideas were all his own thoughts, so he still wanted to hear Qin Hui's opinion this time.

After a while, Qin Hui hurried into the inner study, bowed and saluted, "See Your Majesty!"

"It's a day off today, and I even called Mr. Qin to disturb Mr. Qin's rest!"

"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about it. Now that you are in the position of Weichen, there are no rest days."

"That's right!"

Zhao Gou took the "Beijing News" and put it on the table, "Did Mr. Qin read today's newspaper?"

"Wei Chen has read it. To be honest, Wei Chen is very angry. The whole article is extremely flattering to Chen Qing. It seems that he alone is responsible for regaining the country."

"Although I didn't go out of the palace, I can guess it. The people in Lin'an must be singing and dancing to celebrate the recovery of Hebei, there is nothing wrong with that!"

Qin Hui didn't say a word, apparently acquiescing to Zhao Gou's guess, Zhao Gou suddenly became furious, "This bastard is simply too deceitful. He insists on humiliating me constantly to show his brilliance?"

"Your Majesty, that's probably what Chen Qing meant!"

Zhao Gou put his hands behind his back and said coldly: "Mr. Qin, don't I have any way to fight back?"

The first thousand and 310 nine chapters plan

Qin Hui pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, the purpose of Chen Qing's establishment of the "Beijing News" is to let the "Beijing News" publicize his achievements in the south of the Yangtze River. Unless the "Beijing News" is shut up, it will definitely insist on reporting every day. I thought about letting it run out of paper, but it still solved it, and I was thinking, if I can't stop it by cutting off the raw materials, then can I stop it by cutting off people, for example, the chief writers of the newspaper have offered to resign..."

Suddenly, Zhao Gou felt bored, thinking about dealing with the newspaper all day long, it was useless and could not solve the troubles in his heart at all.

He put his hands behind his back and sighed: "I am a majestic emperor, but I am racking my brains to compete with a newspaper. What's the point? It can't solve the problem from the root. The biggest threat I face now is that Chen Qing will replace Zhao. Song Jiangshan, if we can't keep our country, this is the key. You can't let Chen Qing have any accidents, or make our army stronger. Otherwise, we can negotiate with Chen Qing. If he is willing to continue to serve Song Chen , What conditions will I give him? I think these three paths are the right way, instead of thinking about dealing with a small newspaper all day long!"

Qin Hui blushed, how could he not know?The emperor is no longer fooled.

Qin Hui said for a long time: "Your Majesty, the assassination method may not work. I am worried that it will trigger Chen Qing's strong revenge. A strong military force is a long-term process. If it cannot be achieved in a short time, it must be negotiated, but I don't know Chen Qing What else do you want? But Your Highness can give it a try and ask Xu Xianggong to talk to Hu Yun!"

At this time, the eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Mr. Xu and Mr. Zhang are here."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Let them in!"

Soon, Xu Xiantu and Zhang Jun walked into the inner study, Qin Hui's expression became a little unnatural, it turned out that the emperor didn't just summon him.

"See Your Majesty!" Xu Xiantu and Zhang Jun bowed together.

"You two have worked hard!"

Zhao Gou asked again: "There are no too many students making trouble outside, right?"

"no!"

Xu Xiantu hurriedly said: "They just went out for a walk, the weather was too hot, some of them couldn't bear it, and fainted from heatstroke, so the Tai students went back, and the people had dispersed, and went home."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Just now I was discussing with Qin Xianggong how to prevent Chen Qing from further annexing the court. There are two ways. One is to be strong himself, and the other is to reach an agreement with Chen Qing. He is willing to be a Song minister forever. I have repeatedly considered it. , even if Chen Qing agrees to any conditions, it is an expedient measure, the key is to have a strong military force, I want to hear the opinions of the two of you!"

Zhao Gou looked at Zhang Jun, "Grand Scholars, let's talk first! Say what you want, we have to face the reality, Grand Scholars feel free to speak freely!"

Zhang Jun hesitated for a moment and said: "This question has been considered more than once. The source of population and soldiers is not a problem. Famous generals can also be cultivated. The key is a financial problem. Building a strong army requires equally strong financial support. Before we issued Jiaozi This method has raised 1000 million yuan of money. If we calculate according to the 30 troops and three yuan of money per soldier per month, the 1000 million yuan can only support ten months. That is to say, we need at least 1000 to [-] million yuan per year to pay the military salary, but what is our current annual tax revenue?"

"800 sticks!"

Xu Xiantu interjected: "Every year, the taxes and taxes received from Jiangnan East Road, Liangzhe Road, Fujian Road, and Lingnan Road are only 800 million guan, including salt tax, not only to pay military salaries, but also to pay hundreds of officials' salaries, Palace expenses, court and local government expenses, and all kinds of necessary expenses are removed, and there are only 500 million yuan at most to pay for military salaries."

Qin Hui said from the side: "If you don't consider the 30 troops, but change to 20 troops, and build an elite army, isn't it almost the same?"

Zhang Jun shook his head, "20 people are not enough, there is a gap of one million guan in the salary alone, and there is also a gap of one million guan in order to provide food, vegetables, and meat for the army, and to build soldiers, that is to say, We raise an army of 20 people, and there is a gap of 200 million guns every year, and the previous 1000 million guns can only make up for the gap of five years at most, not to mention that I heard that only about half of them are left.”

"Is there any way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure?" Zhao Gou asked.

Zhao Gou no longer has the extravagant hope of having an army of 30, and he is satisfied if he can maintain an army of 20.

"I remember before that you can conduct overseas trade, and you can make a lot of money!"

Xu Xiantu shook his head, "Originally, the imperial court was thinking about making money from overseas trade, but the imperial court had no ships. The last time the navy was organized, the private sea ships were basically requisitioned, and with the issuance of Jiaozi, the major maritime merchants went bankrupt. Fugitive fugitive, Your Majesty, stop thinking about overseas trade."

Zhao Gou's face was a bit ugly, and he waved his hands and said, "Then don't talk about overseas trade, think of other ways, or half of the military salary is paid with land, isn't that what the Western Army does?"

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has no extra land. In the past, the Jianghuai and Jiangnan West Road lands were considered, but now..." Xu Xiantu looked at the emperor helplessly.

Zhao Gou was annoyed. He thought for a while, and then asked Qin Hui: "Last time, Xiangguo Qin mentioned the method of exchanging money, which can greatly increase finances. Tell me more specifically?"

Qin Hui bit the bullet and said: "This is actually proposed by the officials of the Third Division. There are two ways, one is to mint large coins, which can be used as ten or five coins, and the other method is to cast iron coins, which are equivalent to copper coins! "

Zhang Jun and Xu Xiantu looked at each other, both of them were shocked. Isn't this blatantly plundering the people?

Zhang Jun said coldly: "Use big money and iron money to pay the army, I'm afraid the army will rebel immediately."

Zhao Gou slapped the table and said angrily: "This is not good, and that is not good. Come up with a feasible solution!"

Zhang Jun bowed and said, "Your Majesty calm down, I may have an unreasonable solution."

Zhao Gou held back his breath and said, "Say it, I'm listening!"

"Your Majesty, the composition of the army actually varies, and not all of them need to be supported by the imperial court. I feel that for a 20 army, 15 is enough for the imperial court. The other 5 soldiers can be deployed by the local government in the form of state soldiers. , 5 people are allocated to each state, which is diluted, and the burden on each local government is not too big. When necessary, the [-] troops will be gathered together and trained for a period of time to become a regular army."

Although Zhao Gou was very reluctant, he had no choice. In the final analysis, his finances could not support so many troops, and he could only support 15 people at most. He thought about it and said, "This method can be considered. I need a specific plan. , Xu Aiqing, this plan will be handed over to your Privy Council to draft."

Xu Xiantu bowed and said, "My minister obeys the order!"

"Then let's talk about negotiating with Chen Qing!"

Zhao Gou said to Zhang Jun: "Zhang Aiqing, you are in charge of the negotiation. It's very simple. I ask him to promise to be a Song minister forever, and then see what his conditions are? Then bargain and see if we can reach a solution acceptable to both parties in the end." .”

……

The next morning, Zhang Jun approached Hu Yun and formally submitted an invitation to negotiate on behalf of the imperial court. The so-called negotiation does not mean that you can talk if you want, but that both parties must be willing. What will Chen Qing do when the army and land are handed over to the court?It will not be ignored at all, so this kind of negotiation is meaningless.

Hu Yun looked at the official document with the great seal of Zhongshumen, and asked with a smile: "Don't overstep the way of the monarch and his ministers. The inscription is a Song minister, and the long-term recognition of the court's respect. This is a fact. What do we need to talk about?"

Zhang Jun shook his head and said, "King Yong has occupied more than half of the Song Dynasty, seized finances, and appointed officials. In fact, he is an independent dynasty, and he is only a Song official in name. Isn't that the case?"

Hu Yun sneered and said: "Since the university scholar is frank, I also respect the facts. He is a Song official in name. What else does the court want? Hand over the army and return the states and counties to the court? How is it possible? King Yong His Highness did not establish his own dynasty, and continues to recognize the Son of Heaven, which is already the best of humanity, I hope the court can recognize the reality and stop doing things that make people laugh."

Zhang Jun hurriedly said, "I'm afraid Special Envoy Hu has misunderstood me!"

"Scholar please tell me, I'm all ears."

"We are not asking King Yong to be a minister of Song in substance. We also know that this is unrealistic. Even a minister of Song in name is fine, but King Yong needs a promise to be a minister of Song for a long time and cannot be independent."

"Is this what you mean by being a Song official forever and not being allowed to wear a yellow robe?"

"That's exactly what I mean. The Son of Heaven hopes that the two sides can discuss it. If King Yong has a reasonable request, we can also consider it."

Hu Yun nodded and said, "It's not up to me to decide, I have to ask His Royal Highness King Yong for instructions!"

"Of course I have to ask His Royal Highness King Yong for instructions!"

"Okay! I will send an urgent pigeon letter to Jingzhao today."

Chapter 320 Divide the money

Zhao Gou stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back. Last night he almost stayed up all night, thinking repeatedly about the failures of these years. Whether it was Chen Qing's separatism or Liu Guangshi's and Zhang Jun's rebellions, the root cause was that he had betrayed the Taizu According to the teachings of the generals, generals cannot be allowed to control military power, which will cause the generals to expand their ambitions and cause disasters.

But if civil servants are allowed to command the army, it seems that they cannot be reused. This kind of contradictory mentality tortured Zhao Gou, but the key is to have a general who can fight. Liu Ziyu seems to be good, but Liu Ziyu's two sons and nephews are in Chenqing How can one of his subordinates serve as an important civil and military minister?

Zhao Gou thought of Han Shizhong again. Han Shizhong was good and was very loyal to himself, but Han Shizhong's two disastrous defeats on Jiangnan East Road made Zhao Gou doubt his ability.

I really need a general who can fight and is capable. At this time, Zhao Gou suddenly thought of Yue Fei. He is a general who has never let himself down on the battlefield. If he trains troops and leads them to fight... …

Zhao Gou was really moved, but he didn't know that Yue Fei's eldest son, Yue Yun, was also one of Chen Qing's fierce generals.