In Chongzheng Hall, Zhao Zhen sat upright, with both sides of the Secretariat officials such as Wen Yanbo and Han Qi, as well as Du Zhongxiao and Tian Kuang and other Privy Council officials. Below were Zhao Zi, Li Fugui, Li Zhang, and Yang Wenguang standing beside the sand table on the table.

Zhao Zi pointed to the sand pan and said, "Recently, Ma Di, the governor of Zezhou in Khitan, came to the scene, saying that he had contacted Khitan officials and could offer the five prefectures south of Dading Prefecture. In this way, the imperial army could set off from Youzhou, take Huairou and Miyun, and go to Bei'anzhou. Then pass through Zezhou and Yuzhou, and directly take Dading Prefecture. From Yelu Hongji led the army south, the remaining troops and family members of the palace were all around Dading Prefecture. If they could encircle and annihilate them in one battle, the Khitan party would be destroyed and the rest would not cause any more."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "How to plan for this battle in the Privy Council? How many soldiers and horses should be used?"

Zhao Zi bowed: "When you go back to Your Majesty, the Privy Council plans to go north from Youzhou with the army of Wang Kai, Jia Kui and Liu Ji. There are a total of 150,000 troops and horses, without heavy artillery and other inconvenient weapons. It takes one month since departure to surround Dading Prefecture."

Wen Yanbo said: "There are not many soldiers and horses in 150,000, but if you want to go to Dading Prefecture, the road is rugged and it is not convenient to transport grain."

Li Fugui bowed: "It is indeed inconvenient to transport food and grass when we return to my husband. It is estimated that to support the 150,000 army to head north, about 400,000 people need to transport about 200,000 camels, mules, horses and other carriages. In this way, we can ensure that there is no shortage of materials in front of us."

Wen Yanbo couldn't help but frown: "Do you need so much? Compared with the battle in Youzhou last year, it's almost the same."

Li Fugui nodded: "It's so much. It's impossible to use a car along the way, but it's extremely difficult to carry a horse on his shoulders."

Zhao Zhen said: "In the war last year, Hebei Road was extremely disturbed. I was afraid that it would take the blame for the farming work this year."

Li Fugui held the scepter and said, "When we go back to your Majesty, we have discussed it over and over again. This year, except for a few places, we can no longer recruit people from Hebei Road. The initial thought is to recruit grain transporters from Jingdong, Jingxi Road, and Kaifeng Prefecture. We will pay money every day to be tempting."

Wen Yanbo's eyelids jumped and said, "Hundreds of thousands of people, paying money every day, Taiwei, this is not a small number!"

Li Fugui nodded: "It's not a small amount. But now is the busy farming season, and the battle may have to be fought until the summer harvest. If you don't give money, you're afraid that it won't work. Forcing the households to recruit people is afraid of delaying the farming work. You can only use money to let the people squeeze out their own hands."

Han Qi said: "More than 400,000 people, how much do you plan to pay one person a day?"

Li Fugui said: "I have been fighting for a year last year, and now the price of hiring people has increased. I go to the front line to transport grain, stay away from my hometown, and I have to increase my money again. Initial calculations are that each person has 250 cents a day, four people are the same, and 400,000 cents a day is enough for 100,000 cents a day."

"One hundred thousand guan a day!" Wen Yanbo couldn't believe his ears. "If you fight a month's war, the wages of these people alone would be three million guan! In three months, it would be nearly ten million guan. Taiwei, the court really doesn't have that much money!"

Li Fugui said: "My husband, there is no way. If you don't find money, you can only force the household registration. Doing so will be even more troublesome."

Wen Yanbo stared at Li Fugui. After a while, he said, "In addition to the wages of the 400,000 people, there are also the food and grass required by the army, and the rewards. In short, this battle is not allowed to be less than 20 million yuan."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Mr. Wen, it's about the same. The Privy Council has estimated that if everything goes well, 12 million guan should be enough. If the war drags on for a long time, 26 million guan may be reached. However, there will be no more."

Wen Yanbo took a breath and shook his head: "In the war last year, I had no money in the end. I sent debts to the public to raise enough money. Now it is the time when I don't accept it. I have to pay 20 million yuan in cash. - Taiwei, you really have trouble for the court."

Du Zhongxiao said: "What is there? If you miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you will regret it. Even if you borrow money, you must fight this battle. The reason why the people who transport grain are very rich is that they really cannot recruit people in Youzhou and can only transfer people from the Central Plains. If you don't give them generous wages, the means you use will probably hurt the reputation of the court."

Zhao Zhen said: "This battle is a disaster for the future of the Khitan, so we must fight! The inner treasury can pay 5 million jin, and the rest of the money will be considered. If it really doesn't work, will it continue to issue debts just like last year?"

Wen Yanbo said: "Your Majesty, you must repay the interest if you issue a debt. The Secretary of the Central Committee set that the debt of a consistent amount of money will be paid back eighty cents of interest in the next year. This is the money of the court, and everyone knows that it will not be relied on, and it is much lower than the interest rate for private debt borrowing. If you issue another ten or two million yuan of debts, how much interest will be in the future!"

Zhao Zhen said: "Today, state affairs are like this, so I have to borrow too many debts. If I delay repayment for two or three years, I can pay the interest as much as possible."

Wen Yanbo touched his forehead: "Your Majesty said this, I can only act according to the will. In the next one or two years, I am afraid that the court will be very nervous and I will not dare to spend money like this. From last year to now, the money for war alone has been nearly 300 million yuan."

Du Zhongxiao said: "My husband, it is actually still cost-effective to destroy the Khitan with 300 million stakes. If the Khitan is there, I don't know how much money and food to defend the Khitan every year. And even if I recover Yan Yun and other places, although I spent money in the first few years, there were taxes later."

Wen Yanbo shook his head and said nothing. Yes, Yan Yun recovered it, but in the first few years they spent money. In order to show his sage virtue, the newly recovered land was exempted from one year of taxation, and in some places they even exempted from three years. These places were very ruined by the Khitan, and in the first few years, they had to spend money and grain every year. The only thing that fought this war was that the national defense pressure was less, and the fiscal expenditure was even greater.

Zhao Zhen said: "Okay, the money needed for combat is like this, and then the Zhongshu will issue debts. In recent years, many people have made a lot of money in Beijing and many prefectures on West Jing Road. If the country has something to do, it is natural for them to buy some debts. If the people refuse, they will order the local government to suppress it and order them to buy the debts as soon as possible."

Wen Yanbo, Han Qi and other officials from the Secretariat bowed together to claim that it was.

In fact, the rich private foreigners still want to buy the debts of the court. Although the interest rate is not high, the victory is stable and there is no risk. As long as you buy the debt, just collect money at that time, private debts are not that simple. It is difficult now. Spring is the time when the green and yellow are not accepted. The Song Dynasty is still an agricultural country after all, and it is the time for funds to be tight.

Zhao Zhen said: "This battle should be enough for Wang Kai, Jia Kui and Liu Ji's army, according to the Privy Council. However, based on the experience of the Battle of Youzhou last year, the general minister is extremely important. Let's do this. Taiwei Du went to Youzhou and led Zhao Zi, Li Fugui and Li Zhang to command the three of them in a unified manner."

Du Zhongxiao held the scepter: "I obey the order." Zhao Zi, Li Fugui and Li Zhang also received the order together.

Last year, when Youzhou was a great victory, Du Zhongxiao promptly led the officials of the Privy Council to form a command center on the front line, which was very effective. Three armies and 100,000 people were combat forces, and there should be a command center on the top in a timely manner, otherwise each army would not be able to closely match his life.
Chapter completed!