Standing outside the imperial city, Du Zhongxiao looked at the towering city tower and said to Liu Ji: "The Dading Mansion was built in Kaifeng Mansion, and even learned the imperial city. Although the south gate of this imperial city is not as good as Xuande Gate, its momentum is also extremely spectacular."

Liu Jidao: "If the Khitans want to learn the weather of the Central Plains, they will naturally spare no effort."

After saying that, the two stood side by side under the city gate, looking at the wide street to the south, without saying a word for a moment.

After Yelu Alian and his group surrendered, Du Zhongxiao asked them to take their respective property out of the imperial city and set up another place. One hundred soldiers were sent to guard the imperial city. Unless there was an order, they would not enter without authorization. Du Zhongxiao himself only went outside the imperial city gate and did not go in.

No matter how well a royal city is built, it can still be comparable to the inner city of Kaifeng Prefecture? Du Zhongxiao was not so curious and had to go in and take a look. This is the imperial city. Although it is nothing to Du Zhongxiao now, he still avoids suspicion.

I don’t know what happened, but since last year, Du Zhongxiao’s achievements have reached the peak of his ministers, but he has developed a sense of fatigue towards power. According to Du Zhongxiao’s fame and merits, he should have been promoted to prime minister after returning to the court. So what? Du Zhongxiao’s man was middle-aged and no longer had the spirit of his youth. After becoming a prime minister, Du Zhongxiao would not have the energy to carry out major reforms within at least a few years.

Reform, how to reform? Du Zhongxiao felt that he had not thought about it and did not want to start it without authorization. Instead of carrying out reform, what kind of prime minister is he who is over 40 years old and is still young. Now that he is the prime minister, he has little room for future.

Du Zhongxiao has not figured out the future yet, and has been a little upset recently. It is not easy to be a minister without rebellion. Of course, in this dynasty of the Song Dynasty, except for very special circumstances, there is no need to worry about his own safety. At least, Du Zhongxiao can live his life happily and peacefully and wealthily, without worrying about the death of a rabbit and a dog cooking.

Looking at the sun setting in the west, Du Zhongxiao said: "Wang Kai and Jia Kui should enter the city. Let's go back to the left-behind mansion to celebrate."

The two of them walked along the wide avenue in the middle and returned to the left-behind mansion. Wang Kai and Jia Kui had indeed arrived and came out from the inside. They went to the living room to sit in their arms. Du Zhongxiao said: "I broke the inner city this morning, and Yelu Alian led the officials in the palace to surrender in the afternoon. In two days, they captured the largest Khitan city in Dading Prefecture. It seems that the Khitan is at the end of their strength."

Zhao Zi said: "The 20,000 defenders in Dading Prefecture are already the strongest remaining troops in the Khitan. I heard that the remaining troops are less than 10,000 in Linhuang Prefecture, and there are about 10,000 people on Tokyo Road. However, the Jurchens there are in chaos, and most of the Khitan troops are fighting against them."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "There should be no big battle next. How to fight in Jing and Tokyo? Do you have any ideas?"

Zhao Zi said: "We have discussed these days that in order to prevent accidents, it is better to occupy the two cities as soon as possible. However, one north and one east, there will always be the primary and secondary. Although the troops on Shangjing Road are small, it is the fundamental place of the Khitan, and there are many barbarian troops under the rule, which is difficult to deal with. Therefore, we wanted to advance north with Wang Kai and Jia Kui, and the army of Liu and Ji advanced east. I wonder what the Taiwei meant?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "Okay. This time, only Linhuang Prefecture, Liaoyang Prefecture, and cities along the way. In other places, if the Khitan generals surrender, they will surrender. If they do not surrender, they will ignore it. When Li Fugui unblocks the food route, we will find a way."

Zhao Zi, Liu Ji, Wang Kai, Jia Kui and others made a promise together.

Du Zhongxiao stood up and said, "It's not too late, let's go to a celebration banquet together! It's rare for so many years to fight, so it's so smooth. You guys don't go back tonight, you must have fun!"

The few people applauded and followed Du Zhongxiao to the back yard.

It was late spring weather, and it was not cold at night. A table was placed in the yard, a few fruits, and a pot of good wine. A lamb was killed next to it and roasted it, and the aroma was filled with fragrance. The Khitan produced sheep, and Du Zhongxiao was a little tired of eating these days, just trying to change the taste. The Khitan was not as good as the Central Plains. Except for sheep, there were much fewer domestic animals.

Why eat lamb? In fact, it is very simple. Among the common domestic animals, lamb is the cheapest. It is not that the ancients did not like to eat pork, nor do they think pork is cheap meat. This strange idea was fabricated out of thin air by people in Du Zhongxiao's previous life. The most important reason is of course that pork is more expensive than mutton. Moreover, the pig breeds in this era are not as good as those in later generations and are more difficult to raise.

In fact, in the long history, the cheapest meat, except for some special circumstances, is beef. For example, in the Kaifeng Prefecture area, mutton costs 100 cents, pork costs 140 cents, and beef only 20 cents. Of course, there is no good product for cheapness. Such cheap beef can only be sick cows and dead beefs. China prohibits slaughtering oxen, and this ban has been implemented until the late 1970s after the founding of New China. The slaughtering of oxen does not mean that no beef is eaten. If people do not slaughter, cows will still die of illness and old age. The meat of dead beefs must be eaten, and they cannot be buried. So at this time, the cattle are plowing oxen, which is used for domestic animals, not meat. The real meat of domestic animals is mutton.

There were pigs in the Khitan. As a Khitan city, there were certainly pork sellers in the city. But when the army was cooked, it was said that it would be a celebration, and as long as there was no special order, it would kill a sheep. Sometimes, Du Zhongxiao was helpless.

Each of them sat down, and the soldiers brought a roast lamb leg and cut it into several large pieces.

Du Zhongxiao raised his wine glass and said, "Let me drink it first. Tonight, the flowers are full of moon and the good times and the wine is good, everyone will have fun."

Several people drank wine, put down their glasses and talked about gossip.

Wang Kai said: "Taiwei, Yelu Alian and others surrendered in Dading Prefecture this time, and there were a large number of people. Speaking of which, it was second only to the Battle of Youzhou. I wonder what the court wants to arrange these prisoners of war?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Khitan is mainly divided into royal families and descendants, and each has several houses. Among these people, there are many princes and nobles. If they surrender, they have to arrange corresponding official positions. The official positions in our Song Dynasty are not enough. Therefore, these people surrendered and only become civilians, and each brought their family wealth to Kaifeng Prefecture to be wealthy officials. As for what they will do in the future, it depends on their fate."

Zhao Zi said: "There are so many wealthy people in Kaifeng Prefecture, so it is hard to manage the prefect."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "What's wrong with it? So many kings, princes, generals and ministers in the city can control them, but they can't control these people? They just have money, but they don't have the right to do so."

Liu Ji shook his head: "Taiwei, this year, being rich is better than anything else. These people have money and relatives and old friends in their hands. They can form cliques and help each other, but they are not easy to mess with. If they are not defeated, they may be a major force in the capital in decades."

Du Zhongxiao was stunned. He hadn't thought about this possibility yet. Liu Ji was right. At this time, the most useful thing was to have money. Don't look at them without power, they still have money. In addition, many Khitan princes and princes were connected to each other in Kaifeng Prefecture and became a big force. If the descendants of these people become prosperous in decades and do evil in Kaifeng Prefecture, would they blame themselves?

Du Zhongxiao shook his head, it was difficult to say. His decision was originally intended to destroy the Khitan princes and nobles, but it seemed difficult to say.
Chapter completed!