Chapter 241: Pure accident

"Liang Yibu is already crazy, and you can't guess madman with normal feelings. I heard that Liang Yibu once proudly showed off last year: 'I gather three o'clock a year, and I always attack the Song Dynasty and gain a lot. How did the Wei Mingjia have such achievements?'" Zhao Xing replied with a smile: "Wei Mingjia is a royal family of the Western Xia Dynasty. It is said that when Liang Yibu said this, Wei Mingjia was furious and asked Liang Yibu, saying: 'Do I Wei Mingjia need this achievements?'"

As soon as Zhao Xing finished speaking, Ma Cong felt incredible. He kept saying: "Crazy, crazy! Liang Yibu is the prime minister of Xixia, how could he say this?"

Zhao Xing continued: "When I was in Huaiwei Fort, I received some relevant information, which made me know why Liang Yiqi is so crazy this year. It is said that Empress Dowager Liang originally planned to lead troops to fight in person this year so that she could grab more things from my Song Dynasty and fight back against Liang Yiqi with one military merit, but she still did not regain military power. So Liang Yiqi, commander of Xixia, fought with all his strength, but he did not expect that he would gain nothing this year, but instead let the Tatars take advantage of loopholes. Do you think he can be willing..."

Zhao Xing looked at the prisoners around him and said with satisfaction: "He will definitely come next year, and it will be crazier than this year."

After hearing this, Ma Cong finally found some compensation in his regret. He looked at the prisoners beside Zhao Xing enviously, and also at the large boxes of property in Zhao Xing's carriage, and said, "I have fought with Xixia for so many years, and it was not until this year that I did not realize this. The Lord Zhao You launched a shallow attack and swept the two villages of Luochuankou. After Lord Zhang Ju successfully built the base, the shallow attack deepened the base. Next year's shall not compete with me. Our family will also go to Xixia to snatch some spoils back."

Zhao Xing smiled but refused to answer.

But there were many problems that Zhao Xing could not avoid. When he saw the group of people who were greeting him at the city gate, he knew that he would face it eventually.

The first thing that greeted him at the city gate was Wan Qi Yong. While bowing to Zhao Xing, he used his body to cover up and wink at Zhao Xing. There were two acquaintances beside him, one was Sun Cong Sun Zishu, a lieutenant who Zhao Xing had contacted in Mizhou, and the other was Liang Zimei, an official who bet on Qiangang.

Liang Zimei and Zhao Xing met because this guy was Cai Jing's son-in-law. This guy was originally a leftover man in the Song Dynasty. His father Liang Shi and Jingyou were born in the second year of Jingyou (1035). When he was in charge of Bingzhou, he took back the land of the West Xia people stole 600 miles. Because of his father's achievements, Liang Zimei used his grace to replenish Di Gonglang (in the Water Margin era, this official title was renamed "Jiang Shilang"). Five years ago, when Cai Jing was the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, Di Gonglang Liang Zimei married Cai Jing's daughter.

Cai Jing was excluded in Beijing and took up a job in the local area. It was only after he came to Yangzhou that he settled down. With Zhao Xing's help, the guy embezzled tens of thousands of acres of land at one time. Moreover, this time the embezzlement was not scolded by the people at all, but instead he was praised. That time, the person who came to Yangzhou to receive the land was Cai Jing's son-in-law Liang Zimei.

One acre of paddy fields in Yangzhou can be sold for tens of thousands of guan, and tens of thousands of guan is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of guan. After receiving the news that Cai Jing and Zhao Xing will be transferred one after another, Liang Zimei was worried that these fertile fields will be unstable, so she sold a batch of them at a low price, and it was Zhao Xing who helped him count the money. So the two of them had colluded long ago, but the corruption was not worthy of publicity, so outsiders did not know that these two were acquaintances.

Liang Zimei went to Hangzhou secretly. Afterwards, he relied on the profits of selling fertile land to obtain a small official who was betting Qian Gang. However, he was not the only official who bet Qian Gang was present today, and Qin Dan, a member of the Jin Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition to the above people, there was also a new Shaanxi Transportation Commissioner Wailang Jing Liangcai present. He bowed and introduced himself: "Mr. Zhao, you are fighting on the front line, but the court knows nothing about the situation on the front line. Listening to Fan Yu, Xie Lin said that the reason why Huanqing Road has spared his energy to launch a shallow attack this year is because you have implemented a plan called... Plan for the "Grass and Trees". They asked Huanqing Road to coordinate next year and to carry out this plan comprehensively.

The court knew nothing about this plan, so it had to transfer Mu Yan, the former Shaanxi Transfer Envoy, back to Beijing and moved to the Left Secretary, to seek details of the plan. Unfortunately, Lord Mu was vague, so I was ordered to come to Huanqing Road to learn about it. I was preparing to go to the front line these days, but I didn't expect Lord Zhao to turn around. It happened that this official came to visit tomorrow. Do Lord Zhao have free time?"

In terms of position, the Shaanxi Road Transport Author happens to be Zhao Xing's superior supervisor. He said politely that even if Zhao Xing doesn't have time tomorrow, he will have to make time for him. Therefore, Zhao Xing agreed: "Master Jing, how dare you do your best? I will visit you tomorrow."

Sun Cong was not polite, and he interrupted first: "Mr. Jing has talked a lot with other officials these days, and he knows almost everything he should know. I have some things to ask Lord Zhao for advice. I should let me give it to him tomorrow."

Jing Liangcai nodded repeatedly: "Of course, it is not a problem to hand over the memorial of my official one or two days later. Lord Sun asked first!"

Zhao Xing bowed to Sun Cong, and Wanqi Yong behind him used Zhao Xing to block other people's sight, and waved his hand to the head of the servants in a hidden way, signaling him to send the spoils back to the city as soon as possible.

But in front of everyone, how could it be considered "quiet". Originally, everyone pretended to turn a blind eye to this long spoil team and said some greetings in the officialdom. Now, once the team moved, they could not hide it. Another official of the money group, Qin Dan, the Jin Ministry’s official, narrowed his eyes and looked at the deep ruts and the high cages piled on the carriage, and said meaningfully: "It seems that Lord Zhao has gained a lot this time. Huanqing Road is very rich, and he has not even used the money for the sealing of the imperial court. This is a small victory over the people of Xixia."

"Accident, accident" Zhao Xing kept humbly.

Qin Dan transported "stake money". This word comes from the state-owned storage system established by Taizu of Song Dynasty. The founding monarch initially established. Any period of annual expenses are sealed for urgent needs, and is called "stake money". He once said: "When five million shovels are over, you should redeem Yan Ji from the Khitan." But later, this became an emergency reserve mechanism in the Song Dynasty. There were sealing piles in various places, and even piles were placed according to month, called monthly pile money, which was very different from the original meaning.

In addition to being used as a disaster relief fund, another main purpose of the pile sealing money was military expenditure. The war funds allocated to Huanqing Road by the court came from the pile sealing money. Many of this funds were compensated with war materials, including 100,000 gunpowder arrows, three million arrows, 200,000 bows, 300,000 gunpowder guns, 300,000 gunpowder guns, 300,000 gunshots, several big swords, covers, armor, etc.

The Northern Song government originally adopted an official coordination method in military coordination, and all recruited or hired civilians to ensure logistics supply. No civilian business organization could provide assistance, resulting in extremely low efficiency. This time, in the case of the great victory of Huanqing Road, the court paid the money very quickly. It arrived in Huanqing two months earlier than originally planned, but unexpectedly it became a hindsight in the war.

The "accident" that Zhao Xing just said was also a big truth. According to the rules of the Song Dynasty, when generals go to war, the court must issue formation maps, and the front-line generals must arrange troops according to this formation map. This is a means for the Song Dynasty to strengthen control of military generals. The formation maps issued by the court center have been verified after more than a hundred years of practical inspections: their effectiveness is not as effective as without formation maps.

Zhao Xing encountered an enemy on the front line. He was a civil servant and did not remember to ask the court for the formation map. If he had sent people to Bianliang to inform the military information according to the procedures and asked the court to issue the formation map, he might not have used it when the court sent the formation map to Huaiwei Fort, and the greater possibility was that he was shackled and used as a slave to the Xixia people.

Zhao Xing has never been a person who has no delay in counterattack. He did not greet the court at all when he encountered a series of actions behind the enemy. Because of the court's loss of control, he won "accidentally". This was an inevitable "accident".

But since then, the front line has received frequent good news, and every good news is vague. The court only knew that Zhao Xing had broken through the two villages of Luochuankou and swept forty miles around the village, but what was the spoil and the results of the battle were all expressed in the good news.

The result of this battle was incredible. If Zhang Shi had not led his army to Luochuankou and successfully built Dingbiancheng in Luochuankou, all officials would not believe this. However, Zhang Shi had indeed successfully built a city in Luochuankou without being harassed, which shows that Xiamazhai and Helanyuan did not exist. The court, who felt that the scene was out of control, urgently replaced the Shaanxi Road Transport Authority and sent Sun Cong, a secret spy, to the front line to understand the situation.

When he first met, Wan Qiyong shook Zhao Xing to remind Zhao Xing to speak cautiously. Although he had no chance to explain the causes and consequences clearly, who Zhao Xing was? Sun Cong and Jing Liangcai said one after another. With Qin Dan's words, he already understood the reason for the appearance of these people. However, Zhao Xing was thick-skinned and never cared about what others thought of him.

These officials were hinting and making it clear, and they almost shouted loudly to him, but his face did not blush and his heart was not beating. He pulled up the sleeves of several officials like nothing was wrong, and said happily: "Several lords, I am on the front line for half a year, and I have fleas on my body. Now I am in a hurry to go back and take a bath. Everyone, wait for the Ming Japanese officials to hold a banquet on the Mingyue Tower to celebrate our great victory..."

When Zhao Xing said this with a smile, the carriage behind him was scattered, and many of them were too full, and the servants needed to yell the slogan and push them away. Sun Cong had seen Zhao Xing's shamelessness, but he was not surprised. Jing Liangcai was a cultural person, and he had never seen anyone like Zhao Xing who could stoop. He stared at the group of servants who were pushing the cart behind Zhao Xing with his cow's eyes, and his words rolled on his lips, almost shouting out.

Several Huanqing Road officers were embarrassed. They covered their faces with Fan Yang hats and ran quickly past several officials in evasive manner. Qin Dan, who could not bear it, was angry, pointed his trembling hands behind Zhao Xing and asked as calmly as possible: "Mr. Zhao, what is in the car?"

Zhao Xing didn't blink and replied: "My prey."

At this time, teams of slaves tied together walked by Zhao Xing with expressionless faces. Qin Dan's eyes widened even louder. His voice increased eighth, pointing at the captives and continuing to ask, "What is that?"

Zhao Xing didn't even look back and still replied in a monotonous voice: "My prey!"

Jing Liangcai was on the verge of an outbreak. Sun Cong immediately took over the topic when he saw that the situation was not good: "Mr. Zhao, how did you win the two villages in Xixia? The war report did not explain whether these are the people you rescued in this battle - I think they are all Song people, right? Since they have been seized, why not report to the court?"

Zhao Xing widened his eyes and asked in surprise: "Break through Xiamazhai and Helanyuan, isn't this a result of the battle?"

Jing Liangcai was stunned by the anger. He laughed in anger and said, "I really don't know how Master Su taught you how many enemies killed, captured, rescued, and captured many enemy generals in each battle - why don't you mention all these? What kind of battle report is this to break through two villages?"

Zhao Xing's expression of surprise became even stronger. He asked, "Isn't this a merit to occupy a city? As for how many enemies they kill and how many captured, what is it? In the past ten years, what is there a greater merit than seizing two cities in Xixia and building castles under the noses of the people of Xixia. How many prisoners are captured and some spoils are some of them, what are they entangled with? The soldiers are bloody in battles and win some spoils they deserve after a big victory. Do I still want to wipe out their excitement and count their spoils?"

Qin Dan stomped his feet, pointed at Zhao Xing and shouted: "What are those, are your spoils?"

"Of course!" Zhao Xing replied firmly: "The Jianing Army of Xixia is here to attack. I and several servants are trapped in Huaiwei Fort. There are only a hundred fortresses around me. I also participated in the battle with several generals of Luo Xin, the fourth general of Huanqing Road. I killed the generals of Xixia and captured the commander of Xixia Zhang Wu. According to the tradition of the Xia people: his property and his slaves belong to me - this is the tradition of Xixia! I am a very traditional person."

Qin Dan was furious: "Thumbs up!"

Jing Liangcai had calmed down at this time. He stopped Qin Dan and said calmly: "What Lord Zhao said just now is also reasonable. It is a great achievement that he has never made in the past ten years. As for how to judge those minor points, there is a public opinion in the court. We just need to report the truth and finish it."

Sun Cong had been hiding aside to watch the fun just now.

Times have changed, and now it is different. When he met Zhao Xing in Mizhou, Zhao Xing was an eighth-rank official and a seventh-rank official. Now Zhao Xing is a fifth-rank official, and he is still a seventh-rank official. Among the officials present, Liang Zimei is the lowest in terms of rank. Qin Dan’s Jinshi official Wailang belongs to the fifth-rank official, and Shaanxi Road Transportation Envoy belongs to the third-rank official, and they are all big shots. Usually others respect his position as a rank official, but when these people quarrel, he, as a small official, can only be left aside, so he dare not speak.

Later, seeing Jing Liangcai calm down, Sun Cong thought that he still owed Zhao Xing a favor, so he hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over: "My lords, why are you fighting? Huanqing Road has only taken a year to recover its vitality. Even the imperial sealing money has not been used. It has begun to turn into a counterattack, occupy land and seize the city, and has made great achievements that he has not made in more than ten years. Just this will save the court how much money? Jingdu Branch and Qin Jinmen, you two should know this matter, why are you still fighting for?"

What Sun Cong mentioned here was another official title of the two officials - the financial position of the court. As soon as he said this, the two officials were immediately stunned.

After Sun Cong interrupted, Zhao Xing's servants had already run away. Wan Qi Yong even winked at Zhao Xing. Zhao Xing clasped his fists and raised his heels, and he was about to immediately escape as soon as he said goodbye. However, the two senior accounting masters stopped him. Jing Liangcai and Qin Dan exchanged their eyes for a moment, but Jing Liangcai spoke. He hummed with embarrassment: "Mr. Zhao, we have something else to do. I want to ask Lord Zhao to talk to Mr. Fan... Well, the court's stake money has been reduced by half this year because Mr. Fan deducted the gift of Xixia. Also, the court has allocated one million stakes to Huanqing Road this year, so the court wanted to reduce the money of stake money by half.

Well, no matter what, have we won? Look, this year, your second 500,000 guan has not been used, and the money for sealing piles has not been handed over yet. Isn’t this a victory? The court was also short of financial resources, so that the construction of new major projects was prohibited across the country. The "husband release order" has been promulgated for two years, and it has not ended... The court was short of money. But Mr. Fan refused to understand and refused to sign for the money, so Mr. Qin came to ask me for help.

Lord Zhao, look at the New Year is coming, and it will be difficult to walk after heavy snow. Lord Qin’s family is old and young, and he is still stranded in Qingzhou. It’s really reasonable. Lord Zhao, do you think you’re explaining to Lord Fan… I personally think that there is a Zhao Li people on Huanqing Road, which is more useful than allocating three million guan for the imperial court.”

Jing Liangcai flattered him all, but Zhao Xing refused to speak out. Because no matter how good Qin Dan and Jing Liangcai had a personal relationship, Jing Liangcai should not be pleaded with for mercy, unless... unless the matter was instructed by the court.

The money for sealing piles was the war expenses established by Song Taizu, which is the special allocation of war. The amount of this fee was extremely large. The money for sealing piles obtained on Shaanxi Road was about 10 million guan each year, and a half was 5 million guan. This huge amount was trembling when thinking about it. Zhao Xing was confident that his face with Mr. Fan was not yet five million guan. If he asked him to plead, he would probably be scolded by Fan Chuncui. Because it was obvious that the court wanted to breathe a sigh of relief from the huge financial pressure, so he instructed Jing Liangcai to come forward to plead. As long as Fan Chuncui agreed, the court could follow this precedent and reduce the funds for the Huanqing Road war every year in half.
Chapter completed!