Chapter 391: The New Governor of the Blow Branch

Speaking of "Fengheng Yu Da", Jiang Zhiqi had some thoughts. He opened Zhao Xing's memorial and shook dissatisfied, saying: "Officials, Zhao Liren's report on military dispatch has not been posted yellow yet. The soldiers are about to return. I hope the officials can give a reply soon."

The little emperor was a little embarrassed. The cabinet did not postpone the yellow one because he abides by the explanation given to him when Zhao Xing left - the only one cannot be done.

At present, Zeng Bu and Han Zhongyan have been demoted from the court. The newly transferred prime minister Zhang Shangying is a voice-over, so he has become a unique supervisor. However, the young emperor still remembers his idol's explanation, believing that one voice cannot speak in the court, and that "only prime minister" is a kind of lame politics. Therefore, during this period, the court's political affairs approval was accumulated, and the prime minister Cai Jing, who was reserved, was insufficient in qualifications and could not yet become the prime minister. Now when talking about delays in political affairs, it embarrasses the young emperor.

Zhang Shangying's eyes rolled and suggested: "He Zhizhong, Liu Zhengfu, these two people have enough qualifications, Your Majesty can consider promoting one or two."

The little emperor shook his head and said in contemplation: "The Zhejiang Party is now in great power, and it cannot make them look like a corner. I think Su Che should be the right servant."

Cai Jing sighed disappointed, but he knew that the time was not yet ripe - history changed slightly here. Originally, Su Che is now seriously ill and became a marginal person because of his serious illness. He will die in a few years. But now, Zhao Xing captured hundreds of doctors from Arabs. After these prisoners arrived in Hangzhou, he heard that Su Che was seriously ill, and Zhao Feng, the head disciple, sent twenty or thirty Arab doctors in one breath, so that Su Che's illness gradually eased.

On the other hand, the Jiangxi school, or the "Xinhang Party", evolved from the reconciliation faction, gradually expanding its power. Among this party, the older generation included outstanding people such as Su Zhe, Lu Tao, Fan E, and Li Chang as pioneers. The second echelon was even more famous, headed by the four Sumen scholars, and won over countless Guanxue, contemporary Luoxue, and the Song Dynasty architect master who wrote "Creation of the Fa" Li Jie and others. The fourth echelon even had new tributes and Jinshis in the entire southwest. It can be said that they are full of humanities and wise men, becoming a force that cannot be ignored between the court and the country.

This faction does not pay attention to struggle. It emphasizes the practice of unity of knowledge and action. When encountering difficulties, it does not like to argue, but likes to find solutions. This is destined to be the lubricant between the new party and the old party, and an indispensable political force between the court and the opposition.

It is undeniable that Song Huizong Zhao Ji admired Zhao Xing more. This strong man had no desire for power. He had a chance to become the most powerful minister of the Song Dynasty. But he retreated and helped Zhao Ji manage the southwest, and constantly sent a large amount of gold, silver and treasures for the little emperor to spend. At the same time, this person hardly interrupted the struggles in the court. Because of this situation, the little emperor had regarded him as his greatest support force.

In this case, when the two sides were vacant, the little emperor couldn't help but think of the Hang Party. This party always came out to do things when the battle was extremely sharp, and the court needed this force. Therefore, the vacant right-shu position could only be seated by the Hang Party.

There is no dispute about this appointment, and neither Zhang Shangying nor Jiang Zhiqi had anything to say. As a Hanlin envoy, Cai Jing could only lift up his pen and write an edict. The young emperor was full of trust in Cai Jing and did not even see whether the other party's intention was in line with his wishes. He turned to Jiang Zhiqi and asked kindly: "Jiang Qing seemed to have some words just now, what do you want to say?"

Jiang Zhiqi shook Zhao Xing's report and said slowly: "The report of the dispatch of troops by the Grand Marshal Zhao Liren was submitted afterwards. Judging from this report, except for the sailors, Zhao Liren only used three thousand regular soldiers, and the remaining land was only seven thousand servants.

The agreement between the government and Zhao Liren was that the sailors were supported by the Nanyang Affairs Bureau, and the court would not produce a copper coin. Therefore, no matter how many sailors participated in the war, the court would not pay for them.

In this way, Zhao Liren only used 3,000 soldiers in the entire war, but the war cost he reported was 50 million guan...50 million guan, and his 3,000 people spent 50 million guan, and each person spent an average of more than 10,000 guan. This is not a war, it is clearly a scattering of gold. He is using money to smash the people of the Drumatha, but rather smash the people of the Drumatha."

Zhang Shangying smiled and closed her eyes to rest. Cai Jing's heart moved, and hesitantly cared about gains and losses in his mind. The little emperor was stunned and said hesitantly: "Jiang Qing, no matter how much money Zhao Aiqing spent on this battle, he got more..."

After a pause, the little emperor seemed to have courage. He said with confidence: "How much military expenditure has been spent on Huanqing Road since the Yuanyou period, it has been a reward for the court. Not to mention Huanqing, the court has hoarded heavy troops on the border in Hebei. For a hundred years, supporting these troops has been spending money like flowing water. Can they repay the court in the slightest?

Jiang Qing, Zhao Aiqing spent 50 million guan on the military expenses, I promised it. Even if he spent 100 million guan on the military expenses, as long as the money cannot be paid and can be rewarded, I will be willing."

Jiang Zhiqi shook Zhao Xing's report on military dispatch and explained dissatisfiedly: "Your Majesty, what I mean is that Zhao Li people have always had to calculate the rewards for his military expenditure. If that is the case, it is better to abandon the soldiers who went out to fight and only benefit all the officials in the country."

Song Huizong shook his head: "Friends come out, and the soldiers have made such great achievements. I want a single money but it is too cold. The reward is just that the soldiers have been rewarded by Zhao Qing. I will not reward their hard work, but they only have their achievements. These three thousand people..."

Suddenly, Song Huizong was frightened by his words. He opened his mouth for a long time and repeated the curse like a curse: "Three thousand people, three thousand people actually made the contribution to destroying the country, only three thousand people, and defeated a country. You are sure of the prime minister?"

Jiang Zhiqi then woke up, and he was also shocked by this fact and murmured: "Zhao Liren has only written a report on the dispatch of troops and asked the Privy Council to postpone it. The detailed report of the war was not clear. He just heard from the soldiers who came back that they fought against 120,000 with 3,000 people and fought a clean and thorough defeat.

According to their narration, Zhao Liren set up a formation on a hillside, and the people of the Tangluzhi carried out two charges. The first charge was a team of ten thousand people, and the second charge was three teams of ten thousand people. Our Song army resisted the enemy's two charges. Then the enemy's army collapsed and Zhao Taiwei launched a counterattack. Then, the king of the Tangluzhi surrendered."

After pausing for a while, Jiang Zhiqi said the number in disbelief: "Three thousand people, three thousand people dared to invade a country, and dared to go out of the city to fight the 120,000 army. Zhao Laohu's courage is indeed tiger courage."

Song Huizong was full of spirit. In his opinion, the honor of Zhao Xing was his honor, and his leadership was his good leader, so he had such capable subordinates. He nodded and slapped the table and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, when the Taiwei left, he made an agreement with me that he would manage Nanyang for ten years, and then he would return to the army to deal with Liao and Xixia. I promised him. The three thousand tigers and Ben army dared to enter a country. The enemy was scared by the enemy. This is a rare thing that has never been heard of in the ages. Reward, reward!"

Zhang Shangying interrupted: "How to reward? Zhao Li has already become the Taiwei, and has been promoted to the first rank. His title has reached the south of the founding country and has been promoted to the next level. Could it be that he is granted a marquis and a king? He is only in his thirties and wants to reward him again, who can restrain him after His Majesty?"

Zhang Shangying reminded him: Zhao Xing is now one of the best warlords in the Song Dynasty. He is only in his thirties and has already held half of the elites of the Song Dynasty. He provides more than half of the financial resources of the Song Dynasty. Now he is promoted. When he is as old as Su Shi and Su Zhe, he may have no official position. The young emperor is still young and can restrain Zhao Xing. After the young emperor goes, how should he be promoted to Zhao Xing? Should he appoint him a throne and let him rule?

After Zhang Shangying said this, everyone present was stunned.

Yes, Zhao Xing took more than ten years to climb from a ninth rank official to a second rank. This promotion speed is rare in the Song Dynasty. He is still young now. If he maintains this momentum and continues to rise, the Song Dynasty will not be able to find an official position to place him.

At this moment, Zhao Xing, who was far away in the Tangluzhi area, didn't know how the court was worried about how to reward him. What he was worried about was the situation around Tangluzhi.

Originally, Zhao Xing had packed his luggage and began to ship spoils to the country gradually, but now, an unexpected situation made him want to leave and stay—soon after the news of the surrender of the Prince of the Tangluzhi came out, the surrounding small countries suddenly took action. They kept avenging the Prince of the Tangluzhi and quickly assembled an army of 200,000 to prepare for revenge.

"These people are here to take advantage of the situation," Zhao Xing pointed to the map and explained to the officers.

With the help of the Prince of the Drum Branch, the Song army no longer had any dark eyes on the surrounding geographical conditions and enemy dynamics. The gathering of surrounding troops was quickly reflected on Zhao Xing and drawn on the map.

"Before fighting with us, the Prince of the Bangluzhi had urged these states to send troops to help the war several times, but these people were deaf and dumb, but now they have moved and have gathered an army of 200,000.

The assembly of 200,000 troops cannot be completed in one or two days, which means they had a long time ago and planned to get a bargain behind them. Therefore, shortly after the news of the defeat of the Prince of the Dangluzhi came out, they decided to take action."

Zhao Xing pointed out the dynamics of each army on the map, explained in detail, sighed and continued: "The enemy divided into three armies and attacked in groups. Now, our army has sufficient ammunition, and the prince of the storm..."

Zhao Xing looked at the Prince of Dangluzhi who was hiding aside. The prince didn't understand Song Yu. The tongue-in-law present was too lazy to translate for him. Zhao Xing did not explain to the other party. He pointed to the position of the prince and continued: "Your Highness the Prince believes that this is a war of royal power. Those people are here to grab territory from him. For this reason, he is willing to fight all his capital and send 30,000 troops to help the war. What I hesitate now is...

What I hesitate is that according to the cost-effectiveness principle, the cost invested by our army has recovered the due benefits in the area of ​​Drum Branch. Is it feasible to continue investing?

I am also worried that if we do not invest additionally and support the Prince of Drumzhi, even though we have obtained the due benefits in this battle, it is likely to be just a one-time investment. If the Prince of Drumzhi is defeated, the forces around us will be accustomed to challenging our authority, which will force us to continue to invest further in the later stage.

Simply put, the Seljuk War of Royal Power is a quagmire. If our Song army falls into this quagmire for a long time, the investment costs will continue to increase, and it is possible that these investments will not be rewarded.

However, I couldn't bear to stop here. We finally worked hard to open up this trade route. Once the Prince of the Dangluzhi was defeated, we need to reinvest and operate this trade route... It's a dilemma."

The officers present nodded in agreement.

As soldiers, they had already earned satisfaction in this battle. Now they just want to transport the winning spoils home, and let them temporarily delay their return home, set foot on the battlefield again, and face the challenge of death again. They cannot have the desire to fight. As for the long-term interests of operating this trade route that Zhao Xing mentioned, it seems to have nothing to do with them, and that is the business of future generations. They have already made enough money.

In addition to the officers of the Song army, there were Song Shang and the scheduled tax director of the Banglu Branch, Sinbada. After hearing Zhao Xing's words, they were discussing in a low voice. Seeing the officer of the Song army with an indifferent expression, he was indifferent to the upcoming battle. Sinbada said something excitedly. After a little absent, the 17th leader of the Song Shang stepped forward and bowed to Zhao Xing: "Taiwei, you once said that the Banglu Branch will be left to us for management in the future, right?"

Zhao Xing's eyes lit up and he answered firmly: "Of course! Didn't I say that. In order to protect your franchise, I allow you to establish your own armed forces and protect your rights with the cannons and muskets in your hands."

The heads of the sect bowed again and said, "Taiwei. You promised us autonomy and there is a few leaders. We hope you will give us a son and we will do the rest of the matter ourselves."

After a brief pause, a leader seemed to have been elected as the leader by Song Shang. He stood up and replied firmly: "Taiwei, we, Song Shang, have more than 300 people here. More than 100 armed merchant ships and more than 2,000 guards. As long as the Taiwei gives us a son, we will arm ourselves and fight with the people around us, we can protect ourselves."

Zhao Xing asked in surprise: "Armed you so that you can gain a foothold in this land is exactly what I hope. But why do you need my son?"

The elected leader bowed calmly: "Taiwei. You were born as a businessman. You are closest to us businessmen. For many years, you have taken special care of us businessmen no matter where you go to Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Qingzhou, or Guangzhou. However, we are really worried about the destruction of the people.

The Taiwei just mentioned the relationship between cost and efficiency. The imperial guards invested in this war have already received enough rewards. In the future, it is our business for our merchants to continue to operate this business path. For our own interests, we are willing to invest and support His Highness the Prince of the Tangluzhi. However, the court has forbidden our maritime merchants to have weapons and forbid us to stay overseas. We are worried that after the Taiwei, if any local official is willing to care about our investment, the exploitation will intensify. In this way, will our investment be in vain?

We are arrogant and dare not ask the adult's legitimate son to come out to the governor of the Donglu Branch, but we heard that the adult has four sons, so we promised one of us that the merchants, such as ours, would be willing to own the young master and operate this business road for a long time."

Many of the words said by the merchants have violated the taboos. In fact, they are encouraging Zhao Xing to seek independence. This is because the merchants are already afraid of being tortured by corrupt officials. When their power is awakened, when they find that their power can control the fate of a country in Nanyang, they are naturally unwilling to obey the tricks of a small corrupt official.

This demand for one's own power naturally occurred. The words of the merchant just now dared to say that the Song Dynasty had been arrested and executed, but the officers present seemed to be nothing, and they were leisurely waiting for Zhao Xingdi's decision.

Yuan Yeping jumped out suddenly, raised his arms and shouted: "Fourth Young Master..."

"Stop!" Zhao Xing shouted loudly. The merchants' eyes lit up. The fourth son was born to Hu Ji Kasli again, and he was of Arabic descent. Song Shang was very satisfied with this candidate.

Gangshou climbed down the rod and quickly replied: "Although the fourth young master is young, we will never neglect it!"

The remaining Song Shang echoed: "Never neglect!"

Zhao Xing sighed and replied: "My four sons, the eldest son is dull and honest, and is a good candidate for inheriting the family business. The second son is lively and free, and has been loved by the people of Jinlan. The third son has been determined to be a raid since childhood and travels all over the world with his sword. I am not easy to persuade him.

Only the fourth son, this child is my old companion, how can I bear to stay away from it?"

Song Shang, the leader, quickly bowed: "Taiwei, the fourth prince should have been enlightened, the ancients often said: Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. Before the Fourth Prince opened his mind, did he not have the intention to visit the world? The world we are talking about is not one of the Song Kingdoms. The Taiwei is fighting and fighting, and the little fourth prince should come to his father's hometown to see. We are willing to invest and sponsor the Fourth Prince to visit here. It doesn't take too long. As long as the Fourth Prince stays here for twenty or thirty days, please allow the Taiwei."

What this group of merchants mean is that Zhao Shan can be called the governor of the Banglu Branch and does not have to go to the Banglu Branch to take up his post. When the child has time to go out for a tour, merchants can escort him to the Banglu Branch and let the locals see the nominal lord without the need for the child to rule himself.

If you want to put this to others, it may mean an insult, because the merchants obviously wanted to treat Zhao Shan as a puppet or a nominal symbol of rule and did not give him real power to rule. But Zhao Xing could understand it.

Because he has implemented some agency systems overseas, although the nominal leader of overseas free trade was assigned by the court, he is only a regulatory official, or an envoy to foreign countries, and does not bear specific administrative responsibilities.
Chapter completed!