"Zhang Qing..."

"I don't know much," Wang Ju replied readily.

Zhang Shi will start a battle this year, and this was told to Zhao Xu in advance, but not many people know about this, and Zhang Shi only reported to the court when he took action. Why did he do this? The main reason is that he was afraid that someone in the court would oppose it.

Unlike Wang Ju, the one who will only take action after the next year has sufficient rest time. But now he is rushing to take action, and the opposition ministers will settle down.

And it's not Wang Ju, but Zhang Ju. Not to mention Zhang Ju's military achievements in the south, can the south be compared with the Western Xia? In fact, Zhao Xu was also a little worried, but if this battle was fought well, Zhao Xu would be very happy. If Wang Ju can't use troops alone in the Song Dynasty, isn't that disgusting?

This mentality is the same as the specialty in Tianzhu just now. The court on the sea is powerless, but this trade cannot be controlled by some maritime merchants who are not controlled by the court. Therefore, he was very happy after hearing that Mr. Zhong repaired the southern road.

Even Wang Ju wanted to help him, thinking it was related to Buddha.

In fact, Wang Ju already knew when to take action, that was three months later, Zhang Feng was already planning every detail. However, the law was not passed on to Er Er, and in order to avoid trouble, Wang Ju did not tell the truth.

"I heard that the price of Helan inkstones has increased?"

This is Wang Ju's killing.

When Helan inkstone became famous, it was in the Qing Dynasty. In the early days, some people used Helan inkstones in the Western Xia, but because they were not very famous, they were rarely sold to the Song Dynasty.

When Wang Ju was in Huachi County, he kept thinking hard to win the Western Xia at the lowest cost. Compared with the lengths of both sides, the longest part of the Song Dynasty was the economy, and the shortest part of the Western Xia was also the economy. However, although he thought of it, there was no good idea, and finally he thought of Helan Inkstone.

The idea at that time might be successful, but it might not be successful. Therefore, while secretly purchasing a large amount of Helan stones, processing them into Helan inkstones for sale, and using their profits. The craftsmen hired more and more Helan stones. Some people started to use Helan stones to process various handicrafts, but whether it was a handicraft or a Helan inkstone, the price was very low at that time. It was not as high as the Yishui inkstones traded by the Liao Kingdom. In the future, Wang Ju's industrial income was increasing, and of course, the expenditure was getting bigger and bigger. It can be said that without these industries, there would be no political achievements and military achievements, and half of them were almost made with money.

So this is also something that some scholars and officials disdain, one is military officials, the other is utilitarianism... Anyway, there is really no way to say this principle.

Especially after the second magistrate of Qingzhou, he acquired a large number of Helan stones in those years, resulting in fewer and fewer Helan stones in Helan Mountain and the price gradually increased. It rose to a certain point, and finally attracted the attention of Liang's family. Because she was deposed by the military, the Western Xia economy was always in a difficult situation. Especially after the War of Defeat Xia, in order to mine Helan stones in exchange for money from the Song Dynasty, almost five or six thousand people were mobilized to hang on the cliffs of the Helan stones and mine Helan stones all day long.

In fact, the Helan stone resources are relatively rich, but the problem is that the mining technology is now extremely backward, including the Song Dynasty. Although gunpowder was promoted, the mineral output was just that way, not to mention the Western Xia, and it was mostly on the cliffs of Helan Mountain.

Therefore, the resources of Helan stones on the mountain and surfaces are getting fewer and fewer. Han Yun went to the northwest last autumn and used some means to inquire about the current Helan stone production in Xixia. Knowing that the output is rapidly decreasing, Wang Ju asked Han Yun to do another thing.

He used more than a dozen four-treasure shops that he had secretly opened to release some news. He quickly raised the price of Helan inkstone by three or four times. Although it was not as expensive as Duan inkstone, it was almost similar to famous inkstones such as red silk inkstones and Hui inkstones. Starting from these dozen shops, other shops quickly hoarded goods and raised their prices. Don’t ask why, this is what merchants like to do the most. Others also have a very bad habit, that is, people are crazy, so the nuclear accident in Japan was obviously on the other side of the sea, but the Chinese began to snatch bags of salt on the sea.

This is the first step.

If other businessmen don’t stick to this price increase trend, it will be a little troublesome.

The price has risen and it is getting higher and higher. When it comes to the second step, Han Yun uses the transaction to meet the merchants in Xixia. After so many years, the relationship between the two parties is pretty good.

After the price of Helan inkstones increased, Han Yun arrived at the border and met these merchants.

Then Han Yun talked about Wang Ju. If the Song Dynasty asked Wang Ju to come to Shaanxi, Xixia might be in danger. What should you do then?

Looking at their expressions, if they think it is possible, they will immediately win over them and make some promises, such as the Song Dynasty will grant them some official positions in the future, and there will be a lot of rewards, etc., to instigate them to rebel.

They were not sympathetic and did not force themselves to persuade them. If they agreed, they would instruct them to do the next thing. The Helan inkstone in the Song Dynasty was soaring. It was a hoarding. Not many people were willing to buy it, so the price of the border did not rise much. However, the price of Helan inkstone in the Song Dynasty did rise, so they made them make noise in Xixia and secretly instigated some powerful people in Xixia to hoard Helan stones. They could not sell them to the Song people at the current price, and the price would become higher and higher in the future. In fact, the Helan stone on the border has increased by nearly ten times over the years.

As long as these powerful people start hoarding Helan stones, the Helan stones exported to the Song Dynasty will immediately decrease, and the transaction price will really rise rapidly. The more people hoarding it, the more people will hoard. And in this process, Han Yun occasionally sent people to buy a small amount of Helan stones at super high prices, no matter how much, but someone offered this price! In the end, it may not be possible to raise a sky-high price regardless of the quality of the inkstone.

As for the reason, please see the tulip incident in the 16th century in the Netherlands.

Then, Wang Ju asks Han Yun to transport the Helan stones hoarded in Zhenrong City to Xixia, and exchange them for some cost, and maybe they can still make a profit.

Of course, this has to be paid attention to the rhythm.

Once the Western Xia people used money and silk together to hoard Helan stones and killed them, that is, Wang Ju released the massive amount of Helan stones he hoarded into the market at an extremely low price, and suddenly burst all the bubbles.

At that time, Xixia...

But now Han Yun has just bribed three Xixia merchants and asked them to make a splash. Wang Ju didn't know whether there were any powerful people hoarding the goods. But Han Yun did not come back. If there were rumors there, Han Yun would be responsible for sending people from this year to continuously raising the price of Helan Stone on the border.

Zhao Xu asked, except for those more than a dozen residences, Wang Ju said everything else: "Your Majesty, even now, it cannot be said that he succeeds. If many powerful people in the Western Xia really began to hoard Helan stones, with the poor economy of Xixia, they could destroy the Western Xia economy in an instant. But there were not many powerful people who hoarded it. It would not be successful. And it depends on how Zhang Zhifu's battle. If the people of Xixia can defeat the people of Xixia, the prices of Xixia will inevitably be high. At that time, no matter what commercial goods we are in, they will be sold there at a high price. But no matter what commercial goods there are, they will be relatively severely depreciated. At this time, only the Helan stones are outstanding, so that my long-term plan can succeed."

“So it’s so troublesome.”

"It is definitely not easy to leverage a country's economy, although it is a poor country. This is Xixia. If it were such a huge economy as our dynasty, I would be powerless."

Therefore, both aspects have begun to take action, but it is not until the time when the picture is revealed.

"How sure is Zhang Qing's victory?"

"Your Majesty, put aside miscellaneous studies. In military affairs, I am really not as good as Zhang Zhifu." Wang Ju replied frankly. This is also to be honest. If it weren't for the messy knowledge and big fingers, even Wang Ju is still not as good as Zhang Yu now.

"At that time, the attack on Xia..." Zhao Xu looked regretful.

"Your Majesty, if you don't mention attacking Xia, Zhang Zhifu, you will use it. Your Majesty will not give him enough trust and support. The general manager of the five armies, and time is so tight, he will still be defeated. Don't talk about Zhang Zhifu, if you are Li Jing, you may not be able to win. I can only say that you will not lose so much."

More regret and regret flashed in Zhao Xu's eyes.

"Your Majesty, you are not afraid of defeat, but you are afraid that you will not know where to defeat after defeat. Emperor Taizong of Tang, who was so talented and magnificent, returned without success. Then the Tang Dynasty learned from the mistakes of the previous two expeditions and sent troops from both land and land, and finally took down Goryeo. Don't worry, I can't recover Yan Yun for Your Majesty, but I will definitely be able to pacify Xixia for Your Majesty. But I would like to say more, and I heard that Your Majesty has drunk in the palace again."

“Huh?”

"I am Your Majesty's minister, Your Majesty is the master, and Your Majesty is the assistant. Without Your Majesty, I am just a rootless duckweed."

What does Wang Ju mean? You are not careful about your illness and continue to drink. If you have any problems, your son will be the new king and your mother will be the queen mother. With your mother's urinary nature, will you still trust me to use the Xixia army? If you are done by yourself, the Song Dynasty will not be able to recover Xixia.

But this sentence is difficult to say, so he said a more implicit sentence and expressed his loyalty. Because this year is the eighth year of Yuanfeng, in fact, in history, Zhao Xu had suffered a stroke from drinking and was paralyzed in bed since last autumn, and his power was transferred to Gao Taotao at the same time.

Sima Guang came to his spirit and presented the "Zizhi Tongjian", which had a total of 294 volumes, which is the version that later generations often saw. In fact, in addition to the original version, there are thirty volumes of "Catalogues", which are used to search, and there are thirty volumes of "Kaoyi", which are marked and excerpted by historical materials and novels. After these sixty volumes, it is the true complete version of Zizhi Tongjian.

In fact, this book has been repaired a long time ago. In addition to it, Sima Guang and his disciples also compiled two volumes of "The Legend of the Congregation", eighty volumes of "The Legend of the Congregation", and twenty volumes of "The Legend of the Congregation". Among them, Ji Gu Lu has the greatest significance, which is quite similar to the later "Five Thousand Years of the Supreme and Lower Years", which is a simple version of the historical facts of Emperor Yingzong of Song Dynasty.

It is precisely because of this merit that at the end of last year, Zhao Xu issued an order to use Sima Guang and Lu Gongzhu as his teacher. God knows if it was a decree issued by Zhao Xu. It is estimated that Zhao Xu even spoke at that time. Sima Guang took office and Zhao Xu passed away this spring.

Zhao Xu is safe and sound, and Sima Guang still maintains his own urinary nature. He has practiced Tongjian early, but he just doesn't offer it and is studying other books.

This has nothing to do with Wang Ju.

Moreover, he didn't remember this history clearly, but the more he became more worried, so when he saw Zhao Xu from time to time, he asked the eunuchs around Zhao Xu, how dare the eunuchs hide it?

"Wang Qing, I just ate some sweet wine (sweet rice wine)."

"Sweet wine is not good either. Let's do this. After I go back, I will ask someone to make a utensil for Your Majesty. Usually, Your Majesty can use it to squeeze fruit juice. Drink more will be of great help to Your Majesty's dragon body."

“That’s that nervous.”

"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and besides the dragon body of Your Majesty, how can I not be nervous?"

"Okay, okay, I won't eat alcohol in the future. But since Zhongqing is trying to build a road, what should the barbarians on both sides of the road do?"

"Your Majesty, you are worried about the safety of the caravan. It's okay, it's a thousand miles away. Moreover, the terrain is complex, and only large caravans dare to trade. They all have the ability to protect themselves, but they really cannot operate the west of Kaijiang."

"Wang Qing, didn't you say that the more backward civilization is, the easier it is to conquer?"

"Your Majesty, do you really want to do this?"

"Tell me the real reason."

"Your Majesty, if you do not hesitate to conquer the west of Kaijiang like you do to Jiaozhi, it is still feasible. Then, regardless of the opposition of the major leaders, migrate the truly poor people in the south of Bashu to the other side, and then the west of Kaijiang can be truly occupied by the Song Dynasty."

This area nominally controlled by Dali is quite large. It starts from Kaijiang and goes to Naga Mountain, which is the Naga Mountains, or Naga Hills. The memorial of Zhong Shidao is about Naga Mountain, which is the same anyway. It is almost the same size as half a Fujian Road.

Perhaps later, there were a large number of mixed-race Chinese and Burmese races living in this area, and even a large number of Han people appeared, but that was later generations. But now, it is not. First of all, the language is completely different from Chinese, not dialects. Although the Dali dialect is different from the Central Plains, it mostly belongs to the Chinese language family, while that area is a Burmese branch of the Burmese language family, and its customs are even more different. Therefore, from the bloodline, it has no relationship with the Han people.

Therefore, Wang Ju will not have any sympathy for the people in this area.

But it is impossible.

I want to use bloody means like the other side to deal with it. Although the terrain is more complex, it must be more complicated than the other side. Although it is operated on the other side, it has started from the seashore. Now it goes directly into the inner abdomen of the inland, and it may be the most terrifying area in the south, but it can still be dealt with.

However, just under the eyes of the Song Dynasty, it did not massacre the people of Yongzhou like Jiaozhi. It was Jiaozhi. Wang Ju also used the indigenous people on the sea to expel him and did not openly use his army to fight the genocide. If it were like the other side, would the Song Dynasty's civil officials agree?

Moreover, if you want to migrate the people, you can only migrate the people south of the Yangtze River. Going north, even if the people of Bashu, who can eat the heat? The management of the Song Dynasty was very difficult to migrate the extremely poor tenant farmers in the hands of the major major households and powerful people? Many areas are not called tenant farmers, but tribes and slaves, which are the private property of these powerful people!

Also, even if you want to manage it, you have to wait for Wang Ju General Xixia to pacify, but can Zhao Xu continue to live at that time?

Maybe, but even if you are alive, Wang Ju will leave the Song Dynasty. So who presides over it? Not to mention Zhang Ju, Zhang Ju is useless, because it involves not only military affairs, but also immigration and resettlement of immigrants. Especially in the environment in that area, without Wang Ju's guidance, it would be a mess if the people were migrated.

Zhao Xu would also like to think that he really didn’t understand the situation on the other side at all?

Therefore, he was silent.

Wang Ju was about to retreat, but suddenly thought that it would be better to take this opportunity to tell the matter together.

He also said, "Your Majesty, is the Grand Canal helpful to our dynasty?"

Is that need to be said?

"I don't say that it will be helpful to our dynasty now, even if it will still be helpful in a thousand years, what will happen to Emperor Yang of Sui? But if he distributed the money he had taken to Yangzhou on a dragon boat to his servants and relaxed the three-year period a little, what would it be like?"

"You mean..."

"I still remember when I was the late emperor, I discussed the righteous and bravery with Your Majesty in Shaanxi. In fact, whether it is righteous or bravery or Baoding, it is indeed meaningful if it is implemented properly. For example, after the implementation of the Baojia Law, various thieves dropped sharply, and the court more or less obtained some military sources. But why are there many oppositions below, whether it is Baoding or bravery? Regardless of whether the people are willing, they force Latin training. The instructor took advantage of the training opportunity to extort, and the court did not have any funding, Baoding forcibly bought weapons by himself. How many people are willing?"

"Wang Qing, you mentioned this when you come back and talk about how to solve it?"

"First of all, since you have trained, you should train carefully and the court will buy standard weapons for him."

"That would cost a lot of money."

"It is not necessarily a complete set of weapons, such as swords and bows, which are usually placed in each county and county warehouse. After all, they are standard weapons, not folk weapons, and are not easy to circulate among the people. However, during winter training, the instructor will take them out of the county warehouse and give Baoding and Yi Yong a turn to train."

Cold weapons were also evolving. The ancient spears almost disappeared in the Song Dynasty and were rarely used. The spears of the Tang Dynasty were used fewer. In addition, there were swords. The people of the Western Xia used Tubo's straight sword to develop into the Xia Kingdom sword, which was still the main weapon, but the Song Dynasty often regarded swords as decorations.

The main weapons of the Song Dynasty now are bows and crossbows and various combat knives, followed by long spears and shields, and then by various thrown spears, axes, and hook and sickle guns developed in combination with spears. The remaining hammers or weapons such as bones, maces, whips, and ropes from the Liao Kingdom are also rare.

It turned out that the Song army had a relatively single configuration, with a bow, a knife, and a gun.

But Wang Ju made improvements one after another. The crossbowman will also wear a knife around his waist and will also train a knife during training. Otherwise, the enemy will rush in front of him. Will he continue to shoot arrows? Or the sword and axeman will also be equipped with a small vine shield in his hand. Kill the enemy with one hand and defend with the other.

Now it is gradually being promoted throughout the army.
To be continued...