Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 104 Dengzhou
Looking at Dengzhou City, the city is tall and majestic.It's just that it's a troubled time, and there are not many people going in and out of the city.Two soldiers, each holding a spear, leaned lazily against the city gate.The two officials next to them collected city money from those who entered the city.

Zhang Jun looked at it for a while, and said to his opponent: "Dengzhou is a big city. I heard that Zhizhou has some abilities, but it is much better than Tangzhou."

Li Chengle said: "What the commander said is true. We have to be careful when we enter the city."

Zhang Jun laughed and said, "It's just better than Tangzhou. Be careful in this kind of place, we are too useless."

After speaking, he took five people and went to the city gate.In front of the city gate, an official stopped him.Ask: "Where do you come from? What are you doing in Dengzhou? You can enter the city with ten copper coins per person."

Zhang Jundao: "I heard that silk and silk are cheap here in Dengzhou, let's sell some and transport them back to the north."

With that said, he took out the money and handed it over.

The officials took the money and let them go into the city without asking any questions.

Zhang Jundao: "Ten cents per person in the city is too expensive. If people outside the city want to go to the city to make a living, I'm afraid they won't be able to make any money."

The official said humanely: "Where is the price so high now? What's the matter with you? Go away! It's wordy here!"

Zhang Jun looked at the official, didn't say much, and led five people into the city.

On the way, Li Chengle said: "Tangzhou doesn't collect city money. Dengzhou can collect money, and the Zhizhou here is a man of business."

As he spoke, he looked at the street with a peaceful look even though there were not many pedestrians.Unlike Tangzhou, the people on the streets are in a hurry, but there are vicious idlers wandering around.

After walking around the street, Zhang Jun said, "Let's find an inn to stay and see what Dengzhou is like. Since Jin Bingnan came to Jingkang, it was said that the capital would be moved here, and it has been widely spread in the past two years. In Dengzhou city, I don’t know how many supplies have been stored, Zhizhou attaches great importance to it.”

Li Chengle said: "Last winter, the Jinren broke through Dengzhou, and they took away all the good things."

Zhang Jun shook his head again and again: "The Jin army came from a long distance, it's fine to grab some gold, silver and treasures, but military supplies and other things can't be taken away. Moreover, they have always looked down on the military equipment of this dynasty, and they don't even bother to grab it."

Despite what he said, Zhang Jun was still a little worried.Although the Jin army could not be transported away, it could be set on fire.Dengzhou has not been burned and killed, so I don't know if the military funds are still there.If not, I'm afraid Wang Xiaolie will be disappointed.

Zhang Jun is a smart person, it can be seen that Wang Xiaolie has the idea of ​​expanding his power.To expand the army, the first thing is to have people, and the second is to have ordnance.Without ordnance, it seems that no matter how many people there are, it is useless on the battlefield.The army is an armed group, without arms, what is the army?
On the side of the street in front of the Yamen, there is a Yuelai Inn.The inn is not big, and there is no warehouse, so it can only accommodate people.But the location is great and business is booming.Zhang Jun looked around and decided how many people would live here.

The servant sent the few people to the small courtyard at the back, and after giving careful instructions, he took his leave and left.

Zhang Jun stopped and asked, "None of us know how to cook. Is it convenient for outside buyers?"

The boy said: "Guest officer, this restaurant does not serve meals. If you want to eat, there are several restaurants outside."

Zhang Jundao: "We are not a wealthy family, how can we go to a restaurant every once in a while? Is there any small shop?"

The boy shook his head: "There used to be a lot of small shops here, but most of them can't continue this year. If you want to eat, you can only go farther. There is no way, the rent here is too expensive, how can small shops continue?"

Zhang Jundao: "Your store is not big, so it's not doing well."

The servant smiled wryly: "Guest officer, this shop is not rented, the house belongs to the owner. Otherwise, there is no way to support it."

Zhang Jun had no choice but to wave his hand and let the boy go.It seems that it is convenient to live, but it is not convenient to eat.

The inns at this time were different from later generations, most of them did not sell food.There is a kitchen in the inn, and guests can bring rice to cook for themselves, or go out to eat.Originally, food was developed in the Song Dynasty, not to mention that there were many small restaurants, and there were even special food delivery businesses in Kaifeng.However, Dengzhou is a small place, and after the Jinbing Rebellion, a large number of shops closed down, so it is not so convenient.

Settle the salute.Zhang Jundao: "Go outside to buy some wine and meat, we'll come back to drink. I'm here on orders, if I'm outside, I'm afraid it will leak. Go back to the shop, drink tonight, and start to investigate the situation tomorrow."

The remaining five agreed together.

After leaving the inn, I walked for more than a mile, but I didn't see any delicatessen.There was no other way, so I had to buy five catties of meat and two chickens by myself, and brought them to a restaurant, and asked the owner to cook them for me.He drank some more wine and went back to the inn.

Putting the wine and meat on the table, Zhang Jun said: "Although this Dengzhou City looks peaceful, it is extremely deserted. Thinking of the Taiping Festival, here is the north-south main road, and there are many merchants every day. Now it is rare to see foreigners. There are no pedestrians on the streets in the city. It is so inconvenient for us to stay and eat in the hotel, one can imagine."

Li Chengle poured wine into several bowls.Said: "commander, after the golden soldiers came, the money was robbed, the craftsmen were robbed, how can the business continue? Besides, the people have no money in their hands, isn't that the case?"

"Sit down, drink, drink!" Calling everyone to sit down, Zhang Jun picked up the wine.

After drinking a bowl of wine, Zhang Jun said, "According to me, why do you know what to do in Yezhou for training? Fire up the troops and occupy Tangzhou and Dengzhou first. Who dares to say anything! These two big states , with many households and a large territory, it is not much stronger than Ruzhou!"

Li Chengle said: "The Zhizhou is the Zhizhou of Ruzhou appointed by the imperial court. He should guard the territory. How dare he come here."

Zhang Jun couldn't help sneering and didn't say anything.The newly established emperor only knows how to run around, what is the future?Zhang Jun could feel that Wang Xiaolie didn't take Zhao Gou seriously in his heart, so he just didn't say anything.

Of course Wang Xiaolie wanted to expand his influence.But don't be reckless, quietly waiting for the opportunity.In the winter of the first year of Jianyan, Jin soldiers went south on a large scale.Jingdong Road only captured a few states, and most of them were still in the hands of the Song Dynasty.Most of Shanxi Road and Jingxi Road were breached, but the Jin army plundered and retreated to the north in spring.At this time, the rule of the Song Dynasty was not broken up, and rule was maintained in most places.The first one to stand up and occupy the territory is too conspicuous.At this time, it is best to practice internal strength, and when chaos comes, you can take advantage of the momentum.

Zhang Jun was impatient.Along the way, neither Tangzhou nor Dengzhou had a strong defense force.It can be seen that Wang Xiao hunted [-] troops, even if he took [-] to go south, it would be enough to firmly occupy these two states.With territory, there is power.

Drank a few bowls of wine.Li Chengle said: "Commander, Zhizhou sent us here, what exactly are we going to do?"

Zhang Jundao: "The Zhizhou didn't specifically tell us what to do. He just said to look at Dengzhou, how the market is, how the people's life is, how the government is governing. Is the previous military funding still there, how many defenders are there, etc. "

After hearing this, several people understood that Wang Xiaolie really meant to go south to attack Dengzhou.

When leaving Luoyang, Lu Qing gathered a thousand troops for Wang Xiaolie.Arriving in Ruzhou, including the suppression of local forces, plus a large number of unemployed kiln workers, carefully selected among these people, the number of people reached [-].However, there are too many people, but not enough weapons.Wang Xiaolie could only practice continuously to familiarize the newcomers with life in the army, but he couldn't equip them.

If you make your own firearms, it takes time.A bow can last for several years.Even for simple knives and guns, Wang Xiaolie doesn't have so many good irons, and he doesn't have craftsmen.How is it so easy for an army to be truly equipped?
Zhao Gou went south with only tens of thousands of troops.It took more than ten years to rapidly develop to an army of more than [-], which is inseparable from the reserves left by the Song Dynasty.Not only are there weapons left behind, but also former craftsmen, who can rebuild a complete ordnance industry.

If there are only dozens of people, some with knives, some with guns, and some with bows and crossbows, it will be very rich.But if there are tens of thousands of people, there must be all kinds of arms and all kinds of ordnance.Equipping such an army is impossible without a foundation.

The Jin Dynasty rose up in just a dozen years, destroyed the Liao Dynasty, and then destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty. The big reason was that it inherited the foundation of the Liao Dynasty.At the same time, every time they went south, they plundered a large number of Song Dynasty craftsmen.Without these, the rise of the Jin Dynasty would not have been so rapid.

(End of this chapter)