end song

Chapter 745
After Ahma arrived in Shanxi, he did several things, all of which were related to financial management.

For example, private salt was rampant in Taiyuan, and the official salt in Xiezhou could not be sold. Ahema forced the salt tax to be apportioned to monks, Taoists, sergeants, craftsmen and other households.

It means that you can buy private salt, but you have to buy official salt first.

In one year, the extra salt tax he collected for Kublai Khan's court was 8000 taels of silver.

Ahema also extended his hand to Henan, forcibly dismissed Zhao Bi and Shang Ting, and made iron in Junzhou. In addition to paying 100 million catties of iron, he also cast and forged 20 pieces of farm tools, and exchanged them with the people for grain, and handed over six grains. Wanshi.

In addition, he also opened silver mines and copper mines everywhere...

Liu Zheng didn't know how much Ahema had swallowed in private, but he thought that Ahema was really a good person. Although his reputation was very bad, many people in the government and the opposition scolded him.

What is certain is that what Kublai Khan needs most now is a courtier like Ahema.

Wang Wentong and Zhao Bi did a good job in transshipping money and food, and almost did their best within their ability, but the money and food they transshipped were actually "assigned".

Ahema is different, what is handed over is the extra money and food.

He seems to have the ability to conjure money from where there is no money.

It is conceivable that in the absence of Guanlong's wealth in the past two years, these financial ministers still guaranteed Kublai Khan's Northern Expedition.

Among them, Ahema contributed a lot.

The land of Shanxi can no longer stand the toss of this transport envoy.

He already desperately wanted to take back Guanlong and Sichuan and Shu, and he was more urgent than many military officials.

Even, he has already figured out how to govern these places after regaining them.

First of all, of course, is to implement the banknote law, and convert all private gold, silver and copper coins into banknotes handed over by the central government.

After that came the Salt Law, as in Shanxi, even if cheap private salt was not banned, the salt tax could be apportioned.

Selling official salt mixed with sand like the Song Dynasty, Ahema would not do such a heartless thing. Although he imposes a salt tax, at least he is selling genuine official salt.

In short, it is honest and shrewd to collect taxes for the country.

After that, there will be trade, forests and mines, and field investigations... Ahema always believes that there is no barren land in the world, and Muslims can always use financial management methods to make money.

As much as the public pocket can be filled, he will do his best for the sweat.

However, private pockets can certainly be filled to the brim.

Therefore, when he heard that there was a chance to win Guanzhong, Ahema fully supported it...

……

"Hancheng on the other side of the river has been inquired by the villain. There are more than a thousand defenders at the west bank ferry, and there are more than a thousand defenders in the city. There are also Qingshui Pass and Yanshui Pass nearby. There are thousands of troops stationed at each of the two ferries, and the defense is tight."

When the spies reported here, Ahema was a little disappointed.

Liu Zheng looked much calmer and said, "Continue."

"The lower reaches of Hancheng is the Heyang Camp of the Song Army. Zhang Jue's flag is still erected there, and the Song Army is densely packed around Xiayangdu, more than a while ago..."

Liu Zheng casually pointed at Xiayang Ferry on the west bank of the Yellow River, and explained to Ahema in a low voice: "Xiayang Ferry can support Qingshuiguan Ferry and Yanshuiguan Ferry in the north, and Tongguan Ferry in the south. Where the camp is."

Ahema is good at managing money, but he is not familiar with military affairs. He said, "Isn't Zhang Jue's banner in Nanyang?"

"You will know as soon as you fight." Liu Zheng said, "The last general will arrange to send troops?"

"Okay!" Ahema twirled his beard and said, "The battle situation in Nanyang is very dangerous. We need to send troops to contain Guanzhong."

This was what Dong Wenbing said in his letter, and it was also the reason for Shanxi to send troops. Ahema tried his best to say it righteously, but there was still a smile in his tone.

Shrewd and philistine.

At the end, he rubbed his hands together and smiled at Liu Zheng: "I'm here to give Marshal Liu a beautiful gift..."

~~
Xia Yangdu.

When Chu and Han were in conflict, Han Xin crossed the river from here and ordered people to buy a large number of clay pots with big belly and small mouth, that is, "poppy", and then clamp them with wooden sticks and tie them into rafts, called "wooden poppy". Ying crossed the Yellow River and approached Anyi, the capital of Wei.Therefore, Xiayang Ferry is also called "Muying Ferry" or "Huaiyin Ferry".

Xia Yangdu is in Heyang County, Guanzhong.

The ferry is on the west bank of the Yellow River, a little north of the middle of the Yellow River in Guanzhong.

From here, the speed of going south to Tongguan and north to Hancheng is about the same. When Li Xia set up the Yellow River defense line, he took it as the main location.

And Liu Zheng's tactics are very simple.

He followed the Yellow River from Longmendu on the upper reaches of the east bank to attack Xiayangdu on the middle reaches of the west bank, which was a great advantage.

He is good at water warfare, and he built a large number of ships with the financial resources supported by Ahema, and trained the navy in advance... This is how he took the initiative on the battlefield.

In fact, even if Zhang Jue was still in the Heyang camp, and even led [-] elite soldiers to prepare for an ambush, Liu Zheng would not be afraid.

This time it was a test. He could attack whenever he wanted, and leave whenever he wanted. Zhang Jue, who doesn't know how to fight in water, couldn't keep him at all...

The seventh day of May.

The sky was fine, cloudless, and the east wind was blowing.

The Yellow River is turbulent, and there are more than a hundred ships of various sizes parked at Longmen Ferry, carrying more than [-] soldiers and horses, including more than [-] troops integrated from Liu Zheng's old troops, led by Liu Zheng, his four sons, and confidant generals. .

In addition, there are more than [-] troops from the Marquis of Xiezhou and Hezhong Prefecture, which are organized by Liu Zheng as a naval dispatcher.

In the army, there were also Mongolian Daluhua Chibagen and Oru officer Hu Richa, who led a thousand-man team of the Mongolian Red Army and led the horses to the largest boat.

Liu Zheng, who was standing on the building boat, gave an order, and the fleet sailed southwest, with the wind and the water flowing smoothly.

After he surrendered, he was appointed by Kublai Khan as Marshal of Chengdu Ludu, so he was always called "Marshal". At that time, he thought that Chengdu would be captured soon.

That year was still the first year of Zhongtong, and in a blink of an eye, it was already May of the third year of Zhongtong.

It's not that Mongolia doesn't have the strength to defeat Li Xia, but that it must first put down the Alibuge rebellion.

If you don't take advantage of the break with Brother Ali this year to take back Sichuan and Shu, and raise your troops next time, you don't know if it will be two or three years later...

Thinking of this, Liu Zheng felt that many things in the past two or three years were very strange.

In the past, the Song court let civil and military officials take official positions remotely. It was ridiculous to say that Xingyuan was unified and Lizhou was appeased.

In a blink of an eye, Liu Jia Dalang, who had come to persuade him to surrender, defected to Li Xia instead. This time, even Dengzhou was captured by Li Xia.

What's even more ridiculous is that the cavalry led by Li Xia was called the Song Army, and they entered Heluo, roundabout, interspersed, and rushed;

It's as if I've surrendered to the enemy, but it's as if I haven't...

Just thinking of this, Xia Yangdu can already be seen from far away.

Liu Zheng raised a binocular and looked towards the west bank.

This watch tube is the so-called "exquisite gift" that Ahema gave him. It is made of jade and amethyst, which is very valuable, and it was stolen from Li Xia's army.

Watch tubes have been very popular among generals in Sichuan and Shaanxi. It is not too difficult to steal one or two, and the principle is simple.

The difficulty is that Sichuan and Shanxi used more crystal clear and more suitable wafers, and it is not yet known how to fire them. For the time being, Ahema used jade and amethyst first.

In the pan-purple picture, Liu Zheng could see the fortress built by the Song army on the west bank of the Yellow River, and the water fence enclosing Xiayang Ferry...

"Foot trick." He muttered to himself.

Water battles are not like that. Ships have to be flexible, instead of surrounding the ferry and defending it like a fortified city.

It can be seen that although there are many generals who are good at water warfare in the Song army, there are none in Li Xia's army.

If Liu Zheng were to arrange it, Zhang Jue, who was born in Sichuan and Shu, would be more suitable for guarding Longxi, and Li Lao Jieshuai... Li Zengbo, who was born in Beijing and Lake, would be more suitable for guarding Guanzhong.

He raised his binoculars and saw Song army flags planted on the fortress.

Zhang Jue's banner could not be seen on the river, only the banner of Xu Kui, the guard of Xiayang Ferry, could be seen.

……

"Void soldiers are not the elite of the Song army."

Soon, Liu Zheng made a judgment.

His eldest son, Liu Yuan, asked, "Why did father make such an assertion?"

Liu Yuan was 27 years old at the time, and he inherited Liu Zheng's burly and heroic spirit, and he has the demeanor of a general in every gesture.

"Since last year, Sichuan and Shanxi have eliminated a large number of redundant soldiers. Except for some elite soldiers, all the troops stationed in various places have farms. When have so many troops gathered in one place at the same time?"

At this point in Liu Zheng's words, he casually handed the binoculars to Liu Yuan's hand, and said, "Look at those Song soldiers yourself."

"A lot of them have lost their armor."

"Either a prisoner without armor, or a militiaman who can't bear the weight of the armor, they are definitely not the elite of the Song army. Zhang Jue is bluffing."

"He really led the elite to Nanyang?"

"It's very possible." Liu Zheng's face was calm, and he said after a while: "But it's not necessarily, or it may be trying to lure me to take the initiative,"

"Inducing us to attack?"

"They are not as good as us in water warfare, and they want to lure us to Guanzhong to annihilate them." Liu Zheng said: "But their calculations failed, I am not so easy to be fooled, and Shi Tianze and I are working together, they are really not our opponents. "

After he finished speaking, he had already walked a few steps, stepped onto the general platform and began to direct...

First, the driftwood fell down the turbulent river, and crashed into the wooden fence of Xiayang Ferry. Amidst the loud noise, several ships of the Song army were cracked.

After that, the sound of the wooden frame twisting sounded on the Mongolian warship, and the fireball was thrown towards Xiayang Ferry.

On the shore, there were also gun carriages that fired back at the Mongolian ships, firing thunderbolt cannons from a distance.

"boom!"

The impact sound was sparse at first, but gradually became denser and louder.

The cracked wood drifted downstream along the water of the Yellow River.

Afterwards, a rain of arrows shot at each other...

The advantage of the Mongolian army's navy is that it is smooth, and the arrows and fireballs are farther and more advantageous than those of the Song army.

Because the initiative is with them, the time to start the war is their choice.

Liu Zheng is also worthy of being called a famous general, and he firmly grasped the chance of victory in this small battle.

"The Song army is defeated!"

"Take the ferry! Take the ferry! Take their cannon..."

"It's an empty soldier! The Song army is not elite, and the tents are empty..."

~~
That night.

Listening to Lin Zi's report, Zhang Jue frowned slightly.

"Xiayang Ferry has been lost. Liu Zheng was very careful. Instead of attacking Heyang camp immediately, he sent out scouts to investigate. My men were almost shot and killed by them..."

"How many troops are stationed at Xiayang Ferry?"

"It should be less than a thousand people."

"Where is his force? On the ship? The ship is moored at the ferry? Linked?"

"No, they are stationed at Wuwangdu on the east bank."

Zhang Jue was surprised, and asked back, "Liu Zheng has already captured Xiayangdu, so he didn't garrison the west bank?"

"No."

"Very cautious." Zhang Jue got up, and murmured around the map: "He is waiting, waiting for news from Wuguan, Longxi, and Yan'an Mansion...cautious..."

Zhang Jue didn't really know Liu Zheng well, from Twelve Heroes' victory over Xinyang to his defeat at Jiantandu, he thought Liu Zheng was a brave general.

Now it seems that it is biased.

a long time.

"Let him capture the Heyang Camp."

Zhang Jue finally made up his mind, and repeated: "I have to let him capture the Heyang camp."

Lin Zi was startled and said: "No. Once the camp is lost, Heyang City will surely fall. In this way, our Yellow River defense line will be completely cut off by Liu Zheng, and we will not be able to communicate from the beginning to the end. In case the Mongolian army drives directly to Chang'an..."

"If we don't destroy Liu Zheng's main force as soon as possible, Ashu will drive directly to Chang'an, and will be attacked by the enemy. How to prevent it? I have a hunch that Ashu will come soon."

"Premonition?! But the king of the county only said that he would lose Xia Yangdu, but he didn't say that Heyang camp would also be lost..."

"He said that I will take full command." Zhang Jue waved his hand and said, "You continue to inquire about information, and I will call the generals to discuss matters and discuss how to abandon the camp."

"Zhang Shuai, have you ever calculated how much loss this will cause..."

Zhang Jue shook his head, his eyes were only stern.

He came from Diaoyu City.

Where is Fishing City?Building a fortress to defend Shu almost gave up all the cities in Sichuan and Shu, and tens of thousands of people left their homes. How much loss did they have?But in this way, the victory of killing the Mongolian Khan in World War I was achieved.

In Zhang Jue's eyes, there is no reluctance to fight.

If you want to win, what loss do you count?
If you lose, you have nothing.

"This is taking the Yellow River defense line, taking the whole Guanzhong at risk..."

Seeing that Lin Zi continued to chatter, Zhang Jue was too lazy to talk, so he simply picked up an ax and hacked the case to pieces.

"Oh!"

Lin Zi was stunned in the middle of his speech, and found that Zhang Jue, who was usually gentle and elegant, had become fierce and frightening as soon as he picked up the axe.

"I can't bear to let the child not be able to trap the wolf." Zhang Jue turned his head and said, "Shut up, just follow orders..."

(End of this chapter)