Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 271 Important Discussion
Before dawn the next day, Zhu Pei followed Zhang Sanniang's mother and daughter to leave the capital by boat and return to Pingjiang Mansion. When Zhu Yuanjun came to inquire about Zhu Pei's final decision on the third day, he learned that Zhu Pei had left the capital and returned to his hometown. Zhu Yuanjun was stunned, and then he was furious, but he had no choice but to leave Zhu Yuanfeng's mansion full of depression.

Another five days passed, and this afternoon, Fan Ning received a notice telling him to go to Ziwei Hall to attend the meeting the next morning.

Although the notice did not specifically say what was discussed, Fan Ning was keenly aware that it must be related to the official sea trip.

Fan Ning immediately rushed to Zhu Yuanfeng's mansion and found Zhu Yuanfeng.

"You brat, I thought you wouldn't come after Zhu Pei left!" Zhu Yuanfeng couldn't help complaining when he saw Fan Ning.

Fan Ning smiled awkwardly and said, "There are too many things going on recently, I really can't take care of them, old man, don't be angry, I will pay you for it!"

Zhu Yuanfeng was not really angry, he smiled and invited Fan Ning to the study, and let the maid serve tea.

"It seems that Zhao Zongshi is back!"

"I know he's back. Tomorrow morning, the Zhizheng Hall will hold a formal meeting and inform me to attend. I guess I'm going to be ready to go."

"After three years of preparation, it should be about the same."

Zhu Yuanfeng said again: "Should there be an explanation for the stallion?"

Zhu Yuanfeng spent three years smuggling through Xixia by using ants to move, and spent a lot of money to get 150 high-quality Turkic stallions. They have been kept in the Gyeongju horse farm. In December last year, these stallions were secretly After being transported to Pingjiang Mansion, Zhu Yuanfeng was waiting for news from Fan Ning.

Fan Ning nodded, "This issue may be discussed tomorrow. It is best for the old man to arrange for a young man to go to sea with the fleet."

This is why Fan Ning came to see Zhu Yuanfeng today. He knew that Zhu Yuanfeng had spent a lot of energy and wealth on more than 100 stallions. Wouldn't that be a chicken-and-egg fight, so Fan Ning felt that he had the responsibility to protect Zhu Yuanfeng's interests, and asked him to arrange for a child to go there, who would be his representative of interests.

Zhu Yuanfeng immediately understood what Fan Ning meant, he was secretly grateful, and said with a smile: "Since you said so, then let my eldest grandson Zhu Lin follow me to go to sea with full authority!"

Early the next morning, the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council jointly held an important meeting in the side hall of the Ziwei Hall. Since it was arranged in the Ziwei Hall, it meant that Tian Zi would also attend.

This meeting is very important. After three years of preparation, all the material fleets and crews for going to sea are ready. It can be said that everything is ready, and the only thing left is Dongfeng.

In the Ziwei Hall, more than [-] ministers were soon seated, including Xiangguo Pang Ji, Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi, privy secretary Di Qing, fellow privy secretary Han Qi, and the Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, Sanya, Honglu Temple, Qunji, etc. In addition, some special officials also participated in this important meeting, such as Fan Ning and Zhao Zongshi. They have no actual positions, but they sit in the main positions, which shows that they are in this important position. important in the meeting.

At this time, a guard shouted, "The emperor is here!"

The ministers stood up one after another, Zhao Zhen quickly walked into the side hall, and waved to everyone, "All loves, please sit down!"

Everyone sat down one after another, Zhao Zhen sat down on the dragon bed, and then said to everyone: "This meeting is actually called by me, and it is mainly to decide an important matter. This matter is related to the national destiny of my Song Dynasty. I hope everyone handle it seriously!"

The hall was very quiet, Zhao Zhen glanced at everyone, and then said slowly: "In recent years, everyone must have heard some rumors that Song Dynasty wanted to establish a horse breeding base overseas, and the Privy Council also refuted the rumors, here I want to tell This matter is indeed true, not rumors.”

As soon as the emperor's words fell, everyone immediately looked at each other in blank dismay. They were all shocked. They didn't believe that this matter was true before. It was very simple. The political affairs hall had never discussed this matter, and the court meeting had never mentioned it. There was no basis for it, of course it was A matter of chasing after wind and shadow.

But now that the emperor himself admits it, everyone realizes that this matter is of great importance and has been kept secret.

Zhao Zhen said again: "The reason why I convened this meeting is because this matter is a national matter, not my personal matter, so I will officially disclose it to you today, but in order to ensure that the progress of the plan will not be disturbed, I still ask everyone to be conservative." secret."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Zhen waved his hand, and several eunuchs appeared in the hall carrying a huge map. They put the wooden frame on the side so that everyone could see it.

Zhao Zhen nodded and smiled at Zhao Zhongshi: "Faithful, please explain it to everyone!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Zhao Zhongshi walked up to the map, saluted everyone, and then said slowly: "Three years ago, I led a merchant fleet to search for a new horse breeding base in the name of trade. There is evidence before the incident, but I need to bring someone to prove it, we set off from the mouth of the Yangtze River, go northward through the East China Sea, and first arrive at Tamna Island, which is here!"

Zhao Zhong pointed to an island below Koryo on the map with a wooden stick, "This is Tamna Island, which is about the size of Kaifeng Prefecture. There is a small country on the island called Tamna, with a population of about 6000. It belongs to Koryo. It belongs to the country, the king is old, and several sons have fought for the throne, there have been several internal strife, and there is no peace inside, we rested in Tamna for half a month, and then continued to go north."

Zhao Zhong pointed to the strait between Japan and Koryo with a wooden pole and said: "Through the sea area between Koryo and Japan, we went all the way north. After walking for about ten days, we arrived at the northernmost tip of Japan. There is a big island here. , is called Maoren Island, with a radius of thousands of miles, the island is full of forests and grasslands, and only a very small number of natives live there. They do not belong to any country, and our goal is here!"

There was a sudden murmur in the hall, and the high-ranking officials realized where Song's goal was?It turned out to be in the north of Japan.

At this time, Pang Ji asked: "Is there enough pasture and fodder on this big island?"

"It's not just grasslands that can raise horses. You need grass and a large enough space. Pang Ji's inquiry hits the nail on the head!"

At this time, Zhao Yong, the deputy envoy of the Qun Mu Department, got up and said: "Reporting to Xiangguo, I went with Chief Envoy Zhao during the second investigation the year before last, and I went to the island to inspect it myself. There are tens of thousands of hectares of grassland in the northwest corner alone. , The land is very fertile, there are pastures but also other harmful weeds, but it doesn’t matter, as long as we bring enough alfalfa seeds, we can build a large pasture in just one year.”

Zhao Zongshi said: "Actually, we plan to build a city first as a foundation, and then gradually develop the horse pasture. This process will take one or two years."

Wen Yanbo went to the map and looked at it for a while, then frowned and said, "From this hairy island to the mouth of the Yangtze River, the distance is at least thousands of miles. Can the horses withstand such a long distance at sea?"

This is indeed a very serious problem. The distance is indeed too far. Even if the Song Dynasty has developed sea transportation, the war horses may not be able to survive the road. If they are transported to the Song Dynasty, half of them will die.

Zhao Zongshi smiled slightly and said: "I introduced Tamna Island just now, but in fact I intend to use Tamna Island as a transit point for war horses. The distance will be reduced by half, and the problem of war horse transportation will be completely solved."

Only then did everyone heave a long sigh of relief. At this time, Emperor Zhao Zhen said: "Let me introduce the preparations to everyone!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Zhao Zongshi bowed and saluted, and said to everyone: "We have spent three years preparing, and most of the time was spent on shipbuilding. At present, we have built a thousand large ships with more than [-] stone, of which there are three hundred The horse transport ship, the horse transport ship is still under construction. In addition, the Great Song Navy is actively training. An army of [-] people has been trained, and [-] mares are ready to be transported. However, we have encountered a problem now. "

Zhao Zhen frowned, "What problem did you encounter?"

Zhao Zongshi sighed and said: "We didn't think carefully and prepared [-] Hequ horse stallions, but Weichen took a look before returning to the capital. These Hequ stallions are not good, and the horses bred are not suitable for war horses. It is only now that we can have a batch of Turkic stallions, and it seems a little too late."

Zhao Zhen showed displeasure on his face, and said very unhappy: "Why didn't you consider this matter early, and wasted three years."

Zhao Zongshi bowed and said, "It's my fault!"

At this moment, Fan Ning stood up and said, "My Majesty, this matter has been resolved!"

(End of this chapter)