The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

() The peace talks were completed, and that night Su Jin hosted a grand banquet for Zhang Yuan and the others.

If Zhang Yuan hadn't learned the truth at the end of the banquet while chatting with the two generals of the Song Dynasty who were sitting beside him, it would have been a very good evening.

"Master Zhang, you Xia people are really flexible. You can fight when you want to fight, and you can make peace when you want to make peace. I admire you." A black-faced general praised with his tongue and thumb.

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "That's natural. If we are divided for a long time, we must reunite. For a long time, we must divide. Fight when it is time to fight, and make peace when it is time to make peace."

"Li Yuanhao is really kind. It's really puzzling that he agreed to be a minister to Song Dynasty so easily." A red-faced general interjected.

Zhang Yuan said triumphantly with Jiu Jin: "It's a waste of time to teach a few generals, don't think I don't know your ghost idea, are you ready to attack my Great Xia? In this way, you I have no chance to make a move, hahaha, haha.” ..

"Attack Xia Guo?" The black-faced general asked in surprise, "When did you issue the order? As the commander of Jingzhou's deployment, why didn't I know such an order?

"I don't know either. I'm also a captain, how come I don't know about this?" the red-faced general said.

Zhang Yuan said: "Don't pretend, do you think I don't know that you were ordered to gather Weizhou City to concentrate your troops to attack Huizhou? Those cartloads of food, teams of soldiers came into the city, when I Are you blind? Moreover, the [-] troops from the Yanyan and Huanqing Routes have already set out to target Yuzhou. Drinking here, hahahaha."

The black-faced general and the red-faced general looked confused, looking at Zhang Yuan as if looking at a fool: "Where did you hear these nonsense? We came from all states just to get the military pay and food for the next few months. This year, the court sent all the food and salaries to Weizhou. We came from various cities to take the food and grass back. Of course, we have to bring more soldiers and horses in the heavy snow and mud. Besides, this time we received a huge amount of food and grass for one season, but There is no room for us to be sloppy, how can we plan to gather and attack Huizhou?"

"What? Didn't you come to gather to attack Huizhou?" Zhang Yuan was a little confused.

"I think you've lost your mind and gone crazy. Since yesterday, the soldiers and horses escorting food from all walks of life have set foot on their way home one after another. Master Su stayed behind and said that there will be a banquet tonight, and he wants us to attend the banquet." If you go any further, you think too much." The red-faced general laughed.

"Then...Fan Zhongyan led an army of [-]..."

"Cut... Master Fan is still in the capital. He is now promoted to be the Deputy Privy Envoy, and he will return to Huanqing Yanyan to sit in the town after a year. How could he lead the army? What nonsense are you talking about?" The two Song generals felt that this Zhang Yuan must be an idiot , imagined these shadowless things out of thin air, Qiqi turned his head to talk to others, and didn't like to talk to him anymore.

Zhang Yuan was chilled from head to toe, and gradually understood in his heart: My God, I fell for this kid's trick, everything was in Su Jin's design, the assembly of soldiers was fake, and the convoy of armor and equipment It was false, and the news I heard in the middle of the night was even more false. I thought I had seen the Song people's tricks, but I was completely deceived and lost my mind.

Why are you so useless?The Song army was also seriously injured, so how could it be able to attack Daxia at this time?If it is really capable, why did only tens of thousands of people defend the city in the Battle of Weizhou?Fan Zhongyan, who was restrained by tens of thousands of people in the Jianing Army, was unable to come to help, which shows that the Song Army was afraid of Daxia at all, and was unable to fight it head-on; How could they travel long distances in the wind and snow to attack Daxia without a horse to ride?Isn't this suicidal?Why didn't I think of these things in my own mind beforehand?

Zhang Yuan's resentful eyes passed through the crowd, and he found Su Jin who was toasting with a group of generals. Laughing at his own stupidity, Zhang Yuan wished he could find a crack in the ground and get into it, so as to be ashamed.

The embarrassment is not the main thing, Zhang Yuan immediately thought that he had agreed to the many rude demands of the Song State on his own initiative, if Li Yuanhao knew about this, his family would be unable to escape Ling Chi, no, this matter You must not make it clear that even if you suffer from being dumb, you will admit it. You can only take the nothingness as the truth.

Zhang Yuan made up his mind and put a smile on his face. Although he felt as disgusted as swallowing a dozen blowflies, he could only forcefully swallow the thing that was churning and about to vomit, pretending to be happy.

……

The news of the peace talks between the two countries spread all over the world after a few days. The kings and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty were naturally very satisfied with the content of the peace talks. Although Li Yuanhao was furious, Zhang Yuan narrated what he saw in Weizhou with eloquence. Once again, Li Yuanhao is a person who knows how to choose. In the choice between subjugation and embarrassment, he will naturally know which one to choose; after calming down, he comforts Zhang Yuan and gives praise.

Of course, for Li Yuanhao, it is impossible for him to serve Song Guo like a courtier. He decided to block the content of the peace talks. In the future, when Song Guo comes, all the envoys will be arranged in Youzhou. He does not want to speak in front of the Xingqing Mansion officials Hu Wansui took over the imperial decree from the Emperor of Song, and he threw the gold and silver bestowed by Zhao Zhen into the well on the day it was delivered.

Su Jin has a great reputation in the court of the Song Dynasty. This person is really not a dandy. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is versatile in both civil and military affairs. The matter of the Northwest was originally a big concern of the Song Dynasty. It ended so perfectly, and no one else was so lucky. Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan, two recognized virtuous ministers, worked hard in the Northwest for several years and experienced several defeats, but still Relying on Su Jin to end the uncertain situation.

At the beginning, Zhao Zhen bestowed Su Jin with a test: number one scholar, heroic courage, and a face with a thick wall. The success of Zhao Zhen also made all the officials feel awe of Zhao Zhen. The emperor didn't give it in vain. Although he looked easy-going, he was like a bright mirror in his stomach.

……

For several days in a row, the sun was shining, the snow had melted, and the weather had warmed up; taking advantage of the fine weather, Su Jin organized hundreds of strong men to build a resting station for a large number of horses in the south of Liangzhou. The post station that gathers for fifty miles extends from south to north, but there seems to be no movement on the Yeli tribe. Su Jin decides to go to the Yeli tribe in person after the year. It was time for the first batch of war horses to exchange for food, and what Su Jin had to do was to mobilize food from the south to hoard it before then. For this reason, Su Jin had already mobilized more than 300 million coins for backup.

Before leaving Beijing, Su Jin ordered Qian Henian, the big treasurer of Huitong Bank, to take out 300 million deposit coins for backup. The first investment of Suji Huitong Bank was in this business. Huitong Bank has been relying on exchange pumping to maintain income. Balanced expenditure, almost no surplus profit, without large investment, the money will be dead money in the bank, and this time is just the best investment opportunity.

The 300 million yuan was brought by Qian Henian to the southern states to start a large-scale purchase of grain. This year's grain harvest was bumper. After the official warehouse was full, the private stock was still abundant. Wanguan money has been turned into nearly 300 million shi of grain, and these grains will be transported to the northwest one after another year after year.

Su Jin was so busy that his feet didn't touch the ground. On official matters, the defense of the entire Qinfeng Road and Jingyuan Road had to be re-planned. More than a dozen fortifications had to be built in key locations, and the livelihood and relief of the people might have to be properly arranged. Su Jin was exhausted by all kinds of complicated matters, such as choosing a site to build a racecourse, how to hide the horses from being transported into the army, and so on.

And at this juncture, the news that Yan Biyun, who was in Qinzhou, was going to give birth to Weizhou, and Su Jin who got the news hurriedly dropped everything at hand, and rushed back to Qinzhou in the starry night.