Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 161 The King Abandons the North Sea (2)

Duan Huaixian acted very decisively, as soon as he returned to Lumei City, he ordered Wang Tongdeng and Zhao Xingde to return home.

Zhao Xingde went to say goodbye to Li Yong, only to find that he and Liu Zhiyuan had already led the caravan to set off, leaving only a letter telling Zhao Xingde that he could contact him through the Fuhai Post Post, and if the caravan was successful, the generals would pass through The Fuhai ticket number was handed over to Zhao Xingde.Li Yong also said that the scale of caravans selling treasure goods will become larger and larger, and persuaded Zhao Xingde to use the money he earned as capital before investing in it, and cooperate with Chen Dong to spread the treasure goods merchants widely in Song Dynasty.Zhao Xingde showed Li Yong's letter to Lieutenant Duan and other sergeants, and the sergeants also had great hopes.

On the day of departure, in order to avoid trouble, Duan Huaixian only brought three marching Sima to see him off. Later, the merchants of Xia Kingdom in Lumei City complained to Chen Xizhai why they didn't let everyone see him off.Lumei Crown Prince John Komnenos breathed a sigh of relief after learning about this.After receiving assurances from Xia Guo envoys Chen Xizhai and Duan Huaixian, he quickly devoted all his energy to the battle to consolidate the position of the crown prince.Natalia Komnenos, on the contrary, alienated Manshul because of her mother's difficult situation.However, it is said that the envoy of Moos, king of Ross, is already on his way, and the mother and daughter often quarrel about this.

In addition to the more than 30 people who participated in the coercion of Crown Prince Lumei who returned to China this time, more than [-] family sergeants returned to China in rotation according to the Garrison Edict.Zhao Xingde and others left Golden Horn Bay by sea boat, sailed to Haixi Port, and stayed in Zhenxi Fort for several days, waiting for Xia Guo's caravan to return to the river together.This time there are much more soldiers stationed in Zhenxi Fort than when Chengying Camp came three years ago.Even though he is a centurion, Zhao Xingde had to share a room with Du Chuijiao and Liu Zheng.

Although the room is narrow, one side of the window faces the Black Sea, the sea breeze blows day and night, and the white birds fly outside the window, which is refreshing.From the window overlooking Haixi Port, three large ships are moored under the tower of Zhenxi Fort. The sergeants and sailors are carefully installing several huge iron barrel guns on the front deck of the ships.A team of sergeants drove twenty draft horses to push the winch, and the pulleys winding the iron cables made rattling noises. Zhao Xingde was really worried that the weight of several thousand kilograms would break the axles.When the artillery hoist was raised two feet higher than the ship's front deck, the officer gave an order, and the sergeants yelled loudly together, pulled the bridle of the animals vigorously, and stopped pushing the winch.The craftsman pulled the mechanism, the cast iron claws buckled the ratchet, and there was a loud bang. The instantaneous momentum made the winch tremble slightly, and then it remained motionless, stably suspending the cannon in the air.

Another team of sergeants was shirtless, showing their naked upper body muscles, chanting along with the officers, and carefully pushing the boom.The sweat of the sergeants dripped to the ground in big drops, as if with a burning smell.The boom rotated slowly, the iron cable hanging the cannon was stretched straight, floating slightly in the air, and the heavy copper cannon gradually moved over the sea ship.

When the position of the iron barrel gun was roughly aligned with the gun position already placed on the front deck, the iron cable was slowly lowered.On the front deck of the ship, a group of sergeants and sailors raised their hands high, grabbed the ropes tied around the barrel of the iron barrel gun, and pulled the direction together under the command of the officer.Until the end, the cannon weighing several thousand catties slammed, and it happened to be placed on the gun mount, and the sea ship and the sergeants and sailors on the dock burst into loud cheers.

"Good!" Zhao Xingde secretly praised, with a smile on his face, he hadn't seen this scene for a long time.He took a deep breath of the air that smelled of rusted iron, oil stains, and sweat, and he was in a particularly happy mood.

"Use this thing to destroy the pirates, enough for those guys to drink a pot." Wang Tongdeng flipped through a military newspaper, which said that because the pirates 'harassed' the merchant ships, the military government was going to make a thorough settlement.Du Chuijiao curled his lips and sighed, "It seems like we are going to kill the grass and root out the roots. When the water is clear, there will be no fish. It will be difficult for Jian Cheng and the others to make a fortune in the future." After Zhao Xingde left, Ming Hongdu recommended Jian Cheng Acting as the centurion temporarily, Duan Huaixian also reported to the military government to elect a new centurion after the sergeants have replenished the full amount.

Zhao Xingde carefully looked at the barrel and caliber of the iron barrel cannon. "This is clearly a siege cannon." He thought to himself, how could it be useful to fight pirates.He shook his head slightly, but didn't point it out.Since it was written like this in the military newspaper, there is naturally a reason for it to be written like this.But Wang Tongdeng shouted: "It's really unreasonable!"

"What's going on?" Zhao Xingde asked suspiciously.

He pointed a piece of news in the military newspaper to Zhao Xingde.

Zhao Xingde took it with a frown, and couldn't help but get angry after watching it.It turns out that since Yelu Dashi rebelled in Youzhou, Emperor Yelu Yanxi of the Liao Dynasty had dispatched all the soldiers and horses in the North Academy, and led the elite Pishi Army of the Palace Division to form the Central Army, preparing for the Southern Expedition.First pacify Youzhou, and then go north to aid Huanglong Mansion.Although Yelu Dashi's troops were weak, he recruited troops from the Khitan tribe widely, intending to fight Yelu Yanxi to the death.In order to win people's hearts, Yelu Dashi called for the restoration of the old Khitan system, and actually set up a surrender military prefecture in Daoguang, Nanjing, and forcibly organized the Han people who were originally governed according to the Han county system into surrender slave households.The so-called surrender to slave households was to turn the Han people who were originally governed by the Liao court into slaves who belonged to the various tribes of Khitan.For Yelu Dashi, in terms of the number of troops sent by the tribe, every Khitan warrior who participated in the conquest was rewarded as a slave and corresponding land to the Han people. Although it was recorded in the name of the tribe warrior, the actual benefits belonged to the tribe leader.And in exchange for Yelu Dashi's command of the Khitan tribal army.Yelu Dashi temporarily divided the tribal fighters recruited into five classes. The most brave ones could exchange 100 slaves for the tribe, while the ordinary ones could only exchange 5 slaves.Yelu Dashi announced that the Khitan people who fought bravely and made meritorious service could be knighted, and the reward of slaves could be as high as [-] households.

Although Yelu Dashi recruited a large number of Khitan soldiers and got the tribal leaders to agree to his reorganization, many Han households in Nanjing Road were displaced and even their families were destroyed.In the past, although the governance of the Liao Kingdom was tyrannical, there was still a bit of kingly law. After these Han people were assigned to tribes and sent to the military state, their life and death were dominated by the Khitan tribe.

"He's 'grandmother', the Khitan dog thieves are not afraid of the rebellion of the Han people if they do it like this?" Wang Tongdeng scolded, "He divides the households into the tribes, no one wants people, no food , and fight for the world." He reached out and "slapped" the general newspaper on the table, and shouted: "Why don't Anbei and Anton Army Commander send troops eastward to destroy this bastard!"

Zhao Xingde thought for a moment, then pondered and said: "This Yelu Dashi is a hero, it is impossible for him to tolerate being ignored by the tribal leader. In my opinion, he is temporarily letting it go, just to catch the Khitan tribes and send soldiers to help him Fighting. These tribal leaders, for the immediate benefit, sent the tribal soldiers to his command, and sooner or later they will reap the consequences."

"So, is there a glimmer of hope for Han'er in Nanjing Road?" Du Chuijiao had a little pity in his eyes.

"That's not the case," Zhao Xingde said slowly, "This is the distribution of spoils among the Khitan people. Humans use knives to make fish, so what will happen?" There was a look of pain in his eyes.Outside the window, another burst of cheers erupted, and another cannon weighing several thousand catties was placed on the ship.

In the Dunhuang Linquan Palace, Shi Cui Chunyou, the head of the Protector's Palace, said: "There is a stalemate in the Protector's Mansion, and there is no decision yet. Most of the captains think that the attack on the Ross Kingdom is imminent, and before the end of this battle, no more battles will be fought. However, the Liao people acted so perversely and humiliated our Chinese clan. Kang Deming strongly advocated sending troops to conquer the Liao Kingdom. But Yang Ren believed that the tribal alliance in the north of Mobei was a serious problem. After going out of the fortress, the Anbei Army Commander mobilized the Yinhu cavalry to destroy them with all their strength, so as not to cause future troubles. Yu Zangyun advocated that while the Liao people were fighting, they should first seize Yunzhou and then wait and see. The three school lieutenants also had their own opinions. supporter."

Cui Chunyou's position as the chief historian of the Huguofu is only responsible for the management and daily operation of the subordinate staff of the Huguofu.When deciding on national affairs, more than 400 school lieutenants had their own opinions, among which Kang Deming, Yang Ren and Yu Zangyun were the most outstanding.The three people's styles of making strategies are quite different.The so-called benevolent see benevolence, wise see wisdom, Liu Yi once said, Kang Deming is Confucianism, Yang Ren is Mohism, and Yu Zangyun is Legalism.

"Your Majesty," Liu Yi said in a deep voice, "if you want to take advantage of the 'chaos' in Liao and destroy the country in one fell swoop, the Song Kingdom will definitely take advantage of the fire. We have fought with the Liao and Song armies successively, and our dynasty will have to go out with the whole army, which will take a long time. A long time. In my opinion, before the west is settled, the eastern battlefield should be fought in a small way to weaken the stubborn enemy. When the west is in trouble, we will concentrate our forces in one fell swoop. However, the alliance of the Mobei tribes is unprecedented. Although Haidu Khan's power is still small, he has great ambitions, threatening to unify all the grasslands and let the whole world be his pasture."

Chen Xuan's expression moved slightly, and then turned to contemplation.In his heart, even if he temporarily stopped the long-prepared Battle of Ross, he wanted to take this opportunity to wipe out the Liao Kingdom in one fell swoop, but judging from the prophecy recorded in the ancestor's notes, Jurchen and the Mobei tribe are the real enemies. The Great Song Dynasty in the narrative was greedy for profit and conquered the Liao Dynasty, which resulted in Jurchen becoming big. The "lessons learned from the past" made Chen Xuan have to be extra cautious in the matter of attacking Liao.

After a long time, Chen Xuan said slowly: "Since there are still disputes in the Huguofu, let the Anbei Army Commander prepare first, and after the Battle of Ross is over, then ask the General's Mansion and Huguofu to discuss the matter of conquering Haidu Khan." He paused After a pause, he said, "As for the turmoil in the Liao Kingdom, observe its movements and make sure that the Jurchens in Liaodong do not become powerful."

Liu Yi was slightly taken aback. He used to patrol the borders in Mobei all the year round, so he was very sensitive to the alliance of Mobei tribes, thinking that it was a serious problem for the country's future.For some reason, His Majesty paid special attention to the newly rising Jurchen tribe besides the fierce battle between dragons and tigers in the Liao Kingdom?

At this moment, in the vast Mobei grassland, a group of Khitan cavalry galloped closely guarding an envoy.Suddenly, several clear cries came from the sky, and the messenger looked up, only to see several rare white big eagles hovering high in the sky.Because of its unique fur and color, this kind of raptor is often a tribute to the leader of the Mobei tribe. The Khitan envoy looked happy, shouted loudly, and led the cavalry towards the group of eagles. gallop everywhere.