Dawn of the Empire

Chapter (2:56)

After dressing up, Han Ningshuang sat at the desk and began to review official documents.After a moment, she frowned.The Han army occupied the Guannan area of ​​Suzhou and achieved a great victory in Kaizhou. It seemed to be smooth sailing, but in fact there were hidden worries.The successive successes achieved in the past few months are like a castle built on sand, with an extremely unstable foundation, no matter if the Liao Kingdom or the Jin Kingdom send troops to attack, they will be unable to withstand it.The slow construction of Suzhou Guancheng is even more serious.There is no rush to build a city with rammed earth.If the construction is a little rushed, the ramming will not be strong, and the city wall will be completely watered after a few heavy rains, not to mention it must be able to withstand the bombardment of the Liao army's terrifying siege iron barrel artillery.

She rested her chin on her left hand, tapped Tie Ruyi lightly with her right hand, and said to herself, "Mr. Zhao, is there really a way?"

The maid Sinan mistakenly thought that the eldest lady was asking about herself, hesitated for a while, and timidly said: "Mr. Zhao will definitely have a solution."

Han Ningshuang was slightly taken aback when she heard the words, remembering that Wang Hengzhi once wanted Sinan to be Zhao Xingde's concubine, but was rejected by Zhao Xingde, she said with a smile: "I don't even know what I asked, so I said that Mr. Zhao has a way, Mr. Zhao is right What's so good about you, let you speak for him like this." Like Sinan, a maidservant next to Miss Han will be betrothed to a young hero in the Han army in the future, and Wang Hengzhi is giving her to Han Ningshuang Before, it was clear that there was no relationship between her and Zhao Xingde.Therefore, Han Ningshuang's words were more or less teasing.

"Miss, the maidservant has nothing to do with General Zhao,..., um, that, private..." Sinan is a 15-year-old girl, how can she not stand this, it takes a lot of money With a lot of energy, just now I said the word "private love", my face was flushed like a red cloth, "When Mr. Zhao first came to Kaizhou, everyone couldn't eat, and the king asked us to bring the best food. They were all supplied to Xia Guoying, but Mr. Zhao said that Xia Guoying wanted to eat the same food as the Han people. In the future, Han people would eat the same steamed buns as Xia Guoying. Mr. Zhao also said that cutting down trees and burning charcoal can be exchanged for food in the Central Plains. At the beginning, everyone I don’t believe it, but it turned out that there were steamed buns all over the place. Tong Sidang’s leg was cut off by Khitan bandits in Crouching Tiger Village. Sidang installed prosthetic feet and followed Mr. Zhao to learn how to "operate" artillery, which is even more powerful than before. We couldn't even open the small village of the Khitan people. When we surrounded Kaizhou, no one thought that we could really do it. It was conquered, but Mr. Zhao said that he might be able to conquer it if he gave it a try. In the end, he really succeeded. Everyone in Kaizhou Zhaizi said that Mr. Zhao was the most cunning and clever. military division."

Han Ningshuang joked casually, but she didn't expect Sinan to talk so much in detail. Normally, Wang Xuansu, Wang Hengzhi and others reported that Zhao Xingde's reputation among the Han people in the Yalu River area of ​​Taibai Mountain was getting higher and higher, and they didn't say anything specific. When Sinan said this, Han Ningshuang finally understood.She felt a little unconvinced again.An outsider has such a high reputation among the Han people in Liaodong.When Han Ningshuang was five or six years old, she began riding a sheep to shoot small arrows. When she grew up a little bit, she was told about Han's family hatred and national enmity. She only found the little girl's feelings quite interesting.Even if Chen Kang chased her all the way from Dunhuang to Bianliang for her, Wanyan Zongbi asked her aunt to propose marriage, and her subordinates sometimes privately said that she favored Zhao Xingde, she never thought that she would be like this little girl.The responsibilities that Han Ningshuang has to bear are too arduous, with plots and conspiracies surrounding her, military plans are full of thoughts, and there is no room for a little bit of leisure for wealth.

Seeing Sinan's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, Han Ningshuang stretched out her hand and gently pinched her, teasing her: "You still say you have no affair? It's a pity that Mr. Zhao has a wife. His wife is the most talented woman in the world. Li, virtuous and beautiful, but seems a bit jealous, that's why Mr. Zhao dare not take concubines."

"My maidservant has no personal affair," Sinan was so wronged that she was about to cry, and she muttered, "Eldest... Missy, she is the most talented woman in the world." Han Ningshuang couldn't get rid of her As a joke, he stood up, hung up his sword, put a cloak of blue wolf fur on his body, and said with a smile: "I am not compared with women."

Han Ningshuang and the little maid laughed and laughed so much that she relaxed her mind and continued to review the official documents of the military. It didn't take long before her brows frowned slightly.

According to detailed reports, since Yelu Dashi ascended the throne, the Liao Dynasty has expanded rapidly.Han'er was confiscated as slaves, and apart from a small number of Khitan nobles running workshops and farms, the Khitan people in most tribes had no business at all.These Khitan civilians used to live in extreme poverty, but now after they are enlisted in the military, they just 'play' bows and horses, have a fixed income, and live far better than before, so they are extremely grateful to Yelu Dashi.Relying on the support of the Khitan people at the bottom, Yelu Dashi's rectification of the tribal army, the Jingzhou army, and the Pishi army went smoothly. Even if a few Khitan nobles were dissatisfied, they did not dare to express it.Because the Liao State has always tolerated the aggressive people of the Jin State, many generals of the Han army optimistically thought that the Liao army was vulnerable, but Han Ningshuang was promising. On the contrary, with the national strength and military strength of the Liao State, no Once it is launched, even the three Jin Kingdoms cannot resist it.At that time, the existence of the Han army was nothing more than a stone on the road of Liao's extermination of gold.

On the other hand, although Jin Guo is an ally, it has always had the intention of annexing the Han army.With the great victories and the strengthening of the country, from Wanyan Wu's begging for money, Wanyan's resignation, etc., to the clan heroes such as Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongbi, and even the ordinary Jurchen people of the Jin Kingdom, they all have arrogance. Emotions, more and more people think that the Wanyan tribe is the darling of Changshengtian, while other allies, including the Han people and Bohai people, are becoming less and less important in the minds of Jurchen dignitaries, and even become targets of annexation.Wanyan Aguda has always regarded the Liao Kingdom as his lifelong enemy. When he was alive, he might be able to suppress these ambitious dignitaries, but once he passed away, I am afraid that the situation of the Han people under the Jin Kingdom might not be much better than that of the Liao Kingdom.Even the Han army had to plan for self-protection early.

Regardless of the dissatisfaction of his subordinates, Han Ningshuang concentrated on consolidating the defense of Suzhou Guannan instead of dispatching generals to seize the empty counties of Liao.Even so, she was still worried, and the slow progress of building the city of Suzhou had been weighing on her heart like a rock.Even if all the small fortresses built in the hinterland of Guannan are lost, as long as this Guancheng is still in the hands of the Han army, the Liao people will have to leave obediently after the ice melts, and Guannan is once again dominated by the Han army.And if the Liao army occupies this Guancheng, then the entire hinterland of Guannan in Suzhou will be within the attack range of the Liao cavalry, and the Han army can only stick to a few isolated fortresses.

As it was getting late, Sinan reported to Wang Xuansu to come and invite him.Han Ningshuang tidied her attire again before heading towards the Chinese military tent where the guests were being entertained.

A banquet is held for Zhao Xingde tonight. Han Ningshuang is the host of the Han army, accompanied by Wang Xuansu and Xu Detai. Besides Zhao Xingde, the guests include Liu Zhijian and Du Chuijiao.Except for Liu Zhijian, several of them are old friends from the trip to Huanglong Mansion.After reminiscing about the past and complimenting each other, the atmosphere became warmer.

Wang Xuansu asked Zhao Xingde about the charcoal business, and was quite envious of this way of making money.There are also some woods on the Suzhou side, but they are not enough to build the fortifications, and wood has to be brought in from outside.The Han army expanded to tens of thousands of people in a very short period of time, and there were 40 to [-] Han people in various places. The equipment of the soldiers, the food and clothing of the stockade, and the money and food were spent like running water.Fortunately, Han's firm used to monopolize the trade between Tokyo and Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom. Before and after the rebellion, Han Chang looted and hid a lot of money. After decades of operation, Han's firm can also be called wealthy.But this is only for ordinary businessmen. For military and national affairs, even if the entire business is sold, it can only be used for a short period of time, not a long-term solution.

"I never imagined that the Song Kingdom would need so much charcoal." Wang Xuansu said with emotion, "Only Mr. Zhao who is from the Kanto knows the details." Zhao Xingde laughed and said, "It's just a foolish thing. Suzhou occupies the main sea route. , the future will definitely be a lot of money."

"When will we wait in the future?" Wang Xuansu secretly shook his head in his heart, he only knows how to march and fight, but not making money.The food, fodder and soldiers of the Han army are all raised by the Han business firm controlled by the eldest lady.Feeling a little embarrassed, Wang Xuansu looked at Han Ningshuang.

However, Han Ningshuang changed the subject and asked, "The progress of Nanshan City's construction is too slow. Does Mr. Zhao have a good idea?"

Hearing this, Wang Xuansu complained in his heart.Xu Detai's face was also a little strange.Inviting Zhao De to come to Suzhou to build Nanshan City is just a cover.The main reason is that the Han army commander's office does not want him to continue to increase his prestige in the Yalu River in Taibai Mountain, and overwhelm the host.Even Wang Xuansu, the proposer, did not believe that Zhao Xingde could speed up the progress of building the city. After all, the Han army had thought of every possible way.It's best for everyone to tacitly say this matter, and it would be a little embarrassing to talk about it as soon as they met.

Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "It was a bit difficult at first, but now I think of a way."

"Is this true?"

Zhao Xingde put down the wine cup, and said slowly: "The construction of Nanshan City was slow because it took too much time to ram the earth, and the base of the city wall was very narrow, so it would be useless to increase manpower. When I first encountered this problem, I was also helpless in the next step. Method. It just so happened that a friend built a pavilion not long ago, and it was completed in just two months. The colored paintings and carved flowers were all transported and installed directly after Song Guoding finished them."

"What kind of solution is this?" Han Ningshuang's face darkened, she drank a sip of tea, and said to herself, "Could it be that Mr. Zhao was forced to come to Suzhou, because he felt aggrieved and deliberately entertained me." "I see." Wang Xuansu sarcastically He said, "Does Mr. Zhao mean that Nanshan City will also be built in Song Dynasty?"