Dawn of the Empire

452 Chapter 85

Li Sihai said that it would be fine if the silver mine was in the country of Xia. As long as the mining rights of the silver mine were bid for, they would be able to secure a large amount of cash, but the mine was not in the country of Xia now.At that time, it is hard to say that other wealthy businessmen in Xia Kingdom will not join in.In the past, in other countries, merchants from the Xia Kingdom fought among themselves for the mining rights of mineral deposits, which instead benefited the poor precedent of the Fanbangyi people.

"Li Sihai's worries are not unreasonable." Zhao Xingde murmured, "The merchants are too powerful." He put the silk script on the candle. Since the letter revealed his identity, he was dealing with these confidential letters. , be extra careful.Seeing it turn into a wisp of smoke, Zhao Xingde sighed when he recalled the past that the wealthy businessmen of later generations also fought against each other because of certain businesses, so that outsiders benefited.Thinking of this, his heart suddenly moved, and he remembered a treatment that he had vaguely known before. He thought about it several times and felt that it was quite feasible.

"It is inevitable for merchants to scramble for Dongying Yinshan. There are many aspects involved in this matter. According to the law of self-defense and market change in our dynasty, the court cannot intervene too much. In order to prevent the barbarians from benefiting from it, we may as well follow the rules of bidding for domestic mining rights. It is a law to compete for the concession rights of this kind of business abroad. No matter where the mine is located or who it belongs to, once a certain Xia country business firm bids for the concession right of the mine deposit, other Xia country business firms cannot compete with it abroad The Xia Guo Commercial Bank with the franchise can mine mines by itself, or it can cooperate with other Xia Guo Commercial Banks, or even transfer them. In this way, it can prevent Xia Guo Commercial Banks from competing with each other in Fanbang and benefiting people from other countries. Xia Guo After all, the Xia people benefited from the extra money paid by the commercial bank due to internal strife. As for the benefits of discovering mineral deposits outside the territory, it is also included in the bidding money, which is divided [-]-[-] with the court. respect, it is impossible to protect the interests of ordinary discoverers. Only the powerful and powerful can subdue the local snakes and fight for the greatest interests for the Xia Kingdom."

What Zhao Xingde thought in his heart, he immediately picked up the pen and ink, and began to write profusely on a piece of white paper.He read the letter from the beginning to the end, and thought to himself: "Eastern Europe has always been rich in gold and silver, and the Dongmuhang family is not the only one who is familiar with this sea route. The bidding for silver mining licenses must be very fierce. If only the Dongmuhang family participates, I am afraid that the financial resources are not enough. If necessary, Yajiao Company, Dongmu Company, Chunyu Iron Works and Gaochang Company will jointly bid for it. It will be somewhat sure. The Dongying Kingdom has always been militaristic, and the government regards money as life. Even if the firm buys this The concession of the silver mine excludes the competition from other merchants of the Xia Kingdom, and I don’t have considerable strength, so it’s difficult to subdue this local snake.”

After he finished writing the letter, he handed it to Shi Jingkui, and said with a smile, "Zhao wants to develop a strategy for the National Protectorate, and Jingkui will also refer to it in detail." Quite insightful.This matter is very important, so Zhao Xingde listened to his opinion.

Shi Jingkui took the secret letter, looked at it from the beginning, saw that Zhao Xingde mentioned Yinshan at the beginning, he was startled, and said to himself: "How much money is involved in this, General Zhao told it frankly, it shows that he is sincere." Hot, read on, the light in the eyes is getting brighter and brighter, gradually turning from surprise to admiration.When he saw the end, he folded up the letter and sighed: "If the imperial court had implemented this strategy earlier, why wait until recent years to subdue Dali, our Shu Kingdom alone is already enough to subdue the Nanman."

Merchants in central Shu travel in Dali, Jiaozhi, Champa, Chenla and other countries. These vassal powers have obtained the goods of Shu, but they mostly use the mentality of merchants in central Shu, monopolizing local specialties such as mines and gems. The price is for sale.However, Shu merchants often competed to reduce prices, which benefited the local Tuwang Shengfan for no reason.However, the imperial court of the Kingdom of Shu was trapped in self-defense and changing laws and could not intervene.If Zhao Xingde's strategy for the imperial court was followed, the merchants in Sichuan and China would naturally merge into one, and Shu would benefit much more from the Nanman trade.

"But," Shi Jingkui hesitated, "Does the law of our dynasty control the affairs of other countries?"

"Although we can't control the business and mines of other countries," Zhao Xingde said in a low voice, "but we can control the people of our Xia country so that they don't kill each other. That's enough."

"Then what if the firm that bid for the concession at the beginning is unable to develop the mine? He can't do it, and I can't do it with other firms. Wouldn't it be a waste of money for outsiders." Shi Jingkui questioned again.There is no undefeated general on the battlefield, and ups and downs in the market are also common.It would indeed be a problem if a certain Xiaguo commercial firm bid for the franchise but was unable to realize it due to poor management.

"In this case," Zhao Xingde pondered, "the commercial company will also sell the franchise, which will become a real benefit. A normal businessman would not do the thing of starving to death while holding a golden rice bowl. The only thing that can What I worry about is that foreign commercial firms take this opportunity to buy the franchise in our dynasty and exclude our commercial firms. Therefore, we must make a rule that this franchise can only be granted to commercial firms in our dynasty and exclude commercial firms from other countries from participating in the bidding. invalid."

Shi Jingkui nodded in approval, and after the two discussed for a while, Zhao Xingde picked up the pen again and formally wrote the memorial to the General's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion.Then he wrote another letter to Li Sihai, attached the memorial, and sent it to Li Sihai together with the letter. If he had no objection, he would submit it in the names of both of them.

"The general is far-sighted," Shi Jingkui said happily, "Prime Minister Liu will be very happy that the country has an extra source of income."

Zhao Xingde nodded, and said with a smile: "Shi Sima also contributed to this." He handed the letter to Shi Jingkui, and asked him to hand it over to the Pigeon Station of the Military Intelligence Department tomorrow morning.Li Sihai's actions were impeccable. He used the pigeon post of the Military Intelligence Department to contact Zhao Xingde. Although it was a bit out of order and seemed to be acting for personal gain, but this matter was serious, he also avoided greater suspicion.Zhao Xingde understood his intention, so he also wrote back to him through the pigeon post of the Military Intelligence Department.

The stars and the moon were dark, the night was dark, and there was some water mist in the night wind.In order to save lamp oil, ordinary people often go to bed not long after dark, but on this night, in the courtyard of the guest houses in the water village, many houses and wooden sheds were brightly lit, and there were loud discussions Rumor has it that the heroes from all walks of life are still discussing the leniency of the military regulations.

............

In the same dark night, in the government office of Dengzhou, Zhizhou Xu Yue felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles.A piece of imperial edict was quietly placed on the table, and the flickering candlelight made his face flicker.

After the Liao army captured Bianliang, in addition to sending a partial division south to invade the Jianghuai River, the main force of the Liao army stayed in Bianliang for more than two months.During this period, Feishu exchanges between Luoyang, Jiankang and Bianliang continued.The Luoyang imperial court sent envoys to test the possibility of peace talks, and even proposed that the Yellow River should be used as a boundary, Hebei should belong to the Liao Kingdom, Henan should belong to the Song Dynasty, and the two countries should stop fighting.The North Court of the Liao Kingdom was only vain, and never gave a clear answer, but the Luoyang court always had hope in its heart.Even when the Liao army attacked Jiankang, the Song army was able to avoid it and did not make much resistance.However, peace talks were just wishful thinking. Just after the cold winter, the grass and trees turned green for a long time, and the situation changed. There was bad news that the Liao army marched south, and the troops were directed at Xiangyang.

Dengzhou, also known as Wu Shengjun, is the gateway to Xiangyang, and also bears the brunt of the main force of the Liao Army's southern expedition.

Jing Chao, the general manager of soldiers and horses, saw Xu Yue pacing back and forth, still unable to make a decision, a flash of contempt flashed in his eyes, and he urged: "Most of the Liao Kingdom is cavalry, and there are already Liao army scouts outside the city. In a day or two, the army will kill the city, Master Xu should make a decision earlier."

In the southeast camp, he was known as the enemy of ten thousand people, but he was not Liu Yanqing's direct descendant.Jing Chao was very dissatisfied with the dispatch of the garrison in Dengzhou.He asked Liu Yanqing to retreat to Xiangyang, but Liu Yanqing just refused.Jing Chao suspected in his heart that this was a murder with a knife, but he dared not disobey his orders.This time the Liao army came south aggressively, but in the name of Emperor Song Zhao Ke first issued an order to Dengzhou, asking the civil and military officials of Dengzhou to cooperate with the Liao army to attack the rebellious minister Liu Yanqing.Yelu Tiege, the privy envoy of the North Court, also sent someone to bring Jing Chao a letter from the privy envoy Qin Hui, granting him the false title of envoy of Wu Shengjun.Official titles in the Song Dynasty are nothing in the eyes of the North Court of the Liao Kingdom.For General Song, this was a dream come true.

Xu Yue stopped and asked, "General Jing, look, this, this will, what should we do?"

Jing Chao turned his face to the side and avoided answering: "According to the imperial court system, matters related to the city and the soldiers and horses are decided by the magistrate of the prefecture. He will be a rough man in the end, and he only knows how to follow orders." Although he said so However, Xu Yue was expected to be unable to bear it.Xu You was a cowardly person, and when Cao Di asked him to congratulate Zhao Qi from Luoyang, he immediately did so.Now, under the pressure of the Liao army, and then changed to follow Zhao Ke's will, this Lord Zhizhou should be called to recite it.

Sure enough, Xu Yue hesitated for a long while, and finally bowed his head and said: "The battle is invincible. In order to protect the people of this city, since the government has issued a decree, let's act according to the decree." He sighed and ordered the scribe to come in , Make some preparations for the army to cross the border.

Qin Hui made it clear in the letter that if Dengzhou was used by Zhao Qi and Liu Yanqing and resisted behind closed doors, once the city was broken, it would probably be a situation of slaughtering the city.And as long as the Dengzhou government provided the Liao army with the necessary food and grass, and the soldiers and horses stationed in the embargo moved out of the city to cooperate with the Liao army in attacking Xiangyang, then the Liao army would only be stationed outside the city, and would not enter the city without special changes.

The same imperial edict was placed on the desks of government offices in Tangzhou, Yingzhou, Suizhou, Caizhou, and Fangzhou.Some were sent by envoys from Bianliang swaggeringly under the escort of the forbidden army, and some were sent secretly through the old guards.In the past few days, the prefectures and counties near Daying Xiangyang are in panic.Even Liu Yanqing was deployed in the southeast camp, and he received an edict from Zhao Ke, ordering him to change his past and cooperate with the Liao army to attack the usurpers in the southeast states and counties.Liu Yanqing did not receive the call, and he even refused the envoys to enter Xiangyang City.The envoy from Bianliang had no choice but to read Zhao Ke's edict aloud under the city, and then left arrogantly.