Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The reality was more favorable than Ju Ming expected. If the price of grain was slightly raised, merchants would continue to transport grain, mainly from the Huaihe River and Luoyang basins.

Who knows where the food is usually hidden!

The imperial court directly bought these high-priced grains, keeping part of them as strategic reserves and selling part to merchants at a discount.

This operation gave Tokyo merchants great insights.

I have only heard of the imperial court buying low and selling high, but I have never seen the imperial court buying high and selling low.

This shows the difference between the Ming Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, and also shows the determination of Zhu and his son to stabilize food prices. Which grain store dares to sell at a price higher than the official price? Once verified, it will be confiscated and exiled!

Not only are more and more grain merchants arriving in Beijing, but other merchants are also arriving in an endless stream.

Hotels in Tokyo, large and small, have resumed business one after another, and even Fanlou has begun to open. However, the purchase of alcohol is still limited and the price is high.

Li Renli arrived in Tokyo at the end of April and encountered this situation.

Even before we entered the city, we were already overwhelmed with things to see.

Honglu Temple sent people to bring them into the city. After arriving at the location, they asked about the situation. Li Renli was excited and surprised, and asked: "Is this Duting Station? Isn't it Duting West Station?"

"This is the Duting Posthouse. Your envoy, please come in." The official of Honglu Temple said with a smile.

Receiving such courtesy, Li Renli felt that the negotiation would definitely be successful.

Dutingyi was a place specially used to receive envoys from the Liao Dynasty, and later became a place specially used to receive envoys from the Jin Dynasty.

Second-rate countries like Xixia can only live in Dutingxiyi.

What's the difference?

Duting Station is located in a prime location in the inner city of Tokyo, close to the imperial offices and the Daxiangguo Temple.

Dutei West Station is located near the city wall in the outer city of Tokyo. Next to it are private houses, medicine shops, temples and Buddhist temples.

Li Renli stayed in the guest room, and everything he saw felt high-end. After all, this place was exclusive to the envoys of the sovereign state. He couldn't help but sigh: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is really a king of etiquette!"

Deputy envoy Cao Changyong muttered: "Isn't it just that the house is better, why should I be so happy?"

Li Renli said proudly: "You don't know that since the founding of the Xia Dynasty, all envoys have lived in Dutingxi Post. I am the first Xia envoy to be invited to Duting Post."

"If you show courtesy for nothing, you are either committing adultery or stealing." Cao Changyong said.

Li Renli was instantly disappointed, feeling that he had nothing in common with the man named Cao.

While they were talking, an official came in with the helpers and asked them where they needed to be cleaned, and said they could make requests at any time if they needed anything.

Li Renli felt more and more comfortable, and it seemed that even the handymen at Dutingyi seemed so polite.

As we said before, Dutingyi has been changed to the "Central Intelligence Agency".

This is Shi Yuangong's lair, and even the handymen are intelligence officers!

That night, Xu Kangzong, who had been transferred to the minister of Honglu Temple, personally hosted a banquet in honor of the Xixia envoys.

Xu Kangzong was extremely talented, which suited Li Renli's taste, and the two of them could be said to have "hit it off".

At the dinner table, Xu Kangzong took out two kinds of drinks, one was traditional rice wine, and the other was liquor that has emerged in Hanzhong in recent years (liked by working people).

"Your Majesty, please taste it." Xu Kangzong said with a smile.

"So spicy!" Li Renli breathed.

"Good wine!" Cao Changyong praised.

Xu Kangzong said: "This kind of wine is called Shaodaozi. Once you drink it, it will feel like a red-hot knife entering your throat. It is better to drink it in winter. Just one sip will make your whole body hot. Even if it snows in the winter, you will not be afraid of the cold! Moreover, this kind of wine The brewing process was created by my Majesty the Ming Emperor himself."

Li Renli didn't really like it at first, but he heard that it was invented by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He quickly took a sip and found that it really had a different taste, so he praised: "Returning to sweetness after suffering, is like a benevolent gentleman. He is strong and unyielding in life, and he is righteous and peaceful among people." .”

Cao Changyong drank it all in one gulp and commented with the same two words: "Good wine!"

Xu Kangzong took the opportunity to remove the rice wine and began to chat as he pleased. While chatting, he talked about his experience of being an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin.

It was the first time for the two summer envoys to drink white wine. They were completely unprepared for this stuff. They drank more than a kilogram each of them in a daze, just like they had drank rice wine and kumiss before.

As for the other members of the envoy, there were also officials from Dutingyi who were entertaining them, and they were all subordinates of Duke Shi Yuang who were drinking with the Xixia people.

Li Renli, who was drunk and confused, couldn't help but feel sad when he heard that the population of some prefectures in Liao was less than a hundred.

After all, it is their sovereign state!

Seeing that the two men seemed to sympathize with and miss the Liao Kingdom, Xu Kangzong immediately raised his glass and said: "This glass of wine is for the dead monarchs, ministers and people of the Liao Kingdom. May they no longer be bullied by the Jin people under the Nine Springs!"

"Done!"

Cao Changyong's face was red, and by the time he finished the glass of wine, he had drunk almost two kilograms.

Li Renli sat swaying, reached for the cup, and emptied it several times. Finally, he caught the long-legged cup, raised it high in the air and said, "Do it!"

Li Renli tilted his neck to drink, and the wine poured all over his clothes. As he tilted his neck, Li Renli fell backwards.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Cao Changyong pointed at Li Renli lying on the ground, and laughed with drunken eyes: "King Shu, you can't drink well, I... I can still drink..."

Xu Kangzong hurriedly ran to help him, stroking his vest to help him calm down: "Your Highness, please rest for a while."

Li Renli wanted to sleep when he was drunk. He lay on the table with his eyelids drooped, and his voice became lower and lower: "Take a rest, take a rest."

Xu Kangzong again brought up the atrocities committed by the Jin people in China. Cao Changyong, who was drunk, slapped the table and cursed: "Shameless Golden Dog, go back on your word... You promised to cut off the land of eight halls, but today... you go back on your word again this year." , and even sent troops to garrison there!”

"The land of Baguan is vast. How many Jin soldiers have gone there? If there are not many Jin soldiers, your country does not need to be afraid." Xu Kangzong followed the words.

Cao Changyong said: "It's hard to deal with the golden soldiers. I'm afraid there will be ten thousand of them. Those golden dogs don't take us Xia people seriously, and they even flirt with Li... Brother Richard. Sooner or later, His Majesty the Emperor will Get rid of them!"

Xu Kangzong said: "Even in Kaifeng, I heard that Brother Richard is domineering."

"More than domineering?" Cao Changyong probably got angry all the time. When he was drunk, he started to criticize, and he spoke more eloquently, "Since that guy got the support of Jin people, he built a mansion in the imperial capital that exceeded the national standard, and even forced His Majesty to appoint him. The cronies he recommended..."

Shi Yuangong was sitting outside the door, leisurely taking notes and writing down drunken remarks.

The next day, he went to the East Palace to report face to face: "Brother Richard holds the military power and is backed by the Jin people. He is becoming more and more arrogant and domineering. The two Xixia envoys both felt that the death of the Xixia queen and the prince was strange, and suspected that Brother Richard instigated the eunuch and the prince. The palace maid did it. On this mission, Xixia is sincerely negotiating for peace, but with Brother Richard obstructing it, there may be some twists and turns."

"Is Li Qianshun's throne unstable?" Ju Ming asked.

Shi Yuangong shook his head: "Brother Richard doesn't dare to regicide and usurp power. He will be attacked by Xixia aristocratic officials. In the past, Xixia plundered across the border and robbed a lot of goods, so the officials and soldiers obeyed him. But in the past two years, The Han people in the border areas are getting poorer and poorer. Even the forts on the border have few stores of food. Brother Richard is getting less and less. Especially the Bubazi are tired of fighting. Every time Xixia sends troops, they have to force a conscription. ."

The core elite of Xixia are naturally the Iron Kites. The men wear strong armor and the horses have no armor. They cannot be regarded as armored cavalry, but can only be called heavily armored assault cavalry.

Secondly, there is the Qisheng Army, which is the regular domestic force. These are the same people who usually cross the border and plunder. They often captured Han people and took them to Guazhou, Shazhou and other places for farming to replenish Xixia's consuming population.

Then came Bubazi, who were recruited from the mountainous areas and were elite mountain infantrymen. They come from all ethnic groups, and most of them are even Han Chinese. They are more like part-time mercenaries living in poverty. The Song Dynasty also liked to recruit these people in the newly occupied areas and put them into the ranks of the Western Army.

Finally, the Han Chinese who were captured and farmed for several years felt that they would not escape, so they were recruited into the cannon fodder unit of Chuang Gongzi.

Although the young master was Han Chinese, he was forced to wear Xixia clothes and have a Xixia hairstyle. They must fight tooth and nail on the battlefield, because escaping back to their hometown will lead to death. The Song army likes to cut off their heads for rewards!

According to military information leaked by Cao Changyong, the capture army has captured fewer and fewer Han people in recent years.

Since the military pay was not sufficient and they could not grab much, the young men in the mountainous areas did not want to be slaves, so they often had to be forcibly recruited into the army.

In addition, Iron Harrier's armor has become increasingly stretched in the past two decades!

This is no longer the powerful Xixia army during the period of Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi. The three brothers of the Northern Song Dynasty, Liao Kingdom, and Xixia were declining together.

"Also, Xixia is short of food and can no longer fight for a long time," Shi Yuangong said. "Even among the Xixia army, opinions are not unified. Most of the Xixia generals plan to abandon the Han land newly occupied last year and rob the population and The property was evacuated. Brother Richard and a few generals were unwilling to withdraw their troops despite all opinions, and were not allowed to abduct the local Han people in large numbers."

Ju Ming said: "Then we should have a fight before talking."

Shi Yuangong added: "It is difficult for Xixia to be self-sufficient in farming and grazing. It relies on business to earn money and food. Song and Xia fought intermittently for more than ten years, and business has declined and is no longer what it used to be. Now Brother Richard is starting to fight again. There were many people throughout Xixia who opposed it. However, Brother Richard's prestige in the army was too high, and there were countless generals who were loyal to him. Even if he entered the city alone, the Emperor of Xixia did not dare to take action, for fear that after killing this man, the army outside the city would directly rebel."

These were all summarized by Shi Yuangong, and Zhu Ming read them personally with the records of drunken talk.

Among them, the Kingdom of Jin sent tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to garrison the Eight Halls, which made Ju Ming worried and happy.

The eight halls are located in the northern part of Shanxi Province. For example, Yulin is one of them.

After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty, it did not effectively rule those areas. It still allowed the surrendered Liao Kingdom to govern civil and military affairs. It was enough to pay only a certain amount of tax every year. In the same situation, there are still large areas of Inner Mongolia grassland, as long as they promise to be loyal to the emperor of the Jin Dynasty.

Now they have sent 10,000 troops to the Eight Halls, and I am afraid they have also sent troops to the grasslands. The Jin Kingdom is obviously not going well in attacking the Song Dynasty, and they are looking back to digest the old lands of the Liao Kingdom.

Once digested, the Jin Kingdom will greatly increase its strength!

The only good thing is that the Jin Kingdom has divided its troops there, and even if it goes south this year, it won't be too big.