Zhao Kuangyin took off his sword, straightened his dress, and reflected the cold military armor, which was very difficult to endure, but Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be unconscious. As soon as I entered the hall, I felt the heat rushing in, and my handsome face was immediately covered with a layer of mist.

stepped forward to pay respects: "Minister Zhao Kuangyin, see Your Majesty!" ”

Liu Chengyou held a porcelain bowl in his hand, scooped a red date, and sent it to his mouth. Raising his eyes to look at Zhao Kuangyin, he saw that the cold air on his body was pressing, and a few uncleaned snowflakes were melting.

"Excuse me! Sit first! Liu Chengyou raised his hand, turned his head and ordered: "Zhang Dejun, give Zhao Duyu Hou a bowl of ginger soup to dispel the cold!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhao Kuangyin thanked him, got up, and sat down. Zhang Dejun was clever with his hands and feet, divided a bowl of Sydney ginger soup made in the dining room, and handed it to Zhao Kuangyin.

A bowl of hot soup in the stomach warms up both the body and the heart, and Zhao Kuangyin's complexion is a little ruddy. Spit out a jujube kernel, Liu Chengyou looked at him and asked, "Those knights from Xiazhou, have they been arranged?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, temporarily concentrate on arranging the Iron Cavalry Army, return to the left wing, the minister has ordered people, secretly monitor!" Zhao Kuangyin responded.

"Yuen Long is talented!" Liu Chengyou said: "These Xiazhou knights, I think there are also Li Yiyin's secret agents, you must not ignore it!" From the perspective of Yuen Long, what is the combat power of their generation? ”

After returning to Beijing from the Southern Expedition, Liu Chengyou issued an edict to select elites in Tianxia Prefecture and towns to fill the forbidden army. On the side of the Dingyan Army, the Privy Council also issued an order to select elite cavalry.

Of course, Li Yiyin ignored it, and then Liu Chong wanted to seek Yongzhen Hedong, and sent a secret letter to Xiazhou, wanting to collude with him as foreign aid and cooperate with him to fight against the government of the imperial court.

The letter, intentionally, was tacitly delivered to Li Yiyin. As a result, without waiting for him to make a decision, Liu Chong was dismissed and returned to Beijing, and died of illness in Luoyang, during which the situation changed so quickly that Li Yiyin was caught off guard.

And what really worried him was the major military and political reform in Hedong, the Baoning Army in the winter, and Wang Yansheng in Yanzhou in the west, clamping on both sides, Shuofang and Shi Hongzhao were ruthless.

After some consideration, Li Yiyin still decided, admitting intimidation and relenting, and finally hesitated, selected a group of cavalry from the difficult army and transferred them to Tokyo. Of course, there were only 100 horsemen, and 200 horses were sacrificed.

Hearing the inquiry at this time, Zhao Kuangyin said: "The ministers have inspected, they are all elite people, good at riding and shooting, and their combat power is superior even among the elite of iron cavalry, which is enough to defeat five enemies!" ”

"I just don't know how many people are so brave in the Dingyan army!" Liu Chengyou muttered.

"The ministers and the leaders of the team have understood, according to what they said, in the Dingnan army, there seem to be such elites, there are five thousand, and those who are slightly weaker are several times higher!" Zhao Kuangyin replied, with a bit of banter in his tone.

Liu Chengyou smiled slightly and said, "If it is as he said, then under the Dingnan army, wouldn't there be all strong soldiers, but no weak brigades?" How many soldiers did he have? This Li Yiyin actually played such a trick on me, intending to tell me that he would be difficult for the army to be strong and strong, so don't take it lightly! ”

Zhao Kuangyin laughed with him and echoed: "Your Majesty is wise, one word shows Li Yiyin's clumsy scheming, Xia Sui is barren, and it is difficult to raise soldiers and horses!" It is also the growing strength of the Han Dynasty and the invigoration of the army, and the Dingnan Army is suspicious and afraid! ”

Liu Chengyou bowed slightly, thought for a moment, and said lightly: "It seems that for the difficult army, it is necessary to slow down!" Otherwise, Li Yiyin was suspicious and afraid, and took refuge in Huliao Khitan, and the trouble in the northwest was only afraid that it would be difficult to clean up for a while! ”

"Spread the edict, the Han army around Xia Sui is not allowed to cross the border to invade and plunder with one person and one horse, so as to start disputes!" Liu Chengyou commanded calmly.

"What about the two hundred horses?" Liu Chengyou asked again.

Zhao Kuangyin is obviously familiar with all affairs, including war horses. Hearing this, he replied without thinking: "In winter, although it is rugged, they are all good varieties in Hexi, just waiting to gain weight and nourish fat, which is enough to fill the matter!" It's just that all horses are castrated! ”

"Huh!" Liu Chengyou smiled faintly, described it slightly, and said: "Horses, the foundation of armor soldiers, and a weapon for national defense." To flatten the southern countries, it is enough to rely on elite infantry brigades, but if you want to go north to attack Hulu, you must rely on elite cavalry. Soldiers, not enough to worry, only to worry about healthy horses! However, Yanbei is still in Hushou, and the northwest border states are rarely controlled, and I really suffer from the source of Rongma.

A few days ago, I asked Wei Renpu to check that there were less than 40,000 suitable horses in the national army, and there were many old horses and injured horses, which were still retained. Only Zhenghuai, nearly 3,000 horses were injured before and after.

If it weren't for the thousands of good horses captured in the battle on behalf of the Duke of the Kingdom to supplement the thousands of good horses, I am afraid that the two armies of Iron Cavalry and Longjie would not be able to be fully equipped with one person and one horse! ”

Listening to the sigh of the Son of Heaven, Zhao Kuangyin immediately got up and asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, you should reopen Ma Zheng." The northwestern states, although not yet stable, can be reluctantly exerted, pastoral training of military horses, the Central Plains, Hebei, the imperial court can also follow the old system, encourage shepherding! ”

"That's what I mean!" Liu Chengyou's eyes were full of brilliance, and he looked at Zhao Kuangyin: "I have a bachelor's degree, sort out the Ma Zheng of the former dynasty, and want to implement it according to the national situation and take what is feasible!" In the territory of the Han Dynasty, the most suitable animal husbandry is only Longyou and Hexi, but the land is sparse and the border is not peaceful, and it is often harassed by Hulu......

After the beginning of spring, I intended to send Yuen Long to inspect the northwest frontier to inspect its situation and screen pastureland for selection. By the way, take a look at the southwest border for me, the movement of the Shu army, and the situation of Qin Feng! ”

Listening to the orders of the Son of Heaven, Zhao Kuangyin was thoughtful, but his body instinctively reacted and responded: "Obey!" ”

"Within five years, I will be equipped with enough Rong and Dao army horses to arm his 100,000 cavalry!" Liu Chengyou set a goal that is not too easy to achieve, after all, it is not a small restriction.

"Your Majesty's ambition is in the north!" Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but glance at Liu Chengyou, and thought in his heart.

If you want to seek Ma Zheng, the goal is clearly to fight in the north. Now the center of gravity of the Han national policy is in the south, but its ambition is to the north, but it has not slackened and relaxed at all.

In the three divisions, Zhang Yisu, who was promoted to the judge of the degree branch, executed an edict and handed it over to Xue Juzheng, the prime minister.

The fifth year of Qianyou is coming to an end, and all affairs need to be summarized, and the three divisions are probably the most cumbersome and busy institutions among the various ministries of the imperial court. Looking at the stacks of official documents on the bank, Xue Juzheng couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He can be regarded as understanding why Wang Zhang aged so quickly at the beginning, and in a few years, his body was depleted to such an extent, in this series of official documents. Of course, the financial plan at the beginning of the country was difficult, Wang Zhang was powerful, and he did things himself, which was also one of the reasons.

In comparison, Xue Juzheng's life is better, but it is only relative. However, feeling the country's taxes, acres, money and grain, gradually getting through the hands, combing the statistics, the sense of accomplishment is still very intoxicating.

"What?" Xue Juzheng looked at Zhang Yisu and asked.

Zhang Yisu presented the edict on the case and explained: "The new edict of the Chongzheng Palace, Your Majesty wants to reopen the Ma Zheng, let the three divisions calculate, and prepare the money and grain invested in the early stage!" ”

Nodding, Xue Juzheng looked at Zhang Yisu and saw that his face was pale, with a strange look, as if he was sick. A touch of blush surged up, and he held back, and finally couldn't help coughing a few times, and hurriedly took out a silk silk and wiped his mouth.

"The lower official is rude, please forgive me!" After relieving, Zhang Yisu confessed.

"It's okay!" Xue Juzheng looked at his sick appearance, and couldn't help but say with concern: "Zhengfang, your body is not good, you should not be too tired, if you can't support it, you can take leave and go home to recuperate!" ”

"Thank you for your kindness! It's no big deal, it's an old problem! It is not surprising that the disease of the year is like this every winter! Zhang Yisu shook his head, coughed lightly, and said: "Now that the Si Yanei is in a troubled time, how dare you avoid hard work due to illness!" ”

Xue Juzheng couldn't help sighing, and secretly said in his heart, with this good son-in-law, there are successors of the prince, but this sick body is pitiful.

After coming back to his senses, he browsed the edict, raised his head, and Xue Juzheng smiled bitterly: "Restarting Ma Zheng will be another big expense!" His Majesty's repeated policies, if it were not for the Huainan tax supplement, I am afraid that it would be difficult to do it! ”

"Your Majesty has a great and promising lord, and under his encouragement, the minister can only do his best to follow his footsteps!" Zhang Yisu has been a close minister by Liu Chengyou's side for a period of time, and he is not surprised.

"Since last year, the imperial court has been in great power, and the southern expedition, the attack on Shu, and the restructuring have cost a huge amount. Repairing the city and relieving the winter disaster are all costing money and food. Spring is about to begin, and the salaries are paid, and the spring clothes of the soldiers of the army are changed...... The celebration of the Shangyuan Festival, I am afraid that it is indispensable. The income of the autumn tax is only afraid that it will be dispersed again......" Xue Juzheng listed it one by one, as if he was confiding bitterness: "Now, Ma Zheng has started again, hey, it can be regarded as realizing the difficulties of the prince that day!" ”

Seeing this, Zhang Yisu chuckled and said, "Xianggong doesn't have to worry about it. His Majesty is not in a hurry, and Ma Zheng is not a one-time thing, there is enough time to prepare for it! ”

Nodding, Xue Juzheng thought for a while, looked at Zhang Yisu, and instructed: "In this matter, I will bother you to lead your subordinates, discuss it first, and draw up a charter." Your Majesty directly issued an edict, but we have to do our best! ”

Zhang Yisu responded: "Yes! ”

Sighing slightly, exhaling a mouthful of white steam, Xue Juzheng picked up another piece, this is about the preliminary rectification of Guanzhong's finances, and his condensation has eased. Since the Tang Dynasty, Guanzhong has given people the feeling that it is war, dilapidated, and barren.

But in fact, after several years of recuperation since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the population, arable land, and taxes have all made great progress. In particular, the prefectures and counties on the Weihe Plain have shown a trend of revival.