As the sun set, a group of people on the outskirts of Jinan slowly walked along the Xiaoqing River towards the city, and the boats on the river were also gradually scarce, but even so, in Ye Qing's eyes today, he was still quite gratified.

Transporting and storing grain is a big deal for the north, and the waterway can obviously save a lot of manpower and material resources for the northland than the land route, so after the Xiaoqing River that leads directly into the sea, even the Grand Canal, which opened in the Sui Dynasty, is no longer so important in the eyes of the northland at this time.

Although the Grand Canal is also extremely important to the north, because it is still an inland river relatively speaking, when it comes from the south, it will naturally face one checkpoint after another, which will alarm the imperial court if you want to transport grain and store grain on a large scale in the north.

Approaching the sea road, it is natural to bypass many checkpoints, and you can directly go south to Guangnan East Road and Guangnan West Road, so for the north, Xiaoqing River has naturally become the best channel for storing and transporting various materials in a short time.

Jinan Mansion at dusk is less noisy and prosperous in Lin'an this time period, and there is a little more fatigue and loneliness after a day of work, Zhong Qing on the carriage after just half a day of Jinan, once again filled the carriage with all kinds of items, from shoes and hats, jade, longevity locks and other items, to a box and other objects, she was full of small half of the car.

These items are to be sent back to Yangzhou in the next few days, in order to express Zhong Qing's great maternal love for Zhong Ye and others.

Returning to the mansion separately with Xin Qiji, Mo Xiaobao greeted him at the door, instructed the others to start moving the goods on the carriage back to the mansion, and he walked up to Ye Qing and handed a letter to Ye Qing.

"The Mongols have sent envoys Mu Huali and Borshu to Jinan to discuss some matters with you, and this is the letter I just received today. According to the news of the umbrella, they have now arrived in Chang'an and will come to Jinan Mansion in the near future. In addition, Dong Chao also sent a letter, and Wang Wanyan Yongji of Wei Shao also planned to come to Jinan Mansion in the near future. Mo Xiaobao followed Ye Qing to the mansion and reported as he walked.

"It seems that the Mongolians originally thought that I would go to Chang'an, but now that they know that I have arrived in Jinan Mansion, they are simply planning to come to Jinan to find me." Ye Qing's purpose for the Mongolian envoys was basically clear.

It is nothing more than that they either want to join forces with themselves against Jin, or they want to stabilize themselves through this mission, so that they can continue their western expedition to Khorezm without any worries.

"Therefore, the last general thinks that the king of Wei Shao of the Jin Kingdom chose to come to Jinan Mansion to visit you at this time, and it seems that it is also because of the Mongol envoys." Mo Xiaobao is becoming more and more general-like, and he will consider it from the perspective of the overall situation.

"Yes, since Zamuhe's head can be sent over, it means that Wan Yanjing is determined to join forces with us. Now it seems that they also learned that the Mongolian envoys were coming, so they sent King Wei Shao to Jinan. Ye Qing began to preliminarily plan the next plans in his mind.

Chang'an is now an important gateway to the north to guard the northwest, although in the west of Chang'an, there are now Liu Keshi, Li Heng to guard the Anxi Protectorate, but the north's in-depth strategy is obviously not so strong, Chang'an is actually their top priority, and it is also the place where they have to defend the most.

Of course, this is just at the strategic level, and now with the demise of the Xia Kingdom, the Anxi Protectorate is naturally equally important, but because of the strength of the Mongols, Ye Qing has to entrust Chang'an with more important tasks in terms of tactics, and regards this as the first line of defense against the Mongols head-on in the north, and it is also the second line of defense behind the Anxi Protectorate.

If Chang'an is an important gateway to the north in the northwest, then now Jinan is an important gateway to the north and southeast, when Ye Qing stayed in Chang'an, the importance of Chang'an, with the Mongolians, the Jin, and even the Xia people, the Liao people, and become a "capital" like the north.

Now with Ye Qing stationed in Jinan Mansion, the status of Jinan Mansion has gradually become more and more important, with the arrival of the Mongols and Jin envoys again, Jinan Mansion will also be like Chang'an, become an important city for the north.

Chang'an is the gateway of the north to the northwest, and Jinan is an important gateway to the north and the southeast, but Kaifeng and Luoyang between the two are still in a plummeting position.

Kaifeng and Luoyang are like a hot potato in the north, and they are more like a time bomb, so that Ye Qing does not dare to get too close, but he can't give it over, and he can't send heavy troops to defend it, for fear that this will cause the Lin'an court to be angry, but he has to station troops around to prevent the surprise attack of the Jin people.

After all, Kaifeng Mansion has an extraordinary significance for the imperial court, but now if you want the imperial court to move back to Kaifeng from Lin'an, not to mention whether the royal family is willing or not, I am afraid that the courtiers who have long been accustomed to the prosperity and wealth of Lin'an, no one is willing to leave Lin'an and return to Kaifeng.

There is heaven and there is Suzhou and Hangzhou, this sentence is obviously not just a casual talk, for the court that is accustomed to comfort, wanting to leave the gentle township of Lin'an and then go to the rough and heroic place of the north, it makes them feel a little unacceptable even if they just think about it.

Lin'an, which is full of flowers and arrows, is far more attractive than Kaifeng, not to mention that today's Kaifeng is just a river away from the Jinren, if the capital is moved at this time, no one must want to live a frightened day, even if there is Ye Qing's iron army around Kaifeng, but obviously no one wants to mention the matter of the capital at this time.

But if Kaifeng Mansion has been allowed to be so empty, the imperial court has to worry about whether Ye Qing will run to Kaifeng one day after Ye Qing is becoming more and more stable in the north, after all, Chang'an and Jinan Mansions, Shi Miyuan and others have been there in person, although it is not as flowery as Lin'an, but now it is also an important city full of vitality.

And if once Ye Qing puts his focus on Kaifeng, and Ye Qing's power is getting stronger and stronger in the north, then the court of Lin'an, and Kaifeng in the north, will the people of the world regard Kaifeng as the Great Song Dynasty as time goes by

Where is the orthodoxy of the dynasty?

It is impossible to let the imperial court return to the capital, but let Ye Qing one day entrenched like Chang'an and Jinan, and the imperial court cannot turn a blind eye, after all, it is the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, how can it be entrenched by a courtier, and let the real imperial court be in the south of the Yangtze River?

"So what does Master Shi mean right?" Zhao Kuo frowned slightly, looked at Shi Miyuan, Liuzheng, King Qing and Chongguo Gong in the Qinzheng Hall and asked.

At this time, in Zhao Kuo's mind, Ye Qing's image of a heroic man who seemed to be pointing out the country even though he had an easy-going smile, but his gestures were like pointing out the country.

"The minister thinks that the general trend of the northern land is undecided, and it is still too early to discuss the matter of returning the capital, but now that the northern land has become relatively stable, the minister thinks that it is better to build the Tokyo Palace City first, so that the people of the northern land can not only know the ambition of the imperial court to recover the Central Plains, but also make all the necessary preparations in advance for the future." Shi Miyuan began to say with the idea of Kaifeng Mansion in the north.

"It's naturally feasible to build Miyagi first, but it's ......." Liuzheng looked at Zhao Kuo, then swept his gaze over Shi Miyuan, and after a deep groan, he said worriedly: "But who will pay for this money?" Ye Jiedu is afraid that he will not pay this money, right? ”

After finishing speaking, he unconsciously looked at King Qing and Chongguo Gong, just now the two of them praised the construction of Chang'an City and the expansion of Jinan Mansion, and there was no lack of merit and reward for Ye Qing.

Therefore, at this time, Liuzheng had to remind the saint Zhao Kuo that if the imperial court wanted to repair the imperial city of Kaifeng Mansion, would Ye Qing be willing?

"What does Master Shi think?" Zhao Kuo asked Shi Miyuan again.

"The minister thought that it would be enough to levy additional taxes on the Northland, but now the Northland has not been affected by disasters like the previous two years, and now the people are fed and clothed, and every family has surplus food, which is enough to bear the cost of repairing the palace. And if the saint is gracious, the minister thinks that the household department can naturally fund a fee, so presumably Lord Ye will naturally not have any complaints. What's more, this is also an opportunity for the Holy Lord to give Ye Qing an opportunity to be loyal to the imperial court. Lord Ye will definitely not refuse, and he will even be grateful to the saint. Shi Miyuan began to dig a tunnel for Ye Qing.

"The north has been affected by disasters year after year, and now the food produced in the north is just enough for the people to eat, if the tax is increased to repair the palace, I am afraid it will cause dissatisfaction among the people, and even make those people who were originally grass and have just come down the mountain fall into the grass again, so it is not a good policy for the stability of the northland." King Qing began to frown, and the appearance of praising Chang'an and Jinan who had just danced with his eyebrows was like two people.

Chongguo Gong Zhao Shichun couldn't help but sigh slightly, his original intention today with King Qing was originally to let the saint know Ye Qing's exploits in building a city in Anmin in the Northland, who would have thought that Shi Miyuan would insidiously make a big fuss about this matter, and for a while, it actually made the two of them feel that they had done something wrong with good intentions.

Not only did he not help Ye Qing in front of the saint, but instead let Shi Miyuan turn against the army, which infinitely magnified and aggravated the plight of the northern land again.

"But the prime minister just heard King Qing say that now the north is already a good situation of national peace and security under the rule of Ye Qing's officials, and he will not hesitate to spend a lot of money to repair Chang'an and Jinan's two mansions, why did he change his rhetoric when it came to Kaifeng Mansion? Could it be that the Ye Jiedu envoy doesn't want the saint to return the capital to Tokyo? Shi Miyuan held his fat belly and turned slightly to the sad King Qing and asked.

For this rare opportunity to suppress Ye Qing, Shi Miyuan naturally would never let it go, and even when asking rhetorically, he deliberately changed the situation in the north to the words Guotai and Min'an, so as to secretly remind Zhao Kuo that Ye Qing is no longer restrained in the north, but he wants to establish himself as the king.

"The construction of the city in Chang'an and Jinan is a last resort in the north, after all, whether it is Chang'an or Jinan, in the northwest and southeast of the north are important gateways, the solidity of the city wall is to determine whether the north can resist the counterattack of the Jin people for a long time, and it is natural to build." Chongguo Gong replied with a similar frown.

But at this moment, he still has a deep sense of helplessness in his heart, and even regrets that in front of Zhao Kuo, he just said a little full of words praising the north, and now he immediately reaped the consequences.

Sure enough, as Chongguo Gong finished speaking, Shi Miyuan immediately followed up and asked: "To build the cities of Chang'an and Jinan, Ye Jiedu is rich and powerful, and to build a palace for the saints, Ye Jiedu envoy has become shy?" Could it be that the repair of the two mansions of Chang'an and Jinan is more important than that of the Holy Lord and the imperial court? Or...... Shi still has a doubt in his heart, since King Qing and Duke Chongguo are now saying that the north is difficult, then Shi still wants to ask King Qing and Duke Chongguo, where did Ye Jiedu get the money to build Chang'an and Jinan? ”

"It's ......." King Qing and Chongguo looked at each other, and they didn't know how to answer Shi Miyuan's question for a while.

Although Shi Miyuan's question was not tricky, it was a question about the weakness that the two of them could not answer, after all, even they didn't know where the money for the construction of Chang'an and Jinan in the north and the formation of the three major protectorates came from over the years.

Naturally, there are all kinds of unknown cats, just like everyone knows that today's Zuo Prime Minister Shi Mi is far rich, but it may not be clear how the money of Shi Fu came from.

"This question...... I'm afraid that it takes Master Ye to be able to answer Master Shi's doubts. Chongguo Gong had to bite the bullet and say.

Then he couldn't help but think of the industries he has been in the north over the years, with the expansion of these industries, almost a large part of Zhao Shichun's profits have been used for the construction of Chang'an, but this kind of thing, naturally, there is no way to get the saint to talk about it.

Moreover, in fact, everyone knows that the reason why Beidi has always been able to breathe a sigh of relief financially, and has always been able to have the financial resources to do various things in addition to being stretched, is actually very related to Huainan Road.

But these are not at all the levels that King Qing and his Chongguo Gong can reach, and it is completely up to Ye Qing to make decisions and respond in this matter

Pay the imperial court.

Shi Miyuan looked at King Qing and Chongguo Gong who were a little embarrassed, and sneered in his heart, and then said to Zhao Kuo: "Your lordship, the minister thinks that since the north has the difficulties of the north, then the saint or the imperial court may be very considerate. However, although it is too early to return to the capital, the matter of repairing the palace city naturally cannot be postponed any longer. The Northland could not fund the renovation of the palace for the return of the Holy Lord, so the minister thought that he might as well hand it over to the Ministry of Works and the general as a supervisor to complete this matter. It's just that in this way, the Ministry of Industry and the general are in Lin'an, which is thousands of miles away from the capital, and it is obviously impossible to supervise and repair the imperial city or even the entire capital in Lin'an. Therefore, the ministers invited the saint to dispatch officials from the Ministry of Works, the general supervisor and other relevant government offices to Kaifeng Mansion on the same day to prepare for the repair of the palace city, and similarly, to make some plans for the saint in the future. ”

Zhao Kuo's clear eyes looked at the smiling Shi Miyuan calmly, and his heart was somewhat moved by Shi Miyuan's words.

Over the years, the imperial court has not been able to meddle in all kinds of things in the north, and it is decided by Ye Qing alone, just as King Qing and Chongguo Gong just said, now the officials of the state capitals in the north, but all those who have the grade to be transferred to the north, will draw up a separate copy and send it to Ye Qing for review.

Although Ye Qing generally does not look at the appointment and dismissal of some low-grade officials at all, since the beginning of the Northern Expedition, such a tradition has been formed, which has also made the deployment of officials in the entire northern region always firmly in Ye Qing's hands.

Whether it was Shi Miyuan or Han Yanxuan, even when Wang Huai and Zhao Ruyu were prime ministers earlier, they all tried to bypass Ye Qing and appoint and dismiss officials in the north in the name of the imperial court, but in the end, inexplicably, these officials either died of illness in the north, or as soon as they arrived in the north, they immediately cried and shouted to go back to the south.

In short, there is not a single official who went to the north without Ye Qing's review.

Liuzheng, who had never spoken, looked at the more and more smug smile on Shi Miyuan's face, and then looked at the frustration on the faces of King Qing and Duke Chongguo, and sighed helplessly in his heart, he somewhat understood why Ye Qing was willing to leave King Qing and Duke Chongguo in Lin'an when he left Lin'an.

Obviously, Ye Qing didn't look down on the abilities of these two people at all, so he was so relieved to leave the two of them in Lin'an and stay in the court, as for whether they would return to the north in the future, I am afraid that Ye Qing didn't care at all.

Although the policy that Lord Shi said was feasible, the lower officials thought that even if Lord Shi wanted to set up officials from various ministries in Kaifeng Mansion before the Holy Capital Kaifeng Mansion was returned, it could ...... After all, these things need to be controlled. If no one went to the various government offices of Kaifeng Mansion in moderation, wouldn't it be like a plate of loose sand? How can you repair the palace or even the entire capital? The imperial court was thousands of miles away, and it was obviously unable to be effectively controlled. After looking at Zhao Kuo's gaze on him, Liuzheng continued: "Holy Lord, the minister thinks that he still needs to ask Ye Jiedu envoy for this matter, after all, Ye Jiedu envoy is more familiar with the situation in the north. ”

Shi Miyuan glanced at Liuzheng in some surprise, he obviously didn't expect that Liuzheng would see through the strategy at a glance.

Yes, Shi Miyuan did plan to use the incident of returning the capital to open a gap in the officialdom of the north, so that the six ministries and other government offices could enter the north in the name of repairing the palace city.

In this way, he believed that Ye Qing would never dare to abolish the officials sent by the imperial court one by one as he did at the beginning, after all, if he did this, it would be tantamount to rebellion.

Therefore, for Shi Miyuan, with the issue of returning the capital, as long as the six ministries and other government offices are reduced to six small government offices and placed in Kaifeng Mansion, so as to form a small court subordinate to the Lin'an Imperial Court first, then it can basically break Ye Qing's one-person dictatorship in the north.

In this way, no matter whether Ye Qing in the north can go further in the process of the Northern Expedition, then as long as Kaifeng Mansion forms a substantial imperial city, although there is no holy royal family here, but at least with such an empty shell of the imperial city, Ye Qing's influence and prestige in the north will inevitably take a large part of Kaifeng Mansion, and it will never follow the continuation of the Northern Expedition to win, so that Ye Qing will continue to expand his influence and all forces in the north.

Faced with the question of Liuzheng, Shi Miyuan didn't wait for Zhao Kuo to ask him what Master Shi thought, so he said slowly: "If the minister is not mistaken, now the saint's shoulders are ...... It also has the dispatch of the three major metropolitan protectors of the Northland. And in all dynasties, how can the king of a country still have to protect the capital and protect the capital, if this is spread, wouldn't it be a joke? ”

"What does Master Shi think?" Zhao Kuo frowned slightly, now that he sat on the throne of the emperor, the joy that the queen mother Li Fengniang had happily told him about the dispatch of the three major capitals of the Yao Ling also became tasteless.

But because Li Fengniang has never mentioned the solution to this matter, Zhao Kuo has always followed Li Fengniang's wishes, and he has always been the capital protector of the three major capital protectors in the north.

"Returning to the Holy Lord, the minister thinks that the Holy One can grant the trusted courtiers of the Holy Lord, and he can send this on behalf of the Holy Lord." Shi Miyuan's eyes flashed with ambition, and speaking like this was not much different from Mao Sui's self-recommendation.

King Qing and Chongguo Gong were stunned for an instant, and Liuzheng looked at Shi Miyuan in surprise, and his heart was also shocked, it was originally just a topic about returning the capital, but after Shi Miyuan's admonitions, he unconsciously transferred the topic of returning the capital to the matter of the three major capital protectors in the north.

And Shi Miyuan's true purpose was really exposed at this moment, Zuo Xiang's dispatch could no longer satisfy his ambitions, and it was his real motive to extend his hand further to the north.

"This thing...... I'll need to think about it. Zhao Kuo looked at Shi Miyuan's loyal expression, and then looked at the somewhat pale faces of King Qing and Chongguo Gong, as well as Liuzheng's somewhat incredulous expression, and still said calmly.