The end of the Battle of Pingxia in the Northwest was clean and neat, even if there was still a little disharmony between Anding Mansion and the Hexi Corridor, it was just a small unpleasantness that was indispensable in the run-in, and it was harmless.

Zhao Gou looked at the twists and turns that were delivered to Anding Mansion and the Hexi Corridor one after another, and his heart was as sweet as eating honey, not to mention the acres and pastures in the land of Lingxia, not to mention the livestock captured in this battle, just the iron ore and salt pond in Hengshan added two more cash cows to the imperial court.

Especially the salt ponds.

For more than 100 years, the green salt and snow salt of Western Xia have been marketed in the east, west, north and south, whether it is the Liao people, the Song people, or the Tubo people on the plateau, all of them are covered and shrouded.

It's just that during the period of falling into the hands of the Song family, the household department and the local Changping Division earned a fortune of nearly 10 million yuan, because of the issuance of new salt banknotes. This thing is a real money-making thing, and it has not caused public outrage. And the salt workers in several salt ponds can also be captive to act, and the cost of salt is extremely low, which is really a good deal.

Just the salt pond alone has made up for a lot of shortfalls to a certain extent, and it can be very durable!

But this does not mean that Zhao Song's financial situation has completely improved.

Zhao Gou is now earning a lot and spending more. When a huge country spreads out, it is really like a bottomless pit, and no amount of money can be spent. Not to mention anything else, there is only one traffic problem, and the Song family is only focusing on the border of the north, that is, the traffic between Yanyun and Hedong in Hebei and Andingfu, and the traffic between Andingfu and Guanxi Sixth Road. In this way, I don't know how much money is spent, and the budget made by the household department is in tens of millions of units. And this has to include the whole of China, and the cost is even more astronomical.

Even if this kind of thing cannot be done in a year and a half, and the expenditure of money and food is not in place all at once, then the expenditure within this year will be tens of millions of units.

And this is just one part of Zhao Song's many work this year.

Zhao Gou could only be glad that he didn't need to do specific details work, although just the decision-making level had already kept him busy.

It is precisely because he is busy with government affairs that he doesn't touch the ground every day, and now he, like Zong Ze, is very disgusted by the outbreak of things outside the annual work plan.

Because once something unplanned breaks out, it will cause a series of domino reactions, which will affect the whole body, and how much trouble it will add to the imperial court in the end, and how much trouble it will add to Zhao Gou in the end, it is completely immeasurable.

But Murphy's Law is here, and things will go in the opposite direction of hope.

While Zhao Gou looked at the high yield after the Northwest War and smiled, an unexpected trouble had come to his door.

First of all, the Tubo people, the 'strong' Western Xia were all flattened by the Han people, and the Tubo people in the Hehuang area should be more obedient and obedient. And more importantly, the Tibetans behind the river Huang, who seem to be willing to sacrifice their knees to express their will for peace.

At the same time, the Uighurs of Qocho and the eastern and western Karakhanid states, as well as the Eastern Kepchaks, also came to the door.

This Qarakhanid state is not considered to be a believer in heaven, but it has always maintained friendly relations with the Song Dynasty, and there have been endless contacts for more than 100 years. Shortly after the annexation of the Qarakhanid to Khotan, in 1009 a delegation led by the Uighur Luo Wowen was sent to the Song Dynasty to pay tribute. Since then, the Eastern and Western Qarakhanids have frequently sent tribute, and the exchanges between the two sides have been endless. In particular, in the Eastern Qarakhanids, since the reign of Song Xining, tribute has been more frequent, ranging from once a year or two to once a year. It didn't stop until the Yuanfeng period.

The reason is simple, that is, the Seljuks captured Bukhara, and the Western Qarakhanid became a political vassal of the Seljuks. And the Eastern Qarakhanid state in the east was also under great pressure from the west. turned to become more intimate with the Liao State, frequently asked each other, and became in-laws.

The Liao State does not look at the center of gravity of its rule in the east, but the name of the Khitan merchants is still very loud in the Central Asian world. And the westernmost part of the territory of the Liao State has extended to the west of the Altai Mountains, and is already next to Central Asia.

The steppe 'Silk Road' with the prairie as the carrier has existed for 200 years. It has far-reaching implications for the countries of Central Asia.

However, decades have passed in the blink of an eye, and the pressure from the Seljuks in the Eastern Qarakhanid has become more and more huge recently, the Qarluqs are almost independent, the estrangement between the Great Khan and the Deputy Khan is deep, and the strength of the Eastern Qarakhanid has fallen to the valley since the founding of the state, but the Liao State has been shattered, and the Western Xia has become a thing of the past in the blink of an eye.

Because in the history of the Western Regions, in the thousands of years, they have been adopted by the powerful Central Plains Dynasty many times, and during the Li Tang Dynasty, the Tang army even entered the Hezhong region of Central Asia and competed with the powerful Great Food Empire for Talas.

Ahmad Arslan Khan, who was in his twilight years, did not think that the Uighurs of Ghochang, who were weaker than the eastern Qara, would be able to withstand the Zhao Song's troops and tentacles.

Although he felt that he was going to hook up with Zhao Song, it was a bit of a feeling of luring a wolf into the house, but he was already going to die, facing the sharp blades wielded by the Seljuks, facing the damned Qarluqs in the north of the khanate, and the Donkepchaks who were faintly supporting the Qaraqs in the north, even if they drank to quench their thirst, he also admitted it.

So, the envoys of the Western Qarakhanid came. They who came to the Central Plains did not represent their own will, but the Seljuk Empire behind them. Plus the lively Donkepchak, or the Donkpchak Khanate.

This political power of many tribes, with the division and decay of the Kupchaks, can no longer pose a major threat to the countries and peoples of the south. The time that belonged to the Kupchaks has passed.

They are now a loose tribal alliance with their 'brothers' on the western side of the Caspian Sea, Sikpchak, who occupy the vast Kipchak steppes.

They sent people to the Song as if they were in the fun, but it was more to get a closer look at the dispute - the relationship between the Eastern Qarakhanid and the Song Empire, and the attitude of the Song Empire towards the Western Qarakhanate, and even the Seljuks behind it.

This really touched the hearts of many people.

Moreover, there were many merchants from various countries who came with the mission, and these people went all the way to the Central Plains and Bianliang, not to mention their understanding of the Zhao and Song dynasties.

"Let the Ministry of Rites draw some people from those white merchants in Bianliang, and there must be people who are proficient in Mandarin under their hands to solve this urgent need." And then you have to be self-reliant.

"This matter is over, and the Ministry of Rites should start to set up the Tongwen Pavilion."

For this kind of 'sudden' situation, Zhao Gou can still see the move. But what about the Eastern and Western Qarakhanids? And what about the Seljuks? Every trace of attitude and proportion is closely related to Zhao Song's westward expansion strategy in the future.

Zhao Gou doesn't know how many meetings he has held these days.

Because the whole strategy of westward expansion, from geographical exploration to the settlement of the Uighurs of Gaochang and the Eastern Qarakhanid, and then to the settlement of the various powers in Central Asia, it involved all aspects of the Zhao and Song empires.

Before the Jurchens in the east were completely wiped out, it was impossible for Zhao Song to use them in the west in a big way. And for the war of the Jin people, who dares to say that it will be smooth and smooth?

With such a vast land outside Liaodong Pass, if the Jin people don't fight head-on, they don't know how long they can stumble the hands and feet of the Song army. No one can estimate the cost of money, food, and military supplies for the war against Jin.

If the Jurchens are flattened, but the treasury is empty, then it will take a certain amount of years to implement the westward expansion strategy......

In short, Zhao Gou has a feeling of Venus in his eyes.