After the grooming stopped, Han Ningshuang sat at the desk and began to review the official letter. After a moment, she frowned. The Han army occupied the southern part of Suzhou and won the victory in Kaizhou, which seemed to be smooth sailing, but in fact it was a hidden worry. The successes achieved in the past few months are like castles built on sand, and the foundation is extremely unstable, and no matter whether the Liao State or the Jin State sends troops, they are unable to resist. The slow construction of Suzhou Guancheng is even more of a big problem. The rammed earth city was in a hurry. If you rush the work a little, the ramming will not be strong, and the city wall will be poured through after a few heavy rains, not to mention that it will be able to withstand the bombardment of the Liao army's terrifying siege barrel artillery.

She held her cheek with her left hand, gently tapped Tie Ruyi with her right hand, and said to herself: "Mr. Zhao, is there really a way?" ”

The maid Sinan mistakenly thought that the eldest lady was asking herself, hesitated for a while, and said timidly: "Mr. Zhao will definitely have a way." ”

Han Ningshuang was slightly stunned when she heard this, remembering that Wang Hengzhi had intended to let Sinan be Zhao Xingde's concubine, but was rejected by Zhao Xingde, and said with a smile: "I don't know what I asked, so I said that Mr. Zhao has a way." What is Mr. Zhao good for you? Let you speak for him like this. "The maidservants around Miss Han like Sinan will be married to the young heroes in the Han army in the future, and Wang Hengzhi also figured out that there is nothing between her and Zhao Xingde before giving her to Han Ningshuang. Therefore, Han Ningshuang's words were somewhat joking.

"Miss, the maid has nothing to do with General Zhao,......, well, that, privately...... Private, "Sinan is a fifteen-year-old girl, how can she stand the ridicule of this eldest lady, it took a lot of effort to say the word "private", and her little face rose like a red cloth.

“...... When Mr. Zhao first came to Kaizhou, everyone couldn't eat, so Wang Da asked us to supply the best food to Xia Guoying, but Mr. Zhao said that Xia Guoying should eat the same things as the Han people, and in the future, the Han people will eat the same steamed buns as Xia Guoying. Mr. Zhao also said that cutting trees and burning charcoal can exchange food in the Central Plains, but at first everyone didn't believe it, but then they really had steamed buns...... Tong Si's family was cut off by Khitan thieves in Crouching Tiger Village, and Lang Zhong said that he was abolished and could not fight from now on; Mr. Zhao said that he could still fight the Khitans, but the four masters installed prosthetic feet, and followed Mr. Zhao to learn to be able to operate artillery, which was even more powerful than before. Originally, we couldn't even open the small village of the Khitans, and when we surrounded Kaizhou, everyone didn't expect to be able to capture it, but Mr. Zhao said that if you try it, maybe you can capture it, and the result is really captured...... Now the Kaizhou village says that Mr. Zhao is the most clever and clever, and he is a military advisor sent by God to help the Han people fight the world. ”

Han Ningshuang laughed casually, but he didn't expect Sinan to say so much, usually Wang Xuansu, Wang Hengzhi and others reported that Zhao Xingde's reputation among the Han people in the Yalu River area of Taibai Mountain was getting higher and higher, and they didn't say much specific things, and then listening to Sinan say this, Han Ningshuang understood a little. She was faintly unconvinced. An outsider has such a high reputation among the Han people in Liaodong. When Han Ningshuang was five or six years old, he began to ride sheep and shoot small arrows, and when he grew up a little, he was told that the Han family hated the country. Even if Chen Kang pursued her from Dunhuang to Bianliang for her, Wanyan Zongbi asked her aunt to propose marriage, and her subordinates sometimes privately said that she favored Zhao Xingde, she never thought that she would be like this kind of little girl. Han Ningshuang's responsibilities are too arduous, Yang conspiracy surrounds him, and his mind is full of military plans, and he can't afford a little rich leisure. She only thinks it's quite interesting for a little girl like Sinan.

Seeing Sinan's cheeks flushed with shame, Han Ningshuang reached out and gently pinched her, teasing her: "You still say that you have no personal feelings?" It's a pity that Mr. Zhao has a wife, and his wife is the first talented woman in the world, knowledgeable, virtuous and beautiful, but she seems to be a little jealous, so Mr. Zhao doesn't dare to take a concubine. ”

"The servant has no personal feelings," Sinan was so aggrieved that she was about to cry, and muttered: "Big ...... The eldest lady is the most talented woman in the world. ”

Han Ningshuang didn't want to make any more jokes about her, and said with a smile: "I'm not compared to a woman." The two laughed and laughed so much that they relaxed their minds, and Han Ningshuang continued to review the official letter of the military letter, and it didn't take long for her brows to furrow slightly.

According to the detailed report, since Yelu Dashi ascended the throne, the military strength of the Liao State has expanded rapidly. Han'er was confiscated as slaves, and except for a few wealthy nobles and merchants who ran workshops and farms, most of the Khitan men were incorporated into the army, and in addition to maintaining herding, they only practiced archery and horses. These Khitan civilians used to live in extreme poverty, but now after being incorporated into the army, they have a regular income, and their lives are far greater than before, so they are extremely grateful to Yelu Dashi. With the support of the Khitans at the bottom, Yelu Dashi's rectification of the tribal army, the Jingzhou army, and the leather room army was also very smooth, even if a few Khitan nobles were dissatisfied, they did not dare to show it. Because the Liao State has always been patient with the aggressiveness of the Jin State, many Han army generals optimistically thought that the Liao army was vulnerable, but Han Ningshuang's view was the opposite, with the national strength and military strength of the Liao State, if it was not issued, it would be enough, once it was launched, even the three Jin States could not resist it. At that time, the existence of the Han army was just a stone on the road to the destruction of the Jin State of Liao.

On the other hand, although the Jin State was an ally, it had always had the intention of annexing the Han army. With the great victories and the consolidation of the country's strength, from Wanyan Wu begging for purchase and Wanyan resignation, to Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongbi and other clan warriors, and even the ordinary Jurchen people of the Jin State have grown arrogant emotions, and more and more think that the Wanyan tribe is the darling of Changshengtian, and other allies, including the Han and Bohai people, are becoming less and less important in the eyes of the Jurchen magnates, and even become the object of annexation. Wanyan Aguta has always regarded the Liao State as his lifelong enemy, and when he is alive, he may still be able to suppress these ambitious magnates, but once he dies, I am afraid that the situation of the Han people under the rule of the Jin State may not be much stronger than that of the Liao State. Even the Han army had to try to protect itself early.

Therefore, Han Ningshuang has always ignored the dissatisfaction of his subordinates and concentrated his efforts on consolidating the defense of Suzhou Guannan, instead of dispatching generals to seize the empty prefectures and counties of Liao. Even so, she is still worried, and the slow construction progress of Suzhou Guancheng has been pressing on her like a rock. Even if all the small forts built in the hinterland of Guannan are lost, as long as this fortress is still in the hands of the Han army, the Liao people can only leave obediently after the ice melts, and Guannan is the world of the Han army. And if the Liao army occupies this Guancheng, then the entire hinterland of Suzhou Guannan is within the attack range of the Liao iron cavalry, and the Han army can only defend a few isolated fortresses.

It was getting late, and Sinan reported that Wang Xuansu came to invite him. Han Ningshuang stood up, hung up her sword, draped a cyan wolf skin over her body, tidied up her outfit again, and then walked towards the banquet guest's Chinese military tent.

Tonight, a banquet was held to entertain Zhao Xingde, and the Han army was hosted by Han Ningshuang, accompanied by Wang Xuansu and Xu Detai, and the guests of Xia Guo also included Liu Zhijian and Du Fujiao. Except for Liu Zhijian, several people are old friends from the trip to Huanglong Mansion. After a few words of compliments to each other, the atmosphere became warm.

Wang Xuansu asked Zhao Xingde about the charcoal business, and was quite envious of this way of making money. There are also some woods in Suzhou, but it is not enough to build fortifications, and wood has to be brought in from outside. The Han army expanded to tens of thousands in a very short period of time, and there were 300,000 or 400,000 Han people in various places, the equipment of the soldiers, the food and clothing of the stockade, and the money and grain were spent like flowing water. Fortunately, Han's firm monopolized the trade between Tokyo and Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom, and Han Chang looted and hid a lot of money before and after the rebellion. But this is only for ordinary businessmen, for military affairs, even if the entire trading house is sold, it can only meet the needs of the moment, not a long-term solution.

"I didn't expect Song Guo to need so much charcoal." Wang Xuansu said with some emotion, "Only Mr. Zhao who was born in Kanto knows the details. Zhao Xingde smiled: "It's just a fool's gain." Suzhou occupies the key points of the sea route, and it will inevitably be rich in the future. ”

"When will it be?" Wang Xuansu shook his head secretly in his heart, he only knew how to march and fight, and it was not possible to make money. The grain and armor of the Han army are all raised by the Han family trading house controlled by the eldest lady. Feeling a little embarrassed, Wang Xuansu looked at Han Ningshuang.

Han Ningshuang changed the topic and asked, "The construction progress of Nanshan City is too slow, does Mr. Zhao have a good plan?" ”

When Wang Xuansu and Xu Detai heard this, their faces were a little strange. Inviting Zhao De to Suzhou to build Nanshan City is just a pretense. The main reason is that the Han army marshal's mansion does not want his prestige in Taibai Mountain and Yalu River to continue to rise and dominate the city. Even Wang Xuansu, the proposer, did not believe that Zhao Xingde had a way to speed up the progress of building the city, after all, the Han army had thought of all the ways he could think of. It's best for everyone to tacitly know this, and as soon as they meet, they talk about it, which is inevitably a little embarrassing.

Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "It was a little difficult to do, but now I have come up with a way." ”

"Is that true?"

Zhao Xingde put down the wine cup and said slowly: "The construction of Nanshan City is slow, because the rammed earth is too time-consuming, and the foundation of the city wall is extremely narrow, so it is useless to increase manpower. When I first encountered this problem, I couldn't help it. It just so happened that a friend built a pavilion not long ago, and it was completed in just two months, and he was greatly surprised in the next, and asked carefully, in addition to the columns and beams with Liaodong giant wood, the bucket arches, spires, gables, paintings, and carvings were all shipped over and directly loaded after the Song Kingdom was done. ”

"What kind of solution is this?" Han Ningshuang's face was slightly gloomy, she took a sip of tea, and said secretly, "Isn't it that Mr. Zhao was forced to come to Suzhou, and he was unhappy and deliberately entertained me." ”

"I see." Wang Xuansu even sneered, "Could it be that Mr. Zhao means that Nanshan City should also be customized in the Song Kingdom?" ”