"The sailor has suddenly tripled," Liu Zhijian suspected, "Will the Song court agree?" ”

When it came to the Song court, Liu Zhijian's face showed disdain. Xia Liguo was in the land of the four wars, and all the country's expenses were given priority to raising soldiers, and then considering the prosperity of the country and the people. However, the Song State was almost reversed, the imperial court wanted to educate the world, give relief to the people, and the doctors wanted to do too much, and they wanted to reduce the money and food for raising soldiers to the minimum. Even on the anti-Liao front in the north, the military department was very tight on the personnel of the army stationed in Tun. From time to time, some people question the empty salaries of military generals, or accuse border commanders of supporting their own troops and wasting state salaries. Pirates were not a problem for the Song Kingdom, and the victory in Guangzhou severely defeated the bandits on the southeast coast. I am afraid that the Song Army's military department will not only not agree to expand the South China Sea Naval Division, but will instead try to reduce the food and strength of the naval division.

"You don't need them to say yes." Zhao Xingde frowned and shook his head.

He pondered for a moment and said in a low voice: "The identity of the officers and soldiers of the detachment is not that of the imperial court, but of the dart master. ”

"Dart Master?" Liu Zhijian was surprised, "What is this?" ”

"Yes, Dart Master," Zhao Xingde said with a smile, "Their identity is that they are mercenaries from the South China Sea." ”

"Mercenaries?" Liu Zhijian wondered.

"The mercenaries are the dart masters, and the Nanhai Xing hires them to protect the maritime trade routes, so the military salaries, grain and grass are all from the Nanhai Xing, and the detachment is trained by the sailors to cooperate with us in battle when necessary. Lu Mingyu and the people they sent have already cancelled their military registration on the roster of the Ministry of War, and nominally, Nanhai Xing has placed retired veterans in the cantonment area, and their status as a dart master does not occupy the military status, and it has nothing to do with the Ministry of War in the future. ”

Zhao Xingde explained, took off his helmet, wiped the sweat inside, folded the folds and put them on his head. The weather in the south is hot, but as long as the officers and men are on combat posts, they must be fully armed, and this is the rule of the South China Sea Naval Division, and it will also be the rule of the detachment. Liu Zhijian nodded to show that he understood, and Zhao Xingde continued: "The South China Sea Coupon of the Zhengxin Hall was issued by the South China Sea Bank, and the South China Sea merchant fleet is also in it. This time, I discussed with Chen Gongju in Guangzhou, and some industries in the reclamation land in the South China Sea will also be converted into shares and sold at the Zhengxintang in the future, so that the people in the inland can also share in the benefits of opening up the sea frontier, and the interests will be evenly distributed. ”

Su Sande originally planned to monopolize the entire Southwest Sea Route with the detachment as the backing of the detachment, but Zhao Xingde took into account the interests of large trading houses such as Fuhaixing and Yajiaoxing, as well as the opposition of other Song gentry and merchants. In the end, it was decided to collect taxes from passing merchant ships at ports along the way. Nanhaixing will also sell a kind of bodyguard coupons, in the past, as long as businessmen buy bodyguard coupons, they are robbed in the relevant sea areas, and all the loss of goods will be compensated by Nanhaixing. In order to win the hearts and minds of the people, in addition to food and wages, the Nanhai Trip will also purchase land for officers and men in the cantonment land, and issue Nanhai coupons and pensions of varying amounts to officers of the detachment at and above the command level. In this way, after the officers and men of the joint naval division are retired, the detachment will also be an excellent place to retire.

"Do business and open up the sea frontier," Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "If you don't spend the country's food salary, the imperial court will not allow it." ”

"Even if they don't," Liu Zhijian shook his head, "they can't do anything." ”

Zhao Xingde smiled and was noncommittal. He looked at the fluttering white flags on the pier, and his eyes flashed with determination.

Bringing the remnants of the defeated pirates under your command is not just a matter of replenishment. These days, Zhao Xingde has understood that the biggest enemy of the South China Sea Sailor is not someone else, but this vast and unpredictable sea. Compared to ordinary strong men, pirates have become accustomed to a life of wandering, and in the cruel open sea, their chances of survival are far higher than that of ordinary strong men, and even higher than that of ordinary fishermen. Staying away from ports and land and surviving at sea for a long time was the first step to a successful expedition. Plus, there's an added bonus. The officials and soldiers of the Song State were not familiar with the sea conditions, and exterminating pirates was like a blind man touching a fish. The South China Sea Navy Division recruited this group of pirates, and they knew the waterways, reefs, and bandit nests of the southeastern coastal islands well.

On the deck below the ship, the sailors were busy with their work, echoing each other, and everything seemed to be calm as usual.

One by one, the officers and men trampled on the deck, and some occasionally glanced at a white banner on the pier, and grinned and greeted each other as the two sailors staggered by with their things. The guns at each emplacement were filled with ammunition, but the tense battle was almost over for the officers and men on board, and it would not be too difficult to do the following, whether the general accepted the surrender of the pirates. The most important thing is that in such a big battle, the casualties of the South China Sea Naval Division were surprisingly small, and the number of casualties in the front and rear battles was only more than 100, of which dozens were injured by artillery explosions, which was almost negligible compared to the scale of the battle. Therefore, the mood of the sailors was very relaxed.

"I'm afraid that Yangzhou Zhengxintang's stock bonds should rise sharply again, right?" Liu Zhijian, who usually does not smile, also joked, "I really should have bought some stock coupons a few days earlier, this is an opportunity to make a fortune sitting on the ground, and Commander Du is going to beat his chest again!" Du Fujiao took this fire battalion to assist in the defense of Hanhai City, if he was on board, the officers of the Xia Kingdom would not joke with him about such a "big event".

............

The siege of Guangzhou was lifted, and all kinds of news spread to all directions like snowflakes.

The fastest of them is the news that the Xia State Military Intelligence Department used flying pigeons to transmit, which is more detailed each time, and everything that can be found out, tens of thousands of pirates surrendered, and the deaths and injuries of all the warring parties were reported back. Wu Jie, Chen Xuan, and Yuan Xingzong in Luoyang were all within the scope of the Military Intelligence Department's copying and dispatching of military planes as usual. In the past few days, the three of them have been shocked again and again. When the news of Zhao Xingde's decision to recruit tens of thousands of pirates to establish a detachment of the South China Sea Naval Division was returned, Chen Chong wrote a letter overnight, asking his father to immediately ask the Protectorate to increase the fief for Zhao Xingde, choose a piece of Dashi territory, or a fertile land in the southwest sea to increase Zhao Xingde's fief.

Dunhuang, in front of the Hanguang Palace, a line of egrets flew up.

"It seems that the prince values Zhao Yuanzhi very much."

Chen Xuan looked at the group of egrets in the sky, turned around and said, "Why don't you add Zhao Xingde to the knighthood list?" He sighed, "I'm just worried that this son will move too quickly, and it will not be good for him." The general, the Shangzhu country, the marquis, have been gathered in one person, and they want to be sealed? Among the protectors and princes, there are also people who are dissatisfied with him. In order to avoid the abolition of military affairs, if he is added this time, the post of general of the firearms department can be removed. ”

"General of the Firearms Division, it is enough to confer the rank of General of the Southwest Sea Division." With a hint of joke in his eyes, Liu Yi replied, "However, the minister should congratulate Your Majesty, the prince is very good at the way of generals, and he is not a person who plays with the small weapon that Yin Xinren can't give." What about these people? What does Your Majesty think? He is holding a thin volume of recitals in his hand, and he is also currently considering knighthood, Zhao Xingde's deceased, Han Ningshuang, Jin Changtai, and Li Yong are among them. There is also a book of Han Ningshuang's recital, the leader of the Han army invited himself to lead his troops to attack Liao, and suggested two routes to march, one is to join forces with the Song State and attack Hebei Zhou County from Jingdong Road, and the other is to cross the sea to attack Goryeo, and then use this as a springboard to launch the rest of the Han army to attack Tokyo Province together.

"I'm not a little bit of a man!" Chen Xuan shook his head and said, he took the fold in Liu Yi's hand and looked at it again.

"I'm not a little bit of a man. Jin Changtai, Feng Yaqing, the prime minister is too stingy. ”

Chen Xuan muttered, as if taking revenge on Liu Yi, shook his head and said: "Captain Jin has made outstanding achievements in Liaodong, and the Liao people have repeatedly attacked and suppressed him, and he and the Han army together strangle the back of the Liao people, and he can be sealed as the Marquis of Bin!" Why didn't Han Ningshuang be knighted? ...... Oh, I'm worried about the problems on the Song side. First promised the Han clan with a letter of state, if the Liao State is destroyed, the Han clan will definitely tear the earth and seal the king, will this me also be written in the edict? Prime Minister, are you kidding? Empty promise, will Han agree? Chen Xuan shook his head, "My great credit is sacrificed for the country." Suddenly, his eyes were slightly cold, and he was a little dissatisfied, "Li Yong asked me to give a name to his village?" This kid is too thick-skinned, isn't he openly asking me for a knighthood? What do you think, Prime Minister? "It is a practice in the imperial court that only ministers with the title of founding marquis or above will ask the emperor to give a name for a fief or a closed city, and Li Yong was born in a family of princes, so it is impossible not to be unclear about this practice.

"Well, it stands to reason that Longzhu Island is a key point in the sea, and Li Yong's credit is not small, but after all, he is not a military merit, and if he is a marquis, I am afraid that the criticism of the Protectorate will not be small. In addition......" Liu Yi said hesitantly, "If the attack on the Rom Turks goes well, Li Sihai may have another responsibility, the title of Marquis of Bowang has to fall on Li Yong's head, the Marquis of Bowang Li's generation is only two of them, and the practice of the founding marquis cannot be taken at the same time, and now to Li Yong is the marquis, I am afraid he will have to resign from the table, is this son willing to resign honestly?" ”

"Forget it. For the time being, if you wronged him, let's seal Yaqing. ”

"Longmen Village, the southern village of Longzhu Island, has been bought by the imperial court." Chen Xuan's eyes showed a touch of playfulness, and he jokingly said, does he want me to give his Beizhai a name? Don't bother, just call Li Jiacheng. "The hereditary dignitaries of these founding dynasties had a very delicate relationship with the royal family. Chen Xuan watched the two Li brothers grow up, Li Yong asked the emperor to give him a name for his village, and Chen Xuan gave him a joking village name. Look at him, he's so embarrassed to take it out and spread it everywhere.

"Your Majesty is clear." Liu Yi couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's not good for Li Yong to ask for the name of "Li Jiahou" again, right?" ”

"That's fine!" Chen Xuan said with a glare. The two of them finally couldn't help laughing and laughed together.

The intention of this knighthood is that rewarding merit is just a pretense, so as to stabilize the situation in the east is one of the purposes, and the second purpose is to encourage the soldiers of the western expedition. The armies of all walks of life gathered in the river, and the western expedition against the Roma Turks was like an arrow, like a pack of hungry wolves gathering, and at this moment, honoring the knighthood was like throwing a large piece of fatty fresh meat in front of the wolves, which would inevitably greatly stimulate the desire of the soldiers to make meritorious contributions. The east is just a small fight, a few people have been knighted, and the west is thousands of miles away, destroying the country, seizing people's land, and the court has promised a generous reward, how can there be a few knights who have been knighted? In order to achieve the purpose of stimulating morale, Liu Yi also specially suggested that because many of the captains of the Protectorate were in the army of the Western Expedition, the Protectorate might as well break the system, and set up several halls in the camp of the Western Expedition this time, so that the captains in the army could also participate in the voting, and the results were collected in Dunhuang in the pigeon book.