The lake is covered with mist. The early spring sun shines on people, and it only makes people feel warm.

In such a beautiful early spring, I think that the Great Song River and Hebei have become a mound of war, and the people in the southeast have been devastated. Under the iron hooves of the Liao soldiers, countless people died every minute and every second, Zhao Xingde's heart was very blocked, he sighed, looked up at the vast sky in the distance, and saw that the white clouds were like a river, flowing slowly on the empty blue sky, giving people the illusion that this body and the whole world and everything in the world are in a slowly flowing river.

"The deceased is like a husband, reluctant to give up day and night." Chen Dong's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Zhao Xingde turned around, saw Chen Dong wearing a Confucian robe, and asked with a smile, "Xingde allows these heroes of the rivers and lakes to set up their own rules, so that they can be good at self-discipline, and guard the southeast half of the wall for my Great Song Dynasty, is this the 'way of self-defense' of Mr. Lu Er?" ”|

Zhao Xingde was stunned, and said: "I just want to think that if the water is clear, there will be no fish." Human nature is good, and seeing the misery of Sangzi, everyone has the same hatred for the enemy. It's just that people are not sages, and it would be too demanding for them to completely abandon their own interests. I saw these heroes of Jingxiang, all of whom had the heart to serve the country, but they were full of worries, worried that the imperial court would kill people with knives and consume their power, worried that they were not descendants of the official army, that the food and salary were insufficient, and that the soldiers would have to starve after bloody battles. I thought about how I could think of a way to dispel the concerns of these heroes as much as possible, so that they could serve the country with peace of mind. That's why I proposed to use the method of discussing the rules of grace to let these strong men express all the concerns in their hearts. For the concerns of the soldiers, the court can take care of it as much as possible. In this way, people in the world who have the heart to serve the country can no longer have worries and can work together to serve the country. Soldiers are not sages, and their own lives are precarious, so they can defend the world for the country. Unexpectedly, it was secretly in line with Mr. Lu Er's self-defense. ”

After Zhao Xingde finished speaking, he sighed, didn't say anything, and looked into the distance, a hazy mist shrouded the surface of the lake, just like the complicated mood in his eyes, making it difficult to see. The smoke on Dongting Lake is ethereal, and occasionally a gulls and herons skim the water, creating a circle of ripples.

Chen Dong was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "How does the Xia State plan to help the southeast resist the Liao army?" ”

Zhao Xingde said: "If the Song State needs it, the blades, ordnance, and war horses can be sent from the Shu State, and the price is in accordance with the usual practice of the Xijing Xingying and Guanzhong Mutual Market, and the accounts are recorded first, and after the Liao army is repulsed, the Song court will slowly repay it." If the Song State agreed, the Xia State's Eastern Expeditionary Army, with more than 30,000 troops, would divert to Shuzhong and go down the river to help the Eastern Song and Song Dynasty troops resist the Liao army. He paused, "Because Zhao Qi and Cao Di refused to open the Hangu Pass and let the Eastern Expeditionary Army fight with the Liao Army, which angered the Protectorate Mansion and the Great General's Mansion, the two governments decided that the Ezhou side could accept the soldiers, horses, money and grain on behalf of the Song State." ”

Chen Dong listened attentively to every word Zhao Xingde said, he didn't answer immediately, and pondered for a long time. With the current strength of Ezhou and Lishe, it can be said that it is impossible to negotiate conditions with Xia Guo at all, and it can be said that it is of great help to be able to obtain soldiers, money and food in the name of the Song court, especially the extremely scarce war horses in the southeast of the Song State. And the southeast Shimin's defensive psychology against the Xia Kingdom is far less deep than that in the north. After the Bowang Hou Li family, who lived in the Xia Kingdom, was the Southern Tang Dynasty royal family, the Xia royal family Chen was also a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and many Chen generals were also from the Southern Tang Dynasty. Therefore, at the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, it was very worried that the Xia State would attack the southeast in the name of restoring the homeland of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and deliberately built the Jiangling Water Division to prevent it. However, in the past 100 years, the southeast and Shuzhong have been extremely closely linked in trade. Many seafood were landed in the southeast, along the Jiangxi River, and transferred from Shuzhong to the Xia Kingdom for trading. And all kinds of goods in the Xia Kingdom also went down the river and became popular in the southeast through many commercial houses.

"There is no shortage of grain and grass blades for the time being, we need war horses and iron armor, as well as iron barrel cannons, Xia Guo will help us train gunners." Chen Dong suppressed the sense of humiliation in his heart and explained, "The ordnance in the state and county treasury is really poor, and the armor of the Xiang army and the volunteer soldiers is simply not enough to fight, and I can't let them use their flesh and blood to resist the sharp arrows and iron horses of the Liao army." He whispered, "I will try my best to raise money and food for these things, and pay the price in full." ”

"Okay." Zhao Xingde nodded and said, "I will report to the General's Mansion for a decision." ”

Chen Dong also nodded and sighed deeply. An indescribable meaning gradually permeated between these two life and death friends who had a moral fellowship at the beginning, and they didn't know what to say. The embarrassing silence lasted for a while, and Zhao Xingde said in a low voice: "The war is dangerous, once the war with the Liao soldiers starts, the armor and other ordnance will be greatly lost, if it is transported from the Xia country for thousands of miles, it will be difficult to quench the thirst of the distant water, the iron ore in Daye County, Ezhou is of good quality, it is the place where Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms cast swords and made soldiers, and it has been mined in all dynasties, so you can expand the scale of the iron workshop and create more armor blades." ”

"Iron ore in Ezhou?" Chen Dong frowned, he had just arrived in Ezhou, and he had only heard that the imperial court had an iron ore and iron factory in Ezhou, but the scale was not large, before the Liao army entered the Kou, the iron needed by the imperial court of the Great Song Dynasty mainly came from Xing and Cizhou in Hebei, and the income of the mine supervisors in these two states could account for more than seventy percent of the annual income of all iron mine supervisors. The iron ore mines in Ezhou are somewhat obscure.

"But the iron ore mines in Ezhou were too small, and the number of craftsmen was too small." Chen Dong sighed, "Hebei and Henan have fallen too quickly, and most of the iron smelting supervision of the imperial court, along with the blacksmiths, is now mostly in the hands of the Liao. ”

Zhao Xingde thought about it, and most of the iron smelting in this era relied on hand labor. Because the total production is not large, the size of most mines is not a problem, but the number of skilled craftsmen limits the expansion of iron smelting. After thinking for a moment, he said: "The number of iron factory craftsmen in the imperial court may be limited, but if you follow the practice of the Xia Kingdom, divide the mine into mining areas, sell the mining rights to various private iron factories and workshops, and then buy iron armor and blades at a high price, then you can quickly increase the production of iron ore." He paused for a moment and added, "The world is bustling for profit, if the iron factories in the Song Kingdom are not enough, I know many iron factories in Guanzhong, and many of them are skilled craftsmen." ”

Xia attaches great importance to martial arts, and the blacksmith in Guanzhong can be called the best in the world. But Chen Dong was still a little hesitant. Unlike the Xia Kingdom, most of the iron mines in the Song Kingdom were government-run. "If you loosen the iron ore to the merchants. Business? "Will there be armor and blades scattered and bandits will take it as evil and make the place unstable?" ”

"Brother Chen, isn't the place where you and I are standing is the lair of the bandits?" Zhao Xingde sighed, "What if Qin Shi Huang collected the world's blades and cast them into the twelve golden men, it was not to chop wood for soldiers and unveil the pole for flags, but the second died." With the current situation, if there are enough blades, I wish that every household of the Great Song Dynasty people had armor and blades, and when they faced the Liao soldiers and wicked people, they would not be powerless to resist. Human nature is good, after all, there are more people in the world who are good-natured, this way of Mencius, do you believe it or not? ”

"The foolish brother has been taught." Chen Dong nodded, "This matter of iron mining, let me go back and discuss it with General Yue again, if it is feasible, I will also ask Yuan Zhi to introduce skilled craftsmen in Guanzhong to create armor blades for the army, as long as the goods are good enough, we will not be stingy with silver." He hesitated for a moment and said in a deep voice, "As for the matter of the soldiers and horses of the Xia State going down the river to help the southeast resist the Liao army, I will also discuss it with General Yue before I can make a final decision." ”

"This is natural." Zhao Xingde nodded. The matter of borrowing troops is so important, if Chen Dong agreed on the spot, it would be strange.

After the two finished talking, they were about to leave, when Luo Xianshi's voice came from behind: "The two adults are here, let Luo find it." Zhao Xingde turned around and saw that Luo Xianshi came to Zhao Xingde with a quick step, and he held a blank piece of paper in his hand and handed it to Zhao Xingde. It was the few grace clauses that his gang of bandit leaders had negotiated.

Zhao Xingde unfolded it and saw that the handwriting was like a silver hook iron painting, which seemed to be Luo Xianshi's own handwriting, and couldn't help but praise: "Luo Dangjia is a good word!" He raised his eyebrows slightly, and said in a low voice: "The art of war says, the strength of the small enemy is the capture of the big enemy." Therefore, if the enemy's army is more than three times that of our army, and if the reinforcements are insufficient, then our army will lead the troops away and temporarily avoid the enemy's front, and it is not a crime. Zhao Xingde nodded, and then read, "The art of war says, if you double it, you will attack it, and if you do it, you will encircle it." Therefore, if the enemy army is ten times that of our army, if the superior wants our army to defend the lonely city, or if the enemy suffers from the enemy on his back, if there is no natural danger and geographical advantage, and there is no real reinforcement, it is not a crime to disobey the order. Zhao Xingde nodded, and then read: "In a decisive battle between the two armies, if the other troops do not leave first, so that our army is in danger, then our army can also withdraw, so as not to fall into the place of death, and it is not a crime." ”

Luo Xian said happily: "Did Mr. Zhao agree to these three?" ”

Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "Luo Dangjia is familiar with military books and quotes scriptures, but Zhao Mouyan can not allow it." ”

It was only at this time that Luo Xian Shifang put his mind at ease, knowing that Zhao Xingde was really making a contract with all the heroes, he hugged his fists and said: "Mr. is humble and vain, Luo admires." After speaking, he glanced at Chen Dong, arched his hand, and turned to leave.

Not long after Luo Xianshi left, Zhang Wudi came over again, holding a piece of paper, which was written by the teacher of the Thirteen Serial Village. "This teacher doesn't know if he can write clearly," Zhang Wudi stuffed the paper into Zhao Xingde's hand, as if he wanted to reason with him, and said loudly, "Old Zhang Mingren doesn't do dark things, it's better to make it clear in person." Mr. Zhao said that it is the responsibility of the husband, the big guy follows you to fight, but the brothers can't starve, if the food and salary can't be helped, we will either break up the gang, or go to the state and county to ask for food and salary, Mr. Zhao, do you agree to this matter? ”

Chen Dong's face changed color, this invincible Zhang said "go and ask for it yourself", which sounds good, but in fact, he is going to set up troops to loot the place. "How can this be promised?" He said in his heart.

Zhao Xingde's face was as usual, and he smiled slightly: "The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. If there are no soldiers fighting to the death, the Liao soldiers will not only rob money and food, but also kill our people. This one is also indispensable. However, I would like to add that when the ministries raise salaries, they must first find the magistrates, and if the magistrates can afford the money and food, they must not harass the people. In addition," he said, "when the time comes, do not harm the lives of the people, do not take the opportunity to insult the women, do not sweep away the food in every house, and leave rations for the people." If these points can't be done, then Zhao is here, and it will be difficult to accommodate all the heroes. ”