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. ”

Chen Dong and Zhang Wushu frowned at the same time. Chen Dong wanted to speak, but looked at Zhao Xingde, but he still couldn't help but didn't speak.

Zhang Wudi thought about it for a long time, and finally stomped his foot and shouted: "That's okay!" Stretched out his hand and snatched back the piece of paper with rules written on it from Zhao Xingde's hand, turned around and left, muttering as he walked: "His grandmother's, there are so many stinky rules." Chen Dong said with a worried face: "If these people extort places under the banner of the Baoyi Army, I am afraid that you will not be able to escape the stigma." ”

Zhao Xingde looked at Zhang Wuxian's back and said in a low voice: "If I can recruit more heroes to go to the country, I have a little cloud-like reputation, what is there to be reluctant about." The top priority at the moment is to prevent the Liao army from sweeping the southeast. Entangled in all directions to form an army recklessly, military discipline cannot be compared with the original forbidden army. Now the eyebrows are burning, and the soldiers must be counted on to fight, and the others can only be put aside first. He looked at Chen Dong, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "The price of the armaments and war horses of the Xia Kingdom can be hung on the account of the Great Song Dynasty and paid back in the future, why are you in a hurry?" Although the southeast is rich, it is the place where the money and grain taxes of the Song State come from. However, according to the system of strong cadres and weak branches of the imperial court, the state capital not only has no soldiers and horses, but also has very little money and grain reserves. When you start a war and use money everywhere, where do you raise money to pay for this large sum of money? ”

Zhao Xingde knew from his personal experience that in order to maintain a capable army and horses, it was not only necessary to prepare various military supplies such as grain, grass, armor, blades, war horses, and cold and summer clothes in advance, but also to maintain military salaries in peacetime. After losing the battle, it costs money to regain its strength, and if it is a victory, the reward issued by the fierce morale also needs money. Once the food and salary cannot be paid, the morale of the army will be unstable immediately. In the Hebei camp, there have been many times of commotion and mutiny.

Chen Dong said in a deep voice: "I have my own way to do this. ”

"What the hell is the solution?" The more he didn't say anything, the more worried Zhao Xingde became.

Chen Dong was silent for a moment, sighed, and said in a low voice: "Although the county treasury of Southeast Prefecture is empty, there are not many rich and powerful people in various places. I discussed with General Yue that all prefectures and counties would be allowed to recruit volunteers, and Haoqiang would prepare his own armor and blades for the volunteers, and the leaders of the volunteers would be awarded officers according to the number of soldiers and horses. Those who can recruit 10 soldiers will be awarded to the chief, those who can recruit 100 soldiers will be awarded to the capital, those who can recruit 500 troops will be given to the commander, and those who can recruit 5,000 troops will be awarded to the commander of the rebel army. He smiled and said: "Xingzhi has recruited thousands of heroes from the rivers and lakes here, so he was given the position of commander of the fake Baoyi Army." He bit the word "fake" harder. Because of the emperor's northern hunting, most of the important ministers of the court were coerced by the Liao State, although Chen Dong's prestige was high, and he had the support of many scholars of science, but the official position he received privately could only be an expedient measure, so he must bring a "fake" word, so that he would complete the name after the name was justified in the future.

Zhao Xingde nodded and agreed: "The world is in turmoil, and those who are strong and strong are the sons of heaven." Is an award nothing? There are tens of thousands of heroes in the Great Song Dynasty, if one-tenth of them can fight to the death to defeat the thieves, even if the Liao people win consecutive battles and fight a few more battles, there will be no one in the Khitan tribe. He frowned and said: "Shaoyang, what I'm most worried about is that I am depressed after defeat, and after a few small setbacks, everyone does not want to fight with the Liao people again, but wants to seek peace with Gou'an." Even if it was the Han war against the Huns, at the beginning, there were more defeats and fewer victories. But because there are many rich people in China, they keep twisting him and beating him hard, and if he doesn't run out of vitality, he vows not to make peace. Although the air was originally deserted to the north, it finally drained the Huns and cut off the great trouble in my Central Plains. If the Han Dynasty blindly kept quiet, I am afraid that it would not last for 400 years. He sighed, "It's just that Emperor Yuan was soft and cowardly, and he lightly agreed with his relatives, and lost a good situation, so that Di Yi was able to recuperate and grow, and finally ended in the disaster of five chaotic flowers." ”

"What does Yuan Zhi mean?" Chen Dong's heart moved. He has been busy dealing with the situation recently, and he has very little time to think about what the future will be.

"The Khitan is in a hurry, and it is difficult to last, and the Liao army has more than a dozen races such as Khitan, Jurchen, and Murwei, and they have always been peaceful. From this point of view, even if we can't win a big victory for a while, as long as we grit our teeth and resist and never seek peace, we can drag down the Liao State. In addition, there were few Khitan people and many people in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Xingde's tone carried a hint of coldness, "As long as there are a few more battles with many casualties, the Liao State will definitely shed the last drop of blood before us." ”

"Yuan Zhizhen Guoshi, it's a pity that it's ......" Chen Dong sighed secretly.

Zhao Xingde asked again, "I just talked about recruiting soldiers and horses. It's still green and yellow, and Tian Fu has at least half a year left, how do you raise money and food now? ”

Chen Dong's face was a little ugly, he was silent for a moment, and finally said: "An expedient measure, donating one's life to raise money and food, maybe it's a way." "This matter was first proposed by the gentry of some state and county science societies, and if they donate money and food every year, they can enter the county school. In a county in the southeast, there are about hundreds of wealthy families who can afford this donation. If there are 50 donors in a county, then 25,000 yuan of food and grain can be obtained every year, which is enough to pay the expenses of 500 forbidden troops for a year. Many of the recruited volunteers were self-prepared robes and baggage, as long as Ezhou was rationed armor, war horses and other military supplies that were difficult to buy on the market. In this way, the donation of Jinghu South Road alone can raise nearly 20,000 soldiers. The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass go first. Chen Dong was trapped in money and food, and he had to compete with Cai Jing and other traitors for the hearts and minds of the people, weighing all kinds of pros and cons, and finally agreed to this method.

"County school donors?" Zhao Xingde doubted, "Although the southeast is rich, there are many high-class wealthy families with tens of thousands of family properties. But donating 500 yuan a year is not a small amount. Can the identity of the county scholar be worth so much money? I'm afraid ......"

"According to Mr. Huang Zhoushan, the county school is very unusual." Chen Dong said slowly, "The state and county officials are all elected by them. The identity of the Confucian is noble, and he can see the official without kneeling, without going through the county school, without being interrogated by the county official, and is not afraid of the disaster of prison service. There are a few counties in the south of the Yangtze River, it's really ......" Chen Dong shook his head, under the influence of the Science Society, there are now more than a hundred prefectures and counties that obey the official family of the Northern Hunt and do not obey the orders of the Liao thieves. In some of these counties, the people in the council were in charge, while in others the local gentry were in charge, and in some places, the real councillors were pushed aside. These large families have a large number of families, and they have extensive properties, and they will not migrate to avoid disasters unless they have to. Chen Dong was not worried that these people would defect to the Liao army, because as soon as the Liao army arrived, it would definitely plunder the prefectures and counties, and it was these rich squires who would suffer first. It's just that they have to deliberately tie things up now, lest they throw themselves on Zhao Qi and Cai Jing's side.

"There will be a lot of criticism for such actions, and I am afraid that the reputation of you and the Society will ...... Lossy. ”

"Burn your eyebrows, and look at the present." Chen Dong shook his head and said, "During the Han Dynasty, in order to conquer the Xiongnu in the north, he still sold his official beard. The Liao army was like a bamboo, and Cai Jing's traitors only blindly avoided the enemy. If this is not the case, I am afraid that the southeastern half of the army will have fallen before it has been established. In order to save the building from falling, since Zhao Xingzhi does not hesitate to be famous, what is my Chen Dong's reputation. ”

Zhao Xingde was silent for a moment, and then suggested: "In this case, in addition to the Zhenguo Army and the Baoyi Army, you might as well grant these volunteer soldiers the title in the name of the state and county to inspire the heart of protecting Sangzi." ”

Chen Dong nodded, did not speak, only raised his eyes to look into the distance. This donation is against his heart, but he has to do it under the prohibition, so he really doesn't want to think about it anymore. If it weren't for Zhao Xingde's repeated questioning, he wouldn't even want to mention it.

Zhao Xingde said again, "Shuzhong can transport war horses over, but I estimate that when tens of thousands of war horses arrive, it should be summer." In the middle of summer, if the horses are not fed well, they are most susceptible to diseases. Without the assistance of sufficient cavalry, it would not be so easy to defeat the Liao soldiers. Forage for horses, stables, etc., it is best to start preparing now. In the future, in addition to enclosing land to build horse farms for war horses, the prefectures and counties where the cavalry will be stationed will have to allocate at least 30 percent of the fields to grow forage. ”

"Grow grass and raise horses?" Chen Dong was stunned for a moment, and then began to have a headache again, "What about the grain?" "He hadn't thought about feeding the horses. As soon as Zhao Xingde reminded him, he thought that for the southern prefectures and counties, large-scale horse breeding was not only a heavy burden, but also many important ministers of this dynasty concluded that it was impossible.

"It's better to not have enough to eat than to let the thieves kill. A minimum of cavalry must be maintained. Zhao Xingde said, "If we don't do this, it will be tantamount to suicide, I heard that Hebei and Henan are already full of grasslands." He sighed.

Zhao Xingde originally thought that it was impossible to raise horses in the south, but after so many years of horse fighting, none of the places he passed through was impossible to raise horses. As long as you take care of it carefully, you can not only raise ordinary horses, but also high-quality war horses without any problem. When he thought about it carefully, it was just that the ministers of the Song Dynasty didn't understand horse politics at all, and the state and county officials below blindly dealt with prevarication. Dividing war horses into households to raise them was originally a practice that outweighed the losses. Over time, the three of them became tigers, and many people really thought that Song Jing really couldn't raise horses. For the Song people, careful accounting, raising horses is indeed not cost-effective. The cost of maintaining cavalry is extremely high. But in this day and age, if there are not enough cavalry, there are many tactical options out of thin air. No matter how clear the accounts are, it is not as big as the price of the country's ruin.