Chapter 298 Encouraging the Soldiers and Horses to the North

Since the war of destroying the Jin, Menghu moved all the residents of Hebei Road under their control, whether Han or the rest, north to Liaodong in order to facilitate defense, so if the emperor's purpose was only to drive Menghu out of the south of the Great Wall, then there was no problem of appeasing the people and the displaced people.

But now Zhao Heju is raising this question, which means that the purpose of Zhao Heju's Northern Expedition is to completely defeat Meng Yuan.

Wei Liaoweng raised his eyebrows, as if he wanted to admonish, but when he reached his mouth, he retracted it. His performance was seen by Zhao Heju, and he couldn't help but smile slightly: "What did Wei Qing say?" ”

"Minister...... I was thinking, Your Majesty's Northern Expedition this time intends to attack Huanglong, is it too hasty? ”

Zhao Youju shook his head and said: "I have thought about it many times, and I have asked the Military Counsellor's Office to come up with no less than ten reasoning on the battle situation, and I think that I am ready now. Moreover, there is also news that Menghu's morale and financial resources have been exhausted, and now it is a good opportunity for the Northern Expedition. ”

"Tuo Lei is looking for someone to open a mine, this person is very heroic, if it is delayed any longer, maybe he will learn from our Great Song Dynasty to restore some national strength." Zhao Heju said again: "Zhao Shanxiang is not here, I will tell you for him, now I have 60,000 musketeers and 6,000 dragoons in my hands, which is enough to sweep Menghu." ”

It takes time to equip and train musketeers, so two years later, Zhao and Ju have only equipped 60,000 musketeers, and he can't devote all his resources to armaments. Even so, he had put enough pressure on Meng Yuan to make Tuo Lei have to spend every drop of sweat and blood in his kingdom in the endless arms race, thus completely turning his so-called "benevolent government" into a bad one.

"Your Majesty is just using troops against Meng Yuan, if Chagatai and Wokotai also join forces to attack, how should they be handled?" Wei Liaoweng asked again: "Will Your Majesty attack the grassland?" ”

"I have prepared more than 40,000 horses in Tamna and Beihai Island to attack Mengyuan Shangke, go deep into the grassland desert, and wait until I have 30,000 dragoons in my hands." Zhao Youju did not answer directly, but put on his own difficulties.

The so-called dragoons, which are musketeers, combine the powerful lethality of musketeers with the mobility of cavalry, and are the same sharp weapons that Zhao and Ju used to deal with the Menghu cavalry in attack battles, but the training and equipment of dragoons are more difficult than those of musketeers. Today, the musket of the Great Song Dragoons is not Wu Mu Zero Three, but the "Sick Zero Four Type", which is more suitable for cavalry use, and is also equipped with a handcuff called a revolver.

Wei Liaoweng nodded again, expressing his support for the Son of Heaven's opinion. He was also hesitating at first in his heart, from his standpoint, "Gou can control the invasion and kill more", if he can restore the old land and recover Yanyun, then it will be enough, but after following Zhao and Ju for so long, even a stubborn person like Zhen Dexiu has changed, not to mention Wei Liaoweng, who has been by Zhao and Ju's side all the year round, he also took into account that there are furs needed for the development of the Great Song Dynasty on the northern grasslands, and considering that if he wants to save future generations from disasters, he must remove all hostile forces on the grassland.

On this point, Wei Liaoweng and Zhao Heju are in agreement: only sheep that provide wool for the looms of the Great Song Dynasty are allowed to exist on the grassland, and wolves who will run into the fences of the Great Song Dynasty are not allowed to roam.

Zhao and Ju's banquet was actually a small-scale mobilization meeting, and the departments related to this military operation, especially the household department that wanted to prepare grain and grass, must move in advance. Now that the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and winter is approaching, the war should be arranged after the spring of the next year, and preparations should be made half a year in advance, so that there will be no rush.

After Chen Zicheng left the palace, he went directly to the household department to read the grain files. The people left by the Son of Heaven are all important ministers in the court, but he is the only one who is a squire, and he knows what his intentions are. He was busy in the household department until eight o'clock in the evening, and several of the little officials he grabbed were as earth-colored as he was, so he stretched his waist and stood up.

"Today, I have all of you, I am in the Qunying Club, how about you get together?" He laughed.

After exchanging glances with each other, Chen Zicheng knew that they were a little deceitful that they were young, and they were also tempting, and persuaded again: "You don't have to be polite, this official banquet invites you, there is still something to discuss, you must give this face." ”

Having said this, those little officials were not good at refusing anymore, and at the moment the people who sent people home to report the news and pack up their things were busy, Chen Zicheng called a person to go out to call a car, and a moment later, when they went out of the door of the house, there were already three carriages waiting in front of the door.

Over the years, the Heroes Club has become the largest restaurant in Lin'an, and the entire half of the street is its shop, whether it is a literati, a high-ranking official or a wealthy businessman, they all like to come here. This is not only a reflection of identity, but also a place for some information exchange because of the gathering of celebrities.

Chen Zicheng's income is very high, this is an open secret, not only because the imperial court treats ministers preferentially, he has a good salary as a household servant, but also because he has invested a lot when he is begging, and his income may even be several times that of Prime Minister Cui He. But Zhao and Ju had already taught them the way to cultivate obscurity, so Chen Zicheng did not lead this group of officials to the Cuiyu Building of the Qunying Society, which cost the most, but chose Taoran Building, among all the buildings of the Qunying Club, the consumption in it is considered to be middle and upper, which is commensurate with their status.

"Chen Shilang is young and promising, and his future in the future is unlimited, unlimited!" At first, these little officials were still a little restrained, but as soon as the three rounds of wine fell, the atmosphere became warm, most of these little officials are in their early thirties and less than forty, and they have not yet lost their ambition in the tedious official business, and many people express envy for Chen Zicheng, and at the same time, they are also good.

"It's just the wrong love of the official family, if I don't have the help of your seniors, what can I do?" Chen Zicheng got up and said sincerely: "Little brother, I will give you another cup." ”

"The importance of our household department is one of the best among the six......" After everyone drank together, another small official started a conversation with a little pride, and everyone was waiting to answer, when they suddenly heard a commotion outside.

It is inevitable that there will be noise in the restaurant, but there is a good thing surnamed Xue in this group of officials, and he went out to see the excitement after a crime, and after a while, the noise outside was even louder, Chen Zicheng frowned slightly, although Huo Chongcheng had left the Heroes Club, but the backer behind the Heroes Club was Zhao Heju, which was almost an open secret, who ate the bear's heart and leopard gall and dared to come here to make trouble?

Just as he was thinking, the little official surnamed Xue came back with a blue face, and before he could say anything, he first picked up the wine and drank a glass. Everyone stared at him, he looked around, and then said with a wry smile: "But it's the clan that is causing trouble." ”

All the small officials were angry, one of them snorted uprightly, got up and was about to go out, the little official surnamed Xue waved his hand to stop him and said: "Someone has already come to Lin'an Mansion, and the sect is too blind, this group of heroes is where he makes trouble?" ”

Sure enough, after a few moments, the noise outside subsided, and after a few minutes it was quiet.

After drinking another round of wine, the little official surnamed Xue shook his head and sighed: "Recently, the clan has been a little unusual, and it is really ...... to regard the "Motto of the Clan", "The Treasure of Good and Evil", and "The Six Proverbs" as nothing."

When he said this, he knew that he was speechless, and after glancing at Chen Zicheng, he smiled and said: "Don't mention these trivial matters, colleagues, today is the first time that the old man has invited us to a banquet, and we will toast him together!" ”

Chen Zicheng knew that everyone had scruples, after all, he was a close minister of the Son of Heaven, so he didn't know at the moment, raised his glass and signaled to everyone.

For them, it was just a disappointing thing to encounter a clan disturbance in the Qunying Restaurant, but for Zhao and Ju, it was a very troublesome thing.

Since the Song Dynasty, on the one hand, the clan has been "endowed with heavy lu", allowing them to live a privileged life with prominent titles and wealthy fortunes, and on the other hand, they have "stopped serving the court" and not given any real power. When today's son is generous, Zhao Shanxiang is used as the secretary of the military department, and there is no less for the official attack, at that time, there are still people who write a book, and Zhao Shanxiang's clan is not allowed to take charge of the military department.

However, as the population grows and the number of clans increases, those distant clan relatives who have come out of the five suits have no choice but to fend for themselves, just like before Zhao and Ju became the heirs of King Yi. Most of the clans are still law-abiding, especially near Lin'an, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, they don't dare to act rashly, but there are also some people who rely on their own heavenly bloodline to bully men and women.

It's just that as recently, it is still rare for there to be clan disturbances in Lin'an one after another. Zhao Youju got the news as soon as possible, he originally wanted to summon Dazongzheng, but after thinking about it, he still invited Cui He into the palace.

But the messenger who went to invite Cui and He came back alone, Zhao Youju was very strange and asked, "Why didn't Cui Qing come?" ”

"The prime minister said that it was getting late and he wanted to sleep peacefully, so he refused to enter the palace."

The messenger also had a strange look on his face, the Son of Heaven was in a hurry, but the prime minister swaggered and said that he wanted to sleep peacefully, so bold, could it be that he was bullying the Son of Heaven and being too lenient?

"How did you get the word out of me?" Zhao Youju knew that Cui Heju was not the kind of person who didn't know how to advance or retreat, and he always had a reason for doing this, so he asked again.

The chamberlain said how he passed on the message, Cui He first greeted each other respectfully and listened to the message, and then how he cleverly pretended to refuse to enter the palace, Zhao Youju frowned and pondered for a long time, feeling a little unhappy, Cui and the rest are good, but sometimes he likes to make some mysteries.

The next day, because of the busy government affairs, Zhao and Ju put the matter aside for the time being, but after lunch, they heard the waiter say that Cui asked to meet with him, which made Zhao and Ju think again, and now Xuan Cui and he entered the Boya Building to meet.

Choi came with a smile on his face, probably because he had been doing business well in the morning, and he seemed to be in a good mood. Although the weather is getting cooler now, it has not yet reached the time when he would rather nest on the kang than move, so he is in good spirits. When he came in, it happened that Yinling ran out of Boya Building, and Zhao Heju heard Yinling crying sweetly outside, "Bearded Xianggong", and knew that he had come in, and immediately straightened his face, revealing an angry look.

Cui finished saluting in an orderly manner, and Zhao Heju reproached: "Cui Qing, I summoned Qing last night, why did Qing refuse to enter the palace to see me under the pretext of sleeping?" ”

"Your Majesty doesn't ask, and the ministers will also admonish." Cui raised his eyebrows: "It's night, Your Majesty has no clear will, only to summon the minister into the palace, although the minister is not talented, shy as the prime minister, every move will be watched by people, if someone with a heart uses the minister to enter the palace at night to create rumors, although it is not a big problem, but it is harmful to the country." ”

Zhao Youju was slightly stunned, and he just started to look for his stubble, but he didn't expect him to ask the master first. Although he had the heart to refute, but looking at the old man's pale hair, Zhao Youju was a little unbearable, and what the old man said also had his truth, in the middle of the night, the prime minister hurriedly ran to the inner house, knowing that it was the Son of Heaven who called him, and those who didn't know thought that something was wrong in the inner palace, such as the Son of Heaven being seriously ill or something, and I didn't know what would make a name for it.

Moreover, Cui He vaguely has another meaning in this statement, that is, to persuade Zhao and Ju to establish the prince to settle the heart of the world.

Zhao Heju pretended not to hear what he meant, and said with a smile: "It's reasonable, but I estimate that most of Qing is in ambush for laziness in ......the future."

Cui He smiled, and did not continue to say deeply, now the emperor is still young, the matter of establishing an heir is not in a hurry, and the matter of the prince is very important, it has always been a taboo topic, when Yue Fei was killed, one of the important reasons was that when he was silent in the civil and military capital of the Manchu Dynasty, he actually wrote to Gaozong bluntly that he should establish the prince.

After laughing, Cui He said solemnly: "Your Majesty is just looking for ministers for the illegal things of the clan?" ”

Yesterday, when the chamberlain summoned him, he was instructed by the Son of Heaven to tell him the reason for summoning him, and the reason why he refused to enter the palace at night was that he was afraid of causing panic was only one of them, and the other reason was to avoid the emperor's anger. Although Zhao Youju is calm and composed, after all, he is young, and sometimes when he is angry, he will still do something that makes Cui He feel immature enough, and Zhao Youju often regrets it afterwards.

"This matter was originally a matter of His Majesty's housework, and the minister should not leave his beak." Cui He paused for a moment before he said again.

"Huh?" Zhao Youju leaned forward slightly, it was precisely because it was the royal family's chores, if he used these clans, he would inevitably cause a storm and damage his prestige as the son of heaven - in this era, the family clan is still a very important moral and public opinion force, although this power is invisible, but it has great energy.

"Household chores are naturally handled by the elders of the family." Seeing Zhao Heju's suspicious faces, Cui Heju nodded vaguely.

Zhao Youju immediately realized that he always wanted to solve these problems from the court and the law, but he forgot that there was a better way to deal with these problems. Although those clans have repeatedly made trouble, they have not really violated the law, so it is naturally difficult to govern them by law, but in addition to the national law, there are still family rules, as long as they move out of the most respected elders now, why worry about these distant imperial relatives not obediently restraining their hands.

"However, Your Majesty, those noble relatives have always been peaceful in the past, such as today's Taiping decree is clear, they suddenly came out, there may be some thrust behind it......" Cui He said again: "Your Majesty should send someone to investigate this matter deeply, don't indulge in vain." ”

This is something that Zhao Heju never thought of, at first he saw the report that the clan branch was far away from the factories and restaurants in various places, and he only said that this was the nature of the pants, and after listening to Cui and reminding him, he realized that there might be another mystery behind it.

Note 1: There was no rebellion in the Song Dynasty, which is related to its strict management of the clan, and the "Motto", "Treasure Commandment", "Six Proverbs", etc., are all jokes to the clan.