Bishu Weibo.

Since Yang Xuesheng's Zhishi, the imperial court will return Beizhou to the local government, no longer set up a metropolitan governor, restore Beizhou Road, and take Taokan as the general Rong. Although he has been relieved of his position as governor, Tao Kan concurrently serves as the governor of the state and town, and compared to Yang Xuesheng, in addition to no longer supervising civil affairs, his power has not been reduced.

Two years ago, Qin Gang increased the Northeast Observation Line and Yingmen Supervision Building, and only let the generals of the capital concurrently serve, and Tao Kan was easier to reach the heavens and obtain military expenses.

In the battle sequence of the imperial court's northern expedition to Chenzhou, Tao Kan was also impressively listed, although Lu Yao was far away, he was vigilant, on the one hand, he asked the imperial court to reduce the number of troops, and on the other hand, he was unwilling to leave Beizhou before Dia Bird.

Now, he heard that Dongxia had planned to send troops, and he also began a series of preparations, in addition to his own department, began to recruit extensively.

In the past few years, he has been working on training the new army, making drastic moves, restoring the government soldier system in the vast border of Beizhou, promoting many young generals, and from time to time attacking Dongxia in the name of the central state and starting to dig up some Dongxia soldiers, but the effect is not very significant.

Dongxia made a code of conduct, and he wrote a new book.

The Dongxia Shenji Battalion produced ordnance, and he made a battalion gate to supervise it.

The Eastern Xia cavalry was fast, he added the soldiers' spears to more than three zhang, and the Eastern Xia trained sailors, and he also built large ships. Vaguely, he still felt that the gap between him and Dongxia was getting bigger and bigger, so he took precautions and launched a plan as early as five years ago, and now the Eastern Xia expedition to the west is the harvest season of this plan.

This plan is only known to Liu Taixun and a military general of Qin Wuyang, that is, Qin Wuyang selects a young soldier with a clean background, loyalty, integrity and courage in the army, and Liu Taixun uses the convenience of his civilian status to arrange for him to go to the front line of the North Plain. And Qin Wuyang himself is not only a general of his army, but also the commander of the flying eagle of the imperial court.

This time, unlike the secret guards of the imperial court who absorbed the three sects and nine streams elsewhere, the ones he absorbed were all elite soldiers.

In five years, Taukan had placed more than 200 people in Diao's permanent army.

These two hundred people, low-key, many have been promoted to the Qianniu, and they don't know each other, Tao Kan intends to draw some back, in order to understand the Dongxia infantry and riding drills, but there has been no chance, he dare not lose a big because of a small loss, once one person is exposed, what if it triggers the purge of Dongxia?

The Eastern Xia Expedition will create a good opportunity.

After a big war, there will be soldiers who can't find the corpses, at this time, they can take the opportunity to pick up more than ten low-level officers with a good foundation and strong acceptance ability, so that Dongxia Diaiao will not notice anything, and he and the generals of the imperial court can completely understand the military system and discipline of Dongxia through them.

However, Qin Wuyang's opinion was different from his.

In Qin Wuyang's view, it is not of much use to recall a few low-level officers, and it is to disappear from the battlefield, and to sneak back to the imperial court from the battlefield, the requirements for these officers are too high, and the difficulty of starting a war is correspondingly increased.

However, he could not convince Taukan and remained silent.

Tao Kan didn't say much about his intentions, but he didn't hesitate to find out about the situation of the Eastern Xia's expedition to the west, but to his disappointment, the Eastern Xia only mobilized a small amount of strength from the Northern Plains.

Among the more than 200 people, only more than 30 people are in the sequence of the Western Expedition, once there is a war, it is not that you are a spy, you can survive on the battlefield, and it is not that you are a spy, you can seize the opportunity of the rebellion, once the battlefield is far away from the Jingkang army, there will be a reduction in the middle, I am afraid that there are five or six people who can run back smoothly, and they are already very lucky.

However, as a windfall, he was also surprised by the level of armament of the Eastern Xia army.

The market price of equipment for this Chinese army of more than 10,000 people is at least more expensive than that of people, and from the perspective of equipment alone, even Emperor Jingkang's Yulin Army is far from being comparable.

Was this the intention of the Eastern Xia King to use the Western Expedition to show off his might, or would they treat this kind of equipment as a regular equipment?

A soldier with an arrow, equipped with a nine-stone crossbow, a small stone machine, the number of shields is two or three times the number of people, etc., the key is three sets of armor, the short armor among the three sets of armor, that is, the summer armor, not only a single armor, a summer armor, short armor, but also can be worn by soldiers in the inner layer, the outside can also be covered with heavy armor, and the outside of the heavy armor can also be worn with protective gear, which is worn down, dozens of catties, but Jingkang domestic fierce generals have the treatment......

Ordinary bows and arrows are difficult to penetrate.

It cannot be killed with a normal axe.

Of course, it is also a problem for ordinary people to put on running and walking.

Tao Kan has a deep sense of crisis.

He was going to write a letter and send it back to the capital, but he was busy when he suddenly received a report that the lord of Zhuwen had just moved to her ranch and had come to pay a visit.

Although he is a soldier, he has also been in the officialdom for many years, and he knows that whether people are the emperor's own daughter or adopted daughter, it is a kind of politeness to deign to come to visit him, and if he is not seen behind closed doors, he will give a bad hint.

He heard that this woman was very skillful, and after the death of her husband, her husband lost power, but her inheritance was expanding, and many princes and nobles tried to plot her inheritance, but they were all ruined.

Now that the Bizhou ranch is not prosperous enough, she suddenly turned to Bizhou and killed the ranch, although it can't be understood by ordinary people, but she must have other ideas.

After thinking about it, he decided to meet him.

At least, he was strange about this female ranch.

That's right. The sister of the general of the chariot also pulled a female noble to build a small ranch and came to raise horses, but the people of the capital did not know, but he was born twice and matured, knowing what this woman thought, Dia Niao and their family have an old relationship, she came here to raise horses, just to smuggle horses, with the help of the relationship with Dia Bird, let Dongxia give her the green light.

Similarly, the people in the capital may think that this is smuggling, but Tao Kan turns a blind eye and turns a blind eye.

The horse policy of Eastern Xia had crushed one pasture after another in Bizhou.

Horses are not smuggled, and the price is even more determined in terms of trade between the two countries alone.

Someone smuggled, in fact, it was not the imperial court but the Eastern Xia, and he Taokan, as a guard, could not offend the prince and the general at this time.

But what about this Zhuwen County Lord?

Is she too?

No.

Dongxia smuggled Dong Nu because he saw that she was making some floating money, and the amount of smuggling was not excessive, and he cashed in to the Dong lord in the court to show goodwill.

This Zhu Wen itself has a large number of industries, if he also thinks that smuggling to his own ranch and then changing hands to buy and sell, it is not worth it, and it should not be.

Tao Kan felt that this not simple woman must be based on an unusual judgment to dare to copy the large and small pastures in Beizhou like this, and he believed that this judgment would be related to the trend of Dongxia and the imperial court, and once he figured it out, it would be beneficial and harmless to him.

With this kind of thought, he asked people to bring the guests into the living room, and he changed his clothes and went to meet them.

Zhu Wen did not make ornaments in his hair, he pulled it with a color stripe, tied his hair behind his head, wore a simple robe with stone blue flowers, covered with a veil, neither the nobility of red and purple, nor the vulgarity of the small jasper, demure and steady, generous, like a beautiful flower shining on the water.

She had taken up her guest seat, and the rest of her family had remained outside, with only a young man of eight or nine years old, with a red face and white teeth, but with a short sword on his waist.

Tao Kan secretly applauded, but he already had a family, so he naturally didn't dare to stare at such a beautiful young woman, showing rudeness, but because of the sensitivity of the martial artist, he saw the short sword in the young man's waist at a glance, the short sword was by no means a fancy foil, it was made of pear wood lined with cooked cowhide, and there was no excessive carving.

You must know that although rosewood is precious, it is not good-looking, and the tail and sheath are wrapped in cooked cowhide, which is naturally not decorative.

He was already strange in his heart, and said secretly: "This kid's scabbard is simple, it seems that he is really practicing swords. ”

When Zhu Wen saw him come out, he got up very dignifiedly, bowed to Yingying, and said: "The concubine has heard the general's name early, and she has not been able to see her because of her long family. ”

Tao Kan said repeatedly: "The county lord is polite. Polite. ”

He himself knows Zhu Wen's identity, but he doesn't need to worship him, this worship is out of respect, and he is in a good mood.

He also didn't have the vulgarity of a lowly official, after all, the official residence was a three-grade, so he didn't pay it back, just slightly guarded his fist, came to the main seat, and said with a smile: "What does His Royal Highness the county lord have to do?" When I heard that the county lord came to visit, I was full of surprise, and I thought I had heard it wrong. ”

Zhu Wen hurriedly said: "The concubine's husband died early, and everything had to show up, and it was rude to come to see the general." It's rude. It's just that he moved here, copied and raised horses, was closely related to the army, and admired the general, so he had to come to visit, and asked the general not to be despised as a concubine. ”

Tao Kan said: "How dare you. ”

Then, he pretended to ask, "Do you really want to raise horses?" ”

Zhu Wendao: "Huge tens of thousands have been invested, how dare you be fake?" ”

She whispered, "The concubine knows that the general is suspicious. The general may say that raising horses nowadays is not a profitable livelihood, and the concubine thinks the opposite. Does the general know why the Bishu Ranch has suffered huge losses? ”

Tao Kan thought for a while and said: "This seat thinks that Dongxia has sinister intentions, and has the intention of deliberately impacting Jingkang Horse Industry, and the cost of pastures in various places is high, and it is not as unique as Saiwai, so it loses money." ”

Zhu Wen smiled, and said lightly: "The general's words are wrong. The concubine checked the price of horses in the past before putting them in, and thought that the price of war horses was about 100 taels, which was not considered low. The Eastern Xia traded with the imperial court, 150 taels when it was high, and only 120 taels when it was low, and their horses were in good condition, and the horses raised in the pasture would not sell for a price. Even if it can't be sold for a price, about 100 taels, compared with different periods, it is not low. Therefore, Dongxia cannot be regarded as impacting Jingkang horse industry at a low price, but it is making a lot of money, not to mention that at the beginning, their horses were sold and exploited, and the market price was more than two hundred taels. ”

Tao Kan was surprised: "It's the first time I've heard people say that, and in the past, the ranch owners came to cry to me. ”

Zhu Wendao: "The concubine thinks that the ranch is closed down for three reasons. ”

Tao Kan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Come quickly." ”

Zhu Wen smiled and said: "First, among the people who raise horses, there are many speculators; They knew that the imperial court was short of horses, and they wanted to use their relationship in the imperial court to raise horses to be purchased by the imperial court at a high price, coupled with the participation of the powerful, crowding out and plundering decent pastures. The most important thing is that they only blindly want to compete with Dongxia for court procurement, but they don't know that the court purchases Dongxia war horses, which is not just trade. ”

Tao Kan realized that he was not fake, nodded, and immediately gave birth to respect for Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen said again: "Secondly. These official horse merchants did not know how to raise horses at all, did not control the intermediate links, a large number of horses died, the quality was poor, and even before the establishment of the Eastern Xia Dynasty, many pastures did not raise horses at all, only enclosed land, and horses were only bought from the grassland. Later, they were forced to raise horses, but they used the way on the grassland, hiring riders to graze, the Central Plains originally lacked riders, and the cost of hiring was large, and Beizhou was not a grassland after all, the grassland was not as vast as the grassland, no matter how large the enclosure was, it could not be compared with the grassland chasing water and grass, so the grass was eaten at every turn...... The breeding cycle is also long, and the cost of horses is extremely high. ”

Tao Kan's face suddenly turned gloomy, and he sighed and said: "If you are vulgar, you are not as knowledgeable as the county lord and a woman. ”

Zhu Wen said with a smile: "It's not that they don't have more knowledge than me, but because they don't raise horses at all, and they don't think about feeding them with feed, but in their calculations, feed is more expensive than grass, and they don't realize that they are different from the grassland people. ”

Tao Kan asked rhetorically: "And the third?" ”

Zhu Wen said: "Third. They have not been able to reverse psychologically, and they can't adapt to the price of the horse falling to 100 taels of 300 taels, and the money bank that lent them money can't be counted, they only know that the price of the horse is falling, and it keeps falling, so they urge them to borrow, worried that they can't repay the loan. ”

Tao Kan was more concerned about one thing, and asked, "Did the king of Dongxia do anything in it?" ”

Zhu Wen asked slyly: "What does the general think." ”

"Listening to you say that, it seems that it has nothing to do with him, but I still think that he has done something out of it." ”

Zhu Wen nodded: "That's natural." He knew the current situation of the various pastures in the imperial court, and his means were extremely hidden, and when the horses in the pasture asked for three hundred taels, he shot one hundred and fifty taels, that is, it was not one hundred taels, nor two hundred taels, why? ”

Tao Kan thought for a while and said, "He is a lot of Xia Maduo, so naturally he will not harm his own interests, so he took advantage of his psychology when he came over." ”

Zhu Wen added: "Not only that. He first cut off the purchase of war horses in the imperial court, and then cut off other channels for selling horses in the pasture, using the psychology of many merchants to earn the difference, there was not enough profit, he was afraid that everyone would not be tempted, and he calculated that it would change hands layer by layer, so he did not shoot with two hundred taels, however, he also did not use one hundred taels to shoot, and when he cut off the sale of horses in the pasture, he let many ranches have a fluke mentality. Everyone found that although their horses were not sold, the price did not fall much, and they were waiting for his horses to be sold. ”

Taukan muttered, "It can't be. How did he know that his first trade was only to cut off the sale of horses on the pasture, but the price was not much lower? ”

Zhu Wen said: "He also used the trading house and the money village to designate trade, causing everyone to hoard as a means of making money, who doesn't want to make a little more money, why shout down the price of horses?" At this time, many ranch horses were not sold as scheduled, and Qian Zhuang was still considering whether to lend money to the ranch, he had successfully cut off the capital chain of the ranch, and after two times, he suddenly changed the way of trade and adopted the mutual market, and the horses suddenly fell to about one hundred and fifty taels, oh my God, people's psychology has completely collapsed. ”

Tao Kan admired it from the bottom of his heart, and said repeatedly: "The last general has been taught." Taught. His Royal Highness the county lord is here for whatever reason, as long as it is for the revitalization of the military and horse industry, as long as the things proposed are not excessive, the general will definitely do his best to help you. ”

Zhu Wen frowned and said, "The concubine body is also going to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing." First, the investment is huge, and secondly, raising horses requires a large number of servants, and if you rely on employment alone, you are afraid that the cost will be too high; As for the feed for horses, I can't get a lot of beans and miscellaneous grains for a while, so I want to ask the general for help. ”

Taukan opened his mouth and said, "How about I send a sergeant to your advantage?" As for the beans and miscellaneous grains that can be supplied by the government, I know that it is not easy for you to be a woman, you need money to turn around the pasture, and you need money to buy stallions, I can give you credit and allow you to pay with war horses in the future. If you don't have enough horses, I can also overwhelm the territory and threaten the Dongxia supply, as long as you can revitalize the horse breeding industry, it will be the greatest contribution to the imperial court. ”

Zhu Wen also said: "The concubine has become a seller of property, and it is with such a wish." Originally, I thought that it was too much to ask for, but I didn't expect the general to understand the righteousness and provide such great help. It's just a soldier, afraid that the general will be misunderstood by the court. Why don't you change the concubine's personal private office to a joint affair with the imperial court? ”

Tao Kan shook his head and said hesitantly, "No. Once co-organized, your own officials will stretch out their hands and feet to restrain you. In this way, I will ask the imperial court to add a title to you, and the official title will be privately licensed. You can't let me down. ”

Zhu Wen nodded slightly, suddenly turned his body slightly, and said to the child behind him, "Tianyi." Meet the Shogun. ”

Chen Tianyi hurriedly walked out and gave Tao Kan a look. Tao Kan knew that he had attacked the knight, and he was not his elder, so he smiled and nodded.

Zhu Wen refused, and said softly: "You forgot what you said before you came." Thou shalt bow thy son, and kneel down quickly. She raised her head and said: "Our Chen family is also a family of military merits, the lintel of the marquis, the child itself is good at martial arts, has practiced swords for many years, and the concubine also hopes that the child can inherit the martyrdom of his father and ancestors, and will achieve something in the future, but the child's father and grandfather have suffered accidents, no one teaches martial arts and military, if the general does not dislike, please also accept the child as an apprentice, the child will be the father's business, if the general is busy, unwilling to teach by word and deed, help the child find one or two good teachers to guide, and the concubine is also grateful." ”

Chen Tianyi hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

Tao Kan didn't have time to bring any disciples, it was okay to be older, but he could help in the army, which was at most ten years old, so he smiled bitterly and said: "This kid can become a big weapon at a glance." It's me who has too many things to do, and I don't have the blessing to accept him as a disciple, so let's get up and practice for me, if you practice well, after a while, I'll find you a good gentleman. ”

Chen Tianyi hurriedly looked at Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen didn't think that Tao Kan wanted to accept his son as a disciple, so he said, "Get up." Dancing the sword to show the uncle. ”

Chen Tian nodded, got up and stood up, slowly pulled out his short sword, stabbed a few times in succession, and suddenly stopped again, and said, "Uncle Tao." The child learns the sword of killing, so why don't you find a soldier to fight me. ”

He stabbed a few hands at random, and it was really not a fancy routine, Tao Kan was already very surprised, but he refused to find a soldier to practice with him, and took a breath and said, "Sure enough, it is a murderous sword." Good boy. Go home and continue practicing, and after a while, I will find a suitable western seat. ”

Zhu Wen smiled: "General, don't prevaricate our mother and son." ”

Tao Kan pondered for a while, and said in his heart: "If you can really get a more complete drill code in Dongxia, it may not be easy for the existing generals to accept it, so it is better to choose one and be a gentleman for this kid to see the results." ”