Zhao Xing: There is no financial crisis now.

It is said that Zhao Xing planned to demolish the original wall of Helan and the wall of the official courtyard, and even the bricks and tiles in these two places were not spared, and he once said this word, which roughly means: Don't look at how much I spend, but it is a deficit economy, and now the deficit gap is getting bigger and bigger, and foreign capital must be attracted to fill the vacancy......

When Zhao Xing said this, the old housekeeper of Helan Yuanfu happened to be next to him, and when the city was broken, this housekeeper changed into civilian clothes and hid among the people. happened to be recruited by Zhao Xing to the city lord's mansion to be demolished, and the old housekeeper with great hatred memorized every word Zhao Xing said, and then, because of his old age and frailty, he was not tied back to Huanqing as a prisoner, so this sentence spread to Western Xia. But the Xia people didn't know that Zhao Xing was using this word to bluff the ancients. His original intention was to tell others: Don't look at me in Huanqing, although I spend a lot of money, but in fact, Huanqing is very short of money, to the point of using "grass and trees" to fight.

Since Zhao Xing arrived in Huanqing and suffered a big loss to the Western Xia people, the Xia people have begun to pay close attention to Zhao Xing's every move. They began to collect Zhao Xing's information in detail, and found that this "dog official" has brought many new industries to Huanqing since he hit Huanqing - big windmills, big water wheels, metal armor, metal crossbows, etc., along with the great changes in Huanqing, many new words brought by Zhao Xing are also circulating in Huanqing. Now in Huanqing, I don't say a few new words to appease adults like in my mouth, and I'm embarrassed to say hello when I go out.

Due to Huanqing's strengthened vigilance, and Zhao Xing himself was a businessman, he was very familiar with using businessmen to gather intelligence. Under his strict control, the Xia people are no longer as insightful about the situation in Huanqing as before, and the more they try their best to understand everything about Huanqing and everything about Zhao Xing, the more they find that just the fragmented news they have learned has made them unable to understand Zhao Xing. And the more I learned about it, the more I was shocked......

Thereupon. The Western Xia also began to popularize the new words on Zhao Xing's lips, and the Xia people felt that as long as they figured out the meaning of Zhao Xing's new words, they could figure out the secret of the rise of Huanqing.

However, Liang Yikui obviously used the wrong word here - it's a pity that the Xia people don't know, they just think it's too rape. They all took out pens and recorded the "supreme instructions" mentioned by the wise minister.

In the same month, the plan of all the plants and trees was exposed - Jing Liangcai and Qin Dan went on at the same time. They introduced in detail the situation of the Dihuanqing Road, and officially talked about the plan of "grass and trees for soldiers". Then, Fan Chun also went up and explained in detail how this plan works.

This is like a super earthquake, and its shock to the mind made the imperial court collectively speechless for a while.

Subsequently, Qin Fenglu made Lu Dazhong and Liu Zhishang, the left-behind division of the Daimyo's Mansion. vaguely accused that Zhao Xing was too cruel and vicious to the people of Western Xia by doing this......

Jia Yi also followed the trend and said: This move slaughtered thousands of miles, left poison for a hundred years, and did not echo the teachings of the sage. And according to the teachings of the saints, we should convince people with virtue, "cultivate benevolence and virtue to rule the world", Siyi saw that we were so morally noble, and immediately bowed back and fell at our feet. So, we "hung the arch and ruled"...... In short, Zhao Liren should not be so brutal to the enemy, and even did such a thing as poisoning, we must "convince people with virtue".

However, the weak doubts of these people were immediately drowned in the overwhelming chorus of the border guards. They said in unison in the recital: their state and county are not much better than Huanqing. Troops and materials are in dire straits, and it is also necessary to implement this "plan for all soldiers and plants." It is hoped that the imperial court will send experienced officials from Huanqing Road to carry out this plan with them.

These people said eloquently: "Huanqing Road has been fighting for many years, but only one year after the implementation of this plan, the enemy does not dare to step into Huanqing to graze cattle and sheep, so that the people's strength can be eased, and in just one year, Huanqing has the ability to counterattack." Faced with the periodic raids of the Khitans (Tanguts), the ministers were eager to sprinkle poison on the land to prevent them from grazing. Now Zhao Liren will plant poisonous weeds, great, the imperial court can't favor one over the other, only let Huanqing Road plant poisonous weeds, and we are not allowed to plant them. It's unfair, it's unfair to me, it's unfair to my people, it's unfair to me......"

The court ministers did not have a sense of secrecy, and this controversy was quickly spread to the Western Xia of Liao by the envoys of the various feudal pavilions in the capital, and the Western Xia people realized: I said why did our cattle and sheep cross the border and eat Song grass, the light ones were seriously ill, and the serious ones died for no reason......

It was also when the Tangut people were afraid of each other and could not easily go to the grazing land of the Song Realm, the Xixia grassland changed again, and a fire suddenly broke out in the four realms.

At the beginning of winter, the grass and trees dry up, and the grassland herders are most afraid of grassland fires. It has been reported that the Xixia grassland has recently been strangely lit up with a large fire, and all the ignition points are magically connected in a straight line, each ignition point stretches for more than 50 miles, and all the fire points are burning almost at the same time. This strange phenomenon immediately made the Tangut people understand that someone deliberately set fire. The Western Xia messengers came out in all directions, asking the major military divisions to try to search for the arsonist when they had spare strength, and then the Western Xia court urgently mobilized all military divisions to put out the fire.

But the grassland fire was extinguished and rekindled, stubbornly like psoriasis, the Tangut people were anxious to extinguish the fire at the same time, scouts all over the grassland looking for arsonists, finally, they swept the net everywhere to search for a harvest - there were scouts intercepted three arsonists, these three people are also party members, seeing the Western Xia cavalry approaching, they could not escape, they took out an iron rod-like thing from the arsonist and held it in their arms, and then ignited the bomb in their arms, blowing up their bodies and iron rods.

All signs point to the Song people, although the arsonist is a party member, but this kind of thing that can produce a violent explosion comes from Huanqing Road, and the Tangut people are angry and try to restore the arson on the back of the arsonist, but find that because of the lack of the stick, the restored arson always does not work properly.

According to the scout's description, the arsonists carried a saddle-sized jar on their shoulders and an iron pipe in their hands, and when they raised their hands, the iron pipe spewed out a long stream of flames, and wherever the flames sprayed, there was a sea of fire.

The dying self-detonation of the arsonist often deformed the jar on his back, and the Tangut people speculated that it was made of a thin metal based on the fragments found. Something like a jug, but it contains fierce fire oil. The Western Xia craftsman guessed. There must be some device that presses out the oil so that it sprays out of the iron pipe...... But unfortunately, the fragments they found were not enough to restore the machine, so they racked their brains to come up with something close to a back jug.

December. The heavy snow gradually extinguished the grassland fires, and the tribes on the front line suffered heavy losses, and the grain and grass in the wintering fields were burned by the fires. Most of the livestock were burned to death by the smoke and fire, the slightly smaller springs were dried by the fire, and the Western Xia army on the front line was forced back by the fire for 300 miles. In this raging fire, only the Song army hid in the three river mouths, unscathed.

The Tangut people immediately sent a table to the imperial court, accusing the Song army of tyranny and destroying the families of the Tangut people. On the pavement...... This seal was also passed on to Huanqing Road, and the words were more intense, but it is said that the black-hearted appeasement on Huanqing Road made the envoy of the Western Xia meet with him, flatly denied that it had anything to do with him, and then asked very kindly: "You said that the people of the Western Xia were ruined and displaced, so will they still have the strength to attack my Great Song Dynasty next year?" ”

It is absurd enough that such a question can still appear in the history of human diplomacy.

The ministers in the Great Song Dynasty immediately discussed how to deal with the enemies of Western Xia. They originally planned to punish Zhao Xing slightly, and then, Zhao Xing's words spread to the court, and at the same time, they also reached the court and Fan Chun's resolute support.

At this moment, even the ministers of the court were embarrassed, and the privy envoy Wang Yansuo twisted his suggestion: "Western Xia, the enemy country also!" Although it is visited every year. But also see what kind of visit it was—to kill my soldiers. Take my subjects captive and take possession of my land. Come to say hello during the New Year's holidays, do we forget the blood feud of Western Xia?

Now that the Western Xia is full of gifts, Huanqing Road is easy to play, it is better to ignore the Western Xia envoys, but the Western Xia has a question, let Fan Chunfan deal with it, his mouth will definitely not let the Xixia people get half a penny......"

The ministers of the court finally discussed what the result was. Outsiders don't know, but after the court meeting, the imperial court issued an edict: the apple trees planted in Mizhou and Huanqing Road are all controlled resources, and they are prohibited from being sold to the outside world, and they are prohibited from climbing and folding at will.

This law has since become known as the Apple Order.

There is also a decree on the implementation of a forage planting plan in the apple order, which also means that even grass planting on Huanqing Road can make money, and farmers can make a lot of money just by selling grass seeds to surrounding states and counties......

However, these are no longer what Zhao Xing cares about, what he cares about now is how to cash in the loot.

With the help of the tea and medicine money and the sealing money allocated by the imperial court, Zhao Xing wantonly bought the captured goods of the soldiers participating in the war - well, this is like the left hand paying the right hand, can the left hand treat the right hand badly?

The soldiers who participated in the battle quickly exchanged the loot for cash. With money in their hands, they fought more intensely - to put it bluntly, it was more intense to go to the territory of Western Xia to rob.

It is not good to rob without good equipment, and the quality of the ordnance distributed by the imperial court is not flattering, so they began to use their own money to purchase ordnance and war equipment, because now all the ordnance workshops are owned and controlled by the government, so they are equivalent to backhanding and paying the government the money rewarded by the imperial court.

A huge amount of money flowed endlessly, the economy on Huanqing Road became active, and the workshops opened at the beginning of the year began to make profits at the end of the year, because the commercial transactions were prosperous, and the commercial taxes on Shaanxi Road also rose sharply - this money was not collected by the imperial court, and it was reserved for Shaanxi Road to be used for war expenses.

Zhao Xing, who had money, began to be busy distributing money to the people of Huanqing Road again. He was determined to let the people of Huanqing Road experience the dividends brought to them by the war, and let them know that no business in the world was to start a war to make huge profits. People are not afraid of poverty, go to war, defeat the Tangut people and become rich.

In the winter of this year, Zhao Xing began to inspect the vicinity of Huanqing Road with mountains of grain, grass and meat, and gave a few catties of meat, a few catties of wine, and a bag of grain to each person......

When he climbed the city wall of Fort Guide under the guidance of the Song army, the Song army officers present were busy carrying a small golden cylinder into their arms, and then pretending to scatter in all directions as if nothing had happened.

The Western Xia envoy glanced at the Song army on the wall and took a deep breath of cold air.

Now the equipment of the Song army is completely different, and Qin Dan explained in detail the development of Huanqing Road, and explained to the imperial court that the price of armor and combat equipment on Huanqing Road was more than ten times cheaper than that of the capital. Compared with long-distance transshipment, the road loss is serious. It is better to allow Huanqing Road to raise military funds by itself in the future. The court then approved the performance. Then, Zhao Xing used the stake money to purchase ordnance and armor to equip troops in other places.

Now is just the beginning, eighty percent of the sergeants on Huanqing Road have already changed their clothes. The senior generals are dressed in Qingtang armor (plate armor), and even soldiers can wear a gold silk soft armor. Wrap the heads together. So much so that the envoy of Western Xia raised his eyes and looked over, only to see a sea of metal, and those silver armor lined with sunlight. Yao's eyes can't be opened.

Zhao Xing saw that the envoy of the Western Xia was squinting and observing, he knew what the other party was thinking, smiled very kindly, did not wait for the other party to speak, and bowed his hand to thank him: "Thanks to the continuous invasion of the Xia people, my Shaanxi military and civilians have finally come to their senses, and they know that the war makes the weak Western Xia stronger and stronger." Now they have learned to use the means of the Tangut people to deal with the Tangut - once they awaken, we are different from the Xia people, we have the support of the entire rich Great Song Dynasty behind us, and the support of 10,000 compatriots, we will also fight stronger and stronger.

Look, Xia Envoy, go back and tell Minister Liang Yiqi everything you see, and tell him that this is just the beginning. I just threw a pebble into the water, and now it's rippling in the aftermath. Soon, Yanlu, Jingyuan Road, and Qinfeng Road will all be affected by this wave...... From now on, Shaanxi will be the arsenal of my Great Song Dynasty and the source of war for my Great Song Dynasty.

If you're here to complain to me. Stop! Everyone has to pay the price for their actions: when they go to war, they must be prepared to take responsibility for the defeat; Sitting at the table, you have to be willing to gamble and lose. Once defeated, don't act like a scoundrel and ask for money back. Anger at my Huanqing people. The last thing to complain about is the Xia people. I've been bullied for decades. Since then, we have endured a hundred years of war. Now. It's our turn.

Go back, tell every Xia person everything you see, and tell them that the Great Song counterattack has begun. What you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiating table. ”

The envoys of the Western Xia could not understand what Zhao Xing said, because he was taught that the upper kingdom of the Celestial Empire should endure the bullying of its neighbors generously, ignore the plundering of the surrounding countries by benevolence and generosity, and wait for these countries to realize themselves after reading the teachings of the sages - according to the teachings of the sages, when the locals invade and raise their swords against the enemy, that is, "countering violence with violence, non-benevolence and non-righteousness".

But now Zhao Xing's toughness has broken his cognition.

After taking a few breaths, the Western Xia envoy asked forcefully: "My lord, is the fire in this winter and summer realm from the hands of the Song army?" ”

Zhao Xing yawned and said lightly: "Heavenly punishment, what do you care about me...... That's the last reply, step aside. I'm too lazy to say more. ”

The envoys of the Western Xia threw off their sleeves and rushed down the city tower angrily, and the laughter of the Song army officers came from behind them. He was so angry and anxious that he saw something and was dizzy.

He saw a man who looked like a burger, carrying a jug of water on his shoulder, holding a metal nozzle in his hand and watering the flowers half-heartedly, and the thin iron pipe in his hand sprayed water like a mist, spraying on the petals, and the water droplets were like dewdrops, which was simply beautiful. The thin vapor of water slid into the air, leaving a brilliant rainbow in the air.

The burgain squirted water and put his hand into the rainbow, and smiled sincerely with a meaningful smile on his face.

The Western Xia envoy was furious: "I knew that this fire was done by Huanqing Road, why wasn't it your Huanqing Road?" Isn't this an arsonist, it's this thing, we caught three arsonists, and they were all carrying this kind of canister - liars, Huanqing Road is full of liars, and those who dare not do it are not heroes. ”

On the city wall, Zhao Xing heard the roar of the Western Xia envoy and looked indifferent.

The lord of Fort Guide shook his head and said, "Do the Tangut people have faith?" It is strange that the Tangut people who have no faith actually ask others to keep their promises?! ”

Zhao Xing shook his head with a smile and teased: "They dare to act - rob others and dare to show off loudly." We don't dare to say that it is because there are too many Confucians here, and this group of corrupt Confucians may not feel very sorry for their compatriots, but if an enemy is damaged, they will immediately jump out and accuse us of being unkind...... So we just do it and don't say it. ”

Most of the military attaches on the fort wall were military attachés, and Zhao Xing, as a civil official, said this, and the military attaches liked to hear it, but they did not dare to express their position, because in addition to Zhao Xing, there was also a civil official present: Sun Cong, the envoy of the Liao Dynasty and the official Shilang.

The officers laughed, and Sun Cong frowned. said, "Lord Zhao, look. The people who came with me are gone, but I am the only one who remains, and you say you want to give me grenades and new oil, and you say you want to cover me up. But I haven't seen a single hint of a new weapon now, it's almost the New Year, Lord Zhao shouldn't shirk it anymore. ”

Zhao Xing wrinkled his eyebrows and said, "I've been shirking - you can see this." But you don't want to think about it. Why am I shirking.

The new gunpowder recipe can be handed over to you, but you can't take my craftsman away. You say, what are you doing with these people in the capital? Huanqing Road originally produced oil and saltpeter, and local processing can save a lot of road costs. But when you go to the capital, you have to transport the materials all the way over and back in a thousand miles. It's costly, not to mention, what about time? If you delay, I can't afford to delay, and the people of Huanqing can't afford to delay.

The enemy is coming, hitting the door, I don't have enough gunpowder, what should I do? Report to you, when you spend two or three months to transport it to Huanqing, the Xixia people will already go home for the New Year with the looted things - brother. That's not how wars are fought. ”

Sun Cong jumped to his feet and said, "Lord Zhao, you always have to give an explanation to the imperial court." ”

"Of course, of course...... Otherwise, you take the recipe and go, and I will give you at most three or five craftsmen to guide the capital ordnance supervisor", Zhao Xing spread his hands helplessly and continued: "More more." Without. My Huanqing Road is facing war, and I have frequently opened my mouth to ask for armaments on the left side of the Yanlu and Jingyuan Road. You have also seen that I am not enough myself, and I have to deal with two evil wolves on the left and right, if the court takes away my people at this time...... Just let the court order us to surrender to the Tanguts, so that there is no need to fight this battle, and lest they slaughter us every year. ”

Zhao Xing was a complete scoundrel in the end, Sun Cong was trembling angrily, but he was helpless against Zhao Xing.

In the history of the Song Dynasty, the first appearance of gunpowder in the army was also a regimental exercise, in 1002, Jizhou regimental training made Shi Pu also made rockets, fireballs and other firearms, and made a performance. Since then, gunpowder has become the standard equipment of the Song army. The Song army spewed fireworks and clouds of gunpowder to create a magical effect, and won the emperor's favor by performing fireworks acrobatics in the circus of the armies and puppet shows.

From this account, it can be seen that the seemingly large army of the Song Dynasty was not used for fighting at all, they were just a group of "armed actors", specializing in performing entertainment programs to create that prosperous atmosphere. Gunpowder is their most important prop, similar to the gongs and drums in the performance and the costumes on the actors.

After gunpowder was introduced into the army, the Song court did not formulate a strict restriction policy, according to the normal way, it took 200 years of history to be really taken seriously and develop the assault rifle. During this period, folk artists could also mix their own gunpowder for performances, which was not forbidden by the imperial court.

It is precisely because of this tradition that Zhao Xing wantonly made his own gunpowder, and used his own financial reserves on Huanqing Road to equip the armies without going through the ordnance superintendent, just like buying Chinese cabbage.

But after this year's battle, the power of gunpowder became more and more shocking, and one of the main tasks of Sun Cong's visit this time was to transfer the craftsmen who were equipped with new gunpowder on Huanqing Road to the capital...... Unfortunately, this year, Jingzhao Mansion Fan Chun set a bad example, he justifiably detained the state envoy, so that Zhao Xing could detain the Huanqing gunpowder master with confidence, but he was not transferred to the imperial court.

Sun Cong first persuaded Zhao Xing on the grounds of secrecy, but Zhao Xing, who was not what he used to be, did not eat his set, so he blamed Sun Cong with the transportation statute of limitations. He pleaded with tears: "Leave people, Lord Zhao, why don't you let me see those gunpowder weapons workshops first." Those bombs, fire bombs. I've been running around Huanqing for a few months, and I haven't seen a single live ammunition, where is your workshop? You always say that you do a good job of secrecy, but no one knows that you still have a firearms workshop on Huanqing Road, where is it? As for the court, you always have to give an explanation? ”

Zhao Xing said haha: "Didn't I promise to give you a live demonstration, I'll do it tonight, Liang Yikui built a reward in Wuyan Gorge and cut the village, I don't like these two names very much, we will burn his two villages tonight." ”

The lord of Fort Guidefort sneered: "My lord, do you still need to burn these two villages, the grassland fire together, Liang Yiwei retreated for 300 miles, and the defenders in the village couldn't stand the smoke and fire, and the water source was cut off, so they had already withdrawn, but we didn't have the spare strength to take it." ”

Zhao Xing stretched out his hand and pointed to the fort wall: "My local students sent me a new thing today, it is said that it was designed by Mr. Mengxi, which can take water about ten meters underground, and there is everything on the grassland when there is a water source." We took the city tonight, spent ten days building a stone fort, and then closed the Wuyan Gorge with artillery fire, and from now on, it was our base for attacking Western Xiadi...... Without further ado, get your hands dirty. ”

There was no suspense in the battle, as 3,000 men approached the castle under the cover of crossbowmen, who threw firewood near the castle, and then the arsonists stepped forward to set it on fire...... Zhao Xing used the method of smoking horse meat, smoked and roasted the people left behind at the entrance of the reward, and after the fire was extinguished, he mobilized 30,000 people to quickly build the city and transport reserve materials to the castle......

When all this was done, Liang Yiqi had just gotten the news.

From Xiangyikou to Liang Yikui's military village, hundreds of miles of grassland smoke is faint, and there is not a single living thing to be seen. From time to time, there is a resurgence of fires. The Western Xia scouts finally bypassed the fire and rushed to Liang Yikui's military camp, Liang Yikui got the news and led 3,000 elites to Xiangyikou, facing him was a majestic stone pass.

A Western Xia officer observed for a long time and said excitedly: "My lord, they haven't had time to build the road yet—there is no road near the Xiangyikou, which means that they are just a lone army." We can harass the people in the castle and leave them alone and helpless. ”

Liang Yiwei was stunned for a long time, and suddenly laughed wildly: "It's useless!" Song Jun now has a bomb, and we stepped forward alone, and he fought to replace one person for one of us, and we couldn't afford to change it. The Great Song Dynasty has a population of 10,000, how many of us are there?

Besides, this year, Zhao Gouguan plundered tens of thousands of our war horses, and he already has cavalry. This reward is backed by Luo Chuan, his cavalry is not afraid to replenish, and behind us is three hundred miles of ashes, and we can't fight with him. ”

Another officer suggested: "In the Song court, the Song court emphasizes benevolence and righteousness, as long as we say something miserable, the court will remove Zhao Gouguan." Zhao Gouguan is not in Huanqing, so it will be convenient for us to grab it in the future. ”

"Look", Liang Yikui replied weakly: "However, the envoys cannot enter from Shaanxi, they must go from Hedong, I hope the imperial court will give us a satisfactory result." ”