Kou Li'er lowered her head and didn't speak for a long time, Liao Xiaoxiao couldn't look at it, and forced a question: "What should I do in this day when I am beaten every day, little girl, instead of this, it is better to ask for a relief - my family's official supervisor Huanqing, you hand over a complaint, and everything is resolved." ”

Kou Li'er raised her face, her deformed face was already covered with tears, and she only said a few words: "I, my family, my official, my people, I am a free citizen." ”

Freedom – these two words deserve to be shouted out loud with all the strength of one's life.

Kou Li'er is a lowly slave, and if her children and grandchildren want to stop being slaves, they can only marry a free man, which is the choice made by Kou Li'er.

Zhao Xing was completely speechless.

After a pause, Kasli interjected: "Or, let my master teach you a lesson." ”

Kou Li'er shook her head and resolutely refused: "Master, although my father-in-law is a little evil to the slave, I know that he is very bitter in his heart, and he can't spread his suffering to the outside." The slave is the person next to him, he is not angry with the slave, who else can he be. I know that every time he beats the slave, he is not happy in his heart, and often cries until dawn with the slave - master, please don't punish him, please. ”

Zhao Xing didn't say a word, turned his head and walked into the house, Liao Xiaoxiao sighed: "Enemies, what a pair of enemies...... That's it, the rules of the prime minister are strict, he made a move, Wu Xin can't take off a layer of skin, this time it's up to me to make the decision - the rules at home can't be broken, Wu Xin offended the guests, punished the five boards, and went down. ”

Liao Xiaoxiao and Kasli came to Gyeongju, which was originally a reunion after a long absence, but this time Wu Xinquan was ruined, everyone was in a bad mood, and they each had a sullen dinner, and went to bed to rest. Liao Xiaoxiao reported quietly: "Official, the commander of the palace sent five hundred carts of stone grease, saying that he had told you that he wanted to exchange fifty pieces of armor." That's not the right price. The concubine told him that 500 carts of stone grease was too cheap to exchange for fifty armors. But he said, "You have already promised, and he still expects the armor to reward this battle?" ”

Zhao Xing turned over and replied, "I only said to change fifty pairs of armor." didn't say that 500 cars of oil could be exchanged for 50 armor...... That's it. Give it to him. I have a method, which is to make kerosene and diesel by the local method, these two things can be used as lamps, or they can be used as oil oil, and you can find a group of craftsmen to build me a furnace tomorrow and help me refine oil - this thing is dangerously tight, you can just let the craftsmen get it. Don't go to the market yourself. ”

The so-called local oil refining, in fact, is the modern copycat version of the soil refinery, this method of refining gasoline kerosene diesel grade is very low, is a substandard product, its environmental pollution is great, and the production method has great potential safety hazards...... Well, it's a good thing that no one burns cars with this kind of oil in this era. But for setting fires, this oil is more than enough for tomatoes.

Liao Xiaoxiao has a lot of net worth, and he may be satisfied with others for a lifetime, but compared with the women around Zhao Xing. She is the oldest and has the most deflated wallet, and when she heard Zhao Xing explain her a way to make a fortune again, she happily rubbed Zhao Xing with her breasts, and said with flattering eyes: "Official, don't you want me for many days." Do you want to? ”

"Yes! The door isn't closed...... Yes. You've set me on fire, so let's leave the door alone. Come", Zhao Xing was coquettish by Liao Xiaoxiao, making everything on his body soft, only one place was as hard as iron, he hugged Liao Xiaoxiao, and muttered: "Tomorrow I will go to inspect Huanqing...... Let's hurry up, hurry, come! ”

Liao Xiaoxiao immediately sang softly......

As soon as Liao Xiaoxiao sang to the high-pitched place, Kasli flashed into the house as light as a swallow, slid into the quilt like a snake, and hummed: "Master, the slave also misses you, come and love the slave." ”

Zhao Xingrusi responded: "Fox Meizi, you will use all the methods in "Aromatic Garden" and "Desire Sutra", and I want to learn to my heart's content today." ”

Liao Xiaoxiao lay on the side and said weakly: "Official, don't you have to go out tomorrow?" ”

"I can't live anymore", Zhao Xing urged Kasli: "Twist again, twist faster...... Wonderful, wonderful! ”

After a strenuous exercise, he was comfortable, and the two concubines around Zhao Xing were as soft as mud, and he still remembered muttering dimly: "I have to go out tomorrow ......"

Early the next morning, Zhao Xing rushed to Dingbian City with his team.

At this time, the border city was different from the border city of Dingding, and the current border city was only Qingyang's "relying on Guo", that is, living in Qingyang, and there was no separate county governance by itself. This walled city, thirty miles north of Qingyang, resembles a military camp in itself, and it is full of state soldiers and their families. Because there was no other idle business in the military organization, no officials were placed in the imperial court, and all the administration was managed by the Qingyang Prefecture Government.

Zhang Cun, the governor of Huanqing Road, led the second general Zhang Cheng and others out of the city to greet him, and after Zhang Cun introduced the second general Zhang Cheng, Zhao Xingchong arched his hand to the latter. Although he and Zhang Cheng have never met, because of Zhang Yong's relationship, the two are considered to have a good family background, so Zhao Xingdi's etiquette is a family etiquette. After saluting, Zhao Xing took the opportunity to look at Zhang Cheng. This guy looks a bit like Zhang Yong, but with a simple expression, he is obviously not as good as his younger brother, and he may not be as good as his younger brother. Now Zhang Yong has achieved the five-grade group training, and this guy is still messing around with this eight-grade position.

In the Great Song Dynasty military system, the last ranked general is the main general of the Song Army, and the first ranked is called the "vanguard general", that is, the general who charges ahead - the current saying is "cannon fodder general". Zhang Cheng ranked second, indicating that after Zhang Cun's death, he would be postponed to the position of "cannon fodder".

"Cannon fodder" Zhang Cun arched his hand and said: "My family Zhang Guanjun and Master Zhao are familiar with each other, so there is no need to say much about each other." Lord Zhao ran Mizhou, made Mizhou strong and strong, and within a year, the people of Mizhou liked to walk with swords...... Let's not talk about other words, Lord Zhao came to Gyeongju, I only have joy in Gyeongju, if you have any orders to ask for your lordship, just say, I dare not obey my fate. ”

Zhao Xing entered the city hand in hand with Zhang Cun, and asked: "The imperial court has newly allowed me to add a general to Gyeongju, what are you lacking here except for the lack of troops and generals?" ”

Zhang Cunchong's second general, Zhang Cheng, made a look, and Zhang Cheng stepped forward and replied: "There is a lack of everything, Gyeongju has been in war for many years, and we have fought from 18,000 people to 5,000 now." No less than 100,000 soldiers have been replenished before and after, but now only these 5,000 remain...... There are still 100,000 orphans in the city, and the soldiers are looking forward to the end of this war as soon as possible.

We are short of soldiers - generals elsewhere eat the quota, but who of us here dares to eat, the money allocated by the imperial court alone is not enough. Solicitation, 100,000 orphans, orphans and widows all open their mouths, and the court allocated 10,000 military salaries. How can it feed these people? ”

Zhao Xing asked in surprise: "I remember that the imperial court has a pension for the dead soldiers. How......? ”

Zhang Cun replied with a wry smile: "My lord, the places where they can go to the battlefield are all the pillars of the land, they died on the battlefield, and the little money subsidized by the imperial court is not just sitting on the mountain, and although the money subsidized by the imperial court is a lot, but after every war, the price of food soars." That little money can be fed, and they can survive until now they are already taken care of by their colleagues in the army, but now which colleague does not support their families, 5,000 non-commissioned officers take care of 100,000 orphans, where is there enough to eat. ”

Zhang Cheng, the seventh general and envoy of the inner garden, jumped out and replied: "Not only 100,000 people, but 100,000 soldiers died." The land left behind is 100,000 families, and the old and the young, and those who have the strength to do it, as long as they can still walk, they have fled. There are only ...... left in the family who can't do their jobs. This day is bitter! ”

Zhao Xing waved his hand to stop everyone from taking him to the official office, and asked: "Take me to see, I'll see what kind of life they live." ”

The tragic scene in front of him ended with the word "miserable". Women and children are often left in the homes of those fallen soldiers, and most of the elderly have spontaneously gone out into the wilderness, preferring to starve to death outside rather than dragging down their families. The remaining women take care of the only root seedling. In order to raise children. They can sell anything they can sell – including their bodies.

Zhao Xing remembered all this in front of him, the evil that the Western Xia people had committed against the Han people. We used Chinese to eulogize it as "the great merit of the great integration of famous ethnic groups", but we didn't expect this "merit" to be so tragic......

"There will be steamed buns, there will be land for war knives, Zhang Jingluo told me, if I can give him a breath of relief, he will implement the strategy of deep base and shallow attack from next year - without waiting for the Xixia people to attack us, we will go to their territory to fight, so that they can also taste our great integration...... The Great Wall is not built in a day, we need time. Believe me, I'll spend this year helping Gyeongju recover, and then it's our counteroffensive. ”

Zhang Cun shook his head firmly: "I believe that adults will do it." ”

Zhao Xingyi waved his hand, pointed to the skinny children in the city, and said, "Give me all those children, and I will raise them." Zilian, you help me organize a boy camp, let the children learn drills and read literacy in the camp, I need those who are full of hatred for Western Xia, preferably bitter hatred. ”

The seven generals stepped forward and slapped their chests: "Here are all people who are unforgettable to Xixia, each of us is burdened with endless blood feuds, adults just have to pick." ”

Zhao Xing saw that there were seven generals in front of him, and he was very puzzled.

Didn't you say that two of them were about to die? How come there are still seven people?

It seems that what our big Song lacks is not an official!

Shuai Fan frowned: "Adult, 100,000 family dependents, children are afraid that there are not 20,000 or 30,000, so many people, how to raise." ”

Zhang Cun hurriedly explained: "There are not so many, colleagues in the army but have the ability, they all recycle one or two, adults just pick up those who are really lonely, as long as the adults can relieve Gyeongju, the colleagues have plenty of money, it doesn't matter how many children they raise." ”

Zhao Xing touched his chin and thought about it: "I need to find something for them, by the way, is there a vacant room in the military camp here?" ”

Zhang Cun replied: "My lord, this city is a big military camp, which originally could accommodate 100,000 soldiers, but now there are only 5,000 of us. ”

Zhao Xing immediately nodded: "It's good if you can stay, you help me vacate a large barracks that can accommodate 10,000 people, and then select 10,000 children between the ages of seventeen and twenty - all those who are of any age will be selected into the camp." Regardless of whether his parents are alive or not, if they have children in the camp, they can free up food to raise some orphans - remember, the children are in the camp, not the army, do not tattoo the children, they will have to go to the camp in the future, and they will have to marry and have children.

Zhang Dujian, you also need to help me transfer 200 experienced veterans to help me train this group of children together. Zilian (Shuai Fan), the rest is yours, you hire 200 village talents from Jingzhao Mansion to teach children literacy first, and then teach children a craft. Teach your child to practice martial arts and defend themselves.

In the future, I am going to carry out armed escorts for the caravan to prevent bandits from robbing. This work is contracted to the Boy Scouts. Zilian, you pull a team of students out every day, while training, while escorting the caravan, I need you to use this year's time to let the children know the queue and basic military knowledge, as for literacy, you can take your time.

A year later. Various industries in Michigan have opened. It takes a lot of labor, and these lightly trained children can be sent to the various farms, and the boy boy camp has only the best soldiers left, and I need to turn this barracks into a Spartan training camp......"

Zhao Xing crossed his fingers and explained his plan in detail, Shuai Fan agreed, and immediately excitedly went to organize people. After Shuai Fan left, Zhao Xingcai recalled in wonder: "I just said a Sparta, but Shuai Zilian didn't ask me what Sparta meant, did I say it?" ”

Zhao Xing asked Cheng Shuang about this, and Cheng Shuang wondered: "What is so strange about Sparta, I also know." When the teacher was attacked in Jasmine Garden, he once said that three hundred Spartan warriors held on to Hot Springs. He also said: Without a firm will to fight, even a solid castle is as fragile as paper; And with a firm will to fight, even if you are on a smooth road, because of courage. Immediately make the smooth road dangerous. All the students know this story, Uncle Seven, what's wrong? ”

Zhao Xing was relieved: "It turns out that everyone knows this story...... It must have been overheard and spread when you were talking to each other. Okay, I'm relieved. ”

The second general, Zhang Cheng, asked curiously: "What three hundred warriors guard the hot spring pass." Tell me? ”

Cheng Shuang immediately started talking about this story. Then he parroted and concluded: "In the world, you are afraid to persevere, as long as you persevere, you will win." 300 men held back an army of 200,000. It may seem like an impossible task, but as long as you have a strong belief, you will not necessarily fail.

The family teacher often said that as long as you go to the battlefield, you must have the determination to die, and only in this way can you survive. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to die, and there is no fear of death, what else can stump people. I thought that when the family teacher traveled the seven seas, he was determined to seek death, but there were opponents, and they were unwilling to fight to the death, so that he could easily break through countless bandits to intercept - fighting, it was as simple as that. ”

When Cheng Shuang told the story, the seven generals had already gathered around him, listening with relish, and after listening to Cheng Shuang's comments, Zhang Cheng, the most courageous seventh general on the Huanqing Road, shouted with empathy: "Not bad!" The Sprinkle family starts every war, as long as I rush into the enemy formation with one heart, even the Xixia Iron Harrier does not dare to go against the Sprinkler family. The sprinkler family has been trapped in countless battles, and even the oily skin has not been broken, and those cowardly people who think they are safe and stay behind are dying one by one, isn't it funny. ”

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, some of the seven generals were embarrassed and some agreed, and some disagreed, Zhang Cun shook his head and said: "Li Yi (the sixth general) of the imperial city, and Xu Xing, the deputy general and deputy envoy of the East Workshop, are not necessarily as brave as their feet, but they are now buried in Western Xia, and the imperial court has not even given a reward...... Alas! ”

The death of these two people is the military information that Zhao Xing heard when he first entered Gyeongju. These two men entered Western Xia to reconnoiter the movements of the enemy army, and were killed in an encounter with the enemy. However, the officials of the Great Song Dynasty were unwilling to take responsibility, but instead gave a "private opening and compassion, no crime and no punishment" treatment, of course, if these two people came back alive, they would be punished.

Zhao Xing had already finished discussing with Shuai Fan at this moment, he came over and listened to the end of the conversation, so he interjected: "This year, I am going to open the horse ban in Gyeongju and allow border people to buy and sell war horses freely. ”

Zhang Cun immediately jumped up: "My lord, the war horses are not enough for the military, how can you allow private trading?" ”

Zhao Xing replied: "It is precisely because the military is not enough, so that the war horses are free to trade, only when the trade is alive and the circulation of goods is smooth, we can buy enough war horses from the market - that's it, you don't understand this kind of business concept, you just need to collect taxes in the future, and I will set up the horse market in Dingbian City, you can help me take care of it." ”

Zhang Cun said in fear: "My lord, what if there are Xixia people disguised as merchants to buy horses? They bought our horses, what are we going to ride? ”

Zhao Xing smiled very honestly: "Just sell it to them, what are you afraid of." I am going to strengthen the checkpoint in the next step, and I will never allow the horses to flow out of Gyeongju - you just sell, and the local people on my border only detain them, so that the Tangut people have spent money and paid taxes to our horse market, but they will go back empty-handed, which is very beautiful! ”

In Gyeongju, if you want to do a good job of the checkpoint, block the war horse and export it to Western Xia. It's very easy to do. Because Gyeongju is a continuous mountain facing the Western Xia side, there are only a few river valleys that can be passed. War horses need drinking water for long-distance travel, in the ancient environment, the marching route is inseparable from the river valley, as long as the exit of the river valley is blocked, the Xia people can't lead the horse over the mountains and mountains, unless he wants the war horse to die of thirst in the mountains.

Zhao Xing didn't wait for Zhang Cun to come back to his senses, and immediately stretched out a finger and added: "In the next step, I plan to increase the price of war horses and the transaction tax, doesn't the imperial court have a subsidy?" The biggest feature of government procurement is that it is a penny of money. The government only needs to be mindful. Willing to pay ten pennies to buy. I plan to use the power of the government to procure land to leverage the price of war horses, and the price of each war horse will be raised to 1,000 yuan! ”

After speaking, Zhao Xing teased meaningfully: "Speaking of which, the victory in Hedong Zhekexing is the oil and water, not to mention how many enemies are killed, and many households are surrendered - it is completely possible for them to dig coal kilns; Tens of thousands of horses - each horse is worth a thousand yuan. It's a multi-million victory. With this money, let alone raising 100,000 people, it is enough to raise another 100,000. ”

The generals on the Huanqing Road heard Zhao Xing's hint, stared at Zhao Xing with wide eyes, and half a ring, the second general, Zhang Cheng, relied on his familiarity with Zhao Xing, and mustered up the courage to ask: "My lord." Are you talking about opening up the horse market, and the horse market is located in Dingbian City, and the government has to make purchases, but does the government have so much money? ”

Zhao Xing spread his hands. Answer: "You don't have to worry about how much money the government has." As long as the government is willing to pay a thousand yuan to purchase horses, even if it only buys ten horses a month, then other war horse transactions will not be able to drop the price, right? ”

Zhang Cun saw someone speak, he cautiously hugged *** and said, "My lord." Li Yi and Xu Xing are responsible. Entering enemy territory without permission is a great crime. ”

Zhao Xing's eyes widened. He reprimanded: "Those are two fools, who have entered the enemy's territory privately - who complains?" Have the people of Western Xia ever complained to my Gyeongju government? ”

At this moment, even the seventh general, Zhang Cheng, a bastard, understood, he slapped his thigh and directly shouted out the content of everyone's shy answer: "Go! The Sprinkle family found three or two people to sneak into the territory of Western Xia and snatch two horses back, but when they resisted, they were all killed, who did the Western Xia people cry to? Do you submit a complaint to my Gyeongju government? What to complain about? Trekking into enemy territory? He dared to come and see that the people of Gyeongju would not tear him apart......

This is a good deal, go to the territory of the Western Xia to grab two horses, bolted behind the saddle, all the way back, the Xixia people want to chase can not chase, come back in the horse market to sell, if sold to the adult, then two thousand to hand, if sold to others, how can each horse not sell eight hundred. More than ten years of salary, just the cost of a few horses, is worth it when you die. ”

The recklessness of the seventh general, Zhang Cheng, made everyone look very embarrassed, and Zhang Cun turned his face embarrassedly, looking like I didn't know this person. Others will begin to study the ground, and it seems that something has suddenly popped up on the ground, which is worth a closer look. Only Zhao Xing turned around casually and slowly left with his hands behind his back.

After a while, the second general Zhang Cheng came to his senses, he quickly jumped up and grabbed Zhao Xing's hand, and climbed up affectionately: "Brother Zhao, brother Liren, my brother told me...... Last year, I also wrote that he was doing business in partnership with you, saying that there were a lot of good knives, good horses, and good armor hidden in my brother's house, so why don't I write an IOU and advance a few pairs of martial arts from my brother's house, our family has no money, and my brother will repay it, how about it? ”

The others also understood, Zhang Cun first looked at Zhao Xing's entourage, and fanned the flames: "I heard that when Lord Zhao entered Gyeongju, the entourage was luxurious, and everyone was in full body armor, and now I see that these brothers are not wearing armor, presumably Lord Zhao usually doesn't need those martial arts, borrow our envoys, and we use horses to compensate." ”

Zhao Xing nodded slowly and replied solemnly: "Yes!" ”

The generals were overjoyed, and they all looked for pen and paper to write IOUs, and Zhao Xing seemed to unconsciously say: "Captives are also valuable, if you open a small coal kiln and let them all dig coal, each captive can also be worth a hundred and ten times." ”

The second general, Zhang Cheng, was the fastest, and immediately said: "There are ready-made coal kilns in Huanzhou, and there is also a fire cave, all of which are supervised by our state soldiers!" ”

Zhao Xing nodded: "Simply take this coal kiln under the government, the government and the coal kiln owner will join forces, and the military will provide slaves for digging the kiln, and the government will subsidize the military from the proceeds." ”

When Zhang Cunyi heard this, he kicked the second general Zhang Chengyi's foot fiercely, and scolded repeatedly: "Idiot, don't look for Wu Qinglai yet, take the adults to the coal kiln to have a look...... No, take your earthlings with you. Go with adults and keep them safe along the way. ”

Zhang Chengxing rushed to gather the soldiers, Zhao Xing was surrounded by a large group of people and horses, and first went to Hengshanzhai, Tongsaizhai, and Huai'an Town.

The Tangut people want to come, there are only three roads, one is the White Horse River. One is Luochuan. Then there is Tokugawa. Luochuan has Huaiwei Fort, Weibian Village, Shengqiang Village, Huaiwei Fort Shikang There I have built a grass and trees defense line. Your three castles are generally safe, and the purpose of setting up your three fortresses is to monitor the Western Xia soldiers who have come over the mountain. If there is no accident, the Tangut people generally do not come here.

That's why I plan to make you a front-line supply center, where you can not only grow grass for me and horses, grow mochi and stock up on grain and grass, but also learn how to make armor for me. I am organizing people in Gyeongju City to make metal wire drawing machines, this kind of wire drawing machine can draw metal into iron wire, long iron wire can make iron barbed nets, horses are timid animals, see iron spikes will never rush into it, so iron barbed wire can stop the cavalry. Other than that. Iron wire can also be made into gold wire chain mail, a set of chain mail can be sold for 3,000 yuan, and there are more people making it, and the price may be reduced. But in two or three years, it will probably be able to maintain the price of 1,000 times.

Weave chain mail with iron wire, the old ladies will work on the ground, whether you produce subway wire or chain mail in the village, I will use the power of government procurement to reimburse you, so don't worry about food this year, how can you not exchange food with money, your task in the future is: plant grass and raise horses, and weave armor. ”

The three owners of the village were overjoyed. Frequently exchanging glances with eye color. Zhao Xing inquired about the local grass planting situation, and the three village owners hurriedly agreed: "Solicit." The little people are stupid, and the new things brought by the adults dare not be easily disposed of, so I will go now, and let them pull out all the seedlings in the field and plant all the grass. ”

Zhao Xing snorted heavily, turned over and got on the horse with a gloomy expression, and the three village owners followed a few steps closely, and asked anxiously: "Recruitment, how much is the official subsidy for the wire drawing machine, and when will it be produced?" ”

Zhao Xing didn't say a word, urging the horse forward, Shuai Fan fell behind, and threatened: "It's angry to invite adults, you have to go to the state capital to make amends, and the planting plan needs to be ......started as soon as possible."

After some intimidation, Shuai Fan followed Zhao Xin's team and explained with a smile: "My lord, the people take food as the sky, but we let the people plant grass, and the people are terrified, which is understandable." ”

Zhao Xing nodded: "I don't blame them, the villagers are ignorant, they don't make up the grass for spring ploughing, what kind of food do they plant, is it too late?" ”

While chatting, Zhao Xing suddenly stopped, raised his whip and pointed to a nearby mountain col, and asked curiously, "What is that?" I mean, what is that white rock? ”

Wu Qing took a few steps out to check: "This place has reached Huanzhou, not far in front of Sweet Water Fort, the rock ditch should be a white stone ditch, the stone in the mountain is a white flake stone, a little shiny, children like to pick up stones to play, but this kind of stone is too brittle, that is, it can't be built into a house, and it can't be polished into utensils, so it is abandoned." ”

"Go over and take a look", Zhao Xing urged with a horsewhip.

It is a piece of quartzite, a quartz ore exposed on the ground, which is very pure, and from the surface of the rock, it seems to contain a small amount of feldspar, mica, epidote, hornblende, and so on...... As a modern person, you don't need to learn professionally to have this knowledge, as long as you often buy some fake jade at tourist spots. However, in order to specifically analyze the content of each component, it is necessary to study professionally.

"Are there any special stones nearby", Zhao Xing hurriedly asked.

"This ......" Zhang Cheng looked at Wu Qing, and Wu Qing replied quickly: "In the past, when Shen Kuo's coward (Shen Kuo was the pacification envoy of Yanlu Jinglu) was in Yanzhou, he hired a Huanzhou man to collect strange rocks everywhere, this person's surname is strange, and his name is thirteen. After Shen Anfu left, Qi 13 was still collecting stones, saying that one day Shen Anfu would come to him to ask for stones.

This person is in Huanzhou City, and he knows what strange stones and trees there are near Huanzhou. There are also a lot of stones piled up in his house, and if you want to know, you can go to his house and see it. ”