Li Buqi was discussing the matter of immigration with Yao Gang, Yao Gang took a letter and handed it to Li Buqi and said: "Mao Shizhi (Mao Zhichun) has just left, he said that there is a letter from Hangzhou, saying that the ship to buy grain from Toe and Zhancheng has arrived, and on the way it has encountered wind and waves and sunk one, and now more than 3,000 quintals of rice have arrived in Hangzhou and have been transported through the canal. The summer grain in the south has been struck, and the purchase of grain has begun according to the plan, and the first batch has already been shipped. Because the price of our grain is fair, one to two percent higher than that of grain merchants, the people are willing to sell us grain. It's just that this has been hated by some big grain merchants, most of whom are local snakes, or have a very hard backstage, and have been looking for trouble with us more than once. ”

Li Buqi didn't pay too much attention to it, and said lightly: "Although Brother Mao can't stay in the third division and resigns, he has experienced a lot of experience and has found a way to deal with things in the officialdom." Coupled with the escort of the Police Division, the Cotton Chamber of Commerce, and the Maritime Association, Brother Mao's talent will definitely be able to cope with it. ”

Yao Gang was still a little worried: "If the matter of collecting grain is too big, I am afraid that it will make the Zhao Guanjia suspicious of the officials." ”

The two things needed for the rebellion were the army and money and food, so not only those who had an army in their hands would be suspicious, but also the Zhao Guan's family would definitely be worried about the large-scale hoarding of grain and grass.

Li Buqi smiled and said: "Your Majesty has finally made up your mind today, just now I have received a secret decree from Your Majesty, using the three-year mining tax of Jingdong Road Iron Mine as collateral as a guarantee for profits, which will be used to raise money to buy and transport grain to stabilize grain prices. With this secret message, then the amount of grain we receive is justified. This time, I want to rob those wealthy and powerful families who have made a fortune. Brother Zixiao knows that the coolest thing in this world is to rob by order. You wrote back to Mao Zhichun and told him that you could collect as much grain as you could. I have collected all the surplus grain from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Sichuan, and I have overseas demand to cover it, and I will definitely not be able to discount the cost. ”

Yao Gang was still a little uneasy, and asked, "Do you really want to buy so much?" ”

Li Buqi smiled confidently: "This time, I will let Brother Yao see what the power of capital is." ”

Yao Gang said: "Officials have always talked about the power of capital, so I'll wait and see." Then he asked, "Then do you still buy grain from Cochin and Champ?" The distance between Champa and Cochin is too long, and the wind and waves are strong, and there is no profit to buy grain from there. ”

Li Buqi said: "The benefits of buying grain from Jiaozhi are not in the present, but in the future. Jiaozhi was originally the hometown of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and later became independent, but it was never submissive to the Great Song Dynasty. Since a few years ago, Jiaozhi has the tendency to invade the Great Song Dynasty, and Nong Zhigao, who attacked Yongzhou, was only committed under the oppression of Jiaozhi. Now there are few soldiers in Guangnan, and if they are not defended, they are even more powerless to suppress Jiaozhi. If Jiaozhi is allowed to dominate in the south, in a few years, it is possible that his ambitions will become bigger and bigger, and there will be big troubles. So you have to plan as early as possible. ”

"It is difficult to conquer, no longer because of its strong soldiers, but in the steep terrain of the 100,000 mountains. But the essence of it is at the mouth of a river by the sea. If Jiaozhi is not subordinate, as long as this elite area is occupied, the Jiaozhi people will not be able to make any big waves. Nowadays, we continue to buy grain from Cochin, first, you can be familiar with the sea route, and it will be more convenient to avoid the mountains by land in the future; Second, although the Jiaozhi people have fertile land and rice that crops three times a year, they do not have much enthusiasm to cultivate grain, because there is enough rice for them, but when they find that rice can be exchanged for the goods of the Great Song Dynasty, they will repair the fields and reclaim the wasteland, and when our army occupies that area, there will be more ripe fields available. ”

Yao Gang asked in surprise: "The official said that he is going to make a move on Jiaozhi?" ”

Li Buqi said firmly: "Jiaozhi has been fighting the idea of the Great Song Guangnan, I don't want the Great Song Dynasty to have Jiaozhi and the Great Haircut behind it when dealing with the Liao State and Western Xia." Of course, he wouldn't say that he still has a goal of turning the South China Sea into a real "China Sea."

At this time, the guards reported that Zhu Changsheng was coming, and Li Buqi hurriedly let Zhu Changsheng in. Zhu Changsheng sat down and drank a cup of tea and said: "A few days ago, the case of the two officials who framed and held the chief official was exposed, and I carefully inquired about the news in the past two days, and the news from the outside states and counties has not yet come back, but at least among the officials guarding the que, as Lao Yao expected, the rumor that the police department is the fault of the officials is self-defeating. In particular, some officials who had served in remote places applauded, saying that they finally had a place where they could help in case of trouble, and that they no longer had to be coerced by local tyrants. ”

Li Buqi asked: "How did they react to the construction of the Martyrs' Shrine?" ”

Zhu Changsheng said: "Those officials who have served in remote areas are indeed very much in favor of building a martyr's shrine. I think that those officials who are serving in the Far Evil State Army must also agree very much. In this way, in order not to chill the hearts of these officials, the officials can only build a loyal martyrs' shrine, and if anyone opposes it, they are afraid that they will be scolded by thousands of people. The official's trick is really clever. ”

Li Buqi smiled bitterly: "It's not that it's clever, but it has to be like this." When I say that the martyrs' shrine sacrifices to the soldiers who died in battle, there is no approval; When it comes to sacrificing civil officials who died in office, they can put themselves in their shoes and stop opposing it, and even promote it, and then I can stuff the fallen soldiers into the Martyrs' Shrine. ”

Zhu Changsheng said: "This is the wisdom of officials." Either way, the goal was achieved. ”

Li Buqi said: "It can only be said that half of the achievement has been achieved, after all, people's concepts have not changed. ”

Just when Li Buqi was calculating, Wanyan Wugunai, who was far away in Liaodong, was also calculating the Liao Kingdom.

Hu Weida bent down into the wooden house, and with a smile he reported to Ugunai, who was sitting by the fire and discussing with several leaders: "Ugunai, more than thirty people have come to defect. One of them said that he heard from the Khitan soldiers that the Khitan and Song people had fought a battle, lost the battle, and now there is a shortage of grain and grass, so there will definitely be a heavy tax this year. There will also be many people fleeing from the Khitans this year. This is the same as those who fled from the Khitans in the past, and it seems that many more will flee to us this year. ”

For the Jurchen tribe, population is the greatest wealth, so when he thought that the population of the tribe would increase greatly this year, and there would be many more warriors, Hu Bada couldn't help but close his mouth.

But Ugunai said as if he had made up his mind: "Huda, tell those people that our tribe cannot take them in. Let them go to other tribes. ”

Hu Bada thought he had misheard, and hurriedly asked, "Why?" ”

Ugunai said: "Hu Losta, you are the strongest warrior of the Jurchens, but even if all our warriors are as strong and brave as you, they will not be able to resist the wrath of the Khitans. If, as before, just a few people and a dozen people escaped from the Khitans, and we hid the people, the Khitans would not notice, but with such a large population, the Khitans would definitely track them down. If the Khitans find out that we are hiding these people, the Khitans will definitely send troops to attack us. We cannot bring disaster to the Horde until we have the ability to defeat the Khitan army. ”

Hu Weida's brain was not as muscular as his, and he was surprised, "But in this way, the population of other tribes will increase." They will have more fighters. ”

Ugunai said solemnly: "No, control your tongue, don't tell others, I will go to the Khitans to denounce them." Then I will ask for help for the Khitans to punish the tribes that take in the fugitives. If the Khitan army really suffered losses, they would have agreed. With the support of the Khitans, we can defeat the tribes around the Tongjiang River, and then get the Khitans to agree that I will manage the 'Eagle Road'. ”

An elder next to him said, "As long as we master the Eagle Road, we can trade directly with the Song people in the Tongjiang Estuary and obtain the materials we need." By attacking other tribes, we will also be able to gain the population without incurring the wrath of the Khitans. Hu Weida, don't get a single firewood and you can't see a forest behind you. ”

Eagle Road is the name of the Khitan and Jurchen for the traffic line along the Songhua River and the Heilongjiang River to the mouth of the Heilongjiang River. The two generations of nobles of Liaojin and Jin loved the bird of prey Haidongqing, and the Haidongqing produced in the Ministry of the Five Kingdoms was sent to the capital of Liaojin along this line.

If in the past, this Eagle Road was only a channel for trade with the Jurchen tribes, and because the Five Kingdoms were attached to the Liao State from time to time, the Liao State often had to drive the Jurchen tribes to attack the Five Kingdoms and force the Five Kingdoms to pay tribute to Haidongqing, so that the Jurchens could not be disturbed, it can be said that it would do more harm than good, but now because the Song people's sea ships traded at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, this route became important to the Jurchen tribes, and Wugunai wanted to take this opportunity to take the Eagle Road in his hands. Since then, the situation in Liaodong has undergone earth-shaking changes.