After noon on the second day, the ministers of the Zhongshu Sect, the Privy Council, and the Three Divisions came one after another, and today they also heard from the inner servants that the official Zhao Kuangyin might be preparing for the Northern Expedition (Northern) Han Kingdom.

Everyone's heart said: Now the Great Song Dynasty has no worries in the south, pacified the south, the territory of the Great Song Dynasty has expanded a lot, and the number of households has increased a lot, and in the south they have to deal with many remnants of the monarchs and ministers, fortunately, the attack on the (Southern) Tang Dynasty cost manpower, material resources, and financial resources than expected to reduce a lot of losses, and the (Southern) Han also directly donated the land to avoid direct armed conflict.

Zhao Pu, Xue Juzheng, Shen Yilun, Lu Yuqing, Zhao Guangyi and others arrived in the Changchun Hall one after another. This time, Zhao Kuangyin also asked Zhou Quan and Li Xin of the Privy Council Staff Pavilion to participate in today's partial hall discussion.

Zhao Kuangyin has arrived here early today, and when the ministers came one after another, he said: "Today, I invited the ministers to get up, for the sake of the puppet Han country, although this country has not gone south, but when my Great Song Dynasty marched north, it is bound to compete with this country, and the Liao country is also the first place to bear the brunt. ”

Zhao Pu and the others have all sat in the Changchun Palace, the Northern Expedition is a matter of great importance, and the required food, grass, troops, and weapons need to be arranged in advance, so the stakes are significant, and the victory or defeat of a war is related to this, so they have just thought about it all the way on the road.

Zhao Kuangyin saw that all the ministers were thinking, and he said ambitiously: "Everyone, now that the puppet Han lord Liu Jun is seriously ill, the puppet Han court is fighting openly and secretly, and the fighting is continuous, and the strength of the Han State has also been weakened a lot. ”

Zhao Pu asked: "Your Majesty, if it is the Northern Expedition right now, it needs to be properly solved with grain and grass, and I don't know if the third division has counted the situation of my Great Song Dynasty warehouse?" ”

At this moment, Chu Zhaofu, the official in charge of the Third Division, replied: "Your Majesty, the Great Song Dynasty has had good weather in various places in recent years, since there was Zhancheng rice, the output of various places has increased a lot, and my Great Song Dynasty has also traded a lot of things from overseas countries, and this time the ivory, camphor, agate and other things from the Great Food have also been submitted to the national treasury. During the Jianlong period, there were up to five or six million guanwen; Now our Great Song Dynasty has opened more market divisions, and the border has opened a field of wine, salt, horses, wine, and tea, and has added a lot of taxes to the national treasury. Therefore, the Great Song Dynasty has a lot of taxes, although this year our Great Song Dynasty has destroyed the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, His Majesty allowed the people to collect one year less tax and one year of conscription. ”

Zhao Dezhao nodded and continued to ask: "There are a lot of taxes, and the Northern Expedition is worry-free, but what about other grains?" ”

Chu Zhaofu said: "Jiangnan last year's disaster has been solved this year, and this year the imperial court has just tried to plant a batch of grain from Fanbang outside the city, His Royal Highness the King of Wei said that it is a kind of grain that can increase production and solve the famine. ”

"Daguan Zhang, order someone to fetch one or two, and by the way, summon the King of Wei to the Changchun Palace."

"Yes." Zhang Dejun immediately trotted out of the palace, and then called a small chamberlain out of the palace to find Zhao Dezhao, the king of Wei.

In the Changchun Palace, Zhao Kuangyin and the others were still talking, and now they were talking about the Northern Expedition again.

The emperor's thoughts, most of the ministers' hearts are still known, and the Northern Expedition is also related to the national prestige of the Great Song Dynasty and the establishment of the orthodox status of the Central Plains.

The Northern Han Dynasty is located in the east of the river, and if this nail is not removed, the Great Song Dynasty will be in danger from the north at any time.

Zhao Pu said at this time: "Your Majesty, the minister still remembers that on the night of the snowy night, His Majesty asked Zeping to offer a strategy, first the south and then the north, first the easy and then the difficult, and now most of the southern countries have been cut off, and then it is the Northern Expedition, so that my Great Song Dynasty will implement the great cause of unifying China." ”

"Hmm." Zhao Kuangyin nodded, as the founding emperor, Zhao Kuangyin naturally hopes to expand the territory and leave a huge and powerful empire for future generations, so when he heard Zhao Pu's words, he was very excited in his heart, "Zeping said yes, continue to say." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister is in favor of the Northern Expedition, but now that the Northern Expedition has no excuse for the time being, and the division is unknown, but my Great Song Dynasty should also secretly start preparing everything."

Lu Yuqing said: "Your Majesty, today my Great Song Dynasty soldiers have a wide range of generals, rich warehouses, and the imperial court has stepped up the development of gunpowder and firearms, and there are also a lot of weapons and armor such as our Great Song Dynasty Forbidden Army and Xiang Army. ”

The monarch and ministers were in full swing in the Changchun Palace, and after an interval of half an hour, they saw a handsome young man wearing a round-necked royal dress outside the hall, and he immediately bowed his hand after entering the palace and said: "The son Zhao Dezhao has seen his father and the ministers. ”

The little noble son behind him brought a basket and put it on the ground, he wiped his sweat and immediately said, "Your Majesty, the food is here, it's all here." ”

Zhao Kuangyin saw a basket brought in, and there were various plants of different colors in the basket, so he immediately got up from the dragon chair and walked to the basket.

When Zhao Dezhao saw Zhao Kuangyin coming over, he immediately picked up the basket, and then brought it to Zhao Kuangyin to show him.

Zhao Kuangyin saw that the basket was brought up, he looked at the fruits in the basket and said, "Zhao'er, is this the seed planted this year?" ”

"Yes, Father, this is from the wasteland overseas, right here." In order to explain clearly, Zhao Dezhao pointed to a world map hanging in the Changchun Palace, and then walked to the map, and Zhao Kuangyin followed behind.

Zhao Dezhao pointed to the place in the Americas on the map, and then said: "Father, this is it, there is a sea in the middle, and then you need to take a boat to get here, and this is where this seed is found." ”

Zhao Kuangyin looked at everything on the map and said, "Oh? How long does it take to get there by boat? ”

Zhao Dezhao estimated that it would take about three or four months, and he told Zhao Kuangyin to listen.

Zhao Kuangyinhu said suspiciously: "Three or four months, this is a bit long, but these things can be brought back from there, and it can be regarded as a lot of hardship." Zhao Kuangyin knew that the crew would suffer from violent storms at sea, and the crew sometimes did not necessarily adapt to the bumps on the ship, and there were some seasickness, so Zhao Kuangyin was still very satisfied to come back alive and bring back these seeds.

Zhao Dezhao was calm, and he replied, "Yes, father." When a person sails in the sea, there is an endless blue sky and a sea, and this kind of scene is not something that can only be experienced by people with hard willpower. ”

Zhao Kuangyin nodded when he heard this, and the rest of the ministers present also nodded frequently after listening, but Zhao Guangyi on the side turned his head, as if there was some sneer in his eyes.

Immediately, Zhao Kuangyin squatted down, and then took out an object from the basket, and he asked, "Zhao'er, this is rough. What is it that is red like rehmannia? ”

Zhao Dezhao introduced: "Father, this is called sweet potato, also called sweet potato, this thing can be eaten raw, cooked, fried, fried, fried......"

"Where's this?" Zhao Kuangyin put down the sweet potato and picked up another one that was slightly smaller than the sweet potato, and the skin was light yellow. He sniffed a fruit closer, but found no distinctive smell.

Zhao Dezhao introduced: "Father, this is a potato, also called soil. Egg. If there are sprouts on the surface, you can't eat it, it's poisonous, and if there are green spots on the surface, you can't eat it, it's poisonous. It can only be eaten with cooked food. ”

"This thing is so poisonous, it's better to be cooked." When Zhao Kuangyin heard the word "poisonous", he was so frightened that he hurriedly threw away the potatoes in his hand, and the potatoes began to roll on the ground, and then rolled to Zhao Guangyi's feet.

Zhao Guangyi saw the potatoes rolling over, immediately bent down, and then went to pick up the potatoes on the ground, at this time, suddenly a piece of jade pendant fell out of his cuffs, at the moment when the jade pendant fell to the ground, Zhao Dezhao took a quick look, he found that the jade pendant was very familiar, but Zhao Dezhao didn't care too much.

After Zhao Guangyi picked up the jade pendant from the ground, he picked up the potatoes again, and then handed them to his nephew Zhao Dezhao, Zhao Dezhao smiled bitterly, and then introduced the rest of the things, "Father, as long as these seeds are buried in the ground in the coming year, they can take root and sprout, and the yield is higher than that of rice and wheat." These are not very demanding on the land, and can be planted on the slopes of the mountains and in the yellow mud fields......"

Listening to Zhao Dezhao say this, Zhao Kuangyin and his ministers all nodded, as long as they can eat and increase production, this is a good thing for the Great Song Dynasty.

After saying this, Zhao Kuangyin said: "Zhao'er, I called you here today In addition to this matter, there are other things, I guess you also heard about it on the road." ”

Zhao Dezhao said: "Father, I just heard Zhang Daguan mention that my father decided to go on the Northern Expedition and invited all the ministers to come here to discuss, I don't know how my father is discussing now?" ”

"The Northern Expedition is a major event in my Great Song Dynasty, and it needs to be done cautiously, and now it is only a rough discussion, and the details need to be further discussed."

Zhao Dezhao's face was serious, and he arched his hand and said: "Zhao'er is also in favor of the Northern Expedition, and I have just heard that the puppet Han lord Liu Jun is seriously ill, which is not a big deal, but if the puppet Han lord Liu Jun dies of illness and the prince is not established, I am afraid that the puppet Han court will experience a bloody storm."

Because the princes of the puppet Han dynasty, Liu Jien and Liu Jiyuan, although they are compatriots, they fight very hard in private, and the puppet Han courtiers are afraid that they will also choose between these two princes. Therefore, my father can take this opportunity to go on a northern expedition, but this opportunity must be chosen right, and we must not lose it. ”

Zhao Kuangyin saw that Zhao Dezhao's analysis was reasonable, he looked at Zhao Dezhao with approving eyes, and at the same time he was also thinking about one thing in his heart, that is, the Great Song Dynasty was also the prince, and he didn't know if he would follow in the footsteps of other dynasties, he also thought so, and immediately recovered his expression, nodded and said: "Well, Zhao'er is reasonable, but there is still a need to discuss the matter of troops, food and grass, you sit down first." The Northern Expedition is a major event, if you have any objections, you can raise them, and today the Changchun Palace has solved it. ”