"The county prince doesn't seem to be worried at all?"

At the same time as the decisive battle on the banks of the Sanggan River was unfolding, another decisive battle was also unfolding in Yingtianfu. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Nearly 200,000 villagers were gathered to build a railway, and the scale was that Zhou Quan felt a little numb on his scalp when he saw it.

Beside him was Zong Ze, since the two met in Yingtian Academy, during this time, they visited each other a lot.

Zong Ze's eyes are extremely keen, and his years of experience as a low-level official have given him a deep understanding of the shortcomings of the Great Song Dynasty. He is not interested in party struggle, and in his opinion, whether it is a new party or an old party, the most important thing is to solve practical problems.

Many of Zhou Quan's ideas could not resonate with other officials at this time, but on Zong Ze's side, they could often get support. And because of Zong Ze's grassroots experience, he is often able to pick up and fill in the gaps, and also think about Zhou Quan about the details that Zhou Quan can't consider.

Initially, the two discussed the battle situation in Yanjing, then discussed the military system of the Great Song Dynasty, and then extended to the rule of officials in the imperial court, then the problem of redundant officials and soldiers, and then the solution of finance, and then to the promotion of people's livelihood...... After a circle, they cared about everything big and small, and the two of them had many arguments, and even had a red face, but when they met again next time, they would continue to discuss very closely, and then continue to argue.

The so-called mentor and friend are like this.

Later, Zong Ze simply ignored his duties, but followed Zhou Quan to build the railway. Zhou Quan also welcomed this uninvited helper, Zong Ze was really not familiar with it at first, but he had experience in organizing river engineering projects, and he quickly found a way, and he could also fill in the gaps for Zhou Quan.

Today, the topic of the two finally returned to the war on Yanjing's side.

"What's there to worry about?" Zhou Quan said in surprise: "If you should be worried, it should be the officials and the princes of the court." ”

"If Tong Guan wins, he will get this king's reward, and you will be laughed at by the world." Zong Ze said with a smile.

"As if you won't be ridiculed, aren't you playing fewer recitals these days?" Zhou Quan said.

"I'm soft-spoken, even if I say something wrong, no one will laugh at it, the county is different, every move, word and deed, the whole world can stare at it." When Zong Ze said this, he raised his chin towards the crowd in front of him: "Inside, there are people staring at the county prince. ”

"I've long been used to it, Ru Lin Gong, I'll tell you the truth, if the guards outside tell me one day that there are other messy people in the Imperial City Division who are not following, I will be so scared that I can't sleep......"

Zhou Quan made a joke, but immediately, his expression was solemn: "I'd rather be laughed at by the world, and I hope ...... The people suffered less! ”

When he said this, others would definitely not believe it, but Zong Ze believed it.

From the various strategies he said about Zhou Quan, he can feel that what Zhou Quan did was indeed for the benefit of the people's livelihood. It can even be felt that Zhou Quan is not thinking about the lives of the people in three or five years, but the big plan for more than ten years, decades or even a hundred years.

"Count the time, there should be news at this time." Zong Ze muttered.

Zhou Quan smiled, and then pointed to the east: "Look, isn't the news coming?" ”

To the east of them came a man on horseback, and in a few moments they came to them. Zong Ze couldn't care about being rude, and asked before Zhou Quan: "How is it, what is the situation?" ”

"Under the city of Yanjing, Yelu Dashi led the Liao people to attack at night, Tong Guan suffered a big defeat and suffered heavy losses, and then he retreated to the bank of the Sanggan River, and raided for Xiao Gan, almost escaped across the river alone, and the 300,000 troops of the Great Song Dynasty ...... The 300,000-strong army was defeated and returned, with more than half of the losses! ”

The messenger was also a little incredulous at the news, and stuttered a little as he reported it.

"Do you know Hu Ning's situation?" Zhou Quan said in a deep voice.

The result of the 300,000 army, as he expected, this bad news came, and the last trace of luck was gone, but he sent Hu Ning to remind Tong Guan that the last effort was originally made to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Han people, and since the effort was unsuccessful, he could only hope that Hu Ning could get out smoothly.

"Hu Ning has returned to Wuqing, and the news is from him!"

This made Zhou Quan feel at ease for a while, looking at the depressed Zong Ze, he reluctantly twitched his cheeks: "Ru Lin Gong, isn't this the result we expected?" ”

"Even so, even so......" Zong Ze's lips trembled, he was not afraid of being laughed at by others, if he was laughed at by others to save this game, he would rather be ridiculed for a thousand years as a model of unfounded worries in the history books, rather than see the rout of the 300,000 officers and soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty.

More than half of the losses are lost, that is to say, at least 150,000 officers and soldiers have fallen, and in the usual style of Tong Guan's house, they will only report less and not more!

But even if he conceals the fact of the defeat, he can't always hide it, the Hebei Forbidden Army, the Beijing Central Forbidden Army and the Western Army, those contradictory generals at this time in order to protect themselves, they will inevitably have to look for help in the DPRK, they will send the news back.

Ying Tianfu is a little closer to the battlefield, but the imperial court's eight hundred miles are rushing and fast, so I am afraid that it has already arrived at the Beijing Division.

"Traitors have misled the country!" In anger, Zong Ze gritted his teeth and spit out these four words.

But immediately, he remembered that in his discussion with Zhou Quan, Zhou Quan never agreed with the statement that traitors misled the country, and he believed that the person who misled the country was definitely not anyone.

Even a faint monarch can't get rid of a country by mistake.

The Great Song Jingshi is still a song and dance, the small songs in the Goolan tile shop are babbling and dumb, the sails on the Bianhe River are still like rain, and the business travelers on the street are still shuttling. It's just that all this, after rushing into the city on a fast horse and galloping across the royal road, exploded and shattered with a bang, all the tranquility was gone, and everyone was saying one thing: Yanjing was defeated!

At first, people didn't believe it, even though they heard the news.

"The army of 300,000 was defeated? What nonsense! ”

"I heard that the loss is not very serious, it is only a small setback, Tong Shuai has already regained his strength and is ready to fight again in the coming day, maybe he will receive the news of a big victory on the front line tomorrow."

"I don't believe it, how can I be defeated with the strength of the Great Song Dynasty and the elite of the Western Army, it is absolutely impossible!"

Even in the private room of the restaurant, such discussions are endless, even if the doors and windows are tightly closed, it will not help.

Cai You's face turned pale and looked at the person in front of him.

Li Gang and Li Boji's expressions changed slightly, both heavy, worried, and a hint of respect.

"In this way, the rumors outside are true, Tong Guan is really defeated, and everything is expected by Zhou Jungong? Also, if you say that who is most familiar with the Liao people in the court, it must be him, but unfortunately, it is a pity that the imperial court did not pay attention to him! He muttered to himself.

"Shut up, Hugh is going to talk about it again!" Cai You shouted angrily.

Li Gang glanced at another official opposite, and both of them looked a little unhappy.

They were all former disciples of the Cai family, even if they had their own opportunities since then, they have always had a good relationship with Cai You, but this time Cai You's reprimand, it is clear that they still regard them as doormen.

No, it's not as good as a doorman, and it's even more polite to a doorman, which is simply a subordinate to scold.

"I'm sorry, I'm ...... Worried about state affairs. Cai You also sensed that something was wrong, he reluctantly turned around, in fact, his heart was also extremely heavy.

"Tong Guan's defeat has been determined, and the best way for the imperial court now is to choose another general and lead reinforcements to Hebei. Even if Yanjing can't be recovered, at least the land south of the Sanggan River is worrying......" Coming with Li Gang was Wu Min in the matter at the time, he turned his face and said to Li Gang.

"If we can keep the first line of the Sanggan River, the situation should be stabilized." Li Gang also nodded.

The two of them didn't care about Cai You, they discussed it by themselves, Cai You's face moved, and finally sighed: "You two, what we have to worry about today is not the war in Hebei, but in the capital!" ”

"Within the capital?"

"You don't see that over there!" Cai You opened the window and pointed into the distance.

There is the building of the Donghai Chamber of Commerce, but now there is more than this building in Jingshi. The other building on the opposite side is also not small, that building was built by the Tianshui Chamber of Commerce - people with a little bit of knowledge know that the so-called Tianshui Chamber of Commerce is actually a trick made by the clans, and there are still current officials behind it.

"What's wrong?"

"War Bonds!" Cai You said word by word.

Li Gang and Wu Min suddenly changed color.

In this Northern Expedition, although the imperial court was full of treasury, it was still reluctant to make money, so it thought of raising military funds in the form of war bonds. At that time, more than 2 million war bonds were issued, and it was planned to return the fertile fields and forests and mines in the land of Yanyun after the war.

Moreover, these people have also played new tricks, and war bonds can also be traded and traded, so many people buy war bonds at high prices, with the purpose of raising the price of the bonds and reselling them to others to obtain higher profits.

Of course, their actions were secretly supported by the issuer of the bonds, and a small victory in the front, such as the Northern Expeditionary troops seizing a fortress and advancing more than ten miles, would cause the price of war bonds to rise once.

In this way, the war bonds originally issued of two million guan have become worth seven million guan in just half a year, and I don't know how many people in the city have bought this with their families, just to get a piece of the pie in the land of Yanyun in the future.

But now that Tong Guan has been defeated, it is impossible to cash in the war bonds!

Li Gang and Wu Min boasted of being literary scholars, and they were not very keen on chasing profits, so they themselves did not get involved in the war bond matter, and they did not realize for the first time what kind of shock this new thing would bring to the Great Song Dynasty.

At this moment, Cai You broke down, and their faces changed: "Could it be this war bond...... Loud noise? ”

"There are 100,000 households in Beijing that are related to war bonds, do you say, fierce or not?" Cai Yousen said: "Please come to the two of you, just to know how wise you are, and I want to ask for others, is there a way?" ”

The one who can make Cai You come to seek a plan, no matter what you ask, must be the official family who lives deep in Genyue. If something else had changed, Li Gang and Wu Min would have racked their brains, but today's matter ......

"When it comes to money, there is only one person who can solve this dilemma!" The two spoke in unison. (To be continued.) )