Wokotai Khan patted his stomach with satisfaction and said: "This year's mutton is really good, and if you can have such a good mutton to eat, you can be regarded as a real grassland person." ”

He looked up and saw that Song Yichang had just swallowed a piece of meat, and asked with a smile: "Just say what you have to say, but don't discourage me from enjoying the food, otherwise I will drag you outside the hall and cut off your head." ”

He said this in a joking tone, but Song Yichang couldn't help but shudder, he understood that Wokotai's casual words could really make his head fall to the ground. It's not the south, there aren't so many complicated laws and regulations, and there are ministers who stubbornly stick to their principles. There is only the decree of the Great Khan.

He weighed his words for a moment, and decided to start with an ordinary story: "A long time ago, I can't say how long ago. In the area of Khorasan there was a rare and intelligent man named Nasreddin. Avanti, the Nasreddin was a well-known scholar and a man of great humor. ”

Wokotai stretched out his hand to stop Song Yichang's speech, turned his head and asked the next step, "Who of you from the west has heard of Nasreddin's name?" ”

A sharp voice at the bottom of the stairs replied loudly in a foreign language, and the interpreter said: "A Huihui merchant who calls himself Odura Heman at the bottom of the stairs claims that there is a legend of Nasreddin in his homeland. ”

When he was in Jiangnan, he often made up some stories about the Buddha, or quoted some legends on the rivers and lakes, but no one ever questioned them, because they simply had no ability to question people or things that happened thousands of miles away.

But this year, the monarch of this big country is completely different, and Song Yichang thought that the legendary figure who was thousands of miles away was actually in his territory.

Fortunately, Song Yichang saw this story from a book called "Naslie Ding Ye Yu", which was placed on sale in a small bookstore outside the Yamen of the deputy capital of Xiangyang and Jing'e. Song Yichang likes to collect strange books from all over the world, this book was brought to him by a neighbor from a bookstore, and the stories in it contain many life philosophies, and he also reads them with relish.

When Bai Yijie visited him, this "Nasridin Wild Language" was placed on his bookcase, and Bai Yijie laughed when he saw the title.

"Do you know who this 'crazy student' is?" He said with a smile pointing to the author's name.

Of course, Song Yichang didn't know, so Bai Yijie said in a low voice: "This chaotic madman is the deputy capital of Jing'e ,,,,,,."

Song Yi grew up and was taken aback: "Is he still in the mood to write this?" ”

This is purely Zheng Yunming's personal hobby, in order to relieve the pressure brought by work, in his spare time, he will compile some stories that will only exist in later generations and bind them into books, so that Zheng Xian can secretly take them to the bookseller to print, and then put them in the shop near the Yamen of the deputy capital to sell. These gods and monsters are selling very well, and the bookseller no longer asks about the author's detailed identity while making money, anyway, he has recruited a lot of well-known staff members when he comes in.

So no one would have thought that it was actually the deputy commander himself who was managing important military and political affairs on the one hand, and on the other hand, he also took time to set off a small fashion trend among students and storytellers in Xiangyang.

After Song Yichang heard that there was indeed a character named Nasreddin, he relieved his heart and continued: "It is said that Nasreddin has a neighbor who is very stingy on weekdays. One day, Nasreddin's family lacked a pot for cooking, so they asked him to borrow one. The neighbor refused, and Nasreddin had to pay for his pot. The next day, Nasreddin brought back a small pot in addition to the pot and rent, and the neighbor asked: 'Dear brother Nasreddin, what is the matter with this little pot?' Nasreddin replied: 'You don't know what to say, but when this pot came to my house, I fell in love with the big iron pot which was a specialty of Hera, and after one night a small pot came out. ’”

Wokotai Ha Lu Ha Da Lu smiled: "How to give birth to a child in a pot, it's really nonsense. ”

Song Yichang continued unhurriedly: "So Nasreddin gave this small pot to the neighbor as well. The neighbors thought they had taken advantage of him, and they thought Nasreddin must be a fool with a problem in his brain. So I held back and looked for an opportunity to find this fool again to take advantage. After a few more days, Nasreddin came to pick up the pot again, saying that there were not enough pots for the guests at home. This time, the neighbor generously lent him the pot, thinking that he could get a small pot for free. Unexpectedly, the next day, Nasreddin went to the neighbor's house with a sad face and said, 'I took back yesterday's pot, but I got sick in the middle of the night, and I didn't save it, so I died.'"

"The neighbor was furious and said: 'Nonsense, how can the pot die?' ”

"Nasreddin grinned, 'Since the pot will give birth to children, how can it not die?' ”

Wokotai smiled and said, "Interesting, this Nasreddin is really a funny person, herald!" Tell the cities of Khorasan to pay attention to Daru Huachi, and once Nasreddin is found, he will be sent to Horin! I'll give him an official job! ”

Song Yichang said respectfully: "Great Khan, this story tells us that sometimes those who take advantage on the surface do not necessarily really get benefits, and those who really gain benefits may be people who seem to have suffered losses." ”

When Kublai Khan heard him say this, he became interested, and he said to Song Yichang: "Song, what do you want to say?" ”

Song Yichang suddenly dragged out his voice and said solemnly: "What I want to tell the Great Khan and the two princes is the mystery of why the Song Kingdom is rich and the reason why my Mongolia is always insufficient. ”

Hülegü said disdainfully: "The desert is bitter cold, the south is warm, what is there to say?" The desert can't grow silk, and the south can't graze cattle and sheep, which Changshengtian has already arranged, and there is no way to change it, fortunately, Changshengtian has given Mongolia many good men, and we can go south to get it without food. ”

Song Yichang said: "The king's words are both reasonable and unreasonable. ”

Hülegü's eyes widened and said, "You Sinan people, you really talk like a fox, it's really unpleasant!" What is there to say directly! ”

Song Yichang raised his voice a little: "What the king said is only half true. The grassland is bitterly cold and windy, and it is indeed not suitable for growing crops and mulberry trees. But at present, the territory controlled by the Great Khan has exceeded 10,000 li, and the territory is more than ten times larger than that of the Southern Dynasty. ”

Wo Kotai's heart moved, this was indeed a question that he couldn't figure out even if he broke his head. The warriors on the desert are killed every year, and the magistrates everywhere also work diligently, urging the people of the tribe to graze cattle and sheep, but they often have a headache for the lack of money and materials.

And Sinan Si's Great Khan has neither world-class martial arts nor an elite army, but he can afford to raise so many troops and build such a large city. How, exactly, is this done?

He really wanted to get involved in this secret, because as the Great Khan of a great country, face was too important. A few days ago, he and the queen went on a hunting trip, and when they were halfway to the road, he became hungry, when a shepherd passed by, and immediately killed a little lamb and roasted it and offered it to the Great Khan and the queen. The Great Khan thought that he was loyal and that he was poor and had little money to spare, so he decided to reward him greatly. But in the urgency of coming out, he didn't bring out any gold and silver coins, and in embarrassment, he had to let the queen take off the pearl earrings that he wore to his ears and give them to the shepherd.

The queen was very fond of these earrings, and complained to the Great Khan: "Isn't it good to tell him to go and get gold, silver, and jewels from Lin tomorrow?" ”

Ogedai said: "That man is so poor, how can he wait until tomorrow!" ”

Although after this incident, the steppe praised the Great Khan of Ogedai for his benevolence and heroism and ability to help people in need, but as the Great Khan who led such a big country, he couldn't take out the money to reward people when he was far away, which was really enough to make the vassals and the realm laugh.

It would be nice to have endless gold, silver, cloth, salt, and grain at all times.

Wokotai put down his wine glass and said to Song Yichang: "Where did the Great Khan of Sinan Si come from to conjure up so much grain, gold and silver, could it be that Changshengtian rained him some gold?" Or did I hear the Taoist priest in the south say, there is a way to turn stones into gold? A little stone can turn into gold? And the Southern Dynasty is so rich, what does it have to do with the story you told? ”

"Of course it does." Song Yichang said: "In fact, the emperor of the Southern Dynasty has neither a trick to turning stones into gold, nor any gold that falls from the sky to pick up. The reason why he is so rich is that he has established a whole system for the people to pay taxes obediently, and second, he has robbed it from my Great Mongolia! ”

As soon as he said this, the whole house was shocked. Not only Ogedei and Hülegü, but even Kublai Khan laughed.

Wokotai patted his knees while laughing and said: "Song, this joke of yours is really ridiculous, it is obvious that my Mongolian warriors brought back a lot of cattle, horses, treasures and slaves from the south last year, why do you say that Sinan Si's Khan robbed my Mongols of things to become rich?" ”

Song Yi sat upright and said to Ogedei: "Does the Great Khan know that there are two kinds of war? ”

Wo Kotai was stunned: "Fighting a war is nothing more than reconnaissance, planning, gathering generals, sending out divisions, and conquering?" What other tricks? ”

Song Yichang waved his hand: "Winning a decisive victory on the battlefield and conquering the city is just a tangible expedition." It was used by the Great Khan to attack the Southern Dynasty, but there was another invisible war, which was used by the Southern Dynasty to attack the Great Khan, but the Great Khan and the generals and kings did not notice it, this is the most terrible thing! ”