Ogedai was a little surprised, this somewhat thin young man from the south, his eyes were blazing at the moment, and he was full of confidence, as if he was talking about something that had already been decided.

He asked in a deep voice: "How the Southern Dynasty attacked us, you can tell us in detail." “

Song Yichang said: "In the tangible battle, the iron cavalry went out in all directions, attacked the city, and robbed the cattle, horses, grain and people. This trauma is visible and easy to recover from. But the invisible war, using the economy as a weapon, kills people without seeing blood, and sieges without seeing people. But drag the whole country into the trap of the Southern Dynasty, impoverish us, and let the Southern Dynasty develop. ”

Kublai Khan's eyes showed a hint of imperceptible sharpness, and he said to Song Yichang: "What is the mystery of this, you can explain it to the Great Khan in person." ”

Song Yichang smiled and said nothing, just picked up the porcelain plate in his hand and said, "Let's start with this plate, does the Great Khan know what this plate is made of?" ”

Wokotai shook his head and said, "I only know that Lu Dao is a tribute from the south, who knows what this light and white thing in Lu Dao is made of. ”

"Actually, it's just a handful of dirt from Longquan!" Song Yi said loudly: "Excavated from Longquan Mountain, first kneaded into shape by craftsmen, and then put into a kiln to burn, and then made this plate, and this plate was trafficked from the Southern Dynasty. When you go to the daimyo's market, you can sell it for 70 kan! In other words, it takes 400 catties of salt to sell such a plate in Daimyo! ”

Ogedai was taken aback, he had been learning how to deal with government affairs with Genghis Khan since he was young, and his understanding of the economy was far deeper than that of his two elder brothers, and he was also deeper than that of Tuolei. Of course, he understood what four hundred pounds of salt meant. On the grassland, 400 catties of salt is enough to buy cattle and sheep of a small tribe, dozens of good war horses, and even dozens of slave girls. On the grassland, for 400 catties of salt, they can fight each other, and the brothers turn against each other.

I didn't expect that this single plate could be worth such a big value.

"The Southern Dynasty can exchange a handful of soil for our four hundred catties of salt! Is there a more unreasonable deal in the world? Song Yi said loudly: "This is a blatant robbery!" This is the real aggression! The money we have obtained by fighting hard every year with the lives of warriors has been exchanged for dirt! Is there anything more absurd in the world? ”

Kublai Khan stroked his beard under his chin and said, "I've heard about this too. However, it is said that these cups, plates and bowls can also be produced in the Central Plains, such as Ruzhou in Henan Province and Cizhou near Taiyuan, but the craftsmen were killed or scattered when the army passed by. The Great Khan could issue an edict calling the local Daru Huachi to gather the craftsmen to resume production, and send people to Horin as soon as the production was complete. Wouldn't there be no need to worry about relying on the Southern Dynasties? ”

"It is precisely that if we want to prevent the conspiracy of the Song Dynasty from succeeding, we must establish our own production system. However, it is not easy to build such a complete system. It is necessary to choose the right person to be the manager, and only those who understand the ins and outs of this place can reassemble the staff and deploy the kiln. In order to ensure a stable monthly output. But I don't think the Great Khan's subordinates have such talents. ”

Wo Kotai also nodded and said: "Earlier, Don't Tie'er once suggested to me to kill all the people and animals in the Central Plains and turn all the banks of the big river into pastures for us Mongolians to graze. But Yelu Chucai disagreed, saying that if the tax was re-levied according to the method of the Jin State, he said that he would receive 400,000 stone of grain and 80,000 horses of silk at a time. It seems that he is very proficient in this matter, how about leaving this matter to Yelu Chucai? ”

At this time, Yelu Chucai could be regarded as the number one role among the ministers recruited by the Mongols in the Han region. As early as after the Mongol army attacked the capital of the Jin Kingdom, he surrendered to Genghis Khan, and was trusted by Genghis Khan for his quick thinking and understanding of the culture of the Han land, and he was a descendant of the Khitan nobles, which was suitable for the Mongols' policy of using the Khitan to contain the Jurchens.

After Ögedei succeeded to the throne, Yelu Chucai was still trusted by the Great Khan, and under his leadership, he began to use the old rituals of the Jin State to establish Mongol control over the Central Plains. He actively restored the rule of culture and gradually implemented the plan of "governing the country with Confucianism" and the political proposition of "establishing the system, discussing rituals and music, establishing temples, building palaces, establishing schools, setting up imperial examinations, pulling out seclusions, visiting the elderly, promoting virtuous and virtuous people, seeking righteousness, persuading farmers and mulberries, suppressing laziness, provincial punishment, thin endowment, honoring the name, reprimanding the vertical and horizontal, removing redundant personnel, deposing cool officials, advocating filial piety, and helping the poor and the poor." And tried to use this set to influence the rules of the Mongolian headquarters, for example, in the past, the rules among the Mongols were rough, whether it was a general or a nobleman, he simply bowed his head when he saw the Great Khan, but Yelu Chucai advocated the implementation of the way of the monarch and minister of the Central Plains. and personally persuaded Chagatai to first pay tribute to the Great Khan, and everyone saw that Chagatai also followed Yelu Chucai's advice, so they naturally obeyed.

Yelu Chucai's lifelong wish was to use the etiquette and education of the Central Plains to transform the Mongols and build them into an agrarian empire with barbaric remnants like Liaojin.

Therefore, he insisted that the generals who went south should pay attention not to kill the Confucian students in the captured prefectures and counties, but to send these Confucian students to the north. This is the most important help to achieve his ideal of "leveling the four seas".

So when he saw that Song Yichang had made great contributions in front of the Great Khan, Yelu Chucai felt not jealousy, but joy. The scholar of the Southern Dynasty met the Great Khan for the first time, and he made such an extraordinary achievement, and he will definitely be reused by the Great Khan in the future. Maybe he will be the trusted minister of the Great Khan in the new vassals in the future, and with his help, he will definitely be able to slowly influence the Great Khan and let him understand the essence of the Central Plains Rites.

I only heard the Wo Kotai on the royal steps shouting: "Yelu Chucai, come forward!" ”

Yelu Chucai held up his long beard and ran to the stone platform in small steps. Seeing that the Great Khan and Song Yichang were talking happily with each other, they were also very comforted in their hearts.

Wokotai gave Song Yichang's statement to Yelu Chucai briefly, for this set of economic strategies in the Central Plains, Wokotai only has a little bit of a simple concept, that is, there are a few mistakes in a few simple sentences, Yelu Chucai endured the inconvenience of spending in person, but Song Yichang interjected from time to time to point out the mistakes for the Great Khan.

Yelu Chucai quickly saw the difference between this scholar of the Southern Dynasty and himself. He has been educated by Shandong Confucianism since he was a child, and he speaks straightforwardly, and he is honest and polite, so it is inevitable that he will be old-fashioned in his speech and behavior. When he disagreed with the Great Khan, he insisted on his own opinions, and even quarreled in front of the Great Khan.

Even Empress Naimazhen once said: "Those who can argue with the Great Khan so badly have not been executed, there is probably only Yelu Chucai in the world." ”

Yelu Chucai knew that it was because the Great Khan still needed him to govern the people of the Central Plains. While he was still useful, no matter how angry the Great Khan was, he still retained the sanity of the hegemon.

But the performance of this Song Yichang in front of him is completely different from himself.

When the Great Khan said something wrong, he always coughed lightly first, or deliberately made something loud to make the Great Khan notice, and stopped talking first. Then it starts with a Buddhist or folk joke, and slowly points out the mistakes and omissions of the Great Khan in secret, which not only does not make the Great Khan lose face, but also corrects the mistakes of the Great Khan. The wonderful part of the talk is that it often makes the Great Khan laugh.

Yu Chen, two ominous words appeared in Yelu Chucai's mind.

In ancient times, there were few loyal ministers and many ministers, and most people only valued the fame and wealth that the monarch could bring to themselves, and they didn't care so much about the people in the world. What the emperor thinks, how he rejoices, they do what they do, completely ignoring the well-being of the people under their rule, this is the minister.

Despite this, the courtiers always had an advantage over the loyal courtiers, because they were indeed pondering day and night for the sake of the master's thoughts. Loyal ministers can't do that.

Just as he argued with Ogedai that day, Song Yichang knew how to use stories and fables to coax the Great Khan to be happy.

Will Song Yichang be the minister who hinders the empire and brings disaster to the common people?

If so, then Yelu Chucai would rather use the darkest and most despicable means to erase him from the stage.

But fortunately, Song Yichang's proposition is probably in line with himself. However, he still heard some ridicule, that is, he was saying that the taxation of Yanjing and other ten roads made it unfavorable to do things, and did not give the Great Khan sufficient use.

Since ancient times, courtiers have advised kings to give priority to diligence and thrift. But the Mongols have been trapped in the steppe for thousands of years, and finally have the opportunity to enjoy wealth and gentleness.

Yelu Chucai couldn't figure out what Song Yichang's true intentions were, so he just bowed down and said: "Great Khan, the people's power in the Central Plains has not yet fully recovered. ”

When Wokotai heard his words, he became unhappy again: "Our expenses are less than one-tenth of that Sinan Si Khan of Lin'an, where does this place look like a monarch who rules the world?" In this way, the money to reward the ministers and princes is often insufficient. Why did Sinan Sihan have so much gold, porcelain and silk? Is it because my territory is not vast enough, or because the people under my rule are not large enough for him, or because my Mongol army is not as strong as his lamb army? ”

Song Yichang interjected and said, "Yelu Zhongshu, you have been paralyzed by the set of etiquette of the Southern Dynasty for too long. Jin Guo is also a rule of learning, although he is a little rich, has he really been on par with the Southern Dynasty? You must know that the land of the Central Plains is covered by the Jurchens, and when the world is extremely rich, why is it still not as prosperous as the Southern Dynasty? There's a big secret hidden in there. ”