A few days after the convoy from Zhigu Village entered Dadu, the smell of curry rice wafted from the kitchens of many families, such as the current Mongolian ruling Lian Xixian's family.

Heat an iron pot produced in the Song Kingdom, pour soybean oil imported from the Wakoku Kingdom, and pour diced onions into the heat. After the onions are boiled, the chopped vegetables are stir-fried until fragrant, and the lamb as the main dish and curry powder imported from the Song Kingdom are cooked together. Once the steaming lamb curry is out of the pan, the next dish is cooked.

Opposite Lian Xixian sat the right prime minister Shi Tianze, and soon there were several dishes in front of the two. Before moving the chopsticks, Lian Xixian smiled bitterly and said: "Prime Minister Shi, look at this table, in addition to mutton, pork, and vegetables, I can't find a few things from my Great Mongolia. ”

The sweetened spiced beef jerky is said to be 'Wa domestic', and the clear glass comes from the Southern Song Dynasty, as is the brown sugar cane liquor with an attractive aroma inside the clear glass. Shi Tianze couldn't help but smile and said, "Fortunately, this table is still produced by our Yandi. ”

Hearing this, Lian Xixian couldn't find any other way to express himself except for a wry smile, he picked up his wine glass, "To Prime Minister Shi!" ”

Zhao Jiaren's rum is made from molasses separated from sucrose, and it has a refreshing taste with a hint of sweetness that lingers between the lips and teeth. The wine was very popular among the Mongolian aristocracy, and the Great Khan Kublai Khan was a fan of the wine.

Putting down the glass, Lian Xixian said with a smile: "Prime Minister Shi Cheng, you strongly recommend Liu Cheng to be the deputy marshal of the navy this time, probably because you think you can't go on like this." ”

Shi Tianze didn't speak, he picked up a piece of curry mutton and ate it, and then smiled: "Whether or not to appoint Liu Cheng is completely up to Your Majesty." Your Majesty saw the list this time, and he was very unhappy in his heart. Those southern barbarians are very hateful, not the kind of strong cow calves, but the price of Mongolian cow calves will be increased. This time, when I bought 120 one-pound cannons, I had to pay 14,000 cow calves. Prime Minister Zuo Boyan said well, if he has the strength to collect 14,000 cow calves, it is better to pull 140,000 people south. ”

Hearing this idea of using force to solve the trade deficit, Lian Xixian nodded heavily, and said in a loud voice: "That's it, it's how it should be!" Originally, I thought that the Song Kingdom did not have any great good things, but now I see that they are sitting in the South China Sea, and some of them have thousands of good things. Two catties of white sugar cost a pound of silver to buy, where do I have so much silver in Mongolia. ”

In addition to rum made from molasses, white sugar made from sugar cane is also very well sold in Mongolian-controlled areas. It's just that the price is so high that Lian Xixian feels unbearable.

Shi Tianze didn't say anything, he picked up a piece of beef jerky and put it in his mouth. The beef jerky is sweet and savory, and it has a layer of turmeric on top, which is very delicious. The slaughter of cattle is not prohibited in Mongolian-controlled areas, and the price of beef is not high. However, the price of sugar products and turmeric in Mongolian-controlled areas is extremely high, so the price of buying beef jerky is lower than that of homemade beef in Mongolia.

In the Mongol court, Shi Tianze was already considered a prime minister, and his solution to this problem was the same as that of other Mongolian officials who claimed to have no prime minister's talent, and if he was inclined to peace, he would be forbidden to do business with Zhao Jiaren. If you don't want to ban doing business with Zhao Jiaren, then go south to destroy the Song State and take everything that the Song State has for yourself. Tasting the delicious food, Shi Tianze once again confirmed his decision.

At this time, Liu Quan, who was recommended by Shi Tianze, was in Bianliang, and Henan was not shrouded in the rainy day, but it was also rainy in June. Generally speaking, the army does not drill on rainy days. In Liu Quan's camp, there are many huge thatched pavilions, that is, some wooden stakes are buried in the ground and thatched roofs are laid on them. Each thatched pavilion is slightly larger than an inland river warship modeled after Zhao Jiaren's construction, and the soldiers sit in various positions of the painted warship, conducting simulated training with the orders of the officers.

Naturally, there were Mongol supervisors in Liu's army, and the supervisor Anqima stood under a shed, although there was a thatched hut to shelter it, and the wind blew raindrops into the thatched hut. It feels like a splash of water while training on the water. A large part of the Mongols' lives consisted of war, so Anqima admired the training methods of Liu Quan, a rebel general of the Song dynasty. This not only allowed the army to continue training on rainy days, but also used rainy days to mimic training on the water.

The satisfaction of the prison army did not make Liu Cheng particularly happy, as a rebel general, the idea was very simple, that is, to make a great contribution and squeeze into the real ruling group of Mongolia. There is only one object that can allow him to earn military exploits, and that is the Great Song Dynasty where Liu Cheng once served.

Every time he thought of Zhao Jiaren's military ships fighting in an orderly manner on the river, Liu Quan's heart was greatly motivated. racked his brains to build a Mongolian naval army because Liu Cheng knew that only by building a naval army that could defeat Zhao Jiaren's fleet could he achieve the goal of eliminating the Great Song Dynasty.

When it doesn't rain, there is training that doesn't rain, and when it rains, there is training that rains. As the days passed, the navy Liu Quanwanhu had been in Bianliang for more than half a year. At the end of the fifth year of Jingding, the Great Khan Kublai Khan suddenly led his ministers to Bianliang to inspect, and Liu Quan cheered up his training troops to show Kublai Khan and others. After the drill, Kublai Khan only left a sentence of 'do it well' and left Bianliang. This kind of unfathomable style made Liu Quan feel a little uneasy.

After leaving Bianliang, Kublai Khan went to Jiaolai. Unlike the inland water army like Liu Quan, the Jiaolai water army is a navy. After the exercise, Kublai Khan asked Timur, the 10,000th household of the Jiaolai naval army? "If you let your fleet compete with Zhao Jiaren's fleet, can you win?" ”

Mongolian nobles have their own style of Mongolian nobles, Timur? Without hesitation, he replied: "You can't win!" ”

"Can you contain Zhao Jiaren's army?" Kublai Khan continued to put forward his own ideas.

"My warship also used to chase Zhao Jiaren's ships at sea, and we never managed to run as fast as them, so we couldn't contain them." Timur? Don't take the truth to answer.

Kublai Khan didn't get angry after hearing about it, if the general Dapu City was going to be angry, probably Genghis Khan would have been angry to death. Knowing exactly what your subordinates are capable of, and arranging wars based on their abilities, is the reason why Mongolia has been able to win many battles.

On the way back to Dadu, Kublai Khan and Zuo Prime Minister Boyan discussed the matter of the Song Dynasty. Boyan is very calm, even if he has great enthusiasm for the affairs of the Song Dynasty, he does not see the slightest arrogance. "Great Khan, the navy is barely usable, and this time the Song Dynasty has a seventy percent chance of winning. However, the number of roads in our army was actually the same as Zhao Jiaren expected, which made me feel a little uneasy. ”

Kublai Khan smiled at Boyan's cautious speech: "Do you think that the Song Kingdom should not have people who can fight well?" ”

Boyan replied calmly: "There must be generals in the Song Kingdom, but Zhao Jiaren is handsome. ”

This statement was precisely worded, and Kublai Khan understood what Boyan was worried about when he ascended. However, Kublai Khan had some pride, and he said with great interest: "The last time I fought the Song Dynasty, when I met Jia Yidao, I already felt that this person was terrible. That Zhao Jiaren is just Jia Yidao's subordinate. It's hard to face more powerful characters this time? ”

Although Boyan did not participate in the last battle of the Song Dynasty, he knew that Zhao Jiaren was the general who led the naval army to cut off the Yangtze River. In other words, Zhao Jiaren is not only a handsome talent, but also a general. However, the Great Khan was proud, and Boyan was unwilling to pour cold water. "Great Khan, this time to attack the Song Dynasty, Liu Cheng and other Song generals will be available. However, they have several hundred ships with artillery, which is far from enough. I think we need to increase the number of military ships to 2,000. ”

Hearing this, Kublai Khan put away his smile, "It's easy to have 2,000 warships, but it's not easy to get together 2,000 guns." ”

Boyan replied: "You don't need two thousand gates, one thousand is enough." In the past two years, we have bought from Zhao Jiaren, plus the artillery we have made ourselves, and there are about 600 of them. About 300 doors can be built in this year. Buying two hundred doors from Zhao Jiaren is enough. The reason why so much is used is to be able to capture Xiangyang and Fancheng in one fell swoop. As long as the Song State does not have the money to equip so many warships, our army can go straight to the Yangtze River......"

Along the way, he told Kublai Khan about his strategy for cutting the Song Dynasty, and when he returned to Dadu, Boyan first went to the ordnance factory to inspect. Kublai Khan was then invited to inspect the latest equipment. Originally, I planned to watch it for a day, but Kublai Khan watched it for three days in a row, and then he returned to the palace unsatisfied.

The first thing he did after returning was that Kublai Khan dismissed Boyan as prime minister and appointed him as the generalissimo of the Southern Expedition. The Commander-in-Chief's Southern Expedition. Boyan then ordered to begin preparations for war. The first order was to import another batch of artillery from Zhao Jiaren.

200 cannons are 176,000 catties of iron and 20,000 cow calves, because of the problem of trading, the cow calves in Shandong have been sold out, and they have to be replaced by Mongolian cattle. That's going to require 28,000 cow calves. This is not Zhao Jiaren's hypocrisy, Luxi cattle are of ploughing cattle blood, and after a long period of domestication, they have a docile personality and can plow the fields. Mongolian cattle are nomadic breeds, and the whole is not very suitable.

With such a large deal, Zhao Jiaren finally agreed to Mongolia's request. There is a well-known line to the effect that 'a qualified international arms dealer will inevitably sell weapons to forces that are at war with the motherland'. Although it was clear that the purpose of the Mongolian side to buy a large number of artillery pieces was of course to use these artillery to fight the Great Song Dynasty, Zhao Jiaren still did not feel the need to refuse.

What's more, Zhao Jiaren's attention was attracted by the vigorous public land reform at this time, and he had to spend a lot of energy thinking about the affairs of Jiaxing Mansion.

First of all, the 30% of the farmers in Jiaxing Province who did not join the ranks of cotton planting all changed their views, crying and shouting and begging Zhao Jiaren to take them in. This is a completely conceivable thing, Jiaxing government is not only to manage the public land, with 70% of the land to grow cotton, the 30% of farmers who do not want to join have become the focus of local tax officials.

Liu Zongyuan described it very vividly in "The Snake Catcher Says": When the fierce officials come to my hometown, they shout from the east to the west, and the north and the south suddenly fall; The uproar is shocked, although the chicken and dog are not at ease. I rise up and look at it, and my snake is still alive, and I lie down relaxed. Eat it carefully, and offer it sometimes. Retreat and be willing to eat what is in the soil, so as to exhaust my teeth. Cover the one-year-old offender and die twice, and the rest are bustling and happy. Although he died now, the death of his neighbor is a matter of return.

In order to be able to avoid paying taxes, it is not a problem to risk your life to catch snakes. What's more, planting cotton is not snake catching, at most it is tiring and hard. It's still far from death.

Having controlled such a vast amount of land, it is natural to do its best to manage it. Zhao Jiaren wrote to his eldest brother Zhao Jiaxin, who was a staff member of the cotton staff, and sent him the new plan.

After receiving the plan, Zhao Jiaxin immediately convened a meeting of cadres and quickly assigned the task. The first is to convene local leaders, and Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian from Huating County attended the meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have to hire people to build shipyards and factories, and the fathers and villagers of each village can form their own teams." Sima Kao, who was in charge of the matter, spoke of the need.

A shipyard has been built in Huating County to produce ships for the war on the Yangtze River. During the construction of this project, people who were not idle farmers were hired to come to work, and when they heard that production was going to be expanded, Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian were naturally happy. Both of them are from Niujia Village, Huating County, and they like to practice martial arts, and they have some reputation in the local area. People who like to practice martial arts don't like to cultivate land very much, and organizing villagers to work on construction sites to earn money is very much for the two of them. With a new opportunity, they certainly didn't want to let it go.

"In addition, spring ploughing is coming soon, and cattle are needed to cultivate the land, so we Zhao Guanren feel that we need to organize the use of large livestock in each village, and we also invite you to invite those people who are willing to come to raise cattle and cultivate the land after returning to the village."

This request made Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian a little confused, and the two of them also had big livestock at home, so they didn't understand what it meant to organize and use them. After listening to the explanation, it turned out that the cattle were gathered together to cultivate the land, and the families who did not have cattle provided some subsidies.

After hearing this, Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian felt quite reasonable. But the two didn't stand out, others didn't speak, and they didn't speak. Then the room fell into a silence that embarrassed Sima Kao. It is clear that, in contrast to previous projects to organize labor to build factories, this action to make full use of large livestock has met with widespread opposition.

Zhao Jiaxin saw that Sima Kao's face was getting more and more ugly, and he hurriedly interjected, "This matter can be discussed slowly, and the other thing is to promote good breeds." And we're going to build schools that teach people how to nurture good seeds. ”

Many people in Huating County know that the soybean yield provided by Zhao Jiaxin is high, and there is no one who grows it without praise. Now that this Zhao official wants to teach his disciples, the venue is immediately lively. Everyone asked how to apprentice, what to teach, and how much to tuition.

Looking at these shrewd and pragmatic peasants, Sima Kao could only shake his head and sigh. These people are too difficult to handle. 9.