In the afternoon, Fanning met with Empress Dowager Cao again.

Compared with last year, the relationship between Fanning and Empress Dowager Cao has changed at this time.

Empress Dowager Cao is still quite satisfied with Fan Ning's niece and son-in-law, with courage, courage, and ability to do great things, seeing that his term of office is about to expire in one year, Empress Dowager Cao is already thinking about Fan Ning's next arrangement.

When meeting Fan Ning, the Son of Heaven Zhao Ji was also here, Zhao Ji is also nineteen years old, according to the convention, next year he will officially deal with government affairs, and finally it is time for him to show his strength, when he sees Fan Ning, Zhao Ji's excited expression has been unbearable.

"Weichen Fanning see the Empress Dowager, see Your Majesty!" Fanning stepped forward and saluted respectfully.

"Fan Aiqing is flat!"

"Empress Dowager Xie!"

Fanning took out another report, this is his one-year debriefing report, and what he gave to the Zhizheng Hall in the morning was the exploration record of the Southern Continent, although the content of the exploration record was also reported in the debriefing report, but the meaning of the two was completely different.

"This is Weichen's debriefing report from last year to this year, please take a look at the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."

A eunuch came over and presented Fan Ning's debriefing report to the Empress Dowager Cao, who flipped through the report, handed it to Zhao Ji casually, and said to Fan Ning slightly: "Fan Aiqing has made great contributions to the development of overseas in the Great Song Dynasty in recent years, and has also made great sacrifices, I believe that the imperial court will not forget, seeing that there is still one year to complete the term, what are Fan Aiqing's plans for the last year of term?" ”

Fan Ning bowed and said: "In the last year of Weichen, he mainly wanted to establish a foundation on the southern continent, indeed it was said that he established the first county, and he also won the support of the Zhizheng Hall, which is the last step of Weichen's overseas economic envoy's tenure, and it is also the first step of the southern continent. ”

Empress Dowager Cao nodded, "Then the next envoy, have you considered who will take over?" ”

"Weichen recommends Deputy Envoy Li Mu to take over?"

Next to him, Zhao Ji frowned slightly and said: "Li Mu is more than calm, but it seems that his pioneering spirit is insufficient, in my memory, he has only been to Luzon Mansion and Ryukyu Mansion overseas, and has not been to other places, is it a bit inappropriate for him to take over as an overseas economic envoy?" I think it's better for him to be in the back office, and he is a little bit worse off when he is in the office. ”

Fan Ning smiled unhurriedly and said: "Your Majesty, Li Mu goes to sea less is the requirement of Weichen, the two of us are one and the other, we can't all run overseas, in fact, these years Weichen basically can't take care of the affairs of the Jingluo Mansion, all handed over to Li Mu, he is in Quanzhou, only to ensure the transportation of a large number of personnel and materials, to ensure the normal operation of the Jingluo Mansion, this is also the embodiment of his success as a deputy envoy, if he is the main envoy, I believe he will adapt quickly, and will often go to sea, and the overseas economic envoy should be based on the Jingluo, Wechen has done almost everything to open up, and the rest of the thing is to develop and grow, which is the main responsibility of the economic strategy, and Weichen recommends Li Mu, who has a strong sense of responsibility and coordination ability, is familiar with the overseas situation, and can better adapt to the affairs of the Jingluo Mansion in the later stage. ”

Zhao Ji nodded, "Aiqing is right, I will observe Li Mu well next year." ”

Empress Dowager Cao glanced at Zhao Ji and didn't say anything, she said to Fan Ning again: "What does Fan Aiqing want to do in the future?" ”

Fanning pondered and asked, "Queen Mother, how is the situation in the north?" ”

Empress Dowager Cao immediately understood that Fanning was interested in the north, and she had heard the emperor say that Fanning's main purpose in opening up Kunzhou was not only to establish a horse breeding base for the Great Song Dynasty, but also to build a sea base for the Great Song Dynasty to attack the Liao State.

She nodded, Aiqing's wishes were understood, and the mourning family would consider it.

"Empress Dowager Xie and Your Majesty are fulfilled!"

........

Empress Dowager Cao was a little tired, and then returned to the palace, only Fan Ning and Zhao Ji were left in the hall, Zhao Ji immediately invited Fan Ning to his study, Ci'an Hall is the eyes and ears of the Empress Dowager, Zhao Ji is not very comfortable, and he doesn't want the Empress Dowager to know too much.

More than a year after his mother's death, Zhao Ji has obviously matured, he is not wary of Fan Ning just because he married the daughter of the Cao family, he knows very well in his heart that Fan Ning is uncontrollable by anyone, including the Queen Mother.

In the study, Zhao Ji invited Fan Ning to sit down, and ordered the palace maid to serve tea, he was full of interest in the New World, and asked about various situations while reading Fan Ning's report.

"Why did Fan Aiqing put the early operation of the Southern Continent in the southeast of the mainland, isn't that farther away from the Great Song Dynasty? Why not put it on the north side. ”

Zhao Ji looked at the northernmost peninsula on the map of the Southern Continent, and he felt a little strange in his heart, this place is close to the South Sea, only separated by a strait, why not build a county here, but also run to the farther south to build a county?

"Returning to Your Majesty, Weichen is mainly considered from the climate and topography, the climate in the north is dry and hot, the precipitation is low, it is difficult for people to adapt, and the sea is full of coral reefs, which stretches for at least thousands of miles, which is extremely unfavorable to shipping, and secondly, the soil quality is not good, which is not conducive to farming.

Although the Dingnan estuary where we landed for the first time was very good, the climate was still a little worse, but we had to be familiar with it, so Weichen put the first county there, and the second county was a few hundred miles to the south, where the climate was cooler, the precipitation was abundant, the soil would be better, and it would be more suitable for immigrants to survive. ”

Zhao Ji nodded, "You mean to say that the Southern Continent is still hot?" ”

"Exactly, as we all know, the hottest place is the Nanyang region, the more north or south, the cooler the climate, the more suitable for people to live, like our Lingnan region is also very hot, to the south of the Yangtze River is the best, the heat and cold are moderate, people do not feel uncomfortable, and it is conducive to the growth of crops, and the south estuary is equivalent to Fujian Road, that is, Quanzhou and Fuzhou, and then thousands of miles to the south, it is equivalent to our Jiangnan region."

Fanning smiled and explained further: "July and August are our summers, but they are winters in the Southern Continent, and their seasons are just the opposite of ours. ”

Zhao Ji asked with interest, "It's the first time I've heard of it, what is the reason for this?" ”

"This should be related to the distance of the sun, simply put, the cathode is yang, the anode is yin, and the coexistence of yin and yang is natural."

Although he doesn't understand it very well, Zhao Ji doesn't want to make a fuss about it.

He was silent for a moment and said, "Do you think there will be a battle between Song Liao in the next few years?" ”

After Fan Ning knew that he was expressing his concern for the north to the Queen Mother, Zhao Ji's heart was also touched.

Fan Ning smiled slightly, "Your Majesty should know more about the situation in the north than Weichen, right?" ”

Zhao Ji nodded, "Last year, the Liao State asked us to give up Whale State, we agreed to this condition, and then they asked us to withdraw the army from Kunzhou, the Zhizheng Hall for the sake of the overall situation, the army was withdrawn to Akita, but this year they intensified, last month they asked to revise the Tanyuan Covenant, the silver of the annual coin of 100,000 taels, 200,000 horses of silk, changed to 100,000 taels of silver, 2 million horses of silk, or 300,000 taels of gold, increased tenfold, the imperial court refused, the envoy of the Liao State threatened, if you do not accept the modification, the covenant will also be invalid, It was clearly a threat of war to the Great Song Dynasty. ”

"And then?" Fanning asked again, "Is there any movement at the border?" ”

"This is the strange thing, not long after the Liao envoy returned, 100,000 Liao troops were stationed on the border of Bazhou, but soon they suddenly withdrew their troops, for unknown reasons."

Fan Ning pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Is there any movement in the Western Xia Army?" ”

The reason why Fanning asked the Western Xia army was because the Western Xia had always cooperated with the strategy of the Liao State, and sometimes the situation of the Liao State could be seen from the Western Xia Army.

Zhao Ji shook his head, "There is no movement from the Western Xia Army. ”

Fan Ning thought for a while and said: "Weichen estimates that the Liao State is just testing, and they should not be ready, but the gradual strengthening of the Song Dynasty has indeed changed the strategic balance between Song and Liao, and sooner or later there will be a war between Song and Liao." ”

After a pause, Fan Ning said again: "Weichen has always been worried, will the Liao State also develop warships, it stands to reason, since they know Kunzhou, and also know the threat of Whale State to them, they can't be indifferent, Liao State's deployment of troops on the front line of Yanshan Mansion, will it be a suspicious army?" Draw our attention to Yanshan Mansion. ”

Zhao Ji frowned, "You mean, the Liao Kingdom is likely to be building ships?" ”

"Weichen is just guessing, in fact, before the Bohai State was destroyed by the Liao State, the shipbuilding capacity was not weak, and once sent a fleet to visit Japan, but the Liao State did not attach importance to navigation, and the shipbuilding capacity of the Bohai State disappeared, but if the Liao State began to attach importance to navigation, the target must be directed to Kunzhou, Your Majesty, we have to guard against this."

Zhao Ji secretly took a breath of cold air, it seemed that no one in the Manchu Dynasty had thought of this, and it was really possible.

"I will pay attention to this matter, thank you Aiqing for reminding me!"

Fan Ning bowed down and said: "If the court is in need, Weichen is willing to serve the court at any time!" ”

Zhao Ji smiled: "I also expect Aiqing to play a greater role!" ”