Pingqiu Township, Hejian County, hundreds of young people are trained in an open space, this is the situation after the implementation of the militia law by the imperial court, due to the cancellation of the conscription system, changed to militia training, the people are trained quite actively, each person holds a white ash stick as a spear, in the training of marksmanship, after decades in history, the rise of the folk bow and arrow society, the imperial court used the bow and arrow club to train hundreds of thousands of township soldiers, Fanning launched the militia law but twenty or thirty years in advance.

On the official road in the distance, Fan Ning and Di Qing, the deputy envoy of Zhengliao, were inspecting the promotion of the militia law in Hejian Province.

Fanning held a wooden monocular, squinting at the soldiers in the distance.

The appearance of this monocular was a very fortuitous factor, the pair of Genoese brothers found that the Great Song Dynasty had no glass, so they sold a boatload of glass from their hometown and made a lot of money.

Fanning used the glass to make lenses, and after trial and error, he finally built the first telescope last month, using a third convex lens to turn the inverted image into a positive image.

Fan Ning made a total of four monoculars, one for the Son of Heaven Zhao Ji, one for the Zhu family's engineering school for research, and the other for the navy, and he carried one himself.

Fan Ning handed the binoculars to Di Qing, Di Qing squinted for a moment, frowned slightly, and said: "There are four hundred and sixty-seven households in Pingqiu Township, but only ninety-seven young people have joined the militia, is it too little?" ”

Fan Ning smiled slightly, "There are seven or eight townships in a county, plus the militia in the county, there are about a thousand people, and the 1,100 counties in the Great Song Dynasty have implemented the militia law, and there are at least one million militiamen, which is quite a lot." ”

"But it's not fair, everyone is abolished, but some people don't have to join the militia, so it's unfair for young people to join the militia, should they exercise subsidies, for example, each militia subsidy per person is a consistent money."

Fan Ning said lightly: "The imperial court has realized this problem, but you are counting addition, but the imperial court is subtraction, I heard that the imperial court has proposed, after the abolition of conscription, but each household has to levy 500 wen of exempt money every year, if you join the militia, the exempt money can be exempted, in addition, as you said, the militia trains for two months every year, and each person is subsidized every month for these two months, and the imperial court provides grain and rice, five buckets of rice per person per month, so it is cost-effective to participate in the militia." ”

Di Qing thought about it, but still shook his head, "This is still inappropriate, many people would rather pay some money than join the militia, so that he does not have to go to the battlefield, and many families must plan to do so." ”

"And what about your proposal?" Fanning asked.

Di Qing pondered and said to Fanning: "I think all young men who have reached the age of eighteen must join the militia, and if they refuse to join the militia, then they will have to pay ten times the exemption money, what do you think?" ”

Di Qing's method is the military service law of later generations, which is more targeted.

Fanning nodded, "Your plan is very good, I and you jointly wrote a letter to the Son of Heaven, if you can't levy exemption money for every household, then there is no point in exempting from conscription, all people must be soldiers, eighteen-year-old young men join the militia for three years, and those who refuse to serve in the military will be fined ten times the exemption money, so it will be fairer!" ”

The two discussed for a while, and then returned to the camp of Hejian Mansion, now it is winter, Liaodong and Hebei are covered with heavy snow, and the Liao soldiers are no longer going south, Di Qing has a good training skill, and he is responsible for training soldiers.

Once approved by the imperial court, they would move all the people of Cangzhou, Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Mozhou, Ansu Army, Guangxin Army, Baozhou, Dingzhou, Zhendingfu and other border states and counties to the south, or move into Jiancheng, realizing a no-man's land 300 miles south of the border, involving about 400,000 people.

This is definitely a big deal, the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty also had a long-term policy of clearing the wilderness, but it was passive defense, and Fan Ning's defensive counterattack and protracted war strategy is completely different in nature, this plan is proposed, it will inevitably cause a stir in the imperial court, but Fan Ning has persuaded Zhao Ji and Empress Dowager Cao before, and has been supported by Fu Bi, this plan should be able to pass.

In the afternoon of that day, Fan Ning received a quick letter from Miao Shunli that he had captured Juehua Island and successfully led the 50,000 troops of Liaoyang Prefecture to Xingcheng County, led by Xiao Weixin, the privy envoy of the Southern Yuan, and the Khitan army might use a raft to attack the island.

Fan Ning immediately came to a map of Liao, now their biggest problem is the lack of intelligence, he doesn't know how many troops there are in Liaoyang Mansion, Xiao Weixin led 50,000 people to attack Juehua Island, so how many troops did he leave in Liaoyang Mansion?

Now he is counting on Han Wang of Jingliao Island to find out a little information, if Liaoyang is empty, then it is time for the 20,000 Song troops on Jingliao Island and Heping Island to play a role.

At this time, a soldier said at the door of the big tent: "Qi Xianggong, Yang Tong brought a group of merchants, probably from Yanshan Mansion. ”

Fan Ning perked up and hurriedly said, "Please come in quickly!" ”

After a while, Yang Wenguang walked into the big tent with a middle-aged man, and Yang Wenguang saluted: "Qi Yu Xianggong, bring a merchant from his humble position, he is a Han from Yanshan Mansion, and he has been doing leather business in the Liao and Song dynasties all the year round, and he knows a little about the situation in Yanshan Mansion." ”

The middle-aged man stepped forward and knelt down and said, "Villain Yang Gui, see Fan Xianggong!" ”

"Your surname is Yang, too?"

Yang Wenguang explained on the side: "He and I are fellow villagers, I know his father, thirty years ago his father was doing business between Song and Liao, and brought a lot of information about Youzhou to the Song army. ”

"Then is he a Song or a Liao?"

Yang Wenguang smiled bitterly and said: "His grandfather was originally a Song person, but later killed someone due to business conflicts, fled to Liao, and then settled in Youzhou and became a Liao person. ”

Fan Ning nodded, and asked Yang Gui again: "Is there still a mutual market between Song and Liao now?" ”

"It was stopped last year, but there are still many people doing it in private, after all, the Liao State has a great demand for luxury goods such as spices, silk, and brocade in the Great Song Dynasty, and the demand for tea cakes is even greater, and even the border garrison is quietly using us to smuggle, so it is easy for us to come over, and everyone has their own way."

"So where is your path?"

"Back to Xianggong Fan, Xiaomin's way is in Bazhou, and the commander of the Han army in Bazhou makes Wang Xiang and my father acquainted, so I will cross the border from him and bring some goods for him casually."

Fanning pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you know the situation in Liaoyang, Tokyo?" ”

Yang Gui hesitated and said, "I went to Liaoyang Mansion at the beginning of the year, I don't know what kind of situation Fan Xianggong wants to know?" ”

"Oh, I want to know how many troops there are in Liaoyang Mansion?"

"Liaoyang Mansion is the Tokyo Unified Military Division, I heard my father say that ten years ago it was about 100,000 people, the same as the Nanjing Unified Military Division, but not long ago, 20,000 cavalry on Tokyo Road were transferred to Nanjing, I estimate that there are at most 70,000 or 80,000 people there, and then there are 10,000 or 20,000 brave soldiers, that is, township soldiers, stationed in various states, almost that's it."

"Does the Liaoyang Mansion army still have to defend Goryeo?" Fanning asked again.

"Yes, there are garrisons on the border with Goryeo, mainly in Baozhou, about 20,000 to 30,000 people."

Fan Ning quickly calculated in his heart, Xiao Weixin led an army of 50,000 to Xingcheng County, and then deployed heavy troops to garrison the Goryeo border, so that if you calculate it, Tokyo Liaoyang is not an empty city, or only a few thousand township soldiers are stationed, this is an opportunity!

Fan Ning made up his mind, let Miao Shunli try to hold back the main force of the Liao army, and then let Han Wang inquire about the situation in Liaoyang Mansion, if there was no emperor's army, then simply attack Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo.

Thinking of this, he interrogated Yang Gui in detail about the situation in Youzhou, and Fan Ning was more concerned about whether the Han people in Youzhou were still as heart-oriented to the Great Song Dynasty as they were decades ago.

Yang Gui's answer was also expected by him.

"Qi Yu Xianggong, although everyone has not longed for the Northern Expedition of the Song Army as much as before in recent years, but the Han people have a very hard life, and the tax is the heaviest among the ethnic groups in Liao, and they have been discriminated against, and the tax has been increased again and again in recent years, and it has doubled compared with five years ago.

First of all, the household tax, the Han households in the city have six guan money per year, and other Khitan households and Bohai households have two guan money, five years ago there was only consistent money, and our Han households have two guan money a year, but now it has risen three times, and the Khitan households have doubled.

The second is the field tax, three buckets and three liters per mu in the upper fields, but our wheat is only produced once a year, and 20 percent of the harvest is taken away, and the peasants are miserable, and they will have to go bankrupt if there is a natural disaster.

In addition, in addition to the household tax, our businessmen also have to levy another 10% of the commercial tax, which used to be only 3 percent, but now no one dares to do business seriously, and they all buy smuggled goods to evade taxes, and once they are caught, they will be confiscated.

Even the Khitans shouted that the taxes were too heavy to bear, not to mention our Han people, otherwise the villain would not have come to General Yang, I heard that the Great Song Dynasty was going to war with the Liao State, and we really hoped that the Song army could recover Youzhou as soon as possible. ”

"How many Han troops are there in Youzhou?" Fanning asked again.

"Thirty thousand!"

Yang Gui saw that Fan Ning's eyes were a little suspicious, and hurriedly explained: "This is an open secret, everyone knows that the Han army has no cavalry, they do all the hard work, and they are also the border guards. ”

"What do you mean?"

Yang Gui explained: "The Khitan people are high, the best treatment, the most relaxed, the second class refers to other barbarians, such as Xi, Bohai, Yao, Goryeo, Jurchen, etc., the Xi people are the best treatment, the others are a little worse, the third class is the Youzhou Han people, the treatment is poor, and they work a lot, but they are not the worst, the worst is the fourth-class south, that is, the Song people, the border people or prisoners of war who were captured, they are also slaves in the army, specializing in serving the Khitans, there is no military service, they are not full, and they are also dressed in tatters, which can be recognized at a glance." ”

Fanning nodded, "You step back first!" I'll ask you again if there's anything going on. ”

Yang Gui retreated, and Fan Ning asked Yang Wenguang: "Is this person reliable?" ”

"It should be reliable, his father once sent a lot of information to Song Jun, if he was caught, he would have been killed a long time ago."

Fanning was right to think about it, the war was not going on all the time, and if they were discovered, the Liao State would not keep them.

Fan Ning took a few steps and said to the soldiers, "Invite Yang Gui in again!" ”

After a while, Yang Gui was invited in again, and Fan Ning smiled and said, "Have you ever thought about doing something to make a future for your future?" ”

Yang Gui was excited, he was here to join the Song Army, of course he wanted to have a future, he hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "I am willing to serve Fan Xianggong!" ”

Fanning nodded, "I'll give you enough financial support, and give you a few assistants, I hope you can set up an intelligence network for me in Youzhou, I need information on army deployment, equipment, city defense, food, people's hearts, etc., not only Youzhou, but also other state capitals in Yanyun." ”

Yang Gui hurriedly bowed down and said, "I will definitely do my best to fulfill Fan Xianggong's instructions!" ”