Both Song and Liao are the overlords of the East, don't look at the weakness of the Great Song Dynasty, that is because the Great Song Dynasty will often fall on his heels when he is in the highlights, making himself disgraced.

But in fact, in terms of national strength, armament, and strength, there is only one opponent who can be put together with the Great Song Dynasty - Liao. Even in terms of war potential, the Great Song Dynasty was much stronger than the Liao State.

Today's Liao State is also experiencing the embarrassment and pain of the Great Song Dynasty, the kind of wound tearing, but having to force a smile is difficult, which makes Xiao Changge, the Liao State envoy, suffer in his heart, as if he betrayed the Great Liao. But this is the ordeal that a loser should go through. When Qingli discussed peace, could it be that Fan Zhongyan and the others felt good in their hearts?

Strong self-esteem makes their hearts twist.

On the contrary, it was the Liao State, in the Battle of Lanyuan, it was clear that the Liao State had been defeated and was unable to attack, so it finally signed an alliance with the Great Song Dynasty. The Great Song Dynasty was obviously victorious, but Zhenzong was worried that the Central Plains would continue to be harassed by the Liao, causing countless losses, so he was forced to sign an alliance to give the Liao State 300,000 taels of silver every year. The luck of Liaoguo picking up cheap is unmatched.

But the benefits of the Great Song Dynasty were also obvious, in exchange for nearly a hundred years of peace in the Central Plains. This kind of peace cannot be exchanged for 300,000 taels of silver every Chinese New Year's Eve. It can be said that the Great Song Dynasty also benefited from the New Year's coin. Even more than the benefits of Liao. It's just that this benefit is hidden under the social stability and is not easy to see.

However, this time Song Liao was reversed, and the Great Song Dynasty began to become stronger.

Zhang Dun's attitude has become extremely tough since Li Kui came and threatened Brother Xiao Chang.

The kind of rejection before was already easy to talk in Xiao Changge's eyes.

Later, he also asked the Liao State to give the Great Song Dynasty how many cattle and sheep every year, is this a human word?

Song Guo not only did not give Liao Guo New Year's coins, but also asked for cattle and sheep, and bullying people can't be bullied to this extent!

Brother Xiao Chang couldn't agree, so he simply stopped negotiating. Preparing to return to Liao, let Emperor Yelu Yanxi invite Gao Ming, he can't negotiate such a negotiation. If he really signed an alliance, he would have become a traitor.

The envoys had to accept additional punishment because of the defeat of the country. This feeling is stronger than anyone else's. He was a man of great self-esteem, both at the individual and national level. The Great Song Dynasty gave the Liao State 500,000 taels worth of silver every year. The Zhenzong period set 300,000 taels of silver, and the increased 200,000 taels of silver was taken out during the Shenzong period. It originated from the Great Song Dynasty's desire to completely subdue Hexi and destroy Western Xia.

The ending is known to all that Da Song failed, and once in a good situation, he fell on his heels.

What was given to the Liao State was a gift.

What was given to Western Xia was given.

The successive defeats in the Battle of Sanchuankou and the Battle of Kosuigawa made Emperor Injong have to accept a fact. The Great Song Dynasty seemed to be unable to destroy the Western Xia. As a last resort, let's negotiate peace.

This is a characteristic of the Great Song Dynasty, and no other dynasty can do it. Only Da Song did it. There are many reasons, the main one is that it is not cost-effective, and it costs more money to fight a war than to give New Year's coins, and it is dozens or hundreds of times. The Western Army's annual military expenditure is 30 million yuan, but what about the annual coins given to Western Xia? There were only 200,000 taels of silver and money. Including 50,000 taels of silver, 130,000 horses of silk, and 20,000 catties of tea. There are other rewards for the festival, 22,000 taels, 23,000 horses of silk, and 10,000 catties of tea. In fact, the total amount was more than 200,000 taels of silver. But this money is a drop in the bucket for the Great Song Dynasty, and it is much cheaper than fighting a war.

Secondly, the door is not powerful! How can there be a reason to defeat once, the only victory is the battle of Dingchuan Village, which can only be a small victory to save face.

Of course, Li Yuanhao also made a relative gesture, giving up the title of emperor and changing to the lord of Western Xia. His father Li Deming was named the king of Pingxi by Zhenzong, and Li Yuanhao was dissatisfied that he wanted to obey the orders of the Great Song Dynasty, so he raised troops against the Great Song Dynasty. In the hands of Li Deming, Xixia enjoyed the reward of the prince, with 10,000 taels of silver, 10,000 horses of silk, 20,000 yuan of money, and 20,000 catties of tea. It is similar to the reward of ordinary princes of the Great Song Dynasty.

And the green salt in the territory of Western Xia was allowed to be sold in the Song Dynasty.

Green salt is also one of the few commodities in Western Xia that can enter the Great Song Dynasty and sell well. It was also the backbone of Western Xia's finances.

The money was given, but the scars remained in the hearts of the literati with a sense of mission in the Great Song Dynasty, as long as the Western Xia and Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures did not accept them, their wounds would never heal.

Zhang Dian has such pain and resentment, and he can also understand Xiao Changge's despair and struggle.

It's just that he deliberately tortured the place like this.

Seeing that Brother Xiao Chang was going to pick a son, Zhang Dian sent someone to hook him back.

When Brother Xiao Chang saw Zhang Dian again, his eyes were red. Seeing the smile on Zhang Dan's face, they all realized that Zhang Duan was boiling him.

It's like boiling an eagle, knocking out all the high things that belong to Da Liao on his body.

"Zhang Xiang, this envoy ......" He glanced around, and found that Li Kui was not there, so he suddenly calmed down a lot, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and asked as if there was going to be a catastrophe: "What about Master Li?" ”

"He had military affairs and left the capital."

Zhang Dian replied with a smile. But he scolded in his heart, Li Kui, who is not a son of man, where is there a good official, and he suddenly wants to take leave, the reason is very perfunctory, their Li family has invested in the overseas business of Liaodong, and he wants to keep an eye on it. What's even more annoying is that Li Kui is obviously an official under the Dushitang, but he went to the emperor to ask for leave, and what is even more annoying is that the emperor agreed.

These two are brothers-in-law, and they have become outsiders with their own prime minister?

Zhang Dian couldn't be angry, but there was no way, speaking of it to the outside world, he had to say that Li Kui was in military affairs and could not attend.

This made Brother Xiao Chang nervous, and countless pathos rose in his heart, and he sighed and did the opposite of Zhang Dan, and said with a wry smile: "Zhang Xiang, you should also understand that I am just an envoy of the Liao State, and on the surface I represent the emperor of the Liao State, but if it really touches the foundation of the Liao State, even if you and I complete the collegial discussion and sign the treaty, in the end, my emperor of the Great Liao will not agree." ”

"It's not in the way, he didn't agree, that's because he didn't get enough blows."

Zhang Dian said with a smile, and then said with a straight face: "You should be glad that His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is very concerned about the negotiations between Song and Liao, although the Liao State is treacherous and has a private agreement with the Song and Liao Covenant, but my Emperor of the Great Song still does not have the intention of killing everything." ”

"So the year?"

Xiao Changge was like a desperate traveler, cut off from water in the desert, and suddenly saw a clear spring in his sight, and suddenly had a spirit.

Zhang Dian shook his head and said, "No, the New Year's coin is absolutely not good." ”

However, Zhang Dian did not say anything to death, but opened an opening: "However, my Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty promised that although the New Year's coins will not be given, you can give the Liao State a year's worth of property equivalent to the New Year's coins." Including, cloth, silk, tea and other supplies. The old man thought that as long as you had these conditions, after you went back, the new monarch of Liao would not embarrass you. ”

Only then did Brother Xiao Chang understand that Zhang Dan, a dry old man, was testing the bottom line between him and Da Liao step by step, and finally came to a conclusion.

The two began to argue about the price of the goods exchanged.

"The cattle of the Great Song Dynasty are only five runs, and the cattle of the Great Liao are bigger and have more meat than the cattle of the Great Song Dynasty, why is there only Wuguan, this business can't be done."

Brother Xiao Chang shouted aggrievedly, as if he had suffered a big loss.

The Great Song Dynasty cultivated five cattle and one head, which was stipulated by the law of the Great Song Dynasty and had been implemented for more than 100 years. It belongs to one of the benevolent policies of the Great Song Emperor to the people.

If you kill and sell meat, a cow can easily be sold for fifty or even one hundred.

This was decided by the high price of meat in the Great Song Dynasty, so before the slaughter tax appeared, the people secretly slaughtered cattle and repeatedly banned them. But the cattle of the Great Song Dynasty are ploughing cattle and talented cattle, where can the beef cattle of your Liao grassland be compared, Zhang Dian sneered: "The cattle of the Great Song Dynasty will plough the land, will the cattle of your Liao Kingdom be?" ”

They all eat meat, so why is the price of beef more expensive on arable land?

Xiao Changge was unconvinced and said: "Our cattle in Daliao will produce milk, but your cattle in the Song Kingdom will not." ”

Suo Feng reminded in Zhang Dan's ear: "Zhang Xiang, the milk is good, and I have eaten a long time." It's better to buy some and try to raise them. However, the cattle of the Great Song Dynasty will also, only when the cow gives birth to calves, but the yield is not as high as that of the grassland. ”

"Really?"

"Not really!" Suo Feng played with the fat on his face, and said arrogantly: "Zhang Xiang, I just ate milk, not only a lot stronger, but also a lot whiter." ”

Zhang Dian didn't quite believe Suo Feng's words, this guy belonged to the category of officials under his own who had no ambitions. Since marrying the richest woman in Qingtang, she has completely lost the motivation to fight. In other words, Suo Feng has no intention of being an official, anyway, no matter how hard he works, he can't compare to Zeng Bu's qualifications, nor can he compare to Cai Bian's importance in Zhang Dian's mind.

Fighting and fighting, why?

Two levels higher?

There's not much more money.

For the officials of the Great Song Dynasty, Suo Feng has a lot of official positions, and his annual income is about 3,000 yuan. If he really gritted his teeth and ate chaff for ten years, he would be able to buy a mansion in the inner city.

But the problem is that in the mansion in the inner city, you have to be a good hand in the nursing home, invite one or two people from the army, and the concubines in the back house, the kabuki and dancers, the kitchen cooks, the doormen who come and go to welcome guests, and the servants and servants. That's not enough. And if you live in an outer city, you have to support a lot of people, and you are also tight.

Since Suo Feng has lived a decent and powerful life, he is completely like a different person, and he has no pursuit at all.

This can't be blamed on him, although Suo Feng is a civil official from the imperial examination, but the meaning of the poems and essays is very ordinary, and he belongs to the literary society, Gao Cai disdains to look at him, and only those with a lower official rank than him will rush to catch up with ordinary people.

Compared with power schemes, he is not an opponent like Cai Bian, Zeng Bu, and Lin Xi, and his qualifications are not enough, and he already belongs to the category of people who cannot be promoted.

Anyway, no matter how much Zhang Dian likes him, he will not let him be the heir to the prime minister.

Zhang Dian pondered for a while, and felt that it still made some sense. Since the milk is good, the people of the Great Song Dynasty should also eat it. Merely...... The people of the Great Song Dynasty don't seem to be very good at raising.

Zhang Dian felt that this was also a way, and said: "You can give a high price, but you Liao people have to teach me the method of raising cows to the people of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

"It's going to have to be a price increase."

"Fifty heads is a thousand."

Zhang Dian didn't care about money, anyway, if there was no attack by Liao, the Great Song Dynasty would have to give Liao 500,000 silver coins every year, which would be much higher than this figure if you count cloth and tea.

Brother Xiao Chang tried to ask: "A thousand heads a year?" ”

"Just give it a try this year, and if you can't feed it, you won't want it next year." Although Zhang Dian doesn't care about money, he is not stupid, how can he be the one who suffers? He said that the herdsmen from the Liao Kingdom must have carefully taught the people of the Great Song Dynasty how to raise cows.

Otherwise, this anger will be broken.

Little by little, item by project argued.

Brother Xiao Chang finally let go of his heart after a few days. Finally, he can complete the task assigned to him by the emperor.

Let's talk about Li Kui.

Since he left the capital, he has been going to Yuncheng non-stop.

If you want to be comfortable, you can take a boat. But the boat ride is slow. The main ones are the Yongji Canal and the Wuzhang River waterway, which have just been opened, and the goods that have accumulated for a winter need to be transported to the capital.

The river is full of boats, and the width is fine, but if you encounter a narrow lock, a block may be in time. Where are the horses and carts fast?

Sitting in the car, Li Kui was still wondering, it has not been a day or two since Liangshan was reorganized, I don't know what the situation is?

The Military Unification Bureau also arranged for many people to break into the interior of Liangshan, and Jiao Ting, Wu Song and others, who had a bright face, all went. There are also secretly, but they are all small leaders who don't have much of an impression.

It can be said that today's Liangshan Chaogai and others ostensibly control Liangshan. But in fact, their control is already very small, and half of the soldiers and horses can't be mobilized.

But these are not important, the important thing is that in the highest hall of Liangshan, the sign of the Juyi Hall has been changed to 'Heroic Mercenary Group'. But in the hall, it was not a scene of eating meat and drinking wine, but a wail.

Jiao Ting, who was standing in the center of the hall, stared at everyone around him with electric eyes, holding a rice spoon in his hand.

Jiao Ting's strength is good, but he can't do it yet. Even if it was Wu Song, who came to help, it was useless.

But all the heroes in the hall buried their heads and ate the food, and the beef and mutton vomited and vomited. When you don't drink, being able to vomit people is definitely a very difficult skill.

But Jiao Ting was not satisfied, the rice spoon hit the iron pot, and said enthusiastically: "Eat, eat more, I know you can still eat." ”

Liu Tang tried hard to swallow a mouthful of mutton, glared at Jiao Ting and said, "Captain Jiao, I'm really full." Can't eat it anymore. I suspect you raised our brother like a pig? ”

"Brother Liu Tang, you touched your conscience and said, have I treated a brother badly since I came to Liangshan? Food and clothing, all good, even if you are good, I will redeem you, what do you want me to do? To put it mildly, parents to their sons, that's it. ”

Liu Tang was ashamed, drooped his head, and said aggrievedly: "But Captain Jiao, I really can't eat it." And also...... Women don't look good when they're fat. If you continue to let us eat and sleep like this, sleep and eat, how can you fight with the Liao people? ”

"It's not something you're thinking about."

A hearty smile appeared on Jiao Ting's honest face: "Liu Tang believes in himself, you haven't eaten enough." Human potential is endless, you can still eat, and it is a blessing to be able to eat. When I was a child, I was able to eat, so my strength was the greatest among my brothers, so I had the opportunity to be loyal to the bureau, and now I am also a six-rank general, you don't have a little blessing on your face, and your appearance is ugly, not pleasing at all, how can you be reused by the bureau? If you can use a pleasing look, do you want to use a vicious-looking one? Believe me, this is the way of being an official, and I have benefited a lot and will be used for a lifetime. ”

Jiao Ting is in charge of Liangshan's money and grain, and since the money and grain are abundant, Liangshan has indeed been full of vitality for a period of time. But then, Jiao Ting, this guy, became a demon.

The main reason is that the leaders on the mountain are difficult to move, and they are difficult to control.

If you change people, you will stand up and deter others by killing chickens and monkeys.

But he didn't.

He believes that this is because there is too little food, and if you eat too much, people will be sleepy, and they will not make trouble.

His family was a sumo wrestling family, and his brothers, uncles, and uncles in the family made a huge rich man's family into a pauper. This ability definitely belongs to the category of gods and men in the Great Song Dynasty.

Jiao Ting then started a war to eat and exercise, and when he ate more, there were many fewer troubles.

The main thing is the big bosses, who eat too much and rest for an hour, then consume their food, and then find to their horror that it is time to eat again.

Don't eat?

It's okay, quit the hero mercenary group, and we don't want those who don't obey the management.

The leaders were resentful, but the minions were happy and ate openly, which was a good thing that many people did not remember. Otherwise, he wouldn't be a bandit, if he can survive, who wants to be a bandit and a bandit?

The prestige of the leaders has been reduced again and again, and even Chao Gai and others are worried that if they betray Li Kui, they can only leave the house and not want to take away one of their subordinates.

There was food and drink, except that there were no women, and the whole cottage was peaceful.

There is no ferocity at all as a bandit and a thief.

Jiao Ting was supervising, and Wu Song hurried over and said excitedly: "The bureau seat is here." ”

"Where?"

"In Yuncheng, let you take the leader to the city."

"Alright, let's take a break and get ready to enter the city." Jiao Ting was surrounded by a group of people and went down the mountain amid the gratitude of a group of people. came to Yuncheng County.

When Li Kui saw Chao Gai and the others, he was taken aback and hesitated: "What did you eat?" ”