Yangzhou, Jialing City.

At this time, a guest from the north came to Jialing City, who was meeting Jiang Xue, the governor of Jialing in the county government.

"You said you paid the cloth tax, and you only want the tidal flat outside the city?"

As Jiang Xue asked a question with a little doubt, all the officials of Jialing County around him looked at the man standing in the hall with the same puzzled face.

The man was an official accompanying the Xiaozi ship, and he came to negotiate trade with the local government on behalf of the Lingshui caravan.

The bargaining chips given by the Lingshui caravan were not insignificant, and for every piece of cloth unloaded from the port, two layers of profits would be paid to the local people as customs duties.

If this sea trade is really done in the future, not to mention how many sea ships will come and go in the future, the goods carried by Xiao Zihao alone can provide a huge amount of tax revenue for Jialing County.

Moreover, a well-funded commercial organization like the Lingshui Caravan, although it is inextricably linked with the county government of Yangcheng County, is still a businessman after all.

Now these merchants want to build the cargo hold of the port on a useless tidal flat, and no matter how you look at it, there is no loss to Jialing County.

At present, the current situation is turbulent, and Jiang Xue cannot relax his vigilance, so he has to think twice about the opening of treaty ports.

After arranging the envoys who came to negotiate, Jiang Xue summoned a group of his staff to the county guard's mansion, wanting to listen to the opinions of some of his subordinates.

In the hall, Jiang Xue looked at an old man with gray temples beside him, hoping to listen to his opinion.

When the old man saw Jiang Xue looking at him, he also began to analyze the context of the matter, "What the adults are worried about is nothing more than that Xiao Jiu in the north will take the opportunity to spy on Yangzhou's intelligence, but you have also seen this big ship on the sea." ”

"If it is really as the messenger said, if Qingzhou changes to cotton and linen in the future, the goods transported by sea will be huge, and the place where the goods can be stopped and unloaded in the south does not know that there is our Jialing County."

Hearing the old man's remarks, Jiang Xue made up his mind in his heart, but he still couldn't let go, "If the radius of ten miles is allocated to this group of businessmen, I am afraid that there will be an accident." ”

Hearing Jiang Xue whisper as if he was talking to himself, the old man continued, "The general can completely cooperate with this group of merchants, and our garrison will provide protection for them, and if they really dare to plot evil, they can be suppressed without much effort. ”

Listening to the methods of his staff, Jiang Xue's worries were put down a little, and he immediately invited the caravan envoy to finalize the trade matter.

Since then, the Lingshui caravan has been given official status in Yangzhou, allowing goods from the north to circulate in Yangzhou.

As the defender of Jialing County, Jiang Xue also made a lot of money through the caravan levied by the Lingshui caravan, and Jialing County also became the most prosperous trading city in Yangzhou.

……

Zhili, Huyaguan.

Just as Xiao Jiu was planning a big time for the textile factory to make money, the war outside Huya Pass did not stop, and it lasted intermittently for more than three months.

Outside the Huya Pass, in the big tent of the Rong Clan's coalition army, Zong Yu, the lord of the Black Wolf Country, had a somewhat ugly face.

In the face of the long-term unconquerable Huya Pass, although his own soldiers are brave, they can't sustain themselves with military rations just here.

Moreover, these grassland departments are not monolithic, and the voice of retreating troops is getting louder and louder, so that he, the commander of the three armies, is a little unable to step down.

"Prime Minister Zong, until today, our army has lost more than 30,000 people, and if we continue to fight, I am afraid that there will be chaos in the rear."

A tribal leader in a military tent wearing a flowered hat said, and the others echoed this.

Seeing this, Zong Yu knew that the withdrawal of troops was inevitable, so he could only shake his head and sigh and give an order.

With the withdrawal of the allied troops in the grasslands outside the pass, there was also a burst of cheers among the defenders in the passes.

"Retreat, the enemy retreats."

A young soldier of the Forbidden Army stood on the tower, brandishing the sword in his hand, shouting loudly and emotionlessly, and the soldier next to him was also infected by the atmosphere and danced excitedly.

For three months, they struggled to die every day, waking up from their sleep every day to guard against the enemy attack.

During this time, I don't know how many brothers and sisters died in front of him, but the cruelty of war will not pity anyone.

Now that the enemy has retreated, they can also take off their heavy armor and live a few days of peace.

In the midst of laughter and laughter in Huya Pass, Captain Zhu Cong did not say a word in the middle of the crowd, his brows furrowed.

"General, shouldn't you be happy that the enemy army has retreated?"

A middle-aged military general beside Zhu Cong saw him frowning, and he was a little puzzled in his heart, so he couldn't help but ask out loud.

But Zhu Cong looked at the camp outside the city for a long time before he said slowly, "Now that the enemy outside our gate is gone, what about inside the gate?" ”

Hearing Zhu Cong's words, the military general who asked the question also closed his mouth and began to bow his head and think deeply.

Yes, they are all from the Great Xia Forbidden Army, and they had to be screwed together to defend against foreign enemies because of the Rong clan's knocking.

But now that the foreign enemy is gone, what attitude should they have towards the princes and rebellions in the Guannai?

Now that Kyoto has been breached, and Great Xia has been completely destroyed, where can these duckweeds with broken roots float to?

Even if there were tens of thousands of Chen soldiers in Huya Pass at this time, the land between these square inches could not support so many professional soldiers.

Today's world is no longer the world it used to be, and if you really want to aim the butcher's knife at your compatriots?

Now the highest-ranking general in Huya Pass is Yun Bi, the commander of the Kyoto Forbidden Army, and everyone knows that he is an out-and-out royalist and a diehard loyalist of Great Xia.

If Yun Bi was in charge of the forbidden army in Huya Pass, no matter how many people opposed the use of troops in the pass, he would not be able to change his mind.

These forbidden armies have long been divided into two factions, except for a small number of people who are loyal to the Great Xia royal family and are regarded by Yun Bi as henchmen, most of them are tired of war.

Zhu Cong, who was born in Wang Meng's lineage, was even more set up to fight against Yun Bi at this time.

Sure enough, since the withdrawal of the grassland allied forces outside the pass, Yun Bi summoned the large and small generals in the Huya Pass to discuss sending troops to Zhili Kyoto.

In the big tent of the military camp in Huya Pass, Yun Bi was impassionedly telling about his arrangements and deployments for various departments, and although most of the generals present did not agree with it in their hearts, they did not dare to refute it out loud.

Just as Yun Bi was talking alone, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I don't agree to send troops to Kyoto."

Zhu Cong sat up from his seat suddenly, his eyes staring at Yun Bi and him.

"Now that Kyoto has sent grain, grass and military salaries, our enemy should be the Rong people outside the Guan."

As soon as these words came out, a noisy discussion began to appear inside the originally quiet tent.

Yun Bi stared at this subordinate who was against him, and then glanced at the many guards in the big tent, and slowly said under the anger in his heart, "Zhu Cong, do you want to commit treason?" ”

Listening to Yun Bi's loud reprimand, Zhu Cong was not afraid, but took a step forward.

"General Yun, Great Xia has perished."

"For months, the soldiers in the Guannai fought bloody battles to defend the Huya Pass, and they have long been tired of war, do you have to force them to death for the so-called loyalty?"

Listening to Zhu Cong's sharp words, Yun Bi could no longer suppress the anger in his heart, and directly pulled out the saber on his waist.

With a crisp sound from the unsheath of the weapon, the atmosphere of the scene was reduced to freezing.

Fortunately, an elderly military general quickly stopped Yun Bi, so that the steel knife glowing with cold light did not slash at Zhu Cong.

The first meeting of the enemy's retreat ended hastily, and the many contradictions accumulated within the forbidden army also completely broke out at this time.

After Zhu Cong withdrew from the Chinese army's tent, he moved his own troops and horses and a group of generals who supported him to the northeast corner of the city, which was clearly separated from the troops directly under Yun Bi.

Soon after this unhappy farce, news spread to the south with refugees fleeing the desert in the Kannai.

……

Naoli, Kyoto Castle.

At this time, although the Kyoto Imperial Palace was banned, a large and small number of rebel armies were still entrenched in the city and did not retreat.

In a high-gate mansion in Kyoto City, Hua Dongzheng, the leader of the rebel army, and Zhao Qinghe sat in the backyard drinking tea.

"I heard that Huya Pass is not peaceful, and Yun Bi has already had a gap with Zhu Cong."

"In my opinion, now is the best time to gather my northern alliance forces to take this Xiongguan in one fell swoop."

Hua Dong said to himself while drinking the brewed tea, his tone seemed quite relaxed, and he did not forget to spit out the tea leaves that he swallowed into his mouth.

Listening to Hua Dong's arrogant words beside him, Zhao Qinghe shook his head gently, "General Hua is too anxious. ”

"Now in the world, the smoke is everywhere, even if we gather hundreds of thousands of people to take the Huya Pass, but who is in charge of this Central Plains throat fortress?"

"You must know that no matter who occupies the Huya Pass, they have added a talisman to themselves, and if they are in a hurry, they will let the Rong clan enter the pass and burn the jade, and no one can afford this consequence."

Seeing that Zhao Qinghe did not support his idea, East China could only put away the thought of moving again.

In fact, Huadong asked this sentence with a tentative idea in his heart, you must know that the reason why the army led by him can snowball in a short period of time is inseparable from the support of the family headed by Zhao Qinghe.

Now Zhao Qinghe doesn't want the many princes in the pass to eat the tiger tooth pass, even if he is angry in his heart, he doesn't dare to attack in front of this God of Wealth.

Just when Hua Dong lowered his head and drank tea and was about to open the topic, he heard Zhao Qinghe's voice coming slowly.

"General Hua actually doesn't need to be anxious, before the Rong clan knocked on those forbidden armies and could defend against foreign enemies with the same hatred, but now that the foreign enemies are gone, they themselves will be divided internally."

"When the time comes, my Zhao family will definitely support General Hua to take Huya Pass."

got Zhao Qinghe's assurance, and the estrangement in Huadong's heart disappeared, and he laughed a few times and chatted with the other party about some interesting things.

It's just that what no one knows is that a plainclothes sent by Gu Chong from Yuzhou has quietly arrived in Kyoto.