Guo Wei saw Zong Xin's angry and smug expression and knew that he had already prepared, as long as he did Zong Xin's method, he would definitely win this battle.

"How many troops does my father-in-law have now?"

"Each family has made the yang and the yin violated, and I only have 80,000 troops in my hands that can be called upon at any time. Guo Wei said: "Being an emperor has the trouble of being an emperor, I can't keep the military power in my hands, it's better than at the beginning." And after the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, I have been developing the economy, hoping that the life of the people can be better, and there is no military achievement, I originally thought that these guys did not come so quickly, who knew that after the Tang Dynasty destroyed Chu, Murong Yanchao immediately borrowed troops from Li Jing, and Li Jing even agreed. 80,000 troops...... Not enough to deal with one side. ”

"It's only 80,000?" Zong Xin said depressedly: "Who is in the hands of the rest of the military power?"

"All the festivals have given themselves the right to war, and the others who have the right to serve are a few kings. You also know who the seven feudal historians are, they each have tens of thousands of troops, in the past, I could have pulled down the bottom and borrowed troops from them, but now it is not the case, I, the emperor, can't bow to them, right. ”

Zongxin nodded in agreement. The imperial power does not allow bowing to people, as long as you bow your head once, the emperor will be abolished in the future, and he will have no prestige in front of other princes.

After the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Guo Wei's reforms were all for the benefit of the people, and he didn't care much about his own welfare. Therefore, in terms of military power, it also inherited the model of the previous dynasty, in addition to the envoys of various festivals, the seven kings are the strongest people.

Gao Xingzhou, King of Qi, Fu Yanqing, King of Wei, Lei Hong, King of Kaiyu, Murong Yanchao, King of Yan, Liu Chong, King of Yan, Song Yan, King of Anle, Du Fuwei, King of Anle.

Gao Xingzhou, the king of Qi, and Fu Yanqing, the king of Wei, only care about Cangzhou's life and death, and they don't care about other places, they will never send troops. Lei Hong, the king of Kaiyu, will not make any contribution to the imperial court, and it makes no difference to him who becomes the emperor.

Murong Yanchao and Liu Chong are Guo Wei's troubles, and Song Yan is under Liu Chong's control, so it is difficult for him to protect himself, how can he have the spare strength to manage Guo Wei?

In fact, the main reason was that he didn't know that Chu State was wiped out by Li Jing so quickly, otherwise there would not be such a big trouble. If there are only the Northern Han and Khitan, the 80,000 army is completely enough, and now with the addition of Tang King Li Jing, I don't know how many troops he will send to reinforce Murong Yanchao, this is Guo Wei's biggest trouble.

The envoys from all over the country were obedient, but they had to leave the troops to save their lives, and these troops that were scraped together from all over the world might not work, so the only ones who could really use it were the 80,000 troops that Guo Wei retained.

"Father-in-law, you really still want to be a person with face. Zong Xin said: "If all the Jiedu envoys obey their orders, you can gather hundreds of thousands of troops, and now there are only 80,000, and you have to resist the attacks of the south and the north of the world, the situation is indeed critical, what is my father-in-law's opinion?"

Guo Wei nodded and said: "The defeat is like a mountain, so it must not be defeated." I estimate that Liu Chong will have 40,000 or 50,000 troops at most, so he will send 30,000 troops to the Northern Han to defend the city, and the remaining 50,000 will attack Xuzhou with all his might. ”

Zong Xin waved his hand and said: "No need, all 80,000 troops can be sent to Xuzhou, and I have my own way on the Northern Han side." This is a big battle, and Li Jing is careful not to send troops so quickly, so let the soldiers prepare more clothes and supplies for the winter. This battle was already expected by me, otherwise I would not have made a special trip to Khitan. If Murong Yanchao is not given a chance, he will only be a shrunken turtle entrenched in Xuzhou forever, and one of the reasons why the Khitan can restore its combat strength is to lure the snake out of the hole. ”

Guo Wei asked, "You...... What do you mean?"

"Murong Yanchao is entrenched in Xuzhou, he can attack, retreat or surrender, we can't do anything about him. I've always wanted to get revenge, but I didn't find a chance. Zong Xin said: "Taking advantage of the Khitan's recovery of national strength, Li Jing eliminated the Chu State by the way, Liu Chong must collude with the Khitan, and Murong Yanchao will also borrow troops from Li Jing to form the current situation, which is also in my expectation." Only when Murong Yanchao thinks that he can win, he dares to attack, as long as he dares to attack, he will let him die without a place to be buried. Father-in-law, don't worry, I will definitely make Murong Yanchao's life worse than death. ”

"Eighty thousand troops are a little difficult to fight against Murong Yanchao and Li Jing, don't you care about the Northern Han side?" Guo Wei said: "If Liu Chong is allowed to gain power, I am afraid that the momentum is like a bamboo, and the troops in various places are not strong, if they are broken one by one, I am afraid that it will not be long before they can attack Kaifeng." ”

"It's just a trivial matter, where do you think I've been in the past few months? Isn't it just to solve the alliance between the Northern Han and the Khitan? The Song Valve has slowly moved away from the Northern Han Dynasty and regained its strength in Weizhou. The Northern Han army will first encounter the desperate resistance of the Song Valve, even if the Northern Han Dynasty wins the Song Valve, they will be greatly injured, you must know that Song Yan is not a small person, and there is no good fruit to eat if he is provoked. ”

"Oh~ I see. Guo Wei admired: "Are you sure you can kill Murong Yanchao this time?"

"Father-in-law, don't worry, the Khitan Emperor was killed by me, what is the little Murong Yanchao?"

"That's right. Guo Wei was relieved when he heard this, since Zong Xin was able to trap the two Khitan emperors Yelu Deguang and Yelu Ruan, and also supported a tyrant Yelu Jing to ascend the throne, Murong Yanchao was not even as good as his grandson in front of these people, and it was not difficult for Zong Xin to kill him.

However, Zongxin's game is big enough, in order to let Murong Yanchao take the initiative to attack, he actually reintegrated the Khitan that would have been divided, creating the illusion that as long as Murong Yanchao and Liu Chong can be flanked back and forth, and finally win the Great Zhou in one fell swoop, if not, Murong Yanchao will definitely shrink in Xuzhou, and it will be too difficult to take his life.

Zongxin thought for a moment, and then said, "Father-in-law, I plan to teach the salt drying method to all the coastal residents, but if I do this, the income of Yandao will be reduced, and it will be reduced a lot. Of course, the next share is negligible, so I would like to ask the treasury if there is no problem. ”

After hearing this, Guo Wei was also shocked for a while, and then nodded and showed a satisfied smile.

"It's a little tight, but it's not too much of a problem, and I'm fully supportive of that. Guo Wei said: "I really looked at the wrong person, if the coastal residents can learn the salt drying method, and do not need to cut wood to make fire to cook salt, the price of salt will naturally drop a lot." It's a good thing for the world. There are too many people, and eating salt is a big problem in the first place, and I can't be happy to solve this big problem regardless of personal gains and losses. ”

Zong Xin said: "There is one more thing, father-in-law, if you don't have enough money...... I can think of a way for you to become the richest emperor in the entire Central Plains. ”

"What's the solution?"

"Well, it's actually very troublesome to have so much silver and gold circulating every day. It would be much more convenient if you could exchange a piece of paper for silver taels. Zong Xin said: "I just put forward an idea, and you can discuss the subtleties with other ministers. In order to facilitate the circulation of money, an institution was opened, which could at any time exchange a special piece of paper for silver, or silver for these papers, which were called silver tickets. A piece of paper is far more convenient to carry and preserve than dozens of taels of silver, as long as all the big cities in the Great Zhou can be exchanged at any time, the people will also rest assured that the silver in their hands will be used to exchange for these silver tickets, because they are those rich merchants, when buying and selling, or making money back to their hometowns, it is not convenient to carry too many silver taels, they will support this system. ”

Guo Wei thought for a moment, then took a deep breath and said, "The idea is very good, but it is difficult to implement. And...... What's the use of exchanging silver for silver tickets, silver tickets for silver? Can I have money?"

"Father-in-law, if you think about it carefully, those silver tickets are actually completely useless, it's like you're giving white slips to people all over the world, but what they're giving you is real money. The treasury will be overflowing to the point where you can't imagine, but you have to make sure that all the silver bills can be exchanged for silver taels at any time, otherwise the system will not be approved by the people. ”

Guo Wei nodded, and suddenly figured out this matter. Silver tickets are completely useless things, that is, white strips, how many silver tickets you send out is equal to how many silver taels you earn, as long as the silver tickets are in the hands of others, the money is in your own hands.

It's a good deal, it's just ...... As I said earlier, this matter requires many years of perseverance, and it is too difficult to realize this kind of system by relying on the strength of an emperor alone.

Guo Wei took a deep breath and said: "Good idea, but it can't be used nationwide for the time being." But this thought of yours reminds me that it is indeed possible to give a blank note to a lot of people. I can tell the world first and try it in Kaifeng, so that I can make a lot of money, and I will talk about it later. At least...... This kind of silver ticket can be used on the purchase of military rations and the salaries of the officials of the capital. ”

Zong Xin nodded, sure enough, the people will not trust in this way during the war, even if there is an edict from the emperor, it is estimated that few people will exchange their silver for silver tickets, but there will still be some people who do this, as long as Guo Wei can ensure that the silver tickets can be exchanged for silver at any time, these people will know the benefits of this system, and it will be of great benefit to the people and to the Great Zhou.

Guo Wei admired Zongxin's ideas and strategies very much, and although his teaching of the salt drying method to the coastal residents affected the economy of the Great Zhou, the impact would not be too great. Li Jing's side is uncomfortable, he has been fighting with the income of Zongxin Yandao, and now this income is suddenly gone, he must return to China to develop the economy well, Datangshan was originally rich and poor, if he doesn't go home, Li Jing's treasury will be empty.