Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Sword Box Pass

Qishan Pass.

in the hall.

Luo Xingchen carefully read the call to action in his hand.

The inscription written on it is Beili Wang Beiliqing.

"How could it be Bei Liqing? This must be under the guise of his name." Luo Xingchen raised his eyes and said.

"That's right, I have also received news that Bei Liqing has been imprisoned for a long time, and his life and death are unknown. Now the Beili family is in charge of the elder Beili's map." Yue Leiting said.

"Beili sent troops from his family, claiming to have 30 soldiers. Does he have so many soldiers?"

Luo Xingchen expressed doubts about this.

"There may not be 30, but 20 should still be available."

Yue Leiting frowned and said, "With 20 troops, Bei Lijia gave up defending the Liao Kingdom and the Great Mongolian Tribe of the Grassland. With so many troops heading south, there is almost no city that can defend against them."

"The defense can only be placed at the sword box pass, and Zhan Honglian is at the sword box pass right now."

"General Zhan's army is not enough, she can't defend against Beili's army, we have to support it." Luo Xingchen said.

"Of course, I will dispatch the army to support it. Fortunately, the imperial court dispatched the Tujia army, and the Tujia army just happened to be sent there."

But Yue Leiting was still a little worried.

Now there is a need to have enough troops in different directions, and in Qishan Pass, the number of Thunderclap Legion is limited, so it is impossible to fight on multiple fronts, and they can only give priority to one side.

Then, which aspect should be prioritized is what he needs to consider.

This kind of thinking is not only tactical, but also considers the court's side.

"But now there are two pieces of the puzzle."

"Firstly, on the Liao side, how many elite soldiers can the Pishi army send into the territory of Daqi?"

"Secondly, on the Lolan Pass, whose team is hiding? Who is leading behind?"

These two problems are what Yue Leiting wants to solve most urgently.

"Marshal, I will think of a way on the side of Liao Kingdom. There can't be too much trouble on the side of Luolan Pass." Luo Xingchen put forward his own idea.

"How do you say that?" Yue Leiting asked doubtfully.

"If they had enough troops, they would have tried to open the gate of Qishan Pass while you were away. At that time, they should cooperate with each other. I'm afraid they won't be able to win Qishan Pass."

"Once Qishan Pass falls, Thunderclap Corps will lose at least half of its strength. This is a devastating blow."

"The reason why they don't do it is not because they have good intentions, but because they are not capable enough."

Luo Xingchen said.

"That's right. They don't have enough troops. They want to support tens of thousands of troops. The money and food they spend is huge. It's impossible for them to do it secretly. The most likely thing is that they use private soldiers to disperse them in private. Gather them together when you need them.”

"But the soldiers and horses gathered by this method are generally not high in combat power." Yue Leiting frowned.

"Then let's ignore Luolan Pass for the time being. Let's block the attack of the North Li army and prevent them from going south. As long as we can stop them, the imperial court will send troops north to support them. At that time, the Thunder Legion will not be fighting alone. .”

"Marshal, my son has already been rushed to the capital. When the time comes, there will definitely be soldiers from the capital."

"In addition, Lu Zhanlong will lead the water army to block the Jiuqu River, the waterway on the big river, and prevent the supplies from the south from being transported there. Let them trade with the grassland people and Liao people."

Luo Xingchen said.

"Okay, leave it to me to fight the war, communicate with the court, and contact officials in other places, all depend on you." Yue Leiting nodded.

Luo Xingchen nodded: "This is originally my duty. The emperor appointed me as the governor's imperial envoy to do this."

After some discussion, and after agreeing on the next step, Luo Xingchen and Yue Leiting got busy respectively.

……

The capital of Daqi.

Urgent letters, like snowflakes, flew to the capital from all over the north.

The people in the capital who smelled something in advance fell into silence.

At this moment, in the cabinet.

Also fell into silence.

Emperor Qi Xingyun sat on the chair, looking at the silent elders.

"Feng Qing's family, tell me, how should the court respond?" Qi Xingyun looked at Feng Yueheng.

Feng Yueheng is a bachelor who has recently entered the cabinet, representing the interests of Jiangnan Dongling Academy and the big landlords.

"Your Majesty, according to my opinion, since Beili's family has rebelled, the imperial court should immediately declare him a rebel, and then dispatch troops to put down Beili's family." Feng Yueheng said.

"Where does the army come from? Where does the money and food for the expedition come from? There is no money in the treasury." Qi Xingyun took a sip of tea.

When it came to money and food, Feng Yueheng fell silent.

He also has no good way to solve this problem.

"Adding taxes is the only way to go."

At this time, it was Jiang Wanliu, another recent scholar who was speaking.

"Who will pay more taxes? There have been frequent natural disasters recently, and the people can't afford it." Qi Xingyun said lightly.

"Your Majesty, I believe that this tax should be increased by business tax." Jiang Wanliu suggested.

"Commercial tax? What kind of addition?" Qi Xingyun raised his eyebrows.

"There are so many businessmen in Daqi. They don't do production. They focus on moving one item from one place to another in order to gain profits. These businessmen are of no benefit to the country... When the country is in crisis, they should do their duty. They must contribute to the country." Jiang Wanliu talked eloquently.

"You didn't say how to increase the tax." Qi Xingyun frowned.

"Double tax increase." Jiang Wanliu said.

"It's too much, Mr. Jiang. Merchants also rely on their ability to eat. Without merchants, how can goods be circulated?"

"You have too much prejudice against merchants. If merchants are useless, how can they not disappear for thousands of years?"

"The existence of businessmen is useful. Business taxes can be increased, but we should not act too hastily. Otherwise, the losses outweigh the gains and cause greater harm to the country."

It was Liu Yu who spoke.

Ge Lao Liu Yu didn't want to talk at first, but seeing Jiang Wan's idea, he really couldn't help it.

Jiang Wanliu was simply messing around.

"Master Liu, you have an idea, come and find a way?" Jiang Wanliu said expressionlessly.

Liu Yu said slowly: "It is not feasible to collect taxes, but the imperial court can issue national debt."

"National debt?" The elders all cast their eyes on Liu Yu.

Qi Xingyun also looked at Liu Yu, waiting for his next explanation.

"The national debt is a debt issued in the name of the court. As long as the court is still there, this debt will be recognized." Liu Yu said.

"Will anyone buy it?" Qi Xingyun asked.

"As long as the imperial court has a good reputation, someone will definitely buy it. The current imperial court has been in Daqi for hundreds of years, and its reputation has long been established."

"Your Majesty, at this time, I can leave it to the old ministers to raise enough money and food for the court."

Liu Yu offered to take over the matter.

(End of this chapter)