Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 599 News from Liao Kingdom
In Pingqiu Township, Hejian County, hundreds of young and strong people were training in an open field. This is the situation after the imperial court implemented the militia law. Since the corvee system was abolished and the militia training was changed, the people trained quite actively. A white wax stick is used as a spear to train marksmanship. Decades later in history, folk bow and arrow clubs emerged. The imperial court used bow and arrow clubs to train hundreds of thousands of rural soldiers. The militia law introduced by Fan Ning was only 30 years ahead of schedule.

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

Fanning held a wooden spotting telescope and squinted at the soldiers in the distance.

The appearance of this monocular was also a very accidental factor. The Genoese brothers discovered that there was no glass in Dasong, so they sold a shipment of glass from their hometown and made a lot of money.

Fan Ning used this batch of glass to make a lens. After trial and error, he finally built the first telescope last month. He used the third convex lens to turn the inverted image into a positive image.

Fan Ning made a total of four monoculars, one was given to the emperor Zhao Xu, one was given to the engineering school run by Zhu's family for research, and the other was given to the navy, and he carried one himself.

Fan Ning handed the binoculars to Di Qing. Di Qing squinted his eyes for a moment, frowned slightly and said, "There are 460 households in Pingqiu Township, but only 97 young and strong joined the militia. Isn't that too little?"

Fan Ning smiled slightly, "A county has seven or eight townships, including the militiamen in the county, there are about a thousand people. The militia law was implemented in 100 counties in the Song Dynasty, and there are at least [-] million militiamen, quite a few. gone."

"But it's not fair. Corvée is abolished for everyone, but some people don't have to join the militia. It's unfair for the young and strong to join the militia. Shouldn't they be subsidized? For example, each militia will be subsidized with a consistent amount of money per person."

Fan Ning said indifferently: "The imperial court has already realized this problem, but what you calculate is addition, but the imperial court calculates subtraction. I heard that the imperial court has proposed that after the abolition of corvee, each household will be required to collect [-] cash for exemption every year. If you join the militia, you can be exempted from the exempt money. In addition, as you said, the militia trains for two months every year. During these two months, each person is subsidized with the same amount of money per month, and the imperial court provides grain and rice. Each person has five buckets of rice per month. After all, it is more cost-effective to join the militia.”

Di Qing thought for a while, then shook his head, "It's still not right. Many people would rather pay some money than join the militia, so that he doesn't have to go to the battlefield. I'm sure many people will think so."

"What about your suggestion?" Fanning asked.

Di Qing pondered for a while and said to Fan Ning: "I think all young men who have reached their age must join the militia. If they refuse to join the militia, they will have to pay ten times the exempt money. What do you think?"

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

Fan Ning nodded, "Your plan is very good. I will jointly write a memorial to the emperor with you. You can't collect exempt money from every household. Then there is no point in exempting from corvee. All the people must be soldiers. Young and strong men join the militia for three years. Those who serve in the military will be fined to pay ten times the exempt money, so it will be more fair!"

After discussing for a while, the two returned to the Hejian Mansion camp. It is now winter, Liaodong and Hebei are covered by heavy snow, and the Liao soldiers are no longer going south. Di Qing is good at training soldiers, and he is in charge of training soldiers.

Fan Ning mainly carried out various preparations before fortifying the wall and clearing the field. Once the imperial court approves, they will move Cangzhou, Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Mozhou, Ansu Army, Guangxin Army, Baozhou, Dingzhou, and Zhenzhou after the beginning of spring. All the people in Dingfu and other counties along the border moved south, or moved into Jiancheng, realizing a no-man's land three hundred miles south of the border, involving about [-] people.

This is definitely a big event. In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, the policy of fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness was implemented for a long time, but it was passive defense, which was completely different from Fan Ning's strategy of defensive counterattack and protracted war. This plan would inevitably cause an uproar in the court. Big wave, but Fan Ning has already persuaded Zhao Xu and Queen Mother Cao before, and got the support of Fu Bi, this plan should be passed.

That afternoon, Fan Ning received a fast letter from Miao Shunli, and he had captured Juehua Island, and successfully led the [-] troops from Liaoyang Prefecture to Xingcheng County. Rafts may be used to attack the island.

Fan Ning immediately came to a map of the Liao Kingdom. Their biggest problem now was the lack of information. He didn't know how many troops there were in Liaoyang Prefecture. Xiao Weixin led 5 people to attack Juehua Island, so he stayed in Liaoyang Prefecture. How many troops?
Now he is counting on Han Wang on Jingliao Island to find out some information. If Liaoyang is empty, then it is time for the [-] Song Army on Jingliao Island and Heping Island to play a role.

At this time, a soldier said at the door of the big tent: "Report to Mr. Yang, Tongzhi Yang brought a group of businessmen, probably from Yanshan Mansion."

Fan Ning was refreshed, and hurriedly said, "Come in, please!"

After a while, Yang Wenguang brought a middle-aged man into the big tent. Yang Wenguang saluted and said, "I have brought a businessman from my humble position. He is a Han from Yanshan Prefecture. He has been doing fur business in Liao and Song Dynasties all the year round. He knows a little bit about Yanshan. the state of the government."

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

"Your surname is Yang too?"

Yang Wenguang explained from the side: "He and I are from the same village, and I know his father. His father was doing business between Song and Liao 30 years ago, and brought a lot of information about Youzhou to Song Jun."

"Then is he from Song or Liao?"

Yang Wenguang smiled bitterly and said: "His grandfather was originally from the Song Dynasty. Later, he killed someone because of a business conflict and fled to the Liao Kingdom. Then he settled in Youzhou and became a Liao native. In the mutual market, he sent his son to the Song Dynasty to do business and inquire about the situation in his hometown."

Fan Ning nodded, and then asked Yang Gui, "Is there still a mutual market between Song and Liao?"

"It stopped last year, but many people are still doing it in private. After all, the Liao Kingdom has a great demand for luxury goods such as spices, silk, and brocade from the Song Dynasty. The demand for tea cakes is even greater. Even the border garrison They are also secretly using us to smuggle, so it is easy for us to come here, and everyone has their own way."

"Then where is your way?"

"Reporting to Fan Xianggong, Xiaomin's way is in Bazhou. Wang Xiang, the commander of the Han army in Bazhou, is familiar with my father. I will pass by him and bring some goods for him."

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

Yang Gui hesitated and said: "I have been to Liaoyang Mansion at the beginning of the year, I wonder what aspect of the situation Fan Xianggong wants to know?"

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

"Liaoyang Mansion is the Tokyo Command Army Division. I heard from my father that ten years ago there were about 10 troops, which is the same as the Nanjing Command Army Division. But not long ago, 8 cavalrymen were transferred to Nanjing from Dongdong Road. I guess there are the most There are [-] to [-] people, and another [-] to [-] brave soldiers, that is, rural soldiers, are stationed in the states, and that's about it."

"Is the army of Liaoyang Prefecture still defending Goryeo?" Fan Ning asked again.

"Yes, there are troops stationed on the Koryo border, mainly in Baoju, with about 3 to [-] people."

Fan Ning quickly calculated in his mind that Xiao Weixin led an army of [-] to Xingcheng County, and then deployed heavy troops to garrison the border of Koryo. In this way, Liaoyang, Tokyo might be an empty city, or only a few thousand township soldiers garrisoned. What a chance!

Fan Ning made up his mind and asked Miao Shunli to hold back the main force of the Liao army as much as possible, and then asked Han Wang to inquire about the situation in Liaoyang Mansion. If there was no emperor's army, he would simply attack Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo.

Thinking of this, he questioned Yang Gui about the situation in Youzhou in detail. Fan Ning was more concerned about whether the Han people in Youzhou still had their heart for the Song Dynasty as they did decades ago.

Yang Gui's answer was also within his expectation.

"My lord, although everyone has not longed for the Northern Expedition of the Song Army as much as before these years, the Han people are living very hard. Taxes are the heaviest among all ethnic groups in the Liao Kingdom, and they are discriminated against. However, the taxes have increased in recent years. In addition, it has doubled compared to five years ago.

The first is the household tax. The Han households in the city receive six guans per year, and other Khitan and Bohai households receive two guans. Five years ago, there was only one guan. Our Han households received two guans a year. Now it has tripled, and Khitan households have increased. double.

The second is the land tax, which is three buckets and three liters per mu, but our wheat is only produced once a year, and [-]% of the harvest is confiscated.

In addition, in addition to the household tax, our merchants have to pay [-]% of the commercial tax. It used to be only [-]%. Now no one dares to do business seriously. They all buy smuggled goods to evade taxes.

Even the Khitan people shouted that the tax was too heavy to bear, let alone us Han people, otherwise the villain would not have come to look for Old General Yang. We heard that the Song Dynasty was going to war with the Liao Kingdom. We really hope that the Song Army can recover Youzhou as soon as possible. "

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

"Thirty thousand people!"

Seeing that Fan Ning looked suspicious, Yang Gui quickly explained: "This is an open secret. Everyone knows that the Han army has no cavalry, and they do all the hard work. They are also the guards on the border. We have a saying that one The Khitans are second-class barbarians, the third-class Hans are the fourth-class Nan."

"What means?"

Yang Gui explained: "The Khitan people are superior, treated the best, and the most relaxed. The second class refers to other barbarians, such as Xi, Bohai, Mohe, Goryeo, Jurchen, etc. Among them, the Xi people are treated the best, and the others are inferior. One point, the third class is the Han people in Youzhou, who are poorly paid and 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, He specializes in serving Khitan people, has no military salary, does not have enough to eat, and is dressed in rags, so he can be recognized at a glance."

Fan Ning nodded, "Retire first! I'll ask you later if I have anything to ask."

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

"It should be reliable. His father sent a lot of information to Song Jun. If he was caught, he would have been killed."

Fan Ning was right when he thought about it, the war was not going on all the time, if they were discovered, the Liao Kingdom would not keep them.

Fan Ning walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said to the soldiers, "Bring 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 gain a future for yourself?"

Yang Gui was excited, he came here to seek refuge with the Song Army, and of course he wanted to gain a future, he quickly clasped his fists and said, "I would like to work for Fan Xianggong!"

Fan Ning nodded, "I will give you enough financial support, and I will give you a few assistants. I hope you can set up an intelligence network for me in Youzhou. I need military deployment, equipment, city defense, food, popular support, etc. information, not only about Youzhou, but also other state capitals of Yanyun."

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

(End of this chapter)