Qian Song

Chapter 237 Zhao Huan Feels Alright Again (Ask for a Monthly Ticket!)

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While the story that Li Cun and the four famous prostitutes had to tell continued, Zhao Huan and his ministers were also doing their best to raise gold and silver for Li Cun.

In the view of Zhao Huanjun and his ministers, the most urgent task is to collect enough gold and silver for Li Cun, and then send the army away.

But this is obviously not so easy to do.

——Actually, it’s not that there isn’t so much wealth in Tokyo’s Bianliang City. As the most affluent city in the Zhao and Song Dynasties, Tokyo’s Bianliang City’s reserves of wealth are astonishing. During the shame of Jingkang, the Jin people extorted hundreds of millions of money in Bianliang City, Tokyo, which had already been looted once), the Zhao and Song courts could not get the war indemnity that Li Cun wanted, just because Li Cun wanted gold and silver , and the places where gold and silver were produced in the Zhao and Song Dynasties were really too few.

10,000+ cadres besieged the city, making King Zhao Huan and his ministers restless.

In order to collect the war indemnity demanded by Li Cun, Zhao Huan adopted the suggestion of Zhongshu Minister Wang Xiaodi, and posted a notice in Bianliang City, Tokyo:
Officials, soldiers and civilians in Bianliang City, Tokyo, must hand over all the gold and silver they own. If they do not hand over within the specified time limit, they will be beheaded for public display. The banker can give half of the reward.

In order to carry out this plan to collect gold and silver, Zhao Huan specially set up a temporary agency - the Gold and Silver Institute for the National Reward Army, which is dedicated to collecting large cadres, and gave this temporary agency supreme power to be responsible for collecting gold and silver. silver.

And Wang Xiaodi is the highest person in charge of the gold and silver office that specializes in collecting large cadres and rewarding the army.

With the support of Zhao Huan and the efforts of Wang Xiaodi, it only took a few days for the Gold and Silver Office to collect the Dagan National Reward Army, and raised more than 30 taels of gold and more than [-] yuan for Li Cun. Ten thousand taels of silver.

But there is still a big gap.

Wang Xiaodi then sent people to post posters everywhere in the city:

"According to the imperial decree, the army of the Dagan State besieged the capital. The situation was very urgent. The imperial court sent envoys to negotiate a peace for the survival of the clan. They had to collect gold, silver, and silk to form an alliance.

Today, all the gold and silver collected from the ancestral temples, imperial palaces, government buildings, and clothing have been scraped and brushed, and only more than [-] taels of gold and more than [-] million taels of silver have been collected.However, the Emperor Daqian saw that the number was not enough, so he sent his envoys back to tell him that it would be difficult to retreat. He also feared that the soldiers would be rewarded unevenly, which would lead to resentment, so he came to attack the city, killing all the men, taking all the women, and all the houses. Burn, the gold, silver, money and things will be exhausted..."

When the people of Bianliang City in Tokyo saw on the list that "all men will be killed, all women will be captured, houses will be burned, and all gold, silver, money and things will be gone", they all curse.

Ordinary people in Bianliang City, Tokyo, can clearly see that Li Cun has never killed the poor indiscriminately since the day he started his army, and he has never robbed the poor of their money and food, so the possibility Wang Xiaodi mentioned is simply impossible does not exist.

In fact, although Li Cun led a large army to besiege the city, the proletariat in Bianliang City in Tokyo did not feel any pressure at all. Many people even hoped that Li Cun would take down Bianliang City in Tokyo and then give them the land .

Therefore, many people ridiculed Wang Xiaodi as "Four Best Books", thinking that he can be compared with Li Ye, "Liu Ru Ge Shi".

Li Cunwen heard that Zhao Huanjun and his ministers were going to extend their hands to the general public, and immediately sent envoys into the city to warn: "I dare the emperor to say that the Zhao family is immoral. They extort heavy taxes and promote flowers and stones. Fortunately, the emperor is so happy that the people are not able to live. What does it have to do with the people to promote today's events? Don't transfer crimes to the people, let alone search for the people's fat and anointing, otherwise the army will come."

When Zhao Huan and his ministers heard that Li Cungou was nosy with mice, they were both aggrieved and annoyed. They felt that Li Cun's family lived by the sea, and his management was too lenient.

And those people of insight interpreted Li Cun's move as Liu Bang's entry into Xianyang, aiming to buy people's hearts. To put it bluntly, Li Cun was still determined to perish in the Song Dynasty, so he reminded Zhao Huan to quickly find a way to get rid of the army Go, otherwise Li Cun is not sure when he will attack Bianliang City in Tokyo.

At the same time, Li Cun sent envoys to warn Zhao Huanjun and his officials not to transfer crimes to the people and to search for the wealth of the people, which was spread by the secret agents of Wu Desi, the pro-military Duweifu and the Military Intelligence Department, which made Bianliang City, Tokyo People's hearts have shifted a lot towards the Dagan Dynasty.

Seeing that something was wrong, Zhao Huan hurriedly asked Li Bangyan, Zhang Bangchang and other ministers to find a way.

Zhao Huan's worries were not groundless. If the people in Tokyo's Bianliang City rioted and cooperated with the dry army to attack Tokyo's Bianliang City, then their monarchs and ministers would not only lose all their previous efforts, but might also be wiped out.

Someone suggested to Zhao Huan, can jewelry be used for gold and silver?

Zhao Huan felt that this was a good way, because there were many jewels in the palace of the Zhao Song Dynasty. If Li Cun was willing to accept the jewels, he could almost get together the war indemnity that Li Cun asked for.

Zhao Huan immediately sent Li Yan, Li Ye and Zheng Wangzhi to discuss the matter.

Li Yan and others were ordered to ride out of the city immediately, and then came to Qingcheng.

It was Han Fang who received Li Yan and others.

Li Yan and others asked to meet Li Cun in person, saying that they had important matters to report to Li Cun.

Han Fang said: "Your Majesty is discussing life with the two imperial concubines and the four oiran ladies, studying major issues of human relations, and has no time to meet a few of them."

Li Cun was deceived by Zhao Huanjun and his ministers, and the ministers of the Dagan Dynasty already knew about it.

For this, the civil and military officials of the Dagan Dynasty were very angry. Some people advised Li Cun to return Li Shishi and the others to the Zhao Song Dynasty, some advised Li Cun to behead Li Shishi and the others, and some clamored to continue attacking Bianliang City in Tokyo. In short, these People want to draw a clear line between Li Cun and Li Shishi and the others, so that their reputation will not be affected by Li Shishi and the others.

Li Cun heard the words, and said lightly: "I can't afford some small things, why can I take care of the whole world? You don't want to talk about it, I just want to do things without regret. As for how I am, future generations will judge .”

When Li Cun said this, due to Li Cun's consistent sage and domineering, the civil and military officials of the Daqian Dynasty did not dare to persuade him anymore.

But this does not mean that the civil and military officials of the Daqian Dynasty would be willing to let Li Cun suffer from this dumb loss.

At this moment, Han Fang was comparing Zhao Fujin and Zhao Duofu with Li Shishi, Zhao Yuannu, Wang Zhongduan, and Hua Xiangrong to fight back.

Neither Li Yan nor Li Ye was a man of integrity, they could only laugh along with Han Fang Chi Guoguo's insult.

On the contrary, Zheng Wangzhi said seriously: "How can the emperor concubine and Huakui be compared?"

Han Fang looked at Zheng Wangzhi and asked, "In my opinion, there is no difference."

Thinking about the situations where Zhao Fujin and Zhao Duofu were in the same situation as Li Shishi, Zhao Yuannu, Wang Zhongduan and Hua Xiangrong, Zheng Wangzhi was speechless for a moment.

Li Yan and Li Ye were afraid of Zheng Wangzhi's bad things, so they hurriedly gave Zheng Wangzhi winks, telling Zheng Wangzhi not to talk nonsense.

Zheng Wangzhi just didn't know how to argue, so he could only give up in resentment.

Li Yan and other Song envoys then told Han Fang that Zhao Huan wanted to exchange jewels for gold and silver, and said that Li Cun would not let the Zhao Song court seize the people's gold and silver. Unable to make up the war indemnity demanded by Li Cun.

Han Fang also knew that Li Que and the others were telling the truth, so after Li Que and the others had finished their good words, he went to ask Li Cun for instructions.

Li Cun had already made up his mind that he would not attack Bianliang City in Tokyo this time, and was going to take a long time to catch big fish, so he agreed to Zhao Huan's request.

After Han Fang came back, he said to Li Wei and other Song envoys according to Li Cun's intention: "Jewelry can be folded, silk can be folded, antique calligraphy and paintings can be folded, and other valuable things can also be folded. However, because the price cannot be estimated, All need to be discounted at a low price.”

With Li Cun's approval, Zhao Huan was overjoyed and immediately began to collect jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, and other valuables.

In fact, the Zhao and Song Dynasty had a large amount of silk in the Fengchun treasury at this time, which was fully worth the war indemnity.

This is also the reason why Li Cun suggested that silk can be used to pay the war indemnity—Li Cun, who didn’t want to attack Bianliang City in Tokyo now, wanted to withdraw his troops as soon as possible. After all, with so many troops going out, the daily cost was astronomical.

But Zhao Huan kept in mind Zhao Ji's words passed down from previous emperors - "Fengchunku is my last reliance in the Song Dynasty, and it should not be moved lightly."

The point is, Zhao Huan felt that those jewels, antique calligraphy and paintings were of no use at all, it might as well be used to offset war reparations.

Zhao Huan really thought so and did the same.

An internal servant once held a jade cup that was ground into the shape of a dragon, and said to Zhao Huan angrily: "The price of this cup is only a few thousand coins, but the people who do it are only worth two hundred coins. It's too deceiving." and also."

Zhao Huan glanced at the jade cup and said indifferently: "I don't know what was the purpose of making this thing?" Then he said: "In my opinion, two hundred coins is too much for Daqian."

Afterwards, Zhao Huan ordered that all the jewels in the palace be gathered in the Xuanhe Hall and sent to Li Cun as much as the gold and silver could be worth. immediate sense of sight.

In order to collect enough gold and silver for Li Cun as soon as possible, so that Li Cun could withdraw his troops as soon as possible, Zhao Huan came up with a new trick.

Didn't Li Cun let Zhao Huan rob gold and silver from the people by force, so Zhao Huan used copper and iron coins to buy gold and silver from the people at a high price, and began to increase the intensity of selling officials.

Zhao Huan ordered that every liang of gold can be sold for [-] guan, and every liang of silver can be sold for [-] guan.

This price was much higher than the original price of gold and silver, so that many people rushed to sell gold and silver to the Zhao Song court.

Later, the copper and iron coins of the Zhao and Song courts disappeared, so Zhao Huan asked people to make money quickly, and at the same time gave white notes to the people, and continued to buy gold and silver at high prices.

At the same time, there was a man named "Li Li" who received 670 four taels of gold and 600 taels of silver. Zhao Huan personally wrote instructions and awarded Li Li Cheng Zhonglang; He received 570 taels of gold and [-] taels of silver. Zhao Huan personally wrote the instructions and awarded them to Ge Guanbao Yilang.

According to the statistics of the "Gold and Silver Institute for Collecting Clusters and Rewarding Gold and Silver", there are hundreds of households like Li Li and Ge Guan who bought official positions with gold and silver.

With the unremitting efforts of Zhao Huanjun and his ministers, Zhao Huanjun and his ministers gradually collected more than half of the huge war indemnity that Li Cunshi opened his mouth.

Judging by the powerful ability of Zhao Huanjun and his ministers to scrape the ground, it is not a big problem to collect the war indemnity demanded by Li Cun.

But by this time, Zhao Huan was no longer so eager and enthusiastic about continuing to search for gold and silver.

Because Qin Wang's teachers have successively arrived at the city of Bianliang in Tokyo.

The first division of Qin Wang was the recruiting troops in the west of Beijing led by the commander Ma Zhong.

Followed by [-] cavalry led by Jingdong commander Fan Qiong.

Both of them were fierce generals. As soon as they arrived at the city of Bianliang in Tokyo, they had a fight with the Qianjun Yang Zhibu.

The two sides fought for more than an hour, with nearly a thousand casualties each, which can be regarded as a tie.

Later, Yang Zaixing led You Yijun to reinforce.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Ma Zhong and Fan Qiong took the initiative to retreat to the side of the horse prison and set up camp.

And Li Cun is fishing for big fish for a long time, how can he win or lose with Zhao Song Dynasty now?
——If Li Cun let go of the fight now and accidentally wiped out all the teachers of King Qin of the Zhao Song Dynasty, how will it end in the future?Could it be that Zhao Huan really waited for the war indemnity to be collected, and he took the initiative to withdraw his troops?Can that reassure Zhao Huan?If Zhao Huan is not at ease, can Zhao Ji and his royal family and clan of the Zhao Song Dynasty be deceived back?
So Li Cun ordered Yang Zaixing and Yang Zhi to withdraw their troops, and withdrew the troops to the north, assuming that they were afraid of the Qin Wang's division of the Zhao and Song Dynasties.

On the [-]th day of the first lunar month, heavy snow fell in the sky, the north wind howled, the temperature suddenly dropped sharply, and the city of Bianliang in Tokyo became extremely cold.

At this time, it had been almost half a month since Qianjun besieged the city.

Since the city gate of Bianliang City in Tokyo has been closed for half a month, the supplies from outside cannot be transported in at all, and the dignitaries and nobles in the city have begun to hoard food again, so that the food in the city is in short supply, and the price of goods has skyrocketed, and the poor people have begun to have no food. There are even people who died of freezing and starvation.

After Li Cun learned of this situation, he ordered to transport 50 shi of grain to Nanxunmen, and then everyone could receive a bucket of grain regardless of men, women, old or young, high or low.

Zhao Huanjun and his ministers did not want to see Li Cunqian buying people's hearts.

But Zhao Huan and his ministers did not dare to take out their only more than 100 million shi of grain and distribute it to the people.

——If Zhao Huan and his ministers do this, there will be no way to guarantee the food for the dignitaries and the army of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Therefore, as a last resort, Zhao Huan and his ministers could only watch Li Cun buy people's hearts.

As for why Li Cun has so much food?
That is of course because Li Cun opened the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, not only can the seized goods from Bianliang City in Tokyo be sent to Tianfu safely and quickly through convenient waterways, but also food and troops can be transported continuously to Bianliang City in Tokyo.

It is precisely because of this that Cao Cheng also led 100 Dongfu troops to escort [-] million stone grain and grass to Bianliang City in Tokyo on the second day after Ma Zhong and Fan Qiong led their troops to Bianliang City in Tokyo.

Seeing this, Zhao Huan and his ministers discussed it, and felt that they had to continue to pay Li Cun the war indemnity, otherwise, if Li Cun attacked Bianliang City in Tokyo at this time, then their previous efforts would be wasted. Even the Zhao and Song dynasties fought national wars, and they were not afraid.

Therefore, it is very unwise to cut off the war indemnity promised to Li Cun now.

In the following days, while the teachers of King Qin of the Zhao Song Dynasty continued to gather, Zhao Huan and his ministers still racked their brains to collect war indemnities for Li Cun.

But unlike before, Zhao Huan felt very useless when he took out the war indemnity at this time.

Therefore, Zhao Huan was holding a breath in his heart all the time, looking forward to the day when he would be able to release this endless breath of depression.

Qin Wang's divisions gathered more and more until the Jingji and Hebei Road governors veteran Zhong Shidao and the commander Yao Pingzhong led the Western Army from Jingyuan Road and Qinfeng Road to the city of Bianliang in Tokyo. He has the strength to fight against the army.

Zhong Shidao is now 76 years old, and he is definitely an old veteran.

A few years ago, when Zhao Ji wanted to recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, considering the high prestige of Zhong Shidao in the Western Army, he appointed Zhong Shidao as the commander of the capital.

But Zhong Shidao objected to the Zhao and Song Dynasty taking advantage of the danger of the Liao Kingdom to attack the Liao Kingdom. Therefore, the plan of the Lianjin to destroy the Liao Dynasty and recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun was relatively negative, and it was also very unpleasant to get along with the commander Tong Guan.

Later, the Song Dynasty was attacked by the Liao army, and there were many casualties. Zhong Shidao ordered to fight back.

However, because the main force of the Western Army did not arrive at that time, the Liao Army was all horse troops, and the Song Army was mainly infantry, etc., Chong Shidao was defeated by Yelu Dashi.

After that incident, in order to protect himself, Tong Guan put all the responsibility on Zhong Shidao, and impeached Zhong Shidao for disrespecting Zhao Ji's imperial pen and reining in soldiers, causing the plan to recover Yanyun sixteen states to fail.

As a result, Zhong Shidao was dismissed and then forced to resign.

Later, the recovery of the Sixteen States of Yanyun did not go well, which allowed Li Cun to grow bigger and stronger.

Zhao Jicai realized that Zhong Shidao had the foresight, so he ordered the restoration of Zhong Shidao's post of Baojing Army Jiedu envoy, and let Zhong Shidao serve as the governor of Xianzhou and the prefect of Huanzhou. Later, because Zhong Shidao was too old That's it, let Zhong Shidao become an official again.

Last year, Zhao Ji thought of Zhong Shidao again before he took the Zen position, so the day before the Zen position, he appointed Zhong Shidao as the envoy of Gyeonggi and Hebei Road, and sent a special person to invite Zhong Shidao to lead the Western Army into Jingqin King.

After becoming an official, Zhong Shidao has been living in seclusion in Baolin Valley, Zhongnan Mountain. He really didn't expect that at the age of 76, he would be remembered by the emperor and entrusted with important tasks.

In this regard, Zhong Shidao was very moved.

Therefore, after receiving the order of King Qin, Zhong Shidao immediately reorganized the army and prepared for King Qin.

However, Zhong Shidao did not immediately lead his army eastward at that time.

——Chong Shidao concluded at the time that the army of the Daqian Dynasty must not dare to go deep alone, because this violated the taboo of military strategists. Li Cun is a master of soldiers, so he should not make this common-sense mistake.

Later, after Zhong Shidao led the army to set off, he did not march in a hurry, but only traveled [-] miles a day, so that the army could maintain its combat effectiveness at all times.

On the way to Bianliang City in Tokyo, Zhong Shidao encountered the [-]-horse army and [-]-foot army led by Yao Pingzhong, and then incorporated them and continued to march eastward at a leisurely pace.

It wasn't until he met Yin Tianhao, the governor of Kaifeng who was sent by Zhao Huan to rescue the soldiers, and the servants Pei Yi and Lu Shun, that Zhong Shidao knew that the Zhao Song Dynasty had changed emperors, and the Qian army had already surrounded Bianliang City in Tokyo. The new emperor, Zhao Huan, is having trouble sleeping and eating.

Tian Hao, Pei Yi, and Lu Shun urged Zhong Shidao to march quickly to rescue Bianliang City in Tokyo and rescue Jia.

But at this time, someone heard that Li Cun's troops might number as many as 20, and suggested: "The enemy is heavy, but if I attack it with light soldiers, I will be defeated. The soldiers who work hard in all directions will disintegrate. If not, then Stay in the Sishui to achieve complete victory."

Zhong Shidao replied: "No. Although I have worked hard for the king with a small army, if I return late and fail to advance, I will only be defeated. The enemy's army goes deep alone, and I fear that my reinforcements will arrive. It is unpredictable. But if you ride to the capital, the spirit of the capital will be invigorated."

Therefore, Zhong Shidao tried his best to overcome all opinions and led the army to advance rapidly.

The Ministry of Zhongshi and Daoist made great efforts along the road, and everywhere they passed, they posted a list saying: "Zhong Shaobao led millions of Western soldiers to come to serve the king."

When approaching Bianliang City in Tokyo, Zhong Shidao selected [-] cavalry from the Western Army as the vanguard, and asked them to wear armor, fully armed, carry sealed wax books, and go to Beijing to play first.

These twenty selected Western Army cavalry galloped away, and when they arrived outside the city of Tokyo, they happened to meet the dry army cavalry everywhere.

These [-] selected cavalrymen of the Western Army were not afraid of the enemy, and immediately galloped and launched an attack on the army that was several times larger than their own.

The leader of the Qianjun Rangers deduced that a large number of reinforcements from the Song Army had arrived, otherwise only [-] Song Army cavalry could not be so reckless, and then chose to retreat without a fight.

As a result, these twenty selected cavalrymen of the Western Army came to the city of Bianliang in Tokyo grandly, knocked on the gate of the city, and then entered the palace to present the wax book of teaching teachers to Zhao Huan.

After Zhao Huan learned about this, he saw the wax book of Zhong Shidao, and knew that Zhong Shidao had led the strongest Western Army of Zhao Song Dynasty to serve the king. He was overjoyed, and then sent people to summon Zhong Shidao to enter Tokyo as soon as possible. Bianliang City came to see him.

After receiving Zhao Huan's order, Zhong Shidao took advantage of the time when the Qianjun and horse troops under the city were defending the Xinlaiqin King's Zhe Keqiu and Zhang Jun's tribe. Tokyo Bianliang City.

Seeing this scene on the top of the city, Song Jun cheered and his morale increased greatly.

Zhao Huan was overjoyed after listening to the servant's detailed account of the incident!

After the excitement, Zhao Huan swept away his previous cowardice, gritted his teeth and said, "The time for my revenge is coming soon!"

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