lady, please calm down

Chapter 370

At the end of May, Lu Yanzhong, the winner of the first Four-Way Award, was blocked by Zhou Guo for more than 20 days and was ultimately unable to make the trip.

On May 30, Caizhou Academy of Literature awarded the award to Lu Yanzhong in the absence of the winner.

On the same day, the Caizhou Institute of Liberal Arts and the award's co-organizers, the Association for Press Promotion, the Caizhou Federation of Students, Scholars Without Borders and other relevant organizations issued a joint statement at the Caizhou Five-Day Talk, expressing indignation at Zhou's actions in obstructing exchanges between the two places. and regret.

Although the protagonist Lu Yanzhong did not arrive, after a month or two of public opinion building, a large number of scholars gathered in Huaibei.

Taking advantage of this popularity, in early June, Huaibei suddenly announced that Li Qingzhao, a contemporary poet known as the world's best lyricist, had assumed the post of director of the Huaxia Museum.

As soon as this news came out, the state of Zhou was in an uproar.

Since Ding Wei, only famous scholars and scholars have fled from Qi to Zhou, and Zhou has left Qi. This is the first case!

Public opinion in the Zhou Dynasty was passive and they tried their best to reduce the impact of this incident. However, immediately afterwards, the Xinli Museum held its first exhibition, once again stirring up scholars all over the world.

There is only one object in this exhibition, called the ‘Chinese Tripod’.

Speaking of which, this Chinese tripod has a deep connection with the Zhou Dynasty. More than ten years before Ding Wei, six Western Zhou bronze vessels were unearthed in Anzhou, the Zhou Dynasty.

Known as the Six Anzhou Utensils, the most precious one is the inscribed square tripod. Among the inscriptions, there is a set of Yi hexagrams from the early Western Zhou Dynasty.

Later, it was taken into the palace by Chai Ji, the emperor of Zhou Dynasty, who regarded it as a treasure.

During the Wei Dynasty of Ding Dynasty, the tripod was buried deep underground by the palace officials because it was heavy and difficult to carry.

'Ding' has always been of great significance. One word, nine tripods, can determine the world. Ever since Dayu cast nine tripods to subjugate the nine states of the world, this kind of utensil has become a symbol of imperial power.

How can ordinary people have the opportunity to see it with their own eyes?

Therefore, as soon as the news of the public exhibition of the Zhongfang Ding came out, it immediately caused a stir in the epigraphic world. Countless enthusiasts rushed to Caizhou to see the true appearance of the antiquities.

As for the great collectors of gold and stone, they are highly overlapped with famous scholars.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Huaibei also announced that the Huaxia Museum is collecting antiquities from all over the world. If they are selected to be included in the museum's collection, they will receive a gift of thousands of dollars, with no cap, and a monument will be engraved and named for the original owner.

Huaibei is prosperous, and after private merchants have money, they naturally want to collect on "elegance", so the trend of collecting has been formed a few years ago.

Everyone who is well-informed knows that the museum's collection of antiquities from the public is apparently the work of layman Yi An, but in fact it is the daughter of Chen Jingyan, the concubine of the King of Chu and the appeasement envoy of Henan Road, who is supporting it.

What the side concubine means, isn’t that what the King of Chu means?

After understanding this connection, the businessmen who had made a lot of money with the King of Chu were about to express their gratitude. On the third day of June, Chang Dechang, a wealthy businessman in Yingzhou, donated the "Lanting Preface" to the museum. Feng Chengsu, a secretary in the Tang Dynasty, copied the volume.

With him taking the lead, other businessmen would also want to take a few high-quality antiques.

If outsiders are like this, our own people can't lag behind others. Cai Yuan in Tokyo, Xu Bang, and Ximen Gong in Caizhou either picked out a few treasures from their own collections, or immediately bought them at high prices.

In short, they all contributed their own efforts to the establishment of the museum.

But, there are bad people among the brothers!

Chen Jingyan, the old man, didn't know whether he wanted to show off in front of the Li family or to save face for his daughter. Anyway, relying on the family background, he actually presented the "Pingfu Tie" written by Lu Ji of the Jin Dynasty.

Although this calligraphy only has more than 80 characters, it is known as the "Mo Emperor" in the world of calligraphy and painting!

Since the book was written in the Jin Dynasty, it has been passed down in an orderly manner until the war in the late Tang Dynasty, when it disappeared and there was no news for two to three hundred years. Unexpectedly, it was actually hidden by the Chen family in Yingchuan!

The Chen family has spent a lot of money on this son-in-law!

In short, "Pingfu Tie" was lost and reappeared, causing a sensation in the calligraphy world.

With this calligraphy, the treasures presented by brothers Lao Cai, Lao Xu, and Ximen were immediately reduced to tatters.

This is more than a fart!

You little cuckold, you are really good.

Families who had good relations with the King of Chu from all over the country continued to transport precious and ordinary antiquities to Huaibei. Among them, the Zhejia family on Linfu Road sent ten-sided stone drums with more than 600 words of inscriptions on them, called Chencang Stone Drums.

When Chen Chu saw the ordinary big lump of stone, he secretly scolded Zhe Yan for being unreasonable and fooling himself with a few broken stones.

But when everyone saw Li, they were overjoyed.

We don’t understand either, and we don’t dare to ask.

Throughout early June, the Huaibei Bogu community was almost going crazy.

Of course, among the donated antiquities, there are also some mediocre or fake ones meant to make money.

Li and everyone alone will definitely not be able to identify them.

Therefore, Ayu organized the big names in the cultural circles who came to Huaibei to visit the Chinese Fang Ding after hearing the news, and used them as judges to select antiquities.

The position of 'judge' also means recognition of their 'authoritative' status, and the bosses happily accept the order.

Of course, many ridiculous things also happened in this process.

For example, an old man wanted to sell a broken bowl to a museum for eight thousand guan, and swore that it was the rice bowl of the First Emperor.

The First Emperor's bowl was not as exquisite as Sangbiao's rice bowl.

There is also an old woman who claims to be surnamed Tang. She is holding a fur hat and says that this hat is the crown worn by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty when he ascended the throne. It is not expensive at all to sell it to you! She also said that she was the eighteenth generation grandson of the Tang Emperor, a royal princess and a real golden child!

Han Fang, who was in charge of the appraisal at the scene, annoyed the old woman with just two words, "Old madam, your surname is Tang, how can you be a descendant of Taizong? Don't you know that the surname of Emperor Tang was Li?"

"Uh-huh! Can I still trick you? This treasure has been passed down in my family for more than 800 years. Let's sell it to you at a cheaper price! One thousand guan, one thousand guan head office!"

"Ahem, it's not even 800 years since Li Tang founded the country."

"My mother-in-law's feet! You don't understand shit."

The old lady broke through the defense. If there were not sergeants on site to maintain order, she almost wanted to capture Han Fang's face.

This group of old people, whom Chen Chu called the 'National Treasure Gang', often had quarrels with their bosses in exchange for the thousand-dollar starting reward.

Ayu stayed at the audition site for a whole day, laughing until her stomach ached.

In short, the excitement belongs to Huaibei, and the loneliness belongs to Zhou.

In just a few months, famous people came to Qi, and the cauldron appeared in Huaibei. Why is there a faint sign of the imperial aura moving northward?

And this silent way of moisturizing things is the most deadly. Although the Northern Kingdom has not become king or hegemon, it has a museum that collects the most important weapons of the past dynasties, a lively scene where celebrities gather, and a high level of discussion.

Emperor Zhou was very anxious.

So in June, under his instruction, Lin'an hurriedly established the Zhou State Museum, hoping to imitate the cat and draw the tiger.

But because the world's attention was all on Huaibei at the time, it didn't cause much trouble.

On the tenth day of June, amidst the hustle and bustle, Chen Chu quietly left the city for Shouzhou. This trip was to discuss with Yang Dalang the reorganization of the Huaibei Army.

In the past, in order not to be too conspicuous within Qi State, the Huaibei Army always followed the old military system.

But as the environment changes, Chen Chu no longer needs to be secretive.

The top priority of this reorganization plan is to remove the personal imprint of officers in the army. For example, in the first-level establishment of the Military Guards Army, the battalion under Qin Dachuan's battalion is called "Sichuan Ziying".

"The names Zhenhuai, Wuwei, Guangjie, etc. were too complicated. Later, the army was transformed into a regiment and directly renamed the 123th Regiment. Each regiment had four battalions, one of which was the Majun camp. The regiment headquarters was directly under the First Qingqi Reconnaissance Company , a baggage company, a guard company, a total of 2,500 soldiers. The four regiments are brigades, and there is a brigade commander."

Transforming the army into a regiment, but the number of personnel remains basically unchanged, which can shorten the adaptation time of soldiers.

However, due to the foundation of Huaibei's establishment, the army to suppress Huai was seriously overstaffed and needed to be divided into two.

Yang Dalang had no objection to the adaptation. In recent years, when the Huaibei Army occasionally went out to fight, he always guarded the home. This shows Chen Chu's trust in Dalang.

After the adaptation, it goes without saying that no one but him can take the position of Shouzhou Brigade Commander.

"Hey, Brother Chu, I heard that the Tianlei Battalion directly under the Huaibei Army showed great power on Hebei Road last year. Can you give me some Shouzhou troops to show off?"

Before Chen Chu said his plan, Dalang had the idea of ​​​​Tianlei Camp.

Chen Chu couldn't help but smile and explained: "In this reorganization, the Tianlei Battalion will be expanded from a battalion to a regiment. However, this service has extremely high requirements for logistics and equipment. It is assigned to a regiment-level combat unit and the logistics are simply unbearable. Therefore, in principle, the artillery remains They will be used intensively. But when the production of copper cannons increases in the second half of the year, we can give you a few cannons in Shouzhou for city defense."

After the expansion of the Tianlei Battalion, one regiment alone would need a thousand packhorses, and with corresponding charioteers and a full complement of 2,500 people, logistics would account for 60% of the total number.

"That's fine." Da Lang was satisfied that it was a good idea to ask for artillery.

Chen Chu then said, "On your side, you can now recruit troops freely."

"Seriously?" Yang Dalang looked surprised.

There are Liu Erhu's regiment and Dalang's newly recruited soldiers regiment in Shouzhou. In reality, a large number of young men and women come to apply for recruitment outside the military camp every day.

But Dalang only had such a large establishment in his hands, and the monthly rations were allocated according to the personnel of the two regiments. He could only watch the loss of many good soldiers.

Nowadays, it is not as easy to recruit soldiers in Caizhou as it was in the early years. This is related to the local economic situation. Caizhou's industry and commerce are developed. Young people can work in the market, work as clerks in merchants, become merchants and hawkers, or even stay at home and farm. A relatively good income.

As a result, there are more ways to choose independently, and the willingness to serve as a soldier is reduced.

The same was true in later generations of China. Recruiting soldiers on the southeast coast was more difficult. Some prosperous villages and towns even offered six-figure cash rewards to young people joining the army, but the number of applicants was still very few.

However, in the relatively backward Ganlong region, young people are still enthusiastic about joining the army.

It's not that he doesn't want to join the army because he doesn't want to defend his country. Chen Chu believes that if China encounters Fusang's invasion again, 100 million young people and 100 million troops can achieve success in a day or night.

After all, in the late winter of 1937, what happened to the ancestors in Jinling City is still before our eyes.

If there are elderly parents, frightened wives and children standing behind them, few men will shrink back, even when faced with swords and guns.

The same is true in Caizhou today. If the Jin soldiers invade the south again, workers in the workshops, farmers in the fields, and clerks in the merchant houses will not lack the courage to protect their families.

The premise is that there needs to be organizational power to twist the power of tens of millions of people into a rope. Otherwise, there is no difference between resistance and death.

However, such war mobilization should not be carried out until the war to destroy the country, because it is a desperate effort at the expense of the economy, food and clothing, and even order.

At least the Huaibei in front of us is far from that point.

Recruiting troops in Shouzhou is a precautionary measure.

"Dalang, the two states of Su and Bo next to your Shouzhou are relatively poor. You can start recruiting troops from these two states. Furthermore, Shouzhou is not far from Shandong Road, and the soldiers from Lu are tall, loyal and brave, and they are also a good source of soldiers."

Dalang had already thought about Chen Chu's words. Hearing the words, he just said: "Brother Chu, just tell me directly. How many soldiers need to be recruited?"

"At least 20,000, preferably 30,000." Chen Chu said without thinking.

Dalang was shocked, "So many? Can Caizhou afford food and shelter?"

After all, he has led troops for many years. The so-called "Caizhou can afford food and shelter" means that if he recruits so many people, the pressure from military pay and food will double instantly, and he is worried that Huaibei's economy will be brought down.

Chen Chu said, "You don't need to worry about this, you just need to train the new soldiers well."

Nowadays, the revenue of the two major cash cows, Sihai Commercial Bank and Luliuwei Farm Reclamation, has already exceeded the tax of Qi State. However, if the burden of an additional 20,000 to 30,000 troops is added at once, there is still a lot of pressure.

However, there is still a golden mountain in Huaibei that has not been discovered. That is the stock exchange.

There has been a saying among Huaibei's senior officials that the exchange's funds account for 20% of the world's wealth.

The entire transaction process and legal formulation of the exchange are all under the control of Huaibei. If Chen Chu wants to, he can naturally draw huge amounts of funds from it to build an army.

But this kind of thing is risky after all. If the Huaibei Army wins many foreign battles in the next few years and continues to add war dividends to Huaibei, there will be no problem.

But once the battle is defeated, the stock price plummets, and the hole in the misappropriation of funds by merchants selling stocks will inevitably be exposed. The result will be the credit bankruptcy of the entire Huaibei system.

But then again, if there is a disastrous defeat, Huaibei may cease to exist, and whether its credibility collapses or not depends on the relationship.

Dalang stared at Chen Chu silently for a moment. After being brothers for many years, he noticed something strange and couldn't help but ask: "Brother Chu, why do I think you are a little anxious? According to Mr. Yanagawa's plan, we still need to stay dormant. It will take five or six years to wait for the right time."

Chen Chu said: "Since taking control of Tokyo last year, I feel that we can no longer hide. Now we are in charge of Hebei Road, and we are only separated from the Kingdom of Jin by a river. Whenever there is friction between the two places, it may lead to trouble. Out for a big fight.”

"Did you hear any news?" Dalang seemed to hear something unusual and lowered his voice involuntarily.

Chen Chu was silent for a moment and said: "The news from the Jin Kingdom is that in March this year, King Hailing of the Jin Kingdom made a request to the Emperor Jin to invite me to Huanglong Mansion to receive the title."

"You must not go!" Dalang was shocked.

"Of course I won't go." Chen Chu laughed and continued: "Some people have lobbied Jin Emperor to help me temporarily block it. But no one can say for sure whether King Hailing will go to the table again. In short, so I’m afraid our current situation in Huaibei cannot be hidden.”

After saying that, Chen Chu smiled openly and said: "However, in this era of great strife, it is already rare for us brothers to be allowed to develop from scratch for many years. If it comes to the day when we can no longer hide it, we will not hide it. ”

(End of this chapter)