I studied in modern times

Chapter 676 Pandora's Box Opened

The first year of Yuanyou in the Great Song Dynasty, the first year of Zhiping in the Western Tianyi period, November Gengshen (the sixth day).

In a Xixia stronghold west of Maxian Mountain, Liang Yibu finally met Liang Ziqing, the envoy he had sent to Xihe to ask for peace more than a month ago.

There has been no news of Liang Ziqing since he was sent out.

The Xihe side of the Southern Barbarians has also remained silent.

But now, he is back, and his identity has become a messenger from the Southern Barbarians.

"Prime Minister..." Liang Ziqing bowed his head and said, "This is a letter from Xiang Zonghui, the official of the Nanman Xihe Border Defense Finance Office, who ordered me to give it to the Prime Minister..."

Liang Yibu took the letter from Liang Ziqing with suspicion.

He did not open it immediately, but looked at Liang Ziqing and asked, "I heard that Xiang Zonghui is the Nanman Queen Mother's biological brother?"

"Yes……"

"What kind of person is he?" Liang Yibu asked.

Liang Ziqing thought about it and recalled the appearance of Xiang Zonghui, the younger brother of the Southern Barbarian Queen Mother, whom he met in Kangu City.

In his impression, Xiang Zonghui always had a smile on his face, spoke softly to everyone, was very elegant, and looked harmless.

They are more like merchants than officials or nobles.

Whenever possible, he likes to talk about benefits and profits.

To him, it seems that as long as there are enough benefits, he can sell his conscience!
only……

Liang Ziqing knew that he could not say this, he had to add some material and exaggerate it, otherwise, where would the Prime Minister put his face? So he bowed and said, "I will tell the Prime Minister that he has the eyes of an eagle and the back of a wolf, he is treacherous and vicious, and he is not like an ordinary southern barbarian scholar or noble... I think he will become a powerful official in the southern barbarians sooner or later!"

"Yeah!" Liang Yibu nodded.

This is right!

This time, his plan to attack the Southern Barbarians ended in complete failure.

Not only did other directions suffer heavy losses, but even the main force under his command also suffered a major setback in the direction of Dingxi City!

Don’t underestimate the loss - the total number of people killed, escaped, missing, and captured was no more than 20,000.

Most of them are tribal troops.

The loss of real elite troops would not exceed two thousand.

However, as the war progressed, he and his army were faced with the horrific sight of hundreds of thousands or even more Southern Barbarian soldiers and horses, who constantly attacked and harassed them along the long Maxian Mountain.

At the same time, the main force of the Nanman also outflanked his main force from Huichuan and other places.

Once their goal is achieved, they may leave him in the river valley and mountain area between Maxian Mountain and Tiandu Mountain.

This forced him to mobilize elite troops to defend against possible raid routes by the Nanman cavalry.

At the same time, he also had to send heavy troops to protect the grain route to prevent it from being cut off by the southern barbarian cavalry.

All of this caused his army's attrition rate to increase significantly.

This made Liang Yibu very embarrassed!
Because at the beginning of the war, Zhao Xie was just an old and confused corpse in his eyes.

Xiang Zonghui and Gao Gongji possess all five vices of greed, cowardice, fear and timidity.

A helper who will definitely help him succeed!

In fact, he also used this reason to convince people at home - don’t you know what the southern barbarian relatives are like?
Now, there are these two relatives in Lanzhou.

This is a godsend opportunity, don't miss it!
Now that Liang Yibu was defeated, the propaganda from that time became a thorn in his heart.

If Zhao Xie was an old and foolish corpse in a grave, and Xiang Zonghui and Gao Gongji were greedy, cowardly and timid relatives of the southern barbarians.

So who is he?
Liang Ziqing's return made Liang Yibu very satisfied - that's what is right!
He held the letter and asked, "What does Xiang Zonghui want to say to me?"

Liang Ziqing bowed again: "The Prime Minister will know when he sees the letter..."

Liang Yibu frowned and opened the letter suspiciously.

However, his face froze.

Immediately, his face turned red.

"This is too much!" Liang Yibu slammed the table and stood up: "What do the southern barbarians think of me?"

In the letter, the Queen Mother's brother from the Southern Barbarians proposed a deal to him.

Xiang Zonghui stated in the letter that he had received pleas from dozens of leaders of the Hengshan Qiang tribe.

All the leaders stated that a large number of men, women and children in their tribes had been forcibly conscripted or abducted by him.

The teachings of sages focus on the two words benevolence and righteousness.

Therefore, he adhered to the teachings of benevolence and righteousness to Zong Hui, and was willing to follow the example of Zigong redeeming people, and pay money to Liang Yibu to redeem the men, women and children who were unfortunately abducted.

As for the price, Xiang Zonghui offered 70 strings of iron coins for each able-bodied man, 50 strings of iron coins for each woman and child, and 30 strings of iron coins for each child.

This is really going too far!

Yokoyama is from the Great White High Country!

All the Qiang people in Hengshan are subjects of the Dabaigao Kingdom!

It is the national law for the Wu soldiers to conscript able-bodied civilians into the army. Why do you, the southern barbarians, have the right to interfere?
Still being sarcastic and righteous?

What really broke Liang Yibu’s defense was the price offered by the other party.

A strong man costs seventy strings of iron coins, a woman and child costs fifty strings, and a child costs thirty strings of iron coins?

In other words, doesn't it mean that the other party intends to buy people from him at the price of seven strings of cash for a strong man, five strings of cash for a woman or child, and three strings of cash for a child?

What about sending beggars away?

Besides, why does he want iron money?

The Great Baigao Kingdom also had cast iron coins, so why did it want the iron coins of the Southern Barbarians?
Is he that stupid?
Until Liang Ziqing took out a grayish-white coin from his arms.

Liang Yibu's expression changed immediately.

He reached out to take the coin, weighed it in his hand, studied it for a moment, and then exclaimed: "Fine iron?"

The Dangxiang people had very advanced forging skills.

The armor worn by their elite ace Iron Harriers is called Wart Armor.

This armor is made by cold forging and tempering, and can defend against most bows and arrows.

Even with the divine arm bow, it can only have a chance to penetrate at a distance of about ten steps!
This is exactly what the Iron Hawks rely on to dominate the world.

This is also the bottleneck that prevents the Iron Harriers from exceeding 3,000 people - the refined iron needed for cold forging is too expensive!

It was so expensive that even with the whole country's strength, Xixia could only forge about 3,000 sets of wart armor and maintain its normal renewal.

Any more and we may end up in financial bankruptcy!

But now, the iron coin that was brought to him was made of fine iron, and was not mixed with other impurities that could not be melted.

This means that after taking such fine iron coins back home, one only needs to mobilize skilled craftsmen to forge them into wart armor.

Therefore, its weight is only equivalent to that of a small flat coin.

But its value may be higher than copper coins!
Especially in the current situation, this kind of iron coins made of fine iron have an irresistible and fatal attraction to Liang Yibu!

As long as he has enough such iron coins, he can take them back and have the craftsmen make them into wart armor.

He can use these wart armors to create an iron kite of his own!

Once this happened... Liang Yibu's heart began to beat rapidly.

Liang Yibu looked at Liang Ziqing, trying to maintain his composure, and asked, "Which foreign relative of the Southern Barbarians is willing to use iron coins made of fine iron to redeem those Qiang men, women and children?"

Although Liang Yibu was not very proficient in arithmetic, he knew that one string of Nanman copper coins weighed about two and a half kilograms.

Seventy guan is one hundred and fifty jin!

Even the craftsmen in the Iron Works Institute of the Great Baigao Kingdom would suffer huge losses during forging.

But one hundred and fifty kilograms of fine iron was enough for him to forge a set of wart armor.

And as long as there is Wart Armor, there is Iron Kit!
In other words, how could that southern barbarian relative named Xiang Zonghui do such a stupid thing unless he was kicked in the head by a donkey?

If he was really so stupid, Liang Yibu would immediately throw all the men, women and children to the other side.

On average, a strong man weighs 150 kilograms of fine iron, a woman weighs 120 kilograms, and even a child is worth 75 kilograms!
He sells it with his eyes closed!
He could even join forces with Weiming Pochou and throw all the tribes in Tiandu Mountain to Nanman without any burden.

Liang Ziqing shook his head slowly and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, Xiang Zonghui said that this coin made of fine iron was a reward given by the Emperor of the Southern Barbarians to the generals and soldiers of Xihe. It is extremely precious! If it weren't for the leaders of the Qiang tribes crying day and night, he would never be willing to give it out!"

"Now, because I remember the teachings of Confucius and Mencius on benevolence and forgiveness, and I feel the pain of the separation of husbands and wives, fathers and sons, and grandparents and grandchildren, I have decided to use it!"

"Therefore, he can only pay per capita..."

"For every man, woman, child, or child returned by the prime minister from the Hengshan Qiang tribe, Xiang Zonghui will give the prime minister one string of fine iron coins, and for the rest, he will pay with old iron coins."

Liang Yibu listened with his eyes flickering.

"Always?" he murmured.

One guan weighs about two and a half pounds, and a set of wart armor requires at least one hundred pounds of fine iron as raw material (the Western Xia wart armor uses a cold forging method, according to Shen Kuo's records: no fire is used, it is cold forged, and the thickness is two-thirds less than the original thickness! Naturally, this process tests the craftsman's skills and control of the temperature. If you are not careful, it will be scrapped. The loss rate is astonishingly high. Although there is no record, I personally estimate that the yield rate should be less than 30%.), in other words, it takes at least forty people to exchange for the raw materials that are barely enough for a set of wart armor.

Liang Yibu suddenly hesitated.

He looked at Liang Ziqing and asked, "In your opinion, can the Nanman still add more money?"

Liang Ziqing shook his head and bowed, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, I'm afraid this matter is difficult."

Liang Yiwu nodded. Indeed, the value of refined iron was beyond words. It was the hard currency of the whole world.

To him, it is even more valuable than gold and silver.

Because gold and silver cannot win a battle, but warts can!
As long as there are enough wart nails, for example, one thousand or two thousand sets.

That would be enough to make him invincible!
but……

Liang Yibu played with the fine iron coin in his hand, then he looked at Liang Ziqing and asked, "Why was Xiang Zonghui willing to redeem Ding Zhuang with fine iron money?"

Even in the South, refined iron is not cheap!
So why?
Liang Yibu was eager to know the answer to this question.

Liang Ziqing bowed his head and said, "Since I entered the territory of the Southern Barbarians, I have been under house arrest in the city of Kangu... until recently, I was summoned by Xiang Zonghui, the official of the Border Defense Finance Department of the Southern Barbarians... I really don't know anything else..."

Liang Yibu hummed and said, "Xiang Zonghui must have some sinister intentions!"

What about the Qiang leaders crying out? What about the teachings of Confucius and Mencius on benevolence and forgiveness?
Who believes?

Liang Yibu doesn’t believe it anyway!
If the Nanman were really as good as they said.

Why did Taizu and Jingzong rebel back then?

If those noble generals of the Southern Barbarians really regarded the Qiang people in Hengshan as human beings.

How can the Dabai Gao Kingdom defend Hengshan?

It had already been flattened by the southern barbarians!
Over the past hundred years, the southern barbarians who had been discriminating against and despising the Hengshan Qiang people suddenly began to pay attention to the Hengshan Qiang people one day.

Are you willing to use the strategically valuable refined iron to redeem the Qiang men, women, and children?!

Who would believe that there is no trick here?
At this moment, Liang Yibu recalled what had happened to the Hengshan Qiang tribe this year.

Under the influence of drought, countless tribes fled to the Xihe River in the south.

Large numbers of young men, carrying the elderly and children, crossed the border and entered the territory of the Southern Barbarians.

In the past, once something like this happened, the southern barbarian troops guarding the border would immediately block the border and ruthlessly drive away the Qiang people - the stinking beggars came to the Song Dynasty to beg for food again!

But this year, the situation has reversed.

The fleeing Qiang people were not only not stopped, but were welcomed instead.

The army of the Southern Barbarians even took the initiative to enter the territory of the Great Baigao Kingdom to meet and escort the fleeing Qiang people.

The same thing happened in Tubo.

It is said that the situation of the Tibetans was even worse - Xiba Wen and Wen Xixin blatantly organized their troops to penetrate deep into the various tribes, abducting, deceiving and even forcibly abducting people!
This was also the fuse of this war.

The Tibetans can no longer endure it!
Aligu and Qingyi formed a ghost chapter, and they were both determined to get rid of the two thorns of Xige City and Miaochuan City!
So, he took the initiative to contact him, and Qing Yi Jie Gui Zhang even sent his own son and heir Jie Wa Gou as a hostage to gain his trust.

Yes……

Liang Yibu remembered more information that he had once overlooked.

When Jie Wagou was a hostage here, he seemed to have said that the Southern Barbarians had reclaimed wasteland in Xizhou, Hezhou, Huizhou and even Lanzhou, and they were planting something called kapok.

The cultivation of kapok trees requires a large number of manpower.

So, is this the truth?

Liang Yibu pursed his lips.

"Kapok?" he murmured to himself.

"It's a pity that there has been no news of Weiming Ami, Muradubuke and others since they went to Nanman. Otherwise, I might be able to know the details!"

Before and after the war broke out, he sent out more than a dozen waves of spies to go deep into the Southern Barbarian Xihe to gather information.

However, everyone is gone and will never come back!

It's like ink dripping into paper and instantly soaking into it!

Even if he sent the two young men he admired most, Weiming Ami and Muradubuke, it was the same. No one knew whether they were alive or dead, and there was no news at all!
Thinking of this, Liang Yibu decided to give it a try.

He looked at Liang Ziqing and said, "Ziqing, please go to Nanman again and pass on my message to Nanman..."

"They are willing to redeem the Qiang tribe's men, women, and children. I can agree to this!"

He now has more than 100,000 strong men under his command!
Too much!
Now that the war has been defeated and the troops are about to be withdrawn, these people have become a huge burden.

The Qiang people are fine, they will disband directly when they return to Nanmu.

However, the troops mobilized from various Tangut tribes were a bit troublesome.

Because according to tradition, the Dabai Gao Kingdom must compensate and provide relief to the lost troops and horses.

This is a national policy!

It is also the fundamental reason for maintaining the cohesion of various departments.

If there is no reasonable compensation, there will be no fools to respond the next time there is a war.

But Liang Yibu couldn't offer any compensation now.

Once this happened, Liang Yibu knew that Xingqing Mansion's sister would definitely jump out and announce that the compensation would be paid by Wuzu.

If this is the case, his appeal and prestige as the prime minister among the various departments will be wiped out.

So he must compensate these people for their losses and provide relief to the dead.

It just so happens that the Southern Barbarians need population, don’t they?

Then take this opportunity to rip them off!

Liang Yibu looked at Liang Ziqing and said, "But the price they offered is not enough!"

"You have to pay more!"

"At least everyone should add a bushel of rice!"

Food is also hard currency nowadays!

(End of this chapter)