Song Yi

Chapter 461 Lease
Despite the war between the two countries, the exchanges between the common people have not been greatly affected.The official peace market has been suspended due to the outbreak of war, but private trade is still very prosperous.Therefore, there are also quite a few Han Chinese from the Song Dynasty in Xingqing Mansion, and most of them are here to do business.There are also a large number of Han Chinese who have settled here for many years.Du Wenhao and the others mingled among them, unobtrusive.Of course, at this time, without seeing the accompanying officials from the Ministry of Rituals and the Imperial Forest Army escorting behind.

Caitou is very familiar with Xingqing Mansion, and there are many shops here, so he took Du Wenhao and the others to visit the whole Xingqing Mansion.Wang Runxue was a shopaholic. When she went out, she was empty-handed. When she came back, almost all the guards were full of things.

After the tour, return to the Royal Inn.

The three of them were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of Xixia's capital in the living room of their luxurious emperor's suite, when they heard a knock on the door, Du Wenhao called to come in, and Cai Tou led a middle-aged woman who covered her face with a scarf. ——Xixia is windy and sandy, and most women wear veils.

Du Wenhao looked at Cai Tou strangely, wanting to ask who it was, a little unfamiliar, Cai Tou smiled slightly, wiped it on his head, and took off the wig,

Du Wenhao took a closer look and found that the person who came was the secret envoy Wei named Shanli Gongma (weima for short) who was secretly sent by Emperor Huizong to ask the Song Dynasty to kill the Queen Mother Liang.

As expected, Du Wenhao smiled and gave up his seat.

After the two sat down, Du Wenhao said meaningfully: "Master Wei, since the last time we said goodbye, I haven't heard from you. It makes people miss you so much."

Wei Ma looked a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "The last time I came back, Empress Dowager Liang was ill, and she was very ill. The emperor said to see Empress Dowager Liang's illness first..."

"Hey, I understand, what your majesty means is that if Queen Mother Liang burps directly, you don't have to bother us, right? Now that the old witch is finished, why are you looking for me?"

Wei Ma's expression was even more embarrassing: "This... Mr. Zai Zhi misunderstood, our emperor never meant that, even though Queen Mother Liang is dead, the military and political power is still in the hands of Liang Yibu, the nephew of Queen Mother Liang. Our emperor still Decided to continue to form an alliance with Song Dynasty, please help the emperor regain the imperial power. It's just this condition, can we discuss it again..."

Du Wenhao thought to himself, since you took the initiative to come to me, it means that you must have something to ask for from me, and if you still give up the price at this time, you are simply the biggest fool in the world.Spreading his hands together, he said, "I've always said what I said. The price I offered last time was already the most favorable. If it's okay, it's fine. If it's not good, it's down. After we pay homage to the Empress Dowager Liang, if you still Continue to get married, then we will discuss with the regent about welcoming the bride, and return to Xixia after marrying the princess. If we don’t get married, we will slap our ass and leave!"

Wei Ma smiled sarcastically, and said, "Lord Zaizhi, Danshan Racecourse is really very important to me in Xixia, and it is really indispensable. How about we assign the land south of the Yellow River to Da Song?"

This piece of land does not include the Shandan Racecourse, and most of them are wasteland. Du Wenhao didn't pay attention to it at all. His goal was the Shandan Racecourse. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about it! Conditions cannot be changed!"

Wei Ma scratched his head: "To be honest, we also discussed with Daliao, and Daliao offered a much lower price, but our emperor has always been pro-Song, and is more willing to form an alliance with the Song Dynasty, so we don't consider it unless it is absolutely necessary. He invited soldiers from the Liao Kingdom."

Sure enough, this trick came, Du Wenhao had expected it a long time ago, and smiled slightly: "We don't care whether you rely on the Liao Kingdom to help you regain the imperial power, because the alliance between Song and Liao has been for a hundred years, and it will not endanger you because of your alliance with the Liao Kingdom. I belong to the Great Song Dynasty. Therefore, we don’t care if this matter succeeds or not. ——If Mr. Wei has nothing to do, please go back. I just went out and walked around a lot, and I’m tired, and I want to take a rest.”

Wei Ma was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Du Wenhao's answer to be so straightforward, and he immediately issued an order to evict the guest, he couldn't help being very embarrassed.

He pondered for a moment, cupped his fists and said, "Well, I will give you the Shandan Racecourse, but it is only limited to the Shandan Racecourse, excluding other places in Ganzhou and Liangzhou. And the old coins have to be paid at twice the previous standard. Please restore Heshi immediately and never stop!"

The yearly coins given to Xixia by the Song Dynasty every year are an important source of finance for Xixia. Copper and tin precious metals are basically imported from Song Dynasty.Especially for food, Xixia is mainly based on animal husbandry, so the annual food gap is very large, and it relies heavily on buying from Dasong.

The camels, horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock that Xixia exported to the Song Dynasty, as well as commonly used Chinese herbal medicines such as Bupleurum, wolfberry, and rhubarb, were also an important source of its finances. Only one item of green salt, Xixia sold [-] stones to the Song Dynasty every year. Xixia's important financial income.

So at that time, the Song Dynasty jokingly said that "Xia people look up to Wuhe City, like a baby looking up at milk".Every time the two sides fight, the payment of the old currency is stopped, and the market is cut off, the price of goods in Xixia will soar, and the famine will follow.

For this situation, Du Wenhao is naturally very clear that double the yearly coins is just a drop in the bucket for the financially strong Song Dynasty. However, he hates such things as land cession and compensation. Just get angry.Then he said coldly: "Absolutely not!"

"why?"

"It's very simple. An alliance is an alliance. Both parties must be equal. Why do I, Song Dynasty, give you hundreds of thousands of coins every year? What benefits do you give us? Why don't you give us money?"

Wei Ma said awkwardly: "This is what I Xixia professed to the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty bestowed it on us."

"Rewarding Fan Guo is a reciprocal payment under the situation of Fan Guo's tribute. It can only be decided by the emperor according to the situation. Whether to reward, how much to reward, and when to reward must be decided by the emperor. There is no contract that stipulates that rewards must be made every year. How much? What is this if it’s not a threat? So, I’ve already said that, as long as I’m in charge for a day, I’m firmly opposed to such old coins, and I will never allow them to continue to exist! It’s double talk, and it’s worthless Give!"

Du Wenhao became more and more angry as he spoke, and he stood up and said, "Besides, you only gave us the Shandan Racecourse, not including Liangzhou, and the Shandan Racecourse is near Tubo in your Xixia, hundreds of miles away from our border. If we want to go to Shandan Racecourse, we have to pass through Liangzhou, if you don’t give it to Liangzhou, how will we control it? Are we going to fly there?”

"We will assign the Shandan Racecourse to Dasong along the five-mile-wide section along the southwest border with Tubo to Dasong, so that you can directly control the Shandan Racecourse."

"What?" Du Wenhao's eyes widened. "A passage five miles wide? On the left is Tubo, and on the right is Xixia. It is five miles wide and hundreds of miles long. It looks like a noodle. This passage can be flushed by farting." Going out of the bounds, how do you want us to control it? If you pinch this channel, wouldn't the hundreds of thousands of horses we stocked at the Shandan Racecourse become your pockets? Your wishful thinking is well done! Let We will help you to be the horses and gentlemen, raise the horses, and you will eat the ready-made ones, right? Just for you, I know that you have no sincerity at all! — That’s enough! See off the guests!”

Wei Ma looked rather embarrassed, and hurriedly glanced at Cai Tou.

Caitou understood, and hurriedly stepped forward to laugh with him and said: "The Duke of the country calm down, speak slowly if you have something to say, it's easy to discuss..."

Du Wenhao said angrily: "What are you discussing? What time is it now? The Empress Dowager Liang has just passed away, and Liang Yibu has just regented, and the foundation is stable. At this critical moment of regaining the imperial power, the other party will have an extra preparation one day later. They are not in a hurry. In a hurry!"

Wei Ma's heart trembled, what he said was indeed reasonable, time is the most precious right now, he immediately turned his heart to the side, and said in a low voice: "That's good! Master Zai Zhi, how about it, let me make another suggestion for you to listen to." , if this is not enough, I have nothing to do. I can only go back and report to the emperor."

Du Wenhao knew that there was a door, and he was secretly happy in his heart, but his face was full of anger, and he sat back on the chair without looking at the horse.

Wei Ma cupped his hands and said, "Since Mr. Zaizhi is taboo about giving a gift at the age of year, we can change the way. What do you think? ——I, Xixia, give you the Shandan Racecourse and the narrow passage, Ganzhou and Liangzhou. The rest of the land is considered to be leased by you, and the rent you pay every year is twice the amount of the original old currency. What do you think?"

This is about the same, Du Wenhao thought, this result is still satisfactory, after all, Emperor Huizong was pro-Song, helping him regain the imperial power, supporting a pro-Song emperor is very beneficial to Song, even if there is no other price, This result is also what Da Song hopes.Now Xixia has ceded the Shandan Racecourse to Da Song, which is already an extra bonus. At the same time, you can also lease Liangzhou and Ganzhou in Xixia. These two states are very large, accounting for about one tenth of the total area of ​​​​Xixia , and are all fertile Hetao Plains.

The rent is calculated at twice the original Sui currency. The original Sui bestowed 2000 taels of Xixia silver, 15 pieces of silk, and [-] catties of tea. Even if the rent is doubled, it is still very cost-effective, because these two The soil in the state is fertile. Due to the small agricultural population in Xixia, a lot of it is wasteland. Once developed, the products produced will definitely exceed twice the amount of money.This business is definitely a profit but not a loss!

Du Wenhao had already agreed in his stomach, but his face remained calm: "How long is the lease?"

"How about ten years? At the end of ten years, you will return the leased area to Xixia."

"Then how do we count the buildings we build on this land?"

"The house can be taken anywhere, so it belongs to us. Because the two lands are very large, the rent is already very cheap for twice the amount of old coins."

"Haha, you have a good plan. In ten years, we have almost completed the construction, so we should return it to you. It is equivalent to working for you for free! Hehe."

(End of this chapter)