Song Dynasty Cannon Fodder Counterattack Record

Chapter 112
Li Buqi dipped his finger in the water and drew a simplified map on the table including the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the Korean Peninsula and the Sea of ​​Japan, and introduced it to Cao Yi: "For buying ginseng, you still need to find the Jurchen. Uncle Guo will come and see." , Although the Song Dynasty and Jurchen are separated by the Liao Kingdom on land, they can go around by sea. The old man said that from Dengzhou to the south, you can reach the southern tip of Koryo, and then sail eastward along the coast of Koryo and then turn north. Arrive at the place where the Jurchens live. As long as you can find the Jurchens, it will be easy. It is said that the Liao people did not give them iron tools to guard against the Jurchens, so as long as you exchange iron tools with them, you can get ginseng if you want.”

"It's just that no one has ever traveled this route. The sea route is thousands of miles away, and someone needs to explore the way. That's why I said that I need to recruit dead men. And these dead men are not one or two, but at least one boat. Goryeo is now a vassal of Liao Although there are also ships going to Mingzhou for trade, I don’t know how they will treat people from the Song Dynasty. Going to the east of Koryo, there are few people. The Jurchen’s situation is unknown. Points, so people on board need to have people with strong force to deal with the worst situation."

"Oh, this is indeed a bit difficult."

"Also, if the Liao Kingdom knows that the Song Dynasty sent ships to that place, I'm afraid it will cause disputes between the two countries. If it is to be done properly, the people sent can only use the names of maritime merchants or pirates, and they cannot compete with the government. There's something wrong with it."

"Oh, yes. It's really a matter of thought."

Li Buqi was afraid that the difficulties presented would frighten Uncle Cao Guo, so he threw out another big temptation: "If this channel is opened up to trade with the Jurchens, it will be a profitable business. There are more than ginseng in Liaodong." .”

"Oh? What else is there?"

"There are a lot of good things. It is an extremely cold place, and the fur is the best, especially mink and fox fur, which are unmatched in the Central Plains. In addition, there are deer antler and Dongzhu. By the way, there is also a kind of snow clam. These things are really good nourishing products for tonifying the deficiency, nourishing the lungs, and strengthening the body. If you can transport these things back, it will be a lot of copper coins, and you only need to give them some axes and kitchen knives to trade with the Jurchens."

Cao Yu nodded and said, "It turns out that there are so many good things in Liaodong. At first, I thought it was a barren land. It's just that this matter really involves a lot, and I have to ask the officials to decide. By the way, if I can communicate with the Jurchen Contact, maybe it can solve the official's concern."

"What's on your mind?"

"In fact, since the founding of the Song Dynasty, some people have suggested that if the Jurchens can be used to contain the Liao Kingdom in the north, the Liao Kingdom will have no time to look south. Therefore, when the Jurchens came to pay tribute at the beginning of the founding of the country, Taizong rewarded them, but later the road was blocked by the Liao Kingdom. But the officials have always cared about contacting the Jurchen. It would be a pleasant surprise if they could get in touch with the Jurchen through this sea route."

It turns out that the Song people already knew that the Jurchen existed.This is something Li Buqi did not expect.This is also good, the more the kings and ministers of the Song Dynasty placed high hopes on this route, the greater the possibility of success of this route.

This route will give Li Buqi the opportunity to reach into the Sea of ​​Japan.Going further east in the Sea of ​​Japan is the Thousand Islands, and continuing east is the Aleutian Islands.The Russians are said to have tracked seals all the way to Alaska for furs.Intervening in the Sea of ​​Japan is the first step for Li Buqi to let the Song people land on the American continent. As long as the Song people land in the Americas, and Li Buqi provides some black technology of this era, will there be any white-skinned pigs in the future history? ?hehe!
There should not be many people in Hokkaido in Japan now, right?In order to enter the Americas, you can consider swallowing Hokkaido.Lost Hokkaido, let's see how the Japanese will continue to dance in the future, ha ha!
So although opening up this route around North Korea will be a small step for the Song people, it is a big step for historical change.As long as you can hold this route in your own hands, then letting China rule the earth is not a fantasy.

In the afternoon, the emperor summoned Li Buqi to the palace again and asked him about contacting Jurchen by sea.Obviously, the emperor was so tempted by this idea that he didn't care about other consequences. Li Buqi could feel how much pressure the Liao Kingdom put on the emperor.

Taking advantage of this time, we must hurry up to get benefits and stuff private goods.Li Buqi proposed that in order to express the sincerity of the Song Dynasty, facilitate transactions and improve the ability of the Jurchens to make trouble for the Liao Kingdom, they should export iron weapons, including weapons, to the Jurchens.This is against the laws of the Song Dynasty, but the emperor agreed casually.

Li Buqi said that in order to accomplish this task, a group of death squads needs to be selected, and the requirements are very high. They may need to be selected from among the death row. Knowing that Zhang Yonghe is coming, ask them to assist Li Buqi in recruiting people.

Li Buqi finally suggested that civil officials must not be allowed to intervene in this matter, but the emperor hesitated. "Contacting Jurchen is a national matter. It's not good to keep Zaizhi from knowing. We have to discuss with them how to make a plan to contain Liao in the future."

Li Buqi did not back down: "Can Your Majesty guarantee that the chief executives will keep their mouths shut? If the rumors get out, let the Liao people know that the Liao people will sit idly by? What if the Liao people use this as an excuse to provoke again?"

Now the emperor said nothing.The fact is that every time something happens in the imperial court, there will be a lot of quarrels and uproar, and it is impossible for the people of Liao not to know.The emperor thought that if the Liao Kingdom provoked trouble again, the possibility would be great.

Seeing that the emperor was silent, Li Buqi took the opportunity to say: "Uncle Cao Guo said that many people hope to open the route to Liaodong. If this is the case, we can gather some shares to raise people to buy ships and go to sea, and we don't need the imperial court to pay half a penny. The minister thinks It is better to open the route as a sea merchant or a pirate, and when the time is right, tell Zaizhi to send envoys to make friends with the Jurchen. One advantage of this is that you don’t need to spend the country’s money. Another advantage is that the Liao people found that the court You can also refuse to accept the account, so that the Liao people have nothing to do."

In the end, the emperor was persuaded by Li Buqi, and he gave Cao Yi an errand to promote the development of the Jurchen Sea Route, and asked his brother-in-law to do it.However, Uncle Cao Guo obviously didn't know much about the affairs at sea, so he still wanted Li Buqi to take it, because he was just a man of affairs.

If you have money, you will be self-willed. It took only two days to decide on such a big deal. It has to make people marvel at the financial resources and determination of these nobles to seek the elixir.

Li Buqi first explained to Cao Yi that in addition to spending a lot of money to recruit experienced sailors who are willing to take risks, he went to death row prisons, recruited death row prisoners in prison camps, and went to the sea to recruit strong men who dared to go to sea.Of course, Zhou Qing was recommended to Cao Yi first, as for how Cao Yi got Zhou Qing out, Li Buqi didn't care, anyway, these nobles are local snakes and have a way, not to mention the Shangfang sword now.

Two days later, Zhou Qing was transferred from the prison in Kaifeng County. Li Buqi met Zhou Qing in a military camp.When Zhou Qing saw Li Buqi, he quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "The official is so kind and virtuous, I will never forget it. From now on, my life will belong to the official."

Li Buqi said: "Your life is not mine, but it is not your own now. It is yours only if you can complete the task and come back safely. But don't worry, whether you can complete the task or not, it is yours." Task, I will treat your old mother kindly, and I will help you raise your children."

Zhou Qing asked, "I don't know what the officials asked me to do?"

Li Buqi told him about going to Liaodong to find ginseng. He wanted to tell him the details now, but he thought that some things should not be said too early, let's wait until before sailing.

Just the day before he was going to return to Chunzejian, Lian Guangzhi told Li Buqi that he had discovered a brothel that might be related to Xixia.

Nani?Isn't this speed too fast?Can the arresting and robbery department find Xixia's detectives before they have all the troops?Li Buqi quickly warned that even Guangzhi who opened a brothel in Bianliang has great influence, and he must not draw conclusions without conclusive evidence.

As a result, when Lian Guangzhi explained the details, Li Buqi felt that the return of this brothel might really have something to do with Xixia.When Li Buqi gave simple training to Li Zhang and Lian Guangzhi, he asked them to check which company in the capital could often contact various officials, and often sent people to the northwest, but there was no clear need for it.The two of them didn't know how to engage in intelligence at the beginning, so they tried to investigate through the connections of the Imperial City Division, but they found a brothel without any effort.

To say that the level of intelligence work in this era is really low and rubbish, maybe the bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty are too insensitive to anti-spies. The boss of this brothel will regularly send people to his hometown in the northwest to deliver letters.Recently, there was a lot of fighting in the court, so the boss sent people back to his hometown every three days, and every time he went back, he took thick letters and even books with him.

What's more, your brothel is brazenly collecting memorials of court officials all day long, and you especially promote low prices for officials of the Privy Council. This is a big problem.

If you can follow the vine, maybe you can catch a big fish, and if there is a real problem with this brothel, the officials of the Privy Council will not be able to escape, haha.However, there must be conclusive evidence for this matter, otherwise it is likely to bite back. Li Buqi asked Lian Guangzhi to tell Li Zhang not to worry, to collect evidence carefully, and to strike again when the hard evidence was obtained.

(End of this chapter)