Yelu Chucai raised his head, looked at the sky, retracted his gaze from the dark clouds, and looked straight ahead.
In front of him, the water level in Lushui was a little too high. The sea breeze was blowing, the white waves were stacked, and the open water was undulating and stirring. When the water surface surged, it hit the bottom of the trestle, making a "pengpeng" sound, as if dozens of sticks were driven into the bottom of the river. The big piles are shaking.
This has been a long-standing problem on Zhongdu Road.
Many rivers, including the Lushui River and the Lugou River, dry up in autumn and winter, making it difficult to support water transportation. When the water rises in spring and summer, heavy rains in the upper reaches will lead to uncontrollable flooding in the lower reaches. At this time, Xu Ding was busy dealing with the flood. He had been living and eating on the river embankment for three or five days, so Yelu Chucai was the only official who came out to welcome the Southern Dynasty envoy.
In the past three years, Dajin's Zhongdu Road was directly facing the flames of war. The capital was besieged three times, had two coups, and was invaded once by an outsider. It was extremely embarrassing. During this process, the Southern Dynasty sent several waves of envoys but failed to enter the country. The latest group of envoys had to come from the sea, but soon after arriving in Zhongdu, they ran into the Mongolian army and almost lost their lives.
Now that Zhou Guogong is in power and the government has changed, he can no longer be embarrassed. So this time when the Song Dynasty envoy went north, the person he greeted at the dock was not a certain doctor and the emperor's side, but directly replaced by Yelu Chucai, the privy envoy of the current dynasty. The banquet and other etiquette later were also carefully arranged according to higher standards.
The water on the river was filled with water vapor, and Yelu Chucai was filled with piles of documents that he reviewed every day. His eyes were not as good as before, so he asked his attendants: "Has the envoy from the Song Dynasty disembarked?"
"Prime Minister Qi, we have disembarked. But..."
"But what?"
"Li Yun is not on the ship, will something happen?"
"Where is Li Yun? The person following the ship north is Jia Sidao from the Song Dynasty!"
Yelu Chucai scolded in a deep voice, and then said: "You don't have to worry. Jia Sidao took the boat back to the Southern Dynasty halfway. At this time, he should make a big announcement in the Southern Dynasty that our navy is about to send troops to Hebei to suppress the rebellion in Kaifeng. "
The attaché was surprised: "Let's just talk about my government's military and state affairs, okay?"
Yelu Chucai coughed twice and said: "We have spent too much recently and rely heavily on maritime trade for our finances. Since the Southern Dynasty has something to ask for, we can help a little bit. It is not necessary. However, we are not the object of the Southern Dynasty's demands. Jia Sidao was traveling in the Southern Dynasties to spread some news so that the people of the Song Dynasty could feel at ease as soon as possible; while I am here, I want to have a good talk with the envoys of the Song people and get some benefits. As for when to send troops and whether to send troops, then We must first see the outcome of the negotiation, and then we will see when Zhou Guogong returns from Shandong."
The attaché was sincerely convinced: "The Prime Minister is brilliant! This way he can turn his back on guests and take advantage of the Song Dynasty people!"
Suddenly there were officials shouting in front. It turned out that the boat, driven by the efforts of the four boatmen, had cut through the waves and was about to approach the trestle.
Yelu Chucai and his entourage all faced the direction of the boat, showing reserved and polite smiles.
"Don't mention Jia Sidao's matter again. But the merchants here in Tianjin are probably eager to know the court's judgment on the war in the south. You might as well spread the word about what I just said. Well, just say that Duke Zhou Guo is interested. Send troops from all over to threaten Kaifeng's rebellion and quell the chaos, but the conditions still have to be negotiated, and this matter cannot be rushed."
The attendant hesitated.
"What's wrong?"
"Merchants don't know the importance of things. If I open my mouth, most of the people in China will know about it in a day or two. Will it spread too fast? The merchants will definitely take the opportunity to hoard, and maybe there will be trouble in the market. "
"Hoarding is another thing. But Zhou Guogong wants them to know earlier. If they know earlier, they will be relieved."
"……yes."
Because floods are prone to flooding in summer, the entire Tianjin Prefecture is composed of several small towns located on dry highlands, and there is no fully planned city wall. Two small cities were even built specifically for the transportation of goods and the exchange of merchants. They have no city walls at all, so access is too convenient but not majestic.
Within the scope of Tianjin Prefecture, there have always been people who made money to order the navy, but secretly had no connection with Kaifeng. Some thoughtful people even arranged secret channels for this purpose and used fast horse relays to relay messages.
Zhang Lin, the governor of Tianjin, wrote several times to the Marshal's Mansion, asking the Department of Records and the Department of Left and Right Affairs for assistance in eradicating these scoundrels. But the Recording Department and the Left and Right Department were both very busy. The two doctors, Xu Wei and Li Yun, rarely appeared in Zhongdu in the past six months.
Zhang Lin could only rely on the Tianjin government officials to get things done, and it was difficult to clear up the situation in a short time. Therefore, the attaché can be sure that as long as he opens his mouth, within three days, not to mention Zhongdu Road, even Wanyan Heda on Hebei West Road will know the news. In five days at most, the wind will be heard in Kaifeng Mansion.
In this way, when we use it, will the Kaifeng court be prepared?
The attendant was still hesitant, but since Yelu Chucai had given the order, he had to do it to the letter. He was secretly planning to summon a few businessmen he was familiar with in the evening...
Alas, that’s all. The mouths of merchants are better than deceivers. Even if I only talked to three or five people in my family, the entire Tianjin Mansion would know about it that night and there would be no way to stop it!
at the same time.
Li Yun, who had just been mentioned by Yelu Chucai, was now kneeling in the side hall of Lin'an Prime Minister's Mansion, sweating profusely, not daring to look up.
"In other words, the Duke of Zhou was obviously in Haizhou, but after hearing the news, he rushed from Shandong to Zhongdu. Did he and Xuan Zhen miss it?"
"yes."
"Humph." Someone in the hall sneered: "I'm afraid it's not just a coincidence, but a deliberate decision. After Xuanzhen arrived in Zhongdu, they would still put all kinds of etiquette into full play, but shirk formal negotiations. These barbarians wanted to sit down and sit down. Watching the snipe and the clam fight. If we hadn’t killed and injured tens of thousands of people in Huainan, they wouldn’t move at all!”
"But they will eventually take action."
"oh?"
"Their behavior actually shows their weakness. They just want to get more benefits from us. And they are so dedicated to seeking benefits because the north is broken. They really need benefits and can't live without them for a moment. We provide support in terms of food, money and materials. Therefore, they will take action sooner or later, whether it is one step earlier or one step later."
"Hey, it can't be early, it must be late!"
"So what if it's late? Can you still urge me instead of Xuan Zhen?"
The dignitaries in the hall argued for a while, and then a majestic voice said: "Jia Sidao, I heard that you are a bit clever. At this time, do you have any ideas?"
The person who spoke was Shi Miyuan, the most powerful official in the Southern Dynasty.
"The villain has no idea..." Jia Sidao bowed deeply: "But when the villain's boat passed by Huangshuiyang, he replenished water at Taizhou Fengli Farm and heard something."
"speak."
"My father, Huaidong, has appointed Jia She, the deputy envoy, and is mobilizing all the grain ships on the canal to supplement the march of the Loyal and Righteous Army."
There was silence in the hall. Someone burst out laughing: "It's the same thing again! You two, father and son, are all full of business methods. While posing for the navy to see, threatening to cut off the food and fodder trade; at the same time, using the military supplies of the loyal army to make money The money from the imperial court; at the same time, it can also force merchants to give a favor... Jia She is going to eat three families again, right?"
Someone else said: "The method is simple and rough, as long as it works. The people in the north are short of food, so we only focus on food, and that's natural. For example, when raising dogs and eagles, don't we all think of ways to eat?"
】
Shi Miyuan also laughed a few times: "Jia She's family wealth has been squandered by his good son, so we must make some money back as soon as possible."
After a pause, he said: "Tell Jia She, Li Dadong and others that no matter what, we must ensure the food and fodder of the Loyal and Righteous Army so that they can fight hard. Over there, you have to supervise the troops stationed there."
"Yes. Don't worry, Prime Minister, we will handle it separately."
Kaifeng's penetration in the Southern Dynasties was far inferior to that in Zhongdu. They could not understand what happened in Lin'an, but the Song people suddenly increased their investment in Huainan, and more and more troops were entangled with their own side. You can't hide it from others.
In fact, the whole battle has not lasted more than a month. However, the scale of the war and the number of troops invested gradually got out of control. It was seen that the consumption of money and supplies had almost exceeded half of the previous looting. In other words, if this battle continues for another month, the Kaifeng court will suffer losses.
The people of the Song Dynasty have had this kind of virtue for hundreds of years. They may not win on the battlefield, but they always seem to be stuck with the brown sugar and refuse to let go.
In the past, when Da Jin was ruthless, he mobilized the northern armies to go south and gave the Song people a hard blow until they became obedient and knelt down to pay money and food. At this time, Kaifeng Mansion's finances were very poor, but it could not support a major war. What's more, news came one after another from Zhongdu that the navy Guo Ning might respond to the Song Dynasty and send troops from Zhongdu, so the garrisons in Hebei and Datong Prefecture in Xijing could not move.
In the end, the Nanjing Road Tongjun Division could only write a series of documents to urge the troops originally serving as successors to move south quickly. This force included a considerable part of the defense troops from various places on Nanjing Road and the troops of the Thirteen Commanders of Kaifeng Prefecture. Kaifeng was strictly ordered not to fight, but only to force back the entanglement of the Song people, and immediately gathered all the ministries and retreated together.
