The young man's identity is extraordinary. He is Tuo Lei, the fourth prince of Mongolia.
Tuo Lei led the cavalry a few miles out of the city, stopped at Hongtangpu and looked south.
As the Minjiang River surges southward, its water potential changes erratically, and sediment settles and accumulates in the center of the river. Over thousands of years, many sandbanks and beaches have been formed. The largest of them is called Nantai Island. The people of the state take Nantai Island as the base, connect it to the north and south, connect the boats as beams, and dredge the river and sand as the harbor.
At this time, crossing in front of the cavalry were the north and south bridges of Nangang. The north bridge used sixteen boats and erected a pontoon bridge of 500 feet, while the south bridge used 102 boats and erected a pontoon bridge of 2,500 feet. Downstream of the North and South Bridges, there is the towering Jinshan Temple Tower, and below the tower is the very busy and prosperous dock area.
Tuo Lei has been to the dock area many times. He remembers that outside the dock, there is a big cross written on the wall, which is called: "The solitary tower is the symbol of the resort, and hundreds of boats are gathered in Yaojin."
In the past three years, he has worked hard on Han knowledge. Now he can not only speak and write, but can also barely taste the meaning of poetry. He is very different from ordinary Mongolian nobles, so he can remember it firmly.
He remembered more. In the past two or three months, he had accompanied local people in Fuzhou to discuss business; he had boarded a ship with officials from the Taxation Department of the Quanzhou Shipping Department to check taxes; he had also accompanied the strong men in charge of handling goods at the port. Leader, calculate how many people can be supported by next year's income. .
Pushing the time forward, in the past six months, he traveled south along the Yangtze River and soaked up the customs and customs of the Southern Dynasties; pushing forward two months, he also spent a lot of money to labor in Xingyuan Prefecture, and then explored The topography along the Han River.
After constantly summarizing what he saw and heard along the way, Tuo Lei felt that he already understood the Song Dynasty very well.
"Five years ago, when my father Khan began to attack the Kingdom of Jin, I followed the army southward and saw that the land of the Han people was full of fertile farmland and there were countless cities. I knew one thing at that time: the Jurchens of the Kingdom of Jin considered themselves kings of heaven. People despise the heroes on the grassland because they occupy the land of the Han people and have endless wealth at their disposal; even if the Jurchens themselves are weak, they can still support the grand scene."
"At that time, I felt that there were only cattle, sheep and furs on the grasslands, but the Jin Kingdom had food, silk and endless slaves. It was the richest country in the world. If we had it in our hands, we could use the force of the Mongols and the Han people No one in the world can compete with his wealth. As a result..."
Tuo Lei looked around at the people around him and laughed: "In the past two years, we have traveled tens of thousands of miles and destroyed or subdued dozens of tribes or countries. But it was not until we came to the Song Dynasty that we realized that we could not see anything within tens of thousands of miles. In this way, the Song Dynasty is where the wealth of the world gathers, and it is the land of gold that has everything!"
The companions around him nodded.
In the traditional thinking of the Mongols, the only way to obtain wealth is to plunder. Riding horses and wielding swords, they galloped across the endless wilderness, killing all men, plundering all women, burning all man-made things, turning the land into rich pastures, and allowing countless cattle, sheep and horses to run on the pastures... It is a natural way to get rich.
However, with the establishment of the Great Mongolia and the expansion of its territory, knowledgeable people gradually emerged among the Mongolians, and their horizons were constantly broadened.
They were no longer Mongolians who only knew how to herd cattle, but warriors who accompanied Genghis Khan in his conquests east and west, destroying the country along the way. In terms of broad knowledge, they, especially the large number of people close to the fourth prince Tuo Lei, far surpassed all the ancestors on the grassland.
They were humiliated because they were defeated by Ding Haijun, and they knew very well that the eastern grassland was under the direct threat of Ding Haijun. The situation of strength and weakness was slightly reversed. Back then, the Jurchens often sent tens of thousands of troops to plow the grasslands and clear holes. The situation may happen again.
Therefore, during the Western Expedition, the Mongols not only stopped at plundering wealth, they also tried their best to expand the strength of the Mongolian army, striving to establish a reliable base that could continuously provide soldiers, food, and weapons.
In this process, tow mines played a huge role.
After he was captured by Guo Ning, his reputation suffered a heavy blow. For a time, he could hardly retain the favor of Genghis Khan. He was also despised by the nobles in the Mongolian army who relied on their bravery, especially his brothers Chagatai and Ogedai, who were even more vaguely ridiculed.
But later, even Genghis Khan himself and coerced the entire Mongolian Plateau
The timid Xue army was defeated. In order to downplay this failure, it became necessary to improve the strength of Guo Ning and Ding Haijun, and Tuo Lei's failure was not so shameful. Some people even think that he can escape from Guo Ning unscathed, at least he is smart and energetic.
When the Mongolian army took the initiative to launch a western expedition in order to avoid Ding Haijun's attack, the situation changed again.
Those nobles, scholars and warriors in the far west don't care about Tuolei's previous failure. They only know that the Mongols are the most terrifying conquerors in history and ruthless killers. Among the Mongols, only Tuo Lei and his men were aliens.
This smart and capable fourth prince never pretends to be a conqueror. He was willing to stoop down, get close to those who were forced to surrender, ask about their needs for surrender, and rescue their relatives who were treated as slaves; and among Tuo Lei's subordinates, there were also many gentle and talented people who were willing to surrender. After each war, order is restored as soon as possible and Daruhuachi is responsible for the heavy task.
Therefore, Tuo Lei is supported by many people. The more people are willing to follow him and help him, the more Tuo Lei learns from the people around him.
He was able to realize that the systems of various countries were different, was curious about the reasons for the prosperity or poverty of various countries, and gradually delved into the basis of a country's foothold in the world, and then became an increasingly important assistant to his father.
Unfortunately, the results were not so good.
Tuo Lei's performance made many Mongolian nobles uncomfortable, and regarded it as surrendering to the loser and losing the face of the Golden Family; the ruling strategy he advocated made many people who were accustomed to direct slaughter and looting feel impatient. Think it's unnecessary.
As Tolei's influence expands, so do the number of people who are dissatisfied with Tolei.
At the beginning of last year, after two years of hard fighting, the Mongols conquered Yulong Chijie and Samarkand, and brought Xiliao, Khwarazm, Khorasan and other places under their rule. Tuolei, as the fourth prince, But suddenly he got the order from Genghis Khan.
The content of the order was that he should take the lead in returning to the east and become a humble spy.
After receiving the order, Tuo Lei's subordinates were furious, thinking that there was a female cadre around the Khan causing trouble. His important ally, the Prince Consort Chiju, was currently on the south bank of the Amu Darya River, fighting fiercely with the troops of Prince Khwarezm and the brave general Zalandin. After hearing the news, the Prince Consort Chiju rushed back at night, asking Tuo Lei to obey his father Khan's command. Order, but you might as well wait until the Khurilatai is convened to share your difficulties in front of many Mongolian nobles.
But Tuo Lei flatly rejected Chiju's suggestion. He immediately responded to Genghis Khan's order, abandoned his own soldiers, horses and people, and meandered eastward with only a few trusted subordinates.
A whole year has passed since then.
Genghis Khan sent tow mines to turn back. First of all, he was worried that the Xia Kingdom would unite with surrounding tribes and take advantage of the absence of the main Mongolian force to penetrate deeper into the grasslands.
After Tuo Lei arrived at Huo Lan Ba Shi, he bumped into the messenger coming from the grassland. The messenger reported that the Xia State had mobilized the Shenyong Army Division in the left chamber, the Shun Army Division in the right chamber, and the main forces of Zhuoluo and Nan Army Division in the right chamber to march eastward to compete for the territory that originally belonged to Dajin. However, the Great Jin Kingdom has actually perished, and what followed was the Great Zhou Dynasty established by Guo Ning!
Tuo Lei was shocked and immediately sent a messenger to report to his father Khan. He himself changed his original plan and rushed to Xixia territory disguised as a merchant, trying to enter Guanlong from Xixia to find out the details of the so-called Great Zhou Dynasty.
But after he arrived at Xingqing Mansion in Xixia, he realized how chaotic the situation in Guanlong was.
Those who continued to advance there were not only the soldiers of Xia State's general Asha dare not but several military divisions, but also the general Li Ting's troops under the Emperor Guo Ning of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the Fengzhou and Tianshui garrisons of the Song State. The three countries were either at war or at peace, competing and negotiating at the same time. Their soldiers and generals were also mixed up in various places in Qinlong, confronting each other and entangled endlessly.
The tow mine had no way to cross the battle line, so it had to settle for the next best thing. He knew that the Song State of the Southern Dynasties was a large country that had been at odds with the Jin Kingdom for hundreds of years, and was also the former master of the Central Plains, so he felt that when he was confronting the Great Zhou, he might be able to enlist the Song State to help.
With this idea in mind, Tuo Lei bribed people from the Xia Kingdom, then changed his name and surname, crossed the territories of the Tubo tribes, and entered the Song Kingdom. That happened in July last year. After that, he traveled around the Song Dynasty for half a year.
There have been no wasted flowers in the past six months. Torei and him
The companions thought that their horizons were broad enough, but they had to admit that the economic prosperity of the Song Dynasty exceeded the most exaggerated imagination before.
Don't talk about anything else, just talk about what he saw in Fuzhou: piles of porcelain, tea, spices, medicines, books and even weapons, all sold by sea, and the payment for one ship often reached tens of thousands of dollars.
What's even more frightening is the speed at which money is accumulated. A sea-going ship can take two ships of goods in and out in most half a year. One ship of goods can earn half the price of the ship. And if you go back and forth safely, the whole ship can make back its money. The second trip From now on, it will be a complete profiteering!
Tuo Lei tried to calculate what he could get in exchange for the benefits of a voyage. The result was that even according to the highest standards, it would not take tens of thousands of weapons to arm hundreds of Mongolian warriors to the teeth.
This is true for one ship, but what about ten ships? Where are the ships in Fuzhou? I heard that there were 16 military states along the coast of the Song Dynasty. How much could they earn from sea trade with so many military states?
How much revenue did the entire Song Dynasty make every year, and how powerful an army could it be? No, this army doesn't even need to be strong. It just needs to maintain a sufficient scale and use millions of people to fight on the battlefield. One person's kick is enough to trample the enemy into mud, right?
When Tuo Lei first thought about this problem, he felt dizzy.
Fortunately, he quickly thought that maybe Chang Shengtian couldn't stand the wealth and arrogance of the Song people. The officials of the Song Dynasty were stupid and incompetent, the military equipment was weak, and the soldiers were loose, which was rarely seen in ordinary times. Along the way south, he occasionally met a few warriors in the army, and their conversations were full of resentment towards the court, which was beyond the group's previous imagination.
If we say that the Kingdom of Jin is rich but weak, it is like a yellow sheep being raised on the grassland. Then the Song Dynasty was ten times richer and ten times weaker, so much so that the Mongolians, who were accustomed to comparing things to common things on the grasslands, could not find a suitable domestic animal to compare them with.
Thinking of this, Tuo Lei couldn't help but shake his head: "We marched thousands of miles westward and fought hundreds of battles before we gathered enough strength to look back eastward. But Guo Ning, the Ding Navy, was so lucky... He If you send a few ships to Fuzhou, you can earn a huge amount of wealth, and those assets will be turned into war horses and swords! It turns out that the Song Dynasty is a big fat pig next to him, and he can bite off large pieces of meat as soon as he stretches his neck. ! If he eats the Song Dynasty whole, what kind of strength can he become? How much strength can he gain?"
He looked at his companions and asked, "Can what we gained from conquering the Western Regions compare with what Guo Ning gained from the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties?"
The companions were unable to answer for a moment.
