"The gold thieves come hundreds of miles a day, and soon they will reach the north bank of the Yellow River. The Yellow River has long been frozen and turned into flat ground, unable to stop the enemy. So Kaifeng will be trapped around the middle of next month... ..Whether we can hold it in the end depends first on whether the imperial court is firm and secondly whether we succeed in cutting off the enemy's retreat in Hebei. So we should hurry up and set out as soon as possible to cross the river as soon as possible, so as to gather the heroes of Hebei earlier!"
On the evening of the fifth day after the "Donghua Gate Incident", Zhao Kai was talking about his thoughts to several of his subordinates in his palace.
The efficiency of the Song Dynasty court was surprisingly high this time. On the third day of the "Donghua Gate Incident", they worshiped King Zhao Kai as the Marshal of the Hebei Army and controlled the Hebei armies, Hebei prefectures, and Hebei's east and west pacification envoys. , Hebei Transshipment Department, the imperial edict that has the power to act expeditiously has been issued to the world.
Two other edicts were issued at the same time.
The first was the imperial edict to establish the emperor's personal expedition camp in Kaifeng Mansion, Tokyo, and appoint Li Gang as Shangshu Youcheng and concurrent camp envoy, and Tong Guan, Gao Qiu, and Liu Yanqing as deputy envoys.
The second is a great edict calling on the heroes of the world and state capitals from all over the world to send troops to serve the king. It seems that the official Zhao Ji wants to put forward a posture of uniting the world to defend Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo and the country of the Song Dynasty.
In addition to these three major edicts, Zhao Kai also received a secret edict that cannot be made public. The content of the secret edict is about seeking peace. After Zhao Ji ordered Zhao Kai to cross the river, he tried to contact the commander-in-chief of the Jin people to seek the possibility of peace talks, and promised up to three million years old coins and the cession of Yanshan Prefecture. Moreover, Zhao Kai was allowed to advance a year's worth of three million silver, money, and silk to the Jin people... Although the conditions for the peace talks were favorable, Zhao Kai never thought about negotiating a peace.
The next day, a total of 3.3 million silver, money, and silk were transported to Zhao Kai's palace in boxes... which was 300,000 more than the amount he asked Zhao Ji for that day. The three hundred thousand yuan was Zhao Ji's reward to his son Zhao Kai. According to Liang Shicheng, who escorted the silver, money, and silk, the extra money was used to open up the road to peace, that is, it was given to the commander-in-chief of the Jin Army. He was really thoughtful!
The amount of this treasure was so large that the palace's accountant and the newly established Chief Secretary were busy until this afternoon before they finished counting them and loading them one by one.
Zhao Kai couldn't help but laugh when he thought of these treasures, and then glanced at several of his subordinates in the lobby of the palace. The old general He Guan and his two sons, the dog-headed military counselor Chen Ji, his henchman Huang Wuji, the spy leader Wang Xiaode, the traitor Qin Hui, the cavalry general Xiang Ke who came from the Victory Army, and another person who vaguely remembers being a famous anti-Jin general (maybe... I remember wrongly, maybe it was Liu Qi who had the same name and surname), all gathered together.
These nine people are now enough to become Zhao Kai's core team... But most of these nine people are forced to follow Zhao Kai helplessly.
He Guan and his son were coerced by Zhao Kai to lead troops into the palace, and they were labeled as King Yun's besties! So they had to follow, not only the three of them had to follow, but their family members also moved into Prince Yun's Mansion, waiting to set off with Zhao Kai.
Chen Ji and Wang Xiaode are close friends, but now they are a little worried - they both believe that Zhao Kai should take advantage of the chaos to seize the throne during the palace coup the day before yesterday, rather than choose to leave Hebei.
Although the official Zhao Ji now relies heavily on Zhao Kai, he does not have the guts to destroy the atmosphere of unity in Tokyo that "father, son, monarch, and ministers are united in resisting the Jin Dynasty". But what happens after the Jin soldiers retreat? The most ruthless emperor's family! May I ask, which emperor can tolerate a son who can lead troops to force the palace?
Huang Wuji and Xiang Ke, the two Hengha generals, are also Zhao Kai's die-hards, but they are cheerful and don't seem to be worried about Zhao Kai falling out of favor after the Jin soldiers retreat... because they both have really fought. Xiang Ke Xiang Nankai, known as the "Xiang Yida", especially followed Tong Guan and saw the bravery of the Jin soldiers. Therefore, both of them did not believe that the Song Dynasty could quickly obtain a "Chanyuan Alliance" and that the Song-Jin war would be easy to fight.
As long as King Yun holds the army firmly, is he still afraid of having a separate vassal king? Moreover, they already know how cowardly the officials and princes are... What else is there to worry about?
However, Qin Hui and Liu Qi were a little reluctant to board the pirate ship... Qin Hui was forced by Zhao Ji's pressure and had to bite the bullet and became the long history of Prince Yun's palace. Liu Qi had to come to Zhao Kai's side because his benefactor Gao Qiu had spoken and asked him to "keep an eye on" Zhao Kai.
As Zhao Kai spoke, he glanced at Xiang Ke.
Xiang Ke, like Huang Wuji, is a man from Longxi. The only difference is that Huang Wuji is a member of the Xijun family, his mother is the daughter of the Yang family in Linzhou, and his father is a rich man. And Xiang Ke is a real tiger general from the army. He has a yellow face and a beard. He is very long and powerful, and is extremely brave. He is especially good at using a long sword, so he has to be nicknamed Yi Dao. This time he came to Zhao Kai with a thousand victorious victorious cavalry under his command.
"Your Majesty..." Xiang Ke understood what Zhao Kai meant and said, "The Shengjie Army is an elite soldier fed by the Prime Minister with a lot of money. They have always recognized money but not people. They are used to it from Tong Guan. The king just needs to continue to give them double portions of money, food and clothing, and then give them an additional amount."
The so-called "liuwu" means settlement expenses. The soldiers of the Northern Song Dynasty army were all hired. They were paid to fight, and they were jealous of money. When recruiting assassins (recruiting soldiers), they had to give them "liangwu", and when they marched out, they had to give them "liangwu". Of course, you have to give examples when you go into battle.
Generally speaking, the average number of weapons to be drawn is ten swords per person. The victorious army is an elite soldier, so of course they should be given more.
"Victory, personal servants, relatives, infantry guards, and horsemen in Moutuogang will all be given double money, food and clothing according to the regulations of the Forbidden Army," Zhao Kai said, "and twenty strings will be given to them according to the regulations!"
"Your Majesty, I gave you too much." Shi Qinhui, the head of the royal palace, interjected, "The total gold, silver, money, cloth and silk in the palace now total only about 330,000 guan. If we want to give each of the three thousand soldiers two hairs, Ten guan, a one-time expenditure of 60,000 guan. The double amount of money, food and clothing for the Forbidden Army soldiers must support at least 60 guan every year, and 3,000 people is 180,000 guan... In addition, there are 7,000 horses that need to be fed ( In addition to the 5,000 horses allocated to Zhao Kai by Tian Si Jian, Xiang Ke's cavalry also brought more than 1,000 horses, and Zhao Kai's personal warriors and his palace also had horses), and the expenses would not be enough for a year. Less. I’m afraid the king’s family cannot last for a year!”
Although this Qin Hui is a traitor and is very reluctant to serve as an official in the palace, this guy is very efficient in his work. As soon as he took office, he had already figured out Zhao Kai's family background - it turns out that Zhao Kai is also a corrupt official! The gold, silver, money, cloth and silk in the family alone (excluding Zhu Fengying’s dowry and private house) totaled more than 400,000 yuan per dollar! If you include antiques, calligraphy, paintings, land and real estate, I’m afraid it would be more than one million yuan!
With Zhao Kai's salary and official money, even if he didn't use it, he wouldn't have been able to save so much money in these years!
It can be seen that Zhao Kai made a lot of money by promoting the Imperial City Secretary...
However, even if Zhao Kai could make money, it would be difficult to support the expenses of an army.
"Isn't there still 3.3 million in goods allocated by the government from the internal treasury?" Zhao Kai smiled, "And the Hebei Transport Envoy is also under my control. How come there is a millionaire in the treasury of the Transport Envoy?" Save up?"
"This..." Qin Hui looked like he was hesitating to speak.
"Tell me," Zhao Kaipi said with a smile, "Chang Shi is the civil servant Gu relies on, what can't he say?"
When Qin Hui heard this, he thought: Why does this great king value me so much? Is it because my article is well done and my handwriting is beautiful? Alas, I don’t know whether this emphasis will be a blessing or a curse in the end.
Thinking of this, Qin Hui gritted his teeth and told Zhao Kai what he was worried about, "Your Majesty, let me speak frankly. After all, the Hebei Yunshi is a minister of the imperial court, not the King's retainer. And once the King leaves Tokyo, he will , he is the vassal king! And this dynasty has always been afraid of the vassal town..."
Zhao Kai smiled and said: "Don't worry, Chang Shi, as long as the lonely king can coax the Jin soldiers away, my father will definitely make me the crown prince. Moreover, Hebei transport envoy Cai Mao is a smart man and has always supported the lonely king. Yes. With him here, he can do twice the result with half the effort.”
Zhao Kai is not alone. He has been coveting the throne for so many years and has the support of Zhao Ji. Of course he has his own group of people. Chen Ji, Huang Wuji, Xiang Ke, Wang Xiaode and others are just the core confidants. There is also a large group of supporters around them, including Cai You, the Grand Prime Minister of the West Prefecture and Privy Councilor, Tong Guan, the Prime Minister who has held military power for twenty years, and the one who had a white mushroom (Yuzhi, said to be auspicious) growing on a pillar in his house. The former Grand Prime Minister Wang Fu, who was dismissed by Zhao Ji, was a supporter of Zhao Kai. Although Cai Mao, the Hebei transit envoy and judge of Daming Mansion affairs, was not Zhao Kai's best friend, he was also someone who had placed bets on Zhao Kai's side.
Qin Hui nodded slightly, frowning even more tightly, "If the king can really drive away the golden thieves, the official family will naturally rely on the king, but what if the golden soldiers refuse to retreat?"
yes!
The Jin soldiers refused to retreat, and finally captured Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan. What should they do? Zhao Kai sighed and was speechless...
Thinking of this, Zhao Kai sighed and said: "Let's talk about it then... Let's discuss the matter of setting off to the north. Grand Master Tong sent someone to tell him that he had already chosen for the lonely king in Moutuogang. 5,000 good horses, including more than 100 stallions and more than 2,000 strong mares, many of which are pregnant with foals, will be delivered tomorrow. There are also hundreds of stablekeepers who are good at raising horses. And materials for a hundred horses and horses. With these, we can set off the day after tomorrow!"
"Leaving the day after tomorrow?" Qin Hui was stunned, "The day after tomorrow is the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month!"
