In the Guangji Temple in Wuhu County, King Jing Zhao Qi, King Ji Zhao Xu, King Yi Zhao Yan, Yu Wenxuzhong, a bachelor of Guanwen Hall, and a 13-year-old Korean Duke Zhao Xiang were studying here. Zhao Kai, a Song official, was looking around among them.
The three older princes were all a little surprised by the layout of this heavily guarded temple... The layout here, in one word, was not decorated. Except for tables and chairs, there are no decorations, calligraphy or paintings, and there are no bookshelves filled with volumes. If it weren't for the six black banners and two white flags symbolizing Zhao Kai, the emperor, placed outside the lobby, Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Chu would not have believed that here was the man who was as talented as Zhuang Zong and loved calligraphy and painting. Zhao Kai is good at it.
Could it be that Zhao Kai gave up his hobby of calligraphy and painting in order to conquer the world and become an official? The only thing you can focus on is avenging your father and avenging your country? When the three princes of the Song Dynasty thought of this, they couldn't help but nod and admire Zhao Kai's filial piety and ambition...
As for the Korean Duke Zhao Xiang, who had not seen Zhao Kai since he could remember, he did not know how much Zhao Kai loved the art of calligraphy and painting. His attention had been attracted by a group of Banzhi warriors standing outside the lobby. These warriors are all young, all under twenty years old. They all have a very strong body, and everyone's face is tanned. You can tell from a glance that they often train at night.
Their physical strength and posture look impeccable. Everyone is wearing cold-forged full armor, carrying bows and arrows, straight knives, hammers, mines, and spears... With so many guys, This martial arts must be very powerful, right?
Zhao Xiang, the son of the late emperor, was born too late to catch up with the "good times". In the primary school and Guozixue run by his eldest brother Zhao Huan, he studied both civil and military arts, and mainly focused on martial arts. So I have no interest in the art of calligraphy and painting, but I am very coveted for the cold-forged armor on those Banzhi warriors, and I want to compete with them in martial arts.
Just when Zhao Xiang was about to wander out of the lobby to find a Banzhi warrior to find out where they bought their cold-forged full armor, he heard a shout from outside the courtyard: "Long live!"
Then all the Banzhi warriors in the courtyard stood at attention, looking more majestic than before.
Zhao Xiang knew that Zhao Kai was coming, so he didn't go with his three brothers. He walked into the yard first, stood inside the gate and looked out. He didn't see anyone, but he heard a hearty laugh: "Hahaha... ...Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother, Eighth Brother, which gust of wind brought you here?"
When Zhao Xiang heard these words, he saw a bearded man with a black hat and military uniform striding in with a group of young and strong officials (all Hanlin) dressed in similar clothes.
He must be my third brother! Prime Minister Zhao didn't know Zhao Kai, but he had heard many legends about Zhao Kai's martial arts. So now he recognized the official Zhao Kai who had just returned from inspecting the army camp at a glance, so he strode up to greet Zhao Kai and saluted: "Mr. Zhao, pay homage to the official!"
"Taking pictures?" Zhao Kai saw a child suddenly walking up to him and claiming to be "taking pictures". He was stunned. Who is this?
Seeing that Zhao Kai was still in a daze, Zhao Xiang knew that he, the noble third brother, had forgotten things and could not remember himself, so he had to introduce himself again: "Third brother, my younger brother Zhao Xiang is the thirty-second son of the late emperor. Mr. Korea.”
"Thirty-two..." Zhao Kai finally remembered and looked at the big boy in front of him, "I remember, you are my father's youngest son. When Xuanhe was seven years old, you were only two years old. .....Haha, it’s so big in the blink of an eye!”
After hearing this, Prime Minister Zhao could only shake his head and said: "Third brother, you remember wrongly. There is a thirty-third brother below the younger brother."
Thirty-three sons! Isn’t this too fertile? Zhao Kaixin said: Fortunately, he died early. If he lived to his seventies or eighties, wouldn't he have given birth to one or two hundred sons?
But Zhao Kai couldn't remember the name of his thirty-third brother? This is strange... Zhao Kai thought to himself: Could it be that my memory is bad because I am old? The thirty-second brother is obviously the youngest brother!
When Zhao Kai was trying to remember, Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, Zhao Yan and Yu Wenxuzhong had already come out of the lobby. With sharp ears, Zhao Qi could hear Zhao Xiangzai talking to Zhao Kai about Thirty-Third Brother from a distance, so he intervened: "Third Brother, Thirty-Three Brother was born in the first year of Jingkang. He He is the posthumous son of our father, and his name is Ji... No one has told you about this?"
No one has really said that... Zhao Kaixin said: Family ties in the emperor's family are really weak!
"Haha," thinking of this, he could only laugh, "Maybe I said... there were so many things, I actually forgot about them."
Four people, Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, Zhao Yan, Yu Wenxu and others, all arrived in the courtyard at this time and saluted Zhao Kai together.
Zhao Kai then invited the four brothers and Yu Wenxuzhong to enter the lobby together, and then ordered everyone to serve tea and prepare for the banquet.
The brothers and Yu Wenxuzhong took their seats in the lobby. As soon as the tea was served, Zhao Kai asked with a smile: "What is the situation in Jinling now? Who is in charge?"
"It's my sister-in-law," Zhao Qi said. "When my eldest brother left, he entrusted Jinling City to his sister-in-law and Zhang Bangchang. However, Zhang Bangchang didn't have any independent opinions, so it was my sister-in-law who made the decision in Jinling City."
"Oh." Zhao Kai smiled, "What does sister-in-law mean?"
This question is hard to answer... My sister-in-law wants to use the empty city strategy!
The three brothers Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Chu winked at Yu Wenxuzhong. Yu Wenxuzhong smiled and said: "Guan family, the King of Wu has asked you not to enter Jinling City, and your soldiers and horses are not allowed to enter the city."
"What?" Zhao Kai was stunned, "What does she mean?"
Yu Wenxu smiled and said: "The treasury in Jinling City is now empty, so Princess Wu would like to ask you to stay in the palace in Niushou Mountain for a while, and allow her to raise a reward for your labor in Jinling City... ..”
"Wait a minute," Zhao Kai became anxious when he heard this. This matter is no joke, "What's going on? Why is there no money? Isn't there tens of millions of goods in the pile sealing warehouse?"
"No more," Zhao Xiang held the tea bowl and took a sip of tea. "Big Brother spent all the money... there is nothing in the pile sealing warehouse!"
"What? All 100 million yuan was spent?" Zhao Kai couldn't believe his ears, "How was this spent? How could it be spent all?"
Yu Wenxu smiled and said: "How can an official family not spend enough money? Especially in a prosperous and wealthy place like the southeast of the Song Dynasty, let alone 100 million yuan, even if it is several times more, they can still spend it."
The three brothers Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Yan also continued what Yu Wenxuzhong said.
"If the eldest brother wants to run to Guangdong and Guangxi, he can't be empty-handed, right? He has so many troops and officials under him!"
"Yes, Lingnan is a wild land and we can't support so many people, so we have to buy more in the southeast. We can spend it slowly when we get to Lingnan."
"Eldest brother has been planning to escape south for more than a day or two. Third brother, you don't know anything about it, right?"
Of course Zhao Kai would not know anything, but he would never have thought that Zhao Huan would spend all the money in the sealing warehouse!
Yu Wenxuzhong saw Zhao Kai frowning more and more, so he said to him: "Guan, don't worry...Wu Wangfei has a solution. As long as your army does not enter Jinling, she has a solution. "
"What does this have to do with whether or not you can enter Jinling?" Zhao Kai was a little annoyed, "I entered Jinling and went to Jiangnan. Are I still worried about not having money?"
Isn’t it just money? If you don’t know how to make money, why don’t you know how to rob?
Yu Wenxu smiled and said, "Both Jinling and Jiangnan are in the hands of the officials...but the money in Jinling and Jiangnan is dispensable! I think the officials also know this. , otherwise we could have swept through the Southeast a long time ago, so why bother to engage in New Confucianism to win over the Southeast Confucians?"
Zhao Kaixin said: I should have started earlier...so that the prodigal brother Zhao Huan would not have time to spend all his money.
At this time, Zhao Qi said again: "Third brother, how much do you want? Tell me the number, so we can go back and talk to my sister-in-law."
Zhao Kai stretched out two fingers and said, "Twenty million...can't be any less."
This time he brought more than 200,000 troops south, and the 20 million were divided equally between them. Each person only took a few dozen copper coins home... Of course, he would not really go back with copper coins. The few in the north The industry and commerce on Geyingtian Road and Jieduzhi Road are underdeveloped, and you can't buy anything good with money back home, so you still have to buy things in the southeast and bring them back.
This is also the reason why Zhao Kai is unwilling to destroy the southeast... Years of war and Zhao Kai's land reform have severely damaged the industrial and commercial production in the north. At the same time, the industry and commerce in the southeast have become extremely prosperous due to the inflow of capital and craftsmen from the north. . If the industry and commerce in the southeast are also hit hard, Zhao Kai will be in trouble not only because he has no money, but even if he has money, he can't buy what he wants!
Yu Wenxuzhong nodded, "Twenty million is not a small number... but it is not a problem for Princess Wu. Official, have you agreed to Princess Wu's conditions?"
Twenty million dollars! Does she really have a way? After hearing what Yu Wenxuzhong said, Zhao Kai was still a little doubtful: Could it be that there was money in the sealing warehouse in Jinling, and Zhu Lian deliberately hid the money and then used it to blackmail his family?
"I agreed, when can she raise the money?" Zhao Kai asked thoughtfully.
Yu Wenxu said with a smile: "This minister doesn't know. The officials can ask the King of Wu personally. As soon as you move into the Niushou Mountain Palace, the princess will leave Jinling City and go to the Niushou Mountain Palace to meet and discuss with you in detail."
Zhao Qi said with a smile: "Third brother, you and my sister-in-law have known each other for a long time... You have known each other since you were young! The childhood sweethearts grew up together!"
What about this? Zhao Kai quickly thought about it, it seemed that this was the case... He had already remembered it. The relationship between him and Zhu Lian seemed to be really good. If Zhao Huan hadn't fought for love with a knife, Zhu Lian would be him now. Queen!
"Okay," Zhao Kai smiled, "Then I agree... I will meet her at Niushou Mountain Palace in three days to discuss it in detail!"
