The vast world south of Yanshan Mountain is now enveloped in the colors of early autumn. The forests are all dyed, the clouds are pale and the sky is high.
Such a crisp autumn day, when the chill is approaching, is the favorite day of conquest for the Jurchen warriors who like the cool and are afraid of the heat.
The knights in white robes formed a long procession. The horses' hooves rumbled across the smooth official road, passing through the rich fields covered with crops, and went straight to the majestic and magnificent Nanjing Xijin Prefecture. go. Most of these white-robed knights were short, stocky men. They all looked cheerful and energetic, with their chests and bellies sticking out while riding on their horses. He also held up his head, which was mostly shaved bald, leaving only two small bunches of hair on the back of his head, braided into braids similar to those of a mouse's tail.
At the forefront of this white marching team, there were two to three thousand particularly strong-looking cavalrymen, surrounded by the Emperor Wanyan Wu Qimai who was leading the way.
Next to Wu Qimai, there were a dozen young men in particularly bright clothes, all riding tall and handsome Jurchen horses. They should all be relatives of the "Golden Second Generation" and "Golden Third Generation". This group of young men and nobles are not just riding on the road honestly. From time to time, they will straighten up on their horses and look around like they are showing off their equestrian skills, looking at the tall Xijin City in front of them, and the carts driving carts to transport grain into the city. The Han people were shouting and screaming.
"Oh my God, this village is too big, isn't it? The trench is wide, the walls of the village are high, not to mention my Princess Village, even my father's Emperor's Village is as good as this village!"
"Auntie, this Xijin City was considered a large and fortified city in the land of the original Liao Kingdom. If it were on the territory of the Song Dynasty, it would be nothing... It was just a state city and a military city. , cannot be compared with the Five Capitals of the Song Dynasty."
"Really? Nephew Xiebao, tell my aunt how many states, cities and military cities there are in the Song Dynasty?"
"About four hundred. The Song Dynasty claims to have four hundred military prefectures. Those prefectural cities and military cities should be about the same as this Xijin city. Some may be bigger and newer!"
"Four hundred! Dad, when we conquer the Song Dynasty, can you reward me with a city? I don't want a big one, just a small one..."
Hearing his favorite daughter asking for the city, Wanyan Wu just laughed and said, "What's so difficult about this? There are 400 military prefectures in the Song Dynasty, and there are county supervisors under the military prefectures, and thousands of large and small cities! I'll look back. Discuss it with a few Bojilie, and once the Song Kingdom is annexed, we can give the prince, prince, princess, and princess of the Wanyan family one of them to go to the military state or to go to the county prison!"
"Long live! Long live..."
According to the standards proposed by Wu Qimai, most of the group of young Jurchens who followed Wanyan Wu Qimai could qualify for the "district city". Naturally, they cheered and shouted long live.
And Wu Qimai also looked happy from ear to ear, as if he already had the winning ticket in hand!
But at this moment, he knew very well that the Great Jin Kingdom was making a bet on its national destiny this time!
On his way south from Huining with his army, he already learned the news that Zhao Kai had rejected the peace terms of "killing all the enemies and eliminating them" and had Cai Jing, who had been "released" from Dajin, beheaded in public display!
In fact, it is not surprising to refuse the condition of "killing and destroying"... After all, the war between Song and Jin is not over yet, and no matter how stupid the Song officials are, they will not destroy the Great Wall just because of a word from the Jin emperor.
This condition of "killing and destroying" was actually made for the officials of the Song Dynasty to refuse... But as long as the officials of the Song Dynasty did not refuse resolutely enough and there was still room for bargaining, then the Kingdom of Jin could continue to Work hard on this. Even if Gao Qiu and Zhao Bupo cannot be removed, they can still lose their military power and be left idle.
But Zhao Kai rejected Da Jin with the most resolute attitude... and beheaded Cai Jing directly! And it was also spread to the states and counties along Hebei and Hedong!
He also announced that all the generals who abandoned the city without orders, regardless of whether they were civil servants or military officers, would be beheaded!
This is tantamount to completely closing the door to peace talks. This Cai Jing is called "Return", but it is actually a tool used by the Jin Kingdom to test the Song Dynasty's sincerity for peace.
As a result, this tool was decapitated... and the head was passed around and displayed to the public!
Under such circumstances, if Wu Qimai sent people for peace talks again, he would be pouring cold water on his own army and cheering up the Song Dynasty.
Of course, it was impossible for Wu Qimai to withdraw his troops from Hebei and return to the court to end this southern invasion... Everyone in the Dajin Kingdom was fighting this war with the idea of making a fortune.
Although now I have conquered Yanshan Prefecture, destroyed Damingfu City, and grabbed some things in Hebei and Hedong, the price is still far below everyone's psychological price. In addition, the Dajin East Route Army also suffered considerable losses in a series of small-scale battles in Yuncheng, Hecaikou, and later around Liangshanbo. Just the Jurchen and Bohai main soldiers and the Alixi auxiliary soldiers of the Jurchen and Bohai tribes lost as much as five to six thousand!
If we include the losses of the Han'er Army, the Khitans and other affiliated tribal armies, the losses of the East Route Army would have already exceeded 15,000 people!
If it ends so hastily now, the harvest of this southern invasion of Song Dynasty will be far lower than everyone's psychological price, and the cost will be greater than everyone expected... Wu Qimai, as the emperor, The prestige is about to plummet.
Therefore, in the face of Zhao Kai's toughness, Wu Qimai had no choice but to follow up, putting on a posture of risking the fate of the country with all his troops!
While Wu Qimai was thinking about how to place a bet, a group of Jurchen teenagers around him, Qingui, started shouting again.
"Look, Hezha Meng'an Cavalry!"
"The eldest prince should be out of the city!"
"Your Majesty the Emperor, my father has brought someone to greet you!"
Wu Qimai hurriedly concentrated his attention to move forward, and saw outside Yanjing City, a large group of Jurchen knights wearing white robes and sable hats had gathered. In front of them, there were people holding the five-color military flags unique to Hezha Meng'an. ——In today's Great Jin Kingdom, only Emperor Wu Qimai, the eldest prince Nianhan, Guolun Bojilie Wanyan Zongqian and the second prince Wanyan Zongwang have the most elite Hezha Mengan.
Now Wanyan Zongqian and Wanyan Zongpan stay together in Huining's old home, while Wanyan Zongwang sits on the front line of Damingfu. The only people who can appear in Hezha Meng'an in Xijinfu City are Wanyan Nianhan's men.
The appearance of Nianhan's Hezha Meng'an meant that Nianhan himself had arrived at Xijinfu City and had now come out to greet the army led by the emperor Wu Qimai.
...
While Xijin City in the north has become a gathering place for armies, Kaifeng City in the south is still a scene of prosperity and peace.
This historical inertia is really big!
Zhao Kai, a somewhat "secondary" time traveler, can probably only make a slight change in this short period of less than a year... Oh, maybe even this slight change is a bit questionable. .
He just allowed the Song Dynasty, a country of light in the Middle Ages, to continue on its original development and upward trajectory - the Song Dynasty before the Jingkang disaster was not the end of the world, but was in the middle of a 300-year feudal dynasty. The politics, economy, and military are not too bad. Before encountering the monster of the Jin Kingdom, the Song Dynasty had just recovered the land of Yanyun that had been lost for 200 years, and it also suppressed Xixia in the west. As for Fang La's rebellion, which had a huge internal momentum, it was wiped out in just three or two months.
Moreover, the empire's finances are enough to support Zhao Ji's prosperous Yuda!
As for the hearts of the people...at least within the Kaifeng government, they absolutely support the officials of the Song Dynasty.
In addition, Zhao Kai, who stayed in the Song Dynasty for almost a year, also discovered that this dynasty was very different from other feudal dynasties in history... This dynasty had the power of finance and real estate!
Other dynasties, except for the semi-colonial era at the end of the Qing Dynasty, basically could only spend as much money as they had in the treasury, and they would be miserable if they ran out!
The Song Dynasty was different. It could issue jiaozi, salt, tea, and ultimatums... In the words of later generations, these things were securities!
And there are not only issuance, but also a large number of commercial institutions engaged in the trading, exchange, storage and other businesses of these cross-reference certificates.
With the existence of these commercial institutions, the cross-citation certificates issued by the Song Dynasty court had support and "collection" value, and could enter the circulation field.
Kaifeng Mansion itself is the core of this financial system. The Jieshen Lane area in the inner city of Kaifeng Mansion is where Wall Street existed in the Middle Ages.
In addition, the high real estate prices in Kaifeng Prefecture can also serve as a currency reservoir... Now the value of the real estate owned by the Song Dynasty official family in Kaifeng Prefecture alone far exceeds the various cross-quotation certificates total market value.
If it really doesn't work, if you sell some "school district housing", won't you take back the "negotiable securities" that were overpaid? Therefore, the Song Dynasty, which owned Kaifeng Mansion, did not have to worry about serious inflation.
Facing such a wealthy, prosperous, and progressive Kaifeng Mansion, how could Zhao Kai have the heart to abandon it? Moreover, in this Kaifeng city, there are still beautiful memories left by Zhao Kai’s physical body!
On the Jinshui River, there are weeping willows and blue waves on both sides.
A painting boat was slowly passing by on the river, and the faint sound of silk and bamboo coming from the painting boat could be vaguely heard. After another noisy day, the Jinshui River in the northwest of Kaifeng City has become particularly peaceful and peaceful. The slow dinner in early autumn makes people feel particularly comfortable.
Zhao Kai was sitting on this painting boat, with a spring breeze on his face, looking particularly proud. In the evening, together with his two good friends Cao Li and Shen Changsheng, he sneaked out of the palace and came out incognito for a private visit... Well, the main thing was to understand the sentiments of the people! As the king of a country, you can't always squint in the palace! If you have the chance, you should go out and take a look and understand what the people in Kaifeng Prefecture are thinking.
Only in this way can we better make decisions for the people!
"Sanlang..." Cao Li's voice rang in Zhao Kai's ears at this time. He did not call Zhao Kai an official, but called him "Zhao Sanlang", "Huamanlou is here!"
