Looking at Dengzhou City, the city is tall and majestic. It was just that it was a troubled time, so not many people came in and out of the city. Two soldiers, one holding a spear, lazily leaned against the city gate. The two officials next to him collect city money from people entering the city.
Zhang Jun looked at it for a while and said to his subordinates: "Dengzhou is a big city. I heard that Zhizhou has some abilities, but he is much better than Tangzhou."
Li Chengle said: "The commander is right. We should be more careful when entering the city."
Zhang Jun laughed and said: "It's just better than Tangzhou. We have to be careful in a place like this, we are too useless."
After saying that, he took five people and headed towards the city gate. When he arrived in front of the city gate, an official stopped him. Asked: "Where are you from? What are you doing in Dengzhou? Only ten copper coins per person can enter the city."
Zhang Jun said: "I heard that silk is cheap here in Dengzhou. Let's sell some and transport it back to the north."
With that said, he took out the money and handed it over.
The officials took the money and let them into the city without asking any questions.
Zhang Jun said: "It costs ten cents per person to enter the city, which is too expensive. People from outside the city want to go to the city to make a living, but they are afraid they won't be able to make money."
The official said: "Isn't the price of things high these days? What's the matter with you? Let's go! It's so long-winded here!"
Zhang Jun looked at the official, said nothing, and led the five people into the city.
Walking on the road, Li Chengle said: "Tangzhou does not collect city money. Dengzhou can collect money, and the magistrate here is a businessman."
As he spoke, he looked at the street, although there were not many pedestrians, but they looked peaceful. Unlike Tangzhou, the people on the streets are all in a hurry, but there are vicious loafers wandering around.
After walking around the street, Zhang Jun said: "Let's find an inn to stay and see how Dengzhou is doing. Since the Jin soldiers came south, Jingkang has said that it will move the capital here, and the news has been very popular in the past two years. In Dengzhou city, I don’t know how much supplies are stored, but Zhizhou attaches great importance to them.”
Li Chengle said: "The Jin people attacked Dengzhou last winter, and no matter how many good things they had, they took away them."
Zhang Jun shook his head repeatedly: "The Jin army came from a long way and they can grab some gold and silver treasures, but military supplies and other items cannot be taken away. Moreover, they have always looked down on the armaments of our dynasty and did not bother to rob them."
Even though he said this, Zhang Jun was still a little worried. Although the Jin army is not lucky, it can be set on fire. Dengzhou has not been burned and killed, so I don't know if the military supplies are still there. If he wasn't here, I'm afraid Wang Xiaolie would be disappointed.
Zhang Jun is a smart man, and he can see that Wang Xiaolie has the idea of expanding his power. If you want to expand the army, you must first have people, and secondly, you must have ordnance. Without ordnance, it seems that no matter how many people there are, it will be useless on the battlefield. The army is an armed group. If it is unarmed, what else is it called an army?
On the street in front of the Yamen, there is a Yuelai Inn. The inn is not big and has no cargo yard, so it can only accommodate people. However, the location is great and business is still booming. Zhang Jun looked around and decided how many people would live here.
The boy sent a few people to the small courtyard at the back, gave them careful instructions, and then left.
Zhang Jun stopped and asked, "None of us know how to cook. Is it inconvenient for outside buyers?"
The waiter said: "Sir, our restaurant doesn't serve meals. If you want to eat, there are several restaurants outside."
Zhang Jun said: "We are not from a wealthy family, where can we go to a restaurant? Is there any small shop?"
The waiter shook his head: "There used to be a lot of small shops here, but most of them can't survive this year. If you want to eat, you have to walk farther. There is no way, the rent here is too expensive, how can a small shop survive?"
Zhang Jun said: "Your store is not big, so it is not doing well."
The boy smiled bitterly: "Sir, this shop is not rented. The house belongs to the owner's family. Otherwise, it would not be able to support it."
Zhang Jun had no choice but to wave his hand and let the boy go. It seems that while living is convenient, eating is not.
The inns at this time were different from those of later generations in that most of them did not sell food. There is a kitchen inside the inn, and guests can bring rice to cook themselves, or eat outside. Originally, the food industry in the Song Dynasty was developed, not to mention there were many small restaurants, and there were even specialized takeout businesses in Kaifeng. However, Dengzhou is a small place, and after the Jinbing Rebellion, a large number of shops closed down, so it is not so convenient.
Settling down the salute. Zhang Jun said: "Go outside to buy some wine and meat, and we will come back to drink. I came here under orders this time. If I were outside, I'm afraid the news would be leaked. Come back to the store, drink as much as you want tonight, and start to inquire about the situation tomorrow."
The remaining five people agreed together.
After leaving the inn and walking for more than a mile, I didn't see any delicatessens. I had no choice but to buy five kilograms of meat and two chickens, take them to a restaurant, and ask the owner to cook them. I drank some more wine and returned to the inn.
After setting the wine and meat on the table, Zhang Jun said: "Although this Dengzhou city looks peaceful, it is extremely deserted. In peacetime, this place is located on the main road between the north and the south, and there are countless merchants every day. Now it is difficult to see outsiders. There are not many pedestrians on the streets in the city. It is understandable that it is so inconvenient for us to stay and eat in hotels.”
Li Chengle poured wine into several bowls. He said: "Commander, after the Jin soldiers came and took away the money and the craftsmen, how can we continue to do business? Besides, the people have no money. Isn't that all?"
"Sit down, drink, drink!" After inviting everyone to sit down, Zhang Jun picked up the wine.
After drinking a bowl of wine, Zhang Jun said: "In my opinion, why should Zhizhou conduct training in Yezhou? Order your troops and horses, and occupy Tangzhou and Dengzhou first. Who dares to say anything! These two big states , with many households and a large territory, it is not much better than Ruzhou!"
Li Chengle said: "The magistrate is the magistrate of Ruzhou appointed by the imperial court. He should guard the territory. No one dares to come here."
Zhang Jun couldn't help but sneer after hearing this and said nothing. The newly-appointed emperor only knows how to run around, what future does he have? Zhang Jun could feel that Wang Xiaolie didn't take Zhao Gou seriously, so he just didn't say anything.
Of course Wang Xiaolie wanted to expand his power. But don't be reckless and wait for the opportunity quietly. In the winter of the first year of Jianyan, Jin soldiers went south on a large scale. Jingdong Road only captured a few states, and most of them were still in the hands of the Song Dynasty. Most of the Shaanxi Road and Jingxi Road were captured, but the Jin army looted and retreated to the north in the spring. At this time, the rule of the Song Dynasty was not broken up, and the rule was maintained in most places. The first one to stand up and occupy the territory is too conspicuous. At this time, it is best to practice internal strength so that when chaos comes, you can take advantage of the situation.
Zhang Jun was impatient. Along the way, neither Tangzhou nor Dengzhou had strong defense forces. It can be seen that Wang Xiaohunting's three thousand troops, even if two thousand are sent south, will be enough to firmly occupy these two states. With territory comes power.
I drank several bowls of wine. Li Chengle said: "Commander, Zhizhou sent us here, what exactly are we going to do?"
Zhang Jundao: "The magistrate didn't specifically tell us to do anything. He just said to look at Dengzhou, how is the market, how are the people's lives, and how is the government's governance? Are the previous military resources still there, how many defenders are there, and so on."
After hearing this, several people understood that Wang Xiaolie did have the intention to go south to attack Dengzhou.
When leaving Luoyang, Lu Qing collected a thousand soldiers and horses for Wang Xiaolie. When they arrived in Ruzhou, they pacified the local forces and added a large number of unemployed kiln workers. They carefully selected among these people, and the number of troops reached 3,000. However, there were too many people, but not enough weapons. Wang Xiaolie could only keep practicing to familiarize the new recruits with military life, but he could not equip them.
If you make your own firearms, it will take time. A bow can last for several years. Even for simple swords and guns, Wang Xiaolie didn't have that much good iron, and he didn't have any craftsmen. How can it be so easy to truly equip an army?
Zhao Gou went south with only tens of thousands of troops. It took more than ten years to rapidly grow to an army of more than 300,000, which was inseparable from the reserves left by the previous Song Dynasty. Not only are there weapons left behind, but there are also former craftsmen who can rebuild a complete ordnance industry.
If there are only a few dozen people, some with knives, some with guns, and some with bows and crossbows, it will be very rich. But if there are tens of thousands of people, there will be various types of arms and various types of ordnance. It is impossible to equip such an army without a foundation.
The Jin Dynasty rose up in just a dozen years, destroyed the Liao Dynasty, and then destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty. The main reason was that it inherited the foundation of the Liao Dynasty. At the same time, a large number of Song Dynasty craftsmen were captured every time they went south. Without these, the rise of the Jin Dynasty would not have been so rapid.
