After Lu Wende led the fleet to Ganghwa Island, he learned that the country of Goryeo had been devastated by Mongolia and lost all its plains. There were only some mountain cities and islands left in the country, and there were no horses for sale in the country. He immediately led the fleet to Liaodong.
After leaving Ganghwa Island, Lu Wende led the fleet and sailed north along the coast of North Korea.
At the bow of the ship, Lu Wende asked Liu Jiyuan about the information he heard from Song Yanqi, the Korean envoy.
The efficiency of written communication was too slow, so Lu Wende asked Liu Jiyuan, who knew Korean dialect, to talk to the Korean envoy first and then tell him.
"During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Jin Dynasty, the forces of the Jin Kingdom retreated to the south of the Great Wall and gradually lost contact with the outside world. In the northeast, Linhai Kingdom established by the Han people, Dongliao established by the Khitans, and Dongxia established by the Jurchens all appeared at the same time. Multiple regimes." Liu Jiyuan said.
When Lu Wende heard that the Han people had founded a country, he couldn't help asking: "What about the Linhai Kingdom?"
Liu Jiyuan sighed: "They are destroyed by Mongolia every two years."
Lu Wende felt it was a pity, "What about Dongliao and Dongxia?"
"The Koreans said that Dongliao was attached to Mongolia and became a vassal state of Mongolia. Dongxia was also destroyed by Mongolia two years ago!" Liu Jiyuan said.
Lu Wende frowned, "Eastern Liao is attached to Mongolia, and East Xia is destroyed, so where can we buy horses?"
Liu Jiyuan said: "Korean people say that although Dongxia destroyed the country, there are still many tribes hiding in Changbai Mountain."
Lu Wende said: "It seems that our trip will not be easy!"
At this time, the fleet continued to sail north, and a few days later, it arrived at the mouth of the Yalu River. However, Liaodong was controlled by the Dongliao Kingdom established by the Khitans, and Lu Wende did not dare to sail the fleet directly to Liaodong.
The fleet wandered around the sea for several days, and finally settled on an island to the east of the Yalu River estuary, which is located at the hub of the Korean Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula.
After Lv Wende landed on the island, he found that there were no residents on the island. After Liu Jiyuan inquired, he learned that the island was called Chudao.
In order to obtain the stallion, Lu Wendel ordered the fleet to rest on Chu Island, sent Liu Jiyuan to land quietly, and then went to the depths of Changbai Mountain to find the Jurchen tribe.
More than two years ago, the Eastern Xia Kingdom was destroyed by the Mongols. The Jurchens in the northeast were directly beaten back to their primitive times by the Mongols.
Under the attack of the Mongols, some of the Jurchen remnants hid in the Changbai Mountains, and some migrated north to the deep mountains and old forests north of Heilongjiang.
To the east of the Yalu River estuary, on the coast of Goryeo, a Qi army warship has been waiting here for more than a month.
Lu Wen followed Lu Wende's order and sent Liu Jiyuan ashore, and then waited on the shore for Liu Jiyuan's return.
"Hundred households, will there be any accidents outside Yuan Liu?" Several days had passed since the agreed time, and the food and water on the ship were about to run out, so the soldiers on the ship couldn't help but ask.
Lu Wenxin looked at the coast, unable to hide the worry in his eyes, "The main purpose of going to sea this time is to contact Goryeo and Jurchen and obtain war horses. Let's wait for three more days! After three days, if no one has returned, we will return to Chu Island to resupply."
After hearing this, the soldiers on the boat could only continue to wait in boredom. But at this moment, the soldiers on the tower suddenly shouted: "There are horse troops coming!"
This shocked Qi Jun on the ship, and he quickly got up from the deck, thinking that it was the Mongols coming over.
Lu Wenxin stood on the side of the ship, squinted his eyes, and immediately smiled: "It's Liu Yuanwai who is back."
At that moment, the warship lowered the boat and took Liu Jiyuan on board.
"Executive member Liu, how is the situation?" Lu Wenxin asked quickly.
Liu Jiyuan took a sip of water and smiled: "Fortunately, we have found a Jurchen tribe and they are willing to trade with us. However, they don't have many stallions and can only give us fifteen!"
Lu Wenxin said: "As long as you can buy it!"
Liu Jiyuan said: "Then please ask hundreds of households to transport the goods on the ship to the shore, and then load the horses onto the ship!"
Because there was no dock, the warships could not dock. They could only use the ship's pulley to lift the goods onto the small boat, and then the small boat transported it ashore.
Not long after, the goods were shipped ashore, including iron pots, pottery, cloth, coarse salt, tea, soap and other goods that the Jurchens needed.
Nowadays, the Jurchen ministries are short of supplies. After they took stock of the goods, the leader came over and said a few Jurchen words to Lu Wenxin.
"What did he say?" Lu Wenxin couldn't help asking.
Liu Jiyuan said: "He said we are very fair and wants to continue doing business with us!"
Lu Wenxin smiled and said: "Tell him, as long as they have horses, we will get as much as they have, and the price will be absolutely fair!"
The transaction between the two parties was relatively pleasant. The Jurchens loaded the goods on their horses and left on horseback to avoid being discovered by the Mongols.
Lu Wenxin spent a lot of effort to hoist fifteen stallions onto the ship, then raised the anchor and raised the sail.
After more than a month, when the ship returned to Chudao, Lu Wende had already built a temporary dock on the island, cut down trees, and built many houses and warehouses. Apparently, he wanted to turn Chudao into a place where the Qi army was the same as the Jurchens and Goliaths. trade base.
…
Late September.
Binzhou is located in the north of Shandong Province and is close to the Bohai Sea.
In the early morning, on the old course of the Yellow River, Zhao Tai stood on horseback on a badly damaged river embankment, gazing at the sea of yellow grass in front of him.
Earlier, in order to defend Mongolia, Zhao Tai had thought of changing the course of the Yellow River so that it would flow from Jibei into the Bohai Sea.
Recently, Shandong began to resume production, and Zhao Tai told Wang Wentong his idea and asked him to examine the feasibility of the plan.
Recently, Zhao Tai received the inspection results from the Water Conservancy Department of the Construction and Construction Department, which concluded that at least two million dollars would be invested in rerouting the river embankment and cleaning up the old road.
Zhao Tai was directly frightened by this figure and announced that he would not consider diversion of the Yellow River for the time being.
However, although the diversion plan was unsuccessful, officials from the Water Conservancy Department, when inspecting the old Yellow River course, found that both sides of the old course were particularly suitable for establishing pastures.
The purpose of Zhao Tai's trip to Binzhou this time was to inspect whether a horse farm could be established here to feed and breed war horses.
】
Looking at the large grassland, Zhao Taitai couldn't help but ask: "Looking at the flat land, abundant water and fertile land, why did the people abandon it?"
Wang Wentong said: "Reporting to your Majesty, firstly, this place borders Hebei, and Mongolian horsemen often cross the border to harass. Secondly, the rivers here are silted up and in disrepair. For one or two months every year, the accumulated water cannot be drained, resulting in no harvest for the people. Therefore, This land is gradually deserted!"
Agricultural production has very high requirements on weather and timing. After planting crops and carefully tending them for several months, a few days of disaster may result in no harvest for the whole year.
Zhao Tai stroked his beard and said in a deep voice: "It seems that this place can only be used to raise horses, but it is too close to Hebei. If we build a horse farm, we will easily be attacked by Mongolia!"
Wang Wentong said: "The old course of the Yellow River is quite long, and the area more than ten miles wide on both sides is a flooded area. We can share the risks by spreading tens of thousands of military horses in several horse farms. The king has repeatedly defeated the Mongols, and the heart of the prince of Hebei has been shaken , Your Majesty can make friends and infiltrate, move the defense line forward, and station more troops in the north, so that the horse farm can be protected."
Zhao Tai thought for a while, and now the Qi army is at risk of turning against the Southern Song Dynasty. The top priority now is to achieve self-sufficiency in food.
In order for the Qi army to obtain enough military rations, they needed enough arable land, so the horse farm could only use land that could not be cultivated or had poor harvests.
"Okay! Just follow your wishes!" Zhao Tai nodded and made a decision.
At this time, a group of cavalry galloped over. Zhao Hu reined in the horse under the river embankment, and then stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, the navy sent to Goryeo is back!"
