Chapter 459 The Song Dynasty Will Disband without Me

In late November of the ninth year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, heavy snow fell in the north.

The goose-feather-like snowflakes flew everywhere, making the earth look vast.

At this moment, in the Bianliang Political System Court, the room was warm as spring. In addition to the iron stove table, there was also a heating pipe.

This was the new heating installed in August, and there was a boiler outside that continued to boil water.

The hot water flowed into the house through the steel pipe, and then dissipated through the radiator, keeping the temperature in the house at around 20 degrees.

This allowed many prime ministers who were originally in poor health to work even in winter.

However, Zhang Shixun and Li Di were not in good health recently. They were both in their seventies and eighties, and they died of illness in the past two years in history.

It seems that they have reached old age. Even if they did not toss around because of being demoted and then died of illness soon as in history, they have reached the age to enjoy their old age.

It can be foreseen that when the Political System Court changes its term next year, it is unlikely that they will be allowed by the emperor to exceed their term of office like Song Shou and Cai Qi.

"Cough cough cough cough"

The room was very quiet, with only a few coughs occasionally. It was common for these old people to cough a few times in winter.

Only Yan Shu, Cai Qi, Jia Changchao, Song Shou, Jiang Tang, Zheng Jian and Du Yan were working today.

Zhao Jun went out of Beijing to inspect the local areas, and Fan Zhongyan went to the Ministry of War and the Privy Council. The two departments were going to transport supplies to the northwest recently, and he needed to coordinate and prepare.

Li Di and Zhang Shixun were not in good health recently. In winter, Zhao Zhen specifically allowed them not to come to work if they were unwell.

They were the oldest. Even if the house was warm, if they went out and encountered a cold wind, they might catch a cold, which might kill an old man.

As for Xia Song, he went to the Ministry of Finance. At the end of the year, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Statistics were the busiest. The Ministry of Statistics had to calculate the data from all over the country this year, and the Ministry of Finance had to calculate the fiscal revenue and fiscal expenditure this year.

These financial data can intuitively show the investment and construction of the Song Dynasty in various directions this year, such as infrastructure, education development, scientific research investment, military expenditure, etc.

It allows the court to know how much money is spent on these every year, and then combine the data of other departments to discuss whether to increase or reduce the budget next year.

In simple terms, it is how much money is spent, where it is spent, and what effect it has after spending.

This is also the development strategy of the country in the new era in the future. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance is extremely busy at the end of each year, and Xia Song often has to go there to stare at the clearing books.

"Prime Minister Yan."

Du Yan coughed and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm into the spittoon beside him, then raised the official document in his hand and said, "This is an official document sent by the commander of the Annan garrison. The Le Dynasty can no longer resist."

Yan Shu stopped the brush in his hand that was reviewing the memorials, raised his head and frowned, saying, "Why is this Le Dynasty so useless? Didn't we sell them a lot of weapons and equipment before?"

"The last emperor of the Le Dynasty, Le Long, was cruel and murderous, and the people in the country did not support him. After the Li family replaced the Le family, they implemented a lenient policy for two generations and won the hearts of the people. Even if there were occasional rebellions in the local area, they would first lead the army to defeat them, then pardon their leaders and comfort their people."

Du Yan said, "Therefore, after the Le Dynasty was established again, the people and local leaders of Annan did not obey, and they gathered in the name of revenge for the Li family. The areas controlled by the Le family now are only Thang Long and Jiangnan."

Thang Long is Hanoi in Vietnam in later generations, and Jiangnan is the area around Thai Binh Province and Haiphong City in Vietnam in later generations, which is almost the Red River Delta area.

There is one point Du Yan didn't mention.

That is, the reason why the Le Dynasty could still control Thang Long and Jiangnan was because the Song Dynasty had troops stationed there. Otherwise, given that the Le Dynasty was so unpopular, it would have been overthrown by the Vietnamese long ago.

"So, is it wrong for us to destroy the Li Dynasty?"

Yan Shu sneered: "This Li Dynasty can be said to be a dynasty of benevolence and righteousness, which makes it seem that our Song Dynasty should not have destroyed them."

Du Yan said seriously: "Even if he is benevolent and righteous internally, it is an indisputable fact that he actively harassed big countries externally. Those who are rude and insult big neighbors, greedy and stubborn and make bad friends will perish! The fall of the Li Dynasty is their own fault!"

Song Shou on the other side also said: "When the Li family was in power, there were also rebellions in the local area. In my opinion, these people want to avenge the Li family, but they are taking the opportunity to establish themselves as kings."

"Yeah."

Yan Shu nodded and said: "That makes sense. Where are the rebels fighting now?"

"Except for Thang Long and Jiangnan, there are rebel leaders everywhere, and there are probably dozens of them. They have fought to Xinghua in the north of the Ruyue River before, and were blown away by several cannons we sold to the Li Dynasty, but this time they are probably coming with great force."

"Specifically What's going on?"

"Since they were defeated last time, they have united together."

Du Yan said: "I don't know where the rebels got a few homemade cannons from. With more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, they have already broken through Xinghua and headed straight for Bac Ninh. Beyond Bac Ninh is Thang Long City."

"Huh?"

Yan Shu frowned even more tightly: "Are they almost at Thang Long City? How did these Annan people get the homemade cannons?"

Du Yan scratched his head and said: "I guess it was sold by our people. We have a limited number of steel cannons, and the army certainly dare not sell them. But didn't we sell them a lot of cold weapons such as weapons and armor before? The principle of this cannon is not difficult. The army melts some ironware, makes a cannon barrel by itself, and sells some gunpowder to those Annan people. Small cannons like Weiyuan Cannon should still be made. It's just that the range is a little short and the power is a little weak, but it is probably enough to deal with the Le Dynasty."

"."

Yan Shu was helpless, holding his forehead and said: "These guys are really incapable of doing anything but causing trouble."

"We only have 3,000 troops stationed in Annan, most of them are on the coast, and there are 500 people in Thang Long City, but it is still easy to mobilize an army from Qiongzhou to quell the rebellion."

Du Yan said: "Why not let the Changhua Army in Qiongzhou go there."

"If you ask me, no matter how much trouble those rebels make, do they dare to attack the army of our Song Dynasty? It doesn't matter who is in charge of Annan, as long as they obey the orders of our Song Dynasty, why bother so much?"

Jia Changchao said casually.

Yan Shu shook his head and said, "That won't work. An obedient country that is unified and stable is better than an obedient country that is extremely turbulent. Moreover, if Annan is stable, who will we sell our weapons and equipment to?"

"I don't quite understand. Annan is poor in resources. Although it produces coal, it has very little gold, silver and copper. Why should we go to so much trouble to station troops there? Just supplying the Annan garrison every year is a serious expense."

Zheng Jian said puzzled.

Yan Shu hesitated for a moment and said, "I haven't thought about this question, nor have I asked Han Long. But since Han Long did this, he must have a purpose. Besides, isn't it suitable for growing rubber and cinchona trees there? Growing grain is also very good, with three harvests a year. In recent years, the Le Dynasty has paid us mostly grain and coal mines. Even if my Song Dynasty is not short of them, they are all important resources."

Vietnam is indeed a country with poor resources. Except for the relatively rich aluminum ore, other ordinary minerals are extremely poor, and only the Red River Delta is suitable for farming.

Moreover, it is located in the tropics, with a hot climate and many diseases brought by mosquitoes, which is not suitable for human habitation at all.

Otherwise, if it were not for these shortcomings, Vietnam would have been separated from the Central Plains dynasty sequence since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Therefore, there have been some voices in the court in recent years, believing that whether it is to control or occupy Annan, it is not worth the loss, and it is necessary to spend a lot of military expenses every year to support the local garrison. It is better to withdraw troops and give up.

Even the prime ministers of the Constitutional Council have complaints about Zhao Jun's decision, thinking that it is a pure waste of finances.

Only Zhao Jun knows that the problem with Vietnam is that, first, this place belonged to the Central Plains dynasty in ancient times. It has been occupied since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it has been Han land since ancient times.

This situation did not occur until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, in 939 AD, when some Annan people took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains and had no time to worry about the southwest to break away from the Central Plains dynasty and become an independent small kingdom, the Wu Dynasty.

However, the Wu Dynasty was not a unified dynasty in Vietnam, but there were many internal strife, known as the Twelve Envoys Rebellion. It was not until 968 AD that the Ding Dynasty ended the internal strife and completed the unification of Vietnam.

So in essence, Vietnam at this time was just a piece of territory that had separated from the Central Plains.

To be honest, it is an inseparable part of Chinese civilization.

Second, although Vietnam is poor in resources, it is suitable for growing various tropical fruits as well as rice, peanuts, soybeans, sugarcane, ramie, cotton, tea, rubber, etc., and has great economic value.

And although it lacks minerals such as gold, silver and copper, its coal and aluminum reserves are huge, ranking among the top in the world, and its rare earth reserves are second only to my country, ranking second in the world.

Therefore, even if it cannot be used now, the Song Dynasty, as an industrial pioneer, may not be useless in the future if it looks at it from a long-term perspective.

The third is the most important point.

The development of southwest my country has been stagnant for a long time, with many mountains and dense forests, and a shortage of grain production. If the Red River Delta is well cultivated, it will not be a problem to feed the entire southwest.

And connect the Red River Delta region in northern Vietnam with Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou in my country, so that the southwest will have a very good outlet to the Beibu Gulf, which can greatly affect the economic trade of the entire southwest region.

Therefore, Zhao Jun believes that it would be a huge loss to conquer Vietnam and actually occupy this land.

But from a long-term perspective, supporting the puppet regime and spending some military expenses every year to indirectly control it is a good deal. It may not benefit you now, but it will be a treasure trove in decades or hundreds of years.

Just like when Russia sold Alaska to the United States, the Americans at that time thought it was a big loss to spend 7.2 million US dollars to buy such a large piece of barren land.

But when gold and oil were discovered in Alaska, it was another matter.

"Okay, since Prime Minister Yan insists, let the Changhua Army go, but we have no obligation to help the Le Dynasty. At most, we can help them repel the rebels to avoid spending so much military expenses."

Jia Changchao said.

"Well, let's go to Changhua Army. Leave the note and sign it together. We will handle ordinary matters ourselves, but this involves mobilizing the army after all."

"By the way, Prime Minister Yan, there is another thing here."

"What is it?"

"Didn't the Jinghai Army of Guangnan East Road ask the Zhiyuan to send it to Mayi Island two years ago?"

"What happened?"

"They found that the local area is indeed rich in resources, so they want to build a port and set up a military port there, so that they can travel back and forth between Mayi and Guangzhou all the time."

"The court asked them to explore the way and record the local human geography, but they want to build a military port. I think the matter is not simple."

Yan Shu is indeed a smart man. He touched his beard and said with a gleam in his eyes: "I am afraid that the Jinghai Army wants to transport goods there to do business and enrich themselves."

Everyone looked at each other and felt that it made sense. Jing Haijun's behavior was too abnormal. To build a port, the court had to send people to establish a stronghold first, and then the court organized the Guangnan East Road Transfer Department to build it.

Why did their Jing navy cross Guangnan East Road to apply for the establishment of a separate military port? What forces there are worthy of dispatching the Song army and elite navy?

It doesn't make sense.

Jiang Tang said: "The army is not allowed to do business. It is a strict rule set by the Imperial Academy!"

"Then call back and let the Guangnan East Road Transfer Department take a look at the situation."

"Um."

"There is something very difficult here. Our soldiers stationed in Goryeo seem to be acting recklessly over there. Goryeo has sent letters of credence."

"what happened?"

"Abuse women."

"this"

Yan Shu felt a headache.

The composition of the Song Army was not that of later generations.

Instead, it is filled with a large number of criminals, rebels, and gangsters.

Not only do these people have low consciousness, but they also have a high crime rate. What if there is a saying in the Song Dynasty that "a good man is not a soldier, and a good iron is not a nail"?

The domestic Song army's discipline is pretty good now, but it's hard to say for the troops stationed abroad.

I think there must be a similar situation in Annan and Japan. It's just that Goryeo has never been beaten by the Song Dynasty, and is willing to be the dog of the Song Dynasty. It thinks that it can talk to the top officials of the Song Dynasty, so it dares to write a letter of credence to explain the situation. .

Otherwise, if it were Japan and Annan, it would have been covered up by the local garrison, and there would be no chance to present it to the Constitutional Yuan.

"There have been a lot of troubles recently, and a copper mine was discovered on Jiangxi Road. This was a good thing, but it happens to be in the Futong Mountain area at the junction of Jizhou and Qianzhou."

Cai Qi said: "Theoretically, half of one state is enough, but the official document says that Jizhou is easy to mine, and many of them are open-pit mines. It is easy to hollow out the mountainside and dig out the mines in Qianzhou. And Qianzhou It is not easy to mine there, but associated gold deposits were discovered, flowing out of the mountain river. Qianzhou was worried that Jizhou would dig up their mines, but Jizhou said that since they could not dig in the direction of Qianzhou, it was better to let them open a smelting plant. "

As he spoke, he continued: "If things were fine before, the imperial court would make unified arrangements and set up copper and iron supervisors to smelt by themselves. But now the imperial court's new policy encourages local states and roads to set up state-run and road-run state-owned enterprises. Minerals discovered locally can be smelted independently by local governments." We need to operate in order to develop the local economy. Now that the political achievements are there, neither side will give in. We also lack relevant industrial experience, and it is really difficult to make a decision on how to distribute it. "

"Well"

After Zhao Jun left, Yan Shu seemed to have replaced Lu Yijian as the decision-maker in the Constitutional Yuan.

But each problem is more troublesome than the last.

Some involve civil wars abroad, some involve overseas exploration, some involve garrisoning troops in other countries, and some involve industrial development.

These problems can be said to be difficult.

It's not that the prime ministers are useless, but that they are better at solving domestic problems. They can be said to have a blind eye on many overseas and industrial issues, and have no experience in this area at all.

"Where is Hanlong now?"

Yan Shu suddenly remembered this question. He looked around and said, "Did you say you had arrived in Jiangsu and Zhejiang a few days ago?"

"Well, Hanlong set out in March and dealt with the problems of local aristocratic families in Yanyun in June. Then he went south from Hedong Road and successively inspected Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Huainan and other places."

Song Shou said: "Counting the days, we should almost reach Jiangsu and Zhejiang now."

He said with a smile and said: "Hanlong also said that he wanted to visit his hometown in Hunan again during the Chinese New Year this year, but he was delayed for too long on the road. I heard that many people were killed. It is now late November, and there will be another month and a half. It’s the Chinese New Year, so I’ll probably go to Jiangnan West Road at most. I’m afraid I won’t be able to go to Hunan before the New Year.”

"Isn't that a coincidence?"

Yan Shu smiled and said: "These things all happened in the south. Send an urgent message to Hanlong. He knows how to deal with it."

"Are you putting the blame on him again?"

"What can we do? This involves foreign situations, which is a blind spot in our knowledge. After all, when has our Song Dynasty ever dealt with foreign affairs?"

"That's true."

Cai Qi on the side shook his head and said: "Although Han Long is not in Bianliang, Bianliang can't live without him. Come back soon so that we can have some leisure time."

"Alright, let's go get it done right away before the shift to Zouyuan is completed. It's five hundred miles away so we don't have to wait until tomorrow."

"Um."

Everyone nodded, that was all they could do.

But at this moment, Zhao Jun, who was far away in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and was investigating a corruption case in a state-owned salt farm as soon as he entered Jiangsu and Zhejiang, sneezed hard.

It was late November, and although there was no snow in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there were continuous heavy rains, and the sky seemed to be overcast.

He stood on the salt field, staring coldly at the corrupt people who had been bound to the execution ground. Among them were officials in charge of the salt industry, state-owned bosses in charge of operations, and related people who colluded with them.

The last time he dealt with the corruption issue in the salt industry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was already in the first year of Qingli. At that time, Liu Yong, who was in charge of salt industry management, reported the issue to him.

Just nine years later, the borers were once again infested.

"The Song Dynasty will break up without me."

Zhao Jun looked at the execution ground in the distance, patted the case gently and said: "Kill!"

In an instant, a large number of heads fell to the ground.