Chapter 247 God is helping
"After discussing with the ministers, the Duke of England and others, I decided to send envoys to Liao while increasing the number of troops for defense."
After the official finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something and said, "The Grand Master said that when you sent people to repair the city, you used a magical substance called cement. When mixed with sand and stone, it would become as hard as stone in just one or two days. Is that true?"
"Yes, this was developed by the craftsmen under my command." Zhao Xing nodded.
The official was a little excited when he heard this and asked, "How much does this thing cost?"
"The cost is not expensive." Zhao Xing asked with some doubt: "What does the emperor mean by asking this?"
"The great minister said that this material can be used to build a Great Wall connecting the northern border cities, which can change the situation where there is no strategic location to defend in the north. In this way, the Liao Kingdom will not dare to easily invade the border. Fuer, this matter is not a joke. Is this cement really so effective?"
This idea was proposed by Han Zhang, but no one else dared to believe it, not even him.
I wanted to send someone to ask Zhao Xing, but Zhao Xing came by himself.
Zhao Xing confirmed this and said that cement was not expensive and he felt that building the Great Wall was not impossible.
In fact, Taizu and Taizong had failed in their many northern expeditions, and the north was often harassed by the Liao Kingdom. Someone once proposed to build the Great Wall, connecting the border cities and creating a barrier with manpower.
But it was ultimately rejected.
Firstly, the cost is too high, and secondly, the Liao Kingdom will not give us a chance.
However, cement is inexpensive and can be used to build walls quickly, so building the Great Wall became possible instead of being impossible.
Therefore, after confirming with Zhao Xing and receiving a positive reply, the emperor was tempted.
However, he was still somewhat skeptical and asked Zhao Xing for confirmation again.
Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect Han Zhang to come up with such an idea.
Is this method feasible?
It is definitely possible.
Although the Liao Kingdom occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for many years and also built siege equipment, and had fought with the Song Dynasty for many years, it also had certain siege experience.
However, the defenders still have a natural advantage, and the attackers pay a greater price.
Moreover, the Liao Kingdom had a large number of cavalry, but the Song Dynasty lacked war horses and had very few cavalry.
Cavalry is not very useful whether attacking or defending a city. Building the Great Wall weakened the enemy's advantages and made up for our own shortcomings.
However, there is a big drawback to building the Great Wall.
The people of the Song Dynasty were rather war-weary. This situation was not only due to the weakness of the Song Dynasty, but was caused by various factors.
First of all, the Song Dynasty valued culture over military affairs, so scholars naturally advocated civil governance and did not like fighting wars.
Moreover, the literati were also worried that the military generals’ achievements would be too great and would threaten their status.
There were many famous prime ministers in the Song Dynasty, but upon closer examination, although these prime ministers might have had abilities, most of them were criticized.
Prime Minister Fan, who was always concerned about the world, once prevented the government from killing civil servants. Not killing civil servants was an ancestral rule, and it was first proposed by Prime Minister Fan.
The incident started with a rebellion in a place. When the rebels attacked a county town, the county magistrate saw that the rebel army was powerful, so he sent people to bribe the rebels and called on the wealthy families in the city to send food, drink and money to the rebels.
Seeing that the county magistrate was so tactful, the rebel army retreated.
When the emperor found out, he was furious and wanted to kill the county magistrate. Many civil officials in the court supported him.
As a result, Prime Minister Fan said that not killing scholars and officials was the ancestral rule.
Many civil officials were puzzled at the time and privately asked Mr. Fan, who said, "If we let the government kill the county magistrate, what will we do if the government wants to kill us in the future? We can't open this loophole."
Those ministers came to their senses one after another and wrote letters the next day to oppose the government's execution of the county magistrate.
The government had no choice but to send him into exile.
Ironically, within a few years, the county magistrate was not only reinstated, but also promoted.
Today, the Prime Minister Han Zhang is an honest official who is dedicated to the country.
But it was he who shouted out the line "A real man is one who is called out at the Donghua Gate".
The Song Dynasty did produce many capable officials, and these officials were not only capable but also dedicated to the country.
However, they also spared no effort in excluding and suppressing the military generals.
Their devotion to the country is self-righteous, not completely sincere.
On the other hand, the Song Dynasty was frightened by the Liao Kingdom and was afraid of it like a tiger and was unwilling to fight.
For ordinary soldiers, whether there is a war or not is not what they care about. What they value more is their treatment.
The Song Dynasty implemented a conscription system, but the treatment of soldiers was far worse than that of other dynasties.
Although soldiers in other dynasties did not receive military pay, under the fubing system, soldiers even had to provide their own weapons and armor.
However, after winning the battle, the soldiers would receive various benefits in addition to the spoils of war, such as land rewards and tax exemptions.
Although the soldiers of the Song Dynasty received military pay, it was not much.
Moreover, many of the soldiers in the army were young and strong men selected from refugees and forced to join the army.
Can we expect soldiers like these to fight to the death?
In addition, criminals were sent to the army, officers were basically promoted by nepotism, and ordinary soldiers had difficulty in promotion, which were all the reasons why soldiers were tired of war. For various reasons, the Song Dynasty, from the emperor to the soldiers, was very tired of war.
Once there is a barrier in the north, it can be imagined that if he wants to mobilize troops against the Liao Kingdom in the future, he will inevitably encounter great resistance.
Therefore, Zhao Xing was unwilling to build the Great Wall in the north now.
If he fails to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in the future, he might consider it.
"Fuer, what are you thinking about?" The official asked when he saw Zhao Xing in a trance.
"Nothing...nothing." Zhao Xing came back to his senses and said, "I just feel something is wrong."
"What's wrong?" The official looked at his son in confusion.
"Father, think about it, in previous years, the Liao Kingdom sent people to rob the valleys because they were all cavalrymen, with each group having dozens or even hundreds of people. The north is flat and by the time the government got the news and rushed over, the cavalrymen had already robbed the valleys and fled, making it impossible to defend against them.
However, this year, there were signs that a large number of civilians were repairing the city on the northern border, and there were people everywhere along the border. As a result, it would be difficult for the small cavalry sent by the Liao Kingdom to hide their tracks.
But under such circumstances, the Liao Kingdom still sent people to raid the valley. Moreover, General Gan Lao and his men did not say that the people were robbed, but instead said that the civilians who were repairing the city were harassed. "Zhao Xing said.
"You mean the Liao Kingdom's goal is to organize the Song Dynasty to repair the city?" Upon hearing this, the official stood up and exclaimed, "Liao Kingdom intends to invade the border, so it can't sit still when it sees the Song Dynasty repairing the border city?"
Zhao Xing thought about it, shook his head and said, "I think this possibility is not high. It is no secret that the King of Qin, Yelu Chongyuan, has a lot of troops and is very powerful. The Emperor of Liao is very wary of him.
The most important thing for the Liao emperor now is to maintain domestic stability, and it is unlikely that he will mobilize troops against the Song Dynasty. However, my father said that the Liao Dynasty wanted to stop the Song Dynasty from repairing the city, which is very likely.
The Liao Kingdom could not have been unaware of the Song Dynasty's large-scale city repairs. The Liao Kingdom must have known about the news about cement. The Liao Kingdom sent troops to harass the Song Dynasty because it was afraid that the Song Dynasty would use cement to build cities and connect the northern border cities together.
If the Song Dynasty really did this, it would have the confidence to resist the Liao Kingdom, and would naturally stop giving gifts to the Liao Kingdom! "
As Zhao Xing was speaking, he was suddenly stunned. He had no idea of the Liao Kingdom's purpose. What he had said before was just to make his father give up the idea of building the Great Wall.
But as he was talking, he suddenly realized that it seemed like this was really possible.
The Liao emperor was extremely wary of his uncle Yelu Chongyuan, and he might want to use the Song Dynasty to weaken Yelu Chongyuan's power.
But Yelu Chongyuan was not stupid. If the Liao emperor sent him to attack the Song Dynasty, he might not do it.
The Emperor of Liao was not a fool. He knew that Yelu Chongyuan would never agree, but he still sent him to do this.
And if Yelu Chongyuan agreed and made meritorious contributions in attacking the Song Dynasty, wouldn't that greatly increase Yelu Chongyuan's popularity?
It would make sense if Yelu Chongyuan was sent to harass the civilians who were repairing the city.
The emperor was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "No one among you gentlemen has made such a guess just now, but what you said is indeed possible. We can only judge the intentions of Liao Kingdom after the envoys come back and see what they say."
"Well, what Father said makes sense."
Zhao Xing chatted with his father for a while, then said goodbye and left.
As he walked, Zhao Xing suddenly remembered something.
In order to shut up those who impeached him, he made a series of arrangements. Now that the Liao Kingdom is taking action, I'm afraid that everyone in the court will be attracted to it.
Does this mean that I have worked in vain?
"Why do I feel like God is helping me?" Zhao Xing muttered to himself.
The last time he dealt with Zhou Yi Zhong, he prepared a series of methods.
Although he was sure, Zhou Yizhong's death was more effective than his subsequent series of measures.
Moreover, Zhou Yizhong is not an ordinary person as he is able to serve as a husband.
That method might cause him to suffer a loss, but doesn't Zhou Yizhong have any way to deal with it?
It’s hard to say how it will end.
But Zhou Yi Zhong was angered to death. As a result, although some people in the court were still saddened, they were afraid of Zhou Yi Zhong's death and no one brought up the issue of measuring the land anymore.
This time, he also made a series of preparations for the Qingmiao Law, but he didn't know what the final result would be.
Now that the Liao Kingdom is showing signs of raising an army, the imperial court will have to worry about this matter next, so this can be considered a diversion of attention.
By the time they came to their senses, the landlords and gentry in various counties of Kaifeng Prefecture had been frightened and become obedient, and the Qingmiao Law had been successfully implemented. It was too late for them to find ways to criticize the Qingmiao Law.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xing was in a good mood.
After returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing ordered people to find Yuan Wenshao and Sheng Changwu.
Originally, Zhao Xing planned to send Yuan Wenshao to assist Gu Tingye.
It would be difficult for Gu Tingye to take over the Wuxiong Army alone, and he would need help.
Later, after thinking about it carefully, he realized that Yuan Wenshao alone was not enough, so he thought about sending Sheng Changwu as well.
Soon, Yuan Wenshao and Sheng Changwu arrived at the hall.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" the two men bowed and saluted.
(End of this chapter)