Chapter 44 imperative

"This is the first strategy. It's okay if it doesn't work. Next, the Privy Council will issue a military order to send General Wang Shenqi, the deputy commander of the left forward of the Forbidden Army's outer battalion, to the border of Zhou and Shu with three thousand troops, without passing through the state along the way." County, only sneaking in the wild, and then stationed in Yizipo, Shannan County. I checked the armament book, and there is a grain and pasture field on Shannan Road not far from here. Although there is not much storage, it should be enough for 3,000 soldiers and horses for several months. Use. Therefore, when the Privy Council issued the military order, it issued a food adjustment card at the same time, so that the food can be taken directly on the spot. This will prevent them from carrying a lot of food and grass burdens with them while sneaking, and delaying their actions. "

"However, these three thousand forbidden troops can't stop the Shu army from invading, sending them there is like filling the mouth of a tiger." Cheng Chunhe, the envoy of the Privy Council, had a hard time understanding Zhao Kuangyin's intentions. "These 3,000 forbidden troops are not only meat, but they are knives to cut meat. Once the Shu army invades the territory, what they have to do is to go straight from the Yizipo mountain stream to the east of the north of Sichuan, and attack Qingyun Village. This is the border between Sichuan and Qin. The connection of the four prefectures of Qingyun, Feng, Cheng, and Tier is the key, and the reinforcements, food and grass of the Shu soldiers must pass through this place. Regardless of whether the three thousand forbidden troops can capture Qingyunzhai, the Shu soldiers who violate the border will definitely return to aid. Because as long as there is occupied, they will It is like a piece of flesh that has been cut off from the body, and has lost contact with Dongxichuan. In this way, the three thousand forbidden troops will attack if they can attack, and retreat if they cannot attack. Repeated harassment can destroy the intention and speed of the Shu army's invasion. Hold back the Shu Kingdom Dajun, buy time for Da Zhou."

"It's a quick plan, but what if it delays the time? Without food and grass, it is impossible to mobilize the army to compete with the Shu army." Zhao Zhi also raised his own doubts. "The matter of food and grass is the third strategy, and I will solve it myself. But this is up to Mr. Zhao and the third envoy to make the decision together. First, transfer some silver taels from the treasury to me. I will take people to the border of the Southern Tang Dynasty tomorrow. Where to buy grain." Zhao Kuangyin replied. "As long as it is in our country, the price of grain is extremely high. Even if you give you all the adjustable silver, it is still a drop in the bucket, and you can't buy much grain." Zhao Zhi knows the current market conditions on the borders of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Great Zhou Dynasty very well.

"The grain in the Southern Tang Dynasty was stranded in the country because of the high exit tax, and it was impossible to find the next buyer in the country, so the price of grain in their territory was extremely low. The key issue is the tax. If the tax is not raised or it is not at all If there is no tax, then we can buy food at a lower price.” Some people shook their heads again. If that was the case, everyone wouldn't have to sit here and waste their brains. Zhao Kuangyin ignored the reactions of those people, and just said his own: "So I decided to find a way on this tax. If you want to avoid paying taxes, food must not be taken from the official road. We can buy private goods that evade taxes, or Use money to hire people to transport grain to our territory through private roads."

Many people's eyes became strange. They never thought that a high-ranking minister who was in the capital inspection would think of using the trick of buying and selling private goods. "Perhaps all of you here have heard of the One Mountain, Three Lakes and Eighteen Mountains. This is a gang that specializes in trafficking private goods between the Southern Tang Dynasty and our Great Zhou, Northern Han, and Liao Kingdoms. I was told just now that their boss at the helm The ladle has already gone after the wealth of the moon in the water, leaving the whole gang with tens of thousands of people without a leader and nowhere to ask for money. But as far as I know, the many secret channels for their gang to smuggle goods are still there. After I go there, I will talk to them Discuss, use their private roads to transport grain, or let them directly sell smuggled grain out of the country. And I let them open the official road in my country, without stopping, arresting, or collecting taxes. In this way, when the low-priced grain comes in and is handed over to me, I Then it can be resold to our country’s grain merchants on the spot, and after earning silver, they can purchase grain from the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty and smuggle it into our territory. In this way, it only takes a few rounds to go back and forth, and a certain amount of grain and grass should be able to be stored for military supplies.”

"A good plan! It's just that General Jiuzhong has to be exhausted and put himself in danger. I really can't bear it." Although Fan Zhi applauded him very much in his heart and wished that this strategy would be implemented immediately, he still had to be polite. . "It's my duty to take risks for my main business, and I'm not the only one taking risks. Master Fan and the third envoy handed over Ku Yin to me. If something goes wrong, or the officers and soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty have already considered this If we crack down on smuggling in one way, then maybe we will lose something. But at that time, the responsibility for the loss of silver should be shared by us.” Zhao Kuangyin was not being polite, but first grabbed a few companions tied.

"Should be, it's not just us. If this happens, we should suspect that someone in the room leaked the news, and no one can escape responsibility." When Fan Zhi said this, all the officials in the room showed panic. . "But you don't need to worry too much. Besides the three strategies, I have a side plan. In fact, no matter how to deal with Southern Tang or Western Shu, using troops is not the best way to solve the problem. In fact, practical killing can also solve the problem, and it is more It's affordable." Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be comforting everyone. "What does General Jiuzhong say?" Fan Zhi really didn't know the difference between using troops and killing.

"Assassination! Once the three strategies mentioned above fail, this partial plan will be implemented immediately. In fact, this is the first plan I thought of, and I have already sent someone to contact the master assassins in the Jianghu. Let them lurk in place and do a good job." Prepare. As long as the Shu army advances and is unstoppable, the assassins I hired can assassinate the coach and generals of the four states of Shu at any time. The highest officials of the state capitals along the border are also within the assassination range, so that these Shu Officials and Shu generals must first consider protecting their own lives, and have no time to raise troops to invade the country. If necessary, the people I arrange can even directly assassinate Shu King Meng Chang, and plunge Shu into panic and chaos. The same is true for the Southern Tang Dynasty, if it is true If even the private roads are blocked, the assassins will kill the officials of the guards at the border pass, the supervisor of the household department, the grain and grass department, and the salt and iron department, directly causing chaos in the official road. Send out low-priced food by force." When Zhao Kuangyin said this, a smile appeared on his expressionless face.

But no one in the court room except Zhao Kuangyin dared to laugh, everyone looked at Zhao Kuangyin fixedly, and felt a bit of chill from his smile. "Lord Fan, this is a letter I secretly submitted to the emperor, which contains my fourth policy. After adopting this policy, I can obtain a large amount of wealth to raise taxes in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and will not lose faith in neighboring allies. And If you use it properly, you can even use this wealth to fight against Shu or the Southern Tang Dynasty. But this strategy involves too much and has too many blames, and it is not up to you and me. Let the emperor come back and let him make up his own mind." Zhao Kuangyin While speaking, he handed Fan Zhi the sealed notebook he had just written outside.Then he clasped his fists at everyone present: "Your Majesty will go out tomorrow, and I need to make a lot of preparations. I will resign for today's court meeting." After speaking, he strode out.

As soon as Zhao Kuangyin left, the people in the court room dispersed.Zhao Kuangyin's strategic remarks just now sounded like he was discussing with everyone, but in fact he was arranging tasks.Prime Minister Fan, the Ministry of Rites, the Privy Council, and the Ministry of Household Affairs all have to go back immediately to draft an order, dispatch troops, and order money, so that Zhao Kuangyin's plan can be implemented smoothly. Qi Junyuan decided to take everyone to Huhuli, and walked through the official road in a grand manner.After encountering three powerful secret organizations, it is not safe to sneak through the hidden path, and you may run into one of them.And the official way is that the three secret organizations will definitely not go, so it should be the best policy to lead everyone to do the opposite.

However, Qi Junyuan was not so presumptuous to the point of being unscrupulous, and people like himself wanted to hide as much as possible.So after weighing the matter, he finally chose to travel by boat and go through the channel of official luck. They hired a five-foot reed boat.This ship is very old, and the surface of the ship's sides, front and rear planks has begun to rot.This boat is not too big, and the boatman can handle it by himself.Go straight down the Yuyang River, bypass Qincui Mountain, pass Longyan Cave, Dongheng Town, and then go ashore and pass Liutan County to Huhuli.This kind of walking route can not only avoid encounters with the three-party secret organization, but also is very easy, so as to avoid the fatigue of trekking.It is possible to encounter any difficulties and dangers on the road, so it is very necessary to maintain sufficient physical strength. The recent incidents made Qi Junyuan feel unprecedented pressure. In fact, no matter what method he uses to go to Huhuli, he feels nervous.Tanzhou failed in a hasty assassination attempt. After trapping Qin Shengsheng, he met God's Eye Bufu. Shangdeyuan was besieged by powerful enemies from three sides. Then he was attacked by Pei Sheng and Tang Sanniang, and almost fell victim to his fellow gangsters.What made him feel most uneasy was that so many things happened without any reasonable explanation, which made them feel like a soaking tank, chaotic inside and out, and didn't know what to do. The awning boat sailed slowly on the Yuyang River.There are few tributaries of the Yuyang River, and a line of blue is embedded in the black soil of the Yellowstone smoothly, just like the original emerald stone with excellent color.Driving on such a river without forks and tributaries has advantages and disadvantages.The advantage is that it is difficult to set up an ambush on the river, and the possibility of being surrounded by other ships is very small.The disadvantage is that it is easy to intercept such a river channel with a horizontal cable, and there is no room for ships to maneuver and avoid it. Qi Junyuan placed the mute in the bow, his bow, arrows and bullets can strike and suppress from a long distance, and he is the most capable of counterattack among several people in the case of interception by horizontal cables.Although Pei Sheng's "Stone Breaking Sky" is more powerful, he can even use the "Shocking Card" to directly break the horizontal cable if necessary.But Qi Junyuan was still wary of Pei Sheng and Tang Sanniang, and did not dare to entrust them with important tasks.