Chapter 135 It's really cool
At this time, in the far north, Cao Youwen, Du Baiyue and other generals leading the Eastern Expedition were discussing their next move.
Under the leadership of Cao Youwen, the Eastern Expedition Army from Guanzhong fought their way along the Yellow River, captured cities and strongholds, and advanced eastward. After a bloody battle at the Twelve Cities of Hangu Pass, they broke through the last sniper position of Hubli and were able to approach the city of Luoyang at daybreak.
However, the scouts of the 3rd Column of the Shenwei Army, who served as the vanguard, learned a shocking piece of news: three days ago, a fierce battle took place on the bank of the Luo River east of Luoyang, and the Song army that had just arrived in the city was defeated and had retreated.
Cao Youwen was quite shocked. He hadn't even entered Luoyang yet, but the Song army coming from the east had already run away. Could it be that the battle for the Three Capitals was over?
He led nearly 60,000 troops from Guanzhong and attacked all the way out of Tongguan, defeating many generals and capturing many cities and strongholds, paying a heavy price.
This time, the Mongolian army did not fight to the death with Cao's Song army. Instead, they adopted the tactic of tiring the enemy that Zhao Yulin had used against Ture. They continuously harassed the Song army along the way and only blocked the Song army at key passes by relying on the geographical advantages, leaving them to attack the city and break through the pass.
Therefore, the Eastern Expedition Army was very passive along the way, and nearly 20,000 of the 60,000 troops were killed, but this was not the main problem. Because the Mongolian army had fortified their walls and cleared the fields, the 60,000 troops had to bring their own food and grass, and only seized a small amount of food in Hangu Pass.
Right now, the Eastern Expedition Army is short of food and weapons. As their retreat is blocked, they have nothing to replenish along the way and their supplies have long been rationed.
In particular, the losses of the 3rd column of the Shenwei Army were even greater. They relied on firearms to attack the city, and they relied on iron barrel cannons and mortars to open the way. After passing Hangu Pass, Du Baiyue ordered the destruction of 50 iron barrel cannons.
The explosives are almost gone, and keeping the iron barrel will become a burden on the march.
Not only that, due to limited projectiles, eighty of the new catapults were dismantled, and only the main components such as the springs were taken away.
He brought all the ten mortars that the First Column left for the Third Column. Now each mortar had less than three shells. If it weren't for the fact that this mortar was particularly difficult to make, he would have ordered several of them to be destroyed.
Seeing the tired looks of his brothers, Lao Cao looked at the gradually lightening sky in the east and said, "Since we have reached the edge of Luoyang City, let's go in and take a look..."
When Zhao Yulin woke up, he sneezed twice in succession. He suspected that he had caught a cold after drinking in the pavilion last night. He secretly laughed at himself for becoming weaker and needed to exercise.
Li Chuan watched him eat breakfast and invited him to the office to discuss matters. Chen Xian, Chen Zhongshun, Liu Yuru and Manager Ju had already arrived.
He had originally planned to visit every household, but this made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Qu Zhengxiang told him that it was Master Chen's idea. Knowing that he had a lot of things to do, they might as well meet up and talk it over.
Zhao Yulin had nothing to say and asked Li Chuan to get some Qingcheng tea.
After everyone had tasted the wine, his father-in-law Chen Zhongshun spoke first, saying that he wanted to go to Hanzhong and Guanzhong to open the Chengyi Distillery.
After Chen Zhongshun had a son in his old age, he gradually got over the grief of losing Xiaomin. Zhao Yulin watched his spirits and spirits improve.
He said Hanzhong could be done, but Guanzhong was not. He was afraid that it would take another two years of fighting there before the Mongolian army would stop. He suggested to his father-in-law that he should not continue to operate under the name of Chengyi Shao, but go to Hanzhong to find a winemaker to cooperate with him and brew a Shaoxing wine that Hanzhong people like.
Shopkeeper Ju then introduced his eldest son, Shopkeeper Xiaoju, and told him that he had handed over 70% of the shares of the porcelain workshop to the general account office. The porcelain workshop has developed rapidly in recent years, and three new workshops have been opened in Jiajiang. However, the officials there are too corrupt and demand too much. Spending money is a small matter, which greatly delays the work.
He asked the Jiazhou prefect and he just ignored it?
Just let it go?
Shopkeeper Xiaoju said they had complained to the authorities, but received no response, and Jiajiang instead became even more violent and made trouble.
Zhao Yulin understood and asked him to find Master Lu and take time to go to Jiajiang in person.
Master Liu Yuru said that someone from Jiazhou came and asked us to go to the government office to build a toilet for free, and it must be exactly the same as the one in Jiuzhouba in Jiangbei.
He told the visitor that it was impossible.
This is the way things are. If the court trusts you and uses you, you will be very popular and everyone will buy into you. If the court criticizes you, you will go downhill and no one will pay attention to you.
However, Zhao Yulin didn't believe it.
Because, good cannot prevail over evil.
He nodded to the master and said that we should do what we should do, and we should never do what we shouldn't do.
It seems that the water in Jiazhou has become turbid in the past two years and needs to be treated.
His fourth wife told him: In recent years, the imperial court has continuously increased taxes, under the pretext of doing so to fight against the northern barbarians and support our Shenwei Army. The workshops in Cuiping Mountain are doing well and have nothing to worry about, but merchants from other places who come to purchase say that it is difficult to do business there.
The number of ships that come to ship goods has decreased by at least 10% this year, and merchants are only loading cheap goods.
Everyone is saying that the workshop is constantly expanding, but the money earned has not increased much, and the difficulty of doing business is increasing.
This is a very bad signal, indicating that the economy of the Song Dynasty, which controls half of the country, is declining at an accelerated rate.
Zhao Yulin came from later generations and seemed to understand one thing, that is, the heavier the taxation, the more detrimental it is to trade. Workshops and shops are burdened with too heavy a burden and their income is not enough to make ends meet. Who would be willing to do this?
This must be taken seriously.
At the very least, Jiazhou where he is located must change, otherwise the economy will collapse and Cuiping Mountain will not be able to support itself.
He invited everyone to Jiangbei's Firewood Chicken restaurant to eat and chat.
Everyone came to the newly opened Wharf Chaihuo Chicken in Jiangbei and sat down, enjoying the river view while chatting and drinking.
Just when she was feeling excited, Si Niang saw a brand new official ship docking at the pier. The cabin on the deck was two stories high, intricately carved, and beautifully gilded and colored.
His fourth wife said to herself, which important official could have come to Yibin?
Zhao Yulin looked over and his eyes immediately lit up. The official ship was indeed too beautiful. If it were put in the future, it would definitely be a luxury yacht of a top-class wealthy family. Three brand-new military ships approached from behind, and the soldiers on the ships were wearing brand-new uniforms of the Shenwei Army.
He was also confused. Are they really from my Divine Might Army?
Who else would come to Yibin with such a grand ceremony?
Then I saw two maids dressed up getting off the boat first, and the one walking behind was holding a child in her arms.
Zhao Yulin guessed it right away, Chen Chen must be back. Only she didn't care about anything else, as long as she was happy and comfortable.
Sure enough, the person who came out behind was his wife Chen Chen, wearing a hat with two peacock feathers on it, and walked down the boat gracefully with the help of a maid.
This scene is really cool.
Fairy Banban, look at that boat coming up from downstream, she must be coming back from around the Han River.
Si Niang had seen it clearly and said to him in surprise, "Look, brother, Chen Chen is back."
Of course Zhao Yulin knew about it. He raised his glass and invited everyone to have a drink. He said sorry and went to pick someone up. Li Chuan followed closely behind him.
He trotted all the way to the dock, and Chen Chen ran over and threw himself into his arms when he saw him. Zhao Yulin patted Chen Chen on the back and said that the elders were all there, so they should go over and have dinner together.
Chen Chen knew that he was reminding her, so she stood up immediately and asked Li Chuan to make arrangements for all the brothers who came back to go to her restaurant for a drink.
The brothers were immediately happy.
This girl treats herself as Chen Zhongshun's daughter and the Chen family's restaurant as her own.
When they brought in the firewood chicken, Chen Chen immediately gave the clown to Chen Zhongshun and asked him to hug his grandson. The old man suddenly burst into tears and did not look like the father of a three-year-old child at all.
Chen Chen was very clever, he took the baby from Chen Zhongshun and gave it to Si Niang, letting all the elders hold the baby. The baby circled around the stove in everyone's hands, and everyone at the table was delighted.
After dinner, he accompanied Chen Chen to the old house to meet his father. His parents came back this morning. The old people were so happy to see that they had another good grandson that they couldn't stop smiling. His father held the little guy and kept calling him Guanghui, Guanghui, little Guanghui.
This was the name he gave to his beloved grandson. Looking at the lively scene in the room, Zhao Yulin deeply understood the ancient people's hope of having many children and grandchildren.
Later, the two of them took the child to the government office to meet Chen Yun. Yang Zhishan was also there. He was very surprised to see Chen Chen coming back with the child. He said with emotion that it had only been a short time and little Chen Chen had become a mother.
Chen Chen said proudly to her father Chen Yun, "It's still a son, are you happy?"
Chen Yun took Xiao Guanghui in her arms, hugged him and teased him happily, and asked Chen Chen to stay at home with him for two days.
Zhao Yulin knew that his father-in-law must have something to say to Chen Chen, so he said goodbye to Yang Zhishan and went to the Litchi Green Restaurant in Jiuzhouba for a drink.
Yang Zhishan has taken over as the transport envoy of Xuzhou. Looking at the bustling street scene, he repeatedly praised his original idea . The surrounding prefectures are not as prosperous as Xuzhou, and even Jiazhou's tax revenue is not as high as our Xuzhou.
Zhao Yulin knew that this place was prosperous only because of the unique commodities such as grains and glass.
If we lose the purchasing power around us, who can we sell all the good things to?
As soon as they sat down at Litchi Qing, the diners around them saw a group of soldiers coming up and immediately paid their bills and scattered. The proprietress Wang Dehui came over and said with a smile that she had lost business since Brother Yulin came, and she needed to make up for it.
The three of them were laughing and the food and drinks soon arrived.
Wang Dehui invited them to a toast and said enviously that Chen Chen was going back to Yibin on a big ship, and everyone in the city knew about it. The ceremony was so grand, and her brother doted on her.
When can I let my sister ride on my big boat?
Zhao Yulin quickly said that the generals of the Shenwei Army had come back to discuss matters, and Chen Chen came back with them. If the girl wanted to take a boat to see the river view, she could do it anytime.
Yang Zhishan followed behind and whispered, "I'm afraid Mr. Chen is scolding the young lady right now. Let's not talk about this and have a drink."
His eldest brother's shop was not far away. Seeing Zhao Yulin's guards standing by, Wang Dehui ran over to join in the fun. He immediately asked the waiter to add more bowls and chopsticks.
Zhao Yulin understood that his elder brother was taking this opportunity to get friendly with Yang Zhishan. It was impossible for a businessman to drink and chat with a state official like Yang Zhishan at any time.
