Chapter 161: Becoming a Monk at Tianlong Temple
The emperor was immediately surprised, and then became furious. He kicked Luo Mingqiu to the ground and cursed him for being a deadbeat who couldn't even take care of a child.
Luo Mingqiu was so scared that he lay on the ground with his butt raised high, trembling.
The emperor was tired of scolding, so he sat on the dragon throne to take a breath and told him to go out of the palace to find someone for him, and to find his daughter for him, whether she was dead or alive.
The emperor felt that this year was unlucky, as the north suffered successive defeats. He had no choice but to issue an edict, asking Meng Gong to negotiate peace.
The doll is lost again. The New Year is almost approaching, but I can't be happy at all.
Only Zhao Yulin's Shenwei Army brought him some good news, pacifying Renhuai and defeating Dali. He also sent troops to march into Zheduo Mountain. Although the Tibetans there were not worth fighting, after seizing the territory, he could obtain a huge horse farm with high-quality war horses, which were rare and scarce resources.
According to the report from the Imperial City Office in Chang'an, Cao Youwen's 30,000 imperial guards were fully equipped and manned again, and there was also a cavalry of 10,000 people, all relying on the horses raised in the Partridge Mountain and the Zheduo Mountain.
Although he was a little jealous of Zhao Qi'er's luck, he was still thinking about how good Zhao Yulin was, and even prayed that his daughter would really join the Shenwei Army in Hanzhong to avoid being harmed by bandits and strongmen.
Although the Dali Palace in the southwest was full of flowers and the orchid fragrance was fragrant, the young emperor was very unhappy. He had rarely been so strong, but the Dali soldiers defeated him again. Although the loss was not big, his treasury lost more than 100,000 taels of silver, which was still painful.
Not only that, the Shenwei Army also suspended Xinshi’s tax dividends, and Dali’s finances suddenly became tight.
After much thought, he felt that being an emperor was too tiring and it would be better to live a peaceful life by eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures. So he decided to quit and follow his father's example to become a monk in Tianlong Temple and practice Buddhism.
Soon, the Dali Palace began to get busy.
The Khan of the grasslands in the north was in a much better mood, and was hugging Meiji while eating meat and drinking wine. The Central Plains reported that the Song State had sent envoys to negotiate peace.
This time, I will make a lot of money from him. He looked at the beautiful girls dancing in the big tent and felt that their clothes were too thick and could not be seen through. They were not as thin as cicada wings. The color was also old and faded. At least he had to ask Song to send him 100,000 rolls of high-quality silk.
The Khan looked down on the Emperor of the Song Dynasty from the bottom of his heart, thinking that he was a weakling who could not fight in battles on a horse, nor give birth to babies in bed.
Unlike him, he has many wives and concubines, and the children born to him can be handed over to a centurion after they are collected.
However, he also felt uneasy in his heart, as he had already vaguely sensed the power of Zhao Qier in Guanzhong.
In recent years, the Khan of the grassland still seems to be as strong as a tiger, but the number of tribal soldiers under his control is getting smaller and smaller.
After the four brothers conquered a large piece of land, they split up, which was equivalent to dividing their troops. Coupled with years of war, his troops were gradually depleted, and he needed to recruit more helpers.
The Khan held Meiji in his arms and issued two important decrees: First, no more massacres in the city. He had now realized that killing everyone was not a cost-effective approach. Although there were no rebels, there was no one left to enslave.
Second, he ordered Kuoduan to persuade the remnants of the Jin Dynasty in the west to surrender and recover them as the new vassal army of the Khanate.
Because, there were news reports that Zhao Qi'er's Shenwei Army had already entered Dajianlu and hung up the sign of Kangding Prefecture there.
This was to block his way of attacking Song through Dali.
Therefore, he also had to be prepared and seize Lanzhou and Gongchang Prefecture first, so that he could still attack the Song State via Dali.
Zhao Yulin was still on the boat, how could he know that these big shots had been planning for 1235 years.
Li Chuan saw him wake up and told him that they were almost in Nanzheng.
Zhao Yulin hadn't been to Nanzheng for some time, so he went out and stood on the bow of the boat to get some fresh air.
The snow wind from the Qinling Mountains still hurt his face, and there were piles of white snow all around. Li Chuan told him that it snowed heavily all night last night, so he should go into the cabin and rest.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that auspicious snow means a good harvest, and the farmers will definitely have a good harvest next year.
As soon as the official ship docked, someone led it to the newly built mansion on the riverside, where the Fire Phoenix had already returned.
After Fenghuang gave birth to her child, she returned to Hanzhong. Wu Yuqi told her that the winter in Fengxiang was too cold, while the temperature in Nanzheng was much better.
Zhao Yulin saw Fenghuang standing at the gate of the yard from afar, wearing a bright red coat. He immediately dismounted and ran over to pick up the woman, then the couple went to see the baby who was still sleeping soundly.
Zhao Yulin's fingers lightly touched the child's chubby face, feeling extremely happy.
Fenghuang pulled him out. The warm winter sun made people feel soft and comfortable. He asked Li Chuan to make two cups of Emei Snow Bud tea for his sister-in-law to taste.
Huo Fenghuang asked him cheerfully, "Are you satisfied with this house? It's just much smaller than Xingyuan Mansion. We can't live with Master Gao."
Zhao Yulin nodded. Since he was not a prefect, he certainly could not stand in Gao Jia's mansion. He never cared about the size of the yard, as long as there was a place to sleep. He said happily that it was small and exquisite, which was good.
A little later, Shunzhidi came out carrying a tea tray.
Zhao Yulin asked her why she didn't go to the provincial school to study.
Fire Phoenix immediately took over and said to her sister, couldn't she teach her personally?
Zhao Yulin quickly said, "Okay, okay, General Yu Hou has personally taught me, so I must do it." Zhao Yulin looked nervous, and Shunzhidi beside him couldn't help but burst out laughing, and quickly covered her mouth.
Huo Fenghuang called Shunzhidi to her side, pointed at Zhao Yulin and called him Brother Yulin, saying don't be afraid, he won't dare to bully us.
Zhao Yulin was unhappy and started arguing with Fenghuang, asking him when he had ever bullied anyone.
Phoenix looked at his serious expression and laughed out loud.
Zhao Yulin realized that he had been fooled by this girl again, so he got up and went to the study to do some work.
Coincidentally, Qiu Ju, who was in a favorable position, came to him in a hurry with a secret document in her arms.
He took the confidential documents and read them one by one.
The first was the arrival of the truce document from the imperial court. Song and Mongolia temporarily ceased fire and truce, with the two sides using their respective actual controlled areas as temporary borders and withdrawing their troops to disengage.
The second thing was that the Khan of the Grassland ordered the army to march into Huizhou and Gongchang Prefecture, and Kuoduan had returned to Lingzhou to gather troops. Not only that, the Khan of the Grassland also made a secret plan to attack the Song Dynasty in three directions.
Xianren Banban, this is standard bandit logic, he is allowed to mess with others but not others to mess with him.
The third thing is that Li Yunqing has already entered Dajianlu and accepted the surrounding Zamps to establish Kangding Prefecture.
While reading the confidential documents, Zhao Yulin habitually reached for the teacup, but Shunzhidi handed the teacup to him.
He reached out to take the cup, and the little girl was very sensible and went out quickly.
Zhao Yulin took a sip of tea and asked Qiuju if there was any news about Guo Chongma and Wang Shixian?
Qiu Ju told him that Fengxiang Prefecture had forwarded some intelligence that Guo Chongma was determined to defend Huizhou to the death and not surrender. Wang Shixian wrote to the Administration Office repeatedly inquiring about the status of Gongchang Prefecture, but received no reply from the Administration Office.
This is an obvious sign of laziness and inaction on the part of the imperial court.
It is also related to Wang Sixian's unrealistic fantasy, who is as panic-stricken as a stray dog.
Zhao Yulin asked Qiu Ju to find the chief logistics officer Yu Fuming to talk about the matter, and then he leaned back in his chair and started thinking.
I had originally planned to go to Guanzhong after the Chinese New Year, but now my mind is filled with a lot of things. It seems that I must set off immediately and spend the Chinese New Year on the road.
As soon as Yu Fuming entered the room, he said that his brother had come back without saying a word, so the brothers should at least greet him.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that it was just a greeting among old friends. It seemed that he had dealt with many businessmen and was very familiar with the customs of welcoming and seeing off guests. He said that he really disliked these things.
Yu Fuming was a little embarrassed and asked him directly what he wanted.
He asked, what is the current condition of the road leading to Guanzhong?
Yu Fuming reported that after the establishment of the construction team in Hanzhong, three cable bridges were first built on the Ziwu Road according to his requirements. All four roads leading to Guanzhong have been converted into roads that can accommodate large carts, and the transportation capacity has increased tenfold.
The Chencang Road not only allows large vehicles to pass easily, but also allows two vehicles to run side by side in non-plank road sections. Basically, a rest area is built every ten miles, and there is a post station every thirty miles to ensure that there is water and food.
It’s already very good to be able to achieve this step.
Zhao Yulin was very satisfied and asked about the Qishan Road leading to Qinzhou?
Yu Fuming said that the Qishan Road was even better. Bridges were built on all the rivers that could be bridged. The cable bridge construction team built two iron cable bridges across the Han River, shortening the distance by nearly 100 miles.
War is fought with logistics. Zhao Yulin attached great importance to logistics. He told Yu Fuming to allocate one thousand Shenbi crossbows sent from Jiazhou to General Meng of Jingzhou.
As soon as Lao Yu heard this, he refused to do it. He said that the militia garrisons in various places had been fully trained and were about to be transformed into regular troops, and they were all asking him for weapons.
Zhao Yulin patiently explained that he sent them military equipment in order to ask General Meng for help. The general had already agreed to build ten more military camps in the north and to cultivate land and garrison there.
Yu Fuming reluctantly agreed.
He said he had another hundred iron barrel cannons and promised to give them to them.
Yu Fuming said like a miser holding a treasure chest that since his brother agreed, he would give it to him.
Zhao Yulin smiled and told him to hurry up and make arrangements so that they could go to Fengxiang Prefecture together in two days.
Yu Fuming immediately stood up and said goodbye and left.
In the evening, Gao Jia, the prefect of Xingyuan Prefecture, hosted a banquet to welcome Zhao Yulin. Huo Fenghuang actually brought Shunzhidi to the banquet and introduced her to everyone as her sister from her hometown.
Shunzhidi's status immediately increased tenfold, and she happily sat next to Fenghuang to accept everyone's praise and blessings.
Zhao Yulin didn't dare to get involved in this muddy water and just focused on discussing with Gao Jia.
The imperial court has already collected nearly 50% of the taxes in Sichuan and Shu, and the Shenwei Army has to bear the huge military expenses on its own. It has long been stretched to the limit. He plans to go to Lord Ding in Chengdu to argue and reduce the amount of taxes sent to Lin'an from 1235, leaving 30% for local use.
Gao Jia felt that this was a big deal. Would the court agree to it?
