Chapter 299: Three Cities Lost
Zhao Yulin was sorting out manuscripts at home and busy with the reorganization of the army. After working most of the day, he felt dizzy and was about to take a nap when Feiyan came in with Li Gong.
He quickly invited us to sit down in the small living room. Lord Li said with some dissatisfaction that the envoy from Dai Viet, Li Shu, was very rude and asked us for new weapons and silver coins right away.
Holy shit, what kind of god-level kingdom is this?
Is there anyone so powerful and arrogant?
You really don't know your place.
Zhao Yulin could imagine that Mr. Li definitely did not give them anything. The two sides were absolutely arguing in opposite directions and there was nothing to talk about.
He said: I will meet with them that night, and the sooner it is over, the better it will be for everyone to celebrate the New Year.
Mr. Li said somewhat dejectedly that he was old and his old bones could not stand the hard work, so he wanted to resign from his post to his brother.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that the old man was joking. He would deal with it personally in the evening to see how powerful this Dai Yue envoy was.
How could these ancient people understand what Zhao Yulin meant by "awesome"? They just stared at him in a daze.
Zhao Yulin burst out laughing and said that he had coined a new term. "Niu Cha" means powerful, crazy, and fierce. Then he laughed and fooled around for a while before he let it go.
After dinner, Zhao Yulin invited Cao Youwen to meet guests in the newly built exquisite reception room of the government office. The huge lanterns in front, behind, left and right illuminated the living room.
After seeing the dark-faced Dai Viet envoy Li Shu, he couldn't help but exclaim: Damn, the sun in the south is so strong. This guy has walked for such a long time to come to Chengdu, but his face color hasn't changed at all.
Zhao Feiyan opened the topic with a smile and told Li Shu that the demands of the Dai Viet Kingdom were not made clear in the afternoon. Now that General Cao of the New Song Kingdom and Commander Zhao of the Shenwei Army have arrived, please let Mr. Li talk about the military affairs.
Li Shu really asked for it as Li Zhongmian said.
Cao Youwen took a sip of tea and said, "We spent countless manpower and a large amount of gold and silver to make the crossbow and thunder bomb. How can we just give them to us?"
Li Shu was stunned for a moment, and then he said very aggrievedly that after Dali Kingdom got these two weapons, it attacked Dai Viet Kingdom as much as it could, and they had lost three cities in this year alone.
The Song Dynasty was the superior country of our Dai Viet, so why did they only give it to Dali and not Dai Viet? Was it because the Princess of Zhennan was the younger sister of Commander Zhao?
If so, they were willing to send two beautiful little princesses to Commander Zhao as concubines. In this way, they could give the divine arm crossbow and new firearms to the Great Viet Kingdom.
Zhao Yulin had just taken a sip of tea when he nearly spit it out.
Damn, what kind of nonsense is this?
Lao Cao and Zhao Feiyan looked at him blankly, not knowing what to say.
He put down the tea bowl and said: "We can give them gunpowder, crossbows, and thunder bombs . But they must be exchanged for silver like Dali, or raw jade. We, the Song Dynasty, treat everyone fairly."
Li Shu was still not satisfied. He thought that the Lin'an court had always recognized them as descendants of the country. If they paid tribute to the emperor with corals and conchs, he would reward them with countless gold and silver. He asked Chengdu to send some new silver and gold coins from Jiading Prefecture to Dai Viet. He didn't want much, five million strings of cash would be enough.
Damn it, five million strings of cash is enough.
Zhao Yulin almost burst out laughing again.
Lao Cao said impatiently that it was the New Song Dynasty, and everyone was equal in the republic. The same was true between countries. The Dali Kingdom was also a vassal state of the New Song Dynasty, and trade between them was an equal exchange.
Seeing that Li Shu was still arguing, Zhao Yulin ignored him and looked at Zhao Feiyan and asked, "Didn't we agree to meet the envoys from Champa? Haven't they arrived yet?"
Zhao Feiyan was stunned immediately, and then said that Li Gong had gone to deal with it. Brother Yulin is not in a hurry.
Li Shu immediately became angry and asked loudly: "Champa and Dai Viet have always been enemies. Why would the upper country help Champa fight Dai Viet?"
Lao Cao was dissatisfied and said harshly: "Did anyone tell Li Gong that we want to help Champa fight Dai Viet? We in New Song have always been friends on an equal footing. Has Dai Viet ever shown such sincerity?"
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that it was enough for today. If Mr. Li had any problems in the future, he should let Mr. Li know. He stood up and pretended to leave, and Lao Cao also stood up.
This clearly means that the meeting is adjourned and the discussion is stopped, and the guests are ordered to leave.
Li Shu was now anxious, saying that almost all the raw jade production areas were occupied by the Dali Kingdom. Without jade, how could they easily obtain silver to exchange for weapons?
Could you two please be flexible?
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that rice and spices can be used. We can also refuse to accept Dali's raw stones for half a year, so that Dayue can also have the opportunity to sell jade raw stones, but it must be a fair trade, and no one will suffer.
Lao Cao also said happily that this is right, the third young master is very fair in doing things, don’t think too much, whether it is the Dali Kingdom or the Dayue Kingdom, he will definitely treat them equally.
When Zhao Feiyan saw the guests off, Li Gong immediately came out from the back hall. All three of them were laughing.
Li Gong said that when Zhao Yulin heard that Champa was coming, Li Shu immediately softened. He must be worried that we would sell a large number of weapons to Champa. Champa got the weapons and attacked Dai Viet from both sides with Dali. Their situation was immediately in danger.
Zhao Yulin said that Champa’s current strength is far inferior to Dai Viet, and it will not have much impact on Dai Viet. However, if we want to lend a helping hand to Champa from behind, Dai Viet will have to think twice.
Several people burst into laughter again.
After Zhao Feiyan came in, she asked him worriedly: Brother Yulin is going to stop the jade business in Dali. Will that make the fourth young lady upset?
Zhao Yulin said that his fourth sister Zhao Sihan had been feeling uncomfortable for a long time, and it was okay.
Recently, the Dali Kingdom has taken over the trading of raw stones into the hands of their imperial court's Ministry of Revenue, increased the selling prices of jade and raw stones, and is also building up military forces on the border. We must be vigilant.
Lao Cao nodded and said that he also needed to make some preparations for his defense and strengthen the combat effectiveness of the garrison in the new town by enforcing discipline.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that the general would have to think about it. He asked Feiyan to ask Shunfeng to pass a message to Master Lu to discuss the specific matters of trade with Dai Viet. After everything was agreed upon, they would return home.
At this time, Prince Goryeo was in the post house in Jiading Prefecture, feeling very excited.
Zhao Yulin arranged for Master Lu, the chief steward of Shunfeng, to receive Prince Peninsula. After visiting the demonstration of the Shenbi crossbow and thunder bomb in the military weapons workshop, he was fascinated by the new .
After returning to the inn, Master Lu gave the prince the drawings of the Shenbi crossbow and also provided him with the key component of a thousand Shenbi crossbows, the trigger. This thing can only be made with black iron refined from the finest iron ore on the Jinsha River.
Then he arranged for two more masters to go to Goryeo. Master Lu told him that these were all done by the Third Young Master. The Third Young Master was worried that Mongolia was about to launch a new round of attacks on Goryeo, so it would be better for His Royal Highness to go back earlier.
Wang Dian of Goryeo was naturally extremely surprised and grateful to receive such meticulous care from Zhao Yulin without spending a penny, and he set off for his country at daybreak.
Master Lu saw them off at the dock. His Royal Highness the Prince took off a jade Buddha from his neck and handed it to Lu Youpeng, asking him to deliver it to Zhao Yulin to express his gratitude to the Third Young Master.
At Zhao's residence in Chengdu, Ma Ling'er's hands were wandering on Zhao Yulin's body. Our Third Young Master woke up. He couldn't help sneezing, and Ma Ling immediately blamed herself for lifting his quilt, causing the boy to catch a cold.
He turned over and said that men were not so delicate, they had strong bodies. The couple soon interacted passionately and tested the strength of his body...
After breakfast, Zhao Yulin went to talk to Lao Cao.
Lao Cao is still angry with Dai Viet.
He said that these foreign envoys still remembered the rules of the Lin'an Celestial Empire era, which were all outdated. Why should we reward them selflessly? Do we really think we are stupid and have a lot of money?
Lao Cao said that we are all still tightening our belts to make ends meet , so what's the big deal?
Now it was Zhao Yulin's turn to be surprised. He didn't expect Lao Cao to pick up on him and make a joke. "Extra hair?" Haha, it was indeed "extra hair".
Lao Cao told him that the commanders from all over the country would be back after the new year, so he suggested that Zhao Yulin make some plans to reorganize the border troops and the garrison troops.
Zhao Yulin said he was doing it. Judging from the intelligence collected from all parties, the Mongolian army should not invade southwards on a large scale next year, at least not in the first half of the year.
This gave the Shenwei Army a chance to catch their breath and sort out military affairs.
Lao Cao nodded and said that the Shenwei Army had been fighting year after year since its establishment, and it was time for the brothers to rest and regroup.
While the two were still talking, Wu Yuqi came to Lao Cao's house in person to deliver an urgent letter.
After reading the secret letter, Lao Cao handed it to Zhao Yulin and said: The northern barbarians really don't give us a break, and they are actually causing trouble from the direction of Tubo.
Zhao Yulin opened it and saw that the secret letter was sent by Li Yunqing from Chamdo. The letter said that Tubo was sending reinforcements to the Chamdo area, and reconnaissance had revealed that there were many brave and fierce Mongolian warriors among them.
Li Yunqing's Western Expedition Group intended to cross the Black Water River and march into Lhasa City.
Because they did not want to start a war in Qamdo, which would destroy the villages and towns that had just been built. At present, the Western Expedition Army has been resting in Qamdo for a year, the troops have been replenished from Lanzhou soldiers, and the logistics transportation channels have been opened, so they can march forward.
The most important thing was that Mongolian troops appeared in the Tubo army. They were worried that the further intervention of the Mongolian Empire in Tubo affairs would increase the difficulty for the Shenwei Army to recapture Tubo.
Lao Cao believed that with Hao Xiaoming as support in Xining, Li Yunqing's Western Expedition Army would have guaranteed logistics and could advance.
He told Zhao Yulin confidently that in Kangning, Li Sanqiang's garrison had established a forward base outside Queer Mountain. We can build bridges and roads inside while replenishing supplies from Yunqing, and let the Western Expedition Army advance all the way to Lhasa City.
Zhao Yulin thought for a while and asked the person with favorable wind to pass the message to Chamdo: you can go west and advance or retreat at your own will.
Lao Cao nodded and said, "Dashan, we are too far apart. It would be best to let Yunqing and the others decide on their own."
The two of them went to the government office to meet Mr. Ding. Mr. Li and Zhao Feiyan were also there.
