Chapter 467: Internal strife in a small country
The Dali Kingdom reorganized its army and obtained new weapons from the New Song Kingdom. After training with the weapons they had imitated themselves, their strength increased greatly. After six months of continuous fighting, they had captured many cities from the Dai Viet Kingdom and pushed the border forward by 300 miles into the territory of the Viet Kingdom.
The young emperor was very happy. This was the first victory of the Dali Kingdom in decades, and he must celebrate it well. All the ministers gathered in the temple to celebrate, and the hall was filled with toasts, singing and dancing.
Everyone in the court was feeling comfortable when suddenly there was a scream outside the palace: Urgent military report from eight hundred miles away, urgent military report: the Southern Expedition Corps is experiencing internal strife, and the Dai Viet Army is taking advantage of the situation to counterattack.
Everyone stood there stupidly.
Outside the hall, a dusty messenger rushed in with all his might, shouted "Urgent military report" and fell to the ground. Immediately, a eunuch came forward and took out the letter from the mailbox on his back and presented it to him. The eunuch in attendance read out in panic: The commander of the Southern Expedition Army, Gao, and the deputy commander, Chai, conspired to intercept and kill the commander and two deputy commanders of the new army in Shanchan Prefecture. The soldiers of the new army were in a panic.
Everyone was stunned.
After Commander Gao dispatched the Southern Expedition Army to quell the rebellion and suppress the New Army, the Southern Expedition Army began to fight each other and the situation became chaotic. The Dai Viet army took advantage of the situation to counterattack, and the Southern Expedition Army was defeated one after another and was about to return to the border.
The military supervisor is in charge now, and I request Your Majesty to send troops to support us as soon as possible to strengthen the defense of the border.
After hearing this, the little emperor sat on the dragon throne in a daze, and the white jade cup in his hand fell to the ground and shattered.
Duan Xiaolin also sat there in a daze, at a loss as to what to do.
Not to mention the heads of the Gao and Chai families, they are all in grief and don’t know what to do.
A close minister reminded that troops must be dispatched quickly to block the opening of the southern border, otherwise the Dai Viet troops would retaliate and it would be unknown how far they would occupy before they would stop.
This time, the Gao and Chai families did not fight. The Chen family sent a young commander to lead 20,000 troops of the capital's imperial guards, mainly the Chen family's army, to immediately reinforce the battlefield in the south.
However, the Dali Imperial City is completely empty.
The little emperor stared at Duan Xiaolin who was still in a daze and shouted: Quickly transfer 10,000 new troops from Shanchan Prefecture to come to the capital to help him. How can we survive without any garrison troops in the capital?
Duan Xiaolin suddenly woke up and quickly got up to make arrangements.
Dali lost the war against South Vietnam, its troops were scattered, and there were countless casualties. The company had to provide pensions to the families of the generals and generals, and also purchase military equipment to rebuild its military strength. In particular, the purchase of new military equipment from the New Song Dynasty required a huge amount of silver.
The Gao and Chai families knew they could not escape responsibility for the trouble caused by their own family's struggle for power and profit, so they were much more active when calling for donations and took the initiative to donate 20,000 taels of silver, their savings over the years.
Even after all the princes and ministers followed suit and donated money, it was still a drop in the bucket and the difference was far from enough.
The young emperor naturally knew that he had to first stabilize the country before he could resist foreign aggression, and that he had to deal with the post-war aftermath first. He was very helpless and locked his eyes on Duan Xiaolin again, asking his eldest son to go to the New Song Kingdom to borrow money to make ends meet and purchase military equipment.
Duan Xiaolin was in a real dilemma.
The last time he went to New Song on business, Zhao Yulin blamed them for buying weapons and going to attack Yue, which was a serious violation of the alliance. Now that they have destroyed their army due to internal fighting, they are going to New Song for help. Can he say this?
However, the national affairs were in danger and he had no choice.
The little emperor urged him twelve times in a row, but the guy went back and took his wife Zhao Sihan with him to go on a diplomatic mission to the New Song Dynasty.
In Jiangdong Lin'an Prefecture, Xie Lingyun successfully arrived in Fuzhou on Fujian Road after escaping. As soon as he entered the Fuzhou government office, he announced that he would sever ties with Lin'an and draw a clear line with Shi's son. Not only that, he also called on officials in Lin'an and county officials to see the general trend and work hard to submit to the new Song Dynasty and unify the country.
As soon as Xie Lingyun's article appeared in Fuzhou newspapers, people all over the country knew about it immediately.
Lin'an Prefecture was in an uproar.
Not only was the matter hotly discussed in the government, but ordinary people on the streets were also talking about Xie Lingyun's affairs. The Xie family was an old official of the Lin'an court and a member of the Empress Dowager's family, so they held a very important position.
This wave of market is not over yet, the letters written by the officials of the Central Court of Chengdu and the proclamation of Qiao Xingjian have come again. A large number of officials in Liangzhe have received letters from their good friends in Chengdu, which detailed the benefits of the New Song Dynasty's equality and republicanism, and advised them to give up independence as soon as possible and return to the big family of the New Song Dynasty.
Qiao Xingjian published a long article in Chengdu Weekly, which thoroughly criticized the small Jiangdong court and Shi's son's tricks, and clearly told the officials in Liangzhe that they must give up the idea of independence and the dream of being isolated. If they continue to plot independence, they will be overthrown by the new Song Dynasty and despised by the people.
This wave of public opinion created a huge momentum. From the officials in Liangzhe to the common people, everyone was discussing the actions of the new Song Dynasty. This was a strategy of using courtesy before force, and they were going to attack to unify the country.
Sitting in the government office converted from the imperial palace, Shi's son felt like he was sitting on a big ship blown by a force twelve typhoon. It rocked him so hard that he vomited again and again. When he couldn't vomit anymore, he held on to the mast and pretended to vomit.
He summoned all the officials to discuss matters, but some of them were nowhere to be found; some claimed to be sick and stayed at home, and many people took leave and waited and watched. More than half of the people standing in the hall were gone.
Yang Daquan said angrily: If they don't come, they will all run away. This move of the New Song Kingdom is ruthless. He heard that many wealthy businessmen brought their families to Huating County controlled by the Shenwei Army, where Shanghai Port is being built. The New Song boasted that it would become the country's largest maritime trade port in the future.
These people are not going there to make a living, they are clearly running to the New Song Kingdom.
The Minister of Revenue said worriedly: Not only the merchants are running away, even the common people are running away.
This year, Jiangbei has formulated a new strategy to support farmers and workers. The government provides low-interest loans to encourage mulberry planting and silkworm breeding, and also provides interest-subsidized loans to farmers to purchase farm tools.
The interest subsidy is an interest-free loan. As long as the common people use the money to buy farm tools and farm according to the contract, they only need to repay the principal after selling the grain after the harvest.
They are also running a cooperative that has oxen. Immigrants living near the border don't even have to pay for the oxen. They just need to provide fodder to make the oxen plow the fields.
A salt merchant who paid for an official position said that there was something even worse. After most of the salt fields in Jiangbei were taken away by the New Song Dynasty, they also supported those salt merchants who could no longer operate. They established a Salt Industry Chamber of Commerce. Anyone who operated legally and in compliance with regulations could get a bank loan with the guarantee of the Chamber of Commerce. The interest rate was much lower than that of private lending, more than three times lower.
All the words Shi's son heard were discouraging, and he was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood. He shouted wildly: Go, go, go, go away and have peace.
The officials in the hall didn't know what to do. They were worried about what to do with their own piece of land, so they actually ran away, taking small steps back and leaving the government office.
On Cuiping Mountain in Yibin, Zhao Yulin was ready to take 500 million new yuan out of the country.
When he returned home, he saw the old scholar and his mother there. He said happily that he had not had time to greet them since he came back , so he went to the Beggar's Chicken on the Jinsha River for a meal.
Before the old scholar agreed, Zhao Guangshun, who was leaning against him, heard it clearly. He immediately jumped up and shouted "Yeah" exaggeratedly, then ran out happily to invite his brothers and sisters to eat beggar's chicken.
His mother immediately started to make arrangements happily.
The old scholar asked him angrily, "What have you been busy with? Were you injured again in the battle?"
Zhao Yulin sensed the old man's concern, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart. He did not dare to tell his father the truth, so he just said that he was fine and great, and that it was Guigu's master who had encountered a problem, so he went to help and look into it.
The old man knew that this involved state secrets, so he couldn't ask about it. As long as his son was healthy, that was enough. Now the Zhao family had dozens or even hundreds of people, so the pillar of the family couldn't be in trouble.
The whole family went out in a grand procession. Before they had gone more than ten feet away, everyone in the city knew that the third young master had returned.
A shop owner was standing on the eaves of the street, looking at Zhao Yulin's children with great envy, and said to the waiter cheerfully: "Look, having more children means more blessings. The third young master has a large group of children around him, so he must have endless wealth and glory."
Before the girl could finish her words, the female owner of the store got angry and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Why are you sighing? Are you bullying me for being a hen that doesn't lay eggs? The reason I didn't give birth to a son is because of your child. Cuiping Mountain believes in equality for all. The Third Young Master said that my inability to give birth to a child is not just my fault. Woo, woo."
The woman even burst into tears in the street.
The shopkeeper rushed over and hugged the woman to comfort her, saying that they already had a girl, he was very satisfied, and would pass on the family business and skills to the girl in the future.
The woman began to squirmly in his arms, muttering: "There are three unfilial acts, and the worst is to have no descendants. Why don't you take a concubine, my lord? It is said that having many sons means more blessings, but our family is indeed not prosperous."
Now it was the shopkeeper's turn to be embarrassed. He must have been thinking that seeing the tiger-like woman in front of him, he became as timid as a mouse again.
Looking towards the street again, the Third Young Master and his family had disappeared.
After returning home from dinner, Zhao Yulin's mother asked him to go to the small living room for tea and solemnly assigned him a task, asking him to find a job for his elder brother Zhao Yuqing.
This really stumped Zhao Yulin.
Just as his father said, what Brother Yuqing wants to do is definitely not to make a living by selling two bowls of noodles on the street. Without a certain scale and sufficient profits, he will not be attracted.
The old scholar rolled his eyes at his mother, as if to say: See, I said no. Where can San'er find a suitable livelihood for the eldest brother?
Zhao Yulin knew that it was rare for his mother to ask him to do something, so he didn't dare to disappoint her. He agreed immediately and told his mother not to worry, he would do it.
His statement surprised the old scholar .
The last time Zhao Yuqing broke the law, the old scholar brought the first wife's family to him to plead for mercy, but it didn't work at all. It seems that the third wife has to step in personally before San'er will admit the blame.
Haha, the old scholar doesn’t know the nature of the matter. Zhao Yulin will definitely not let go of anything illegal and criminal. If you want to get things done, he is willing to strongly support it.
