Chapter 553: Strong Winds from the West
Hao Xiaoming thought about it for a moment and immediately agreed, asking Li Ming to go out of the border and advance towards Linzhou for the exercise.
At this time, the lieutenant outside the tent delivered an urgent military report from Chengdu, saying that the Third Young Master had sent a letter. Hao Xiaoming was overjoyed after reading it, and repeatedly called Zhang Guoan "the Third Young Master's lucky general" and that he and the Third Young Master had the same idea.
After watching it, everyone looked at Zhang Guoan with admiration and shouted, "We will definitely win this battle."
Zhao Yulin was still busy with family affairs in Chengdu, so he had no idea that his brothers admired him so much.
At this moment, he was accompanying Chen Zhongshun and Aunt Wu to visit Huaxi Village.
The old man suddenly rushed to Chengdu from Renhuai and asked Zhao Yulin to accompany him to visit his beloved grandson Chen Liu. This reminded Zhao Yulin of Chen Xiaomin who passed away many years ago, and he couldn't help feeling deeply moved.
The family wandered around Huaxi Village surrounded by a sea of rapeseed flowers for most of the day, and when they came to the bamboo forest firewood chicken restaurant hosted by Chen Liu, they sat down. Immediately, a tall woman of a foreign ethnic group flew over like a bird.
Chen Liu happily introduced the girl as Jinzhu, a Korean. Chen Liu pulled the girl and called her Uncle Zhao, his father, the Third Young Master that their prince mentioned.
The little girl immediately called him in broken Chinese: Third Young Master.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: It’s best to call you Uncle Zhao.
The little girl immediately changed her name and called him Uncle Zhao.
He said to Chen Liu with a smile: They have come all the way to Chengdu, so you have to take good care of them.
Wu Jing arrived at some point and hid behind Zhao Yulin and said: Our brother Liu takes good care of Jinzhu and even teaches her Chinese every night.
Zhao Yulin asked cheerfully: It’s Jinzhu who knows how to make kimchi, right? Chen Liu is greedy, so he’s in for a treat now.
Chen Liu's little face turned red, and she happily told him that Sister Jinzhu knew how to make a lot of Korean kimchi, and she would invite grandpa, grandma and dad to taste it later.
Everyone then sat down to eat and drink. Chen Zhongshun praised the pickles on the table highly and praised Jinzhu's craftsmanship, calling her a master.
The little girl's face turned red with joy and she kept picking up food for the two old people.
Zhao Yulin discovered that this kimchi did not look like the one taken out of a kimchi jar, but rather like pickled vegetables mixed with seasonings. He was amazed at the rich imagination of the Koreans.
A simple dish of kimchi can be made into so many different dishes.
The old man was enjoying his drink and moved to the pavilion nearby to have some tea. He told Zhao Yulin that he would hand over his wine business to Chen Liu.
Chen Liu was delighted at first when he heard this, but immediately looked at Jinzhu in the distance with reluctance.
Zhao Yulin was a little confused.
The old man told Zhao Yulin that he was old and didn't want to run around anymore. Wu Gu Feng was actually created by Xianxu and Xiaomin in Hongyanzi. He wanted to hand over the Chen family's wine business to Chen Liu and let him continue.
Zhao Yulin felt distressed whenever Xiaomin was mentioned and didn't know how to refuse. Seeing that Chen Zhongshun was determined to let Chen Liu take over, he said: Our father is in his prime, and Chen Liu is still young. Wouldn't it be better if uncle held on for a few more years and wait for Chen Liu to grow up?
Chen Zhongshun shook his head and told Zhao Yulin that he came here just for this matter.
Aunt Wu said: Uncle Chen lost his memory after drinking twice recently, and slept for most of the day. He felt that his health was not as good as before, so he asked Chen Liu to go back and help him manage the wine business.
Zhao Yulin roughly understood it.
Tell him that he should drink half as he gets older and drink within his ability. When people reach a certain age, the digestive function of the stomach weakens, so they should eat less greasy food for dinner and not drink alcohol, or drink less alcohol.
He asked Chen Liu if he was willing to go back and help his grandfather.
Seeing his grandson staring at Jinzhu who was busy in the distance without saying anything, Chen Zhongshun said with a smile: Our Liuliu likes Jinzhu's kimchi, so let's take Jinzhu back with us.
Oh, this old man dotes on his grandson too much.
Wu Jing said: No, that's not possible. Korean kimchi is the signature dish of our Huaxi Village. The master here is not allowed to leave until Jinzhu has taught him.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: Then let Chen Liu stay in Huaxi for a few more days. When the rape flowers fade, it will be less busy here. Then let Liu Liu go back to accompany grandpa to make wine. How about that?
The old man nodded with satisfaction and decided to stay in Huaxi for two days before leaving.
Zhao Yulin told him to drink less and take care of his health, then said goodbye and left.
When he came out, Wu Jing caught him and asked him: Why don't you keep Chen Liu? Chen Liu is doing a great job here.
He smiled and said: My younger brother has grown up, and Grandpa Chen wants him to go back and be the head shopkeeper. As an elder sister, I should be happy and supportive. How can I tie him down here?
Wu Jing stopped talking, waved goodbye to him, and ran to discuss with Zhu Fugui.
When he got back, Zhao Feiyan told him: Brother Miao is back, his hair has turned white, and he looks very bad.
He pulled Feiyan towards the Ministry of War's office. When they were almost at the door, they saw a man hurriedly walking out. It was Miao Gui.
When Miao Gui saw them coming, he smiled and said that the guard had reported that his brother had returned and was about to go over.
The three men returned to the inner room and sat down. The maid brought them tea. After closing the door and leaving, Miao Gui gave a detailed report on the military situation in Hebei.
Based on the military intelligence received recently, the Ministry of War judged that the grassland empire might launch a new round of westward expedition.
This created an opportunity for our New Song to seize Hebei and recover the lost territories of the Great Song.
However, the Grassland Empire is also on guard. Since last year, it has been vigorously building passes, recruiting soldiers, and showing an attitude of preparing for a decisive battle with us.
This meant we had to be on guard against the Mongolian army pretending to build a plank road while secretly crossing Chencang.
Zhao Yulin nodded and told Miao Gui: Lord Cao, Lord Meng and he all have the same judgment. We must first wait for your friend's Western Expedition Army to leave Mobei before we can accomplish anything. There is no rush now.
He told Miao Gui to have a good rest and go to Dayi or Gulugou as he wish. He should first take a bath in the magical hot spring to wash away all the dirt on his body and then rest up enough before discussing state affairs.
Du Baiyue is about to come back, and he plans to ask Baiyue to guard Shenglong Prefecture in the south. Fenghuang has been there for almost two years, and military discipline inspection cannot be relaxed.
Miao Gui nodded and said he would handle it.
Feiyan once again urged Miao Gui to take care of himself before the two left.
Special envoy Zhang Guoan arrived in Linzhou in the northwest.
Prince Hecha, who lived on the other side of the river, sent a document informing that all the hostages and captives from the Song Dynasty had arrived in Jiuyuan and that money should be paid quickly to redeem them.
Zhang Guoan saw that nine hostages had died on the arduous journey back south. Fortunately, the old emperor was still safe and sound, so he ordered the accompanying rites councillors to cross the river to check and note that the emperor could only be addressed as "Mr.", the empress dowager as "Aunt Xie", and the empress and imperial concubines as "Madam".
Zhang Guoan took a newspaper from Guanzhong and asked the senator to look carefully. The article reprinted in the newspaper from the Chengdu Weekly was written by the third young master himself. It was the court telling the world how to treat officials and royal family members of the previous dynasty.
After receiving the order, the senator immediately set out to cross the river.
Hao Xiaoming said: It’s time for us to set off.
The brothers followed the reinforcements to the ferry and set up camp. Flags were immediately flying across the river, and military camps were quickly and neatly built on the camp that had been planned long ago.
The senator came to Jiuyuan City and checked the list and found that nine people were missing and five were dying. He questioned the Mongolian envoy why he treated the New Song people so badly. They said they would ensure their safety, so where were the other nine people?
Hecha heard the report from below: the envoy of the New Song Dynasty was dissatisfied with the death and questioned the reason.
The guy said disdainfully: Tell them to take the money and leave, otherwise they will all be beheaded.
The senator said calmly that since nine people were missing, the New Song Dynasty would only give one million strings of cash, not a penny more.
After receiving the report, Hecha was furious and ordered ten two-legged sheep to be dragged out and chopped off immediately to see if they would bargain.
A group of ferocious and hungry soldiers immediately rushed out of the big tent and went to the prisoner camp to capture people.
The senator said with his head held high: "Kill if you want, but we won't talk about killing a fellow countryman of the New Song Dynasty. The Grassland Empire won't get a penny."
After saying that, he turned and left.
The staff under the Hecha account immediately advised the prince to stop. The hostages of the New Song Dynasty had been taken to Jiuyuan, and they must be exchanged for silver. The Khan had an imperial edict and was waiting to receive the silver as a reward for the troops on the western expedition.
Hecha was not a complete fool. He immediately ordered the attack to stop and sent some delicious food to the prisoner camp to save their lives. No more people should starve to death or die of exhaustion.
At the same time, quickly send a message to the royal court.
The little southern barbarian only offered one million strings of cash, which was really half the price. They just cut it in half. The New Song Kingdom was really doing business, but the price was far below expectations.
It’s hard for this guy to explain to his father.
The senator returned to the camp after crossing the river to report the situation: Old housekeeper..., as soon as he opened his mouth, he saw Zhang Guoan's sharp eyes shooting at him, and immediately changed his words: Oh no, Mr. Zhao and the two ladies are fine, and Grandma Xie is also safe and sound. The rest of the entourage are all pale and thin, and their complexions are much worse, especially the female relatives, who look like they will be blown down by the wind.
When the northern barbarian heard that we only gave him one million, he wanted to kill them in public. I turned around and left without even looking at them. The brothers behind him did not see the execution scene.
The generals became nervous when they heard that Hecha was going to kill the hostages.
Liu Hu, the commander of the 4th column, cursed: Damn it, let's charge over, break into Jiuyuan City and take all the people back.
Wu Jie told everyone to be patient, he estimated that the Mongolian army would never dare to kill anyone. If pressed to the limit, the New Song could simply not take hostages, they would not get a penny, wouldn't it be a waste of their trip to Jiuyuan?
Hao Xiaoming ordered in a deep voice to check the military discipline and appearance, be on high alert and obey the orders of the special envoy.
It was Zhang Guoan's turn to make a decision. He was still nervous because the lives of hundreds of people were in his hands. After walking back and forth in the tent three times, Guoan said with certainty: Don't be afraid, we believe that the Third Young Master is not wrong, the enemy is here for the money.
Even if you don't pay them, they will release the person.
He asked the councillor to send a message to Jiuyuan, saying that we can pay in silver coins and not let down Prince Hecha.
Zhang Guoan continued to tell his brothers: They want two million, we only give one million, this is negotiation. Now let's release the news, we pay silver coins, it is a benefit to them , everyone will benefit and it will definitely work. The third young master said that the most insidious trick of the grassland empire is to let Mr. Zhao come back to arouse those old and young people with ulterior motives to plot restoration and mess up our new Song Dynasty.
Therefore, they will definitely make concessions. We will never accept more money than that. This is the bottom line of the court.
Let's just wait and see. The task ahead is difficult. Not only must we send the hostages back to Chengdu safely, but we must also educate our brothers to remember that the New Song Dynasty advocates a republic and to establish a country where everyone is equal.
