Chapter 617: Borrowing Another 5 Million
As soon as the two stepped onto the Xinshi pier, they saw Zhao Sihan coming towards them. Ma Linger asked with a smile: What's wrong, aunt?
Waiting here for the third brother?
Zhao Sihan proudly said that her father-in-law appointed her as the Minister of Rites, in charge of liaison with the New Song Dynasty.
Five months ago, the young emperor of Dali was struggling to find a suitable person to go as an envoy to the New Song Dynasty. Upon seeing Zhao Sihan, his queen immediately suggested to the young emperor that he should send his daughter-in-law as an envoy to the New Song Dynasty, and all the missions would surely be accomplished.
First, Sihan is Zhao Yulin's sister, and the officials of the New Song Dynasty would give her some respect. Second, it would be great if we let the Zhao family see that the Dali Kingdom valued Zhao Sihan.
The young emperor immediately came to his senses and made an exception by appointing Zhao Sihan as the deputy envoy of the Ministry of Rites of Dali Kingdom to go on a mission to the New Song Dynasty to borrow grain.
Zhao Sihan was delighted to be valued by the Dali court. This was the first time in history that a female official was appointed in Dali. She immediately went to Chengdu to do her job. She acted arrogantly in front of her sisters-in-law and secured 100,000 shi of grain without spending a penny. Zhao Feiyan even ordered the cooperative's fleet to deliver the grain to Dali for free.
The young emperor solved the food crisis without spending a penny and was overjoyed. In front of all the officials, he made a decision and appointed his good daughter-in-law as the Minister of Rites.
Zhao Sihan happily took Ma Ling'er's arm and said: She came here just to accompany Sister Ma Ling and to see the rape flowers in Zhongdu, and she didn't care about her brother.
Ma Linger knew that her young lady would not come to her temple for no reason, so she did not expose him. She smiled and pulled her sister ashore and left him there.
Zhao Yulin went to find Chen Yun for a drink, and Lu Youpeng was there too. They both knew that he was out with Ma Ling to relax, so they didn't mention any military affairs and just drank.
Chen Yun told him: The railway is about to be completed, he has seen it all. The railway station at Xinshi is so grand and magnificent, and after the railway is opened, I am afraid that no one will take the boat.
He smiled and said that if necessary, they still had to take a boat. The cost of transporting goods eastward to the end of the river was very low. For a long time to come, water transportation would still be the most economical mode of transportation.
However, we can try to open hot air balloon air transport between major cities. For example, some businessmen are in a hurry to handle business affairs, some wealthy families need to deal with family emergencies or are curious to try new things, so they can take a hot air balloon to travel to do business.
Lu Youpeng asked him: Do you want to transfer hot air balloons from military products to civilian use?
Zhao Yulin nodded, thinking that they could try to manufacture large hot air balloons and choose good weather for civilian flights. He believed that an advanced technology must continue to be strengthened in application to become more mature and benefit the general public.
When they got back, Ma Ling and Zhao Sihan were both back. His sister said with regret that the temperature was still low, and although the rape flowers were blooming, they didn't smell good.
He spread his hands and said: There is nothing we can do about this.
Ma Linger told him: My sister is here to discuss a loan. After the new Song Dynasty replaced the first generation of banknotes, the people of Dali saw that the second generation of new coins was more exquisite and durable than the first generation. More and more people used them, so their Dali coins could no longer be used.
He looked at his sister.
Zhao Sihan nodded, raised a finger, and asked to borrow 10 million strings of cash.
He said: "It's the end of the year, and the end of the year is a hurdle. Everyone is short of money. Dali has borrowed a lot of money, and it would be bad if they don't even pay the interest in the past two years. He didn't know the situation of the transportation department, so he went to ask Cao Ying."
Zhao Sihan's expression immediately turned ugly.
Ma Linger told him: Sihan has another mission, her father-in-law wants us to build a railway to Dali to make it easier for Dali to do business with us.
The tea that Zhao Yulin had just taken in his mouth spurted out with a puff. He stared at Zhao Sihan with wide eyes and asked: "Are you serious? Do you know how much money it will cost to build a bridge from Xinshi to Qianwei?"
Railways are paved with fine iron.
His sister didn't care about that and just asked him if he agreed. This was her first job after she became the Minister of Rites of Dali.
Ma Linger smiled and said that Sihan was deceiving her third brother. Last time, he came in the capacity of Dali Shangshu to ask for 100,000 dan of grain for free.
Zhao Sihan was playing tricks and went up to hold Ma Linger's shoulders and squeezed them hard.
Zhao Yulin said: It is better to go to Chengdu for official business. Sister Ma Ling and he came to Xinshi to rest, not to do any work. He reminded Sihan not to do things casually based on feelings. The Dali Kingdom can only do things as big as it can.
Otherwise, it would hurt feelings when the two countries argue in the future.
Zhao Sihan's expression changed immediately, and she said bluntly: If Third Brother doesn't agree, just forget it, don't say it so harshly.
The next morning, the Dali Kingdom's Minister of Rites boarded the ship and left without saying goodbye.
Ma Linger said with a smile: Look, he has offended his own sister, he will suffer a lot.
He laughed and said: He was spoiled by his sisters-in-law. If they go directly to Chengdu for business, Feiyan might agree to it more readily than he did.
Ma Ling'er giggled when she heard this.
Zhao Yulin stayed in Xinshi for half a month before Zhao Feiyan sent a letter to summon him. When he returned to Chengdu, Zhao Sihan had already finished his work and was enjoying himself in Huaxi Village with his son Duan Yu.
At night, Zhao Feiyan said that her younger sister-in-law wanted to borrow 10 million yuan, and she approved 5 million strings of cash.
Zhao Yulin said that since the king had spoken, who would dare to object?
The woman caught him, stripped him, pressed him, and said to him with her hands on his nose: "You sound dissatisfied, so tell me if you are angry? If you are angry, take it out on me." As she spoke, she kept fanning the flames with her claws.
Zhao Yulin couldn't bear it any longer, so he immediately jumped on top and moved like a tiger pouncing on its prey. The couple had a satisfying fight and then fell into a sound sleep.
At daybreak, Feiyan told him that Dali was going to build a railway, but she did not allow it. So she decided to lend the money to Sihan to satisfy her wishes so that she could go back and report back.
He scratched the little woman's nose and said that she might have been fooled by Sihan. Her father-in-law, the little emperor, was worried day and night that we would annex the Dali Kingdom, but he was so confident that he wanted us to build the railway there?
Zhao Feiyan suddenly realized what was going on and said with certainty that she had been fooled by her sister-in-law. Sihan deliberately made a lot of demands in order to borrow money.
She had already put on her clothes, spread her hands and said that she had no choice but to agree. But fortunately, the interest that should be paid was determined, otherwise our New Song Kingdom would have become a sucker.
Zhao Yulin said that it was not surprising. The people of Dali ate the rice of our New Song, so they should remember the good things of our New Song. As for the currency, if Dali comes again in the future, we must ask for repayment. At least we must exchange the old debts before we can borrow new debts.
Feiyan kissed him on the cheek as an answer and asked him: The envoys from the grassland came to negotiate three times, but the Ministry of Rites did not give a yes. The Mongolian envoys asked to see Ge'er. They did not wait for Ge'er to come back, so they asked to go to Qiongzhou to visit Hulan. She agreed and specially dispatched 500 garrison soldiers to escort them.
Zhao Yulin said that the New Year is coming soon, why are they going to Qiongzhou?
Are we going to celebrate the New Year in Qiongzhou, Hulan?
The scene of Hubli crossing the line of fire to see him suddenly flashed through his mind. This time, the grassland delegation went to Qiongzhou to visit Hulan. Could it be that Hubli came in person?
He was stunned for a moment and shook his head vigorously.
It feels incredible.
Zhao Feiyan saw his silly look and asked what was wrong.
What's wrong with you?
How could Zhao Yulin dare to say all this? He just smiled and said: It's okay, if they want to go, let them go. Hu Lan knows what's going on.
Everyone in the family is out, so it’s time for us to go to court.
Zhao Feiyan thought he was recalling the craziness the couple had last night and wanted to relive the old days, so her face turned red and she said: There are a lot of things to do, let's come back early after we are done.
The woman then gave him a look that showed she understood. Zhao Yulin felt as if he had encountered a ferocious wolf. He pulled the woman up and told her to hurry up.
Zhao Yulin followed Zhao Feiyan into the conference hall, which was already packed with officials. Du Fan stood up and led the applause, and the officials all stood up. Cao Ying from the Transportation Department shouted: Welcome the triumphant return of Commander Zhao.
The gentlemen then shouted and laughed.
He quickly waved his hand to stop them and shouted: Thank you all, sit down.
Zhao Feiyan pulled him over to sit down and said happily: This year, our New Song Kingdom has had many good things. The first thing is that we have recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that we had lost for two centuries. From now on, we New Song people can walk with our heads held high and our backs straight.
The gentlemen nodded and laughed when they heard this.
In fact, the people of the New Song Dynasty have long walked with their heads held high.
However, the Shenwei Army's recovery of Yunzhou and Youzhou was of extraordinary significance. They were ceded to foreign tribes when the Song people were first founded, and even the Song emperor himself could not take them back.
Today, the New Song Kingdom has taken back all the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in one fell swoop.
Zhao Feiyan smiled widely and looked at him with great joy, shouting, "Please let our commander say a few words."
The gentlemen immediately applauded and welcomed him.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said: There have been many reports in the newspapers, so I won't say more here. The Shenwei Army's recovery of Yanyun was the result of the soldiers' successive bloody battles. We must always remember those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. He proposed that everyone stand up and observe a moment of silence for the soldiers who died in this recovery battle.
At the beginning of the day, Zhao Yulin stood up, and the officials on both sides of the Central Court stood up, took off their hats and lowered their heads.
After a short rest, the Minister of Rites Li Liang shouted loudly; after the ceremony, everyone sat down.
Zhao Yulin said: The soldiers at the front fought well, thanks to the careful governance of the country and the good logistical support by those in the rear. Isn't the king going to invite us to a banquet to celebrate? When will the banquet start?
Zhao Feiyan looked at everyone and immediately smiled, shouting: Let’s go to the banquet hall.
Everyone moved to the banquet hall and sat down. The officials of the Central Court knew that he had just lost Ma Yuan and was heartbroken, so they said nothing more and just smiled and toasted to the couple.
After the banquet, Zhao Feiyan asked all officials above the rank of Shangshu to stay, and they went to the reception room to have tea and chat.
Zhao Yulin told everyone: Although the lost territories in Hebei were recovered, these places had long been ruled by the enemy and exploited by all means. The land was barren and the people lived a very hard life.
Zhao Feiyan said: Food and money have been urgently allocated to relieve the famine, and further plans will be made after the new year to help Hebei restore people's livelihood.
He nodded and said to the Privy Councilor Miao Gui: There will probably be no larger battles than the one we are facing now in the future, so the Ministry of War does not need to expand the army on a large scale.
