Chapter 650: Unable to Sustain
After Zhao Sihan served as the Minister of Rites of Dali for a while, he was disgusted by the corruption in Dali. Governments at all levels withheld taxes, causing the small court of Dali to spend more than it earned all year round. Looking around, there were starving people everywhere, which was a far cry from the situation in the New Song Kingdom.
She said: Dali must change. The Dali Kingdom is the country of all Dali people, not the country of the Duan family. If there is no change, the people will rebel and the court will not be able to survive.
Duan Xiaolin sighed and said: "It has been unsustainable for a long time. The reason we came to Chengdu this time is because the treasury is empty and food is short, so we came to ask for help from our third brother."
Si Niang said tactfully: Dali has been at war for many years, and the country is in chaos. The people are displaced and living in dire straits. It is too hard. Dali is not like our New Song Dynasty, where we fight in the front and have stability and support in the back.
It was all planned by the third brother, and it was done step by step.
How can a country do things without determination and integrity?
Duan Xiaolin hung his head, completely speechless.
Zhao Sihan held Duan Xiaolin's arm tightly and said that she supported Xiaolin's decision to pull Dali Kingdom out of the quagmire.
How could Zhao Yulin not know that her sister was so determined? She was chatting with Zhao Feiyan and Shunzhidi.
Feiyan asked him, why don’t you support Xiao Linzi and give him a hand?
Shunzhidi also stared at him, asking him to speak.
He asked: How can I help?
Let Duan Xiaolin lead the troops back?
That would just give the stubborn forces in the Dali court an excuse to incite the people to fight us. It was up to Xiao Linzi to make up his mind to deal with Dali's affairs.
We just have to be prepared for emergencies.
Right now, the Minister of War Yang Xingyun and Brother Miao from the Privy Council are both out, so let's go to Xinshi. Da Kui is building a railway there, and his men are all veterans who have fought in wars and seen blood.
Zhao Feiyan was surprised and asked him happily: It turns out that brother had already made arrangements and was still playing tricks on us.
Shunzhidi also pretended to be angry and pinched his shoulders and neck hard.
Zhao Yulin pretended to be in pain and said in a very uncomfortable manner: He is not Zhuge Kongming, it is just a coincidence. Da Kui's road construction soldiers were reorganized from the border, and they only needed to send their weapons over and train them a little before they could use them.
Everyone wants it.
As soon as these words came out, Shunzhidi punched him hard with her little pink fist.
Feiyan personally refilled the tea and gave it to him and said: This is how things happened in Dali, what about Hulun?
The two of them went to Qiongzhou. Hulan didn't want to think about the desert at all. She wanted to benefit the people in Qiongzhou.
Shunzhidi also told him that Qiongzhou had changed a lot. After the fire well was released, countless workshops were quickly established there. Merchants saw business opportunities and ran there to open shops and build workshops. Today, the ancient Tea Horse Road in and out of Tubo Road is prosperous again, and the tax revenue in Qiongzhou has doubled.
He said: Broken bones are connected to tendons. Hulan is just being stubborn. It is absolutely false that she doesn't want to do it at all. Let's prepare to let her go to Datong Prefecture.
The next day, Zhao Feiyan invited Hua Yue to Zhao Yulin's office and talked about the need to guard against unrest in Dali Kingdom. Hua Yue immediately supported it.
The Central Council then summoned ministers to discuss the matter.
After the Ministry of Rites announced the aid decision to support Dali in overcoming the difficulties, Zhao Yulin told everyone: The control of the small Dali court is getting weaker and weaker, but we must stabilize Dali before we can deal with the grassland empire in the north. Assisting Dali is assisting ourselves.
Moreover, these loans and grain loans are all based on agreements. Let's help them get through it first, and then settle the accounts with Dali.
You all understand, so naturally there is nothing to say.
Then, Du Fan proposed to retire and recommended Chen Longzhi from Lizhou Road to take over as the Minister of Revenue. Zhao Yulin had already asked him to communicate with Yu Jie and You Shi about this matter. Chen Longzhi had the support , plus Zhao Feiyan and his tacit approval, everyone was praising Chen Longzhi, and it was quickly decided.
Zhao Yulin said that he would not send a pacification envoy to Lizhou, and that it would be merged into Chengdu Prefecture.
Everyone looked at him with confusion, including Zhao Feiyan. They all thought he was too protective of Chen Chen. He had just taken over a road, and now he wanted to merge Lizhou Road into it, which made everyone jealous.
Zhao Yulin smiled and explained to everyone: Don't think that he is protecting Chengdu Prefecture. It is true that the Pacifier Chen Chen is his wife, but Chen Chen is also an ordinary official of the court.
In fact, although the taxes received by Chengdu Prefecture increased after the expansion of the road, the cost of dispatching funds to support the construction of prefectures and counties also increased a lot. After all the expenses were shared, Chengdu Prefecture did not get any advantage.
In the past, Lizhou Road was set up as a frontier to resist the Jin Army and the Mongolian Army. Its human, material and financial resources were not abundant, and it was too difficult to support local construction independently.
Now, Lizhou is no longer a frontier town, so let’s return it to Chengdu Prefecture Road, coordinate human and material resources, and accelerate the development of Lizhou.
Everyone understood and began to nod and drink tea.
Hua Yue was the first to speak and supported Zhao Yulin's decision. He believed that Chengdu Fu Road, as an important place in the capital, was crowded with merchants and had strong financial resources, and should shoulder greater responsibilities.
The gentlemen followed suit and expressed their support, and the decision was made.
Zhao Feiyan then said that she had caught a cold and was feeling unwell recently, so she asked for leave to go to Xinshi for recuperation and asked Commander Zhao to accompany her.
All the gentlemen looked at them with a smile, thinking that the king's excuse was too far-fetched.
Hua Yue agreed immediately, thinking that the health of the king was of utmost importance and that all officials should lend a helping hand to ensure that state affairs were in order.
Zhao Feiyan smiled and said: "Great, thank you for your consideration. Then I will ask Lord Hua to supervise the country and all the ministers to assist me."
The gentlemen immediately nodded in agreement.
In the evening, Li Liang came to report to him that an envoy from the Ma Yi Kingdom had come to visit, and the military affairs to be discussed still needed to be weighed by the commander, fearing that it would delay the itinerary of the King of Feiyan.
He said it was okay, national affairs were more important, so he let Feiyan go first.
The next day, Zhao Feiyan took Shunzhidi with her and accompanied Duan Xiaolin and Zhao Sihan to board the boat and leave Chengdu and go down the river. They arrived at the new town of Jiayang in Qianwei, and took the train that was still in trial operation and arrived at the new town while chatting and laughing.
Zhao Sihan was surprised at the speed of the train and grabbed Zhao Feiyan to ask the New Song Kingdom to build a railway to her Kunming.
Zhao Feiyan laughed and said that the railway was paved with gold and silver, and the trains were running on rails made of fine iron. How could the court have so much silver?
We have been at war for the past two years, so let’s build the railway to Dukou Town first.
Duan Xiaolin was thinking about the great reforms and was in no mood to talk about these things. He took Sihan and his two sisters-in-law to say goodbye. After the two of them saw Duan Xiaolin off, they immediately got on the sedan chair and went to visit Huanglang Ancient Village.
Li Dagui had received a pigeon message and was waiting here. The military staff disguised as a personal guard quickly delivered the strategy.
While drinking tea, Zhao Feiyan told Da Kui: The third young master believes that General Da Kui can handle it, and he only asked me to pass on the message.
Li Dagui had already read the plan of the Ministry of War and asked him to take charge of the overall situation and deal with the possible chaos in Dali. Before Zhao Feiyan finished speaking, he nervously said: The king is in charge of the overall situation, how can a subordinate go beyond the rules? I will obey the orders of the king Feiyan.
Shunzhidi smiled and said: "Brother Li is too polite. The Third Young Master thinks it is most appropriate for Brother Li to stay at the ferry and dispatch the three armies to deal with emergencies. She and Feiyan came to Xinshi to cover the army. The Ministry of War has a staff here to decide how to do it. Brother Li will handle it on the spot."
Zhao Feiyan said seriously: She only has one thing to say: the safety of the Princess of Zhennan must be guaranteed, because she is the biological sister of the Third Young Master. Now that the train is available, the Ministry of War has another shortcut to mobilize troops and supplies. She and the Third Young Master both believe that General Da Kui can do it well.
Li Dagui knew that Zhao Yulin trusted him and entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of resolving Dali's issue. He became more motivated, stood up straight and saluted, assuring Zhao Feiyan that he would complete the task.
Zhao Feiyan said with a laugh: The third young master knows that elder brother Li is reluctant to give up his military uniform and that he still has the spirit of a soldier in his bones. He asked me to convey a message: In this battle, the decision will be entirely up to the general.
I'm just here to cultivate myself.
Da Kui immediately asked the king to rest and recuperate, and that his subordinates would do their best to do the job. Geng then left with the military officers.
Zhao Feiyan finally relaxed and sat lazily on the large rattan chair to bask in the sun.
She thought of her father who had also been here, and murmured that her few words here determined the fate of the Dali Kingdom. Why was it so difficult for her father to govern the country back then?
Shunzhidi said happily: That's because our king has a good husband. Brother Yulin is smart, he can brew wine and make perfume. Once the five grains are abundant, his Shenwei Army will not starve. With a strong army in hand, what is there to be afraid of?
Zhao Feiyan said to herself: No matter how many soldiers we have, we still need people who share the same mind as us to lead them. She stood up and said, "Now that we are in Xinshi, let's go to the nearby counties. Sister Fenghuang has gone out to investigate corruption without any hesitation, so why should we be lazy?"
Zhidi said, "Yeah!" That's great. The king personally went to the county government office. The effect must be extraordinary. The two of them immediately started the lowest level of research and inspection.
In Chengdu, Minister of Rites Li Liang took the lead in contacting Ma Yi's envoy. After presenting the tribute, Ma Yi's envoy questioned why the New Song Dynasty ignored the bandits of the previous dynasty, which led to continuous wars in the Nanyang countries and caused huge losses in personnel and property.
Li Liang said indifferently: The Song army is also from China. It is not easy for them to make a living at sea. After these people formed their own country, they are neighbors of the new Song Dynasty, just like Ma Yi. Since we are neighbors, we should live in harmony and be kind to others. How can a big country bully a small country?
Ma Yi, the master, was anxious and told Li Liang the truth: the Song army had large ships and advanced weapons, and they kept attacking the Nanyang countries, trying to incorporate them into the Song country one by one. A soldier could be killed but not humiliated. No matter how small a country is, it is still a country. They united and rose up to resist before they were able to draw with the Song army.
As the Celestial Empire, would the New Song Dynasty just ignore it?
This sentence actually stumped Li Liang.
Li Liang was born with the idea of being the Celestial Empire. When someone puts a hat on him, he will be happy to sit there. He threw all his words about big countries and small countries being equal into the Pacific Ocean.
