Chapter 656: Fortune Brings Vitality
Zhao Yulin's head buzzed and he was confused. After he woke up, he quickly covered his mouth with his hands and went out. His mind was still confused until he got on the carriage.
My god, this girl is too fierce.
When he got back, he hurried to the bathroom, wiped his lips for a long time before sitting down in the study.
Seeing that he was acting strangely and didn't understand what was going on, Zhao Feiyan came to his study to stay up late with him and told him that Sister Fenghuang had set off for Yunnan Road again. She said that she had not had a good rest this year and was afraid that she would not be able to come back for the New Year.
Only then did he realize how quickly time passed. In a blink of an eye, 1,248 was about to end.
Feiyan asked him if he wanted to go to Zhao Ruilan's wedding.
He said he couldn't go because he had a lot of things to do.
Zhao Feiyan issued an edict to pardon the eldest son of the Shi family and let him marry Zhao Ruilan, a princess of the previous dynasty. However, there was a condition that after the marriage, he had to move to Qiantang County, Hangzhou to work.
The eldest son of the Shi family was overjoyed when he heard that the court had pardoned him and released him from prison. But when he heard that he had to take over Zhao Ruilan, he became unhappy and was totally unwilling to do so.
This guy knew Zhao Ruilan's past, and he put a pile of green and glamorous hats on his head before he even got married.
His father, Shi's son, persuaded him to admit it, sighed for a long time and said that it was all their own fault that the Shi family had ended up like this. At least they had Zhao Ruilan to help them escape from danger. If we don't agree, and the old housekeeper gets furious, he will ask the King of Feiyan to punish us and send us to dig coal underground. If we die, even our bodies won't be found. That would be extremely unfilial to our ancestors.
My son, when you go back to Qiantang County, as long as you have money in your hands, you won’t have to worry about not being able to take in a few concubines to enjoy yourself.
After hearing his father's explanation, the eldest son found it to be true and readily agreed. He completed the release procedures and returned to Chengdu that day.
Zhao Yulin didn't go, so he asked Feiyan to inform Chengdu and the officials familiar with the historians to join in the fun. It couldn't be too cold, so that the old emperor would lose face when marrying his daughter.
The next day, Duan Xiaolin and Zhao Sihan arrived with the officials selected from Yunnan Road.
Zhao Feiyan held a grand welcome ceremony in the meeting hall of the Central Council and personally issued the appointment documents, appointing Duan Xiaolin as the Pacification Envoy of Yunnan Road, Du Baiyue as the Defense Envoy of Yunnan Road, and Zhao Sihan as the Transport Envoy of Yunnan Road. Each official was smiling as they held the documents and seals.
In the evening, Zhao Yulin prepared a banquet at Wenjun Restaurant and invited Si Niang and Xiao Linzi to dine. Zhao Sihan was very happy and pulled Xiao Linzi to toast his brother and sister-in-law. Zhao Yulin quickly stopped them and said: It's rare for our family to have a meal together, don't make it too tiring.
He suggested that we toast to Si Niang. Si Niang had worked hard for most of her life and finally saw our family reunited. She would watch over us and let the people live a good life in the future.
Si Niang was very happy and raised her glass to drink it first.
After the banquet, Duan Xiaolin still had something to say, so Zhao Feiyan took him to the back hall to have tea and chat.
Zhao Yulin told him: The new Yunnan Road is not just a change of name, but also the unification of weights and measures and various governance rules. Don't be fooled by the calmness at the moment, there are definitely people who are unwilling to give in and want to cause trouble, and we must deal with them with caution.
Duan Xiaolin nodded vigorously and said: He came here just for this matter. He was worried that the vested interests such as the Gao family and the Chai family would not give up and would plot to create chaos, so he left General Baiyue to guard Chengdu when he came to report on his work.
Zhao Yulin gave him a thumbs up, praising his brother-in-law for his maturity. He was completely different from the Zhennan King who didn't care about anything and only cared about having fun in the past.
He took a sip of tea, looked towards the south and said: If you need people, go find General Da Kui. He has tens of thousands of soldiers building roads and there are many capable people.
Our steps cannot stop at Dali and Thang Long. To the south there are Champa and Chenla, as well as restless small countries like Bagan. We all need to sort out the borders so that they are peaceful and tranquil so that the people can live a comfortable life.
Zhao Feiyan went on to say: That's right, this is called being prepared for danger in times of peace. We should first do our best and not give the enemy any chance, then our lives will get better and better.
The next day, the second wave of envoys from Mayi Kingdom arrived in a hurry. As soon as the two sides came into contact, Mayi Kingdom proposed to become a vassal state of the New Song Kingdom.
Li Liang, the old Minister of Rites, was a little confused. Just before him, a group of envoys from Ma Yi who were full of pretentiousness had left. How come this group had completely changed their nature and requested so devoutly to be loyal vassals of the New Song Dynasty?
He asked the steward to introduce in detail the New Song Dynasty's regulations on vassal states. Although the New Song Dynasty still emphasized autonomy for its vassal states, the Celestial Empire would supervise their political power, economy, culture and foreign exchanges, and formulate rules to supervise them.
Envoy Ma Yi looked at it carefully and asked: Regarding the sharing of garrison expenses, what is the appropriate proportion? The cost is too high for a small country with a small population and we may not be able to afford it.
Li Liang said: That depends on the country's previous military expenditure. The basis for the New Song Dynasty's collection is the country's long-term military expenditure, so it will only be lower, not higher.
After hearing this, the envoy happily agreed, with only one condition: please take action immediately to stop the strong men on Song Island from attacking their Mayi Kingdom.
Xianren Banban, so this is the problem.
Li Liang asked for a temporary recess as he had to go to the Central Council to report and seek instructions from the king.
After Zhao Feiyan learned about it, he immediately convened a meeting of the Central Council's officials and businessmen. Chen Longzhi believed that these small countries in the South China Sea just had short memories. If you look closely, you will find that they were all countries established by the descendants of the Han people from Fujian who boldly went to Southeast Asia to beg for food. They were originally the descendants of our Central Plains.
Damn, with just one sentence, this learned scholar regarded the small countries around the South China Sea as vassal states of the New Song Dynasty.
However, Zhao Yulin did not agree with this. He thought that if he wanted them to recognize him as their leader, he must have the strength to do so.
He saw Yujie, Youshi and other old scholars nodding their heads and drinking tea, and they all had the same view, so he was convinced. They robbed our merchant ships at sea, killed our compatriots, and when they were happy alone and called themselves "I", they never called us "Daddy".
Ma Yi took the initiative to surrender and was willing to be a vassal of the New Song Dynasty. Zhao Feiyan was delighted and nodded and drank tea like the other gentlemen. She calmly spoke to the Minister of War Yang Xingyun who had just returned, asking Yang what to do.
How to get rid of the former dynasty’s government troops stationed on Song Island?
Yang Xingyun glanced at Zhao Yulin and said: It is a season of high winds and rough waves at sea right now, which is not conducive to sailing. Moreover, we have just sent a batch of weapons and supplies to arm them, and I am afraid they have not been used up yet. It is not appropriate to attack at this time.
He suggested that the navy should speed up preparations and go to the South China Sea again in April next year to wipe out those bastards.
The gentlemen immediately nodded.
Zhao Feiyan was very satisfied and looked at Zhao Yulin to hear his opinion.
Damn it, these people are talking so easily, as if the enemies are all trash and the New Song navy is invincible and they will win the battle as soon as they take action.
Zhao Yulin organized his thoughts and said, "Since you are all here, let's talk about the emergency matters of the Ministry of War. The navy's going to the South China Sea to recapture the Song Dynasty is just a small matter."
You all will feel encouraged by what you have heard. Not long ago, the Song Dynasty was helpless in the face of the bandits in the north. They were forced to cede territory and pay compensation, and were not even allowed to beg for mercy. Now, it is very easy to resolve the troubles in remote areas.
He said: The first thing to do is to discuss awarding medals and titles to the soldiers of the Shenwei Army. We must hurry up and order all the great generals who were awarded the rank of marshal to return to Chengdu to recuperate for a while. The Ministry of War must find and build residences for these great generals.
The gentlemen nodded immediately.
The second thing is to plan to go north to retake the grassland royal court. At present, the grassland empire is still our biggest enemy, but they have actually disintegrated. After Hubili went west to Alimali, the Mobei royal court was already empty, and we can go north to Kharkov without bloodshed. The Ministry of War must formulate a strategy to retake the North Sea where Su Wu grazed sheep, and the time is next year.
Yang Xingyun excitedly called out “Yes, yes.”
The gentlemen shook their heads and nodded, and sipped their tea with a "hmm, hmm" sound.
Zhao Feiyan nodded happily and asked him: What else?
He said: The third thing is the South China Sea, and our navy is fully capable of dealing with it. However, the navy must quickly train an expeditionary fleet, not only to defeat the enemy at sea, but also to take the marines to the islands to fight, to ensure that they can gain a foothold on the islands and completely defeat the enemy in the South China Sea.
Yang Xingyun nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, that's right. To defeat the enemy, it's not just the ships at sea. We must organize more marines to go ashore, occupy ports and docks, and establish a solid rear base before we can move forward."
Zhao Yulin told everyone: Our warships are already the newest and largest in the world today. It is not difficult to defeat the fleets of the coalition forces of small countries in the South China Sea, and it is also easy to eliminate the last remnants of Zhao Bing's troops.
The key is that we cannot just strike and run away like the grassland empire did when it came south to rob us. We must control these places.
Otherwise, when a new fierce country emerges, those small countries will all follow the new power and become accomplices of our enemies. In that case, the fruits of our hard work and sweat will be easily taken away by the enemy.
The gentlemen all agreed with this.
Yu Jie said: After we take over Lusong Island, we will directly establish the first overseas state, called Lusong State, station troops there, build docks and ports, and station our ocean-going navy there. Then we will see who dares to act recklessly in the South China Sea.
Zhao Yulin nodded and told Yang Xingyun not to act too hastily. The hurricanes in the South China Sea were very strong. Large ships at sea would be blown over and sunk, and large trees on the shore would be uprooted. There were not many good harbors to shelter from the wind, so he had to choose carefully.
Zhao Feiyan was amazed at his erudition and meticulousness, and nodded with envy.
He said: The Ministry of Rites should also plan carefully and set up a foreign affairs school in Caotang Academy to train envoys for foreign exchanges. The world is big, there are many nations and countries on the earth, we need to learn from others' good things, we need to look carefully, and we need people to go to these countries as envoys.
The gentlemen nodded like chickens pecking at rice, and Li Liang wrote even faster, fearing that he would forget a single word.
Zhao Feiyan happily made a summary, reminding everyone that it was the end of the year and they should hurry up to finish the official duties at hand, especially to investigate the families in difficulty and those who had no food to eat, and to urge their subordinates to do their work carefully.
The gentlemen discussed the matter heatedly and then dispersed in twos and threes.
