Chapter 84 There is a way to make money
Just as I sat down to rest, Gao Jin came in with Miao Gui.
Miao Gui did not attend the battle of Raofeng Pass and felt aggrieved. Zhao Yulin told him that guarding the Ziwu Road was his greatest achievement.
He asked how the business with the Mongolian army was going.
Miao Gui said that the people in Chang'an agreed readily and did it in front of the pass. Miao Gui went to negotiate with them personally and told them that they would no longer fight there but only do business.
Those merchants are looking forward to the early opening of trade. The princes and nobles on the grassland like Wugufeng and Chengyi Yuye. Even if they don’t have Chengyi Shao, it is also a good thing.
Zhao Yulin told him that there was a craftsmen's camp here, and if he needed any tools, he could just tell him. We wanted to build the Ziwu Road into a fast traffic channel, but we must not let the people on the other side of the mountain know about it.
Miao Gui understood immediately and nodded heavily.
He thought of the chicken buses and unicycle carts he had seen in his childhood, and drew them one by one. He asked Miao Gui to take them to the craftsmen camp to try to make them, so that the goods could be transported in the most convenient way.
Miao Gui looked at them happily and said that with these things, the brothers felt much more relaxed, and they picked up the drawings and ran out.
Half a month later, Yangzhou and Chang'an City made their first transaction, selling one hundred jars of Wu Gu Feng and a large number of perfumes, glass cups and other items, and earned more than three thousand taels of silver in one go.
Miao Gui became excited. When he thought about the huge amount of silver needed for the ever-expanding Shenwei Army, he wanted to join the battle himself and work as a porter.
These porters are all soldiers who take turns according to their training. Zhao Yulin asked them to listen to their brothers' opinions to improve roads, develop transportation tools, set up material storage locations, and find ways to speed up transportation.
However, the supplies to the Mongolian army had to be held back to let them know that "the road is difficult, harder than climbing to the sky." Otherwise, the Mongolian army would be mindful of this route.
Miao Gui went back happily.
Fatty Huang came to Yangzhou, personally selected and transferred the goods, and loaded them directly onto the cargo ship he hired and launched them from Yangzhou. Zhao Yulin told him that he should still follow the agreement in the future. There are samples in Baihe, and they can place an order after negotiating the price and deliver them at Gushan.
Seeing Fatty Huang's cargo ship leaving, Zhao Yulin laughed. Haha, a living person was suffocated to death by urine?
My brother has a way to make money too.
He called his brothers to a meeting and told them that the army was growing larger and larger, and that military expenses were already a huge amount of money, so it was impossible to pay salaries with silver as in the past, and that they had to pay in notes.
However, he could ensure that the brothers could exchange the Huizi in their hands for silver in full. That was to do business with the Mongolian army and the Jin people, earn their money, support our soldiers, and ensure that everyone was strong and healthy enough to kill them.
The brothers were delighted to hear his explanation.
Zhao Yulin said that this was the strategy. In the future, when the brothers of each column rotated, they would go to see the Jin people and the Mongols. They were just two shoulders carrying one head, so it was no big deal. If you are not afraid, you will be able to chop them quickly.
After Zhao Yulin made all the arrangements, he announced the establishment of the Shenwei Army's Hanzhong headquarters, located in a downwind location. Each of the three columns sent a deputy captain to serve as the combat, training and logistics envoys to help him coordinate various matters.
The brothers took the order and left.
Qingyeyuan soon found out about the business dealings between Zhao Yulin, the Mongolian army and the Jin people, because the Da'an army ships frequently went to the wharf by the Han River to unload goods, and merchants outside Dasan Pass would offer grains in order to bribe the commander.
The governor Gui Ruyuan was helpless, saying that the Shenwei Army was expanding too fast and already had 40,000 men. He only had so much military funds and he had to ensure the expenses of the camp first.
The value of Huizi keeps depreciating, and the only way to make up for it is to withhold money from the Shenwei Army. What should we do if we don't let them do business?
Besides, which border army doesn’t secretly do business to save money?
Zhang Xiang said: This is true, but Zhao Yulin was too blatant. He directly tried to make peace with the Mongolian army and the Jin people, and did business in their land, making a lot of money.
Gui Ruyuan didn't like what he heard. They just said they had the goods and told him to find a way to get it if he had the ability.
Everyone in the big tent smelled the tension and dispersed.
Zhao Yulin was writing a letter home when he sneezed twice in succession. He didn't realize that someone in Qingyeyuan was saying bad things about him. He continued to write on the letter paper: Now that we have started business with the Jin people, we will definitely make a lot of money; Can Ma Yuan call me daddy? Xiaomin must pay attention to walking more, otherwise the baby will not be born...
In the Lin'an Palace, the prime minister found a way to punish Zhao Yulin and was presenting a report in the court, listing three crimes: the first was trading without permission; the second was secretly colluding with the enemy country; and the third was embezzling a large amount of taxes and enriching himself.
The emperor asked him where the evidence was?
The envoys could not produce it, but the merchants imported goods from the Ziwu Road and Xunyang County in his defense zone, and never paid taxes to the court. How could he do this without secretly communicating with the enemy?
The emperor shook his head and said nothing.
At this time, Hua Yue spoke again. He said that if you catch an adulterer, you should arrest both of them, and if you are a thief, you should arrest the stolen goods. You cannot wrongly accuse a good person without real evidence. If the border generals were doing business privately, everyone knew it. If Zhao Dujian wanted to do it, he was also doing it for the livelihood of the border soldiers.
The prime minister trembled all over and glared at Hua Yue. This guy is too ignorant of the current situation. I want to kill Zhao Yulin. Is this going to be a stumbling block?
The emperor then spoke and said that it would take tens of thousands of soldiers to guard Jinzhou, and Zhao Aiqing was raising funds himself to support the troops and guard the border, and we are going to punish him. This is destroying the Great Wall and digging his own grave.
The prime minister shuddered after hearing this. Well, this was a warning to him, saying that he was digging his own grave and seeking death.
He doesn't want to die.
His health condition has been getting worse over the years and he is on the verge of death, so the emperor has to intervene.
Alas, this person is going to die eventually, so the envoy finally realized it and decided to let go.
The emperor issued an edict to transfer Gao Jia to Mianzhou as the prefect, and appointed Zhao Yulin as the prefect of Yangzhou and Jinzhou, and the commander of the Shenwei Army. A long list of honorary officials was read out.
It caused a stir in the court. What was the purpose of this?
The emperor wanted to set an example in the army and encourage the men to fight in the battlefield. As a result, the Lin'an court's good news spread throughout the country.
Zhao Yulin was still working at his desk when he sneezed twice. Wu Yuqi asked him what happened with concern.
Husband, are you catching a cold?
He grinned and said: Who told you not to let others cover themselves with a blanket?
The woman laughed and cursed, then turned around and went out to do her work.
Zhao Yulin asked Fan Zheng to bring in the people selected from below, and he made a simple division of labor: Wu Jie was appointed as the combat envoy, responsible for analyzing military intelligence and formulating combat plans; Li Shichang was appointed as the training envoy, responsible for the training of new recruits and new tactical exercises; Yu Fuming was appointed as the logistics envoy, responsible for the defense of the garrison, logistics supplies and the investigation and renovation of the marching roads in the defense zone.
He told the three that he was training them according to the captain's request and hoped that they cherish the opportunity, familiarize themselves with the situation as soon as possible and act boldly.
The three of them immediately stood at attention, saluted, and turned to leave.
It was early winter, and Hanzhong had its first snow. Zhao Yulin asked Yu Fuming to check the situation of winter clothing for the troops and consider the possibility of building a workshop in Hanzhong to produce cloth, starch and dye, and make military uniforms. He said Cuiping Mountain in Yibin had good experience and could send a group of masters to help open a workshop.
He knew very well that most of the Shenwei Army came from the warm environment in the south and needed to adapt to the cold winter in Hanzhong.
Therefore, we must ensure that our brothers are able to keep warm, otherwise frostbite and disease-related casualties will be very serious.
Zhao Yulin was drinking tea by the stove in the house, thinking about the soldiers at the pass who were standing guard in the severe cold and it was very difficult, but they had to hold on. He asked Wu Jie to issue orders to each column, asking them to go down and check.
Remind everyone that the enemy should not be afraid of the cold. The enemy is best at traveling through mountains and rivers and fighting long distances in cold seasons. You must keep your eyes open, stare closely, and grit your teeth to persevere.
The last batch of supplies sent from Yibin this year has arrived.
The flow of the Han River decreased, so the brothers transported the goods for the last leg using horse and ox carts.
Zhao Yulin was a little puzzled. Why did the letter from home, which he really wanted to see, only have a few words? It was written on another image of a happy girl, "Well, everything is fine, don't worry."
Zhao Yulin always felt that something was wrong?
This is too simple. Why don’t you just say whether the child is born or not?
Is it a boy or a girl?
A grown man became tangled.
Wu Yuqi came back and saw Zhao Yulin looking silly, and asked what was wrong?
He held the woman in his arms, looking at the snowflakes flying outside the window without saying a word. The woman told him that Qingye had believed it and asked him to go to the camp to discuss matters.
The imperial envoy from the court has arrived and is offering a generous reward to those who fought against the Jin and Mongolian officers and soldiers.
The next day, Zhao Yulin handed over the command authority of the big tent to Lu Huacai, and set out under the escort of 300 elite soldiers. A snowfall made the Hanzhong Plain covered with silver, which was particularly charming.
Zhao Yulin walked on the snow, looking forward to a bright future. When he arrived at the lunch break gate, the officer guarding the gate invited him to the big tent, saying that Lord Cao wanted to see him.
When he entered the big tent, it was Cao Youwen who came in. It turned out that he was the master of the lunch break gate.
Zhao Yulin just took out the crystal cup he had prepared and gave it to Lord Cao. When he saw the crystal clear cup, he marveled at the treasure of Yibin.
Zhao Yulin said you’re welcome. He gave me four this time and said if I like them, I can give me more next time.
Cao Youwen hurriedly thanked him, calling him four legs, and said that he would not accept any reward without any merit. He also said that his brother was a high-ranking official in charge of a region, so how could he deserve such a generous gift?
Zhao Yulin even said that he deserved it, because General Cao was loyal, courageous, upright and dedicated to the country.
The two men sat down to drink together. Cao Youwan and Cao Youliang were already waiting at the table. They asked Fan Zheng to bring a jar of abundant grains.
The four of them sat down and began to chat. General Cao told him that the imperial envoy from Lin'an had arrived, and he was in charge of Fengzhou, and his younger brother was in charge of Yangzhou and Jinzhou's military and political affairs.
Zhao Yulin was far away across the Qingye Plain when he heard the news from Lin'an. He stood up and congratulated General Cao on his promotion.
Cao Youwen said with emotion that a general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of men, all of which were achieved by the lives of his brothers. In the battle of Qingyeyuan, he lost more than half of his main force, and now the barracks are not even fully staffed.
Zhao Yulin asked him to drink for the dead brothers and comfort the brothers in heaven. He told him that the Shenwei Army was the same, and Jinzhou was full of holes, and the pressure to defend against the Jin people was great.
Lao Cao asked him: There is a rumor in the army that the Shenwei Army is secretly communicating with the Jin people. Is this true?
