Chapter 85: All bits and pieces
Zhao Yulin told the truth. It was just a business transaction. The Shenwei Army raised its own military expenses. Jinzhou was facing the Jin Kingdom. How could it survive without doing business with them?
Cao Youwen said thoughtfully that most of the people in Qingyeyuan are messengers, so the young man should be careful.
Zhao Yulin raised his glass to thank General Cao and said that he wanted to go with Cao Gong to discuss the matter and find out what was going on.
Cao Youliang drank a glass of wine and said: I'm not afraid of him, he's just a bunch of trivial things.
The people of Chang'an sat in the imperial capital of the Han and Tang dynasties and had an imperial bearing. They always called everything "small K silk" and "small problems" a catchphrase.
He stood up, thanked Third Brother Cao, and drank a glass with the three brothers of the Cao family.
The next day, Zhao Yulin and his party set out and arrived at Qingyeyuan two days later. After receiving the reward, Zhao Yulin handed over 5,000 taels of silver in border trade taxes between Ziwu Road and Xunyang County to Qingyeyuan.
Imperial Envoy Guiru Yuanhe was overjoyed and held a banquet for all the generals in the central army tent. Zhao Yulin got a little drunk and was dragged away by Cao Youwen to bid farewell to his superiors and leave the camp.
Lao Cao said happily that my brother was really capable. Those people had been calculating how much money my brother had earned. Now that the taxes had been paid, what else would they say?
They returned to take a lunch break, and Cao Youwen stayed overnight, and the two talked about the current situation at night.
Zhao Yulin told him that the Mongolian army would definitely go south through Chencang Road next year to attack Jin. Tulei should be the leader of the army, and all our preparations now are for him.
Cao Youwen looked at him doubtfully and asked: Are you so sure? Can you tell the future?
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that he came to Hanzhong just for Toure. Don't forget to bring him along for a fight when the time comes. Cao Youwen was very proud and said that if that day comes, he will definitely bring the little brother along.
He said that the envoys of Lin'an could not resist the temptation of gold from the Mongolian army and would definitely ask their confidants to continue to resist, so the Jin army would be in danger next year.
To the west is the army led by Toure, the Mongolian god of war. Wouldn't you be scared to death when you see the god of war heading south?
So we have to rely on pillars like General Cao.
The muscles on Cao Youwen's face twitched and he said that there were many heroes in the Song Dynasty, and many of them did not want to be slaves of a conquered country and were willing to use their flesh and blood to build an iron wall.
Zhao Yulin did not hesitate and agreed to coordinate actions to fight against the Mongols and Jin together.
The next day, Zhao Yulin bid farewell to General Cao and returned to Yangzhou.
Gao Jia was already packing his luggage to head west to Mianzhou. Zhao Yulin held a banquet to welcome him and gave him five hundred taels of silver as a settlement allowance.
At night, Wu Yuqi told him that there were spies from the Mongolian army in Xingyuan Prefecture. She reported it to the Zhizhisi, but they didn't take it seriously. Zhao Yulin knew the situation here. Maybe it was the intention of the Lin'an envoys. They wanted to negotiate with Mongolia, so they needed someone to shuttle and communicate in the middle.
If they were all arrested and killed like Wu Yuqi, who would deliver the message to them?
Zhao Yulin looked through the intelligence collected by Wu Yuqi. The Mongolian army's attack on the Jin Kingdom along the Yellow River was in trouble. Without major progress, the Mongolian army would definitely take risks and push for the Jin Kingdom to attack through the Yellow River. In Lin'an, the rebellion in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan continued. The court was exhausted from coping with it, and the economic and military pressures increased sharply.
This might be the reason why the emperor kept him alive and did not kill him.
The Great Jin Dynasty was already in crisis. The most prominent manifestation of this was the wealthy merchants and princes and nobles who bought large quantities of Zhao Yulin's grains, crystal cups and high-end glass cups for private collection, fearing that one day after their country was destroyed and their families ruined, they would still be able to use a glass cup to pay back their debts and make a comeback.
The merchants in Chang'an had a strong desire to buy, but Zhao Yulin asked them to suppress it and only export goods that were small in size, light in weight and had high added value, because if a large number of goods were transported along the Ziwu Road, Ture would definitely smell the smoke of war drifting towards him.
In that case, his purpose of repairing the Meridian Road would be exposed in broad daylight.
Wu Yuqi stood in front of him with her hands behind her back and said that she had a treasure, and asked him to guess what it was?
Zhao Yulin guessed it was food, but it wasn't.
I guessed it was the martial arts secret book, but that wasn't it either.
He stood up and grabbed the woman and tried to rob her, but the woman immediately begged for mercy, saying that she was pregnant.
Zhao Yulin quickly let go and looked up and down. Wu Yuqi said that she had just gotten pregnant, so what could she see? A letter from her aunt. The woman then took out the letter hidden behind her back and gave it to him.
Zhao Yulin recognized his sister's beautiful handwriting and read it line by line: Xiao Min gave birth to a daughter and was waiting for him to go back to name her; his mother was in good health and the whole family was doing well; Huo Fenghuang was guarding Mahujiang well, and Dali had sent his family a New Year's gift early; his younger sister returned to Sanjiangkou to be in charge of finances, and the Shenwei Army would not be short of money this year...
Zhao Yulin, readers, tears are falling.
Wu Yuqi shared the happiness of his family with him. They discussed to restore the Hanzhong Post Station, starting from Yangzhou and Jinzhou. His brothers, like him, also wanted to see letters from home.
At this time, Fan Zheng reported: Li Shichang, the general of the big tent training, asked to see him, and Zhao Yulin let him in to talk.
Li Shichang discovered that the Third Battalion of the Second Column had a problem of empty salaries. When he went to conduct a training session, he found that one squadron was short of 13 people.
Zhao Yulin felt that the problem was serious. The Shenwei Army was developing rapidly, and a large number of middle and lower-level officers came from the old army. The bad habit of drawing empty salaries would inevitably be brought back to his Shenwei Army.
But this loophole must not be opened. Once it is opened, the fighting power of the Shenwei Army will quickly collapse with the government troops. At that time, the government will not know how many soldiers there are, and the soldiers will know that the team is short of people. When fighting, they will be panicked. It would be strange if they are not defeated.
He said that since the New Year was approaching, he would call together all the generals above the battalion level to discuss the matter.
Zhao Yulin took Li Shichang to visit Lei Man and Yang Xingyun and told them about the situation of the Second Column's empty payroll. Lei Man was furious and felt that Han Yongchao was not strict with his subordinates and should be severely punished.
Zhao Yulin said that we have been relatively relaxed all along, and we also have some responsibility. Old Han may not know this, but he was negligent in management, so he definitely has some responsibility.
We will not accept our grievances this time. The squadron leader will be dismissed and promoted to soldier. The battalion leader will be demoted and promoted to squadron leader. The entire army must carry out rectification, dig deep into violations of discipline, correct them and save themselves. Anyone who violates military regulations again within six months will be severely punished.
There were heavy casualties in the battle of Raofeng Pass. Both of them were brave men, but kindness is not the best way to command an army. If this continues, the Shenwei Army will surely collapse.
Five days later, Zhao Yulin presided over the Shenwei Army Hanzhong reorganization meeting. He bluntly criticized the serious disciplinary violations of the Second Column, such as the practice of drawing empty salaries. He announced the decision on the punishment of the officers and told them to get up where they fell and to carry out this reorganization activity in detail in conjunction with improving the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Afterwards, the Shenwei Army in various places took quick action, reviewed their own actions, and took the initiative to apply for punishment. They picked up tools and went to the fields to repair ditches and roads for the people.
Zhao Yulin asked the Hanshui Morning News to go down and collect and edit the content. The good ones were praised in the newspaper, and the problematic ones were exposed in the newspaper. Everyone took action actively, and a massive military reorganization movement began.
However, there are still some traitors among them.
Not long after the reorganization of the army began, the captain Huang Biao who had been punished by him, together with his former guards and the dismissed squadron leader, attempted to defect to the Jin Kingdom carrying crossbows and grenades.
Fortunately, the Shenwei Army had soldiers who were aware of the situation. When they found that the two of them were carrying weapons and fleeing, they immediately began to pursue them. Huang Biao and his guards escaped from Xunyang County easily, but it was difficult to go further east.
These three guys hijacked a cargo ship on the Han River and sailed downstream. When they were about to reach Jiahe, they abandoned the ship and went ashore. While they were sneaking through the customs, their hidden crossbows were discovered by the careful soldiers guarding the customs. The two sides suddenly confronted each other in front of the customs. The Jiahe garrison sacrificed three soldiers and a squad leader before they killed these three evil guys.
Zhao Yulin fell silent after receiving the report. What was going on?
He thought about it for a day and asked the military discipline supervisor to report the Jiahe incident within the army and to revive the military discipline of the Shenwei Army, emphasizing leniency for those who confessed and severity for those who resisted, and never tolerating crimes.
Han Yongchao came back to review his mistakes. Zhao Yulin said that he was also not thoughtful enough. Perhaps the drug he used to take the empty salary was too heavy, which led to the desertion incident.
Han Yongchao said that it was caused by his failure to discipline his subordinates and he should take the responsibility.
He said that it was good that he knew it, and we should find the entry point of the problem and sort it out carefully. The Second Column is the pride of our Shenwei Army, and we should not let it lead us astray.
Han Yongchao stood up, saluted him solemnly, then turned and left.
It was the New Year, and Zhao Yulin turned the first page of 1231 in Yangzhou. Hanzhong was still covered with snow.
Wu Yuqi wore a red flowered brocade jacket, standing in the snow to show off her beautiful figure. He asked with a smile, "You've always been in military uniform, why did it change today?"
The woman said that she was getting uglier and uglier, so she wanted to show off today.
Zhao Yulin held her in his arms and said, "No matter how ugly she is, she is still my woman." The little girl turned her head happily, leaning on his shoulder and looking at the Qinling Mountains. Many places on the mountains were still covered with snow, what a beautiful picture of the mountains and rivers.
Just after the first month of the lunar year, Fatty Huang from Jiahe came to him and said that Prince Wanyan Zongkang of the Jin Dynasty wanted to see him.
Damn, this is not a good thing.
Zhao Yulin said no.
Fatty Huang told him tremblingly that Prince Wanyan had secretly come to Xunyang just to meet him and discuss something.
Zhao Yulin glared at him and asked him if he knew that it was a crime to collaborate with the enemy, and if he was tired of living like that?
Fatty Huang was so frightened that he started shaking all over and didn't know what to say.
Zhao Yulin asked him to pass on the message: Let's live in peace according to the old agreement, just do business and make money, and don't ask about anything else. If the Jin soldiers don't come, the Shenwei Army will definitely not go.
He was also told to leave the country as soon as possible, otherwise the Shenwei Army would definitely capture him and escort him to Lin'an if they found him.
After Fatty Huang left, Zhao Yulin immediately went to find Wu Yuqi and told her that the prince of the Jin Kingdom had sneaked into Xunyang County and that this matter must be investigated thoroughly.
The downwind side took immediate action, and the news soon came. This Jin prince was not afraid of catching a cold, and he went into the water before entering the country, floated under Fatty Huang's cargo ship, and sneaked through the customs with a reed pipe in his mouth, hiding in Fatty Huang's old house on the river.
After finding someone in a downwind area, he still refused to leave and insisted on meeting the young master before leaving. Finally, he was picked up by the soldiers and thrown onto Fatty Huang's boat and expelled from Xunyang County.
Zhao Yulin wrote a letter to Han Yongchao, telling him that similar problems must not occur again. In the future, the Jin Kingdom will become more rampant and who knows what strange things they will do. He must use his brains to guard against it.
