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On the fourth day of March, in the "Chang Mansion" in Changyi City, Song County, the old head of the family "Chang Xi", who was over sixty years old, met with the eldest son "Chang Man" in the side hall of the mansion, "Chang Man", the general of the Beibo Army.
Chen Si".
This Chen Si is the general of the Beibo Army who captured Changyi without a single blow two days ago.
But the strange thing is that Chen Si, the general of the Beibo Army, clearly holds the military power, but in front of Chang Xi, he still maintains the courtesy of a junior and is respectful.
In fact, this is not surprising, because Chang's family, the "Chang family", is derived from the surname Zi, and comes from the same branch of the Song royal family as the "Zi surname Song" - to be precise, the ancestors of the Chang family were once
The son of a certain king of the Song Dynasty was granted the title of fief of Chang land, and this was how the Chang family came into being.
Therefore, to put it bluntly, the Chang family is the descendants of the princes and nobles of the Song Dynasty, and they were once the owners of the county town of Changyi.
Of course, today's Changyi is no longer owned by the Chang family, but it cannot be denied that the Chang family, as a prominent local family, still enjoys a high prestige in the local area.
It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why Chen Si, the general of Bei Bo Army, was able to capture Changyi without a single blow, Chang She and the Chang clan played a decisive role in it.
Because of this, even though Chen Si was a general in the Beibo Army with heavy troops, he still treated Chang Xi with the courtesy of a junior and treated him with respect.
Of course, what's more important is that Chang Xi and the Chang family are also one of the financial backers who secretly funded the Beibo Army.
"...General Chen Si doesn't have to worry about money and food."
Holding a Song Dynasty porcelain tea bowl, Changzhen took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "I have contacted several old friends and raised a sum of money to reward the rebels..."
Hearing this, Chen Si's face suddenly filled with a smile. Suddenly, he asked: "Mr. Chang, I wonder if you can think of a way to get a batch of armaments for our army?"
Hearing this, Chang Xi's face showed a somewhat solemn look, and he frowned and asked, "Is it because Mr. Wei is running?"
"Yeah." Chen Si nodded.
It turned out that when civil strife broke out in the Wei Kingdom a while ago, the Beibo Army took advantage of the situation and successively recovered "Rencheng", "Nanpingyang", "Changyi" and other places that were once occupied by the Wei Army. Unexpectedly, in the past few days,
On the same day, they suddenly received detailed news from Wei State, and then they learned that the civil strife caused by the "Three Kings" in Wei State had been suppressed by Wei Gongzi Run.
Immediately, the young master of Wei, Run, suddenly changed his identity and became the prince overseeing the state of Wei.
This piece of information was extremely bad news for the Beibo Army in Song County: Regardless of whether Wei Gongzi Run, who had been victorious in every battle on the battlefield, also had the same talent in the temple, the key lies in the fact that after Wei suppressed the rebellion,
, then it is obvious that the Wei State will definitely take corresponding retaliation for the recent actions of their Beibo Army.
When he thought that Wei Gongzi Run, who was already the crown prince of Wei, was very likely to send his troops to Song County to sweep across Chu and South Korea, Song Yun, the leader of the Beibo Army, became restless and hurriedly recruited troops and trained them.
Soldiers, prepare to face Wei's coming revenge.
As a result, the number of weapons and equipment cannot keep up.
"Don't the rebels have the support of the Mo family?" Changzhen asked doubtfully. As far as he knew, behind the Beibo Army, there was a group of selfless Song Mo disciples supporting him, although the original Song Mo emperor Xu Ruo "betrayed" the Song Dynasty
With the Beibo Army, he led a group of Mohist disciples to defect to the Wei State, but in fact there was still a large group of Mohist disciples who still unswervingly supported the Beibo Army.
After hearing this, Chen Si said with a bit of bitterness: "Mr. Chang, that was before... A while ago, when Zhao Zuoshang, the king of Nanliang in Wei State, was garrisoning "domestic (Song County)", he unfortunately destroyed several of them.
There was a workshop for forging arms, and many Mohist brothers were killed... Now our army is forging arms at a speed that is far too late to arm the new army..." At this point, he clasped his fists and begged Chang Xi: "Mr. Chang, can you think about it?
way?"
Hearing this, Chang Xi stroked his beard, frowned and said, "Arms... I'll try to contact my old friends in Lu to find a way to raise a batch of armaments for the rebels."
After hearing this, Chen Si swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously: "Mr. Chang, can you find a way to get Wei's weapons?"
Chen Si has been coveting the weapons of Wei for a long time.
I remember when the Wei Wujun and the Suppression Army were stationed in Song County, why did the Beibo Army not dare to take the lead? The reason was simple, because they were defeated by these two armies equipped with Wei's latest armaments.
The disparity between the Wei Army and the Beibo Army can be seen simply from the difference in the crossbow equipment between the two armies: the Wei Army's crossbow equipment generally has a range of 120 steps, and can even penetrate the trunks of three trees continuously at close range;
The crossbows of the Beibo Army could not penetrate the armor of the heavy infantry of the Wei Army beyond forty paces and cause effective damage to the Wei soldiers.
This is simply a difference between cloud and mud!
At this time, Chang's eldest son, Changman, interjected in confusion: "General Chen Si, why are the weapons of the Wei State? Are the weapons of the Wei State comparable to the weapons of the Lu State?"
Chen Si smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, the Wei State today is no longer the Wei State nine or ten years ago."
Compared with the weapons of the State of Lu, he actually preferred the weapons of the State of Wei.
Regardless of the fact that Lu's craftsmanship is said to be twenty years ahead of other countries in the Central Plains, this actually refers to the overall craftsmanship. For example, the Lu's superb mechanism skills have nothing to do with Wei craftsmen, let alone being twenty years ahead.
Even two hundred years is not surprising.
But in the area of "war equipment", since Wei Gongzi Run took charge of the Smelting Bureau, the Wei State has made rapid progress in this field, and has already narrowed the gap with the Lu State. Now compared with the latter, I am afraid that it is
Not to mention more concessions.
But since they were sitting side by side, why did Chen Si prefer Wei's weapons?
The reason is that the current way of improving weapons in the Wei State is significantly different from the way the weapons are improved in the Lu State: Lu State improved the weapons through the brainstorming of many craftsmen, focusing on "such improvements are more in line with the development of technology";
The Wei State is different. They will absorb the feedback of users, that is, the frontline soldiers, and focus on "modifying (the soldiers) in this way to make them more comfortable to use."
Therefore, some design improvements to Wei's weapons may not be necessary in the eyes of Lu's craftsmen, but the soldiers found them very easy to use.
The most important thing is that under the influence of a certain Wei Gongzi, Wei craftsmen paid great attention to "huge" and "powerful" when designing forged weapons. For example, Wei's trebuchet was not only much larger and heavier than other weapons
The trebuchets of various countries have a range and power that cannot be matched by other countries, including the trebuchets of Lu.
Compared with the weapons produced in the Lu State, which looked more like exquisite craftsmanship than war weapons, the weapons of the Wei State gave people a simple and crude feeling - they looked ugly, but they were strong, practical, and lethal.
Powerful.
After listening to Chen Si's explanation, Chang Xi and his son suddenly realized, nodded and said: "I'll think of a way... It shouldn't be a problem to get a batch of obsolete old ordnance. As for the latest ordnance of the Wei army..."
"Chen doesn't dare to ask for anything extravagant." Chen Si said quickly: "The weapons of the Wei army have always been strong. Even if they are old items, they are enough for the new soldiers of our army." At this point, he sincerely thanked you: "Mr. Chang, let you
Thank you for your trouble."
Changzhen waved his hand and said seriously: "I, the Chang family, are also a subject of the Song Dynasty. How can I watch the country fall apart?" At this point, he sighed and said with a bitter smile: "If you are stingy even with this, how can you wait for me?
When I step into Jiuquan one day, how can I have the dignity to meet Mr. Xiang?"
The "Xiang Gong" he refers to is the hero of the Song Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrat Xiang Ju, and the biological father of the leader of the Beibo Army, Song Yun (Xiang Ding). When the Song Dynasty fell, including the Chang family,
At that time, almost most of the princes and nobles of the Song Kingdom fled to the State of Lu in fear. Only Xiang Ju led a very small number of nobles and the Song army to stay and fight the Wei army under the guise of the King of Song. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered.
”In the end, he died heroically on the battlefield.
It is precisely because of this that Xiang Ju, who was originally unknown, suddenly became a hero in the eyes of the Song people, and also became the Beibo Army's belief in inspiring the Song people to persist in their resistance.
While they were chatting here, suddenly, an old servant of the house hurried in and said to Chang She: "Master, there is a group of people outside the house asking to see you."
Chang Xi glanced at Chen Si apologetically. Although the latter smiled and waved his hands to show that he didn't care, Chang Xi still frowned and said to himself: This old servant has been serving him for decades, why is he so ignorant today?
?
Perhaps he guessed what the old master was thinking, the old servant quickly took out a greeting card from his arms and said in a low voice: "Master, the identity of the person who comes to visit this time is not simple."
"..." Chang Xi took the greeting card doubtfully and then glanced at it.
After just a glance, his expression suddenly became solemn, because the signature on the invitation was clearly written: Wei, Foreign Envoy, Cui Yong.
Seeing the change in Chang's expression, Chen Si asked curiously: "Mr. Chang, what's wrong?"
Chang Xi handed the invitation to Chen Si and said in a deep voice: "The envoy of Wei..."
Chen Si took the invitation and took a look at it, feeling a little surprised.
You must know that Changyi has been recaptured by their Beibo Army, and there are still a large number of Beibo Army soldiers stationed in the city.
Under such circumstances, the Wei envoy and his party actually dared to sneak into the city. It must be said that this courage was not small.
Suddenly, Chen Si scanned the text of the greeting card and saw the words "sent by the East Palace" at a glance, and his expression suddenly became solemn.
After all, the "East Palace" of Wei State now refers to Prince Zhao Run, also known as Wei Gongzi Run.
"Is he from Wei Gongzi Run?" Chen Si said in shock.
"..." Chang Xi stretched out his hand to stroke his beard, frowning slightly and saying nothing.
"Father?" the eldest son Changman called, probably asking his father if he would receive the Wei envoy.
Chang She and Chen Si looked at each other, then nodded and said in a deep voice: "Invite the Wei envoy to this room."
"yes."
The old servant bowed and retreated. After a short while, he led three young people, who were estimated to be in their twenties, to the house.
These three young men were none other than Cui Yong, Gao Kuo, and Zhang Qigong.
At this time, Chang Xi stood up, raised his hands and asked, "Who is the envoy of the imperial court?"
After hearing this, Cui Yong took a step forward, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "I, Cui Yong, have just been entrusted with an important task by the East Palace... These two are my deputy envoys, Gao Kuo and Zhang Qi."
Different from Cui Yong's smiling appearance, Gao Kuo and Zhang Qigong seemed quite cold - but there were differences between them: after entering the house, Zhang Qigong looked around at the furnishings in the house, while Gao Kuo paid attention at first glance.
Arrive at Chen Si.
Although Chen Si was wearing very ordinary clothes today, Gao Kuo still instinctively felt that this man was definitely not an ordinary Song citizen.
"It's Ambassador Cui." Changzhen nodded, cupped his hands and said, "I've worked hard for Ambassador Cui here. I didn't come far to greet you. I hope you'll forgive me."
"Sir, you are serious." Cui Yong waved his hand and said with a smile.
Immediately, Changzhen invited Cui Yong, Gao Kuo, and Zhang Qigong to sit down at the table, and ordered everyone in the house to serve tea. Then he asked Cui Yong, "I wonder what the important matter is for Cui's visit today?"
Cui Yong smiled and said: "My lord, I have been ordered by His Highness the Crown Prince to negotiate... the matter of "Song County Autonomy"."
Hearing this, Chang Xi, Chang Man and Chen Si all opened their eyes in surprise.
The Wei court actually relented? No, that Wei Gongzi Run actually relented? How is this possible?!
After swallowing his saliva, Chang Xi forced out a smile and asked, "What Ambassador Cui said...is it really true?"
Cui Yong smiled slightly and was not in a hurry to answer. Instead, he glanced at Chang's eldest son, Chang Man, and the general of the Beibo Army, Chen Si.
Changzhen, of course, understood the intention of Cui Yong's glances, so he introduced: "This is Quanzi, Man... This person is my nephew, so he is not an outsider."
Hearing the word "nephew", Gao Kuo looked Chen Si up and down and asked: "Are you his nephew? What is your name?"
Chen Si thought that his name had not been spread out yet, so he said cautiously: "My name is Chen Si..."
"What did you do in the past?" Gao Kuo continued to ask.
"...In order to make a living, I worked as a merchant for a while..." Chen Si replied.
"Merchant?" Gao Kuo snorted, looked at Chen Si, narrowed his eyes, and asked meaningfully: "You... have killed someone, right?"
Chen Si subconsciously looked away because he had also heard a rumor: the eyes of people who have killed people are different from ordinary people.
Seeing this, Chang'an's eldest son, Chang Man, quickly smoothed things over and said: "The world is not peaceful now. My cousin is out doing business, and it is inevitable that he will encounter some robbers, so he will be guilty of murder..."
Gao Kuo glanced at Chang Man and continued to look at Chen Si carefully.
He often came into contact with various religions in Daliang, how could he miss this Chen Si? In his opinion, the guy opposite was not a businessman at all, he had the aura of a military camp.
However, he did not continue to ask questions, nor did he expose it. He just gave Zhang Qigong a wink.
"Soldiers from Beibo?"
After receiving the signal from Gao Kuo's eyes, Zhang Qigong also looked at Chen Si, but did not express anything.
After all, in his opinion, even if the Beibo Army learned about what Cui Yong was about to mention, it would not be a big deal.
Perhaps realizing that Gao Kuo and Zhang Qigong were more than just deputy envoys, Chang She quietly changed the subject: "Envoy Cui, can you tell us in detail about that...autonomy."
Cui Yong nodded and said with a smile: "A while ago, something happened in Daliang, and we transferred the two armies stationed in Song County. Unexpectedly, the Beibo Army seized the opportunity and took the opportunity to seize any
The city, Nanpingyang, and even Changyi fell into the hands of the Beibo Army... The Beibo Army was a rebel army, provoking the imperial court like this. The imperial court originally wanted to send troops to attack, but fortunately, now,
Our court is overseeing the country by His Highness Zhao Run, the Crown Prince of the East Palace. This Crown Prince has always disliked meaningless killings, so he vetoed it with all his strength..."
"Donggong Gaoyi." Even though Changzhen had lived for most of his life, he breathed a sigh of relief at this moment.
It’s no wonder, after all, the other party is the Young Master Run of Wei who pushed Chu and South Korea to the ground and beat him up. With Song Jun’s small body, he really can’t withstand the Young Master Wei’s expedition to attack. Victory or defeat is still at stake.
Secondly, the main reason is that if the Wei army kills ruthlessly, the people of Song County will definitely be in ruins.
Cui Yong smiled slightly, and then said seriously: "Mr. Chang, as far as Cui knows, you are a Chinese (noble) from the Song Dynasty. Please convey my wishes to His Highness the Crown Prince for me."
"I'm all ears," Chang Xi said, cupping his hands.
Cui Yong coughed twice and imitated Zhao Hongrun's tone and said: "Mr. Chang, the Crown Prince of the East Palace ordered me to send a message... It would be easy for me, the Wei Dynasty, to destroy the Song people, but in the past ten years, Song County has also done things for me, the Wei Dynasty."
I would like to make a contribution, and hereby make an exception... As long as you can abide by certain agreements, Daliang can allow Song County to be autonomous."
"...Conditions?"
Chang Xi blinked his eyes and said sincerely: "I would like to hear the details."
Cui Yong raised a finger and said in a deep voice: "First of all, pardon the Song people, but not the Beibo Army!... The Beibo Army was a rebel in the past and will be a rebel in the future. The court will never accept this.
We will give in! If Song County wants to have autonomy, it must draw a clear line with this rebel army!"
"..." Chen Si glanced at Cui Yong, who was talking nonsense, and thought to himself: This guy is really brave. He dares to talk nonsense here. Doesn't he know that our Beibo Army has already controlled this Changyi County?
Of course, although he was very unhappy, Chen Si would not be so stupid as to call in soldiers from Beibo to kill these Wei envoys: first, if the two armies were fighting, he would not kill the envoys; secondly, he would kill these three people.
, then, within a few days, the prince of Wei State, Zhao Run, will personally lead the entire army to Song County. By then, he, Chen Si, will be the sinner of Song State.
"It makes sense."
Chang Xi nodded slowly with a straight face, as if he was also full of prejudice against the Bei Bo Army.
But who would have thought that this person was one of the big financiers who secretly funded the Beibo Army.
"Secondly, our Crown Prince is preparing to use troops abroad and is in urgent need of a large amount of military rations. Therefore, we hope that Song County will put an end to private transactions of rice and grain and sell them all to the court..." Cui Yong continued.
"..."
Chang Xi took a deep look at Cui Yong and felt a little thump in his heart.
With his life-long experience, how could he be deceived by such a lame "excuse"?
Wei Gongzi Run was preparing to use troops abroad, so he confiscated the grain grown in Song County? What a joke!
You must know that Wei itself is a big grain-producing country, and in recent years, after successively annexing Sanchuan County and regaining Shangdang County, the Wei court invested a lot of manpower and material resources in these two counties to reclaim wasteland and grow food.
The amount of grain produced in Wei's fertile fields is not enough to support Prince Zhao Run's military rations, so what does the grain produced in Song County count?
Therefore, Chang Xi immediately guessed that the fundamental purpose of the Wei State's proposing this condition was not to expropriate Song County's grain, but to prevent Song County's grain production from flowing into the hands of the Beibo Army.
As long as the Beibo Army's food channels are blocked, the Beibo Army will have no choice but to wait and collapse.
"...What a ruthless strategy."
Chang Xi said secretly in his heart.
"Mr. Chang?" Cui Yong asked pointedly, "Does Gong Chang have any doubts about this?"
Chang Xi thought for a moment and said hesitantly: "As a (vassal) subject of the Wei Dynasty, I, Song County, should contribute to the Wei Dynasty, but... if the imperial court confiscates the grain of my Song County, then... I, the Song County
How will the people make a living?"
"You can rest assured, Mr. Chang." Cui Yong waved his hand and vowed: "The imperial court will send people to sell grain in various counties. The price of rice in Song County will never be affected by the war..."
After hearing this, Chang Xi was even more sure of his judgment: Wei State confiscated Song County's grain just to target the Bei Bo Army, and in fact it would not transport Song County's grain to other places. Otherwise, how could Cui Envoy in front of him dare?
Are you bragging about such a beautiful seaport?
"...But it's not a big problem."
Chang Xi said secretly.
But just when he was about to speak, he heard Cui Yong suddenly add: "I forgot to mention just now, regarding the Song people's purchase of grain, the court will issue a new currency, and each Song people's household will pay a quarterly fee.
Heads are exchanged for new coins, and only new coins are allowed to purchase food..."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Chang Xi, Chang Man and his son, as well as Beibo Army General Chen Si, who had concealed their identities, suddenly changed.
They are not fools. How could they not think of the murderous intention behind "buying grain with new currency"?
Ignoring the changed expressions of Chang Xi, Chang Man, and Chen Si, Cui Yong continued: "... In addition, no one in Song County is allowed to hoard rations for more than three months. Those who violate the order... Haha,
In the words of His Highness the Crown Prince, you must either eat the hoarded food in front of our supervisory soldiers, or else, you will be punished with "collaboration with the Beibo rebels"... and be executed!"
"This...this is too...too..."
Chang Xi looked bitter, shook his head and said: "Envoy Cui, this is a bit unkind, isn't it?...Moreover, hoarding of grain is not allowed, so how should I, a grain merchant in Song County, run my business?"
Cui Yong said with a smile: "You can rest assured, Mr. Chang, that the imperial court will purchase the grain hoarded by any grain merchant at the market price and exchange it for money. With this money, it doesn't matter even if you change your career to other businesses? I, Liang, am in Bo.
A commercial market has been opened in Langsha, and Song merchants are welcome to visit at any time."
"..." Changzhen opened his mouth and was speechless for a moment.
Seeing this, Chen Si frowned and said: "Your Majesty, are you too overbearing?"
Before Cui Yong could speak, Zhang Qigong said calmly: "It seems that I have never seen what true domineering is... The true domineering should be like what I did to the Prince of the East Palace, Zhao Run, who led the army all the way to South Korea.
The king's capital, Handan, forced the King of Han to sign a city agreement... Thousands of people, no one dared to say no!"
"..." Chen Si opened his mouth, but was unable to speak.
Ignoring Cui Yong's frowning gaze, Zhang Qigong said coldly: "Think about it carefully... You must be lucky that His Highness the Crown Prince still regards you and others as subjects of the Wei Dynasty, but please do not take this favor for granted.
As it should be, once His Highness the Crown Prince loses trust and expectations in you and others..."
Although Zhang Qigong did not finish what he said, I believe that Chang Xi, Chang Man, and Chen Si all understood the murderous intention behind these words.
At this moment, they were extremely angry, but they did not dare to show off.
Even Chen Si, who was the general of Beibo Army, did not dare.