Now that China is at peace, the barbarians have surrendered. If you want to fight against foreigners, you must first make peace at home.
It was mentioned in the memorial of former prime minister Zhao Pu, and Zhao Xi thinks it still makes sense. This is also the reason why he has been struggling all these years.
For the dynasty, the so-called internal peace means to unify the ministers and workers on one front, and to greatly improve the strength of the soldiers.
By now, it should be considered to be initially effective.
"Zizheng, let's start implementing the strategy we formulated earlier!"
That was when Xue Xiang was investigating the wool trade, and Zhao Xi met him unexpectedly at Taiping Post and had a pleasant conversation.
It was at that time that Zhao Xi and Xue Xiang exchanged far-reaching plans for the wool trade.
"Your Highness, are you sure?"
"How should I put it? There are more than 100,000 new troops. But the outcome of the battle between the new troops and the cavalry is uncertain."
"Rail transportation can greatly improve the problem of supply and heavy transportation. In the past two years, the imperial court's profit will become more and more abundant."
"What is still uncertain is the court's attitude toward the outside world. Therefore, in the end, we have to fight back and use Daxia's help to force the court to accept the challenge."
"It will take a year for the rail network to take shape, and the imperial court will have a sufficient surplus. If Daxia forces too much pressure in due time, the imperial court should be interested in reviewing the combat effectiveness of these new troops. After all, enjoying such a high salary must be worthy of the imperial court's support."
Xue Xiang understood and was very excited.
He once presided over the sales field in Hebei Province and also participated in the salt affairs in the west. In a sense, he deeply understood the frustration of dealing with the other two countries.
Ever since he learned about the wool trade and communicated with His Highness the Crown Prince, he was willing to take charge of the management in the workshop city without asking for promotion, just waiting for such a day.
Since he was not a Jinshi, he was not yet qualified to participate in major affairs of the imperial court. As an official responsible for barter, he could participate in or even lead the imperial war... Xue Xiang could feel his blood boiling at this moment.
"Ming Zhong, from now on, we will focus on the track laying in the west, and put the needs of the war first. Related strategies can be communicated with Di Shuai."
"Cao Lin, you and the other four have ordered the soldiers to train new recruits in rotation and conduct more exercises to test the advantages and disadvantages of the new army and traditional combat methods."
"Uncle Hui, the training team must compile easy-to-understand wartime regulations and rules. We must ensure that every soldier of the New Army has memorized them before the war comes and can strictly implement them."
"Secondly, the training team can request the imperial court to conduct an acceptance check or investigation of the new army's training, with the aim of educating the new army in all aspects of doctrine and regulations."
"In addition, this discussion is classified as highly confidential in the escort camp. Anyone who leaks the contents of the discussion will be subject to the confidentiality regulations of the escort camp!"
This will be a war started and guided by wool.
Yangfang was used by Zhao Xi as a tool from the beginning, a tool used to intervene in the economic life of Liaoxia, thus changing the choices of Liaoxia herdsmen and creating a dependence on the dynasty to a certain extent.
In the past two years, due to the increase in the variety of woolen finished products, the demand for wool has become increasingly strong, so Zhao Xi has intentionally raised the price of wool raw materials.
At the same time, Yuanyuan continued to trade grain in the market... This was a type of transaction that attracted criticism in the court.
Zhao Xi discussed the leverage of wool and grain with his husband in great detail.
The price of grain in the imperial court has remained at a low level. In the end, the ministers and workers shut up in the face of interests, and instead actively invested in grain and wool transactions with Liaoxia.
Raising sheep is really cost-effective.
In previous years, during lean times, herdsmen usually slaughtered some livestock to survive these difficult days.
No need now. Just cut off the wool that neither humans nor sheep need and buy it to the people of Song Dynasty.
At the same time, you can purchase food at the market...
In June and July, when the lean season was about to begin, merchants went to the grasslands to purchase wool and sell grain and goods from the Song Dynasty.
In the past two years, the herdsmen have treated such days almost as festivals.
Then in two or three months, the merchants will come to the grassland again, walking from blanket to blanket, leaving enough food for the herdsmen to survive the winter, and taking away the useless wool.
This was the case in Liao and Xia.
These jobs were not done by the merchants of the Song Dynasty, but by the merchants of Liao and Xia, or merchants who all had their own backgrounds and backgrounds.
These merchants are all regional, with different backgrounds and backgrounds, which determine the scope and area of their activities.
Just like merchants from Northern Liao could not go to Xixia to buy wool, in the same country, the boundaries are also very clear.
Zhao Xi has studied these in depth. It should be said that this current situation is very suitable for breaking up Liao Xia through merging and differentiation.
To put it bluntly, the system in Liao and Xia should belong to the communist system or the feudal system.
For example, in Xixia, the entire imperial court in Daxia was basically controlled by party nobles. Even though they learned some of the official system of the dynasty, it was just a name. In essence, it was still a form of co-ownership.
Each party noble has its own territory and tribal soldiers. The royal family is the strongest among all the nobles and has the widest ruling area.
Once there is a war, the tribal leaders and the emperor will discuss it together and determine the command authority during the war based on the number of tribesmen and the number of soldiers participating in the war.
At the same time, the military merit and title system of the previous dynasty was borrowed from the previous dynasty, and there were different rewards for different military merits. It was a bit like the military service system of the previous dynasty, but slightly different. It was a bit like a separatist regime, but also slightly different.
Bei Liao is slightly different. Bei Liao is divided into regions: west, east and south, and adopts different management systems.
The southern part is dominated by Han people and basically borrowed some methods from the Guo Dynasty.
The east and west are completely different from the south.
The emperors, descendants and other Khitan nobles all have their own Orudo... also called the tent, which is their own tribe or tribe, not necessarily a clan, dependency, surrender, including slaves.
Orudo is equivalent to an independent economic and military unit.
Although Khitan nobles other than the royal family and descendants were not allowed to build cities, there were also private slaves engaged in industrial and agricultural production, the so-called Touxia.
In a system like Liao-Xia, each tribe has a great deal of autonomy, so there is the possibility of merging and dividing the tribes.
But there is one thing that Zhao Xi knows very well. If you want someone to betray your old master and become your younger brother, you must first behave like a big brother.
If you don't have the strength to support your younger brother, let alone no one to turn to, it would be nice if you can guarantee that your younger brother will not betray you.
Therefore, everything must rely on strength. The so-called kingly way comes after domination.
Knocking you down, then lifting you up, and giving you sweet dates, this is benevolence. If you smile at the beginning, call you daddy, and give you dates with a shy face, this is servility.
I often heard courtiers say that the Han people in the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun had been looking forward to Wang Shi going north... Zhao Xi believed this at the beginning of the dynasty, but now, nearly a hundred years later, it has been passed down for almost three generations.
Although the concept of family and country is not clear at present, it is hard to believe that the people of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures recognize the country and dynasty from the bottom of their hearts.
Unless the imperial dynasty defeats Bei Liao with its overwhelming strength...