"Can you tell me what the government's response is?"
Kou Ji stared at Chen Lin and asked seriously.
"puff……"
Chen Lin just took a sip of the water in her mouth, and it instantly spurted out, causing her to choke and cough.
After a while, he regained his composure and glared at Kou Ji fiercely.
Chen Lin wiped the water from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and said angrily to Kou Ji: "If someone wants to get something out of our mouth, they will give you a generous gift, and then beat around the bush and get it out of our mouth. It's better for you.
Just ask directly, is the news about our family so cheap?"
Kou Ji said disapprovingly: "If you are unwilling to say it, others will not be able to get a word out of you even if they offer you gold and silver. If you are willing to say it, you will tell the truth even if they don't give you a penny."
Tell each other.
So it doesn’t matter whether you give me a generous gift or not. What’s important is, I’m asking you now, will you tell me?”
Chen Lin glared at Kou Ji and snorted: "This matter is very important to the official family and the court. Our family will not say a word to anyone else."
Hearing this, Kou Ji said thoughtfully: "It seems that the official family really has a way to deal with it, and you really know how the official family can deal with it."
When Chen Lin heard this, she instantly realized that she had been tricked by Kou Ji again. She pursed her lips and stared at Kou Ji fiercely without saying a word.
Seeing this, Kou Ji laughed and said, "Don't look at me like that, and don't think I'm trying to trick you. Even if you don't say it, you will know it sooner or later. If you say it now, I'm just
I just knew it for a while."
Chen Lin snorted and ignored Kou Ji.
Kou Ji sighed and said, "Tell me, what other important responsibilities the official family has entrusted to you."
Chen Lin glanced at Kou Ji and snorted coldly: "Our family is just here to deliver the message."
Kou Ji looked Chen Lin up and down, and said unhurriedly: "If it were just to convey the order, the officials would send you here? You are the official's personal eunuch, not just a cat or a dog."
"Can't the personal eunuch of the official family deliver orders?"
Chen Lin said dissatisfied.
Kou Ji said with a smile: "Of course the personal eunuch of the official family can deliver the decree, but the personal eunuch of the official family abandons the official family and runs thousands of miles away to deliver the decree. If there is no important responsibility, no one will believe it."
Chen Lin gritted her teeth and glared at Kou Ji.
Kou Ji really has wings now.
How could Kou Ji dare to talk to him like this before?
Chen Lin vaguely remembered that when Kou Ji was still a boy, he stayed in the East Palace. Under his intimidation, he behaved like a mouse.
Today's Kou Ji is like a fierce tiger.
In front of Kou Ji, he was like an old Ao Quan.
"After you sent a memorandum to the imperial court to dispatch 10,000 officials to the capital, it aroused heated discussions among officials from both the government and the public. Now that the imperial court cannot allocate so many officials, the officials and Lu Yijian discussed it and decided to send someone outside the customs.
Military control was implemented in the Liao region.
Although the matter has been decided, the officials are not in a hurry to issue an order.
The official sent us here just to ask your opinion."
Although Chen Lin was furious at Kou Ji, he did not hide it after Kou Ji guessed that he had another important responsibility.
"Martial law?"
Kou Ji was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "Military control is suitable for Liao Territory. Military control requires fewer officials. However, it requires a lot of soldiers and horses.
Liao Tu is no better than Xingqing Prefecture and other places.
There are still many people in Xingqing Mansion and other places who have escaped from our Song Dynasty, and there are also many people who have looted from our Song Dynasty.
So there is a certain foundation.
Except for prosperous places such as Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures and Shangjing City within the Great Wall, there are almost no Song people in other places in the Liao Dynasty, and the foundation of Sinicization is very weak.
Some small tribes are entrenched in the territory, and there is almost no basis for Chinese culture.
They only believe in the most primitive force, so to govern them and conquer them, they can only rely on the most primitive force.
Therefore, if military control is implemented, the number of troops and horses must not be reduced."
Chen Lin pondered: "Without military control, wouldn't there be a need for soldiers and horses?"
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said: "Of course we need it, but the quantity needed is not that large."
Chen Lin looked at Kou Ji with a puzzled look.
Kou Ji sighed and explained: "If military control is implemented, it means that the imperial court will not send too many officials here, and it will not move people here in large numbers.
Therefore, before the people here are completely Chineseized, they must be defended by soldiers and horses.
If military control is not implemented, the imperial court will inevitably send many officials over and move some people here.
With those common people as the foundation and the huge number of officials, every prisoner will be able to be carefully controlled.
In this way, the chances of prisoners causing trouble are reduced.
The imperial court only needs to set up some regular local troops and horses in Liao territory to deal with it, and there is no need to send more troops and horses."
To put it simply, if there are enough officials, they can control all aspects, and some troubles will be nipped in the bud before they arise.
If there are not enough officials to control all aspects, they can only suppress it through the army.
A spring breeze turns into rain, and a heavy hammer beats a drum.
After listening to Kou Ji's story, Chen Lin understood what Kou Ji meant. He pondered and asked, "If the imperial court implements military control in Liao, how many troops and horses will it need?"
Kou Ji thought for a while and said: "A government must be equipped with at least 30,000 local troops."
Chen Lin frowned and said, "Isn't this no different from the equipment in the hinterland of the Song Dynasty?"
Kou Ji glanced at Chen Lin and said angrily: "I haven't finished speaking yet."
Chen Lin was stunned and smiled awkwardly.
Kou Ji continued: "In addition to the regular 30,000 local troops, there are also three forbidden armies that must be dispatched to the northeast, southeast, and northwest of Liao.
You can conquer thousands of miles externally, and you can suppress chaos internally."
Chen Lin raised her eyebrows, "Three forbidden armies?"
Kou Ji nodded slowly.
Chen Lin lowered her head and remained silent.
The three forbidden armies amount to 150,000 soldiers and horses.
One hundred and fifty thousand soldiers and horses holding firearms will not be at a disadvantage against three hundred thousand soldiers and horses holding cold weapons.
With 150,000 Imperial Guards stationed at the border and guarding the Liao Territory, they can guarantee that nothing will go wrong.
There are only 150,000 forbidden troops, plus the local soldiers and horses in Liao territory, the number will probably exceed about 400,000.
The imperial court added 400,000 troops and horses, and the expenditure required was not consistent.
You have to start with a million coins.
When all 400,000 soldiers and horses are gathered, the imperial court's expenditure will exceed tens of millions, which will be easy.
After all, when the army was first built, some infrastructure costs were relatively high.
Starting from scratch is far more expensive than replacing an old one with a new one.
In addition, the imperial court has decided to promote Mongolian education in Liao Dynasty, which will cost a lot of money.
The Liao region may not be able to pay a penny of taxes to the imperial court within two or three years.
Therefore, within two or three years, the imperial court would need to subsidize a large sum of money to Liao.
Although there is still some surplus in the national treasury, it cannot support such a large expenditure.
You know, Zhao Zhen also wanted to promote county studies, government studies, and Chinese studies in the Song Dynasty.
The money required will naturally be greater.
The little money saved in the treasury is not enough.
When Kou Ji saw Chen Lin lowering her head and remaining silent, he roughly guessed Chen Lin's concerns. He said, "Actually, if the imperial court wants to set up a forbidden army in Liao, it only needs to set up two new troops."
Chen Lin raised her head and looked at Kou Ji in shock, "You just..."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "I said that three forbidden armies are needed, but I did not say that three new forbidden armies are needed. Now that the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun has been restored, there is no need for the two fortresses and two eternals to guard the Yanmen Pass line all the time.
Of the four forbidden armies, one can be stationed in Daming Prefecture, one can be dispatched to Datong Prefecture, and one can be dispatched to Juyongguan or Shanhaiguan.
The remaining one can be dispatched to Liaodi.
Therefore, the imperial court only needs to establish two new forbidden armies."
Chen Lin hesitated for a moment and said frankly: "Even with a small Forbidden Army, the imperial court may not be able to afford it. Previously, when local soldiers returned to their places of origin, the imperial court issued some rewards, which cost a lot of money.
When you conquer the Liao Kingdom, the reward you will need will probably be a shocking figure.
The imperial court has distributed your rewards, and then established local troops and elementary schools in Liao territory, and the treasury will probably be empty."
When Kou Ji heard this, he fell in love with Chen Lin.
What Chen Lin said was not alarmist, but a fact.
This time the Imperial Army fought three battles in a strict sense.
One is the Battle of River Defense.
The second is the battle for Yanyun.
The third was the battle to overthrow the Liao Kingdom.
Although the war to destroy the Liao Kingdom is still ongoing, its outcome can already be predicted.
Under the powerful military attack of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom had little chance of turning around.
Three shocking battles.
The heroes he has given birth to are countless.
By then there will probably be dozens of dukes, hundreds of marquises, and over a thousand earls.
If the court wanted to reward such a large group of meritorious deeds, it would have to spend a lot of money.
Not to mention other things, just to give houses, thousands of them have to be prepared.
The house cannot be given casually, it must be a house in Bianjing City, and a house of considerable size must be given according to his title.
It is well known how expensive the land in Bianjing is.
Dozens of duke's houses were given to them, and tens of millions of dollars were spent.
The combined mansions of other marquis and earls probably cost tens of millions of dollars.
If the imperial court did not have corresponding reserves, it would have to spend money to sell them from the people.
After all, the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasty was very friendly to the people, and it was absolutely impossible for them to take advantage of them.
Therefore, after the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasty rewarded the houses they had hoarded, they still had to ask the people to buy them.
The current land prices and house prices in Bianjing City are not generally high.
If the imperial court purchases a house, it will probably cost more.
Therefore, after rewarding all the meritorious officials, the remaining money in the treasury will probably be consumed by 70 to 80%.
So Chen Lin's worries are not unreasonable.
Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Heng failed to live up to expectations and failed to win any battles. As a result, in the hands of Zhao Zhen, the rewards for winning battles increased sharply.
The starting point for rewards is too high.
Nowadays, the cost of the world-class achievements made by military ministers is naturally high.
Seeing Kou Ji's silence, Chen Lin stared at Kou Ji with a bitter look on her face and said, "Our Song Dynasty is obviously more tyrannical than ever, so why did it become so poor?
Is it possible that our country, the Song Dynasty, is now resorting to militarism as people often say?"
Kou Ji raised his head, glanced at Chen Lin, and said lightly: "You are thinking too much. There is no doubt that our Song Dynasty has become stronger. There is no doubt that our Song Dynasty is richer than before.
The money in the treasury is not enough, not because we, the Song Dynasty, resorted to militarism.
But because we want to make Song Dynasty better, we need more financial support.
It's like a person who, when he was poor, only had one-third of an acre of land. He was satisfied with eating one meal a day and having a roof over his head.
When he becomes rich, if he wants to live a better life, he will have to sell more land, build a big house, and wear silk and satin.
Don’t these cost money?”
Chen Lin felt better after hearing what Kou Ji said. He stared at Kou Ji and asked, "So I, the Song Dynasty, are selling land, building big houses, and pulling cloth to make silk and satin?"
Kou Ji nodded, pointed to the Liao soil at the foot of the mountain, and said: "After our Song Dynasty has completely digested this area, it will be time for our Song Dynasty to harvest.
By that time, our Song Dynasty will be much richer and richer."
When Chen Lin heard this, she stared at the distant land that Kou Ji pointed at and nodded firmly.
Kou Ji asked without leaving any trace, "Why do officials keep their private money?"
"seal up……"
Chen Lin opened her mouth subconsciously, said only one word, and immediately closed her mouth, then gave Kou Ji a vicious look.
"The official's private money was all spent during the campaign against Yanyun."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "When we were fighting against Yanyun, we didn't even spend all the money in the sealing treasury, so how could we use official and private money?
If my guess is correct, the official family's private money now is probably calculated in tens of millions."
Others don't know whether Zhao Zhen is rich, but Kou Ji knows it clearly.
Leaving aside the legacy of the Song Dynasty that Zhao Zhen inherited, the money Zhao Zhen gained from his accession to the throne to the present has made Zhao Zhen the richest man in the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Zhen now owns Yizijiaozipu, and can get a very huge number every year of dividends.
Each of the several businesses that Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji cooperated with made money every day, and each year could provide Zhao Zhen with a large amount of income.
In addition, the people of Wudesi have been quietly excavating gold, silver and copper for Zhao Zhen in the mountains of the southwest for ten years. The amount of money they have recovered for Zhao Zhen is so huge that ordinary people can hardly imagine it.
Not only that, now the largest and largest merchant transporting ivory, spices, gems, jade and other items to and from the southwest is backed by Zhao Zhen.
Also, Liu Heng led his soldiers and horses to the Japanese country to grab a lot of money. In addition to helping Zhao Zhen discover a silver mountain, he also quietly transported some captured gold and silver jewelry from the Japanese country to Zhao Zhen.
Others make money by using their brains.
Zhao Zhen was different. If he saw that there was money in that place, he would secretly send troops there and use the most arrogant gesture to rob them all.
As a result, Zhao Zhen's wealth has increased exponentially.
Zhao Zhen's food and clothing expenses are all allocated from the national treasury, and he does not need to use private treasury, so his money can only go in but not out.
After so many years of accumulation, it is naturally huge and calculated in units of tens of millions.
Zhao Zhen originally saved this money to use it to attack the Liao Kingdom.
But before he could even make up his mind to fight a war of attrition with the Liao Kingdom, the Liao Kingdom was defeated.
Naturally, his money has no use.
Chen Lin's lie was exposed by Kou Ji, and she pursed her lips and said nothing.
Kou Ji said calmly: "The entire Song Dynasty belongs to the official family. If the official family gives an order, what do they want? There is no need to save so much money.
You go back and talk to the officials and ask them to use the money generously for the construction of Liao Territory.
With the money from the officials, it will be much easier for us to digest the Liao Territory."
Chen Lin glanced at Kou Ji and snorted coldly: "I'm afraid your Kou family's wealth is already as rich as the rest of the country. Why don't you use the Kou family's money freely?"
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said: "The little family property of our Kou family cannot compare with the official family or the Cao family. Besides, if I really donate my family wealth, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty will not agree to it."
Zhao Zhen is now the richest man in the Song Dynasty.
The Cao family was the second richest in the Song Dynasty.
Kou Ji was the third richest man in the Song Dynasty.
Although Kou Ji was good at amassing money, he could not amass money like Zhao Zhen, nor could he only get in and out like Zhao Zhen.
Although the Cao family's accumulation of wealth is not as fast as that of Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji, they are a family of officials and a wealthy family. The accumulation of hundreds of years is far from what Kou Ji has accumulated in more than ten years.
If Kou Ji generously donated all his family wealth, the civil and military officials of the entire court would naturally not agree.
With Kou Ji's current status, if he generously gave away all his family wealth, other civil and military ministers would also have to vomit some blood.
The most important thing is that Kou Ji uses his private life to benefit the public, which is suspected of buying people's hearts.
Kou Ji's current identity, status, and achievements have scared the civil and military officials of the entire court to the point where they can't sleep.
If he tries to win people's hearts again, the civil and military officials of the entire court will probably be frightened to death.
Chen Lin couldn't talk to Kou Ji, so she could only glare at Kou Ji and said: "The official's money has its uses."
Kou Ji sighed: "Money is only money when it moves. If it doesn't move, it is just a batch of scrap copper. Officials holding Yizijiaozipu should understand this truth.
Besides, spending money on Liao land is also for the sake of the officialdom and the country, and also for the officialdom to make more money in the future.
If you are willing to give up, you will gain something."
Chen Lin snorted and said, "Go and tell the officials yourself, our family won't help you pass the message."
Kou Jicheng sighed and asked: "How do the officials plan to make the king?"
Chen Lin rolled her eyes and said: "Of course it is sealed with an imperial edict! If you still want to trick our family, does our family look that stupid?!"
Kou Ji curled his lips and said, "Am I trying to trick you? I'm asking openly and honestly."
Chen Lin snorted coldly and gave Kou Ji a look that said, 'We have seen through you'.
Kou Ji coughed dryly and said, "Then I won't ask."
After saying this, Kou Ji pondered: "Have the officials given you any important tasks?"
Chen Lin nodded and said: "Yes!"
Kou Ji looked at Chen Lin.
Chen Lin said decisively: "The official said that he promised to let Yelv Zongzhen live on the condition that he would not proclaim himself emperor after he left the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun and returned to Liao.
Nowadays, in the whole world, except officials, no one is qualified to call himself emperor.
However, Yelu Zongzhen obviously did not take the officials' words seriously. After returning to Shangjing, he immediately ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor.
The officials said that after you attack Shangjing City, let us pick off his head and take it back."
Kou Ji raised his eyebrows, "When did the official family become so domineering?"
Chen Lin said dissatisfied: "The official family has always been very domineering."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "If you want Yelu Zong's real head, I'm afraid you have to wait until next year. It will definitely not work this year. It is almost winter now, and the weather in the north is cold. Maybe there will be a heavy snow in the next few days.
all the way.
At that time, even if we have three heads and six arms, we will not be able to take the real head of Yelu Zong."
It's cold in the north, and the further north you go, the colder it gets.
The further north you go, the earlier winter begins.
It is said in poetry that "it's snowing in August in Hutian", although it's not snowing in August when you go to the capital.
But snowfall is common around October.
It's now the end of October.
Kou Ji and others live on a cliff and already need to wrap themselves in sheepskin coats.
If a heavy snow suddenly fell here, Kou Ji wouldn't be surprised at all.
Once the road was blocked by heavy snow, the fighting in Liaodi came to a complete halt.
"Next year is next year, our family can afford to wait!"
Chen Lin snorted.
Kou Ji smiled and said, "As long as you can wait."
Speaking of this, Kou Ji stared at Chen Lin and said: "Since you are here and plan to stay here until next year, let your people move around and go to the capital to help me see what's going on."
Chen Lin frowned slightly, "Aren't the Wudesi spies hiding in Liaodi now under your control?"
Kou Ji said bluntly: "I have been here for three days, and they haven't sent back any news. I'm afraid they are trapped in Shangjing City.
The scouts are good at spying on the military, but they are not good enough at spying on intelligence.
Send your people to have a look and see if you can contact the spies in Shangjing City and send back specific news about Shangjing City."
Chen Lin hesitated for a moment and said, "We will give instructions in the evening."
Kou Ji curled his lips and said, "Can't you do it now?"
Chen Lin said unceremoniously: "I can't let you see anyone from our family."
"Who cares..."
Kou Ji said disdainfully, leaving Chen Lin alone in the tent, and stepped out of the tent.
As soon as I got out of the tent, I heard the faint sound of horse hooves.
Chen Lin followed Kou Ji out almost the moment he appeared outside the tent. He stared at the north and said in a deep voice: "Is there an enemy?!"
Kou Ji nodded and said: "It should be the coalition of seven tribes including the Ayan tribe and the Tuoba tribe. They had previously decided to take back Jingnan Road, Jingdong Road and other places in the Liao Kingdom.
Now that the road is about to be blocked by heavy snow, they naturally have to rush back to Jingnan Road and Jingdong Road as soon as possible.
I was thinking they could give us one more day.
Now it seems that the other party is not willing to pay more for a day."
Just as Kou Ji was speaking, Zhong Shiheng had already galloped up the hill. When he was approaching Kou Ji and Chen Lin, Zhong Shiheng jumped off his horse and said in a deep voice to Kou Ji: "We are sent out to lay mines.
The soldiers had only been out for half a day. I'm afraid there weren't many mines laid. Even if the enemy stepped on them, there wouldn't be too many casualties.
Our idea of using earth, fire and thunder to stop the enemy may be shattered.