As autumn turns to winter solstice, the north wind and heavy snow cause the temperature in Bianliang, Tokyo to drop sharply. At this time, there are not many people on the streets of the usually bustling capital of the Song Dynasty.
However, unlike the outside, the inside of the Privy Council Hall, which had five or six smokeless charcoal stoves, was as warm as a spring day. It was enough for Sun Tu to wear a single coat while sitting there, until Tong Mu and the others opened the door. A gust of cold wind came in outside, causing him to raise his eyebrows as he lowered his head and looked at the document in his hand, and raised his eyes.
Tong Mu and Sun Tu's relationship has become increasingly close in the past few years of cooperation. At this time, he did not show any apology. While waving his hand to ask the servants to prepare tea for him and others, he patted the remaining snow marks on his shoulders and said: : "Are you reading the Northern Military News that was rushed 600 miles away last night?"
As the current Prime Minister and the Grand Tutor, Tong Mu is naturally very well-informed. Even if it is military matters that have little to do with him, he can grasp the information at the first time. Sun Tu didn't take it seriously and nodded lightly: "Exactly, but the Privy Council didn't want to disturb me, so they didn't know about it until I came to the Yamen just now. Fortunately, there was no big change ahead. Otherwise, see if I don’t punish them severely for delaying the military plane.”
Although his words were serious, the smile at the corners of his eyes and mouth still revealed that Taiwei Sun was not really angry, but in a good mood. After all, the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty has been reporting frequent successes since September. In October, even the capital of Liao Kingdom was captured by Yue Fei's army. It can be said that by that time, the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty had achieved a complete victory. The next step is just the routine pursuit of death and the north, expanding the results of the war, and stabilizing the newly acquired Liao cities.
So even if Sun Tu only saw the battle report today, it doesn't matter. Tong Mu also knew this, so he also joked: "It's time to remind them. After all, this is one of the few things that can make you Sun Tu It’s up to the Lieutenant to take care of this.”
Just when he said these words, Sun Tu was suddenly startled, and then he threw his head back and burst into laughter. He acted extremely cheerful and joyful, which made several people around him a little confused. I don't know why he was so happy. It was impossible. Did you laugh because you heard Tong Mu's joke
Even Tong Mu watched him laugh for a while and couldn't help but said: "Qianli, what are you laughing at? Is there another great victory coming from the front line? That's not right. Now all the forces in the Liao Kingdom have followed. Yelu Dashi moved westward, and he no longer dares to fight with us, so what good news can there be?"
Only then did Sun Tu stop laughing and happily handed over the battle report in his hand: "Just take a look. To be honest, people are not as good as God. Sometimes even God is on our side."
Tong Mu quickly reached for the battle report and scanned it quickly. At this glance, his face showed a look of ecstasy, and his body trembled slightly: "God is really helping me! I really didn’t expect that things would develop like this.”
The performance of the two of them naturally aroused the curiosity of several other officials. It was not until Tong Mu handed over the battle report to them and circulated it that everyone burst into laughter amidst a burst of tut-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk out out out loud. Qianshi actually met the Xia people, and the two sides fought like this... "
It turns out that in late October, the Liao Kingdom heading west
The army and the people actually followed the orders of the Song Dynasty. They were reluctant but had to come, and could only delay again and again. The Xixia army of 100,000 people collided head-on.
Logically speaking, it is difficult for the two parties to meet at that point in time. After all, the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty is almost over, and the Xixia army should have penetrated deep into the Liao territory long ago, so the Liao country can naturally find ways to avoid it. . However, the Xixia people, who had selfish motives and wanted to preserve their strength, kept delaying and marching slowly. It was not until October that they arrived near Xijing of the Liao Kingdom, and thus collided head-on with the Liao brigade.
It is not wrong to say that the Xixia people are so smart this time that they shot themselves in the foot. Under the circumstances at that time, neither the Xia army nor the Liao army had any room to escape. In the end, they could only rush into war and kill both sides.
If we look at the strength of both sides, the Liao army actually still has an overwhelming advantage. But because they were migrating as a whole clan this time, there were too many people in the team with their families, which restricted their hands and feet. As a result, this battle was extremely unfavorable to them from the beginning, and they could only separate part of them. To deal with the Xia army, the main force had to retreat to the rear and focus on defense.
This leveled the balance of power between the two sides. In addition, the Xixia general was also a man who was good at exploiting the enemy's weaknesses, and he soon formulated a strategy of constantly harassing the Liao people and causing them to be in disarray, which dealt an even greater blow to the Liao people.
As a result, after more than ten days of tug-of-war, both sides suffered heavy losses. More than half of the 100,000 Xixia army was lost, and the Liao people suffered 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers killed in battle, as well as countless civilian casualties. This made the Liao people even worse, and the situation was really critical.
Such two enemy countries were killing each other and the heavy casualties were certainly joyful, but what made Sun Tu even more happy was the heavy price the Xixia people paid for this self-righteous little cleverness. If they hadn't defied the odds and delayed sending troops to the west, I'm afraid there wouldn't have been a battle that severely damaged their vitality. It really makes people feel happy and let out a breath of bad breath.
Tong Mu and others were also happy for a while, and they all bluntly said that this was the retribution of the Xixia people. Who told them that they had been unwilling to obey the court's wishes and send troops as soon as possible. The losses now were greater than cooperating with the Song army to attack Liao.
"The official thinks that we should spread such good news to the world as soon as possible so that the people of the world can be happy."
"Of course, the Chinese New Year is about to come, and there is no better news than the fact that Liao and Xia are both hurt by each other's attacks." Sun Tu also smiled and said: "By the way, what I mentioned before about gathering the wealth of Liao is all How are you doing? There are still many people inside and outside the capital waiting to get their capital back and earn interest."
It turns out that after the Liao people moved westward, the Song Dynasty sent many officials to Liao to collect the property that the Liao people could not take away in a hurry. You must know that in the past, the reason why the army was able to speed up the Northern Expedition was to issue national bonds and use private wealth to strengthen the Northern Expedition army. Now that the war has been won, it is naturally time to fulfill the promise and repay the principal and interest to the people.
Tong Mu laughed as soon as he heard this: "Returning to the Taiwei, I came here today just to discuss this matter with you. In fact, in the past two days, relevant property has been sent to Beijing one after another. If it is according to this Calculate the profit you set before at 20% to 30%
, the expenses are not small, I am afraid that there may not be much left over for the treasury and the court. "
"Since we promised the people of the world a long time ago, we will never go back on our promises. Otherwise, how can we win the trust of the people? What's more, those are just floating wealth. For the imperial court, conquering the entire northern Liao Kingdom, its territory, cities, and people's population are The most important thing is what can add strength to us in the future. Therefore, all these properties can be handed over to the people who have bought national debt in the form of interest and principal, as long as it is enough to distribute rewards and food to the soldiers. "Sun Tu waved his hand and made a decision immediately.
After a pause, he smiled again: "What's more, in this transaction of national debt, my family also paid for a lot of it. I can't abandon my private life for public affairs and let my family suffer, right?"
This last sentence immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter. In fact, it was not just him, Tong Mu, and the officials who were now completely on Sun Tu's side also contributed more or less money to buy national bonds. This is not only support for the court and Sun Tu, but also to increase income beyond salary.
Tong Mu immediately joked: "Oh? But I don't know how much national debt you bought this time, Lieutenant?"
"Not much, just 50,000 yuan." Sun Tu smiled: "I heard you are the same?"
"Yes, I also bought 50,000 guan of treasury bonds and kept them at home. To be honest, in the past few months, I was really worried that something would happen on the front line, causing all my money to be wasted. You know, that was All the money I’ve saved over the years.”
Sun Tu smiled and nodded again: "Who says it's not true? If we really lose, our whole family will have to drink the northwest wind." He laughed again, and then the officials beside him also laughed together. .
At a glance, it can be seen from the fact that Sun Tu and Tong Mu, the two most powerful people in the current court, can only spend 50,000 yuan to purchase national bonds, it can be seen that they are indeed not as greedy and self-interested as those in power in the past. You know, although these 50,000 yuan are a big figure for the people, it is money that countless people will never earn in their lifetime, but for officials, it is just a trivial matter.
When Liang Zhongshu congratulated Cai Jing on his birthday, he would prepare 100,000 yuan worth of treasures for his father-in-law every year, and this was just one of the annual tributes to Cai Jing. If all were added up, this number would really make the country richer. But obviously, Sun Tu, who has a higher goal, disdains using the power in his hands to seek such personal gain for himself.
Because of this, today's Great Song Dynasty has swept away the extravagance and corruption of the past, making people's lives better. Now with the continuous victory and the benefits of national debt with interest, the people of the Song Dynasty lived more prosperously and prosperously, and Sun Tu's reputation among the people and the court reached a new peak.
Today, people all over the world have gradually forgotten that there is a puppet-like emperor Zhao Ji above the court. In the eyes of countless people, Taiwei Sun Tu is the supreme one who can decide the entire country and thousands of people with one word. The only one in power.
There is even a saying among the people that soon, Taiwei Sun will kick away the puppet emperor Zhao Ji, just like Cao Wei replaced Han and Zhao family replaced Zhou, and he will sit on the most noble throne in the world. s position!