Qu Duan and Yue Fei left the Donghua Gate of Huaqing Palace together. Outside Donghua Gate was not a bustling street market, but a large grassland. When the two went out, a team of knights in the right class in front of the palace were performing equestrians and queue training.

Qu Duan and Yue Fei's entourage were waiting outside. When they saw the two of them coming out, they hurriedly brought their mounts.

Both of them were both top-notch Hequ horses, not produced in Hequ, but from Guanzhong and Jingchu.

The horse government in the Western Song Dynasty is now very small and can only supply imperial horses, but there is no shortage of horses. Even if it is not imported from Xiliang, relying solely on the Mansion Manors located in Guanlong, Shuofang and Jingchu, it is enough to meet the huge Western Song army's demand for horses.

Quduan rides a dragon stallion with a shoulder height of four feet and six inches (a fine product among the Hequ horses), which is produced from his own manor in Lintong.

Yue Fei rode a Hequ horse with a shoulder height of four feet, five and a half inches, which came from Yuejiazhuang of the Jingmen Army.

Not only Qu Duan, Yue Fei had good horses to ride, but everyone had horses with their followers, and they were all good horses!

Both Qu Duan and Yue Fei have the highest rank of comforting envoys, and the number of farms owned is 3,000 acres!

The other two have led troops to power all year round and always have some extra income. With such a wealth, of course, they can afford to support more than a dozen servants.

So the two of them can take their fully armed servants to the Huaqing Palace to attend court or work in the yamen office!

Such a scene was simply unimaginable in the era when the Song Dynasty established its capital in Kaifeng Prefecture! But in today's Western Song Dynasty, it was also common. And it was not very domineering. After all, the Huaqing Palace is remote and Mount Li is nearby. There are often thieves. If you don't bring enough guards, what should you do if you encounter a bandit?

What? There are actually bandits under the emperor's feet?

Of course there is! During the land reform process of the Western Song Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of exiles. There were still many uncatched thieves who fell into the grass, even around Chang'an, which was not very peaceful.

However, around the Huaqing Palace, there were not many thieves in the Western Song Dynasty's official offices and residential areas. However, now the officials of the Western Song Dynasty had no entertainment, that is, they went to Mount Li to hunt, and sometimes they would actually run into bandits...

Qu Duan and Yue Fei walked along the official road outside the Huaqing Palace.

This area is not in the city, and there are no tall city walls around it. However, there are high walls around the Huaqing Palace, various government offices, and the residences of various officials. Among them, the Huaqing Palace is simply a castle!

Once there is a change, all the surrounding officials and people in the mansion can be withdrawn into the Huaqing Palace!

In addition, Lintong County is not very far from Huaqing Palace. This small town is the only commercial town near Huaqing Palace and is not very prosperous. It is just four or five streets, with some shops, restaurants, brothels and so on the street.

A welcome hotel in the Western Song Dynasty court was located in Lintong County. So Quduan and Yue Fei left Huaqing Palace today and headed towards Lintong County together.

They were going to meet Han Shizhong at the Ying Guesthouse in Lintong.

The two soon entered the county town. The city was not very lively. There were not many customers in the shops along the street, and the consumption was all about merchants and citizens, so there were basically no officials.

The merchants in the Western Song Dynasty had a very low status and could not be compared with the Zhou and Eastern Song dynasties. They were the real last of the four people! They were not allowed to wear silk, gold and silver, ride in carriages, and their children were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations. They were not considered good-born!

The status of craftsmen is slightly higher than that of merchants. They are considered good families and can wear silk. However, to maintain the status of craftsmen, they must provide craftsmen to official workshops. Otherwise, they will be demoted from craftsmen to merchants. By the way, there is no clear boundary between craftsmen and merchants. For example, blacksmiths calculate craftsmen as merchants? Do you make money by making iron tools without selling them? Keep them for appreciation?

Therefore, the Western Song government established such a standard merchant as long as it provides craftsmen with exquisite craftsmanship to serve, it is considered a craftsman. If it cannot be provided, it is a merchant.

Craftsmen have room for growth and can serve the country by joining the army. Merchants can only stay at the bottom.

However, no matter merchants or craftsmen, they cannot have too much contact with senior officials like Quduan and Yue Fei.

Because the Western Song Dynasty "banned the two industries of the people", officials were not allowed to do business, industry and commerce were not allowed to be officials (the children of craftsmen can be officials, but the head of households cannot), and farmers were also not allowed to enter the market to do business. And when entering the market to do business, they must have a municipality (the industry and commerce have a municipality)... High officials like Yue Fei and Quduan cannot even consume in stores or restaurants in the city, or buy a pancake from vendors or something, which is also illegal!

Of course, their family also needs to consume, and they cannot bring everything out of the manor in their hometown. However, officials cannot come forward to discuss business with merchants, but their families can only negotiate transactions with merchants.

In short, the Western Song Dynasty had extremely strict management of commercial activities. The various regulations were not for the convenience of transactions, but for the inconvenience of transactions.

This method of managing business was not invented by the Western Song Dynasty itself, but was derived from the experience of previous dynasties before the Song Dynasty. At the same time, many laws and regulations were copied from Xiliang, and Xiliang's seal scripts were very experienced in how to manage a feudal country.

In his opinion, the more commercial activities, the more corrosive the military class will be! Therefore, it must be completely killed!

This view was very popular in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was called "profit one hole, drive farmers back to war". "Guanzi. Guosu" says: If one hole is profitable, the country will be invincible; if two holes are produced, the army will not be destroyed; if three holes are produced, the army will not be raised; if four holes are produced, the country will be destroyed.

This means that the country cannot have too many upward channels, and it is best to have a rural war! That is, farmers can only rise when they join the army to fight!

If you can't achieve one hole, then step back and choose two holes. If you reach three holes and four holes, then the country will probably be over.

Now the Western Song Dynasty was profitable and the two Confucius came into existence. In addition to agricultural warfare, there was also a way out for farming and study. However, agricultural warfare was the best, farming and study were the best. Whether it was the imperial examinations in Bashu, or the university halls in Guanlong and Jingchu, the civil servants who were born were inferior to the martial arts.

As for the New Zhou and Eastern Song, in the eyes of the rulers of the Western Song and Western Liang, it was too depraved.

Because there are too many channels for these two countries to rise! Not only are there developed industry and commerce, but there are numerous academic circles, various literary and artistic circles, and a large number of colonies that can make a fortune.

Therefore, these two countries clearly have the financial resources and military technology to overwhelm the Western Song Dynasty, but they cannot focus on fighting. Now they are even more degenerating to the point of conquering the world... Can conquer the world be more important than unifying the world?

And this is the opportunity for the Western Song Dynasty!

The Western Song Dynasty could take advantage of the opportunity of the Eastern Song Dynasty and New Zhou conquering the world and squeeze the Xiliang behind the butt away, thus greatly expanding the number of military manors. The more military manors, the more military manors, the stronger the military power of the Western Song Dynasty will of course be.

With a strong military force and a safe rear, the Western Song Dynasty could focus on advancing eastward, repeating the historical story of Qin's troops swallowing up the six countries and unifying the world.

...

"Good minister, the official has made up his mind!"

"Yes, aren't it said that the Western Regions are so rich? Yelu Dashi and Zhao Ganshun both made money in the west. Is the King of Xiliang really willing to stay in the place where birds do not shit for the rest of his life?"

"Good ministers, the court will not let Xiliang send troops alone... The court will send reinforcements and will also provide guns and guns and powder to Xiliang. With the help of the court, it is impossible to win."

"I will definitely win... Now the only ones who can fight against me, the Song Dynasty, are the only ones in the world. But they are beginning to fall, and in the long run, there is no future."

In the inn, Qu Duan and Yue Fei sang together, fooling Han Shizhong, a Grand Secretary of the Renai Pavilion of Xiliang Kingdom.

Han Shizhong was a vulgar martial artist, but now he was in a Confucian uniform with a scholarly look like a scholar. He sat there holding a tea bowl, frowning with his brows and saying nothing.

Of course he knew about the wealth of the West! But the knights in Xiliang have settled for many years, and they have become accustomed to being poor while they are poor. They are always a little uneasy to go to the Western Regions to make a fortune all of a sudden.

But the Song Dynasty court was determined to be the only one who didn’t go, wouldn’t it be possible? If you don’t go, the army will come over, and you can’t even go even if you want to.

As for defeating the Western Song Dynasty, it was something I could never imagine... The Western Song Dynasty is now profiting from two Confucius, and its troops are no longer invincible.

Although Xiliang is profitable, its population is less than one-fifth of that of the Western Song Dynasty. Because it is slow to absorb Eastern technology across the Western Song Dynasty.

Therefore, in terms of military strength, it is impossible to compete with the Western Song Dynasty.

However, their strength is more than enough to fight west to seize some Yelu Dashi's territory. After all, Dashi's focus is on Persia, and there are not many soldiers in the Seven Rivers Land.

"I wonder how many reinforcements the court is going to send?" Han Shizhong asked after a while.

"What are two divisions enough?" Yue Fei said.

Two divisions equipped with heavy smoothbore guns and field artillery are nothing on the battlefield of the Central Plains, but they are invincible when they go to the West.

Moreover, if the Xiliang Kingdom fights the west, it will be no problem to pull out 50,000 cavalry.

50,000 cavalry plus two infantry divisions, and more than 70,000 guns, how can there be enemies when they are pulled to the Western Regions?

So the Western Expedition of Xiliang Kingdom was really just a re-seal...

Han Shizhong sighed and smiled bitterly: "I thought I could be comfortable, but I didn't expect that I would have to move my nest at a large age. But it would be good to move a richer territory! I heard that Dashi and the Jurchen Jin Kingdom have become rich now. It's time for us to make a fortune in Xiliang!"

Qu Duan smiled and said, "If King Liang nodded, how much time will it take for Xiliang Kingdom to prepare?"
Chapter completed!