The lake is covered with mist. The early spring sun shines on people, making people feel warm.

In such a beautiful early spring, I thought that the Song Dynasty, Henan and Hebei had become a war-like ruin, and the people in the southeast were damaged again. Under the iron hooves of the Liao soldiers, countless families were destroyed every minute and every second, and Zhao Xingde's heart was blocked. He sighed and looked up at the vast sky in the distance. He saw that the white clouds were like a river, slowly flowing on the vast blue sky, giving people the illusion that this body and the whole world were in a slowly flowing river.

"The dead are like this, and they will never let go of day and night." Chen Dong's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Zhao Xingde turned around and saw Chen Dong wearing a Confucian robe and asked with a smile, "Xingde allowed these heroes from the world to establish their own rules, so that they could be good at defending themselves and guard the southeast half of the Song Dynasty. Is this considered the 'self-preservation way' of learning from Mr. Lu Er?"|

Zhao Xingde was stunned and said, "I just thought that when the water is clear, there will be no fish. Human nature is good, and everyone has the same desire to unite with the enemy. However, people are not sages, and if they completely abandon their own interests, it would be too demanding. Seeing that these heroes of Jingxiang all have the intention to serve the country with sincerity, but they are full of worries, worried that the court will use a knife to kill people and consume their power, worry that they are not the official army, the food and salary are insufficient, and the soldiers will fight bloody battles and endure hunger. I just thought, how can I think of a way to try my best

To eliminate the concerns of these heroes of Jingxiang, so that they can serve the country with peace of mind. So I suggested that by discussing grace rules, these heroes could express all their concerns. They should try their best to take care of the concerns of the soldiers and the court could take care of them. In this way, the people in the world who are willing to serve the country will have no worries and can work together to serve the country. The soldiers are not sages, and they are not safe in their lives. How can they defend the country for the country? Unexpectedly, they were in a secret agreement with Mr. Lu Er’s self-restraint."

After Zhao Xingde finished speaking, he sighed and said nothing. Looking into the distance, the hazy mist enveloped the lake, just like the complex mood in his eyes, making people invisible. The smoke on Dongting Lake was floating, and occasionally a gull and heron passed by the water surface, rippling out a circle of ripples.

Chen Dong was silent for a while and whispered: "How does Xia Kingdom plan to help the Southeast resist the Liao army?"

Zhao Xingdedao: "If the Song State needs weapons, weapons, weapons, and war horses can be sent from Shu State. The price will be kept first according to the common law of the Xijing Xingying and Guanzhong market. After the Liao army is repelled, the Song court will slowly repay it. If the Song State agrees, the Xia State's Eastern Expedition Army will be more than 30,000 troops, and will turn to Shu State to go down the river to help the Southeast Song army resist the Liao army." He paused, "Because Zhao Qi and Cao Di refused to open Hangu Pass, let the Eastern Expedition Army fight with the Liao army, angering the Guguo Mansion and the General Mansion. The two prefectures decided that Ezhou could accept troops, horses, money and food on behalf of the Song State."

Chen Dong listened carefully to every word Zhao Xingde said, but he did not answer immediately and pondered for a while. With the current strength of Ezhou Heli Society, it can be said that he could not speak with the Xia State at all. He was able to obtain weapons, money and food in the name of the Song Dynasty court, especially the extremely scarce war horses in the southeast of the Song State, which can be said to be of great help. The guardians and people in the southeast of the Southeast were far less than those in the north. The Bowang Hou, who lived in Xia State for many years, was the descendant of the Southern Tang Dynasty royal family. Chen was also a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

The Chen family generals also came from the Southern Tang Dynasty. Therefore, when the Song Dynasty was founded, they were very worried that the Xia Kingdom would attack the Southeast in the name of restoring the hometown of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and specially built the Jiangling Navy to prevent it. Until the two countries were united for a hundred years, the rivers were all in peace, so they gradually let go of their guards. However, over the past hundred years, the Southeast and Shuzhong had very close trade connections. Many sea goods were landed in the southeast, along the Jiangxi, and transferred from Shuzhong to Xia Kingdom to buy and sell. Various goods from Xia Kingdom also went down the river and spread across the southeast through many commercial banks.

"There is no shortage of food and weapons. We need war horses, iron armor, and iron barrel cannons. Xia Kingdom helps us train gunners." Chen Dong suppressed the humiliation that arose in his heart and explained, "The armour of the prefectures and counties is too poor. The armor of the wing army and the Yi soldiers is simply unbearable to fight. I cannot let them use their flesh and blood to resist the sharp arrows and iron cavalry of the Liao army." He whispered, "I will try my best to raise money and grain for these things and pay the price as much as possible."

"Okay." Zhao Xingde nodded, "I will report to the General's Mansion to the decision."

Chen Dong nodded and sighed deeply. An unspeakable meaning gradually spread among these two friends who had been living and dead, and they didn't know what to say. The embarrassing silence lasted for a while, and Zhao Xingde whispered: "Soldiers and wars with the Liao soldiers will be extremely depleted. If they are transported from Xia Kingdom thousands of miles away, it will be difficult to quench their thirst. The iron ore in Daye County, Ezhou is of good quality. It is the place where Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms forged swords and built soldiers. It has been mined throughout the ages. It can expand the scale of the iron workshop and create more armor weapons."

"Iron ore in Ezhou?" Chen Dong frowned. He had just arrived in Ezhou and only heard that the imperial court had an iron ore iron plant in Ezhou, but the scale was not large. Before the Liao army invaded, the iron needed by the Song Dynasty court mainly came from Xing and Ci states in Hebei. The income of the mine supervision in these two states could account for more than 70% of the annual income of all iron ore supervision. The iron ore in Ezhou was somewhat unknown.

"But the iron ore in Ezhou was too small and the number of craftsmen was too small." Chen Dong sighed, "Hebei and Henan fell too quickly. Most of the imperial court's iron smelting supervision and management, together with the blacksmith, are now mostly in the hands of the Liao people."

Zhao Xingde thought it was true that the iron smelting in this era was mostly labored. Because the total output was not large, the scale of most mines was not a problem. Instead, the number of skilled craftsmen restricted the expansion of the scale of iron smelting. He thought for a moment and said, "The iron plant craftsmen in the imperial court may be limited, but if the mines were divided into mining areas according to the practice of Xia State, the mining rights were sold to various private iron plant workshops, and then the iron armor and weapons were purchased at high prices. In this way, the iron ore production could be quickly increased." He paused and added, "The world is prosperous for profit. If the iron plant in Song State is not enough, I know that many iron plants in Guanzhong are many of them skilled craftsmen."

Xia State was extremely important in martial arts, and the blacksmiths in Guanzhong were the best in the world. But Chen Dong was still a little hesitant. Unlike Xia State, most of the iron ore in Song State were official. "If the iron ore was relaxed for business, it would be operated by merchants?" he pondered, "Will there be armor and weapons scattered, and bandits regard it as evil, which would make the local area unstable?"

"Brother Chen, isn't the place where you and I stand on your feet, the nest of bandits?" Zhao Xingde sighed, "So what if Qin Shihuang collected the weapons from the world and cast them into twelve Jin people? It's not like cutting wood for soldiers, lifting up the pole for flags, and then dying in the second lifetime. With the current situation, if there are enough weapons, I wish every household of Song people would have armor and weapons. When they face Liao soldiers and evil people, they would not have no power to resist. Human nature is inherently good, and there are more people in the world who are good in nature. Do you believe in this Mencius's way?"

"Brother Yu has been taught." Chen Dong nodded, "I will go back and discuss with General Yue again in the iron mine. If it is feasible, please ask Yuan Zhi to introduce the skilled craftsmen in Guanzhong to build armor and weapons for the army. As long as the goods are good enough, we will not hesitate to pay." He hesitated for a moment and pondered, "As for the Xia Kingdom's troops going down the river and helping the southeast to resist the Liao army, I must discuss with General Yue before the final decision."

"Of course." Zhao Xingde nodded. How important is the matter of borrowing troops? If Chen Dong agreed on the spot, it would be strange.

After the two of them had agreed, they were about to leave when Luo Xianshi's voice came from behind: "Two sirs are here, let Luo find it easy." Zhao Xingde turned around and saw that Luo Xianshi came to Zhao Xingde quickly, holding a piece of white paper in his hand and handed it to Zhao Xingde. It was the grace clauses discussed by his bandit leaders.

Zhao Xingde opened and saw that the handwriting was like a silver hook and iron painting, which seemed to be Luo Xianshi's own handwriting. He couldn't help but praise: "Luo Dangjia is good at writing!" He raised his eyebrows slightly and whispered: "The military strategy says that the strongness of a small enemy is the capture of a great enemy. Therefore, if the enemy's strength is greater than three times that of our army, if the reinforcements are not good, our army will lead the troops away, and temporarily avoid the enemy's vanguard, and will not be a crime." Zhao Xingde nodded and recited again

The saying goes, "The military strategy says, attack it twice, and encircle it ten times. Therefore, if the enemy army is ten times that of our army, if Shangguan asks our army to guard the lonely city, or be attacked from both sides, if there is no natural and dangerous place, and there is no solid reinforcements, you can resist the order and not follow it, and you will not be guilty." Zhao Xingde nodded and said again: "The two armies fought decisively. If the other troops do not sue and leave first, our army will be in danger, then our army can also withdraw, so as not to fall into death and not be guilty."

Luo Xian Shixi said, "Have Mr. Zhao agreed to all these three points?"

Zhao Xingde smiled and said, "Luo is familiar with military books and quotes classics. How could Zhao not agree?"

It was not until this time that Luo Xianshifang felt relieved and knew that Zhao Xingde had made a promise with the heroes. He clasped his fists and said, "Sir, I am humble, Luo admires you." After saying that, he glanced at Chen Dong, bowed his hand, and turned around and left.

Shortly after Luo Xianshi left, Zhang Wudi came over again and took a piece of paper, which was called on the teacher from Thirteen Lianzhai to write. "I don't know if this teacher is written clearly," Zhang Wudi stuffed the paper into Zhao Xingde's hand, as if he wanted to do something like his theory, and shouted, "Old Zhang Mingren does not do secret things, it's better to say it clearly in person. Mr. Zhao said that every man is responsible. Everyone follows you to fight, but brothers cannot go hungry. If the food and money cannot be provided, we will either disband or go to the prefectures and counties to ask for food and money by ourselves. Mr. Zhao agrees this matter, Mr. Zhao?"

Chen Dong's face changed color. What Wudi said, "Go and ask for it yourself" sounds nice, but in fact he wanted to rush troops to wash the place. "How can I agree?" he thought to himself.

Zhao Xingde looked as usual and smiled, "The emperor did not send hungry soldiers. If there were no soldiers fighting to the death, the Liao soldiers came over and not only wanted to rob money and food, but also killed my people. This one is also possible. However, I want to add another one. When each department raises funds, you must first find local officials. If the local officials can handle the money and food, you must not harass the people. In addition," his tone condensed, "In fact, at that time, you must not harm the lives of the people, and you must not take the opportunity to insult the female family. Do not wipe out the food in each house, and leave food for the people. If these points cannot be achieved, then Zhao will not be able to accommodate all the heroes."
Chapter completed!