Chapter 378: No Money Printing
Zhao Yulin told the person who came to tell them that the Ministry of War had not yet recruited students to move in, so they would not go and would go after General Miao was ready.
When he arrived at the government office and met Lao Cao, he said that the weather had just turned warmer and the grass in Hengqu Town had just turned green, which was not beautiful at all. Let's go and take a look at Jinguan City, which is almost completed.
Cao Youwen felt like he was tied down and uncomfortable sitting in the city all day discussing official business, and he always wanted to go out for a walk.
When the Minister of Works, Mr. Qiu, heard that they were going to inspect Jinguan City, he immediately led the way. When the two arrived at the scene, they saw that the outer scaffoldings of the houses had all been removed, revealing the new houses.
Mr. Qiu led the two of them to the top of the city wall, and said with a smile that the name chosen by Mr. Li himself was called Chengtian Gate, and it was Mr. Li who asked Mr. Qiao to write the calligraphy in the thin gold style.
Damn it, it’s so complicated to name the gate of Jinguan City. Wouldn’t it be even more troublesome to name the houses inside?
He really wanted to tease Mr. Qiu about whether he had given Mr. Qiao the writing fee, but he kept it to himself. He was afraid that these sour literati would be angry and remember him for the rest of their lives because of a joke from an ancient time.
Standing on the city gate tower and looking at the newly built Jinguan City, the houses and buildings inside are arranged in order from low to high. One-story, two-story, and three-story buildings are gradually laid out, and on both sides are two-story wing rooms of the same height, drawing a central axis from the city gate to the south and north.
The century-old weaving and embroidery workshop that has been preserved is perfectly located on the left rear side. The color after renovation is no different from that of the new house, and there is no sense of disobedience at all.
Zhao Yulin pointed to the city wall next to the weaving and embroidery workshop and said that a door could be opened there to allow common people to come in and out freely to visit the weaving and embroidery workshop, and then some exhibition halls could be built to display all the novel items from various countries collected by the Ministry of Rites for common people to appreciate.
When he thought of the people in charge of cultural relics exhibition halls in later generations who would embezzle precious cultural relics, swap them, sell them for huge profits, or keep them for themselves, he decided to let the people see the relics while they were still there.
Cao Youwen immediately laughed and said, "That's great. Every treasure has a bizarre story. Let's call it the Story Palace, a palace with stories. When it's done, we can charge admission fees like we do with Qingcheng Mountain. In this way, we can also find the money to clean up the pollution in Jinguan City, right?
Fairy Banban, Zhao Yulin almost wanted to discourage him. This is the capital of the New Song Kingdom. How could a king of a country say that he wants to rely on ticket money to clean the capital?
Are you really taking advantage of his honesty by printing more money?
The craftsmen were still working hard, planting trees, building drainage ditches, and installing curbstones. Lao Cao asked Mr. Qiu how long it would take to complete the work.
Mr. Qiu calculated the construction period and told him that it would take at least until the end of the year. Even though the house had been repaired, the miscellaneous ancillary projects were all linked to each other and would delay the construction period.
Zhao Yulin knew the roads in between. If he wanted to plant trees, he had to wait until the location of the tree pits was determined. If he wanted to build roads and pave the road, he had to build sewers first.
Therefore, there is no rush for this construction period.
However, this construction period is generally fast enough.
Because of the support of earth and cement, the craftsmen were able to shorten the construction period for the underground foundation. If it were in the past, it would have taken at least three years to complete.
When they returned to the government office, Li Gong and Zhao Feiyan had already sent the Lin'an delegation away. Li Gong was very unhappy and said that the secret envoy of Shi Xiang was dissatisfied that we only gave Shi Xiang the position of censor, thinking that it was making him unemployed.
Zhao Yulin said it depends on who is doing it?
People who are wholeheartedly devoted to the country and the public do not see it this way. They are working for the country in any position they are in.
Lao Cao nodded and said that Mr. Ding had written three articles for him, which included suggestions on maintaining urban order, academic reform, and compiling classics.
Fan Zhong said that it was the group of people from Lin'an who were bargaining. Don't they understand that the bargaining chips in their hands will become fewer and fewer?
Isn't Jiangnan West Road inviting us to move in?
Lao Cao laughed heartily and said very easily that the building was about to collapse and they were afraid that they would come to negotiate peace again soon.
As they were talking, Si Dongmei from Shunfeng arrived and excitedly said that there was good news from Guangzhou.
Lao Cao took it and laughed heartily before he finished reading it, saying: "Good, very good." The information was quickly circulated among the officials. It turned out that the pacification envoy and the chief of the navy of Fujian Road publicly surrendered to the new Song Dynasty and invited the Shenwei Army of Guangzhou to station there.
All the gentlemen were smiling happily.
Damn it, what the hell is there to talk about?
Lao Cao said happily that in this way Lin'an would only have to guard the land along the way, and see what else they would talk about.
Fan Zhong said solemnly that although it was good for the two routes to annex, our financial burden would be increased. He flicked a secret letter saying that Fujian Road was short of grain and immediately requested 100,000 shi of grain for emergency use.
Lao Cao also showed a conflicted expression on his face. He muttered that it was okay to ask for money, if it was not enough, we could just print some, but what about grain?
Zhao Yulin said this was easy, and immediately sent a message to Zhou Ping, asking his South China Sea fleet to go to Yue, Luzon and Mayi to buy food. If that doesn't work, we can still exchange weapons for food and then send it to Fujian to get it done.
Lao Cao was overjoyed, picking up Zhao Yulin's new term and saying: Done, done, they not only need our weapons, but as long as we say we will exchange weapons for food, they will definitely be eager to empty the granary to exchange for weapons.
He immediately shouted to Dongmei: Quickly send a message to Zhou Ping and let me get it done.
Damn, Lao Cao really put what he learned into practice and got it done right away.
At this time, Cao Youwan and Zhou Ping, the general manager of the Shenwei Army Navy, had already arrived in Fuzhou Prefecture, Fujian Road. After receiving the call, the prefect Li Liang said happily that it was fortunate that the two adults led their troops to arrive in time. He had two deputy generals sent by Zhao Bing who knew that they wanted to surrender to the New Song Dynasty. They led their troops to question him but were blocked outside the city by him, and clamored to break into the city.
It was not until they saw the warships of the Shenwei Army coming in from the water gate continuously, with flags flying on the tall warships, that they realized the situation was hopeless and fled with their troops.
Cao Youwan said that the king's brother and the commander of the Shenwei Army Zhao had military orders to avoid fighting with the army in Lin'an, unless the militia revolted and needed help. All other issues should be resolved through peace talks.
Li Liang immediately said that this was truly the people's army, a benevolent and righteous army, and he could not bear to see the people suffer any harm. However, he wanted to concentrate his troops and march north to drive out the Lin'an army that refused to surrender, otherwise this group of people would continue to harm the people of Fujian.
Cao Youwan was at a loss and immediately discussed the matter with Zhou Ping.
Zhou Ping was very generous and asked the prefect where he wanted to attack? His navy worked closely together. The mission of the South China Sea fleet was to ensure the safety of the South China Sea. The third young master had instructed him to guard Liuqiu and Yizhou, and his mission had not yet been completed.
Li Liang was delighted and immediately made arrangements for mobilizing troops.
Yizhou is Taiwan Island, the treasure island of the motherland. Zhao Yulin even asked him to look after the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, so he will definitely not forget to take back Yizhou.
This guy had just installed red cannons on five large ships and hadn't used them in actual combat yet, so he just seized the opportunity.
Cao Youwen saw that the prefect was determined and Zhou Ping was helping him, so he had to send out 20 mortars to help.
In this way, a mixed army marched northward along the coastline, and cities were quickly opened one after another. The remaining diehards fled to Liangzhe in disgrace with a small number of troops.
In the Lin'an Palace, the weather was good with flowers blooming and fragrance everywhere. Zhao Bing was having fun with his two concubines, when he suddenly heard the eunuch outside the palace screaming like he was being chased by a giant snake: "Your Majesty, it's bad. Jiangnan West Road and Fujian are gone."
Zhao Bing was concentrating all his energy on a concubine and didn't care about the life and death of the little eunuch. When he shouted again: Your Majesty, it's over, Jiangnanxi and Fujian rebelled and have surrendered to the new Song Dynasty.
Zhao Bing finally heard clearly that his two territories were lost, and he immediately collapsed on his concubine, just like a child playing with a hydrogen balloon being pricked by a needle.
After he regained consciousness, he hastily put on his dragon robe and urgently ordered his ministers to attend the court meeting.
The militia in the western part of Jiangnan rebelled, and the people in Fujian openly surrendered to the New Song Dynasty. Shi's son had already received the news, and he was also very shocked. If he had not taken advantage of the sudden turn for the worse, the small court in Lin'an would have been on the verge of collapse.
This guy was very grateful that he had foresight and had contacted Chengdu in advance to express his attitude. Otherwise, if someone else in Lin'an acted as a guide and led the Shenwei Army to station there, he would be dead without a burial place.
Shi's son still had a bottom line. He could secretly sell out the interests of the Song people, but that was just to keep his seat as prime minister, which allowed him to enslave the people. But if he was asked to publicly surrender to the Mongols, he would never do it. He also wanted to leave behind a good reputation as a loyal and good minister of the Song Dynasty that would last forever.
Zhao Bing leaned forward, stretched his neck and asked him: What should we do if Jiangnan West Road and Fujian Road defected to the New Song Dynasty and rebelled?
Shi's son said that this was called officials forcing the people to rebel. We have been increasing taxes on the people over the years, and both the rich and the common people can no longer bear it. This year is even worse, and people who have starved to death or frozen to death can be seen everywhere on the streets of Lin'an city.
It doesn't matter whether these two routes go to the New Song Dynasty. I heard recently that Princess Feiyan has become the vice-king. She will definitely sympathize with the suffering of the people and transport food and silver to help them tide over the difficulties.
Zhao Bing immediately looked at Shi's son with strange eyes.
Normally, whenever this guy talks about New Song, he starts by cursing Zhao Qier. Why did he change his name today ?
What surprised him especially was that she called out the name of Princess Feiyan in a very affectionate manner. Zhao Feiyan was Zhao Yulin's wife, which meant that they were a member of the same family that had a grudge against him.
Zhao Bing was annoyed and waved his hand and asked him what to do now.
Shi's son said helplessly that the diplomatic mission just sent out had not yet produced any results, and now half of the militia had already defected to the New Song Dynasty. The current plan was to quickly strengthen the border defense, deliver the army's food and wages, and stabilize the morale of the army.
Otherwise, if there is another mutiny, we will have no choice but to defend the isolated city of Lin'an.
A minister proposed to immediately transfer Yu Jie back to fight for territory with the Shenwei Army, but Shi's son rejected it immediately. He said that regardless of whether Yu Jie came or not, he would not be able to defeat the Shenwei Army even if he came.
You probably don't know this yet, but according to a secret report from the Imperial City Department, the New Song Dynasty secretly transported grain and silver to Yu Jie last year. Yu Jie received half of the New Song Dynasty's military pay. The generals all carried the New Song Dynasty's new currency and ate the grain transported by the New Song Dynasty's navy. Would they still fight hard against the Shenwei Army?
