Chapter 430: Seizing the Liangzhou

Restoring the ancient ways—although what is being proposed now is the "martial" of the ancient ways, on the basis of restoring martial arts, it is inevitable to restore the literary, which is inevitable. Because once this person gathers a group of scholars and achieves the restoration of martial arts, and has a certain influence, then the next step is to obtain the right to reinterpret the classics, thereby opening another Confucian school, establishing a Confucian sect, stating his political propositions, seeking political opportunities, entering the officialdom to form a party, and then forming cliques to exclude others—this is a normal process.

The problem is not that there is none. If the one who proposes "restoring the ancient ways" is a great Confucian, then Zhao Ji would certainly not tell it to Wang Yan like a joke. Because the influence of a great Confucian is not a joke. They have friends in high positions, disciples who are minor officials, and other like-minded Confucian elders. They have already mastered the right to interpret the classics, and the influence from top to bottom is much greater than from bottom to top.

And now, the concept of "restoring the ancient ways" is proposed by only a failed scholar, just like Wang Yan, only a scholar who passed the prefectural examination—then the problem is big. Because he did not enter the officialdom through the imperial examination and did not prove his ability. And great Confucians are all those who didn't do well as officials, were forced by the officialdom, and returned home to seek education. Now, such a player who is nothing proposes such a concept and wants to have a Confucian internal reform, or wants to split another school from Confucianism—it is ridiculous, a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating one's own strength.

On the other hand, the Zhao Song Dynasty has abolished martial arts. Now someone wants to engage in the restoration of ancient ways by scholars, wanting to raise swords and mount horses to kill enemies—this is digging up the roots of the Zhao family. If the Confucian scholars who cannot fight are already so fierce, what will they be like if they can fight? It is said that scholars rebelling cannot succeed in ten years. Now scholars are practicing martial arts, and scholars want to fight wars. In this way, not only can they enter the officialdom, but they can also join the army. And the scholars of the "restoration of ancient ways" faction joining the army is obviously not the "thief-matched army," and to a certain extent, it raises the status of the army that has been suppressed for nearly a hundred years. Even if it is still suppressed, the situation is obviously different.

If a great Confucian were to lead the restoration of ancient ways, it would be strange if Zhao Ji could sleep.

Taking a sip of tea, the Great Official gently put down the teacup: "Your Majesty, your subject thinks that this person's heart is indeed good, but it is inevitably a bit naive. First, he failed the imperial examination and couldn't even be an official, yet he wants to learn from great Confucians to propose propositions—it is hard to succeed. Second, the learning of Confucianism, after the annotation and research of great Confucians through the ages, the books of sages are read thicker and thicker. Where do the scholars have the energy to practice martial arts and strengthen their bodies?"

"Third, the so-called 'poor literary, rich martial'—many scholars from poor families cannot succeed even if they break their homes to study. Now they have to be distracted to practice martial arts, and practicing martial arts is the most harmful to the body. Without money to buy medicinal materials and without being able to eat meat at every meal, it will hurt the body's vitality over time, and martial arts will be difficult to improve."

"Moreover, the battlefield is dangerous. They are shouting happily now, but they are all delicate and tender, unable to carry on their shoulders or lift with their hands, and have no strength to tie up a chicken. Once they reach the battlefield, how many of them can return alive is a problem. If they can't even survive, where can they restore the ancient ways?"

Zhao Ji looked Wang Yan up and down and laughed loudly: "I think you are the best leader for this restoration of ancient ways. My imperial guards have been changed twice in the past few years, and you have fought all of them, and you haven't fallen behind in the classics, and your reputation is resounding throughout the Great Song. If it were you, this restoration of ancient ways might really succeed."

"Your Majesty is joking. Your subject is just a small merchant, how can I have such great ability."

"A small merchant? If the Great Song had a few more small merchants like you, I could wake up laughing in my dreams." Zhao Ji laughed for a while, then suddenly frowned: "Xu Ziyan, speaking of this business, I remember that in the first year you earned me more than six hundred thousand guan, in the second year, you earned me eight hundred thousand guan, why is it still eight hundred thousand guan this year, with no growth? Is there a problem?"

The Great Official wanted to stand up in fear. Seeing Zhao Ji wave his hand, he sat straight, occupying a small part of the seat and bowing: "Your Majesty, after nearly four years of development, the people in our Great Song who can afford the goods produced by your subject have all bought them. It is the consumption ability of our Great Song. It has reached this point now, and it is the limit. Although there are still some fresh things produced, your subject's stall is getting bigger and bigger, and the people raised are getting more and more. In this way, it is not easy to stabilize at around one million guan."

"What is consumption ability?"

"That is, how much money our Great Song people can spend." Wang Yan pondered: "Your Majesty, just like this cup of tea. The money our Great Song people earn from working, farming, doing business, etc., in a year is this cup of tea. After removing the living needs such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt, after removing these, the money left to buy the things sold by your subject is just this much."

While speaking, he took a sip of tea and compared the remaining tea in the teacup to Zhao Ji: "These are what your subject can earn for Your Majesty. This tea water is accumulated one cup a year, so what your subject can earn every year is just this much."

This was not a difficult thing to understand. Zhao Ji understood. He was silent for a while and said: "How can we make the tea in the cup more? And how can we make the teacup bigger?"

"Your Majesty is a holy monarch of the generation, with countless capable ministers and good generals. Your subject is incompetent, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"You..." Zhao Ji reached out and pointed at Wang Yan, shook his head and smiled: "Then what do you think should be done about those scholars who want to restore the ancient ways?"

"A mob, hard to become a climate. They don't want to go to the battlefield to serve the country, and they have even organized a group of people. Your Majesty, just let them go. I think they will be honest after fighting two battles. However, when they reach the battlefield, we must pay attention and not let them die in vain. Our Great Song treats scholars well. If they really become small soldiers to charge, it will damage Your Majesty's holy name."

"What Xu Ziyan said is very true. I also think so, so let's do it. Let's see what great things these scholars who want to restore the ancient ways can do."

Zhao Ji laughed loudly, feeling it was quite interesting.

After playing with Zhao Ji for a while and eating a meal, the Great Official left the Imperial City and once again took his two long attendants to wander on the prosperous streets of Bianjing. In a few days, it would be the annual Lantern Festival, and the liveliness on the street remained unchanged, still without any worries.

Wandering like this, he found a restaurant to eat snacks in the evening, and then returned to the mansion Zhao Ji had bestowed upon him.

He couldn't send the money of several hundred thousand guan every year for nothing, and Zhao Ji didn't want him to be an official, so he sent rewards without money every year. This mansion was bestowed at the end of the year, giving him a place to stay in Bianjing, so he wouldn't always have to stay in an inn. In addition, his scattered official rank had also been successfully promoted, and he was now a Cavalry General of the Fifth Rank. According to this promotion, there was hope to reach the top, the General of the Cavalry, and maybe he could get a title or something. After all, it would be really bad if the General of the Cavalry was not matched with a high title.

Thinking of the interesting parts, the Great Official shook his head and smiled, sitting at the wide desk and picking up a pen to write a letter.

"Mingyuan, the restoration of ancient ways, His Majesty already knows..."

There was no other transmigrator in this world. If there were, the Great Official would have made a fortune by creating things, and it would be impossible not to attract a fellow villager. And on the other hand, he had been mixed for several hundred years, and he hadn't seen one, nor had he heard any news from the living father.

Therefore, this "restoration" affair naturally originated from the Master's hand. The man who went around shouting while brandishing a sword was someone he had supported, named Li Tu, courtesy name Mingyuan, a classmate of the old steward's son. He was burly and naturally strong, with his heart set on the imperial examinations, yet he had no hope of success. Thus, Wang Yan sent someone to meet him and chat, and later taught him martial arts, which led to today's events.

This could be considered a leisure move, mainly to summon a group of hot-blooded scholars. Whether these people could be used greatly was unknown; after all, they were hot-blooded as soon as they were fooled, which was still a bit lacking. But if they were used slightly, there was no problem. These people would be very executive.

On the other hand, he certainly still wanted to oppose Confucianism and beat the Kong family. The title of Duke Yansheng was added by Renzong, and the Kong family played both sides, engaging in what Southern Sect and Northern Sect, which was also from this time.

Now engaging in the restoration of ancient ways, he hoped to use this to set off a cultural movement, so as to achieve comprehensive progress in culture, art, politics, economy, etc., and reach a new peak.

Of course, to do these things, it was not something that a group of silly boys led by Li Tu could do. But it didn't matter; he would help them. At the same time, wanting a cultural movement also lacked a stable social environment and a certain economic foundation support. These were all things that he, Wang Mou, had to do.

He was the one who made white paper, letting people of this era smear it as they pleased.

After writing the letter, he handed it to his subordinates to send it secretly through channels. In the big mansion, he read books leisurely until late at night, and then climbed over the wall to steal fragrance as usual.

Speaking of which, the mansion Zhao Ji gave him also facilitated his actions. The Yuxiang Building was not far outside the Xihua Gate, and his house was also near there, so it was even closer. From this point of view, Zhao Ji was a good person...

In the darkness, Li Shishi, who was only wearing a bellyband, opened her bright big eyes and looked at the newly modified glass window on the south side, remaining silent until the window creaked, and then a tall figure appeared there, blocking the faint light coming through the darkness.

She sat up happily, ignoring the shapely curves exposed to the air. No longer clutching the quilt tightly with both hands as she had in the past, her voice held the excitement of a young woman waiting for her lover: "You've come..."

The Great Official gave a hum. After closing the window, he walked to the door very skillfully, opened the door to make the little maid outside sleep soundly, and then closed the door, entered the room, took off his clothes, and got into bed.

Lu Zhishen spat: "Damn, the Great Official really dares to think and do. I have never dreamed that someone would dare to start an uprising in the Liao Kingdom, and I was the one charging at the front."

Yang Zhi, who was carrying a knife on the side, rarely showed a smile on his worried face: "The Great Official has strategies in his chest, good plans in his belly, and the ambition to swallow the world in his heart. This is also good. Yang Zhi has lived until now and has never dared to think of restoring the glory of the Yang family ancestors, only seeking not to disgrace the style of the Yang family. Now following the Great Official, even if I cannot restore the Yang family's lintel, I can still accomplish a great thing magnificently, which is better than being bullied by pigs and dogs in the Great Song."

"I don't think so much. I only know that the Great Official has great ambitions, can accomplish great things, and treats me well, so what does it matter if I risk this life?" While speaking, seeing the firelight flickering in the darkness in the distance, Lu Zhishen adjusted the armor on his body, moved his body, picked up his Zen staff, and walked away without another word: "Follow."

Following his words, the sound of armor plates shaking sounded. In the darkness behind, soldiers armed with shiny light armor and holding infantry pikes stood up, and followed Lu Zhishen and Yang Zhi in front, running with neat steps.

There was chaos in the north, so all the towns in the south also strengthened their defenses, but it was obvious that this defense was useless.

Lu Zhishen and others marched to the city, looked at the wide-open city gate, glanced at the two characters "Fu County" written above the city gate, laughed, and walked straight into the city without stopping. The team behind divided troops in an orderly manner, quickly occupied the key points of city defense according to the predetermined plan, and some people went straight to the homes of various officials.

At the same time, in the two counties of Brother Lao Su and Huaihua in Suzhou, as well as several other county towns, such operations were carried out simultaneously.

It was already very clear what happened. Taking advantage of the Jin Kingdom beating the Liao Kingdom, Wang Yan's people in the Liao Kingdom's Suzhou also took action. And once they moved, they took down both Suzhou and Fuzhou. This territory, according to the modern map, was all the administrative areas south of Wafangdian, Dalian.

The Great Song couldn't beat the Liao Kingdom, but Wang Yan could. This was the crushing of training, logistics, weapons, and even the ideology of the soldiers. Although they hadn't been through battle formations, under good training, they could guarantee not to retreat. As long as they didn't retreat, they would become stronger the more they fought.

Especially now, it was a heaven-sent opportunity. By comparison, Suzhou and Fuzhou had few people and were not important, but Wanyan Aguda was different. They occupied a lot of plain areas, whether it was land resources or population resources, which were not comparable to a peninsula. Therefore, the main target of the Liao Kingdom was still Wanyan Aguda. As for Wang Yan's influence, it was likely that they would send troops to test it and see the strength. As for the Jin Kingdom, obviously they wouldn't make things difficult for Wang Yan. First, they wanted to do business, and second, that mountainous island was indeed not important, so it wasn't worth fighting to the death.

Even if it didn't develop according to Wang Yan's expectations, and the Liao Kingdom or the Jin Kingdom targeted him, he could still hold his current basic foundation. After all, he had developed for so many years, and a lot of money and resources had been thrown in, not for nothing. Now he had two thousand Mo Dao soldiers and eight thousand archer infantry. Fighting the motley crew of the Liao Kingdom, and it was a defensive battle, he was not afraid of thirty or fifty thousand troops. If he fought the Jin Kingdom, he was also not afraid. After all, the Jin Kingdom was strong in cavalry. Apart from that, they were backward in soldier quality and weapons. As long as it was not a field battle, there was no problem.

And if he defended the city, he had a fleet, starting directly from Dengzhou, and the logistics supply would absolutely not be lacking. After all, he could give Zhao Ji eight hundred thousand guan a year, and the remaining was naturally more. Zhao Ji used it to build his Your Majesty Mountain, but he used it to dig the foot of the mountain.

This didn't even count the Jin army's love for slaughter, and the Liao Kingdom's heavy taxes were the same, and there were many Han people among the Liao Kingdom's commoners. His influence held firm in Suzhou and Fuzhou, and Great Official Wang had always loved the people, so it was a paradise in the hearts of the Liao Kingdom's people. In this way, the enemy would weaken and he would grow, naturally growing stronger day by day. Just grinding like this, year after year, could also grind them to death.

Of course, his influence here was hidden. In name, the leader of this influence was Lu Zhishen. And the transportation channel was also very stable and safe. After these years, the northern part of Shandong and the Hebei region he had thought of before were all opened up, and no one would talk too much. They didn't even know that Wang Yan had a relationship with Suzhou; at most, it was just business dealings.

But regarding business dealings, Wang Yan had dealings with Western Xia, Liao Kingdom, Tubo, Dali, Goryeo, Japan, etc., and even during the ongoing Song-Xia war, Wang Yan dared to do business with Western Xia, which Zhao Ji knew, so there was no problem at all.

The most critical thing was that even if these people knew about Suzhou and knew that it was Wang Yan behind it, they wouldn't dare to talk nonsense at that time. A fierce man who dared to occupy territory abroad, especially inside the Liao Kingdom, which the Great Song had paid tribute to for decades, with an army of ten thousand people—they were all afraid. After all, there were ten thousand people abroad, and such a conspirator had such a layout in the country—what kind of arrangement must it be? They were all smart people. The smarter the people, the more they thought, and the more they thought, the more afraid they were.

Once they discovered what Wang Yan was doing, they should know how deep the water was. They didn't know whether it was good or bad to point out this mine. If the Great Song could destroy Wang Yan, then everything would be easy to say. If it couldn't be destroyed, if it took a long time to destroy, then it would be a problem. After all, some bandits had been entrenched on the mountain for several years and couldn't be solved. Like a conspirator like Wang Yan, how could he be easy to deal with? If they were to die, they must be the ones to die first, and it must be a very miserable one.

The action of seizing Suzhou and Fuzhou was very smooth. After all, the defensive strength here was not very strong, and they had been operating here for three years. Officials, garrison troops, and wealthy households had all been in contact. If it didn't succeed, it would be unreasonable.

In just one night, without wasting a single soldier or a single arrow, the two prefectures of Suzhou and Fuzhou changed hands. Even the ordinary people in the city didn't feel it, let alone the news spreading out. Wang Yan did it absolutely; those who didn't cooperate all got sick, and those who cooperated appeared under surveillance and began to implement the new policy according to his previous instructions. Including tax reform, currency, construction, etc., it wouldn't be long before this would be another world.

As for when the news of the two prefectures changing hands would spread, it didn't matter. Anyway, he would hide it as long as he could.

Lu Zhishen sat on the city wall with no interest, watching the people coming in and out without feeling anything, raised his wine gourd and took a sip of strong wine, shook his head and said: "I thought there would be a big battle here. I didn't expect that I just hacked a stupid fellow who didn't open his eyes. It's really boring, boring..."

Looking at Yang Zhi, who was smiling and shaking his head, Wang Rongchun smiled and said: "It's a good thing to have fewer battles. Master, if we can be like this in the future, we will be too happy to be too late. But it is ultimately a luxury. Master, don't be impatient. Now that we have taken the two prefectures, the Liao Kingdom will certainly send troops to seize them. At that time, even if you don't want to fight, you will have to."

"Don't want to fight? I have been idle for three years and am almost useless. Now that I have the opportunity to display my skills, I hate that I can't kill through the Liao Kingdom."

"Don't worry, Master, there will be such a day sooner or later. Killing through the Liao Kingdom is nothing; if you want to kill, kill to the end of the world. I heard that there are barbarian countries to the west of the Western Regions. If we can fight there and spread our teachings, we will not live in vain."

"Haha, I don't care about that much. The Great Official tells me where to fight, and I will fight where. Now I only hope that the Liao dogs are stronger, so I don't have to kill them uncomfortably."

The three of them laughed heartily. In the past, they were depressed and suppressed for the sake of great things. Now that they broke out, they felt that the vast world had great things to do, and they were very heroic...

Compared to their excitement, the Great Official looked at the letter, threw it into the small stove burning hot water to burn it, waved his hand to disperse the smell, walked into the main house, and lay comfortably on the lounge chair in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding his second son in one hand and his eldest daughter in the other, letting his eldest son climb on him, occasionally shaking the lounge chair hard, leisurely sunbathing.

Living to his age, money is like dung, power is like floating clouds, and there are really few things that can cause his emotions to fluctuate greatly. If he could still stand up and still love beauties, he could really be considered a saint in the world.

It was another winter day. The little maid sat on the side reading books seriously, San Niang was drowsy listening to the book on the side, Jin Lian was making clothes that couldn't be finished, and sewing shoes that couldn't be finished, occasionally looking at the harmonious scene under the window, feeling happy.

The Great Official narrowed his eyes, stroking the children, and went over the current situation in his mind.

His advice to Zhao Ji to destroy Western Xia first and then go north had become a good plan that Zhao Ji thought of himself. He discussed it with several ministers and decided to discuss it later. Because the current situation of Liao and Jin was unclear, and the war against Western Xia was protracted, there were many variables. But at the same time, he also ordered to increase troops to Western Xia, and let Tong Guan, Zhong Shidao, and others increase their efforts to destroy the country and destroy its clan as the final goal, and fight hard.

Originally, this Song-Xia war lasted for nearly five years. In the end, Western Xia was defeated and begged for surrender. Only then did the Great Song turn its spearhead and follow the Jin Kingdom to fight the Liao Kingdom, and was beaten by the Liao Kingdom, destroying the Liao Kingdom, and then there was Tong Guan's million-guan ransom for the empty city and being crowned king.

Now because of his reasons, first, there were many troops, and second, Zhao Ji's mind had already changed, which might change the situation. The time was long, there were many variables, and the final result depended on how to fight.

However, Dong Ping, who had been transferred under the command of the Zhong family in the Western Army, had indeed made a name for himself through battle. When he left, he was only a commander leading five hundred men. After this series of battles, combined with his "Dong the Crasher" style of daring to fight and charge, and counting the Master's help in clearing the way from behind, he had risen directly to become a Military Regional Commander leading twenty-five hundred men, with his authority greatly increased. He even sent a letter flattering the Master, and between the lines, one could see that his resentment had vanished. After all, he had been moved away, and Wu Song had been pushed to a higher position; it was understandable.

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And Wu Song, this direct descendant, was naturally much smoother than Dong Ping. Although they were both military commanders, Wu Song led three armies, seven thousand five hundred combat soldiers, which was one-third of the Imperial Guards stationed in the Jingdong West Circuit. At this point, he could not be promoted anymore. The entire Great Song knew that Wu Song was the top card under Wang Yan, and it would be too much if he were higher.

As for the protagonist of this world, the "Call for Righteousness," "Timely Rain" Song Jiang, this filial and righteous black third son, successfully inscribed a rebellious poem last year: "My heart is in Shandong, my body is in Wu, drifting like duckweed in the river and sea, sighing in vain. If I achieve my ambition in the future, I dare to laugh at Huang Chao for not being a husband." Through the rescue of the Liang Shan people, he wrote himself onto Liang Shan.

Now he had become the second-in-command of Liang Shan, raised the banner of "Acting on Behalf of Heaven," and recruited so-called heroes to conspire for great things.

Unsurprisingly, the Great Official finally had his first intersection with Song Jiang... ===== CHAPTER 431 =====