The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

November was approaching. Zhao Qi lived in Lingzhou for more than three months and arranged the military farming matters. In accordance with the promises he made to the archers with the army during the Western Expedition, he allocated fields and pastures for them to be in Ling.

The state has taken root again... In this way, there are two generals of the imperial guards in Lingzhou, including 4,000 cavalrymen; 6,000 train troops, who are responsible for maintaining the daily public security of the territory and suppressing the rebellion.

, combat smuggling and other tasks, and participate in external defense operations when wars occur; in addition, there are tens of thousands of reclamation troops and more than 20 commanding British archers around Lingzhou, which are enough to withstand small-scale invasions of the Western Xia with the natural danger of the Yellow River.

Zhao Qi climbed the pagoda of Longxing Temple and looked out into the fields. The land in front of him was once a vast wilderness, but now it is no longer lonely. The main canal built by his ancestors on the wasteland is like a branch of the Yellow River, and there are channels of leads on this branch.

The canal turns the wasteland into fertile soil with fields and erect castles. They are built around the castle and built up villages. Seeds will be sown here next spring, and autumn will turn golden.

The ocean, in a few years, this hundred-mile wasteland will become a pearl in the south of the Yangtze River outside the Great Wall, and a granary in the northwest of the Song Dynasty!

"Prince, it's time for you to leave!" Jin He, the host of Longxing Temple, looked at the sun and reminded in a low voice.

"Yes, I should leave again. I'll leave you with the matter in Lingzhou. You must keep an eye on Brother Cha. This person is not a peaceful person. Once he has the chance, he will be ready to move!" Zhao Qi turned his head and explained.

.

"I understand, I will never let him succeed!" Jin Hyuk replied respectfully.

"Old Jin, I don't know when I will be together again today. Take care!" Zhao Qi grabbed Jin He's hand and shook it hard. The two of them often talked together for a long time these days, and they got along very well. If it weren't for this, they wouldn't have been a good match.

Lingzhou needs someone like him to take charge, and Zhao Qi really wants to take this old monk back.

"Take care, my subordinates will pray for the prince in front of the Buddha to eliminate disasters and bless the prince!" Jin He tightened his body, but he still resisted his impulse and said with one another.

Zhao Qi stopped talking, patted Jin He and stepped out of the tower, turned over and led the crowd out of the city, officials from Lingzhou were all over the street to send him off, Zhao Zhi had already led the dragon generals outside the city. They would return to Hedong with the prince.

As the return guard, the last loyal and brave army left in Lingzhou area was also evacuated and all were left to the imperial guards and the wing army to defend.

"Prince, all our loyal and brave troops evacuated from Lingzhou area and returned to Taiyuan. The Xia army was no longer afraid. They were ambitions and might invade the territory again!" As he walked along the way, he saw Xi afraid that the prince would catch a cold, so he persuaded him to get in the car.

Zhao Zhi also came up to chat with the prince. For a while, he led his army to confront the Xia army in Lingzhou. He knew that the reason why the Xia army did not dare to invade the territory easily was because of his fear of the loyal and brave army. Now, not only is the Long General stationed in Lingzhou going to leave,

According to the prince's arrangement, the lion generals arranged on the second line and the tiger generals were to evacuate, and he was not without concern.

"No, Xixia is no longer the wolf in the past, now he is a mangy dog!" Zhao Qi said with a smile.

"Prince. No, right? Although Xixia was defeated by us, they still have a rich land in Hexi. After two years of rest and recuperation, they can recover!" Zhao Zhi shook his head and did not believe what the prince said.

"It will take at least seventeen or eighteen years for a person to grow into a warrior who can leap on horseback and bend his bow from the west. We annihilate the 100,000 Xia army's army. 100,000 young people will be strong. How many years will it take to grow?

!” Zhao Qi said leisurely. During the Western Expedition, he understood that it was impossible to destroy a country with his own strength. In order to win time, the battles he launched were all aimed at annihilation of the enemy's living forces.

Due to the sharp decline in population in Xixia, it is difficult to launch a large-scale war.

"Prince. Since you don't want Xixia to be strong, why do you still sell grain to Xixia? Isn't it enough to starve them to death?" Zhao Zhi was still puzzled. The northwest was already in short supply of food, and now the northwest does not even have a winery.

It was accurate to save food, but after winter, the prince sold 50,000 shi of grain to Xixia and promised to sell them 50,000 shi a month until spring began.

"Zhao Zhi, you are managing logistics. How long can 50,000 stones of grain be used for one million people?" Zhao Qi asked.

"Each of us sergeant needs two liters of food a day. Even if we cut it by half, it will only be enough for a million people to eat for five days!" Zhao Zhi quickly came to the result.

"Yes, these foods are only enough for Xixia for five days, which is far from enough to supplement the needs of Xixia. This is only enough for them to survive, they will definitely not be full, but they will definitely not starve to death!" Zhao Qi said with a smile, "Although Xixia has fallen into a depravity,"

If they are hungry, they will jump over the wall. If they are too hungry to survive, they will find another way. First, start a war and plunder neighboring countries. This of course includes our Song Dynasty, and now the attack on Liao is about to be imminent.

Our strategic focus must be moved northward, and if it is restrained by Xixia, it will not be able to escape; second, it is to charge heavy taxes on transit caravans to make up for the shortcomings. Although Xixia also knows that this is drinking poison to quench thirst, he must do it in order to survive. This result is also

It is not what we want to see. The Western Regions trade route that has just been opened has to be re-closed. You know how much the consequences will have on us than I do!”

"Oh, I understand. The prince means that Xixia is not hungry enough to hold on. It saves them from making trouble. We can free up our hands to prepare to deal with the Liao Kingdom!" Zhao Zhi said with a touch of his head.

"Haha, Zhao Zhi, you are in charge of logistics and you should know the importance of economy!" Zhao Qi took out two snacks from the locker in the car and put them in front of him and said, "In fact, the cause of the war is often economic reasons.

It is caused, and the economy can also be used as a form of war. It can also conquer a country and make it your vassal."

"Economic War?" This was the first time Zhao Zhi heard of this new term and was surprised.

"Yes, Xixia is not rich in resources, and all it owns is livestock. He must replace livestock with food, tea, silk, salt, etc. to maintain their daily needs. The countries around him can only satisfy him in our Song Dynasty.

This makes his economy heavily dependent on us, and also gives us tools to check and balance him. If we use it properly, we can control the economic lifeline of the Xixia and affect their political direction, so we have to surrender to us.

!" Zhao Qi handed Zhao Zhi a piece of snack and explained.

"Well, I understand a little bit, just like we bought a large area of ​​salt fields in Yanzhou, and the salt produced accounts for the vast majority of the market, so we have the right to price blue and white salt. Others just want to raise the price.

But we can't do it even if they have it. Now we have controlled the entire northwest salt road and will expand the market to the whole country and even neighboring countries in the future. At that time, we can achieve what we want to achieve by controlling the supply of salt.

Purpose!" Zhao Zhi said suddenly.

There are too many things, I am afraid that it will be possible to gradually and steadily update after May Day. I’m sorry to everyone!