Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 281 Installing the bones of the car (1)

End of December.

Pingyang.

A light snow fell the day before yesterday, and the slightly warmer weather quickly turned cold again.

In the old days, those who owed rent or other debts had to pay them off before the Lunar New Year, like passing a hurdle; hence, the Lunar New Year was also called the "New Year's Pass." For ordinary people, the Lunar New Year was not actually a happy occasion.

However, this year is an exception.

The newly appointed governor, Song Yan, eliminated 133 officials in Pingyang City and also massacred hundreds of scholars at Xilin Academy. A large portion of the land in Pingyang Prefecture was concentrated in the hands of these officials and scholars.

And the Huang family too.

When these people die, the creditors are gone too.

With a wave of his hand, the governor converted all these farmlands into private property for the farmers. From then on, these tenant farmers became independent farmers and no longer needed to pay a large sum of rent in addition to the national grain tax. Even the other landlords who had not offended the governor knew that he was a decisive and ruthless man who could not stand the oppression of the people. Without any orders from the governor's office, they all voluntarily lowered their rents under Zhang Gong's leadership.

There was finally some hope for the future.

Therefore, although the year was filled with hardship, there were still some smiles on the faces of the people.

Perhaps someone will curse him behind his back, and might even make a little doll with Song Yan's name written on it, pricking it with a needle every day in the hope of cursing Song Yan to death, but in the end, nothing can be changed.

Perhaps to express their gratitude to the good official who had finally appeared in Pingyang Prefecture, farmers and hunters began to appear at the governor's mansion in recent days, most of them carrying things. Even though Song Yan posted a notice stating that he would not accept gifts... it wasn't that Song Yan was putting on an act, but simply that he felt that ordinary people could not possibly have much money to offer, and even if he squeezed them dry, he wouldn't be able to extract two taels of silver.

In comparison, confiscating property is the right way to get rich.

With 133 officials and the Huang family, that's several million taels of silver in revenue.

The Kong family also had approximately five million taels of silver.

Compared to these, making money from ordinary people even made Song Yan feel ashamed.

This behavior, however, brought tears to the eyes of ordinary people. For the first time in so many years, they had encountered an official who refused to accept gifts. As a result, they showered the officials with gifts even more enthusiastically. Even when the gatekeepers tried to stop them, they would simply leave the gifts at the gate and turn away, never to be called back. The gifts were mostly things like eggs, old hens, snow rabbits, and roe deer—not worth much money, but still extremely valuable items in ordinary households.

Perhaps these things are all natural, because even when Song Yan ate them, he found them exceptionally sweet.

When Zhang Gong arrived at the governor's mansion, this was the scene he saw: Gu Banxia, ​​Kong Chan, and several other maids were picking up the eggs and game pieces from the ground, their arms full of food. They had already stored a lot of these things at home, and they could hardly finish them all.

By next spring, it will probably spoil. I'll have to get some salt and pickle it to keep it for a little longer.

Hearing the panting sounds, Gu Banxia looked up and saw Zhang Gong standing in front of the governor's mansion, leaning on his cane and breathing heavily. Gu Banxia was a little worried, afraid that the old man might not be able to catch his breath: "Zhang Gong, is there something important that you need to do? You could have just sent a servant to tell him. Why did you have to come here in person?"

She handed the things in her arms to another maid, then walked up to Zhang Gong. Seeing that Zhang Gong's legs were trembling, she finally took his arm. She glanced around and didn't see Zhang Yan. She figured that something really important must have happened, that he couldn't even take his granddaughter with him.

With Gu Banxia's help, they finally arrived at the backyard of the governor's mansion, where they saw Song Yan holding a blue-covered book and reading it carefully. Upon seeing that it was Lord Zhang who had come to visit, he put the book away. It was the book "Treading Snow Without Leaving a Trace".

Lightness of body technique.

Although he had been studying this manual for some time, practicing lightness skill was more troublesome than internal skill. Even after so much time had passed, he had not even reached the basics.

"Master Zhang, why are you here to celebrate the New Year instead of staying at home? Is there something you need?" Song Yan said with a smile, his tone and attitude much better than before.

This old man is very pragmatic. For many days now, no matter what new policies Song Yan implements in Pingyang Prefecture, Zhang Ci has always led the entire Zhang family to be the first to stand up and support them, even if these policies may harm the interests of the Zhang family, he has not hesitated at all.

call.

Only at this moment did Zhang Ci finally breathe a long sigh of relief, finally calming down. He then quickly stepped forward, first bowing to Song Yan, before saying, "Your Excellency, there's movement from the Jurchens."

The smile on Song Yan's face quickly disappeared, and she waved to invite Zhang Ci to sit down.

Gu Banxia also prepared some light tea.

After Zhang Ci took a sip, Song Yan asked, "Did the caravan bring back any news?"

Reluctantly setting down the teacup, Zhang Ci had only ever seen this strange method of tea preparation at the governor's mansion. He had to admit, the tea, slightly bitter yet fragrant, was truly excellent. It was a pity he didn't know how the tea was processed. If he could master the manufacturing process, the profits might even surpass those from the Jurchen trade routes. He had previously tried steeping the tea leaves directly in boiling water, but it was bitter and astringent, almost like Chinese medicine.
"The master instructed us beforehand that the caravan should gather intelligence among the Jurchen tribes, to know the relationships between the different Jurchen tribes, and to draw up maps."

"So I arranged for several reliable people to infiltrate the caravan. They were gone for only a few days, but they sent back some extremely important intelligence."

After taking another sip of tea, Zhang Gong said, "According to intelligence, the Jurchen royal court seems to be preparing to take action against the Anchegu tribe."

Song Yan was somewhat shocked.

He had guessed that the Jurchens might be planning to raid southwards during the year-end season, but he never expected that it would actually be an internal conflict among the Jurchens.

Anchegu tribe was one of the seven major tribes of the Jurchen people.

Has the Great Khan of the Jurchen court gone mad to attack one of his own seven tribes? Even if he wins, he will likely suffer heavy losses. What benefit could he possibly gain?
"Is the news reliable?"

“Absolutely reliable.” Zhang Gong said with certainty, “The people I’ve placed here are all my grandsons, my own flesh and blood, my direct descendants. They would never dare to lie to this old man.”

Song Yan was stunned once again. This Lord Zhang was indeed capable of great things. Knowing that the Jurchens were in danger, he still sent his own grandson there. If there were any gains, it would be a great achievement for the Zhang family. If his grandson were to be harmed, he, as the governor, would probably have to remember the favor the Zhang family had done for him.

Song Yan gradually calmed down, her fingers stroking the teacup: "How exactly do you mean it?"

“This time, the caravan bypassed the Anchegu tribe and went directly to the Baishan tribe, the Mohe tribe, and some small tribes. Almost every tribe had very few able-bodied men left.” Zhang Gong explained slowly, “After careful inquiry, we learned that nearly half of the able-bodied men in each tribe had been conscripted by the royal court.”

"And the target of the Great Khan Wanyan Guangzhi should be the Anche bone area."

"It is said that the Anchegu and Funie tribes had long been dissatisfied with the Wuji tribe becoming the royal court and Wanyan Guangzhi becoming the Great Jilie Khan. They had always outwardly complied with the Great Jilie Khan's royal decrees but inwardly defied them. Because the Wugulun tribe wanted to submit to the royal court, remove their tribal title, and completely integrate into the Wuji, the two major tribes exterminated the Wugulun tribe last month."

"Of the entire 20,000 people in the Wugulun tribe, not a single one survived."

“The tribe’s food supplies were emptied by the Anchegu and Funie tribes, and even the clothes and swords on the corpses were taken away.”

"Wanyan Guangzhi is furious and is preparing to strangle Anchegu!"

As he spoke, Zhang Gong's face was full of admiration. He had lived for more than seventy years and rarely admired anyone, but the young man in front of him was definitely one of them.

His wisdom and strategy are unparalleled, and his plans are flawless!
Although he was in Pingyang, he controlled the entire situation of the Jurchen people, truly a master strategist who could win battles from afar.

When the governor destroyed the Wugulun tribe, he probably already foresaw the current internal strife among the Jurchens and wanted to reap the benefits.

Otherwise, with the end of the year approaching, why would the black-armored soldiers in Pingyang Prefecture be training day and night, always ready to fight?
Why did he specifically instruct himself to have the caravan gather intelligence on the relationships between the Jurchen tribes? Clearly, it was all in preparation for war.

That's incredibly powerful, incredibly terrifying.

With Song Yan guarding Pingyang, let alone the Jurchens, even if Silla, Baekje, or the Xiongnu were added, they probably wouldn't be able to breach the border of Pingyang.

Song Yan seemed to have choked on the tea and suddenly started coughing, his face turning a slightly guilty flush.

Good heavens, how did this blame end up on Anchegu and Funiebu?

Did this even trigger internal strife among the Jurchens?

This really wasn't his arrangement. If he said it was purely luck, would this old man believe him? Looking at Zhang Gong's cloudy yet fanatical eyes, Song Yan dismissed the idea. Even if he denied it, Zhang Gong might take it as modesty. "Ahem, what happened next?"

“Wanyan Guangzhi is an ambitious man who wants to unify all the Jurchen tribes. Now, his tribe, which wanted to join him, has been wiped out. If justice cannot be served, this unification will ultimately be nothing but a mirage. Even if Wanyan Guangzhi does not want to cause internal strife among the Jurchens, he has no choice but to do this.”

"He probably wanted to make an example of them. The Anchegu tribe was the chicken that was killed, and the Funie tribe was the monkey that was warned, since the Funie tribe was more powerful than the Anchegu tribe."

"The Jurchens are just barbarians, and most of their weapons are crude. Although they are skilled in archery, most of their arrows are made of bone, which have very limited killing power against the armored soldiers of Ningguo. As for their weapons, they are even more dilapidated. In most tribes, iron weapons are extremely precious. Decades or even just a few decades ago, their weapons were mostly bronze, which is very primitive. However, the Wuji tribe has 50,000 elite cavalry."

"These 50,000 men are all clad in iron armor and wield iron swords. No one on the Haixi Grassland can stop them. Although they are from seven tribes, even if the remaining six tribes unite, they may not be a match for the Wuji tribe. In addition, there are 50,000 archers, also clad in light iron armor, and even their arrows have changed from bone arrows to iron arrows."

"And this is only a part of the royal court. If we prepare for war with all our might, this number can at least double."

"Therefore, no one dared to refuse Wanyan Guangzhi's order, fearing that they would become the next Anchegu tribe."

These specific figures are intelligence gathered by the caravan. They may not be entirely accurate, but they at least give Song Yan a general understanding of the Jurchen situation.

Song Yan tapped his knuckles lightly on the table: "Since the royal court is so powerful, why bother recruiting members from other tribes?"

“I think there are roughly two reasons…” Zhang Gong thought for a moment: “On the one hand, we don’t want the royal court to suffer too much loss. After all, Anchegu is one of the seven major tribes. Although it is only at the bottom, it can still muster 50,000 brave warriors. If we fight to the death, even if the royal court has the advantage, we will inevitably suffer losses.”

"If the Anchegu tribe is destroyed, resulting in severe losses for the royal court and the loss of control over other tribes, it would be a net loss. In this case, conscripting soldiers from other tribes would be the best option. Even if someone has to die, let the people from other tribes go first."

"As for the second one, it's probably showing off military power."

"Let the soldiers of other tribes see the powerful military equipment of the royal court, thereby dispelling their thoughts of resistance and making it easier for Wanyan Guangzhi to unify the Jurchens."

Song Yan nodded. Although Zhang Gong didn't understand military affairs, there were some similarities between the business world and the battlefield, and this analysis was quite reasonable.

"Does Lord Zhang know how many people the royal court can mobilize this time?"

"Based on the intelligence we have, the royal court should be able to mobilize 50,000 soldiers, and the other tribes together should be able to gather 100,000, for a total of about 150,000," Zhang Gong replied after thinking for a moment.

150,000.

Song Yan let out a long sigh.

This is not all.

If it weren't for the high walls protecting the Pingyang border, it would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to stop the Jurchen army.

"Do you know their exact timing of the operation?" Song Yan licked his lips, his expression strangely bloodthirsty.

"The troop assembly is nearing completion, and it should be in the next few days, perhaps on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day."

Song Yan chuckled. "He certainly knows how to pick his timing."

That Wanyan Guangzhi is truly a scoundrel; he's determined not to let him have a good New Year. Song Yan took a breath and stood up: "Don't worry, Lord Zhang, the Zhang family has done a great service this time. If everything goes smoothly, the Zhang family will certainly receive credit when it comes to the awarding of titles."

Zhang Ci was overjoyed.

Organizing caravans and gathering intelligence—isn't that all for this purpose?

"Banxia, ​​please go to the barracks and inform Generals Lei Yi and Zhang Zhen that from today onwards, all soldiers, whether they are black-armored soldiers or garrison soldiers, must have extra meals. They must not eat coarse grains, but rice and white flour, and each person must be guaranteed two catties of meat per day."

This is the most basic rule.

Before soldiers prepare for battle, they usually prepare food, partly to ensure their physical strength and partly to boost morale.

It's only because Pingyang is currently experiencing a shortage of supplies that the number would be even higher.

During the early Tang Dynasty, soldiers would usually prepare several kilograms of beef and mutton before going to war.

Do you remember that Emperor Dezong of Tang, the ninth emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty to flee Chang'an because he treated his soldiers poorly and withheld their rewards and meals?

In short, no matter what, this kind of money absolutely cannot be skimped on.

Gu Banxia nodded and left to carry out the order.

As for Song Yan, he cupped his hands in apology to Zhang Ci and said, "I apologize, Lord Zhang. I have important matters to attend to here. I apologize for the delay."

Zhang Ci hurriedly returned the salute: "General, please go ahead. This old man understands!"

Nodding, Song Yan walked straight towards the stables; he was going to Dingzhou Prefecture.

The Jurchens were embroiled in internal strife.

This is a piece of fatty meat.

But this piece of fatty meat is not something he can eat alone.

……

That night.

Dingzhou Prefecture.

The study room of the Confucius Mansion.

Kong Xingye waited quietly. He didn't quite believe Kong Xiyan's words. Although he didn't think Kong Xiyan would dare to lie to him, this matter was too big to ignore. As the head of the family, he had to treat it with caution.

He arranged for the strongest and most agile guard in the family to ride three fine horses and head straight for Pingyang City. He changed horses along the way but kept the guards, determined to bring the message back in the shortest possible time.

The night is deep.

Kong Xingye, however, was not sleepy at all. His eyes were fixed on the white paper in front of him. He had drawn half of a picture of a mountain waterfall, but in the end, he had no motivation to continue writing.

Ji Wanqiu woke up and immediately started crying and wailing, which annoyed Kong Xingye. Her usually charming and beautiful face suddenly became repulsive, so he sent her to her room to rest.

His gaze seemed to casually sweep across Kong Xiyan's face. The eldest daughter sat there quietly, motionless, her face still radiating anger.

For some reason, that completely calm expression made Kong Xingye panic. He was a little at a loss, raising his hand to touch his nose, but then felt inexplicably embarrassed, and when he put it down, he didn't know where to put it.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

The door was pushed open, and it was a guard arranged by Kong Xingye. Having trekked a long way in the cold wind, even though the guard was quite capable, his face was ashen and his lips pale. He quickly walked to Kong Xingye's side and whispered something in his ear. Kong Xingye's expression shifted between paleness and anger, but ultimately showed little sadness. Even his final pang of heartache was for the five million taels of silver, not for his sons.

With a wave of his hand, Kong Xingye dismissed the guards. Kong Xiyan had not lied; all the guards arranged by the Kong family had been killed, and six carriages loaded with pig iron were sent to the governor's mansion. Kong Lingchen and Kong Xinghuai were imprisoned.

No one knows exactly where he is being held.

Of course, Kong Xingye wasn't particularly concerned. In his eyes, the five million taels of silver were more important.

This is a very cold-hearted man; once money is involved, even the life of his eldest son will be put aside.

Unwittingly, Kong Xingye's gaze fell on Kong Xiyan again... He had heard that Song Yan preferred older women, but he wondered how much money his daughter could compensate him.
(End of this chapter)