In the Xiongzhou Official Office, Ma Huaide said to Zhang Ji: "The Privy Council sent a letter to me and ordered me to negotiate with the Khitan. Because the Khitan invaded the south, all the two lost households under their rule did not pay the Khitan taxes and did not obey the Khitan service. This matter is not small, and the Khitan will inevitably be angry. You should pay attention to the border."

Zhang Ke said: "The two lost households only have a few thousand. How much tax can they get in a year? In my opinion, the Khitan may not value it much. It is just to seek a favorable advantage to this dynasty. This time, the defeat in the war is now empty. How dare they not comply?"

Ma Huaide smiled and shook his head: "Taiwei, in your opinion, this is a small matter. The Khitans don't think so. Since the annual monies were cut off, the price of silk in the Khitan has increased by more than twice. Now, a piece of silk in this dynasty will increase by five times when it comes to Khitan. Think about it, how much silk should be paid for a year's tax on thousands of taels of households in Xiongzhou? The price has increased by five times. How much is that? It's not a small amount!"

Zhang Ke was surprised and realized that he was wrong. The thousands of taels of households in Xiongzhou were indeed not many, and they were not big provinces in the Song Dynasty. But once the price rose by five times, this number would be quite large, equivalent to a big province.

When the Song Dynasty gave Khitan annual monies, the price of Khitan silk was twice that of the Song Dynasty. After the Battle of Longzhen in Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty stopped the annual monies, and the price of Khitan silk soared. The surrounding forces of the Song Dynasty loved silk very much. As soon as they left the Song Dynasty, the price of silk doubled and rose. Xiongzhou was not a big place, but it was a place where silk was produced. It was nothing in the Song Dynasty, but it seemed very important in the Khitan.

Thinking about this section, Zhang Ke said: "In this way, no two losers are allowed to pay the Khitan a tax, which has a great impact on the Khitan?"

Ma Huaide nodded: "Yes. Under Youzhou, not only the Khitans, but the production of grain is the second most important thing is the production of silk. If you park in one place, the Khitan will be greatly affected. Therefore, according to my estimate, it is difficult for the Khitans to agree."

Zhang Ji said: "The Privy Council did not say that the Xiongzhou court is still open, and the Khitan can be exchanged for horses and sheep."

Ma Huaide smiled and said, "How many cattle and sheep do the Khitans have to sell to exchange for these thousands of silk? This is easy to say, but it is difficult to make. Hebei Road is different from Hedong Road. The production of silk here is particularly important for Khitan."

Zhang Ku nodded, and then he understood what Ma Huaide meant. It was not a specific official to do things, so it was really hard to pay attention to these details. Hedong Road captured Shuozhou, but the Khitan did not persist. Because for the Khitan, losing Shuozhou was only allowed the Song Dynasty to cross Yanmen Mountain and easily attack Datong Prefecture. The Khitan was not good at defending the city, and there was nothing. However, losing the two losers in Xiongzhou, he lost the tax on thousands of pieces of silk a year, which had a great impact on the Khitan.

Ma Huaide tapped the table and said, "It seems that the Privy Council did not expect this festival, thinking that these two losers were not that important to the Khitan. Otherwise, they would not have been so hasty. Thousands of silk were in the Khitan a year, but in the Khitan it was quite large. This time, their wealth was cut off, so the Khitan was not so easy to talk to! After receiving the certificate, the Khitans had to jump up in anger!"

After saying that, Ma Huaide laughed,

Zhang Ji said: "Magistrate, if the Khitans refuse, will your document be gray?

Ma Huaide said: "How could it be white-haired? The Grand Marshal fought well this time, and the Khitans were afraid that they would not dare to refuse rashly. There were less than 50,000 soldiers in Youzhou, and 10,000 were lost, and there were loopholes everywhere. I am afraid that the Khitans at this time would be careful to attack this dynasty!"

Zhang Ke thought about it and found this incident funny. Before the Khitans went south, they must have never thought about the consequences of failure. Now, from top to bottom, they are afraid they are confused. Ten thousand soldiers were wiped out, and the Song Dynasty would cancel the rule and lose both the people.

The silk that was handed over to the Khitan in Xiongzhou was about 6,000 pieces a year, which was not a large number in the Song Dynasty. But when it came to the Khitan, the price soared by more than five times, equivalent to tens of thousands of pieces in the Song Dynasty, which was not a small number. Moreover, the production of silk of Khitan was limited, and everyone from officials to the people loved it very much. With so many fewer at once, how could they give up?

Ma Huaide stood up and walked a few steps: "The battle in Xiongzhou will have many impacts in the future. The Taiwei must not be slackened. He should strictly order his subordinates to guard the border to prevent the Khitans from jumping over the wall. The troops under my subordinates will go to the military academy to train after the Chinese New Year, and it is not very useful."

Zhang Ji said: "Don't worry, magistrate. I have 50,000 troops under my jurisdiction. Even if all the Khitans in Youzhou go south, they will be unable to return!"

Ma Huaide nodded and discussed carefully with Zhang Ji about the defense of various places under Xiongzhou.

At the waterside of Nanyi, Meng Xuezhao cleaned up and said to his wife at home: "The north station is repaired urgently, and the New Year is still the same. I heard that I have paid 150 cents a day, but this kind of work is not easy to encounter. I went there with a few fellow villagers to do my job. How tired you are at home."

The wife coaxed the child and agreed. Their house was very simple, the house was extremely cold, and it was really hard to survive in winter. But as long as we survived this winter, everything would be fine next year, and people would not be pessimistic.

At this moment, Wei Xin came in from outside and said to Meng Xuejue: "Have the scholars packed up? We are just in time to go while it is early."

Meng Xuezhao said: "It's still early, so I asked two people from the neighboring village to gather here and go together. Brothers, sit down, drink tea, talk some gossip, and wait for them."

When his wife came to tea, Meng Xuezhao sat against Wei Xin and talked some gossip. After talking for a while, he talked about the war a few days ago.

Wei Xin said: "That day, I heard the people who had withdrawn from the station saying that the Khitan troops came in and came straight towards us. I was so scared that they were so scared that they would be so angry that we were all people. If we were caught by them, where would there be good fruits to eat?"

Meng Xuezhao sighed: "Yes, who was not afraid at that time? Although he saw the troops passing by, so many people retreated at the station, he was still panicked. Fortunately, the Song army was able to fight, and it actually wiped out all ten thousand Khitan cavalry!"

"Yes, yes, who would have thought that the Song army could fight so well before?" Wei Xin was a little excited when he heard this. "For many years, the Khitan has been traversing across Hebei Road, but he didn't expect that this time, he didn't go back!"

Meng Xuejue said: "Of course it's different. If you haven't seen the current Song army, the Khitans cannot get close to you with guns and cannons. I think in the future, the Khitans will no longer be the opponent of the Song Dynasty. We live here, so we can live a stable life, so we don't have to worry about the Khitans coming to harass you."

Speaking of this, Wei Xin said: "By the way, scholar, I have heard people say these days that the court opened a military academy or something in Hejian Mansion in the south. As long as they recognize words, ordinary people can apply for the exam. After they have finished learning, they can become officials. My brother used to learn literacy. In the past, he only opened a private school in the village to enlighten children. What future can he have? If he really studies, he may have a future."

Meng Xuezhai smiled and shook his head: "We are people from the north. We can be taken in by the imperial court. It is a rare blessing to have today. What kind of officials do you dare to think about those? I just hope that when working like a station, I can make more money in the future."
Chapter completed!