"I know you are capable," Xiao Ying also laughed and said, "The Jin Kingdom is already declining. I think Hebei and Shandong will give up sooner or later. Next, it will probably be a very complicated situation. The Mongolian army is difficult to deal with."

Seeing Xiao Ying's expression turned solemn and serious, Meng Jiucheng also put away his smile and said in a deep voice: "The Fifth Master can see thoroughly. The Mongolian army is indeed our enemy. I guess that in more than two years, we will fight with them. At that time, it will not be as relaxed as it is now."

Xiao Ying nodded, smiled and said, "Since you can make a judgment on time, it seems that you are confident. Well, we old bones, if you want to live a peaceful life, it depends on you."

"Several masters are in their prime, so why don't you talk about old-fashioned words?" Meng Jiucheng smiled and flattered, saying, "The fifth master is even more amazing. He will have children soon!"

As a man, Xiao Ying was overjoyed and laughed happily. After laughing, he patted Meng Jiucheng's shoulder with his hand and said, "You little brat, you should work harder! Your wife is very strong and she will definitely be able to withstand that. Haha!"

What can I stand by? It's so vulgar. Meng Jiucheng smiled bitterly, and was speechless for a while.

…………

Although Liu You was from the Song Dynasty, he was no less than a single step from becoming a governor of a state.

With the help of his relationship with Ying Chunzhi of Chuzhou and the agreement reached, it is not only quick to buy grain across the Huai River, but also has a low price. This has played a great role in stabilizing the price of grain sold by foreign traders.

Now, although the local food supply in Haizhou is still not open, the excess food is used as military supplies, and it is not really a shortage.

"Li Yu and Ying Chunzhi have a good attitude towards us, and the Song court still dares not openly accept the people from the north, for fear of offending the Jin people." Liu You really hoped that the Red Turban Army would be accepted by the Song court, so he was justified, but due to the situation, the Southern Song court had that virtue.

"Once the war begins in the Song and Jin dynasties, all this will not be a problem." Meng Jiucheng seemed full of confidence. Although he did not place all his hopes on the Southern Song Dynasty, he was mainly trying to reliably.

Liu You was not sure about this, "Although the Jin Dynasty was in a difficult situation, the Song court had no intention of going to war. I'm afraid it would take a long time to wait until the Jin Dynasty declined even further, right?"

Meng Jiucheng smiled and did not say that it was the Jin Kingdom that took the initiative to start the war, not the Southern Song Dynasty.

He was already half-destroyed, and the Mongolian army and the Western Xia were not calm, but he was still going to attack the Southern Song Dynasty. This unusual mind was really unimaginable and comprehensible.

Therefore, no one believed it, and Meng Jiucheng was too lazy to predict the future. But he was making preparations in secret. Once the situation changed, he had corresponding plans and changes.

After all, the current Jin army is not the enemy in Meng Jiucheng's mind, and the Southern Song Dynasty is not the force he wants to surrender to.

Although Meng Jiucheng was forced to make some gestures, even very realistic due to the status quo, the final result would be beyond everyone's expectations.

Liu You definitely cannot tell this. After all, Liu You is from the Song Dynasty. He hopes that Meng Jiucheng can make good friends with the Southern Song Dynasty and even be accepted as a Song minister. His official position is justified.

Meng Jiucheng also had ulterior motives for Liu You. He used his reason for being a Song Dynasty person and his relationship with Ying Chunzhi to obtain support from food, materials, and even craftsmen from the Southern Song Dynasty.

Of course, although Liu You was the governor of a state, his staff were all from the northerners, and his military power was in the hands of Xiao Ying, so he could not pose a threat to Meng Jiucheng.

Moreover, Meng Jiucheng felt that Liu You was not unable to fight for it and became a subordinate who was united with him. Although this may take a long time and requires a lot of effort.

After all the matter was discussed, Meng Jiucheng sent Liu You out and returned to the room. Sitting alone at the table, he put away his confident and calm expression and shook his head and smiled bitterly.

The battle is logistics, and money and food are both capital for expansion and shackles of development. Even if the bureaucracy is reduced to a minimum and land is used as military pay, food has always been a headache for Meng Jiucheng.

If there is a period of rest and recuperation, it is okay, but one war after another, a large number of troops must be maintained.

If you supply food to the army, you cannot provide some rice and vegetables as you would for the common people. Just be hungry.

Therefore, despite the help of the soft girl system, the income from mirrors, soaps, etc., the current finance and logistics are still a little nervous.

Moreover, Meng Jiucheng's identity is a bit embarrassing now. To put it nicely, he is the overlord of one side, and to put it badly, he is the thief who occupies the land and is the dominant bandit.

Without a loud and reliable identity, Meng Jiucheng wanted to win over high officials and generous salaries, or "give kindness and honor the people's titles" to make money, which was difficult to work.

"Give kindness and grant titles to the people" was a policy that the Han Dynasty once implemented. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was divided into two types:

The first is to give titles, that is, the people can be given titles for joyful states, great victory, etc.; the other is to sell titles, which means that in the years of financial difficulties or to raise military time with internal and external troops, they will raise money, food, and slaves to the government, and can be exchanged for titles.

Because those who obtain titles can obtain fiefs (high-level titles), exempt some or all taxes, corvee service, sentence reduction, and priority for official positions.

Therefore, the people bought more titles to evade taxes and labor service. Later, the court often used various reasons to collect titles and put various other burdens to replace taxes and labor service. Gradually, no one bought titles anymore and was no longer valued by others.

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, and so is the civil servant. Meng Jiucheng believes that it can be given honorary titles to the common people who have made contributions to the country and enjoy certain special treatment, which is a manifestation.

But if the privileges given are too great, it will have negative effects and new unfairness.

Therefore, although Meng Jiucheng could not use the addition of civil titles to make money, he just felt a little regretful.

If you "represent the kingly system" like Yang Aner, this nominal problem can naturally be solved. However, the loss is greater than the gain, and Meng Jiucheng has already figured it out very clearly.

First of all, the big tree attracts wind, which not only attracts hatred from the Jin army, but also easily creates barriers from other rebels, resulting in isolation;

Secondly, it may lose the support of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty has always had contradictory policies for troops like the Rebel Army. It is both trying to use it and worrying about its popularity. Meng Jiucheng's claim to be king will inevitably arouse suspicion and fear of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Therefore, the strategy Meng Jiucheng adopted was to keep a low profile, in other words, "build high walls, accumulate grain, and be king slowly."

The rush to become king is a common problem in the leaders of peasant uprising troops throughout the ages, with only a few calm minds being the exception.

At the end of Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng did not listen to Zhang Er and Chen Yu Zhong's advice and became king too early, resulting in internal divisions being split. The generals disobeyed orders and were defeated by the Qin army.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Xu Shouhui, Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang, Ming Yuzhen and others also claimed to be kings and established their own regimes, and were defeated by the foresighted "responsible kings".

Looking at the moment, Yang Aner was defeated by the Jin army first, and Hao Ding proclaimed himself emperor, and he was soon defeated.
Chapter completed!