Chapter 1,368 The decline and rise of national power

Yunnei Prefecture was Yunzhong County during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The city was four miles long and large in scale. It was an important town for Liao defense against Xixia and Tatar.

After half a year of cleaning up the court, the Liao Kingdom finally breathed a sigh of relief and realized that everything had changed.

The Song people invaded the Xia Kingdom!

However, Yunnei Prefecture was too far away from the administrative center of the Liao Kingdom. Xiao Guli, the defender of Yunnei Prefecture, could only watch the Song people consolidate their defense on the front line of Quye River in Montenegro.

As for Montenegro, the guarding general is the God of Killing in the Song Dynasty, Zhonge!

As for Quyehe, the Zhe family army was newly equipped with a large amount of equipment from the imperial court and replenished with war horses. The commander was a so-called young general and the first batch of students of the Royal Military Academy. Before the establishment of the Military Aircraft Department, he praised Zhao Xu's military aircraft.

, and his younger brother who has just joined Zhonge in the war and made great achievements, what a big deal!

Fortunately, the Song people did not cross the border and still had the intention to cooperate.

Unlike the bitter Xians and Tatars, their goods are really hard to refuse.

Xiao Guli finally breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the order from the Privy Council of the Northern Court that if the Song people did not provoke, they would not act rashly.

Yunnei Prefecture is surrounded by Tatar tribes, and they are currently doing business happily with the Song people. However, Zhonge is condescending in the Black Mountain Village of Muna Mountain, so this battle cannot be fought at all.

Yunnei Prefecture also needs the goods of the Song Dynasty. Xiao Guli has never seen such good things. Zhong Wulang even sent a white Tatar to bring him two hundred kilograms of fine wine, a long sword with a gold handle, and a Nanhai horse.

A dragon horse is given as a welcome gift to newcomers.

Along with the gift was a letter. The letter was written very politely, saying that the Song Dynasty had discovered mineral deposits at the foot of Muna Mountain, but that was a border area, so it wanted to cooperate with him.

Xiao Guli knew about the mineral deposits, refined iron, but the coal mine needed for ironmaking was at the other end of Muna Mountain, near Wuliang Suhai, which was the territory of the Xia people in the past.

So Xiao Guli replied politely and received the gift from Lieutenant Zhong. He was really scared and happy, but he just didn't know how to cooperate?

Zhong E wrote to him and asked him, how much refined iron can Yunnei Prefecture get in a year now?

Xiao Guli's lion opened his mouth and tripled his production capacity, and then added a thousand pounds, saying that there were ten thousand catties.

Zhong'e said, "I will give you 20,000 jins, 10,000 jins of which will be given to Lieutenant Xiao to deal with the Liao court, and the other 10,000 jins will be used as private money that I will give to Lieutenant Xiao every year from now on."

How much does it cost to protect iron smelting?

The current military system of the Liao Kingdom is still a tribal system. When the Lord of Liao has military operations, he sends envoys holding gold medals to convey orders to all directions and summon the army.

Except for the core palaces of the Liao Lord, Lezhang and Tielin, the rest are all headed by tribal leaders. The more followers a general has under the dragon, the higher his status in the army will be.

So Xiao Guli was tempted, really tempted.

This is an excellent opportunity to expand your power.

The surrounding Tatars are already cooperating with the Song people. If you don't cooperate, you will definitely become the target of the Tatars.

I heard that the Jin Su and He Qing armies were also secretly starting to trade with the Zhe family. My reasons were much better than theirs.

Do it! Must do it!

The two parties soon flirted with each other, and a large ironworks was built at the foot of Muna Mountain.

In order not to irritate Xiao Guli, the force guarding the iron factory used 600 retired New Army soldiers. However, the weapons and equipment were no weaker than those of the New Army. They even had ten thunder cannons.

The place where the ironworks is located is still a forest at the foot of the mountain. The Tatars call it "Boktu", which means "the place with deer".

In July, the cotton harvest season, negotiations between the Song and Liao countries on the Xixia issue officially began.

The negotiation venue was chosen to be Zhangzi Island, which nominally belonged to Goryeo and was neither in the Song Dynasty nor the Liao Kingdom. Both sides could accept it.

The negotiation level was very high. The envoys sent by the Liao Kingdom were Xiao Xi, who had suffered a lot from the Song Dynasty. The envoys sent by the Song Dynasty were Su Song, the newly appointed minister of Zhongshu, and the deputy director of the Military Aircraft Department, who knew the Liao Kingdom.

Chao Ting made up for it.

Of course, Chao Buzhi's position cannot be announced to the people of Liao Dynasty. In name, he is the new Hanlin bachelor, knows the imperial edict, and is a doctor in the Ministry of Rites.

The person responsible for escorting the Song Dynasty envoy was Zhang San, the military commander of Ning Haijun and the governor of Beiyang Navy.

The person responsible for escorting the Liao envoy, hell, is still Zhang San, the military commander of the Ning Navy and the governor of the Beiyang Navy.

The people of the Liao people were immediately powerful, but they were cowards at sea. Xiao Xi got seasick! Only on a giant ship did he feel better!

After Chun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, heard about it, he also shamelessly infiltrated into the mission. He wanted to know the details of the Song Dynasty's giant ship.

Boarding Zhang San's flagship Rushi in Baozhou, Shi Chun's heart was filled with chills.

There is still a general sense of superiority between the Liao State and the Song State. After all, it was once a victorious country and forced the Xia State to sign a city alliance. Up to now, it still receives 500,000 Guansui coins sent by the Song State every year, plus

The two islands discussed large profits and 250,000 Guan silk notes.

In fact, the situation has quietly turned around. The Song Dynasty can build such a giant ship just as it can build sharp small boats. It cuts the Xijing Road from the Sanggan River, Luan River, Liao River, Yalu River and other waterways, and covers the Zhongjing Road. Contact us

The Nvzhi tribe, the Liao Kingdom cannot take any advantage in the south!

These places are the essence of the Liao Kingdom. Once they are lost, the Song people can protect Yanshan by guarding them.

If we advance further towards Linhuang, Tongzhou and Shenzhou, we can join forces with the Tatars and the Nüzhi.

If successful, the Liao Kingdom will only have two ancestral places, Huanglong Mansion and Changchun Prefecture!

But today, the imperial court is still dreaming about the old dream, thinking that the Liao Kingdom is huge and powerful and is still the best in the world.

The Song Dynasty is just a box of money and food for His Majesty.

In fact, there are already signs of national decline. In February this year, the appointment of the female direct minister of Huanglong Mansion was a sign.

With the advantage of timber, the Wanyan tribe of the female straight tribe is rapidly expanding its power, and has successively annexed several surrounding tribes, becoming a huge force.

At the beginning of the year, Wanyan tribe had several conflicts with Goryeo and was defeated by Wang Yong. After several victories, Wang Yong's status in Goryeo increased significantly.

Concubine Fu Xian wrote to Zhangzidao Customs. Now the Song people are helping Goryeo to build the Great Wall along the high mountains on the west bank of the Yalu River.

The road to Goryeo was blocked, so the Wanyan tribe used a butcher's knife, ah no, a wood-cutting ax, against their own people.

The daughter of the Huanglong Prefecture was forced to join the Liao Dynasty because she was forced by the Wanyan tribe.

In the past, the Liao people would usually send a large army to conquer and wipe out the Wanyan tribe, but now that the Liao country has become stronger externally and more powerful internally, and it is an important source of materials for trade with the Song Dynasty, it is even more cautious.

Therefore, we can only try our best to support the women of Huanglong Mansion and confront Wanyan Mansion.

Then, the daughter of Huanglong Mansion was beaten even worse.

"What is Mr. Muro thinking?"

Shi Chun turned around and said, "Zhang Jiedu, I didn't think of anything. I was just thinking about how this big ship of yours can walk on flat ground in the wind and waves, and can use wind from all directions. It's really miraculous..."

Zhang San smiled and said: "Actually, the principle was explained clearly to the captain yesterday in the captain's cabin. This is the benefit of the longitudinal sail of my Song ship."

"The Mulan boat of the Tianfang people in the south is very big, but if the wind direction is not favorable, the boat can go backwards, so merchants along the way are still willing to take the Song boat."

Shi Chun looked at the tall iron mast of the Milk Lion: "Without this, your sails would be half smaller than theirs. It's easy to go against the wind, but when the wind goes down, your advantage will be lost."

He looked up at the red flag with Song characters flying high on the top of the mast: "How did you make such a long iron pipe? The Song Dynasty Institute of Technology is making rapid progress."

The attendant carrying the wine glass walked by. Zhang San took two glasses of wine and handed one to Shi Chun: "Even if I say this, I still can't do it with the equipment of the Liao Kingdom."

"This requires Daliao to first have a rolling machine that can roll out one-inch thick steel plates, a rolling machine that can roll this steel plate into columns, and a forging machine that can forge them into one piece."

"We need a process that can rivet and weld mast parts of different thicknesses."

"With all these things in place, we can make such a big mast."

"Actually, there is no need. The Liao Kingdom did not have such a large hull to match such a tall mast."

He picked up the cup and offered a toast to Shi Chun: "Brother came back and told us that the old minister is also from the science and engineering lineage. I heard that he has been able to restore the windmill, so that the Liao Kingdom can use its own windmills?"

Shi Chun blushed: "It's still too crude and clumsy, and can't compare with the exquisite skills of the Song Dynasty."

Zhang San said: "Actually, science and engineering are all about practicality. The Duke of Shu's favorite saying is, let's solve the existing problems first, and then talk about whether they are good or not."

Shi Chun hesitated for a while: "Sanlang, if, I mean if, the Liao Kingdom wants to introduce a machine tool from the Song Dynasty, will the Song Dynasty agree?"

Zhang San said: "There is no problem with the introduction, but there are requirements for the quality of the materials, workpieces, and materials processed by the machine tools. There are also various cutting tools that the Liao Kingdom cannot produce on its own."

"The maintenance of machines and the training of technicians will probably take several years to become a skilled worker."

"If I were to make suggestions, I would suggest that the Liao Kingdom should introduce textile machinery, sewing machinery, and grain processing machinery. This way, we can receive immediate dividends."

"Old Minister, as I said before, first solve the problems that exist, and then solve the problems that are good or not. Machine tools are the basis of all machinery, and they are indeed good things without a doubt, but are they suitable for today's Liao Kingdom?
Chapter completed!