Looking at Dengzhou City, the city was tall and majestic. However, it was a troubled time and there were not many people entering and leaving the city. Two soldiers, each holding a long spear, leaned lazily against the city gate. Two officials next to them came to the city.

people earn city money.

Zhang Jun looked at it for a while and then said to his subordinates: "Dengzhou is a big city. I heard that Zhizhou has some abilities, but he is much better than Tangzhou."

Li Chengle said: "What the commander said is that we should be more careful when entering the city."

Zhang Jun laughed and said: "It's just better than Tangzhou. You have to be careful in a place like this, we are too useless."

After saying that, he took five people and headed for the city gate. When he got to the city gate, an official stopped him and asked: "Where are you from? What are you doing in Dengzhou? Only ten copper coins per person can enter the city.

go."

Zhang Jun said: "I heard that silk is cheap here in Dengzhou. Let's sell some and transport it back to the north."

With that said, he took out the money and handed it over.

The officials took the money and let them into the city without asking any questions.

Zhang Jun said: "It costs ten cents per person to enter the city, which is too expensive. People from outside the city want to go to the city to make a living, but they are afraid that they will not be able to make money."

The official said: "Everything is so expensive nowadays? What's the matter with you? Let's go! It's so long-winded here!"

Zhang Jun looked at the official, said nothing, and led the five people into the city.

Walking on the road, Li Chengle said: "Tangzhou does not collect city money. Dengzhou can collect money, and the magistrate here is a businessman."

As he spoke, he saw that although there were not many pedestrians on the streets, they looked peaceful. Unlike Tangzhou, where the people on the streets were all in a hurry, there were some vicious loafers wandering around.

After walking around the street, Zhang Jun said: "Let's find an inn to stay and see how Dengzhou is doing. Since the Jin soldiers came south, Jingkang has said that it will move the capital here, and the news has been very popular in the past two years. In Dengzhou city,

I don’t know how much supplies are stored, but Zhizhou attaches great importance to them."

Li Chengle said: "The Jin people captured Dengzhou last winter, and no matter how many good things they had, they took away them."

Zhang Jun shook his head repeatedly: "The Jin army came from a long way and they can grab some gold and silver treasures, but military supplies and other items cannot be taken away. Moreover, they have always looked down on the armaments of our dynasty and did not bother to grab them."

Although he said this, Zhang Jun was still a little worried. Although the Jin army was not lucky, it could be burned. Dengzhou had not been burned and killed, so he didn't know whether the military resources were still there. If they were not there, I'm afraid Wang

Night hunting will be disappointing.

Zhang Jun is a smart man. It can be seen that Wang Xiaolie has the idea of ​​​​expanding his power. If you want to expand the army, the first is to have people, and the second is to have ordnance. Without ordnance, it seems that no matter how many people there are, it will not work on the battlefield.

Use. The army is an armed group. If it is not armed, what else is it called an army?

On the street in front of the Yamen, there is a Yuelai Inn. The inn is not big, and there is no goods yard, so it can only accommodate people. However, the location is excellent, and the business is still booming. Zhang Jun looked around and decided how many people would live here.

The boy sent a few people to the small courtyard at the back, gave them detailed instructions, and then left.

Zhang Jun stopped and asked, "None of us know how to cook. Is it inconvenient for outside buyers?"

The waiter said: "Sir, our restaurant does not serve meals. If you want to eat, there are several restaurants outside."

Zhang Jun said: "We are not from a wealthy family, where can we go to a restaurant? Is there any small shop?"

The waiter shook his head: "There used to be a lot of small shops here, but most of them can't survive this year. If you want to eat, you have to walk farther. There is no way, the rent here is too expensive, how can a small shop survive?"

Zhang Jun said: "Your store is not big, so it is not doing well."

The boy smiled bitterly: "Sir, this shop is not rented. The house belongs to the owner. Otherwise, it would not be able to support it."

Zhang Jun had no choice but to wave his hand and let the boy go. It seemed that living was convenient, but eating was not.

The inns at this time were different from those of later generations. Most of them did not sell food. There were kitchens in the inns, and guests could bring rice to cook themselves, or eat outside. Originally, the food in the Song Dynasty was developed, not to mention there were many small restaurants, and there were even special restaurants in Kaifeng.

It's a takeaway business. However, Dengzhou is a small place, and after the Jinbing Rebellion, a large number of shops closed down, so it is not so convenient.

After the ceremony and settling down, Zhang Jun said: "Go out to buy some wine and meat, and we will come back to drink. I came here under orders this time, and if I were outside, I'm afraid the news would be leaked. Go back to the store, drink to your heart's content tonight, and start inquiring about the situation tomorrow

.”

The remaining five people agreed together.

After leaving the inn and walking for more than a mile, I didn't see any delicatessens. I had no choice but to buy five kilograms of meat and two chickens. I took them to a restaurant and asked the host to help them cook them. I called again.

After drinking some wine, we returned to the inn.

After setting the wine and meat on the table, Zhang Jun said: "Although this Dengzhou city looks peaceful, it is extremely deserted. In peacetime, this place is located on the main road between the north and the south, and there are countless merchants every day. Now it is difficult to see outsiders.

There are not many pedestrians on the streets in the city. It is understandable that it is so inconvenient for us to stay and eat."

Li Chengle poured wine into several bowls and said: "Commander, after the Jin soldiers came, the money was robbed and the craftsmen were kidnapped. How can we continue to do business? Besides, the people have no money. Isn't that the case?

"

"Sit down, drink, drink!" After inviting everyone to sit down, Zhang Jun picked up the wine.

After drinking a bowl of wine, Zhang Jun said: "In my opinion, why do you need to conduct training in Yezhou if you know the state? Order your troops and horses, and occupy Tangzhou and Dengzhou first. Who dares to say anything! These two big states

, with many households and a large territory, it is not much better than Ruzhou!"

Li Chengle said: "The magistrate is the magistrate of Ruzhou appointed by the imperial court. He should guard the territory. No one dares to come here."

Zhang Jun couldn't help but sneer after hearing this and said nothing. The newly appointed emperor only knew how to run away. What's the point? Zhang Jun could feel that Wang Xiaolie didn't take Zhao Gou seriously either.

Already.

Of course Wang Xiaolie wanted to expand his power. But he couldn't be reckless and waited for the opportunity. In the winter of the first year of Jianyan, the Jin soldiers went south on a large scale. Jingdong Road only captured a few states, and most of them were still in the hands of the Song Dynasty. Shaanxi Road and Jingdong Road

Most of the West Road was conquered, but the Jin army plundered it and returned to the north in the spring. At this time, the rule of the Song Dynasty was not broken up, and it maintained its rule in most places. It would be too much to be the first to stand up and occupy the territory.

It's conspicuous. It's best to practice internal strength at this time, so that when chaos comes, you can take advantage of the situation.

Zhang Jun was impatient. Along the way, Tangzhou and Dengzhou did not have strong defense forces. It can be seen that Wang Xiao's three thousand troops, even if he sent two thousand south, would be enough to firmly occupy these two states.

With territory comes power.

After drinking a few bowls of wine, Li Chengle said: "Commander, what exactly are we going to do when Zhizhou sends us here?"

Zhang Jundao: "The magistrate didn't specifically tell us to do anything. He just told us to take a look at Dengzhou, how is the market, how are the people living, and how is the government's governance? Are the military resources still there, how many defenders are there, and so on."

After hearing this, several people understood that Wang Xiaolie indeed had the intention to go south to attack Dengzhou.

When leaving Luoyang, Lu Qing collected a thousand soldiers and horses for Wang Xiaolie. When they arrived in Ruzhou, including pacifying local forces and a large number of unemployed kiln workers, they carefully selected among these people, and the number of soldiers and horses reached 3,000. However,

There were more people, but not enough weapons. Wang Xiaolie could only continue to practice to familiarize the new recruits with military life, but he could not equip them.

If you make your own firearms, it will take time. A bow will take several years. Even simple swords and guns, Wang Xiaolie does not have that much good iron, and there are no craftsmen. How can it be so easy to truly equip an army?

?

When Zhao Gou went south, he only had tens of thousands of troops. It took more than ten years to quickly grow to more than 300,000 troops. It was inseparable from the reserves left by the Song Dynasty. Not only were there weapons left behind, but there were also craftsmen from the past who could rebuild them completely.

the ordnance industry.

If there are only a few dozen people, some with knives, some with guns, and some with bows and crossbows, it will be very rich. But if there are tens of thousands of people, there will be various types of arms and various ordnance. The equipment is like this

An army cannot do without a foundation.

The Jin Dynasty rose up in just ten years, destroyed the Liao Dynasty and then the Northern Song Dynasty. The main reason was that it inherited the foundation of the Liao Dynasty. At the same time, each time it went south, it plundered a large number of Song Dynasty craftsmen. Without these, the rise of the Jin Dynasty would have been difficult.
Chapter completed!