The first month of the first year of Yuanyou is Yimao (26).

Bianhe River Old Embankment Division stacking yard.

Zhang Dun and his relatives and friends who came to see him off one by one said goodbye.

"My lords, the mountains are long and the rivers are far away. See you tomorrow!"

Zhang Heng, Zhang Yi and others all raised their hands and watched as Zhang Dun, surrounded by Yuan's followers, boarded the southward ship.

On the Bian River, at this moment, flags are like clouds.

The ten commanders of the First General Yulong have all boarded the ship.

One after another, the canal boats sailed toward the south along the Bianhe River.

Tens of thousands of family members, relatives and friends from Bianjing crowded on the embankment, waving goodbye to their departing relatives.

Lu Gongzhu and Sima Guang were both standing on the embankment in civilian clothes, watching hundreds of cannon boats loaded with imperial troops and armor as they headed south down the river.

"I hope all the troops can return safely!" Lu Gongzhu said softly.

When he was young, he witnessed the sad scene of every household in Bianjing being plain and crying.

Naturally, I don’t want to see the whole city crying for the army again.

Sima Guang sighed and said softly: "In the southern expedition of Xining, the number of people who died from Jiaozhi's swordsmen was only a few hundred...but the number of people who died from miasma was tens of thousands!"

Lu Gong wrote: "Zhang Zihou and Di Zijia are both stable and mature people... they will not make the same mistakes again!"

"Weren't Guo Zhongtong (Guo Kui) and Zhao Gongcai (Zhao Xi) a stable and mature minister in those days?" Sima Guang asked in return.

Mr. Lu suddenly choked on his words.

Sima Guang said: "Uncle Hui, for the sake of the present plan, we should take precautions and calm down the war before it breaks out!"

Lu Gongzhu shook his head: "The arrow has to be fired when it is on the string!"

The fighting spirit of the two palaces, the emperor, and the ruling and opposition parties have all been aroused!

Bianjing Xinbao will publish information about the events before and after Xining's Southern Expedition every two or three days.

Sometimes we will also popularize the story of Cochin’s independence and founding of the country.

Moreover, it is always emphasized that Jiaozhi has never been separated from China for thousands of years since the Han Dynasty.

Even in the era when the Southern and Northern Dynasties coexisted, Jiaozhi was still a Chinese county.

In the late Five Dynasties, the Later Tang Dynasty was destroyed, and Liu Yan of the Southern Han Dynasty was incompetent, so Jiaozhi was separated from China.

By the way, that tabloid always mentioned one thing - although states such as Jiaozhi and Guangyuan are wild and savage, they are rich in mineral resources.

In the past, Nong Ni was so smart that he could mine thousands of taels of gold from Guangyuan Prefecture every year!

Therefore, under the instigation of the tabloid, the Tai students became furious, and the people and public opinion in Bianjing also shouted for beating and killing.

The general trend has been formed.

Sima Guang sighed and asked, "Uncle Hui, if we want to attack Jiaozhi, how can we have enough 5,000 soldiers and horses?"

Lu Gongzhu said in a deep voice: "Guangxi should be able to mobilize more than 10,000..."

"Including the Dong soldiers of Nongzhihui, Nong Shengde and others, there should be more than 20,000 Dong soldiers..."

"Hire local men from the local area, young and strong... So, it should be around 50,000!"

"Is it enough?" Sima Guang asked.

Mr. Lu shook his head, this was definitely not enough.

No matter what, Jiaozhi is still a big country in the south, with more than 100,000 soldiers.

Once they know that the Song Dynasty is moving south, they will definitely mobilize.

It should be no problem to gather an army of 200,000 to fight against the Song army.

However, it is said that Jiaozhi and Champa have a feud.

Zhang Zihou and Di Zijia also said they would contact Champa and attack Jiaozhi together.

No matter what we do to capture the city, we should be able to attract tens of thousands of Cochin troops.

In this way, the Jiaozhi troops that the Song Dynasty had to face were around 150,000 to 60,000.

One to three troop strength comparison.

This battle is not easy to fight!

"So..." Sima Guang looked at Lu Gongzhu: "For the sake of the world's livelihood, please ask Uncle Hui to be in front of the emperor and insist on being incommunicado to start the war!"

"At least, don't mobilize a large number of soldiers and horses from the two lakes and Guangnan East Road..."

Mr. Lu nodded.

If it were just the current strength of troops, Guangnan West Road might still be able to supply it.

But if there is a need to mobilize soldiers and horses on Guangnan East Road, the two lakes, and even the border areas.

That was something that the poor military state of Guangxi could not afford.

It is inevitable to transport a large amount of grain and grass from Guangnan East Road, the two lakes and even the two Huaihe Rivers to supply military supplies.

As a result, military spending this year will inevitably soar.

This will even lead to skyrocketing prices for the already heavily burdened Huaihe and Zhejiang provinces - most of Bianjing's eight million shi of grain each year are transferred to Beijing from the Huaihe and Zhejiang provinces.

This is the lifeline of Bianjing City, and not one stone of food can be missing.

If there is less, there will be a food shortage in the capital.

This is something the Song Dynasty would never allow.

Therefore, the burden can only be transferred to the grain-producing areas of Zhejiang and Lianghuai.

But these places are already exhausted to supply Bianjing, and now they have to supply the Guangxi army.

Lu Gongzhu knew that it must be a disaster for people's livelihood!

Soaring prices are inevitable!

Maybe it will cause famine in the originally prosperous grain-producing areas!

terrible!

So, he assured Sima Guang: "You can rest assured, if the emperor and the two palaces want to mobilize a large number of troops and horses from the two lakes and other places..."

"I will definitely advise you in front of the emperor!"

"Taishi Wen, Zhang Jiedu and other elders will never sit back and watch such a disaster happen!"

Sima Guang listened, although he was not very satisfied - because Lu Gongzhu only opposed the large-scale deployment of troops and horses.

In other words, if it was only a small-scale transfer, such as the transfer of several thousand people, he would not object.

But Sima Guang still handed over his hand and thanked him: "With Uncle Hui's words, I feel relieved!"

…

"The army marched south, flags fluttering...all the officers and men were fierce and powerful...the canal boat went down the river, its sails covered the sky and the sun..."

In front of Zhao Xu, Feng Jing described the lineup of the army going south.

Zhao Xu was also fascinated as he listened.

To be honest, he had never seen with his own eyes the scene of an army of thousands of people riding down the Bian River in a mighty way.

He had never seen such a scene in his previous life.

He could only hear the relevant description from the minister's mouth.

only……

"Did the Bianhe River freeze this year?" Zhao Xu asked.

"I heard that there was only a thin layer of ice in late December..."

"After the first month, everything has melted..."

"So the Bianhe River was opened to navigation at the beginning of the first month of this year!"

For Bianjing City, this is naturally a good thing.

But for the surrounding agriculture, this may not be the case.

A warm winter means drought, which also means an increase in pests and diseases in the coming year.

This year's wheat harvest in the north may fail.

Zhao Xu suddenly felt troubled when he thought of this.

Then he said to Feng Jing: "Go and get some paper and pen... I want to give an order to Cai Jing and Chen Mu..."

"And Dengzhou Su Shi..."

Feng Jing took the order and left, and was quickly given paper and pen.
To be continued...