Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 265: Big Killer, Countdown to Recapture Yanyun

One night, one hangover.

The next day, several major shareholders of the trading company sneaked away without even saying hello to Zhao Guangmei.

Clearly guilty.

Maybe it can't be said to be a guilty conscience, but it is definitely somewhat embarrassing.

Zhao Guangmei also understood that Zhao Kuangyin's retirement did not mean that he would give up his rights to form a navy, and it was not just about gaining military power.

To put it bluntly, in the current situation of the Song Dynasty, if Zhao Kuangyin does not step down and Zhao Guangmei does not become the crown prince behind him, then no matter who becomes the emperor in a hundred years, the weaker the political power will be and the stronger the business will be.

The Song Dynasty was moving from an agricultural economy to imperialism. Zhao Kuangyin himself was aware of this change.

In fact, according to Zhao Guangmei's idea, after his death, or even without his death, even the trading company will be split when he gets old. Nowadays, the trading company does too many things, and many times he fights with himself.

For example, the money banking business must actually be independent, and the real estate business, foreign trade, and weapons and equipment manufacturing would actually be better if they were independent.

This can be regarded as an open secret. The current shareholders of the commercial bank are still mainly the original Jiedushi from various places. However, when the shares were split before, they also had their own other industries outside the commercial bank. Naturally, they actually represent different benefits.

As long as these old generals retire and replace the second generation, there is currently a harmonious atmosphere in the commercial bank. For the country and the people, various phenomena in the official and commercial sectors will inevitably change, and in the next generation, the equity of the commercial bank will definitely be more dispersed. , after all, they are not only children.

As a result, after Zhao Kuangyin came down, the first thing he did was cut away the biggest cake in the business.

Mastering the navy will inevitably control the future sea trade. This influence is unprecedentedly huge, and all of a sudden, all the veterans have joined his camp.

Regarding the treatment of those free slaves who had expired, Zhao Guangmei actually had some ideas. The so-called method of vacating the cage and changing the bird was certainly something he had not thought about.

But after thinking about it, he still felt that those so-called half-people of the Song Dynasty could not be real people of the Song Dynasty after all. There might even be some people among them who harbor hatred for the Song Dynasty. National consciousness is very important. It's hard to tell when it will wake up.

Once they are sent overseas, to put it bluntly, they will establish colonies and reclamation regiments as second-class Song people. Firstly, the overseas trade of the Song Dynasty will inevitably become more bloody. In all likelihood, it will even be better than that of the European powers in history. Much bloodier.

After all, in terms of martial virtue, the Han people are actually the eldest brother of all nations. From the time of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Han people's wars were all-out wars, and the related concepts did not start in Europe until World War I or even World War II.

Secondly, it is naturally easy to overweight overseas interests, become top-heavy, and even fall into the dilemma of a "big brother country" with a colonial economy.

At that time, once these second-class Song people have risen in national consciousness and become divided, it will be very troublesome. It is hard to say how long this process will take.

Anyway, in Zhao Guangmei's view, the Song Dynasty actually did not need to use this method to colonize. It was better to let these half-Song people go back to their respective homes and send them to their hometowns. A large number of compradors of the Song Dynasty would definitely be born among these people.

Because the Song Dynasty is a big country, with a large enough population and land area, as long as it develops enough industrial capabilities, it can actually suck blood from everywhere through its industrial capabilities. The role of the navy is actually to ensure that other countries and regions can open their doors and have freedom. Just trade.

That is the difference between European colonization and American colonization.

The West, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were all small territories, and they themselves had not completed industrialization before the Yu Kingdom, nor did the Song Dynasty.

Such an approach is actually similar to Zhao Kuangyin's plan to build another or even several new Song Dynasty overseas, and in this process, he naturally wants more than just soldiers.

Soldiers, people, money, land, he wants them all.

If the trading company does not split up, he will take the majority of the trading company. If the trading company splits in the future, he will take the biggest wave.

Zhao Guangmei could only smile bitterly.

Big brother will always be big brother.

However, although Zhao Guangmei has no intention of confronting Zhao Kuangyin, to be honest, this Song Dynasty is his eldest brother's Song Dynasty after all. It can even be said to be unfilial to let him fight for power and profit with his eldest brother. He has no interest in it, but anyway , he was also the founder of a trading company. How could he not have political leanings when he had such a great influence on the Song Dynasty?

"Brother, eldest brother, since this is a business matter, don't blame me as your younger brother for having different opinions from you. Between us, you do your thing and I do mine."

At noon that day, Zhao Guangmei, who had just retired, personally went to the Academy of Industrial Technology and met with senior engineers from the Song Dynasty.

"How's the work going?"

"According to your instructions, we have optimized the sealing process to a certain extent. As long as you give your order, we can build a factory for production at any time."

"Well, show me around. Isn't the oil-sprayed one okay?"

"This...the material is still not strong enough, and the process precision is not enough. It can be made, but the lifespan is too short."

"Then you have to hurry up and conquer it."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard the rumbling of horse hooves outside. Almost in an aggressive manner, Xiao Chuo came in with about a hundred guards.

Zhao Guangmei smiled and signaled to her guard not to be impulsive, then put on a playful smile and wanted to go up and hug him.

"Stop talking nonsense, what are you doing here?"

"Look at something."

"See something?"

After Xiao Chuo sighed after hearing this, he also looked at the huge locomotive in front of him and said in a low voice: "After all, is it out?"

"Half way out, the steam train is fine, but the oil-burning one is still not good." Xiao Chuo bit his lip when he heard this, and said: "Didn't you say that we have to wait until the fuel injection machine comes out before... What?"

Zhao Guangmei spread his hands and said: "There is no way. My eldest brother is no longer an emperor, but has changed his career to become a naval commander. I don't want the Song Dynasty to become a top-heavy country. Overseas interests cannot outweigh local interests, so I can only... Take action in advance, he fights his side, I fight mine, he builds sailboats, I can only build railways, and besides, this thing can also be used on ships."

In fact, the steam engine is not particularly difficult for today's Song Dynasty. After all, the Song Dynasty was the first to enter the era of electricity. Using electricity to process boilers, gears, and fan blades, at least to boil water, there is no unsatisfactory precision. Condition.

After the development of the Americas, the most important rubber has now begun to be produced and planted domestically, especially in Zhao Dezhao's area, where rubber forests are now planted one after another. It is expected that the price will be driven down within ten years.

But first of all, in Zhao Guangmei's opinion, the economy of the Song Dynasty is really overheated. Once the imperial court comes up with another large-scale railway construction plan, then this... billions of dollars spent every year will probably not be able to stop it. living.

Inflation is definitely going to happen again, and the middle class that has finally grown up among the common people will most likely be harvested again.

If possible, it would actually be more appropriate to wait until the wave of hot money in the past two years has passed and the economic overheating has ended, or at least has cooled down a bit, and then come up with the railway plan.

The second more important reason is naturally the Khitan.

Once the construction of the railway begins, it will be damned if the Khitans can still survive it. This thing is actually an opportunity for Zhao Guangmei to try to peacefully regain Yanyun. It depends on whether they take it or not.

If you don't accept it, then when the railway is built, it will be the day the Liao Kingdom is destroyed.

Zhao Guangmei's idea is not to rush. The gap in national power between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom is getting wider and wider, and there are more and more compradors in the Liao Kingdom. Time is on the side of the Song Dynasty. If it can be later, If the railway starts to be built in a few years, the possibility of peaceful reunification will naturally be much greater.

Hetong is definitely stronger than Wutong, at least the difficulty of governance will be greatly reduced.

He is not a naive fool, thinking that the Yanyun people and the Song Dynasty have the same culture and race, and are the same nation, so there are really no rebels, no extremists, and no die-hard fans of the Liao Kingdom.

Those compradors of the Song Dynasty and those who have national justice in their hearts will indeed welcome Master Wang, but as long as there is one die-hard among a hundred people, this matter will be very difficult to handle.

If you fight, there will be hatred.

You must know that the separation of the people of Hebei from the Central Plains did not start after the rise of the Khitan. The essence of the Anshi Rebellion was that the people of Hebei attacked the people of Guanzhong. Before that, the conflicts between the people of Hebei and the Tang Dynasty had been accumulating for hundreds of years. , if this can be traced back, Hebei people and Guanlong people did not deal with each other as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, not to mention when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Korea. When Li Shimin attacked Dou Jiande, Hebei was already destitute of ten houses and nine empty houses.

It can be said that from the beginning to the end, Hebei and the Tang Dynasty, which represented the interests of Guanlong, had more hatred than kindness. Without the Khitan people, they would have fought for independence.

The Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom have been in conflict for many years. If we go further to the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Later Han Dynasty, the hatred is not small. Why did Fu Yanqing have to be replaced in the first place?Isn't it because he killed the Liao people too hard? The hunting of grass and valleys between Song and Liao was a two-way street. Fu Yanqing always retaliated reciprocally, even doubly. When he was in Hebei, he never protected the people in the territory. If you, the Liao Kingdom, kill my people, I will pay them back tenfold and we will kill each other.

The vast majority of those killed were civilians.

Fu Yanqing and the Tianxiong Army alone probably killed as many as [-] Liao people, if not [-], and the vast majority of them were actually Han people from Liao. Fu Asi was so powerful in Liao that he could stop children from crying. That's how he was killed.

So if you can, try not to fight. After all, Yan Yun has really seen the hope of unification now.

This is different from the Southern Tang Dynasty. If the Song Dynasty had wanted to, the Southern Tang Dynasty would have been unified long ago, just like the Wuyue Kingdom. However, Zhao Guangmei's opinion is to fight as many Jiangnan gentry as possible. Don't let them surrender. It's best to find a justifiable excuse and beat them to death.

Because that place was taken back and became China, the people of Jiangnan had no sense of identity with the Southern Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty truly inherited the legal system of the Tang Dynasty, and the Southern Tang Dynasty was a pseudo-regime.

And to be incorrect, the people in the Southern Tang Dynasty, as long as the Song army does not go too far and is appeased a little, there will not be many people who dare to fight. That is a piece of meat on the lips of the Song Dynasty. When will you eat it? Depending on when Da Song wants to eat it, chop it into pieces and fry it before eating it, which is easier to digest.

But Hebei is different. Since ancient times, there have been many generous and heroic people in Youyan. This is not just talk, the people's customs are really sturdy.

Of course, there was a third factor, which was that he wanted to get it right in one step and directly research the oil-burning train to avoid repeated construction.

If this is advanced, the only way to deal with it is with coal-burning steam trains.

Therefore, Zhao Guangmei had communicated with Xiao Chuo in advance about the matter of trains and steam engines. If the Song Dynasty wanted to unify Youyun, to put it bluntly, it would annex the Shulu Department. Xiao Chuo's opinion was naturally the top priority, and even It can be said to be decisive.

Therefore, since Zhao Guangmei came to the Academy of Science and Engineering after his retirement, Xiao Chuo guessed that he was going to play with the railway, and immediately rushed over without stopping.

But seeing Zhao Guangmei admit it without any hesitation, Xiao Chuo was so angry that he clenched his fists tightly with tears in his eyes and complained: "When you made such a big decision, you didn't think about us at all. Mom, even if I say a thousand words, you will still swallow us up."

"Oh~, my wife, it doesn't make sense to say that. I said I hope that Song and Liao will always be friendly and peaceful. When did you really believe it? I said that the Song Dynasty will not even accept the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, and your Liao Kingdom will not accept it either. You have to believe it, isn’t this nonsense?”

"As for the personal relationship between the two of us, then...Daughter-in-law, tell me, when we are in our position, the whole world will tremble every time we sneeze. How can we have long-term love? Now, the road has been cleared. Once I get out, I can only go downstairs, so what about you, do you want to be my wife, or do you want to be my enemy?"

"I...I can't represent Daliao, nor can I represent the Shulu Department."

"If possible, I really don't want to be your enemy. Anyway, we have been together for so many years, and even Feng'er has grown up now. Besides, if there is a real national war between Song and Liao, then Can you bear it that the people of Liao Kingdom are in ruins?"

"Why are the people of Liao State so miserable?"

"How about I take you to the Forbidden Army for a walk?"

When Xiao Chuo heard this, he fell silent.

Once the railway came out, the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty was not a matter of whether it could be defeated, it was just a question of whether it wanted to attack or not.

If Zhao Guangmei is allowed to take the lead on this matter, maybe the Khitans will still have a way to survive. Taking a step back, the Shulu Department will also have a way to survive. But if we let those young militants, or those like Zhao Kuangyin, who have experienced Yelv Deguang If the Song Dynasty people took the lead in this matter, it would be hard to say.

"Let's talk about the conditions. No matter what, I am at least the envoy sent by the Liao Kingdom to the Song Kingdom. Just treat me as a messenger."

(End of this chapter)