Yue Fei nodded, then asked in confusion, "I don't quite understand why the commander didn't hand over the Unscrupulous Cannon to the court? The Armory has so many workshops. If they were to make them, they would surely be able to produce even more Unscrupulous Cannon."
Zhang Shixun shook his head. "The capital is like a giant sieve. If I hand over the method for making the Unscrupulous Cannon, it won't be long before the enemy knows about it... Pengju, the Unscrupulous Cannon is too powerful. If the enemy learns how to make it, no matter how thick the walls of the Song Dynasty are, they won't be able to withstand its attack."
Yue Fei's doubts were still there, so he asked, "When will the commander-in-chief hand it over to the court?"
Or the court.
Perhaps in Yue Fei's heart, the court was the first priority.
Zhang Shixun felt a little regretful that he shouldn't have let Yue Fei know about the conscienceless cannon so early.
"Let's wait until the time is right." Zhang Shixun sighed. "Prince Yun just came and asked two questions on behalf of the emperor."
When Yue Fei heard the word "official", he was solemn.
"The official wanted to know why I bought so much grain. He also wanted to know why I built such a thick wall."
"What did the military commander say?"
"Of course I will answer truthfully. A gentleman is open and honest. There is nothing I cannot tell others about what I have done."
Yue Fei remained silent. He also had doubts about Zhang Shixun's actions.
"Pengju, let me ask you a question."
"Ask me."
"Who is more important, the emperor or the people?"
Without a second thought, Yue Fei blurted out: "The people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important."
These are Mencius’ original words.
"I hope Pengju will remember this." After Zhang Shixun finished speaking, he stood up, bowed to his mother-in-law, and turned away.
Next, Zhang Shixun and Wang Dong bought other things in addition to food.
Cloth, silk, cotton, salt, spices...
All the money I earned was used to buy things.
There were smart people in the capital who, seeing Zhang Tianshi buying large quantities of grain, followed suit. For a time, the price of grain in the capital soared.
For this reason, Emperor Zhao Ji issued a special decree to Zhang Shixun and gave him a warning.
Zhang Shixun remained unmoved and continued to purchase grain. This time, he changed his method and chartered several ships to go to the south to purchase grain.
In October of the seventh year of Xuanhe, Emperor Taizong of Jin issued an edict to attack Song.
The Jin army was divided into two groups.
The Western Army was led by Wanyan Zonghan, who attacked Taiyuan from Datong Prefecture.
The Eastern Army was led by Wuliebu, who attacked Yanshan from the west from Pingzhou.
The Song-Jin War officially began.
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