On the east side of the Yellow River, Zong Shidao and the Zong family army concentrated their forces at Guan and He to build a defense line in Cangzhou, Weizhou, Mengzhou, and Huazhou to prevent the Jin army from coming again.
On the west side of the Yellow River, Yue Fei and his army built an ironclad defense line in the areas of Taiyuan, Yuanshuo, Daizhou, Pingding, and Zhongshan in Shanxi.
The Jin army spies reported several times, shocking the Jin government and the people.
Wanyan Ang glared. "If it were you, I'd say we should concentrate our forces and attack from the east. We'd have to bite through his defenses with all our might, and then go straight for Huanglong."
"Are your teeth inlaid with gold?" Wanyan Zonghan said angrily, "Zhong Shidao is a notoriously tough guy in the northwest. What are we going to use to fight him?"
"Marshal Zong Han, do you have any good ideas?" asked the Jin Dynasty Emperor Wanyan Sheng.
Wanyan Zonghan shook his head: "The time to attack Song is not right yet. We can only wait and see."
"Your Majesty, I think what Vice Marshal Zong Han said is right. The current Song Dynasty is not the same as before, and the newly appointed emperor Zhao Huan is very shrewd. We should wait and see and wait for an opportunity to act. What we should pay most attention to at the moment is border trade." The person who said this was the famous Wanyan Zongbing, also Yue Fei's mortal enemy, Jin Wushu.
Wanyan Ang was furious when he heard about the trade: "The Song people are cunning. My Great Jin has tens to hundreds of war horses flowing into Song territory every day. If this continues, our Great Jin cavalry will be finished!"
Wanyan Sheng was shocked: "How can the loss be so serious? Didn't the court send people to monitor it?"
Wanyan Zonghan shook his head: "What's the use of that? Warhorse smuggling is rampant on the border right now. Fortunately, the Song people also smuggle warhorses to our side and then transport them back to the Song border for trade."
Jin Wushu sighed: "What's the use? Our war horses will eventually flow into the hands of the Song people."
Wanyan Sheng shouted angrily, "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly!"
Jin Wushu said, "Your Majesty, I think the Song Dynasty can smuggle our war horses. We can also smuggle military supplies such as copper, iron, sulfur, saltpeter, and quiver boxes from the Song Dynasty."
Wanyan Sheng was delighted: "This is a great plan!"
Wanyan Zonghan was right, double the profit was enough to make people take risks.
Border trade between Song and Jin was mainly carried out in four trading posts within Song territory, namely Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Ansujun and Guangxinjun.
At Xiongzhou Market, Jiao Zifu, the transport envoy, was counting the horses. These war horses, registered as belonging to the Western Xia, were actually shipped from the Jin Kingdom.
"Sir, the Transport Commissioner, we purchased a total of 72 good horses today. 24 of them are from our local area." Governor Rong Kunyu followed Jiao Zifu with a brush and a record book.
"Well, Governor Rong. I feel that your record is wrong." Jiao Zifu said while stroking the neck of a chestnut horse.
Rong Kunyu immediately lowered his head and said, "I hope the Transport Envoy can give me some advice."
"A top-quality horse is worth one hundred strings of copper coins in the Song Dynasty. And one shipped from the Jin Kingdom is worth three hundred strings of silver. Is that what you mean?" Jiao Zifu looked at him.
Rong Kunyu didn't understand what he meant, so he could only smile and nod. "Your Excellency the Transport Commissioner is right. Of these seventy-two war horses, forty-eight were shipped from the north, each worth two hundred and sixty-five strings of copper coins. These twenty-four were purchased within the borders of the Great Song, each worth approximately ninety-three strings of copper coins."
Jiao Zifu shook his head and said, "Governor Rong, you're wrong. Let me see." Then Jiao Zifu took the brush from his hand and scribbled on the account book: "It's obvious that sixty-seven foals were shipped from the north, and only five are local."
Rong Kunyu was shocked: "Master Jiao, this, this..."
"Governor Rong, if we convert these nineteen local horses into northern horses, we'll get a full three thousand two hundred strings of cash more. I'll give you fifty strings of cash for each horse. Heaven and earth know, you know, and I know."
Rong Kunyu wiped the sweat off his forehead, swallowed his saliva, and acquiesced.
Zhan Yunpeng ultimately failed to become the prefect of Kaifeng because all the ministers were unanimously opposed.
Kaifeng Prefecture was the capital of the capital. This position was often held concurrently by a member of the imperial family, overseeing all administrative, judicial, and livelihood affairs of the capital.
Famous officials of the Northern Song Dynasty such as Kou Zhun, Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Bao Zheng, and Fan Zhongyan successively served as the prefect of Kaifeng.
If the emperor is a prince, he is basically the crown prince. Emperor Taizong and Emperor Zhenzong both held this position before they ascended the throne.
Therefore, if an imperial guard of unknown origin was to take up this important position and was opposed by a number of ministers including Li Gang, Zhao Huan had no choice but to shelve the plan.
Transactions in the market were the most vulnerable to corruption, so Zhao Huan appointed Zhan Yunpeng as the Chief Justice of Criminal Justice, to inspect transactions in various regions.
Zhan Yunpeng hit the road with his dog. Yes, it was a dog, Lai Fu.
Lai Fu, the biggest stray dog in Beijing, who never tucked his tail between his legs, met Zhan Yunpeng and nearly bit him, forcing him to tuck his tail between his legs.
At the entrance of Laifu Inn, a stray dog was looking for food in the garbage dump. What made this dog different from other canines was its sturdy build and wolf-like eyes.
Let’s put it this way, these dog eyes are enough to make you feel cold in your crotch when you meet it at the entrance of an alley.
That’s right, it’s at the entrance of the alley on the left side of Lai Fu Inn. Zhan Yunpeng encountered this guy.
In a narrow alley, Zhan Yunpeng met a big dog.
Unlike the other dogs, this one showed no intention of giving way. Zhan Yunpeng was very surprised. He had never seen such a ferocious creature before, and this piqued his interest.
"Woof!" Zhan Yunpeng imitated a dog's barking.
"Woof!" The dog bared its teeth at him.
Zhan Yunpeng was unhappy and felt his dignity was insulted, so he picked up a stone and threw it over.
It didn't work very well. The dog just looked down at the direction the rock had come from, then raised its head like an idiot: "Woof!"
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