Volume 1: Zhu Xian Town Crisis Chapter 91: The Secret Meeting of Three Political Enemies (Part 2)

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  Zhang Ji was about to refute, but Zhao Ding preemptively retorted: "Minister Qin's words are wrong. These civilians originally lived in the Central Plains and had houses and fields. The reason they want to leave their homes and return south to our Great Song is because of the brutality of the Jin people, who cannot bear the burden under their rule. If our great army does not withdraw and sends officials to manage them, not only can we take back a large area of land in the north, but also without spending much money and grain, after a few years, we can even collect taxes and recruit soldiers from them. Why couldn't Minister Qin think of this method?"

  Zhao Gou knew that Zhao Ding was a hawkish faction, and his views were almost identical to those of Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. He furrowed his brow and said, "Does Qin Ai have any insight on this?"

  Qin Hui was good at observing facial expressions and saw that Zhao Gou frowned, knowing that Zhao Ding's words did not meet his expectations. He secretly rejoiced, thinking that the imperial court still wanted to make peace with the Jin people.

  Then he pondered for a moment, and said in a loud voice: "If our army is stationed in the Central Plains all the time, the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty will not give up. The war between the two countries will not end. Although our army has gained temporary benefits at present, the land of the Central Plains is flat and suitable for cavalry warfare, but it is disadvantageous to defend. As everyone knows, the Jin people have many cavalry, while the Song Dynasty has many infantry. In the long-term battle with the Jin army in the Central Plains, it will inevitably consume a lot of national strength and financial resources of the Song Dynasty, making the people more miserable. To avoid overburdening the people, I suggest that it is still better to withdraw from Henan!"

  "As soon as Zhao Ding heard this, he became enraged and said with a red face and thick neck: 'Withdraw from Henan? Qin, you are the Prime Minister of our great Song Dynasty. You should be thinking about recovering our territory and rescuing our people, but instead you want to give back the land in Central Plains that we have already taken back from the Jin State. What is your intention?'"

  Qin Hui smiled slightly and said coldly, "I am truly concerned about the government's worries and think for the people. Unlike some people who only know how to talk big, saying things like 'Northern Expedition' and 'Recovering the Central Plains'. Let's not mention that after fighting with the Jin State for so many years, we have mostly lost and rarely won. Even if we occasionally win and recover some lost land, there are still many problems: Do we need money to rebuild cities? Do we need money to resettle the people? After recovering so much land, how many more officials do we need to send to manage it, and how many troops do we need to station there? What kind of expenses will this entail? Have you calculated this carefully, Lord Zhao?"

  Zhao Ding was suddenly at a loss for words, his face flushing red, but he didn't know how to refute.

  Zhao Gou leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh, saying: "Zhao Ai, I also want to take back the mountains and rivers occupied by the Jin people. However, the current court is financially strained. Although our army won a great victory this time in the war with the Jin country, the rewards for the generals have not been settled yet. Prime Minister Qin has been raising funds for some time now. Just when we had barely managed to scrape together enough to get by, this new situation arose... The three of you should stop worrying about whether to fight or not, and think of a solution for me instead. Let's give them an answer in three days!"

  The three of them exchanged a glance and fell silent, starting to think.

  After a cup of tea, Zhang Ju was the first to speak: "If the government wants to withdraw all the people, the most urgent problem is food. It's not easy to solve the problem of feeding tens of thousands of people. In comparison, the people's houses can be delayed for a while, and now it's still summer, just build a simple hut to settle them."

  After a pause, he continued: "Moreover, it is also a question of where to settle them. I predict that various provincial governments will probably not be willing to accept these southern returnees."

  Zhao Gou's eyes lit up when he heard Zhang Jun's words, but soon dimmed again, because although Zhang Jun had found the crux of the problem, he still hadn't come up with a solution.

  Zhao Ding furrowed his brow and said, "Grain can only be squeezed out from the warehouses of various provinces, but I estimate that it will still be far from enough. It's likely that we'll have to purchase some from the people, and the cost..." He also knew that the imperial treasury was already empty.

  "Let's not talk about food for now, let's discuss the second issue Zhang Aiqing mentioned. Where are these common people going to be resettled?" Zhao Gou saw that the three former and current prime ministers all had worried expressions, and he also knew that they were clever women who couldn't cook without rice.

  Zhao Ding, however, gained momentum at this time. He immediately bowed and said in a loud voice: "These more than 200,000 civilians are now seen as a burden, but in reality they are a treasure. They have lived under the rule of the Jin people for a long time and are very familiar with the situation of the Jin people. Moreover, they are extremely resentful of the Jin country. We can select the strong and capable ones from among them and recruit them into the army. As for the rest, we can settle them in Huai Xi. This place has been plagued by war for a long time, and most of the civilians have fled. The land is vast and sparsely populated, but it is also densely covered with waterways, and the soil is fertile. It's just right to settle these civilians here."

  Zhang Ji shook his head repeatedly after listening, feeling that Zhao Ding's idea was feasible but not in line with the government's intentions. The government already felt that the three major generals were too powerful to control, and now you want to expand the army? The Song Dynasty adopted a recruitment system, where soldiers were paid military salaries, and the more troops expanded, the higher the cost borne by the court would be. Moreover, after recruiting soldiers, you can't let them go into battle naked, right? You have to provide them with armor and weapons at least, who will bear this cost? Besides, Zhang Ji's idea of settling in the Huai River area was good, but that territory belonged to Zhang Jun's jurisdiction. With Zhang Jun's greedy nature, would he be willing to take on such a big burden?

  Indeed, after hearing this, Zhao Gou's face changed in an instant, and he said coldly: "As for expanding the army, don't mention it again. The court is already struggling to make ends meet, where would I get the extra money to expand the army? As for resettling the people in Huai Xi, that can still be discussed...

  He paused for a moment, then said to Qin Hui: "Qin Ai, you should put in some extra effort tonight and calculate how much grain and expenses are needed to accommodate these civilians. After calculating the numbers, we will discuss it again at tomorrow's early court session!"

  Qin Hui hastily stood up and bowed his body saying: "Your humble servant obeys!"

  "Alright! It's already late at night, so the three of you can go back first! You all think carefully and come up with a good solution for me by tomorrow morning!" Zhao Gou waved his hand wearily, indicating that the three men should withdraw.

  Qin Hui and two others hastily paid their respects, then turned around and left.

  In the dead of night, the study in the Qin manor was still as bright as day, with several lanterns illuminating the entire room.

  Qin Hui and several trusted advisors were anxiously flipping through account books, calculating the food and money needed to resettle two million refugees.

  If Yue Yun were here, he would definitely have a deeper understanding of the phrase "a treacherous minister must be an able minister". The reason why historical treacherous ministers can monopolize power is that they not only deceive the emperor but also fight against loyal ministers in the court. How could those with low abilities achieve this?

  Wang held a bowl of lotus root and silver ear soup, walking into the study with small steps. She said softly to Qin Hui: "Master, have a bowl of soup!"

  "Put it on the table! I'll drink it after I've finished calculating!" Qin Hui said without lifting his head. He continued to flip through the account book, muttering: "The grain consumed by 200,000 civilians in half a year is at least over 500,000 dan, the official granary may not be able to provide such a large amount of grain, and it will have to be purchased from the people, the cost will be more than 30% higher than the official grain price... No, I'm afraid it's not just 30%, with the court purchasing grain on such a large scale, the price should rise even more..."

  Wang heard Qin Hui engrossed in his calculations, ignoring his own concerns and couldn't help but feel annoyed. He coldly snorted: "What's the use of you calculating so clearly? Can't the court still afford this sum of money? Unless you and the officials are willing to use that reward money to buy grain... But even then, there will be many shortcomings..."

  "How can that be?" Qin Hui immediately retorted. "As long as an agreement is reached with the Jin State on a new treaty, the imperial court will issue an order to promote Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and Zhang Jun to the positions of Imperial Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor. And this strategy of promoting in appearance but demoting in reality, do you think Yue Fei and others won't see through it? This sum of money is actually borrowed under the name of rewarding them, which will be used at that time to stabilize the military morale, make up for the overdue military pay, so as to prevent the three armies from being instigated by the three great generals, resulting in a mutiny. How dare we embezzle this money?"

  "You know it all, what's the point of asking for accounts? Are you going to conjure up money if I calculate clearly?" Wang asked with a frown.

  Qin Hui thought for a moment. He leaned back in his chair, his face filled with worry, and rubbed his sore shoulders before furrowing his brow and saying, "Why don't we discuss this with the officials and print some more IOUs?"

  "Exchange notes? Now exchange notes have depreciated too much, basically no business is willing to accept exchange notes. A whole string of exchange notes can't even be exchanged for five hundred copper coins now, do you still want to print exchange notes?" Wang Shi coldly laughed and said.