novelAbuy Chapter 77 A Sudden Rival
Chapter 77 A Sudden Rival
Three thousand heavily armored cavalrymen marched north from Luzhou, their banners fluttering in the wind, their hooves shattering the morning mist of the Taihang Mountains.
Zhao Guangmei, clad in gleaming silver armor, rode a pure white steed from the Hexi region. She was so excited she couldn't sit still, urging her horse to gallop to the front of the procession every now and then back to show off to Wang Lu and Li Jilong: "Look! This horse was specially chosen for me by my elder brother. It can travel a thousand miles a day, a true Ferghana steed. Aren't you envious? Isn't it better than the horses you two ride?"
Wang Lu: "Are you crazy? You're just a royal brother, what are you comparing yourself to the two of us for?"
Li Jilong: "He's quite ill."
Zhao Guangmei: "What I mean is, when we get to Wutai Mountain later, I'll pick out a few fine horses like these for you. I've heard that the best horses in Taiyuan are the best in the world, definitely better than those in Kaifeng, right?"
Li Jilong and Wang Lu both rolled their eyes at him, not really wanting to talk to him.
As the army marched north, just as Lu Qiu Zhongqing had predicted, the Northern Han forces in Daizhou were severely depleted, with most of them having gone with Yang Ye to defend Taiyuan.
Therefore, the towns along the way surrendered without resistance, allowing the three thousand men to enter the cities or obtain supplies from the post stations with ease. The army did not consume much of the dry rations it brought, and even plundered a considerable amount of wealth.
Zhao Guangmei asked in surprise, "Is the Northern Han so rich? Almost every post station they pass through has enough food, and even some money. Our Great Song is not that wealthy."
Wang Lu: "This isn't Daizhou, it's definitely not like this in other places."
"So what if it's Daizhou?"
"In Daizhou, Liao people come to rob us from time to time. If we don't prepare something for them to rob, what if the Khitan masters get angry? They'll kill us."
Two years ago, Xiao Siwen came to steal things, and refused to leave until he got what he wanted. Liu Jun couldn't do anything about it and didn't dare to hit them, so he could only offer them money as "comfort" to get rid of the plague. How embarrassing!
Rather than doing that, it would be better for them to prepare some supplies themselves and place them at various post stations. Most of the Liao raids are by border generals looting, not by the Liao state itself; once they've taken what they need, they'll naturally leave.
Li Jilong frowned and said, "Aren't there natural defenses like Yanmen Pass and Loufan Pass? How can small groups of Liao troops still be allowed to plunder south of Yanmen Pass?"
"Only small groups of Liao troops can raid like this. What good are natural defenses? Liu Jun is a puppet emperor of the Khitans, and he only stands by relying on the Khitans for support. Who dares to fight them? If we kill the Khitans, aren't we afraid of being accused of provoking a border conflict?"
Zhao Guangmei snorted coldly upon hearing this: "Sooner or later we will destroy the Northern Han and save the people of this region."
Li Jilong: "And Yunzhou, and the entire Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun."
"Yes!" Zhao Guangmei clenched her fist: "Our Great Song Dynasty must reclaim all sixteen prefectures of Yan and Yun!"
Wang Lu stood to the side, slightly pursing his lips, but said nothing.
The group continued their journey and soon arrived at Baiguye. In the distance, chimneys stood tall in the valley, and the red glow of the furnaces was faintly visible even in the daytime. The clanging and banging of blacksmithing carried on the wind, continuous and unending.
The entire valley had only four or five hundred defenders, none of whom were elite troops; they were second-line garrison forces. Faced with three thousand elite Song soldiers, they couldn't mount any significant resistance whatsoever.
Zhao Guangmei shouted, "Get them!"
The battle ended in less than fifteen minutes, with all the defenders surrendering. The three little ones still didn't get a chance to actually fight, and they didn't even break a sweat.
Hearing the commotion, the blacksmiths in Baiguye Village also put down their work and gathered together in fear, still clutching their hammers and pliers.
Wang Lu dismounted and addressed the crowd in a loud voice: "Listen up, all of you! These are the three kings of our Great Song Dynasty. We also run an ironworks in Kaifeng. Come with us, and you will all become our three kings' slaves."
"Each craftsman can only be allocated a very small, independent house, which can only accommodate a family of three at most. If five people live there, it will be extremely crowded. They sign long-term contracts, and their monthly wages are only three strings of cash. They have to work five hours a day and only have three days off per month. If anyone doesn't want to work, hmph, you have to work for our Third King for five years before you can be free. Hahahaha, that's how wicked our Third King of the Great Song Dynasty is."
Zhao Guangmei: "…………"
The blacksmiths looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.
Are they here to plunder us and enslave us?
"Great King, please take us with you!"
During the Northern Han Dynasty, the artisan household system meant that these blacksmiths were slaves for generations, working day and night without any monthly leave or wages. Not to mention, the area was frequently raided by the Khitans, who, although they did not kill people, sometimes humiliated the wives and daughters.
The Northern Han was a Shatuo regime, and its internal governance also carried the simple and brutal characteristics unique to the Shatuo people. Once someone became a craftsman, their family would be a craftsman's household for generations. They had to serve in the state-run smelting workshops year-round and were not allowed to leave the workshop area without permission. They would not receive wages, and those who ran away would be wanted and their families would be punished.
Most nomadic peoples of the steppes had similar artisan households, much like those of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties. This is why some Ming critics in later generations believe that Zhu Yuanzhang did not rebuild China, but rather reconstructed the Mongol Yuan dynasty.
By the time of the Later Zhou Dynasty, the Central Plains had largely broken free from the influence of the Shatuo people and was now a purely Han Chinese bureaucratic regime. The system of artisan households was greatly relaxed, and the artisan households inherited from the Later Han Dynasty were allowed to change professions and were paid wages for their work.
In the early Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict stating that "officials and hired craftsmen shall not be coerced or forced," which clearly established the law that the government could not forcibly conscript craftsmen and laid the foundation for the basic practice of voluntary recruitment and daily payment of wages for craftsmen in the Northern Song Dynasty.
So, in reality, blacksmiths in the Central Plains live a better life than those in the Northern Han. Most of the craftsmen in the Northern Han had heard of this, and when they heard Wang Lu say this on purpose, they all cheered with joy.
You absolutely have to take us back to be slaves!
The blacksmiths cheered and rushed back to their lodgings to pack their belongings. The iron-smelting furnace was difficult to dismantle, but the bellows, hammers, and anvils were all dismantled, packed, and taken away. In addition, hundreds of suits of armor that had been completed or were about to be completed, and thousands of various weapons were also packed and taken away.
Wang Lu personally led a team to take inventory, and found that there were 327 skilled blacksmith households alone, plus their families, totaling more than 1,200 people.
Zhao Guangmei: "Let's take these people back, and each of them can take on a few more apprentices. Now the furnaces in the new factory will all be under someone's supervision. With experienced masters who have decades of experience, it's much faster than training them from scratch."
Wang Lu: "Did you ask the Emperor about the merger of the Ordnance Bureau's official workshops? What did the Emperor say?"
"My elder brother said he doesn't object, but he suggested that we first make a name for ourselves in our own workshops, preferably squeezing out the Ordnance Bureau so much that it can't continue operating. Then we can bring up the merger of government-run workshops. That would be much more effective. If we try to merge with them now, there will definitely be people who object because we are young. We won't be able to accomplish anything in the first two years. We'll just waste our energy on trivial matters every day, which would be counterproductive."
Wang Lu: "What the Emperor says makes sense."
"So, Tongjifang Ironworks has everything ready except for experienced blacksmiths. With this rob, we have everything we need now. Hahahaha."
"You're smiling like a villain."
What defines a villain?
"Those like the Second King are villains."
"I look like my second brother? Of course, we were born of the same mother."
The three little ones led their troops to rest in Baiguye for a day, and as expected, there were no reinforcements. Afterwards, they went to the horse ranch on the stage and captured several hundred guards with the same swift and decisive victory. However, they did not obtain many warhorses, only about a thousand, but they did obtain more than five thousand foals.
The three little ones, in high spirits, strode away.
However, while the three little ones arrived swiftly, their return journey was inevitably slower, as they had brought over a thousand blacksmiths, a large arsenal of iron-smelting tools, and five or six thousand slow-moving foals.
Fortunately, at this time, the Northern Han was indeed dilapidated and leaky, with very few troops left. Zhao Kuangyin personally appeared at the gates of Taiyuan, and Wang Quanbin captured Liaozhou, which attracted the attention of the remaining troops and people, so no one paid any attention to them.
The army marched south, intending to meet up with Zhao Kuangyin's personal army outside Taiyuan before returning. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin should have been outside Taiyuan, holding a living Liu Jun, who was still cowardly and afraid of death, and showing off his power.
As they traveled near Taiyuan, dust billowed in the distance. Scouts rushed back to report: "Third Prince, Lord Wang, Lord Li, a cavalry force is charging towards us!"
"What? Where did they come from? Isn't the Emperor besieging Taiyuan?"
As they were talking, a troop of elite cavalry appeared within sight. The three little ones were shocked and quickly ordered their troops to form a battle formation. They had barely finished setting up the formation when the troop of elite cavalry was already upon them.
The leading general, clad in striking crimson armor, wielded a ten-foot-long spear and roared, "I am Liu Jiye, the military governor of Jianxiong Army of the Great Han! You cowards, now that you've heard of my name, why don't you retreat at once! Brothers, capture Zhao Guangmei alive and use him and Zhao Kuangyin to exchange for His Majesty!"