In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 200

Zhao Yurui ascended the throne in February and used a large number of people recommended by Cui Yuzhi, including Cui Yuzhi's son Cui Shusi, who was also appointed as a county lieutenant.

But Cui Yuzhi did not leave the mountain after receiving the imperial edict, and still declined, but sent his son to take office.

Finally, Meng Gong came over and brought the emperor's personal letter, which moved Cui Yuzhi.

Many words of the emperor can resonate with him, making Cui Yuzhi feel that Da Song finally has someone who understands him.

Zhao Yurui said, now we are not compared to the Three Kingdoms, how many people are there in the Three Kingdoms Shu Kingdom?

We now have more than 900 million people, nearly [-] million people in Sichuan.

With the natural dangers of Sichuan, as long as we keep here, it is the hope and backing of our Great Song Dynasty.

The emperor attached great importance to Sichuan, and his views were similar to Cui Yuzhi's, because Cui Yuzhi also wrote to the court saying that Sichuan was the most important barrier of the Song Dynasty, but the court did not take it seriously.

The reason why Sichuan was important in the Southern Song Dynasty was the following three points.

The first is geographic location.

Shukou, Sanguan and Wuzhou are located at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan. The terrain is complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack. When Wu Jie brothers were there, they mainly operated the front line of Sanguan and Dashanguan. A mountain city, so that the three passes and five states become the forefront of Baoshu.

When the Southern Song Dynasty negotiated peace in Shaoxing, they tried their best to win over the monk Yuan, but failed. (This time Yan Ying went to the Kingdom of Jin and obtained all the territory west of Fengxiang, and also allowed the monk Yuan to return to the Southern Song Dynasty, which made it easier to stick to Dashan Pass.)
Second is military value.

The main line of defense in the Southern Song Dynasty was Lin'an and the northern border, followed by the Sichuan-Shanxi border. Other places were easy to be attacked. As long as this side is defended, the entire Sichuan area is very peaceful and can be developed without hesitation.

In addition, there has been a lack of horses in the Song Dynasty, and because Shukou is located in the southern part of Shaanxi and Gansu, it is closer to the excellent Helong horse production area, and it is the main or even the only source of high-quality military horses in the Southern Song Dynasty.

As mentioned earlier, the horses traded with the nomads are called West horses. In the highest era, nearly [-] West horses were exchanged from the tea horse trade in Shukou every year. A certain number of horses are traded, about [-] horses per year, which can be regarded as the imperial court's preferential treatment for the troops stationed in Sichuan and Shaanxi.

Because there is a relatively reliable source of military horses, the number of cavalry in the Sichuan-Shanxi theater of the Southern Song Dynasty is also the largest except for the Imperial Army. At its peak, there were about 1.5 cavalry. In the middle and late stages, that is, now, it is also about 5000. In the Southern Song Dynasty, a dynasty that lacked horses However, only the Sichuan-Shanxi Theater can mobilize hundreds or even thousands of cavalry at one time.

The third is economic value.

The Chengdu Plain has always been known as the Land of Abundance. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty completed the shift of China's economic center of gravity, making Sichuan's economic value extremely important in the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Jiading period, Sichuan's economic contribution to the Southern Song Dynasty reached more than one-third.

Of course, Shukou is still relatively barren, because there are many mountains, which is not conducive to farming, but the Southern Song Dynasty attached great importance to this place, especially when Cui Yuzhi was in office, he built a large number of granary warehouses, mainly distributed in front of Lizhou Road Region, Historical Records: "There are ten out of ten warehouses in Wujie, Santongqing, Qifengji, fifteen in Xihe, twenty-seven in Jin and Yang, and the largest ones are Li, Mian, In Xingyuan, each branch has ten thousand stones of food every month, and Yuguan takes four-tenths of the wealth. From the five prefectures outside the pass to the three assembly areas of Xingyuanfu, Mianzhou, Jinzhou and Lizhou , Yuguan, all have warehouses.”

I have to say that the Southern Song Dynasty did a good job of preparing for war. In the states near the front line, a large number of warehouses were built, and a lot of food and ordnance were stored.

Someone wants to say, isn't it that the road to Shu is difficult to reach the blue sky?
Yes, that is the Shu Road of the Kingdom of Shu, not the Shu Road of the Southern Song Dynasty.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, all kinds of transportation in Sichuan depended partly on mountain roads and more on waterways, which could not be achieved during the Three Kingdoms Shu period.

On the waterway, the Southern Song Dynasty mainly relied on the Jialing River for shipping. During the Song Dynasty, the Jialing River had sufficient water and was suitable for ships. It was the main way for the Southern Song Dynasty to transport grain to and from Shukou.

According to historical records, the Sichuan Consulate General pays 150 million shi for military rations every year, of which about 130 million shi depends on water transportation, accounting for more than 85%.

Until the late Southern Song Dynasty, after the military conflict between Song and Mongolia, especially six years later, Torre created the Xinmao Change, which severely damaged the logistics and transportation of Sichuan and Shaanxi in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty was forced to rely on land transportation again, which greatly increased military costs. , defense also becomes more difficult.

Zhao Yurui finally said in the letter that since Zhao Song went south, "Sichuan is an important upstream town, and the land of Shu is rich and solid, without the disturbance of military revolution, and the officials think it is a happy land."

Because there was no war, the income of the Sichuan General Consulate accounted for more than one-fifth of the total fiscal revenue of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the military rations provided by Sichuan reached more than one-third of the entire Southern Song Dynasty's military ration supply. The sigh of "the death of Shu is the death of Song Dynasty".

Therefore, it is unscientific to say that Sichuan is not suitable for growing grain and everything is a mountain city. The land of abundance not only supported half of the Southern Song Dynasty militarily, but also supported the entire Southern Song Dynasty economically and military.

Of course, all of this turned into flying smoke after Tuo Lei invaded the Song Dynasty six years later.

After Tuo Lei invaded the Song Dynasty, he first slaughtered Malingbao, Tuyangzhou, and Tu Xingyuan. At that time, Guo Zhengsun, the magistrate, led more than [-] people to flee, and when they met Mongolian soldiers, they were all slaughtered.

Then they massacred the Tianshui Army and Xihe Prefecture, then attacked Mianzhou, and slaughtered again (in retaliation for Mianzhou Governor Zhang Xuan's killing of the Meng envoy), Mongolia entered Sichuan several times and killed millions of Sichuan residents. There are only more than 900 people in Sichuan with more than 60 million people. There are no people, so there is no economic value.

After reading the emperor's letter, Cui Yuzhi agreed with the emperor's words very much, and believed that the emperor's words resonated with him. Sichuan was not only the most important barrier in the Southern Song Dynasty, but also an important source of food and soldiers in the Southern Song Dynasty.

As long as the population and productivity are maintained, everything will be possible.

After Meng Gong came, he led his troops to recover Fengxiang first, and the Kingdom of Jin gave up all the places west of Fengxiang. Meng Gong immediately followed what the emperor said, and sent people to move all the population in the area west of Fengxiang and the former Linzhao Mansion of the Kingdom of Jin to the south. In Fengxiang, part of it was arranged in Xihe Prefecture, and the other part was moved to the south of Dasan Pass.

In this way, plus the gains from the recovery of Fengxiang, the population of Sichuan and the Southern Song Dynasty suddenly increased by hundreds of thousands, approaching tens of millions.

But this is still not enough. In the end, to defend the city and keep the population, we must rely on elite soldiers and important local officials.

Let's see what the local official Cui Yuzhi is capable of.

In history, when Cui Yuzhi came to Sichuan as an envoy: "At the beginning, the treasury had only ten thousand yuan of money, and later it reached more than ten million yuan, which was called gold and silk." Look, when Cui Yuzhi first arrived in Sichuan, Sichuan President The money in the warehouse of the collar office is only ten thousand guan, and after he has been in Sichuan for a few years, the treasury will soon accumulate to tens of millions of guan, and there are countless gold and silk.

Cui Yuzhi also said: "Considering that there are not many annual purchases outside the customs, 30 shi of rice will be transported and accumulated in Mianzhou warehouse" to prepare for unexpected events.

When Cui Yuzhi was there, Sichuan was not short of money or food, and 30 shi of grain was stored in Mianzhou all the year round.

It is no exaggeration to say that Cui Yuzhi was unmatched in the Song Dynasty in terms of Yue Fei's fame in battles, local governance and comprehensive ability.

In his 80s, he was able to persuade the rebels to surrender alone, and the rebels knelt down when they heard his name, which shows how strong Cui Yuzhi's reputation and ability were in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Cui Yuzhi is in Lianghuai, Lianghuai raises tens of thousands of war horses, Jin Guo dare not attack, Cui Yuzhi is in Sichuan, money and food are piled up in warehouses, Shukou is unbreakable, with his ability, let alone in the Song Dynasty, even in the whole Feudal dynasties can all be ranked in the forefront.

But after Cui Yuzhi left Sichuan, the situation in Sichuan was not as good as that of the other, and the situation in Sichuan became worse and worse.

Now that Cui Yuzhi has returned, he also saw the disciplined army trained by the emperor. He completely handed over the training to Brother Meng Gong and Chen Xiaodao.

He is mainly responsible for farming grain, building water conservancy, strengthening city defenses, and recruiting soldiers.

The emperor brought him 500 million guan, enough for him to flex his muscles in Sichuan.

In the past, the imperial court didn't have a dime, and he was doing well, and he had accumulated tens of millions of pennies.

Cui Yuzhi thought of this, and looked at Dashan Pass again. Thousands of civilians have already repaired, reinforced, and installed several new artillery pieces on Dashan Pass.

He got up involuntarily and walked towards the artillery.

Zhang Xuan, Meng Gong, Meng Zhang and others quickly followed behind.

"What kind of cannon is this?" Cui Yuzhi looked at the cannon on Dasan Pass and asked.

Meng Gong turned his head quickly, and a young man flashed behind him, it was Chen Xiaodao who came from the palace.

"Huizhifu, this is called Qingyuan Cannon Type 24 (built in 1224), the whole body is cast in steel, the most durable, and the caliber of the cannon—" Chen Xiaodao introduced it to Cui Yuzhi.

I heard that it can hit about two miles on the top of the city, but only one mile on the flat ground. The best killing distance on the top of the city is [-] to [-] paces. Cui Yu was a little shocked, this is far beyond The artillery of the Song Army in the past.

"This whole body is made of steel, isn't it expensive?"

"Yes, this time we went to Sichuan, we only brought [-] guns, and another [-] iron cannons."

Cui Yuzhi nodded when he heard the words. The emperor sent a letter asking him to recruit craftsmen locally, who would be raised by the court as craftsmen and officials, specializing in casting armor and firearms, and sent a hundred firearms craftsmen with Meng Gong.

Cui Yuzhi was a little surprised at the time. He had only been in a high position for ten years, and a small craftsman could also be an official?In the future, if you perform well, perform well in the assessment, and make good guns, can you still be an official?
But Cui Yuzhi quickly understood the emperor's thoughts.

To defend Sichuan well, not only elite soldiers, but also elite armor is required.

"Show me a shot." Cui Yuzhi finally said.

Chen Xiaodao immediately ordered to prepare.

Many Song generals around also gathered around to watch.

Dasanguan City is eight meters high, and the 24-type cannon mount is also relatively high. After some operations by the gunner.

Boom, a shell was fired, and it flew nearly two miles before landing.

There was an uproar all around, and it was the first time for Song generals to see a cannon that could shoot so far.

Cui Yuzhi showed no expression. After thinking for a moment, he asked again: "So slow? How long does it take to get a shot?"

The gunner seemed unfamiliar just now, and it took a while to fire a shot.

Chen Xiaodao said, here are all new gunners, they are not proficient yet, after some practice, they will become mature in a few months.

"Skilled gunners can fire within 5 breaths (about [-] minutes) at the fastest."

"However, continuous shooting will damage the barrel. It is best to cool it down. Usually, it is best to fire a shot for half an hour or so (ten to fifteen minutes)."

Cui Yuzhi is already recruiting craftsmen, but it will take half a year to build a cannon in Sichuan, because it takes time to set up a firearms bureau and a cannon factory.

"Pu Yu (Meng Gong's character), in your opinion, what should we focus on? How should we guard?"

(End of this chapter)