Three days later, the army left Luzhou City in mighty force.

Then he went north to Shouzhou and stayed for two days. After the Imperial Army originally stationed in Huaixi Prefecture gathered, he officially started to return.

It was already early autumn. Although it was hot in the afternoon, there was a slight coolness in the morning and evening. We spent the night on the road, and it didn’t take long before we entered the border of Gyeonggi Province.

Zhao Tan sent out 70,000 troops and hundreds of thousands of troops returned. Not only did he gather the remnants of Deng Xun's military department, but he also brought back the surrendered imperial army of Wang Qing and other surrendered troops.

Most of these people who surrendered to the army were recruited by Zhao Tao, who were majestic in appearance, innocent in background, and came from refugee backgrounds, planning to join the Xiang army after returning to Tokyo.

Flags are fluttering along the way, and there is no sign of autumn.

The common people all knew that the two great kings of the dynasty rehabilitated Huaixi and returned in triumph. They watched from a distance, and some bold ones pointed and whispered.

However, after entering Gyeonggi Province, the situation became heated. When passing through the counties under Kaifeng Prefecture, there were more people and there were constant shouts, most of which were singing praises.

When Zhao Tong saw this scene on the horse, he couldn't help but frowned.

It is a good thing that the people love you, but Gyeonggi Province is too close to Tokyo, so it is inevitable that someone will take note of it and report it to the Daojun Emperor.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look back at Jiang You behind him.

Originally Jiang You was riding in a car, but after entering Gyeonggi Province he had to get off the horse and ride a horse. At this time, he was talking to Deng Xunwu, Wang Xiang and others.

Deng Xunwu and Wang Xiang were both in low spirits at this time, and kept sighing. They only thought about how to apologize after returning to the court, and did not pay much attention to the cries of the people. Jiang You was different. He looked around from time to time, looking around at the noisy people.

I hear the words of praise in my heart.

It's just that he didn't show any special expression. He always looked serious and slightly joyful, which was very suitable for the current situation of returning in triumph.

Zhao Tong turned back to look at him. Jiang You immediately bowed slightly on his horse and said, "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

Zhao Tong smiled and shook his head without saying anything.

The scenery on Gyeonggi Road is pretty good at this time. After passing several counties in Kaifeng, you can see wheat fields on both sides of the official road.

Kaifeng has a lot of water, and the fields in Gyeonggi Province have always had good harvests. Although the merger of fields in various places has become more and more serious in recent years, the harvest around Kaifeng Prefecture is slightly better.

After all, refugees cannot appear in the Gyeonggi mainland. Once refugees appear in the Gyeonggi mainland, even if the court has always turned a blind eye to land matters, it will definitely intervene.

The Song Dynasty was different from other dynasties in dealing with land annexation.

Regarding such matters that seriously shaken the foundation of the country, the Song Dynasty court has always ignored it, not to mention letting it go, but also sitting back and watching.

This also resulted in the Song Dynasty, which had continuous rebellions and uprisings, ranking first among all dynasties.

The Song Dynasty court turned a blind eye to the land annexation and did not react to stop it. There are only two reasons.

The first is Emperor Taizu's promise to release military power over a glass of wine, allowing senior officials to acquire large amounts of land as compensation for their deprivation of military power.

As this situation worsened, other officials followed suit. Later, eunuchs such as Yang Jian also began to plunder, which became a means of amassing wealth.

The power of the aristocracy is huge, and any attempt to stop it at this time will inevitably cause a strong backlash. As the Song Dynasty became more powerful, the power of the aristocracy was deeply rooted, and it no longer had the power to comprehensively stop this behavior.

The second is that in the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years, although land annexation was severe, the level of agriculture was actually highly developed, including the level of production. On the contrary, the problem of land annexation activated the commercial economy, and a large number of businesses related to it emerged.

Other related industries can allow some people to make a living.

The Song Dynasty court also encouraged the reclamation of wasteland. Even with the intensification of land annexation, many farmers still went to open up wasteland. This also allowed some advanced agricultural technologies to be discovered and used, which in turn stimulated a significant increase in food production.

At the same time, the Song Dynasty court vigorously developed the manufacturing and textile industries, promoting the development of these industries and alleviating the land problem. This was actually the basic national policy of the Song Dynasty in governing the country.

However, the implementation of this national policy must rely on a large amount of wasteland within the territory. Although the Song Dynasty had a large population, there was actually a lot of wasteland in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which is exactly in line with this point.

Throughout the dynasties, land has always been the foundation for the survival of the country. In order to maintain and consolidate the rule of the court and stabilize the order of the people, the people in power in each dynasty would use various means to suppress the phenomenon of land annexation. However, the Song Dynasty ignored it.

This phenomenon can be used to develop industries such as textile manufacturing and trade, and use these to alleviate the conflicts caused by land annexation and stimulate economic prosperity.

But Zhao Tong knew in his heart that this kind of development was actually abnormal and was just drinking poison to quench thirst!

Everything is still based on the situation that there must be a shortage to exploit and business to operate.

Why are there so many refugees running around every year? There are fewer and fewer wastelands, and even if some are opened, they will be annexed again soon. When this happens more and more, no one is willing to open up wasteland, even if it is opened.

I make wedding clothes for officials and gentlemen, but in the end they are not my own.

As a result, begging, running around, going up the mountain, and rebelling will only increase in number.

When it comes to doing business, the most feared thing is war. Once a war breaks out, especially a national war, a country that relies on trade to prosper will easily collapse. After all, this is an era of cold weapons.

Zhao Tao looked at the wheat fields on both sides of the official road, and his mood gradually became heavy. At this time, several horses galloped in front of the army, and they saw that they were eunuchs from the palace.

Yao Pingzhong, who was acting as the vanguard, brought these people to Zhao Tong. It turned out that Emperor Daojun had a decree.

Zhao Tong called the army to halt and then received the order. It turned out that Emperor Daojun was very concerned about the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army's recapture of Huaixi and wanted to hold a consolation ceremony outside the south gate of Tokyo.

However, the time was not set for today, but for tomorrow morning, so he ordered Zhao Tao to lead his army to stay outside for the night and not enter the city for the time being.

Zhao Tong calculated the distance and found that it was only thirty miles away from Tokyo. There was no county ahead, but there was a town where troops could be garrisoned. Otherwise, there would be wheat fields on both sides of the official road, and there would be no place to set up camp.
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He glanced at the sky and gave Yao Pingzhong a few instructions, asking him to take the Xiang army and baggage to the town to arrange the camp. After the army fell, they moved forward slowly.

It wasn't until the sun turned westward and turned into a rouge color that the army slowly came to the town.

This place is only about ten miles away from the city of Tokyo. A large camp has been set up outside the town, and then pots are buried to make rice. As the fireworks gradually rise, the camp becomes a little lively.

After dinner, Zhao Tong felt bored sitting in the commander's tent, so he called Shen Fei and asked him to select ten people from the Scarlet Pioneer Group.

The Scarlet Vanguard Regiment is his personal guard, occupying the establishment of the Forbidden Army, which is considered a benefit he seeks for himself.

However, when Zhao Tong usually does not use the members of the Scarlet Pioneer Regiment, he either throws them to the military camp to practice with the horse infantry in Tokyo, or throws them to Xu Ning, who teaches the hook and sickle marksmanship alone.

This time he brought out the Scarlet Pioneer Group during the campaign against Wang Qing, but because he had sneaked into Luzhou himself, this group followed Zongze. After several battles, they also made a lot of contributions, and people also

Never damaged.

After a while, Shen Fei brought someone in, and Zhao Tan was already standing outside the tent. When the young men saw Zhao Tan, they saluted. Zhao Tan looked at each one one by one, and finally his eyes fell on Shen Fei and said: "Follow me to the town."

Take a walk."

All the teenagers said yes, with excited expressions on their faces.

Originally, they were young and loved to play and make noise. It was okay when they were in Tokyo and they could go out for a walk during the free time. However, in the past few months to suppress Wang Qing, he either stayed in the army or fought on the battlefield.

They are all young at heart, and have long been bored and panicked.

At this moment, the sky has not yet darkened, and the setting sun is shining slantingly on the small town. The golden clouds are spreading and the smoke is curling up, reflecting the scenery of a suburban market.

A large military camp was set up outside the town, but the town was not affected at all. There was no curfew, nor did it prevent people from going out. Maybe they have seen it a lot. The people in the suburbs of Beijing are not afraid of the imperial army. They can live as they want. It's just what they say.

There is more talk about the two kings' victory over thieves.

The town is called Lanxia. It is said that it was not originally called this name. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, Grand Prime Minister Wang went out to return to Beijing. He came back too late, so he settled in the town.

It was probably spring at that time, and according to Wang's status, no one would stop him from entering the city at night. However, when he arrived at the town, he saw that the town was full of glow in the sky at dusk and the scenery was beautiful. He stayed there for the night and wrote a poem about it. It was named after Lanxia, ​​and the town has been called this name ever since.

Zhao Tao and Shen Fei walked into the town. Although Shen Fei and others were wearing military uniforms, the town was at meal time and there were not many pedestrians. Some of them saw it and didn't care. After all, the Forbidden Army came to these suburban towns. Say, it’s really not a rare thing.

There are two roads in the town. One is the main road. It is paved with bluestones and looks quite neat. There are some shops on both sides. Due to the time of day, most of them are closed. The other one is interspersed with ordinary people's houses. In front of the house is a auxiliary road.

Zhao Tong walked slowly with the people. At this time, the aroma of food was wafting in the air. Some people facing the street set up small dining tables directly outside the courtyard. Some people simply squatted under the big locust tree beside the road, holding thick bowls and squatting on the ground. Eat and drink in large quantities.

Most of the shops still open on both sides of the main road were wine shops and tea shops. The town was originally small and could not support so many shops, but this was the main thoroughfare from the south of Gyeonggi Province into Tokyo. There were many traders and travelers, so it was bustling on weekdays. Business is easy.

There is also a brothel in the town. Although it is not dark at the moment, a series of red lanterns have been picked out. There is a girl who has painted her eyebrows and applied official powder. She cannot be said to be beautiful, but she is also attractive. She is sitting upstairs and looking at her. Look down.

Most of the sparse pedestrians on the road looked a little sneaky when they came here. At first, they looked straight and held their heads high. When they got closer, they felt that the surroundings were empty, and then they suddenly raised their heads and took a look.

The sister's eyes immediately brightened, she waved the silk handkerchief in her hand, her eyes seemed to be drawn to each other, and she was about to say some sweet words, but unexpectedly, the man turned his head away quickly and stepped faster. , as if he had done something heinous and he just ran away.

When my sister saw this, she laughed angrily upstairs and cursed: "Someone with a thief's heart but no courage..."

Zhao Tong and his group stopped and walked, appreciating the scenery of the town and talking about the battlefield that day, when they arrived in front of a tea shop.

Looking at the signboard, which is called Zhuxian Tea Shop, Shen Fei said: "My lord, I'm afraid this is not opened by the people from Zhuxian Town."

Zhao Tao nodded. Zhuxian Town is forty or fifty miles away from Kaifeng. It is the largest town in the counties of Kaifeng. It is far more prosperous than Lanxia Town. Judging from the brand of this tea shop, it is likely that a merchant there opened it here. .

There were not many customers in the tea shop at this time, and business during meals and evenings was light. Looking from the window, there were only three or five tables sparsely seated inside, but there was a faint sound of storytelling coming out.

Zhao Tong walked to the door and saw that the storyteller was an old man with white hair and beard. He was wearing a green cloth shirt and his face was full of traces of the vicissitudes of time. He was telling a story about the king of Yue who conquered the north.

The King of Yue was Luo Tong, the grandson of Luo Yi, Marquis of Jingbian in the Sui Dynasty, and the son of Luo Cheng, Duke of Yue in the Tang Dynasty. After Luo Cheng's death, he was adopted as an adopted son by Li Shimin, who was still King of Qin at the time.

Luo Tong, armed with a white horse and a silver spear, commanded the army to sweep the North at the age of thirteen. He was the best of the second generation of heroes in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. By the time Xue Rengui conquered the east, Luo Tong was already one of the few enemies in the world.

The old storyteller is now talking about the entanglement between Luo Tong and the Turkic princess, which is the marriage before the battle, and then regretting it after the battle, repeated over and over again, which is embarrassing.

Zhao Tong shook his head when he heard this, asked the others to wait outside the door, and led Shen Fei into the store alone.

At this time, I saw a little girl with double braids and a red shirt standing on the other side of the old storyteller. She had a small jade-like face and eyes like paint, which fell on him at this moment.

"Growing taller again..." Zhao Tong muttered, found a table and sat down, and the store brought a tea sign.

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After a while, the tea was served, and the old man continued to lecture. The little girl next to him showed a sweet smile, walked over, poured tea for Zhao Tong, and then looked at him.

Zhao Tong stretched out his hand and wanted to touch her head like before, but then he paused and said: "How old are you now?"

The little girl said: "It's October."

Zhao Tong smiled, retracted his hand, and stopped talking.
To be continued...