Chapter 46: Military Equipment

  Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping couldn't help but smile wryly to himself. If he wasn't mistaken, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Song Dynasty during the expedition against Yan and Yun was not some big or small general, but rather that eunuch, Tong Guan. Later on, when the war situation turned unfavorable, there were also internal reasons for the lack of unified command. It seems that the problem with the Great Song wasn't that no one knew about it; Li Bao was just a low-ranking soldier in the Imperial Guard, and everyone knew not to interfere with the commander-in-chief. Alas, this was an established tradition of the Great Song, and couldn't be changed now. If only it were some understanding civil official... but unfortunately, it was that eunuch. Thinking of this, Zhou Ping asked: "What if it were Tong Guan?"

  "Tong Guan?" Li Bao was taken aback: "You mean let Tong Guan take on the role of Xuanfu Envoy?"

  "Hehe, I'm just assuming, anyway he has made quite a few military achievements in the Western Army."

  "This one!" Li Bao hesitated for a moment, and sighed: "How to say it, after all, it's better than those civil officials. Tong Guan is greedy and corrupt, but he has also been trained in the Western Army, knows the hardships of the border soldiers, and won't think himself superior and refuse to listen to the words of the military generals. At most, he'll just embezzle some money. Which official doesn't embezzle money? He's still much better than a big-headed official who understands nothing but likes to give orders!"

  "That's right!" Li Bao's response was somewhat unexpected by Zhou Ping, implying that it's better to have a corrupt official who can get things done than a clean one who is incompetent. He was about to ask him about the situation with the Western Army when he heard someone shouting from not far away: "Is Ah Ping here?" He looked up and saw a man on horseback, none other than Xue Liangchen, who had recently become the county magistrate. Zhou Ping hastily stood up and went forward to pay his respects, saying: "Your subordinate has seen you, sir!"

  Xue Liangchen jumped off his horse and laughed: "Why be so polite? You are now also a ninth-grade inspector, just like me!"

  "If it weren't for Master Zhang's kindness, I would have long been a corpse on the side of the road. And as for me being a petty person, if it weren't for Master Lang's help, how could I be where I am today? How can I dare to forget such great kindness?" Zhou Ping smiled and led Xue Liangyu under the tree, took out a water jug and handed it over, saying: "Master Lang, please have a drink of water, what brings you to find me today?"

  Xue Liangchen took a sip of water, looked at the grass heap on the ground and smiled: "Why did you buy this mountain slope land? Although it's cheap, it's too far from the river, not much grain can be harvested. It's better to use this money to buy a small piece of land by the river, which will yield more grain."

  "Grain?" Zhou Ping burst out laughing, casually picked up a pickaxe, and pulled Xue Liangchen to the side of an earth slope. With a few forceful digs, the dry soil collapsed, revealing layer upon layer of black mineral deposits. Zhou Ping picked one up from the ground and handed it to Xue Liangchen: "Lang Jun, there's coal here. I bought this land to dig for coal."

  "Coal?" Xue Liangchen was taken aback and asked, "What's the point of digging this up? We can't even burn all the firewood, and this stuff is filthy too."

  "The family of the artistic girl runs an ironwork shop, using a lot of charcoal every year. Switching to coal can save a significant amount of money. Additionally, people in the county town also need to burn coal for heating and cooking. I sell coal to the city, which earns me much more than farming!"

  "You little scamp, you're really clever and won't be taken advantage of!" Xue Liangchen smiled: "Then why don't you hurry up and take action?"

  "Let's do it big after autumn, now is just preparation. Firstly, the weather is hot and digging out is not worth the money, secondly, farmers are busy and there are not enough hands. After harvesting, I will bring all the archers from my patrol office, give them twenty cents of sauce money per day, and provide enough food." Zhou Ping smiled.

  "So you let all the people from the Patrol Office go back? How can we deal with official business?" Xue Liangchen's eyebrows furrowed, and it turned out that this Patrol Office was roughly equivalent to a modern police force, mainly responsible for capturing thieves, cracking down on private salt and tea smuggling, and other economic crimes. The head of the Patrol Office was typically held by a low-ranking military officer at the level of a minor envoy, while the bowmen were mostly recruited from third-class households, with little or no salary or only minimal subsidies, replaced annually to reflect the spirit of "the more property one has, the heavier the corvée labor". However, in reality, middle-class families could shift the burden of bowmen to poorer fourth- and fifth-class households through means such as buying off corvée labor, so most of the bowmen under Zhou Ping's command were actually from these poor households. If a strong laborer from one of these poor households was called away to serve as a bowman during the busy farming season, it would inevitably result in a poor harvest and starvation at home.

  "Not all of them have been sent back!" Zhou Ping smiled and said, "I made these twenty people form pairs according to the village, with one person from each pair coming to the patrol office for duty, while the other person must help the one who came to do the farm work at home. Although it's a bit hard, they can barely hold on. It will be better after autumn."

  "Ah Ping, you really are kind-hearted!" Xue Liangchen sighed: "However, in general, fourth and fifth-class households have less labor, half of the people come to your place, and the rest may not be able to do it?"

  "Lang Jun said so, so I also lent each of them a sum of money to buy a head of draft cattle! They will return it to me after autumn with an annual interest of 1.5%."

  "What's going on here?" Xue Liangchen widened his eyes. At that time, usury was very common in rural areas, and interest rates of 40% or 50% within a few months were also common. An interest rate as low as Zhou Ping's was extremely rare, even within the clan itself.

  "Isn't this what Father taught us? If you want to train soldiers, first you must bind them with favors and then govern them with strict laws, only then can they become an army. Am I not doing exactly as Father said?"

  "Ah, I see! Yes, there's something. Xue Liangchen smiled: "Master Zishan has returned from Liaodong and is now at my father's estate. I just came back from the county town. Do you want to go with me to see him?"

  "Master Zishan?" Zhou Ping hastily stood up: "Wait for me, I'll go and get ready, then we'll go together!" After saying that, he instructed Li Bao and Luo She'er a few words, then saddled his own horse, and rode off with Xue Liangchen side by side.

  Before they knew it, the two of them arrived at Xue's village. As soon as they dismounted their horses and entered the courtyard, they heard a loud voice coming from the main hall: "Master Chan, you have achieved such great merit this time, you will surely go down in history, your name will be remembered for generations to come, it makes me, an old man, feel so envious!"

  "It's just a coincidence!" Zhi Shan waved his hand and sighed, "It's hard to say whether it will be remembered for generations or leave a lasting stench."

  "And what does this have to do with anything? If this 'alliance on the high seas' is successful, there's hope for the recovery of Yan and Yun. You, Master Chan, will surely be remembered in history, and people will still be praising you after a hundred generations, just like that Ban Dingyuan. What an honor!"

  "That Jin Ren is like a tiger or wolf, I only fear, only fear——" Up to this point, the kind-hearted man's head hung down, and he let out a sigh, falling silent.

  Xue Zhenren said with a strange tone, "This is indeed odd. The Jurchen people are our allies in the Great Song Dynasty, so naturally the more ferocious they are, the better. If they were weak and powerless, how could they divide the Liao people's strength?"

  "I think the abbot means that the Golden People are ferocious and will be a scourge to our Great Song, even more so than the Liao people!" A voice came from outside, Xue Zhenren and Zhishan's gaze turned outward, only to see that the speaker was Zhou Ping. He had come up to the hall with Xue Liangchen, and bowed his hands in greeting to Xue Zhenren and Abbot Zhishan: "Abbot, you're well, I don't know if my guess just now was correct or not?"

  "Not bad!" Zuo Shan nodded: "The Jin people are fierce and good at fighting, it's not necessary to mention that their leaders are also many brave and wise men who are skilled in military affairs. Especially the national master Wanyan Aguda, with a broad chest and an extraordinary temperament, now although he only controls two roads, he already has the heart to swallow the Liao state. I think this 'alliance on the sea' is not necessarily beneficial to our Great Song!" He said here, he recounted his experiences in Liaodong one by one, and sighed: "This Wanyan Aguda obviously wants to negotiate with both the Song and Liao sides at the same time, and then use the Liao to pressure the Song, and use the Song to pressure the Liao, profiting from the middle. The court officials regard him as a brainless savage, expecting the Jin people to take down the Yan-Yun area for the Great Song with both hands, only fearing that it is self-inflicted humiliation!"

  The hall fell silent, and Xue Zhenren smiled awkwardly: "Master Chan worries too much. In my opinion, there may be some twists and turns in between, but now is the best opportunity for Yan Yun to recover Han's territory. Come on, bring wine quickly, and let Master Chan have a drink to wash away his dust!"

  Someone responded with a sound, and the wine and dishes were served. Zhou Ping hurriedly filled the cups of the people present one by one. Xue Zhenren took a sip and pointed at Zhou Ping, laughing: "Master Chan, do you know that Zhou Ping is now the ninth-rank inspector of the Sanhu Township Patrol Office, with 40 or 50 men under his command? He has just gotten married too - truly a string of happy events!"

  "That's truly a joyous occasion!" Zhi Shan laughed and reached into his waist, pulled out a golden hairpin and handed it over: "I suppose the bride is that Yun Niang, this ornament is a gift to her, consider it an old monk's congratulatory gift!"

  "Thank you, Master!" Zhou Ping also didn't decline and accepted the golden hairpin with both hands: "I will thank Master on behalf of my humble wife!"

  In the blink of an eye, the banquet had already gone through three rounds of drinks, and Zhi Shan also had a few cups of wine, seeing Zhou Ping at the lower table refilling their glasses, cutting meat, and serving dishes, with a look of a peaceful rural gentleman. Thinking back to what he saw and heard in Liaodong, he suddenly felt a sense of annoyance in his heart, and abruptly slammed his wine cup on the table. His strength was originally great, and after drinking several more cups of wine, he couldn't hold it in anymore. In an instant, he actually shattered the clay wine cup, and the wine splashed everywhere, getting everyone's clothes wet.

  "We are here drinking and enjoying ourselves, but the northerners are sharpening their swords and horses. If one day they ride south with iron cavalry, I fear that both sides of the Yangtze River will become barbarian lands!" Zhi Shan sighed.

  Zhou Ping wiped the wine drops from his face and smiled, saying: "Master Chan, we're not just drinking! This time I went to Liao with Liang Chen and gained something." He then pulled out the dagger from his waist and placed it on the table. These men were all warriors, and when they took a closer look, they couldn't help but take in a breath of cold air. The dagger had a thin blade and thick back, with patterns on its surface, and the edge was emitting a faint blue glow, giving off an aura that sent shivers down their spines. The hilt was four inches long, and the blade was over four feet long, clearly designed for either single-handed or double-handed combat, a true battle weapon.

  "Just you wait and see!" Xue Liangwu, the third elder, was the quickest to react. He had already snatched the knife and walked over to the clump of bamboo beside the hall. With a loud shout, he raised his hand and slashed down with the knife. A loud cracking sound could be heard as three or four stalks of bamboo were cut off by him in one slash, while the remaining stalk was also severed halfway through, leaving only some bamboo skin connecting them together.

  "Good sword!" Xue Liangwu's eyes lit up, these few people were all insiders, they knew that cutting bamboo with a sword looked simple but was actually a great test of the swordsman's arm strength and technique. The clump of bamboo below had trunks as thick as an arm, based on Xue Liangwu's skills he could at most cut two stalks with one swing, but he was able to cut three and a half with one swing, showing just how sharp this sword was.