When Ma Di went out, Du Zhongxiao said to Li Zhang: "Is what Ma Di said credible? What is the truth about Zhongjing Road now?"

Li Zhang said: "Based on the information I have investigated these days, what Ma Di said is basically credible. Yelu Hongji brought all the Khitan elite soldiers to Youzhou, and there were not many soldiers and horses on Zhongjing Road. The only city guards were mostly local troops, not the main force of the Khitan. Except for Ma Di, many of the three families of Ma, Liu and Zhao are now officials in Zhongjing Road. They can't stop them from offering the city together."

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "This time the Khitan went south, the Khitan was hurting his muscles and bones. Is the food storage in Zhongjing Road sufficient?"

Li Zhang shook his head: "Youzhou originally had not much grain reserve, but a lot of grain was actually transported from Zhongjing Road. Although Zhongjing Road is not as miserable as Youzhou, there are not much grain reserves, and there are still grains for good or bad."

Du Zhongxiao said: "In this way, if our army goes north, we still have to bring our own food and grass. There are many mountainous roads there, and it is inconvenient to transport grain, which is a problem. If the army goes north, we still have to use the people to transport grain."

After thinking for a while, Du Zhongxiao said decisively: "Don't care. If you miss this opportunity, it's hard to meet it! I will return to Beijing tomorrow and report to the emperor, preparing to go north and occupy the Dading Prefecture! As long as I occupy the Dading Prefecture, the Khitan will not have a chance to rise again."

Li Zhang said: "These prime ministers in the court have the same meaning. However, Li Taiwei said that Youzhou really cannot collect grain, so he can only transfer grain from Bianjing. The food that is short of Bianjing will be transferred from Jingdong Road, Liangzhe and Jiangnan Road. The grain can only be transported to Youzhou, and then it can only be carried by people on their backs and shoulders to the north. It is extremely difficult."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's not just that. The migrant workers in Youzhou signed troops last year, and most of them died on the battlefield. The civilians who transported grain also had to collect from the Central Plains. In this way, the food they needed was not a decimal, and the food they needed to carry animals also."

Standing up, Du Zhongxiao paced. After a while, he turned around and said, "Tell Li Fugui that he would collect enough food to transport it to Youzhou at any cost. The road to the north is inconvenient, and the food and grass this time are not necessarily less than a battle before the New Year."

Li Zhang crossed his hands and said goodbye. He bowed his hands and rode a fast horse back to the capital. Wansheng Town was a distance from Kaifeng City, and it was dark when it returned to the city.

In the evening, Du Zhongxiao held a banquet and invited Ma Di to drink. After much consideration, he did not call Ma Xuan, but asked Sun Peng to come and drink with him, telling Ma Xuan's current situation. Ma Di did not really offer the city, and Ma Xuan was not yet at the time to feel the benefits.

The next morning, Du Zhongxiao and Ma Di returned to the capital with Ma Di. When they entered the city, it was just noon. Du Zhongxiao did not go home and went directly to the Privy Council. He ordered someone to arrange Ma Di and return to his official hall.

Soon, Tian Kuang and Zeng Gongliang came in and saluted Du Zhongxiao.

Each of them sat down, Du Zhongxiao said: "My Ma Di arrived in Wansheng Town yesterday and said it was Xiancheng, Duozhou, Zhongjing Road. I asked in detail last night, and this matter should be credible. This is a big event, so I am eager to come back today. What do you think about this matter?"

Tian Kuang said: "There are many mountainous areas in the south of Dading Prefecture, and transportation is inconvenient. If someone presents the city, the army passes quickly and transports less food and grass. This is a good thing. The mountain roads in that area are rugged. If hundreds of thousands of troops attack, food and grass are really a problem."

Du Zhongxiao said: "In fact, it is because of the small amount of food and grass. Along the way, the Khitans did not store grain, and they had to transport it from the Central Plains. However, once they offered the city, the army could directly reach the Dading Prefecture. Most of the Khitan royal families, princes, etc. gathered there. They could attack quickly and defeat all of these people in one go, and the Khitans would completely collapse. However, in this battle, the teams transporting grain were several times more than the army itself."

Zeng Gongliang said: "Last year, hundreds of thousands of people transported grain in Youzhou. If people are recruited to transport grain again this year, it is probably not easy."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It depends on whether the court is willing to spend money. If you take out the money, there will naturally be someone to transport grain. If the railway is built to Youzhou, you can recruit civilians from Jingxi Road and take the train to Youzhou."

In this way, the civilians recruited were actually similar to those of the army, but they just didn’t fight. In this era, it was common for the army to transit and recruit civilians to transport grain. In a war, if the army loses, the local people often suffer more. Now the Song Dynasty is different. After the civilians recruited, they were organized in the form of the army, and were unified in command by the Privy Council, which regulated a lot.

During the war, Li Fugui's command of grain transporters was actually far more than war soldiers, and it became the norm.

Tian Kuang pondered for a while and said, "When we were discussing matters with the Secretariat the day before yesterday, the prime ministers also felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now that the battle in Youzhou is over, it is time for the young and yellow people to accept it, and we are indeed short of money. But there is no way."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Do you issue bonds again? Issuing bonds is indeed a good way. If you are afraid, you are afraid. The court is addicted to issuing bonds."

Tian Kuang shook his head: "When you pay the debt, you have to pay interest. Zhongshu looked at the interest and wouldn't he be addicted to issuing debt?"

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said nothing. When the court finally discovered that the so-called debt was enough to pay interest, and then issued new debts to repay old debts, it was difficult not to get addicted at that time. How many countries in his previous life were like this? All kinds of excuses were just easy to collect money like this.

For the regime, as long as there are means and truly make up their minds, there is no need to worry about not enough money. Money is a number, and what really determines the regime is the actual materials. Money is just a tool to collect materials, and there are many other tools. The Song Dynasty just discovered the benefits of issuing bonds, and it was still a thousand miles away from discovering the disadvantages of issuing bonds.

Zeng Gongliang said: "If you decide to send troops north, how many troops are appropriate to send? Who are you?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "I thought about it last night that most of the Youzhou army had already been pulled back, and it should be dominated by Hedong Road troops. The main force of the Khitan was eliminated last year and did not require too many soldiers. With the two armies of Wang Kai and Jia Kui, plus the Liu Ji army in Youzhou, a total of 150,000 troops heading north, it should be enough. 150,000 people, ensuring their food and grass is easier."

Tian Kuang said: "Is 150,000 people enough? Zhongjing Road is the hinterland of the Khitan, which is the most important. And there are a large number of tribes there at this time, and the number should be quite large. Moreover, the mountain roads are rugged, so heavy artillery should not be brought."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The heavy artillery must not be taken. If you go north from Youzhou, you will pass through the mountain roads and you will not be able to bring heavy artillery. However, the remaining places in the Khitan have no big cities and no heavy artillery is needed. 150,000 people are already an unseen army for the grassland."

Zeng Gongliang said: "The Khitan should not have stopped our 150,000 troops. The difficulty now is to supply food and grass for these troops."

Du Zhongxiao sighed: "Yes, an army of more than 100,000 people is enough to sweep the entire grassland. But it is difficult to transport food and grass from these people. In this battle, we must also devote the whole country to transport food to the end."
Chapter completed!