Chapter 344: Liao Kingdom cannot find loyal ministers

Zhao Xing sighed to the sky: "It's been 96 years!"

Although Zhao Xing did not explain in detail, Jiang Zhiqi knew what Zhao Xing meant, and the Liao officials present also knew it.

The Chanyuan Alliance will be in good shape for 96 years.

It is hard to say whether the Chanyuan Alliance is beneficial or harmful to both the Song and Liao sides.

After Song Zhenzong signed this covenant, he felt humiliated. In order to avoid criticism from the Chinese people, he began the movement to create gods, saying that a god praised him and spent a lot of money on Fengshan. As a result, the national tax revenue was all in the hands of Taoist priests and talismans, and the money from the treasury was moved to the temple. For this reason, Song Shenzong had to start "reform" to enrich the treasury. As a result, the three generations of father and son were the destruction of the Song Dynasty.

In the world where Zhao Xing was in, textbooks said that it was the redundant soldiers and redundant personnel that made the Song Dynasty empty, but which statement continued the nonsense of the Qing Dynasty. The redundant soldiers and redundant personnel did not make the Song Dynasty empty, but it was because the God-making movement spent all the money on the treasury. No matter how many officials in the Song Dynasty were, it was not as high as that of modern times that every 16 citizens supported a civil servant, and the latter was "five times better than the United States."

At the same time, after the Chanyuan Alliance, the Liao Kingdom began to decline. The Liao people could enjoy the worship of the Song Dynasty without doing anything for a year. They also began to transform and pursue pleasure and luxury. In the generation of Emperor Daozong, it was no worse than that of Emperor Zhezong of Song Shenzong. He liked hunting because of the peace that Song Liao had continued for many years. The Liao people who continued to enjoy the worship of the Song Kingdom felt that there was nothing big in the world, so chasing prey throughout the year became the main cause of the Liao Kingdom from the emperor to the nobles. As a result, the Jurchens rose!

In this regard, the Chanyuan Alliance can be regarded as a double-edged sword, and one alliance means that the two countries are facing destruction.

However, in terms of creativity, the strength of the Song State has been in an upward stage, while the Liao State is inevitably declining. If the Song State's monarch and ministers do not struggle, will history change?

Speaking of which, Zhao Xing has chosen a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invade Liao Kingdom now.

A typical feature of a slave country is that there are few officials who are willing to take charge. Because the officials are just a group of slave supervisors, their lives and property exist according to the personal preferences of the big slave owner. Once they anger the big slave owner, they have nothing left.

These days, there are no mobile phones, pagers, and telegrams. His Majesty the Emperor ran around chasing his prey, and his Majesty did not have a certain direction, and His Majesty the Emperor had no sense of direction. The grassland was vast and major events occurred in the country. The ministers wanted to find the traces of His Majesty the Emperor, one was to try their luck, and the other was to listen to the rumors transmitted by the herdsmen.

Because of His Majesty the Emperor's hobby of hunting, the southern part of the Liao Kingdom was actually in a state of autonomy. It was all up to oneself to manage itself. The Song army was lucky to choose the coincidence of the death of the King of the South Court. At this time, the new King of the South Court had not been appointed, and needed to wait for the people sent from Nanjing Road to find the trace of His Majesty the Emperor on the vast grassland and tell His Majesty the news of the King of the South Court. The emperor appointed the new leader of the Nanjing Road. Only then could he respond to the attack of the Song State.

In this current state of emptiness, it is actually the best opportunity for the Song Dynasty to attack.

However, is this really the case?

Jiang Zhiqi did not understand military affairs, but at this time he felt uneasy. He lamented the weakness of the Liao Kingdom, and wondered why the Song Dynasty had stalemate with such a country and suffered repeated losses.

He didn't know that this was because the Song army lacked the awareness of confidentiality and poor mobilization efficiency. Every time they assembled a large army, they always made a big fuss, making the whole world know it. On the contrary, it was not as good as Zhao Xing's army and had the effect of surprise attacks. Of course, if this army was in the hands of the court, the court would also exaggerate the routine and make a lot of noise.

In this way, the Liao people had enough time to gather their troops and launch corresponding counterattacks...

Zhao Xing smiled bitterly. He was not in the mood to mock the "romantic feelings" of the Liao emperor. Instead, he followed the conquerors' convention and required the sealing of the population and household registration of the county yamen. He took stock of the treasury. While instructing the Liao officials to lead the way, he patiently asked: "As far as I know, the Xin'an army has a force of less than 200,000, and the Chongyi army and the Guangshun army can find 30,000 to 50,000. Why did I only encounter less than 10,000 troops by the river?"

He Haogu twisted his body and refused to say it. Xiao Tunei was forced to do so and replied hummingly: "Sir, this year, the female Zhi people are causing trouble. The Zhongdu garrison has been decayed to the point of being too decayed. After the female Zhi people headed south, even the military and state generals in the area were transferred into Beijing in large quantities. Our southern line of Liao was unprecedentedly empty! For example, Wuqing County was originally a defense... It was originally a reserve center for the Xin'an Army, but I only had less than 100 troops under my command. This force was not enough to prevent theft, let alone resist the army."

He Haogu's tongue was slightly knotted when he spoke. He originally wanted to say that Wuqing County was originally a reserve town for guarding against Song State, but when he thought that the Song army "invaded" Wuqing was opposite, he immediately jumped the topic.

He didn't say that Zhao Xing knew what the other party wanted to say, and he smiled and asked, "What you want to say is: After the Chanyuan Alliance, the Liao and Song dynasties agreed to defend the borders and not harass each other. So when the situation in the northern part of Liao Kingdom was unstable, the Liao Kingdom drew troops from the southern line to the north. I thought that the borders between the Song and Liao countries had been calm for decades, and the Song soldiers only wanted to defend the city and had no desire to cross the border, so the Liao Kingdom's southern line was safe, but I didn't expect me to come.

Haha, I solemnly stated: I am not here to invade! I believe you also know that I am just escorting the tribute envoy into Beijing, but I didn’t expect that I was attacked by treason on the Yellow River? Didn’t the Song and Liao dynasties agree to defend each other’s borders and not harass each other? Why was the tribute envoy of our dynasty attacked on the river?

Since you do not abide by the agreement, I don’t need to abide by it. I have to fight back and chase the bandits along the way and enter Wuqing County... I hope the Liao Kingdom will give me an explanation and hand over the criminals who invaded my tribute envoy, otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.”

The Song Dynasty has been at a disadvantage for more than a hundred years. Zhao Xing now acts as a strong man and makes domineering demands in a tone of bullying the weak. This makes the two Liao officials extremely uncomfortable. If it weren't for the fact that the leaderless people in Nanjing, they would be very empty. And the last unit of the establishment resistance force was crippled, several Liao officials would not have endured Zhao Xing's anger.

The magistrate of Wuqing, He Haogu, turned his hand and bowed respectfully to Zhao Xing: "The lower official will pass the news to Deputy Prime Minister Wang (Wang Shiru)......"

Xiao Tunei also quickly turned sideways. He bowed his hand. Before he could speak, a Suzaku Army officer hurried over from the team. The officer was going to take over the Wuqing military camp. He whispered to Zhao Xing's ear. Zhao Xing stopped and turned to stare at Xiao Tunei and asked, "Xiao Xiangwen, why are there so many wounded soldiers in Wuqing County? My officers just saw that they were all injured by my weapons - yes, it can only be my weapons."

What Zhao Xing said is: The injuries of those injured soldiers are not arrow injuries, but gunshot wounds.

In this era, the north had musket troops. Except for Zhao Xing, only Fan Chuncui took away the five hundred people in the capital and the five hundred people in the next two armies could not fight against the Liao people.

Xiao Tuo Nie looked a little panicked and replied: "Sir. A few days ago, you had a stalemate with Xin'an Army on the river bank. There were many injured people, because of their strange injuries. The wounded soldiers kept crying, but the doctor could not check the injury. Lord Han believed that the wounded soldiers stayed in Xin'an Army, for fear that the army was unstable, so he placed them in Wuqing County. The Lord came in a hurry. Did you bump into it?

Lord, I am short of doctors and medicine in Wuqing County. I can’t find out the injuries of the injured soldiers, but Lord Han’s power has been suppressed, and the lower officials have to obey..."

After hearing this, Zhao Xing breathed a light tone.

He was wondering just now why Wuqing County’s sense of resistance was so weak. After hearing Xiao Tunai’s intermittent statements, he understood.

In this era, China basically had no surgical skills. Soldiers on the battlefield often retained the presence of arrows in their bodies, waiting for natural recovery. This injury was because the arrow shaft was broken and doctors could not remove the arrows. So they had to bandage them roughly. The musket injury was different from arrow injuries. It had a small wound on the surface of the body. When it entered the human body, the kinetic energy of the bullet was completely released, which would stir the internal muscles and internal organs into pieces.

Such injuries were very strange in the eyes of the Liao doctors, so they had to use some witch doctors to comfort the injured. As the injured died one after another, the Wuqing soldiers, who often screamed in their ears, were afraid and they lost their sense of resistance. Therefore, as soon as Zhao Xing showed his cannon under the city, Wuqing County immediately decided to surrender.

Zhao Xing was in his heart for his contributions to the Liao Dynasty. He said hypocritically: "I just said that we are a benevolent and righteous army and dare not massacre the wounded soldiers. Now our army is going to enter the barracks to rest... General Xiao, please bring a few people here, gather the wounded soldiers together, and free up the barracks for me."

Jiang Zhiqi interrupted like a baby, "I remember Lord Zhao was carrying many doctors with the army. It would be better to let our doctors treat the wounded soldiers to show my benevolence and righteousness in the Song Dynasty..."

Zhao Xing snorted coldly and interrupted Jiang Zhiqi's words: "The medicines brought by the doctor in our army are not enough for themselves. Unfortunately, I cannot take care of the wounded soldiers of the Liao Kingdom."

When Zhao Xing said this, he stared at Jiang Zhiqi viciously. Jiang Zhiqi was so nervous that he was staring. He coughed awkwardly, turned his face to the side, and complained dissatisfiedly: "You are just talking about your kindness and righteousness, so I just said it like that.

These days, I have seen it in your camp. The wounded soldiers were injured. Isn’t it just a few pieces of cloth to pack a bag? What’s the price of a few pieces of cloth? How much can you spend with a pack of powder? I’m hypocritical and even saying that I’m kind and righteous."

Jiang Zhiqi didn't know that on the battlefield, injured veterans are the most troublesome. They have experienced life and death, have lost their fear of being injured, and can face the next fight calmly.

Zhao Xing's musket team now has a sense of mystery to the enemy's damage, but once the wounded soldiers recover, when they return to the army, the mystery of muskets will disappear. With them, when the Song army faces the Liao army next time, it will take several times more effort to make the enemy collapse.

So, it’s better to say that Zhao Xing is just a false benevolence and righteousness, he doesn’t plan to let the injured soldiers go back alive.

Xiao Tunnei was escorted by several soldiers and turned to the Wuqing military camp. He Haogu continued to lead Zhao Xing and others into the county government office. There was an officer in the yamen, a Song State officer. He was wearing a military uniform with a marching staff uniform, and his face was blushing and his heart was not beating. He reported clearly: "Sir, the Wuqing County Treasury still has 53,000 tan and 310 tan and treasury, and the food and grass are sufficient, which can be eaten for five months. In addition, we have counted the shops in Wuqing County. Each army has taken over the Lifangs in Wuqing County and is organizing each 'self-defense patrol'."

He Haogu's face changed a little, and Zhao Xing turned to the other party and said in surprise: "There are 50,000 guan. How many Dingkou is there in Wuqing County? Such a small county actually saves so much money and grain?"

He Haogu's eyes twitched and replied: "Old man thinks it's too much. In fact, it's not too much. Now it's almost over the dynasty. This money is a reward for the three armies of Xin'an, Chongyi and Guangshun, and a year's salary. It's only a few hundred cents to each soldier.

As for food and grass, adults think there are too many because you only have a few thousand troops, but although the three armies of Xin'an, Chongyi and Guangshun have transferred most of their troops to the north, the families of the three armies are still in Wuqing. The money and grain are distributed to them. It is already good for each family to have passed the first month of the year."

Zhao Xing immediately asked again: "How many registered population is there in Wuqing County?"

He Haogu bowed and replied: "Sir, Huang Ce of Wuqing County has more than 30,000 households. There are more than 200,000 people in total, but the famine has lasted for several years. Dingkou has suffered serious escape. I estimate that there are now 7,000 households and more than 30,000 people, which is already good."

Jiang Zhiqi finally found another opportunity to interrupt. He smiled and said, "I walked here from the north bank of the Yellow River. I couldn't see the farmland along the way, but I only saw a piece of white snow. Why, this place is desolate and has no resources?"

Wuqing County smiled and replied bitterly: "Mr. Jiang. The land on the north bank of the Yellow River is the most fertile. This land belongs to the left-behind Tokyo. He Lu Saogu, the old man regards this land as a pasture. Who dares to enter and stroke a handful of grass? The Khitans can destroy his family."

Jiang Zhiqi asked puzzledly: "Isn't there 200,000 people in Wuqing County? Since the most fertile land has been used as a ranch, how can they live on?"

Zhao Xing coughed: "Master Jiang, don't ask. In fact, when Su Zhe and Su Sanzhang were on mission, he once wrote a poem describing the Liao Kingdom. At that time, due to excessive grazing, large deserts had appeared in the land of Liao Kingdom. The Yellow River was the most fertile place, and only there was no desert here. Datiyin occupied this land as a ranch. How did Han slaves live was not something he cared about."

"Tiyin" is the official name of the Liao Dynasty, which is in charge of the Datiyinsi. Its position is to manage the land politics and religion of the aristocratic nobles and regulate the internal affairs of the aristocratic group in order to ensure their obedience to the king. Therefore, the Liao people said that "Tiyin governs the clan and Lin Ya repairs the proclamation". In the Central Plains, similar official names are the dynasty "Zongzheng". However, the Liao Kingdom Datiyin has greater military power and often interferes with the replacement of royal power.

Jiang Zhiqi nodded silently.

He had also heard Su Che's poem on his mission to the Liao Kingdom. It turned out that he thought Su Che was describing the territory of the Liao Kingdom further north, but he had already seen the depression in Nanjing.

The troops were empty and the people were living in poverty. The Khitan nobles only thought about their own happiness, regardless of the life and death of the Han people's herds and slaves; the officials of the Liao Kingdom had no intention of resisting, but only thought about just living... This is the current situation of the Liao Kingdom.

Perhaps, now, after looking through the entire Liao Kingdom, you can find several armies with strong tactical awareness, but as long as the Song Dynasty works hard, it can still win.

After understanding all this, Jiang Zhiqi stood up and silently muttered what Zhao Xing said to him before: "The Underworld Alliance, now my Song Dynasty also has the opportunity to sign a Underworld Alliance with the Liao people. This is led by me, Jiang Zhiqi... Well, I will definitely sign this Underworld Alliance a little more glamorous!"

After a while, Jiang Zhiqi suddenly remembered something again. He was anxious to sweat heavily and frequently signaled Zhao Xing to send Wuqing County Magistrate He Haogu to communicate with Zhao Xing, but Zhao Xing did not seem to notice his hint. Instead, he patiently asked He Haogu about the situation in the northern part of the Liao Kingdom: "I heard that the female straight man invaded, your fight in the north is very hard, right? What's the situation?"

He Haogu looked around and suddenly knelt down at Zhao Xing: "Mr. Zhao, Xiaguan is trapped in the city today and can no longer stay in Liao Kingdom. Please help me and save Xiaguan."

Zhao Xing replied casually: "After the negotiation with Deputy Prime Minister Wang, I need a guide to guide me back to the Yellow River. I will propose to Deputy Prime Minister Wang that you will be the guide to the guide. When you follow me back to the Yellow River, whether to go or stay is up to you."

Jiang Zhiqi was already sweating profusely. He Haogu took a reassurance and got up from the ground and replied obediently: "Sir, my Daliao and the Nao people fought at the end of the summer this year. In the first battle, the Liao people suffered a small loss and lost 30,000 elite soldiers, but the Nao people suffered a lot of losses. This autumn, the Nao people sent envoys in, but Your Majesty refused. In early winter, the Nao people rebelled again. Now they are fighting in Heishui River, and it is said that both sides have their own victory or defeat."

Zhao Xing nodded slowly.

History has changed a little, and the conflict between the Nao people and the Liao people was 20 years earlier. At this time, the Nao people were not ready for war, and the Liao Kingdom was a little stronger than twenty years later, so the two sides were in a stalemate, which was a good thing for the Song Dynasty.

Jiang Zhiqi couldn't bear it anymore, so he directly scolded Wuqing magistrate: "Wuqing County. Please avoid it, I have something to say to Lord Zhao."

He Haogu left. As soon as he left, Jiang Zhiqi couldn't stand it anymore and asked: "Mr. Zhao. Liao is unimaginably weak, but the court does not know these situations. Should we send a letter back to the court immediately and let the court adjust the negotiation strategy based on these situations."

Zhao Xing umbled: "Yes. We are standing in the city of Liao. Under our feet is the land of Liao. It's so simple that I feel a little unreal. What happened to the Liao Dynasty? There is a fog in front of us now. What's wrong with this world? Why did the Liao Dynasty, which was once extremely powerful, fall down like this?

Did it fall? I doubt it. How long will it take for the Liao Kingdom to react? Where is its mobilization limit? Relatively, is my Song Dynasty ready for war? How big can we expand the scale? When will my support arrive? When will the Liao Kingdom's reaction come? Will I become the only scapegoat?

To be honest, I am standing here without excitement. I am just feeling creepy. This feeling of being out of control makes me feel uncomfortable? This result is not what I expected. What happened?... The only thing I know now is: I want to negotiate peace in the Song Dynasty, and I will not come from the support of the court!

Information determines judgment. We now have only one-sided information. The dynamics of the Liao Kingdom are shrouded in the fog. If you want to get rid of these, let things return to the right track as soon as possible. Only... I remember that I once told you on the river bank. As long as things are within a controllable range, the Liao people should beg us to talk.

If you want to obtain an agreement, now is the best opportunity. In order to be exempted from liability, Wang Shiru will definitely agree to any request from us. As long as our agreement does not make him lose face, he will even use this agreement to invite favor to the Emperor of Liao.

Only by ending all this as soon as possible can we ensure that we will not be abandoned. For me personally, only by returning to the south bank can my voice not be ignored. In this way, what agreement should we use to restrain the Liao people and make the Song Dynasty face...

I have been wondering just now, who is more worthy of choice between the female Nao people or the Liao people? If I support the female Nao people fighting against the Khitans, will it drive away a wolf, but a tiger will come.

Although the weakness of the Liao Kingdom was beyond my imagination, the Liao Kingdom is now a fence wall in the north of our country. Should we move this fence wall in exchange for a bunch of thorns, or a group of new evil wolves? In addition, the Liao Kingdom is so weak that I can defeat the Song Dynasty? This is what I wanted to do this time.

I think now is the best time for us to solve the problem of Xixia. Compared with Liao, Xixia seems to be much weaker. We have an alliance with Liao. I am embarrassed to tear it apart at will. Facing Xixia, it is different. Fan Chuncui went to Huanqing. If we increase our support for Fan Chuncui, we will first practice with the weak Xixia. After occupying Xixia, we will have a horse farm and a group of skilled horse wranglers. At this time, we will sit and watch the battle between the Khitans and the Jurchens, and then decide the direction of the wind. Isn't it more beautiful."

Zhao Xing talked about the Jurchens here because "Nizhi" was a Liao people. If the Liao people were not present, he called it "Juchens" according to the Song people.

Jiang Zhiqi replied: "Okay, I will write your thoughts into the memorial and report them to the officials. Everything will be decided by the officials... But who will send the letter? We are trapped in Wuqing. Can the officials in Wuqing take what they said seriously? Are there no large number of Khitan cavalry around?"

The staff officer who read Wuqing's household registration just now looked up and replied: "Sir, I just read my household registration and found that the Dingkou lost seriously in the past few years, and half of the population has disappeared inexplicably. For this reason, Wuqing County frequently replaced the county magistrate. He Haogu took office at the beginning of this year and has not received any salary so far. Wuqing County has stopped paying his salary for a long time. The Khitans are better, and Han people, even officials, have much food for their family business. Wuqing County asked to follow us, but it is not that he wanted to escape the famine. Sir, this person is trustworthy!"
Chapter completed!