Chapter 3290 Liao State can't find loyal ministers

Zhao Xing looked up to the sky and sighed: "It's been 96 years!" ”

Although Zhao Xing didn't elaborate, Jiang Zhiqi knew what Zhao Xing meant, and the Liao officials present also knew.

The alliance will be good for 96 years.

For both Song and Liao, it is difficult to say whether the alliance is good or harmful.

After Song Zhenzong signed this covenant, he felt humiliated. In order to avoid the accusations of the Chinese people, he began the god-making movement, saying that a certain god praised him at every turn, and spent a lot of money to seal Zen, as a result, the national taxes were all in the hands of the Taoist priests, and the money from the treasury was moved to the temple. For this reason, Song Shenzong had to start "changing the law" to enrich the treasury. As a result, the blind toss of three generations of their father and son was the death of the Great Song Dynasty.

In Zhao Xing's world, the textbook said that redundant soldiers and redundant personnel made the Great Song treasury empty, but which statement is a continuation of the nonsense of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The redundant soldiers and redundant personnel did not empty the treasury of the Great Song Dynasty, but the god-making movement spent all the money in the treasury. No matter how many Song officials there were, they did not reach the modern level of feeding one civil servant for every 16 citizens, which was "five times better than the United States."

At the same time, after the alliance of the Yuanyuan, the Liao State also began to decline, and the Liao people could enjoy the worship of the Great Song Dynasty without production all year round, and they also began to degenerate, and began to pursue pleasure and luxury. In the generation of Emperor Daozong, his absurdity is no worse than that of Song Zhezong and Song Shenzong. He likes to hunt, because the Song and Liao have continued to be peaceful for many years, and the Liao people who continue to enjoy the worship of the Song State feel that there is no big thing in the world, so chasing prey all year round has become the most important career of the Liao State from the emperor to the nobles. As a result, the Jurchens rose!

In this respect, the alliance can be described as a double-edged sword, an alliance, and the demise of two countries.

However, in terms of creativity, the strength of the Song State has actually been on the rise, while the Liao State is inevitably declining. If the monarchs and ministers of the Song Kingdom did not toss, would history change?

Speaking of which. Zhao Xing's invasion of Liao now is really a once-in-a-lifetime good time.

A typical feature of slave states is that there are few responsible officials. Because the officials were nothing more than a group of slave overseers. Life and property existed according to the personal preferences of the great slave owners. Once they angered the big slave owners. A word from the other party. They have nothing left.

There were no cell phones, pagers, or telegraph telephones in those days. His Majesty the Emperor chased his prey and ran around. There is no definite ground orientation for the prey. His Majesty the Emperor also had no sense of direction. The grasslands are vast. There is a major event in the country. The ministers wanted to find the traces of His Majesty the Emperor. One is to try your luck. The second is to listen to the gossip transmitted by herdsmen.

Because His Majesty the Emperor has a hobby of hunting grounds. As a result, the southern part of the Liao State was in fact in a state of self-government. It's all about managing yourself. Song Jun was lucky enough to choose the coincidence of the death of the king of the Southern Courtyard. At this time. The king of the southern courtyard of Xindi has not yet been appointed. It is necessary to wait for the Nanjing Daoist people to find traces of His Majesty the Emperor on the vast grassland. Tell Your Majesty the news of the death of the King of the Southern Temple. The emperor appointed the head of the Xindi Nanking Province. Then. in order to respond to the attack of the Song Kingdom.

In this state of emptiness. In fact, it was the best opportunity for the Great Song Dynasty to attack.

However. Is that really the case?

Jiang Zhiqi does not understand military affairs. At this time, he was uneasy in his heart. He lamented the weakness of the Liao country. I also wonder why the Great Song Dynasty could not hold on to such a country. And repeatedly suffered.

He didn't know that this was because the Song army lacked a sense of secrecy and had poor mobilization efficiency. Every time an army is assembled, it is always fanfare, so that the whole world knows about it, but it is not as good as Zhao Xing's army, which has a surprise effect. Of course, if this army is in the hands of the imperial court, the imperial court will also make the routine of attacking as well known to everyone and create a lot of momentum.

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

Zhao Xing smiled bitterly. He was not in the mood to satirize the "romantic feelings" of the Liao Emperor, but according to the custom of the conquerors, he demanded that the household registration of the population in the interior of the county government be sealed and the treasury should be inventoried. While instructing the officials of the Liao State to guide the way, he patiently asked: "As far as I know, the strength of the Xin'an army is not less than 200,000, and the elite of the Chongyi army and the Guangshun army can also find 350,000, why did I only encounter less than 10,000 military horses by the river?" ”

He Haogu's body twisted around and refused to speak. Xiao was forced to be forced. He replied, "My lord." This year, the female straight people made trouble, and the garrison of the central capital has been eroded to the point of unbearable. And after the female straight people went south, even those insufficient military state generals were also transferred into Beijing in large quantities, and the southern line of our Great Liaoning was unprecedentedly empty! For example, Wuqing County, which was originally a precautionary ...... It was originally a reserve town for the Xin'an Army, but I only had an army of less than 100 men. This amount of troops is not enough to even prevent theft, let alone resist the army. ”

He Haogu's tongue was slightly knotted when he spoke, he wanted to say that ---- Wuqing County was originally a reserve town to defend against the Song Kingdom, but when he thought that the opposite side was to "attack" the Song army in Wuqing, he immediately changed the topic.

He didn't say that Zhao Xing also knew what the other party wanted to say, he smiled and asked rhetorically: "What you want to say is: After the alliance of Lanyuan, the Liao and Song dynasties agreed to guard the border and not harass each other, so when the situation in the north of the Liao State was unstable, the Liao State sent troops from the southern front to the north. I originally thought that the border between Song and Liao had been quiet for decades, and the Song soldiers only thought about defending the city, and there was no one to cross the border, so the southern line of Liao was safe, but I didn't expect me to come.

Haha, I solemnly reiterate: this official is not here to invade! I'm sure you also know that this official only escorted the tribute envoy into Beijing, but I didn't expect that I was treacherously attacked on the Yellow River? Didn't Song Liao agree with each other to guard their borders and not harass each other? Why is it that our tributary envoys are attacked on the river?

Since you don't keep what you promised, I don't have to keep it. The official had no choice but to fight back, and pursued the bandits along the way into Wuqing County...... I hope that the Liao State will give me an explanation and hand over the criminals who violated my tributary envoys, otherwise, don't blame me for being unkind. ”

Song Liao has been dealing with each other for more than a hundred years, the Song Dynasty has been at a disadvantage, but Zhao Xing is now putting on a strong posture, and put forward a domineering request in a bullying tone, which makes the two Liao officials extremely uncomfortable, if it were not for the leaderless and very empty Nanjing Dao Qunlong, and the last formed resistance force was disabled, several Liao officials would not put up with Zhao Xing's anger.

He Haogu of Wuqing Zhixian turned sideways and respectfully bowed his hand to Zhao Xing: "Xiaguan will pass the news to Vice Minister Wang (Wang Shiru)

Xiao Vulyu also hurriedly turned sideways. As soon as he arched his hand, before he could speak, an officer of the Vermilion Bird Army hurriedly ran behind the team, this officer was going to take over the Wuqing military camp, he whispered to Zhao Xing to report, Zhao Xing stopped. Turning to stare at Xiao Vulf, he asked, "Xiao Xiangwen, why, there are so many wounded soldiers in Wuqing County?" My officers just saw it, and they were all wounded by my weapons---- yes, it can only be my weapons. ”

What Zhao Xing said was: The wounded soldiers were not arrow wounds, but gunshot wounds.

At this time, the troops with muskets in the north, except for Zhao Xing, only the five hundred people that Fan Chun took away. The five hundred people in the capital, and the latter two armies could not fight against the Liao.

Xiao Vulyu looked a little flustered and replied, "My lord." A few days ago, you were on the bank of the river with the Xin'an army, and there were many wounded, because of the strange condition of the wounds, the wounded soldiers wailed, but Lang Zhong could not detect the injuries. Lord Han thought that the wounded soldiers were left in the Xin'an Army, and he was afraid that the army would be unstable, so he placed them in Wuqing County. Adults are in a hurry. No, bumped into?

My lord, my Wuqing County lacks medical treatment and medicine, and I can't find out the injuries of those wounded soldiers, but Lord Han's official authority has been suppressed, and the lower officials and others have to obey ......"

Zhao Xing breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

Just now he was still wondering why Wuqing County's sense of resistance was so weak, after hearing Xiao Bald's intermittent statement. He understood.

At this time, there was basically no surgery in China, and soldiers on the battlefield often kept the presence of arrows in their bodies, waiting for natural recovery. The injury was caused by a broken shaft and the doctors were unable to remove the arrow, so they had to bandage it roughly. Musket wounds, on the other hand, differ from arrow wounds in that they have a small wound on the surface of the body, and when they enter the human body, the kinetic energy of the bullet is completely released. It will stir up the internal muscles and internal organs.

Such an injury is very strange in the eyes of the Liao doctor. They had to use some witch medicine to comfort the wounded. As the wounded died one after another, Wu Qingbing, who often heard screams in his ears, became frightened. They lost their sense of resistance, so Zhao Xing flashed a cannon under the city, and Wuqing County immediately decided to surrender.

Zhao Xing thanked those wounded soldiers of the Liao State for their contributions to him, and said hypocritically: "As I said just now, we are a benevolent and righteous army, and we dare not slaughter the wounded soldiers, and now our army is going to enter the barracks to rest...... General Xiao, please bring a few people over, gather those wounded soldiers together, and vacate the barracks for me. ”

Jiang Zhiqi interjected curiously like a baby: "I remember that Lord Zhao carried a lot of Langzhong and medicine with the army, it is better to let our Langzhong treat those wounded soldiers, so as to show the benevolence and righteousness of my Great Song Dynasty......"

Zhao Xing snorted coldly and interrupted Jiang Zhiqi's words: "The medicine carried by Lang Zhong in our army is not enough for my own use, and unfortunately, I can't take care of the wounded soldiers of Liao." ”

When Zhao Xing said this, he stared at Jiang Zhiqi viciously, Jiang Zhiqi was stared at so much that his heart was furious, he coughed embarrassedly, twisted his face to the side, and complained dissatisfiedly: "It's not that you say that you are a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, so I just said that."

In the past few days, I have seen in your camp that the wounded soldiers are wounded, don't you just wrap a bag of a few pieces of cloth, and what is the value of a few pieces of cloth? How much can it cost you with a pack of powder? pretended, and said that he was benevolent and righteous. ”

Jiang Zhiqi didn't know that on the battlefield, wounded veterans were the most headaches, they had experienced life and death, they had lost their fear of injury, and they could calmly face the next fight.

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

Therefore, it is no matter how Zhao Xing pretends to be benevolent and righteous, he does not plan to let the group of wounded soldiers go back alive.

Escorted by several soldiers, Xiao Vulyu obediently turned around and walked towards the Wuqing military camp. He Haogu continued to lead Zhao Xing and others into the county office, and there was already an officer in the yamen who was ---- Song officials. He was wearing a marching staff uniform, his face was not red and his heart was not beating in front of He Haogu of Wuqing Zhi County, such as a report from several family treasures: "My lord, there are still 53,000 and 310 wen in the treasury of Wuqing County, and the grain and grass are also sufficient, which can be enough for us to eat for five months. ”

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

The corners of He Haogu's eyes jumped, and he replied: "Adults think it's a lot, but it's not much at all---- it's almost past the New Year's Day now." This money is a reward for the three armies of Xin'an, Chongyi, and Guangshun, as well as a year's salary. Distributed to each soldier, it is only a few hundred wen.

As for the grain and grass, my lord thinks that it is too much, because you only have a few thousand troops, but my lord, although my Xin'an, Chongyi, and Guangshun armies have transferred most of their troops to the north, the families of the three armies are still in Wuqing, and that batch of money and grain has been sent to them. Every family can eat the New Year's Day, which is already a good place. ”

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

He Haogu replied: "My lord, there are more than 30,000 households in Wuqing County. A total of more than 200,000 people, but for several years of famine, Dingkou fled seriously, I estimate that now there can be 7,000 households, more than 30,000 people, which is already good. ”

Jiang Zhiqi finally found another opportunity to interject, he said with a smile: "I walked here from the north bank of the Yellow River, and I couldn't see the farmland along the way, only a piece of snow. Why, this place is desolate and unfunded? ”

Wuqing County smiled and replied bitterly: "Lord Jiang, the land on the north bank of the Yellow River is the most fertile, this land belongs to the people left behind in Tokyo, Da Tiyin He Lu Sogu, his old man regards this land as a pasture, who dares to enter to pick up a handful of grass, the Khitan people can make his family ruined." ”

Jiang Zhiqi asked curiously: "Didn't there be 200,000 people in Wuqing County, since the most fertile land has been used as pasture." What do they live on? ”

Zhao Xing coughed: "Master Jiang, don't ask." In fact, when Su Zhe and Su Sanzhang went to the land, he once wrote a poem describing the Liao country, and at that time, the land of the Liao country had appeared in large deserts because of overgrazing. The Yellow River is the most fertile place, and only here has no desert, and Da Tiyin occupies this land as pasture. How Hannu lived. Not something he cared about. ”

"Tiyin" is the official name of the Liao Dynasty, in charge of the Great Tiyin Division. Its role was to administer the politics and religion of the nobles of the Dierabu. Regulate the internal affairs of the aristocratic group in order to ensure their obedience to the king's land, so the Liao people have the saying that "Ti Yin governs the clan, Lin Yaxiu proclamation". In the Central Plains, a similar official name was the imperial dynasty "Zongzheng". However, the Liao State had greater military power and often interfered with the change of royal power.

Jiang Zhiqi nodded silently.

He had also heard Su Zhe's poem about the Liao State, and he thought that Su Zhe was describing the land of the Liao State further north, but he didn't expect that he had seen a depression in Nanjing Road.

The army is empty, the people are struggling to make a living, and the Khitan nobles only think about their own happiness, ignoring the life and death of the Han people's herdsmen; The officials of the Liao State had no intention of resisting, and only thought about getting by...... This is the current situation of Liao.

Perhaps, now that you have turned over the entire Liao Kingdom, you can still find a few armies with strong tactical awareness, but as long as the Great Song Dynasty works hard, it can also be defeated.

Thinking of all this, Jiang Zhiqi's waist straightened up, and he silently recited what Zhao Xing had told him before: "The alliance under the city, now my Great Song Dynasty also has the opportunity to sign an alliance with the Liao people, which is handled by me Jiang Zhiqi...... Well, I must make this alliance under the city a little brighter! ”

After a pause, Jiang Zhiqi suddenly remembered something again, he was in a hurry and sweating profusely, and frequently signaled Zhao Xing to go to Wuqing County to order He Haogu, and planned to communicate with Zhao Xing, but Zhao Xing didn't seem to notice his hints, but patiently asked He Haogu about the situation in the north of Liao: "I heard that the female straight people invaded, and you fought very hard in the north?" How's it going? ”

He Haogu looked left and right, and suddenly knelt down at Zhao Xing: "Lord Zhao, Xiaguan is trapped in the city today, and he can't stay in Liaoguo anymore, so please help me and save Xiaguan." ”

Zhao Xing replied casually: "Small matter, after I negotiated with Vice Minister Wang, I just need a guide to guide me back to the Yellow River, and I will propose to Vice Minister Wang that you be the guide envoy, and when you return to the Yellow River with me, it is up to you to decide whether to go or stay." ”

Jiang Zhiqi was already sweating profusely in a hurry, He Haogu took a reassuring pill, got up from the ground, and replied obediently: "My lord, my Da Liao and the female straight people fought at the end of this summer, and in the first battle, my Liao people suffered a small loss and lost 30,000 elite soldiers. But the loss of the female straight person is not shallow. In the autumn of this year, the female straight people sent an envoy in, His Majesty did not allow it, and in the early winter, the female straight people rebelled again, and now they are fighting in the Heishui River. It is said that both sides have their own winners and losers. ”

Zhao Xing nodded slowly.

History has changed slightly, the conflict between the female straight people and the Liao people was twenty years earlier, and the female straight people at this time were not ready for war, and the Liao State was a little stronger than twenty years later, so the two sides could not hold each other, which was a good thing for the Great Song Dynasty.

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

He Hao Gu Wei only retired. As soon as he left, Jiang Zhiqi couldn't bear it anymore, and asked, "Lord Zhao." The Liao State is unimaginably weak, but the imperial court does not know these circumstances, should we hurry up and send a letter back to the imperial court, so that the imperial court can adjust the negotiation strategy according to these circumstances. ”

Zhao Xing snorted: "Yes, we are standing in the city of Liao, and under our feet is the land of Liao, so simple, it makes me feel a little unreal." What happened to the Liao side? There is a fog in front of us now, what is wrong with the world? How did the once powerful Liao State fall like this?

Is it falling? I'm skeptical. How long will it take for Liao to react? Where is the limit of its mobilization? Relative. Is my Great Song ready for war? How big can we scale? When will my backup arrive? When will Liao's reaction come? Will I be the only scapegoat?

To be honest, I'm standing here at the moment, not excited, just creepy, and this feeling of being out of control makes me uncomfortable? This turned out not what I expected, what went wrong? …… The only thing I know now is: I want to negotiate peace in the Great Song Dynasty, and I will not come from the support of the imperial court!

Information determines judgment, we only have one-sided information now, and the dynamics of the Liao State are shrouded in fog. The only way to get rid of these and get things back on track as soon as possible is ...... I remember that on the riverbank I told you that as long as things are under control, it should be the Liao people who beg us to talk.

If you want to get an agreement, now is the best chance, and Wang Shiru will definitely agree to any request from us in order to avoid liability. As long as our agreement does not make him lose face, he will even take this agreement to the emperor of Liao to invite favor.

Only to end it all as soon as possible. to ensure that we will not be abandoned. For me personally. It is only when I return to the South Bank that my voice will not be ignored. And so it goes. What kind of agreement should we use to restrain the Liao people, and make the Great Song Dynasty lose face......

I've been thinking just now, who is more worthy of the trade-off, if I support the female straight people to fight the Khitans, will I drive away a vicious wolf, but a fierce tiger comes.

Although the Liao country is weaker than I imagined, the Liao country is now a fence wall in the north of our country, whether we want to move this fence wall in exchange for a bunch of thorns, or in exchange for a group of new wolves. In addition, the Liao State is so weak, is it something that my Great Song can defeat, this is what I want to do this time.

I think that now is the best time for us to solve the Western Xia, compared to the Liao State, the Western Xia is much weaker, and we have an alliance with the Liao State, embarrassed to tear it up at will, in the face of the Western Xia is different, Fan Chun went to Huanqing, if we increase our support for Fan Chun, first take the weak Xixia to practice hands, and so on occupy the Western Xia, we have a horse ranch, and a group of skilled wranglers, at this time, sit and watch the battle between the Khitan and the Jurchens, and then decide the direction of the wind, wouldn't it be more beautiful. ”

Zhao Xing said Jurchen here because "female straight" is the local saying of the Liao people, and the Liao people were not present, so he called it "Jurchen" according to the Song people's name.

Jiang Zhiqi replied: "Okay, I will write your thoughts into the chapter and report it to the official family, and everything will be decided by the official family...... It's just that, who is going to deliver the letter, we are trapped in Wuqing, can what the Wuqing officials say be serious, and is there no large Khitan cavalry around? ”

The staff officer who looked through Wuqing's household registration just now looked up and replied: "My lord, I just looked through the household registration and found that Wuqing County has suffered a serious loss ----of Dingkou in recent years, and half of the population has disappeared inexplicably. The Khitans are better, the Han, even if they are officials, how many rations do they have at home. That Wuqing County asked to go with us, maybe he didn't want to escape the famine, my lord, this person is credible! ”

Zhao Xing was amused when he heard it, and asked with a smile: "You mean, Liaoguo, even loyal officials can't be found, so Wuqing County doesn't resist, just wants us to take him away...... In other words, our messengers will not be blocked! ”