On the first day of November in the fourth year of the Great Song Dynasty, the sky in Dadu was cloudy, and it looked like it was about to snow.

Yellow paper money flew in the air, falling flutteringly. A thin layer had already been laid on the ground, and now some more. The funeral procession followed the people who threw paper money, everyone wore linen and filial piety, and everyone was full of grief.

The roads in most of the cities are wide and there are also traffic restrictions. The funeral procession walking on the left side of the road did not affect the people walking on the right side of the road, and in the four-wheeled carriage on the right side of the road, Hao Ren Wanhu looked at the funeral procession through the glass window and couldn't help sighing. This family is the Marquis of the Han Army surnamed Song, and four of the six sons in the family are in the army, and the most capable ones are all in thousands of households.

In the war to conquer Lin'an, the Song family became rich through the spoils plundered in the war. A few months ago, four of their sons were rejoicing in the command of Kublai Khan. Ten days ago, the people who went to identify the bodies of the first vote returned, and among the four brothers of the Song family, two of the bodies were claimed and returned, and one was definitely captured. The child of the Song family who fought under Marshal Ashu was born and died, and there was no corpse.

The Battle of the Yellow River lasted for several months, and more than 30,000 people were lost in the county seat of Huaxian County, Marshal Zhang Hongfan left 17,000 people, Marshal Ashu drowned more than 10,000 people, 20,000 Bianliang defenders, 3,000 Luoyang defenders were all wiped out, and 20,000 people were killed by the Song army in the field battle. All of them add up to a total loss of 100,000 people.

Thinking of the losses in the war, Hao Ren Wanhu felt a pang of regret in his heart. After walking a little further, you will see Ling Yibo funeral procession. In recent days, the streets of Dadu have been full of paper money, and the funeral procession has continued one after another. There are still some people from some families, and the families of those ordinary soldiers don't even have the financial resources to identify the corpse, so they can only ask others to help identify the corpse. As for transporting the body back thousands of miles, it is not something that ordinary people can afford. Being able to bring back a strand of hair is already a very big deal.

After losing a large amount of land, there were probably 10 million Han people left under the rule of Dayuan, and the loss of 100,000 people should be the loss of one in 100 people. Whether this proportion is high or not, Hao Ren Wanhu can't make an evaluation, all he can see is the gloomy appearance in the capital.

The carriage stopped at the gate of a compound under construction, and a five- or six-foot-wide path between the compound and the adjacent courtyard was being blocked by a wall. There were already people waiting here, and Hao Ren was led into the courtyard as soon as he got out of the car. I saw that most of the walls inside the compound and next door had been torn down, and it looked like this brand-new courtyard was about 50 meters wide and 50 meters long, which looked quite spacious.

"Brother Hao Ren, long time no see." At the door of the main house, Song Gongming, an official of the Great Song Rite Department, warmly greeted Hao Ren.

Hao Ren said with a gloomy face: "Brother Song, I haven't seen you for a long time. I heard that the whole family next door died in the war with the Song Kingdom, but I didn't expect you to dare to ask for their old house. ”

"Oh? And what else is there? Song Gongming asked in surprise.

Hao Ren said angrily: "Someone told me something before I came, and I don't think it's a lie." If there is still a man in this house to support the façade, where would the house be sold so easily. ”

Song Gongming did not show the slightest uneasiness, he replied: "My house in Lin'an, that is, after the surrender of Lin'an, was killed by the Mongol army, and when I first moved in, I saw blood stains soaked through the wall tiles. I don't know how to paint the walls. And the craftsmen who knew how to paint the walls were either killed or taken captive. For months, my family was afraid to go inside the bloodstained house. ”

Hao Ren originally wanted to accuse Song Jun of being brutal, but after listening to Song Gongming's response, he also felt a little embarrassed, so he found a new topic, "Brother Song, this time I was ordered by the Great Khan to come to talk about the exchange of prisoners. ”

Song Gongming replied: "Coincidentally, Taiwei Zhao asked me to come to talk about this matter. ”

With a common goal, the two sides went into the house and cut straight to the point. As a result of this discussion, differences arose between the two sides. Hao Ren shook his head and said, "No, no! The prisoners must be exchanged for one, where is the principle of one for four. ”

Song Gongming said helplessly: "One for one, our Great Song Dynasty did not plunder in Mongolia, and there are not so many prisoners in our hands." If you say so, I'll go back and tell the captain that we might as well continue to fight. We slaughtered and looted in most of the capitals, and took away the population, and then we exchanged prisoners between the two sides at that time. ”

Hao Ren just admires the culture of the Great Song Dynasty, but it does not mean that he thinks he is a Song person. He was furious when he was told such an insulting statement. I wanted to shoot the case, but Hao Ren still held back. The Battle of the Yellow River was fought because both sides wanted to solve the problem by force. Mongolia has always been a military threat when it encounters a problem, and the military threat does not lead to war. The Great Song Dynasty before the Battle of the Yellow River had the same attitude, so what seemed to be a verbal conflict like a child's quarrel in hindsight turned into a war of 300,000 people in a very short time.

Kublai Khan sent Hao Ren because he believed that Hao Ren was not a capitulation faction or a hardliner. The Battle of the Yellow River had proved that the Mongol army was no match for the Song army in equal numbers, so the Mongols had to maintain peace with the Song state for a short time.

Suffering such a bullying, Hao Ren held back his anger and silently recited in his heart, 'The beginning of things must have a beginning.' Honor and disgrace will come like virtue. The flesh rots out the worms, and the fish withers and beetles. Neglect and forgetfulness of one's body is a disaster. Strong self-pick-up column, soft self-pick-up bundle. Evil is in the body, and resentment is structured. Therefore, there is trouble in words, and there is insult in deeds, and the gentleman is cautious of what he stands! ’

This is an article in Xunzi's persuasion. Since he learned from Zhao Taiwei that the essence of Xunzi's doctrine is 'materialism', Hao Ren found that he was slowly beginning to be able to truly understand the teachings of this master of the pre-Qin dynasty.

Silently reciting a passage to defuse his anger, Hao Ren forced himself to face the cruel truth of the moment. He said as calmly as possible: "The Mongol founding was extremely killed, and there were many casualties in the war with the Song State, and the Song State intended to retaliate, so I have nothing to say." However, the Great Yuan was not a Mongol, and the emperor was not the Great Khan. Even in the time of Mongolia, faith and righteousness were paramount. Now the country name has been changed to Dayuan, and it is from the Han Dynasty. Our two countries are just going to kill a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, can we treat each other politely when we don't fight. A Mongol captive is a person, but is it a person to stump four Han captives? I don't think Brother Song is a self-contemptuous person! ”

Song Gongming's eyes narrowed slightly, he didn't expect that Hao Ren of Mongolia would respond like this. Of course, you will be angry when you are scolded like this. But Song Gongming felt that he couldn't pretend not to hear what Hao Ren said, and finally he reluctantly responded: "Brother Hao Ren, there is some truth in what you say. ”

Seeing that Song Gongming was persuaded by reciprocal morality, Hao Ren couldn't help but praise the Great Song Dynasty as indeed a civilized country. Mongolian culture is based on the balance of military power, and pure benevolence does not exist in Mongolian culture. If you want to simply talk about benevolence and righteousness, this world can probably only be seen in the Song Kingdom. So Hao Ren also put away his unhappiness and said sincerely: "Song Guo doesn't have so many prisoners in his hands, but there are many things that my Dayuan wants. If the Song State was really willing to exchange the prisoners, Da Yuan would certainly be happy to exchange them. ”

"That's expensive!" Song Gongming said.

Seeing that the representatives of the Great Song Dynasty had no intention of blocking the door to the negotiations, Hao Ren said with a smile: "I heard that the Song Kingdom will ask for a price to pay back, and the dispute between us here is not to reach a relatively fair deal." ”

"We heard from the captives that the Mongols have a lot of alkali in most of the capital. In this case, Mongolia might as well sell us 1 million catties at the price negotiated that year. Song Gongming opened the conditions.

"Then can you return Liu Wanhu to us?" Hao Ren also put forward conditions.

Song Gongming said with a smile: "Liu Yu and other Song traitors have been executed after the Lin'an public trial, and our Great Song will never let these people go!" ”

After the public trial of the Song traitors, these Song traitors were hanged in public, and their bodies were beheaded after the execution. The heads of the three fathers and sons of the Liu family were placed in the same cage and displayed to the public together with the heads of other Song traitors. Recalling the pickled head in the 'family cage', Song Gongming felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach, but he was very relieved and very happy because he saw Song Rape receiving it.

Hao Ren knew Song Guo's attitude towards Song traitors, so he didn't talk nonsense. Recalling the officers who came out of the funeral, Hao Ren felt a little sympathetic to the Liu family in his heart. The Han people have chess, and the Mongols also have chess. The 'soldier' in Mongolian chess is not called a soldier, but a 'son'. In the rules of Mongolian chess, the last 'son' cannot be killed.

In the Mongolian tradition, the Mongols kill the Mongols, and if the family has the last son, it is to let them live. Killing someone else's son is a curse. Liu Quan, the father of the Liu family, was killed. Two of the four sons of the Liu family have been killed, and looking at Song Guo's attitude, Hao Ren thinks that they will destroy Song traitors.

Talking about this for the time being, Hao Renren asked, "Brother Song, but I don't know that Taiwei Zhao has been in good health recently. I was confused at the time, but the captain did not hesitate to give me advice, so that I was finally able to untie the shackles. Over the years, whenever there has been a slight improvement, I think of the kindness of the captain. ”

Song Gongming was instructed by Zhao Jiaren to tell Hao Ren in detail about Xunzi and materialism, and he was also happy when he heard Hao Ren's sincerity. And during the conversation with Hao Ren, Song Gongming could also feel that Hao Ren's three views were indeed very different from those of the Mongols, and he also replied with some emotion: "Taiwei is in the prime of life, and his health is very good. If the lieutenant learns that you are always improving, he will naturally be happy. ”

Hao Ren was also very emotional, he originally had some condescending thoughts about Confucianism. Although Mongolian culture is inferior to Confucianism, it is much stronger than Confucianism. But after Zhao Taiwei, a thirteen-year-old person who was admitted to the Jinshi, took power, the national strength of the Song State increased by leaps and bounds. The Battle of the Yellow River showed a strong military capability. Now he is completely convinced of the Xunzi doctrine favored by Zhao Taiwei.

Perhaps because of this, Hao Ren found that he really couldn't talk about Xunzi with Song Gongming. Because he was worried that he would say something he shouldn't have said. So Hao Ren got up and said, "I'll go back now and tell Your Majesty that if there is any news about the alkali block, I will contact Brother Song immediately." ”