Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 685 Key Figures
In Shangjing, it began to rain quietly at night, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Although Shangjing is the most important capital of the Liao Kingdom and occupies a huge area, the buildings in the city are all kinds of strange, and the number is not too many. There are flat-roofed superimposed buildings, as well as cornices and bucket arches from the Song Dynasty, as well as many Khitan Shengfan-style wooden houses with long pointed roofs, and many large grassland tents.

There are more than a dozen avenues in Shangjing, the most important avenue is Zhongdajie, which is paved with stone slabs. The northernmost end of Zhongdajie is the Imperial Palace, and there are hundreds of rich and powerful houses on both sides of the avenue.

At night, there were very few pedestrians on Zhongda Street. At this time, several riders came to a mansion, got off their horses, and walked into the mansion quickly.

This mansion is the official residence of Yelu Yixin, Prime Minister of the Liao Kingdom. At this time, the study room is brightly lit, and Yelu Yixin is sitting at the table admiring a three-foot-long red coral plant, which was given to him by Guo Kui last time. , has been kept in Tokyo's other house, and his eldest son sent someone back. Yelv Yixin loves to collect all kinds of gems and pearls. There are at least dozens of large boxes of all kinds of treasures in his collection.

This coral is crystal clear, perfect in appearance, and shows a charming luster under the light. It can be called the best among corals, and Yelv Yixin can't put it down.

At this time, someone outside the door reported, "Second Young Master is back!"

Yelu Yixin hurriedly said, "Let him in!"

After a while, a man of about 30 years old walked in, with a medium build and a long face, resembling Yelu Yixin. He was Yelu Yixin's second son, Yelu Wukang. Bohai Port Defense Envoy, permanently stationed in Bohai Port.

The second son is the Yelu Wukang in front of him. He used to be the commander of the guards, but now he is at home. The other sons are all born to concubines, so Yelu Yixin doesn't value him very much.

Yelu Wukang knelt down and saluted, "See my lord father!"

"You've worked hard all the way, have you met Guo Huaixin?"

Yelu Wukang is in charge of contacting the Song Dynasty. The adopted son Yelushan is only a male favorite after all. Yelu Yixin does not want him to participate in many confidential matters, but only asks him to be responsible for delivering letters. The specific negotiation with the Song Dynasty still depends on his own son. Do.

Yelu Wukang took a boat to Xianlu Island last year and received a great gift from the Song Dynasty to their family. Xianlu Island made Yelv Yixin very satisfied. With this large overseas island, their family has a way out.

With the help of the Song Dynasty, the construction of Xianlu Island has begun, and two thousand Japanese laborers are working on the island day and night.

Yelu Yixin's fourth son, Yelu Yunhui, two stewards and dozens of servants are currently on Xianlu Island.

The family castle has been half built, and a small pasture covering an area of ​​[-] mu has been established, with [-] sheep and [-] cattle.

Since the Song Dynasty was full of sincerity, Yelu Yixin must of course reciprocate.

Yelu Wukang had just returned from Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo, and he took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to his father, "This is Guo Huaixin's handwritten letter from Fan Ning for the child to pass on to his father."

Yelu Yixin was refreshed, and quickly opened the letter. It turned out to be a letter written by Fan Ning. The letter clearly asked him to persuade Yelu Hongji to let Youzhou's army support Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo.

This letter came at the right time. In the past two days, the court of Liao Kingdom was discussing the plan to increase troops in Tokyo Prefecture. The debate was fierce, and a clear plan could not be come up with for a long time. Fan Ning made a request at this time.

Yelv Yixin was pacing back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. Of course he understood the purpose of Fan Ning's proposal of the Youzhou Army to reinforce Liaoyang Mansion. It seems that the Song Army's target was not Liaoyang Mansion, but Yanshan Mansion. Currently, eight soldiers are stationed in Youzhou. Thousands of troops, [-] of them were transferred from Liaoyang Mansion, and the [-] troops were sent back to Liaoyang Mansion. What about the defense of Nanjing Road?Will Yelu Hongji agree with this plan?

Yelv Yixin was in a dilemma. Among the several proposals currently being debated, there was no plan to transfer the troops of Nanjing Road to Tokyo. If he proposed it hastily, how could he pass it?
Early the next morning, Yelu Yixin had an audience with Emperor Yelu Hongji.

In the past few days, Yelu Hongji was also worried about the increase of troops in Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo. Although the Song army transported [-] Han artisan households on the Tokyo Road and did not attack the city, it does not mean that they will not come again.

In addition, the Song army attacked the Khitan Shengfan tribe in the northern part of Dongdong Province, causing serious casualties. At least [-] tribes lost contact.

But now the number of troops in the Liao Kingdom has dropped sharply, 8 troops have been wiped out in the Bohai Sea, and 12 troops have been trapped in Jingxing, leaving 20 troops gone.

There are only 26 troops left in the entire Liao Kingdom, [-] in Datong Mansion in Xijing, [-] in Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo, [-] in Xijin Mansion in Nanjing, [-] in Dading Mansion in Zhongjing, and [-] in Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing. This is the current strength of the Liao Army Deployment, then how to deploy troops.

Now the imperial court has two proposals. The first proposal is to recruit 36 troops so that the total troop strength can reach [-]. Very difficult.

At this time, the eunuch reported at the door, "Yelu Xiangguo asks to see you!"

"Announce him in!"

Not long after, Yelv Yixin walked in quickly, bowed and saluted, "See Your Majesty!"

Yelu Hongji sighed, "It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, I really don't know how to send troops to Tokyo!"

Yelu Yixin said in a calm and unhurried manner, "This minister came here for this purpose."

Yelu Hongji sat down and said, "I am willing to listen!"

"Your Majesty, the current two proposals are actually opposed by my ministers. One is to recruit recruits. The plan looks very good, but the person who made the plan has never thought about what kind of recruitment we will use. According to the usual practice, each recruit will be given ten dollars. If you want to pay for the settlement, you have to spend a million guan, and the current balance in the treasury is only 60 guan, and you have to pay for the financial expenses of the entire Liao Kingdom. Simply put, we have no money to recruit new soldiers."

Yelu Hongji nodded, "I've also considered this point. It's true that the finances are difficult, and it's not realistic to recruit recruits for the time being. Does that mean that the troops from Shangjing will go to Tokyo?"

Yelu Yixin sighed deeply, "Your Majesty, there should be an army of 20 defending the capital, and now we have to divide the troops out. I am deeply worried!"

"What do you mean by worry?"

Yelu Yixin pointed to the north, "Does Your Majesty think they really surrendered?"

Yelu Hongji suddenly realized that Yelu Yixin was referring to the Tiele ethnic groups in the grassland. It was precisely to suppress the ethnic groups in the grassland that the Liao Kingdom shifted its ruling center from Tokyo to Shangjing. How is it possible to really surrender?

Yelu Yixin continued: "Now we have doubled the taxes on the grassland ministries compared to before. The resentment of the grassland ministries can be imagined. Once the garrison in Shangjing is reduced, the grassland ministries will definitely move around again, and there are only [-] people in Shangjing. Army, to keep Tokyo Road, at least [-] troops must be dispatched there, and the capital city with only [-] troops, doesn't Your Majesty think it's dangerous?"

Yelu Hongji was upset for a while, he really didn't think of the threat from the grassland tribes, now that Yelu Yixin reminded him, he realized that Shangjing's army really can't act rashly.

"Then what should we do?"

"Hasn't Your Majesty ever thought of mobilizing troops from Nanjing Road to reinforce Tokyo Road?"

"You mean Youzhou?"

Yelu Hongji was startled, he shook his head again and again, "Youzhou is at the forefront, and Yi County has already fallen. If the Youzhou army is transferred away, the Nanjing Road may not be able to be maintained."

Yeluyi laughed bitterly, "Your Majesty, the army of Nanjing Road is mainly infantry, focusing on defense. The 20 troops are scattered in various cities. If the Song Dynasty's [-] main force attacks northward and defeats the troops of Nanjing Road, [-] troops will be defeated. The army can't defend the Nanjing Road, so it is better to leave [-] troops to defend Youzhou, and transfer [-] troops to defend the Dongdong Road. As long as Youzhou is not lost, it does not make much sense for the Song army to capture other cities."

Yelu Hongji was a little moved. Most of the cities in Nanjing Road are empty cities, so it doesn't make much sense. Only Youzhou City has a population of 10. If you stick to Youzhou and give up other cities, it is a good choice.

Yelu Yixin saw that Yelu Hongji had already been tempted, and he added more anger: "Your Majesty, I am the prime minister, and I must speak with the prime minister's attention. Tokyo Road is our biggest source of revenue, and it must not be used by the Song Dynasty." Army occupied, and Nanjing Road’s contribution to Liao State’s finances and taxes has dropped to [-]%, which is tasteless. As a prime minister, I value Tokyo Road more, Tokyo is in danger, so we can’t hesitate any longer.”

When Yelu Hongji thought of the tax and financial resources of Tokyo Road, his heart became tense. Tokyo Road was too important to them to allow any mistakes, but Nanjing Road...

After hesitating for a while, Yelu Hongji asked again: "Should we ask Xi Ren and the Bohai Department to send troops to support?"

Yelu Yixin sighed, "Does Your Majesty think they will send troops?"

It's really impossible. Xi Ren and the [-] troops of the Bohai Department had just died at the bottom of the sea, and if they were asked to send troops, he would not be able to say so.

He was finally persuaded by Yelu Yixin, and he sighed helplessly: "Just follow Xiangguo's plan, leave [-] troops to defend Youzhou, and [-] troops from Pingzhou immediately support Dongdong Road."

(End of this chapter)