I studied in modern times

Chapter 735 Yi Tian Monk Enters Bian Jing
Yiyou (26) in February of the second year of Yuanyou.

Lu Huiqing looked at the visiting card that was delivered to him and said, "Shu Xindao has actually been reinstated!"

"This is really...unexpected!"

Li Kui, the aide beside him, said: "Sir, I heard that the one who reinstated Shu Tan was the Empress Dowager Cixi in the palace..."

Lu Huiqing uttered a "Hey", but did not comment on it. He only said to Li Kui: "Si He, please go to the court for me and meet Shu Xindao. Tell him that I have been summoned back to the court, and it is not convenient for me to meet guests before I see the emperor!"

This is a polite refusal to meet with Shu Tan, an old friend.

He, Lu Huiqing, just has a hot temper, but he is not stupid at all.

Although he was in Taiyuan, he always paid attention to the affairs of the court.

Naturally, I know that it is best to keep a distance from the two palaces, especially those promoted by the Empress Dowager.

"Yes!" Li Kui took the order and left.

Lu Huiqing put away the visiting card and walked to the backyard of the house where he lived.

Looking at the cypress tree in the courtyard, it is still lush and green.

The corners of Lu Huiqing's mouth curved up slightly.

This house was the one he rented when he first came to Beijing to serve as an official.

And the cypress tree in this courtyard was planted by him personally.

During the Xining period, he returned to Beijing again and continued to rent a house here.

Now, after ten years, he returned to Bian Jing again.

The house is still here, and everything in it remains the same.

In particular, the cypress tree he planted with his own hands is still growing in the same place.

"The emperor's grace is so great..." Lu Huiqing said softly.

This is not just the current government's deep gratitude!
It is also the grace and favor of the late emperor!
Otherwise, how is it possible that this house has not changed at all over the years?
This could only be an imperial decree from the palace, specially preserving the original appearance of the vegetation and buildings here for him.

If it were any other scholar-official, he would have been so moved that he would have wanted to die for the Song Dynasty.

But Lu Huiqing's way of thinking is different from that of all the literati.

He looked at the familiar courtyard and the familiar layout of the rooms in front of him.

He walked slowly through the small garden filled with fallen petals, sat down in front of the stone table that was his favorite in the past, and stared at the chessboard on the table.

He suddenly remembered the famous line from the famous poem "Letter to Chen Bozhi", and he recited it leisurely: "General, the pines and cypresses have not been trimmed, your relatives live in peace, the high platform has not collapsed, and your beloved concubine is still here..."

Then, he jumped directly to the most famous sentence: "So we know that where frost and dew are evenly distributed, no alien species will be bred! In the old state of Ji and Han, no hybrids are allowed!"

“Yes… yes…”

"This must be what the late emperor and the government wanted to say to me!"

For people like Lu Huiqing, if you give him some color, he will dare to open a dyeing factory.

Even within the New Party faction of the Xining Reform, Lu Huiqing was a radical among radicals.

So much so that even Wang Anshi called it too extreme!
To the extent that he offended everyone who could be offended, both inside and outside the court.

From Lu Huiqing's perspective, since the eighth year of Yuanfeng, when the new emperor ascended the throne, he has always been shown favor and protection.

In order to protect him and to support him, the young master even executed a Yaojun directly by military law!
But in Lu Huiqing's view, it is more than just protection and support.

He felt that this was still encouragement!
Therefore, during the Song-Xia War last year, he was so proactive in leading his troops directly into the heartland of the Western bandits.

It’s still normal now!
In Lu Huiqing's view, two generations of emperors had preserved this old residence for him.

The subtext is hidden in "Letter to Chen Bozhi".

Moreover, it must be the sentence 'Therefore, we know that frost and dew are evenly distributed...'

The reason is very simple.

In Lu Huiqing's understanding, the current world situation is quite similar to that during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

It might even be more chaotic.

The northern barbarians in the north secretly occupied Youyan.

The Dangxiang in the northwest controlled Lingxia and Hexi.

There are also remnants of Tubo, who claim to be under the rule of Qingtang.

In the south, there are even clowns in Jiaozhi who stubbornly resist the royal army!
Therefore, two generations of emperors specially preserved the scenery of his old house for him.

Isn't this a hint to him - dear, hurry up!?
It must be so!

So, he excitedly began to prepare to write a letter begging for an audience with His Majesty, and planned to deliver it at the Inner East Gate early tomorrow morning!
……

Shu Tan listened to what Li Kui said.

He was somewhat disappointed!
But he still said politely: "In this case, I will wait until Ji Fu sees you, and then I will go to pay my respects to you!"

After seeing Li Kui off, Shu Tan shook his head and said, "It seems that all the officials in the capital regard me as a member of the rear party..."

During the few days since he returned to Beijing, he went to the Inner East Gate to submit a letter requesting an audience with the emperor.

I've been running around to contact old friends.

Except for the prime minister of the capital, he just politely sent a note to explain that he had returned to the capital.

Everyone else who could be visited was visited.

However, almost everyone politely declined his visit like Lu Huiqing did.

However, this is also a good thing to some extent!
Shu Tan picked up the Bian Jing Newspaper that he had asked someone to buy for him.

Keep looking.

He was catching up on the things that had happened in Bianjing City in the past two years.

And the fellow on the dock hadn't lied to him!

The Bian Jing Xin Bao is indeed the best way to understand the changes in Bian Jing over the past two years.

Whether it is the wind direction in the court or the changes in the market.

You can find some clues in the Bian Jing Xin Bao, and you can even see the truth directly in the Bian Jing Xin Bao!
And he really needs to catch up on these things.

……

At the end of February, the weather in Hunhe River began to warm up.

The frozen river surface also began to melt.

The various Jurchen tribes are rushing here from all directions to participate in this year's first fish banquet.

Yelu Hongji's mood became brighter with the arrival of spring.

Especially after the first batch of commercial goods purchased from the Southern Dynasty this year were delivered one after another.

Yelu Hongji's mood became more and more beautiful.

With money in hand, he became generous.

Today, I bestow upon the leader of a certain Jurchen tribe twenty rolls of cotton cloth, one hundred rolls of silk cloth, and fifteen kilograms of brown sugar.

Tomorrow, I will give a certain noble chieftain of Bohai a hundred rolls of cotton cloth, five hundred rolls of silk cloth, and five kilograms of icing sugar.

He gave out almost as much as was sent in.

With Yelu Hongji's lavish spending, the Jurchen tribes were overjoyed, and the nobles of Bohai were full of flattery.

Even the unruly Jurchen women, tempted by rewards, became Yelu Hongji's loyal and obedient subjects, and they all submitted to him.

The Liao Dynasty was never as prosperous as it is now.

The only thing that bothered Yelu Hongji was the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade negotiations, which were at a standstill due to the lack of sufficient silver and gold on the Liao side.

He wanted to use the gold and silver stored in the treasury.

But the court officials all opposed it!

People like Liang Ying and Xiao Wuna were even more vocal in urging him to be frugal and save money.

He said something like "The country is sending troops to Korea, and the people are already burdened. I hope Your Majesty will be frugal and consider the people's wishes..." This made Yelu Hongji very annoyed!

But there aren’t many solutions!

Because these people are loyal ministers!
Moreover, Yelu Hongji knew in his heart that what they said made sense.

The front-line army stopped in Goryeo.

Yelu Dilie said that Goryeo was a big country in the east of the sea with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. It would be difficult to destroy it in a hurry, and it had to be done slowly.

Otherwise, the lesson of the previous dynasty's three invasions of Goryeo, where it won first and then lost, would be repeated.

Therefore, the pressure of war expenses is very great!
The people in Youyan area have already suffered from continuous drought, and now have to bear military expenses.

They are indeed miserable!

You can't force it!
Because Song and Liao had a long border.

If the Liao Dynasty exploited the people too harshly, the peasants in the Han areas of Youyan might vote with their feet and support the Southern Dynasty.

Once the peasants in the Han area of ​​Youyan fled on a large scale.

Then Youyan would actually be undefendable!

Therefore, the successive monarchs of the Liao Dynasty were very caring towards the Han farmers in the Youyan area.

Especially after the reforms of Empress Dowager Chengtian, the burden on farmers in the Youyan area was greatly reduced.

At least, the burden of taxes and corvee labor was much lighter than that of the farmers in Hebei and Hedong in the Southern Dynasties!
This made Youyan loyal to the Liao Kingdom and became its core base.

Now, because of the war, Youyan’s tax burden is almost catching up with that of the farmers in Hebei Province in the Southern Dynasties.

If the country continues to increase taxes, the burden on farmers in Youyan will exceed that of farmers in Hebei in the Southern Dynasties.

This is not good for the Liao people!
Thinking of this, Yelu Hongji couldn't help but shook his head: "Why don't I know that?"

"But why can't the ministers understand my difficulties?"

"Since Youyan cannot raise taxes any further... we can only rely on the Song-Liao trade..."

"Besides, the price offered by the Southern Dynasty is quite low!"

A piece of silk costs only one string and five hundred coins, which is several hundred coins cheaper than before!

Silk is also very cost-effective, only two strings of cash and three hundred coins per piece.

In addition, cheap old tea and inferior tea have now become an important part of the Liao Dynasty's fiscal revenue.

As long as he had these treasures, he could use them to reward the army and the soldiers.

In other words, there is no need to impose taxes on Youyan, and Goryeo can be conquered by relying on the wealth of the Southern Dynasty.

Naihe... Naihe...

He just lacks silver and gold!

Thinking of this, Yelu Hongji planned to send someone to find his brother-in-law, the imperial concubine Xiao Chouwo.

He was asked to select a group of Goryeo palace maids, female officials and the wives and daughters of those stubborn Goryeo scholars and send them to the Southern Dynasty in exchange for some money.

no way!
He really lacks a way to earn foreign exchange!

But before Yelu Hongji could give the order, someone had already delivered an urgent report to him.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Zhaotao, the Pyongyang Recruiting Envoy, has an urgent report!"

Yelu Hongji immediately stood up and said, "Present it quickly. I want to read it myself!"

Xiao Budaya's Da'an Island recently sent more than two thousand taels of silver.

This is now his largest and most stable way to earn foreign exchange.

Naturally, Yelu Hongji was very much looking forward to this.

He took Xiao Budaye's memorial, opened it and took a look at it, then his brows furrowed.

"What is Xiaobuda doing..."

Without asking for permission, he recruited Jurchen women without authorization.

Even the born Jurchen women were recruited directly without screening, and the Liao Dynasty recognized the identity of these Jurchen women as loyal followers in the name of the Liao Dynasty.

So brave!
However, when Yelu Hongji saw what Xiao Budaye reported about the situation in Japan.

His face turned grim.

What does that mean when the powerful officials of the Fujiwara clan are in power?

He created a false leader and called himself the regent?
Even to the point of murdering the king and enthroning an eight-year-old child to continue ruling the country?

Yelu Hongji's sensitive nerves were immediately touched.

This Japan... is simply... simply... lawless!
After putting away Xiao Budaye's memorial, Yelu Hongji coldly ordered his attendants: "Come, pass on my order, and order the officials to strictly interrogate the Japanese delegation!"

"I want to know the details of the Fujiwara clan in Japan!"

"We also need to know why the Fujiwara clan wanted to murder the lord?"

That was the Japanese king he enthroned!
Moreover, the ink on the edict of enthronement has not completely dried yet!
As a result, Xiao Budaya reported that a loyal minister who claimed to be the descendant of the former Japanese king ran to Da'an Island and cried that his leader had been killed by a powerful minister and that the country was in danger, and begged the Celestial Empire to send troops to rescue it.

How is this a slap in the face of him, the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty?
It was clearly pulling his hair and whipping him!

Can this be tolerated?

This is intolerable! What else can’t be intolerable?
Of course, in the memorial, Yelu Hongji directly concealed the fact that the Japanese loyal minister "Taira Masamori" claimed that Japan had copper mountains and silver mountains, which he was willing to offer to the Emperor of Liao as a reward for borrowing heavenly soldiers to stabilize the court.

Seeing Yelu Hongji getting angry, the ministers present hurriedly took orders and left.

On that day, the Japanese delegation that had followed Yelu Hongji from Liaonan to Liaoyang Prefecture and Hunhe River were suddenly surrounded by a large number of fully armed Liao guards. Then, without any explanation, all the members of the delegation were imprisoned.

Then, the cruel officials of Liao Dynasty appeared on the scene.

He used the memory restoration technique on the entire Japanese delegation, making these pampered Chinese people cry for their parents.

Therefore, the Japanese told the Liao people almost everything they wanted to know.

……

Gengxu, February of the second year of Yuanyou (27).

It was just daybreak and the east gate of the new city of Bianjing, Xincao Gate, was already bustling with traffic.

Countless farmers and farm women, carrying loads of wild vegetables, fresh fish and game, were waiting at the city gate early in the morning, waiting for it to open.

Merchants from Jingdong Road were also waiting outside the city gate, carrying countless goods.

Since the city of Bianliang abolished the city gate tax, farmers and merchants in the capital area and even within the radiation area of ​​the capital area began to flock to Bianliang city.

They brought vegetables, fruits, river game, and goods from all over the world.

The population of 1.5 million in Bianjing City was like a glutton.

It seemed that no matter how much vegetables, meat and goods the farmers and merchants brought in.

This horrible monster can be digested!

In the city of Bianliang, more and more new commodities also attracted merchants from all over the world who came for profit.

As a result, the gates of Bianjing became more and more lively, and the flow of people increased.

As a result, the business of shops and warehouses in the nine lanes and fourteen blocks outside the city became popular.

Among the crowd, more than a hundred soldiers from Dengzhou surrounded a slightly plump monk wearing a purple robe.

It was Yi Tian, ​​the Goryeo monk leader who came from Goryeo to seek help from the Song Dynasty.

Yitian raised his head and looked at the towering Xincaomen city tower in front of him.

He sighed in his heart and chanted the Buddha's name: "Amitabha, may the Buddha bless you!"

"I hope the Emperor of Song can show mercy and extend it to Goryeo..."

However, would the Song Dynasty be willing to go to war with the Northern Tartars for the sake of Goryeo as he wished, or even as his two brothers wished?

Honestly speaking, Yi Tian had absolutely no idea what to do.

However, in this world, the only one that has the ability and motivation to save Goryeo is the Song Dynasty in the East!
(End of this chapter)