I studied in modern times

Chapter 901: Song-Liao Transaction (1)

After Yelu Hongji sent Zhao Xiaoyan away, he brought his people to the main hall of the palace as if nothing had happened and sat on the throne.

Not long after, officials from the Ministry of Rites came to the palace, leading envoys from the Southern Song Dynasty.

"By order of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, Lin Xi, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Great Song Dynasty, hereby congratulates the Emperor of the Great Liao Dynasty on the Tianan Holy Day and wishes His Majesty everlasting happiness and health!"

As he spoke, the Southern Dynasty official, who was wearing a scarlet robe and a wide-legged hat and looked very dignified, bowed in greeting.

After listening to this, Yelu Hongji suddenly felt refreshed and extremely happy!
Because the other party said that they came to congratulate the Emperor of Liao [on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor of Song].

In the past, to be precise, before the second year of Da'an, this situation did not exist.

At that time, the envoys from the Southern Dynasty would at most say "Congratulations to the Emperor of the Northern Dynasty".

Sometimes they would even say, "Congratulations to the Great Khitan Emperor."

How could it be like now, where we call it the Great Liao?

This shows what?
This shows that under the rule of Yelu Hongji, even the Southern Dynasties, which had always been arrogant and refused to acknowledge that the Liao Dynasty was also part of China, had to lower their proud heads and treat the Song and Liao dynasties as equals.

Cool!
Yelu Hongji couldn't help but think of the fact that decades ago, when Ouyang Xiu, the Emperor Wenzong of the Southern Dynasties, wrote "New History of the Five Dynasties", he included the Liao Dynasty in the category of "Four Barbarians".

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and his mood became even brighter.

Because when this book was spread to Liao territory, his father became furious after reading it.

Immediately expressed serious protest and strong dissatisfaction to the Southern Dynasty through all diplomatic channels.

Why do you list the Liao Dynasty as one of the Four Barbarians?

Who gave you the courage?
Ok?
As early as when Taizu founded the Great Liao Dynasty, we had already revered Confucius as a sage, held imperial examinations to recruit scholars, and employed civil officials to assist.

Since Emperor Shengzong, China has become even more "realistically Chinese" and "an era of great cultural and educational prosperity."

Thus, a verbal lawsuit arose.

The scholars of the Southern Dynasties insisted that "a gentleman should be impartial and a king should seek great unification" and believed that the Song Dynasty was in the middle and should be the orthodox dynasty of China.

The Liao was a foreign ethnic group in the north. Even if they used Chinese etiquette, they did not belong to China, let alone have any legitimacy.

The rulers and ministers of the Liao Kingdom at that time advocated that "if the princes follow the barbarian rituals, they are barbarians, and if they follow the Chinese rituals, they are Chinese", so the Liao Dynasty also belonged to the Chinese.

Therefore, the relationship between Song and Liao was actually the relationship between Qin, Jin, Qi and Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period.

However, in the cultural field, the Liao Dynasty was indeed no match for the literati of the Southern Dynasties.

After just a few rounds, he was left speechless by the refutations of the literati of the Southern Dynasty.

There was no other choice but to give the topic "Those who possess the national treasure are the orthodox" in the imperial examination in the seventh year of Chongxi to save face (the Liao people disguised the imperial seal obtained by Emperor Taizong of Liao from the Later Jin Dynasty as the imperial seal, and used it as one of the legal grounds to fight for orthodoxy. Emperor Shengzong of Liao even wrote a poem praising the orthodoxy of the Liao Dynasty).

But defeat is defeat.

It is a fact that I have never won a battle of words!

But fortunately, the Southern Dynasty was defeated on the battlefield.

Yuan Hao rebelled in the northwest, and the Southern Dynasty suppressed the rebellion. After three defeats, the dynasty was completely stripped of its underwear.

This made the Liao Dynasty extremely excited at that time - you Bian bandits can't even beat the Tanguts, what kind of China are you? How dare you be so arrogant to me? How dare you put me in the Four Barbarians?
I bother!

Has there been such orthodoxy since ancient times?

Think about the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. When have they ever been humiliated like this?

Look at our Great Liao, we are the descendants of the Han Dynasty and the vassal of the Tang Dynasty.

Today the Han Dynasty no longer exists and the Tang Dynasty has fallen.

This Chinese orthodoxy should be inherited by our Great Liao!

You Bian bandits are nothing but thieves who have stolen control of the Central Plains!

Therefore, Liu Liufu was sent south, and through threats and inducements, he forced the Southern Dynasty to sign the Chongxi Peace Treaty.

But Nan Chao’s words were really hard!

Even though his face was swollen after being beaten by the Tanguts on the battlefield, and even though he was frightened by Liu Liufu at the negotiating table, he signed a new peace agreement.

But that mouth refused to give in at all.

As a result, Yelu Hongji's father never received a letter of surrender from the monarch of the Southern Dynasty until his death.

but now……

His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather worked hard all their lives but were unable to gain recognition from the Southern Dynasty.

But it was realized in his hands!

After the new ruler of the Southern Dynasty ascended the throne, he sent envoys repeatedly, but their attitudes remained arrogant.

But the wording and content of the letter made him feel very comfortable.

Just like now, the civil official of the Southern Dynasty in the palace, although he held his head high with an attitude of "a scholar can be killed but not humiliated", tried hard to imagine him and his officials as barbarians who ate raw meat and drank blood and were rude and vulgar.

But he still had to say, "Congratulations to the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty on his Tianan Day, and wish the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty longevity and health."

This attitude actually made Yelu Hongji feel more comfortable and refreshed.

So, he hummed softly, just like when he was young and met a beauty, and said softly: "No need to be polite!"

He then ordered his attendants, "Hurry up and give the Song envoy a seat!"

Then someone brought in chairs from the north and placed them in the hall.

After the Song envoy sat down, Yelu Hongji asked with a smile: "How are your emperor, the grand empress dowager and the empress dowager doing recently?"

"Thank you for the concern of the Great Liao Emperor..." Lin Xi sat upright, just like countless of his predecessors, in the court of the Northern Barbarians, with his back straight and his chest held high. He tried his best to muster up his strength, maintaining the pride of the Great Song Dynasty scholar-officials, and answered neither humbly nor arrogantly: "My Lord, the Emperor, the Grand Empress Dowager, and Her Royal Highness, everything is fine!"

"My Lord, I would like to ask this minister to send greetings to Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Liao Dynasty..."

"Please convey my gratitude to your country's emperor on your behalf when you return home. I will send an envoy to express my gratitude during this year's Xinglong Festival!" Yelu Hongji replied with a chuckle.

Lin Xi stood up to express his gratitude, and then said: "Report this to the Emperor of Liao..."

"In addition to sending congratulations to Your Majesty on the Holy Day and renewing the brotherly alliance between Song and Liao..." "The foreign ministers also have another mission..."

Yelu Hongji narrowed his eyes.

Could he guess what it was?

Since the beginning of this year, every time the Song envoys came, they would nag in front of him that "war is a dangerous tool, and a sage should use it as a last resort", attempting to intervene in the war in Goryeo and act as a mediator.

Just like in the past few decades, the Liao Dynasty had been trying every means to intervene in the war between the Song and Xia dynasties and act as a mediator.

This is all normal!
What's more, the Liao Dynasty's war machine now almost entirely relies on the cheap goods from the Southern Dynasty.

Therefore, everyone in the Liao Kingdom tacitly agreed to this matter.

Of course, no matter what the Southern Dynasty said, the Liao Dynasty just treated it as nonsense.

Just consider it as giving face to those millions of strings of coins!
Lin Xi bowed and said, "My Lord, the Emperor, is kind and kind by nature. He cannot bear to see the innocent bloodshed and death of your country's and Goryeo's soldiers and civilians..."

"God has the virtue of a good life..."

"In ancient times, a gentleman could not bear to see a beast die when he saw it alive, and could not bear to eat its flesh when he heard its cry..."

Yelu Hongji listened to these clichés and shook his head slightly.

Until, the Southern Dynasty envoy in the palace suddenly said: "Besides, Goryeo has sent an envoy to present a map to our lord..."

"Respect the Great Song as the legitimate dynasty, respect our Lord as the supreme ruler, and follow our dynasty's calendar and reign title..."

"As the suzerain, our Lord the Emperor, it is our duty to persuade the two countries to make peace and stop the war..."

Yelu Hongji immediately sat up straight.

The Liao nobles in the hall all widened their eyes and stared viciously at the Southern Dynasty envoy who was ignorant of the danger.

Destroy Goryeo and invade Japan.

This is the livelihood of millions of water transport workers in Liao State!
Especially the interests of the military nobles of the North Court.

It is thanks to war that one miracle of rapid progress after another has been achieved.

Not only that, the major nobles are also relying on war to expand and develop their own strength.

It is no exaggeration to say that in the present Liao Kingdom, especially the northern tribes - the Khitan nobles and Xi kings, are inseparable from war.

In fact, this expedition to Goryeo was incredibly smooth.

Not only did the countless problems that had plagued the Liao people in the past disappear in the face of the massive amount of cheap Southern Dynasty commercial goods - the Jurchen tribes and Bohai nobles all became obedient in the face of the power of wealth.

The Liao army in Goryeo no longer had to fight a quick battle and achieve a quick victory as they did in the past.

You can slowly and patiently erode Goryeo.

So, although they could have captured Kaesong earlier, they deliberately did not launch the final general offensive, allowing the Goryeo people to bleed to death near Kaesong. Since the beginning of this year, the Liao army has beheaded and captured more than 100,000 Goryeo soldiers and civilians in the battle near Kaesong.

What’s even more interesting is that the Japanese copy opened up by Xiao Budaya really opened the eyes of the Liao people.

If the Liao army is in Goryeo, they may need to be cautious to prevent a sudden explosion of Goryeo people.

The Liao army in Japan was like a strong man breaking into a kindergarten.

You can win in a field battle no matter how you fight!

Even in naval battles, with the Japanese as sparring partners, the Liao army's navy's technology was improving rapidly.

We were able to fight the Japanese back and forth, and even defeated the Japanese navy.

This is a war that can be won at a low cost.

Let the Liao people be fascinated by it!
The Khitan nobles and the Xi King suddenly regained the feeling they had when the country was founded.

Everyone was dreaming of annexing Goryeo, taming Japan, and then marching south to unify the world and establish a unified Liao Empire, a future in which they would all go down in history.

Now, the envoys from the Southern Dynasty in this palace said that "the King of Goryeo has presented a map to our master" and "we will recognize the Song Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty and use the Song Dynasty calendar and reign title."

This immediately angered everyone in the hall.

To be precise, it should have made them feel a sense of crisis.

Because they all knew that the Liao Kingdom's war machine was now able to operate so efficiently and smoothly.

This is all thanks to the massive amount of cheap commercial goods purchased from the Southern Dynasty.

Therefore, the Southern Dynasty did have the ability to influence the war situation in Goryeo!

Not to mention anything else, as long as the trade of Jiaozi between Song and Liao is interrupted, the Liao army, which is still in high morale, will immediately be extinguished.

At the same time, without wealth, the Jurchens, Bohais, and Zhubos will become disobedient again.

"How dare you!" A noble from the North Court immediately shouted angrily.

"How dare you!" Someone jumped up and said, "The Emperor of the Liao Dynasty has already announced to the whole world that Goryeo was once one of the four counties of the Han Dynasty!"

"Now my lord is conquering Goryeo, and the royal army is going out to recover our homeland!"

As he was speaking, the man started to curse: "You abandoned our ancestral land, and you still want to stop the Liao army from taking it back?"

As he was cursing, he opened his mouth and spat out two words at Lin Xi.

Although, he didn't say it.

But looking at the shape of his mouth, Lin Xi could read it——

"Bian Bandits!"

Lin Xi watched and naturally could not allow these Liao people to humiliate and slander him.

He puffed out his chest and looked directly at the Liao nobles who were trying to intimidate him.

Just as he was about to speak, the Liao Lord's voice came from the palace: "Enough!"

Suddenly all the noise turned into silence.

(End of this chapter)