I studied in modern times

Chapter 958: The Tacit Understanding between Song and Liao

After the episode with Goryeo, subsequent delegations visiting the court returned to normal.

Gao Taiyun, an envoy of the Dali Kingdom, came to Bian Jing on the orders of his father and brother.

They also presented the Dali Kingdom with state gifts - thirteen jade ornaments, all in the shape of animals.

The water content is not very good, most of the seeds are bean seeds.

The color is very bright, basically full green.

At the same time, he also brought a handwritten letter from Duan Zhengming, King of Dali (actually written by his father Gao Shengtai).

The letter naturally mentioned the agreement that Gao Taiming had made with Zhao Xu when he came to the court last year.

He said that he had selected more than ten eminent monks in Dali Kingdom, and begged the Emperor of Song Dynasty to allow these monks to enter famous temples of Song Dynasty and study Buddhism with them.

Zhao Xu readily agreed.

This is because the chieftains of Guangxi and the southwestern tribes all reported the changes in Dali Kingdom after Gao Taiming returned.

First of all, of course, was the prosperous tea-horse trade between Guangxi and the Dali Kingdom.

A steady stream of Yunnan horses entered Jiaozhou and Guangxi through the Tea-Horse Trade Route and the Pearl River waterway.

In more than a year, the input reached as much as four thousand horses!

Needless to say, this is an exaggerated number.

Even so, the Yunnan horses sold in Dali were mainly pack horses and draft horses, with less than one-tenth being war horses.

Moreover, even the so-called war horses were actually far inferior to the Tibetans' Qingtang horses.

But Yunnan horses have their own advantages.

That is, it is tough and durable, especially suitable for the southwestern mountainous areas and high temperature environments.

Land transportation between Jiaozhou and Guangxi is now supported by mules and Yunnan horses.

Moreover, with economic development, the demand for Yunnan horses will only increase.

Of course, the Gao family was willing to sell so many Yunnan horses to the Song Dynasty.

In addition, Zhao Xu's political commitment to Gao Taiming also touched the Gao family.

Driven by economic interests, the Gao family is also the reason why they are so enthusiastic.

Over the past year or so, the silk, tea, copper coins, and sugarcane of the Song Dynasty have been continuously purchased by merchants from the Dali Kingdom (actually the Gao family's father and son's aliases).

Among these commodities, the most important to the Gao family is copper coins!
no way!
To date, the majority of the currency of the Dali Kingdom is still shell money, a primitive currency that has been eliminated in the Central Plains for more than a thousand years.

Of course, it’s not that the Dali Kingdom didn’t want to use copper coins.

But, they simply couldn't get a lot of copper coins!
The money shortage in East Asia has affected all countries and regimes in the region.

The Dali Kingdom, located in the southwest, is still a copper-poor country.

The large copper mines in modern Yunnan were not discovered and developed until the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Large-scale mining only began in modern times.

In addition, the Dali Kingdom and the Song Dynasty were geographically separated by the five tribes in the southwest.

Communication and trade between them are only sporadic.

It was not until the first year of Yuanyou that Zhang Dun led an expedition to the south and conquered the eight states of Jiaozhou, bringing the entire Youjiang region into the territory of the Song Dynasty.

The Dali Kingdom finally regained its geographical connection with the Song Dynasty.

At this time, Gao Taiming came to the DPRK and started trade between the two countries.

With Zhao Xu's approval, the tea-horse trade was the basis.

The Dali Kingdom completed its economic cycle by importing Yunnan horses, jade, and jewelry from the Song Dynasty and purchasing silk, tea, and copper coins.

It was also under the direct instruction of Zhao Xu that the Guangxi region allowed copper coins to flow into Dali on a large scale.

As a result, in more than a year, Guangxi imported more than 100,000 strings of copper coins to the Dali Kingdom through the tea-horse trade!

Needless to say, this is a terrifying number for Dali.

This gave a shot in the arm to the Gao family's rule in Dali.

Gao's rule then became more stable.

Naturally, the Gao family began to fulfill their promise and began to tentatively expand into the territory of the Pagan Dynasty in the Shan State.

Because we have just started, there are not many results yet.

However, this attempt also made the Gao family taste the sweetness.

Because they were surprised to find that the response of the Pagan Dynasty, which was once powerful, defeated Dali and unified Myanmar, seemed very weak, and it seemed that this once powerful country had fallen into weakness.

This is because the Dali Kingdom was busy with internal strife and paid less attention to Myanmar.

In fact, just three years before Zhao Xu ascended the throne, that is, in the fifth year of Yuanfeng in the Song Dynasty, the Pagan Dynasty experienced a crisis that almost led to its demise - a devastating peasant uprising broke out in the country.

The Mon nobles, dissatisfied with the oppression and enslavement by the Pagans, rose up in rebellion.

The rebels defeated the main force of Pagan one after another and even killed the king of Pagan. Their troops headed straight for the capital of Pagan.

The Pagan Dynasty was not saved until the rise of Jiangxituo, another son of Anuruddhu, the previous great ruler of the Pagan Dynasty.

But even so, the ruling foundation and national strength of the Pagan Dynasty had greatly declined.

So, when the Gao family expanded into Shan State.

The Pagan Dynasty in Lower Burma had little reaction.

To be precise, the people of Bagan don’t want to react!
The fierce ethnic and class conflicts in the country meant that after the restoration of the country, Jiang Xituo could only barely control the Lower Burma region, which was the core of the country.

Regarding Shan State, a mountainous area that is outside the core of Bagan and still mainly ruled by chiefs, Jiang Xituo said - I'm tired, do whatever you want!
Anyway, it is impossible to send troops.

As long as he sent troops, the Meng warlords who had been appeased with great difficulty might cause chaos again in the rear.

Jiang Xituo didn't want to risk the destruction of his country to save those chiefs who were only nominally surrendered.

In other words, the Gao family is unaware of this and is still cautiously testing the waters, not daring to expand aggressively.

Even so, the benefits obtained by the Gao family are astonishing enough!

It was under such circumstances that Gao Taiyun entered the court at the behest of his father and brother.

Naturally, his visit this time was not just to pay tribute, nor was it just to ask the Song Dynasty to fulfill its agreement and accept the monks and students from the Dali Kingdom.

He even came to request military assistance.

The Gao family naturally knew that Li Taide of Jiaozhi State had killed many people in Zhenla and Champa with the help of the magic arm bow and chain mail purchased from the Song Dynasty (Dali had close trade relations with Champa and Zhenla).

Therefore, the Gao family also wanted to purchase the Shenbi bow, chain mail, and leather armor from the Song Dynasty, and then copy Li Taide's homework.

Expand your territory!
This is a temptation that the Gao family cannot resist!
Because only by expanding territory can the Gao family prove their virtue and merit.

Only then can the Gao family legitimately replace the Duan family and become the ruler of Dali, just like Duan Siping replaced Nanzhao in the past.

But in the minds of the Gao family, Pagan is very powerful - there is no way, Pagan's great leader Anulutuo was the king who defeated the Dali Kingdom head-on, then led his army deep into Dali and forced the Dali Kingdom to sign a humiliating treaty!

He left a deep psychological shadow on all Dali people.

And now, it has been just over ten years since this heroic leader passed away.

The people of Dali naturally could never have imagined that in just over ten years, Bagan had already become completely rotten?

Therefore, we should follow the principle of estimating the enemy's strengths.

The Gao family decided to first import advanced Shenbi bows and standard armor from the Song Dynasty, and then march to Shan State to recover their homeland.

Then we will see the situation and decide whether to march into Lower Burma.

Zhao Xu didn't know even more.

After reading the letter from the Dali Kingdom, he picked up his pen to write his comments on it and then put it aside. After the audience ceremony, officials from the Ministry of Rites would arrange a private audience time for Gao Taiyun.

……

After Dali, it was the envoys from Jiaozhi who came to pay tribute and pay tribute - a delegation nominally appointed by the king Li Qiande, but actually sent by Li Taide.

There is naturally nothing much to say about this.

As a comprador puppet, a political group that is now completely dependent on the Song Dynasty economically and militarily.

The performance of the Jiaozhi delegation in front of Zhao Xu was almost comparable to that of the Koreans!
His words were so flattering and his attitude so humble that it was even a little embarrassing.

But Zhao Xu did not say anything. He just said a few polite words and asked the Jiaozhi delegation to withdraw.

He knows it very well.

The reason why Li Taide is respectful and humble.

It’s simply because they can’t defeat the Song Dynasty and yet they rely on it.

The nature of Jiaozhi is to be two-faced.

Therefore, as long as the Song Dynasty can continue to be strong.

Then Li Taide could only be his obedient dog and do whatever he was told to do.

However, if the Song Dynasty showed signs of decline, the chieftains of Jiaozhou began to become alienated from Bianliang.

Believe it or not, Li Taide of Thang Long Prefecture will defect immediately.

Similar things have happened countless times in Jiaozhi's history.

Fortunately, Zhao Xu’s positioning of Jiaozhi has always been clear - a grain-producing area.

As long as Li Taide's Jiaozhi could send two million dan of rice to the Song Dynasty every year according to the treaty.

Zhao Xu doesn't care what he is doing?
Don't you care what he is thinking?
It doesn't matter whether he is being submissive or imitating King Gou Jian of Yue.

Let him!

After the Jiaozhi Mission came the Japanese tribute envoys.

However, this so-called Japanese tribute envoy was actually arranged by the Ministry of Rites to make up the numbers - the envoy who went to the palace was still the monk Lai Yuan who came to the Song Dynasty this year to ask for assistance from the Song Dynasty.

It did not have the authorization of the Japanese ruler at all, let alone tribute.

The so-called state letters and state ceremonies were all arranged by Xingshuo.

Zhao Xu knew this.

Also making up the numbers were the so-called tribute envoys from the Kingdom of the Caliphate, the Kingdom of Brunei, the Kingdom of Srivijaya, as well as the envoys from Khotan, Kucha, Gaochang and other countries - all of them were criminals who found people to impersonate among the Hu merchants in Yimenfang.

The reason, of course, is to create the illusion that all nations are paying tribute and the Song Dynasty is reviving.

Although Zhao Xu and the ministers all knew that there were no nations coming to pay tribute, the Song Dynasty was still far from reaching the level of revival.

However, it is important to let the people of the world, especially the heroes among the grassroots, believe that on the holy day of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, all nations will come to pay tribute, the country will become increasingly powerful, and the Song Dynasty will rule the world like the Han and Tang Dynasties!

Only in this way can we intimidate these people, make them behave like obedient citizens, and not have any inappropriate thoughts.

Therefore, when meeting these delegations, Zhao Xu was very enthusiastic.

Comfort and encourage them one by one, and reward them generously.

This was indeed very intimidating, at least all the civil and military officials in the palace were intimidated.

But the Liao people saw it very clearly and were secretly complaining in their hearts.

Especially Yelu Gongchen.

"The rulers and ministers of the Southern Dynasty are indeed good at bluffing!"

He was outside the palace, looking at the so-called "tribute envoys from Japan", "tribute envoys from the Arabs", "tribute envoys from Khotan" and the like.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

He was not sure whether the tribute envoy from the Arab Empire was genuine or not.

However, isn’t he clear about the so-called tribute envoys from Japan, Khotan, Kucha, Gaochang and other countries?

All are fake!

However, Yelu Gongchen did not intend to expose it.

He even hoped that the rulers and ministers of the Southern Dynasty would continue to be immersed in such a false dream.

Only in this way, when the crown prince ascends the throne in the future and the Liao Dynasty accumulates some national strength, it can calmly march south.

At that time, the holy lord will hold the whip, the brave soldiers will be employed, and the famous generals and wise ministers will follow him.

The Southern Dynasty was corrupt, with incompetent rulers and ignorant ministers, and extravagance from top to bottom, which was naturally the best situation.

In this way, we can emulate the story of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty - the people in the Central Plains were controlled by the Bian bandits and suffered in dire straits!

How could we not save them just because we are separated by a strip of water (the Yellow River)?

What's more, the Liao Dynasty was appointed by heaven and was the legitimate dynasty of China. The emperor of the Liao Dynasty was a descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han and a descendant of the Liu family. It was the prophecy of the golden sword and he should rule the world!

Who knows, by then the speed of unification will be beyond imagination!
Like the Later Zhou Dynasty's destruction of the Northern Qi Dynasty - Xiao Lian's delicate body lay lying on the ground at night, and it was reported that the Zhou army had entered Jinyang!

Thinking of this, Yelu Gongchen became more proud and expectant.

Then, he received a notice from the official of the Southern Dynasty Ministry of Rites: "Please prepare to go to the palace to pay your respects!"

……

A quarter of an hour later, Yelu Gongchen, accompanied by the Liao emperor's grandson and his brother the Song emperor, entered the Purple Palace amid the sounds of ritual music and the praises of ceremonial officials.

Soon, with the courtesy of a subject, he went to see the Southern Dynasty emperor who was sitting on the throne in the palace. It was said that he was only one year older than the crown prince.

"Gongchen, the military governor of Ningchang Army, is hereby ordered by our Lord, the Liao Dynasty's Grandson, the King of Liang, and the King of Joseon to respectfully present the Xinglong Festival Order to His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, and wish you a happy birthday!"

As he spoke, Yelu Gongchen followed the singing of the ritual officials of the Southern Dynasty as if he was paying homage to the emperor of the Liao Dynasty.

Bait-praise-bait, Bait again, praise again.

This is the tacit understanding that Song and Liao countries have adopted in their interactions since last year - when envoys from the two countries meet their kings, they no longer regard themselves as foreign ministers and no longer perform the etiquette of foreign ministers.

Instead, they used the rituals of paying homage to each other's monarchs.

As for the explanation given to the outside world, the two countries were unified - Song and Liao were brotherly countries, and they had been in friendly alliance for a hundred years. In fact, it was the friendship between Qin and Jin, and Qin and Chu!

Therefore, the King of Song was also the King of Liao, and the King of Liao was also the King of Song.

Naturally, we should make no distinction between the two countries to show the friendship between our two countries and to establish the brotherhood.

What’s interesting is that both countries feel they have gained an advantage in this matter!
As a result, the top leaders of both countries are desperately advocating and promoting almost identical political declarations.

And they all tacitly believed that they were Qin, and the other side was either Jin or Chu.

They also planned to invite each other's monarchs to visit their homes in the future.

The ceremony of the two kings and three Kes was all carried out quietly.

(End of this chapter)