I studied in modern times

Chapter 961: Song-Liao Talks (2)

After Yelu Yongchang and Yelu Gongchen stood up and returned to their respective seats, Zhao Xu picked up the letter from the Liao ruler and said, "I have read the letter from the great-uncle of the Liao emperor!"

"My uncle asked me to give you the outer islands of Goryeo as compensation for the payment of the money due next year. I have agreed!"

Yelu Gongchen was overjoyed when he heard this.

Even Yelu Yongchang, who had known about this for a long time, was delighted.

This is a credit!
This is enough merit for them to be promoted to higher positions when they return home!

Although, the current Liao Dynasty has no shortage of gold and silver.

The annual tribute from Goryeo alone was 120,000 taels of silver.

However, the Liao Dynasty needed money in many areas.

Every bit of silver and gold is precious.

For the Liao people, being able to exchange a few deserted islands with no people on them for real gold and silver is indeed a very good deal!

Zhao Xu looked at Yelu Gongchen calmly and said, "It's easy to pay back the Jiaozi next year..."

"What about the year after next, or the year after that?"

"I am very worried about the Liao Dynasty!"

"If the emperor's uncle cannot pay back the gold and silver immediately, it may affect the issuance and circulation of Jiaozi in the future!"

"This..." Yelu Gongchen hesitated.

In fact, at the very beginning, the so-called Song-Liao Jiaozi trade treaty was not taken seriously by the Liao Kingdom, which stipulated that "three years after the Jiaozi was issued, the Song court would take it back and Liao would compensate it with gold and silver."

They had no intention of paying it back!

They just want to get something for free!

Anyway, in the eyes of the Liao ruler and the Liao nobles at that time - if they didn't pay back, could the Southern Song Dynasty still use armed force to collect the debt?
If the Song State really dares to do so, the Liao State is willing to give the Song State another Gaoliang River.

At that time, the whole Liao Kingdom was full of contempt for the Song Dynasty.

After all, in the eyes of the Liao people, a court that even the Dangxiang could not do anything to could be manipulated at will.

However, what the Liao people did not expect was that with the implementation of the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade agreement.

A large amount of high-quality and low-cost Song Dynasty goods flooded into the Liao market.

Especially after the war between Liao and Goryeo began, a large amount of cheap commercial goods became the lubricant and power source for the Liao war machine.

The Liao ruler relied entirely on cheap and readily available Song Dynasty goods to reward the three armies, appease the various tribes, and win over the nobles/leaders of the Jurchens, Bohai, Zubo, Goryeo and other places.

Especially cotton cloth and sugar, two unprecedented commodities.

Not only the Khitans liked it very much, but the Bohai, Zhubu, Jurchen and other tribes also liked it very much.

Thus, it became the trump card in the hands of the Liao ruler.

Almost all the minority leaders within and outside the Liao Kingdom vied to come to the court, and their purpose was surprisingly the same - to ask the Liao ruler to open the market so that they could buy cotton cloth and sugar from the Liao Kingdom.

It is no exaggeration to say that the massive amount of cheap goods brought by the Song-Liao Jiaozi Trade Agreement has now become the support for the "prosperity" that the Liao Dynasty has longed for.

Whether it is external military operations or internal appeasement and rule.

The Liao people have become dependent on the Jiaozi trade agreement between Song and Liao.

At this time, the Liao people were shocked to find that if they did not fulfill the agreement, the Song Dynasty would sever the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade agreement.

Lost cheap goods and ample supply of commodities.

Don't talk about the 'Great An Prosperous Era'.

The Zhubu, Bohai, Jurchen and other tribes who cannot buy cotton cloth and sugar may directly turn against the enemy.

At the same time, there is no massive supply of other cheap commercial goods.

The prices in Liao Kingdom may skyrocket.

At this time, starting from the next year, the Jiaozi that would mature every year and need to be repaid with gold and silver became a tight curse hanging over the head of the Liao Kingdom.

The whole Liao Kingdom suddenly realized that now it was their turn to worry about the annual maturity of Jiaozi.

Without Jiaozi, you cannot buy sufficient cheap commercial goods.

Without sufficient commercial goods, the prosperous era of Da'an would be difficult to maintain.

Therefore, what Zhao Xu said is exactly what is causing headaches for the entire Liao Kingdom right now.

The Liao Kingdom, located in the north, had several gold and silver producing areas.

But the annual output is only two or three hundred thousand taels.

Even this is including the output of the newly acquired four Han counties and the newly acquired Da'an Island.

The Black Khan in the Western Regions agreed to use gold and silver to pay the rewards from the Liao Dynasty to the various Zubu tribes.

But how much can the Eastern and Western Black Khanates give to the Liao Dynasty every year? And for how many years?

Don't know yet.

That's why Yelu Gongchen was so hesitant.

Seeing Yelu Gongchen hesitating, Zhao Xu secretly winked at Yelu Yongchang.

The latter immediately reacted and bowed, saying: "I am stupid, please Your Majesty, please show me your kindness and enlighten me!"

Yelu Gongchen immediately reacted and bowed, saying, "What the Ningyuan Army Jiedushi said is what I also think... I beg Your Majesty to teach me!"

It is said that when Yelu Ju first came to the court, it was this Majesty who personally proposed the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade agreement to Yelu Ju in the palace.

The annual tribute agreed upon in the past Chanyuan Alliance and Chongxi increased the currency, and exchanged it for the reserve of Jiaozi, and magnified it through Jiaozi, turning the annual tribute worth only 1.5 million strings of coins into 3 million strings of Jiaozi per year. Then, the Liao Dynasty could use these Jiaozi to buy from the Song market!

Because the Emperor of Song Dynasty allowed this, all commodities of Song Dynasty were opened to the Liao Dynasty.

You can purchase whatever you want, no taboos!
Even the State of Song began to actively promote some high-quality and low-priced commercial goods.

For example, a cake of stale, inferior, or low-quality tea may cost only a dozen or twenty coins.

As long as it is transported to Liao, the profit can be more than doubled by reselling it.

If it were transported to Liaoyang Prefecture or the Zubu people's tribe, there would be at least several times the profit immediately.

There were also old and inferior cloth that cost more than 500 yuan a piece, and silk cloth that was only worth a little more than one tael...

These are all commercial goods that are now popular in the Liao Kingdom and the areas controlled by the Liao Kingdom.

As a result, even the originally poor Khitan and Xi herdsmen could now drink tea and wear thin silk and thick linen.

Thinking of this, Yelu Gongchen became excited, and his eyes were full of anticipation as he looked at the little emperor in the hall.

Facing Yelu Gongchen's expectant gaze, Zhao Xu smiled and said, "I do have some ideas!"

"Please tell my uncle the Liao emperor after you return home..."

"I said, I knew that my uncle was short of gold and silver, so I paid special attention to this matter. One time, I accidentally heard the abbot of Kaibao Temple, Master Jin Zongchi, talking about the story of Chengxun, a Japanese monk who came to Song Dynasty to seek Dharma during the Xining period..."

Zhao Xu spoke slowly, and Yelu Gongchen listened attentively.

Although he didn't know why Zhao Xu mentioned a Japanese monk from more than ten years ago?

But I think this monk should be related to the whereabouts of the gold and silver needed by the Liao Dynasty.

"According to Jin Zongchi, the Japanese monk Chengxun once boasted to him: Although Japan is small and narrow, it is rich in natural resources and has mountains of gold and silver given by God!"

Yelu Gongchen's breathing became rapid. He ignored etiquette and stood up and asked, "Your Majesty, is this true?"

Japan is now under the attack of the Liao army.

The army led by Xiao Budayo was stationed in Kyushu, and was planning to cross the sea from Kyushu next year when the sea in Japan was calm, and directly attack its capital Kyoto.

Then he restored order, killed the traitor Fujiwara clan who had committed treason, and helped Japan restore its moral principles and order.

In this way, the Liao Dynasty can declare to all quarters that it is the true successor of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, this matter is indeed profitable for the Liao Dynasty.

It not only satisfies the desires of many middle and lower-level generals to be rewarded for their meritorious service and to have their wives and children honored.

It can also become a powerful tool to win over and appease the various Jurchen tribes, especially those in Haidong.

Japan, where everyone can live happily, builds (burns), achieves (kills), establishes (robs), and plunders.

There is no other way - it is too difficult to find a weak opponent like Japan, whose armaments and military combat effectiveness are even inferior to those of Goryeo's local soldiers.

A standard fish pond game!

Even the so-called number one general in the world, the guy named Hachiman Taro, had been defeated three times in a row by Xiao Budaya, suffered heavy casualties, and no longer dared to confront the Liao army.

Zhao Xu looked at Yelu Gongchen and chuckled, "To be honest, I'm not sure whether this is true or not..."

"However, after I learned about this, I sent people to search for old documents in Chongwenyuan. I found the records of the conversations between the Japanese monk Chengxun and the officials and monks of the Ministry of Rites of the Song Dynasty when he came to the Song Dynasty during the Xining period..."

Zhao Xu clapped his hands as he spoke.

Tong Guan immediately understood what Zhao Xu meant and ordered his men to use the old paper from Chongwenyuan and invite experts in bronze and stone inscriptions such as Taixue Doctor Lu Dalin to imitate the format of Chongwenyuan documents and add some aging techniques to create the "Chongwenyuan Old Files", which were then sent to Yelu Gongchen and Yelu Yongchang.

"My dear ministers, please take a look. This is what the officials of the Ministry of Rites reported to the court after they had a conversation with the monk Chengxun..."

"At that time, everyone thought that this was just the Japanese monk Chengxun's boasting, and no one took it seriously, so these documents were left in Chongwenyuan and no one paid attention to them!"

"But I think that this Japanese monk Chengxun might not just be boasting..."

"The silver and gold mines in Japan mentioned here all have exact locations and directions!"

"I heard that the Liao emperor's uncle now has good generals and wise ministers, and he is leading his troops in Japan to fight against the treacherous minister Fujiwara who usurped the country..."

"So I thought, maybe the Imperial Uncle could send someone to the location that Monk Chengxun mentioned that day to investigate!"

"If we can find a mountain of silver or gold, then we will be happy. If not, then that's not a big deal!"

"It's just a waste of manpower and resources, it won't hurt the overall situation!"

Yes!

Zhao Xu decisively sold the locations of several silver mines and gold mines that were well-known in modern history and where he was living a good life.

Especially mines like Iwami Ginzan and Sado Gold Mine, which were specifically applied for World Heritage status by ordinary people.

Yelu Gongchen looked at the documents that Tong Guan brought to him.

He picked up the papers in the wooden box and could tell by the touch that they were definitely more than ten or even twenty years old.

Looking at the content and ink on it, he knew that it had to be true - it couldn't be fake!
There is no need for the little emperor in front of him to lie about such things.

It is true as he said - even if the so-called mountains of gold and silver were not found, it was just the boasting of the monk Chengxun that day.

For the Liao Dynasty, all it cost was manpower and material resources.

But if you find it...

that...that...

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yelu Gongchen put down the paper in his hand, stood up and bowed, "If your Majesty wishes, I can find the gold and silver mountains of Japan!"

"The Liao Dynasty will definitely reward you handsomely!"

(End of this chapter)