People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 456: Generals request to destroy Liao, the Youyan family returns

In the ninth year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, the whole country was full of vitality and everything was flourishing.

The Northwestern Song Army, led by Di Qing, captured Western Xia and was eyeing the Western Regions.

The developed maritime trade in the southeast has attracted a large number of Middle Eastern merchants to gather here.

The central government is highly centralized and carries out infrastructure construction work across the country.

Among the neighboring countries, the Song Dynasty exercised a high degree of control over Japan and Vietnam. Apart from Goryeo and Dali, only the Liao Dynasty was still lingering.

Moreover, the Liao Dynasty was basically on the verge of collapse because the Song Dynasty sold a lot of weapons to various tribes in the northeast of the Liao Dynasty.

These tribes were already dissatisfied with the rule of the Liao Dynasty. In addition, the Liao Dynasty was defeated many times by the Song Dynasty, which seriously damaged its vitality. This made them realize the serious decline of the Liao Dynasty and they rebelled one after another.

The result is that the Liao Kingdom is now in chaos. The Mongol tribe in the northwest needs to be suppressed, the Jurchen and Bohai tribes in the east need to be suppressed, and the Shiwei tribe in the north is also restless.

Under such circumstances, the Song Dynasty would become more powerful than ever before, and it would be very likely that it would send troops to sweep across the Liao Kingdom and take over the entire East Asian region.

However, just as the voices calling for the destruction of Liao were growing louder within the Song Dynasty court, with not only the young but also the older generation waving the flag and calling for it, the Constitutional Council poured cold water on the situation and ordered that the Song Dynasty should no longer continue its march north to destroy Liao.

This made people inside and outside the court very puzzled. The public outcry was loud and clear, but it was suppressed by the Constitutional Council, so that the people did not take to the streets to protest and demand that the court send troops to destroy Liao and dominate East Asia.

"The work of the Constitutional Council is not easy. You have to be the advocate of war when everyone in the government and the public is afraid, and you have to be the advocate of peace when everyone in the court wants to send troops."

On June 12, just after noon, Zhao Jun sat behind a desk in Yuanhe Hall, reviewing notes.

He had already traveled through most of the Youyan Road, and the next step was to go to Yunzhou, which is Datong, Shanxi.

Then he went south to Taiyuan, east to Hebei, and then inspected Henan, Shandong, Huainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Then we completed the inspection by circling the country along the same route we took the first time.

However, before leaving Youyan Road, all the work that Youyan Road should have reported to the Constitutional Council had to be sent to him, so there was still a lot of things to do.

He read the work report of Youyan Road and gave instructions. He threw the notes aside and said, "Look, I have only been in Youyan Road for a few days, and so many generals in Youyan Road have written to me, hoping that I would order the troops to go out."

"There are also many letters sent from the court. There are many voices from the people who want to continue the war."

Wang Anshi, who was sorting documents on the side, also said with a smile.

"If the enemy comes to our home, we must fight to the death, because we want to protect our home."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "But if we attack the enemy's home, there will be too many things to consider. How can we make a conclusion so easily?"

"Zhiyuan."

Yang Cha asked curiously, "Now that the Song Dynasty is strong, it is no less powerful than the Han and Tang dynasties. It will be easy to destroy the Liao Dynasty. Even if we consider logistics and supplies, it should be more than enough."

Zhao Jun laughed and said, "But you didn't take politics and economics into consideration."

Politics, economy?
Everyone looked at him curiously.

Is there some account to be settled?
"Politically, the Liao Kingdom is no longer a threat to our Song Dynasty like the Xiongnu of the Han Dynasty and the Turks of the Tang Dynasty. If we continue to attack from the north, it will only deplete our national strength, and the subsequent governance will also be a huge problem."

Zhao Jun said: "From an economic point of view, let's not talk about how much money and grain the war costs. The war will cause business decline. The trade between the two countries will drop sharply, which will inevitably have a great impact on Youyan Road. Especially now that the Song Dynasty needs to concentrate all its strength on development, once the war breaks out, the focus of industries including steel, textiles, and grain will definitely be on the war. We still lack long-distance transportation tools. Using horses and mules will always be inefficient and waste money and grain."

Li Xiaoji asked: "Doesn't that mean that the Liao Kingdom can still continue its reign?"

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "It won't last long. If we don't send troops to destroy Liao now, the benefits will not be proportional to the cost. Didn't I just say that? What we lack is long-distance transportation. When the railway is built to Youyan Road, the Liao Kingdom will be destroyed soon."

He then whispered, "When fighting a war, you can't just focus on whether you can win or not. You have to consider many other things. If you can't take a long-term view, then in the end you will only delay your own development."

The far-sighted prime ministers of the Constitutional Council were like this: the soldiers on the front line felt that their armaments were strong and they kept clamoring to go north to destroy the Liao Kingdom, but the prime ministers in the rear had a lot of things to consider.

Fighting a war requires money and food, but what about the losses along the way? Going deep into the northern grasslands and the northeastern jungles, logistics supplies, weapons and ammunition, which one does not require the court to raise supplies to supply the front line?
It was obvious that they could have built a railway to the Northeast ten years later and taken the train to go to the war, but they chose to go on horseback.

After conquering the country, they had to govern and rule, and were harassed by various local uprisings and rebellions, which they had to suppress with manpower and material resources.

Didn’t the imperial court know that it could destroy the Liao Dynasty, Japan, and Vietnam?
Of course they know.

But do these soldiers care about what will happen during the war?

In the end.

In essence, the current national strength of the Song Dynasty has only slightly surpassed the peak of the previous feudal dynasties, the Han and Tang dynasties.

The industry was not strong at that time and its development had just started, entering the early stages of the first industrial revolution.

Even if all the neighboring countries are conquered, the cost will certainly be very high due to factors such as the natural environment, geographical location, traffic conditions, means of transportation, etc.

So to put it simply, the Song Dynasty can now indeed destroy all the surrounding countries.

But it is not necessary.

As industry developed further, railways and steamships were built.

Even with the internal combustion engine, if we could let internal combustion engine trains and ships replace steam power, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to destroy neighboring countries?

We have to settle political and economic accounts. We cannot just act rashly based on the opinions of the military and the people.

Zhao Jun is very clear that sometimes one cannot just pay attention to public opinion, but must focus more on the future.

"By the way, didn't I give those noble families a deadline before? Is there any result?"

Zhao Jun thought of this matter after finishing his government affairs for the day.

He had already completed all the tasks he was supposed to do on June 8th. The reason he continued to stay here was to deal with the problem of the Youyan Road family.

In fact, he did not kill all these people. Those who were willing to migrate south were often given official positions and other rewards.

Just like the surrendered Xixia nobles and Qingtang high-level officials, even if they have no real power, they will be given money and honorary titles to support them, so that they will not be obsessed with killing if the other party does not cooperate. They will only raise their knives when the other party refuses to cooperate.

As for those who are unwilling to migrate south, it is not impossible to let them stay there. After all, it is difficult to leave their hometown, and it is indeed inhumane to force people to leave their homes, so some compromise solutions can be given.

For example, they had to hand over a large amount of land and tenants under their names, weakening their control and influence in the local area.

Moreover, those who were willing to go south were often compensated, such as real power quotas and favors. However, those who were unwilling to go south were only given empty positions and no favors. As a result, they were constantly suppressed and weakened, and after two or three generations, these Youyan families completely disappeared.

After this series of combined punches, even if the Youyan family was not completely wiped out, their vitality was severely damaged.

The final deadline is the 15th, which means the Youyan family is given seven days. Four days have passed now, and there are three days left. Even if some people have not responded, some people should have taken action.

Am I really that intimidating? Do I really think I can't lift a knife?

Zhao Jun thought to himself.

"I didn't see the letter sent by Envoy Yang today."

Wang Anshi and others flipped through the official documents.

"Could it be that Envoy Yang wants to kill someone with a borrowed knife and is suppressing it on purpose?"

Yang Gao said whimsically.

"Don't be so conspiratorial. Is he so brave? Is he not afraid of death?"

Yang Cha laughed.

"That's true."

Yang Gao also laughed and said, "Who dares to provoke the prestige of the dean?"

"Zhiyuan."

At this moment, it seemed that the devil appeared.

Yang Ting walked in and bowed, saying, "Just now, Liu Siduan from the Liu family, Ma Quan from the Ma family, Zhao Yuanlang from the Zhao family and more than ten others came to me, hoping to see the dean."

These Youyan aristocratic families were all high-ranking and powerful people in the Liao Dynasty, so it was not difficult for them to meet the Liao emperor.

But after returning to the Song Dynasty, their status plummeted. Even Liu Liufu, who had done the best, was only a fourth-rank pacification envoy. The rest of the people were basically between the seventh and ninth ranks. How could they be qualified to see him? So in a way, the reason why the Youyan family secretly opposed the court was also due to the psychological gap of their plummeting status.

It’s just that each emperor has his own ministers. In the past, the Liao people valued them, but that was the Liao Kingdom’s business.

Now that the king of the Song Dynasty has returned, he must abide by the rules of the Song Dynasty.

Hearing Yang Ting's words, Zhao Jun nodded slightly and said, "There are still some who are afraid of death, let them in."

"Yes."

Yang Ting agreed and went out immediately.

After a long while, Liu Siduan and others who were waiting outside the palace finally entered the palace.

These people finally chose to obey because of the Liu family's persuasion.

The major families of Yanyun not only intermarried with the Liao nobles, but also intermarried among themselves. For example, the Zhang family of Huailai intermarried with the Han family of Yutian, and a daughter of the Zhang family married Han Yu of the Han family.

The Liang family of Yanjing and the Meng family of Changping were married, the Ma family of Yilu married the daughter of the Wang family of Xingtang, the Zhao family of Lulong and the Feng family of Yuhe were in-laws, and so on.

Their Changping Liu family is even more interesting. They have in-laws with the Yelu royal family, the descendants of the Xiao family, the Anci Han family, the Huazhou Li family, the Lulong Zhao family, the Hejian Xing family, the Bohai Sun family, the Huailai Zhang family, etc.

Liu Liufu's three wives were all from the Anci Han clan. Some of the Liu brothers also married princesses of the Liao Kingdom. The Huazhou Li clan was the family of Li Chuwen.

Historical records show that "the great families in Yan were corrupt due to their family background, and their contemporaries were compared to Cui and Lu of the Tang Dynasty."

It can be seen that the Youyan family of the Liao Dynasty relied on the intricate political marriages to form a community of interests, comparable to the top aristocratic families of the Jin and Tang dynasties.

But unfortunately it is a new era.

The Liao Kingdom changed overnight, and those powerful and aristocratic families of the Liao Kingdom were no better than chickens after a phoenix had lost its feathers, and could only be lambs to be slaughtered.

These families are all close relatives of the Liu family. In addition to the three super-first-tier families of Changping Liu, Yilu Ma and Lulong Zhao, there are four or five first-tier families and more than ten second-tier families.

At this moment, as representatives of the family, the group, led by Yang Ting, stepped into the Yuanhe Hall and met the rumored dean.

They saw that he did not look ferocious, nor very old, probably in his thirties, with a gentle face. When he saw them come in, he smiled casually.

"Your humble servant pays respect to the Magistrate!"

Everyone was an official, and when they arrived at the hall, they immediately bowed and saluted Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun nodded and said, "No need to be polite."

"Thank you, Zhiyuan!"

Everyone straightened up and stood there.

There were many tables and desks around, and behind the tables were Wang Anshi and others, looking them up and down.

On the periphery were soldiers with muskets, standing upright.

Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "In the territory of the Song Dynasty, many people say that you have forgotten your ancestors and your Han identity, and that you are traitors and ungrateful people."

After these words were spoken, everyone's face changed slightly, but no one dared to speak.

Then Zhao Jun continued, "I don't think so. Sometimes people are forced to do things against their will. Some of your ancestors were Han people from Youyan, and some were Han people who migrated from other places. In essence, they were all forced. It was the general trend of the times, and no one is to blame. Therefore, there is no such thing as a traitor. It's just that each of you serves his own master. It's just that you happen to be in the Liao Kingdom."

"Thank you for your understanding, Dean!"

Liu Siduan quickly bowed and thanked him again.

The others followed suit and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Dean, for your understanding."

"All right."

Zhao Jun waved his hand.

He certainly doesn't think so at this point.

The main reason was that the Song Dynasty itself was forced to collapse.

Before the Treaty of Chanyuan, many Han people from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun went south to surrender to the Song Dynasty.

The policy adopted towards these people at that time was still very open and accepting, such as Yu Yanchao, the governor of the Khitan Tiande Army.

But after the Treaty of Chanyuan, the treaty stipulated that "from now on, no one will shelter any thieves or fugitives who cross the border."

For example, the Han people who fled south were defined as fugitives. The Song Dynasty did not dare to violate the alliance, fearing that the Liao Kingdom would find an excuse and stopped accepting them.

During the Tiansheng period, it was clearly stipulated that if Han people fled south, they could turn a blind eye, but if Liao officials fled south, they had to be sent back.

The most typical example is Liu Siduan’s third brother Liu Sangu, who was persecuted by his princess wife and was forced to flee south to the Song Dynasty.

That is to say, the Song Dynasty has defeated the Liao Dynasty.

Otherwise, his historical ending would have been to be deported and then killed as soon as he arrived in the Liao Kingdom.

So it’s not that many people don’t want to flee south, but if they flee south they will be sent back and die. Since then, the Han people in the Liao Dynasty have become less and less attached to the Song Dynasty.

However, not blaming them is one thing, and not allowing them to continue to stay in the area and become local overlords is another.

Zhao Jun continued, "However, the Yanyun family is deeply rooted, and you must understand why the court is worried. There are no aristocratic families in the Song Dynasty now. Lu Yijian's family has produced two generations of prime ministers. If the descendants of the future generations are not good, they will not be able to enter the official career in the end."

"I am not saying that I must force you to split up your clan, but I want to tell you that the whole world is Han territory. Since it is Han territory, there should not be two voices. The same is true for Yanyun. Only the voice of the court can be heard here!"

He looked around and said, "The court wants the word to be final, and wants orders from above to be followed immediately. It doesn't want to say one thing and do another. It also needs local aristocratic families like you to mobilize the local people. This is absolutely not allowed."

The faces of the people below changed again. This dean was really tough. He didn't seem to be tactful or polite in his words, which made everyone feel very uncomfortable.

But no matter how uncomfortable I felt, I didn't dare say anything.

"Of course, as I just said, the court will not be unreasonable. Unless you resist stubbornly and refuse to obey the court's order."

Seeing that everyone was standing quietly and no one dared to speak, Zhao Jun continued, "For families willing to accept the court's conditions, they will enjoy certain preferential treatment, rewards, and subsidies, and they will be able to serve as officials in the Song Dynasty."

"You will soon understand that the Liao Kingdom is nothing. The Song Dynasty is so powerful that it will be easy to destroy the Liao Kingdom. In the future, the Song Dynasty will be even more prosperous."

"As for your own future and the rise and fall of your family, they will naturally become more glorious than they are now as the dynasty becomes stronger."

"Because the Song Dynasty has always been a country that values ​​ability over background. As long as you have the ability, your family members can pass the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty and get into the top three. They can also make outstanding achievements and be promoted repeatedly. It is not impossible for them to enter the Political System Council and become prime minister."

"In the final analysis, the imperial court wants all the talents in the world to work together for the future of the Song Dynasty and the Han people, without any local constraints. The imperial court is full of children from aristocratic families. Do you understand?"

He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and stared at everyone with an oppressive look.

This passage contains threats, promises, and deep meanings, but more importantly, it directly tells these Yanyun families why the court has to do this and what the court needs them to do.

As for whether they agree or not.

It depends on their own choice.

"I am willing to obey all orders from the court!"

Liu Siduan was the first to speak: "I know that the court must have its own intentions for doing this. As a Han Chinese, I was unable to serve the Song Dynasty and contribute to it before. Now that I have returned to the Ming Dynasty, I will naturally obey the court's arrangements."

"I am willing to obey all orders from the court!"

The people from the major families who followed Liu Siduan were all persuaded by him, and they all bowed in response.

"very good!"

Zhao Jun nodded with satisfaction and said, "Many of you have migrated here from the Central Plains, so I will arrange for you to return to your hometowns. It can be regarded as a glorious return to your hometown, and as for the rest of the rewards, I will issue an imperial decree when the time comes."

"Thank you, Zhiyuan!"

Everyone agreed again, and the resettlement of some of the Youyan family was completed.

(End of this chapter)