Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 104: You kid, don’t you really understand?

Su Wu looked at Li Liangsi with a smile on his face, but in the end he did not jump up and draw his sword.

The Liao people understood that the Liao people with such an accent were not Khitans, but Han people from the Liao Kingdom in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

The Khitans originated from the northeast. They were originally the servants of the once powerful Tang Dynasty. They risked their lives for the Tang Dynasty, made contributions to the Tang Dynasty, and received rewards from the Tang Dynasty. As a result, their power gradually grew.

Later, the Tang Dynasty was gone, warlords fought each other, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period began. The Khitans lived outside the Great Wall, and they became better and better. A strong man emerged, Yelu Abaoji, who founded the Liao Dynasty.

There was a chaos in the Central Plains. Shi Jingtang, a general of the Later Tang Dynasty, rebelled against the Later Tang Dynasty, established his own army and founded the Later Jin Dynasty. In order to resist the Later Tang army, he wanted to attract the Liao people from the north for help.

Shi Jingtang submitted a memorial to the Liao people, calling himself their son and ceding the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to them in exchange for their help. He was the famous child emperor in history.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are roughly the narrow strip of land extending eastward from Datong, Shanxi, through northern Hebei, and even including later Beijing, all the way to Tianjin.

From then on, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun always belonged to the Liao Kingdom. Even after Zhao Kuangyin usurped the throne and established the Song Dynasty and unified the four directions, he never took this land back. The Song people did try hard later and fought fiercely with the Liao people for decades.

In the end, no one could do anything to anyone, and finally an alliance was signed at the city of Chanyuan, and there would be no war for a hundred years. That was it.

Historically, it took four hundred years for the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to return to the Central Plains dynasty, until Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty.

Today, there are probably seven to nine million Han people living in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and they are the Han people of the Liao Kingdom.

The Li Liangsi in front of him was obviously a Han Chinese from the Liao Kingdom.

Su Wu looked at him, thinking about the Song-Jin alliance on the sea, and said, "Brother Li, I am the commander of the army of a small prefecture, how can I have any great opportunity?"

Li Liangsi smiled and said, "You are now a guerrilla general. How can you be just a small steward?"

Su Wu narrowed his eyes slightly and guessed, "Could it be that Brother Li wants me to go on board with you?"

Li Liangsi was stunned when he heard this, and then he said: "General Manager Su is really not an ordinary person. I am Li Liangsi. This name was given by Tong Shumi. My real name is Ma Zhi. In order to act secretly, I don’t use the name Ma Zhi anymore. I am a Han Chinese. I followed Tong Shumi to surrender to the Song Dynasty with great righteousness. I am going north by boat to seek the Jurchens for an alliance. I have brewed a great plan in the capital, which is a great achievement!"

"Join hands with the Jurchens to attack from both the north and the south and take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties?" Su Wu said directly.

"Good, it's really good! Manager Su is very wise. Just think about it, if this thing succeeds and you are involved in it, what a great achievement it would be?" Li Liangsi asked.

Su Wu knew that this matter would eventually succeed, even though there were many unspeakable aspects involved, but it would still succeed.

Li Liangsi's journey across the sea to form an alliance was also safe and sound.

Moreover, Li Liangsi later won great merits, was highly rewarded, and was given an official position. However, he died in a ridiculous way, the cause of his death being "destroying the century-long friendship between Song and Liao, and causing the Jin army to invade the Central Plains."

Su Wu only asked: "Brother Li, do you really want me to get on board with you?"

Li Liangsi finally nodded: "For such a confidential matter, there are not many people who can be trusted, especially in Tokyo. When Tong Shumi saw the victory report, he pointed you out, and you are on the way. Going to the land of white mountains and black waters, crossing the sea, and climbing over mountains and ridges, and finding the place of the Jurchens among the mountains and forests, how difficult it is, I am afraid it is also full of dangers, you should have a brave person to follow you to ensure a smooth journey..."

Li Liangsi said seriously...

Su Wu only looked at the flickering bonfire in front of him and asked, "How long will it take?"

"Only one or two months. If it goes fast, maybe it won't take that long..." Li Liangsi only looked at Su Wu.

The time is not long, and the distance is actually not far. To be honest, it is only more than 2,000 miles from Laizhou to Huanglongfu. If you cross the sea directly from Shandong Peninsula without going around Bohai Bay, it will be less than 2,000 miles, and Bohai Bay is not very wide.

However, at this time, the Liao Kingdom and the Jurchens were at war, and there was no clear and stable border between the two sides. If they encountered the Jurchens, it would be fine, but if they encountered the Liao people, it would be a big trouble.

Even though I knew this would happen, I couldn't explain it clearly along the way.

The time is not too long and it won’t affect Su Wu’s important plans.

While Su Wu was thinking about it, Li Liangsi immediately said, "We don't need so many people. It will be enough for the general manager to bring a hundred riders with me on board. Too many people will only be a burden. Let's go quickly and come back quickly."

What is Su Wu still thinking about?
What benefit could he get from this trip?
Of course, making meritorious contributions is one of the benefits, but this is just what Su Wu needs at this moment, it is not the main thing, there must be some other benefits...

What did Su Wu think of?
horse!
The Liao people actually strictly controlled the smuggling between Song and Liao. But if they really went through the sea route this time, they would have gone through it once...

Now that Nuzhen is rising, and they are originally allies of Song and Jin, wouldn’t it be much easier for them to buy horses from the Jin people?
So as long as we negotiate the price and can afford the money, it doesn't matter how much we buy as long as the Jurchens have it?
The life of the Jurchens was actually very hard and miserable. The Jurchens were originally a mountain fishing and hunting people within the sphere of influence of the Liao Kingdom, a mountain tribe ruled by the Liao regime.

In the past, the Liao people oppressed the Jurchens, which was no different from treating them as animals. The Khitans even had a special name for it, called "beating the Jurchens."

The Jurchens were divided into the Raw Jurchens and the Cooked Jurchens. The Cooked Jurchens were similar to a docile tribe, and even helped the Khitans oppress other Jurchens.

The Shengnuzhen were a tribe that actually made their living in the mountains and forests. They had all kinds of furs, ginseng, and mountain products, and even some pearls and the like.

The Khitans' fight against the Jurchens was probably like using a broken iron pot to exchange for a cart of sable, tiger and bear skins, which was no different from robbery, or even direct robbery.

Many Jurchens were also captured and sold.

Many Jurchen tribes could no longer survive. More than a dozen tribes united together, with only about 3,000 able-bodied men, and they started fighting the Liao people with wooden sticks.

Little did they know that the Liao people were not very good at fighting. They were defeated step by step. Two years ago, the Liao emperor led a large army in person and achieved some counterattack effects.

However, some people in the Liao Kingdom took the opportunity to rebel. The Liao emperor had no choice but to lead the army back to quell the rebellion. After the Jurchens took a breath, they slowly gained a foothold. The two sides attacked each other in the north, and the situation of the Jurchens gradually improved.

It actually took a long time for these news to reach the Song Dynasty, but by now, the people of Song Dynasty gradually realized that the Liao Kingdom really had a powerful enemy in the north.

In fact, Su Wu was analyzing the current situation. At this moment, the Jurchens had never been the enemy of the Song people. In fact, the Jurchens never regarded the Song people as their enemies. They had never even seen the Song people.

At this time, they were still on the road of resisting the brutal rulers and struggling for their own survival and freedom.

Therefore, if the trip goes smoothly, buying horses will certainly not be difficult, and we can even use the ship to smuggle many items, such as the precious furs, ginseng and the like of the Jurchens, which are all worth sky-high prices in the Song Dynasty.

A piece of cloth, a bushel of rice, or a pound of iron from the Song Dynasty would also be valuable to the Jurchens.

This trip is really worth taking, and the adventure is worth a try. The Jurchens are not short of horses at this time...

If this path were feasible, there would be many things that Su Wu could not imagine.

A month or two...

Su Wu was thinking a lot, and Li Liangsi, who was standing beside him, asked, "Is Chief Steward Su afraid?"

This was not a formal military order, but an arrangement by Tong Guan. There was no formal military order, and Li Liangsi seemed to be really afraid that Su Wu would not want to go.

In fact, Li Liangsi had no confidence in this sea voyage, and he just risked his life.

Su Wu suddenly nodded: "I'll go aboard with you!"

"Okay, Manager Su is indeed a brave man. It's a deal!" Li Liangsi suddenly became excited. Even with Su Wu by his side, he felt more confident and had a greater sense of security.

"It is a matter of family and country, and it is of great importance to Mr. Tong, so how dare I cherish my life?" Su Wu said this. These were polite words, which Su Wu always said.

"Well, Tong Shumi was right, and neither was I!" Li Liangsi was really excited, and added, "It's a pity that there is no wine, otherwise I would have had a few drinks with Su Zongguan tonight."

You can imagine how it feels to work so hard and have someone really willing to go with him.

"But I have to go back to Dongping City to select elite soldiers and arrange my funeral affairs. Then I will follow Brother Li to die!" Su Wu had to make some preparations and bring people and money.

There are many things to arrange. Since we are going on the business route, we need to make arrangements.

This matter was so huge that Su Wu even felt that the people under his command were not enough. He also thought of Lu Junyi. He had thought about bringing Lu Junyi to make some profits in the past.

This time, he also wanted to take Lu Junyi with him. If this road was really successful, he could entrust this matter to Lu Junyi in the future. It would be best if he was in charge of this matter.

He also had to send a letter to ask Lu Junyi to rush to Laizhou to meet up. It just so happened that Zhao Mingcheng was the prefect of Laizhou, so it would be convenient for him to get to know him.

"Go by yourself, I won't wait for you, just come and chase me. I only need a hundred cavalrymen, but if there are more people, I'm afraid there won't be enough boats." Li Liangsi said.

Su Wu asked with a smile: "Brother Li, aren't you afraid that I won't come back?"

"Then it was my fault, and it was also Tong Shumi who was wrong." Li Liangsi replied.

"Okay, I'll definitely meet you!" Su Wu nodded.

Go back and transport the money. The money of the Song Dynasty can be used everywhere, not only in the Liao Kingdom, but also in Southeast Asia. Even in Arabia, the copper coins of the Song Dynasty can still be used as money.

It was because the maritime trade of the Song Dynasty was well developed that there were a lot of Indians, Arabs, Persians, and even Europeans in Quanzhou and Guangzhou.

They also brought some cloth and food. I think at this moment, the Jurchens were most in need of food and clothing. After they started the rebellion, they had to rely on robbing to get these things. It was easy if they could rob, but it would be difficult if they couldn't.

"There is no time to lose, I'm leaving now!" Su Wu did not wait long and headed south back to Dongping Prefecture. Fortunately, he had only set out from Yanggu County two days ago and was not far from Dongping Prefecture.

He entered the city as soon as it was daybreak and wanted to see Cheng Wanli. He told him that he would be gone for a month or two and he didn't know what mission he was going to perform, so he would tell him when he came back.

Then he went to the camp to select people. The guards of Yidu would naturally take them away. Even Wu Song, Lu Da, and even Yang Zhi would send someone to inform him to ride his horse and come quickly. Lin Chong, Zhu Long and others would be left to guard the city...

Luan Tingyu was also taken away. Luan Tingyu is also very useful. He has acquaintances in Dengzhou. When you have time, you can contact him on the way.

He then sent a fast horse to Daming Prefecture, asking Lu Junyi to catch up quickly and meet him in Laizhou.

This time, everyone is determined to find a way out.

Once this road was opened, Su Wu's situation improved greatly.

Su Wu went everywhere to get carriage frames. He borrowed all the empty ones from Yu Baosi and took away all the ones from the government offices in the army. He also bought seven or eight grain and rice stores in the city, leaving them empty. He did not buy good cloth or silk, but only the inferior ones, and went from store to store to get them, without even paying for them. Iron was too heavy, so he took less and only took some to make samples.

After a busy day, he said goodbye to Meng Yulou and set off quickly.

In this way, after three or four days, they met Li Liangsi halfway.

Li Liangsi was also shocked when he saw Su Wu had so many carriages, and asked Su Wu: "Why is Su Dujian so..."

"Since we have met like this, there will definitely be a war tomorrow. Our dynasty is in need of good horses, so I have been thinking about this. If everything goes well this time, it shouldn't be difficult to exchange some horses for them." Su Wu said.

"If...how much is it worth to you?" Li Liangsi didn't expect Su Wu to be so generous.

"Sixty or seventy thousand strings of cash." Su Wu was also straightforward. If time was not tight, Su Wu could have brought more.

"Are you going to gamble all this at once?" Li Liangsi asked, even if it was a matter of life and death...

Su Wu said with determination: "I'm risking my life, why do I care about these things? If it works, I'll have more combat power in the future. If it doesn't work, my life will be gone. What's the point of these things?"

"Manager Su...you are truly a man." Li Liangsi wanted to say something and discuss with Su Wu about not bringing so many things, fearing that there might not be enough boats by then.

But at this moment, I couldn't say it.

It was a life-threatening undertaking, and Su Wu was willing to risk his life for it. What else could he say?

"Let's go!" Li Liangsi nodded, and looked at Su Wu again. He inexplicably trusted him more. It turned out that this was the way he risked his life and property.

As they were leaving, Su Wu asked, "Are the boats ready in Laizhou and Dengzhou?"

Li Liangsi shook his head. "It's too late to prepare, but I have inquired before. Laizhou and Dengzhou are ports. There must be many ships traveling north and south. Some are smuggling ships with the Liao Kingdom, and some are merchant ships from the south. I heard there are also ships going to Goryeo and Japan..."

Su Wu understood and said bluntly: "That means we should go to those large and small docks and requisition the ships directly. Just occupy the ships for a month or two, pay them, and use their sailors... Even the people and goods on the ships should be unloaded and guarded together to prevent the news from leaking out."

Li Liangsi nodded repeatedly: "General Manager Su is very meticulous in his planning. I have been thinking about this for a long time, but General Manager Su was able to make a decision quickly after hearing it. General Manager Su is so talented. Once he comes back successfully, I will definitely speak well of him in front of Secretary Tong."

Su Wu just kept talking: "I also know the prefect of Laizhou. Ye County is also close to the sea. I also know the magistrate of Ye County. I will arrange all these matters properly when the time comes!"

"Very good, it couldn't be better." Su Wu said these few words, as if everything was going very well. Li Liangsi just nodded and said, "Tong Shumi really picked you for this matter, and it was a good choice. I am lucky to meet you."

Originally, all of this should have been planned and arranged slowly by Li Liangsi after he arrived at the place. It would have taken a lot of effort, but with Su Wu, everything seemed simple and smooth.

How could this not be Li Liangsi's luck?

If we go fast, we will reach Laizhou in another five or six days.

He just went to see Zhao Mingcheng, the governor of Laizhou. Zhao Mingcheng had obviously received the cooperation document from the Privy Council, so he didn't ask too many questions. He just made things convenient for him, entertained him, and prepared some food and fodder.

Zhao Mingcheng was very surprised to see Su Wu, and asked him, "How come you forgot what we agreed on earlier, Su?"

Su Wu was also embarrassed, so he said, "The court mission is very urgent, and I really don't have time to think too much."

Zhao Mingcheng smiled and nodded: "No hurry, no hurry, just wait for you to go back and send all your previous poems to me. The collection is almost done, and we can't delay it any longer."

Alas... this is really troublesome. Zhao Mingcheng insisted that Su Wu submit a batch of poems to compile a collection. How could Su Wu do that?
I can carry quite a lot, can you please select some and send them to me?

We'll talk about it later...

Su Wu just nodded.

It would take another day just to go from Laizhou to Ye County.

Old Zong Ze from Ye County was a hardworking and diligent worker. He also knew that he had an errand from the imperial court to coordinate with, so he went to the intersection outside the city to meet him, which was very responsible.

He just watched the horse caravan coming in the distance, and knew that he had to just follow orders, so he just waited by the roadside.

"Old magistrate!" Su Wu shouted from afar.

Zong Ze looked up, but couldn't see clearly. He just kept on shouting. As Su Wu got closer, Zong Ze laughed heartily, "Supervisor Su... No, Chief Steward Su, is that you? Chief Steward Su?"

"It's me..." Su Wu also laughed and got off the horse.

Su Wu walked forward and subconsciously opened his arms, as if he wanted to hug someone.

But when he got closer, Su Wu withdrew his arm again, feeling that this was inappropriate and somewhat disrespectful.

But old Zongze saw Su Wu's movements, so he stretched out his arms and took a step forward...

Seeing Zong Ze like this, Su Wu opened his arms again.

One is old and the other is young, one is an old Confucian scholar of the lowest rank who was granted the title of Jinshi, and the other is a common man who came from humble beginnings.

The two of them hugged each other sincerely.

"Ha ha……"

Hug each other and laugh.

Zong Ze asked, "How come this job fell on you?"

Zong Ze was also joking.

"Ah... Well, I just have to obey the orders of the Privy Council." Su Wu replied with a smile.

"What's the job?" Zong Ze asked casually.

Su Wu turned around to look at Li Liangsi who was getting off the car, and then looked around to see that there was no one approaching, so he did not hide it: "Go to the sea to seek the alliance with the Jurchens."

At this point, there is no need to hide anything. We have to board the ship in Zong Ze's territory and ask Zong Ze to cooperate with many things.

"Alliance?" Zong Ze was shocked. This word must have been used hundreds of years ago. Alliance?

Su Wu nodded.

"really?"

"Really!" Su Wu said seriously.

Zong Ze immediately asked: "But are we going to go to war with the Liao people?"

Su Wu nodded.

Zong Ze also looked at Li Liangsi who was stretching his arms and legs after getting off the carriage and asked, "Is he the envoy from Song?"

Su Wu nodded again.

"Are you going too?"

Su Wu nodded again.

Zong Ze suddenly paused, frowning, "Recently, I heard that the Liao people have a great enemy in the north, the Jurchens. The Liao emperor personally led hundreds of thousands of troops to fight, but was unable to put them out."

"That's what happened."

Zong Ze's eyes narrowed, and he sighed, "Attacking from both the north and the south is a good strategy. Maybe we can really take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun while the enemy is in danger. I'm just afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?" Su Wu asked.

"The fear is that the tiger will be driven to devour the wolf. When the wolf is gone, another tiger will come..." Zong Ze said.

Su Wu was shocked, hey, this old man!

Is this old man so wise?
Then the old man said, "If you think about this, if the Liao people can defeat the Jurchens, and they are ready to deal with it in the future, it will inevitably be another war between the Song and Liao, and it will last for years. If the Liao people cannot defeat the Jurchens, the Jurchens will have the power to destroy the country, and they will only see the wealth of the Song Dynasty, and their wolfish ambitions will be aroused, and it is inevitable that... This move needs to be discussed carefully, and the pros and cons should be carefully sorted out. Even if there is an alliance, it should be mainly to support the Jurchens. As for the war, we should wait until the situation is right before taking action, and try not to do it."

Zong Ze thought about it twice, but he never imagined that the Song Dynasty would have the power to destroy a country, and then conquer the world and make the Jurchens bow down to it.

Su Wu's mind was as clear as a mirror, but he only said: "Why does the old magistrate think so?"

Zong Ze sighed: "Since ancient times, whether it is the Xiongnu, the Turks, the Rouran, the Xianbei, or even the Khitan... who is easy to deal with when they come from the north?"

Scholars are not completely useless. If they read well, they can really gain great wisdom.

Su Wu just waved his hand: "Old Magistrate, this is not what we want to do, just help me get on the boat..."

"Alas... kid, you really don't understand?" Zong Ze looked at Su Wu.

Su Wu just smiled and shook his head: "How can I understand these?"

"You bastard..." Zong Ze was angry.

Su Wu stopped laughing and said, "You and I are just an old scholar and a humble man, 108,000 miles away from Tokyo. What's the point of understanding or not understanding?"

"Sigh..." Zong Ze shook his head worriedly.

(Brothers, it’s the last day of this month, check your monthly tickets and don’t waste them.)
(End of this chapter)