No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 71 Liao Envoy (Please Read)

Outside the city of Bianjing, at the post station.

The escort Fu Bi looked towards Bian Jing with concern.

This post station was only a few hours away from Bianjing City, but for safety reasons, Fu Bi did not travel at night. Instead, he rested here for a day and would enter Bianjing tomorrow.

This welcoming of the Liao envoys was full of twists and turns.

Since the Treaty of Chanyuan, relations between Song and Liao have been stable for decades.

But ten years ago, after the new Liao ruler Yelu Zongzhen ascended the throne, changes took place within the Liao Kingdom.

Yelü Zongzhen was the son of Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelü Longxu. Yelü Longxu doted on Empress Xiao Pusa Ge very much. For the safety of Empress Xiao Pusa Ge after his death, Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelü Longxu, did the same thing as Emperor Zhenzong of Song, that is, he adopted his son Yelü Zongzhen, born to his concubine Xiao Noujin, to Empress Xiao Pusa Ge for adoption.

But the situation in Liao was different.

Song Renzong's biological mother, Li Chenfei, had no family power, and Song Renzong never knew his biological mother. Empress Dowager Liu was the empress dowager who ruled the country from behind the curtain, and she was finally able to enjoy her old age.

However, the family of Yelü Zongzhen's biological mother, Xiao Noujin, was very powerful, so after the death of Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelü Longxu, Xiao Noujin was honored as the empress dowager.

Then Xiao Noujin forced his love rival Xiao Pusa Ge to death through a series of struggles.

After several rounds of power struggles, Xiao Noujin became arrogant again. She even wanted to follow the example of Empress Dowager Hu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and depose her own son.

She never thought that the source of her power was her son.

In the third year of Chongxi reign of the Liao Dynasty (1034), Yelu Zongzhen launched an uprising on the spot and destroyed his mother's rebellion group in one fell swoop. He took her to Qingzhou in a prison car and placed her under house arrest. The next day, he issued an edict to demote Xiao Noujin to a commoner, and followed the example of Duke Zheng, swearing that mother and son would never see each other again.

From this time on, the Liao ruler Yelu Zongzhen truly gained power.

However, Yelu Zongzhen, who had just gained power, was relatively restrained and did not cause too much trouble, thus maintaining stability between Song and Liao.

However, after the rise of Western Xia, the Song army was defeated at Sanchuankou, and Yelu Zongzhen began to get restless again. He repeatedly asked the generals around him whether he could send troops to the Song Dynasty, but his important minister Xiao Xiaomu, who led the troops, firmly opposed it.

Soon after, the Song army in Haoshuichuan was defeated again. This time, Yelu Zongzhen could no longer bear it and sent Xiao Ying, the Southern Court Envoy of the Xuanhui Palace, and Liu Liufu, a Hanlin scholar, to the Song Dynasty to ask for the land south of the Guan Pass.

It was under such circumstances that Fu Bi volunteered to go to Bianliang, the capital of Song and Liao, to welcome the Liao envoy Xiao Ying and the deputy envoy Liu Liufu.

Song and Liao had been at peace for many years and understood each other.

Fu Bi knew that the Liao envoy Xiao Ying who was on this trip was an old minister of the previous dynasty, and the Hanlin scholar Liu Liufu was a close minister to the Liao ruler Yelu Zongzhen.

This kind of combination means one plays the good cop and the other plays the bad cop in diplomacy.

The Liao envoys would offer corresponding bargaining chips based on the situation in the Song Dynasty, so receiving the envoys was not as simple as accompanying the Liao envoys into Bianliang. They had to withstand the political blackmail of the Liao Kingdom and show a tough side, but they could not find an excuse for war for the Liao envoys.

As expected, after receiving the Liao delegation in Chanzhou, Deputy Envoy Liu Liufu was always arrogant and often made provocative remarks.

After receiving the letter from Liao, Fu Bi had an even greater headache.

The Liao side wrote in the letter that the ten counties south of the Guan River were ceded to the Liao Kingdom by Shi Jingtang, and now they are demanding them back from the Song Dynasty.

This was the worst-case scenario discussed by the prime ministers before Fu Bi's mission: the Liao Kingdom demanded cession of land!
The ten counties south of the Guan River were not only rich and prosperous, but also the front line of the Song-Liao defense, and they could not be ceded. Fu Bi argued with reason, and the first negotiation between the two sides ended in a bad mood. But to Fu Bi's surprise, that night, the Liao envoy Xiao Ying met with Fu Bi privately and said to him secretly:
"If you can follow it, follow it. If you can't follow it, stop it with another thing."

Hearing Xiao Ying's words, Fu Bi immediately understood that the Liao envoy also did not agree with the war between Song and Liao.

Xiao Yinggui was the envoy of the Southern Court of Xuanhui of Liao Dynasty and one of the ruling officials of Liao Dynasty. His words showed that there were many people in Liao Dynasty who did not agree with going to war, and their status was not low.

Fu Bi immediately reported the situation to the emperor and the two governments, and then had a heated debate with the deputy envoy Liu Liufu along the way.

The envoy Xiao Ying was indeed secretly helping Fu Bi. Whenever the argument was heated, he would interrupt Liu Liufu. The negotiations had already achieved certain results. Fu Bi insisted on not ceding the ten counties south of the Guan River, nor did he agree to send a princess to marry. He only agreed to increase the annual tribute.

But what caught Fu Bi off guard was that the situation changed again when they were not far from Bianjing City.

Liu Liufu, who was originally the deputy envoy, suddenly became powerful. The chief envoy Xiao Ying claimed that his foot disease had flared up and he even refused to see Fu Bi.

Liu Liufu also offered a minimum price, demanding that the Song Dynasty send a princess to marry and asking for a dowry of one million strings of cash.

What made Fu Bi alert was that the one million strings of cash was the bottom line given to him by the ministers of the two governments before he took on the role of escort envoy. It was the bottom line of the Song Dynasty's negotiations.

Naturally, Fu Bi believed that there was a traitor in the court who told the Liao envoys the bottom line of the Song Dynasty's peace talks, so Liu Liufu was so tough.

Fu Bi immediately submitted a secret letter to the emperor, informing the court of his suspicions. He then maintained a tough attitude along the way and slowed down the delegation's progress to give the court time to investigate the Privy Council leak case.

The next day, Su Ze, who had just gone out to the Nan Ya Street, heard the news that the Imperial Street was blocked and the Liao envoys entered the capital.

Su Ze and Feng Shiyuan had to take a detour and finally arrived at the store and house affairs office.

As an ally of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty's envoys were treated better than those of envoys from other countries.

When Feng Shiyuan was serving in Kaifeng Prefecture, he had witnessed the Liao envoys entering the capital. He said to Su Ze:
"Kaifeng Prefecture, the Honglu Temple, and the Taichang Liyuan will be busy."

Su Ze asked:

"The Honglu Temple is responsible for providing food and lodging for the Liao envoys, and the Taichang Liyuan is responsible for the ceremonial reception. What does the Kaifeng Prefecture have to do with it?"

Feng Shiyuan said:
"Taiju, you don't know that Kaifeng Prefecture is the most difficult position in the world. Although Song and Liao are brotherly states, the nobles of Hebei have national hatred and family vendettas against Liao. If a chivalrous man really assassinates the Liao envoy, Kaifeng Prefecture, which is responsible for the security of the capital, will bear the blame."

"So every time an envoy from a foreign vassal state came to the capital, Kaifeng Prefecture was at its most tense. Officials from top to bottom in Kaifeng Prefecture would be mobilized to protect the Liao Kingdom delegation's safety."

Well, let's observe a second of silence for Guo Zhen, the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture. Fortunately, the Liao envoy's visit to Beijing has nothing to do with him, a small shopkeeper.

When Su Ze stepped into the yamen, Zhang Shucheng, another accountant under his command in the market exchange office, walked up to him quickly.

"Tell me, the Shiyi Exchange is in trouble."

Su Ze thought that there would be resistance in the city's exchange work, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

Su Ze invited Zhang Shucheng into the Mingtang to explain in detail. He wanted to see who was the blind person who was trying to stop him from promoting the "Shop and House Market Exchange Law".

　I have to save up some manuscripts recently, and I will update them as soon as they are put on the shelves!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)