I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 189 Last Night, Spring Waters Risen by the River

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Yelü Yanxi understood; Xiao Fengxian wanted him to give Xiao Puxian's daughter to Zhao Yu.

Clearly, this would prevent Yelü Chun from marrying Xiao Puxian, from forming a marriage alliance with her family, from having this courageous and resolute woman as his wife, and from further expanding his influence. Moreover, Yelü Yanxi could also befriend Zhao Yu, allowing Zhao Yu to show leniency in the subsequent peace negotiations and withdraw his troops as soon as possible, thus restoring freedom to him and the people of Yanjing.

Xiao Fengxian's move can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

However, recalling Xiao Puxian's unparalleled beauty and her aloof and disdainful demeanor, Yelü Yanxi was truly reluctant to give Xiao Puxian to Zhao Yu, even though Xiao Puxian was not his woman, but only to become his aunt's woman.

Moreover, sending women to the enemy for their pleasure, especially women from the royal family and clan, is something that sounds good but is not pleasant to talk about.

Have you not seen how the Song Dynasty would rather pay tribute to its enemies to buy peace than marry a princess to another for political reasons?
In fact, Yelü Yanxi regretted sending Xiao Sese to Zhao Yu to vent his anger.

After the initial panic subsided, Yelü Yanxi and his ministers realized that the Zhao Song Dynasty had no interest in abducting people.

Come to think of it, the Song Dynasty was unlike the Liao Dynasty, and especially unlike those tribes, which had a small population and had to rely on kidnapping people to grow stronger. The Song Dynasty was a large country with more than 100 million people, so there was really no need for them to kidnap people from the Liao Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty never asked the Liao Dynasty for beauties.

The same logic applies: with such a large population, how could the Song Dynasty lack beautiful women?
Thus, the high-ranking officials, gentry, wealthy families, merchants, and tribal chiefs in Yanjing, who had offered up those three hundred beautiful girls from various ethnic groups, couldn't help but complain, saying that even if they hadn't provided Zhao Yu with those three hundred virgin beauties, perhaps the Song army wouldn't have breached Yanjing.

They believed that the Song Dynasty was a large country with a high level of civilization, unlike their nomadic tribes. They thought that the first thing the Song Dynasty did after conquering a place was to abduct or extort women.

Based on this argument, Yelü Yanxi wondered if not sending Xiao Sese to Zhao Yu to vent his anger would have prevented any impact on the situation. If that were the case, wouldn't he have acted like a petty person in vain?
Fortunately, Xiao Fengxian and his group, who had initially advocated handing Xiao Sese over to Zhao Yu to resolve the feud and sending women to Zhao Yu to protect Yanjing, said that if they hadn't realized their mistake in time and handed over Xiao Sese, the culprit, to give Zhao Yu a way out, and hadn't proactively sent three hundred beautiful girls from various ethnic groups to Zhao Yu before he even asked for them back, would Zhao Yu have not sent Song troops to attack Yanjing?
This is an unprovable "chicken or the egg" question.

But one thing is certain: it has been proven that Zhao Yu was indeed very fond of women.

Xiao Sese went to Zhao Yu's place, and Zhao Yu not only didn't kill her, but also readily slept with her.

Moreover, Zhao Yu was exploiting those three hundred beautiful girls every night.

Such gossip always spreads the fastest, and by now it has become common knowledge among the people of both the Song and Liao dynasties.

This forced Yelü Yanxi to issue an imperial edict declaring that Xiao Sese had died of a cold, in an attempt to cover up the truth.

However, it was useless, because everyone knew where Xiao Sese had gone and what had happened to her.

far away.

Although Xiao Fengxian dared not mention Xiao Sese's matter, he always emphasized that Zhao Yu was fond of women, and said that only by catering to his desires could he keep Zhao Yu in check and make him let go of Yanjing City and them.

Including this time when he wanted to send Xiao Puxian to Zhao Yu, Xiao Fengxian actually wanted to confirm Zhao Yu's reputation for being a womanizer, and to endorse his proposal to send Xiao Sese and the three hundred beautiful girls from various ethnic groups to Zhao Yu, so as to avoid being purged later.

Seeing Yelü Yanxi hesitate, Xiao Fengxian said to him, "This defeat will have great consequences. If Your Majesty loses the throne, the blame will be placed on Your Majesty. No one will mention that it was the Imperial Uncle and the Prime Minister who forced Your Majesty to stay in Yanjing and brought you here. The best course of action now is for Your Majesty to secure the throne so that you will not have to bear the blame of others. For this reason, why not give up a woman from another man?"

When Xiao Fengxian said "others are betrothing wives", he emphasized his words, reminding Yelü Yanxi that Xiao Puxian would not belong to him no matter what. So what difference would it make to him whether he gave Xiao Puxian to Zhao Yu or let her marry Yelü Chun as a concubine?
Yelü Yanxi felt that Xiao Fengxian made sense. Xiao Puxian was not his, so why should he be reluctant to part with her?

The key point is that sending Xiao Puxian to Zhao Yu would not only weaken Yelü Chun's power, but if handled well, it could also offset the impact of sending Xiao Sese to Zhao Yu.

Imagine if Yelü Chun had also given away his daughter, wouldn't Yelü Yanxi seem less pathetic?

By the way, it's unclear who first said the phrase "I'd rather give it to a friendly nation than to my own slaves," which came from the Song Dynasty and deeply resonated with Yelü Yanxi.

However, Yelü Yanxi was, after all, the emperor, and he couldn't keep doing such shameful things. So he said to Xiao Fengxian, "This matter concerns the national dignity and my face. We must not act rashly and must be cautious."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Fengxian understood that Yelü Yanxi had agreed. However, there was a rather troublesome problem: he wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Fengxian sent his younger brother, Xiao Baoxian, to handle the matter.

Coincidentally, not long ago, the Song envoy asked the Liao Dynasty for Xiao Sese's items.

The Liao Dynasty took this matter very seriously. They not only packed up all of Xiao Sese's belongings, but also summoned back her former maids, intending to send them all to the Zhaigong Palace and hand them over to Xiao Sese.

This is a good opportunity.

To Xiao Baoxian's surprise, when he arrived at the Zhai Palace, he actually saw Xiao Sese, who had come to receive his belongings and maids, from afar.

Although he didn't have a chance to speak with Xiao Sese, Xiao Baoxian noticed that Xiao Sese looked very healthy, with delicate, rosy, and radiant skin.

Moreover, Xiao Baoxian also heard Zhang Chun, who was beside Xiao Sese, compose a poem: "Last night, spring waters rose by the riverbank, and the massive warship, Mengchong, felt as light as a feather. All the effort spent pushing and pulling before was in vain; today it sails freely in the middle of the stream..."

After hearing the poem, Xiao Sese covered Zhang Chun's mouth to stop him from saying anything more.

Watching Zhang Chun and Xiao Sese, two pregnant women, playfully bickering here, and thinking of his own imperial concubine, the former most beautiful woman in the Liao Kingdom, who had become someone else's, Xiao Baoxian was filled with emotion.

Then, thinking about how his mission was to send his own Yue king's betrothed, Xiao Puxian, now the most beautiful woman in Liao, to Zhao Yu, Xiao Baoxian felt even more disgusted.

However, their family is too closely tied to Yelü Yanxi. One of their sisters is Yelü Yanxi's empress, and the other is Yelü Yanxi's primary consort. Almost all the princes who have the opportunity to become the crown prince are born to their sister Xiao Guige. Xiao Fengxian has now become Yelü Yanxi's most favored minister. It can be said that as long as Yelü Yanxi is protected, their family will not have to worry about prosperity.

In this situation, their clan would certainly clear away all obstacles for Yelü Yanxi, especially those that could threaten his throne.

Yelü Chun was the first to be affected.

Therefore, from their clan's perspective, sending Xiao Puxian to Zhao Yu to weaken Yelü Chun's power and prestige was absolutely necessary.

This is not the time for womanly compassion.

So, when Xiao Baoxian handed over Xiao Sese's belongings and maids, he casually said to those around him, "Your Majesty the Emperor of your dynasty is truly blessed. Consort Wen was once the most beautiful woman in our Liao Dynasty, and she can still be ranked among the top, only slightly inferior to Lady Yao of our dynasty..."

The speaker is intentional, and the listener is more intentional.

The junior official in charge of the handover was blond with golden eyes and a huge mouth that could swallow a fist. He was very particular about his appearance and had piercing eyes.

This man's surname was Wang, and his given name was Fu. He was none other than Wang Fu, the prime minister and one of the six traitors in history.

He was also a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in this year's examination.

Zhao Yu hesitated at first about whether or not to recruit Wang Fu.

But as the saying goes, those who leave their mark on history must have something to offer. Moreover, during the palace examination, Zhao Yu discovered that Wang Fu was eloquent, intelligent, and adept at flattery and ingratiating himself.

Zhao Yu thought that Wang Fu was capable enough to be prime minister, so he must be more capable than ordinary officials. So he recruited Wang Fu.

Zhao Yu was afraid that if he released Wang Fu, Wang Fu would cause more harm to the region, so he kept Wang Fu by his side to serve him.

Emperor Zhao Yu personally led the expedition and brought Wang Fu with him to write the important instructions.

The extremely ambitious Wang Fu was always looking for an opportunity to make meritorious contributions, hoping to gain promotion and rise to prominence.

However, because of his low rank, Wang Fu could only do odd jobs and could never be promoted.

This made Wang Fu very anxious.

Now that he had heard that Xiao Puxian was the most beautiful woman in the Liao Dynasty, and knowing that Zhao Yu was fond of women, Wang Fu keenly felt that this was an opportunity to curry favor with Zhao Yu.

Wang Fu decisively tried to get close to Xiao Baoxian and inquire about news about Xiao Puxian's daughter.

To be honest, Xiao Baoxian really didn't think Wang Fu was capable of accomplishing such a big thing.

However, Xiao Baoxian needs someone's cooperation to release the news about Xiao Puxian.

Wang Fu, who offered himself up, was undoubtedly the best choice.

Thus, Xiao Baoxian and Wang Fu hit it off immediately, and Xiao Baoxian successfully sold the news of Xiao Puxian's daughter to the Zhao Song Dynasty.

In fact, Xiao Baoxian didn't know whether doing this would make Zhao Yu demand Xiao Puxian's daughter.

However, since Yelü Yanxi was both the one in power and the one who had been appointed, Xiao Baoxian could only try this "subtle" approach for the time being.

It was quite a coincidence that no sooner had Xiao Bao left than Zhao Yu ordered his advisors, scribes, officials, and document controllers to find experts to help him appraise the treasures sent by the Liao Kingdom.

—Many of the treasures sent by the Liao Kingdom were of high quality, and Zhao Yu was not short of money at the moment, so he planned to collect them for himself first.

Before long, Wang Fu brought the two old pawnshop managers he had found to Zhao Yu's storeroom.

Wang Fu took a closer look.

Good heavens! In this not-so-large warehouse, there are thousands of pearls, jade, coral, agate, glass, rhinoceros horn, and tortoiseshell.

Furthermore, there are gold armor and helmets, gold bridles, gold ladles, gold pestles and knives, gold and jade ornaments, rhinoceros horn belts, gold belts, gold belts, jade belts, gilded belts, gold fish pouches, silver stoves, gold stoves, gold tables, silver chairs, gold boxes, gold buckets, gold plates and cups, gold bowls, gold and silver spoons and chopsticks, gold soup bottles, glass cups, glass stands, coral stands, agate stands, and so on and so forth...

The experts immediately began to examine the samples.

Once it was confirmed to be a genuine treasure, it was sealed in boxes, loaded onto trucks, and prepared to be transported back to Bianliang City, the capital of the Eastern Capital.

As it was getting dark, Zhao Yu, who had nothing else to do, brought Zhang Chun, Li Lin, Li Chun, Xiao Sese, and others over for a stroll.

Upon seeing this, Wang Fu quickly found an opportunity to mention Xiao Puxian to Zhao Yu...

If Wang Fu hadn't mentioned Xiao Puxian's daughter, Zhao Yu would have almost forgotten about this Empress Dowager of Northern Liao.

Historically, the Northern Liao Dynasty, ruled by Empress Xiao Puxian, was under the dual threat of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty.

At that time, the Jin dynasty was rising in power and was determined to destroy the Liao dynasty and expand its territory; the Northern Song dynasty, on the other hand, was attempting to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun and was also eyeing the Northern Liao with covetousness. The Northern Liao, however, was small in territory and weak in strength. Crucially, Yelü Chun, who founded the Northern Liao, died only a few months after ascending the throne.

In this disastrous start, the widow Xiao Puxian, who was thrust into the political spotlight, swiftly executed Li Chuwen and his son, who intended to rebel, thus stabilizing the internal situation of the Northern Liao court and preventing the regime from collapsing rapidly due to internal rebellion.

When the Song army was pressing in, she sent Xiao Gan and Yelü Dashi to lead 20,000 Liao troops to confront the Song army at Lugou River, successfully defeating Liu Yanqing's hundreds of thousands of Song troops, fully demonstrating her military decision-making ability and talent for personnel management.

When the Jin army attacked Yan territory, she sent troops to guard Juyong Pass. Although the pass was eventually lost due to divine will, this proactive defensive measure still slowed down the Jin army's attack to some extent.

Although Empress Xiao Puxian ultimately could not change the fate of the Northern Liao Dynasty's demise under the combined attack of the Song and Jin dynasties, and she herself was executed by the incompetent Emperor Yelü Yanxi, her efforts still demonstrated her political wisdom and courage to some extent, and laid the foundation for the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Perhaps if Xiao Puxian had taken over the Liao Dynasty earlier, this courageous and resolute woman could have turned the tide, saved the Liao Dynasty from collapse.

Unfortunately, Xiao Puxian came to power too late in history, and the army and resources she could control were too weak.

Upon hearing Wang Fu mention Xiao Puxian, Zhao Yu's first thought was that he absolutely could not leave this dangerous woman in the Liao Kingdom.

In fact, Zhao Yu had recently been considering how to also abduct Yelü Dashi and Xiao Gan, thinking, 'Even if I don't use them, I can't leave them to the Liao Kingdom.'

Now we also need to add Xiao Puxian's daughter.

Zhao Yu planned to take all three people who had shattered the facade of the Northern Song Dynasty's strength with him.

In this way, even if Zhao Yu does not recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun this time, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun will inevitably be in Zhao Yu's hands.

That's why Zhang Chun is said to be a mind reader for Zhao Yu.

While Zhao Yu was still thinking about how to bring Xiao Puxian, Yelü Dashi, and Xiao Gan over, Zhang Chun began to pave the way for Zhao Yu: "Your Majesty, such beauties are not worthy of the Liao people. They should naturally become Your Majesty's concubines."

Zhao Yu estimated that if Zhang Chun were a man, she would definitely be even more promiscuous than him, and she would probably snatch beauties from all over the place like Cao Cao and Genghis Khan.

Zhao Yu shook his head, deleted the image of Zhang Chun laughing wildly amidst countless naked women, and then said, "Now that the relationship between our Great Song and the Liao Dynasty has stabilized, I also want to maintain the current situation. After the Western Army recovers Western Xia, we will withdraw our troops. At that time, it seems inappropriate to ask the Liao Dynasty for Xiao Puxian's daughter."

Seeing that Zhao Yu desired Xiao Puxian's daughter but did not want to escalate the conflict with the Liao Dynasty, Wang Fu thought to himself, 'My chance has come!'

With this in mind, Wang Fu wanted to volunteer to help Zhao Yu get Xiao Puxian's daughter back.

Unexpectedly, someone beat Wang Fu to it.

Then a man volunteered, "Your Majesty, I, Cai You, am willing to share your burdens..."

……

(End of this chapter)