I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 322 The Reverse Shame of Jingkang

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Upon returning to the Wansui Palace, Zhao Yu received congratulations from his ministers.

After the ceremony, Zhao Yu, recognizing Tong Guan's contributions, promoted him to Inspector General of the Ministry of Works and Military Governor of Zhentao Army, and granted him the position of Grand Chancellor with the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments.

Tong Guan firmly declined the offer.

In fact, Tong Guan did not want to accept it, but he had to make this gesture because of the opposition from the civil officials.

Tong Guan was a eunuch. According to the rites, eunuchs were close ministers who served the inner court of the royal family. Their status was strictly limited to the category of "inner officials" and had a clear boundary with the civil and military officials who handled government affairs in the outer court.

The system of rites had strict hierarchical norms for the selection and promotion of officials, and its core was to maintain the patriarchal order of "ruler as ruler, minister as minister, father as father, son as son".

Because eunuchs were in the inner court, they were often regarded as "people who had been punished." In Confucian ethics, their status was considered to be inconsistent with the standards of officials who "cultivate themselves, regulate their families, govern the state, and bring peace to the world." They lacked normal family ethics and were regarded as a special group that was far from the "right path." If they were granted high positions, it would be considered to have undermined the social hierarchy of "scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants" and the tradition of selecting officials based on "excellence in learning leads to officialdom."

In addition, many dynasties throughout history have learned from the lessons of eunuchs monopolizing power and causing chaos in politics. The restriction of eunuchs' powers in the ritual system was essentially to prevent them from interfering in the affairs of the outer court and to avoid the erosion of imperial power.

Positions like "Kaifu Yitong Sansi" (開府仪同三司), which were equivalent to the title of "Envoy and Minister," meant that eunuchs enjoyed the same privileges and power as prime ministers and could participate in core national decisions. This clearly exceeded the role of eunuchs in the ritual system and naturally provoked strong opposition from the civil officials. They believed that this was a challenge to traditional rituals and would shake the foundation of the dynasty's rule.

Ye Mengde, then a Hanlin Academician, objected to the appointment of Tong Guan as the military governor of Wukang Army, arguing that it would be inappropriate and would invite public criticism.

Therefore, even if Tong Guan had made contributions, he still had to be mindful of these deeply ingrained ritual constraints and adopt a posture of humility.

But Zhao Yu's rule was that if you did a good job, you would be richly rewarded without hesitation; if you did a bad job, sorry, he would take your life without question.

Therefore, Zhao Yu rejected Tong Guan's resignation and, with a wave of his hand, granted Tong Guan the same level of courtesy and power as a prime minister, enabling him to participate in core national decision-making.

Tong Guan was deeply moved and secretly presented Zhao Yu with a large amount of gold and silver jewelry afterwards.

These gold and silver treasures represent the accumulation of the Liao Dynasty over two to three hundred years. Many of them had been taken to their tombs by successive emperors, princes, and nobles of the Liao Dynasty, and were later unearthed by the Jurchens.

Zhao Yu never refused such tributes.

Not long after, Cai Jing, who was in charge of official duties for Zhao Yu in Bianliang (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty, presented a congratulatory memorial to Zhao Yu on behalf of all the officials. The memorial is as follows:
Driven by righteousness, the army marched north to conquer the surrounding cities; since then, they have won every battle. They pacified the entire former territory of Yan, mourning the remnants of the Di people. Children, adorned in white robes and with their hair in tufts, cheered and loosened their robes; jugs of food and bamboo mats filled the roads. All nations came to join them, the region was brought to peace, heaven and earth trembled, and the ancestral temples shone brightly. Only in the north lay a state, the wilderness of Ji, designated by Yu the Great, and frequently visited by the Emperor Yu…

In short, Zhao Yu's trip north this time resolved the biggest border problem for the Song Dynasty, allowing the people of the Song Dynasty to feel at ease. Throughout the country, everyone praised his virtues, and the court was filled with jubilation.

Emperor Zhao Yu was overjoyed upon reading the memorial and was deeply satisfied with Cai Jing's words of praise. He immediately issued an edict to commend his officials and announced a general amnesty to celebrate this unprecedented achievement.

In Bianliang, the capital of the Eastern Capital, firecrackers crackled and drums resounded as people took to the streets to celebrate the hard-won peace and tranquility.

The crescent moon shines over the whole country, bringing joy to some and sorrow to others.

While the Song Dynasty was joyfully celebrating, the Jin Dynasty was facing an unprecedented catastrophe.

The Song Dynasty marched north with thunderous force, its armor gleaming in the sun like golden scales. The Jin Dynasty's iron cavalry, which had once swept across the northeast, crumbled before the Song army's cannons and crossbows.

Half of those once arrogant Jin warriors have fallen in pools of blood.

The remaining Jurchens, clutching their blood-stained maces, gazed at the Song banners covering the mountains and plains, their eyes filled with fear for the first time—the same fear they had inflicted on the Liao people when they had conquered the Liao capital.

What pained the Jurchens even more was the collapse of their clan system.

More than 100,000 women from the Jin Kingdom were captured, including empresses and emperors' concubines, as well as the wives and princesses of the wolf king and crown prince, and the concubines, princesses, imperial maids, clan women, palace maids, ladies-in-waiting, clan wives, singers, nobles, and women of officials and commoners—all kinds of women were captured.

It is no exaggeration to say that from Emperor Wanyan Aguda down, almost half of the Jurchen people faced the risk of being cuckolded.

shame!

What a shame!
The Jurchens had a long-standing custom of "bride kidnapping" and considered "capture" an honor, believing it to be a matter of course and a symbol of bravery. When they conquered various parts of the Liao Dynasty, they also abducted all the daughters of the Liao royal family, imperial clan, and nobles, distributing them as spoils of war to those who had rendered meritorious service. They believed in the supremacy of the strong and that everything of the defeated was at their disposal, including women and dignity.

Now, fate has returned the favor in the same way. When those Jin women who once sang "Jurchen Songs" and danced "Mangshi Dances" by the campfire became spoils of war in the hands of the conquered, an unprecedented absurdity and humiliation swept across the entire Jin Kingdom. The word "retribution" seemed to be deeply imprinted on the hearts of every Jurchen, like the biting north wind in winter, tearing apart their former pride and arrogance.

At this time, the Jin Dynasty was still a confederation, essentially continuing the tradition of the Jurchen tribal confederation.

Wanyan Aguda's core position was not based on absolute authority under a mature imperial system, but on his appeal as the leader of the Jurchen tribes alliance. The foundation of this appeal lay in his ability to continuously bring practical benefits to the various tribes.

Logically speaking, the direct motivation for the unification of the Jurchen tribes was to resist the oppression and exploitation of the Liao Dynasty. The key to Wanyan Aguda's ability to unite the various tribes lay in his demonstrated military capabilities—by defeating the Liao Dynasty, he not only eliminated external threats but also plundered land, people, and wealth from Liao territory.

The plundered resources were to be distributed according to the traditional method of the Jurchen tribal alliance, that is, the participating tribes and nobles would receive a corresponding share based on their contributions.

To put it bluntly, the Jin Dynasty at this time was still essentially an alliance of various Jurchen tribes. Although Wanyan Aguda had already declared himself emperor, he was still the leader of the Jurchen alliance. People listened to him not because he was the emperor, but because he could lead them to break through the oppression of the Liao Dynasty, seize cities, grain, and people, and let each tribe get a share of the spoils.

To put it more vividly, the Jin Dynasty at this time was like a joint-stock company, and all the Jurchen nobles were "shareholders" of this company. Whoever had more armored soldiers and greater military achievements would receive more benefits and have more say in the alliance. Wanyan Aguda was like a "chairman" who could lead the "shareholders" to profit. The stability of his position was directly linked to the sustainability of "profit" (winning battles and acquiring resources).

In other words, Wanyan Aguda was able to maintain his position as "chairman" by continuously winning victories and sharing spoils, which united this loosely organized company into a cohesive unit.

When Wanyan Aguda suffered successive defeats, this logic reversed: on the one hand, the inability to obtain sufficient resources from external wars to allocate to the various tribes meant that the actual interests of the "shareholders" were harmed, naturally shaking their support for Wanyan Aguda; on the other hand, the losses (including personnel and supplies) and the sense of shame brought about by the defeats would cause the various tribes to doubt Wanyan Aguda's leadership abilities. Within the framework of the alliance, the noble tribes already possessed relatively independent power bases. When they believed that following Wanyan Aguda would not bring benefits and might even bring risks, the cohesion of the Jurchen alliance would inevitably decline, and Wanyan Aguda's core position would become precarious.

This is not the collapse of personal authority, but the inevitable result of the "shared benefits and shared risks" logic under the alliance system.

Therefore, Zhao Yu not only defeated Wanyan Aguda, but also shattered Wanyan Aguda's myth of "invincibility." The more than 100,000 captured Jin women became the sharpest dagger piercing the heart of the Jurchen alliance. In those noble families, who hadn't had sisters, wives, and daughters abducted? In the past, when they abducted Liao and Han women, they considered them merely spoils of war; now that it was their turn, they realized that this humiliation could crush the pride of an entire tribe.

If Wanyan Aguda did not want the Jin Dynasty to collapse and become an isolated figure, or even a sinner against the Jurchens, he had to quickly find a way to salvage the precarious situation and rebuild the trust and reliance of the Jurchen tribes on him.

Wanyan Aguda knew that he was now standing on the edge of a cliff, and if he was not careful, he would fall into an abyss of no return.

Wanyan Aguda's first attempt was to send envoys to the Song Dynasty to see if he could get back the Jin women through peace negotiations and to secure living space for the Jin Dynasty.

This time, Wanyan Aguda sent Wanyan Yinshuke and Gao Qingyi as envoys. As for Wuxie, the chief envoy sent last time, he was hung up and whipped by Wanyan Aguda because he failed to realize the strength of the Song Dynasty and blindly provoked the Song, resulting in the Jin army's defeat and heavy losses. However, Gao Qingyi, the deputy envoy, said that Zhao Yu was not afraid to fight against their Jin Dynasty and might have some kind of backing. He advised Wanyan Aguda and other Jin generals and high-ranking officials to be careful.

As it turned out, Gao Qingyi was right; Wu Xie's blind arrogance harmed the Jin Dynasty.

Of course, you could also argue that Wanyan Aguda was making excuses for his own defeat to Zhao Yu, or using him as a scapegoat.

Wanyan Yinshuke and Gao Qingyi arrived in Pingzhou again, but they were no longer as sharp and assertive as when Wuxie and Gao Qingyi had been on their mission to the Song Dynasty. Instead, they became reserved and even cautious.

The Song Dynasty still sent Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo as their host and reception staff.

After the meeting, Wanyan Yinshu adopted a very humble attitude, saying, "The affairs between two great nations can all be discussed. There is no need to resolve them solely through war. If we create deep-seated hatred, who knows when the conflict will end?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangsi sighed deeply: "Alas! It was here that day that Ma Xuanzan and I advised your country on this very issue. However, your country said that if the two dynasties do not cooperate, war will inevitably ensue. Yet your country treats our dynasty as a fallen Khitan and raised troops first, thus causing this trouble. Now your country has suffered successive defeats, and its national strength is less than half of what it once was. And you still talk about discussing things? Isn't it too late?"

Hearing Zhao Liangsi say this, Wanyan Yinshuke and Gao Qingyi, especially the latter, felt a mix of emotions.

Back then, when he and Wuxie went on their mission to the Song Dynasty, they were so full of vigor and ambition. They believed that with the military strength of the Jin Dynasty that had swept away the Liao Dynasty, they could take whatever they wanted from the Song Dynasty and easily trample it underfoot, just like the Khitan.

At that time, they only saw the strength of the Jin Dynasty and their blind confidence in defeating the Song Dynasty. They regarded Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo's advice and overtures as weakness and easy to bully, and did not take them to heart at all.

Looking back now, Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo truly meant well, wanting to persuade the Jin state not to court death.

However, they bit the hand that feeds them, failing to recognize a kind heart, which led to the bitter consequences they face today.

Now, the tables have turned, and the situation is completely different. The Song Dynasty, which they once looked down upon, has displayed such astonishing military strength under the leadership of Zhao Yu, defeating the Jin Dynasty in succession and even capturing a large number of hostages from the Jin Dynasty.

At this moment, they could only humbly beg for peace from Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo.

How could Gao Qingyi not feel a trace of regret and resentment?

Gao Qingyi slightly raised his head, looked at Zhao Liangsi, a complex expression flashing in his eyes, and said, "Scholar Zhao, in the past, it was indeed our Great Jin that was ill-considered, listened to rebellious words, disregarded our previous oaths of friendship, and went to war with the Great Song in order to destroy the Khitan. Weapons are instruments of evil, and Heaven abhors them. Now our Great Jin has deeply realized its great mistake, and we hope that Scholar Zhao will consider the fact that the people of both countries yearn for peace and point out a clear path for our Great Jin."

Zhao Liangsi shook his head directly, indicating that he could not help.

Wanyan Yinshu pressed further: "Is it truly impossible to negotiate peace?"

Ma Kuo said, "It's not that we can't negotiate peace, but that our terms for peace are unacceptable to your family."

When Wanyan Yinshu and Gao Qingyi heard Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo say this, their hearts sank. Even Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo believed that their Jin state could not meet the peace terms demanded by the Song Dynasty, which showed that these peace terms were indeed very harsh.

Wanyan Yinshu said in a deep voice, "We hope that the two ambassadors will speak frankly so that we can have an explanation when we return."

Seeing this, Zhao Liangsi looked at Ma Kuo and gestured for Ma Kuo to come and tell Wanyan Yinshuke and Gao Qingyi about the peace terms proposed by the Song Dynasty.

Ma Kuo said leisurely, "Your country must pay war reparations of ten million ingots of gold, ten million ingots of silver, ten million bolts of silk, and 1,500 young girls. Furthermore, you must return Zhongjing, Dongjing, and Shangjing to the Liao Dynasty. If your country wishes to redeem the women and children of the Jin Dynasty, the price is: Empress 10,000 ingots of gold and 100,000 ingots of silver; Princess and Queen Consort 1,000 ingots of gold each; Imperial Concubine 500 ingots of gold each; Clan Consort 200 ingots of gold each; Imperial Concubine 500 ingots of silver each; Clan Consort 200 ingots of silver each; and noblewomen and women of officials and commoners 100 ingots of silver each. All of the above can only be redeemed after the Jin Dynasty has paid the war reparations and returned the lost territories to the Liao Dynasty."

Upon hearing these conditions, Wanyan Yinshu and Gao Qingyi were dumbfounded. They never expected that the Song Dynasty would propose such insincere peace terms.

It should be understood that the amount of money extorted by the Song Dynasty was something that even a wealthy nation like the Song Dynasty would have difficulty producing, let alone the not-so-wealthy Jin Dynasty.

Crucially, the Song Dynasty also forced the Jin Dynasty to return all the territory it had swallowed.

Only then can the Great Jin redeem the hostages who were kidnapped by the Great Song.

In the eyes of Wanyan Yinshuke and Gao Qingyi, this was simply outrageous; the Song Dynasty had no sincerity in negotiating peace at all!

Even so, Wanyan Yinshu and Gao Qingyi still pleaded with the Song Dynasty to offer reasonable peace terms, such as 500,000 gold ingots, 5 million silver ingots, or the Jin Dynasty paying annual tribute to the Song Dynasty and allowing the Jin Dynasty to redeem its women and children in exchange for the Liao capital.

However, Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo simply shook their heads, indicating that they could not help.

Left with no other option, Wanyan Yinshu and Gao Qingyi had to return to Wanyan Aguda and explain the Song Dynasty's stance to him...

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(End of this chapter)