I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 370 The Competition and the Concession
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When Emperor Wang Kai and his ministers received the report that the Song Dynasty had sent four envoys, the leader of whom was named Wang Lun, the emperor's ministers were informed that the Song Dynasty had sent four envoys.

This Wang Lun is the prototype of Wang Lun, the white-robed scholar in "Water Margin".

However, unlike the jealous and envious character portrayed in "Water Margin," Wang Lun was actually an outstanding diplomat in history, and a man of great integrity.

In short, he was the great-great-grandson of Wang Xu, the younger brother of Wang Dan, the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song. He came from a prestigious family, but his family fell into decline.

He came from a poor family, but he was chivalrous and unconventional.

Historically, during the Jingkang Incident, the Jin army captured Bianliang (Kaifeng), the capital of the Jin dynasty. The city was in chaos, and no one could quell the unrest. Wang Lun volunteered to Zhao Huan to maintain order in the city. Zhao Huan took off his precious sword from the Xia state and bestowed it upon him, appointing him as the Vice Minister of War. Wang Lun completed the task admirably.

After Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan were captured by the Jin army, Zhao Gou ascended the throne. Wang Lun, as a Chaofeng Lang (a court official) acting as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was sent as an envoy to the Jin state but was detained.

During his time in the Jin Dynasty, Wang Lun started by discussing the alliance between the former emperors of the Song and Jin dynasties to jointly attack the Liao Dynasty. He hoped that the Jin emperor would release Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, and their concubines and return the Song Dynasty's territory. However, the Jin Dynasty did not agree.

Later, Wang Lun was released back to the Southern Song Dynasty by Wanyan Zonghan. He was commended by Zhao Gou and appointed as the Right Compiler of the Wendian Hall, in charge of the Wanshou Temple.

After that, Wang Lun made several diplomatic missions to the Jin Dynasty.

When Zhao Ji died in the Jin Dynasty, Wang Lun was appointed as the envoy to escort the coffins back to the Southern Song Dynasty.

Wang Lun also served as an envoy to cede territory on several occasions, representing the Southern Song Dynasty in demarcating borders with the Jin Dynasty, and almost managed to negotiate the return of the entire Central Plains region.

Unfortunately, internal strife later broke out in the Jin Dynasty, and the pro-peace faction, which advocated returning the land to the Song Dynasty and negotiating peace with the Song Dynasty, was defeated. The pro-war faction, led by Wanyan Wuzhu, won the political struggle.

Subsequently, Wuzhu secretly informed the Jin ruler Wanyan Dan that Wang Lun should not cross the border, which resulted in Wang Lun being detained in Zhongshan Prefecture.

The Jin dynasty attempted to force Wang Lun to surrender, but he refused. Seeing Wang Lun's insolence, Wanyan Dan tried to strangle him. Wang Lun bowed to the south, weeping, and said, "I have disgraced the court's mission, and I cannot submit to the enemy. Only death can express my loyalty!"

After speaking, Wang Lun was strangled to death. The Southern Song Dynasty posthumously conferred upon him the title of Tongyi Dafu and the posthumous name "Minjie".

In this life, Wang Lun was originally just a wandering knight who was not good at the imperial examinations. He should not have had a chance to stand out. Fortunately, although Wang Lun's knowledge was not very high, he still participated in the imperial examinations.

Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun still managed to select Wang Lun from among those scholars who should have failed the exam. Zhao Yu continued to entrust Wang Lun with important responsibilities and even took him under his wing for a period of time.

Now, Wang Lun has finally grown into a qualified diplomat.

This time, Wang Lun represented the Song Dynasty in coming to persuade Goguryeo to surrender.

Seeing that the Song Dynasty was finally willing to talk, Wang Kai and his ministers discussed the matter and quickly dispatched Kim Boo-seok's younger brother, Kim Boo-cheol, and others as envoys to arrange for the Song Dynasty's envoys to stay at the post station and to inquire about the Song Dynasty's attitude.

Wang Lun's mission here was to force the people in Kaesong to surrender unconditionally, and to allow the Song army to take Kaesong completely without bloodshed.

After entering the city, Wang Lun and his group discovered that although Goryeo was a small country in the Eastern Yi region, the streets in its capital were wide and clean, and the city life was bustling and lively. This showed that the country must be very wealthy.

However, at the same time, Wang Lun and the others also noticed the tense atmosphere in the city and the pervasive sense of caution.

Wang Lun felt greatly reassured, 'This mission will surely be a great success!'

Knowing the difficult situation of Goryeo, especially Gaegyeong, Kim Boo-cheol cautiously inquired, "I wonder what advice the ambassador has for me?"

Wang Lun said calmly, "Goryeo has cut off trade with our Great Song Dynasty, and has joined forces with the Jurchens to fight against our Great Song Dynasty, aiding and abetting the evildoers. Now they are stubbornly resisting. I have come here to teach you to surrender unconditionally. Otherwise, on the day the city falls, I will not sheath my sword for three days and I will make sure that not a single chicken or dog of yours is spared."

Kim Boo-cheol hastily defended himself, saying, "All of Goryeo's actions were due to coercion by the Jin people, and were not of our own volition. Two years ago, the Jin army besieged the city, abducted my father-in-law, and used the emperor to command the world. The following year, they returned, deposed my empress, and replaced her with a Jin princess. After the princess arrived in Goryeo, she ruled from behind the curtain, and all matters were decided by her and the third prince of Jin. My emperor is young and powerless, and can only obey and agree to protect himself."

Wang Lun waved his hand: "There's no point in saying more. Now that the Song army is at the city gates, breaking through the city will be as easy as turning one's hand. Come with me and see."

After saying this, Wang Lun led Jin Fuzhe to the city wall and then said to him, "Come and see."

As soon as Wang Lun finished speaking, one of his servants lit the signal cannon.

Before the smoke from the signal cannons had even dissipated, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted outside the city. Three hundred Li Lin cannons, like lurking beasts, raised their heads in unison, their muzzles flashing, and the crimson-gold shells tore through the air, tracing scorching arcs across the sky with ear-piercing whistles.

A massive natural rock, so large that it would take several people to encircle it, stands on the outskirts of the city. It was once regarded by the Koreans as a natural barrier to defend the city, but now it trembles amidst the roar of bullets.

The first shell struck the rock, sending debris flying like a rainstorm, and the rock surface instantly cracked open like a spiderweb. Immediately afterwards, dozens of shells followed in succession, the dull thuds echoing one after another, the rock layers on the surface of the boulder peeling away layer by layer, and huge boulders being lifted off the ground by the shockwave.

In an instant, the once majestic boulder was shattered into pieces by the bombardment, and smoke and dust billowed into the sky, obscuring half the heavens. As the smoke gradually dissipated, only a mess of rubble remained, not a single intact stone to be found. Only the craters of varying depths on the ground silently testified to the shock that had just occurred.

Kim Boo-cheol and the soldiers and civilians on the walls of Gaegyeong were all stunned by what they saw. They never imagined that such a powerful weapon existed in the world.

Immediately afterward, a very real question arose in the minds of Kim Boo-cheol and the soldiers and civilians on the walls of Gaegyeong: 'Could the walls withstand such an attack?'

No one needed to answer; everyone already knew the answer in their hearts.

At this point, Wang Lun said to Jin Fuzhe, "Our Great Song only accepts unconditional surrender. Otherwise, the city will surely suffer a bloodbath. I hope you will not be so stubborn."

Unable to make a decision on his own, Jin Fuzhe had no choice but to go to the palace to ask for instructions.

After learning that the Song army was capable of easily breaching Kaesong, the powerful relatives of the emperor, including Li Ziqian, and the royalists, including Jin Fushi, immediately set aside their differences and prepared to join forces to kill the Jurchens in the capital, thus offering their allegiance to the Song Dynasty and negotiating peace.

To put it bluntly, Wang Kai and his ministers wanted to use Wanyan Wule and the Jurchens as gifts in exchange for a glimmer of hope for Goryeo...

However, even if the maternal relatives and the royalists joined forces, they were not confident of annihilating the Meng'an Jin people in the imperial city.

This is not to say that the military strength of Goryeo in Gaegyeong was inferior to that of the Meng'an Jurchens.

“The Meng'an is a commander of a thousand men; the Mouke is a commander of a hundred men.”

But this does not mean that a Meng'an only has a thousand golden men; a Mouke only has a hundred golden men.

In fact, the Mengan Mouke is not only a military unit, but also a production and living unit.

Therefore, the Mengan Mouke is not regulated by the number of troops, but by the number of users.

This can be understood as follows: the Mouke is a basic unit, mainly based on blood ties, and can be considered a clan-based army; while the Meng'an is a higher-level unit, mainly based on territory, and can be considered a local army. The number of households in a Mouke and the number of people in each household are very variable.

During the reign of Wanyan Aguda, three hundred households formed one Mouke; ten Mouke formed one Meng'an. After the fall of the Liao Dynasty, the number of Meng'an and Mouke in the Jin Dynasty began to increase rapidly.

The largest Meng'an might have tens of thousands of troops, such as the Meng'an of Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang.

The "commander of a thousand" of Meng'an stationed in the imperial city of Kaijing was Wanyan Zongya, the third son of Wanyan Wuqimai and the elder brother of Wanyan Wule.

Wanyan Zongya was a Buddhist and was known as "King Shan Da". He was not very capable.

Historically, after Emperor Wanyan Liang of the Jin Dynasty seized the throne from Wanyan Dan, he was wary of the Jurchen nobles of Emperor Taizong of Jin, Wanyan Wugumai's lineage, and regarded them as a threat to the imperial power. Therefore, he decided to eradicate this branch.

Initially, when Wanyan Liang was massacring Wanyan Wuqimai's descendants, he spared Wanyan Zongya's life because he heard that Wanyan Zongya was mediocre and posed no threat. Considering the need to preserve the imperial bloodline for the purpose of offering sacrifices to Emperor Taizong, he decided to spare Wanyan Zongya's life.

However, after Wanyan Wuqimai's descendants were almost completely wiped out, Wanyan Liang thought to himself, "Since we have already exterminated his clansmen, it won't make a difference if Wanyan Zongya is the last one." He then ordered Wanyan Zongya to be summoned to Guanzhong, and a few days later, he found a pretext to kill him.

Thus, Wanyan Wugumai's direct descendants were almost completely slaughtered by Wanyan Liang—this Jin emperor, who in history had caused the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, ultimately met a near end without descendants.

However, historical records indicate that Wanyan Wuqimai's daughter, Wanyan Wule, was not killed. She was granted the title of Princess of E and married Tudan Duo'alin. Her son, Tudan Yi, later married Princess Shen, the seventh daughter of Emperor Xizong of Jin. Through marriage alliances with the royal family, the Tudan family had sons marrying princesses for four generations, becoming a prominent and noble family at the time.

Wanyan Zongya was not a famous general of the Jin Dynasty. The number of troops under his command and their combat strength were certainly not comparable to those of Wanyan Zongfu. Wanyan Zongya himself was much more skilled in Buddhism than in warfare.

The fighting prowess of the Meng'an Jin people is unimaginable.

However, there were still more than 100,000 Goryeo people in Kaesong.

If the Jurchens and the Koreans were to actually fight, the Jurchens would most likely be the ones to lose.

However, although the Jurchens were few in number, they occupied the heart of Kaesong, the imperial city.

The royal city was inhabited by the most noble nobles of Goryeo, who were hostages of the Jurchens. If the Goryeo people dared to make any rash moves, they would likely be massacred by the Jurchens.

Actually, that's not the most crucial point. After all, with the city on the verge of falling, the once-noble nobles are now lambs to the slaughter; it's no big deal.

Most importantly, the Song army has already besieged the city. If chaos breaks out inside the city, the Song army will most likely take the opportunity to storm in, leaving the people in Kaijing with absolutely no bargaining chips.

After much discussion, Wang Kai and his ministers concluded that the only solution was to capture the leader first, and then find a way to capture Wanyan Wule and Wanyan Zongya before forcing the Jin people to surrender.

However, nothing stays hidden forever, especially in such a chaotic situation.

The scheme of King Wang Kai and his ministers was quickly discovered by Jeong Ji-sang and other powerful figures from the Goryeo Seogyeong yangban faction, who had been sidelined from the core of power.

Jeong Ji-chang was a renowned poet and Taoist in Goryeo. He disliked the elaborate rituals of Confucianism and preferred the natural, unrestrained, and transcendent philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi. As a result, he was at odds with Confucian scholars, led by Kim Bu-seok. To him, Kim Bu-seok was both a political and literary enemy, and the two were at odds with each other in every aspect.

Previously, Zheng Zhichang and other officials of Xijing had been strongly advocating for moving the capital to Xijing. The Jin people strongly supported this because Xijing was closer to the Jin state. Wang Kai then ordered the capital to be moved from Kaijing to Xijing.

Later, Zheng Zhichang proposed to unite with the Song Dynasty to suppress the Jin Dynasty, but this was strongly opposed by Jin Fushi.

Kim Boo-seok advised Wang Kai: "The Jin state is a wolf, and the Song state is a tiger. If we keep the wolf out the front door and let the tiger in the back, we will still be on the road to death. Moreover, we will alert the enemy and bring disaster upon ourselves and our country. It is better to keep a low profile, wait for the opportunity to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and then slowly make our plans."

These words resonated with Wang Kai, Li Ziqian, and others.

In addition, there are some uncontrollable factors.

Zheng Zhichang and others' proposal ultimately failed, which fueled their dissatisfaction.

In addition, Zheng Zhichang was extremely interested in the culture of the Central Plains. He knew that Zhao Yu was good at recognizing and using people, had great tolerance for people, and often made good use of those who surrendered. He was a wise and virtuous ruler.

More importantly, the once powerful regimes of Qing Tang, Western Xia, and Liao have been destroyed by the Song Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty has been defeated by the Song Dynasty. It can only defend itself and has no chance to fight back. This time, the Song Dynasty has sent a million-strong army to attack Goryeo and has already besieged the city, surrounding the capital.

—In the view of Zheng Zhichang and others, the fall of Goryeo was a foregone conclusion.

Therefore, Zheng Zhichang and the other officials of the Western Capital decided, after discussion, that surrendering the capital city in exchange for wealth and honor in the Song Dynasty was the best option.

However, Zheng Zhichang and his group currently face a thorny problem: they do not have enough military strength to surrender the city.

However, Zheng Zhichang and others soon found a solution—to join forces with the Jurchens to surrender the city.

Yes.

The hatred between the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty ran even deeper because the Song Dynasty blocked the rise of the Jin people and killed a large number of them. Zhao Yu also abducted a large number of Jin royal women and imperial daughters to fill his harem, and gave a large number of Jin women to the soldiers of the Song Dynasty. The Jin people hated the Song Dynasty to the bone.

The problem is, everything else is trivial except for life and death.

The current situation is clear: the Jin people are not only surrounded by the Song army, but also by the Goryeo people. Escape is impossible, and if they do not surrender, they will surely die. In fact, if they are slow to surrender, they will be sold out by the Goryeo people.

Under these circumstances, the Jurchens did not want all the men to be slaughtered and all the women to become the enemy's playthings. Their only way out was to hand over Kaesong to the Song Dynasty first.

As for the marital relationship between Wanyan Wule and Wang Kai?

Please!

First of all, this was a political marriage from beginning to end. It was Jin Guoqiang who forced Wang Kai to marry Wanyan Wule. For Wang Kai and the Goryeo people, this was not a marriage of mutual consent at all, but a complete disgrace.

Secondly, Wang Kai is only nine years old, while Wanyan Wule is already seventeen. Although they are husband and wife in name, they cannot actually have a marital relationship.

Furthermore, Wang Kai was Wanyan Wule's puppet. Wang Kai only felt hatred and fear towards Wanyan Wule; he could not possibly have love or even feelings for him.

Most importantly, Wang Kai and his ministers have now plotted against Wanyan Wule and the Jurchens.

Do you think Wanyan Wule would possibly consider this so-called "marital affection" under such circumstances?

Of course, it's said that even birds in the same forest will fly away when disaster strikes...

……

(End of this chapter)