Almost in the afternoon when Yelu Zongzhen was discussing countermeasures with Zhang Jian, the notice from Song State was already in place.
Soon all officials in the Liao Kingdom knew the news.
Because the news about Zhang Jian came from Liao's spies in Song, they were sent to Nanjing immediately, so Yelvzong really got the first-hand information.
Fan Zhongyan was sent to the Liao Kingdom through official channels. This news must not be hidden, and it would naturally be known to the officials of the Liao Kingdom.
When the ministers of the Liao Kingdom got the news, they were all furious. Even the officials who had originally talked about peace talks shut their mouths. The main fighting faction immediately gained the upper hand and petitioned Yelu Zongzhen one after another, requesting that troops and horses be summoned immediately to march southward.
Fortunately, Yelu Zongzhen got the news in advance and discussed it with Zhang Jian. Otherwise, under this situation, I am afraid that he will be coerced by the domestic dignitaries and ministers into sending troops.
The problem now is that sending troops will definitely not end well. They have just experienced a big defeat, their morale is low, and their food and grass are still on the way. Naturally, they will not be able to fight a siege against the Song Dynasty.
In order to achieve the strategic threat of bypassing the Song Kingdom's cities and directly conquering Hebei, Henan and other places of the Song Kingdom, and plundering the hinterland of the Song Dynasty as mentioned before, it is definitely impossible to do it with the more than 100,000 Pishi troops currently in Yelu Zongzhen's hands. To arrive, we must summon all the soldiers and horses from all over the country.
Otherwise, if more than 100,000 troops march south, the soldiers and horses on the Hebei Road block the way back, and the main force of the Song Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops are encircled, how long can your cavalry survive just by plundering in the wild?
The horses will get tired, and the people will have to plunder to survive. Although the Song Army has two legs, its endurance is stronger than that of a horse, and the Song Army also has about 100,000 cavalry. While you are robbing or your horses are resting, people will surround you. I am afraid that the entire army of hundreds of thousands will be annihilated soon.
Therefore, if you want to complete this grand strategy, first of all, your army must be stronger than the Song Army. If you have more people than the Song Army, the destructive power will be greater. Otherwise, if we don’t have enough soldiers and horses, doing this kind of thing would probably be no different than delivering food.
Yelu Zongzhen's ability is not top-notch, but it does not mean that a person with the posthumous title of "Xing" is incompetent. Therefore, he can naturally understand how dangerous the current situation of the Liao Kingdom is.
Therefore, facing the surging desire to send troops in the country, as one of the few people who could barely stay awake, Yelu Zongzhen would naturally not agree to their request.
But the emperor of Liao also had many shackles, and it was not something he could solve despite all the opinions of others.
Although the Liao Kingdom has completed the transformation from tribal civilization to a feudal system, the Liao Kingdom still has the shadow of grassland nomads and tribal culture in its bones.
The nobles of the Liao Kingdom were not only dignitaries, but also the leaders of various tribes. If Yelvzong really faced such an angry situation and forcibly suppressed them and refused to fight the Song Kingdom, but chose to agree to the Song Kingdom's conditions, his prestige would be greatly affected. It was a huge blow.
Therefore, Yelu Zongzhen had to find a way to appease the domestic dignitaries and skillfully deal with the Song Dynasty.
The best result is naturally that Song State agrees to their conditions.
But at the moment, it may be more difficult. The political governor of the Song Dynasty will not give him any chance at all, and even the previous annual coins will be cancelled. This will have a huge blow to the real prestige of the Yelv Sect.
For this reason, Yelu Zongzhen was forced to express forcefully that he would fight back against the Song Dynasty in the meeting with the ministers. When discussing with Zhang Jian in private, he took another approach.
At the same time, he told the officials that he would gather troops and horses, ask for money, food, troops and horses from all the subordinate countries and tribes, and actively prepare for a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty.
At the same time, he discussed with Zhang Jian to see if he could continue to send people to talk to the Song Dynasty. Even if the currency could not be increased, the previous annual currency of 300,000 yuan should be maintained, so that he could also send business to the country.
Obviously, Yelu Zongzhen was also prepared.
Zhao Jun's two-hand preparation is the condition that the Liao Kingdom agrees to him, and then both parties will conclude a peaceful alliance. If he did not agree, he would incite rebellion among the tribes belonging to the Liao Kingdom in the rear.
Yelu Zongzhen hoped that both Liao and Song would take a step back. Since the other party was unwilling to increase their currency, they would restore the Chanyuan Alliance.
At the same time, test the attitudes of the various subordinate states and tribes. If their attitudes change and they are no longer as respectful as before, I am afraid that Yelu Zong will really have to suffer a bitter loss and accept the peace talks with the Song Dynasty with his nose pinched.
If their attitude does not change, then they will naturally start to take serious action. Whether they really start to use that grand strategy or strategic deterrence, they must take action.
certainly.
The premise of all this is that those subordinate countries and tribes will not follow Zhao Jun's tricks, and they will follow Yelu Zongzhen to the dark side.
So under this situation, the two countries of Song and Liao briefly achieved peace.
It's just secretly flowing.
Yelu Zongzhen ostensibly appeased the Liao dignitaries and the main war factions, announcing that he would carry out war mobilization, and then immediately sent people to the major tribes to ask them to send troops and provide food and grass.
In fact, he maintained frequent correspondence with Fan Zhongyan, expressing his willingness to give in and hoping that the Song Dynasty could restore the conditions of the Chanyuan Alliance.
Fan Zhongyan originally wanted to report the Liao envoy's request back to Bianliang, but thinking about Zhao Jun's attitude, he finally decided not to be scolded. He rejected Yelvzong's true intention and also expressed Zhao Jun's attitude.
In fact, if Yelvzong really wanted money and food to appease the country, it would be easy to open a mutual market and exchange horses, minerals and other resources that were previously prohibited from sale. Both parties would get what they need, and it would be mutually beneficial.
It’s just that the Liao State used to regard the Song State as the Southern Dynasty and itself regarded the Northern Dynasty as the orthodox one. Therefore, it often asked all nations to come to court, placed the Song State’s status below it, and described the Song State’s annual coins as the lower state. The tribute paid to the Liao State caused Yelu Zongzhen to be unwilling to accept the Song State's demand for equal status for both parties.
Secondly, for national strategic resources such as horses and minerals, not only the Liao Kingdom prohibited the sale to foreign countries, but the Song Dynasty also prohibited the export of some strategic resources, such as copper coins, books, sulfur, saltpetre, copper and iron, etc. In the second year of Jingde Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty also issued an order to restrict the external sales of brocade and silk: "I order Xiongzhou not to be allowed to trade in brocade, damask and silk."
It can be seen that both sides have implemented an embargo on strategic materials. Why can you, the Song Dynasty, still carry out a strategic blockade against us? The Liao Kingdom must now relax controls in this area? Therefore, the Liao Kingdom naturally did not want to agree.
The two sides continued to argue for a long time.
Fan Zhongyan and Zhang Jian even met and talked several times, but the two sides still could not come up with conditions that satisfied the other party.
The main reason is that the conditions on Song State's side have been fixed and cannot be changed.
The Liao Kingdom already thought that it had retreated again and again. For example, they admitted that the Song Kingdom had occupied the land on the south bank of Laishui River, and they had also canceled the increase in currency.
When they first agreed to restore the Chanyuan Alliance, they even hoped that the Song Dynasty would withdraw from the south bank of Laishui River and still use Baigou River as the boundary. Now the Liao Kingdom has taken another step back and admitted that all south of Fan Yang belongs to the Song Dynasty, but it must maintain the Sui currency.
In the eyes of the Liao State, this was already a huge diplomatic failure, but the Song State was still not satisfied. It wanted to cancel the annual currency and restore the relationship between the two countries on an equal footing, leaving the Liao State really helpless.
Therefore, Yelvzong really couldn't reach an agreement, so he had to look at the domestic situation before making a decision.
In this tug and pull, time passed quickly.
In April of the first year of Emperor Kangxi, in the Xijin Mansion, as time went by, Yelu Zongzhen's heart sank deeper and deeper into the bottom.
In the back garden, Yelu Zongzhen had just impassionedly expressed his attitude to the powerful officials of the main war faction at the court meeting that he must teach the Song Dynasty a lesson. He won the cheers and support of a large number of powerful people, and returned to the back garden in the blink of an eye. His face was livid.
Zhang Jian sat cross-legged in the garden calmly. In the early summer of April, the weather in the north has begun to heat up, and everything is recovering and embracing the sun. The Yanshan Mountains in the north of Xijin Prefecture are already green, and the breeze is blowing, carrying a slight fragrance of flowers.
Yelu Zongzhen broke another letter into pieces and threw it into the brazier in the pavilion. Wine was still roasting on the brazier, but at this time he had no interest in drinking at all.
Because lately, I have always been giving him bad news.
"The Eight Divisions of Enemy Lie also declined. They were only willing to send 8,000 men and only 50,000 husks of food and grass."
Yelv Zongzhen sat opposite Zhang Jian, with a rather ugly expression on his face.
During the period of his father Shengzong of Liao, the major tribes of other ethnic groups except the Khitan were unified into thirty-four tribes.
These thirty-four tribes became the cornerstone of the Liao Kingdom's political power. They contributed horses, soldiers, and grain to the Liao Kingdom. At its peak, the Liao Kingdom had a population of less than nine million and was known as one million soldiers. This was mainly derived from these tribe.
Otherwise, the Khitan people, the main ethnic group of the Liao Kingdom, only had 1.5 million people at most, and they would definitely not be able to provide millions of troops.
Therefore, if Yelu Zong really wanted to call on soldiers and horses from all over the country, naturally he could only give orders to these tribes.
However, the outcome of the matter made him very embarrassed.
The eight enemy tribes have a combined population of 300,000 to 400,000. When all the clans are fighting, it would be no problem to send out an army of 70,000 to 80,000. However, in the end, only a few thousand troops were sent, which is almost like sending out beggars. Yelv Zong's nose almost ran out of breath. crooked.
Zhang Jian sighed: "These tribes are not of the same mind as our Liao Kingdom. It was the late emperor who conquered the south and the north before they surrendered. However, since the late emperor, they have also rebelled many times. Dahuang Shiwei, Xiaohuang Shiwei, Wugu, Cha Are there still few rebellions in the tribes such as La Di, Chu Bo De, Xi Xi, and Dong Xi in recent years?"
"Well, fortunately, I listened to Shangfu's words and did not order them to fight as a whole clan. I just asked them to send people as appropriate. Otherwise, if this order continues, I am afraid that before the Song State can incite it, the Liao State will have rebelled everywhere. .”
Yelu Zongzhen let out a long sigh.
He recalled that when his father, Liao Shengzong, surrendered countless tribes in the north and organized them into thirty-four tribes, he could immediately command 500,000 troops to attack Xixia with a single call. How majestic it was.
As a result, in less than a few decades, the Liao Kingdom declined to this point.
Except for the Eight Enemy Tribes, the other major tribes such as the Five Kingdoms Tribe, the Changbai Mountain Tribe, the Wuji Tribe, the Limei Tribe, and the Donghai Nvzhi Tribe all sent less troops and less food for various reasons.
During the recent period, Yelu Zongzhen's original youthful spirit has been visibly dissipating, and a heavy burden seems to be weighing on him, making him unable to breathe.
"The Song State is no better than Xixia, and the people of Xixia State are small and poor. Even if it has the strength to threaten us, there is no possibility of destroying the Liao Dynasty. However, the strength of the Song State is not weaker than that of the Liao State, and it is even slightly stronger. If it loses the force to suppress it, , it will only make our situation more difficult.”
Zhang Jian said seriously: "Your Majesty, I will speak frankly. The situation in Daliao is already very serious. The ministries that joined because of the strength of Daliao will also leave because of the decline of Daliao. If I, Daliao, forcefully recruit the ministries, It will only give the Song Dynasty an opportunity to take advantage of, so it is better to put things aside, resolve the immediate crisis, rectify the country, and reorganize the system vigorously, so that we can recreate the grandeur of the late emperor's period."
"Then according to Father Shang's opinion, can I really only agree to the conditions proposed by the Song Dynasty?"
Yelu Zongzhen frowned.
This will cause a serious blow to his prestige.
Zhang Jian thought deeply: "I thought this was the only way, but when it comes to Your Majesty's face, I think there may be other ways."
"oh?"
Yelu Zongzhen asked hurriedly: "How?"
Zhang Jian said: "The Song Dynasty demanded that the two countries be equal, but they did not really do so. They asked us to relax output restrictions on horses, mineral deposits, etc., but they still prohibited the inflow of iron. This is obviously unreasonable. I think that both sides It’s only appropriate to fully open up.”
"Um"
Yelu Zongzhen nodded slightly.
Zhang Jian continued: "As for the issue of money and food, it is simple. As far as I know, the price of war horses in the Song Dynasty has risen to one or two hundred guan a piece. If it is a good horse, it may cost thousands or even tens of thousands of guan." Your Majesty can sell thousands of war horses to the Song Dynasty, and then tell the country that these are the annual coins of the Song Dynasty, and then reward them to everyone."
Yelu Zong was really stunned, and then said: "How is this different from hiding one's ears and stealing the bell?"
Zhang Jian smiled bitterly and said: "Then what can be done? Nowadays, the Song Dynasty accepts soft things and not hard words. If you have a good discussion with them and exchange them for war horses or mineral deposits, you can probably get this name back. From now on, this method will be used every year. . Moreover, it is beneficial to the Liao Kingdom to open up the market for war horses and mineral deposits."
"First appease the country, and then conduct trade exchanges with the Song Dynasty to fill the Liao treasury. As long as the Liao Kingdom can temporarily overcome this crisis, and the treasury has money and food, we can strengthen our military force and strengthen our Liao army."
"At that time, many tribes in the country can be subdued, and then the system can be changed to increase the national power. The tribes will not dare to make mistakes again, and the situation will be stable."
"When the Liao Kingdom becomes strong and prosperous and restores its grandeur to the times of the late emperor, it may be possible to go south and have another decisive battle with the Song Dynasty."
"But at least for now, we still have to focus on safety."
At the end of the sentence, Zhang Jian was very serious in his words.
In fact, he also knew that even if he and Song State opened up strategic resources to each other, it would be a loss.
Because the Liao State exported resources, the Song State imported resources and then exported finished products, which is somewhat similar to the situation of resource exporting countries and industrial exporting countries in later generations.
Although Zhang Jian certainly didn't know what happened in later generations, as a wise man who could assist Liao Shengzong in creating a great cause, he naturally understood these truths.
So why would he hope so?
However, the Liao Kingdom is now facing these dilemmas. If the export of resources does not alleviate domestic conflicts, I am afraid that the Liao Kingdom will only become more and more declining.
Even if Yelvzong really endures this bad breath and does not negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty, but just stops sending troops to invade south, this will not alleviate the domestic problems. Each tribe will see the decline of the Liao Kingdom, and their rebellious hearts will only grow stronger. .
By that time, even if the Liao State does not go to war with the Song State, it will fall into endless internal strife, suppress rebellions, and eventually perish.
Therefore Zhang Jian's path is correct.
First, use strategic materials to exchange money and grain from the Song Dynasty to tide over the difficulties. While appeasing various tribes, first strengthen the Liao Kingdom itself.
After the military force that the Liao Kingdom relied on for its livelihood returned to strength, it continued to subdue many tribes and maintain the stability of the regime.
Only when the political power was stabilized could they have the capital to continue fighting with the Song Dynasty.
But again.
This means that the Liao Kingdom will give up its former status as the eldest brother in East Asia and become equal to the Song Kingdom.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of yuan in unearned income will be lost every year.
Not only did his international status decline slightly, but he also lost money from the Song Dynasty in vain. How could anyone be willing to accept this?
So after listening to Zhang Jian's words, Yelu Zongzhen just sat there, unable to respond for a long time.
(End of chapter)
