manynovel Chapter 1228 Tit for tat
Chapter 1228 Tit for tat
Chapter 1228 Tit for tat
"Prime Minister, there are two pieces of news being said in the court recently. One is that when Han Xingshu sent troops to Weizhou, Liao ruler Yelu Hongji led 100,000 Pishi troops to station in Yunzhong."
"Another story is that Shen Kuo, the governor of Jingyuan Road, reported to the Dangxiang leader Li Bingchang that he had killed his queen Liang and married a Khitan princess instead, thus officially forming an alliance with the Khitan."
The person who spoke was Cai Bian, who was stationed in Xihe Road and was then summoned back to the court by Zhang Yue.
In the cold winter, a brazier was already lit in the west hall of the Zhongshu.
A new greenhouse was built nearby, with many flowers and trees planted in it. Zhang Yue now fiddles with a few potted plants like an old cadre.
Now Zhang Yue and Cai Bian are playing chess next to the greenhouse.
It was freezing cold outside, but it was warm as spring where the prime minister was working.
Zhang Yue placed a piece on the chessboard and said, "These two matters were reported to Bian Jing by Shen Kuo after repeated review based on border reports."
"Although there is no other evidence, it can be seen that these two pieces of news are not groundless."
Cai Bian said: "It would be better if you could be more precise."
Zhang Yue said, "The King of Imperial Edicts said that the Liao Kingdom has always been spying on the major and minor events in the court in great detail, but we have rarely spied on the situation of the Khitan and Dangxiang in the court. Although I have established the Military Affairs Department, it is also a hasty establishment. Previously, Liu Shunqing, the governor of Xiongzhou, was appointed as the judge, but he is good at Liao affairs, but he is not familiar with Dangxiang."
Cai Bian said: "I heard that there are more camps in the northern border. The transport judge Wu Juhou plans to recruit people who are good at sailing to cross the sea to trade with the Jurchens, and also to find out the strength of the Liao Kingdom."
"In fact, I don't think there is any need to go far away. Wouldn't it be better to go to Goryeo?"
While they were talking, Chen Mu, the acting director of the Academy of Scholars and the judge of the Sinong Temple, came over.
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "If you want to ask Gao Li, he came at the right time."
Chen Mu was the type who would go to Zhang Yue whenever he had something to do and took the initiative to get close to his superior. When Chen Mu saw Cai Bian playing chess with Zhang Yue, a flash of jealousy flashed through his heart.
He was born in the same year as Zhang Yue and Wang Anli, so his relationship should be closer than that of Cai Bian. After Zhang Yue's death, Chen Mu felt that he could take over the position of prime minister.
After Chen Mu sat down, he talked to Zhang Yue and Cai Bian.
Chen Mu now also serves as the Minister of Agriculture, responsible for the implementation of the new law.
Since the implementation of the exemption law, the suffering of the people has been alleviated, and the revised exemption law has been praised by everyone from top to bottom, so it has been vigorously promoted.
As for the Qingmiao Law and the Shimao Law, although Zhang Yue did not abolish them, he relaxed the jurisdiction of the local Tizhu Si through the judgement of the Sinong Temple. At the same time, he gave up the assessment of county officials and reduced the suppression of marriages and official forced buying and selling.
The commercial vitality of the people was greatly restored. In Chen Mu's words, industry and commerce were booming, but the court's income was a little less.
Zhang Yue still vigorously promotes the Farmland Water Conservancy Law.
Xue Xiang revised the Baojia system, exempting the upper shift. Except for Hebei and Shaanxi, the scale of the system was reduced in other places.
This has been Zhang Yue’s attitude towards the new law during his two years in office. After all, the New Party is very powerful, and Zhang Yue cannot make too big changes to avoid causing unnecessary controversy.
Taking advantage of the great victory in Liangzhou, Zhang Yue continued to reduce taxes and labor service for the people, and at the same time revitalized industry and commerce. For a large country or a large organization, the cause of its demise is often internal, not external.
For Zhang Yue, solving internal problems is far more important than solving external problems.
Chen Mu said: "Prime Minister, compared with the exemption law, the market exchange law and the green seedling law are simply evil laws. They can not only fail to eliminate the families of annexation, but also increase the number of officials who seek credit, causing the people to lose their homes and lives."
Zhang Yue listened to Chen Mu's report and said, "You can't say that."
"Jing Gong's original intention of reforming the law was good. Su Ziyou said that Jing Gong was only trying to make things difficult for the rich, and Jing Gong just laughed it off."
"The country has no money, and it is not easy to take from the poor, so it takes from the rich. This is the principle that the people should not be taxed too much so that the country can have enough money. I think there is no need to hide this."
"Jing Gong's mistake was that he was too stubborn. The principles of governing a country and being a human being are the same. You can set a principle in advance, but when dealing with people and things, you must always be able to adapt to the situation and never be stubborn."
"Why do we have to hold on to one thing? That is the same fault that all smart people and talented people in the world will have: pride."
"I think that everything in the world can be accomplished as long as there is determination and perseverance. For example, the opposition to the Market Exchange Law and the Green Seed Law has been boiling among the people. People like Han Gong, Ouyang Gong, Fu Gong, Wen Gong, etc. have been prime ministers for many years, and they all think it is not possible. Even if you have a very brilliant theory, it cannot be applied to the world for a while."
Chen Mu and Cai Bian both claimed yes.
Zhang Yue said to Chen Mu, "I plan to ally with Goryeo to resist Liao. What do you think?"
Since the Dangxiang and the Liao Kingdom have officially formed an alliance, Zhang Yue must also take action.
Chen Mu was sent as an envoy to Goryeo. In the eighth year of Xining, Song and Liao had a dispute over border demarcation. Zhang Yue sent An Tao and Chen Mu to Goryeo to find out the truth and officially restored diplomatic relations with Goryeo.
Why did diplomatic relations between Goryeo and the Song Dynasty cease?
This has to do with the war between Liao and Goryeo.
Starting from the fourth year of Tonghe in Liao Dynasty, Goryeo and Liao fought three wars. Although Liao Dynasty was stronger than Goryeo, it was not easy to fight. The first two times were bitter victories, and the third and last time was defeated by Goryeo.
In this battle, many Liao generals were killed, and only a few thousand of the 100,000 elite Liao troops (Tianyun Army and Pishi Army) escaped.
Afterwards, Liao and Goryeo negotiated peace, but Liao still built Baozhou City east of the Yalu River to threaten Goryeo, and Goryeo built a thousand-mile Great Wall to guard against the Khitan.
Before the three wars between Liao and Goryeo, Goryeo had always pursued a policy of crossing the sea to serve the Song Dynasty in order to fight against the Khitan.
However, after the Song and Liao dynasties signed the Treaty of Chanyuan and before the Liao dynasty launched its second attack on Goryeo, the Song dynasty had already turned to neutrality.
After that, the Liao Kingdom wanted to borrow the Song army to conquer Goryeo. At that time, Empress Dowager Liu E was in power, and she was planning to agree, but was opposed by Prime Minister Lu Yijian and gave up.
After the third war, Goryeo stopped using the reign title of the Song Dynasty and accepted the reign title of the Liao Dynasty. Due to the change of suzerainty, Goryeo and Song Dynasty almost severed their diplomatic relations.
After that, Goryeo almost stopped paying tribute to the Song Dynasty until the fourth year of Xining, when the King of Goryeo sent the civil official Jin Ti to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty. After that, Goryeo paid tribute to the Song Dynasty for four consecutive times.
Chen Mu said: "This Goryeo claims to be named after Goguryeo."
"I heard that there was a period of communication between Goryeo and Liao envoys. The Liao envoy told the Goryeo envoy that your land is Silla, and the land of Goguryeo is mine."
The Goryeo envoy retorted, "No, our country is the old Goryeo, so it is called Goryeo and its capital is Pyongyang. If we talk about the boundaries, Tokyo, the capital of the upper country, is all within our territory, so how can it be called an encroachment? Moreover, the area inside and outside the Yalu River is also within our territory."
"In fact, Goguryeo was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty long ago, and most of its people were captured and taken to China. Now they are just descendants of Silla, and they also call themselves Goryeo."
"However, Fu Zhenggong said that Goryeo claimed to be the descendant of Yi and Qi, the old country of the Three Han, and its culture of poetry, books, etiquette and morality was no less than that of China. The Khitan used military force to control Goryeo; Goryeo also fought hard, but was forced to cede to the Khitan."
Cai Bian asked: "Why did Goryeo take the initiative to interact with China for decades?"
Chen Mu said: "King Wang Hui of Goryeo was friendly to China. It is said that Wang Hui often recited the Avatamsaka Sutra and prayed to be born in China in the next life. One time, Wang Hui dreamed of watching lanterns in Bianjing and wrote a poem. He dreamed of watching lanterns in Bianjing on the Lantern Festival night and asked the envoy whether the scene in his dream was the same as in Bianjing."
"Even the Goryeo court had many officials from the Song dynasty serving in the government. For example, in June of the fourth year of Huangyou, Zhang Ting, a Jinshi from the Song Dynasty, defected to Goryeo. The Goryeo king admired him very much and compared him with Yue Yi, Lu Ji, the two Xies and the three Zhangs, and immediately appointed him as a secretary."
"When I was an envoy to Goryeo, I heard that fifteen officials of our dynasty had served under their ruler."
Cai Bian said: "Since there is a ruler who admires China so much, it is true that poetry, books and etiquette are no less than those in China."
Chen Mu said: "The king was seriously ill before, and he asked the envoy to come to our court to seek medical advice."
"However, since the ruler of the country was not enthroned by our dynasty, but only by the Liao Kingdom, our dynasty calls him the King of Goryeo."
"To be precise, Goryeo cannot be regarded as a foreign country. Goryeo's writing system is all Chinese. When I was sent to Goryeo as an envoy, I felt like a guest at home. Everyone admired my status as an envoy of the Han state."
"I visited the country and found that its Imperial College was completely modeled after the Song Dynasty, following the teaching method of Hu Yuan after Xining reformed the Imperial College."
"The Minister of Internal Affairs, Cui Chong, also founded a private school, Jiuzhai Academy. He is known as the Confucius of the East China Sea. I heard that he has so many students that the streets are filled with them. In addition to Cui Chong, there are many Confucian scholars who can speak Chinese. They are also very respectful to me and ask for advice on classics. They are all respectful like students."
"In fact, in my opinion, their knowledge of classics is not bad, but their poetry is not worth mentioning."
When he said this, Chen Mu couldn't help but regard himself as the Celestial Empire, and a sense of superiority arose spontaneously.
After hearing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help but sigh that this is the influence of ideology. There is no need to build any place for cultural exchange. People all over Goryeo are worshipping the rules and regulations of your Song Dynasty.
The monarch himself was a fan of the Song Dynasty and would rather risk offending the Liao Dynasty than send envoys to China to pay tribute and seek advice.
However, relations between countries do not rely solely on one ideology.
Zhang Yue said: "The country of Goryeo is ambitious. There is a famous saying in the country, first get the chickens, then get the ducks. It means first get the chickens, then get the ducks."
"It regarded itself as the successor of Silla (Gyerim) internally and as Goguryeo externally."
Zhang Yue's few words shook Chen Mu back from his favorable impression of Goryeo. In fact, it was a remarkable thing that Goryeo could defeat Liao and maintain its independence.
In history, the level of Goryeo's monarchs and ministers was not low. On the Korean Peninsula, Khitan, Goryeo, and Jurchen were also three kingdoms. Goryeo always wanted to annex Jurchen and compete with Liao.
Goryeo obtained a part of Jurchen land (the Six Cities of Jiangdong) through the Liao Kingdom, which not only helped the Liao Kingdom weaken the power of the Jurchens, but also expanded its own strength.
Later, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty always wanted to contact the Jurchens to fight against the Liao Kingdom. The Goryeo envoys secretly warned the Song Dynasty through medical officers that the Jurchens had evil ambitions and that they must never form an alliance with them. The correct choice was to join forces with the Liao Kingdom to fight against the Jurchens.
Unfortunately, Song Huizong didn't listen.
Zhang Yue said: "Since the King of Goryeo is seeking medical advice, our dynasty should send an envoy and a doctor to visit him."
"I heard that the ruler of that country admired Su Shi, so he sent Su Shi to Goryeo and gave him a thousand pieces of beji cloth!"
Zhang Yue thought, since the Liao Kingdom is determined to protect the Dangxiang and form an alliance in this way, then don’t blame the Song Dynasty for forming an alliance with Goryeo.
Su Shi's personal charm is not only in China, he also has many fans in Goryeo and Japan. It would be perfect for him to be the envoy.
Of course, ideology cannot be used as food, and exchanges between countries must also be based on interests.
The cotton cloth produced in such large quantities was just the right means to open the door to Goryeo.