Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 637
At the same time when the Song and Xia countries were competing for the Hetao, the emperor of the Liao Kingdom, Yelu Hongji, was in Liaoyang Prefecture, Tokyo, receiving the Japanese Emperor Yuzhang Fujiwara, who was on an envoy to the Liao Kingdom.

Yelu Hongji sent an envoy to Heian-kyo last year. He knew that the Fujiwara family was the real ruler in Japan. This Fujiwara Yuzaki was the second heir of the Fujiwara family and had a very high status in the family. Yelu Hongji also treated him with great courtesy .

Interestingly, no one in Liao could speak Japanese, and no one in Japan could speak Khitan. They found a common language, which was Chinese.

Fortunately, the envoys from the Liao Kingdom who went to Ping'an capital last year could speak Chinese, so they avoided the embarrassment of being unable to communicate.

In the newly completed Tokyo Imperial Palace, Fujiwara Yuzhang held a ceremony and solemnly presented the letter of credence and Guanbai letter to Yelu Hongji.

Yelu Hongji immediately hosted a banquet for the Japanese envoy and his party.

Yelu Hongji speaks Chinese very well. He speaks Chinese directly, and Yuzaki Fujiwara speaks Japanese, which is translated by a Japanese official who is proficient in Chinese.

"It seems that Mr. Fujiwara can also speak Chinese?" Yelu Hongji asked with a smile.

Yuzaki Fujiwara bowed slightly, and said solemnly: "The children of Japanese nobles have been required to learn Chinese and the culture of the Central Plains since childhood. This has been the case since the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It has always been a tradition. Of course I can also learn Chinese."

The translator next to him translated his words into Chinese, and Yelu Hongji nodded with a smile, "In this case, why don't we all talk in Chinese?"

Fujiwara Yuzhang explained: "I don't learn Chinese very well. As a national envoy, I am afraid of using the wrong words and causing unnecessary misunderstandings, so try to be cautious and not use foreign languages."

Yelu Hongji laughed loudly, "That's right, this is a qualified emissary and should not cause unnecessary misunderstanding."

Yelu Yixin next to him asked with a smile: "Our emperor is very concerned about Japan's shipbuilding industry. I don't know what the level of Japanese shipbuilding is?"

Yuzaki Fujiwara shook his head, "Japan can build small offshore ships, but not large cross-sea ships. The ships we take are still purchased from the Song Dynasty."

Yelu Hongji's eyes lit up, and he asked with a wine cup in his hand, "Can you buy ships from the Song Dynasty at will?"

"We can only buy ships under [-] shi, and the price is very expensive, three times the purchase price of their Song Dynasty people. There is no way, the goods sold by the Song Dynasty to Japan are much more expensive than their homeland."

Yelu Hongji quickly gave Yelu Yixin a wink, Yelu Yixin understood, he knew how to do business with Japan.

The Japanese envoy was arranged in the expensive hotel, and Fujiwara Yuzaki backed away, and then complained to the translation official: "I said I can't pretend to be an envoy, but Mr. Fan insisted on letting me do it. Today, I leaked a sentence of Chinese, and I was almost exposed."

Of course, this Fujiwara Yuzhang is not the real Fujiwara Yuzhang. His real identity is Yu Xiaonian, the North Overseas Economic Strategy Envoy, who was ordered to pretend to be a Japanese envoy.

Of course, the credentials and ceremonial clothes he carried were all real. This was a secret deal between Fan Ning and Fujiwara Jiaotong. The Song Dynasty supported the Fujiwara family against the Minamoto family, and Fujiwara Jiaotong cooperated with the Song Dynasty to implement strategic deception against the Liao Kingdom.

The translator is Cheng Qing, deputy envoy of Beihai Economic Strategy, and several attendants are officials from the Economic Strategy Mansion pretending to be.

Cheng Qing smiled slightly and said, "Didn't Mr. Yu explain it very well? Japanese nobles have to learn Chinese and Chinese characters. It is normal to be able to speak fluent Chinese."

Yu Xiaonian took a sip of his wine and said, "I saw it today. Yelu Hongji wanted to buy Song Army warships through us, but Mr. Fan guessed it right. I really don't understand. How could Mr. Fan be so shrewd?"

"The problem lies with Yelu Yixin. It is the topic he brought up. Guo Kui said that they have already bribed an important minister in the Liao Kingdom. I suspect it is Yelu Yixin."

"This makes sense. It is estimated that Mr. Fan wanted to use inferior ships to ruthlessly kill the Liao Kingdom. When the naval battle broke out, tens of thousands of Liao troops followed the ships and sank to the bottom of the sea. That scene was really spectacular."

At this moment, a report came from outside, "Yelu Xiangguo is here!"

Yu Xiaonian immediately switched to Japanese and said with a smile: "Zaemon, the mutton from the Liao Dynasty is delicious, we should bring some more when we go back."

Yelv Yixin walked in quickly, and said with a smile, "Mr. Fujiwara seems to be in a good mood."

Cheng Qing said in Chinese: "My young master thinks the Liao mutton is very good, and it is very fragrant when roasted, so I plan to take some back."

"That's easy. When you leave, take as much as you can."

Yu Xiaonian said in very poor Chinese: "Thank you very much!"

Yelv Yixin laughed loudly, "It's a little effort, thank you!"

He put away his smile and said slowly: "My son of heaven wants to exchange pig iron for the three thousand stone and five thousand stone ships of the Song Dynasty, and you will buy them for us. Is this plan feasible?"

Yu Xiaonian pretended to ponder and said: "Yes, but the big boat is very expensive. If you want more, how much do you want?"

"Expensive is not a problem. We will increase the price by [-]% on top of your purchase price. As your profit, we want fifty large ships of three thousand stones and twenty large ships of five thousand stones. Can we do it?"

Yu Xiaonian said: "The Great Song Dynasty will not sell us so many ships at one time, it will take at least two or three years to buy them slowly, but let me first declare that this is not a trade with Japan, but a business between our Fujiwara family and the Liao Kingdom , Japan has an agreement with the Great Song Dynasty and cannot sell strategic materials to the Liao Kingdom, so let the Japanese court not know about it.”

Yelu Yixin readily agreed, "This is no problem, are there any other difficulties?"

Yu Xiaonian pondered for a while and said: "There is also the Fujiwara family of the pig iron of the Liao Kingdom who also intends to purchase through Guo Huaixin. It is best not to have direct contact with both parties, so as not to affect the relationship between Japan and the Song Dynasty, and affect the purchase of ships."

Yelu Yixin was not surprised at all. The Japanese envoy was invited by Guo Huaixin. He believed that some kind of deal had been reached between them. Yelu Yixin even suspected that Japan bought the big ship of the Song Dynasty through Guo Huaixin.

Of course Yelu Yixin would not object, if the pig iron was sold directly to Japan, who would give him a kickback?He himself had to do the business through Guo Huaixin.

It's a bit funny to think about it. The Liao Kingdom and Japan traded strategic materials, but they used a Song Dynasty businessman as a toothman, but there was no way, one for profit and one for bureaucracy.

The two discussed the details for a while, then got up to leave.

Coming out of the expensive hotel, Yelu Yixin hurried back to the palace. Today is not the time to discuss business. The general direction of Japan's trade will be determined first.

In the living hall, Yelu Hongji listened to Yelu Yixin's report and laughed, "Sure enough, Chinese is not very good. It's a bit specious. He actually said thank you very much. He actually wanted to say thank you very much!"

"It should be! The Japanese envoys have agreed to His Majesty's request to buy ships from Da Song for us, but they proposed that the trade of pig iron and ships should be done by private individuals."

Yelu Hongji frowned, a little puzzled and said, "Why do you want to take the route of private trade instead of the normal trade between the two countries?"

"Your Majesty, the key point is that the traded goods are more sensitive. It doesn't matter if it is a normal trade of goods, but what we want to buy is a ship from Da Song. Once Da Song finds out, it will inevitably cut off trade with Japan. Japan will not be able to bear the burden." It is also for the Liao Kingdom to obtain ships smoothly, so I think it is acceptable to make a little change, anyway, the nature of warships coming to Liao will not change."

"Okay! I only care about whether the ship can be delivered smoothly. You can discuss with the other party how to do it, and you don't need to report it to me."

Yelu Yixin said again: "I made an estimate. In order to get back the ships needed by His Majesty, and at the same time ensure that the Liao army is ready for war, we must increase pig iron mining and smelting, and we must invest another [-] Han people."

"Quasi-playing! You are solely responsible for the arrangements."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Yelu Hongji picked up a letter on the table and handed it to Yelu Yixin, "This is a letter from the Empress Dowager Liang of Xixia, asking to join us in attacking the Song Army in Hetao and Yulin. What do you think?"

After reading the letter, Yelu Yixin sneered and said, "If Xixia can't even keep the Hetao, we don't need such a covenant. Judging from the tone of the letter, there is neither respect nor pleading from the subordinates, nor does it raise any questions. Compensating the Liao Kingdom and directly asking us to send troops like this, Xixia obviously believes that it is our responsibility for the Song army to enter Hetao, so they ask us to bear the consequences together."

Yelu Hongji read the letter again, and it was true what Yelu Yixin said. He was really dissatisfied, and said coldly: "Liao Kingdom and Song Dynasty exchanged land, there is no need to inform Xixia, they were negligent in defense and lost the Hetao. In the end, she came to accuse us, who does she think she is, that she can control me?"

Yelu Yixin said again in a low voice: "My minister heard that this woman has a great desire for power and is aggressive, why not use Xixia to weaken the national power of the Song Dynasty, and wait until we put down the Jurchen and grassland rebellion and stabilize the domestic political situation, then slowly It's not too late to clean up Da Song."

Everyone has an illusion when facing adversity, thinking that the adversity is temporary, and the situation will gradually get better after getting over it. In fact, only a few survive, and the situation of the vast majority of people will only get worse.

Yelu Hongji is no exception. Now that Daliao has encountered various difficulties, he does not reflect on his own problems, but blindly shifts the responsibility to the Chongyuan Rebellion, because Yelu Chongyuan's rebellion shook the state system, which led to the internal chaos of the Liao Kingdom. The split affected the Liao army and economy.

He nodded, "Ai Qing is right, when I put down the rebellion in the north and stabilize the court situation, I will go back and deal with the children of the Song Dynasty, and double the old coins owed to me."

(End of this chapter)