Song Gexing

Chapter 258 Two happy events
The good day of double happiness has arrived again. Without waiting for the reply from Xiugasi and Nianba Gebu, the Song Dynasty received two pieces of good news.

One is that the Khan in the eastern part of the Black Khanate sent people to contact Liu Changzuo, expressing his willingness to submit to the Song Dynasty, accept the canonization and pay tribute on time, as a subsidiary state.

Another news came back from Liu Yisun. The Song army had completely established itself on Sakhalin Island and entered the lower reaches of Heilongjiang. It successfully opened up wasteland in the area near the outlet.

On the south bank of the lower reaches, at a dangerous pass thirty miles away from the mouth of the sea, the Song army built a fortress. Although the three fortresses were not large, they supported each other in the shape of a finished glyph and were considered to be rooted there.

Liu Yisun recruited [-] Ainu people and [-] Feyaka people to join the Song army and organized them to open up wasteland and cultivate land. The report said that although there were many mountains there, there were also plains suitable for land reclamation.

Zhao Fang knows this better than Liu Yisun. In his previous life, he was a Russian anti-fan. Every time he thought of more than 160 million square kilometers of territory being invaded by Tsarist Russia, he was so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe.

He has a clear memory of all the unequal treaties between China and Russia. He has consulted the information on which territories have been lost and what the situation was there.

The central and southern parts of Sakhalin Island are mountainous, but the northern third of the entire island is plain. The south coast of the Heilongjiang estuary is the end of the mountains, but there are large areas of plains and hills on the north coast.

The Nuergan City of the Yuan Dynasty was also where the Nuergan Dusi of the Ming Dynasty was located. In the Qing Dynasty, it was called Temple Street, which was located [-] kilometers from the entrance to the sea on the north bank.

It is not only a plain, but also a port. There are villages nearly [-] kilometers away from the estuary.

Therefore, after Zhao Fang received the news, he immediately responded and asked Liu Yisun to occupy the north bank and build a military dock and logistics storage area 150 miles deep.

And the climate there is not cold, not much colder than in the Northeast, because the Tatar Strait is the intersection of cold and warm air currents, and it actually has a temperate monsoon climate.

On the contrary, the inner interior is very cold. It has a temperate climate in the northern interior, with a huge temperature difference.

When it comes to the direction of Heilongjiang, it is even colder because the two mountain ranges in the northeast and outer northeast are on the seaside, blocking the flow of warm ocean air from entering the inland.

The Changbai Mountains are wedged between the Lesser Khingan Mountains and the Xihot Mountains, which is equivalent to connecting the Xihot Mountains and directly blocking the ocean.

Heilongjiang was blocked by the Xihot Mountains and could not directly enter the sea, so it detoured northward, followed the direction of the Xihot Mountains, and then turned into the sea at the end.

As a result, the climate outside the mountains is actually warmer. Although it is still much colder than the south, it is possible to grow food for one season in the northeast, so it is also possible there.

Russia did not cultivate land there, not because they didn't want to but because there were no people there. After occupying it, Tsarist Russia massacred a total of 30 Chinese people and a small number of Japanese and Koreans. There were still people farming.

Tsarist Russia had a small population to begin with, and the Ukrainian plains were enough for them to cultivate, so they would not go to the far east to open up wasteland.

As for Zhao Fang of the Black Khanate, he didn't really care.Although they had no grudges with Da Song in the first place and instead showed goodwill, he knew that it was only temporary.

The Black Khanate once sent people to have official exchanges with the Song Dynasty. Those who passed by Qingsiluo Qingtang sent their credentials as congratulations to the uncle of the official family of the Song Dynasty, which was considered a sign of respect.

This title originated from the Khan who the princess of the Tang Dynasty married to them, so they called the emperor of the Tang Dynasty their uncle, and this continued into the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, later Western historians also listed the Black Khan Dynasty, Liao Kingdom and Song Dynasty together and called them China, which was equivalent to acknowledging that these three parties were Chinese territories, but they were just doing their own thing.This is also the greatest contribution of the Black Khanate to Chinese history, because they have always recognized themselves as a branch of the Central Plains Dynasty and maintained China's territory so that Westerners could not find evidence of splitting China.

But Zhao Fang was dissatisfied with them because they did not use Chinese characters like the Liao and Jin countries. They used Arabicized Turkic characters as their official characters.

In fact, it is easy for the descendants to separate. If Xiliao was not established later and Yelv Dashi annexed them, they might have completely separated.

After all, they have gone farther and farther culturally, and the glory of their ancestors has gradually been eroded by Arabization, and they have forgotten that they were once one of the most valiant soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, Zhao Fang still agreed to their willingness to accept the canonization. This was different from their original belief that they were on equal footing with the Liao and Song Dynasties, and had already lowered their status.

Besides, the Song Dynasty has no intention of unifying the Western Regions so soon. This troublemaker of the Liao Kingdom will definitely not sit idly by and do nothing. The Song Dynasty is not sure of swallowing the Liao Dynasty yet, so it is better to discuss this matter in the long term.

Therefore, in September of the fourth year of Xining, Zhao Fang wrote to Yelu Hongji, asking the three countries to sit down and talk to end the war in the Western Regions.

At this time, Luo Savin, the envoy of the Eastern Khan of the Black Khanate, was already in Bianjing City. Zhao Fang also summoned him and negotiated the canonization of the contemporary Eastern Khan as the loyal and obedient Black Han King.

This title actually existed in history. It was also conferred by Song Renzong Zhao Zhen in the past few years, but Zhao Fang's title lacked the three words "Anvil Xunlin".

Gui Zhong Bao Shun Zun Xun Lin Black Khan King, this is the title that the eastern Khan of the Black Khanate himself wrote to request Zhao Zhen to give him. Zhao Fang subtracted three characters to canonize him, telling him to follow the rules of Han culture.

Those three words are completely contrary to Han culture. The Han people have no idea what they mean. Since you want the Song Dynasty to recognize it as a vassal state, you naturally want the people of the Song Dynasty to understand the meaning of your title.

And Zhao Fang also has requirements for them, otherwise why would he stand up for you and challenge the Liao State? After all, the Liao State has a reason to attack you.

Because when Khotan was destroyed, you did not give face to the Liao State. The Liao State sent [-] herdsmen, but you still destroyed Khotan, and Khotan asked the Liao State for help.

Zhao Fang's conditions are not harsh either. They require the Black Khanate to give up persecuting heretics. Religious freedom is a must. You cannot force the people to be like you just because of what you believe in.

This is the reason why Zhao Fang was unwilling to pay attention to them in the first place. You are creating division for future generations. The Chinese nation spent so much effort to fight out of the quagmire of the Yin and Shang Dynasties where ghosts and gods were supreme.

The greatest contribution of Emperor Zhou to the Chinese nation was to free the Chinese nation from ignorance. Otherwise, why would Saint Kong abandon Yin Shang culture and respect Zhou culture despite being a descendant of the Yin and Shang royal family?

It is precisely because he knows that if ghosts and gods are supreme, then people are like pigs and dogs, and can be slaughtered alive as sacrifices at any time.

In fact, this was the biggest reason why King Zhou of Shang Dynasty was destroyed. King Zhou had actually realized this, so he abolished human burial and replaced it with the production of pottery figurines.

But his actions touched the interests of the Yin and Shang nobles. To put it bluntly, King Zhou of Shang was overthrown because of reforms, and King Wu of Zhou just took a big advantage.

(End of this chapter)