I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 445: Ally with Song to destroy Liao? Our Song Dynasty does not need such a weak ally

On the eighth day of August, the scorching heat gradually subsides.

In the public election among the people of Bianjing City, the matter of Diao Qing also came to a conclusion.

Nearly 70% of the people are opposed to the ban on folk carving.

This result was already expected by Zhao Zhen, and this public opinion also shut up the ceremonial officials.

At the same time, Kaifeng Prefecture issued regulations.

People under the age of sixteen are prohibited from wearing tattoos, and people are prohibited from going shirtless on the streets to attract attention.

A folk art of carving.

The imperial court respected the people's preferences and did not prohibit them, but it also did not encourage them.

The punishment of tattooing and exile.

After discussion among the ministers, it was completely abandoned and replaced by hard labor and exile.

The current Song Dynasty army no longer needs criminals to join the army, and tattooing on the face will make it difficult for criminals to reform.

The laws of the Song Dynasty became more and more respectful of the people.

However, those who commit crimes will be brought to justice and no one can use their privileges to reduce their sentences.

……

afternoon.

The Bianhe Wharf is noisy and busy.

On a merchant ship that had just docked, many people walked down, chatting and laughing.

Among them, there are three people.

They were dressed luxuriously but looked not very clean. One was tall, one was strong and one was fat, all with dark skin.

They looked around curiously, and from their expressions one could tell that it was their first time in Bian Jing.

The fat young man and the tall young man suddenly saw two young ladies not far away. Their eyes widened and they immediately chased after them.

The fat young man murmured, "This...this Song Dynasty...the women in Song Dynasty are so sexy!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

Just when the two were about to catch up.

The sturdy young man in the middle stretched out his hand and slapped both of them on the head.

"Get down to business!" the strong young man glared, then took the lead and walked forward. The tall and fat young men hurriedly followed.

Not long after.

The three of them came to the front of a carriage.

The strong young man looked at the driver and said, "Driver, take us into the city!"

"May I ask where the three of you are going after entering the city? Bianjing City is so big, there must be a specific destination!"

"Go...go..." The strong young man took out a string of money from his pocket and threw it to the driver, saying, "Go into the city first, and stop only when I tell you to!"

"Okay!" The driver took the money and quickly put down the riding stool.

……

About an hour later.

A carriage was driving on Baokangmen Street.

The three young men were all leaning against the car windows, looking at everything around them excitedly.

"Brother, Bianjing City is... too prosperous. It's simply a paradise on earth. No wonder those Khitan people are clamoring to go south every day!"

"It would be worth my life if I could spend some time here!"

The two young men, one fat and one tall, couldn't help but sigh.

"Shut up! We are here to do great things, not to eat, drink and hang out. As long as we work hard enough, we can make this Bianjing city belong to us and make everyone here our slaves!" said the strong young man in a low voice.

The fat young man and the tall young man nodded in approval, and then fell silent.

After a while.

The three got off the carriage and found an inn to stay in.

After a big meal.

The three of them gathered in the room of the strong young man.

The fat young man said excitedly: "Brother, can we meet the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty tomorrow? Will he... entertain us with a state banquet? Will he reward us with a few beauties for us to take back? I heard that the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is very generous!"

The strong young man glared at him.

"I've changed my mind. If we go to see the Emperor of the Song Dynasty as usual, we will most likely be discovered by Khitan spies. Our identities cannot be revealed."

"Also, I think the Song Dynasty may not take us too seriously. We must first do something to make them think that we are also very strong!"

"What are you doing?" asked the tall young man.

The strong young man rubbed his nose and looked at the two of them.

"Who among the Song people do the Khitans fear the most at this moment?"

"Bao Zheng!"

The two said almost in unison that they knew very few people from the Song Dynasty, and that Bao Zheng had been sent as an envoy to the Liao Kingdom and his reputation spread throughout the Liao territory.

The strong young man shook his head.

"No! It was Bao Zheng before, and now it's the censor who captured Yelu Chongyuan and made Yelu Hongji willing to call him his teacher, Su Liang!"

"I'll give you two days. You must find out Su Liang's route in the city, and then we will capture him! After we capture Su Liang, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty will see how powerful we are, and the Song Dynasty will no longer look down on us! And if our people know that we bullied Su Liang, who bullied the Khitans, they will definitely regard us as heroes in the tribe!"

"Brother, you are really smart! But, there are so many people in Bianjing City, how can we find him?" The fat young man said with a sneer.

"You idiot!"

The young man took off the pouch from his waist and took out a handful of crystal clear beads from it. He said, "As long as you have money, you can find anyone and do anything! I have already asked on the boat, and this bead can be sold for at least a hundred coins!"

The young man took out the northern pearls produced in Heihe (Heilongjiang) in Northeast China.

Northern pearls are round and crystal clear, larger and fuller than ordinary pearls, and can emit colorful luster. They are high-end luxury items.

A full-inch large northern pearl could be worth up to two or three thousand strings of cash.

Although the northern pearls in the young man's hand are smaller and of poorer quality, each one can still be sold for hundreds of coins.

……

Two days later, early in the morning.

In the admonition courtyard.

Su Liang was reading the recent court newspaper when one of his personal guards walked in quickly.

"Boss, someone has been secretly investigating your whereabouts these past two days, and someone even followed your carriage this morning."

"who?"

"They are most likely not from the Song Dynasty. The people I sent have been following them. Judging from their words and actions, they may be from the Liao Dynasty or the Western Xia Dynasty. They don't look very smart and don't know much about the situation in Bianjing, but they are rich. They will exchange Northern Pearls for money!"

Su Liang put the court report aside.

"What are they going to do? Assassinate me? That shouldn't be the case!" Su Liang was a little confused.

At this moment, Xixia and Liao were absolutely unwilling to provoke the Song Dynasty.

They were well aware of Su Liang's importance to the Song Dynasty. If Su Liang was assassinated, it would most likely lead to war.

Su Liang thought for a while.

"Don't alert them yet. I will be home late today, so keep a certain distance from me. Just hide a few brothers in the carriage and see what they are up to first."

"Understood." The personal guard retreated immediately.

……

And this moment.

In an inn.

The fat young man, the tall young man and the strong young man gathered together.

"Brother, money makes things easier! We have got Su Liang's portrait, Su Liang's walking route, and the time he returns home. We can start tonight!" said the fat young man excitedly.

Little did they know that their investigation was all being conducted under the surveillance of the Imperial City Bureau.

In the city of Bianjing, three outsiders paid money to buy intelligence. They could buy intelligence, but they would also sell their own information at the same time.

The tall young man also said happily: "Su Liang is accompanied by only one groom, but there are many patrol officers in Kaifeng Prefecture, so we must capture him quickly!"

The fat young man patted his chest.

"There are only four or five yamen runners. We can get away. We fight the Khitans with one against three. The Khitans say they fight the Song people with one against two. So we can fight six Song people with one! The three of us can fight eighteen Song people. We are not afraid at all!"

The strong young man nodded. What he was most confident in was the fighting ability of the three people.

"We will take action tonight. We will capture Su Liang and take him to a secluded place. We will kill him and then ask him to meet with the Emperor of Song. We will then release him. We must not cause any loss of life. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the fat and tall young men answered at the same time.

……

As night falls, the sky gradually darkens.

On the streets of Bianjing City, the lights of the merchants gradually lit up, while some deserted alleys became darker and darker.

Su Liang sat in a carriage and headed home.

Inside the carriage.

In addition to Su Liang, there are three imperial guards with superb martial arts skills.

Su Liang’s requirement was to capture them alive and prevent the three from committing suicide.

Soon, the carriage arrived at an alley.

"boom!"

"boom!"

A wooden stick in front and a wooden stick in the back suddenly appeared across the front and back of the carriage.

One person appeared behind the carriage and two people appeared in front of the carriage.

Uncle Ji, who was driving the carriage, quickly pulled the reins, looked at the two people in front, and asked, "Who are you?"

The two people in front rushed towards the carriage without saying a word, and the one behind was holding a sack and a rope.

this moment.

Three imperial guards immediately got out of the carriage and fought one at a time.

Both sides were unarmed.

Su Liang opened the door curtain, thinking that based on the fighting power of the three imperial guards, he would be able to defeat the enemy in one move and capture all three of them.

Who would have thought that the fight would turn out to be a back-and-forth fight?

The three attackers did not use any routine moves.

However, they were strong and fierce. When the three of them fought, they liked to use elbows, knees, necks and bites.

The way they fight is like three mad dogs.

Although the three imperial guards had the upper hand, Su Liang asked to keep him alive, so they did not dare to kill him and found it difficult to subdue him for a while.

soon.

The imperial guards who followed behind rushed over, there were more than a dozen of them.

Everyone rushed forward, quickly pinned the three men to the ground, and tied their hands and feet.

At this time.

The strong young man shouted: "Su Yushi, we are descendants of the Heishui Mohe, we are one family!"

"Heishui Mohe? Are you Jurchens?" Su Liang exclaimed.

During the Tang Dynasty.

The tribes in the Heishui (Heilongjiang) River basin were collectively called Heishui Mohe and were under the supervision of the Tang Dynasty.

Later, after the Khitans established the Liao Dynasty, they called the descendants of the Heishui Mohe tribe the Jurchens.

And began to divide and rule the Jurchens.

The powerful and influential families were assigned to the Liaodong Peninsula, and a household registration system was created for them, calling them the Jurchens.

The other part of the people stayed in the Heishui River Basin, namely the Shengnuzhen.

This person called himself Heishui Mohe, not Jurchen, and obviously did not obey the management of the Liao Kingdom.

Su Liang looked at the sack and rope on the ground and realized that the three men wanted to kidnap him.

He thought for a moment and said, "Give him a brief beating to prevent him from escaping, and then send him to Kaifeng Prefecture!"

Then, the painful howls of three people were heard in the alley.

What Su Liang meant by "a brief beating" actually meant beating him half to death.

Jurchen.

When Su Liang heard these three words, he felt very disgusted.

Compared with the Khitans, the Jurchens of the time were complete barbarians.

They still have animal nature and often fight with wild beasts in the forest for food, and fight between tribes.

Children as young as six or seven years old can kick a dead person's head for fun. They are simply a group of uncivilized barbarians.

The perpetrators of the Jingkang Shame were their direct descendants.

……

Half an hour later, Kaifeng Prefecture.

The three men, with bruised faces and noses, were tied up and appeared in the side hall of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Bao Zheng sat in the front, Su Liang sat on one side, and there were scribes and yamen runners standing or sitting on both sides.

When the three men realized that the person in front of them was Bao Zheng, their legs immediately went weak.

In Liao territory.

The two most famous people are Su Liang and Bao Zheng.

They have seen Su Liang's cruelty, and now it's time to experience Bao Zheng's cruelty.

Bao Zheng looked serious as he looked at the three people.

"From now on, you must answer whatever I ask you, and you must not lie!"

The three of them nodded in fear.

"Who are you? What's your name? Where are you from? What are you doing in Bianjing?"

The strong young man looked around.

"Master Bao, can you please dismiss the people around you? No one else can know what I said."

Bao Zheng said coldly: "There are no outsiders here, the matter will not be leaked, you can speak directly!"

The young man had no choice but to tell the truth.

"My name is Liji, and the other two are Awu and Agu. We are the Heishui people, descendants of the Heishui Mohe, which is what the Khitans call the Jurchens.

"My father's name is Ke Meng, and he is the chief of the Black Water Tribe. We came here by crossing the sea, and it took us nearly three months to reach Bianjing City. We have something very important to discuss with His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!"

"Do you have any identification?" Bao Zheng asked.

"Yes... there is a letter my father wrote to His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."

"Where is the letter?"

"The letter... the letter... is in the inn where I am staying now, Lefuju."

Bao Zheng looked at a yamen runner, who immediately understood and ran towards Lefuju.

"Since you are meeting the emperor of the Song Dynasty, according to the convention, you should go to the Honglu Temple to declare your identity, and the officials will handle it. Don't you know the rules? Why don't you follow the rules and assassinate Su Sijian?"

"No...no...no, we didn't assassinate Su Sijian!"

"If we go to the Honglu Temple, we are worried that the Khitan spies will know about it. The things I talked about with the Emperor of the Song Dynasty must not be known to the Khitans, so I thought of privately looking for Su Sijian to convey it to me!"

"Convey the message on behalf of others? Do you need a sack and a rope to convey the message on behalf of others? If you don't tell the truth, I will beat you to death on the grounds of assassinating Su Sijian and spying on our national conditions. You are just a small tribe!" Bao Zheng said with a dark face.

Upon hearing this, he was beaten to death.

Rigid said quickly: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you."

"I... After I arrived in Bianjing City, I didn't expect it to be so prosperous. I was worried that the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty would look down on my Black Water Tribe. I... So I thought about capturing Su Sijian first, establishing his authority, and then having him report to the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty."

"In this way, we have demonstrated our strength. When we return, if our tribe members know that we have captured Su Liang, who was regarded as a teacher by Yelu Hongji and who captured the Liao King Yelu Chongyuan, we will also be regarded as heroes by our tribe members."

"I... We absolutely have no intention of harming Su Sijian. Even if I have a hundred guts, I would not dare to harm Su Yushi's life! We are here to form an alliance with the Song Dynasty!"

……

Li Ji explained anxiously, fearing that Bao Zheng would kill them.

Bao Zheng looked at Su Liang, and Su Liang nodded slightly.

This group of people really don't have the courage.

If they really dared to assassinate Su Liang and thus create conflicts between Song and Liao, in order to avoid war, Liao would definitely arrest all the members of the Heishui tribe and make amends to Song.

Bao Zheng looked at the three people and said, "After receiving the letter, I will report to the emperor. As for you, you should stay in the prison before the emperor replies!"

Bao Zheng waved his hand and asked the bailiffs to take the three people away.

……

The next morning, inside the Chuigong Hall.

The ministers of the two governments and three ministries, Bao Zheng and Su Liang, were all in the hall.

The letter from the Heishui tribe leader Kemeng was originally written in Khitan, but has now been translated into Chinese.

All the ministers had seen it, and Zhao Zhen was currently reading it.

Ke Meng proposed that the Heishui tribe was willing to unite the six tribes in the Heishui River basin, totaling more than 8,000 people, to ally with the Song Dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty. The Song Dynasty only needed to attack Yanyun to tie down the Liao troops. After they gained momentum, other Jurchen tribes would also rebel. By then, it would be easy to destroy the Liao Dynasty.

After the matter was accomplished, they were willing to return the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Song Dynasty and also give up ten more prefectures.

After Zhao Zhen finished reading it, he looked down and asked, "What do you think?"

Privy Councilor Di Qing was the first to step forward.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Jurchens and Khitans are birds of a feather. They are both untrustworthy and cannot be allies. If we destroy Liao, we can completely wipe out the Khitans and Jurchens!"

When Wen Yanbo heard this, he walked out immediately.

"Prime Minister Di Shu's words do sound encouraging, but they are not a good idea! I think we can temporarily form an alliance with the Jurchens. Although the Liao Kingdom has been on the decline in recent years, its cavalry is still there. It will be easier to destroy Liao by attacking from both sides. When the war starts, even if the Jurchens are not strong enough to destroy Liao, we can still take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. This method saves money and effort, and it is completely feasible!"

At this time, Zhang Fangping walked out with his chest puffed out.

"Your Majesty, the Jurchens were born in the Black Mountains and Black Waters. I heard that they often fight with wild beasts and are very barbaric and cruel. It is shameful for our great country to form an alliance with them. There is no need for that. I oppose it!"

"I second the motion!" Song Xiang on the side bowed.

Followed by.

Wang Yaochen, the Third Chief of Staff, stood up.

"Back then, Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji once said: If there are less than 10,000 Jurchens, they are invincible. Although there are not many Jurchens, their fighting power is still very strong. I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we should form an alliance!"

As soon as Wang Yaochen finished speaking, Zeng Gongliang stood up.

"I think we must not form an alliance. Otherwise, we might just invite in wolves. The growing Jurchens might be a bigger threat to us than the Liao. They are too bloodthirsty and aggressive!"

……

The ministers expressed their opinions one after another, and the split was almost evenly split between those who opposed and those who supported the alliance.

After the gentlemen finished speaking, Bao Zheng spoke.

"Your Majesty, I think there is no need to form an alliance. We can just sit back and watch the internal fighting between the Khitans and the Jurchens. Their conflicts are greater than our conflicts with the Liao. Moreover, it is really shameful for a great country like ours to form an alliance with a tribe that still eats raw meat and drinks blood!"

Bao Zheng also disliked the Jurchens.

Then, Zhao Zhen looked at Su Liang.

In the entire hall, Su Liang was the only one who had not spoken.

In the eyes of Su Liang, the second emperor, the Jurchens were more terrifying than the Khitans.

Su Liang is definitely unwilling to form an alliance.

Even if there was no alliance, Su Liang was afraid that the Jurchens would defeat the Khitans and then grow rapidly to become the strongest enemy of the Song Dynasty.

Because of Su Liang, the Liao Kingdom went through a lot of turmoil. First there was the political reform, then there was the dispute between the crown prince and the eldest prince. The country was already very weak.

Even without the help of the Song Dynasty, Su Liang felt that the brutal Jurchens could bring down the Khitans.

Su Liang thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I also think we cannot form an alliance. First, I am worried that we will attract more tigers, and second, I think it will damage the prestige of a great country. However, we cannot directly reject the Jurchens!"

"I suggest that I, on behalf of the emperor, invite the three Jurchens to a meal, and then tactfully inform them that their current power is too small. If we form an alliance with them, their help to the Song Dynasty will be almost negligible."

"We hope that they can unite with the various Jurchen tribes to form a force, so that we can see their strength, and then contact us. In this way, we will give them hope and let them quickly form a force, and their conflict with the Liao Kingdom will surely break out ahead of time!"

Zhao Zhen nodded in approval.

When Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi saw Zhao Zhen nod, they couldn't help but frown, and then stood up almost at the same time.

The two naturally wanted to fight quickly, otherwise they would be old.

Zhao Zhen waved his hand and looked at the two of them.

"I know what you want to say. We can't rush into such an important matter. We can't mess up our plan because of the involvement of the Jurchens. We should proceed according to our plan. Don't forget that there is a Xixia tribe eyeing us covetously. Before going to war with Liao, we must beat Xixia up!"

Immediately, Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi retreated.

If the Song Dynasty went to war with Western Xia, the Liao Kingdom might not necessarily intervene, but if the Liao Kingdom went to war with the Song Dynasty, Western Xia would definitely intervene.

In the eyes of the Dangxiang people.

Plundering the Song Dynasty was the best and only way for them to achieve national prosperity and people's strength.

"Jingming, just do as you say, let these three people eat and drink well, and then send them back safely!"

"I obey your command!" Su Liang bowed heavily.

(End of this chapter)