Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 640 Take advantage of his illness and kill him

Zhao Mu looked at Li Canghai and asked, "I can understand that Master Uncle wants to avenge his beloved disciple. But why did you stop me from waging war against Liao? If Master Uncle is doing this for the sake of peace for the people of the world, then why didn't Master Uncle show up to stop me when I attacked Xixia before?"

"If I remember correctly, although Master looks like a girl of sixteen or seventeen, she is actually an old woman in her eighties. Master has been a high-ranking official in Liao for all these years. Besides, our Song Dynasty is blessed with talented people and Dali is also blessed with beautiful scenery. Why did Master stay in the Khitan Liao for so many years?"

Li Canghai sneered and said, "Haha, you have a lot of questions. Well, now that you are about to die, I will satisfy your curiosity. When you attacked Xixia, I did not stop you, but because my sister is the Queen Mother of Xixia, and there is a top master like her in charge, plus Xixia is strong and powerful, it is not something that your Song Dynasty can easily defeat, so I did not intervene."

"But I didn't expect that your Song Dynasty was so strong. When I learned that Xixia was destroyed, you had already been dominating Lingzhou City for several months. It's already done, so I naturally can't do anything. Although I don't like you, you did not hurt or abuse the people during your conquest of Xixia. In your hands, Xixia's national strength is booming. I still admit this."

"But I didn't expect that you were only lenient towards Xixia for my sister's sake. When you swept through the Uighur tribes in the past, your methods were cruel. Although they were not outrageous, they were still unkind."

After listening to Li Canghai's evaluation, Zhao Mu laughed and said, "Haha, there is nothing we can do about it. The Tangut tribe of Western Xia was the hero who took back the Hexi Corridor from Tubo. The people of Western Xia just don't obey our Song Dynasty. They are the remnants of the Tang Dynasty. Since our Song Dynasty is the successor of the Tang Dynasty, they are of course our people. Naturally, I have to treat them well. Besides, I have to show mercy to my master's wife and Qinglu for my sake."

"But the Uighurs and Tubo are both fickle villains. The Uighurs were once enslaved by the Eighteen Tribes of the Grassland. It was the Tang Dynasty that rescued them and even married their princesses to them. But during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, during the An-Shi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty borrowed Uighur soldiers to quell the rebellion. But after the Uighur soldiers entered the Central Plains, they were rewarded with looting the Eastern Capital. When the Uighur soldiers looted the Eastern Capital, what evil did they do that was no different from what I did?"

"And the Tubo people are even more ambitious and ungrateful. In the past, Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng married into the Tubo people and brought them many craftsmen and the culture of the Central Plains. If it weren't for the Tang Dynasty, they wouldn't know how to eat raw meat and drink blood like animals. But they took advantage of the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty and colluded with the Uighurs to cut off the Hexi Corridor and blocked our Anxi Protectorate, leaving the Anxi Army alone. They even conquered the Tang Dynasty."

"Now I am plundering the Uighur tribes and re-establishing the Anxi Protectorate, just to take back what the Han people deserve. As for the Tibetans, I just don't have time to take care of them for the time being. After I have conquered the Liao and recuperated, I will kill all these ruthless people."

Hearing this, Li Canghai couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Zhao Mu asked, "What are you laughing at, Uncle Master?"

Li Canghai laughed and said, "Haha, your words are funny, how can I not laugh? Your Song family is of the Zhao family, so what does the national hatred of the Tang Dynasty have to do with you? Besides, wasn't my Tang Dynasty also destroyed by your Zhao Song family? I really don't know where you get the nerve to call yourself the successor of the Tang Dynasty. You, the Zhao Song family, are nothing but traitors who usurped the Zhou Dynasty."

Hearing Li Canghai's words, Zhao Mu asked, "Master, you are wrong. The prosperous Tang Dynasty fell at the hands of Zhu Wen. And the Later Tang Dynasty fell at the hands of the traitor Shi Jingtang who colluded with the Khitan. The Song Dynasty originated from the Later Zhou Dynasty. When did it destroy the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Canghai replied: "You are right, but have you forgotten that there are descendants of the Li Tang in the south of the Yangtze River?" Zhao Mu recalled the portrait of Xiao Zhouhou at this time, and thought that Li Qiushui and her sister also had the surname Li, so he asked: "So, Master's uncle and Master's wife are the descendants of the Southern Tang?"

Li Canghai said: "Yes, my sister and I are both descendants of Emperor Li Houzhu. Emperor Li Houzhu is my sister's great-grandfather. Wasn't my Tang Dynasty destroyed by your Zhao Song?"

Zhao Mu understood now, and he said, "So that's how it is. I was also surprised by the appearance of Xiao Zhou Hou before, why she looked so similar to Master's Wife. So that's how it is. However, Xiao Zhou Hou has no children, so if Master's Wife and Master's Uncle are descendants of Li Tang, then they can only be descendants of Da Zhou Hou."

Li Canghai said: "Yes. In order to occupy my great-grandmother, Zhao Guangyi poisoned my great-grandfather. My grandfather knew Zhao Guangyi's shamelessness, so he handed my father, who was still an infant, to the master to take away. My father died early and gave birth to my two sisters."

Zhao Mu said at this time: "Then does Master know the mystery of my life experience?"

Li Canghai rolled her eyes at Zhao Mu and said, "I know all about this, how could you not know? But you only have Second Senior Brother and her romantic affairs in your heart, so you don't care about these things!"

Zhao Mu asked, "So, Master Uncle lived in seclusion in Liao and assisted the Liao Lord in invading Song?"

Li Canghai shook his head and said, "I have hatred for you, Zhao Song. It is true that I don't live in Song. It is also true that I live in seclusion in Liao. But for many years, I have never helped the Liao people invade Song. Back then, I was taught by my master to stop the war with my own strength. Even in the Song-Xia war decades ago, I helped your Song army to resist the Xixia army under my sister's command."

"I came here today only because you wanted to raise an unjust army to attack the Liao Kingdom. I have been in Muye Mountain for many years and have been worshipped by the Liao people. It is my duty to eliminate violence for them. Boy, I will give you one last chance. The war has not started yet, and it is not too late for you to stop. And the Liao Kingdom is not just a militarist. They are also willing to pay tribute to you, the Song Dynasty."

"Since the Treaty of Chanyuan, Song and Liao have been at peace for more than a hundred years. In addition, you fought in Xiongzhou and Lingzhou, and killed all the elite soldiers of Liao. Now Liao is no longer able to pose a threat to Song. Why do you have to kill them all and let so many innocent people suffer this hardship?"

Zhao Mu shook his head and said, "There is a poem that I have always regarded as a classic, which is 'It is better to pursue the enemy with the remaining courage than to seek fame by imitating the Overlord.' The Overlord of Chu was indecisive and spared the Han Emperor Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet. In the end, Liu Bang became a big threat. And the King of Wu, Fu Chai, also spared Gou Jian out of a thought of kindness. And the State of Wu was destroyed by his kindness."

"Song and Liao have been at war for over a hundred years. Although they cannot be considered as feuds, their relationship is not very good. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and Liaodong are also the ancestral lands of the Han people. As the orthodox dynasty of the Han people, the Song Dynasty must naturally take back the lost ancestral lands. The fact that the Khitans are willing to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty is not because they are kind-hearted, but because they know that if they continue to be so arrogant and unreasonable, they will die!"

(End of this chapter)