Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 136 Send Yu Yuqi Pavilion (3)

During the Chinese New Year, there is a lively atmosphere in Youzhou, Nanjing Road, Liao Kingdom.The Khitan people are rich and leisurely, and there are various food boxes in their homes at any time, which are filled with cheese and dried fruits, and the attentive maids replace the full wine jugs for the guests at any time.The most important thing is the New Year greetings among Khitan people.Men and women wear the traditional costumes of the eight tribes of Khitan, including Diela, Yishi, Pin, Chute, Wukai, Tulubu, Nirah, and Tuju, and visit each other to congratulate each other according to their surnames and blood relationship.

The banquet was accompanied by singing and dancing, women and men sang in unison, men dressed in animal skins as beasts, and some dressed as hunters with swords and forks, which reproduced the heroic hunting of the Khitan ancestors in the mountains and wilderness.Children are the greatest pleasure. One is to play on the ice, and the other is to go to the temple fair of the Han people. If you see something you like, you can just grab it from the small stall and leave.In addition to eating large pieces of meat and drinking in large bowls during the Chinese New Year, there are also many things to pay attention to. From the first day of the new year, you can’t sweep the floor, don’t drain the water, don’t use knives and scissors, don’t steam and fry, don’t cut your hair, don’t say unlucky words, don’t break various things.If the servants in the mansion commit crimes, they will be whipped with horse whips, beaten to death, or even cut off their hands and tongues.

In recent days, Youzhou has been filled with unease.When the Khitan nobles got together, they were all talking about the imperial court recruiting tribal troops to crusade against the Jurchen tribe, hoping that Yelu Dashi, who stayed in Nanjing, could withstand the imperial court's pressure.The confidant of Emperor Yelu Yanxi, Privy Envoy Xiao Fengxian led the army to crusade against the Jurchen tribe, but failed again, and more than 5000 Khitan children who joined the conscript died in the battle.The court is preparing to dispatch the elite of the Nanjing Dao tribe army to the north, but the eight nobles are saying that one general is incompetent and exhausts the three armies, and Xiao Fengxian is just a courtier who invites favor.If you want the tribal children to go to the battlefield, you have to replace Xiao Feng first.

"My lord, almost everyone has arrived." Xiao Wuli said sharply.Yelu Dashi has been in contact with the Khitan nobles for these years, not only to abolish Yelu Yanxi, the faint emperor, but also to sweep away the atmosphere of Khitan corrupted by the Southern Dynasty, get rid of the ills of the royal family's relatives holding power, restore the ancestral system of eight nobles to discuss affairs, and let the young Heroes can stand out and turn the whole world into a pasture for Khitan people, so that ordinary people can get more cattle, sheep and slaves.The Khitan heroes who followed him were all useless heroes, hated the fatuousness of the imperial court, and agreed with Yelu Dashi's proposition.

Yelu Dashi raised his head, put down the brush in his hand, stood up and said with a smile, "Then let's go." After finishing the half-written manuscript paper, he followed Xiao Wuli to the backyard.The left-behind study in Nanjing used to have some decorations such as piano, chess, calligraphy and paintings. Yelu Dashi was not used at all. They either threw it away or gave it away. Only the necessary books and pens and ink were kept. It is much simpler than before.

The sky is like a dome, and the open grass is covered with a large felt blanket, and there are piles of milk, milk, tea, dried meat and other things. More than 100 Khitan heroes such as Xiao Chala, Yelu Yanshan, Yelu Tiege, etc., stand In the courtyard, it is very lively to sit on the ground and chat while drinking.Seeing Yelu Dashi approaching slowly, everyone focused their eyes on him.

Yelu Dashi looked left and right, the pavilions and corridors in the courtyard were empty, the servants and maidservants had retreated, and all the people present were confidantes and confidants.He smiled slightly and said, "I kept everyone waiting for a long time." One by one, they held hands to salute.Many Khitan nobles are used to bowing and bowing in the Southern Dynasties, but Yelu Dashi tried his best to advocate that the Han style is weak. To revive the prestige of the Khitan people, it is necessary to restore the simple and sturdy atmosphere. vulgar.

"If the Hunjun really wants to enlist me to serve under that wimpy man," Xiao Chala asked. He looked around and saw that they were all the confidants and heroes summoned by Yelu Dashi, so he said in a low voice without hesitation, "Do you want to Do it now?"

"It's too early now," Yelu Dashi picked up a glass of 'milk' wine, counted nine in the cold weather, and drank it to warm his stomach. Only such severe cold and strong wine can arouse the blood and brutality of the Khitan man, his eyes flashed After a bit of sternness, "Let's talk about it after he loses a few more times." He saw that the young nobles around him seemed a little unwilling, and said, "Yelu Yanxi is self-willed, if Xiao Feng can't hold on first, he will definitely fight in person. If he loses again, he If you lose your prestige, you will be sure of the incident."

"But, won't this make the Jurchen barbarians more powerful?" Xiao Cha asked in confusion.

"So what?" Yelu Dashi said coldly, "As long as we get rid of the Hunjun and rebuild the old system of discussing affairs of the eight tribes of Khitan, the tribe will no longer be blinded by superstitious belief in the afterlife, and restore the blood'nature' and toughness of our tribe. With the spirit of Khitan, the Khitan will be able to sweep all the tribes in the world. Even if the Jurchen tribe is ten times stronger, it will only be used for us to sharpen our knives. If the foolish king is allowed to run amok and the tribe becomes weaker and weaker, even if it is not the Jurchen tribes, there will be other barbarians Destroy my Khitan. It’s nothing to bleed more or less.” He paused, then said in a deep voice, “The Khitan are at the critical moment of life and death.” Throwing the wine bowl on the ground, he drew the scimitar from his waist and raised his head Shouted loudly: "Revitalize Khitan!"

"Revitalize the Khitan!" All the Khitan leaders also pulled out their scimitars, and howled loudly. The servants outside the courtyard heard the shouts of these Khitan nobles from a distance, as if a pack of wolves echoed, all of them turned pale. The eyes are full of fear, and it is possible for a nobleman to get angry and chop down a servant to test the sharpness of the blade.

After the long roar, Yelu Dashi asked: "How about the contact with the eight nobles?"

All Khitan men can ride and shoot. If they all join the army, they can get hundreds of thousands of horses. Unfortunately, most of them are in the tribes, and they cannot be united.In particular, the imperial court relied more and more on the southern system, excluding the eight nobles from decision-making, causing all tribes to be alienated from the imperial court, and the tribal cavalry were unwilling to serve the country.After hundreds of years of suppression, the eight tribes themselves fell apart and became tribes led by hundreds of leaders, large and small.So Yelu Dashi sent his confidantes to keep in touch with the leaders of the Eight Departments of Khitan. As long as they can dispatch more than a thousand cavalry, whether they are sent alone or in partnership, they will have his place in the Eight Departments' meeting. The senior officials and major decisions, the distribution of water and grass land and the captive slaves are all decided by the eight ministries.He has lofty ambitions, not only to replace Yelu Yanxi, but also to lead the Khitan people to sweep the world and become the khan who rules all ethnic groups in the world.

Yelu Yanshan said: "Everyone is dissatisfied with Yelu Yanxi, the foolish lord, but they are still skeptical about reopening the eight ministries meeting."

"After the matter is completed, I, Yelu Dashi, would like to make a blood alliance with the leaders of the Eight Ministries. From then on, the important affairs of the Khitan tribe, even the prime minister, the Privy Envoy of the Northern and Southern Courts, and other official positions, will not use private individuals as they like, and must be decided by the Eight Ministries." Yelu Dashi sighed, "What happened today is not for one's wealth, but for the future of our Khitan people."

All the Khitan nobles fell silent, everyone had a heart, if Yelu Dashi hadn't really considered the Khitan people, and everyone felt the same way, there wouldn't be so many people following him through life and death.In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the north wind blows like a knife, the blood in the bones of these Khitan people is like strong wine, burning hot.

At this time, Chengying Ying also reached the westernmost land of Xia Kingdom, hanging alone in Haixi Port on the east coast of the Black Sea.Haixi Port and Zhenxi Fort are one.The port was not big, and it was built on a peninsula deep into the bay. Over the past hundred years, Xia Guo dug a deep moat at the narrowest part of the peninsula.Although the fort here is not big, it is extremely strong.The princes of Dashi often said: "If you can conquer Zhenxi Fort, it is better to capture Lumei City."

To the north of Zhenxibao is the south side of the Taihe Mountains where various barbarians live, and to the south of Zhenxibao is the Roma Turkic forces.The angry army stationed in Zhenxi Fort can only maintain a short passage from the west bank of the West Sea to Zhenxi Fort.However, the locations of Haixi Port and Zhenxi Fort are extremely important. The goods of Xia Kingdom can be sold directly to merchants from Western countries here, without having to experience the exploitation of Turks and Dashi in the middle.Haixi Port is the end of the eastern commercial route controlled by Xia Kingdom. Merchants from Lumei Kingdom and Dashi Kingdom rely on Jiaozi to extract goods from the warehouse in Haixi Port and transport them to countless barbarian countries in the west and south. .

"Through this sea area, you will be Lumei Kingdom." Standing on the high wall of Zhenxi Fort, overlooking the boundless sea, Zhao Xingde thought of Yiren who was alone in Dunhuang, looking at each other, and couldn't help feeling sad, He thought, "After finishing this military mission, I should spend more time with Ruoxue."