In the Sifang Pavilion, Jin Yuan, the envoy of the Goryeo Dynasty Chen Zuo, Li Ziliang, deputy envoy Li Ziliang, Yin Yanchun, Xu Fang, and Jin Fuzhe were sitting around a square table, looking at each other, their expressions were very ugly, frustrated, sad and angry, all five people were piled up.
face.
"Did everyone hear what Duke Dong (Dong Qiren) just said?" Jin Yuan was wearing a square scarf - it was designed by an official of the Song Dynasty and specially made as a gift to Duke Su.
For Dongpo scarf.
It soon spread to Korea, Li Yue and other countries. Because of Mr. Dongpo, it was quickly sought after by scholars and Confucian scholars from overseas countries - they were all die-hard Soviet fans.
Wearing a water-blue Taoist uniform, he looks just like a famous scholar from the Song Dynasty.
The rest Li Ziliang, Yin Yanchun, Xu Fang, and Jin Fuzhe also wore similar clothes, no different from the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty.
"Alas, why did the Song Dynasty fall to this point? In the past, poetry was prosperous, and there were people like Drunkard Gong and Dongpo Gong who reviled immortals, but now they have fallen into vulgarity and obscurity."
"Yes, how noble and outstanding were the Ci officials of the Song Dynasty in the past? Now they are just poets and poets, not even qualified to be officials. Such talented literary figures as the Qingzhen layman (Zhou Bangyan) were all driven to Jiangning and lived in a corner.
Sad, deplorable, deplorable!”
Listening to Yin Yanchun and Xu Fang's complaints, Jin Fuzhe's heart was fluctuating.
He had been in the Song Dynasty for almost two months. Although he often had disputes with the Li and Fan tribes, he still found a lot of time to read newspapers and magazines, and also went to several large libraries - the Lantai Library and the libraries of Chengjun and Biyong Universities.
Browse through previous newspapers and magazines to understand the national conditions of the Song Dynasty.
As a minister of the Goryeo Kingdom, Jin Fuzhe was amazed at the magnificent turn of the Song Dynasty - in just ten years, he went from a situation of few victories to many defeats to wipe out Xixia and Northern Liao in one go, and at the same time, he invaded the old territory of Tubo.
The vast lands of Mobei and Northeast China have brought together the tough and war-savvy people from various tribes who live in these lands.
At the same time, these Song countries exported countless products. In addition to the increased production of silk, porcelain and tea, there were also specialty products such as cotton, woolen woolen cloth, fine wine, glassware, and clocks, as well as spices and corals transported from overseas.
, South beads, various gemstones and jade, etc.
It is dizzying for people to see, and at the same time, the wealth of Korea is flowing outward like a flood that bursts its embankment.
As early as a few years ago, the knowledgeable people of Goryeo were aware of this problem. After intense discussions, they finally made a national policy to open only three treaty ports, and the remaining Goryeo counties strictly prohibited maritime trade.
Who would have known that just after this maritime ban was issued, pirates appeared one after another along the coast of Goryeo. Except for a few Japanese pirates who took advantage of the situation, most of the others came from the Song Dynasty.
The Goryeo Kingdom mobilized a large army to attack, but they were exhausted. Soon the ban on maritime trade was riddled with holes, and the Song Dynasty maritime merchants conducted semi-open trade in Goryeo ports.
Later, the kings and ministers of Goryeo learned the truth: these pirates were actually Song maritime merchants pretending to be pirates.
Aren't you under sea control? They pretended to be pirates, beat your sea defense to a pulp, and beat your government and army to the point where they dare not take care of it. Then they transformed themselves into maritime merchants again, doing business in a grand manner.
How could the Song Dynasty, which had always been culturally prosperous and claimed to be a benevolent dynasty, degenerate into this state and actually allow lowly merchants to use such despicable methods?
The monarchs and ministers of Goryeo still had hope at first and sent envoys to Song to intervene, but to no avail.
Later, the Song Dynasty scholars and scholars who were like them quietly told them that it was useless. Those maritime merchants were so reckless and reckless because they had the support of the imperial court behind them.
The official family has been deceived by treacherous ministers and has embarked on an evil path. We, the righteous people, are working hard to eliminate evil and bring justice. You can endure it any longer and wait.
The monarchs and ministers of Koryo continued to wait, and at the same time secretly sent envoys to the Liao Kingdom, hoping that the powerful Liao Kingdom, the suzerain state of Koryo and the "godfather" could come forward to fight injustice for the "godson" Koryo.
It is a pity that at that time, the Liao Kingdom was running wildly on the road to death. The monarchs and ministers were dissolute and dissolute, the national government was corrupt, and a large amount of wealth was lost. The national treasury was cleaner than that of the Koryo Kingdom, and it could not be managed at all.
Continue to be patient, continue to wait.
As a result, the Song Dynasty suddenly became brave and invincible, and like divine help, it destroyed the "incomparably powerful" Liao Kingdom in a short period of time.
The confused monarchs and ministers of Goryeo took advantage of the chaos and occupied the land thousands of miles east of the Yalu River with the mentality of taking advantage of it. The Liao Kingdom's governance of the Northeast was very loose. There were no prefectures or counties to govern these places.
For the Goryeo Kingdom, rounding off, it is equal to a terra incognita.
While they were still feeling complacent, the cavalry of the Qinglong Banner of the Song Dynasty, like wolves on the grassland, rushed into the lands newly occupied by the Koryo Kingdom, defeated the garrison there, and plundered the immigrants who had developed there. Even
They broke into the territory of the Anbei Protectorate and the Andong Protectorate, burned, killed and looted.
Who can bear this?
The Goryeo Kingdom sent three waves of envoys to negotiate with the Song Kingdom, and their attitude became more humble each time. This time, they actually used Chen Zuo as the envoy - from the bottom up, the top is Chen Zuo.
"We are so humble and submissive, what else does the Song Dynasty want?" Li Ziliang twisted his neck and said with great grievance.
Yes, we have all humbled ourselves so much, why is Song still unwilling to settle the matter? Where have your previous benevolence, righteousness, and morality gone?
Jin Fuzhe and his uncle Jin Yuan looked at each other without saying a word.
The two of them knew that the root cause was the invasion of the land east of the Yalu River by the Goryeo Kingdom. If they did not clarify this issue clearly, how could the Song State let Goryeo go? It was not a question of being humble or not.
It's just that Li Ziliang is the biological brother of the powerful minister Li Ziqian. The Li family has been married to the royal family for four generations, starting from Li Ziyuan, the grandfather of Li Ziqian's brothers. His daughters have given birth to three Goryeo kings, making them the largest aristocratic family in Goryeo.
The current Princess of Goryeo, who has given birth to the crown prince Wang Kai, is Li Ziqian's second daughter.
How could the two of them dare to speak out to refute the power of a country?
"Since our literary friends can't help us, we have to think of other ways." Jin Yuan stroked his beard and said, "Yin Yushi (Yin Yanchun), what's the progress on your side?"
"Scholar Jin, these days, Xu Fang and I have worked hard to get acquainted with Lu Yundi, the right minister of the Ministry of War of the Song Dynasty. After some reconciliation, he helped pull the strings, and we got in touch with Cai You, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites.
.”
"Cai You? The nephew of Duke Yuan Du, the Grand Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, the former Prime Minister, and the eldest son of Duke Yuan Du, now the Zuo Zizheng of Zhongshu Province?" Jin Yuan's brows jumped.
"Exactly." Yin Yanchun said proudly, "Yuan Changgong has been the Prime Minister for many years. He is a highly relied upon official minister and can speak well in the Song Dynasty. Cai Shilang has been an official for many years and has extensive connections. King Cai
Your Highness, Uncle Wen, the Right Secretary of Sungkyun University and Vice-President of Hongwen Academy, and other royal family members, have a close friendship with us."
"Uncle Wen? Could it be that he is Li Gefei, the father of the imperial concubines of the Song Dynasty, and the former Minister of Rites, Li Gefei, and Uncle Wen?*" Jin Yuan was finally moved.
"Exactly." Yin Yanchun replied proudly.
"Well, you can think carefully about this line. Money is not an issue." Jin Yuan lowered his head and looked up after being silent for a while.
"Yes." After saying that, Yin Yanchun and Xu Fang hurriedly said goodbye and left, saying they were going to a banquet hosted by Cai You, Cai's official.
After the two people left, Li Ziliang stood up, walked to the door and turned back. He hesitated for a while and said: "A gentleman has something to do and something not to do. He knows he can do it and does it; he knows he can't do it but doesn't do it.
, this is what a gentleman should do and what he shouldn’t do!”
Jin Yuan's face straightened and he nodded solemnly, "Deputy Ambassador Li, I understand. Let's do our best."
When Li Ziliang left, only Jin Yuan and Jin Fuzhe's uncle and nephew were left in the room.
"Our country took advantage of the chaos to develop nine cities in Jiangdong, and the gains outweighed the losses." Jin Yuan finally revealed his true feelings since they were all his own people.
"Yes, uncle, first of all, the Song Dynasty's Qinglong Banner cavalry invaded, and our country could not be harassed. Although the nine cities were solid, they could only sit in isolation. There were thousands of miles of fertile land outside the city, which was of no use. We also needed to transport grain from the country for support. But in the past few years,
, floods and droughts, poor harvests, starvation everywhere. I am powerless."
This is the Spring and Autumn Period brushwork of Jin Fuzhe.
Floods and droughts are just excuses. The real reason is the influx of goods from the Song Dynasty in recent years. The Goryeo royal family and two classes of nobles bought and bought every day, which emptied the treasury and wallets long ago. However, it is difficult to switch from luxury to frugality, and buying habits
I can't stop doing it.
What should we do? We can only squeeze the people as hard as we can, and sell everything that can be exchanged for money.
Goryeo is mountainous, with only some plains in the south and along the coast. It produces rice and wheat, which can barely support the government and people throughout the country. However, in the past two or three years, Goryeo's exports include iron ore, wood, poria, safflower, and Silla lacquer.
, food actually rushed to the top three!
There is really nothing else to sell, only food is the most convenient.
The common people of Goryeo, who had their bones and marrow sucked out, abandoned their fields one after another and gathered in the mountains and forests. While the rebels still had a chance to survive, they farmed the land honestly, but there was only a dead end.
"My dear nephew, we are all missing a step now." Jin Yuan said with a worried look on his face.
Jin Fuzhe didn't think so. What kind of steps? It's just that the ministers like Cui Hongzai who participated in the construction of the city and the expansion of the border were still in the court and quite trusted by the king. If his uncle proposed to surrender, he was afraid that he would offend these people and affect his career in the future.
No one in Korea is really serving the country and the people now. They are all doing it for themselves and their families.
*The dates of Li Gefei's birth and death are unclear, and historians speculate that it was 1045 to 1105. Some changes were made here. Of course, his daughter became an imperial concubine, and she was certainly happy, even though she lived for several more years. This chapter has been completed!