Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty

Zhao Chen and others entered the Hall of Qinzheng.

This palace is a typical Khitan style, and the layout inside is very similar to the Yanjing Palace. Compared with the Han palace, the Khitan Palace is less refined, but more magnificent.

The inside of the palace was very empty, there were no decorations to be seen, and there was dust everywhere. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time.

The guards walked into it with torches and lanterns in their hands, and their eyes gradually brightened.

"There is a painting here." Suddenly Qu Duan said in surprise.

Everyone went towards the place where Qu Duan was, and they found a painting hanging on the wall here.

There was also dust on the painting, Qu Duan took the painting down and flicked the dust away, only to see a middle-aged Khitan man on the painting. This middle-aged man is unusually tough, and the lines on his face seem to be carved out of stone, giving people an unusually firm feeling. His eyes are very bright and full of wisdom. He wears a sword at his waist and holds the hilt with one hand, which is full of strength. Although it was just a painting, an extraordinary aura rushed over.

"Your Majesty, this is the portrait of Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji." Wan Yanchang said.

There are many portraits and sculptures of Liao Taizu in the Zhongjing Imperial Palace. Wan Yanchang has seen many of them before, so now he recognizes them all at once.

"It turned out to be Yelu Abaoji, he is a hero of a generation!" Zhao Chen said with emotion.

More than two hundred years ago, the Khitan was just a small tribe in the north, with a population of only a few hundred thousand! At that time, the Khitan was divided into dozens of tribes. In order to survive on the bitter cold grassland, the Khitan tribes united to form a tribal alliance!

Yelu Abaoji's father was originally the leader of a tribe, but his father passed away early, so he could only grow up with his uncle!

Yelu Abaoji showed extraordinary talent when he was young. He led the Khitan soldiers and horses of his tribe to attack the Xi tribe to the west, and won the territory and population of the Xi tribe! Yelu Abaoji did not kill those Xi people, but united with Xi people, making many Xi people a part of his tribe! After that, Yelu Abaoji's strength increased greatly, and he became the military leader of the Khitan Alliance, so he took all the Khitan people south to attack Hedong, Daibei and other places! In the past, the Khitan people only plundered food and wealth, but Yelu Abaoji drove countless Han people to the grasslands in the north! After Yelu Abaoji went north to defeat Jurchen, he had become the leader of the Khitan Alliance!

Although he plundered the Han people, he was different from the later Jin Kingdom and Mongolia. He did not treat the Han people as slaves, but adopted a policy of equality among all ethnic groups in name! He set up the North and South Courts, the North Court dealt with the affairs of the Khitan and Xi people, and the South Court dealt with the affairs of the Han people. In name, the status of the North and the South Courts was equal. He learned the knowledge of the Han people and established the imperial city on the grassland, which was later Shangjing. After that, he promoted farming, developed salt and iron, formulated laws, and determined taxes. Create Khitan characters! It took him more than 20 years to bring the Khitan people from a slavery society into a feudal society, and the Khitan national power increased greatly! Then he led the army into Liaodong, and conquered the Bohai State, which was called "the Prosperous State of Haidong" at that time. It was the most powerful country in East Asia until the rise of Jurchen.

Such a character can be called a generation of heroes.

"Any founder of a country is a heroic generation, including my emperor Taizu of the Great Song Dynasty, Wanyan Aguda, the founder of the Jin Kingdom, etc. are heroes! Most of these founders have gone through hardships and have a firm mind, so they can make great achievements .” Qu Duan said.

"That's right, hardships and hardships, Yuru Yucheng, if I hadn't experienced hardships when I was young, I might not have achieved success later." Zhao Chen smiled.

Everyone couldn't help laughing.

"It's a pity that the Liao Kingdom, which has been established for more than 200 years, will one day perish! No matter how talented and generous the founder of the country is, the descendants may not have the talents and means of their predecessors, and may not be able to control the country! Relying on the rule of men will eventually fail." Zhao Chen said.

Qu Duan and the others were taken aback for a moment, not knowing what Zhao Chen meant by this.

"What is the main population composition of Shangjing and Zhongjing?" Zhao Chen said.

"Shangjing and Zhongjing are dominated by Khitan people, but there are also a lot of Han people! Before the war, there were more than 3 million Khitan people in this area, about 2 million Han people, and more than 600,000 in addition. They belong to the tribe, and there are some other foreign tribes! It’s just that after the Jurchen invasion, the population is no longer counted, and the Khitan and Han people suffered heavy casualties, so we don’t know the exact number of the people of the various tribes in Shangjing and Zhongjing.” Qu Duan said.

"It seems that the Khitan people and Han people are the main ones! Although the Han people here are our clansmen, they have been ruled by the Liao Kingdom for more than two hundred years, and they are already unfamiliar with us! You all talk about it, if you want to appease For the Khitan people, Han people, people of different ethnic groups, etc. here, what can we do?" Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, I don't think there are many ways to appease this place." Wan Yanchang is a general who has been following behind the crowd, and suddenly said at this moment.

"Oh? Don't need too many methods? How do you say that?" Zhao Chen said.

"In the past twenty years, the northern land has been fighting endlessly. The area around Shangjing and Zhongjing has experienced countless wars, and the people are living in dire straits! Now in the area of ​​Shangjing and Zhongjing, whether it is the Khitan people, the Han people, the Xi people, or the people of other ethnic groups, whoever They are unwilling to continue the war! After 20 years of war, the people's minds are settled! Your Majesty only needs to adopt the strategy in the Central Plains, distribute land, pastures, light taxes, and light corvee, and the people of all ethnic groups will support His Majesty! After so many years, no one is willing Fight again, everyone wants to live a stable life!" Wan Yanchang said.

After Wan Yanchang finished speaking, Zhao Chen nodded slightly, and Qu Duan and others next to him also nodded one after another.

Indeed, since the rise of the Jurchen, the wars in the world have never stopped, and the people in the north have been tormented by the flames of war. Now whoever can let them live a peaceful life, whoever can make them no longer be frightened by the war, they will support whoever! The reason why the Yanjing area was able to calm down quickly was that Zhao Chen used iron and blood methods to eliminate the Khitan rebels on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was also because of the people's determination. The same is true for Shangjing and Zhongjing now!

"I understand! In winter, I will transfer supplies to various places in Shangjing and Zhongjing for disaster relief, so that the people can survive the winter first. In addition, I will send people to publicize the policies of the imperial court so that the people of all ethnic groups understand that the war is over. Now, they can live a peaceful life, under the rule of the Great Song Dynasty, taxes are very low, corvee is almost non-existent, all ethnic groups are equal, and the Han people will not oppress them!" Zhao Chen said.

"This is the best strategy to put down Shangjing and Zhongjing." Wan Yanchang said.

"There are still tens of thousands of Jurchen troops in Zhongjing City, and there are still some Jurchen people, but they may not be willing to obey the rule of our Great Song Dynasty. Wan Yanchang, do you have a solution?" Zhao Chen looked at Wan Yanchang and said.

"Your Majesty, according to my Jurchen tradition, when the Master Wang defeated my Jurchen army, all the Jurchen army should be demoted to slaves. Our Jurchen people should also be demoted to slaves when they rebel against the Master Wang during the war! Your Majesty can first demote them to slaves. They must be disheartened and have no interest in life! After a period of time, His Majesty promises to redeem them, and they must be grateful to His Majesty, so that they can regain the hearts of the people temporarily!" Wan Yanchang said.

"Then let's do this for the time being! The hatred between the Jurchens and the Han people cannot be resolved in a short period of time. I need to suppress all those who dare to resist, and at the same time use gentle means to suppress and give relief at the same time! Wan Yanchang, you are originally The Jurchen grand master also has prestige among the Jurchens, and you also have to help me manage the Jurchens." Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty doesn't care about the crimes of this humble official, but instead gives this humble official a heavy responsibility. I dare not obey orders." Wan Yanchang said overjoyed.

Everyone walked around the Zhongjing Palace, and they were about to rest in the palace. At this moment, Kang An hurriedly came from outside to meet Zhao Chen.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Chen looked at Kang An and asked in surprise.

"Your Majesty, we have just received news that Guo Yaoshi, the leader of the resentful army, still has not left Zhongjing. He is still lurking in Zhongjing, and it seems that he is going to harm His Majesty!" Kang An said.

"There is such a thing, so we must be careful! Guo Yaoshi is a master of magic, and his martial arts have already reached the peak of innateness, so we have to guard against it." Qu Duan said.

"Your Majesty, the general thinks that we should find the place where Guo Yaoshi is hiding and kill him." Kang An said.

"What are the chances of finding him?" Zhao Chen asked.

"This..." Kang An and Qu Duan looked at each other, and both shook their heads.

The Intelligence Department has been in the north for many years, and many of them are lurking in the resentful army! Guo Yaoshi has been operating in the Kingdom of Jin for many years. He also has several strongholds in Zhongjing, among which there are spies from the intelligence department. Unfortunately, the spy status of the intelligence department is low, and they can't get in touch with Guo Yaoshi. Now they don't know that Guo Yaoshi is lurking somewhere! Zhongjing is so big and there are so many people, it is really difficult to find Guo Yaoshi.

"Since ancient times, there is only the principle of being a thief for a thousand days, and there is no reason for guarding against thieves for a thousand days! If there is no way to find him, then lure the snake out of the hole! He is lurking here, nothing more than wanting to kill me, I will give him a chance So why not?" Zhao Chen thought for a while and said.

"No, Your Majesty, this is too dangerous! You belong to the country, you cannot do this!" Qu Duan hurriedly said.

"I have my own calculations, the staff headquarters should make a plan to lure him out!" Zhao Chen said.