Chapter 421 Secret
"Which point?" Nerugu frowned.
"If the eldest prince stays in the Song Dynasty as a hostage, the other princes will not want the eldest prince to go back." Li Ge said.
"Of course I know this, but the Song Dynasty has 200,000 war horses. How can father get it?" Nerugu said irritably.
He did not tell Li Ge that Da Song's original request was 100,000 horses, but it was changed to 200,000 horses because of his words.
Otherwise, Yelu Zhongyuan knew that he would have the intention to kill him.
However, even if it is only 100,000 horses, it is difficult for Yelu Zhongyuan to come up with it now.
Yelu Chongyuan fled all the way to the grassland after his defeat, with less than 100,000 cavalry left around him.
The tribes on the grassland naturally had horses, but Yelu Chongyuan not only could not provide those tribes with food and grass, but also had to recruit people from those tribes to supplement their troops.
The grassland tribesmen who had already offended them were unhappy. If they asked them for war horses again, they would probably cause chaos immediately.
"Prince, the Song Dynasty is indeed a lion's mouth, but this is just like doing business, you can bargain." Li Ge said with a smile.
"I'm not good at this. Don't you have some connections in the Song Dynasty? I'll leave the bargaining to you." Nerugu said.
He had previously boasted that 200,000 horses would be no problem in Haikou. How could he have the nerve to bargain with Zhao Xing at this time?
Li Ge was overjoyed when he heard this. He actually wanted to meet Zhao Xing.
After all, now that Yelu Chongyuan's ship is about to sink, he can indeed betray Yelu Chongyuan and join Yelu Yixin.
But he was a Han and his status was not high. Even if Yelu Yixin would accept him at first, his situation would be embarrassing after Yelu Chongyuan was destroyed.
After all, no one likes a person who betrays his old master.
It would be okay if he was useful, but he was a Han and knew how to do business. How could Yelu Yixin use him?
After much thought, it was safer to join the Song Dynasty.
Although it was still a betrayal, his understanding of the Liao Kingdom would be useful to the Song Dynasty.
But this time Nerugu came with him, and he couldn't find a chance at all.
If Nerugu finds out, his family will be in danger.
After returning to the other courtyard with Nerugu, Li Ge left the other courtyard not long after and took a carriage to find Sheng Changsong and told him that he had important matters and asked to see Zhao Xing.
Sheng Changsong reported the matter, and after receiving permission, he took Li Ge into the palace.
"I pay homage to your Majesty!" Li Ge bowed.
"Okay, the play is almost over. I'm not interested in continuing with you." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
“I don’t understand what your Majesty means!”
"You understand!"
Zhao Xing said lightly: "You are still a little smart and know how to play both sides. But you have not been able to provide any useful information in these years. Do you think I am a fool?"
Li Ge didn't think Zhao Xing was a fool. He actually knew that Zhao Xing would not believe that he was sincerely seeking refuge. It was only because he was useful to Zhao Xing that Zhao Xing was willing to act with him.
But he didn't expect that Zhao Xing would directly pierce the window paper this time.
After a moment of silence, Li Ge said: "Your Majesty, I sincerely surrender to you this time!"
"Really?"
Zhao Xing said without comment: "First tell me about Yelu Chongyuan's current situation!"
"Yes!"
Li Ge responded when he heard the words, and told Yelu Zhongyuan in detail about the embarrassing situation in the grassland.
After hearing this, Zhao Xing understood why Yelu Chongyuan was so eager for the Song Dynasty to send troops.
If the Song Dynasty did not send troops, even if the Liao court did not send troops to deal with him, the tribal leaders in the grassland would probably betray him.
Since ancient times, the war between the Han Dynasty and the nomads has never stopped.
Although there are some ambitions of those in power, in essence, it is still the law of survival of the weak and the strong. The grasslands are bitterly cold and materials are scarce. Although like farming civilizations, they need to rely on the sky for food, but the Han Dynasty is a large area, and some places are affected by disasters, so they can mobilize food from other places for disaster relief.
But the grassland is different. Once a natural disaster occurs, it will almost always affect the entire grassland. Even if there are places that are not affected, it will be difficult to feed those affected by the disaster.
Moreover, nomadic people are very aggressive due to their living environment.
Without unification, various tribes would have frequent wars over areas with abundant water and grass.
It is not uncommon for them to plunder each other.
But once unified, internal wars will be reduced, and the only choice is to rob others.
And around the grassland, the richest one is the Han Dynasty.
This resulted in almost constant wars between the Han dynasty and the nomads.
After the Liao Kingdom occupied the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, the nomadic people on the grassland were able to receive food support and their lives improved.
It is said that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
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Yelu Yixin only needed to contact him secretly, and he didn't even need to do anything. After a while, it was inevitable that those tribes would betray Yelu Chongyuan.
To solve this situation, only the Song Dynasty sent troops.
In this way, those tribes would not betray Yelu Zhongyuan if they felt he had a chance to fight back again.
Class contradictions still existed in the Liao Kingdom.
After the founding of the Liao Kingdom, those top nobles had long left the grasslands and lived a stable and prosperous life in the Sixteenth State of Yanyun.
The tribes that stayed on the grassland were originally just small tribes.
They had supported Yelu Chongyuan before, thinking that if Yelu Chongyuan came to power, they would be able to enter the city and become nobles.
If Yelu Zhongyuan loses power, they will betray him, but if Yelu Zhongyuan has a chance to fight back, they will naturally not betray him.
"I'm very curious. Yelu Zhongyuan was defeated by a sneak attack and fled to the grassland. Your family shouldn't have had time to move, right?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Your Majesty, when Yelu Zhongyuan attacked the capital for a long time but failed to retreat, I felt that there was some danger and moved my family to the city closest to the grassland in advance." Li Ge said.
"You are quite clever, but I can't trust you!" Zhao Xing said lightly.
"Your Majesty, I can send my family to the Song Dynasty while transporting the war horses." Li Ge gritted his teeth and said.
"Oh?"
Zhao Xing was surprised when he heard this: "So Yelu Zhongyuan will really agree to give war horses to the Song Dynasty?"
"Yelü Chongyuan has no choice. If the Song Dynasty does not send troops, he will definitely be destroyed in the spring of next year!" Li Ge said.
"Yes!"
Zhao Xing nodded and said: "But what do you think you are of use to me?"
"Your Majesty, although I am just a businessman, there are many Han people in the Liao Kingdom. I have contacts with many Han officials and businessmen in the Liao Kingdom and can collect information about the Liao Kingdom for your majesty," Li Ge said.
"This alone is not enough!" Zhao Xing shook his head.
Li Ge gritted his teeth and said: "I also know a secret. When Yelu Chongyuan besieged the city, Yelu Yixin had proposed to be the regent. Empress Dowager Xiao had no choice but to agree to appoint him as the regent after Yelu Chongyuan was destroyed. . When Yelu Chongyuan is destroyed, there will definitely be chaos in the Liao Kingdom!"
"Oh?"
Zhao Xing was a little surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect this to happen.
This sounds somewhat similar to Dorgon.
"How many war horses do you think Yelu Zhongyuan can produce?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Between 50,000 and 80,000, if there are any more, even if the Song Dynasty sends troops, it will arouse resistance from those tribes." Li Ge said.
(End of chapter)