Chapter 214 The Purpose of Xixia
Perhaps in the future, he will fail to implement the reform, and the records of him in the history books will also be that he has high ambitions and low abilities, and his abilities are mediocre.
"Your Highness."
Although Zhang Guifen didn't know what Zhao Xing was thinking, she could feel the changes in Zhao Xing's emotions.
Seeing Zhao Xing drink several drinks in a row, when he picked up the wine glass again, he held Zhao Xing's hand.
"It's okay to be alone." Zhao Xing smiled slightly when he saw Zhang Guifen's worried face.
After a few glasses of wine, Zhao Xing felt less depressed.
No matter how the history books evaluate him in the future, the reform can be the best and solve the long-standing shortcomings of the Song Dynasty. My son will be almost old by then, so give him the throne and enjoy it.
If the reform is not successful, at worst, he will become a foolish king, and his life in this world will not be in vain.
After you die, don’t worry about the flood.
After thinking about this, Zhao Xing felt that the pressure accumulated over the years was completely gone, and his face showed a smile from the bottom of his heart.
Zhang Guifen didn't know the changes in Zhao Xing's heart, but she felt relieved when she saw the smile on Zhao Xing's face.
The banquet did not discuss the purpose of Xixia's mission, nor did it discuss whether to make a marriage.
Just eating, drinking, listening to music and dancing.
It took two envoys to finish.
The next day, the officials formally summoned the Xixia envoys at the Daqing Hall, but the Xixia eldest princess did not attend.
In Daqing Hall, all civil and military officials stood in order, and Zhao Xing stood at the front of the queue of civil officials.
"It is said that the envoys of the Xia Kingdom are here to see you!"
The eunuchs of the Si Dian Palace sang, and after a while, four envoys of the Xixia Kingdom entered the hall.
"The foreign minister pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty!" The four of them saluted in unison.
"No courtesy." The official waved his hand and said: "I heard that Emperor Xia wanted to discuss something with me, so I sent the envoy over. I wonder what Emperor Xia has to do?"
It's okay to call King Xia in private, but Xixia In front of the envoy, naturally you cannot call him that.
Otherwise, it means denying Xixia as a country, which Xixia cannot bear no matter what.
“His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, my emperor intends to open mutual trade with the Song Dynasty to prosper the two countries and exchange their needs.”
The chief envoy among the Xixia envoys is named Su Wenchang, and he is also Han people.
However, Su Wenchang was not a Han who defected from the Song Dynasty. His ancestors were under the rule of Xixia during the Tang Dynasty.
After the little emperor of Xixia seized power, he implemented the system of three provinces and six ministries within Xixia to strengthen and improve centralization.
And Su Wenchang is the Minister of Rites of Xixia.
The official frowned slightly when he heard Su Wenchang said that he wanted to open a mutual trade between the two countries.
This is true not only for officials, but also for many civil servants.
As mentioned before, the Han people looked down on neighboring countries and regarded them as barbarians.
In their opinion, the Central Plains dynasty had a vast territory and abundant resources. What good things could the barbarians have?
The Song Dynasty was not willing to trade with Liao and Xia. On the one hand, it felt that Liao and Xia did not have what the Song Dynasty needed. On the other hand, it was also a blockade of Liao and Xia.
Liaoxia knew how to block horses and restrict the flow of horses to the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty naturally also knew how to blockade horses and prevent some things that Liaoxia needed from flowing into Liaoxia.
The mutual trade between Song and Liao was one of the conditions for peace talks proposed by the Liao Kingdom during the Tanyuan Alliance.
Although the Song Dynasty made a lot of profits from the mutual trade in these years, it also obtained a small number of horses.
But the Liao Kingdom made more profits, and the horses were raised to a very high price by the Liao Kingdom. All the profits made by the Song Dynasty court were used to buy horses.
At first glance, the Song Dynasty also gained practical benefits by getting war horses.
That’s not the case.
As mentioned before, the war horses sold by the Liao Kingdom to the Song Dynasty were all castrated and could not be bred.
Secondly, the Liao Kingdom limited the number of horses every year, so it was difficult for the Song Dynasty court to buy a large number of horses at one time.
It takes several years or even more than ten years to obtain horses to form a large-scale cavalry.
But by the time the horses are gathered together, the earliest batch will already be old horses.
As a result, the Song Dynasty has been wasting its national power in vain.
The so-called mutual trade merchants benefited, and the Liao Kingdom benefited, but the Song Dynasty court did not benefit.
And Xixia was even poorer than Liao. How much benefit could the Song Dynasty get from trading with Xixia?
On the contrary, Xixia made greater profits.
Although they looked down on the barbarians, Liao Xia had always been a serious concern of the Song Dynasty.
I still understand the principle of raising tigers to cause disaster. "Your envoy said that we want to open a mutual market with the Song Dynasty, but it seems that the Xia Kingdom has nothing that I, the Song Dynasty, need. Mutual trading is about doing business. Although I don't know how to do business, I also know that both the buyer and the seller must be able to make profits. "Han Zhang said.
"Xiangong Han is absolutely right!"
Su Wenchang also knew Han Zhang. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "If the two countries start to trade with each other, Daxia can sell part of the horses to Song Dynasty every year, and the other two countries We can marry and become a true brotherly country, and reduce the border garrison!”
Although the two countries are brotherly countries on the surface, in fact, the Song Dynasty was defeated in the war, and they had to hold their noses to admit it.
In fact, the relationship between the two countries is not much better.
Although there has been no fighting on the northwest border in recent years, small frictions have never stopped.
Su Wenchang's intention is to achieve an alliance through marriage and reduce the number of troops stationed on the border between the two countries.
The officials and ministers were a little moved when they heard this.
Whether it is the northwest border or the northern border, there are a large number of troops stationed.
The Song Dynasty had more than one million soldiers and horses. Excluding the local Xiang troops, the Forbidden Army also numbered 700,000 to 800,000.
In Water Margin, Lin Chong is the chief instructor of the 800,000 Forbidden Army, but he has no water at all.
Of course, as the chief instructor of the Forbidden Army, he teaches martial arts to the Forbidden Army and is not a high-ranking official.
The Song Dynasty had seven or eight hundred thousand imperial troops. Except for nearly half of them stationed in the western suburbs camp outside Bianjing to defend the capital, the remaining hundreds of thousands were stationed in border cities.
The north can be defended infinitely, and all cities on the border need to garrison troops, accounting for the largest proportion.
But there are also hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in the northwest.
Both the north and the northwest are relatively poor and cannot support so many soldiers and horses.
All grain and grass had to be transported from the south, and even if there was a canal, the consumption would be very high.
If tens of thousands of garrison troops could be reduced, it would be a good way to ease the pressure on the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Xing sneered inwardly when he heard this. He felt that Xixia did indeed intend to make peace.
It also depends on what the Xixia eldest princess wants to say.
Just how he treated the eldest princess of Xixia yesterday, could the eldest princess of Xixia fall in love with him?
"If Gu Ruo remembers correctly, whether Emperor Xia means a marriage or not depends on what the eldest princess wants. Could it be that the eldest princess of Xixia has already agreed to a marriage?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.
“The Crown Prince is a talented person, and His Royal Highness the Princess admires him very much and has already agreed.” Su Wenchang said with a smile.
Hearing this, Zhao Xing was noncommittal and said: "Whether it is a marriage or a mutual trade, the Song Dynasty can agree. But what your envoy said is not enough. If the Xia Kingdom is willing to return Lingzhou City, it will be enough."
"Your Highness, Lingzhou City is the territory of the Xia Kingdom, how can you..."
"What is the territory of the Xia Kingdom!"
Zhao Xing directly interrupted Su Wenchang and said: "Lingzhou City is the territory of the Song Dynasty, which was taken away by the Xia State. Only by returning Lingzhou City can we show the sincerity of the Xia State!"
官The family and court officials were moved when they heard this, but they didn't speak.
I have to say that the conditions proposed by Zhao Xing really moved their hearts.
Lingzhou City is the gateway to the Western Regions. If it can be taken back, the Song Dynasty can obtain horses through the Western Regions.
Although the number will not be too many, it does not need to be controlled by others.
"The foreign minister cannot decide this matter." Su Wenchang shook his head.
Xixia now wants to expand in only a few directions.
First, towards the plateau, Tubo is divided into several tribes. Now it is the territory of various Tubo tribes, and there are constant wars.
The second is to expand to the Western Region, Lingzhou City is very critical.
The third is the direction of Hehuang, the fourth is the direction of the Song Dynasty, and the fifth is the direction of the Liao Kingdom.
Song and Liao are both very strong, but Xixia has no such idea for the time being.
Hehuang borders the Song Dynasty. Once Xixia plots Hehuang, the Song Dynasty will not sit idly by.
In fact, Xixia's current expansion direction is only the plateau and the Western Regions.
The little emperor of Xixia originally planned to make amends with Song and Liao. After the internal stability, he would first annex the plateau and then the Western Regions.
Therefore, it is impossible for Lingzhou City to give it.
But he couldn't say this.
"It's okay. I, the Song Dynasty, are not in a hurry. We can wait for your envoy to send someone back to inquire. The eldest princess of Xia Kingdom is charming and graceful. I like it very much. I don't know whether the marriage is a bargaining chip for Xia Kingdom's negotiation, or whether it is because of Xia Kingdom's original nature. Is that what you mean?" Zhao Xing asked.
“Back to Your Highness the Crown Prince, my emperor and the eldest princess have a deep love as siblings, and the marriage decision is entirely up to the eldest princess. The eldest princess admires your highness the prince and has the intention of getting married. Regardless of whether the Song Dynasty agrees to open a mutual market, As long as the Song Dynasty is willing, the marriage will proceed," Su Wenchang said.
"That's good!" Zhao Xing said with a smile: "I already have a concubine. The eldest princess of Xia Kingdom has a noble status and it is not easy to be included in the palace directly. Si Tianjian will choose an auspicious day and let the eldest princess move to the East Palace. . ”
“Your Highness, the eldest princess has a distinguished status, and my emperor has prepared a generous dowry for her. Even if she wants to get married, she must first go back to the Xia Kingdom and give her a grand marriage ceremony. This is so casual, it is simply disrespectful to the princess. Hu Xia Guo's humiliation!" Su Wenchang said with a bit of anger.
(End of this chapter)