Chapter 959: Negotiation Confrontation between Liao and Song Dynasties
Zhang Yue watched the Liao envoy team at the top of Zhending City and slowly entered the city gate.
As far as he knew, Liao Lord Yelu Hongji had moved Nabo to the Datong line, and at the same time, Khitan soldiers and horses had begun to cut down the Yusai built along the border by the Song Dynasty on a large scale.
The so-called Yusai refers to the elm forests planted along the northeastern part of the river and Hebei in the Song Dynasty to block the Liao cavalry from going south.
In the northern part of Dingzhou alone, hundreds of millions were planted, reaching a depth of fifty or sixty miles. In the Song Dynasty, the Yusai and Tangbo in the north were densely covered with illustrations, serving as the first line of defense to defend the Khitan.
But now the Liao State has begun to cut down Yusai, which arouses concern throughout the Song Dynasty.
Zhang Yue knew that Yusai was related to Tong Guan. Historically, in order to regain Youyan, Tong Guan cut down all the Yusai that he had cultivated for many years. Finally, when the Jin soldiers' cavalry went south, it could be said that it was unimpeded.
At that time, many officials believed that the reason why the Jin soldiers went south was because there was no barrier.
The leader of the Liao Dynasty, Yelu Hongji, began to cut down Yusai, which could be regarded as a sign that the Liao Kingdom might launch a large-scale attack, or that he and himself were generally putting on an intimidating posture to strive for greater benefits in negotiations.
At this time, the situation at the border fortress attracted the attention of the officials. The officials assigned Han Jiang to judge Taiyuan Prefecture and asked Zhang Yue whether the Liao Kingdom had any intention of invading the south.
After Zhang Yue learned that the Liao army had begun to cut down Yusai along the Hedong and Hebei lines, Han Jiang knew that the officials in Taiyuan Prefecture were worried about his arbitrary actions.
Han Jiang knew that Taiyuan Mansion was dividing his authority.
At the banquet that day, Zhang Yue entertained Yelupo.
Yelvpo stood up and greeted Zhang Yue and said, "My lord has admired Zhang Yue's reputation for a long time."
Xiao Xi, the deputy envoy on the side, said: "My Lord has always loved Confucianism and has always wished to be born in China!"
The Song people below Zhang Yue all laughed after hearing this, and the banquet was enjoyable at first. The Liao envoy was not so aggressive, and indeed showed due respect to Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue nodded without comment.
Then Yelvpo said: "Not only are we, the Khitan people, familiar with the Three-Character Sutra, as well as the poems to encourage students to learn and the poems of prodigies, but our Lord has also ordered that everyone in the royal family of the Liao Kingdom and descendants must recite it!"
Speaking of this, Yelu Po took advantage of the wine and thought: "The emperor values heroes, and their articles teach you. Everything is inferior, but reading is good. If you are a young man, you must study hard, and your articles can help you stand up. The nobles in the dynasty are all noble.
He is a scholar."
Yelu Po felt quite pleased with himself when he heard this, but everyone in the Song Dynasty officials were surprised.
The Song Dynasty imposed strict control on the export of texts to the Liao Kingdom. Except for the Nine Classics, no texts were allowed to be spread to the Liao Kingdom. In particular, the poems and articles of some ministers of the Song Dynasty were not allowed to be read by the Khitan people.
But who knew that Lord Yelu Hongji of the Liao Dynasty was so powerful that he actually knew Zhang Yue's articles handed down from ancient times, and even ordered everyone in the Khitan royal family and descendants to learn from them.
This deeply amazed Song Dynasty officials, who felt as if their core secrets were being spied upon by the Khitans.
As for Zhang Yue, he felt that it was okay. His articles and poems were not important. They would only know if the Khitan people knew about them. This would actually be beneficial to the cultural export of the Song Dynasty.
However, neither the Song Dynasty officials nor the Liao officials present thought so.
And Xiao Xi smiled and said: "I really like Deputy Zhang Shu's poem 'I was addicted to learning when I was young. My family was poor and I couldn't write books to read, so I borrowed them from the book collection house and wrote them down by hand, counting the days to pay them back...'
"
After Xiao Xi finished speaking, he looked quite pleased with himself, as if I had peeked into the secrets of your Song Dynasty.
As for the officials of the Song Dynasty, everyone was angry.
Han Zhen said: "We will treat your envoy with sincerity and courtesy..."
Han Zhen spoke with anger and was stopped by Zhang Yue. However, Zhang Yue said: "Unexpectedly, a mere article and poem has spread to the Liao Kingdom. It is really an honor for me to have my humble name known to you."
Yelvpo also smiled and said: "My lord not only heard about Vice President Zhang's reputation, he also said that Vice President Zhang's articles and martial arts skills were very good. If he were in Liao Kingdom, he would be appointed as the Privy Envoy of the South Courtyard to preside over the affairs of the South."
!”
Zhang Yue wanted to laugh a little after hearing this. He was not Xiao Feng, so why should he be the Privy Councilor of the South Courtyard?
Historically, although Xiao Feng held the position of King of the South Academy, he had power in the Liao Kingdom, but it was not a position where one person was lower than ten thousand people. The real position in the Liao Kingdom where one person was lower than ten thousand people was the envoys of the Northern and Southern Privy Councils.
For example, Yelu Yixin, a powerful minister of the Liao Kingdom, once served as the secret envoy of the Southern Privy Council.
Zhang Yue didn't know if the Lord of Liao had ever said such a thing, but Yelvpo also said it, but he didn't mean well!
The Lord of the Liao Dynasty recruited Zhang Yue as the Privy Envoy of the Southern Privy Council, and commanded the Yanyun Han people under the jurisdiction of the Southern Privy Council to attack the Song Dynasty. What would be the consequences if such words were spread...
But Zhang Yue said: "If we, the Chinese officials, do not do this, why should we be officials of the barbarians?"
As soon as Zhang Yue said this, everyone on the Liao envoy's side looked at him angrily.
The Liao people hated the people of the Song Dynasty most for not being able to defeat them, but also for making fun of themselves as barbarians. Over the years, the Liao people had made great efforts to learn the culture of the Han Dynasty.
Yelu Po stood up angrily and said: "The Song Dynasty has been in peace for too long in these years. I don't know my identity. How dare I call Daliao a barbarian?"
Zhang Yue said: "Why not? Lin Ya, please sit down and listen to me."
Yelupo sat down again and listened to what Zhang Yue had to say.
Zhang Yue said: "I heard that your lord once listened to a Han Confucian lecture and when he said the sentence "Beichen abode and the stars are over it", your lord once asked: "I heard that there is China under the North Pole. How can this place be different?"
evil?'"
"When it comes to "the barbarians and the Di have kings", the Han Confucian scholars dare not elaborate on it. Your Lord also said, "In the previous world, there were wild beasts, and harpies had no etiquette, so they were called barbarians. I cultivate cultural relics, and my politeness is no different from that of China.
Why do you think so?'"
As soon as Zhang Yue said this, everyone in the Liao envoys was shocked.
Zhang Yue actually knew everything about the conversation between Yelu Hongji and the Han Confucian ministers? This shows that not only the Khitans knew the ministers of the Song Dynasty in detail, but the Song Dynasty also had detailed affairs in the Liao Kingdom, and even the conversations between the emperor and the ministers were unknown.
Knowing everything clearly, maybe he also knows Yelu Hongji’s character very well.
All the envoys looked at Yelvpo, and Xiao Xi thought to himself that if the Song Dynasty had this intention, it would not be easy to deal with it.
Zhang Yue did have a certain understanding of Liao Lord Yelu Hongji.
After Tong Guan caught a spy from the Liao Kingdom, he found out from the other party that the Liao Kingdom often had the habit of buying information from the Song Dynasty from monks and households.
Tong Guan then used these Liao agents who came to the Song Dynasty to spy on intelligence from the Liao State to collect intelligence from the Liao State.
Anyway, these people buy and sell information for money, and they will sell information to whoever pays more. The Liao people never dreamed that those who collected intelligence for themselves would actually become the spies of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, under Tong Guan's operation, information about the Liao Kingdom was continuously made known to Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue doesn't know if Ma Zhi will be among the people Tong Guan bribes, but he doesn't mind such a thing. As long as the information is useful, no matter how trivial the information is, Zhang Yue is willing to give money.
In order to fight against the Khitan, the officials specially allocated two million yuan to the Xuanfu Division in Hebei and Hedong.
This is much more practical and generous than when Han Jiang was appointed as the envoy of Xuanfu, who only gave ultimatums, and the government took action. So Zhang Yue used government money to buy tea from the Daming Prefecture Exchange.
While speculating on the price of high-quality tea, on the other hand, you spend money to buy fine craftsmanship.
And because Zhang Yue talked about the conversation between Yelu Hongji and the ministers so carefully that Yelu Po was so careful, Xiao Xi suddenly lost his confidence in front of Zhang Yue.
At this time, Zhang Yue said: "You see, your lord understands the righteousness so well, he considers himself a barbarian, and regards China as the superior dynasty. Why don't you, the ministers, have this realization?"
Yelvpo did not dare to fight back, but asked: "May I ask what my lord and his close ministers said? How did Deputy Zhang learn through spying? Looking at the emperor's words and deeds, is there any unkindness or injustice in this matter?"
Zhang Yue said: "I can't answer you on this matter, but I think how you got Zhang's poems and articles is how I got them."
Yelupo sneered and took a sip of the wine.
The officials of the Song Dynasty were overjoyed when they saw Zhang Yue calm down his arrogance with a few words.
For example, you Khitan people learned about the news about our Song Dynasty, but we, the Song Dynasty, had already prepared for it and even learned about your more confidential information. So in the subsequent negotiations, will the Khitan people take it as a further consideration?
In the ensuing negotiations between the two countries, the Khitans will become passive as a result.
Yelvpo, Xiao Xi and the Khitan envoy team were silent. Apparently they didn't know what went wrong and let the Song Dynasty learn about the secrets of the Liao Kingdom. Seeing this, Zhang Yue decided to take advantage of the victory and pursue it. He said:
"Actually, Zhang's poems and articles are just gossip. But the real thing about China lies in the two words benevolence and righteousness."
"If you only know the basics of learning, you will know that small etiquette has no great righteousness, that you stick to trivial matters but have no great virtues, that you care about trivial details but ignore integrity, and that you are afraid of power but not virtuous. In the future, the strong will be robbers and bandits, and the weak will be humble. This is not enough.
That’s right!”
As soon as Zhang Yue said this, Yelupo and others were so angry that they were filled with rage, but they were speechless.
All the officials of the Song Dynasty were also happy. For many years, the Khitan had been suppressing the Song Dynasty. When the envoys met, no Song Dynasty official dared to rebuke the Liao envoys like this.
But some people are worried that Zhang Yue is too confident. If the talks between the two parties really break down, then after returning home, Yelu Po and Xiao Xi will send a message to Yelu Hongji, the Lord of Liao, and the two sides will start fighting?
Yelvpo actually couldn't figure out Zhang Yue's approach.
Yelvpo said: "Since Deputy Zhang said this, we have nothing to talk about. Today the two countries have lost diplomatic relations. You can see clearly that the responsibility does not lie with our country, Liao, but with Deputy Zhang. Wait."
When our Liao cavalry goes south in the future, I hope your Song army's swords will be as tough as your tongue!"
After saying this, Yelupo stood up.
The envoys of the Liao Kingdom below secretly said, "Happy, happy, this move is the trump card of the Liao people. As long as there is no negotiation, it will definitely be you Song Dynasty people who are in panic, not the Liao people."
Deputy envoy Xiao Xi looked up to the sky and smiled: "I don't know whether it was the Emperor of Liao who chopped off our heads when the swords and soldiers came together, or the Emperor of Song who chopped off your heads!"
After the second envoy finished speaking, he saw that Zhang Yue still looked calm, and he suddenly couldn't hold himself back.
Shouldn't the people of the Song Dynasty kneel down and beg for peace at this time?
Thinking of this, Yelu Poye's confidence was only seven points lower than before.
