Chapter Five Hundred and Seventy-Three Vicious Dogs Become Domestic Dogs
Early morning, Bianliang City.
In the Honglu Temple, envoys from Japan and Goryeo gathered. Now that the Song Dynasty has taken back Youyan and is once again bordering Goryeo, the rulers and ministers of Goryeo, who were threatened by the Jurchens, all felt lucky.
For the Korean people who were often plundered by the Jurchens and unable to defend their enemies outside the country, the Song army's forceful takeback of Youyan was a life-saving straw.
Gao Li was like a left-behind child who was bullied every day, crying with tears in his eyes: "My father is finally back."
This mentality is also reflected in the Korean envoys at Honglu Temple. They all have happy faces and look at the envoys from other countries with infinite pride in their eyes. They seem to be showing off all the time, saying, I was my dear friend when I was in the Tang Dynasty.
Son, what about you?
The Japanese envoy next to him was relatively low-key. He sat on one side and patiently waited for the ministers of the Song court, without saying a word or looking around.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Goguryeo was a powerful country in northern Liaoning. Its territory was so large that it could not be compared with that of North Korea and South Korea in later generations. Its territory covered later Liaoning, parts of Jilin, all of North Korea, and parts of South Korea.
Goguryeo bullied its neighbor Silla, and Silla was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Now, the Tang Dynasty, which had always disliked it, had a legitimate excuse. You Goguryeo dared to bully my younger brother, so you formally petitioned Goguryeo.
The war was declared and the fight lasted for more than 20 years.
In 668 AD, Xue Rengui, the general of Youweiwei of the Tang Dynasty, captured Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo. Goguryeo as a country completely disappeared in the long history of history. The Tang Dynasty and Silla divided the territory of Goguryeo with the Datong River as the boundary.
Later, Silla, along with the Tang Dynasty, fell into civil strife, and uprisings continued in various places. After hundreds of years of fighting, General Wang Jian became the king of the Goryeo Dynasty, which was also known as Wang's Goryeo in history.
In fact, this Goryeo has nothing to do with Goguryeo, but Goguryeo was very powerful back then, so these people wanted to gain some residual power, and that's how the country got the name Goryeo.
The traditional skills of Goryeo are to be weak-kneed, to be subdued, and to be a grandson. This is very important for a small country surrounded by powerful enemies. It can be said to be the foundation of its establishment. Externally, it has successively followed the Later Tang Dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty, and the Later Zhou Dynasty.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Khitan became a minister.
Moreover, during the Tang Dynasty, he Sinicized Chengdu very deeply, and he always thought that Han people were the first, Goryeo second, and the others were all barbarians.
Now that I have legitimately returned to the embrace of the Song Dynasty, I am of course very happy, but it is almost not set as a national celebration day.
In Honglu Temple, a government servant brought several cups of tea. The Japanese envoy quickly stood up and bent down to thank him.
Li Ziqian, the Korean envoy on the side, smiled with a smile. He obviously despised these Japanese dwarfs. He saluted the government servants who served tea and water. He really did not distinguish between superior and inferior and did not understand etiquette.
Li Ziqian was a powerful minister of Goryeo and the uncle of Goryeo. He married his two daughters to Wang Kai, the leader of Goryeo.
The Japanese envoy on the side was furious. Just when he was about to speak, he was held down by the people around him. He sat back on the chair and closed his eyes to rest.
A sound of footsteps came from outside. Dozens of guards cleared the way and surrounded an official. At this time, Li Ziqian, the Korean envoy, could not sit still. He quickly stood up and came over together.
Xu Mo, the minister of Honglu Temple, smiled and said: "This is our Great Song Dynasty Yang Shaozai, who is here to meet with the noble envoys of the two countries."
With a look of reverence, Li Ziqian bowed and said, "Foreign minister Li Ziqian has met Yang Shaozai."
The Japanese people also followed him and saluted. They all knew Yang Lin's reputation, and they also knew that he had the final say in this empire.
Yang Lin sat at the top and said with a smile: "You have come all the way and worked tirelessly. Please take a seat."
The Japanese people were honest and sat down firmly. Li Ziqian smiled and said: "Young Prime Minister is on top, how dare foreign ministers sit down? Just stand and listen."
The Japanese envoy Yuan Yi Zhongsheng, whose face was red, wanted to stand up, but didn't know whether he should stand or not. Seeing him fidgeting, a trace of contempt and joy flashed between Li Ziqian's brows, and Yang Lin quickly said: "
It doesn’t matter, just sit down.”
Li Ziqian then sat down, holding his knees with both hands, sitting in a very humble posture.
Yang Lin smiled and said: "This southern expedition, outside our territory, is not for the interests of the Song Dynasty. It is to maintain the orthodoxy of the vassal country. It is actually a righteous war for the Song Dynasty as the suzerain country! You are here to serve me.
We have received the edict to deliver money, food and materials. After the two envoys return home, please inform the king of the country to be diligent in government affairs, love the people, preach to the four directions, and not be arrogant and extravagant."
Is this the end? Both envoys were stunned.
In the suzerain-vassal relationship of the Song Dynasty, the tribute system had an important process, which was the return gift.
The Song Dynasty paid tribute to a relatively large number of additional items, including clothes, belts, silver, silk, horses, military utensils, tea, medicine and other items. The Song Dynasty was prosperous, and there were many rewards every time. Every time the tribute was paid to these vassal states, it was like celebrating the New Year.
Same thing, why did you accept something this time without saying anything about giving it in return?
During the Ming Dynasty in later generations, the emperors and ministers of the Ming court always looked higher than themselves when they came to the people, and did not pay attention to the small country of Panyi. The reward was to show the image of a big country, similar to a reward.
The Song Dynasty had long-term threats from Xixia, Liao, Jin and Mongolia took turns to attack, and Jiaozhi also invaded from time to time, so the Song court's rewards were more of a win-win method.
The civil servant group of the Song Dynasty, which was always willing to spend money to buy peace, used generous rewards as an important political and economic means to win over the Uighurs, Tubo and other tribes, form military alliances with them, divide, disintegrate and resist hostile forces.
Although this move was very effective and formed an anti-Xixia alliance in the northwest, it also brought heavy financial pressure.
Nowadays, the New Deal has long abolished this item. Uighur, Tubo, and Dangxiang are the three vicious dogs held by Yang Lin. They will bite whoever is commanded by the whistle.
From a bully who needed to be bribed in the past, he became a domestic dog, guarding the Western Region Trade Road and the Tea-Horse Trade Road.
The envoys from Korea and Japan were of course embarrassed to speak directly in front of their faces, but they were already anxious.
This time, in order to collect supplies for the Song Dynasty, they made great efforts to search. According to past experience, the more you give, the more Song Dynasty will give you back, so they are investing desperately to get more returns.
The state of mind comes with excitement.
If we return empty-handed, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction in the country, and our lives may not be saved.
Yang Lin's face was full of joy, and he kept praising them for their understanding of etiquette and general knowledge. To the ears of the envoys from the two countries, these words were even worse than scolding. The key point was that he was not only unpleasant to listen to, but also very offensive.
Every word he said was unquestionably good. Unfortunately, it sounded aggrieved at this time.
Yang Lin stood up, changed the topic, and cursed viciously: "This small country that occupied the city actually did not respect our emperor's edict and refused to send troops to help in the war. In this southern expedition, I will destroy it first and barbarize its royal family.
Kill all the ministers and save the people in the city from the fire and water of the ignorant king and traitorous ministers."
Li Ziqian and Yuanyi Zhongsheng were trembling...
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