Chapter 216 Xixia’s Purpose
Perhaps in the future, if he fails in his reforms, history books will record him as having high aspirations but low abilities and mediocre abilities.
"Your Highness."
Although Zhang Guifen didn't know what Zhao Xing was thinking, she could feel the changes in Zhao Xing's emotions.
Seeing that Zhao Xing had drunk several cups in a row, he held down Zhao Xing's hand when he raised his glass again.
"I'm fine." Zhao Xing saw Zhang Guifen's worried look and smiled slightly.
After a few drinks, Zhao Xing felt a little less upset.
No matter how history books will evaluate him in the future, it would be best if the reform could succeed and solve the long-standing problems of the Song Dynasty. By that time, my son will be almost grown up, so I can give the throne to him and enjoy it myself.
If the reform fails, the worst that can happen is that I become a tyrant, and it will not be in vain for me to come to this world.
After I die, I don’t care about the flood.
After figuring this out, Zhao Xing felt that all the pressure that had accumulated over the years was swept away, and a smile from the bottom of his heart appeared on his face.
Zhang Guifen didn't know about the changes in Zhao Xing's heart, but when she saw the smile on Zhao Xing's face, she felt relieved.
The banquet did not discuss the purpose of the Western Xia mission, nor did it discuss whether a marriage alliance would be held.
Just eat, drink, listen to music and watch dance.
It took two envoys to complete the task.
The next day, the emperor formally summoned the Western Xia envoys to the Daqing Hall, but the Western Xia princess did not attend.
In the Daqing Hall, civil and military officials stood in an orderly manner, with Zhao Xing standing at the front of the civil officials' queue.
"Send the envoy of Xia Kingdom to the audience!"
The eunuchs in charge of the palace sang in response, and soon, four envoys from Western Xia walked into the hall.
"Foreign officials pay their respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!" The four of them saluted in unison.
"No need to be polite." The emperor waved his hand and said, "I heard that Emperor Xia wanted to discuss something with me, so I sent an envoy here. I wonder what Emperor Xia wants?"
It is okay to call him King Xia in private, but of course you cannot do so in front of the Western Xia envoys.
Otherwise, it would mean denying that Xixia was a country, which Xixia could not tolerate no matter what.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, our Emperor intends to open up trade with the Great Song Dynasty to prosper the two countries and exchange what they have."
The chief envoy among the Western Xia envoys was named Su Wenchang, also a Han Chinese.
However, Su Wenchang was not a Han Chinese who defected from the Song Dynasty. His ancestors were under the rule of Western Xia during the Tang Dynasty.
After the young emperor of Western Xia seized power, he implemented the system of three provinces and six ministries within Western Xia to strengthen and improve the centralization of power.
And Su Wenchang was the Minister of Rites of Western Xia.
When the official heard Su Wenchang's proposal to open up trade between the two countries, he frowned slightly.
Not only officials, but many civil officials are like this.
As mentioned before, the Han people looked down on the neighboring countries and regarded them as barbarians.
In their view, the Central Plains Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, so 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 also imposed a blockade on Liao and Xia.
Liaoxia knew how to blockade horses and restrict the flow of horses into the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty naturally also knew how to blockade and prevent some things needed by Liaoxia from flowing into Liaoxia.
The trade between Song and Liao was one of the conditions for peace talks proposed by the Liao Kingdom during the Treaty of Shanyuan.
Although the Song Dynasty made a lot of profits from the trade in recent years, it also obtained a small number of horses.
But the Liao Kingdom made more profit, and the price of horses was raised very high by the Liao Kingdom. All the profits of the Song Dynasty court were used to buy horses.
At first glance, the Song Dynasty also gained practical benefits from obtaining war horses.
actually not.
As mentioned earlier, the war horses sold by the Liao Kingdom to the Song Dynasty were all castrated and could not be bred.
Secondly, the Liao Kingdom would limit the number of horses each year, and it was difficult for the Song Dynasty court to buy a large number of horses at one time.
It would take several years or even more than ten years to obtain enough horses to form a cavalry of sufficient size.
But by the time enough horses were gathered, the earliest ones were already old.
In this way, the Song Dynasty has been wasting its national strength.
The so-called mutual trade merchants benefited, the Liao Kingdom benefited, but the Song Dynasty court did not benefit.
However, Western Xia was even poorer than the Liao Dynasty. How much benefit could the Song Dynasty gain from trading with Western Xia?
On the contrary, Xixia made greater profits.
Although they looked down on the barbarians, Liao and Xia had always been a major threat to the Song Dynasty.
"Your Excellency said that you want to open a trade with the Song Dynasty, but Xia Kingdom doesn't seem to have anything that the Song Dynasty needs. Trade is about doing business. Although I don't know how to do business, I know that both buyers and sellers must be able to make a profit." Han Zhang said.
"Mr. 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 a portion of horses to Dasong every year. In addition, the two countries can form an alliance through marriage and become true brother countries, reducing the number of troops stationed on the border!"
Although the two countries are brother countries on the surface, in fact, the Song Dynasty was defeated and had to accept it.
In fact, the relationship between the two countries is not that good.
Although there has been no war on the northwest border in recent years, minor frictions have never ceased.
Su Wenchang's intention was to achieve an alliance through marriage and reduce the number of troops stationed on the border between the two countries.
The emperor and his ministers were all moved when they heard this.
There are large numbers of troops stationed on both the northwestern and northern borders.
The Song Dynasty had more than one million soldiers and horses. Excluding the local troops, the imperial guards still had 700,000 to 800,000 soldiers.
In Water Margin, Lin Chong is the chief instructor of the 800,000 imperial troops, and there is no exaggeration at all.
Of course, as the chief instructor of the Imperial Guards, he was responsible for teaching them martial arts and was not a high-ranking official.
Of the 700,000 to 800,000 imperial guards of the Song Dynasty, nearly half were stationed in the western suburbs camp outside Bianliang City to defend the capital, and the remaining hundreds of thousands were stationed in various border cities.
The north is infinitely defensible, and all border cities need to have garrisons, which account for the largest proportion.
But there are also more than 100,000 troops stationed in the northwest.
Both the north and the northwest are relatively poor and cannot support so many soldiers and horses.
All food and fodder had to be transported from the south, and even with the canal, the consumption would be very high.
If the number of garrison troops could be reduced by tens of thousands, it would greatly ease the pressure on the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Xing sneered in his heart when he heard this, for he felt that Xixia did have the intention of marriage.
He also said that it depends on the Princess of Xixia's own opinion.
Given how he treated the Princess of Xixia yesterday, how could she be interested in him?
"If I remember correctly, Emperor Xia meant that whether the marriage will be agreed upon depends on the eldest princess's opinion. Could it be that the eldest princess of Western Xia has already agreed to the marriage?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a handsome man. Her Royal Highness the Princess admires him very much and has already agreed." Su Wenchang said with a smile.
Zhao Xing did not comment and said, "Whether it is marriage or trade, the Song Dynasty can agree. But what the envoy said is not enough. If Xia Kingdom is willing to return Lingzhou City, that would be enough."
"Your Highness, Lingzhou City is the territory of Xia State. How can you..."
"What Xia country!"
Zhao Xing interrupted Su Wenchang and said, "Lingzhou City is the territory of the Song Dynasty. It was taken away by the Xia Kingdom. Only by returning Lingzhou City can the Xia Kingdom show its sincerity!"
The emperor and the court officials were moved when they heard this, but they remained silent.
It has to be said that the conditions proposed by Zhao Xing really made them excited.
Lingzhou City is the gateway to the Western Regions. If it can be taken back, the Song Dynasty will be able to obtain horses through the Western Regions.
Although the number will not be too large, there is no need to be controlled by others.
"Outsiders cannot make the decision on this matter." Su Wenchang shook his head.
If Xixia wants to expand now, there are only a few directions.
One is towards the plateau. Tubo was split into several tribes. Now that area is the territory of various Tubo tribes, and there are constant wars.
The second is to expand to the Western Regions, and Lingzhou City is very important.
The third is the Hehuang direction, the fourth is the Song Dynasty direction, and the fifth is the Liao Kingdom direction.
Both Song and Liao are very strong, and Western Xia does not have this idea for the time being.
Hehuang borders the Song Dynasty. If the Western Xia plots to take over Hehuang, the Song Dynasty will not sit idly by.
In fact, the only directions of Xixia's expansion now are the plateau and the Western Regions.
The young emperor of Western Xia originally planned to make peace with the Song and Liao dynasties, and after internal stability was achieved, he would first annex the plateau and then the Western Regions.
Therefore, it is impossible to give Lingzhou City.
But he couldn't say these.
"It's okay. Our Song Dynasty is not in a hurry. We can wait for your envoy to send someone back to inquire. The eldest princess of Xia Kingdom is graceful and charming, and I like her very much. I wonder if the marriage is a bargaining chip for Xia Kingdom to negotiate, or if Xia Kingdom has always had this intention?" Zhao Xing asked.
"To reply to Your Highness the Crown Prince, our emperor and the eldest princess have a deep sisterly love, and the matter of the marriage is entirely decided by the eldest princess herself. The eldest princess admires Your Highness the Crown Prince and is willing to marry. Regardless of whether the Song Dynasty agrees to open a trade market, the marriage will go ahead as long as the Song Dynasty is willing." Su Wenchang said.
"That's good!" Zhao Xing said with a smile, "I already have a wife. The Princess of Xia is of noble status, so it's not easy to bring her directly into the palace. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau should choose an auspicious day and let the Princess move to the East Palace."
"Your Highness, the eldest princess is of noble status, and our emperor has prepared a generous dowry for her. Even if it is a marriage of peace, she must first return to the Xia Kingdom and send the bride in a grand manner. Being so casual is simply a humiliation to the princess and the Xia Kingdom!" Su Wenchang said with some anger.
(End of this chapter)