"Here is the old town of Shuxin in the Song Dynasty. It used to be ten miles of wind and moon, and it was prosperous." The white-haired old man stopped his horse and stood there, looking at the scenery, showing a look of sorrow and remembrance: "No. I thought, it has become such a situation now!"
Dilapidated buildings, barren farmland, and wide avenues all seem to be telling the prosperous city once, and occasionally there are some houses on the roadside that seem to be intact, but they have already been overgrown with weeds. , Was alarmed by the old man's words, and a few wild civet hare popped out, under the melting moonlight, it was more dilapidated and clear.
Located on the border between Song and Liaoning, Shuxin City was originally considered a strategic fortress stationed by a large army. However, under the century-old peace between Song and Liao, the situation has been extremely eased. Many cities on the border of Song and Liao rely on the cooperation between the two countries. Trade has become an important city wall that is not inferior to the mainland. This new city was also a city that the businessmen of the two sides must pass through when the businessmen of the two sides communicated. It concentrated the powder from the south and the rouge from the north. It was between the Song and Liao countries at that time. A well-known selling gold nest.
It’s just that since Jurchen entered the bandit, it has become a key target of looting by the Jurchens. Not only did the property and silk belong to the Jurchens, but even after the cleaning of the massacre, all the remaining young and strong were taken into captivity and became the Jurchen’s servants. Slave below.
The Jurchens’ personnel was already severely inadequate. After conquering the city and plundering the land, their troops were only able to support them to settle in a few important fortresses in the big city. However, like the rich and fringe cities of Shuxincheng that did not have tall walls, they were basically They all chose one after all the children in the city were taken into captivity, and then they just ignored it.
What's more, because of advancing all the way at that time, there were hardly any decent resistance Jurchens, until the Bianjing of the Song Dynasty was defeated, until the Emperor Huiqin and even the entire Song Dynasty clan were threatened and left. They are still a little bit unbelievable about the results they have achieved, and they still feel that the army and the people of the Song Dynasty may be coming back someday close at hand, so for the city like Shuxincheng that they don’t have enough ability to divide their troops to garrison, these The Jurchen army even did not hesitate to drive the people's power to flatten all the defensive facilities around the city. This also led to the fact that in just over ten years of effort, the former prosperous city-state has completely become a wasteland ruin.
"The Jurchens were originally a group of barbarians." The older guard who stopped to the left of the white-haired old man also sighed immediately and said: "Walking this way, the former prosperous city walls are all in ruins. , And it’s more than just this new city. I have thousands of barriers, and there are so many... all..."
"I don't think there is anything wrong with it!" The young warrior who stopped at the right side of the gray-haired old man and the elderly guard was sorely speechless, but he snorted a little dissatisfiedly. Ma, stepped forward, came to the white-haired old man's side, and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should let our Khitan men take a look at this place, and take a look at the ruins!"
"Xiao Mengke, you..." The elderly guard's eyes widened, and he was about to swear, but was blocked by the white-haired old man raising his hand.
"Should the Khitan men come to see these ruins?" The white-haired old man, Yelu Dashi, now the Emperor Tianzhi of Xiliao, chewed on Xiao Mengge's words with interest, and asked: "Meng Ke, what do you say?!"
"The Song people are obsessed with paper drunk gold all day long, so they can clearly have such a rich land. Under the iron hooves of the Jurchens, they have no power to fight back. If my Daliao hadn't traded with the Song people in the past, even The extravagant wind of the Song people has eroded the great men of my Khitan clan, how can I be reduced to where I am today!" Xiao Mengke glanced at the elderly guard, and said lightly: "But until today , In our Liao Dynasty, there are still some people thinking about every day, all about how to re-live the luxurious life of the past, even the Khitan clan has fallen to this way. Under the circumstances, some people are not thinking about how to prepare for war and regain their homeland, but they still want to build those useless palaces and pavilions among the desert..."
"Xiao Mengke, what do you mean by this?!" The elderly guard tiger stared at Xiao Mengke, "Don’t forget, it’s not a desert right now, it’s from Daliao now." land!"
"I know you have always been uncomfortable with us old guys, but you must not forget, we are only trying to survive the wind and rain, and we have to build those palace tower pools in that desert, just not to let you Khitans The younger generation of people has forgotten the glory and civilization that we had in Daliao in the past." The elderly guard, looking at Xiao Mengke’s eyes, also gradually softened: "We just don’t want to let others come later. , Just forgot, our Khitan people once had such a prosperous, once owned such a big Liao!"
"That's not what our Khitan people really need", Xiao Mengke didn't appreciate it at all, and argued: "We Khitan people are the descendants of Canglang. Only the wind and sand in the desert can make us never forget. Only the wolf's instincts in the blood can make us survive forever, can we never be bullied by others, and can always defeat all the enemies who dare to challenge us!"
"The so-called civilizations you are talking about are basically the most terrifying poison that makes our Khitan people weak and incompetent." Xiao Mengke looked at the elderly guard and said coldly: "Those may be The Great Liao in your mind, but it is definitely not the real Great Liao in the hearts of us real Khitan people!"
"Okay." Yelu Dashi looked at the elderly guard and thought about something to say. He quickly raised his hand first, made a stop gesture, and smiled bitterly at Xiao Mengke and the elderly guard. Said: "Have you not finished arguing in the court?! Are you still arguing here?!"
"Yes!" Both Xiao Mengke and the older guard immediately bowed their heads and responded, but it was obvious that they were still not convinced by each other in their hearts.
Yelu Dashi sighed slightly, but said nothing more.
When the Zizai Jurchen invaded the Daliao country and almost destroyed the entire Khitan clan, he took the remnants of the Khitan and traveled far to the northwest desert, pulling cities and expanding the land, destroying countless countries, and re-establishing in the place full of wind and sand. The seeds of today's controversy have been planted since the beginning of the Great Liao Empire belonging to the Khitan people.
Those who followed him to the northwest desert and re-established the Daliao Empire, of course, were not only the generals and troops, but also a part of the clan and aristocrats of Daliao, as well as those literati and literati who were in charge of the administrative and cultural affairs of Daliao that day. Officials.
On that day, the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty were in peace for more than a hundred years, and they were basically assimilated by the civilization of the Central Plains dynasty. The South and North Courts were set up to manage the original Han lands with the Han government and customs. The scientific examinations were opened and borrowed from Confucian classics. Scholars, even Yelü Dashi himself, was also the youngest Hanlin bachelor in Daliao at that time, and he was a "big stone forest tooth" with literary talent.
Therefore, in the minds of many clan aristocrats and scribes and officials who have fully accepted this concept, the real Da Liao possesses not only the martial arts, but also the ordinance system inherited from the Central Plains dynasty. The architecture and customs that represent the height of the Daliao civilization. In the eyes of these people, it was these things that allowed the Khitan to grow from a nomadic nation to a real Daliao dynasty that could compete with the Song Dynasty, which was the Central Plains dynasty, to compete for orthodoxy.
So after they moved all the way to the west and re-established their capital and nation, these clan aristocrats and scribes began to devote themselves to rebuilding the various allusions of the Liao Dynasty in the barbaric land that was still on the fringe of civilization. They rebuilt the Daliao civilization in their minds, but because of this, the conflicts between them and the generals of the military factions, and those of the younger generation of Khitan nobles who gradually grew up after moving west, became increasingly acute.
Under the environment of the day, those who could choose to follow the Yeluda stone bloody battle and smash a blood path were all the true elites of the Khitan clan who had left blood and wildness that day, and had experienced the hatred of destroying the country and the family. They have long been full of disgust and even hatred for the Khitan people’s lifestyle that completely lost their wildness and combat effectiveness, especially after they spent the lives and blood of unknown people before they reopened a new one. In the days of heaven and earth, these clan aristocrats and scribes and officials were thinking about bringing the life style that they had spurned back to the pure land that they had worked so hard to break out of. This naturally caused these military factions. The generals and the younger generation of Khitan nobles rebounded unanimously.
In these years, such disputes can be said to have disappeared without a day, and it is even a beneficial trend. After all, in recent years, the Xiliao Empire has established a stable foundation in the northwest desert. The next step is to choose What kind of method to rebuild a powerful Liao empire has become a matter that must be faced by the Xi Liao Dynasty from the bottom of the Yelu Dashi.
Of course, with Yelu Dashi’s prestige, if he really firmly expressed his support for any party, he could settle such a dispute. However, he still adopts a transcendent approach to this dispute. He never clearly stated what his opinion was.
Because even Yelu Dashi himself hasn't really thought about this issue clearly.
He is the world’s top commanding general. When the Jurchen cavalry is like a broken bamboo, and the Liao Empire is already in danger, he alone is the leader of a brigade, smashing a bloody road, going west into the desert, crossing the border and killing countless people, destroying countless countries, and rebuilding The empire belonging to the Khitan people, even when he was conquering the Moxi vassals on one side over the years, he was able to simultaneously lead the army and fight against the Jurchen God of War, and he did not lose sight of it.
But at the same time, he still read poetry and books that day, and was awarded the official position of Hanlin Chengzhi in response to the imperial examination of the Liao State. He was also known as the "Da Shilin Ya" by his literary name.
Regardless of whether he admits it or not, those Confucian classics, the ordinances that were originally inherited from the Han people and from the Central Plains dynasty, have taken root in his heart with the unique tenacity and vitality of the Han civilization, and their influence will inevitably follow closely. For the rest of his life, he can no longer be erased.
In fact, in the depths of Yelu Dashi’s heart, he is still inclined to the ideas of the clan aristocrats and literati officials. After all, with his qualifications in the Liao country, his transfer to various positions in the civil and military positions was very important to the prosperity of the Liao country that year and created this. There is a clear understanding of the reasons for this kind of prosperity.
But when this kind of prosperity seems unavoidable at the cost of losing the fighting capacity of the entire nation, which one should be chosen between the two? !
Yelu Dashi looked up at the cold moonlight, smiled bitterly.
He knew in his heart that there was not much time left for him.
Before he passed away, he had to give a final answer to this question, because apart from him, in the current Xiliao Empire, no one could have the ability to let all civil and military officials like him. Prestige, and he is unwilling to leave this difficult problem that he has hesitated for decades to his queen, or to his descendants.
Yelu Dashi stood there quietly, but naturally there was an invisible depressive atmosphere, so that Xiao Mengke and the elderly guard behind him just stopped quietly behind him, without making a sound. Disturb his contemplation.
"It's just." Yelu Dashi seemed to think of something, and suddenly a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said a thoughtless sentence: "In fact, the combat power of the Song people back then may not be really bad!"
"What?!" Xiao Mengke felt that Yelu Dashi's words should have been said to him, but he was confused for a while, and quickly asked: "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?!"
"Look, look over there." Yelu Dashi raised his hand and pointed to the deep distance in the dark night: "There, it is the Xiongzhou of Song Dynasty!"
Yelü Dashi said, his thoughts flew back to the years of the iron horse and Jin Ge. The wounds on his body that had been healed seemed to start to faintly aching again for a while, but he didn't realize it, and just said: "In the second year of Bao's college, the western army led by my brothers from the Song State family and I will fight in Sri Lanka..."
"Huh?!" At this moment, Xiao Mengke and the elderly guard spoke almost at the same time, interrupting Yelu Dashi's memory.
"Your Majesty, be careful!" Xiao Mengke hurried his horse a few steps, leaped up and stood on the saddle, looked at a distance, showing a solemn expression, and said in surprise: "What is that?!