When Hongying arrived at Yang's house, she quickly became a favorite. Although she was disabled, she was very beautiful and talented, and she was very good at pleasing Yang Ye. However, she felt that it was a bit too much for Yang Ye, a young and strong warrior, to sleep with her frequently.
A few days later, a cousin from Hongying's hometown came to seek refuge. He also spoke with a Yangzhou accent. Because he didn't have a provincial degree, he wanted to make a living in the mansion and successfully became a groom in the Yang Mansion. In this world, wealthy families recruit people mainly to prevent criminals from sneaking in. As long as they come from a good family, there will be no problem; because there has never been such an undercover case, people don't know about it. And the cousin, with the master's favorite concubine as a guarantor, there will be no problem.
In a few days, it will be even more difficult for outsiders to enter Jinyang, because there are news of wars in the market. The Great Zhou army, claiming to have 200,000 soldiers, launched a massive attack.
In early July, the Zhou army went out of Liaozhou to the southeastern part of the Northern Han territory, now Zuoquan County, Shanxi. The walls of Liaozhou were not strong enough, and it had been repeatedly fought over for several years. First, it was the territory of the Northern Han, and Li Yun found an opportunity to occupy Liaozhou; later, the Zhou court could not take care of the north, and Li Yun had no intention of fighting a war with the Northern Han. There was a dramatic power change within the Zhou court, and the Northern Han easily took back this place; not long ago, Murong Yanzhao was appointed as the governor of Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou, and took back Liaozhou, which had little garrison.
Two days later, the Zhou army attacked northwestwards and approached Longzhou. Longzhou was in danger.
The Northern Han court was really feeling the urgency. The status of Longzhou was completely different from that of Liaozhou. It was an important town at the southern part of the Northern Han state. To the west were Fenzhou and Jinzhou, which were also important towns in the hands of the Zhou state. To the east was Longzhou. If Longzhou was lost, the Zhou army would occupy an important town directly at the gate of the capital and could threaten the capital of the Northern Han at any time. In that case, the Northern Han state would not be safe.
The Northern Han leader first sent General Feng Jinke of the Imperial Guard to lead the imperial cavalry and mobilized troops from various departments to rush to Longzhou. The two sides fought fiercely, and although Feng Jinke fought hard, he was defeated due to being outnumbered and fled back to Jinyang in a hurry.
The Northern Han ruler sent Yang Ye to lead the army to resist the enemy. However, Yang Ye annexed Baigu and did not move his troops, unwilling to go to the decisive battle. The Northern Han court did not blame or urge him, and many ministers even pragmatically suggested that the Zhou army was coming aggressively, and Yang Ye had few soldiers and generals and could not win; stationing troops in Baigu could prevent the enemy troops from Longzhou and Liaozhou from harassing the capital.
Longzhou was besieged and attacked by the Zhou army, and repeatedly asked for help. Liu Jun had no plan to retreat, so he hurriedly sent envoys to the Liao Kingdom to ask for help.
The capital of Liao was Shangjing, which was probably located south of Daxing'anling and north of Henghe. They would not dispatch troops from Shangjing, which was so far away, to attack Northern Han, but they had to go to Shangjing to discuss the dispatch of troops.
The Liao Dynasty was established for more than 50 years, and the Khitan forces in the northeast have existed since the middle of the Tang Dynasty. The Liao Dynasty is no longer a completely nomadic nation. It is a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral country. Even in areas such as Youyun and Bohai, farming is the main economic method. The capital Shangjing also shows this form very well. Shangjing is not a place to pitch tents, but a city; it is divided into the Imperial City and Hancheng, with a circumference of more than ten miles, and it is a big city. Especially the Hancheng in the south, there is a settled craftsman workshop commercial area, and it can also produce porcelain.
The main palace of the imperial palace was on a hill in the middle of the imperial city, but the place where the envoys from the Northern Han Dynasty were received and settled was in the open area to the north of the palace. There were many tents here, and the envoys lived in the tents.
The envoy did not see the Liao emperor during the day. No matter how anxious he was, he could only stay in the tent all day. He vaguely heard that the emperor was sleeping and could not meet him. The envoy had heard in Jinyang that the Liao emperor was very cruel and only had two things in his life, sleeping and killing. However, drinking and hunting were also his hobbies. This was just a rumor, but now it seems that it is mostly true.
The next morning, the envoy still did not see the emperor, but met with the minister sent by the Liao Kingdom in an official office. This meeting did not make any real progress. They just handed over the letter of credence. The official said some clichés in the tone of the emperor's imperial edict. As for discussing sending troops to rescue, there was no mention, and it was impossible to give an answer on the spot. The situation was urgent. The envoy did only this one thing in two days in Beijing.
However, the real work is not done in public, but in private. The politics of the Central Plains dynasties is like this. The Liao Kingdom has the imprint and characteristics of the tribe, but because of long-term learning of the Central Plains official system, it has also been tainted with some habits.
The Northern Han envoy wanted to bribe the Liao prime minister with the money and goods he brought, but his staff dissuaded him. They said that the Northern Han was equally important to the Liao and they would not sit idly by. It would be inappropriate if they were too humble. However, the Northern Han envoy was worried that the Liao emperor was a tyrant who would ignore the overall situation, so they decided to visit the prime minister so that they could have someone to help speak for them.
The Liao emperor had already privately known about the Zhou army's invasion of Northern Han before the Northern Han envoys arrived.
The Liao Emperor, Yelu Jing, learned about this from the secret report of the Liao embassy in Jinyang. However, Yelu Jing ignored the fact that Jinyang was a strong city and would not be captured and destroyed so quickly, otherwise the Liao Kingdom would not be able to protect them; if the Liao Kingdom acted too eager to rescue, it would be difficult to control the country during the diplomatic relations with the Northern Han.
At this time, someone reported that Yelu Dilu had an audience with Yang Gun, the Khitan general who reinforced the Northern Han during the Battle of Gaoping.
Yelu Jing summoned him to see him. Yang Gun had just returned from Youzhou and looked tired, but as soon as he entered the palace, he showed fear and kowtowed in front of the tiger-skin couch.
Seeing this, Yelu Jing secretly sighed slightly, thinking to himself, am I that scary? He did look ferocious, with stiff eyebrows and beard. According to the Khitan people's way of greeting, Yang Gun did not have to kneel, but could just bow with his hands on his chest; but he still performed the ceremony.
This man was a general that Yelu Jing trusted the most. Yelu Jing even sent him to Youzhou to visit Xiao Siwen, but he was still trembling in front of the emperor.
Yelu Jing thought: No one can understand my difficulties. Others are afraid of him, probably because he often kills people around him, but Yelu Jing feels that he really does not kill people indiscriminately. He usually kills only two types of people: one is the nobles who were first demoted to slaves, and the other is the people who have long wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of. Of course, sometimes he will kill some insignificant slaves. However, he has never killed ministers and nobles with a little status for no reason, and he dare not do it.
But he was indeed cruel by nature, and he enjoyed killing people just as he did drinking and hunting. He often got drunk, but it was not all pretend. He did so for a long time because it was his hobby.
So people were afraid of him, which was what he wanted to see. It was not easy for Yelu Jing to be the emperor, and his position was not stable. This was also the fundamental reason why the Liao Dynasty had been turbulent for many years. He wanted people to be afraid of him, otherwise he would have been killed long ago.
The current situation of the Liao Kingdom was very unstable. After Yelu Jing ascended the throne, there had been three major internal rebellions to regicide and establish themselves, and it seemed that there was no sign of stopping. As for the minor rebellions that intended to treason, even Yelu Jing himself could not remember them clearly, there were too many. In addition, the Shiwei and Wugu tribes, which had long been dependent on the Liao Kingdom, also rebelled against the Liao Kingdom and were suppressed by war.
Yelu Jing felt that he could not be blamed for the situation, but everyone seemed to want to put all the blame on him because he was cruel. If he was not cruel, many people would want the throne and he would have been killed long ago. This made him very unhappy. When he thought that he would be labeled a tyrant after his death, he became even more angry. But there was nothing he could do for the time being.
Why so many people wanted the throne? This can be traced back to the death of Emperor Taizong of Liao, when Emperor Shizong of Liao was enthroned as emperor by military generals. Between Taizong and Shizong there was a posthumous title, Yizong, who never actually became emperor. From the posthumous title Shizong, it is known that Emperor Shizong of Liao was not the son of Taizong. The empress dowager who came to the capital at that time did not recognize this emperor. She even wanted her son, Taizong's youngest son, to be emperor. But the youngest son was not qualified anyway, and he fought a battle and lost. Under the persuasion of the nobles, they reconciled and recognized Emperor Shizong of Liao's throne.
This laid the seeds for the legitimacy of the throne. After Emperor Taizong of Liao, several emperors of the Liao Dynasty were unable to suppress the great achievements and prestige of the various tribes; therefore, Abaoji's descendants all felt that they should be emperors, and even felt that the throne was originally theirs.
Liao Shizong sat on the throne for three years, and then the Huoshendian Rebellion occurred. Liao Shizong was killed by the Prince of Yan, Yelü Chage, who proclaimed himself emperor. Taizong's son, Yelü Jing, killed Yelü Chage and ascended the throne. Did the throne belong to Yizong's lineage or Taizong's and Shizong's lineage? Yizong and Taizong were both sons of Abaoji, the first founder of Liao. Obviously, the descendants of both sides felt qualified and that they were legitimate.
In just a few years, the emperor was replaced three times through military mutinies and assassinations. The first two did not last long, and several others were killed before they took office. Only Yelu Jing still sits on this position, although it is not so stable.
Who can be at ease as an emperor under such circumstances? Yelu Jing was actually very scared in his heart, and of course he made others scared too.
He was in a bad mood every day, and could only feel a moment of joy when he drank a lot of wine. Some people said he was a tyrant, but he was self-aware and admitted it; but if he was called a foolish emperor, he didn't want to admit it. If it was really that easy for a foolish emperor to stay as emperor in such a situation, Liao Shizong was not so foolish and should not have been killed.
Yelu Jing has been having a headache lately. He has discovered that the real danger may not only come from the Yelu family because no matter who kills him, the throne will remain unstable. But what if the Xiao family, which has always been the prime minister's door through royal marriage, is involved
Yelu Jing was nervous and thought a lot every day. He even suspected that his bad reputation was a long-term strategy of the Xiao family; the Xiao family wanted to put all the blame on him, and then support someone to ascend the throne, trying to end the chaos of the throne dispute. But the prestige of the new monarch was also very important. If Liao Shizong's achievements and prestige could be comparable to Taizong's, there might not have been any chaos later.
If the Xiao family really did that, it would not mean any harm to the Liao Kingdom, but Yelu Jing himself would become a scapegoat. So Yelu Jing sent Yang Gun to Youzhou for a period of time, just to observe Xiao Siwen's usual performance.