Chapter 9 seek skin with a tiger

In Huoyin, Yandi, there lived a Han man, surnamed Ma and named Zhi, who held the official position of Guangluqing in the Liao Kingdom. Ma Zhi's ancestors were forced to become Liao people from the day Liao invaded and occupied the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. It has been more than 170 years since Ma Zhi's generation. However, Ma Zhi is a Guan Yu-style character, "in Cao Ying and his heart in Han", he still regards himself as a Central Plains person in his bones, and he hopes that his hometown can return to his hometown, and he can return to his hometown. One day in the first year of Zhenghe (1111), he sneaked back from Yandi and offered Zhao Ji a plan to recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun.

In order to recover these sixteen prefectures, the two brothers Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin and Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi took great pains and made sufficient preparations. According to historical records, Zhao Kuangyin once set up a small treasury called "Fengpile Treasury" to accumulate money and grain, and planned to store up to three to five million silver. If he could redeem it from the Liao people, he would buy it; It was forcibly collected from Youyun Sixteen States as military expenses.It's a pity that the sky is jealous of the talented man, his ambition was not fulfilled, and he died young. ("Taizu did not set up a pile storehouse, and he tasted secrets and said to his close ministers: "Shi Jin cut off the Youyan to bribe Khitan, so that people from one side can only limit the outside world. I am very sympathetic. I want to wait until the storehouse is full. Thirty-five Wan, even if you send an envoy to make an agreement with Khitan, if you can return my land and people, you should use up the gold and silk as its redemption value. If it is not possible, I will disperse the stagnant wealth and recruit warriors to try to attack.'")

When Zhao Guangyi came to the throne, he saw the huge sum of money left by his elder brother, and sighed: "The gold and silk in the treasury are like mountains, how can we use it! The late emperor was too worried!" Gaolianghe was defeated by brother Yeluxiu, a famous general of the Liao Kingdom. He was hit by an arrow and fled south while lying on a donkey cart. Two years later, the arrow injury recurred and he died with hatred. Zhao Guangyi's son Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng fought hard with the Liao State for another 25 years, but also failed to complete the great cause of recovery.It was not until the first year of Jingde (1004) that the two sides signed an armistice agreement in Chanzhou (now Puyang County, Henan Province), which is known as the "Chanyuan Alliance" in history, and the war stopped.

Now that Ma Zhi suddenly mentioned regaining the lost land, Zhao Ji's heart "thumped". He tried hard to control his emotions and asked, "You mean that there is a clever plan to recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, and you can help me complete the grand plan?" The wish that ancestor Taizong failed to fulfill?" "That's right." Ma Zhi said, "In the northeast border of the Liao Kingdom, there is a tribe called the Jurchen. They are strong men and horses, brave and good at fighting. They hate the Liao people to the bone. Now the Liao Lord is licentious and out of order. Zhouzhou (now Penglai, Shandong) and Laizhou (now Ye County, Shandong) went to sea, went to the Jurchen tribe and made friends with them, and attacked the Liao Kingdom from the north to the south, and it is bound to be easy to take back the sixteen states of Yanyun!"

Undoubtedly, this is a very shocking plan. If it can be realized smoothly, it will definitely be an unrivaled feat! That’s not enough, Ma Zhi continued to say emotionally: “Your Majesty, please feel grateful for the dire straits of the old people, and hope that His Majesty can condemn on behalf of the heavens, so as to control the chaos and regain China’s former territory. The pot is here to welcome you. It’s not too late, it’s better to strike first, don’t just sit back and watch the Jurchen succeed, and regret later.” Zhao Jilong was overjoyed and accepted his plan. He appointed him as an envoy and gave him the surname Zhao.

The history of Jurchen can be traced back to the Yushun era. It was called Sushen in the pre-Qin period, Yilou in the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties, Wuji in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Heishui Mohe in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It has always maintained a close relationship with the Central Plains people. Thousands of connections.They mainly live by fishing and hunting in the Heilongjiang, Songhua River, Wusuli River basins and the foothills of Changbai Mountain. The Khitan people who rose up in Songmo established the Daliao Empire and incorporated all the white mountains and black waters into their own territory. It is divided into mature women and raw women.

Mature Jurchen lived in the Liaodong Peninsula, which was included in the scope of household registration management of the Liao State; Raw Jurchen lived in the north of Sumoshui (the northern section of the Songhua River), Ningjiang Prefecture (to the east of Fuyu County, Jilin today), and was managed by the local Jurchen tribal chief. However, these chiefs had to obey the canonization of the Liao State, which was a means for the Liao State to implement the indirect management of "ruling Jurchen with Jurchen". Whether it is a mature Jurchen or a raw Jurchen, their living environment is very harsh. They live in the bitter cold in the northeast for many years. They can neither plant nor graze. They can only make a living by fishing and hunting.And it is this difficult way of life that makes them all proficient in bowing horses, "riding up and down cliffs like flying, crossing rivers without boats, and capturing horses to cross."As a nation under the rule of the Liao Kingdom, they suffered oppression and exploitation.

There is a kind of raptor in the Strait of Tartar named "Haidongqing", which is the best material for training falcons. According to historical records: "The Lord of Liao loves hunting and neglects political affairs. The Dao was born with women, and the envoys are greedy and indulgent, and the conquest is useless, and the women hate suffering." In order to get it, the Liao Lord tried his best to squeeze and blackmail the Jurchens. Under long-term brutal oppression, the Jurchens finally broke out, and they raised the banner of resistance. When Ma Zhi was ordered to form an alliance with them, the Jurchens had already captured Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing (now south of Bahrain Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia) under the leadership of their leader Wanyan Aguda, and occupied half of the territory of the Liao Empire. The Golden Empire was established.

Facing the Song Dynasty's initiative to form an alliance, the Jurchens were overjoyed. After many meetings, the two sides reached an agreement: Song and Jin formed an alliance to send troops to attack Liao.Among them, the Jin army captured the Zhongjing Dading Mansion (Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia) of the Liao Empire; the Song army captured the Liao Empire's Yanjing Xijin Mansion (now Beijing) and Xijing Datong Mansion (now Shanxi Datong).After the war, Jin returned the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun to the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty transferred the old coins that had been advanced to the Liao Dynasty to Jin in full.

Because the envoys of the two sides negotiated through the Bohai Sea, it was called the "Sea Alliance". Regarding this "sea alliance", the "Three Dynasties Beimenghui" commented: "National catastrophe begins from itself." Many ministers objected to the contract, believing that forming an alliance with Jurchen was tantamount to seeking skin from a tiger.They warned Zhao Ji that once the war started, the situation facing the Song Dynasty would be: a soldier who has been idle for a hundred years will be a captive who is hard to defeat; At this time, Zhao Jili was so dizzy, how could he listen to it!