Chapter 56 first quarter

The recorded history of the Jurchens can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. They were called Sushen or Xishen at that time, and they were active in the Heilongjiang River Basin and the Wusuli River Basin.Later it was called Yilou, Wuji, and Mohe.During the period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Ni Shuliji, the leader of "Heishui Mohe", was appointed as the governor of Boli (now Boli) Prefecture, where he set up the Heishui Governor's Mansion, which was under the jurisdiction of the governor of Youzhou, Hebei Province. After the founding of Khitan, Heishui Mohe was renamed Jurchen (the differences in these characters are mostly due to the conversion of pronunciation. Sushen and Jurchen are basically the same pronunciation), and they were ruled by Liao.

The Jurchens, like many other ethnic minorities, are members of the big national family in our country, and all ethnic groups have close ties of flesh and blood.Not only our country, but many countries in the world have problems with ethnic minorities.In history, various ethnic groups or within their own clan were subjected to unfair rule by slave owners and feudal lords, and the oppressed had every right to rise up and resist.A war to free oneself is a just war. Wanyan Aguda's grandfather Wanyan Wugunai, father Chinlibo, uncles Pocishu, Yingge, and elder brother Wu Yashu were successively appointed by the Liao government as the envoys of the birth of Jurchen, through whom they ruled over the Jurchen ministries.They were constantly exploited by the Liao government, so they started the so-called "creation" business decades ago by merging various ministries as a means to get rid of Khitan rule.The former is still oppressing the people of various tribes, while the latter is a just struggle against the oppressors.

There is a famous historical legend that in order to hunt swans (the swan is a bird cherished by Liao nobles, and hunting it is one of their happiest entertainments), the emperor of Liao sent a special person to Jurchen to search for a species called " The big eagle of "Caidongqing" caused harassment and resistance in the whole area, caused a ten-year war between Liao and Jin, and finally led to the demise of Liao.This kind of legend regards certain outstanding phenomena as essential problems.In fact, Liao's special request is not limited to "Costin".It is precisely because the ruling class of the Liao Dynasty was extravagant and deprived of the bones that the people under its rule could not even live a minimum life.When the people's resistance gradually unites and solidifies into a powerful force, even if there is no accidental "Costin" incident, the storm of resistance will inevitably and inevitably come.

Regardless of whether the Liao nobles understood the law that resistance would inevitably erupt, they could not restrain their greed and relax a little bit the iron hand stuck around the people's necks.But the golden rule of the ruler that rebels must be suppressed is to be observed, and there are quite a few ways.Generally speaking, they always adopted the old method of "dismantling the whole into parts and dividing and ruling" the ethnic groups that were far away from the region and could not be directly controlled by the political power, and learned from the rulers of the Han nationality to "use the barbarians to control the barbarians".They sow discord among various tribes and ethnic groups and deliberately create conflicts.Sometimes support this banner, sometimes support that department, try to make them kill each other and disperse their forces.Their local administrator "Xiangwen" only needs to issue a few empty "Jiedushi" and "Yilijin" and other tricks, and he can sit back and watch the fisherman's profit.These proven methods have been practiced for many ages.The leaders of Jurchen below Ugunai also accumulated several lifetimes of experience and had to suffer so much to understand these truths.Now they retaliate against others with their own methods. Under the guise of Liao's name, they use Liao's power to expand themselves and merge all tribes into a group with themselves as the core.When the feathers are plump and can fly high, they openly play the banner of anti-Liao.

Of course, to resist the Khitan nobles who had more than a hundred years of ruling experience, they could not rely solely on political tactics, but mainly relied on military strength.The Jurchens are used to living in the mountains, sleeping in the open, riding and shooting, and are generally brave and good at fighting.The Liao nobles used the internecine killings of various tribes to try to divide their policies, but it had the opposite effect. The Jurchen leaders honed their military talents in the annexation war, and learned how to fight from a small war to a large war, from a local war to a full-scale war. The art of command, coupled with the decadence of the Liao nobles at that time, caused the power of the Jurchens to rapidly expand and became the greatest threat to the Liao Dynasty.

As early as when Yingge was the Jiedu envoy, the Liao government sent thousands of troops and horses to pursue the traitor general Xiao Haili but could not win. Yingge captured and killed Xiao Haili in the first battle.This earned Yingge the honor of envoy, and at the same time enabled the Jurchen leader to see Liao's weakness.On the contrary, the Khitan nobles became more wary of the Jurchens from then on. They told each other that "the Jurchens are invincible if they are full of ten thousand", which has already created fear.After Aguda officially launched the anti-Liao war, after several dramatic battles, it quickly and completely destroyed the military power of the Liao.Occupy nine of the ten lands, capture four of the five capitals, and provide a remarkable example for the ethnic minorities to quickly win the war of resistance.

The anti-Liao war at this stage was in line with the common interests of the Jurchen and other peoples who were enslaved by the Khitan nobles.However, with the development of the situation and the rapid arrival of victory, the Jin army has already chosen four of the five capitals of the Liao Dynasty. The prosperous city life, the colorful urban buildings, the dense population, and the abundant supplies have all stimulated The greed of Jurchen nobles.The more victories they have won and the wider the area they occupy, the more their appetites have grown.Wherever the army went, major killings and looting occurred, which brought great disasters to the common people in the battlefield. The tragic scene that Ma Kuo saw in Weizhou was not an isolated example.At this time, the war of self-defense has gradually given way to the war of plunder, and the nature of the war is undergoing a vicious transformation.The inevitable consequence of this transformation is the gradual corruption of the army and the gradual degradation of the entire ruling class.

Among the Jurchen leaders, Aguda was the first to discover this change and foresee its harmfulness.But instead of caring about the suffering of the people, he was afraid that the army would deteriorate, which would affect his "creative" career, so he took many preventive measures.As an outstanding and excellent leader of the Jurchen tribe, his keen senses and resolute actions are very commendable. After the fall of Shangjing, Princess Wu, the daughter-in-law of Emperor Tianzuo, fled a little slower and fell into the hands of the Jin army and became a prisoner.This is a beautiful and extraordinary noblewoman.Aguda's children and relatives have never had such a vision. Everyone was overjoyed and regarded it as a jewel, and gradually made it public to let her sing and dance in a large-scale banquet.Aguda, a strict self-discipline, found out about this matter, and immediately dealt with it severely. All the sons, nephews, relatives and nobles who attended the banquet were rewarded with a willow whip. slave.This kind of slaves serving the army are called "Alixi".

This is how Aguda set an example for his army. This year, Aguda was fifty-five years old.The protracted war had honed his leadership skills, but it also damaged some of his physiology.He had a premonition that he, like his elder brothers, would not live very long, and the fear that he would not be able to accomplish his lofty goals in this short life was the greatest fear in his mind.He is therefore now more anxious than ever to bring about its realization.In the more than ten days before he met Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo, he did inspect the military situation near Juyongguan, understand the dynamics of the Liao side, and consider further actions.Signing treaties and fulfilling obligations are just expedient measures for temporary interests, not his life creed at all.He signed the agreement and didn't intend to abide by it. "Action" is his credo, and action is the only means to realize the cause.It can be said that his life has been in action all the time.

At present, capturing Emperor Tianzuo has become a secondary task in his mind, and has been handed over to the eldest prince Nianhan.Several plans quickly appeared in his mind at the same time: he must not easily give up Yanjing City, an important political and military base, and Xiao Puxian's remnant Liao regime must be completely destroyed, this is beyond doubt.What he considered was that if the Song Dynasty dispatched troops this time and could successfully obtain Yanjing, then, for the time being, Yanjing had to be placed in the foreign government, and it was necessary to occupy Juyongguan, Nankou, Beikou, etc., so that Yanjing City could become his own at any time. If the Song army cannot succeed, he will justifiably send troops directly to seize Yanjing.The relationship between one regime and another regime has thousands of rules, the most fundamental one is to compare the strength of power and bully others. In some periods, they can use each other, but in another period they must fight each other. In the end, The opponent must be destroyed.Apart from this, the rest of the abstract concepts do not exist.

Now he has grasped the favorable opportunity and is close to realizing his ideal.His only concern is whether the time is ripe for him to conquer the Liao and Song dynasties in one fell swoop.The strength shown by the Song Dynasty on the battlefield is poor, but it is a giant after all, and it remains to be seen how many tricks it has. The news of Yang Keshi's entry into Yan once shocked him, but fortunately, Liu Yanqing's defeat and Zhao Liangsi's beggar made him completely relieved.The condition he agreed to Zhao Liangsi was nothing more than "wait and see".Yanjing City was taken, and the initiative to return it or not was still in his hands.If he doesn't want to pay it back, isn't it easy to find an excuse?Unless there is an objective fact that forces him to deliver, it is difficult to change his subjective intention. During the protracted negotiations with Zhao Liangsi, he did not waste time, and he made all military preparations.The day after Zhao Liangsi bid farewell and went back, he launched a lightning-fast surprise attack.He personally led the army to go straight to Juyongguan. At the same time, he recruited the first army of Nianhan in Yingzhou to go straight to Nankou, and sent the clan general Ta Lan to lead the army to go straight to Gubeikou. The Liao generals were terrified and fled one after another.A Guda won the pass without firing an arrow, and opened the key to the north gate of Yanjing City.On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the two armies of Nianhan and Talan had not completed their task and led their troops to the meeting.Aguda deployed his troops at the Juyong Pass, and the soldiers surrounded him in solid armor.At this time, the silver armor was shining, and the drums were shaking the sky. Just waiting for his whip, this invincible army marched mightily towards the city of Yanjing. Halfway through the march of the Sixth Army, news came that the Liao government had disintegrated. Yelu Dashi and Empress Xiao fled to the west, while Xiao Qian escaped from Songting Pass and fled to the north.The city of Yanjing was in chaos, Zuo Qigong, Yu Zhongwen, Liu Yanzong, Kang Gongbi, Cao Yiyong and other Han officials were ready to beg for surrender from the Jin army.When A Guda heard the news, he was both happy and disappointed. He was happy that his ideal had been realized, but he was disappointed that he hoped that Ma Kuo could see it with his own eyes so that he could boast about it to the people of Song. up. Ma Kuo made use of A Guda's promise, let alone neglect, and immediately led the five hundred iron cavalry, ran ahead of the army, and rushed to Yanjing.He met no resistance.When they arrived at the bottom of the city, the city gate was opened, and the few Fan Han horse infantry left in the city had fled.Zuo Qigong and other "worshipers" diverged from him, and had already left the city dozens of miles to go to worship Aguda.Ma Kuo broke into Yanjing City first with his fingertips. The Liao army had already left, but the army of the Jin Dynasty had not yet arrived. At this time, Ma Kuo became the master of Yanjing City.He must use these few hours to do some necessary work.He first posted an Anmin notice on the Tong Yamen, strictly ordering the troops who entered the city one after another to observe military discipline, and prohibited any killing and looting of Han soldiers and civilians.Then send sentries and street patrols to maintain order in the city.Ma Kuo used the name of Aguda and the guards of Aguda to restrain Aguda's army and protect the lives and properties of the people of Yanjing. He did this very proudly. Then, he went straight to Zhongshu Province and Xijin Mansion to take over their collection of maps, compilations, etc.It's a pity that it was a step too late, the traitorous Zuo Qigong, Liu Yanzong and others had already thought of this move, and took it together and presented it to Aguda as their meeting gift.Ma Kuo made a fuss, and immediately went to the prison to release all the prisoners.Yang Keshi entered the battle of Yan and was supported by Han'er.The Liao government hated the common people. Within a few days, all the suspects were arrested and tried, so that the prison was overcrowded.In the prison, Ma Kuo also met several old acquaintances. Jia Ping, a colleague of the Xuanfu Department, Wang Yuan, a general of the Western Army, and Hu Dezhang, another general who was captured in the First World War in Anci, were all in prison.Ma Kuo sent them back together, and asked them to go back to the Xuanfu Department to report the news.At that time, Ma Kuo didn't know about the ugly drama that Jia Ping and Wang Yuan performed on the banks of the Lugou River, but he sympathized with their defeat and capture.It was only afterwards that I learned the truth. Ma Kuo would still have to deal with Wang Yuan in the future, and he never forgave him for his shameless behavior. After doing these things well, his mission in Yanjing was considered complete, and after a night, Tianming went to see Aguda to say goodbye. At that time, Aguda was spreading Huang Wei on the Golden Hall, accepting the dance congratulations of the Liao surrendered ministers.The fifty-five-year-old A Guda still had a childlike heart, and seemed to find it very interesting to accept the kneeling and kowtowing of this group of people. This was an occasional play in his life. Hearing that Ma Kuo was coming, Aguda yelled loudly: "Please invite Ma Xuanzan to the hall to receive congratulations!" So Ma Kuo was next to Aguda's seat, arranged in front of Nianhan and Wolibu, and shared the joy. The surrender ceremony was carried out completely in accordance with Aguda's command. It was neither Jurchen style, Khitan style, nor Han style.None of the three, but a little bit of all three. It is a hybrid of Aguda's innovation, called "Three Unlikeness".In the eyes of Zuo Qigong, who is proficient in etiquette, he naturally felt that it was not good. He kowtowed and prepared to make a statement, but he didn't want A Guda to ignore him completely, and waved him away from Jinluanba. After performing this funny play, Ma Kuo got up to say goodbye.Aguda had no reason to keep Ma Kuo, so he generously sent the five hundred cavalry to escort Ma Kuo back to Xiongzhou.

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