Chapter 58 third quarter
Zuo Qigong was already an old bureaucrat in his seventies, with white hair and a beautiful beard.His colleagues added an emblem to him, calling him "beautiful bearded man".Those who are officials are afraid that the title is not high and there are not many official titles.When Yeluchun came to the throne, he had been worshiped as the Duke of Yan, and now he got this complimenting title and became the Duke of Shuangliao.Logically speaking, he should be very satisfied, but this is not the case. His beautiful beard, his white hair, and his age can't stop his growing desire for fame and ambition. It can be said that this person The only ability, the only desire, and the only hobby in life is to be an official.According to his qualifications, in Emperor Tianzuo's government, he was already a highly respected and leading Nanmian official.In the government of Yeluchun and Empress Xiao, he was promoted further and still maintained a high status.But Li Chuwen was superior to him both in name and in real power because of his support.Although Li Chuwen's family is respected, his position has always been much lower than his. Let this young man in the officialdom dominate his head, this is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.He could only blame himself for not raising a good son to win the Queen's favor, and let this nepotism send his son and Lao Tzu to Qingyun together.When Empress Xiao bid farewell to them by "resigning from the temple and weeping", he hated himself for not being the Marshal of the Fan Han Army and Horse Capital, and because he had no troops, so he couldn't detain the empress and sell them to the generals as a rare commodity. Golden Emperor.
Bureaucrats of their type are the main constituents of every feudal court and are necessary embellishments on the temple.As long as they climb to this position, their ideology, speech and actions will unconsciously fall into this track.They have typical meanings.There was no shortage of bureaucrats of this kind in the courts of Liao, Song, and Xia at that time.
The goal they pursue is clear, and when necessary, the means they use can be unscrupulous, all for the sake of becoming an official and getting promoted.But on the surface, you have to pretend to be decent and dignified.Taoism is their protective color.They will never be satisfied with vested interests. Contrary to their sanctimonious appearance, they are often complaining in their hearts.In the Liao government, he resented Li Chuwen and his son, and Yelu Dashi.After surrendering to Dajin, he found with jealousy that among all the people who greeted the surrender, only Liu Yanzong had a sharp eye and a quick hand, and he always grabbed his first move, and he was often favored by the Emperor Dajin.And he himself is very fond of Chu, in the eyes of Emperor Dajin, he is just an old and useless thing, just using his childlike face, white hair, beautiful beard and long beard to show off in the court.And in the newly created Great Jin Dynasty, court gatherings are also insignificant.
His estimate was quite correct.Now is the time to reverse this situation.
He found that the opportunity had come. He didn't need a good son who could win his favor, nor an army to open the way for him. He could win the trust of Emperor Dajin with just a stroke of a pen, and stand out from the ministers. In particular, he stood out from Liu Yanzong and became the founder of Zuo Ming in the new dynasty.
When Ma Kuo first seized the door and entered Yanjing, he posted a notice of Anmin on Tongya Street, to the effect that the Jin army entered the city and would soon be handed over to the court of the Song Dynasty. The Jin army looted, and the offenders were engaged in military law and so on.Zuo Qigong's intention was to make a fuss about this notice.This is the top priority for the benefit of Emperor Dajin.His wealth and glory in the second half of the period depended on this article.
Zuo Qigong and Ma Kuo met once in Beiji Temple, and at that time, they didn't like each other.Ma Kuo even looked down on Li Chuwen who advocated surrendering the Song Dynasty, not to mention Zuo Qigong and others who blatantly advocated surrendering the Jin Dynasty.He regards these men as concubines who are willing to be captured, profit-seeking villains who want to find their own way out if they are in danger, they are all the same.When he saw Zuo Qigong's white-haired and beautiful face in the Beiji Temple, he couldn't help cursing in his heart "a man with a good beard".Zuo Qigong had advocated the killing of Ma Kuo in several meetings before the imperial court, he already had deep-rooted hatred for him, when they met him, he was limited by the etiquette, so he had to make a few perfunctory sentences, and in his heart he scolded him for being "ignorant and yellow-mouthed".After surrendering to the Jin Dynasty, he met Ma Kuo twice on the thoroughfare and at the Golden Palace. He saw him charge five hundred cavalry on a rampage, and he also heard that he invaded his restricted area and actually came to Zhongshu Province. I feel even more disgusted when I ask for map files.
Zuo Qigong was originally a tall man with a height of six feet and seven inches, but he was born with osteomalacia, which made him often unable to straighten his back and straighten his spine, which shortened the distance from the top of his head to the ground by seven inches.Now when meeting his new master, the princes of the Great Jin Dynasty, the generals, even the little Meng'an, Mouk, and even an ordinary soldier, he would inevitably bow his head sideways, walk stooped, and put his body at full length. Another foot shorter.It made him look like a large lobster just lifted from the pot and cooked.
But the lobster has the philosophy of the lobster. To conquerors, it is certainly a boiled lobster, but to others, it is a live lobster with beard and beard, eyes and brows.It is only natural for conquerors to kowtow and do their best.However, for the envoys of the Song Dynasty who were also defeated, he was asked to set up a yellow tent to be congratulated by the Liao officials in the Golden Palace, and he was asked to kneel down and kowtow to him as a respected and respected man, which made him feel very unfair. He couldn't help scolding "ignorant yellow mouth" in his heart again.
Anger, injustice, or trivial matter, made him worry day and night, and he was very afraid.Once the Emperor Dajin really fulfilled the agreement and returned Yanjing City and Fuguo to the Song Dynasty, what would he do if he was asked to leave Qigong?His Zuo family has big trees with deep roots, and has long been accustomed to living in Yandi. There are also thousands of hectares of fertile land, all of which are fertile land in the suburbs of Yanjing.If he wants to move north with Emperor Dajin, to the bitter cold and barren Huining Mansion, he is not willing at first.It would be even more dangerous if Emperor Dajin was generous for a while and regarded him as an attachment of Yanjing City, and even handed over the city and his people to the Song Dynasty.He was deeply afraid of falling into the hands of Song people, especially when he met someone like Ma Kuo who knew his details well, once he was dispatched, he would be killed.He thought about it, whether to follow or stay, neither of which would work.
A philosophy of life like Zuo Qigong's is very realistic, but it has been repeatedly risky.Veteran bureaucrats who have accumulated rich experience in officialdom struggles are very clear about their own interests.Although he is old, his mind is not dull.
After hanging out with the gentlemen of the Great Jin Dynasty for more than half a month, after getting a little understanding of their sincerity, he used his brains and strengthened his courage, holding the Anmin notice torn from the street in one hand, and his Elaborately structured proposals, prostrate to see Emperor Dajin.Behind the proposal, there is also a regulated poem, the last two lines are: "The king should not listen to the suggestion of donating swallows, an inch of rivers and mountains is an inch of gold."
As far as poetry is concerned, these two sentences do have some truth, and they are indeed good sentences.The irony is that these two lines of good poems came from Zuo Qigong, a traitor who had already sold his national soul to the Khitan nobles, and now wanted to sell the city of Yanjing from the Khitan nobles to the Jurchen nobles.This shows that writing poems, articles and actions are two completely different things, and those who believe that "words are the voice of the heart" are too honest.
But for his personal purposes, the poem is a very timely and flattering offering.This is not only because it voted for Aguda's favor, but more importantly, it provided a high-sounding reason for Aguda, that is, the military and civilian ministers of the old Liao Dynasty only wanted to submit to the Jin Dynasty and did not want Yanjing City to be returned to the Song Dynasty.Dajin Emperor Ying Tianshun, since the old Liao army and civilians refused to return Yanjing, how could he do such stupid things that violate human feelings and material arguments?In fact, Aguda could have spoken on behalf of the old Liao soldiers and civilians as he wished, and there was no need to think of this level after Zuo Qigong presented poems.To describe the will of the ruler as the will of the subjects was originally a common method used by feudal rulers with a little political skill, but for Wanyan Aguda, who had not yet evolved to this level of civilization after the establishment of the imperial court, it was quite difficult. It is indeed a novelty.Zuo Qigong's poems inspired Aguda's wisdom.He immediately looked at Zuo Qigong differently, and asked the left and right to give him a brocade pier, asking him to draw up a notice in the palace according to this meaning, and paste it on Ma Kuo's notice.It means that Emperor Dajin had no intention of withdrawing the army and ceding the city according to the plea of the old Liao army and people.He used this as a test ball to signal to the Song Dynasty.
The news quickly spread to the Tokyo imperial court through the Xuanfu Department. It was a blow to the head of Xuanhe monarchs and ministers who were dreaming of taking over Yanjing, and they were stunned and dizzy.The bustling Tokyo city, which was preparing for the celebration ceremony, was suddenly swept into a icy cold current.
It is impossible to use troops, so we have to send people to beg.Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo are both original handlers, so of course they have to go.The imperial court was also afraid that their status was not high enough to win the trust of the Jin people, so they specially sent Zhou Wuzhong and Zhao Liangsi, the ministers of the official family, as the deputy envoys of the country and Ma Kuo as the envoys, asking them not to hesitate to pay heavy bribes. Yi, we must take back Yanjing City and save some face for the imperial court.
The last time it was a negotiation to borrow troops, this time it was a real begging, begging them to withdraw their troops and give way.This was of course another very difficult and extremely humiliating protracted negotiation.It can be imagined that the big worm has swallowed a piece of fat and is chewing and savoring its deliciousness. It is a difficult negotiation to take out this piece of fat from its throat!Aguda retreated to the background again this time, and even Wulibu was embarrassed to show up.The main representative of the negotiations was Wu Shi, who firmly insisted that the military and civilian ministers of the old Liao Dynasty did not want the Jin Dynasty to hand over Yanjing.Not only has strength and status as his backing, but also Ying Tianshun as his excuse, the truth is always on his side, and he occasionally "talks" once in a while.What's the big deal!
Fortunately, it happened to be the reason proposed by Jin Fang himself, and there was a little mistake, which made the negotiation a little better.
Wanyan A Guda lived in Yanjing City for three months, and when he chewed and tasted this piece of fat carefully, he found that it had a big bone in it. If he was not careful, his teeth would be broken and his throat.
After Zuo Qigong made his first great achievement, he must show off his talents. He also suggested that the common people inside and outside Yanjing City, regardless of whether they were upper, middle or lower class households, should all adopt the method of killing chickens and taking eggs, paying heavy taxes and collecting money. , Squeeze out the last drop of oil and water from them.Some people think that Zuo Qigong has lived in Yanjing for a long time, and as a Haner, he still has some respect for the local people.This supposition is completely wrong.What Zuo Qigong wants to protect is limited to his class, or to a narrower range, to his family's interests.As long as he wins the master's favor, he cares about other people's lives.He thought of all the methods of collecting money that the Jurchens could not think of on their behalf. It is true that there are gaps that must be exploited, and they can penetrate every hole.Aguda's acceptance of his generous collection policy has two effects in a short period of time: on the one hand, it rapidly increased the wealth of the Jurchen nobles, and on the other hand, it forced many ordinary people to join the Xishan Rebel Army to fight against the Jin Dynasty.
These rebels and the rebels in Jingzhou, Tanzhou, and Jizhou were all well-known. After Liu Yanqing was defeated and Agu defeated Liao and entered Yan, he indirectly added a lot of manpower and material resources to them.The generous collection policy of the Jin Dynasty further expanded their mass base.At that time, the rebel army had developed to such a scale, not only active around the outskirts of the city, but also broke into the city many times, killing many individual and small groups of Jin troops.When the Jin army was sent to "exterminate" them, they disappeared without a trace in an instant.The Jin army went into the mountain viciously to search and kill, as if they had entered a ecstasy array.Among those precipitous rocks, dense forests and bushes, one can only see clusters of banners waving here and there, and also hear horses hooves kicking up a cloud of flying dust.When I ran closer, there was no one in sight, not even a horse.When they were suspicious, suddenly the gongs rang together.Countless banners of soldiers and horses appeared all over the mountains and fields, surrounded them in the dangerous narrow paths and dead-end mountain trails, and were finally annihilated one by one.
Aguda couldn't bear it, and twice he took Yin Shuke, Yan Mu and other generals to go up the mountain to conquer in person (Jai Mu later became an expert in dealing with guerrilla warfare).The rebels took advantage of the familiar terrain, fairly mature guerrilla tactics, and a solid mass base (the masses quickly became familiar with the rules of the Jin army, and informed them at any time, so that they knew the actions of the Jin army well), and fought back without fear.They come and go, appearing and disappearing, not afraid that you, Wanyan Aguda, will come out in person, and they will still beat Aguda until he loses consciousness and smokes from his orifices.Wanyan Aguda has experienced hundreds of battles and is a military leader who has seen big scenes. In the battles of Huntongjiang, Dalugu, Ningjiang Prefecture, and Huanglongfu, he faced tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even two or three The 100,000 visible and tangible Liao troops were invincible and invincible in field battles and siege battles.Now he encountered this invisible shadow army, ghost army, and faced the elusive guerrilla tactics he had never experienced before, but he was helpless and at a loss.
After suffering this little bit, he remembered the lessons of history.He asked Liu Yanzong to read the history of Yelu Deguang, the second emperor of the Khitan tribe in the Five Dynasties, who invaded the Central Plains.After Yelu Deguang defeated Jin Shi Chonggui (compared with his uncle Emperor Shi Jingtang, this Shi Chonggui was more or less human. He was unwilling to be the Khitan's son-in-law. After the regular army that defeated the Khitan army in the encounter battle) entered Daliang, it was ambitious to occupy the Central Plains for a long time.He sent people to hunt grass and valleys everywhere, mutilated the people, aroused angry resistance, and quickly plunged him into the vast ocean of "people's war".He was devastated and helpless, and it was impossible for him to escape back to his hometown alive, so he finally turned into a Lagan emperor and was transported back to the country.Before he was about to die, he said a famous saying that could be a lesson to all invaders:
"I didn't expect Han children to be so difficult to rule..."
When A Guda listened to this history with deep understanding, he deliberately sent Zuo Qigong to ask him to kneel aside and bow his head to confess his guilt.A Guda scolded this old man on the left, he was familiar with the history of this dynasty, he knew that there was a public case, but he didn't tell him about it earlier, instead he made a trap to make him fall for it. The blows on the snow-white head caused the old man to dodge left and right, and the beautiful beard under his chin kept shaking.This kind of punishment, for Wanyan Aguda, the torturer who has not yet completely escaped the tribal rule, is of course commonplace and commonplace.However, for Zuo Qigong, the beneficiary who had been the ruling minister in the Liao regime that had been deeply sinicized for a long time, it was a great shame and humiliation.
After Aguda suffered a military defeat, Zuo Qigong would inevitably suffer a whipping.Generally speaking, the chances of the leader's whip falling on the tame slaves are more than those of the rebellious slaves (for the latter, they use knives, but it does not mean that the tame slaves have no chance of being knifed. , things are always relative).Since Zuo Qigong intends to be a hero, he cannot escape the fate of being summoned to the emperor's tent at any time to receive a whip.However, later he saw that in Aguda's rage, even "Meng Ban Bo Ji Lie", Aguda's brother Wanyan Wu Qimai, the eldest prince Nianhan, and the fourth prince Wushu could not avoid being whipped like this , he came up with another idea: Although being whipped is physically painful, it is a spiritual honor to be whipped by the Emperor Dajin himself, because he has been promoted to the same right as the lords to accept the emperor's Flogged status again.This is much more noble than the Duke of Yan and the bearded man.When he received this kind of punishment in the future, not only was he not ashamed, but he regarded it as a kind of high-level treatment and a special enjoyment.
The reason for Wanyan Aguda's frequent violent outbursts these days is that besides being frustrated by the rebel army, his physical strength and energy have greatly declined in the past few months.When he knew that Yelu Deguang, Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty, was finally unable to return to his hometown alive, an ominous premonition linked his fate with that of Yelu Deguang. I can't go back to Beijing.One day, he summoned Wu Qimai, Wu Libu, Wu Shu and other cronies, and told them with great dejection about some unexpected things he had encountered recently, and said that he would not know how to end this situation, saying He said that his career may not be completed until their generation (this shows that he has not really learned the lessons of history).Then he expressed a specific opinion. If the Song Dynasty government is willing to pay a large amount of "redemption" fees, it can temporarily cede the land of Yanyun to the Song Dynasty.
Now it is the worm who voluntarily spits out this piece of fat.
One sentence from him turned the negotiation into a mere economic matter of haggling.Jurchen's appetite is still so big, Wu Shi and Salumu played tricks and bargained all over the sky.The envoys of the Song Dynasty could not be masters, so they returned to Beijing to ask the officials for instructions, and the officials reassigned Lu Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, to replace Zhou Wuzhong as the messenger of the Ministry of Industry, and went to Yanjing again to discuss "redemption" with Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo. City” fees.The increase in envoy ranks by the Northern Song government prompted the Jurchens to increase the cost of redemption of the city, and the negotiations still reached a deadlock several times.In the end, I still did not leave the stage, and put forward specific figures and methods.In addition to agreeing to pay 500,000 taels of silver silk every year, the Northern Song Dynasty government once again paid 1 million yuan in the so-called "Yanjing tax money". .
Jin Fang contradicted his promise and spoke inconsequentially. It was hard to believe that the conditions offered this time could count.Once Ma Kuo visited Aguda and found him emaciated and extremely exhausted. Compared with Aguda who was so energetic when he shot outside Fengshengzhou's tent, it was only a few months away, and he was a completely different person. .During this period, the Jurchens unexpectedly showed concern for the emperor's health, and now that Ma Kuo has witnessed and confirmed it, it is believed that the Jurchens are eager to end this negotiation and cannot do without this negotiation. The asking price does have a certain degree of sincerity, and the future is relatively optimistic.
The final question remaining in the future is about the method of payment.
In the past two years, the revenue of the Northern Song Dynasty government has reached the highest peak since the founding of the People's Republic of China. This means that the planners have used magician-like techniques to hand over the officials, especially the rich and powerful "Li Yu" who are full of food, to the government. Payments are still at unprecedented levels.But as the tide rises, the profligacy of Xuanhe's monarchs and ministers is also unprecedented in history.Even with so much excess income, it is still difficult to make ends meet, and the national treasury is like a sham.During the campaign against the Liao Dynasty, Wang Wei used a new trick to seize 60 million coins from the people all over the country, especially from the people in Hebei, Hedong, and Shandong under the name of "exemption from military service" (how amazing this is) The direct consequence of this free money was a large-scale peasant uprising led by Gaotuoshan and Zhang Wanxian one or two years later), with 20 million yuan for the imperial use, the powerful groups and all levels The people who handled it went up and down, and no less than 30 million coins were embezzled in the middle, and less than 10 million coins were actually used for military purposes.Now it is a bit embarrassing to take out five hundred thousand taels of silver silk and one million coins in one fell swoop.As a last resort, I had no choice but to beg the other party to use treasures and real objects as the price.This point Jinfang is willing to accept, and it can get a lot of bargains when it is discounted.
At the beginning of April, when the negotiations were over and most of the money had been paid, Aguda managed to gather his spirits and held a state banquet to send off the envoys of the Song Dynasty.
At this time, Aguda had already formed an opinion about Zuo Qigong, believing that this scholar had brought a lot of trouble to his life career.But Aguda is a heroic founder of the country after all. Since he himself accepted his suggestion and put it into practice, if things went wrong, he couldn't push all the responsibilities down.Apart from whipping at the palace, Zuo Qigong didn't receive any other punishments, and he was even allowed to accompany him at the banquet today.The old man Zuo was overwhelmed by the flattery, and took the lead to offer a glass of wine to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Great Jin Emperor, and then came down one by one to celebrate the birthdays of the Zhulang Lords, and had to circle around in front of the Song envoy.When he brought the wine to Ma Kuo's banquet, the two enemies met again, and when Zuo Qigong was cursing "ignorant yellow mouth" in his heart, he suddenly heard Ah Gu open his mouth.
"For such a big event in the Southern Dynasties, several of you have discussed it with others, and your achievements are not small. When you go back to do business in the future, let Tong Guan come to hand over the city, so that you can teach Emperor Zhao to like it."
"This is all the great emperor's blessing to the court. After returning to the court, the accompanying ministers will respectfully serve as officials. They will not forget their virtues, and they will always be in harmony."
Lu Yi's flattery in vain increased Aguda's contempt for him, and he said bluntly:
"Lu Shangshu is still a newcomer, and there are many things that he doesn't understand." He pointed to Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo and added, "I have dealt with them a lot, like Ma Xuanzan, who strives hard in every situation, and is relentless in his words. It can be regarded as fulfilling the mission.”
This brilliant celestial language made Zuo Qigong's long-deaf ears suddenly sensitive.He was shocked, and immediately swallowed the curse that had slipped down his throat, bent his whole body more like a boiled lobster, raised his wine glass until his forehead where the whip marks had not yet healed, and said in fear:
"I wish Ma Xuanzan a long life!"
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