Chapter 267 A new beginning

Taking over the Liao Kingdom was not an easy task.

It is mainly the officials and military forces from the Central Plains, and it is impossible to keep them there for surveillance all the time.

If we leave them on the grassland for a long time, what is the difference between that and exiling them to a cold and miserable place on the grassland.

Fortunately, the Liao Kingdom has done a good job in city construction over the years.

Although this grassland is vast, there are also many cities, states and counties where people can live.

The custom of the Liao people was that the emperor did not live in one place, but wandered around everywhere with thousands or even tens of thousands of people every day.

He may be in Shangjing of Liao today, and may appear somewhere else tomorrow.

Although there are cities, most of the time, they do not live in the cities.

Some ministers and the like would also move with him.

This will undoubtedly bring trouble to Zhao Xin’s governance.

of course!

You can’t just stop him from moving.

Anyway…

At present, we can only say that we are establishing business connections first.

This year……

The most important thing is to do trade well.

Get the market and other things ready.

As for the military, there needs to be a certain reduction in the army.

Those who were forcibly conscripted were released back to graze.

Those who did not want to serve in the army were also sent back to herd.

As for those who can only make a living by serving in the army, we will continue to support them.

In fact, the Liao Dynasty basically had a conscription system.

That means every household must send at least two people to serve in the army.

In wartime, you need to obey orders.

Therefore, under such a system of forced conscription, Zhao Xin let them go back without having to serve in the army. In fact, many of the lower-class people in the Liao Kingdom were still very willing to do so.

of course!

The conscription system like that of the Liao Dynasty also has its rationality.

Because if there is no such rule, how can we gather enough troops when we go south to plunder?

The military system of the Liao Dynasty was a bit like Yelu Hongji first raising a group of elite soldiers, and then other herdsmen also followed suit. At that time, these people would prepare their own weapons and horses, or some of them might be provided by Yelu Hongji.

Then, with the elite troops around Yelu Hongji as the core, he led a group of herdsmen to go to war.

Some of these herdsmen had decent combat capabilities and were incorporated into the regular army.

Some of them have no combat capabilities and are responsible for logistics. For example, after looting the people of the Southern Dynasty, someone has to take back the property, women, etc., right?

Naturally, those elite troops no longer need to do it themselves.

Zhao Xin could only say…

This nomadic habit is very bad.

and so……

He has to regulate it.

after……

The soldiers in the Liao region should be supported by the central government, and those surplus people should be sent back to raise sheep or engage in other industries.

Zhao Xin was also thinking about making more wool products and selling them to the Central Plains as much as possible.

to this end……

Zhao Xin also organized his own business group and held a meeting.

The theme is how to increase herders’ income through business cooperation, share what they have and what they need, and reduce the possibility of future wars.

If you want to bring stability to the Liao region from now on, you can only manage the lives of the people in the Liao region well.

A normal person, if his life is okay, would not be so stupid as to want to go south to fight.

After what Zhao Xin did.

It is hard to say about other Liao officials.

only……

Yelu Hongji, he must be regretting it to death.

after all……

Even though he still has the title of Khitan King today, he actually doesn’t have much power.

Zhao Xin had no choice but to appease the other party alone, and said to Yelu Hongji: “My dear, do you have any complaints about this arrangement for me?”

Yelu Hongji was already desperate, and could only say: “Whatever His Royal Highness the Crown Prince says, that’s it.”

Zhao Xin said, “Don’t blame me for doing this. If I don’t do this, you will rebel again in three to five years.”

“I made this arrangement only for the future peace between the two tribes.”

“Of course! Your interests will definitely be damaged.”

“But think about it, if you persist, there will definitely be no better situation than this.”

“Now… at least I can guarantee the prosperity of your Yelu family.”

Yelu Hongji also said: “If you do this, some people in the Yelu family may not agree with it.”

Zhao Xin said: “The only way is to let them rebel and then destroy them.”

The end of the year.

really!

Just as Yelu Hongji expected, some people with the surname Yelu ran back and quit their job.

He raised a flag himself and tried to disobey Zhao Xin.

but……

For Zhao Xin, it can only be said that it is not a big problem.

after all……

Zhao Xin had anticipated early on that such a person would definitely exist.

After the incident, Zhao Xin asked Zhao Xun to lead people to quell the rebellion, and at the same time…

Inform the Liao Kingdom’s former vassal states and ask them to assist in sending troops.

Because of the military reform that took place first, it was difficult for the other side to quickly gather a large army after returning.

Therefore, it didn’t take long for the other party’s head to be sent to Youzhou City.

This was done by the Liao Kingdom’s former vassal states. After all, when Zhao Xin met with those vassal states, he was considering how to improve the lives of their people.

However, the Liao Kingdom only knew how to collect taxes from others.

Now you run to someone else’s territory and say why not follow me to oppose the Song Dynasty and rebuild the Liao Dynasty.

Then they will definitely chop off your head first and send it to Zhao Xin.

The following year, January.

When Zhao Xin saw the people from the Di Lie tribe coming back with Zhao Xun with the heads, he also rewarded the Di Lie tribe generously.

He said to the other party: “Go back and tell your chief that I am very grateful for his help. I will never forget this kindness.”

After dealing with those who attempted to betray, we still have to continue to appease the hearts of other officials.

in fact……

It’s easier to deal with officials in some cities.

These people are basically unlikely to betray us. The only ones that are difficult to deal with are some Khitan royal families.

February.

For Zhao Xin, the worst news came.

His father is seriously ill.

I guess it’s almost over.

Zhao Xin can ignore other things.

But his father was seriously ill, so he had to go back.

Just in time! He rushed back two days before his father passed away.

Ouyang Xiu and others had been waiting outside the palace for a long time. When they saw Zhao Xin, they hurried forward and said, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you are finally back!”

Zhao Xin passed by the crowd and walked into the hall.

At this time, Zhao Zhen was no longer able to speak.

People like the Empress, Madam Miao and others were also standing on both sides.

Zhao Xin sat directly on the ground, holding his father’s hand.

The first words he said were: “Daddy, have a safe journey!”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen almost wanted to jump up and spank this rebellious son.

How can you talk like that!

This is simply treason.

So much so that the fingers that were originally unable to move when held in Zhao Xin’s hand began to move.

It seems like he wants to say, is your butt itchy again?

Seeing his father’s reaction, Zhao Xin continued, “Dad, don’t be afraid. Death is nothing to be afraid of. For the living, it is a kind of relief.”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t be afraid.”

“Let me think about it, what would a person fear the most when he is about to die?”

“I’m worried about my son and my descendants. Dad, you don’t need to worry about that. After all, you gave birth to an outstanding descendant like me. I will only make the Song Dynasty even stronger.”

“As for…whether you are worried about the queen, Madam Miao, etc.”

“There is no need to worry about this. After all, I have no grudge against the Empress and the others, and of course I will not treat them lightly next time.”

“So… you really have nothing to worry about.”

“Well…what else can I say?”

“Actually, I feel like there’s not much else to say. I just learned a song. It’s not about you, my daddy, but it’s about the daddy of the world. I’ll sing it a little for you.”

“It can be regarded as fulfilling my few filial piety.”

“Yes, I think the only drawback is that after I grew up, you rarely spanked me anymore, and I was also very busy. It was even difficult for me to see my own son and Yuanyuan.”

“This is probably the biggest regret in your and my life, Daddy.”

“Okay! Let’s stop here for now. Let’s listen to the song I sing next.”

Then…

‘Always asking for things from you but never saying thank you

It wasn’t until I grew up that I realized how hard it was for you…’

The song “Father” was sung directly by Zhao Xin.

Maybe it was because Zhao Xin sang so beautifully that after she finished singing, everyone in the audience was in tears.

Even his father, who was almost in a vegetable state, had tears flowing from his eyes unknowingly.

After singing, finally…

Zhao Xin thought about it and said, “Actually… I should come back earlier and spend a good holiday with you, Daddy, and Madam Miao. Now, I’m afraid we can’t go to places that are too far away. Tomorrow, why don’t we go to the East Gate of Bianliang City and watch the sunrise together. Don’t lie on this lifeless bed. We should be energetic.”

the next day.

Everyone really climbed up the city wall together and watched the sunrise.

It was Zhao Xin who carried him up to the city wall.

Then the next night, his father passed away.

Zhao Xin put his ear close to listen, “Daddy, what do you want to say?”

Zhao Zhen’s lips moved slightly:

“Zui Xinglai, I want to beat you up!”

then……

Then he said, “Mrs. Zhang…”

Ok!

His father really only loves Madam Zhang.

Although the country is short of money, but… since his father has mentioned it, he can only make Madam Zhang’s tomb and the standards of worship better.

In the early morning of the third day…

The imperial physician confirmed the emperor’s pulse and the eunuch announced that the emperor had passed away.

Next are the related matters after the monarch’s death.

Ouyang Xiu said: “I think that the late emperor’s temple name can be set as ‘Ren’. Ren means the great virtue of a saint.”

Fu Bi also said, “I second this motion.”

Zhao Xin felt that being determined to be benevolent was actually quite good.

However, he specifically studied things like temple names, and it seemed that the temple name “Renzong” had never appeared before.

The better-sounding ones should be Taizong, Gaozong, Sejong and Jungjong.

of course!

For some things, you can’t just follow what the ancients did.

For example, his grandfather, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang from the Tang Dynasty.

These are all created, as long as they are consistent with the things an emperor did and the merits he established during his lifetime.

After thinking it over again and again, Zhao Xin also asked: “Ren, it is indeed the best temple name for the late emperor, but isn’t it a bit wrong to only have Ren? This makes my father seem weak.”

Ouyang Xiu and others also looked up at Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin said: “In addition to benevolence, my father also expanded the territory. Just using the word benevolence doesn’t seem to be enough to reflect his merits, right?”

Ouyang Xiu said: “But that is your merit, the emperor.”

Zhao Xin said, “The reason why I was able to do such good deeds is because my father gave me the opportunity. Without his ability to use people, how could I have achieved what I have achieved?”

Ouyang Xiu said: “Then what the emperor means is…”

Zhao Xin said, “What I mean is that giving my father the title of ‘Emperor Shizong’ should not be too much. Just like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who conquered the Xiongnu and opened up new territories, my father recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and made the Liao Kingdom surrender. This is not a bad achievement in the restoration of the country.”

The ministers began to discuss it.

You say it is the credit of the late emperor.

That can indeed be considered as such!

But if this “Shizong” is given to the late emperor, then when you pass away in the future, what temple name will you want?
The person who is most suitable for this “Sejong” should actually be you, the emperor.

Of course!
There is nothing wrong with what Zhao Xin said.

Just like Emperor Wu of Han, his achievements were actually achieved by people like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

It can also be considered as Emperor Wu of Han.

Compared with Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and others, Zhao Xin’s identity was just a little special.

The group discussed the matter for more than half a month.

finally……

Considering that this was indeed what happened before the death of the previous emperor, and… they did do something in the court, and that thing was to provide food and fodder to Zhao Xin.

Then this can also be counted as the credit of the late emperor.

You can’t absolutely say that the late emperor had no role at all here.

There are still some policies that still require the approval of the late emperor.

However, the late emperor trusted his son too much, so he often omitted this step.

If you think about it the other way around, if the late emperor had not done this, there wouldn’t be today. Then this can be considered the late emperor’s achievement, so why not?

Only other emperors had to work very hard to obtain such a temple name.

As for the late emperor, he only needed to release his greatest excitement.

After some discussion, everyone decided to name his temple as Sejong.

to be frank!
A little fake!
But after that, Zhao Xin told others every day that his father supported him to go to war.

By highlighting the role of his father, the throne of King Sejong will naturally be established slowly.

However, people in later generations will certainly joke that the temple name “Shizong” of Song Shizong was at least half given to his son.

But… this may be the ceiling for the emperor.

Anyone who has such a prince would be secretly happy.

(End of this chapter)