vrcanaries Chapter 300 The Alliance at Sea
Chapter 300 The Alliance at Sea
"However, this decision exposed the true strength of the Song army to the Jin people, which led to the Jin army directly attacking the Song."
All the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: "Facts have proven that if you don't have the skills, don't take on the job!"
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: Is the Song army really that weak?!
A scholar-official from the Han Dynasty: The Jurchens must be laughing their heads off. Not only is the Liao Dynasty next door easy to conquer, but the Song Dynasty here is also very weak…
An official from the Sui Dynasty: The problem is that this wasn't just the case in the early stages; even with generals like Yue Fei and the brilliant strategist Xin Qiji, the Southern Song emperors still struggled to maintain their power!
A Ming Dynasty soldier: It's such a pity! It's such a pity for General Yue Fei, Zong Ze, and Xin Qiji, and so on!
……
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty
At this time, Su Shi, Wang Anshi, and Sima Guang gathered together to look at the small light screen.
They all fell silent upon hearing Lin Ke's words; Emperor Huizong's actions were truly baffling.
Even a talkative person like Su Shi would find it difficult to find words to describe it.
Was this how the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed?!
Isn't this a bit hasty?
……
In another timeline, the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty all had significantly higher blood pressures. Just hearing this made them realize how truly terrible the late Northern Song Dynasty was:
Not to mention the ordinary people at the time, or even the enemy Jin soldiers! They might have had to keep paying them!?
Ugh! I just can't hit him! Otherwise, I'll end up with a black eye and a swollen face!!!
……
The live broadcast continues.
"However, there were some ministers who opposed the decision to attack Liao. After all, even the most confused person couldn't be completely oblivious. At that time, the strength of Liao and Song was about equal!"
"Besides, there's the Treaty of Shanyuan. Isn't it a bit dishonest to just join forces with the Jurchens to attack the Liao Dynasty like this?!"
"But in any case, in 1118 AD, Emperor Huizong of Song still sent Ma Zheng and Huyan Qing across the sea to meet Wanyan Aguda, using the horses as a pretext to discuss the destruction of Liao with Jin."
"Wanyan Agu has been attacking the Liao Dynasty for the past few years, and he is quite curious and suspicious about the Song Dynasty's visit, after all, there is a sea between them! Could there be something going on, like bombing or something!?"
"So Wanyan Aguda and his men first discussed the matter, then replied to the Song Dynasty envoy, agreeing to the Song Dynasty's request. They even sent Li Shanqing, who was fluent in Chinese, and Ma Zheng, along with him, back to the Song Dynasty."
"However, after Li Shanqing arrived in the Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong did not rush to see him. Instead, he sent Cai Jing and Tong Guan to receive him. Tong Guan was the first to propose exchanging the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun for him."
"Li Shanqing responded vaguely, saying that Wanyan Aguda had not given him the authority to do so."
A spoiled young man from the Song Dynasty: Wasn't this part of the Song Dynasty discussed in detail? That's why they bought several empty cities later!?
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: Wasn't the Song Dynasty always thinking about the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun? Why didn't they negotiate the terms properly back then?!
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: ...It seems that because they were too weak, the other side didn't take the Song Dynasty seriously in the end!
A scholar-official from the Han Dynasty: The military of the Song Dynasty was not necessarily weak; the main problem was that it emphasized civil affairs over military matters and engaged in political struggles!
A Qing Dynasty official said: "It's true that the late Northern Song Dynasty had a terrible emperor! Terrible officials! And a terrible military!"
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: ...
The optimist Su Dongpo: If not, how could anyone find an opportunity to take advantage of us?
……
After Lin Ke finished speaking, she couldn't help but sigh. Before she checked this information, she always thought that the Alliance at Sea was initiated by the Jin Dynasty, and that the Northern Song Dynasty only joined the team to destroy the Liao Dynasty.
The result?! It turns out the initiator was from the Northern Song Dynasty!?
She even used to think that the Northern Song Dynasty was forced to join, and that it was simply too weak to be defeated!
Lin Ke: =????(??? ????)……
The people in Wanchaozhong watched Lin Ke's ever-changing expression, wondering what she was thinking!
People in the Song Dynasty era felt a chill run down their spines. Had their emperor done something that would incur divine wrath and public resentment again?!
Miss Lin has already insulted Emperor Huizong; she can't insult them again!
……
“After that, there were frequent exchanges between the Song and Jin dynasties. Finally, in the second year of Xuanhe (1120 AD), the two sides probably reached an agreement on the terms and signed a treaty.”
"But it is said that when this alliance was signed, it was initially named the Jin-Song Agreement, but the envoy from the Song Dynasty felt uncomfortable with the Song Dynasty being listed last."
"If the Song dynasty had come first and the Jin dynasty second, the Jin people probably wouldn't have agreed. So Zhao Liangsi (Ma Zhi changed his name) suggested that since it was being held at sea, we should name it the Alliance at Sea."
"Thus, the Alliance at Sea was finalized. In short, the contents of the alliance were:"
After the Song Dynasty attacked and conquered parts of Liao territory, and Liao fell, the Jin Dynasty agreed to help the Song Dynasty recover the lost territories of Yan and Yun. In return, the Song Dynasty had to pay the annual tribute it had paid to Liao to the Jin Dynasty.
"But we all know that when this maritime alliance was signed, the Song Dynasty did not clearly define the land division of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. Why was that?!"
"In fact, the Song Dynasty made several mistakes!"
"First of all, we all know that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun are a very important place. Generally speaking, these sixteen prefectures are centered around Youzhou and Yunzhou and are distributed along one side of the Great Wall."
"As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, the Central Plains dynasties were already resisting the invasion of nomadic peoples."
"With the loss of these two prefectures, the Northern Song Dynasty faced the threat of foreign tribes in terms of military defense. Moreover, this dynasty valued civil affairs over military affairs, so this became a major concern for the Song Dynasty."
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: That hateful Shi Jingtang! That scoundrel! Of all the things to cede, why did he have to cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun?! Otherwise, how could the Song Dynasty have been besieged on both sides?!
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: We also need to add that we can't prioritize civil affairs over military matters, otherwise it will be the same as the old Zhu family. They took back Yan and Yun, but they still lost their country!
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: ...What! You think your Tang Dynasty is so great!?
Liu Zhuzhu of the Great Han Dynasty: Our Great Han Dynasty is still the most powerful!
First Emperor Qin Shi Huang: My Qin cavalry is also very powerful!!!
……
"However, there were some twists and turns in the process of signing this 'Alliance at Sea' between the Song and Jin sides. Zhao Liangsi had previously suggested that the Song should provide some assistance to the Jin when it attacked the Liao, so that the Song would remember the good deeds of the Song in the future."
"But Emperor Huizong of Song did not contact the Jin state in time. It was only after Aguda had already conquered a lot of Liao territory that he thought of allying with the Jin to destroy Liao."
"Especially in 1117 AD, Emperor Huizong of Song sent other envoys to the Jin Dynasty to discuss an alliance."
"But the problem was that the delegation went to negotiate without anyone who could speak Jurchen, so they couldn't communicate and were arrested!" (From "Compilation of Treaties with the Northern Dynasties of the Three Reigns, Volume 1")
Aside from Emperor Huizong, the emperors of the Song Dynasty: My mother tongue is speechless...
"Besides, the court at the time did not think that the Jin Dynasty could destroy the Liao Dynasty just because it was advancing rapidly. After all, it was just a Jurchen tribe. The Song officials and Zhao Ji were indeed somewhat arrogant and contemptuous towards foreigners."
"And a few months after this incident, Wanyan Aguda decided to give the Liao Dynasty a chance!"
"He decided to put aside his personal grievances and negotiate peace with the Liao Dynasty, but they couldn't agree on the terms."
"The Jin state hoped that the Liao state would relinquish some territory, and that the two countries would address each other as brothers. Of course, Wanyan Aguda insisted that he must be the elder brother!"
Song Dynasty: I have experience with this! I never thought our Liao brother would be like this one day, hahaha!
Liao Dynasty: →_→
"How could the Liao Dynasty, which was used to being the big brother, possibly agree to such a request? So the Liao Dynasty sent an envoy to the Jin Dynasty and only conferred upon him the title of [Emperor of the Eastern Huai Kingdom, the Most Holy and Wise].
"This means that at most, the Jurchens can be considered independent, and you can be considered a small vassal state of his, but it is absolutely impossible for his Great Liao to fall under the Great Jin, and to be some kind of bullshit brother state!"
"As for the Jurchens, having suffered oppression from the Liao Dynasty for a century, they naturally understood the meaning of this edict from the Liao Dynasty."
"Therefore, the two sides negotiated these conditions back and forth several times, but failed to reach an agreement, and in 1120 AD, the peace talks officially broke down."
Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji: Oh wow~ the opportunity has come!
Other emperors of the Song Dynasty: Bah!