In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 340 Just kill Zhao and Rui

Yelu Chucai's meaning is very clear. Don't get involved with the Song army in Eastern Xia and Liaodong. Don't worry about it. Either use the entire country to destroy the Song Dynasty, or temporarily negotiate a peace and accumulate national strength until Mongolia becomes stronger.

Wokuotai asked, how can we be stronger?
Yelu Chucai said that there will be more money and food, a wider territory, a larger population, and more powerful soldiers and horses.

In fact, it is similar to the original history. The Mongolian army can conduct a second Western Expedition and fight the good ones first, and they can get more people, soldiers and horses in the Western Expedition.

The Mongolian army set out for the second western expedition with 15 troops, 12 of whom stayed with Damao, and [-] who actually went west.

When he came back, he brought nearly 30 yuan, which was more than doubled.

This is still a careful selection by the Mongolian army. If they want to requisition more if they want to requisition a small amount, they can even bring back 50 soldiers and horses.

Therefore, the original second eldest son's Western Expedition may have been proposed by Yelu Chucai to lay a good foundation for the next step of destroying the Song Dynasty.

Wokuotai fell into a brief silence upon hearing this, seeming to be considering whether Yelu Chucai's strategy was effective.

Instead, Chen Nayan asked again: "Didn't you just say that the Song people are rising and that if they are given time, the Song people will become stronger."

"The area north of the Yellow River is already under the rule of our Mongolian people. As long as we negotiate peace with the Song people, both parties will be able to recuperate and recuperate. Give us time, and we will also become stronger. In the future, there will be more grain and more food. troops."

Yelu Chucai said that when the Ten Tax Envoys were established at the beginning of the year, Mongolia's annual income north of the Yellow River was 50 taels of silver, 40 bolts of silk, and [-] shi of corn.

Last year, the annual income north of the Yellow River was 62 taels of silver, nearly 53 bolts of silk, and about [-] shi of corn.

Mongolia's local rule became more and more stable, and more and more taxes, grains and taxes were collected.

Starting next year, taxes will be opened in all other places, local governments will be established, and central court officials (belonging to Wokuotai) will be established. If the same is true in Xixia, Xiliao, Mongolia and other places, Mongolia will be able to collect as much money as it can throughout the year. Multiplied several times, if it were collected at the location of the Western Expedition, the annual tax would far exceed that of the Song Dynasty, and the comprehensive national strength and resources would also far exceed that of the Song Dynasty. Even if time drags on, Mongolia will only become stronger and stronger. .

When Yelu Chucai said that, Wo Kuotai's eyes lit up, while the others' faces turned dark.

Yelu Chucai means centralizing power, improving the official system, legal system, and ritual system, forming a complete tax system, and conscription system, thereby enhancing overall national strength.

Mongolia is still in the early days of its founding. It initially implemented a system that integrated military and political affairs. In addition to the royal family, there were only ten thousand households, one thousand households, centurions and other officers who commanded the army. There were no formal civil servants. Yelu Chucai, the Zhongshu Ling, He was the first prime minister-level civil servant in Wokuotai to formally learn the canonization of the Central Plains.

In local areas, such as the original Jin Kingdom territory, they adopted Yelu Chucai's suggestion and basically continued to use Jin Kingdom officials to manage it. In other conquered Xixia, except for Zhongxing Prefecture where there were Xixia officials, the rest of the places were Managed by local army generals.

In Mongolia, Western Liao, and other places during the Western Expedition, they were basically managed by soldiers.

The current etiquette system in Mongolia is also very confusing. Although there are distinctions between high and low, there is no strict monarch-minister system like that in the Central Plains. There was no kneeling ceremony before Ogedai. It was when Ogedai ascended the throne, Yelu Chucai persuaded Chahe Tai took the lead in kneeling as his elder brother, and this was how the kneeling ceremony came into being. However, now that Ogedai has been on the throne for two or three years, many Mongolian nobles are not used to kneeling when they see Ogedai, let alone shouting long live and Your Majesty.

Not to mention taxes.

Whether it is the Mongolian army's Western Expedition or its use of troops in the Central Plains, there are unwritten rules. Once the opponent resists when attacking a city, regardless of old or young, rich or poor, or rebellious, all except craftsmen will be killed. Sometimes a few will be left behind. Women and children were made slaves.

During the massacre of the city, all the wealth was robbed, leaving no one in the city behind, and no taxes could be collected.

The remaining cities that were not massacred adopted the method of local officials collecting taxes and paying tribute on their own.

Most of these local officials are generals left behind by the Mongolian army, and they are basically Mongolian nobles. They levy taxes at will, amass windfalls, and then pay a small amount of tribute, which enriches themselves and harms the interests of the central court.

Until Yelu Chucai set up a tax envoy, the Great Mongol Empire controlled thousands of miles of land, but there was a warehouse belonging to the imperial court in any city.

The same is true for the conscription system. The Mongolian army counts soldiers, provides its own food, and prepares its own horses. Only weapons will be provided by the superiors of the headquarters when the self-prepared weapons are not enough.

The Mongolian army headquarters requires that each person must have at least five bows and five horses, and they can go to the battlefield at any time. If they can draw them, they can fight. Without military pay, they can plunder wealth during the war, even if it is their own.

In addition, every time a land is conquered, the surrendered troops will be recruited, but in the early stage there is no military pay and supplies. The surrendered generals will deal with it themselves. They have great autonomy and can collect taxes on their own territory, thus forming many powerful Han dynasties. There are ten thousand military households, ten thousand Khitan households, and ten thousand Jurchen households.

Everything is still running smoothly at present, because the servant army is afraid of Mongolia's destructive power, and no one dares to resist.

Each ministry also raised its own military supplies. The Mongolian Empire had hundreds of thousands of servants without spending a penny or a grain of food.

The Mongolian army headquarters can go back to their own grasslands to graze when they have nothing to do, and they don't have to spend money to raise troops. Everyone supports themselves, so there is no risk of shortage of military supplies.

Everything seems perfect now, but if Yelu Chucai's method is adopted to establish an efficient and centralized central government, Mongolia can get more taxes, more soldiers, and greater power.

There is no doubt that Yelu Chucai's advice was quite good. In the original history, he also repeatedly dissuaded several Khans and princes from improving this powerful national system as soon as possible.

But his suggestion obviously harmed the interests of all high-level Mongolian nobles.

Xixia was granted to Kuoduan, Western Liao to Chagatai, Batu to Ouchen and Nayan to the grasslands, and in the future there will be Kuochu and Hedan who are here today.

The land hasn't been sealed yet. If you just do this, how can we get any benefits in the future?
So after Yelu Chucai's proposal came out, not to mention Ouchen Nayan, who now had a fief, even Kuo Chu and He Dan, the two young princes who didn't have a fief yet, turned black and ugly.

According to what Yelu Chucai said, in the future, the Mongolian central government will set up tax envoys and local officials in various places to manage and collect taxes, and can also recruit soldiers. How can these clan princes accept this?

Doesn’t this mean cutting off the body?

"Absolutely not." Orchen Nayan was the first to stand up and object.

Seeing Ogedai's interested expression, he immediately jumped out to object.

Then he yelled at Yelu Chucai. Isn't this inciting the Mongols to fight among themselves?His heart can be killed.

He also said that the Great Khan (Genghis Khan) gave Almari (which belonged to Xiliao) to Hehan's brother Chagatai as a fiefdom. You want Hehan to collect taxes and recruit troops in his brother's fiefdom. Isn't this inciting brotherly relations?
Wo Kuotai was slightly startled when he heard this. What was he thinking?

I feel that Wokuotai must have wanted to do this.

But in this situation, he has only been on the throne for a few years and has lost all the wars in successive years, so he definitely dare not do this.

Yelu Chucai's suggestion is good, but it should not be rushed. If we can make peace with the Song Dynasty, the two sides will not engage in military warfare for decades, and Wo Kuotai will gradually improve the system and learn from the Central Plains dynasty. It can still be done in decades, but Whether the Four Great Khans will still be so big in the future, it is not certain that they can be passed down for hundreds of years.

This enfeoffment system in Mongolia has both disadvantages and advantages.

After listening to this, Wokuotai finally waved his hand: "This matter will be discussed later. The most urgent thing is to deal with the Song people first."

We will talk about improving the country's governance later, but let's talk about dealing with the Song people first.

Of course, Yelu Chucai had just given two strategies, and the nobles present were also considering the effects and ease of implementation of these two strategies.

When they first attacked the Jin Kingdom, the Mongolian army sent out troops in three directions and mobilized nearly 50 troops. In the end, they failed and returned.

If we attack the Song State, which is larger than the Jin State, and its military strength exceeds that of the Jin State, it will obviously require more soldiers and horses.

That is to say, as Yelu Chucai said, more soldiers and horses must be recruited from the west, north, Xiliao, Xixia, and even Mobei and other places. It is best to have a million troops and set off in several routes.

But if you do this, it will easily affect Mongolia's rule in other places.

Yelu Chucai heard that Wokuotai said that he wanted to deal with the Song people first, so he stopped making any sound and stepped aside first.

He does not want a full-scale war with the Song Dynasty now. The Mongols should first consolidate their rule in the north, recuperate and multiply in the north. If they can rule the north for 50 or 100 years like the Jin Kingdom, a hundred years later, Yelu Chucai will have Confidence, the north alone can mobilize millions of troops, and there is no need for the Mongols at all, and the Han can be used to fight the Han.

Mongolia now looks very tyrannical, but it has not formed a solid rule over the region. It would be okay if it keeps winning battles, but once it is defeated, it may immediately roll back to the grassland.

After Yelu Chucai withdrew, the other nobles did not say anything.

Wokuotai said slowly at this time: "Now the Song army is aggressive. Not only is it plotting against us on the battlefield in the Central Plains, it is also ambushing our army in Goryeo."

"Whether it's war or peace, sometimes it's not necessarily us who has the final say. Maybe we want peace, but others may not."

This is a bit depressing to say, because since Genghis Khan, Mongolia has always been the only one to force others to make peace, and no one can make Mongolia propose peace.

Many nobles at the scene frowned when they heard this, feeling that Ogedai did not have the domineering power of Genghis Khan at all.

What would Genghis Khan do if he were still alive?
Everyone thought of this problem unanimously.

If the Great Khan is still alive, I am afraid he will immediately summon heavy troops to fight against the Song army?
Maybe he found that what he just said had a bit of an impact on morale, so Wo Kuotai added: "It's also possible that we want to fight and the other party wants to make peace."

"The Song army has a lot of artillery. If they want peace and focus on defending the city, we may fight city by city, but it may be useless. If they want to fight, they may not be able to fight."

Yelu Chucai immediately said: "Your Majesty is right."

It is true.

In the past, no matter who it was fighting, Mongolia basically had the initiative. It could attack if it wanted to attack and retreat if it wanted to retreat.

Now it is not certain that you will fight Song Jun.

The Song army doesn't want to fight you, so it just needs to defend the city. They have artillery, and the Mongolian army's trebuchets are basically useless. It's more difficult to attack the Song army's city.

And you have to guard against the Song army taking the initiative to attack the Mongolian city.

The Song army's artillery is sharp and it is easy to attack the city. The Mongolian army is now in a dilemma in many cities.

Leave your city gate undefended. You are afraid that the Song army will suddenly attack. You should set up your city gate and you will not be able to get out.

Therefore, in the city occupied by the Mongolian army, all the defenders have piled a large amount of bricks and stones beside the city gate. Once the Song army is discovered, they will immediately block the city gate.

"Your Majesty." Yelu Chucai said again: "The Song army now sends troops without any approval from the court. Sometimes, after the previous battle is over, the civil and military officials in the court don't know. Zhao Yurui does not follow martial ethics and does not follow routines. of."

Yelu Chucai's words are the key point.

Because throughout the dynasties, including Mongolia, if there was to be a war, the nobles would definitely be called together to discuss it.

For example, the Song Dynasty used to have discussions when going to court. The emperor and ministers discussed together how to fight the war, how many troops and horses to send, who to be the general, how much logistics to take, and even what route to take.

If someone was working in the capital of the Song Dynasty, the matters discussed in the court in the morning would often be spread everywhere by noon, and even small businessmen and hawkers might know about it.But now Zhao Yurui doesn't follow the routine. Now the military affairs of the Song Dynasty are never included in the court discussions.

And many military attaches may not know.

For example, if Zhao Yurui only wanted to use troops in Shandong, he might only discuss it privately with the Shandong generals. The generals in Huaihe and Huaihe next door would not know until a fight broke out.

If Zhao Yurui wanted to use troops in the Fengxiang area of ​​Sichuan, they would only discuss it with Sichuan Zhizhi envoy Meng Gong and Fengxiang guard general. The guard generals in other areas of Sichuan may not know about it.

Zhao Yurui does not follow martial arts ethics and does not follow conventional routines, which puts greater pressure on Mongolia's defense.

For example, the Song army suddenly attacked Dai Ming without any warning, and defeated Dai Ming within one day.

"I believe that from the original Western Liao to the original Xixia, and even Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaodong, the defense must be strengthened and additional sentries and cavalry be sent. The Song army does not know when it will launch an attack."

This is what Yelu Chucai means now. Don't even think about sending troops to Liaodong to fight the Song people. Regarding the alliance with Dongxia, first of all, Dongxia may not appreciate it and may not ally with Mongolia. Secondly, you have to guard against the Song army coming to attack us.

Of course, the best way is to negotiate peace with the Song army, recuperate and consolidate rule first, and wait a few decades before using Han people to fight against Han people.

Yelu Chucai actually yearned for the Central Plains regime in his mind, and his heart was still based on Confucianism. Otherwise, his sons would not have specialized in learning the Confucianism and etiquette of the Song Dynasty.

He just wanted to persuade the Mongols to restructure and learn from the Central Plains, consolidate their rule, establish a formal dynasty, and then compete with the Song people.

After all, there was a good example like the Kingdom of Jin.

Also rising among the black mountains and white waters, the Jin Kingdom occupied the Central Plains and theoretically became an orthodox dynasty.

And dozens or hundreds of years later, many Han people were proud of the Jin people and paid no attention to the Southern Song Dynasty.

Isn’t this a good development?

Yelu Chucai believes that the emperor of the Song Dynasty is a wise king now, but it does not mean that he will be a wise king in the future.

As long as Zhao and Rui are killed, when the new emperor of the Song Dynasty comes, the Song Dynasty will definitely be as rotten as before, and Mongolia will have a chance to aspire to the Central Plains.

Of course, as a prerequisite for this, we must first negotiate peace with the Song people.

Of course the Mongols didn't agree. Wokuotai was willing, but neither were the others.

Someone immediately shouted, why should we defend the Song Dynasty? It is better to let the Song Dynasty defend us. We can attack first. Attack is the best defense. This is what we Mongolians are good at.

The atmosphere at the scene was a bit awkward for a while, it was impossible to negotiate a peace, and there were disagreements about a fight.

Chen Nayan still supported attacking the Liaodong Song Army first.

However, some people suggested attacking Shandong from the Song Dynasty and capturing Shandong first.

Others suggested that they attack Fengxiang first, pin the Song army in Sichuan, and block Tongguan. This would be similar to the previous war with the Jin Kingdom, because the Jin Kingdom was not destroyed yet, and then the Jin Kingdom could attack the Song Army from both sides.

Except for Yelu Chucai, almost all the nobles and princes at the scene demanded war with the Song army.

Especially Orda.

Or'er replied that he was the eldest son of Shuchi. Shuchi's fiefdom was given to Batu. Now he has been following Wo Kuotai. He proposed to send troops in three directions to conquer the western Liao and Xia Mongolian armies to attack Fengxiang, attack the Dashan Pass, and go through what Tolei had done in the past. If we can't defeat Dashan Pass, we can detour to Tubo, attack Dali first, and go behind the Song army.

It has to be said that Orda still had a relatively strategic vision. He went through Tubo to attack Dali and detoured behind the Song army. This was the last solution he came up with after generations of Mongol Khans failed to attack the Song Dynasty.

Now Orda has thought of it more than 20 years in advance.

The other two groups of soldiers and horses marched from Shanxi to the Central Plains and the Jin Kingdom Allied Forces, and from Hebei to Shandong.

The West Route Army has 30 troops, the Center Route Army has 20 troops, the East Route Army has 60 troops, and only [-] troops can be mobilized.

In this case, there is no need to recruit troops from the west, or even mobilization of troops from Batu and Mobei in the north.

The second son of Chagatai, Badar, agreed with Yelu Chucai's suggestion and either did not fight or did not give the Song people a chance.

Recruit soldiers and horses from all walks of life in the west and north, collect 80, and march into the Central Plains from Shanxi together.

His reason is also very simple. In Mongolia's previous wars, they were accustomed to dividing their troops into separate groups, which allowed them to have sufficient mobility and destructive power.

But the Song Army and the Jin Kingdom, Xixia and the Western Expedition countries are different.

The artillery of the Song Army is relatively powerful, and the distance is long, so it can defend the city, but the field battle will be weakened. Only the more soldiers and horses, the smaller the threat of artillery.

If the Song army came out to fight in the field, and hundreds of thousands or millions of troops from both sides were spread out, the Song army would definitely not take care of the beginning. With the Mongolian army's mobility in the field and so many soldiers and horses, the Song army could definitely be defeated.

If the Song army can't defend the city, the Mongolian army will need a large number of soldiers and horses to attack the ants and attack the Song army's cities one by one. You can't afford the loss of soldiers and horses.

The nobles at the scene wanted to fight the Song people, and Baitaer wanted the entire country to fight. This was basically a battle to destroy the country, and no matter who lost on both sides, they would be finished.

Ogedai, the new Great Khan, had to make this choice less than two years after he came to power, which made Ogedai feel very uncomfortable.

Wokuotai had no choice but to think about it. He looked at Yelu Chucai again and asked him what his opinion was.

Yelu Chucai sighed and said, if we must fight, it is recommended to fight Shandong first.

Because all the dynasties in the Central Plains who unified the world from north to south must conquer Shandong first.

Badar immediately said that the Jin Kingdom did not capture Shandong of the Song Dynasty, but was blocked north of the Yangtze River.

Everyone argued and argued that day, but to no avail. Wo Kuotai was basically sure that the nobles would go to war with the Song people, but they had differences on how to fight.

This proves that he, the Great Khan, has neither prestige nor strength.

If Genghis Khan and Tuo Lei were still there, both of them could decide how to fight and how to fight.

None of the nobles at the scene could convince anyone. In the end, Ogedai had no choice but to ask Badar to go back and ask Chagatai, and Or'er to go back and ask Batu.

After Ogedai came to the throne, he respected his brother Chagatai very much and would send people to ask about any important military and state affairs.

This time too.

Whether to launch a full-scale war against Song Dynasty is a major matter related to Mongolia. Wokuotai decided to ask Badar to go back and ask his father's advice whether to fight and fight from there.

Similarly, Batu was a military genius recognized by all the nobles of the Mongol Empire after Tuolei. Otherwise, Orda, as the eldest brother, would not have voluntarily abdicated the throne and given up Jochi's fiefdom.

In terms of combat and strategic level, Wokuotai considered himself inferior to Batu.

So he also asked O'er to go back and ask Batu.

After Wokuotai's decision came out, there was no objection from the surrounding area.

Everyone agreed to wait for Chagatai and Batu to reply and see what they thought before deciding what to do next.

Just when everyone finally agreed, a guard suddenly came in to report.

Yan Zhu'er came back and brought back a letter from Zhao Yurui, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty.

"What?" Yelu Chucai looked incredulous.

After Yan Zhu'er came in, there was a lot of cursing all around.

Yazhu'er's left and right hands were tied with gauze cloth, and the thumbs of both hands were chopped off.

His face was bloodless and his lips were white. After seeing Wokuotai, he shouted excitedly: "Hehan -" and he almost cried the next moment.

The majestic Mongolian warrior, a man who was never afraid on the battlefield, was made to cry by the Song people all his life.

"Where's the letter?" We'erda was impatient. While Anzhu'er was still carefully searching for it in his arms, Werda had already rushed over and pulled it out.

After receiving it, I discovered that the letter contained Chinese characters. Even though O'er replied that she could speak some Chinese, she didn't recognize eight of the ten characters on the letter.

Everyone could only hand it back to Yelu Chucai and let him read it out.

Following Yelu Chucai's voice, everyone's faces showed expressions of embarrassment and anger.

Zhao and Rui Xin spoke in a very sincere tone. They first praised the ancestors of Great Mongolia, saying that their rise on the grassland was more difficult than Yelu Abaoji and Wanyan Aguda.

He talked about the great Mongol Empire in his letter, which made the surrounding Mongolian nobles feel happy.

Zhao Yurui started with the rise of Mongolia and then talked about the Mongolian army's Western Expedition. They were all full of praise. In short, they talked about how difficult it was for the Mongols to conquer the billions of countries they are today.

Then the tone changed and he said that the enemies on both sides were Jurchen Jin people.

The Jurchens had the humiliation of Jingkang towards the Song people and had a deep blood feud. We, the Song Dynasty, have no enmity with Mongolia.

Damn it, when Yelu Chucai read this, there was a lot of scolding all around. Don’t you have any hatred against you and the Jin people for plotting against us?

Are you going to attack our famous names and our troops from Goryeo?
"Zhao Yurui, this bitch, is full of nonsense. He dares to do something but not take it seriously. He is really insidious and underhanded--" O Chen Nayan cursed loudly.

Wo Kuotai had a gloomy face and motioned for Yelu Chucai to continue reading.

(End of this chapter)