Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 676 Those who live in a state of partial peace will have no descendants!
"So that's the situation." Tuo Huan commented: "He said right away that they were the three major disasters of the Southern Song Dynasty. I thought he was some big devil. So that's how it is..."

"These three are not really big demons. The Jin people at least could fight a little bit at that time. The other two should not be a problem at all." Guo Kang spread his hands: "Unfortunately, the Song Dynasty can't do it. There is nothing we can do."

"Can't he beat him?" Tuohuan asked.

"It's not just a military issue. Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao were just peasant armies, so it's easy to deal with them. But Liu Yu's Qi regime was a puppet specially appointed by the Jin people." Guo Kang explained: "Normally, this is a pseudo-regime established by invading barbarians supporting traitors. It has no legitimacy at all and will not have much appeal. However, the Southern Song Dynasty itself is even more rebellious, causing the pseudo-Qi to pose a threat to it."

"Liu Yu was originally a Jinshi in the Northern Song Dynasty and served as the prefect of Jinan. In the court, he had a bad relationship with Song Huizong and the ministers. Liu Yu's ancestors were all farmers, and he was admitted by his own hard work. After becoming an official, he wrote many letters to the emperor to talk about etiquette. Song Huizong mocked him: 'Liu Yu is a farmer from Hebei, what does he know about etiquette?' So he demoted him. Liu Yu was resentful because of this."

"When the Jin army marched south, they fought several times and found the situation unfavorable, so they wanted to surrender. Guan Sheng, the general of Jinan, was brave and good at fighting. He went out of the city many times to repel the Jin army, so Liu Yu tried to murder him. But the people in the city still refused to surrender, so they could only escape from the city by themselves and surrender to the Jin army."

"Liu Yu was selfish, narrow-minded and immoral, so people at that time despised him. However, Zhao Gou was even more selfish and immoral. When facing the Jin people, he was even worse than Liu Yu."

"Liu Yu's title of Emperor of the Great Qi was conferred upon him by Wanyan Sheng, the Jin Emperor Taizong who also called himself the emperor. The only previous case of an emperor conferring an emperor was Shi Jingtang. Not only that, the Jin people specifically said in the edict that he should 'cultivate the rites of a son for generations.' It was obvious that this was a typical 'child emperor' pseudo-regime."

"However, Zhao Gou's title was also conferred by the Jin people. The format of the Southern Song Dynasty's official letter was 'the word '大' is removed from '大宋', the word '皇' is removed from '皇', and the letter uses the etiquette of monarch and minister, with words like '再拜'. Therefore, Liu Yu's regime could still call itself '大齐', but Zhao Gou's regime could not even call itself '大宋'; Liu Yu's emperorship was just a diplomatic joke, while Zhao Gou was not even an emperor in diplomatic occasions; Liu Yu considered himself the son of the Jin people, which was very humiliating, but Zhao Gou wanted to be a son, but he could not even be one."

"During that period, Zhao Gou could only be a vassal of the Jin Kingdom. Shi Chonggui was only willing to be a grandson of the Khitan, not a vassal, which angered the Liao Kingdom and led to its demise. His treatment was not even as good as that of a grandson. If we must compare, it was probably similar to Jiaozhi, who both enjoyed the pleasure of being an emperor in their own country. It was not until the Longxing Peace Agreement that the relationship between Song and Jin rose from a 'state of monarch and minister' to a 'state of uncle and nephew'. It never reached the level of Liu Yu, who was even worse than being a traitor."

"So there are such things." Tuo Huan said with emotion: "No wonder he feels guilty."

"The reputation issue is only one of the reasons. Relying on his past achievements, Zhao Gou can still gain the support of many people. But the actual effect of his governance is just as bad," Guo Kang added.

"Liu Yu's army was mainly made up of defeated soldiers and bandits from the Northern Song Dynasty, and their quality was very low. However, the Southern Song Dynasty was not only unable to gather the defeated soldiers, but also created chaos in the army."

"Even when facing a powerful enemy, Emperors Huizong and Qinzong continued to fight among themselves, and local order began to become chaotic. Later, when Zhao Gou became emperor, many people hoped that he would recover his former territory. Zhu Xi recorded that when Zhao Gou ascended the throne, the people in Hedong and BJ east and west guarded themselves day and night, hoping that he would come back. However, Zhao Gou kept hesitating and did not dare to go north, which led to the people's separation. Therefore, 'when the king's army came, there were no thieves. When the king's army stayed in Huaidian, hundreds of thousands of thieves rose up.' Later, many chaotic armies, including those warlords who threatened Zhao Gou's rule, appeared at this time."

"In the beginning, Zong Ze was still active in the Bianjing area. Warlords Ding Jin, Li Cheng, Yang Jin and others all obeyed his command and did not dare to act recklessly. After Zong Ze's death, the rebellion was completely out of control. At one time, there were hundreds or thousands of troops. Many of them were later pacified or recruited by Liu Yu. For the people, one big bandit is much better than a hundred small bandits. The ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty told Zhao Gou that the people did not reject the Song Dynasty, but they had to rely on Liu Yu to avoid being slaughtered, so it was not a big crime."

"In order to win the hearts of the people, Liu Yu's regime accused Zhao Gou of abandoning the people and giving up the orthodoxy, while carrying out various reforms and propaganda everywhere, trying to establish a good image. After becoming emperor, he announced that he would not ordain monks and Taoists, and would employ both civil and military officials, and change the tax system of the Song Dynasty." "Liu Yu and others claimed that the tax system of the Song Dynasty was entirely for the purpose of making money, and that it indulged the powerful and allowed mergers, resulting in a reduction in tax sources and greater pressure on the poor. Therefore, in order to change the tax system, a large number of people were sent to the grassroots to persuade farmers to try to restore production."

"Liu Yu's regime had very weak ruling power at the grassroots level, and most of the systems could not be implemented. But even so, some effects were produced. In addition, Liu Yu dredged the old Jishui water system, which was almost abandoned after the Yellow River flood, organized people to build dykes and weirs, cleared the river channel, and dug the Xiaoqing River. Local agriculture was restored and transportation became smooth. The Xiaoqing River became an important channel for the salt industry, allowing the economy along the river to recover rapidly, and the river has been used until later generations."

"Before the establishment of the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty, there was a famine in Shandong where people were cannibalistic. Grain prices soared, and merchants rushed to transport grain to the local area to sell, so much so that the Southern Song court had to issue orders to ban it. But a few years later, when the Jin Dynasty abolished the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty took the opportunity to take over part of the territory, there was already sufficient food here and the price of grain was low, so grain could be transported out to help the Jianghuai area. When planning the marching strategy, it was also believed that Shandong had sufficient food and grass, and there was no need to carry supplies specifically."

"In addition, Liu Yu also took advantage of the internal conflicts of the Jin people to profit for himself. He abandoned the Jin noble Talan, whom he had previously joined, and joined the powerful official Zong Wang. For Zong Wang, if Liu Yu continued to pay tribute to the Jin court, it would be the court that benefited, not him. Therefore, Liu Yu only needed to pay money to Zong Wang's garrison to maintain it, and even the annual tribute was exempted, reaching a level never seen before in the two Song dynasties. The financial pressure he bore was not as heavy as that of the Southern Song Dynasty."

"In comparison, the weakest part of the Pseudo-Qi regime was its military. Not to mention that it could not defeat generals like Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, even when warlords were fighting in various places, Liu Yu's useless men were often defeated by the Song army. He was finally deposed because his performance was so poor that he could not serve as a buffer to share the pressure for the Jin people. On the contrary, as long as the war started, he had to call on the Jin soldiers for help, and he sent so many that he often even sent away the Jin soldiers. Later, when Zong Wang fell, others quickly deposed Liu Yu. However, the Jin people still kept him as a king and paid to support him."

"Among these three great enemies, the Qi Dynasty has the weakest combat power, even weaker than Yang Yao's peasant army. The fact that it ranks second has brought tremendous pressure to the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is probably more than just a military threat."

"Civilians and officials loyal to the Southern Song Dynasty wrote to Zhao Gou, reminding him that the Central Plains had been in chaos for too long and the people wanted peace, and Liu Yu was trying to implement benevolent policies to win over the people. If the people adapted to the new dynasty's elegant policies, the Southern Song Dynasty would be in danger. Even Yue Fei wrote to the emperor saying that Liu Yu was 'frugal and win over the people.' No matter whether he was sincere or pretending, at least if he did so, the people would be bewitched and would no longer support the court over time. Therefore, the Northern Expedition must be launched as soon as possible."

"Under Zhao Gou's continuous efforts, the legitimacy and appeal of an orthodox dynasty could no longer compare to those of the traitors, so of course everyone was worried. That's why it is said that the pseudo-Qi dynasty was qualified to be considered a disaster, all thanks to Zhao Gou's good contrast. This trouble was created by him."

"The biggest taboo for a dynasty, like for an individual, is not being able to distinguish right from wrong." Guo Kang finally reminded: "The Southern Song Dynasty regarded enemies who wanted to kill it as parents, and regarded the people who wanted to help it as enemies. How could such a regime have a good reputation?"

"The Han people have always been good at fighting. They can live in peace for a while by relying on their old capital. If it were us, we would not even be able to survive. Zhao Gou has no descendants, and the princes and ministers of Bohemia expect the people to work for them, but they don't like them and want to wipe them out. They are also immoral and rude people. What good results can there be?"

"They expect the Alemanni to take care of them, but will the nobles of the Alemanni allow their families to continue to be rich and prosperous? I'm afraid these people will not have descendants. It seems that their homes and cities will have to be left to others."

"It's not just Lao Yang and the others who need to be alert. We ourselves also need to be wary of this kind of people," he said, shaking his head.

(End of this chapter)