After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

At the end of October in the first year of Xianyong in the Liao Dynasty (the second year of Zhiping in the Song Dynasty), a "Winter Hunting Festival" belonging to the Khitan nobles was grandly opened in Miyun County, Tanzhou.

The number of people traveling with "Nabo" (na, fourth tone, bo, first tone) and the size of the team were so huge that Han Ming, a time traveler, was shocked when he saw it for the first time.

"My Lord, this is the first time you've seen a 'Nabo' (Liao Emperor's camp), it can be said that this is a unique political system of the Liao Dynasty."

"The Liao emperors maintained the habits developed by their ancestors during their nomadic life, with no fixed residence and moving from season to season."

"Therefore, the emperor had his own residence in each of the four seasons, which was called a Nabo, or the Four Seasons Nabo."

"The areas where the four seasons of Nabo were practiced also changed and varied during different periods of the Liao Dynasty."

When He Zhengru saw Han Ming was a little dazed, he knew that the other party was shocked by the Liao Kingdom's "Nabo" system.

"It's true that there's a certain exotic beauty and grandeur to it."

"That's just for the nomadic peoples of Liao. If they did that in the Central Plains, they would be criticized for wasting money and manpower."

Han Ming couldn't help but sigh and was somewhat interested in the Liao Dynasty's "Nabo" system.

"As the true military and political center of the Liao Dynasty, the number and size of the Nabo are secondary. The real focus is on this mobile state system, which can make the Liao Dynasty's rule more secure."

He Zhengru began to explain what he knew about "Nabo".

"All Khitan officials, both great and small, both internal and external, and Han officials of the Xuanhuiyuan must accompany him within Nabo."

"Only one or two Han officials from the Privy Council, the Secretariat, and other southern government departments will accompany him, while the rest, below the prime minister level, will stay in Kyoto to handle official business."

"The appointment and removal of high-ranking officials was handled by the Secretariat, which used official documents to issue, pending final approval from the meeting of ministers from the north and south chaired by the emperor, before issuing the imperial edict."

"This kind of meeting is held every year in May during the cool and winter season. We are lucky enough to arrive there. This time, we may even be able to meet the entire Liao Dynasty elite."

"At the same time, the guard system for Nabo was also very strict. It required that felt carts serve as camps, hard forts serve as palaces, noble relatives serve as guards, account holders serve as close attendants, military officials serve as night guards, personal soldiers serve as imperial guards, and all officials take turns to serve as night guards to protect the emperor's safety."

"From this perspective, it is indeed as the Marquis said, a waste of money and manpower, but it also preserves the power of the Khitan nobles to a certain extent."

"This mobility allowed the Liao Dynasty to quickly preserve its military and political systems and manpower during times of war or when the country was facing ruin and destruction."

"Even if we can eliminate them for a short time, they will be able to make a comeback quickly and re-establish themselves on this land."

Listening to He Zhengru's lengthy introduction to the advantages of this "Nabo" system, Han Ming smiled helplessly, thinking of the future war between Jin and Liao.

"Brother Zhengru, if a country truly continues to decline, no matter how excellent its system and institutions are, they will not be able to save it from ruin."

"The Liao Dynasty is like this now. It appears to be extremely powerful on the surface, but in reality it is weak inside. If there is a trigger, the entire empire will collapse in an instant."

"Just like our Great Song, if the Liao Kingdom doesn't reform, they will be the next to fall behind."

Han Ming lightly stepped on his horse's belly and took Yong Zeng to follow the Nabo team northward, leaving He Zhengru, Du Ji Yang and others with pensive faces.

. . . . . .

Danzhou (now Miyun, Beijing) was established in the 596th year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty ( AD) by dividing Youzhou, with its seat in Yanle (now northeast of Miyun County, Beijing).

In the third year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty (938), it was ceded to Khitan (Liao) and was under the jurisdiction of Xijin Prefecture in Nanjing Road, with jurisdiction over Miyun and Xingtang counties.

Yelu Hongji and others chose this place as the location for their "Winter Hunting Festival" this year. A few dozen miles north of here is the confluence of the Baihe River and the Chaohe River. A hundred miles past this point is the famous Gubeikou Great Wall.

The Gubeikou Great Wall is the most complete Great Wall system in the history of China. It is composed of the Northern Qi Great Wall and the Ming Great Wall, including four sections: Wohu Mountain, Panlong Mountain, Jinshanling and Simatai.

However, in this time and space, there is no blessing of the Ming Great Wall. There is only the original site of the Northern Qi Great Wall, plus the Gubeikou that was reinforced and repaired by the Sui, Tang, Later Liang, Later Tang, and Liao countries.

Although Han Ming and Yelu Hongji and others went north this time, in addition to participating in the winter hunt, the most important thing was that they wanted to inspect the Gubeikou Great Wall to prepare for the future Northern Expedition!

On October 27th, the Nabo camp entered the outskirts of Miyun and stopped moving forward. From this time on, a winter hunting festival lasting half a month would be held.

This is a festive festival unique to the Khitan people, and all the nobles are holding their breath and preparing to show their talents in this celebration.

Han Ming's two generals in charge of the negotiations, He Zhengru and Du Jiyang, also discussed the issue of "Chongxi currency increase" with the accompanying Liao ministers early on.

The Qingli currency increase, called "Chongxi currency increase" in the Liao Dynasty, refers to the historical event during the Qingli period of Song Renzong (the Chongxi period of Liao Xingzong) when the Liao Dynasty took advantage of the internal and external difficulties of the Song Dynasty to force the Song Dynasty to increase the annual currency.

The basis of this gift of money was the Treaty of Chanyuan, and it was only completed by adding an annual tribute of 100,000 taels of silver and 100,000 pieces of silk.

Even during this period, Emperor Xingzong of Liao sent Yelu Renxian and Liu Liufu to make the Song Dynasty fight for the word "Na" again, that is, the annual tribute was paid by the Song Dynasty to the Liao Dynasty, not a gift.

Finally, Emperor Renzong agreed to it under the condition that the Liao Dynasty must restrain the Western Xia and negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.

After all, the first war between the Song and Xia dynasties had already turned the situation unfavorable for the Song Dynasty, and Emperor Renzong hoped to use the Liao Kingdom to intervene and negotiate peace with the Western Xia.

Regarding this matter, it was Grand Minister Fu Yanguo who personally took charge of the negotiations. Han Ming heard this from his grandfather during a casual chat.

One of the purposes of Han Ming leading the delegation this time was to change the content of "Chongxi Increased Currency" (Qingli Increased Currency).

One is to remove the word "納" that appeared during the reign of Emperor Xingzong of Liao, and restore the meaning of gift during the Treaty of Chanyuan.

The second is to hope to reduce some of the "annual tribute" through negotiations and replace it with collateral.

Third, we hope to open up more border trading markets and add more border trade venues to conduct business.

Fourth, the question was whether it was possible to trade horses with the Liao Kingdom, and the Song Dynasty was willing to pay for the purchases.

What Han Ming values ​​most here is the fourth point. For the Song Dynasty, the number of horses is related to the future Northern Expedition and the country's destiny.

Without a cavalry unit, the cost pressure of wanting to defeat cavalry with infantry is too great, and Han Ming does not have too much energy to invest in this, so it is necessary to purchase a batch of good horses.

In the previous Song-Xia War, the Song Dynasty recaptured Xiazhou in the Hengshan area.

Although the Xiazhou area at the foot of Hengshan Mountain is not as good as the Hetao Plain and Yanyun area, it is more than enough for cultivation.

Han Ming's idea was to use the good horses purchased from Liao and Xia countries for breeding, and then raise them in the Hengshan area to first form a cavalry unit of about 10,000 people.

After all, the Xiazhou Horse Farm could raise more than 190,000 horses during the Tang Dynasty, which shows how good the foundation of this place is.

Of course, this unit will not be affiliated with any imperial guards. It will become the foundation of the future Song Dynasty cavalry and expand step by step.

Regarding the issue of horse breeding, during the discussion with Emperor Yingzong years ago, the court took the lead in implementing horse policies in Xiazhou. Although there were many problems, the overall situation was positive.

Han Ming originally wanted to find time to visit Xiazhou, but the affairs of the court changed every day, and he was so busy that he had no chance to leave the capital.

Now that I am heading north to Liao, I must hurry to solve some problems and start formally forming a cavalry unit when I return home.

Following this trend of thinking, Han Ming, who was not originally a negotiator, also joined in.

Then both the Song and Liao sides witnessed what it meant to be the embodiment of "great power diplomacy should be magnanimous."

Han Ming's despicable, shameless, shameless and thick-skinned behavior, as well as the saliva all over the screen, were about to drown out the Liao negotiators.

When the news reached Yelu Hongji in the felt carriage, the great emperor of Liao had a face twitching and was unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

Xiao Guanyin and the four little ones beside him all listened to Yelu Liang's report with wide eyes, their jaws dropped in shock.

"Your Majesty, the others are a little undecided and don't know what to do. Do you think you need an order or something..."

Yelu Liang rubbed his temples lightly with a headache.

"Is it just for fun that I support them? They can't even defeat an outsider?"

"Tell Alimo that if he can't do it, I will have him replaced!"

Yelu Hongji was not polite at all. As his reign lasted longer, his stubborn and conceited character became more and more prominent. Most of the time, he was the one who had the final say, making all the royal family members and ministers feel depressed.

"Your Majesty, Alimo was supported by you personally, isn't this a bit..."

How close was Yelu Liang as a close minister? It can be said that he was the only one who could speak freely and fearlessly in front of Yelu Hongji without arousing the fear of Emperor Daozong.

"Asu! You don't need to beat around the bush here. Although Alimo was promoted by me personally, you should know who he's leaning towards in recent years!"

Yelu Hongji's words basically determined the fate of the Liao Dynasty's finance minister.

"I understand. I will immediately convey your majesty's instructions to him." Yelu Liang took a deep breath and turned to leave the tent.

"Father, you shouldn't have been so harsh to Uncle Asu just now!"

As the youngest daughter of Yelu Hongji, Yelu Tri opened her eyes wide, pulled her father's robe and pouted.

"Uh (⊙o⊙)..." Yelu Hongji paused for a moment, then he picked up Yelu Terry and coaxed him with a helpless smile.

"Father knows he's wrong. Can you help him bring a gift to Uncle Asu to apologize later?"

When Yelu Hongji saw his lovely daughter, the stiffness in his heart melted a little.

"Okay, okay! Terry will go find Uncle Su in a bit!"

Looking at his daughter's smiling face again, Yelu Hongji also expressed the sorrow he had been feeling in recent days.

"Let's go, Father will take you hunting!"

“Okay—!”

"Very good--!"

"You can go out and play now—!"

"hey-hey--!"

The four little ones jumped up and down wildly, pulling Yelu Hongji and Xiao Guanyin out of the tent and away into the distance.