The afternoon was sunny and the spring breeze was blowing along the banks of the Hutuo River. If it were not for the dense queue of corpses outside Zhending City and the many broken flags and bodies that occasionally emerged from the turbulent waters of the Hutuo River, it would be hard to imagine that just the day before, just across the river, a battle broke out that determined the fate of two great countries for a hundred years.
Under the dragon flag fluttering in the wind, the atmosphere was a little tense, because Emperor Zhao, who was dressed in casual clothes, kept staring at the dragon flag above his head in a daze, which attracted many people to look up, and also caused many people to not dare to look up.
"It's time to wash it." After a long while, Zhao Jiu lowered his head, pointed at the dragon flag on his head and said to Shao Chengzhang, the eunuch guard beside him. "It's a bit hard... The hole should be mended."
Even though Shao Chengzhang was known for his calmness and seriousness, he was still stunned at this moment, and then responded hastily.
After explaining this matter, Zhao Jiu, who was sitting on a stool, looked at the group of people standing in front of him with their hands crossed, and finally looked at the leader: "Are you Eluguan? The sixth son of Jin Taizu Wanyan Aguda?"
"The surrenderer is Erluguan, the sixth in rank, and the former governor of Datong Prefecture." Like many people behind him, Erluguan finally breathed a sigh of relief, then hesitated for a moment and refrained from kneeling. He just bowed again surrounded by countless soldiers. "I have come to see your majesty today, please..."
"No one was crowned a king?" Zhao Jiu obviously didn't care about these etiquettes, and just frowned and asked. "Why do I remember that the Jin Kingdom had conferred a lot of titles on the king a few years ago?"
"Yes." The interrupted Erluguan quickly crossed his hands and answered. "To let your majesty know, this is true, but at that time, in order to win the hearts of the people, the eldest brother of the surrendered people once told the surrendered people... we brothers should not rob others of their titles."
"It does make sense." Zhao Jiu nodded and said indifferently. "But it should also be to establish a status and emphasize the authority of you three brothers among the brothers, right? You must have more than a dozen brothers..."
These words sounded like they were questioning the weight of Eluguan, so the Sixth Prince himself didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Fortunately, the official in front of him did not dwell on this matter, but quickly got to the point: "Eluguan, I didn't want to come today, but I came anyway. Do you know why?"
"Your Majesty is merciful and forgiving." As a member of the royal family who grew up after the founding of the country, although Eluguan could not be compared with the current ruler of the Jin Dynasty, he still had a basic level of cultural literacy. In addition, the other party did not force him to kneel, so his words were particularly soft.
"It's not mercy or forgiveness. I don't want to come because I was not in good spirits after the battle the day before yesterday... Think about it, I have worked hard for ten years, almost like sleeping on straw and tasting gall. Now that I have succeeded, I can almost entrust all the important matters to my marshals, and then I can lie back and watch the sweeping trend... Of course, it seems a bit empty." As he spoke, Zhao Jiu pointed to Zhending City not far away . There, Han Shizhong's banner had already entered the city with bronze-faced soldiers. "To be honest, I wrote a fan for Mr. Kongxu yesterday... In the end, I felt ashamed and tore it up again."
Erluguan was speechless for a moment, but could only bite the bullet and praise : "Your Majesty is in a very elegant mood."
"And I came here again today because you are sincere and saved me a lot of trouble." Zhao Jiu ignored him and continued to look at the direction of Zhending City and explained calmly. "You must know that since Taiyuan, I have not had enough gunpowder. I guess it's just a matter of bombing another Yanjing City. I am reluctant to use it in Zhending, and there are so many stores in Zhending City... In this situation, you are willing to surrender with courtesy, so of course I have to return the favor. In addition, there is another reason, which is that the accompanying Lu Xianggong has been bedridden again after watching the battle in the rain the day before yesterday. His health has been getting worse since the Northern Expedition, and I am afraid that he will be delayed in returning to Yanjing... Before the Song-Jin War, he was the governor of Yanshan Road."
These words sounded sincere and serious, but to Eluguan, it sounded more like a direct discussion of peace terms.
Speaking of gunpowder, how much Emperor Zhao said he had was one thing, but whether the Kingdom of Jin dared to believe it was another. And how much relationship he had with Prime Minister Lu was probably only known by the two of them... But both of these things directly mentioned Yanjing, which made people take it seriously.
After all, Yanshan Road was the fundamental reason for the war between the two countries, and it was also the core area that Song State had the strength to take but had not yet taken after this war... From any perspective, it was the core condition for peace talks... and from the perspective of those who surrendered today, since they were prepared to negotiate peace after surrendering, they had actually already accepted this option in their hearts.
However, although he tacitly agreed, he could not admit it openly... because that was the capital, Eluguan had no right to make any promises. Instead, he had to do his best to maintain and preserve Yanjing.
Of course, the offer has already been made and rebuttal is futile. It would always be a good idea to listen to Emperor Zhao's conditions for the time being.
"Your Majesty!" With this thought, Erluguan on the ground quickly took out the words he had prepared long ago. "Yanjing is the capital of our country. I, a garrison commander of Datong who lost my station, cannot speak for it..."
"I know." Zhao Jiu waved his hands impatiently. "Eluguan... I never expected a surrender like you to facilitate any real peace talks, nor did I expect to get what I wanted by talking... But didn't you take the initiative to talk? Let me know how much I have left and what my real intention is... So that you can make up your mind when you need to take charge of things in your country."
"Yes." Eluguan became more and more relaxed, and the Jin civil and military officials who were standing cautiously behind him were also relieved, because this official was really straightforward and had no intention of making things difficult for them.
"Then listen carefully." Zhao Jiu continued speaking, but his tone suddenly became serious. "Don't interrupt without permission."
After thinking about it, Elu led the Jin civil and military officials behind him to bow and salute again, then stood up and clasped his hands in respect.
"First." Zhao Jiu sat on the stool, not even looking at the other party, just looking at the empty space in front of him and speaking calmly. "The war started because of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. The Jin Kingdom must withdraw from the south of Yanshan... This is the fundamental one."
No one around was speaking a word; only the sound of the dragon flags fluttering above their heads could be heard, harmonizing with the sound of the Hutuo River beside them.
"Secondly, Liaodong and Liaoxi have been directly under the Central Plains since ancient times... Shun divided the country into five towns and twelve states, and the Yiwulü Mountain in the northern town is in Liaoxi... This is truly from ancient times, and there is absolutely no reason to give it up." Zhao Jiu glanced at Erluguan, whose face suddenly changed, and then looked at Liu Yan, who had closed his eyes at some point, and continued to speak calmly. "Therefore, the former Liao Zhongjing Road, and the southern part of Huanglongfu in Dongjing Road, all 38 states, must be returned together."
E'erluguan felt like he had something stuck in his throat at this time, but just like many of the civil and military officials of Zhending Prefecture behind him, although he was shocked, he could only cross his hands and remain silent because of the official's clear warning in advance not to interrupt.
"Third." Zhao Jiu pointed at Yelu Yudu who was standing silently beside him. "I also plan to take back the Yinshan area and return it to Ningxia Road. Instead, I want to establish a Khitan Autonomous Road around Linhuangfu... I have already appointed the first governor, and it is General Yelu Yudu... The Jin Kingdom must give up the Khitan and Xi tribes' former lands east of the Great Pine Forest, which is your Linhuangfu Road."
"I am extremely grateful." Yelu Yudu knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude without hesitation. Some Khitan people around him also knelt down.
And Eluguan's face became paler and paler.
"Fourth." Zhao Jiu nodded to Yelu Yudu, motioned him to stand up, and continued calmly. "The gold, silver, and people looted during the Jingkang period must be returned."
Having said this, Emperor Zhao slightly stretched his foot, causing Eluguan and others to think that he had finished speaking, and they moved slightly for a while.
But soon, as Yelu Yudu and other Khitans stood up, the official continued: "The above four points are all about how to end the war, which is considered foreign affairs for the Jin Dynasty... But if the Jin Dynasty wants to continue, it not only needs to end this war, but also needs to rebuild its internal affairs and return to the Chinese system... Therefore, in addition to the four external points, there are four more."
Eluguan's face turned pale. Although he still dared not to speak, he could not help but look back at Hong Ya angrily. However, Hong Ya faced him with a calm expression, which made the Sixth Prince panic for a moment and lowered his head to listen again.
"First of all, the Jin Kingdom must re-establish its status with the Song Dynasty..." Zhao Jiu sighed at this point. "My eldest son fled during the Jingkang period and was frightened to death by the military riot. If he were alive, he would be only seven or eight years older than your king. So, I want to ask him to replace this son and become my adopted son. When he reaches adulthood next year, he can come to me in person like the East and West Mongols, and let me crown him in person... Only in this way can I convince my marshals and generals not to always think about attacking Huining Prefecture and sweeping the land."
Eluguan felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, and had no reaction at all.
"The second is that the Jin Kingdom must follow the rituals and regulations... Since it is a father-son country, it must obey orders and help me and the Song Dynasty to eliminate the disobedience in the north." Zhao Jiu continued with certainty. "The third is that the system must continue to be Hanized... Therefore, without my permission, the ruling prince and prime minister may not be changed without authorization."
At this point, Zhao Jiu finally looked at Eluguan straight in the eye: "To be specific, you, the Sixth Prince, must inherit your third brother's position as the prince and participate in supervising important military and national affairs, and the positions of Qin Hui, Hong Ya, and Wanyan Xiyin must also be ensured."
Eluguan was a little dazed, and Hong Ya behind him also looked up in surprise, but under his stunned expression, he actually became eager to try again.
"Finally." Zhao Jiu paused for a moment before continuing word by word. "We must kill Wushu before we can make peace!"
What responded to Zhao Jiu was a long silence and countless heavy breathing.
"I'm done." Zhao Jiu waited for a while, and finally turned around to face him. "Sixth Prince...what do you think?"
Perhaps it was because the amount of information was too much, and after a long time to digest it, Erluguan finally said what he thought was a matter of course: "The emperor... surrendered people... I think the emperor's eight internal and external rules are too harsh."
"This is a different time. You were even harsher during the Jing Kang period. At least I didn't intend to exterminate your Wanyan clan, right? I even left your Jurchen ancestral land and the land of Shangjing Road around the old Du Ning Prefecture. That was quite lenient." Zhao Jiu responded seriously.
E'luguan was so depressed that he was speechless.
"Of course, I also know that the battle the day before yesterday has not spread yet... You have to bury the bodies here, track down the escapees, deal with the surrendered, rest thoroughly, and spread the news, which has completely shocked the world, and you have weighed what you have left, before you can really consider the peace talks... And I have said it before, I never expect to use words to decide the fate of anything." Zhao Jiu turned his eyes to Erluguan, looking at the large group of surrendered people pretending to be dead behind Erluguan. "But I hope you understand what my original intention is... When your escaped soldiers are caught, when your last tens of thousands of new troops are defeated again, when Yanjing is captured by my imperial camp army, you might as well stop and think about my eight internal and external rules today, and see if you can accept them? As long as you are willing to accept them in full, you can come to talk to me at any time... Of course, I may have to change them at that time."
E'luguan said nothing, but just lowered his head and shed tears.
"So what about you guys?" Zhao Jiu knew that this person was trying to escape, so he didn't bother to pay attention and just continued to confront the group of surrendered people behind him. "Does anyone have anything to say?"
"Your Majesty." Just when most people followed the Sixth Prince's example and said nothing, someone suddenly stepped out with his hands clasped. It was the pale-faced Imperial Tutor's slave. "If the Fourth Prince were here, he would definitely agree to the peace talks... Your Majesty must have misunderstood!"
“No misunderstanding!”
Zhao Jiu sighed loudly. "This matter has nothing to do with whether or not to make peace. It's just that Wuzhu fought from Huaishang to Nanyang, from Nanyang to Yaoshan, from Yaoshan to Hedong, from Hedong to Huolu... He fought again and again despite repeated defeats. He can be called a remarkable man... So to put it nicely, I will not be at peace until this man is dead! To put it bluntly, even after fighting so many battles, I have to kill someone to vent my anger!"
At this point, Zhao Jiu glanced at all the surrendered people and reiterated: "I want him dead... If we negotiate peace, you come and kill him. If we don't negotiate peace, I will send troops to kill him!"
Everyone was completely silent.
"Let's go!" Zhao Jiu suddenly stood up, waved his sleeves, and went directly towards Zhending City. There, Han Shizhong had already led the left army of the imperial camp to take control.
Under the dragon banner, everyone hurriedly followed, and the Jin Kingdom's Sixth Prince Eluguan and a group of fifty or sixty surrendered people did not dare to be negligent and prepared to catch up in a hurry.
However, after taking two steps, Zhao Jiu turned back and said coldly, "Sixth Prince... I am not asking you to follow me into the city when I ask you to leave... I am saying that since the matter is over, you might as well return to Yanjing early and bring my eight internal and external rules to report."
Eluguan and the others were stunned, and only then did they realize that the other party was actually going to let them go? In fact, not to mention Eluguan, even Hong Ya, who was still a powerful figure last night, was stunned... and he really didn't dare to say a word.
"Hurry up and leave!" Zhao Jiu urged. "You want to see me today for two reasons. One is to surrender the city to save your life; the other is to negotiate peace with me on behalf of the Jin Kingdom... Adding the two together, I should have let you go earlier... But the war horses are precious, so I can't give you a single one, and you have to find your own way. The surrendered soldiers in the city will not be easily let go, so don't think too much."
After saying this, the official set off directly without looking back. The generals, soldiers, and close ministers around him followed him one after another... After a while, there were only a few soldiers coming and going at the surrender site on the riverside, and they were escorting the surrendered troops from Zhending.
E'erluguan and the others did not dare to move at first. They waited for a long time, and after making sure that no one paid attention to them, they bypassed Zhending City and headed north to Xinle... Even Hong Ya hesitated for a long time, and seeing that no one paid any attention to him, he had no choice but to stomp his feet and grit his teeth to follow.
You know what, after bypassing Zhending City and making sure they had escaped, the Zhending surrendered people, numbering about fifty or sixty in number, although they had no horses, were all agile as flying. In the evening of that day, they arrived at Zishui in the north, but regardless of their fatigue, they hurriedly looked for a bridge to cross the river, and then they relaxed temporarily.
Then, they found a small village on the river bank that was still empty, and asked the Sixth Prince to sit down. They then followed the orders of Minister Hong Yahong, who had managed to cheer himself up. They started a fire and tried to find a few pottery jars in the village to boil some hot water. After a short rest, they would make further efforts and cross the Sha River again tonight to reach Xinle.
No matter what, it is always wonderful not to be a prisoner and to continue to be a superior person.
However, just as everyone started to boil water, suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves, and nearly a hundred riders came in an orderly manner from the north.
The crowd was half wary and half hopeful.
What is incredible is that although the cavalry was powerful, they only had three horses for each man, and there were only about 20 to 30 knights. They were in a very bad state, with no armor or long weapons, but only some simple bows and crossbows and short blades. They were obviously not the Song Army or Jin Army that everyone was familiar with.
"It's the Mongols!"
Seeing the other party rushing directly to the fire, in the evening light, the Sixth Prince, who was stationed in Datong Prefecture all year round, suddenly guessed who it was and then felt relieved. "The Mongols are all ruled by Zhao Song, so nothing should happen... That official is not a person who breaks his promise."
"But there's no need to cause trouble." Hong Ya, who had been feeling uneasy since he started on the road again, whispered. "These people obviously came from the north, and they may not know that we have been pardoned... Moreover, we are all wearing single clothes, without armor or weapons, and we are tired and hungry... If they have bad intentions, we will just be targets."
The Sixth Prince immediately nodded in approval.
However, the Sixth Prince and Hong Ya were worrying too much. These Mongolian cavalrymen were obviously busy and equally exhausted. They hurried to the campfire, and several of them who could speak Chinese came forward. They asked where the Zishui Ferry Bridge was in the south, and asked for some hot water to mix with the mare's milk, preparing to take a short rest and replenish their energy.
It is said that the surrendered people from Zhending included both civil and military officials, but because of their surrender, they left the city alone and had nothing. They had been walking for the whole afternoon and were very tired. When they saw the mare's milk, some of them took the initiative to talk to them and begged for it.
The Mongols on the opposite side were quite friendly and directly shared a lot of mare's milk, which made the atmosphere between the two sides more harmonious.
However, whether it was the Sixth Prince or Hong Ya, who could go to the Zhao Song government to surrender in person? Which of them was not well-dressed and well-fed? So after taking a mouthful of the sour and pungent mare's milk, they were immediately overwhelmed by the smell, and many of them made a fool of themselves... which caused the Mongols to laugh again.
But at this moment, the Tai Shi Nu who had remained silent was revealed, because he drank the mare's milk without any obstruction at all.
"Are you not the master's slave?"
Suddenly, a knight who spoke Chinese but was dressed in Mongolian clothes recognized the other person directly by the afterglow and the firelight. "Aren't you following the fourth prince of the Jin Kingdom? Why are you here?"
The master slave was slightly startled, then he looked up and found that the other person looked familiar. He paused for a while before realizing something: "Are you Saba? Yelu Saba?"
"It's me!" Saba sighed . "I never thought that we would meet each other in this life..."
Halfway through his words, Saba's voice became smaller and smaller, and finally he stopped, looked at a short and sturdy Mongolian warrior beside him, and whispered something in Mongolian. Then, the Mongolian warrior who was drinking mare's milk raised his head and glanced at the group of surrendered people from Zhending like a wolf.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Hong Ya secretly cried out that it was not good, and immediately stood up to explain: "Don't misunderstand, fellow Mongolian generals. We were pardoned by Emperor Zhao himself. We are not fugitives. You can tell by our appearance, and we have nothing to do with the Fourth Prince... The Fourth Prince has been in Hutuo, Henan since the war... Tai Shi Nu just happened to be there."
The people around him woke up, became serious and responded one after another.
Even the Grand Tutor's slave had no choice but to hurriedly stand up and give a brief explanation under the Sixth Prince's gaze.
And Saba also translated honestly.
But unexpectedly, by the fire, after finding out the whole story, the Mongolian warrior asked Yelu Saba to relay an incredible but heartbreaking reply.
"My headman said that even if Emperor Zhao pardons you, we can't let you go." Yelu Saba swallowed his saliva. "We must leave ten or eight heads behind, so that we can tell Emperor Zhao that we dare not slack off and indulge suspicious people!"
Everyone's scalps tingled after hearing this and they could only go to see the Sixth Prince and Hong Ya.
At this point, the two knew they couldn't cover it up any longer, so Hong Ya stood up and revealed everything: "Don't kill people indiscriminately... This is the Sixth Prince of the Jin Kingdom who was previously stationed in Zhending. This time, he heard from Emperor Zhao that he wants to return to Yanjing to negotiate peace."
Yelu Saba quickly turned around to prepare for translation.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Hong Ya's words, the Mongolian warrior stood up and stared at Erluguan across the fire, gritting his teeth and saying, "I knew you looked familiar, but I never thought you were the Sixth Prince... Sixth Prince, it's been many years since we last met in Huining Mansion. You were still a kid then, right?!"
Erluguan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly stood up and asked: "Is it Hebula Khan?"
"Of course it's me." The lightly-armored Mongolian warrior, also known as Hebule, shook his head repeatedly. "What a pity, Sixth Prince, it has to be you. If it was someone else, it would be fine, but since it's you, I can't let you go easily... Because if I hadn't let you escape in Datong before, why would I have gone through so much trouble to come here to apologize to the Zhao Song government?"
Erluguan tried to ask, "What do you mean by not letting him go easily? Didn't Kublai Khan just hear it? I went to Yanjing to discuss peace on the orders of Emperor Zhao!"
"I know." Hebule suddenly grinned. "I won't kill you either... but no matter what, I have to take you back so that I can show Emperor Zhao that I have no intention of letting you go privately..."
"If that's all, I'll go with you again." Eluguan was completely helpless.
"How can it be so easy?" Hebule bent his bow and pointed his arrow at the other party, and then spoke coldly. "Since you have been pardoned by Emperor Zhao himself, Emperor Zhao must know your number, so this time we can only do our best to kill most of you and bring more heads with us! What do you think, Sixth Prince?"
After these words were spoken, there was a moment of silence around the fire. Starting from Eluguan himself, almost all the surrendered people from Zhending felt weak in the knees, while the surrounding Mongolian warriors bent their bows and held their swords, waiting for Hebula to shoot arrows before they could attack together.
The next thing that broke the silence was not Hebule's whistling arrows, but the words of Minister Hong Ya who, after realizing that the arrow was likely to be directed at him, said: "You can't kill me! I am the future prime minister of the Jin Kingdom appointed by Emperor Zhao! My position is as important as that of the Sixth Prince!"
But it was this sentence that directly started the massacre.
Halfway through his words, Hebule was slightly startled. Taking advantage of this opportunity, more than a dozen generals from Zhending who surrendered, led by Tai Shi Nu, suddenly turned around and tried to seize the horses of the Mongols nearby and escape, while the Mongols quickly took action on their own... Although both sides had no armor or long weapons, and were generally tired, the Mongols, armed with daggers and bows and arrows, were undoubtedly at an absolute advantage.
Bowstrings crackled and blades flashed in the afterglow. Although a few Wuzhi Zhending surrendered people escaped, more people were easily slaughtered by the Eastern Mongols beside the campfire.
After killing most of them, Eluguan and Hong Ya were tied up and placed on horses. When they looked up, they could see the heads of familiar faces placed on the sides and rear of the other horses.
The owners of these heads never imagined that the Zhao Song government did not kill them, but they suddenly lost their lives because of the absurd reason that a Mongolian wanted to "show off".
"Sixth Prince."
When crossing the Zishui River again, Hong Ya on horseback could not help but speak to the Sixth Prince Eluguan who was not far away. "After the defeat, human life is worthless, and you and I are both like defeated dogs on the road... We should make peace if we can!"
In the gradually darkening twilight, Eluguan did not respond.
Then, at the second watch, Hebule arrived outside Zhending City after a hard journey. Then, according to Yelu Saba's previous "instructions", after informing him of his name and origin, he took off his clothes and knelt outside the north gate of Zhending City in the middle of the night with a horsewhip on his back.
"Why are you all working so hard?!" Although Emperor Zhao was very excited because of the acquisition of the Zhending treasury during the day, he was still a little angry after being woken up by Liu Yan and Shao Chengzhang. "Can't you just lie down and let me do whatever I want?"