Chapter 179: Zhao Yu

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Xiao Changge, Yelu Yanxi, and others had instructed Xiao Bodi and Zuo Qigong to present the Chanzhou Alliance and the Qingli Accord to Zhao Yu because they intended to rebuke Zhao Yu for breaching the treaties, using these two agreements to force him to withdraw his troops, or at the very least to condemn him from a position of moral superiority.

But Xiao Changge, Yelu Yanxi, and others had forgotten the circumstances under which the Chanzhou Alliance and the Qingli Accord had been signed.

First, the Chanzhou Alliance.

Liao was a regime established by northern nomadic peoples, whose national character was inherently expansionist and aggressive.

Liao's economy was primarily pastoral, structurally simple, while the Zhao Song dynasty enjoyed economic prosperity with advanced agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce. Through southern invasions, Liao could plunder Zhao Song's wealth, resources, and population to satisfy its own economic needs and compensate for shortages of daily necessities.

Moreover, at the time, Emperor Shengzong of Liao was a child, and Empress Dowager Xiao ruled as regent. To consolidate her and Emperor Shengzong's rule, she needed military victories abroad to elevate her prestige and unify public sentiment. A successful southern campaign against Zhao Song would help stabilize Liao's domestic political situation and strengthen her and her son's authority.

On the other hand, the Zhao Song dynasty, after Emperor Taizong's failed northern expedition, adopted a defensive posture, giving Liao the impression that Zhao Song's military was weak. Liao also believed Zhao Song's internal political struggles had weakened its national strength, creating an opportunity. Furthermore, Liao sought to exploit the instability of Emperor Zhenzong's newly established reign to launch a southern invasion and seize greater gains.

Additionally, through prolonged warfare with Zhao Song, Liao had gradually developed tactics to counter Song troops. Liao's cavalry possessed high mobility, excelling in long-range raids and field combat, while Zhao Song's military deployments and defense systems had vulnerabilities, leading Liao to believe a southern invasion could yield significant military results.

Liao therefore chose to invade southward.

In fact, before this, Liao troops had repeatedly launched southern raids under the guise of "grazing," plundering Zhao Song's money, grain, and people.

When Empress Dowager Xiao and Emperor Shengzong led a massive southern invasion, their forces advanced like a bamboo stalk splitting open, capturing several prefectures and advancing directly toward Chanzhou, threatening the capital of Zhao Song—Dongjing Bianliang.

Imagine this.

Had it not been for Chancellor Kou Zhun and others who defied popular opinion and insisted Emperor Zhenzong personally lead the campaign to boost morale and resist the Liao army, and had Emperor Zhenzong not ultimately decided, under Kou Zhun's insistence, to go to Chanzhou to oversee the battle, then despite Zhao Song's military disadvantage, its fortified cities and fierce resistance would have inflicted losses on the Liao army. Moreover, although Liao's southern campaign had progressed smoothly, its extended front lines made logistical supply difficult, and its deep penetration into Song territory raised fears of being cut off and surrounded by Song forces. Had this been the case, Liao would have annihilated Zhao Song entirely, rather than merely signing the Chanzhou Alliance.

Furthermore, the Chanzhou Alliance was, in essence, Zhao Song's annual tribute of 100,000 bolts of silk and 100,000 taels of silver to Liao—a protection fee to guarantee Zhao Song's safety, inherently humiliating for Zhao Song.

As for the Qingli Accord, it was even more humiliating.

The Qingli Accord was an agreement between Zhao Song and Western Xia, whose main terms included Li Yuanhao relinquishing his imperial title and submitting as a vassal to Zhao Song, while Zhao Song granted him the title of King of Xia; Zhao Song also annually bestowed upon Western Xia 153,000 bolts of silk, 72,000 taels of silver, and 30,000 jin of tea.

But Liao took advantage of the Song-Xia conflict, massing troops at the border and forcing Song Ting to increase its annual tribute, compelling Zhao Song to add another 100,000 bolts of silk and 100,000 taels of silver per year.

At the time, Zhao Song's military weakness left it no choice but to sign this alliance under duress and accept Liao's extortion.

Now, the situation has reversed: Song troops have surrounded Liao's Nanjing, one of Liao's five capitals, and trapped Liao's emperor within it, poised to breach Nanjing and capture Yelu Yanxi alive.

At this moment, reminding Zhao Yu of what Liao once did—what could be more foolish than that?

Crucially, Zhao Yu's demand for the return of tribute is justified.

Previously, when your military was strong, you collected protection fees from us—that was acceptable.

Now, our military is stronger than yours. Even if I don't demand tribute from you, at least return the tribute you collected from us, and then we can discuss peace—what's wrong with that?

This logic is undoubtedly correct.

But the problem is, Liao has collected far too much tribute from Zhao Song over the years.

The Chanzhou Alliance was signed in the first year of Jingde under Emperor Zhenzong (1005), and until last year, Hongwu Yuan (1101), Zhao Song had continuously paid tribute to Liao.

Roughly calculating, over nearly a century, Zhao Song's total tribute to Liao was as follows:

From 1005 until the increase in tribute during Emperor Renzong's reign, Zhao Song paid 200,000 bolts of silk and 100,000 taels of silver annually; this phase lasted approximately 40 years (Emperor Renzong reigned from 1022 to 1063; tribute increased around 1045), yielding 200,000 × 40 = 8 million bolts of silk and 100,000 × 40 = 4 million taels of silver.

After the increase until Hongwu Yuan, approximately 56 years, Zhao Song paid 300,000 bolts of silk and 200,000 taels of silver annually, yielding 300,000 × 56 = 16.8 million bolts of silk and 200,000 × 56 = 11.2 million taels of silver.

In total, Zhao Song paid Liao approximately 8 million + 16.8 million = 24.8 million bolts of silk and 4 million + 11.2 million = 15.2 million taels of silver.

And this is only the principal.

Including interest, silk would total at least 30 million bolts, silver at least 20 million taels.

Such a vast wealth, for any dynasty, would be an extremely heavy burden.

More crucially, this is merely the precondition for peace talks; there are still war reparations to come.

Combined, the total would likely be astronomical.

After Xiao Bodi and Zuo Qigong returned, nervous and uneasy, Su Zhe opened his mouth but hesitated.

But as the words reached his lips, Su Zhe looked around at the triumphant men, all exclaiming:

"These tribute payments were the blood and sweat of our great Song people, plundered by barbarians for nearly a century! Now that our army stands at their gates, this is the moment to wash away our humiliation!"

"Previously, the barbarians dared commit these bandit acts because they thought our great Song had no men of courage. Now that our Song is reviving, we must reclaim the tribute owed to us by these barbarians!"

"Killers must pay with their lives; debtors must repay. It is natural justice. Our army has repeatedly defeated the barbarians, surrounded their secondary capital, and trapped their emperor—his century-long extortion must be repaid!"

"Not only repayment—since they dared do it first, we may now do it in return. Now that they are defeated, they must pay war reparations to our Song, pay tribute to our Song, and also offer marriage alliances. These are all the barbarians' usual extortion tactics—let them taste the humiliation themselves!"

"The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun have always been Han territory, seized by barbarians for two centuries. Now that our army presses at their borders, we must reclaim them all!"

"…"

Seeing this, Su Zhe, who understood that morale must be encouraged, not dampened, swallowed the words he had intended to say—words that might undermine morale—and resolved to speak privately to Zhao Yu later, suggesting that demanding the full tribute at once was unreasonable; better to demand half, or even just three-tenths, and recover the rest gradually, lest the Liao be driven to desperation.

Su Zhe had reservations; Zhang Chun had none.

When Zhao Yu returned to the inner chamber, Zhang Chun immediately approached him and said: "Your Majesty is acting too hastily."

Zhao Yu asked: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Chun said: "Though Liao troops have suffered repeated defeats, a dying centipede still has many legs. Now they hold fortified cities within and countless reinforcements outside. If Your Majesty proceeds gradually, it will be like slowly warming a frog—eventually, the frog will die."

Hearing this, Zhao Yu realized he had been too aggressive, risking inflaming Liao resistance.

Zhao Yu recalled the Jin's extortion of Emperor Huan and his ministers during the Jingkang Humiliation—the textbook model of exploitation.

Zhang Chun and Zhao Yu were perfectly in sync, as if their hearts beat as one. She told him: "Your Majesty should first give the Liao a glimmer of hope, lest they fight like cornered beasts…"

Indeed!

Zhang Chun's advice to Zhao Yu was a direct copy of the Jin's extortion of Emperor Huan.

Nearby, Li Lin said: "Why complicate it? Once we capture Yanjing, everything within belongs to Your Majesty."

Zhang Chun rolled her eyes and said: "With my method, we won't just gain Yanjing's wealth—we'll make the Liao deliver the treasures of Shangjing, Zhongjing, Dongjing, and Xijing."

Then, with growing excitement, she added: "If this succeeds, our great Song could gain three years' worth of fiscal revenue…"

During Wang Anshi's reforms, Zhao Song's monetary tax revenue peaked, with the Ministry of Revenue collecting approximately 60 million guan annually.

After the abolition of the new laws, central fiscal revenue dropped to 48 million guan.

—If physical taxes are converted into copper coins according to Song prices, total Ministry of Revenue income could rise to about 75 million guan; if further including non-Ministry-of-Revenue income such as the Green Sprout and Exemption Service taxes managed by the Right Bureau of the Ministry, total annual revenue may approach 100 million guan. In the second year of Zhiping, total fiscal revenue reached 116 million guan, shi, bolt, and tael units, with monetary revenue exceeding 50%, approximately 60 million guan.

Excluding physical taxes, the Zhao Song dynasty's annual fiscal revenue reached 50 million guan.

Three years amounted to 150 million guan.

During the Jingkang Humiliation, the Jin demanded no more than one million taels of gold, two million taels of silver, equivalent to roughly 120 million guan in copper coin.

Add to that one million bolts of silk and one thousand five hundred young girls.

It still fell short of Zhang Chun's estimate of three years' fiscal revenue.

Moreover, how could a poor state like Liao possibly compare to the wealthy Zhao Song dynasty?

But then again, even recovering just one year's fiscal revenue would recoup Zhao Yu's expenditures in reclaiming Western Xia.

After consulting with Zhang Chun and Li Lin, Zhao Yu decided to intensify pressure on Liao, ensuring the timid and cowardly Yelu Yanxi would never dare contemplate resistance.

Precisely because of this mindset, unlike before when Zhao Yu had never directly intervened in military affairs, that very night he personally arrived at the front lines.

Li Lin wanted to come too, but since she was already seven months pregnant and movement was extremely inconvenient, Zhao Yu refused her no matter how she pleaded.

Helpless, Li Lin could only continue observing the battlefield through her long-range mirror.

Upon seeing Zhao Yu's arrival, all Song officials and generals—from the current night's chief minister Su Zhe and overall commander Guo Cheng down to the lowest-ranking officers—came to pay their respects.

Zhao Yu told those with duties to return to their tasks; he only needed Su Zhe and Guo Cheng to accompany him.

What startled Su Zhe and Guo Cheng was that Zhao Yu intended to go to the front lines.

After repeated attempts to dissuade them failed, Zhao Yu's party arrived at the active battlefield, where Zhao Yu personally watched Song troops assault Yanjing City.

What they saw:

Liao soldiers on Yanjing's walls unleashed arrows like locusts, hissing sharply as they rained down upon the Song troops.

The Song troops advanced relentlessly toward the walls, using various siege engines.

Meanwhile, Song forces fired from massive crossbows, bed-novas, tiger-crouching cannons, trebuchets, and divine-arm bows at the walls, covering their own soldiers and laborers as they charged across the trench bridges laid over the moat.

Soon, a unit of Song troops reached the base of a wall section, using fenyun carts and large shields for cover to quickly place explosive packs against the wall.

But before they could finish setting the explosives, a torrent of rolling logs, boulders, and thunder-stones crashed down from above.

With the force of thunder and mountains, the logs and stones shattered the fenyun carts and buried the Song unit beneath them.

Screams and shouts vanished into flying dust and splinters.

When the dust settled, only mangled, bloody forms lay scattered across the ground; few survived, their armor caked with mud and blood.

To be honest, Zhao Yu regretted coming.

For someone who had never set foot on a battlefield, this scene was too bloody—it unfolded before Zhao Yu like a cruel, unvarnished painting, laying bare the brutality and mercilessness of war. Those once-living souls had become so fragile, like autumn leaves in the wind, ready to be snatched away and erased without trace.

At that moment, a dying Song soldier, still barely alive, picked up a torch on the ground and ignited the unprepared explosive packs.

The moment the explosives ignited, they blazed like an angry spark, suddenly bursting in the silent night sky with destructive force toward the wall. Flames shot skyward, accompanied by deafening roars; a corner of the wall collapsed under the blast, stones and dust spreading like a tidal wave, instantly swallowing everything in that zone.

Unfortunately, Yanjing's walls were too sturdy; this single attack was insufficient to destroy that section.

But it didn't matter—keep detonating like this, and within ten or so attempts, the wall would surely collapse.

Moved by the soldier's bravery, Zhao Yu pointed to the spot and decreed: "All who died today shall be promoted three ranks with enhanced compensation; the brave soldier who ignited the explosives before death shall be promoted seven ranks with enhanced compensation."

After that, Zhao Yu entered a mode of constant rewards—he awarded on the spot: reward for heroic death, reward for heroic charge, reward for heroic kills, reward for battlefield achievements, reward for scaling the walls even more!

In ancient siege warfare, soldiers sent to assault the walls rarely returned alive.

Why didn't anyone flee?

The reasons were twofold: they dared not flee, and they didn't want to flee.

The death rate in siege assaults exceeded suicide—swords shaved past their scalps, arrows flew like rain, and once they climbed the ladders, they faced rolling boulders and boiling oil.

Unless mad, no sane person would risk such a fate.

In truth, fear of death and desire for survival were human nature.

To prevent soldiers from deserting, the court typically stationed supervisory units on the battlefield.

During charges, anyone who fled was killed; anyone who hesitated or slowed down was killed.

Since death was inevitable either way, deserters didn't just die shamefully—they condemned their descendants to social ruin, with their ancestors' records forever branded as deserters across three generations.

So why not die honorably in battle?

Not only would your reputation remain clean, but you'd receive generous compensation.

More importantly, he didn't want to run.

Because this was the only chance for the poor to rise from poverty.

In this era, the four greatest military merits were: first to scale the wall, break through enemy lines, slay the enemy commander, seize the enemy banner.

The first soldier to reach the battlements earned the top merit: first to scale.

Put simply, whoever scaled the wall first was like winning the lottery's top prize—urban household registration, state enterprise promotion three levels at once, instantly becoming a wealthy man, a former serf singing songs of liberation.

In major campaigns, one might even be promoted to noble rank, with titles hereditary across generations.

For example, during the siege of Xiang Yu, a lowly soldier named Yang Xi seized one of Xiang Yu's thighs—and rose to heaven, founding the super-clan Hongnong Yang, which produced two emperors: Wen and Yang of Sui.

Why was Heshen able to serve the emperor so young? Primarily because his ancestors had earned the merit of first to scale, establishing the Qing dynasty's greatest fortune and the empire's most infamous corrupt official, Heshen.

So, gamble and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle; hesitate and your descendants will be shamed.

This was a life-or-death gamble—and a fortune-making opportunity.

Today, Emperor Zhao Yu himself had arrived, making it clear: outstanding performance would earn double rewards.

For Song soldiers who had to fight anyway, this was a divine chance for sudden advancement.

Thus, the Song troops unleashed unprecedented combat power.

Not only did they blast deep craters into Yanjing's walls, but Song soldiers even breached the ramparts on several occasions.

Yanjing City teetered on the brink—any moment, a section of wall might be utterly shattered by explosives, or seized by Song troops, followed by their flood into the city…

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(End of Chapter)