Chapter 327: Yelu Deguang: I can also talk, I can also love Huaxia!

The common people might not know much about the Heirloom Seal of the Realm,

having only heard some legends of unknown truth.

But they were people with ambitions to overthrow the Great Song, seize the realm, and create a new dynasty.

Although the one currently overthrowing the Great Song was Zhang Jie's Great Gan, and the new dynasty was highly likely to be Great Gan,

rather than the Holy Duke State he had established, as a person with great ambition and lofty aspirations,

how could he and his civil and military officials not know about this Heirloom Seal of the Realm that symbolized legitimacy?

The fact that the dragon on the seal Qin Huizhi brought out was missing a corner, repaired with gold, further proved its authenticity.

The "Book of the Later Han" records: "When Wang Mang usurped the throne, he asked the Empress Dowager for the seal; she threw it to the ground, and one corner of the dragon was chipped."

The "Records of Wu" notes that the one Sun Jian obtained had "five dragons coiled on the knob, and one corner was chipped."

In the fifth year of Yuanshi of the Western Han (6 AD), that second protagonist of the poem, "When the Duke of Zhou feared the rumors, Wang Mang was humble before usurping the throne.

If he had died then, who would have known the truth of his life?", Wang Mang, in order to seize the throne,

wanted to obtain the Heirloom Seal from the Han imperial family.

The Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, who was guarding the seal at the time, threw it in anger,

damaging the dragon horn part of the seal, which Wang Mang later ordered craftsmen to repair with gold.

Ever since the First Emperor Ying Zheng used the main item from the "Perfect Return of the Jade" story,

the Heshi Jade, which was of excellent quality and truly extraordinary, as the base material,

and ordered the Prime Minister Li Si to write "Received from Heaven, may you have long life and eternal prosperity" in fish-worm seal script,

carving the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, the Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, and Tang dynasties,

no matter which dynasty it was, all revered it as the symbol of legitimacy.

The reason the Great Song was criticized, with extremists even believing it was not the legitimate successor,

was precisely because although it occupied the Central Plains, the core area of Huaxia civilization, it had not obtained the Heirloom Seal.

So if the Heirloom Seal was not in the Great Song, where was it before?

The answer is the Great Liao, established by Liao Taizong Yelu Deguang, a camel-riding expert who could rival the "Donkey Cart War God" Zhao Guangyi,

who ascended the throne in Bianliang, changed the country's name from Khitan to Liao, and was one step away from entering the Central Plains,

but ultimately went with one hundred thousand iron cavalry and returned as salted meat, becoming old bacon—well, to put it artistically, an imperial mummy—

and fled back to the grasslands in a panic.

Yelu Deguang: My Khitan people are of Hu descent, but aren't the Shatuo Zhuya clan also of Hu descent?

Liu Zhiyuan: Deguang, actually I have long been a Han person; I have already entered the Great Han nationality.

Look, this is the Han hair-binding style, very particular!

Yelu Deguang: I can also talk, I can also become a Han person, I can also have the surname Liu!

From now on, I am Liu Deguang! The country name is Liao-Han!

When the last emperor of Later Tang, Li Congke, burned himself to death in the Xuanwu Tower, he was holding the Heirloom Seal,

but the Liao army, which was still Khitan at the time, obtained the seal through war.

During the reign of Liao Shengzong Yelu Longxu, the Heirloom Seal was retrieved from the Liao Central Capital,

and he wrote the "Poem on the Heirloom Seal" to celebrate. Since then, the Heirloom Seal also became the symbol of imperial power for the Great Liao.

And now that even the Heirloom Seal had fallen into the hands of Great Gan, the news of the decisive battle between Liao and Gan,

the Great Liao's crushing defeat, and even the capture of the Emperor, was likely nine-tenths true.

After all, for something as important as the Heirloom Seal, which directly symbolized the supreme authority of the Son of Heaven,

the Emperor would certainly carry it with him. Let alone handing it to others, even looking at it would likely be a crime punishable by beheading.

"We pay our respects to the Heirloom Seal of the Realm."

The people of the Holy Duke State, led by Fang La, bowed solemnly to the Heirloom Seal.

Although they were Manichaeans who believed in the Bright Venerable and strictly followed the rules of the Bright Sect,

they were ultimately Han people, with the blood of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors flowing in their veins, the lineage of Yan and Huang.

The Heirloom Seal of the Realm, symbolizing the legitimacy of Huaxia, was worthy of their bow.

"Why has the envoy come?"

After bowing to the Heirloom Seal, Fang La, who had some guesses in his heart, tried to remain calm and asked Qin Gui.

Qin Gui, having achieved the goal of intimidation, first closed the lid of the wooden box,

and then carefully, without the slightest negligence, handed it to the attendant behind him before speaking:

"Holy Duke, my Lord admires you as a hero and has specially sent this humble minister to seek your surrender."

After gaining the absolute upper hand in momentum, his tone instead became respectful.

Being overly respectful when weak is flattery, which easily makes people look down on you;

but appropriate respect when strong is humility, which can express respect.

The study of language and the study of interpersonal relationships mostly lie within this.

Clearly, Qin Gui, as a generation of Han Lin who could pass the imperial examination, gain Zhang Jie's recognition,

and successfully lobby the Emperor, handled this extremely well.

Although Qin Gui was a treacherous official who would stink for ten thousand years, he was indeed the treacherous prime minister who almost covered the sky with one hand in the Southern Song,

and even unjustly executed Yue Wu Mu on "unnecessary" charges.

Of course, Qin Gui himself was just a white glove for Wanyan Gou, his Jin uncle.

Otherwise, if he were given a thousand guts, he wouldn't dare to unjustly execute Yue Wu Mu in defiance of the world.

Unfortunately, there has been a so-called tradition of "hiding the faults of the honorable" since ancient times, which scared his Jin uncles,

and even Zhao Jiumei, who had inherited the reproductive ability that surpassed all Great Song rulers from his father, Song Huizong Zhao Ji,

was scared into impotence, greatly escaping this infamy.

"The Gan Emperor thinks I am a hero?"

Hearing Qin Gui's words, a smile could not help but appear on Fang La's face.

Although he and Zhang Jie were opponents with opposing positions, almost to the death,

being recognized by his opponent still made him very happy.

He seemed to hear Zhang Jie saying: "In this world, the only heroes are you and me!"

"My Lord says that the Holy Duke was able to rise up, plead for the people,

not sparing his life, often personally braving arrows and stones, and descending to the front line; naturally, you are a hero of a generation."

Qin Gui respectfully stated Zhang Jie's evaluation of Fang La.

Although in the original Water Margin, Fang La was portrayed as a cruel, selfish, and cold-blooded villain.

For example, his cruel rule and abuse of the people: Fang La's insurgent army was known for harming the people,

and the book reveals his atrocities through the complaints of the people. For instance, when the Song army attacked the city,

the local people not only did not support Fang La but actively assisted in the battle,

calling him a "slaughterer of the people," and even requesting to be incorporated into the Song army's Liang Shan troops to "eliminate harm for the people."

Furthermore, he was extremely extravagant and essentially selfish: after he proclaimed himself emperor,

he engaged in massive construction of palaces, including building palaces in Qingxi Bangyuan Cave,

and established temporary palaces in Muzhou and Shezhou, showing his hedonism.

His motive for raising troops was not to plead for the people, but because of his superstition about the "appearance of an emperor," he forcibly launched the uprising, using the people as tools.

But this was actually more about using Fang La's cruelty

to set off the "rationality" of the amnesty route insisted upon by Song Jiang.

In this Water Margin world, which leans toward the TV version,

it largely restores the historical image of Fang La as a leader of a peasant uprising.

He dared to resist oppression, fought for the interests of the poor people,

and had a certain appeal and organizational talent.

Although due to historical conditions and his own lack of strength,

the Fang La uprising ultimately failed to overthrow the rule of the Northern Song dynasty.

Nevertheless, his uprising still caused a heavy blow to the dark rule of the Song dynasty,

accelerating the demise of the Northern Song.

It can be said that in this world, Fang La, apart from being relatively cruel to those corrupt officials, was quite commendable.

Zhang Jie appreciated this very much and was unwilling to meet him directly on the battlefield.

Besides, being cruel to corrupt officials is not a shortcoming, but a great advantage.

The Great Ancestor once said that for these corrupt officials, if you don't kill them, it's not enough to appease the people's anger!

Killing one official is to save the ten, one hundred officials behind him.

It was just that the timing was not right; otherwise, Zhang Jie would have long ago learned from Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and launched a major case,

thoroughly cleaning up the rats and parasites within Great Gan. ===== CHAPTER 328 =====