Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 977 Carving Stones and Compiling History to Demand Legitimacy

"Master Shi, surely the people you've found this time can't be someone like Tang Anli again?"

As Liu Huai tried on his newly made coronation robes, he smiled and asked Shi Ju, "Revising history is a major undertaking, and we must be responsible to future generations. I don't want to be cursed by people for thousands of years to come."

Shi Ju was somewhat embarrassed, but quickly nodded: "What you say is true, young master. I was not careful that day and let that scoundrel Tang Anli sneak in. Now everything is settled."

Liu Huai straightened his robes, waved for the servants to leave, and couldn't help but sigh upon hearing this: "What do you think Tang Anli is thinking? I do acknowledge your good judgment of people, Lord Shi, but he actually said that the Jin Kingdom is the legitimate successor of the Central Plains. Does he still have some longing for his homeland?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Ju felt even more embarrassed and cursed Tang Anli's ancestors and relatives a thousand times in his heart.

Furthermore, in a sense, it was not wrong for the Song state to accuse Liu Huai of being a traitor, because Liu Huai had previously held the official seal of the military governor of the Jingnan Army, and his superior, Wei Sheng, was the commander-in-chief of the Shandong and Hebei Loyal Army appointed by the Song state, which was commonly known as the marshal of the Shandong and Hebei Loyal Army. From this perspective, the so-called relationship between the ruler and his subject was already established, and Liu Huai could only accept whatever the Song emperor wanted to say.

But then again, it's easy to defend oneself. For example, one could say that I am the emperor of the Central Plains, while your Song state abandoned the Central Plains and Hebei, thus losing its legitimacy and deserving to be despised by the heroes of the Central Plains.

In fact, during this period, Liang Su and other advisors, along with scholars from the Central Plains, had engaged in numerous verbal battles with the Song Dynasty. In particular, the official gazettes contained lengthy summaries of the inhumane behavior of Zhao Ji, Zhao Gou, and their father and sons. This led the people of the North to lament that the Song Dynasty officials were indeed unworthy of being emperors of the Central Plains, while also gaining some recognition of Liu Huai's legitimacy.

The key point is that explaining something clearly might require a paper of thousands of words, but from a communication perspective, if you want something to spread, the whole thing must be easy to understand, simple and clear, and ideally summarized in one sentence.

Song Guo's argument satisfies this point: Liu Huai was once a subject of Song, but is now a traitor.

The Han army, on the other hand, wrote lengthy and elaborate explanations. Even if they made sense, it was impossible to explain the reasoning clearly to all the scholars and common people within ten days or half a month.

Liu Huai's approach was to take a different path, namely, to compile history.

Unlike the other timeline in which Zhu Yuanzhang compiled history, he did not intend to compile a history of the Three Kingdoms consisting of the "History of Song," "History of Liao," and "History of Jin," while acknowledging the Song Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty. Instead, he planned to combine it with the "History of Five Dynasties" to compile a "History of Six Dynasties."

I will start by discussing the legitimacy of the dynasty from the Tang Dynasty. The several hundred years in between were all periods of chaos. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was a period of chaos, and the Three Kingdoms period that followed was also a period of chaos.

Together they are known as the Six Dynasties and Thirteen Kingdoms!
Although it doesn't sound as catchy as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, from the perspective of denying the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty, this move is like a deer's horn hanging from a tree, leaving no trace, yet hitting the bullseye.

Since all the eras since the Tang Dynasty have been chaotic, wouldn't it be more direct for me to unify the world and seize the throne than for the Song Dynasty to keep talking about traitors?

This is China! In China, unification is the ultimate political correctness. What does your Song Dynasty have to be proud of? It was nothing more than a separatist regime!
Those in the Han army who were politically astute wholeheartedly supported Liu Huai's actions.

Suppressing the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty can, in turn, highlight the legitimacy of one's own side. Why not do it?
But there are always people who will suddenly appear out of nowhere and do some inexplicable things.

Just as Liu Huai was gathering people to begin compiling history, Tang Anli, recommended by Shi Ju, caused trouble.

Although he was of Jurchen origin, he was well-versed in literature and served as prime minister of the Jin Dynasty. He was also a pioneer in Sinicization and even told Wanyan Yong to abolish the conscription system and treat Han people and Jurchens equally.

Of course, Wanyan Yong knew his own background and gave Tangkuo Anli a thorough dressing-down.

Conversely, such a person, after joining the new dynasty and enjoying its favorable policies, would surely make a contribution to the cause of ethnic integration.

But the truth is, no one knows what got into this guy, he just felt that the Jin Dynasty was the true dynasty of the Central Plains and should not be ranked alongside the Liao and Western Xia as one of the thirteen marginal states, but should be one of the 'Six Dynasties'.

Moreover, Tang Anli's arguments were also very substantial: the Song Dynasty no longer had the Central Plains and lost its Mandate of Heaven after the Jingkang Incident, so how could it be called a Central Plains Dynasty?

To be honest, Liu Huai found the competition between two academic underachievers for second-to-last place quite boring, but this was not only a historical issue, but also a major political one.

Even though Liu Huai had personally swept the Song state out of the legitimate sphere, it was still a Han dynasty. Unless Liu Huai was insane, he would never have done something like using a dynasty established by non-Han people as a basis for dating.

Tang Anli was immediately expelled from the historical compilation team and gloriously became a miner, going to the Xuzhou mine to break stones.

In response, Shi Ju could only chuckle and shake his head: "Young Master, Tang Anli is just being bookish, and he's also a bit stubborn, so he speaks without thinking."

He could never possibly have any nostalgia for the Jin dynasty; otherwise, why wouldn't he have chosen to die for his country instead of seeking an official position in the new dynasty?

Liu Huai nodded: "Since Master Shi is here to vouch for us, I can't very well refuse you by letting him stay in the quarry for three months and then release him."

Whether I go through the selection process for officials later, or retire to the mountains and forests, it doesn't matter anymore.

Shi Ju readily agreed. Liu Huai continued, "The task of compiling history will be overseen by Prime Minister Shi, but it cannot be rushed or perfunctory. First, release the news to strike at the Song state, and proceed with the rest step by step. Within five years, we can complete a general history of the Song, Jin, and Liao dynasties. After recovering the Hetao region, we can then discuss the Western Xia."

Shi Ju nodded repeatedly, then cautiously asked, "Young Master, is it now planned to establish the capital in Yanjing?"

“It has to be in Yanjing.” Liu Huai finally sighed slightly: “Youyan has been out of Han control for more than a hundred years. The people have been influenced by the barbarian customs. How can we change their customs so easily?”

If I were to remain in Yanjing to oversee the city, the officials below would be much more cautious. And if a transferred official were actually appointed, it might even cause unrest.”

Shi Ju immediately came up with a long-considered idea: "Then the Hebei water system must be repaired as soon as possible. I recommend Liang Qiu to handle this matter."

Liang Qiu was Liang Su's cousin, and basically he was in cahoots with Shi Ju. Moreover, Liang Qiu had joined them after the Huai-Xi War, and by now he could be considered a veteran and important official.

Liu Huai's gaze sharpened: "Where should we begin the repairs?"

Shi Ju's words were extremely straightforward: "Naturally, we should start with Lushui, and at the very least, rebuild Zhigu."

"Just as I thought." Liu Huai was relieved: "We can't possibly have spent so many years reviving the canal transport system again."

The Lu River flows southeast past Yanjing and empties into the Bohai Sea.

The place where it flows into the sea is what later became Tianjin.

After the Lu River is repaired, maritime trade between the north and south can proceed directly from the Lu River to Yanjing City.

Perhaps due to profound lessons learned from history, Liu Huai was deeply concerned that his policies would collapse after his death, and that some would close the country off from the world and abandon maritime trade. Therefore, Liu Huai consistently attempted to replace the Grand Canal with maritime transport, thereby binding everyone together through economic interests to ensure the continuation of the system.

Even though maritime transport is now quite prosperous, Liu Huai still feels somewhat uneasy and is filled with anxiety.

Shi Ju knew what Liu Huai was thinking, but although he didn't understand why his lord was so nervous, he could only comfort him: "Young Master, such a large country is not only divided into the north and south coasts, but also the east and west inland areas. Maritime transport is not omnipotent, and there should always be canal transport to supplement it."

Liu Huai remained silent for a long time before saying, "What Minister Shi said makes sense, but there is one bottom line: we must never allow the Yellow River to divert into the Huai River just because it is convenient for transporting grain. That would cause even greater disaster sooner or later."

Shi Ju was somewhat amused and exasperated: "That's only natural. Even if the eldest son hadn't said anything, so many intelligent people in the court wouldn't have let the Yellow River flood unchecked."

Liu Huai snorted coldly: "I'm afraid you'll be too clever for your own good, or blinded by the lure of money. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore..."

After all, this happened during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Even if Shi Ju were told, he would not understand why so many capable officials could not solve the Yellow River problem.

"Although the capital is to be established in Yanjing, I cannot stay in Yanjing forever. Not to mention that the country is not yet unified, even if it is unified, I will still need to stay and inspect other regions temporarily."

Liu Huai slowly revealed his idea: "After all, the world has been divided for a long time, and it is too difficult to unify people's hearts. Therefore, I think we should do what the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties did and divide the country into five capitals: east, west, south, north and central, as the military and political core of each region."

Shi Ju was not surprised to hear this, after all, this was a military and political tradition of various countries. Even a small country like the Western Xia had caused trouble by having two capitals, one in the east and one in the west. How much more so for a country as large as China.

Moreover, military and political cores do not simply disappear without being established; they will spontaneously form in various places. Just like Seogyeong and Gaegyeong in Goryeo, where mountains and rivers divide the land, but people and culture share the same origin, it will naturally cause people and wealth to gather in a certain place.

"I just don't know how the eldest son intends to establish the five capitals."

"What do you think of Chang'an as the western capital, Jinan as the eastern capital, Yanjing as the northern capital, Lin'an as the southern capital, and Bianliang as the central capital?"

Shi Ju thought for a moment, but had nothing to say. He just smiled and said, "In any case, we still need to unify the world before we can discuss these things."

Liu Huai nodded in agreement: "Yes, there is still a tough battle to fight in the south."

Shi Ju was slightly taken aback: "Is the State of Song really going to war?"

"Of course, but I don't know how many troops will come, or from where they will advance. I have already entrusted all military and political affairs to Xin Wulang." Liu Huai adjusted the golden crown on his head: "And I have also urged Mr. Liang to prepare for the coronation ceremony as soon as possible, keeping everything simple. After that, I will immediately head south."

(End of this chapter)