Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The taxes levied on the various tribes under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate General were not heavy.

If you receive a conscription order, you must send troops to help the Protectorate General fight.

Moreover, the leaders of each tribe must pay a regular visit to the Protector-General every year, and if they are injured or ill, they must send their sons to do so.

Every five years, they had to go to the capital to pay homage to the emperor and bring local specialties as tribute.

Zhao Yuan also planned to establish the Southern Mongolia Protectorate, with its administrative center located in the same area as the Liao Dynasty's Southwest Route Pacification Commission (east of Hohhot city).

This institution is very important; it can deter those in the northern deserts and also be used to attack the Western Xia.

……

"Greetings, Angel Ma! Greetings, Generals!"

The peace envoys from the Jin Kingdom arrived, trudging through the snow.

The chief envoy was Wanyan Zonggu, the second son of Wu Qimai, and the deputy envoy was Li Shi, a civil official of the Bohai ethnic group.

Wanyan Zonggu has never been on the battlefield since Wuqimai was sidelined.

The powerful ministers wouldn't allow the brothers to lead troops.

During his youth, he was accustomed to hearing stories of the Jin army's invincibility.

As an adult, all I heard was how brutal the Ming army was.

This was even the first time he had left Beijing.

He was neither familiar with politics nor military affairs, and his vision and abilities were very mediocre.

Upon seeing the Ming generals, Wanyan Zonggu was quite frightened.

They let Li Shi speak first, afraid that they might offend someone if they did something wrong.

Ma Kuo, seated in the main position, smiled and said, "Mr. Li, please speak freely. I have received His Majesty's decree and can negotiate with the Jin Kingdom with full authority."

Li Shi said, "Our lord is willing to submit to the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty and follow the example of the Western Xia Dynasty in everything."

“The land west of Zhaosan City, south of Hanzhou, west of the Yazi River (Nenjiang River), and south of the Tongmen River (Tumen River), all these territories are willing to be offered to the Emperor of the Great Ming.”

Ma Kuo sneered: "Zhaosan City and Hanzhou have already been captured by our Ming soldiers. Are we going to return them all to the Jin Kingdom?"

“Then…then these two places will also be offered to the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty,” Li Shi said hastily.

Ma Kuo said, "The Huanglong Prefecture of the Liao Kingdom is now called Longzhou by you."

"They're also in the hands of Ming soldiers, are they going to be returned to the Jin Dynasty too?"

Li Shi really dared not make any more concessions, because he couldn't explain it to Wu Qimai.

Once the Ming army occupies Huanglongfu, they can march on the Jin capital, Shangjing, at any time.

Li Shi said, "Whether Longzhou should be ceded is not a decision I dare to make."

Ma Kuo looked at Wanyan Zonggu: "And you? You are the second prince of the Jin Kingdom, can't you make decisions too?"

Wanyan Zonggu did not answer directly, but said, "I have a younger sister whom I wish to offer to the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty."

"I will serve as your slave or maid, and obey the will of the Emperor of the Great Ming."

"The younger sister has been brought; the angel may take a look at her first."

Ma Kuo had no right to refuse on behalf of the emperor in such a matter.

Wu Qimai's youngest daughter was soon brought to him; she was thirteen or fourteen years old and was born to a concubine of the Bohai people.

Perhaps it's because of her mother's good genes; she's quite pretty.

She was only pretty, not really a beauty.

Ma Kuo angrily said, "With such beauty, how could she enter the harem of the Ming Emperor? Who is Wu Qimai making fun of!"

Wanyan Zonggu quickly explained, "Among my sisters, my youngest sister is the most beautiful."

"And...and the most beautiful woman in the capital was also brought along this time."

"In addition, they also brought many pearls (Eastern pearls) and mink fur."

Various gifts were brought up, including a pearl from the East that was as big as a pigeon's egg.

Ma Kuo and the other generals, however, stared intently at the "most beautiful woman in the capital."

Suddenly, Ma Kuo came to his senses and quickly said, "Don't stare like that."

"Such a beauty is only worthy of the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty. Quickly, put a veil on her."

Wanyan Zonggu was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately introduced her, saying, "This woman's original name was Yelü Ci'aoye, and she was the youngest daughter of Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Dynasty."

Nine years ago, she was captured along with the Liao royal family.

“She was only four years old at the time and lived with her older sister in the Wulubu family.”

"After Wolubu died, her sister was adopted by Eluguan, and she went with her."

Chapter 3477 Sending a Woman to a Marriage Alliance

"This girl is getting more and more beautiful, and she is no less beautiful than her older sister Yu Liyan."

"Many nobles in the capital sought her hand in marriage, but she was too young to marry."

"Such a beauty can only be obtained by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

"My father has adopted her as his goddaughter, bestowed upon her the title of Princess of Yi, and renamed her Wanyan Mile."

"If the two countries could form a marriage alliance, with the Jin princess serving the Ming emperor, it would be a wonderful story."

After the beautiful woman's face was covered with a veil, Ma Kuo stopped talking about the matter and asked, "Those generals of the Jin Kingdom have hands stained with the blood of Han people."

"As the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty, how can Your Majesty not seek justice for your subjects?"

"Wuzhu was once part of the army that fought all the way to the walls of Bianliang."

"From Hebei to Henan, how many civilians were killed by his troops?"

"If Wuzhu is not dead, peace talks are off."

Wanyan Zonggu and Li Shi exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded slightly.

Jin Wuzhu was also one of Wuqimai's political enemies, and he played a part in usurping the emperor's power. Moreover, he had some prestige in the army.

Even if the Ming Dynasty did not propose to execute Jin Wuzhu, Wuqimai would find an opportunity to do so sooner or later.

Wanyan Zonggu said, "Wuzhu's head will be delivered soon."

Ma Kuo laughed and said, "Then let's talk after we kill Wuzhu."

It's still snowing in Beijing.

The city walls here were built after the fall of the Liao dynasty and before the attack on the Song dynasty.

The city is composed of two interconnected cities in an "L" shape, with the northern city being a vertical rectangle and the southern city being a horizontal rectangle—the total perimeter is eleven kilometers.

The Imperial City is located in the upper left corner of the southern city. It was built in imitation of the Imperial City of Bianliang and has five palaces.

At that time, in order to carry out large-scale construction, many craftsmen and common people were forcibly relocated, half of whom came from inside and outside Yanjing City.

The Jurchens did not exploit the Liao nobles and wealthy families to the point of ruthlessness, but instead relocated them here to open shops and do business.

Many prominent families from Bohai also separated from their families to build houses and settle down here, integrating into the social system of the Jin Dynasty's capital, Shangjing.

Actually, setting up the Andong Protectorate here wasn't as troublesome as Zhao Yuan had imagined.

Because in the capital city of the Jin Dynasty, Han Chinese and Khitan were the mainstream languages, while Jurchen was merely the official language of rule.

Even the Jurchen nobles who had lived in Shangjing for a long time spoke fluent Chinese.

Furthermore, due to the large number of educated Han Chinese, Khitans, and Bohai people residing in the city, Confucianism has also developed rapidly in recent years.

The younger generations of the Jurchen nobles all studied Confucian classics, and many of them were skilled in poetry and painting.

On the contrary, very few people understand the Jurchen script!

Within the imperial city, the great dynasty was meeting.

Wu Qimai said, "Starting next year, the Bojilie system will be abolished. Why is the fortunes of my Great Jin Dynasty declining day by day?"

"Why did the Liao and Song dynasties perish one after the other? It was because of their flawed systems."

"We should emulate the Ming Dynasty's system and establish a Grand Secretariat, the Court of State Affairs, the Privy Council, the Censorate, and the Six Ministries."

"The reason why the Ming Dynasty was so powerful was because of the cabinet system."

"As long as we learn from the Ming Dynasty and adopt the cabinet system, we can gradually restore our national strength!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

A group of Han and Bohai civil officials immediately shouted in unison.

These guys wanted to continue hedging their bets, with one group of their clansmen serving as officials in the Jin Dynasty and the other group serving as officials in the Ming Dynasty.

If the Jin dynasty had adopted the cabinet system, it's hard to say whether it could have restored its national strength, but these civil officials would certainly have held more real power.

Wu Qimai was trying to win over civil officials and gain their support!

At the same time, reforms can be used to consolidate power and put the finances and military in the emperor's hands.

Of course, if the Ming Dynasty was determined to destroy the Jin Dynasty, civil officials of all ethnic groups would not hesitate to side with the Ming Dynasty.

Jin Wuzhu couldn't help but say, "Reforming the court system is a matter for the future. The Ming army is only two hundred miles away, and they haven't attacked because of the blizzard."

"Now we should discuss how to preserve the dynasty. If we can't even preserve the Great Jin dynasty, what's the point of talking about reforming the system?"

Wu Qimai said, "Even including the palace guards, there are only three or four thousand remnants left in the capital, and they are also short of military food supplies."

"It is impossible to defeat the Ming army; the only way forward is to negotiate peace."

Wanyan Zongxian asked, "How are the peace talks going?"

Wu Qimai said, "It went very smoothly. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is willing to marry the Princess of Yi Kingdom, and the marriage alliance between the two countries will surely last a long time."

“Your Majesty, we must be wary of a trap,” Wanyan Zongqiang warned. “The southern bandits are always cunning. Perhaps they are deliberately delaying the peace talks because the heavy snow has blocked the roads, and will suddenly attack us in the spring.”

"I know what I'm doing,"

Wu Qimai changed the subject,

"Today's court assembly will discuss another important matter."

"That is, the rebellion case involving Woben (Wanyan Zonggan) and Nianhan (Wanyan Zonghan)!"

The Jurchen nobles all turned pale.

Poluhuo advised, "Your Majesty, the treason case has already been investigated and cleared up."

"Now that foreign enemies are eyeing us, we cannot afford to get involved any further."

Wu Qimai said angrily, "It is a certainty that the two of them are plotting a rebellion."

"They actually dared to falsely accuse the emperor of stealing from the national treasury and even dragged him out to be flogged."

"Disrespect for superiors is a crime punishable by death!"

"Right here in this hall, there are still remnants of their gang!"

Chapter 3478 Poisoning His Majesty

The Jurchen nobles were even more frightened, turning their heads back and forth to observe.

Wu Qimai pointed at Li Shi: "You tell me."

Li Shi stepped forward, holding his official tablet: "When I left the court session, I saw Wuzhu and Wuben whispering to each other."

"They assumed I didn't understand the Jurchen language and therefore had no defenses."

"When I approached, the two were still loudly plotting."

"What are they plotting?" Wu Qimai asked.

Li Shi said, "They are plotting to poison His Majesty and let the eldest grandson of Emperor Taizu succeed to the throne."

"Nonsense!"

Jin Wuzhu was furious on the spot: "I am only close to Erliduo (Zongfu), and I am neither a member of the Woben (Zonggan) faction nor the Nianhan (Zonghan) faction."