Ch.18Kurultai (2)

“I have come to deliver a letter from His Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Song! Therefore, the Khan of Khamag Mongol should show proper respect!”

The Song Dynasty envoy appeared stiff and formal.

Yesugei’s expression was far from pleased as he looked at him.

“The Song Emperor writes to me?”

“How disrespectful! In front of an envoy carrying His Majesty’s letter…”

As the Song envoy tried to raise his voice, Yesugei looked at him and retorted.

“You come barging in here and behave rudely.”

Then he signaled to Munglig with his hand.

Munglig approached the Song envoy.

The envoy, completely bewildered by Munglig’s approach, suddenly found his body folded in half by Munglig’s unexpected punch.

“Ugh…”

“Judging by your fluency in Mongolian, you’re clearly originally from the steppe, so why do you wear Han clothes and look down on us like they do?”

“I… I’m not… Mongolian… but an en… envoy of the Great Song…”

“Fine. If you say you’re from Song, I’ll treat you accordingly. I should capture you and send you to the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Kagan would pay a handsome ransom for you.”

The envoy was startled with fear.

This was understandable since he had come carrying a letter proposing a joint attack against Jin. If he were to be taken to Jin, the consequences were all too obvious.

Outwardly, Song had signed a peace treaty with Jin and reestablished their tributary relationship.

Thanks to Emperor Xiaozong’s efforts, they had managed to improve relations from a king-subject relationship to an uncle-nephew relationship after the Jingkang Incident.

If an envoy carrying a letter proposing a joint attack against Jin were to be handed over, the two countries would inevitably head toward catastrophe.

In short, this was something that absolutely could not happen from the envoy’s perspective.

If he were handed over to Jin and war broke out again between Song and Jin, it was clear that not only his family but his entire clan would be exterminated, just like the notorious minister Jin Hui.

The envoy regained his composure.

He prostrated himself and, unlike before, began appeasing Yesugei with a submissive tone.

“P-please calm down, K-Khan. I… I was wrong.”

“Wrong, you say? What exactly did you do wrong? Isn’t it natural for Central Plains countries to look down on the Mongols?”

“I’m… I’m sorry. Please refrain from sending me to Jin. I beg you.”

The envoy’s desperate plea.

After a moment’s consideration, Yesugei nodded.

“Very well. For the sake of the Song Emperor, I’ll overlook it this once. But if you show arrogance before me again as you did earlier, your body will be headed to Jin.”

“I… I’ll keep that in mind.”

Having verbally subdued the Song envoy, Yesugei adjusted his posture and questioned the envoy.

“Now, for what reason has the Song Emperor sent me a letter?”

“F-first, this…”

Following steppe etiquette, the envoy crawled on his knees toward Yesugei.

Then, with his head bowed low, he handed over the letter.

Yesugei took the letter from the envoy and slowly read through it.

“Hmm…”

The envoy flinched each time Yesugei’s eyes moved quickly across the page.

This was understandable, as Yesugei’s expression grew increasingly displeased as he approached the end of the letter.

“Um…”

“It would be best not to move until Gurkhan speaks, traitor.”

Munglig’s warning.

He drew his sword and held it to the envoy’s neck.

“…”

After some time had passed and he seemed to have finished reading, Yesugei folded the letter.

He placed it on the table and looked down at the envoy.

“Does the Song Emperor wish for Khamag Mongol to enter his court?”

Entering the court.

Though a simple phrase meaning a foreigner participating in court meetings, its implications were far from simple.

This was because “entering the court” meant becoming a subject of Song.

In other words, Song, as the Emperor of the Central Plains, intended to make the nomadic Khamag Mongol its vassal.

“Y-yes, Khan. This would be a great opportunity for Khamag Mongol.”

“A great opportunity, you say…”

“As you know, Song is the legitimate ruler of the Central Plains and…”

“Didn’t they lose the northern regions to Jin?”

“That is merely temporary.”

“Emperor Renzong of Jin has tens of thousands of brave Iron Pagodas under his command. It sounds as if you’re saying Song can defeat them all.”

The Iron Pagodas, Jin’s heavy cavalry.

They were literally heavy cavalry, their entire bodies covered in iron armor.

These Iron Pagodas had made their name in the Battle of Chuhedian, following Jin’s founder Wanyan Aguda, which effectively led to the destruction of the Liao Dynasty.

According to records, 3,700 Iron Pagodas defeated a Liao army of 100,000.

Additionally, there were records stating that 17 Iron Pagodas had routed 2,000 Song soldiers. Given this, it was only natural for Yesugei to express skepticism to the Song envoy.

The envoy couldn’t readily answer Yesugei’s question.

Gurkhan shrugged and continued.

“Fine. Since Song has asked us to enter their court, tell us what support they will provide.”

It was only natural to give gifts in return for pledged loyalty.

While this might seem strange by modern standards, this form of tributary diplomacy had been a time-honored diplomatic and trade practice since before the ancient Han Dynasty.

“Annual provisions of grain, silk, and salt…”

As the Song envoy continued his explanation, Yesugei, who had been listening thoughtfully, raised his hand and shook his head.

“Not enough.”

“This… this is more than what we send to Jin as tribute.”

Song sent annual tributes to Jin.

In fact, the number of items to be sent to Khamag Mongol was less than what was sent to Jin during Emperor Gaozong’s time.

However, by current standards, it was more than what was sent to Jin,

because after Emperor Xiaozong’s ascension, the original tribute had been reduced by half.

So the envoy’s statement wasn’t entirely incorrect.

“Indeed, it’s a substantial amount, but we can obtain this level of tribute from Jin as well.”

Yesugei’s statement.

It was close to a bluff, but an ordinary envoy wouldn’t know this.

Moreover, due to the overwhelming pressure emanating from Yesugei, it was difficult to argue.

The envoy eventually nodded and brought out the negotiation authority within his power.

“H-however, I don’t have the authority to offer more than this.”

“Then there will be no entering of the Song court by Khamag Mongol.”

Having failed to persuade Khamag Mongol.

If he returned like this, the envoy’s life would be as good as forfeit, so he brought up another proposal to convince Gurkhan.

“It’s impossible to increase the promised gifts from His Majesty. But if you need something else, I… I can speak to His Majesty on your behalf…”

Yesugei’s eyes immediately lit up.

As if he had been waiting for those words, he looked at the envoy and spoke.

* * *

Lin’an, the capital of Song.

A loud reprimand echoed through the Department of State Affairs, the central power of Song.

“How could this be acceptable!”

“But… but it’s the request of the Khamag Mongol Khan…”

The official stammered.

Left Chancellor Ye Ong read the letter again to confirm what he had seen.

“Reducing the promised gifts in exchange for siege engineers and gunpowder… what is this…”

Song was technologically advanced.

Among its core technologies, siege techniques and gunpowder were particularly notable.

This was because if these fell into enemy hands, they could cause immense damage to Song.

When the northern regions fell to Jin, many Song gunpowder technicians were absorbed by Jin. Based on this, Jin created gunpowder weapons that inflicted significant damage on Song.

Among these, the fire lance and the heaven-shaking thunder bomb were particularly notable.

The fire lance, which shot dozens of rocket arrows from a rectangular tube, and the heaven-shaking thunder bomb, a small iron ball that exploded on contact and devastated the surroundings, had already become major military assets of Jin.

Given this experience, Song had no choice but to treat gunpowder and siege technology as strategic resources and protect them actively.

Ye Ong couldn’t hide his anger at Khamag Mongol’s outrageous demand.

At that moment, a man with impressively groomed beard approached from behind to calm him down.

“Calm yourself, Left Chancellor.”

“Right Chancellor, you should see how excessive the Mongols’ demands are.”

Ye Ong handed the letter to Right Chancellor Wei Qi.

Wei Qi took it, read it slowly, and nodded with a composed expression.

“Indeed, it’s an excessive demand… but their request has its reasons.”

“Its reasons? Surely you don’t believe they need it to attack Western Xia?”

Khamag Mongol’s request for gunpowder and siege engineers.

They had a reason for requesting these national strategic assets.

That reason was that they needed them to attack Western Xia, which had good relations with Jin.

To be precise, Western Xia was an ally of Jin.

As fellow nomadic states and mutual enemies of Song, the two countries were both allies and very friendly.

In the past, when Song ruled the entire Central Plains, they could block Western Xia near the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River.

But now that land belonged to Jin, Western Xia could cross the Wei River at any time and ravage Sichuan.

For this reason, Southern Song had long wanted to subjugate Western Xia.

However, to do so, they would have to pass through Jin territory, and Jin wouldn’t just stand by and watch, making it difficult.

Khamag Mongol’s proposal seemed to understand this relationship between Song and Western Xia.

For this reason, the Right Chancellor found their proposal tempting.

“Wouldn’t it be beneficial for us if Khamag Mongol attacked Western Xia and prevented them from attacking Sichuan?”

“But as with Jin, if the Mongols acquire siege and gunpowder technology, they could cause great harm to Song.”

“Do you think the Mongols could defeat Jin with just siege technology and gunpowder?”

Ye Ong couldn’t readily answer.

This was because the Jin he had seen were nearly invincible.

The possibility of such a Jin being defeated by Mongols who merely fed their horses on the steppe was… almost non-existent.

“The Right Chancellor is correct. But we cannot completely rule out the possibility that they might sell the technology and gunpowder to Jin.”

Wei Qi nodded at Ye Ong’s reasonable response.

After a moment’s thought, he cautiously expressed his opinion.

“Then how about transferring Hui technology instead of Song technology?”

“By Hui technology, do you mean those massive trebuchets?”

“Yes. That crude technology would be sufficient to attack Western Xia but inadequate to harm us. Even if the Mongols sold the technology we provided to Jin, Jin, already possessing superior Central Plains technology, wouldn’t buy the inferior Hui technology.”

Wei Qi’s plausible proposal.

This was because Song people at the time looked down on Hui technology.

“That seems like a good idea. This should satisfy the Mongols.”

Ye Ong nodded at Wei Qi’s proposal.

The two had no idea what disastrous consequences this decision would bring to the future of Song.