Chapter 148 Public Sentiment, an Unsolvable Scheme of Open Intrigue. ...
Yelü Chongyuan's various doubts after seeing the real Prince of the Great Song Dynasty will be discussed later. The more important question facing him now is how this Prince of the Great Song Dynasty managed to make the people of Yunzhou willingly sculpt statues of him and bow down to worship him in such a short time.
Having secured his position as the Crown Prince in the court, he was no fool. He could see that the Song Dynasty's Yunzhou officials bringing their Liao Dynasty delegation here was both a silent boast and a subtle demonstration.
So the question is, is this demonstration genuine or just a case of someone using someone else's power to intimidate others?
He quickly composed himself, and like any other tourist passing by, joined the crowd with a curious smile: "May I ask you all, is the 'Little Nobleman' you're talking about the figure in this statue? Why are you worshipping him?"
The crowd, who had been chatting and joking moments before, were startled. They all turned to look at Yelü Chongyuan: "You're not from Yunzhou, are you? From the Liao Kingdom?"
Yelü Chongyuan's heart skipped a beat.
You were clearly part of the Liao Kingdom just six months ago.
His smile remained unchanged: "Yes."
“My friend just arrived from Zhuozhou and doesn’t know what’s happened yet. You should give him a proper introduction!” Su Shi immediately saw through Yelü Chongyuan’s plan and stepped forward, saying with a smile.
He was still the size of a young man, with a kind face, much more approachable than the rugged-looking Yelü Chongyuan. The crowd instantly dispelled their doubts and enthusiastically began to recount Fusu's achievements and the origins of the ancestral hall.
Yelü Chongyuan was forced to listen to a full quarter of an hour of effusive flattery from the crown prince of a rival state, leaving him utterly bewildered. Stories of cleverly seizing honeycomb briquettes and bravely fighting the Zhang family abounded. Some sounded like ancient tales, while others were practically legendary, hardly believable.
Putting everything else aside, how could there be fuel in the world that burns better than firewood? This pearl has been covered in dust for so long, yet it was discovered by the discerning eyes of this Crown Prince Song, who even managed to turn it into gold?
Yelü Chongyuan chuckled inwardly, then suddenly realized something was amiss. Wait a minute, didn't they discuss charcoal burning in the government office earlier? Su Shi mentioned "mainly because we can afford it," could that be the reason?
His expression suddenly turned strange, and his gaze fixed on Su Shi. The latter seemed to guess what he was thinking and nodded: "It was Your Highness who discovered it."
"I can't tell you how I found out."
Following the words of the two men, the crowd discussed it for a while.
“Our entire village survived; not a single person froze to death. The animals are also doing well, all thanks to it.”
"You're even burning coal in the animal shed? You must be rich!"
"I wish I could! But if I set fire to the cowshed, they get so scared they almost kick people. I'm also afraid the smoke will kill them, so I just wipe them down and put them in the yard."
This was something Yelü Chongyuan couldn't understand. In his mind, it was normal for large numbers of people and livestock to freeze and starve to death during the winter snows in the Liao Kingdom. Where would they find so much firewood and charcoal to burn? Even their royal court couldn't withstand the winter and had to migrate south to escape the cold.
But they said...
When the brain freezes, it puts aside the agenda and processes the next instruction. Yelü Chongyuan opened his mouth, briefly shutting down before restarting: "Then what you said about him capturing the local powerful families and settling scores with them one by one..."
"What's wrong?"
"Have you seen them before?" Yelü Chongyuan asked.
What he really wanted to ask was, are you just parroting what others say? Could it be that someone just spread it out randomly, and then the Song state used some tricks to spread it like wildfire, and everyone believed it to be true?
The reason why Yelü Chongyuan would make such a connection is simply because... the Liao government had done something similar.
Su Shi understood Yelü Chongyuan's unspoken meaning once again, but instead of refuting him, he simply smiled silently with his arms crossed. Indeed, they had used quite a few propaganda tactics. He was the editor-in-chief of the Yunzhou provisional edition of the *Seeking Knowledge* newspaper. But…
"Who said we didn't see it?"
"What do you mean? My mother's case was tried by the young nobleman himself! We even witnessed the execution! The prisoner was beheaded with a swift and painless death!"
Yelü Chongyuan was immediately embarrassed. But he still wouldn't give up: "Then this ancestral hall..."
"It was built with money raised by people both inside and outside the city. It didn't cost the little nobleman a single penny! I donated too!"
"Me too, me too."
"Do you know Duan Yin'er? I heard she donated all her wealth to build a house in the next city that's even bigger than ours. I went to see it, it's really impressive."
"Is it the one whose name was personally cleared by His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"Yes, yes, yes! It was because of her that His Highness the Crown Prince decided to overturn wrongful convictions."
"..."
Yelü Chongyuan's face turned from white to ashen, and he was utterly speechless. Every word the passersby spoke reached his ears, pointing directly to the Song Dynasty's Crown Prince's intervention in the crisis, restoring order to Yunzhou and bringing peace to the land. Whose chaos was restored? Whose righteousness was overturned?
Isn't it their Great Liao Dynasty?
If it weren't for the fact that Yunzhou was governed so poorly by the Liao Dynasty, how could the Crown Prince of Song have won over the hearts of the people today?
Yelü Chongyuan felt both ashamed and angry, but Su Shi stood leisurely to the side, and he couldn't afford to be impolite. He clenched his fists, unsure of who to point them at. As fellow heirs to the state, he felt a subtle sense of defeat.
He could only maintain the bare minimum of politeness, saying "Excuse me" to Su Shi. On the way back to the city, he sat in the carriage, looking out the window, listlessly silent. The other members of the delegation were also like frost-bitten cabbages, heads bowed and silent.
Su Shi hummed a little tune to himself—it seemed he had achieved his goal. He had used the Crown Prince's prestige to severely demoralize the Liao delegation.
After today, will they still consider the territory conquered by the Song Dynasty as lost land, a place that the Liao Dynasty can reclaim at any time as long as it defeats the Song army? Will the local people really allow it?
And then there's Yelü Chongyuan, the Crown Prince of the Liao Dynasty. Will he still have the confidence to face Zhao Xiaolang in person later?
That said, it's precisely because Yelü Chongyuan still possessed some ambition and vision that he suffered such a setback today. If he were a muddle-headed person, unable to even discern the difference between himself and the Crown Prince of the Song Dynasty, how could he possibly make a comparison?
Fusu shared a similar idea.
—When he heard that the head of the Liao delegation was Yelü Chongyuan, the Crown Prince of Liao.
However, in the history that Fusu was familiar with, the next emperor was Emperor Tianzuo, Yelü Hongji. It seemed self-evident that this crown prince would ultimately miss out on the throne.
"'After this person ascends the throne, the Liao Kingdom may have a chance to rise again, and we should be on guard.'" Fusu shook his head after reading it: "Zizhan is overthinking it."
Because the next emperor of the Liao Dynasty was that infamous tyrant.
When it comes to the succession of thrones in other countries, the butterfly effect of Fusu is rarely felt. For example, in the case of Li Yuanhao of Western Xia and Ninglingge, the former still ignited the latter's hatred over the theft of his wife.
After the latter murdered his father, he and the Empress's faction raised a treacherous cult in Xingqing Prefecture for several months. The winner, as recorded in history, was the Empress and her brother's family. This family finally managed to kill Ning Lingge, but when they opened the city gates, they were dumbfounded.
Six or seven tenths of the Western Xia territory had already fallen into the hands of the Song Dynasty. Even they themselves were caught red-handed by the Song army lying in wait.
From the Empress to the Emperor's brother-in-law, and then to the infant new ruler of Western Xia, the entire family was sitting neatly in a carriage, escorted by Song soldiers, heading to Bianjing (Kaifeng) to receive their titles. The Emperor had already prepared the title of "Duke of Xia," and from then on, they would receive the same treatment as the Chai family of the previous dynasty.
Of course, this awarding ceremony had to be conducted in front of the Liao delegation.
Fusu raised his hand to make the suggestion.
Peace talks, of course, require flexing one's muscles. Unfortunately, the Western Xia ruler and his clan became cannon fodder.
"But with the Crown Prince of Liao in attendance, this level of ceremony is not considered beneath them."
The official revealed a mischievous smile: "Su'er, you've made up your mind to make Yelü Chongyuan feel like he's sitting on pins and needles."
Just imagine the psychological pressure the Liao people must have felt. They couldn't control the Western Xia, a kingdom they couldn't conquer despite prolonged sieges, and its royal family had become prisoners of the Song Dynasty.
Not to mention that they themselves had just suffered a defeat at the hands of Song.
"Otherwise, how can we get the remaining seven provinces?" Fusu muttered softly. "But Zizhan is overthinking it. There's really no need to be wary of this person, because he will... what?"
After reading the second half of the letter, his dark eyes widened like saucers. He crumpled the letter in half: "He showed Yelü Chongyuan my statue?!"
The Emperor: "Huh?"
He immediately stuck his head out: "Let me see?"
Fusu stared blankly, instinctively stuffing the crumpled letter into Renzong's hand. A moment later, he realized something was wrong and reached out to snatch it away.
But the official had already raised it high, quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and let out a short laugh.
After being glared at by his son, he straightened his expression and said, "Didn't Zizhan do a good job? He demonstrated the will of the people and gave the Liao delegation a heads-up, preventing them from making any rash moves."
Fu Su said quietly, "Are you sure he's not making fun of me?"
The official looked up at the sky. Su Shi had been too straightforward, so he couldn't very well lie through his teeth.
"Uh, maybe both sides have it?"
"And Su'er, look, Zizhan wrote it later, and the deterrent effect was quite good, wasn't it? The next day when they parted, Yelü Chongyuan had huge dark circles under his eyes, so he probably didn't sleep all night?"
The official smiled and said, "I suppose you're pondering how to resolve the situation in Yunzhou, but haven't found the right approach?"
Winning the hearts and minds of the people is the greatest strategic advantage.
Fusu wrinkled his nose and pouted, saying, "Now that we've taken this step with Su Shi, we can adjust our direction and give the Liao delegation something different."
Of course, it would be best to cover up the strange impression they might have after seeing those statues!
The Emperor: "What?"
Fusu beckoned the latter closer with his finger. The latter's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.
"This is truly..." The emperor paused subtly, swallowing the unpleasant adjective: "It's like cutting off the fuel supply at the root of the problem."
Fusu: "What you really meant was to kill someone by destroying their spirit, right?"
"Ha ha……"
——
Years later, Yelü Chongyuan would always recall that morning when he led the Liao delegation into Bianjing. Even on a certain page of history, his own words were quoted to describe the grand occasion of that day.
But he would never know that the starting point of everything was the Crown Prince of the Great Song Dynasty, whom he had talked about his whole life, trying to wash away the strange impression brought about by his statue.
-----------------------
Author's note: I twisted my back again yesterday, which makes sitting in a chair very painful. I've been having a lot of bad luck lately, constantly getting minor illnesses [angry].
But this story has finally reached 600,000 words! There's also a red envelope giveaway in this chapter! 20 of them!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
