As a result, the local tribes continued to weaken. By the middle and late period of the Liao Dynasty, a large number of local tribes were dissatisfied with being exploited by the Liao Dynasty and rose up in rebellion, causing the collapse of the Liao Dynasty.
So in essence, the Four Seasons Nabo was the Liao Kingdom's way of weakening the political management of the Jurchens, Mongols, Bohais, Shiweis, Xis, Zubos and other non-Khitan tribes. At the same time, it could also drive certain military developments, which was of great benefit to the Khitan people.
But now, with the defeat of the Liao Kingdom, the domestic political situation is very unstable. If we continue to suppress the various tribes in the country, it is very likely to cause a backlash, and we may even join forces with the Song Kingdom to counterattack the Liao Kingdom.
Therefore, Yelu Zongzhen had to follow Zhang Jian's advice and change his previous policy of demanding and exploiting the tribes to allow them to recuperate, reduce their taxes, and appease their livelihood.
However, this does not mean that the Liao Kingdom will allow other tribes to grow stronger. Yelu Zongzhen now resides in Zhongjing. In addition to focusing on the Song Kingdom, more importantly, Zhongjing is closer to Liaoyang Tokyo Prefecture, which makes it easier to control tribes such as Bohai and Jurchen in the northeast.
At this time, the Liao emperor Yelu Zongzhen was on the parade ground.
In the distance, all kinds of chaotic noises were erupting on the parade ground, including the explosion of grenades and the roar of cannons. Mud and dust were flying everywhere, and the whole parade ground was filled with roaring sounds.
Yelu Zongzhen looked far to the north and was not particularly pleased to see this. Instead, he said with a heavy face to Xiao Hui, the Prime Minister of the Northern Court, the Co-Director of the Marshal's Office, and the Northern Privy Councilor, "The Liao people have been researching and developing firearms for years, but they are still not as powerful as those of the Song people."
Xiao Hui replied, "The Song people kept their firearm formulas extremely secret and strictly guarded. Our insiders, despite risking their lives, only managed to uncover the secret recipe: saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. However, after years of mixing these ingredients, this is already the best batch."
"well."
Yelu Zongzhen sighed and said, "I wonder when I will be able to possess firearms like those of the Song Dynasty."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The insider will continue to gather information."
Xiao Hui laughed and said, "Besides, even if they developed new firearms, the Song generals would sell them to us. We have already copied these grenades and cannons, haven't we?"
"hehe."
Speaking of this, Yelu Zongzhen laughed.
In fact, what he didn't know was that after the exploration of Liao Dynasty firearms craftsmen, their gunpowder had almost reached the proportion of pure black gunpowder provided by Zhao Jun.
If Zhao Jun's black powder power is 10, then theirs can reach 8-9 points.
However, the finishing touch lies in the egg. The egg turns the black gunpowder into granules, which increases its power exponentially. This is why the Liao Dynasty's firearms are much inferior to those of the Song Dynasty in terms of visual appearance.
The reason they didn't understand this was that a lot of granular black gunpowder was stockpiled in the early days, and it was no longer produced after the Song-Xia and Song-Liao wars.
After the two wars, granular black powder was basically consumed.
With the arrival of peace, the imperial court stopped purchasing eggs.
It's not that the horses were released into the mountains and the weapons were stored in the warehouse.
But we really can't afford it.
The price of eggs in Bianliang skyrocketed during that period, even more crazy than the price of rice.
If we continue to build more, there will be no eggs in Bianliang.
Therefore, the Song Dynasty court had to stop the production of granular black gunpowder and switch to ordinary gunpowder. The same was true for daily firearms manufacturing.
This resulted in several years of infiltration by Liao spies, but in the end they only obtained the ingredients for ordinary black powder.
"I heard that the southerners are conducting an investigation into the army?"
Yelu Zongzhen asked.
"It seems to be the case."
Xiao Hui replied, "I heard from an insider that the Song people sent many envoys to the military camp to check the military records."
"The Song people have been making great moves in recent years, and their national strength is growing stronger and stronger. This makes me worried."
Yelu Zongzhen sighed.
The changes in the Song Dynasty were visible to the naked eye. The most obvious was the increasing number of cannons in border cities.
According to the information from their insider who sneaked into Fanyang City, there were more than 20 cannons deployed on the city wall alone, and countless other firearms, which was worrying.
"Your Majesty, even though our artillery is not as powerful as theirs, our defense is more than enough, so there is no need to worry."
Xiao Hui said, "The most important thing now is the musket. The Song people have mobilized so many troops for daily training, I'm afraid the power of the musket will not be small."
"Hmm"
Yelu Zongzhen pondered and said, "Spread the word and ask the generals in the Song army to get some muskets. I will buy them at a high price."
"yes."
Xiao Hui agreed.
After the Song Dynasty successfully developed the musket, it took more than half a year just to test it.
Afterwards, he mobilized 50,000 elite soldiers to form a firearms army, and trained them every day at a shooting range in the suburbs. Naturally, such a big movement was known to the Liao spies.
However, the firearms army has always been a secret of the Song Dynasty. The court gathered the families of these soldiers together to form an independent internal kingdom. Even the shooting range was designated as a military restricted area and no one was allowed to approach.
Therefore, although Liao spies could often hear the sound of gunfire on the periphery, they had no idea what the specific muskets were and there was no way to find out, no matter how much money they spent.
This made Yelu Zongzhen quite regretful.
Fortunately, the Song army was very weak and dared to resell anything. Yelu Zongzhen believed that it would not be long before the Song army would also sell the muskets to him.
However, at this moment, Liu Liufu, who had been promoted to the third envoy, came to them with a serious expression.
"His Majesty!"
Liu Liufu said with a bow.
"What's wrong?"
Yelu Zongzhen asked.
"Something serious has happened with the Song people. The Grand Master hopes Your Majesty can go back and discuss it."
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