Zhao Jun has made arrangements for the development direction of the Song Dynasty in the next ten years. Next, the policy of the Political System Council will officially move in this direction.
But for other countries, this New Year's day of the sixth year of the Qingli calendar is a nightmare they will never forget.
Almost all the envoys from various countries immediately congratulated Zhao Zhen with New Year's wishes, and then returned without stopping to report the news to their country.
Due to their different relationships with the Song Dynasty, the reactions of various countries are naturally different.
Japan did not send any envoys to celebrate this year on the grounds of remoteness, so they didn't even know about this. After all, the Japanese government actually hates the Song Dynasty and doesn't want to have in-depth interactions with it.
The reason is that the discovery of the Iwami silver mine and the Sado gold mine did make Japan quite rich. The annual production of silver and gold increased by dozens of tons, and Japan could spend as much as it wanted in the Song Dynasty.
However, the Song Dynasty had to purchase large amounts of raw materials such as copper and sulfur from Japan every year, and also export various commodities, taking away their gold and silver, and in return they received Song Dynasty copper coins, which seriously impacted Japan's own currency.
Now the copper coins of the Song Dynasty have become the hard currency in Japan, just like the US dollar in later generations. Ordinary people use the copper coins of the Song Dynasty for transactions.
If this continues, Japan's own currency will become invalid. Although they may not know what this means in feudal society, they will instinctively feel threatened and uncomfortable.
Therefore, the Japanese government has a certain intention to boycott the Song Dynasty.
In fact, such troubles occurred during the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Taira clan of the Heian era and later the Minamoto clan of the Kamakura shogunate were in power.
As exchanges between the Southern Song Dynasty and Japan became more frequent, Japan's domestic currency was almost wiped out by the Southern Song Dynasty currency. Only the Southern Song Dynasty currency remained on the Japanese market, forcing the rulers at the time to find ways to prevent the influx of Song Dynasty copper coins.
Now Japan doesn't even dare to stop it, because the Song Dynasty has troops stationed on Japan's Tsushima Island and Goryeo's Xingdao Island.
Given that Japan is not even unified now, each region has a high degree of autonomy, and the Japanese emperor has little real power, offending the Song Dynasty is obviously not a wise choice.
Therefore, the Japanese officials are now in a state of lying down and turning a blind eye to the rise of the Song Dynasty. They adopt the principles of ignoring, not contacting, not communicating, making excuses, turning a blind eye, and playing ostrich, and continue to cultivate their own piece of land.
On the contrary, the exchanges between the Japanese people and the Song Dynasty increased more than tenfold. In recent years, countless Japanese have come to the Song Dynasty to do business, and the number of Japanese in Bianliang and Hangzhou is also increasing rapidly.
Goryeo and Dali naturally had a different attitude.
Of course, Goryeo was very happy. They had to face the direct threat from the Liao Kingdom and even had to build a Great Wall on the border. The stronger the Song Dynasty was, the safer they would be.
Dali was happy but also a little worried. After all, Dali and the Song Dynasty had always had a good relationship, but Dali was too close to the Song Dynasty. Goryeo was still separated by the sea, while Dali was directly connected by land.
However, this worry was of no use in the face of the general trend. Dali had to continue paying tribute to the Song Dynasty to maintain the relationship between the two sides, and in the end it could only accept the facts helplessly.
In contrast, many envoys from Central Asian Arab countries who came to watch the ceremony were more direct. Many of them have begun to inquire with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to see whether the Song Dynasty is willing to sell steam locomotives.
As mentioned before, before oil became useful, Central Asia was extremely poor, and the Arabs had to engage in business to make a living.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, there was even an Arab merchant who became an official of the Song Dynasty. His name was Pu Luoxin. Meanwhile, the Pu family later had a man named Pu Shougeng, who was once the envoy to Fujian and Guangdong and the commander of the maritime fleet, and he was extremely powerful in the Guangdong and Fujian areas.
Therefore, many Arab merchants flocked to the Song Dynasty to do business, mainly in coastal areas such as Guangdong and Fujian, and there were also many in Bianliang. They had close relations with the current nominal Abbasid Dynasty.
But in reality, the Abbasid dynasty had fallen apart, and its ruling area was limited to Baghdad and its surrounding areas. The empire existed in name only.
Today, the land within the Abbasid Caliphate is divided among many kingdoms of varying sizes, including the Hamdanid Caliphate, the Samanid Caliphate, the Buyid Caliphate, the Ghaznavid Caliphate, the Seljuk Empire, and the Ayyubid Caliphate.
Therefore, these Arab envoys were basically spokesmen for these dynasties.
Since ancient times, Arab merchants have been very interested in the technology of the Central Plains dynasties. The Four Great Inventions were also spread to the Western world by Arab merchants, bringing considerable technological advancement to the West.
The Song Dynasty's firearms and steam equipment were becoming increasingly advanced, which naturally aroused their interest and they tried to purchase them.
If it had happened before, the secret might have been leaked.
But now, whether it is firearms or steam engines, they are the top secrets of the Song Dynasty. How can they be sold outside?
These requests were therefore rejected, much to the regret of the Arab envoys.
In addition, many countries in Southeast Asia and the Western Regions also sent envoys, who were shocked by the strength of the Song Dynasty. They returned to their countries to report, hoping that the local rulers would attach importance to their relationship with the Song Dynasty.
Basically, these countries also represent the international relations between them and the Song Dynasty.
Those who have a good relationship are excited, those who have an average relationship hope to take the relationship to the next level, and those who don’t have much friendship but only business dealings see only benefits.
Only Western Xia and Liao were full of worries.
In mid-January, the first person to receive the news was not Yelu Zongzhen, but Li Yuanhao.
The capital of Western Xia, Xingqing Prefecture, is the later Yinchuan City, about one thousand kilometers away from Bianliang and Kaifeng.
The Zhongjing Dading Prefecture where Yelu Zongzhen of the Liao Dynasty currently lived is in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia in later generations, which is also one thousand kilometers away from Bianliang.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
