txolops Chapter 55 Fate?
Chapter 55 Fate?
Inside Guo Liqing's temporary residence in the capital of Western Xia.
Guo Liqing stared intently at the sand table.
Now, he has captured the three towns of Xiazhou, Yinzhou and Suizhou in the eastern part of Western Xia, and has also captured the two towns of Yanzhou and Weizhou in the southeast.
From then on, the eastern part of Western Xia was under Guo Liqing's control.
If we want to attack the Jin Dynasty in the future, we can cross the Yellow River to the east and enter Shanxi, or go down to Guanzhong to the south.
Guo Liqing only realized this after looking at the map. The Guanzhong region was now under the control of the Jin dynasty.
The Western Xia and the Southern Song dynasties did not share a border.
Thinking of this, Guo Liqing couldn't help but sigh.
"Marshal, Li Yanzhao and Li Yanshu, brother and sister, request an audience."
"Let them in!"
A man and a woman walked in through the door.
The man was tall and handsome with regular features. The woman, on the other hand, was exceptionally beautiful.
Both siblings are very good-looking.
Guo Liqing had met their father, the King of Linhe. Although the King of Linhe was more upright than the average Tangut, he was not considered handsome.
Therefore, Guo Liqing guessed that their mother must have been an extremely beautiful woman, otherwise the brother and sister could not have such appearances.
"Greetings, Marshal!"
Li Yanshu bowed, while Li Yanzhao knelt down directly.
"Get up!" Guo Liqing said to Li Yanzhao, "You don't need to perform this kind of formal greeting in private from now on!"
Li Yanzhao stood up and said, "Yes!"
Guo Liqing was very satisfied with Li Yanzhao; his surrender brought him an army of 50,000.
It should be noted that the military commands in the eastern and southeastern parts of Western Xia were established to defend against the Northern Song Dynasty, and at that time they numbered 120,000.
Later, the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty, and the Western Xia also reduced its personnel, with the total number of people reduced to 100,000.
After several major battles, the troops of the five garrisons had suffered losses. Under such circumstances, it was already quite good that they were able to retain half of their strength.
"Li Yanzhao, do you hate me?"
"No... I wouldn't dare!" Li Yanzhao quickly bowed.
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 10 ...
"You don't dare? You mean you still hate them deep down, but you don't dare?"
"No...no!"
Li Yanshu, standing nearby, quickly said, "Marshal, my brother isn't good at expressing himself! Since we've decided to serve you, Marshal, we will swear to be loyal to you to the death!"
Guo Liqing raised his hand and said, "No need to explain, I understand. Since you work under me, there are some things I still need to make clear."
National enmity and personal vendetta have always been difficult to resolve. However, since I have protected your family, your wealth and land have been returned to you. Your status and position have not been diminished. Therefore, there is naturally no such thing as "family hatred."
As for the "national enemy," that depends on whether you value the Western Xia royal family or the people of Western Xia more!
At this point, a surge of anger rose in Li Yanzhao's heart. He said, "The people of our Great Xia are displaced, and the soldiers guarding the borders are starving. The higher-ups always say that there are Mongols to the north and Jurchens to the east. We have persevered in such an environment year after year in order to protect our homes and country."
But I never imagined that such a barren place as the Great Xia would yield such immense wealth from a single temple. And this was just one temple! The wealth of the princes and nobles of Zhongxing Prefecture must be countless!
Could it be that this was ruined by just a few corrupt officials?
Does the emperor in the Great Xia palace really know nothing?
With such a great Xia Dynasty and such a royal family, what else is there to care about!
"My willingness to follow the Marshal today stems from my hope that he can bring peace and happiness to the people of Great Xia!"
Guo Liqing looked at Li Yanshu and laughed, "Isn't she quite the talker?"
Li Yanzhao said, "Everything I said came from the bottom of my heart; it wasn't flattery!"
"Alright! Then I'll assign you a task!" Guo Liqing said, "I plan to redistribute the confiscated land and wealth to the people of Western Xia. You'll help me with this!"
Li Yanzhao suddenly looked up, even doubting whether he had heard correctly.
"What? You don't want to?"
Li Yanzhao quickly replied, "I'm willing!"
"We'll exempt people from taxes for three years so they can have enough to eat! I can't guarantee how long this policy will last, but I can guarantee that as long as I'm here, this policy will continue."
"Thank you, Marshal!"
"Go! Tell Yelü Chucai that this was my instruction."
"yes!"
Before Li Yanzhao stepped back, he glanced at Li Yanshu.
"She stayed; I have other things to tell her."
"yes!"
After Li Yanzhao left, Guo Liqing summoned Li Yanshu to his side and said with a smile, "You two siblings seem to be quite dissatisfied with the Western Xia royal family!"
"To be honest, Marshal, I am indeed dissatisfied. I had long sensed that the Western Xia royal family's fate was sealed, but I never expected this day to come so quickly and so suddenly!"
"Hmph! Their fate is sealed?" Guo Liqing sneered, "Throughout history, when dynasties rise and fall, all they say is 'their fate is sealed,' but no one has ever explicitly stated what this 'fate' actually is."
Li Yanshu asked doubtfully, "Isn't it destiny?"
Guo Liqing shook his head and said, "No!"
"What is that?"
"Land annexation!" Guo Liqing said, "Although your Western Xia is barren, you still have a lot of arable land. Why are your people displaced and starving? It's because your nobles, officials, and landlords have used their privileges and various means to concentrate the people's land into their own hands."
The people lost their land and either became tenant farmers or displaced people.
Over time, the upper class becomes increasingly wealthy, while the lower class suffers from poverty and hardship.
This is not an increase in overall wealth, but rather a transfer of wealth from the majority to a minority.
If only a small percentage of the population in a country are wealthy, the country will not be able to collect taxes.
This is why your Western Xia state is weak, your people are weak, and your army is weak!
These past few days, I've had you participate in the inventory of confiscated assets. Have you noticed that the wealth held by your royal family, nobles, and officials accounts for almost 90% of the total wealth of Western Xia?
Therefore, after I captured Wulahai City, I ordered the Mongol army not to plunder the people.
How much can you rob from ordinary people?
After I use the wealth I plundered from your royal family, nobles, and officials to reward the Mongol army, I will also share some with your people!
Just imagine what that means!
Li Yanshu's eyes widened; this was indeed an outcome she had never expected.
Guo Liqing sighed inwardly, thankfully this was ancient times, and these Western Xia princes and nobles couldn't transfer their wealth abroad, otherwise even if they were confiscated, they wouldn't be able to obtain this wealth.
Guo Liqing looked at Li Yanshu. The reason why this group of Tangut nobles took the initiative to serve was, to some extent, because they were at the bottom of the aristocracy.
They fought desperately, but all they managed to save was a tiny bit of property.
Their combined wealth and land holdings amounted to only one-tenth of the total wealth of the nobility.
Returning everything to them wouldn't have a significant impact on the overall situation.
So why risk your life?
In fact, from the perspective of the dynastic cycle, if the Western Xia were allowed to develop on its own, the people who would eventually overthrow the Western Xia royal family would likely be these same low-ranking nobles.
The cycle of dynasties is nothing more than the new regime redistributing land and reducing taxes to allow agriculture to revive.
And these are the same things that Guo Liqing did.
It was precisely for this reason that these Tangut nobles were more willing to follow Guo Liqing.
Li Yanshu bowed to Guo Liqing and said, "Marshal's insight is extraordinary; it has broadened my horizons greatly!"
Guo Liqing nodded slightly.
Just as he was about to have a deeper discussion with Li Yanshu about other issues, a voice came from outside the door.
Guo Jing'an replied, "Look what I brought you!"