The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 538 Champa Rice

Guan Xing continued, "Zhao Kuangyin made great strides forward amidst this contradiction of the left brain attacking the right brain. In the second year of his reign, he peacefully relieved the military generals of their power by 'releasing military power over a cup of wine,' allowing them to return to their hometowns to retire."

"Then, he continued to use the appeasement policy of Guo Wei and Chai Rong to allow the people to recuperate and prepare for the unification of the country, thus beginning the road to unification. However, Zhao Kuangyin's road to unification was much more difficult than Li Shimin's, because the Ten Kingdoms in Jiangnan had been established for decades, and some had even been passed down for several generations and had long formed an independent national consciousness."

"Just look at how difficult it is to conquer a country with an independent mindset. It took the Qin Dynasty more than a hundred years and six or seven generations to unify the country."

"More importantly, there are other dynasties... Take Li Shimin for example. When Li Shimin unified the country, his opponents were rebels like him who were under the rule of the Sui Dynasty. His generals were teammates who could be fully trusted. Zhao Kuangyin was different. He was facing a country that had been established for decades and had an independent consciousness. His generals were potential traitors who needed to be guarded against at all times. Just thinking about it is exhausting."

"But even under such harsh conditions, Zhao Kuangyin conquered one country every three years on average, successfully pacifying the south of the Yangtze River and ending the war. All he had to do next was to launch a northern expedition to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun that had been occupied by the Khitan, and he would be able to complete the unification."

"The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun refers to the large area within the Great Wall between Yanmen Pass and Yuguan Pass (Shanhaiguan). This area was given to the Khitan by Shi Jingtang, the emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty during the Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou dynasties, and it has never been recovered. Chai Rong fell ill on the way to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Now that Zhao Kuangyin has unified Jiangnan, he will naturally take action against the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun."

"Unfortunately, Zhao Kuangyin was exhausted from years of war and died before he could launch a northern expedition. Before his death, he passed the throne to his younger brother Zhao Kuangyi. The reason he passed it to his brother instead of his son was because the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was too chaotic and children could not hold the throne. It was only the mature and stable younger brother who succeeded his brother."

"There is also a theory that Zhao Kuangyi killed Zhao Kuangyin and usurped the throne, but there is no evidence, and historians have not reached a conclusion on this. We don't know the specifics, but in the end, Zhao Kuangyi succeeded to the throne."

"Zhao Kuangyi's abilities were far inferior to his brother's. After ascending the throne, he led an army on a northern expedition in an attempt to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. However, due to his strict control over his generals, the generals were unable to act freely, resulting in a major defeat. Even Zhao Kuangyi himself was almost captured and eventually escaped in a donkey cart. After this battle, the Song Dynasty completely gave up the idea of ​​recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, and it was never recovered during the entire Song Dynasty."

Liu Bei said anxiously, "How can this be? Without the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun and these Great Wall passes, how can we defend against the so-called Khitan? And where will we get warhorses without these places? And how can we deal with the nomadic tribes of the grasslands without warhorses?"

Guan Xing sighed, "The Song emperors were naturally aware of this, but what could they do when their strength was insufficient? If Zhao Kuangyin had lived ten more years, he could have definitely recovered the territory, but who could have done it when Zhao Kuangyin died and his successor was incompetent?"

"Zhao Kuangyi's son, Zhao Heng, was even worse than his father. Even after winning the war, he took the initiative to seek peace with the Khitan and pay tribute, agreeing to a brotherly state and non-aggression pact. It was like paying money to buy peace."

"Shameful..." Liu Bei slammed his fist on the table in anger, saying, "When has the Central Plains dynasty ever called itself brothers with the nomadic barbarians of the grasslands?"

"Besides, Jiangnan was already unified at that time, and most of the Central Plains was under our control. What was this Zhao Heng afraid of?"

If he had the territory and strength, he would have already crossed the Great Wall and erected his monument at Yanran Mountain to seal the wolf's lair. Yet the Song Dynasty bowed its head and begged for peace after winning the war. Could it have been any more shameful?

Guan Xing smiled bitterly: "There's nothing we can do. The Song Dynasty's primary task was to guard against military generals, and only then could it expand its territory. Under such circumstances, let alone the Khitan, we couldn't even defeat the Dangxiang Qiang people who later established the Western Xia in Longxi, because we dared not give military generals power and status. There was a famous general named Di Qing who defeated the Western Xia without any resistance, but just because he was a military general, he was forced to his death by civil officials."

"Throughout the Song Dynasty, military generals were shackled. Their status was at its lowest in history. Even border generals were hampered at every turn, forced to defend passively and unable to launch offensive campaigns. Occasionally, when they did launch an offensive, they were defeated due to infighting among themselves."

Liu Bei, with a toothache, said, "Although there are reasons for suppressing military generals, isn't this going too far? Besides, several generations have passed, shouldn't it be changed back? At the very least, we should loosen the restrictions and give military generals some room to unleash their potential?"

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. There was never a strong monarch in the Song Dynasty. The government was basically controlled by civil officials. And civil officials were bullied and killed by military generals at will during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. So in the Song Dynasty, they guarded against military generals like they were guarding against thieves, afraid that military generals would have any chance to rise up."

"To put it bluntly, it was because the emperors were incompetent. The emperors of the Song Dynasty were all incompetent, which led to doubts about the status of our ancestor Zhao Kuangyin as one of the greatest emperors in history."

Liu Bei said, "Compromise cannot bring peace, and seeking peace is a dead end. If the Song Dynasty continues to act this way, won't it be bullied to death by the Khitan?"

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "No, after fighting several times but failing to defeat the other side, the Song Dynasty and the Khitan really lived in peace. The main reason was that the Song Dynasty was too rich. The money given to the Khitan was more than the money the Khitan could plunder by sending troops. So the Khitan became too lazy to bother and just sat at home waiting for the Song Dynasty to send money."

Liu Bei exclaimed in astonishment, "Is that so? How rich was the Song Dynasty?"

Guan Xing said, "To put it this way, the total economic output of the Song Dynasty accounted for more than 60% of the world's total at that time. Every ordinary family had an iron pot and could cook three meals a day. The population of the capital city of Bianjing exceeded one million. Maritime trade was also very developed, with merchant ships all over the South China Sea. Ivory, jewelry and spices from Southeast Asia poured into the Song Dynasty like rivers flowing into the sea."

"To put it simply, the Tang Dynasty's military strength could easily defeat the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty's wealth could completely buy the Tang Dynasty. If we only consider wealth and not military strength, the Song Dynasty could literally crush the Tang Dynasty with money."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up again. To be able to buy the entire Tang Dynasty, how wealthy must they be?

If this money were mine...

Guan Xing said, "I forgot something. It seems that during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng, who took the initiative to pay tribute and seek peace after defeating the Khitan, a type of rice was brought back from a place in Southeast Asia called Champa. Later generations called it Champa rice."

"Champa rice has large, plump grains and a short growth cycle, maturing in about fifty days. In areas with suitable climates, it can be harvested three times a year, and in the Jiangnan region, it can be harvested twice a year. With the introduction of Champa rice, grain production in Jiangnan has greatly increased. With sufficient grain, the population of Jiangnan has grown rapidly, and its population and economy have gradually surpassed those of the Central Plains, making it a new economic center."

Liu Bei could no longer sit still. He suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "Is this true? Can the rice from Champa really be harvested two or even three times a year? Has the population of Jiangnan really surpassed that of the Central Plains because of this?"

In this era, the Central Plains was the center of the world. Jiangnan was a desolate wilderness with few people in front of the Central Plains. Whether it was population, economy or potential, it was completely crushed by the Central Plains. Liu Bei, who was far behind, would never dare to dream that Jiangnan could overpower the Central Plains. But now you are telling me that there is a kind of rice that can do that?

Guan Xing nodded calmly.

Seeing this, Liu Bei went completely mad and asked with greedy eyes, "Where is this Champa? We must bring back the Champa rice."

Food is the most important thing for the people. Only with enough food can more people be fed. Food is the foundation of a country's strength. Therefore, Liu Bei secretly resolved that no matter how far away, he would bring back Champa rice to cultivate and promote.

Guan Xing said, "I don't know the exact location of Champa, but I know it's in Funan, not far from us. If Mi Fang and Fu Shiren are lucky, we should be able to run into them."

(Brothers, please stop criticizing. This history lesson will end tomorrow.)