Usurping the Mongols: My Father-in-Law is Genghis Khan

While Zhao Shuo was pacifying the entire Hebei region, the other Mongol generals also reaped considerable rewards.

Jebe advanced into the Northeast, first capturing Tokyo (Liaoyang), and then leading a large army to besiege the Jin Dynasty's Shangjing Huining Prefecture.

Shangjing Huining Prefecture was the first capital established by the Jurchens. A large number of Jurchens resided inside and outside the city, possessing the highest level of loyalty to the Jin Dynasty, vowing to defend the city to the death.

Then let them die.

After besieging the city for three months, Jebe breached it. Except for the artisans, all the men in the city were beheaded, and the women were taken as slaves. Only children shorter than the height of a cartwheel were spared. Then, a great fire was set, completely destroying this "place of origin" for the Jurchens.

After that, Jebe began to conquer the other small cities in the Northeast region.

At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, a large number of people were relocated to the Northeast region. At its peak, the population of the Northeast exceeded five million. However, as peace prevailed for a long time, a large number of people migrated south, and now only over three million people remain.

Soon, Jebe felt there was nothing left to plunder, and he returned to Zhongdu to join Temujin.

After Jebe returned, Yelu Liuge, a Khitan from the Northeast, launched a major Khitan uprising, quickly gathering over 100,000 people. He declared himself the King of Liao, with the reign title of Yuantong, and the capital at Guangning.

However, Yelu Liuge knew what was important. After proclaiming himself king, he immediately sent envoys to Temujin, willing to submit to the Mongols.

Subutai and others were generally successful in conquering Shanxi, except for Datong City.

The Jin Dynasty's Datong garrison commander was now Mo Nian Jinzhong.

Mo Nian Jinzhong's original official position was the Vice Commissioner of the Western Capital Circuit, the deputy to the Western Capital's garrison commander, Heshahu, with whom he had always been at odds.

When Subutai and others first attacked Shanxi, Mo Nian Jinzhong had no soldiers in his hands after Heshahu fled, so he abandoned Datong.

However, this time, when Subutai and others attacked Shanxi again, Mo Nian Jinzhong had made thorough preparations. Subutai tried to attack Datong a few times, but felt it was too difficult. Therefore, he divided a portion of his forces to keep an eye on the Datong garrison, and led the main force to conquer other cities in Shanxi, advancing rapidly and winning consecutive victories.

Muqali's progress in Shandong was the least successful.

There was no other way. Ever since the Song Dynasty launched the Kaixi Northern Expedition, the Jin Dynasty began conscripting large numbers of soldiers, which led to the Red Turban Army uprising in Shandong. The two sides had been fighting fiercely for three or four years. Both the Jin army and the Red Turban Army had accumulated a wealth of war experience, especially in guerrilla warfare.

Therefore, although Muqali was the second most capable general in the Mongol army after Zhao Shuo, he had not yet conquered the three cities of Qingzhou, Dongping, and Pizhou.

Shandong had become a complete mess. Who would care about Guo Baoyu's son, Guo Dehai?

Escorted by a team of thirty Night Owls, Guo Dehai's family smoothly traveled the small paths of the Taihang Mountains and arrived in Hebei.

Temujin's leg injury completely healed after half a year of recuperation.

Zhongdu City was difficult to attack, so Temujin began to lead his troops to attack other cities in the Zhongdu Circuit, successfully capturing Tongzhou, Shunzhou, Miyun, and other cities near Zhongdu.

In other words, the Jin Dynasty now only had five cities left in the region north of the Yellow River: Zhongdu City, Datong in Shanxi, and Qingzhou, Dongping, and Pizhou in Shandong.

The time was almost ripe.

Temujin issued an order, and Subutai, Zhao Shuo, and Muqali all returned to Zhongdu with their armies.

This return of the armies was extraordinary.

Subutai surrendered 8,000 soldiers in Shanxi.

Muqali recruited and accepted defectors in Shandong, surrendering 17,000 soldiers.

Zhao Shuo surrendered 45,000 soldiers in Hebei.

In addition, Temujin surrendered 3,000 soldiers near Zhongdu.

Jebe had also received 5,000 surrendered soldiers in the Northeast before.

The original Mongol force was 140,000, but now, with the addition of these surrendered soldiers, the total force reached 218,000.

Adding the families of these surrendered soldiers, the total number exceeded 500,000, claiming to be a million.

A million Mongol troops besieged Zhongdu!

With so many troops under his command, Temujin tried to attack Zhongdu City again.

It was still very difficult.

Four sub-cities were built outside Zhongdu City, all within the range of Zhongdu City's catapults.

These sub-cities had tunnels connecting them to the city, making it impossible to lack reinforcements and supplies.

The Mongol army would be subjected to covering fire from the catapults on the city walls when attacking these four sub-cities. Attacking Zhongdu City would also be subjected to covering fire from the catapults on the sub-cities, which was extremely frustrating.

To make matters worse, the Mongols encountered two new weapons.

Fire tubes and thunderclap bombs.

The fire tube was a weapon between the "fire lance" and the "firearm," with an effective range of only eighty meters. However, within eighty meters, it could penetrate light armor, but was powerless against heavy armor.

The thunderclap bomb can also be seen as a kind of grenade, but it was much more powerful than the Western Xia's fire蒺藜.

The shell of this thing was made of pig iron, and the inside was gunpowder, with a fuse attached. When using it, the length of the fuse was determined according to the distance of the target.

At the time of the explosion, the sound was like thunder, shaking the heavens and the earth, so it was named "Thunderclap Bomb."

The power of the thunderclap bomb was also very considerable.

If it exploded within three feet, it was enough to kill the enemy's heavily armored infantry. Throwing it down from the city, in addition to the violent explosion, it could also cause a big fire, posing a serious threat to the enemy's defensive equipment.

In addition, with the nearly 100,000 Jin regular troops in the city, as well as the 50,000 conscripted soldiers who had been trained for more than a year, the Mongols attacked Zhongdu for ten days without achieving any results.

The Jin army even deliberately abandoned Nanxun Gate to lure the Mongol army into the city.

Then, they used fire oil to ignite a big fire, and ambushed troops came out from all sides, killing three thousand Mongol soldiers who had entered the city.

After days of failed attacks, Temujin was very depressed.

However, the Jin Dynasty's rulers and ministers trapped in Zhongdu City were ten times more depressed than Temujin.

Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and the Northeast, only four cities were barely holding on, and it was impossible to send any troops to support Zhongdu.

Although Shaanxi was still fighting fiercely with Western Xia, the Jin Dynasty court became ruthless and promoted Wanyan Gang, the Commissioner of the Shaanxi Circuit, to be the Left Chancellor, ordering him to come to the aid of Zhongdu at all costs.

Wanyan Gang used all his strength to gather 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to come to the rescue. However, this force was defeated by Temujin as soon as it reached Jinshan (in Yanqing District of later generations' Beijing).

Wanyan Gang, the newly appointed Grand Jin Left Chancellor, was captured alive by Hasar, put on a wooden donkey, and paraded under the walls of Yanjing City for the Zhongdu garrison to see, wailing for seven days and seven nights before dying.

Although Henan was seemingly calm on the surface, the Song Dynasty had shown great hostility towards the Jin Dynasty since the Mongol army besieged Zhongdu: not only did they order the border troops on the Song-Jin border to be on high alert, but they also completely cut off all border trade between Song and Jin, not allowing a single copper coin to enter Jin territory.

Under such circumstances, would Wanyan Yongji dare to move a single soldier from the Henan garrison?

If the Southern Song's hundreds of thousands of troops joined this war, the Jin Dynasty would be doomed to destruction, and no one could save it.

Therefore, Zhongdu faced a situation where it would not only receive any support, but also had a Mongol army of claimed million besieging it outside the city, attacking for ten days, and could be breached at any time.

Then what was the point of fighting?

"Your Majesty, we must not continue fighting! Let's negotiate for peace. Otherwise, once the city is broken, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Today, Grand Jin Prime Minister Pu San Duan, along with the entire prime minister team in Zhongdu City, came to see Wanyan Yongji.

After Wanyan Kuang passed away, Wanyan Yongji did not appoint a new Minister of State.

Pu San Duan, the Right Prime Minister, became the Grand Jin Prime Minister.

He, along with the powerful Minister of State and Left Prime Minister Heshahu, the Minister of State and Right Prime Minister Ao Tun Zhongxiao, and the Participating Political Affairs Liang Tang (actually, it's a character composed of a '王' and a '堂', but it can't be typed out), and the Participating Political Affairs Tu Dan Yi, formed the current Grand Jin's prime minister team.

"Yes, yes, yes, we must negotiate for peace."

Wanyan Yongji had long wanted to negotiate for peace.

Now, who didn't know what the Mongols would do to cities that stubbornly resisted?

Except for the artisans, all the men were beheaded, and the women were taken as slaves. Only children who were no taller than a cartwheel could be spared.

The Jin nobles in the city would also be subjected to the cruel treatment of riding the wooden donkey.

Even now, the corpse of Grand Jin Left Chancellor Wanyan Gang was still riding the wooden donkey under the walls of Yanjing City.

As the Grand Jin Emperor, Wanyan Yongji could eat whatever he wanted, drink whatever he wanted, and taste all the delicacies in the world. He could have whatever kind of beauty he wanted, with tens of thousands of concubines in his harem.

How could he be so foolish as to give up all this and go to ride the wooden donkey!

Most importantly, in the past year, Wanyan Yongji had always dreamed that his great-nephew, Emperor Zhangzong Wanyan Jing, was coming to him with two babies to take revenge, demanding that he repay the lives of Wanyan Jing's two children.

Wanyan Jing even cursed that since his descendants could not have this Grand Jin empire, then no one should have it! He would bless the Mongols to break Zhongdu City, kill all the members of the Wanyan clan, and destroy the Grand Jin's country and society.

Every time he woke up from a nightmare, Wanyan Yongji would break out in a cold sweat, fearing that everything in the dream would become a reality.

What he feared came to pass.

Zhongdu City had experienced earthquakes for three consecutive months.

The earthquakes also triggered underground fires. In the Dongqu of the Dabeige in Zhongdu, underground fires surged out and did not extinguish for a month. In other places, countless small underground fires also erupted, burning down countless houses.

Historically, this major disaster in Zhongdu occurred before Temujin attacked the Jin Dynasty. However, Zhao Shuo changed history, and the Mongols attacked the Jin Dynasty three years earlier. Such a huge disaster happened when the Mongol army besieged Zhongdu.

Inside Zhongdu City, everyone, including Wanyan Yongji, believed this was a sign of national demise.

If we don't seek peace now, are we waiting for the country to fall?

Wanyan Yongji said, "Now that the country has reached this point, even if I and all of you ministers are left with a bad name for eternity, we must negotiate peace with the Mongols. Which of you ministers thinks is suitable to be sent as an envoy to the Mongols to seek peace?"

Pusan Duan said, "I think..."

He had already discussed it with the other prime ministers. The current military commissioner of the Heng Hai Army, Wanyan Chenghui, is very good, eloquent, and loyal to the Great Jin. He can be sent as an envoy to the Mongols.

However, before Pusan Duan could say Wanyan Chenghui's name, he was interrupted by Tudan Yi.

Tudan Yi said, "Such an important task, I'm afraid it must be a senior official of the country. This old minister believes that Right Chancellor Pusan Duan should take the lead."

"That's right! Only if the Right Chancellor goes, can I rest assured!"

"If the Right Chancellor doesn't go, what will happen to the people?"

"Now that the Great Jin is in turmoil, the Right Chancellor must step forward and share the country's worries!"

Hu Shahu, the Left Chancellor of the Ministry of Appointments, Ao Tun Zhongxiao, the Right Chancellor of the Ministry of Appointments, and Liang Tang, the Participating Political Affairs Official, all expressed their agreement.

"You... you..."

Pusan Duan was so angry that his lungs were about to explode!

Obviously, he was played by his colleagues present: Don't you like doing the work of a black glove? You should take the biggest black pot in the world!

Pusan Duan could even guess who united these prime ministers.

Tudan Yi!

Although Tudan Yi's official position is lower, his qualifications are too old. He became the top scholar of the Great Jin thirty-seven years ago, rose rapidly, and his disciples and former officials were all over the court. The former Prime Minister of the Great Jin, Wanyan Kuang, was greatly promoted by Tudan Yi. He is simply an old fox with white hair.

No matter who comes to negotiate peace this time, there will be no good end. Even after the peace is negotiated, it is normal to die immediately and have the family exterminated.

Obviously, Tudan Yi wants to kill three birds with one stone.

He not only protects the outstanding talent Wanyan Chenghui, but also kicks Pusan down, so that Tudan Yi can become the prime minister himself!

The other prime ministers also hated Pusan Duan, Wanyan Yongji's black glove, and fully cooperated.

However, understanding is one thing, and how to deal with it is another.

Now that all the prime ministers of the Great Jin are of one mind, Pusan Duan has no choice but to look at Wanyan Yongji with a pleading expression, saying, "Your Majesty, since my son Pusan Natan was killed by the Mongols, this old minister has been deeply affected, and his energy is getting worse and worse. I'm afraid it will be difficult to take on this important task!"

Wanyan Yongji shook his head slightly and said, "Minister Pusan, don't be too modest. After your son died, didn't you do a good job as the Right Chancellor of my Great Jin? Could it be that Minister Pusan can be the Right Chancellor, but can't be an envoy? It's not a few steps to the Mongol camp."

Pusan Duan's quick wit came to him, and he said, "I... I have a feud with Temujin! His brother-in-law An Chen was captured by me. If I go to the Mongol camp, it is really suspected of provocation! It's a small matter if the old minister dies, what if it delays the important matter of the court's peace talks?"

Wanyan Yongji still shook his head and said, "Only a few dignitaries know about this matter. As long as we don't say it, how will Temujin know? He only knows that An Chen was killed by our Jin Dynasty, nailed to a wooden donkey, and sent an envoy to him."

"I... I... Old minister..."

Pusan Duan was completely speechless, his face uncertain, but in the end, he bowed deeply to Wanyan Yongji and said, "Okay, since Your Majesty trusts me so much, this old minister will take a trip to the Mongol camp."

"Thank you, Minister Pusan. As long as this peace negotiation is successful, and my Great Jin does not have to pay too much price, Minister Pusan will have made a great contribution. After the matter is completed, why should I be stingy with a Shangshuling? After I die, you should be entitled to be worshiped in the Taimiao."

Shangshuling is the formal prime minister of the Jin Dynasty.

Pusan Duan, the Right Chancellor, is now the de facto prime minister only because the Shangshuling is temporarily vacant. Wanyan Yongji's promise is to make his prime minister status a reality.

The honor of being worshiped in the Taimiao is too rare.

Let's put it this way, the Great Jin has been established for nearly a hundred years, through nine emperors, and only thirty-three people have received the honor of being worshiped in the Taimiao. Moreover, these thirty-three people are not evenly distributed, and must make major special contributions to be awarded.

Up to now, there are two Jin emperors who do not have any meritorious officials to be worshiped.

I have to say that in order to make Pusan Duan a good black glove, Wanyan Yongji has invested a lot of money.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness!"

The next day, Pusan Duan, carrying the pie newly drawn by Wanyan Yongji, came to the Mongol camp under a white flag.

Temujin was very happy and brought all the Mongol dignitaries to the golden tent to meet this Jin Dynasty's peace-seeking envoy.

"Foreign Minister Pusan Duan pays homage to Genghis Khan!"

"Stand up and speak."

Temujin looked at the father of Pusan Natan with great interest and said, "Wanyan Yongji, did he send you to beg for peace? Tell me about it."

"Genghis Khan has been fighting for nearly three years and has been exhausted from his saddle and horse. My emperor is willing to offer 30,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, 3,000 horses, and 500 young boys and girls to reward the army. Please, Genghis Khan, withdraw your troops."

In fact, this is the condition for the first peace negotiation between the Jin Dynasty and the Mongols recorded in history.

At that time, Temujin went south, burning, killing, and looting all the way, extremely brutal. The Mongol army had been fighting for nearly three years, not only were people and horses exhausted, but also suffered heavy losses. Even with the 8,000 Balu battalion soldiers, they were less than 70,000. It was completely impossible to capture Zhongdu City.

The Jin Dynasty was willing to offer some things to negotiate peace, and Temujin had face, so he agreed.

However, now, Zhao Shuo has changed history, and the number of people in the Balu camp has greatly increased.

Moreover, influenced by Zhao Shuo, Temujin issued four strict military orders to the Mongol army marching into the Central Plains.

Now, the Mongol army has not only suffered minimal losses of grassland warriors, but also has been subjected to very little resistance, and is not tired. Temujin's army has more than 200,000 soldiers, claiming to be a million.

The peace conditions proposed by Pusan Duan are simply a big joke.

"What? 30,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, and 3,000 horses? Are you sending away beggars!"

"What's the use of five hundred young boys and girls? We want beauties! At least 30,000!"

"Not only do we want beauties, but we also specifically want Jurchen women! When you Jurchens were in power, you burned, killed, and looted our Mongols every year, insulting countless Mongol women. Today, we will also taste the taste of Jurchen women!"

"If you don't give it, we will kill into Zhongdu City and take it ourselves!"

"Khan, don't talk to the Jin Dynasty, they are simply insincere! Why don't we kill the envoy and continue to attack the city? I, Belgutei, am willing to be the vanguard!"

…

A group of Mongol generals who came out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood clamored, looking at Pusan Duan with fierce eyes, simply like looking at a lamb waiting for disaster.

Pusan Duan, as the prime minister of the Great Jin, although not so scared that he was shivering, also felt a great chill in his heart.

Waiting for the voices of the generals to gradually decrease, he quickly said, "This is just the initial condition of my Great Jin. What conditions Genghis Khan wants, you can talk about it."

"It's good to be able to talk."

Temujin nodded slightly and said, "Huhan, tell the Jin envoy our conditions one by one."

"Yes."

Huhan stood up and said, "First, the Jin Dynasty will compensate the Great Mongol Empire with 3 million taels of gold, 30 million taels of silver, 1 million bolts of silk, satin, brocade, damask, and gauze each, and 20,000 heads of horses, camels, donkeys, and mules each."

"No!"

Pusan Duan blurted out.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Pusan Duan realized that it was inappropriate, and quickly added, "There really isn't! Now the national treasury and His Majesty's private treasury combined do not have 500,000 taels of gold. It is completely impossible to raise 30 million taels of silver. We really don't have it!"

Huhan looked surprised and said, "How could there not be? At the beginning, when your Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty reached the 'Jingkang Agreement', the Song Dynasty had to pay you 5 million taels of gold and 50 million taels of silver. Our Genghis Khan is merciful, and only asked for 60%."

"The Song Dynasty didn't have so much gold and silver at that time either."

Pusan Duan anxiously explained, "They collected all the gold and silver from the people of Bianliang, but they only managed to collect 3 million taels of gold and 8 million taels of silver. The insufficient amount was filled with treasures, silk fabrics, and women... uh..."

When Pusan Duan said this, he realized that he had been pressured by the Mongol army and was too eager, and said the wrong thing.

Sure enough, peeking over, he saw Huhan's meaningful smile.

Huhan pretended to suddenly realize and said, "So that's how it is. Let's do the same. Well, silk fabrics and treasures have prices and are easy to estimate. However, we are not very clear about the price of women. How did you calculate it back then? Don't worry, we Mongols are the fairest, and we will never suppress your price."

At that time, the Jin Dynasty's price for the Song Dynasty was one thousand taels of gold for a princess or royal concubine, five hundred taels of gold for other royal women, and two hundred taels of gold for clan women.

The above prices were all for unmarried women.

If they were married, the price was five hundred taels of silver for a royal woman and one hundred taels of silver for a clan woman.

Noble women, regardless of whether they were married or not, were worth one hundred taels of silver each.

Commoner women were worth fifty taels of silver each.

Of course, although Pusan Duan was well-versed in classics and history and knew the detailed prices, he would never dare to say the specific prices. After all, although his son, Pusan Natan Chu, was dead, he still had two grandsons, Pusan Shili Men and Pusan Mangyamen!

Pusan Duan sighed softly and said, "The situation of our Great Jin is different from that of the Song Dynasty at that time. The court will never agree to you taking away all the royal and noble women. I'm afraid we can only fight to the death in Zhongdu City."

"If we can't take them all, taking some is fine, right?"

Huhan actually knew the "Jingkang Agreement" very well and said, "In this way, we Mongols won't differentiate between royal women, clan women, noble women, and commoner women. Let's be straightforward: five hundred taels of gold for a noble woman and two hundred taels of silver for a commoner woman. However, these women must be Jurchens."

"Can't you take Han women, or Khitan women, Xi women, or Bohai women?" Pusan Duan asked cautiously.

Huhan shook his head firmly and said, "They didn't come to Mongolia to burn, kill, loot, and humiliate our women. Why should we make things difficult for their women?"

Zhao Shuo smiled and said, "Besides, we mainly want wealth, and we only allow you to use Jurchen women to make up the difference. We need these people to inform us and see if you have hidden any wealth. How can we not give them some benefits?"

Pusan Duan didn't recognize Zhao Shuo and asked, "May I ask who this is?"

"Mongol驸马 (consort of a princess), hereditary five thousand households, commander of ten thousand households, Zhao Shuo," Zhao Shuo said. "We Mongols are the fairest. In addition to women, you can also sell us the craftsmen in Zhongdu City. In this way, as long as they are craftsmen we approve of, they are worth one hundred taels of silver each.

If there are craftsmen with particularly high skills, you can specially select them, and after we approve, they can be counted as one thousand taels of silver. Their family members will be counted as twenty taels of silver each."

What? Craftsmen can also be counted as money?

Even the family members of craftsmen can be counted?

Pusan Duan felt as if he had gotten a great deal, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Do you have any other conditions?"

Huhan said, "Yes! In addition to reparations, we also want to cede land. All the land from Huaihe Fort to Yegu Ridge, and even Fu, Heng, and Chang prefectures, must be ceded to us Mongols. So that you won't regret it in the future and seek revenge on us."

"This..."

The condition proposed by the Mongols was, of course, very difficult to accept.

Yes, in this way, the Jin Dynasty would definitely not dare to retaliate. However, the Mongols could trample on the Central Plains at any time. How could Pusan Duan agree?

Later, after much persuasion, he agreed to let the Jin Dynasty keep Huaihe Fort.

But the area north of Huaihe Fort was all Mongol territory.

Huhan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good. Now, as long as you Jin people agree to the last condition, we can reach a peace agreement."

"What condition?"

"The Jin Emperor Wanyan Yongji shall become a vassal of Genghis Khan, and from the date the agreement is reached, the Jin Dynasty will officially become a vassal state of our Mongolia."

"This is absolutely impossible!" Pusan Duan said anxiously, "To tell you the truth, there have long been rumors among the people that His Majesty killed the late emperor's two children as soon as he ascended the throne. Therefore, His Majesty's prestige has not been very high since he ascended the throne. Now, His Majesty has been defeated by the Mongols and has agreed to those two conditions, which can be described as extremely humiliating and detrimental to the country.

If he becomes a vassal of Mongolia again, then His Majesty may not live to see the next day. Even if he agrees, it's useless, isn't it?"

Huhan said, "Okay, we understand your difficulties. Since the Jin Dynasty will not become a vassal of Mongolia, how about the Jin Emperor recognizing our Genghis Khan as his uncle, following the example of the Song Dynasty?"

"That's still not possible!" Pusan Duan said, "To be honest, His Majesty's prestige cannot be lowered any further. Even if he recognizes Genghis Khan as his uncle, it's absolutely impossible."

Temujin snorted coldly and said, "Even if he wants to recognize me, I don't want such a useless nephew!"

Huhan said, "Okay, then we'll take one last step back. How many daughters does Wanyan Yongji have?"

"Four."

"Send them all to our Mongolia. Let's just say Wanyan Yongji offered his daughters to seek peace."

"No, His Majesty's eldest daughter and second daughter are already married!"

"Hmm?"

Including Huhan, all the Mongol generals' faces changed drastically.

"Pusan Duan, don't push your luck!"

"If this won't work, and that won't work, don't forget that you are the ones seeking peace with us now!"

"If you don't offer the four princesses, we'll kill our way into Zhongdu City and taste the taste of Wanyan Yongji's mother and wife!"

"We'll even kill you, and we'll make the blood in Zhongdu flow like a river!"

...

The generals clamored and glared at Pusan Duan.

At this point, Pusan Duan could only agree.

What's wrong with offering four princesses?

The amount of reparations demanded by the Mongols could not be made up with wealth and craftsmen under any circumstances, and Jurchen noble women had to be used to make up the numbers. What? Other Jurchen nobles can sacrifice for the country, but Wanyan Yongji can't?

Isn't he sharing weal and woe with his subjects?

As for the fact that two princesses are already married, it's not a big deal in the face of such important military and national affairs.

However, when Pusan Duan returned to Zhongdu with this agreement, he was unanimously opposed by Wanyan Yongji and the four chancellors.

"Bold Pusan Duan!"

Wanyan Yongji was furious and said, "Do you want me to be Emperor Qinzong of Song? Why bother reaching a peace agreement with the Mongols? You might as well tie me to the Mongol military camp now and let the Mongols take me to the grasslands and be trampled to death by wild horses!"

Tudan Yi said in a deep voice, "Pusan Duan has failed to live up to His Majesty's grace and has reached such a humiliating and detrimental agreement with the Mongols. I request that this 里獠 (derogatory term) be executed as a warning to others!"

Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, Aotun Zhongxiao, said loudly, "I second that! Pusan Duan is a sycophantic villain who caters to His Majesty. It is not enough to kill him to appease the people's anger, and it is not enough to kill him to rectify the court!"

State Councilor Liang Tang said, "If it weren't for Pusan Duan's son, Pusan Natan Chu, angering the Mongols, how could such a monstrous disaster have been provoked? I believe that not only should Pusan Duan be killed, but his nine generations should also be exterminated!"

Acting Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, Husha Hu, even howled strangely, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him now, and then kill his whole family!"

"Your Majesty, spare me! Spare me!"

Dong dong dong~~

Pusan Duan knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, and said, "I had no choice. The Mongols are so ferocious. This is already the best condition we can get. I have really tried my best! I am willing to offer... ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, Pusan Duan felt a sharp pain in his back, and a bone-chilling chill appeared in his body.

He turned his head with difficulty, only to see a palace guard looking at him with a cold smile.

At this moment, he completely understood.

The one who wanted him dead the most was not the other four chancellors, but the emperor, Wanyan Yongji.

If it wasn't Wanyan Yongji, who could command the palace guards?

Wanyan Yongji wanted to push all the blame for the peace talks onto his head, not allowing him to say a word of explanation.

Wanyan Yongji was even more afraid that he would jump over the wall in desperation and reveal the murderer who murdered the late emperor's two sons!

Therefore, Wanyan Yongji had already made sufficient preparations to kill him after he returned from the peace talks. The titles of "Grand Secretary" and "Honored at the Imperial Ancestral Temple" were completely lies to deceive him.

What a regret!

He had already made sufficient preparations to buy his life with his family's wealth. Since doing dirty work for Wanyan Yongji, he had been collecting money unscrupulously, with more than fifty thousand taels of gold alone. He had hidden such a large amount of property.

Now that the Jin Dynasty was facing huge reparations from the Mongols, this sum of money should be enough to let the Jin Dynasty court spare him.

However, he really underestimated Wanyan Yongji's ruthlessness and didn't give him a chance to speak at all!

He regretted even more that he shouldn't have helped Wanyan Yongji do dirty work, which led to this point.

Of course, it was completely useless to regret it now.

He couldn't say a word and could only wait for death to come.

Thump!

Pusan Duan's body fell on the hall.

"Take it away!" Wanyan Yongji glanced at it with disgust and said, "Issue my decree that Pusan Duan has reached a humiliating and detrimental peace agreement with the Mongols and has failed to live up to His Majesty's grace. He has been executed by me!"

"Your Majesty, what about the peace agreement with the Mongols?" State Councilor Liang Tang asked.