Chapter 7: The End of Liao Country

  Just as he was calculating his second life plan, the maid at home had already asked him out for dinner outside the door.

  Above the humble hall, the lights were shining brightly, and the Xu family was a large household in the village. Although the furnishings in the hall were not luxurious, they lived up to the name of a large household. The tables had already been set up in the hall, and several maids were placing wine and dishes on them one by one. This made Xu Wei very depressed. When others traveled through time, as soon as they opened their eyes, there would be several beautiful maids calling out "Young Master" or "Sir" softly. But when he opened his eyes, all he saw was a big auntie who quickly stuck her face close to his head and cried with snot and tears. This was not surprising, after all, the Xu family was just a large household in a county town under the jurisdiction of a prefecture, which was simply a rural area. Where could they find those knowledgeable, elegant, and gentle maids? They could only hire a few local farmers who had lost their land, with men managing the stables and gatehouses, and women doing laundry and sweeping.

  "The beef is on this side, Uncle loves to eat it, but Father's teeth are not good and can't chew such hard things."

  The woman speaking was about twenty-six or seven years old, with a few ordinary hairpins on her bun, wearing a blue flower narrow sleeve short shirt on top and a Luo skirt on the bottom. Although her appearance was plain and unremarkable, in Xu Wei's eyes, she was already the most beautiful woman in Xujiacun. She was exactly Xu Sheng's first wife, Xu Wei's sister-in-law, Xu Wangshi.

  "Uncle is here, hurry up and sit down, your brother and father will be here soon." Xu Wangshi said with a smile when she saw her younger brother-in-law, Xu Wei.

  "Thanks for your hard work, sister-in-law." Xu Wei knew that his sister-in-law was a very virtuous woman who took care of everything in the household. Just a few days ago when he was bedridden, she had taken care of him without even undressing, which was truly not easy. Yet this simple sentence moved Xu Wangshi to tears, as her younger brother-in-law seemed to have become more sensible after his serious illness, it was indeed a blessing in disguise, thanks to the ancestors' protection.

  Just then, Xu Sheng supported an old man from the inner room. The old man was about sixty years old, with white hair and a weathered face, wearing plain clothes without any decorations, leaning on a black iron crutch as tall as a person. He sat down under his son's support, looked up at Xu Wei with dull eyes that seemed to have lost their luster. His face was covered with deep lines and scars, making it impossible to tell which were wrinkles and which were wounds. This old man was naturally Xu Taigong.

  "Eat." Just two words, short and powerful, as if a general was issuing an order to his subordinates. Xu Sheng and Xu Wei, the two brothers, took their seats, picked up their bowls, and started eating. No one said a word, and this scene always reminded Xu Wei of a military cafeteria.

  Family dinner should be a joyful and harmonious occasion, filled with laughter and conversation. But the Xu family's gathering was surprisingly dull. Xu Wei had made up his mind to "make himself at home", and his top priority was to blend in with this era. Just as he was thinking of finding something to talk about, Old Master Xu spoke up and asked: "How have things been lately in the military?" Although he had left the army many years ago, a soldier's habits are hard to change for life; having eaten from the same big pot for a day, one's heart remains tied to the barracks forever.

  "Since the attack on Liao, the army has been stationed and trained, nothing else." Xu Sheng replied.

  Invading Liao? Is the Great Song Dynasty at war with Liao now? Is this the early Northern Song period? Although Xu Wei was a swindler in the past, he was a legitimate university student majoring in history. Among all his terrible grades, history was his only strong subject. It was also because of his good understanding of history that he grasped a principle: "the brave are killed by exhaustion, while the timid die from starvation". He knew that the wars between Northern Song and Liao were mainly concentrated in the early period, especially during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song. As a result, neither side could defeat the other, and they eventually entered a long-term stalemate.

  Xu Taigong nodded and said, "The Khitan has just been destroyed, the Jin State has already returned the six states of Youyun, and has also made peace with our dynasty. I think that in the short term, there will not be any more wars."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Wei's mouthful of hot soup "pffft" sprayed out! What the heck? The Liao State has already been destroyed? This is terrible! In history, as soon as the Liao State was destroyed, the Jin army took advantage of their victory and marched south, directly attacking and destroying the Northern Song. It's all over! The place where he currently resides, Daming Prefecture, is probably present-day Hebei Province's Daming County, which is extremely close to the front line between the Song and Jin armies. If the Jin army attacks...

  "Are you alright?" Xu Sheng asked, seeing his brother's wooden expression. As the saying goes, an older brother is like a father, and since their mother had passed away early and their father was a military man by nature, he had naturally taken on the responsibility of caring for his younger brother. He had been worried about him all these years until he became a military officer through imperial appointment.

  "Big brother, is Liao country finished? When?" Xu Wei put down his chopsticks and asked anxiously.

  Xu Sheng was greatly surprised, not because his brother didn't know that the Liao State had perished, but because as soon as he returned, he learned from his wife that Xu Wei had fallen ill and seemed to have lost his memory after recovering. He was astonished that his brother would care about national affairs, when in the past all he thought about was eating, drinking, having fun, fighting and causing trouble.

  "In February this year, the Liao Emperor was captured in Yingzhou. The foundation of two hundred years, all gone in one morning." Xu Sheng couldn't help but sigh. As a military man, he knew about the numerous wars between the Great Song and Liao since its founding, and the strength of the Liao army had left a deep impression on him. Even though the sun was setting on the Liao dynasty these past few years, just the other day, the Great Song and the Jurchen people had agreed to attack the Liao from the south, but were still defeated by the declining Liao army. Thinking about this, he felt some professional concern in his heart."

  But thinking again, when Song and Jin agreed to attack Liao, they agreed that after the destruction of Liao, they would return the sixteen states of Youyun. Now, although only six states have been returned, the military achievements of the Song army are really embarrassing, and it is not easy to recover six states. Fortunately, after the Jurchen people destroyed the Liao state, they continuously sent envoys to the Great Song to repair relations, although one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, but in the short term, there will be no more war smoke.

  Xu Wei's heart sank to his stomach, this joke is too big. In history, after the fall of the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty waited for only a few months before sending troops to attack the Song Dynasty, all the way to Kaifeng, capturing the two emperors Huizong and Qinzong, leading to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, this is known as the "Jingkang Incident". Heaven, what kind of joke are you playing on me? How did I end up crossing over to this time period? You should at least give me a few years to prepare, let me find an opportunity to use my historical knowledge, become a minor official, step by step develop, occupy territory, gather talent, and then plot to dominate. This is what it means to cross over. But you directly sent me to the year when the Jin army attacked the Song Dynasty, this is not following the usual routine!

  Seeing Xue Wei's worried appearance, he couldn't even eat his rice, and Xue Taigong was also shocked and asked: "The fall of Liao State, what kind of heart do you have?"

  Xu Wei shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The fall of Liao State has nothing to do with me, but this stir-up by Liao State has brought us bad luck."

  Xu Taigong and Xu Sheng, the father and son duo, were shocked. When had our family's Ninth Master ever spoken such a clear and logical sentence? Moreover, this sentence was quite insightful, it was as if the sun had risen from the south.

  "What's the point of saying this? The Khitan and our Great Song have been sworn enemies for generations. Now that our enemy has been destroyed, we should be celebrating universally, why are you speaking ill?" Minister Xu asked seriously, holding his bowl and forgetting to take a sip.

  Xu Wei sighed, he knew that nothing had happened, and whatever he said was just a waste of words. At this moment, Jin Guo was definitely giving the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty a mind-numbing potion, who would believe his words? Thinking that the Song Dynasty was about to perish, and this land would soon fall under the iron hooves of the Jurchen people, he couldn't help but feel a tightness in his heart.

  "You eat, I'm not hungry." Xue Wei pushed the bowl away and stood up.

  Xu Shengyi saw him and hastily called out: "Ninth Brother..."

  "Never mind, let him go. He's been acting strangely since he woke up... sigh..." Xu Taigong let out a long sigh and couldn't eat anymore either, putting down his bowl and chopsticks, and walked away on his own. Leaving Xu Sheng alone, with no appetite at all.

  The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, Xu Wei lay on his bed, gazing at the moonlight pouring into his room, unable to fall asleep. The chirping of insects outside disturbed him, making him feel anxious and restless, so he got out of bed and stood by the window, lost in thought. If he didn't go on a mission, Jin Guo would launch an attack on Song soon, and the familiar history would unfold before his eyes. What was depressing was that he was just an ordinary citizen now, although he had learned from Zhang Qing's mouth that he had a retired father and an official brother, but this background could almost be ignored, what could he do in this era?

  Suddenly, a faint footstep sounded outside. Xu Wei, who had been a swindler before, was extremely vigilant and instinctively held his breath, listening carefully with his ear to the side. The person outside stood for a while, then turned around and left, leaving behind only a heavy sigh. Xu Wei recognized that it was Old Master Xu.

  Just as he let out a sigh of relief, he heard Xu Sheng's voice outside: "Has the ninth brother gone to sleep?" Xu Tai Gong didn't respond, but the sound of their footsteps gradually faded away until they were no longer audible.

  For some reason, Xu Wei suddenly felt a pang of sadness in his heart, and the bright moonlight outside the window also became annoying. He closed the window, jumped onto the bed, and covered his head with a thin quilt.

  On the second day, Xu Wei Zheng dreamed that several foreign warriors wearing fur coats and carrying curved knives tied him up with five flowers. One of them wiped his knife on the sole of his shoe and asked, "Do you want to eat board knife noodles or dan dan noodles?" He replied, "Dan dan noodles," and the knife came down.

  "Master, it's time for breakfast." The strange old lady's voice sounded outside the room.

  Xu Wei opened his eyes and recalled the messy dream he had just now, feeling suffocated in his heart. Irritably, he responded with a single sentence: "I want to eat dan dan noodles!"

  I didn't want to get out of bed, but suddenly thought that the Song Dynasty was about to perish, so I quickly got up, put on my clothes, and rushed out the door. Then I saw that strange aunt holding a copper basin with hot towels. After wiping my face hastily, I rushed straight to the dining hall. As soon as I turned out of the corridor, I bumped into Xu Taigong leaning on his cane, limping out from behind the screen wall, presumably going out for morning exercise.

  "Early..." Xu Wei thought for half a day before saying just one word.

  Xu Taigong's footsteps paused for a moment, and he didn't say anything. He went straight to the dining hall. Xu Wei followed behind him, not saying a word. This father-son pair had probably never been so estranged before.