Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

In Liaoze, water birds gather, and cattle and sheep are wild.

Yelu Shilu stood by the lake, silently watching the figure reflected in the water.

Once upon a time, he loved this land of abundant water and grass very much, and thought it was a gift from heaven.The Khitan people can fish, hunt, graze and even grow millet here, which provides abundant food and expands the population of the tribe.

Compared with their side, the bitter haha ​​people in the west have a much harder life.

The grassland is dry and rainless, and the livestock that can be raised are limited.The terrain is endless and flat, and there are no mountains and forests to provide wild goods and prey.The rivers are short, the water is not abundant enough, and the lakes are few, so fishing can't catch much.

In addition to the gradual decline of the Kansai region in the Central Plains, the Western Regions and Helong are broken into one, and the people are uneasy. Business travelers are more willing to go to the northern grasslands and go straight to Hedong, Youzhou, Bohai Sea and Khitan. The income dropped sharply, and the number of artisans became increasingly rare. It was no longer comparable to Khitan—Kandong was rich and Hebei was densely populated. Khitan traded with them, and their income increased greatly. They could even learn more and strengthen their own strength.

"Liaoze is the foundation of Khitan, and now someone is going to kick the door and kill you." Yelu Shilu felt very uneasy, anxious and angry, and even the chiefs of the Xiren'ahhui tribe who surrounded him were a little bit disturbed.

"Shilu, Abaoji is too arrogant. It's not enough to learn a lesson once. Do you want to bring about a second disaster to Babu?" "If such a good land is taken away by the Xia people, how long will it take to get it back?"

"During Tang Wuzong's time, how arrogant was Lu Longjun? Can't we all bear it? The Han people will make their own mistakes. The land behind the mountains, back and forth, sometimes returning to the Central Plains, sometimes returning to the grasslands, there is no fixed number. This is God's arrangement. We Just wait patiently." Yelu Shilu replied without being angry.

He and Hedi are brothers and have a very good relationship.At that time, the two brothers jointly designed, ruthlessly wiped out a handful of Gu Zhi, and jointly held the power of the Dieci Department.Afterwards, Shilu became Yuyue, and he knew the state affairs of the eight armies, and he was under the jurisdiction of Diecibu Yili Jin, which was a pleasure.

It's a pity that Abaoji made great achievements in conquering the Sifang tribes. Shilu also admired this nephew and cultivated him vigorously. Therefore, Abaoji took away the position of Yili Jin from the Dieti tribe, and now he is also a khan from the eight tribes The retinue officer is already unshakable.

It is obvious that Judi has complaints about Shilu and Abaoji.

In the struggle for power, no one is right or wrong, no one is worthy or sorry.The bottom line is that he is unhappy that this junior, A Baoji, is standing on top of him, and he will complain whenever he gets the chance.

"Wait? I'm afraid I can't wait. You also saw that the Xia people marched to Liuhe, and it would be so easy to leave? These wastes of the Ahui department dare not fight. What do you expect?" Yelvhadi asked.

The Liu River is the Yixun River of the later generations, and the location of the Changxia Palace is the Mulan Paddock and Saihan Dam of the later generations. There are thousands of miles of pine forests, rivers, lakes, swamps, and lush grasslands.

Geographically, this place is already part of Liaoze.In the era when Liaoze had not yet undergone large-scale desertification, let alone grazing, fishing and hunting, there was no problem with cultivated land—of course, the degradation of Liaoze may have been due to the large-scale reclamation of wasteland and farming in the Liao Dynasty, and the decrease in precipitation may also be the reason. important reason.

In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, there was no doubt that this was the pasture land of Xi people, because Modoujun City and Dongjun Shouzhuo City were both to the south and west.Liuhe should be the default national boundary between Tang and Xi.Now that the Xia people had crossed the border, they had taken a big step to the northeast. Liubu Xi's Ahui tribe responded weakly, and did not dare to start a war with the Xia people.

Fanglue may be right, but this useless behavior makes people feel depressed, why are you so timid?People are robbing your ranch!

"It's not the fault of the Ahui Department." Yelu Shilu looked at the Xi people with comforting eyes, and said, "Many of them were taken away by Abaoji. It's normal not to dare to fight."

Historically, during the Liao Dynasty, the Xi people were good at infantry combat, and the Xi people's infantry were also very famous.The battle of Junziguan defeated the Forbidden Army of the Northern Song Dynasty head-on, and its combat effectiveness was better than that of the Song Army.Therefore, A Baoji formed the infantry. In addition to using a large number of Han people and Bohai people, he also mobilized a lot of strong and strong Liubu Xi.
Since the Ministry went south a few years ago, due to its location at the border and heavy defense tasks, few people were transferred, but the loss of personnel was huge after all, and Shi Lu was aware of this.

"It's all an excuse." Yelvhadi didn't know this, but he was just venting his emotions, and he didn't want to argue with Shilu too much. He just said, "Now that the Xia people have killed them, you can just say what to do." ? A Baoji still want to fight Liaonan?"

"Why do you have such a big opinion on A Baoji?" Shi Lu frowned, looked at Xia Di, and said, "A Baoji is a man of great wisdom, you shouldn't doubt him."

"A Baoji used to be good, but these two years he's been a little confused." Xiadi sneered, "What's the rivalry between him and Shao Shude? What's his capital, what's the capital of Khitan Eight? Can it be compared? Go to the Central Plains to gain benefits and get What? Li Keyong is still weak and lost the land behind the mountain, but now he also spit it out? If the fight continues, people will die every year and lose money every year. How long do I think it will last?"

Shi Lu frowned even more, and said, "Did you drink too much? Is it A Baoji who wants to get in trouble with Shao Shude now? It's obvious that the Xia people bullied him to the door, so we can't do without a fight."

"Humph! To put it lightly. There were rumors back then that you had an affair with Yanmu Jin, and Abaoji was your biological son, right?" Xia Di mocked.

The veins on Yelu Shilu's forehead were exposed, and he had already grasped the handle of the knife.Yelvhadi continued to sneer, without giving in at all.

The entourage stepped forward one after another, pulled the two of them apart, and tried to persuade them.

Shi Lu took a deep breath, calmed down his emotions, and said angrily: "Jiadi, you are fighting with me, right?" He said: "In my opinion, it is better to send the 'Seal of Fengguo Khitan' bestowed by the Tang court to Luoyang and replace it with the official seal of the Xia Dynasty. In this way, a military disaster may be eliminated. Khan also agrees with this matter, Shi Lu, What do you think? Might as well make it clear now."

Hearing the word "Khan", Shi Lu's heart moved, knowing that things were not that simple.

"Jadi, you are a member of the Yelu clan, don't forget where your roots are." Shilu's heart moved to kill, but his face remained unchanged, and his voice remained as calm as possible.

"Don't make yourself so selfless." Judy continued to taunt: "Brother Hua ran away and has not been caught yet. You know better than me what happened."

Shi Lu laughed angrily.

He is actually a very face-saving person, his concubine had an affair with his son, it may not be a big deal for ordinary people on the grassland, but Shi Lu is Yu Yue, and it is embarrassing to say that it is a Han official position, that is, the prime minister Yes, there is also a blow to prestige.

It is precisely because of this that Brother Hua flees with Hua Gu in a hurry, because he knows that his father is really likely to kill someone.In order to cover up the family scandal, A Baoji would also help his uncle take care of his cousin.

But Shi Lu finally relented.When sending people to hunt him down, he gave secret instructions, raised the butcher's knife high, and then lowered it gently.Otherwise, even an idiot like Brother Hua wants to escape?

This was originally a secret in his heart, but now he was told by Xia Di in public, which made Shi Lu more determined to kill him.

Of course, he also knows that the bottom is not a master who can be manipulated by others.He still has a certain prestige in the Dieci Department, and he has many cronies. If he wants to move him, he must plan long-term and wait for the opportunity.

Perhaps, we should discuss it with A Baoji.His prestige is high enough, the strength in his hands is also strong, and his wife Yueli Duo has a lot of ghost ideas, so he may be able to find a good way that will not hurt the root of Dicibu.

"What? Shilu, do you want to kill me?" Yelvhadi glanced at him and took two steps back.The cronies behind him became nervous and drew their weapons one after another.

Seeing this, Shilu's guards also drew their weapons, staring intently at him.

Xi Ren from Ah Hui was dumbfounded.Why is it that the dignitaries of the Die assassination department are about to fight if they disagree with each other?
"Put them all away!" Yelu Shilu shouted, and the guards immediately put away their weapons, but they did not disperse.

"Jiadi, tell me the truth, do you want to choose Khan?" Shi Lu asked, looking directly into Zhidi's eyes.

Khan Shen Dejin was terrified when he heard that the Khitan expedition had been defeated.I was not in good health, but now it is even worse

It broke badly.Every winter, I can only lie on the couch, and I can only go out for a walk when the weather is warm.The prairie people are not as disciplined as those in the Central Plains. A sick tiger cannot rule over a pack of wolves.Since last winter, there have been rumors in the Khan City of Yao Nian that the eight departments will re-elect the Khan—the Khan of the Tribal Alliance. By default, Khan can only die, that is, he will be re-elected automatically until he dies.

The eight Khans did not clearly say that someone from the Yaolan clan must be the one, but it was the default before.Just like Babu Yili Lijin, there is no express rule that only people from the Yelu clan can be the ones.

In theory, anyone can be Khan, and anyone can be Yi Li Jin.It's just that in the past 100 years, the two most important positions in the tribal alliance have been followed by convention, and everyone has tacitly divided the hands of the Yaoren family and the Yelu family, and no one has questioned it.

Yelu Shilu suspected that Jidi had lost his mind and wanted to elect Khan.

"Hmph! It's not me who wants to be a khan, maybe someone else?" Yelvhadi turned the taunt to the highest level and continued: "Last year, Abaoji attacked Bohai Sea and captured many people. Everyone praised him. .Not many people boast that only Abaoji is suitable for ruling the Eight Parts, is he suitable for being a khan?"

It turned out that the problem was here.Shi Lu suddenly realized that Xia Di had never liked A Baoji, this rumor must have excited him, he endured it for a long time, and finally broke out today.

A Baoji once told him that the Khitan Eight Divisions were too loose to fight against the Xia people.He suggested learning from the Tubo people, creating characters and systems, popularizing the laws and regulations of each tribe, and taking over the power of the tribes and creating a unified army with the military and civilian positions such as Yi, Wanhu, Qianhu, and Baihu.

Tribes are governed by the law of the tribe, and the Han and Bohai people are governed by the law of the Central Plains. This is also a very effective method practiced by the Tubo people in Helong and the Western Regions.

They captured the towns of Hexi and Longyou in the Tang Dynasty, absorbed Han officials and generals into the regime, formed armies of various ethnic groups, and were able to fight well. They once fought far to the west and broke Chang'an to the east, which proved to be effective.

Only by learning from Tubo can the Khitan retain a glimmer of hope for a comeback in the battle with the Xia people.Shi Lu agrees with A Baoji in principle, but also feels that this matter is very difficult, because it involves the ownership of Khan.

With the people of Xia staring at him, attacking the Yaolan clan suddenly would easily distract people and the risk would be too great.

A Baoji was also helpless.

After discussing with the nephew and uncle, they felt that they could not act rashly for the time being.What Abaoji has to do now is to continue to accumulate reputation, strengthen the strength of the Diela tribe and the brotherly friendly tribe, and get more people to support him.

After the Xia people occupied southern Liaoning, while laying a solid foundation, they continued to move northward, occupying Liaoyang, Xincheng, Fushun and other places, colluding with the Bohai people and being very arrogant.

Especially the scene of Liu Pobing entering Liaoyang greatly shocked the Khitan people.Tens of thousands of cavalry, surrounded by thousands of infantry, helpless, let them rush all the way into Liaoyang City, it is a shame and a shame.If these people can be wiped out, it will indeed greatly boost Abaoji's prestige, which is more useful than fighting Bohai.

It's a pity that the Xia people also seemed to be aware of the crisis in southern Liaoning, and began to hoard supplies, cattle and sheep, build cities, and gather troops on the edge of Liaoze.

With the army pressing down on the border, the interior is still a mess, and Shi Lu's mood is already too gloomy.