The rise of the prince

Chapter 841 On the Great River in Winter

In the twelfth lunar month of leisure, Li Xingzhou would go to the academy of the palace from time to time. Whenever he was there, the children would surround him and let him tell stories.

The eldest son of Ji Chun, Ji Xiaming, is already self-reliant. In addition, he has learned a lot in the school, can read and write, and has learned martial arts from his father since he was a child. Li Xingzhou simply let him join the new army and serve as his personal guard.

Ji Xiaming was one of his own, and he could be trusted. When Ji Chunsheng died for him, he made up his mind to raise his children Ji Xiaming, Ji Xiali, and Ji Xiayu as his own children, and the palace has been providing them with food and clothing.

In the twelfth lunar month, it snowed heavily, and some businesses in the palace stopped because the river was frozen.If this section will not freeze in future generations, but this time is in the Little Ice Age, and the big river will completely freeze in winter.

Li Xingzhou wanted to go to the river to see the snow, Shiyu and Gillian had to take care of the children, Qiuer and Yueer were afraid of the cold, so they were playing mahjong with Pu Chaling and Qifang while they were warming up.

Pu Chaling's Chinese level is higher than that of Yelu Yali.

So Li Xingzhou took Yelu Yali to go. Yelu Yali wanted to ride a horse by himself, but he refused: "Holding you is warmer."

Yelu Yali understood and nodded happily.

Only Meixue was dissatisfied with digging the soil with her front hooves, and it endured the pressure it shouldn't bear at this age
But it can't talk, so it has no right to speak.

Li Xingzhou sent people to the army to call Shang Dizhi, Yan Shen, Shen Lin, Wei Yubai and others, and also went to the post house to invite Yang Wenguang, Zhe Weizhong, Wei Chaoren, Gu Lichuan and others who stayed in the capital.

He took Yelu Yali, Ji Xiayu and four other soldiers to wait outside the city.

Li Xingzhou travels very low-key, he is a big celebrity now, if he swaggers around, he might be stopped by the people.

For Su Shi, "Leading the yellow on the left, Qingcang on the right, brocade hat and sable fur, and a thousand riders rolling Hiraoka." It is already a big scene, after all, he is a scholar.

But for Li Xingzhou, it was already a small scene for a thousand riders to roll Hiraoka. The first large corps battle in his life had only ended a few months ago, and it was like a dream.

Sometimes he would think afterwards, 10,000+ people, how did he command them in the first place.

Yelu Yali sat in his arms generously, not shy at a glance like Shiyu, after all, the Khitan people on the grassland are more open-minded.

After waiting at the south gate for a while, people came over one after another, and they brought a lot of people to greet him.

"It's rare to come to the capital to see the frozen river." Li Xingzhou exhaled whitely and said to the crowd, and then he rode his horse forward, and everyone followed.

In a short while, a team of dozens of riders was formed, and the horseshoes rumbled to the outside of the city, even if it was difficult not to attract attention.

Yelu Yali was also very excited, she seldom ran outside the city, because she was not familiar with the place, and she liked to gallop on the grassland, but after arriving at the palace, she hadn't felt this way for a long time.

Only He Qian would accompany her to ride horses, but they all rode on the hill behind the palace, which was not open enough, not wide enough.

Li Xingzhou saw her excitement, and handed her the reins: "Don't throw me down."

"No, my riding skills are the best on the grassland!" She said happily.

Li Xingzhou hugged her waist tightly and let her gallop. After running happily for a while, the team soon reached the bank of the Yellow River.

From a distance, the big river was completely frozen, and the opposite bank could not be seen in the gray mist. There were people coming and going on the ice, and some people were even driving ox carts.

Yelu Yali's face was flushed with excitement, and she wanted to go for a horse race on the ice, but she was afraid that Meixue would accidentally hurt her because she was not used to the ice, so she slowed down carefully.

"You like horses."

"Well, but it's been a long time since I ran like this."

"For Chinese New Year this year, I will give you a good horse. Do you like Dawan horses or Tatar horses?" Li Xingzhou asked.

"Tatar horse." Yelu Yali said without hesitation: "Tatar horse is just right, I am too small, and Dawan horse is too tall and inflexible."

"That's true." Li Xingzhou nodded. Yelu Yali needed his help to climb Meixue's back. Meixue is a Dawan horse with a relatively pure bloodline, also known as a sweaty horse. They conquered the Dawan Kingdom thousands of miles away and obtained a batch of BMWs.

However, all horses have advantages and disadvantages. Meixue is tall, gallops like flying, and has a strong impact. She can weigh about one ton alone. This weight is very powerful when charging. It is really devastating.

But its weakness is that its stamina is not as good as the dwarf Mongolian horse, and its ability to adapt to harsh environments is not as good as that of Mongolian horses, and it is difficult to take care of if it is pampered.

For example, if you fight in winter in the northern grasslands or northeast snow forests, you don't need to fight Meixue, and there is a high probability that you will be frozen to death, but Mongolian horses will not.

Soon, everyone in the rear also followed, talking and laughing by the Lema River.

"It's such a magnificent view, it's the first time I've seen it in my life." Yang Wenguang said with emotion, it is naturally impossible to see it near Taiyuan.

"The power of the Lord of Heaven, usually thunderous, can seal a large river with a boat." Wei Chaoren lamented the power of nature.

Li Xingzhou smiled and said: "It's just that the weather is not good. If the big river doesn't freeze, I don't have to fight like this."

Only a few veterans at the scene heard some meaning, and the rest were puzzled. There is a word in the later history world called the Northern Song Dynasty Dilemma.One of the major reasons for the predicament of the Northern Song Dynasty was the freezing of the Yellow River.

Li Xingzhou turned around and asked Ji Xiaming, Di Zhi and other young people: "Do you know why I have been trying to fight the north these past few years? Liao and Jin, no matter how powerful the ministers say they are, they will go their own way."

When talking about Liao Kingdom, Yelu Yali visibly trembled in his arms, Li Xingzhou hugged her tighter, it was all a thing of the past.

Xia Ming took the lead and said: "Your Highness has great ambitions and looks at the world like a tiger. Of course, it is to expand the territory, to go down in history, and to benefit future generations!"

Li Xingzhou laughed: "You think too complicated, not so impassioned, it's just for self-protection."

"Ah, we have already reached the capital of the Kingdom of Jin."

"That would be considered excessive self-preservation at best." Li Xingzhou interrupted him, "Think about what the future state will look like in five or six years. There are no sixteen prefectures of Yanyun in the north, and there is no danger to defend. Go south and reach the Kaiyuan City.

Everything in Kaiyuan is good, it extends in all directions, has a large population, and roads from all sides converge here, so Kaiyuan is very prosperous, but it happens that the river will freeze in winter. "

Li Xingzhou sighed, this is what the Northern Song Dynasty is talking about, and the death of the Northern Song Dynasty is also based on this.

At the beginning, Kou Zhun dragged Zhenzong Yujia to go on a personal expedition. He had already won a big victory on the front line, but he still wanted to sign the "Chanyuan Alliance". Isn't this an act of delusion?

In fact, there is no confusion at all, because winter is coming!Once it was dragged into winter and the Yellow River froze, the Khitan cavalry could bypass the unprotected northern border, cross the river directly south, and approach the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.

There is an advantage in playing a group ahead, but the house is demolished, can you not be afraid!We can only try to retreat as soon as possible.

"It's dangerous to rely on the big river, but look at the river. In winter, you can run horses at will. If the northern army drives straight in, there will be no obstacles all the way, and you can go to Kaiyuan City.

There is no danger to defend, so we can only hoard the army. At the beginning, the hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops in Jingguo were all in Kaiyuan, and raising troops could drag down the country."

The Northern Song Dynasty maintained hundreds of thousands of troops stationed near the capital all year round, because there was no danger to defend, and the only natural danger was that the Yellow River would freeze, so it could only rely on people to pile up.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were needed excluding important border areas, and no matter how rich the Northern Song Dynasty was, it could be dragged to death by military expenditure.

"So at the beginning I was restless day and night.
I always think about going north. To solve this problem, there are only two ways, either to move the capital, or to make the north and northwest safe to defend.

Going north is to take back the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. Now that it has been done, there is still Liaodong and Liaoxi, so there is no need to worry about it. "Speaking of this, Li Xingzhou himself was relieved. In the past few years, he has been really worried every night, for fear that he will accidentally follow the footsteps of the Northern Song Dynasty.

At the beginning of the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the cavalry of the Jin Army drove straight in, directly to the city of Kaifeng.

"Your Highness is really far-sighted." Shen Lin said.

"It's not that far-sighted. Lord Wei, Lord Yang, and Lord Zhe must have thought of this matter." Li Xingzhou looked at them, and they didn't speak, which was regarded as acquiescing.

"Many times, there is an insurmountable gap between thinking and doing. Moving the capital involves too much, let alone you, and I dare not say it casually. It has been more than 100 years since I took back the land of Yanyun, and it has never been done before.

So people often say that I am far-sighted and wise, but I disagree. It is just that I am better at doing things than most people. "Li Xingzhou sighed.

Yelu Yali in his arms listened quietly, and the people behind him also nodded silently.

"What your Highness said makes sense, just think about it, anyone can do it, but how to do it is the most difficult." Wei Chaoren stroked his beard to answer.

"So the more land the better, especially the borderlands.

There must be a trade-off. If there is no danger to defend and no profitable land, it may only be a false name if it is occupied, and a large number of troops will be needed to guard it. "Li Xingzhou said.

"Good regards, Your Highness."

"In the future, there will definitely be more frontiers and territories. I need to explain the truth to you first."

In fact, any big country must avoid the "Northern Song trap" and not spend a lot of military and national power in the four wars that are difficult to defend, otherwise it will not go far.

In fact, the simple and once-and-for-all method is to move the capital, such as Luoyang or Chang'an. Zhao Kuangyin also saw the problem in his later years and wanted to move the capital to Luoyang.

But he was dissuaded by many ministers on the way, and his younger brother Zhao Guangyi was forced to give up. After returning to Beijing, he was killed for no reason.

There is a high probability that his younger brother did it, and Zhao Kuangyin's move of the capital has moved the interests of many people.

However, these people also killed the Northern Song Dynasty to protect their own interests. Later, the Jin soldiers went south. If the capital was Luoyang, which is surrounded by natural dangers, it would not be so miserable.

"Come on, let's talk about it, what do you think we should want in the future, and what should we not want?" Li Xingzhou said.

As soon as this topic was opened, everyone immediately started to discuss it. They are all soldiers and are most interested in these topics.

"In the Hetao area in the northwest, according to the opinion of the old minister, the northwest is a serious problem. The Tatars and Dangxiang people have always been at odds with China.

The water and grass in Hetao are fertile, and the cattle and sheep are very fat. The most important thing is that Hetao can rely on the big river as a natural barrier. It can attack the hinterland of Xia Kingdom in the west, and reach the desert grassland in the north. If you station troops there, you can secure the northwest. " Zhe Weizhong said first.

"However, it's not worthwhile to go north after passing the Hetao. Those places are either deserts or grasslands. The grasslands are not dangerous and not as fertile as the south, so the land north of the Hetao Plain is not worth it."

"I think it's good. If there is a grassland in the north, wouldn't there be endless Tatar horses, and I won't have to buy them from Tatars in the future." Yan Shen said.

Everyone laughed, and Yang Wenguang said: "It's a good idea, but it's not worth it to guard the grassland for Tatar horses. I don't know how many people are needed to guard it. The Liaodong Horse Farm and the Hetao Horse Factory are enough."

"Looking at it from this point of view, you all think that the land of Hetao is a must-fight. If you are asked to lead troops, how will you fight?" Li Zhou asked again.

Now everyone is more excited.

"If I go northward at Sanchuankou, follow Shilijing, and go northward at Niuxin Pavilion."

"No, Yongle City is strong and not so easy to fight."

"I think it's better to take the water route, hit the northernmost city of Wucihai by surprise, and then go south to Dingzhou and Huaizhou."

"You're not right. The Chaoshun army is stationed by the river in the north of Dingzhou."

"."

Everyone discussed intensely, while Li Xingzhou roughly took down their speeches.

He let everyone speak freely, but in fact he was also choosing in his heart, who could be the vanguard in recovering Hetao.

I already had a preliminary tactic in mind, with the new army navy as the main firepower, marching along the Yellow River by land and water, striking the enemy by surprise.

Therefore, Liu Ji's plan to directly bypass the south and east, and hit the northern Wucihai city by surprise is very appetizing to Li Xingzhou.

Because it can best play the naval advantage.

Wucihai city is on the bank of the big river in the northernmost part of Xia Kingdom, and it is an important town for garrison troops.

The most important thing is that if we honestly fight from land, whether it is from east to west as Yang Wenguang said, from the direction of Yongle City all the way to the west, or from south to north as Zhe Weizhong and Yang Hongzhao said, from Shilijing, To fight northward in the direction of Hongzhou and Yanzhou, they have to attack many towns along the way and push them slowly.

This is indeed the normal state of war in this era.

However, if he made a surprise attack directly from the north to the south from Shunda River, he could directly cross many fortified cities and attack Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Xia Kingdom!

Of course, there are still many difficulties in implementing it. The biggest difficulty is that the camp of Chaoshun Army on the right side of Xia Guo's "Imperial Forest Army" is located by the river to the north of Xingqing Mansion.

Moreover, there are Dingzhou and Huaizhou cities along the north coast of Xingqing Mansion, so it is not easy to get mixed up.

Fortunately, there is plenty of time for these issues, so they can be considered slowly.

However, after this conversation, the candidates for the generals in his mind were roughly determined.

As for how to fight, it can't be determined casually now, and more discussions are needed, especially for Xia Guo's intelligence, which is not enough, and we have to wait until the spring of next year to collect more.

Most people didn't feel anything about this river cruise and chat, thinking it was just an outing organized by him on a whim.

Only Wei Chaoren, Yang Wenguang, Zhe Weizhong and the old fritters could hear the unusual taste, and understood that Li Xingzhou was determined to fight Xia Guo and regain Hetao.

(End of this chapter)