The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

() Li Jiqian knelt on the ground and wailed loudly, kowtowing repeatedly. Li Jiqian, who grew up with Li Yuanhao, knew his cousin very well. Li Yuanhao was taller than his peers when he was very young. , The strong body and the domineering eyes have a deterrent force that makes people unstoppable.

When he was a teenager, Li Yuanhao liked to wear a long-sleeved white robe and a high black crown on his head, riding a tall horse with more than a hundred guards under him, and Li Jiqian was one of them who followed him; First cousins ​​with blood and blood ties, but Li Jiqian knew how ridiculous it was to talk about family ties in the royal family, so his childhood playmates were punished by Li Yuanhao one by one for offending them intentionally or unintentionally After that, the only remaining fruits are those three or two.

There is no secret in it, Li Jiqian only learned one trick, which is enough to save his life, and he can also gain Li Yuanhao's trust, and became the commander of the Jianing Army in Youzhou, Zuoxiang, one of the twelve supervising army divisions. There is only one sentence to sum up everything: usually pretend to be a softie, do not fight for land and money without real status, Li Yuanhao will give whatever he gives, but at critical times, he has to risk his life to protect Li Yuanhao's dignity.

Li Jiqian usually behaves very low-key when speaking and doing things, but he will also do a few unreliable and immoral things from time to time, which makes his reputation very bad; Li Jiqian knows very well that just being low-key is not enough, blindly Being a good guy will give Yuan Hao a feeling that he wants to form a clique, and in that case, his own death will be approaching.

Every time Li Yuanhao had a conflict with others since he was a child, no matter who is right or wrong, Li Jiqian would go up and punch the first punch without hesitation. Even if he was beaten all over his body, he would definitely shout: Yuanhao go first, I'll stop it!

The same is true for fighting the Song Dynasty. Li Jiqian chose the role of the vanguard without hesitation, and like a stunned young man, he exhausted his old foundation of the Jianing Army a lot, but he knew that the army did not It can be recruited, but if the head is gone, it will not grow back.

But this time, the matter of Li Ningming made Li Jiqian afraid. That was the crown prince. Li Yuanhao asked him to stay in the Jianing army just to practice, but the crown prince was eager to make contributions and insisted on robbing the supplies of the Song army Li Jiqian really couldn't hold him back; Li Jiqian didn't want to offend the prince, and his own impression in the heart of the future king was extremely important, but the problem was, the more he wanted to have both sides, the more mistakes he had to make, and he never entered and exited the Song Dynasty. The Great Xia Iron Cavalry, who had entered the land of no one, was completely annihilated by a team delivering supplies this time, and even the crown prince was captured. This was a big mistake.

Li Jiqian, who was informed of the bad news, stayed up all night, covering it was not a solution, he could only report it truthfully; sending someone to report it was not a solution, he could only report it face to face, begging for forgiveness; based on his own understanding of Yuan Hao, perhaps There is still a chance.

Li Yuanhao looked at Li Jiqian, who was crying loudly in front of him, and frowned, "What's wrong? You're not in Yuzhou to oversee military affairs, why are you crying in front of me? Could it be that Yuzhou fell?"

Li Jiqian kowtowed like pounding garlic, crying: "The emperor forgives the sin, the emperor forgives the sin."

Li Yuanhao was shocked and said: "What? Could it be that Youzhou really fell?"

Li Jiqian hurriedly said: "No, no, Yuzhou is safe and sound, Song soldiers are huddled in the city, and dare not show their faces at all."

Li Yuanhao let out a long breath, and said with a smile: "I was taken aback, as long as Yuzhou was not lost, what other big things would make you, Commander Li, cry like this, and said, as long as it is not a big mistake, I will forgive you." .”

Li Jiqian wiped his tears and said: "Your Majesty, Prince Ningming was captured by the Song army. I deserve death for my crimes. I beg the emperor to punish me."

Li Yuanhao was taken aback, and hurriedly asked: "How could it be? You said that the Song army was unable to retreat, and there was no major war between the two armies. How did Ning Ming be captured?"

Li Jiqian had no choice but to tell Li Yuanhao the whole thing, and Li Yuanhao was dumbfounded.

"Three thousand iron cavalry can't beat the grain guard team? How many people are there in the grain guard team?"

Li Jiqian said: "The detailed report is very detailed. There are 500 horsemen from the Song Dynasty and more than [-] escort soldiers, totaling [-] people."

Li Yuanhao reached out and grabbed a porcelain bottle on the table, smashed it on Li Jiqian's forehead, and said angrily: "Three thousand cavalry were defeated by this thousand and five hundred miscellaneous troops? Ning Ming was still captured alive? You gave Ning Ming What kind of soldiers are you bringing? Could it be three thousand burden soldiers?"

The so-called "burden" soldier is the title of Xixia, which refers to those who are in charge of miscellaneous services and logistics in the army. It is a title corresponding to the main army. Naturally, they are mainly old and weak, with little combat effectiveness.

Li Jiqian did not dare to wipe the broken porcelain and blood on his forehead, and hurriedly said: "How dare you, my brother, the three thousand soldiers are all elites of our Jianing Army, and the generals who assisted were Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming. A general who has experienced many battles, the prince went to battle, how dare the minister not be accompanied by the elite, and after the prince sent troops, in order to attract the attention of the Song army, the minister sent a large army to pretend to attack Beimulangzhai in Gyeongju, just to make the prince safer , but unexpectedly failed.”

Li Yuanhao was so angry that he stretched out his feet and kicked the chairs and stools in disorder, causing a mess in the room. Li Jiqian was too frightened to breathe out, and lay on the ground, letting the blood on his head drip down his face.

After a while, Li Yuanhao sat down slumped, sighed and said, "Get up, wash off the blood on your face, I have something to ask you."

Li Jiqian kowtowed and said: "I am guilty, I dare not get up."

Li Yuanhao said: "I know you can't help it. Ning Ming is very conceited, and he has read a lot of military books. Some time ago, I saw him reading "Field Song" and "Taiyi Jinjian Jue", which I liked to read when I was young. He wants to learn from me, but unfortunately he has too much ambition and talent, so he will never be able to become me. If he wants to fight, you can't beat him."

Li Jiqian mourned: "Even so, the minister is also responsible. The minister should send more soldiers and horses to follow the prince, so that such a thing will not happen."

Li Yuanhao sighed: "Is three thousand cavalry still few? I have three thousand elite cavalry in Daxia, which is enough to defeat the Song army's 500, but was defeated by only [-] people in this area. Ning Ming is incompetent; what's even more tragic is that he was captured alive, he should commit suicide immediately, this idiot!"

Li Jiqian said: "Your Majesty, what should we do now? I would like to make a big attack to get the prince back, but I will rely on the emperor's order."

Li Yuanhao frowned and thought about it for a while and said: "Song people took Ning Ming, presumably to blackmail me, hum, their wishful thinking may be in vain, I can make another prince, cut off their thoughts, I will return How many sons do you have?"

Li Jiqian asked Ai Ai: "Your Majesty, setting up a new crown prince now will kill Prince Ningming immediately. The people of Song Dynasty will kill him immediately if they see that it is useless."

Li Yuanhao opened his mouth and said with a sneer: "As I said, no one can coerce me. If Ning Ming is captured, he has already lost the qualifications to be a prince. How can I hand over my great Xia country to someone who has been captured alive for the enemy country? Killing him is the best end for him, for fear that the people of Song will coerce this soft-boned man into doing something appalling."

Li Jiqian looked blankly, nodded and said: "The emperor is wise, I understand."

Li Yuanhao asked Li Jiqian to stand up again, and ordered his servants to bring water and medicine to help Li Jiqian clean the wound and bandage it, and then gave him a seat. Then he asked: "I think this defeat must be a trap, are you sure?" Is the information correct?"

Li Jiqian got up and was about to kneel again, but Li Yuanhao stopped him and said, "Sit down and answer."

Li Jiqian said: "There is no mistake. Seven or eight times before, our army went deep into the Song Dynasty to rob the Song court of supplies. The number of people and the number of vehicles were all the same. It was all the news that should be given by the people in the Song Dynasty. This time the news The source is still those people, there is absolutely no mistake."

Li Yuanhao pondered: "That is to say, this time Ning Ming's opponent is a powerful person, who is the general who is escorting?"

Li Jiqian said: "Afterwards, I sent scouts to investigate for a day and a night, and reported that Di Qing from Yanzhou was present at the time of the battle, and there was another person who seemed to have a higher official position than Di Qing, whose name was... Su Jin, yes... It's Su Jin."

Li Yuanhao said in surprise: "Di Qing is here? This must be a trap. Di Qing is in Yanzhou, how could he appear in the team transporting supplies; but if there are only [-] soldiers participating in the battle, even Di Qing leads the team and wins." No, is it a trick set up by this Su Jin?"

Li Jiqian said: "After I go back, I will immediately inquire about the details of Su Jin, and then report back to the emperor."

Li Yuanhao said: "Alright, this matter can't be left as it is. If I don't show the Song people some color, I can't swallow this bad breath. Since you are here, I will recruit Zhang Yuan, Wu Hao, Ye Li Rongren, Ye Li Yuqi and others came to discuss countermeasures, and I want to go to the front line in person to give a head-on blow to the rude behavior of the Song people in order to retaliate against this matter."

Li Jiqian stood up impressively and said: "I am willing to be the vanguard and clear the obstacles for the emperor. It is a shame!"