Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 868 0863 [Collusion between Xiliao and Xixia]

When Ju Ming received a letter from Gaochang asking for help, Yelu Dashi was already attacking Kashgar.

On the day of siege, take it directly!
Because the elite of Kashgar rebelled and went to the capital last year, they were already destroyed by Yelu Dashi.

Several of the generals who led the army were captured alive. Yelu Dashi did not kill them, but allowed them to continue to lead the army and lead the way back to Kashgar.

Yelu Dashi continued to advance, personally led the main force to capture Aksu, and then sent a partial division to occupy Hotan.

In the summer, Yelu Dashi captured the entire Eastern Kara Khanate, and the 50,000-strong army continued to march eastward towards Turpan.

Tens of thousands of enemy troops besieged the city. King Bileg of Gaochang lamented: "The reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty can't wait for them. Please follow me out of the city to ask for surrender."

After saying this, Belgo sent an envoy.

Yelu Dashi said to the envoy: "As long as Biluo surrenders, I will let him rule Gaochang. I can swear to God that if I violate my oath, I will strike with five thunderbolts!"

The envoy quickly returned to the city to resume his mission.

Yelu Dashi captured the Eastern Kara Khanate, strictly controlled the army along the way, and did not harm the people of all ethnic groups.

Xiliao was far away from Ming Dynasty, so he felt that there would be no big war.

He was not afraid of angering the Ming Dynasty and sending troops to attack, after all, there was Xixia in the middle. As long as Xixia is not destroyed, the Gaochang Uighurs will be safe.

At the same time, it also declared freedom of religion and would not force any ethnic group to convert, nor change the customs and traditions of any ethnic group.

Bi Lege took his wife, children, officials, and Gaochang's register and map, and went out of the city to kneel down to greet the Yelu Dashi: "The little king comes to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty!"

After Yelu Dashi entered the city, he wrote two letters of credence and sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty and Xixia respectively.

Although he swallowed up the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, he also condescended to worship Emperor Zhu as his elder brother. When the two sides are even, everyone is happy and can happily do business from now on.

If Emperor Zhu doesn't give face, then let's break up.

"Get a pen and paper!"

Yelu Dashi said: "You personally wrote a letter to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, saying that as the lord of the vassal, he could not keep the vassal safe. He was really incompetent. Now you have chosen another Ming lord and are no longer a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. Tell him not to do it again in the future. Send an envoy."

This is Yelu Dashi's true thoughts.

Biluo was overjoyed and knelt down again, kowtowed and shouted: "Holy King, please accept the nine bows of the little king!"

He then said to Bilu Ge: "If there are Khitans or Han people who escape to your rule, you must protect them and send these people to me."

"This..." Big Brother heard this and everyone was numb.

"Yes!" Biluo dared to object.

Can a trade embargo prevent smuggling?

Yelu Dashi got off his horse and helped Big Brother up with his own hands: "I keep my word. Now I will make you the Protector of Yi, and you can continue to rule this place. Moreover, I will not launch an army to plunder, you just need to provide some military rations." Of course, I will leave an official to assist you."

Big Brother quickly flattered: "The Emperor of the Ming Kingdom is of course not as good as the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty."

But he also privately ordered the Khitans to prohibit intermarriage with all ethnic groups in Central Asia and to only believe in Buddhism. The Khitans in Western Liao were only allowed to marry Khitans and Han people from now on to ensure that they would not be assimilated by those ethnic groups.

But Gaochang relies heavily on the Silk Road. What if the Ming Emperor angers the Emperor and imposes trade sanctions on Gaochang?
Yelu Dashi understood what Big Brother was thinking, and comforted him: "Don't worry. I have some friendship with Emperor Zhu of the Ming Dynasty, and I will send someone to deliver his credentials to him. From now on, Daliao and the Ming Dynasty will still be brothers. . I can give Emperor Zhu face and recognize him as my brother, which will not affect the trade. "

Yelu Dashi smiled and said: "What benefits can you get from surrendering to the Ming Emperor? There is Xixia in the middle. Can the Ming State send reinforcements? Now that you have surrendered to me, no matter who comes to attack Gaochang, I will send troops to defeat him." Drive away.”

Now I am asking Bilge to help me bring in more Khitans and Han people.

Yelu Dashi stood on his horse and looked to the east, murmuring to himself: "Sooner or later there will be a battle between you and me."

Bilge, however, looked at Yelu Dashi and couldn't even cry even if he wanted to.

It was agreed that he would continue to rule Gaochang, but Yelu Dashi left officials to "assist" him. In the past two days, they also replaced the generals of Gaochang and relieved Biluo from his military command.

Belgo returned to the palace and began to lay down on his back: "Bring me some wine!"

……

The capital of Xixia.

Li Renzhong, the king of Pu, and Richard brother, the king of Jin, sat on the left and right respectively.

After Brother Richard sent troops to capture Baotou, it started to tremble again in the past few years. He was arrogant and domineering in his words and deeds, and he took bribes to promote officials. He also built houses in the capital of Xixia that exceeded the regulations.

However, power has reached a delicate balance, and the emperor will still be given face at critical times.

"What does Yelu Dashi's letter of credence mean?" Li Qianshun asked.

Li Renzhong speculated: "Is it possible to sow discord?"

Brother Richard had already guessed what Yelu Dashi was thinking: "How can there be any sowing discord? The Ming Dynasty had a strong military and destroyed the Jin Kingdom, and Yelu Dashi was also afraid. Although I haven't read a few books, I also know the meaning of lips dying and teeth cold. "

Li Renzhong also figured it out: "If our Daxia is destroyed, Yelu Dashi will face the Ming Dynasty directly. Therefore, Yelu Dashi will do everything possible to protect our Daxia."

Li Qianshun nodded and said, "It must be so."

Li Renzhong said: "Your Majesty, our country can continue to be vassal to the Ming Kingdom. But we must also maintain good relations with the Liao Kingdom (Western Liao) and treat merchants from the Liao Kingdom well. If the Ming Kingdom sends troops to attack in the future, we should immediately attack the Liao Kingdom. If you ask for reinforcements, Yelu Dashi will definitely send troops to rescue you.”

"Are we also going to have a father-son relationship with the Liao Kingdom?" Li Qianshun no longer cares about being the emperor.

Li Renzhong shook his head: "No need. One country cannot serve two masters, and it cannot give the Ming Dynasty an excuse to send troops. Since Yelu Dashi respects Emperor Zhu as his elder brother, I and the Liao Kingdom can be uncle-nephew. Your Majesty, please prepare the national ceremony as soon as possible, He should also marry Yelu Dashi and marry a princess to him."

Li Qianshun agreed. This kind of thing is too familiar to Xixia.

The Liao Kingdom became the Western Liao Kingdom, and the Song Kingdom became the Ming Kingdom. The relationship between the Three Kingdoms was still the same as before.

Daming and Xiliao are brothers, and Xixia is their son and nephew. Once dad calls, go to your uncle for help and teach the unfilial father a lesson.

After some further discussion, Li Renzhong and Brother Richard resigned.

Soon, Li Qianshun called Li Renzhong back behind Brother Richard's back and asked, "How are the firearms going?"

Li Renzhong said: "Six artillery pieces and more than a hundred fire blunderbuss have been built."

"You arrange a time for me to inspect the firearms," ​​Li Qianshun said.

A few days later, Li Qianshun came to the firearms testing site.

Li Renzhong pointed to the artillery and introduced: "The six artillery pieces are divided into three types. The cast iron cannon is easy to explode, so several rings of iron hoops must be added. The wrought iron cannon is too slow to make. The copper cannon is too expensive to make, and there is not that much copper. material."

Artillery is really not complicated.

The Jin Kingdom had too much internal strife and had no time to develop.

Even so, before the fall of the Jin Kingdom, firearms were quietly developed.

Xixia developed firearms earlier because it hurt them.

So far, Xixia has been researching and developing it for nine years.

Although the gunpowder has not yet reached the optimal ratio, and it is not known to granulate the gunpowder, several types of artillery have been created.

"boom!"

There was a loud noise and the shells flew out.

Unfortunately, the cannonballs landed randomly, tens of meters away from the target.

Li Renzhong said: "Your Majesty, I have been training the gunners, and they are more accurate than before."

Li Qianshun praised: "King Pu's hard work has made great achievements."

After testing the artillery, I tried the musket again.

More than a hundred matchlock guns fired in a crackling volley, with good firing and hitting rates.

But this is just a walkthrough.

Without granulated black powder, filling it too tightly or too loosely will affect the range and may even prevent normal firing. If they go to the battlefield, the musketeers will definitely be nervous and it will be difficult to reach the level of usual drills.

In order to ensure the firing rate, musketeers who use powdered gunpowder usually fill the gunpowder half full. But this will affect the range and power of the musket.

Artillery, too.

Li Qianshun asked: "How many firecrackers can be made in a year?"

Li Renzhong said: "It depends on the number and skills of the craftsmen. The current craftsmen can make more than a hundred fire guns a year."

"I will allocate another 100 craftsmen to you to build 3,000 fire blunderbuss as soon as possible!" Li Qianshun said.

Li Qianshun wanted to create a musketeer team, not only to deal with the Ming Dynasty, but also to suppress the increasingly arrogant Brother Richard.

Training a musketeer team of three thousand people was nothing to the Ming Dynasty, but it was quite difficult in Xixia.

Moreover, Xixia is still casting cannons.

Li Qianshun asked again: "It is said that the Ming Dynasty had a kind of fire gun that could be fired without a match rope?"

Li Renzhong said: "It should be fired with flint. But I asked craftsmen to make several of them, but they worked sometimes and sometimes not. Pulling the spring spring ten times can only fire three or four times at most. No matter how you improve it, you can't improve it."

"Then make the one with the match rope first." Li Qianshun said.

After inspecting the firearms, when he returned to the palace, a eunuch came up to him and whispered, and Li Qianshun's good mood disappeared instantly.

But it was Brother Richard who forcibly demolished private houses and expanded his own Jin Palace.

Today's Jin Prince's Mansion has been expanded once, and some decorations are seriously illegal. Now, there is no restraint and a second expansion is going to be carried out, which makes Li Qianshun feel seriously uneasy.

Li Qianshun said to the accompanying eunuch: "Reduce the expenses in the palace. I, the concubine, the prince, and the princess will only sew one set of winter clothes this year. Daily dishes and fine wines will also be reduced by another 20%. Don't do this. Side story, just do it quietly."

"Your Majesty, you have wronged yourself so much!" the eunuch said, wiping his tears.

Li Qianshun is indeed aggrieved.

He succeeded to the throne at the age of three, and his mother's party was in power. Empress Dowager Liang made Xixia into a mess. Fortunately, he angered the Liao Kingdom and sent an envoy to poison the Empress Dowager Liang to death. Li Qianshun was finally able to take charge of the government and marry the princess of the Liao Kingdom as a backing.

However, the Liao Kingdom fell, and his queen and son died of illness one after another inexplicably. Brother Richard wielded military power to bully the emperor.

Now there are internal and external troubles.

At home he was afraid that Brother Richard would rebel, and abroad he was afraid that the Ming Dynasty would come to kill him.

Now I can only live frugally, save some money between my teeth, and quickly build a firearm to save my life. Maybe he still can't defeat Daming, but he can suppress Brother Richard, otherwise he won't be able to sleep at night.

(End of this chapter)