Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 955 0950 [Brother Richard flips the table]

Luoyang, harem.

Li Qinglu knelt in the courtyard, her forehead touching the remaining snow water and she couldn't get up.

"Stand up and talk first." Zhu Ming frowned.

Li Qinglu hesitated for a moment, but finally thanked him and stood up to welcome Zhu Ming to the room to warm himself by the fire.

Zhu Ming stretched out his palms to the fire to warm himself, and asked, "You sent people to see me six times this month. Is there anything you want to say?"

Li Qinglu had already prepared her words: "I heard that the Ming Dynasty sent troops to Xixia. The two countries are originally father-son countries. If the son is unfilial, the father should ask him to change his ways. Why did he beat this son to death?"

Zhu Ming did not get angry. He picked up the fire tongs and turned the charcoal in the brazier. "Do you know what happened in Xixia? Three of the four major tribes of Dangxiang in Dingzhou rebelled and then crossed the desert to join the Ming Dynasty."

"The Dangxiang people in Dingzhou rebelled?" Li Qinglu was shocked.

Dingzhou was too close to Xingqing Prefecture. Li Qinglu certainly knew where it was. She totally couldn't understand why the Dangxiang tribe rebelled.

Zhu Ming said: "Brother Richard has built a mansion in Xingqing Prefecture. I heard that he has more than a hundred wives and concubines. He also sent people to seize the people's land and property and accepted bribes from officials inside and outside the country. Under the continuous natural disasters, even the Dangxiang people can't survive, and the lives of other ethnic groups are even more difficult. I sent troops to Xixia to recover the lost land and save the people from suffering."

Li Qinglu automatically blocked the words "recover lost territory" and said, "Brother Richard is a traitor. Your Majesty can eliminate him, and the people of Xixia can live a good life."

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Brother Richard's followers are all over the military divisions of Xixia. Can I eradicate them just because I say so? Xixia is in its current state, and it is not caused by Brother Richard alone."

As he spoke, Zhu Ming put away his smile and said with a serious expression: "The harem cannot interfere in politics. Don't mention this matter again. Otherwise, you may be the first concubine to be deposed in the Ming Dynasty!"

Li Qinglu was so frightened that she trembled all over, lowered her head and dared not say anything.

"I can only guarantee that your biological father and his family will be safe," Zhu Ming said, "but they must give up their property and move to Luoyang to settle down. I will give them a new mansion."

Hearing this, Li Qinglu felt better and said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your care."

Although Li Qinglu was called a princess, she was actually the granddaughter of Li Qianshun's cousin, and her biological father was Li Renli, the King Shu of Western Xia.

Zhu Ming had a good impression of Li Renli. He was well-versed in poetry and literature, a decent person, even a little pedantic.

When Li Renli was young, he was corrupt and accepted bribes. He was reprimanded by his brother Li Renzhong. He was so ashamed that he returned the stolen money and goods and never accepted any gifts again.

The description in history books is: Until his death, his family had no food stored.

This was extremely rare in the reign of Li Qianshun, where corruption was rife, like a firefly in the dark night.

Sparing his life and bringing him to Luoyang to settle down was already considered as Zhu Ming's care for Li Qinglu.

……

As winter turns to spring, a war is about to break out.

Zhang Guangdao, Zhang Tong, Li Bao, Yang Zhi and others all stayed in the court and were not sent to the front line.

They are a prince, a duke and a county lord, and they also serve in the cabinet, the Ministry of War and the Privy Council. It is not a good thing for them to continue to make military achievements.

It’s not good for yourself or the court!
What's more, they were in charge of the central government and made contributions to the destruction of Western Xia.

Veteran generals such as Hua Rong and Guan Sheng also stayed in the Privy Council.

Although they have a long history of service, they have already made the contributions they should have made, and they do not have the ability to be a commander-in-chief. It would be more appropriate for them to stay in Luoyang and serve as officials and enjoy a good life.

The commander-in-chief of the entire Shaanxi Front Army was Deng Chun and the deputy commander-in-chief was Li Yanxian.

Deng Chun is an old man from Daming Village. He is taciturn and introverted. At first, his ability was average, but he has great growth potential and insists on studying. Zhu Ming is still very confident in him.

Li Yanxian is more capable but has less experience. Zhu Ming is afraid that he cannot suppress the senior generals, so he makes Li Yanxian Deng Chun's deputy.

Shaanxi now has four major military corps.

The First Corps, led by Wu Jie, set out from Hehuang and was responsible for attacking the Hexi Corridor.

The Second Corps, led by Chen Ziyi, was responsible for attacking the Baotai Army and Jingsai Army of Western Xia on the front line of Huizhou, Xi'an Prefecture and Huaide Army.

The Third Corps, led by Zhang Xian, was responsible for attacking the Xiangyou Army and the Shenyong Army of Western Xia in Huanqing, Dingbian and Yansui, and cooperating with the Second Corps to attack the Jingsai Army.

The Fourth Corps, led by Yao Pingzhong, was responsible for removing the northern stronghold of the Shenyong Army in the Fugu area, which was the Shenmu area in later generations. Then they marched south to attack the Shenyong Army together with the northern army of the Third Corps.

A total of 80,000 imperial troops, 100,000 field troops, 100,000 garrison troops, 60,000 transport troops, 300,000 civilian laborers, and 400,000 heads of livestock were mobilized.

If civilians are also included, the Ming Dynasty dispatched 640,000 troops.

A total of 640,000 people (excluding Yue Fei and Han Shizhong’s troops)!
Head coach Deng Chun is currently located in Zhenrongjun City (Guyuan County).

Deputy Marshal Li Yanxian is currently located in Suide Military City.

The two of them are responsible for not only the dispatch and command of the entire army, but also the coordination and cooperation between the Second, Third and Fourth Corps.

As for the First Corps, there is no need for the two commanders to take care of it. They can just fight their way westwards from Lanzhou, and Wu Jie can lead his troops to fight as far as he wants.

In addition, there is no military supervisor.

In other words, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has been no such position as military supervisor. Every year, civil officials propose to rebuild the military supervisory system, and Zhu Ming is very entangled in this.

Looking at the historical context, Zhu Ming knows very well that things that are dispensable now will inevitably have to be restored in the future.

The future emperors who maintain the status quo will not have the control power of the founding monarch.

For example, several major protectorates were too far away from the ruling center. If the military supervision system was not established, who knows what the military generals could do.

Throughout the dynasties and at any time, military generals who are not supervised are always more destructive than civil officials!

In the early Tang Dynasty, the imperial censors were used as military supervisors, and the position was not permanent, which was considered a relatively feasible solution.

Zhu Ming planned to set up a military supervisory post after he destroyed Western Xia.

The specific operations are as follows:

First, following the example of the early Tang Dynasty, low- and middle-ranking censors were appointed as military supervisors.

Second, following the example of the early Eastern Han Dynasty, military supervision was institutionalized and normalized.

Third, following the example of the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, military supervisors were not allowed to be involved in command and had to strictly abide by military law.

Fourth, summarizing the harm done by military supervisors throughout the ages, high-ranking officials or eunuchs must not be temporarily appointed as military supervisors.

As for the possibility that the emperor who maintained the status quo would destroy this system a hundred years later, that was not something Zhu Ming could consider.

We can only trust the wisdom of future generations.

……

Xingqing Prefecture was in a state of panic.

Western Xia also had spies on the border of the Ming Dynasty. After the snow melted in the spring, the Ming army mobilized frequently and a large number of civilians gathered. The terrifying number scared the Western Xia monarch and his ministers.

Brother Richard also rushed back. He pointed at the map and analyzed:

"The enemies in the north (Han Shizhong and Yue Fei) were the route of the Liao Xingzong's invasion of Daxia. At that time, Emperor Wulie (Li Yuanhao) fortified the city and cleared the fields, lured the enemy deep into our territory, and finally repelled the Liao army."

"The enemy in the east (the Ming army in Shaanxi) was the route of the five-pronged attack by Emperor Shenzong of Song. At that time, our army also fortified the city and cleared the fields, luring the Song army to Xiping Prefecture (Lingzhou), and then dug up the canals and dams, flooding the Song army's food supply route with the water of the Yellow River, thus defeating the Song army."

Although Brother Richard is flattering Xixia, it is generally in line with the actual situation.

But the Ming army was neither the Liao army nor the Song army.

The Liao army won victory after victory, and Li Yuanhao was too scared to fight. He could only clear the fields and lure the enemy in. Then he sent envoys to apologize and try to delay the Liao army's offensive. In the end, the Western Xia was able to win because the Liao army was short of food and grass, and could not grab food from the Western Xia. The hungry and weak people and horses were counterattacked by the Western Xia.

The Song army also defeated the Xixia army and killed all the way to Lingzhou City, which was the old capital of Xixia and only a hundred miles away from the capital of Xixia.

Then, the Song army's bold move came.

The uncle of Empress Dowager Gao was one of the leading generals. He was afraid that the credit for conquering Lingzhou would be taken away, so he ordered the front-line troops not to attack the city immediately, but to wait for him to join forces. This gave the Xixia defenders enough time to deploy their defenses, and they also dug up the Yellow River embankment to cut off the Song army's supply line - it was over!
At that time, Zhong Yan's defeat was even more ridiculous.

Because it was too difficult to transport grain in the mountainous areas, the laborers were treated badly and were forced to hurry up, so there were constant escapes. The transport envoys were afraid that there would be problems with the grain transport work, so they petitioned the court and were given the power to directly execute civil officials below the prefecture level, and ordered the prefecture and county officials to complete the grain transport task.

The county officials were frightened and became even harsher on the laborers who transported grain. They often killed those who disobeyed orders or escaped, but did not improve the treatment of the laborers. This led to the laborers scrambling to escape, and the military grain could not be transported out. Zhong Yan was defeated due to the lack of food and grass.

All these are lessons learned through blood and tears.

The Ming Dynasty's Cabinet, Ministry of War, and Privy Council dug up the data on the Hundred Years' War between the Song and Xia dynasties, and Zhu Ming personally took the lead in summarizing the reasons for the Song army's successive failures.

First, abuse of civilians is prohibited and their treatment must be guaranteed.

Second, we must strictly prevent the Western Xia from breaching the dikes and launching water attacks using the Yellow River.

Third, anyone who tries to take credit and affects the overall situation will be stripped of his title, demoted, executed, and his property confiscated!
Li Renzhong said: "The two times that King Jin mentioned were both the most dangerous times for Daxia. Both times, the country was in danger of being destroyed. It seems that this time we should also fortify our defenses and lure the enemy deep into our territory, so that we can have a chance to turn defeat into victory."

Richard said: "I have already cleared the fields north of Keyi Gate, taken away all the livestock and food along the way, and even burned down the people's houses."

"Although Yue Fei and Han Shizhong have obtained some food and fodder from our army, they have consumed a lot of food and fodder since last autumn, and we cannot transport food in winter."

"Their military rations are basically transported from Shanxi, and the food route is at least one or two thousand miles away. If it drags on until summer, Yue and Han will run out of food and grass."

Li Renzhong asked: "How should the troops in the left wing (eastern part) retreat?"

Richard had already thought about it, and pointed to the map and said, "The Henan Army will retreat to Xiliang Prefecture (Wuwei), Baotai and Jingsai Army will retreat to Xiping Prefecture (Wuzhong). Xiangyou Army, Shenyong Army, and Jianing Army will retreat to Yanzhou. If Yanzhou is also difficult to defend, then continue to retreat to Baichi City. All armies will fortify their walls and clear the fields, leaving no food for the enemy! Once the Ming army's food supply route is extended, we will look for opportunities to cut off their food supplies. Also, dig the Yellow River if you can, and flood all the places that can be flooded!"

Li Renzhong was dumbfounded.

This means directly abandoning Xixia’s eastern and southern defense lines, and there is no way they will survive after the war.

All the places that could be flooded were flooded, which meant that the places where the Xixia people farmed and grazed were also flooded!

Even if Western Xia could repel the Ming army, Richard's move would cause famine everywhere.

(End of this chapter)