Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 290 On Xia Er

Xixia has a small population and barren land. Instead of wasting your thoughts on Xixia in a thankless manner, it is better to think about how to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were not only lost territory for the Han people, but also a barrier to the north.

The loss of the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures left the north with no danger to defend, and it could only passively defend against the northern nomads.

After listening to Sheng Changbai's article, Li An didn't know how to evaluate it.

In fact, not only Sheng Changbai, but most people in the Song Dynasty thought that Xixia was just a scabies disease.

Since the establishment of the Song Dynasty, as long as Xixia did not take the initiative to invade, the Song Dynasty would always take defense against Xixia.

When Xixia became independent, the Song Dynasty took the initiative to send troops.

In Li An's view, the reason for sending troops was all because of face, not strategy or politics.

In fact, Xixia was already a separate vassal state at the end of the Tang Dynasty, but it just did not establish a country.

Xixia is barren and many things must be obtained from Xixia.

The best way is definitely to deal with Xixia so that we can better deal with Liao.

After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Xixia became a vassal of the Song Dynasty.

For the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty, although this little brother was disobedient, he was still nominally affiliated with the Song Dynasty.

In Ang Lee's view, this is nonsense. The relationship between the Three Kingdoms is just like that period of the Three Kingdoms in history.

After all, during the Three Kingdoms period, they were all Han people, but now, they are still foreigners.

There have always been trade exchanges between the Song Dynasty and Xixia. The previous war between the Song Dynasty and the Xia Dynasty stopped for a few years and then resumed.

Silk, tea, porcelain, etc., even if banned, would not have a big impact, the focus is food.

Even so, the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty still did not pay attention to Xixia.

Because Xixia is too small and has insufficient war potential, it is even difficult to initiate a large-scale war.

As a result, Xixia was well prepared, but the Song Dynasty sent troops hastily. In addition, it had been defensive against Xixia for many years. The northwest frontier army had low combat effectiveness and returned in defeat.

Since then, he has been swinging between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, accepting the canonization of the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom.

Sheng Changbai finished reading, followed by Sheng Changfeng.

When Liu Bei conquered Wei, the State of Wu was naturally happy to watch the excitement, but once you progressed smoothly, the State of Wu would definitely not be able to continue to watch, and would definitely be holding back the situation.

Sheng Changfeng's article had nothing new. He first boasted that the northwest defense line created by Fan Wenzhenggong was impregnable, and then belittled Xixia.

Among the Song, Liao and Xixia, Xixia was the weakest, so it naturally wanted to maintain a balance.

In comparison, the Liao Kingdom in the north was a serious concern.

Wen Yanjing's article surprised Li An. The point he proposed was to impose a trade blockade on Xixia.

The general meaning is that Xixia is insignificant, so don’t worry about it.

After Sheng Changfeng finished reading, Li An and Wen Yanjing stood up and read each other's articles.

When Xixia became independent, they felt they had lost face and sent troops to attack others.

The land in Xixia was barren and they often had to buy grain from the Song Dynasty.

If the blockade is really implemented, it will indeed have a great impact on Xixia.

But Li An thought about it carefully and felt that this was not realistic.

Don’t the ministers and officials of the DPRK know the importance of food to a country?

There was nothing they could do to sell food to Xixia. Xixia was essentially a nomadic people, and what nomadic people like to do most if they don't have food is to rob it from the Han people.

Selling grain to Xixia, as long as the quantity is controlled, can not only solve border frictions, but also make money.

After Zhuang Xuexue listened, he smiled and said: "The focuses of your articles are different and you all have your own opinions. Why don't you each make a few comments?"

"Pedant, then let's get started." Sheng Changfeng stood up and cupped his hands.

Xuexue Zhuang nodded slightly and said, "Then you come first."

"Zi Qian, I don't quite agree with your point of view. As the second brother said, Xixia is very militaristic, so you don't need to pay too much attention to it. Xixia has less than three million people, but it has four to five million soldiers and horses. In my opinion , Xixia doesn’t need to deal with it at all, it will perish itself,” Sheng Changfeng said.

Sheng Changbai frowned slightly. Although Sheng Changfeng agreed with his point of view, he did not agree with Sheng Changfeng's words.

Without waiting for Li An to refute, he stood up and said: "Three younger brothers are wrong. Xixia is indeed aggressive in military affairs, but the military system used by Xixia is somewhat similar to the military system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Therefore, the actual burden is not that heavy."

"What Zecheng said is exactly what I want to say. The military system itself was created by the regime established by the nomadic people during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Because the nomadic people themselves are all soldiers. The Xixia royal family is a party clan and is a nomadic people." Li An said.

"It's a joke, since the military system is so good, why didn't the Song Dynasty continue to use it?" Sheng Changfeng retorted. Li An shook his head, there was nothing to argue with a military novice.

People like Sheng Changfeng, not to mention military novices, don't even understand history books.

The government military system is indeed a very good military service system in ancient times.

They serve as soldiers in war and as farmers in their spare time. They provide their own food, horses, weapons and armor.

You read that right, the government army system not only requires you to prepare your own weapons, armor and horses, but you also have to bring your own food and grass.

Those who don’t understand may find it unbelievable. You have to be a soldier to serve as a soldier. What are the soldiers doing?

In fact, although the court gave him nothing, not even military pay, the court gave him land.

Those who become Fu soldiers will be allocated a certain amount of land and will be exempted from taxes.

The collapse of the government army system was also due to serious land annexation and heavy taxes and servitude. The government soldiers were no longer able to bear the burden of providing their own weapons and armor.

After all, weapons and armor will be damaged in battle. If they are broken, you have to pay for repairs or rebuild them yourself.

What's more, Xixia did not implement a complete military system.

Coupled with the small population of Xixia, the four to five million soldiers and horses basically accounted for most of Xixia's young men. This is also the reason why Xixia won more than the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty, but did not expand much.

Because Xixia's war potential is very low, it simply cannot withstand a long-term war.

Sheng Changfeng was secretly proud when he saw Li An shaking his head and saying nothing, feeling that Li An was rendered speechless by him.

"Zi Qian, I still have some doubts about your article. Taking Hehuang will encircle Xixia, and it will indeed make Xixia vulnerable to enemies from both sides. However, the Song Dynasty will also have more places to defend, and the pressure will also increase. Now The Hehuang land is occupied by the Tubo and Qiang people, and Xixia also needs to be on guard. Wouldn't this be unnecessary?" Sheng Changfeng said.

There seems to be a T-shape between Hehuang, Xixia and Song Dynasty.

The Dazhou side is horizontal and shorter.

Xixia and Hehuang are the vertical ones, which are very long.

It is easy to understand what Li An said in his article about taking Hehuang and isolating Xixia.

It is nothing more than taking Hehuang and increasing the border between Xixia and Song Dynasty.

Although Xixia has four to five million soldiers and horses, these are not standing troops. They usually rotate back to farm and herd.

The purpose of isolating Xixia is to drag Xixia down in this way.

However, the Hehuang land is in the hands of the Tubo and Qiang people, and the areas bordering Xixia and the Hehuang land also need to be defended.

When the Song Dynasty captured Hehuang, it still had to be stationed separately, which seemed to have no practical significance.

"This is different." Li An shook his head and said: "The Tubo and Qiang people in Hehuang are constraining each other. There is a big gap between either party and Xixia. They will not send troops to Xixia at all, so there are not many troops stationed in Xixia. If it is Hehuang In the hands of the Song Dynasty, Xixia must be heavily defended.

The most important thing is to limit the development of Xixia.

Nowadays, Xixia can only develop in the Western Regions, Plateau and Hehuang. The grassland on the other side was the territory of the Liao Kingdom, and Xixia did not dare to compete with the Liao Kingdom.

The Western Region is even more barren than the Northwest. In addition, Lingzhou City was lost and had already been occupied by Xixia.

The plateau land is barren and it is difficult for ordinary people to adapt. Now the only direction Xixia can expand outward is Hehuang.

Taking Hehuang will not only force Xixia to increase its defense, but also prevent Xixia from expanding outward. "

"Zi Qian is a great talent, I will teach you now!"

Although Sheng Changbai likes to study military affairs, his main focus is still on reading, and he still focuses more on military talks on paper.

Hearing Li An's words, I felt like I had a sudden enlightenment.

Seeing several people stop, Zhuang Xuexiu looked at Wen Yanjing and said, "Why didn't Shigao say a word? No one asked or commented on Shigao's article."

"Back to my scholar, what Zi Qian and the others said involved military affairs. The student felt ashamed that he knew nothing about it, so he didn't say anything." Wen Yan bowed respectfully.

"It's good to know what's going on without hesitation and to swallow the sound." Zhuang Xuexuan praised it.

"Confucius said: Knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing, it is knowing. I often hear Changbai praising Shigao for his great knowledge. When I see him today, it is indeed extraordinary." Sheng Hong walked in with a smile.

"I've met Mr. Shanda!" Zhuang Xuexue quickly stood up and saluted.

"I've met my father!"

"I've met Uncle Sheng!"

"I've met Mr. Shengfu!"

Li An and others stood up and saluted.

(End of this chapter)