Became a feudal lord in the late Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 112 Regicide (Part )

Liu Ling took a deep breath, picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks, and a murderous look flashed across his face.

Fish and sheep are fresh, not to mention the sheep raised in Xixia and Liaodi. Although they also have a smell of mutton, they are indeed delicious.

When he ate it for the first time, Liu Ling lived in embarrassment in the city of Yanjing and vowed to make sure that he and his wife, Wan Niang, would always have good mutton.

When he had eaten for a full year, he began to long for other foods. Until now, when he saw mutton served again at noon, Liu Ling's face was a little calm.

Shi Liai ate next to him, but he didn't eat much, and he would cough occasionally. He didn't talk while eating. After eating, he put down his chopsticks. The maid brought tea to soothe his throat. He took a sip and then started talking slowly. He looks like a fastidious old leader.

"This time, we can consider putting Lord Xia to death in Wuzhou."

"Not so good."

Liu Ling did not immediately feel that he could not do it. After all, he had 30,000 soldiers. If he expanded it, he could easily raise an army of more than 100,000. However, he still had to worry about insufficient money and food.

But he can really pull it out now.

The Jin people privately returned 5,000 households, but did not mention it publicly. The Song people conscripted 15,000 households from Hebei into Yan. The public statement was that they were building the Great Wall and stationing troops in wasteland.

Even in the hall of the Great Song Dynasty, the Xia people's border affairs were not mentioned much. Both the peace faction and the war faction were quarreling happily around the suggestions of Zhenyuan Army commander Liu Ling and Xuanfu Tong Guan.

The Song people didn't care about their own land. Liu Ling felt that although he could kill the Xia Lord and intimidate Xixia, the price would definitely be high.

Why bother?
  "Li Qianshun's queen is the princess of Gu Liao. His prince is devoted to Gu Liao. If Lord Xia dies,"

"If I really kill Li Qianshun, the crown prince of Tongliao will succeed him, and he may join forces with the Xia people. But it is a pity that the prince Li Renai has died in Shenwu County." Liu Ling put down his words. Chopsticks, shook his head.

"It would be better if he died."

Shi Liai said calmly. There were still a few bones that were not easy to chew in the mutton soup in front of him. He took out a piece and put it on the table, saying, "This is Li Renai."

Immediately afterwards, he took out another bone, and now there was only broth floating with grease in the soup bowl.

Liu Ling smiled and asked, "Is this the rest of Xixia?"

The dignified emperor and prince of Xixia were compared to two hard-to-gnaw bones by Shi Liai, and all the people and soldiers of Xixia were like a bowl of soup in his eyes.

"If Li Qianshun died but his son Li Renai did not die, then he would naturally become the emperor of the Xia people."

Even though the emperor of the Liao Kingdom had only recently enthroned the position of emperor, the Jin Kingdom actually recognized it.

Liu Ling nodded slightly and asked: "If he is close to Liao, then he will naturally be good to me. So now that Li Renai is dead, there is no need for me to risk losing a lot of troops to kill his father."

"The commander-in-chief is excellent in martial arts, literature and strategy, but I only think he doesn't know much about court."

Shi Liai replied, which was equivalent to denying Liu Ling's judgment.

"I said that both Li Renai and Li Qianshun should die, it will be good for you. If Li Qianshun, the lord of Xia, dies, but the prince Li Renai does not die, then the day after the prince becomes emperor, he will immediately send troops Attack Yandi. Because it was the Zhenyuan Army who killed his father, and he had to do this to the country, family and filial piety.

The affairs of a country sometimes cannot be brought to the fore, and sometimes they appear extremely rigid. "

Liu Ling pondered for a moment. He only knew a little about the name and life experience of Xia Lord Li Qianshun. As for other things, there was also who in Xixia could continue to provide Liu Ling with benefits after the death of the emperor and the prince. He really doesn't know.

"The queen of Xia Lord Li Qianshun is from the old Liao clan."

"I killed her son, and if I do what you say and I have to kill her husband, will she provide me with benefits?"

She is not Pan Jinlian.

"The queen of the Xia people actually doesn't have much power. If the prince and the emperor of the country were killed in battle and were buried with a large number of troops, the whole country of the Xia people would be shocked. Next, no matter who wants to compete for that seat, they will A legitimate flag must be erected first.

If the new king wants to continue to pay money, the queen will have to die suddenly and follow her husband and son. "

If the money is reduced, killing the queen who was born as a Khitan would be absolute political correctness.

"As soon as the Xia Lord Li Qianshun dies, she will become the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother can rule the court. Let her hold up a banner. There are also Tongliao factions in the Xia people's court who can gather in front of her curtain. And you, as her With help, you can get the support of at least half of the Xia Kingdom.

By then, Yunzhong Mansion will be surrounded by you and the Xia people. Unless the local defenders pay money, they will have no choice but to move closer to you. "

"Are you taking it too much for granted?" Liu Ling frowned slightly. The result was undoubtedly wonderful, but the process was tortuous and difficult.

Don't say anything else,
  The prerequisite for accomplishing this is to kill Xia Lord Li Qianshun. Do the tens of thousands of Xia army soldiers around him live for a living?

Every time Shi Liai proposes a strategy, he tends to take risks, but as long as it is done, the rewards will indeed be huge.

He stood up and came to Liu Ling. He took out a map that had been redrawn in the past few days from his arms. Because it was a small map, it was much simpler. It only had rough geographical indications and annotations, but it was easier for people to read. clear.

From Shuozhou City to the eastern border of Xixia, Shi Liai's hand slowly crossed and formed a straight line on the map.

"The Lord of Xia is going south with all his troops, and there is no one behind him. We can attack the places where the Xia army is storing food one by one, leaving them with no food to eat!"

Dignity, for different people, is just a commodity with different price tags.

If you want it, you have to pay more.

The faces of the Song people are worth a lot of money, but their dignity is worthless, while the faces of the Xia people are as worthless as their dignity.

Just like a maned dog on the grassland, no matter how despicable the methods are, no matter how sloppy life is, as long as it has a full stomach and lives, it doesn't care about anything else.

The Song people lost half of Yunzhong, and the army rushing to rescue Yunzhong was stationed on the border without moving their buttocks. Only small groups of troops like Zhe Keqiu went to garrison in each city to guard against the Xia people.

If there is a dispute between two major countries, and if one party quickly opens up the situation with a certain advantage in the short term and uses its own size to continuously expand this advantage, then the failure of the other party is almost inevitable.

But if there is a tie at the beginning, the two countries will easily fall into a long period of fierce fighting and confrontation. In the long period of time that follows, they will fully understand their respective advantages and disadvantages, and then they can only remain in this stalemate. .

The Song and Xia people had been at war for a long time, and they knew each other well. Even Han Shizhong, who was a soldier in the Western Army from the beginning, was the first to ascend, kill the generals, and capture the flag during the fight with the Xia people. He has all contributed to the four great feats of , and trapping the enemy.

So when facing the Xia people, the Song people were still very angry.

The reverse is actually the same.

Lord Xia was considered a "personal expedition" this time. Although the two neighbors, old and new, did not take him seriously, even Liu Ling took him seriously after knowing that he was a man who liked to use his wife and children as bargaining chips. I don't think highly of it.

But to his subjects in the country, the majesty of the emperor Li Qianshun naturally existed.

Eating, sleeping, and harvesting grass and grain are what happened on the border between Song and Xia.

After capturing Shuozhou and Wuzhou in the past few days, when the deputy general reported that the army under the banner of Korean characters was continuously withdrawing southward, the corners of Li Qianshun's lips could not help but raise crazily.

"General Li of the former army sent a message saying that we will catch up soon."

"Presumptuous!" Li Qianshun said.

The lieutenant general was slightly startled when he heard that his emperor actually said: "Let Li Liangfu chase slowly. Don't catch up until you reach Dongjiazhai!" Dongjiazhai is one of the many fort systems on the border of the Song Dynasty. The garrison troops are limited and mainly serve to block enemy troops and light beacon fire to warn the rear.

The deputy general was puzzled, but Li Qianshun breathed a sigh of relief and felt settled.

He even hoped in his heart that the Zhenyuan army had better run farther, otherwise my son would die in vain.

Tiger poison does not eat its children. Li Qianshun really did not want his son to die like this at first. How can he still have feelings for a dog, let alone him who has few heirs?
  But once Li Renai died, Li Qianshun almost without hesitation put all his chips in. At the same time, he also prepared to let his beautiful queen die suddenly after returning home after winning the battle.

My son is lonely down there,

You, a mother,
  It's better to go and accompany him in advance.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

The sound of war drums shook the heaven and earth. The gate of Shuozhou City was shaking and bursting open. Flags of the Zhenyuan Army began to pour in from the top of the city. Most of the Zhenyuan soldiers fought in bloody battles, killing the Xia defenders all the way. .

In the city, there were also prisoners of the Song Army who were fighting for their lives and resisting, but many of them were killed by the Xia Army. After the Zhenyuan Army completely broke through the city gate, these people were finally saved.

In the sight of these prisoners, a large number of armored soldiers surrounded the city, and all the Xia soldiers were forced to kneel down. It was obviously a noisy post-war city, but at this moment, everyone heard the sound of horse hooves.

A black-armored general came slowly on horseback. The black-armored general on the horse took off his coat. When he looked over, the prisoners could not help but lower their heads and did not dare to look at each other.

The opponent's momentum is really terrifying.

But Liu Ling was unaware of the fear in their eyes. Beside him, the Song envoy Liu Kai couldn't help but ask: "How many casualties did the Zhenyuan Army have in this battle?"

"More than 200 soldiers were killed and injured, and the auxiliary soldiers and civilians suffered more casualties."

Liu Kai was not ignorant of soldiers. After doing some calculations silently, he realized some differences between the Zhenyuan Army and his own Song Army and even the Western Army.

In his opinion, the casualties are acceptable, not to mention that Shuozhou City is the largest city in Shuozhou. As long as this city is destroyed, the next few towns, forts, and villages in the west and surrounding areas will all be destroyed without attack, because there is no way to defeat them. Soldiers can defend.

The Zhenyuan Army rested in Shuozhou City tonight, and the military officials were nervously counting the money and food stored in the city. Lord Xia had been stationed here before, and even some missing "ceremonial objects of the Tianjia" could be found.

Liu Kai followed Liu Ling. Liu Kai admired this military commander with the same surname, but he did not express his admiration too much. After all, he was still from the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, Liu Ling's voluntary abandonment of Shenwu's order also vaguely showed that he was more scheming and at least not completely consistent with the interests of the Song Dynasty.

Liu Kai stood aside and heard the figures reported to Liu Ling by the clerk. After the clerk left, he asked in a low voice: "With so much money and food, your army can't take it away, can it?"

"Not just here, if you untie and attack all the way to the west, you will definitely grab more and more money, food and wealth. My army of more than 10,000 people cannot afford it." Liu Ling said lightly.

Looking at his face, Liu Kai suddenly had a guess in his heart and said in shock: "Don't you want to be burned?"

"That's too bad. It's food after all."

"and you."

Liu Ling waved his hand, "I have my own opinion, please don't ask more questions, Brother Liu."

He sent someone to send Liu Kai to find a place to rest. Han Shizhong came to Liu Ling. Liu Ling took a bunch of washed grapes from his hand and put it into his mouth, slowly feeling the sweet and sour taste.

"Commander, the envoy of the Jin people has arrived."

When these words came out of Han Shizhong's mouth, they seemed very inconsistent no matter what.

Liu Ling nodded slightly, ate grapes, and then motioned for him to lead the way.

"puff"

Wearing regular clothes, walking lazily, and spitting grape seeds while walking, this scene undoubtedly made the envoy of the golden man very unhappy.

"May I ask your envoy's name?"

Liu Ling asked in Jurchen dialect.

"I'm going to lower my rank, Wang Ahai."

"It turns out to be the king's envoy." Liu Ling handed him some grapes. Wang Ahai was stunned for a moment, thanked him before taking them. He ate one grape and couldn't help but said: "It's so sweet."

"There is plenty of fruit here. If the messenger likes it, he will have someone pack a cart for you and take it away tonight."

"No." Wang Ahai shook his head and said, "I have been ordered to collect the grain. I also asked the commander to hand over the Xia people's grain to us. I will definitely give the commander a satisfactory price."

If Li Qianshun heard what he said here, he would probably be furious to death.

Wang Ahai just told him that Dai Jin didn't have enough troops and would not interfere in the affairs here, but he came to Liu Ling to collect grain and ate it properly.

Of course, this is also part of the condition for the Jin people not to interfere.

Seeing that he took the initiative to bring up business, Liu Ling was too lazy to be polite and asked directly:

"Where's the money?"

"Where's the food?"

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Wang Ahai took the initiative to laugh, "Dajin, you won't treat the commander badly."

"You mean you want to have sex for free?"

Wang Ahai frowned slightly, "How can the state affairs of Dajin be said so unpleasantly? If Marshal Liu surrenders, our country has promised to be a king, and it is the same now. Why bother to be an aggrieved founding prince on the side of the Song people?"

"Give me money." Liu Ling replied patiently.

Wang Ahai suddenly felt that if Li Qianshun was a carrion-eating eagle, then Liu Ling probably belonged to Pixiu.

I can eat anything, just don’t suffer a loss.

He gritted his teeth and said, "It's really a long journey and we're in a hurry. Therefore, we can't settle the accounts for the time being. But please don't worry, Marshal Liu. My big gold is not bad at this point. If Marshal Liu..."

Liu Ling spit out a few grape seeds with a "pop" sound and waved his hand in the distance.

"Save enough food for the army, and burn the rest. Don't leave even a grain for the Xia people."

"Wait!"

Wang Ahai roared and said: "I have horses, Xia people's horses! I will trade them with you!"

(End of this chapter)