A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1035: Knock on the mountain to scare the tiger and frighten Jiangnan, the delusion is shattered and finally faced

September, the 16th year of Great Chapinin

Chai Rong's pacification army was ordered to march north and station troops in Ezhou.

When Li Yu, the ruler of Southern Tang, learned that Daxia had destroyed Southern Han, he was terrified and sent his younger brother, Prince of Zheng, Li Congshan, to Kaifeng to pay tribute.

On the one hand, he congratulated Daxia on its military achievements, and on the other hand, as a sign of respect, he was willing to lower his own title and change it to "Lord of Jiangnan", and he also requested to abolish the courtesy of not calling him by his name in imperial edicts.

The Great Xia Emperor Bai Xi was very satisfied with Li Yu's humble attitude and agreed to Li Yu's request.

But when Li Congshan requested to return to his country, he acted out of character, saying that Jiangnan was a small country, so how could it accommodate a prince?

It was also said that the King of Jiangnan had a new mansion in Kaifeng and needed to keep someone to boost his popularity, so he detained Li Congshan in the mansion given to Li Yu in Kaifeng.

When the envoy from Jiangnan Kingdom returned to Nanchang, Li Yu learned about this from the deputy envoy. He just sighed repeatedly and did not rashly request the return of King Zheng.

The first month of the seventeenth year of Daxia Pingning

A businessman secretly reported that Xia's army built a thousand warships in Hunan, including more than fifty new gunboats that performed brilliantly in the Hukou naval battle.

Some ministers in the court believed that this was a sign that Daxia was preparing to attack them, and requested to take the initiative and send people to secretly burn Daxia warships.

However, Li Yu was afraid of getting into trouble and being blamed by Daxia, so he did not approve it.

In order to ease his inner worries, Li Yu had to hold banquets and drink with his ministers every day, singing sad songs during the feasts.

March
Emperor Bai Xi of Xia sent Yang Shiqiang, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, to Nanchang as an envoy.

During the banquet, the palaces in Nanchang were praised as majestic and magnificent, and their construction and shape were exactly the same as the Song Palace in Kaifeng.

He also praised the Jiangnan rulers and ministers for being so virtuous and talented, saying that the house must be full of prime ministers.

He also proposed to compete in literature with the scholars of the Jiangnan Hanlin Academy to see whether he, a Hanlin scholar of Daxia, had higher literary attainments or Li Yu, a Hanlin scholar of Jiangnan, had better literary talent.

Upon hearing what Envoy Xia said, some students from Jiangnan expressed their dissatisfaction and requested to compete with Yang Shiqiang in poetry.

But Li Yu was a man who could immediately understand the accusation of the messenger.

He first rebuked the students for being ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, and then said to Yang Shiqiang calmly:
"You are joking, the messenger. There is no Hanlin Academy in Jiangnan. There is only the Institute of Literature."

Yang Shiqiang asked in confusion, "Really?"

Li Yu laughed loudly: "Of course, there is only one Hanlin Academy in the world, just like there is only one emperor in the world, your Majesty the Great Xia Emperor."

Yang Shiqiang also laughed out loud after hearing this: "I'm drunk, I'm drunk."

After the banquet, Xia Shi was helped away drunk, leaving the Southern Tang emperor and his ministers in the meeting room with faces full of grief and indignation.

"Your Majesty, Great Xia has insulted us too much. I request that the whole country mobilize its forces to launch a northern expedition against Great Xia."

"Yes, if we really fight head-on, it's still unclear whether we will live or die."

Li Yu's face flushed as he looked at the ministers in the hall who only knew poetry and songs. He finally understood what the literati spirit was. It was as if Daxia had disappeared in an instant in their mouths.

"The messenger just told me that the Emperor of Daxia appointed my brother, Prince Zheng, as the governor of Taining last month, and also granted him a house in Kaifeng."

"Vacating the original house is a hint that I should personally go to Kaifeng to surrender."

After hearing this, although the ministers were sad and angry, most of them remained silent.

Li Yu was disappointed and distracted, making it difficult for him to lead the team.

"Well, pass on my order, starting today, change the name of 'edict' to 'teaching'."

"The Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel were changed into the Left and Right Internal Affairs Offices, the Ministry of Shangshu was changed into the Ministry of Meetings, the Censorate was changed into the Ministry of Censors, the Hanlin Academy was changed into the Wenguan Academy, and the Privy Council was changed into the Guangzhengyuan."

"The kings were demoted to 'gong', and the taboo of Hou Xia was avoided to show respect."

March 10
When Xia's envoy Yang Shiqiang was preparing to return north, Li Yu personally escorted him out of the city.

He also said that he would send the Minister of Revenue Feng Yanlu to thank Li Congshan for the title he had received, and that he was willing to accept the title bestowed by the Later Xia, but only requested that he be allowed to stay in Nanchang.

Yang Shiqiang still had a smile on his face: "I will take your words to you, Your Majesty, and I will also tell you the truth about my experiences these days. Your Majesty, please stay."

Looking at the direction where Yang Shiqiang's team was going away, Li Yu felt exhausted. He ordered his troops to return to the palace and set up a banquet, inviting famous literary figures and famous prostitutes in Beijing to attend the banquet.

March 23
Yang Shiqiang, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, returned to Beijing and entered the palace on the same day. He told the emperor everything he had seen and heard in Southern Tang. After hearing what Li Yu had done, Bai Xi smiled and said to the crown prince Bai Mu: "This Jiangnan Li Yu still wants to secede from Jiangxi and govern the country."

"Then will His Majesty still summon the envoy from Jiangnan?"

"Just tell him that I have been ill for the past few days and am not feeling well. Ask him to go to the East Palace and have the Crown Prince summon him on my behalf."

"The minister obeys the order."

After Yang Shiqiang left, Bai Xi repeatedly told him how to treat the Southern Envoy before letting him go.

"Send an order to summon the envoy of Wu to the palace."

October
Pan You, the secretary of the Jiangnan Internal History Bureau, felt deeply that the country was in decline, and urged the wise and capable Li Ping to be the presiding judge in charge of the reform and establishment of the new country.

However, he was stopped by Li Yu's favorite ministers Xu Xuan and Zhang Li, who said that "Li Ping spread rumors to confuse the people and instigated Pan You to commit rebellion."

As the situation escalated, the people in the country knew about another Li Ping who wanted to restore the country's foundation to fight against the hardliners of the Later Xia.

Li Yu took into consideration the spies planted by Hou Xia in the country and was afraid that Kaifeng would use this incident to bring an army to punish him, so he ordered the arrest of Li Ping.

In the end, Pan You committed suicide at home, and Li Ping also hanged himself in prison.

The first month of the eighteenth year of Daxia Pingning

Li Yu, the King of Jiangnan, took the opportunity of paying tribute to Emperor Xia to submit a petition requesting that Li Congshan be released to return to his country.

Bai Xi refused on the grounds that Li Congshan was now Xia Chen.

September
Emperor Bai Xi of the Xia Dynasty successively sent Liang Jiong, a scholar of the Wenhua Academy, and Li Mu, a scholar of the Privy Council, to Nanchang as envoys.

On the pretext of offering sacrifices to heaven, Li Yu was summoned to the capital.

As a result, Li Yu refused to comply, claiming illness as an excuse, and replied forcefully:

"I served the great dynasty only in the hope of preserving the ancestral temple. I never thought it would come to this. Now that things have come to this, the only outcome is death."

Upon receiving the news from Li Yu, Bai Xi was furious and immediately sent Changsha Governor Zhao Kuangyin out of Ezhou. Deputy Governor Chai Rong then led the imperial army south, advancing both by land and sea.

Li Yu also built cities and stored grain, preparing for war on a large scale.

October 15th

The Xia army captured Lushan, defeated the Southern Tang Beikou Army, and was about to arrive at De'an.

After passing De'an, going south is Nanchang, only more than 20 miles away.

Li Yu ordered martial law throughout the city and stopped using the Houxia era name, switching to the sexagenary cycle.

At the same time, the State of Wu took the opportunity to invade Shezhou and Xinzhou, threatening the eastern side of Southern Tang.

The Southern Tang was caught in a situation of being attacked from both sides.

Li Yu hurriedly sent an envoy to question him, saying that the lips and teeth are in danger.

However, the newly succeeded King of Wu, Qian Hongchu, did not respond, but sent all of Li Yu's letters and the envoy to the Xia court.

November

The Xia army used powerful firepower to break through Poyang City in Raozhou, and the Xia soldiers came along both sides of Pengli Lake to encircle Nanchang.

Li Yu urgently ordered Huangfu Jixun to lead the troops and fight the enemy with all his strength, and make sure to stop Chai Rong's troops near Yugan.

However, there was a huge gap in national strength and military strength between Xia and Tang.

Not only did Huangfu Jixun suffer a crushing defeat, but he also allowed the Xia army to advance east of Nanchang.

The two cities of De'an and Jianchang in the north also fell one after another, and the Xia army had arrived at Xincheng Town.

What was even more unexpected was that the two inner palace messengers Xu Yuanyu and Diao Xin, who were responsible for conveying the imperial edicts to the inner and outer palaces, actually blocked the news of the defeat.

By the time the Xia army stationed its troops ten miles north of Nanchang City, Li Yu was still unaware of the situation.

(End of this chapter)