The struggle of the reborn prince

Faced with the sudden change, Gao Chong and Zhao Li immediately changed their original plan and decided to attack the city overnight after an emergency discussion. The two infantry brigades attacked from the east gate and the south gate respectively under the cover of artillery fire. The dragon cavalry brigade Guarding the west gate, the hunting cavalry brigade and archers of various ethnic groups set up an ambush ten miles outside the north gate.The enemy army in Woluduo City had no fighting spirit for a long time, and they broke out from the north gate without even resisting for an hour. The dragoons of the Song Army then chased and killed them and drove them into the ambush circle.

After a night of fierce fighting, the enemy army was routed. Mo Shier escaped by taking advantage of his familiarity with the geography. More than 3000 of his confidants and the leaders of the Damili and Yehuza tribes were captured alive.In this battle, the Beizhanbu tribe not only lost its old lair, but also lost most of the tribe's elite. The tribes refused to accept them. Mo Shi'er knew the general situation, and he was no longer able to resist the soldiers of the Song Dynasty. He cried day and night in panic, and finally despaired. Suicide by taking poison.After his death, several of his sons each led one to fight with each other, and the Beizhanbu tribe fell into a split state again, and fled to the north under the encirclement and suppression of the Western Expeditionary Army.

The Western Expeditionary Army of the Great Song Dynasty defeated the Beizhanbu tribe who was the enemy of the Song Dynasty through a series of battles, opened the way to continue westward, and caused a great shock in Mobei.The Damili tribe and the Yejuza tribe asked to surrender, willing to redeem their leaders with a lot of money, and other small tribes flocked to vote, expressing their willingness to belong to the Song Dynasty. And willing to go out with the army.

Just when the situation was very good, what everyone didn't expect was that Gao Chong suddenly received an order from the imperial court to suspend the westward march. Xixia, who had always vowed to cooperate in sending troops, was shaken, and they did not send troops as promised.It turned out that Gaochang also protected Bi Lege, in addition to lobbying to prevent the Bu tribe from forming an alliance against the Song Dynasty, he also sent a call for help to Xiliao.I hope to restore the old and fight against the Song Dynasty together.Yelu Dashi has always been worried about being expelled from Gaochang by Song Xia's teamwork, how could he let it go now that he has the opportunity.Immediately sent [-] troops into Gaochang, stationed in the Puchanghai area on the border between Gaochang and Xixia.

Gaochang led troops from the Western Liao Dynasty into the frontier to station troops.This made Xixia, who was always ready to take advantage of it, flustered. In addition, Bi Lege invited the Ganzhou Uighurs who had always been friendly with Xixia to Xingqing Mansion to convey the message of willingness to repair with Xixia, which made Li Qianshun half-hearted.While lobbying in various ways, Bi Lege also ordered people to carry a large number of jewels and beauties to activities in Xixia, and bribed Xixia courtiers and clan leaders. However, Chage, who advocated jointly sending troops to attack Gaochang, was not in Beijing at this time to resolve the border conflict with Tubo. The opinions of the soldiers prevailed, making Xixia unable to send troops to attack the southern part of Gaochang as scheduled, and realize the idea of ​​a north-south pincer attack.

At this time, the 'Give way disturbance' is in full swing in China.The emperor publicly expressed his willingness to abdicate at the Xiaochao meeting, and everyone knew that the Western Expedition would be difficult to complete without the emperor's support.This made some officials who "didn't know the truth" think that the Western Expedition was full of uncertainty, and what made them even more worried was that the military generals in the court had expressed their willingness to "retire" with the emperor, and the strength of the Western Expedition led by Gao Chong was enough to sweep Mobei, once they refuse to accept the establishment of another central government, it will bring more troubles, so they use Xixia to break the contract and advocate to stop the Western Expedition.

Out of Zhao Tong's own considerations, the Western Expeditionary Army concentrated the elite of the army, and their combat effectiveness was strong.The loyalty of Gao Chong and Zhao Li is unquestionable, and they can be used as a help when they are abroad to deter those who harbor evil intentions in the country.Therefore, he agreed to temporarily suspend the westward march of the Western Expeditionary Army, but his determination to destroy Gaochang did not change.Therefore, the Western Expeditionary Army was not allowed to retreat, but to make arrangements according to changes in the situation...

Although the expedition could not continue for the time being, Gao Chong did not wait passively.Instead, he began to consider the situation in Mobei.The most puzzling thing is that Xiliao sent troops to fight against the Song and Xia coalition forces, in the field of geopolitics.Although their performance was far from perfect, they gained reliable allies in the Western Regions through wars and alliances.Together with Song and Jin, they ruled the East Asian continent, forming a balance of power.

Regarding the threat of war, although Xiliao can't be said to be safe, it is definitely the least. As a military power in the Western Regions, any challenge to him requires great courage.Because of the disastrous defeat in the war against the Song Dynasty, the Kingdom of Jin lost the strength and courage to continue to destroy the Liao Dynasty, while the Song Dynasty did not border on it and had no essential conflicts. trade routes, and concentrate on dealing with the expansion of the Kingdom of Jin and overseas markets.Although Yelu Dashi understood the difficulties of the expedition to the Jin Kingdom, he still couldn't forget the restoration of the country and took a strict precautionary attitude towards the Jin Dynasty. He also remained vigilant against the rise of the Song Dynasty for historical reasons, but there was no substantive conflict between the two countries.

Xiliao could have achieved a "peaceful rise" through stable development, but it is not wise to choose to engage in a war that has limited relevance to its own interests.And now the situation he is facing is not very optimistic. According to the information obtained by Gao Chong, Xiliao encountered a famine the year before, and just ended a war with the neighboring small country Caliphate, but this caused the suzerain state Dissatisfied with the Seljuk Empire, it has decided to accept the invitation of the caliphate Mahmud Khan to conquer Xiliao and call on neighboring countries to send troops together.

Under the already very difficult domestic situation, Xiliao did not hesitate to go to war with the two powerful countries for the benefit of its allies. Although its well-trained and battle-hardened army may be able to gain an advantage on the battlefield, its stock strength is insufficient and The disadvantage of lack of war potential means that he is doomed to be unable to fully deal with the conquest of Gaochang by the Song and Xia coalition forces. What they do is nothing but self-destruction, so it is not wise for Gao Chong to use this as a reason to end the Western Expedition.

While the Western Expeditionary Army was stationed during the campaign, Gao Chong found that the people of all ethnic groups in Mobei Zhenzhou were living in poverty, and the people were in dire straits, but this was not because the land here was barren. One is that there are constant battles, and all forces want to gain control of this land; another important reason is Mo Shier's excessive expropriation.

After occupying Zhenzhou, Moshier adopted extremely barbaric and cruel means to implement ethnic oppression and economic exploitation.All local and military officials are served by people from their own tribes. They can rob the residents of their property at will, even their wives and daughters. Many tribes were annexed, their family properties were taken away, and they became slaves.In order to prevent these nomads from becoming bigger, the Kingdom of Jin implemented a cruel "mouth reduction" policy. Every few years, it would send troops into the country to kill them, which made all the tribes hate it.

The Western Expeditionary Army was able to quickly win the first victory not only because of their strong soldiers and horses, but also because of the support of various tribes in Zhenzhou. They passed on information and donated food to the Western Expeditionary Army, which provided great convenience for the army's actions.This shows that they want to rely on Da Song to try their best to change the state of being enslaved by Mo Shier and live a prosperous and stable life, which also provides an opportunity for Da Song to take the opportunity to resume management.

After some analysis, Gao Chong decided to submit his opinion to the imperial court, hoping to continue the westward expedition, and at the same time, include the land conquered along the way into the Song Dynasty, laying the foundation for further consolidating the northwest frontier defense.

First of all, Gao Chong thought that for the long-term stability of Mobei, the prefecture and county system implemented since the Han and Tang Dynasties should be restored, that is, the vassal confinement policy widely implemented by the Song Dynasty in ethnic minority areas should not be adopted, and it was not simply to establish a military jurisprudence system. It adopts the administrative management model of the mainland, establishes states and counties, and dispatches civil and military officials to implement direct and effective management.

The shortcomings of implementing the detainment policy are obvious to all. The hereditary system enables a tribe to maintain long-term rule in a certain area, and the relative independence of the economy and military allows them to maintain a strong position. Once there is a disobedience, it will form The separatist regime, especially this kind of area far from the inland, will become the second Xixia if it is not handled properly; it is not appropriate to set up a township department here, because it is similar to the nature of a military base, and the chief official is a military position rather than a civilian. In other words, there are many officials who manage the army, but few officials who manage the people. The significance of military strategy is placed first, and the people's livelihood and social development are not the focus.As time goes by, the contradiction between government orders and military orders will become more prominent, which is not suitable for development and progress.

Furthermore, Gao Chong believes that the equality between the Han and the Han should be emphasized, and that "only good bandits should be divided, not Han and barbarians, is the long-term rule and the foundation of suppressing bandits."In order to restore the destroyed livelihood of the common people, he advocated that "government first seeks to benefit the people". If the common people are to have enough food and drink, the most important thing is to keep the food in the common people's land from being taken away by the tyrants and officials.To reform the original agricultural taxation management, it is reasonable to follow the practice in the Mainland and implement taxation by mu.Due to the huge population loss and the large loss of people due to the continuous war, the landless people in the interior should be encouraged to immigrate, and they can adopt the exemption from paying certain taxes and provide certain means of production that were implemented in the northwest.

Due to the Hushi of the Jin Kingdom and other nomadic peoples in the surrounding area, enough troops must be maintained in Mobei, but the support of the troops cannot be passed on to the local people.Therefore, Gao Chong also advocated the practice of farming and letting the army produce and support themselves.For the grain grown in the farmland, the method of purchasing according to the price was adopted, which aroused the enthusiasm of the soldiers to farm the farmland.The remaining grain was purchased, and the officers and soldiers were free to buy and sell with the people.The vastness of the world in Mobei and the sufficient human capital of the soldiers give the army a great advantage in production. The army does not need to live on imperial food, which also reduces the burden on the people in the interior.

In the end, Gao Chong thought that a special fund should be allocated to build free schools, so that people of all ethnic groups can read and write, easy to naturalize, spread Confucian culture in the Central Plains, and know about etiquette, justice, honesty and shame.And set up special sessions in the imperial examinations, lowering the examination standards, giving priority to the admission of scholars in the Mobei area, and gradually making them return to their hearts, so as to achieve the goal of consolidating the frontier and long-term stability... (To be continued...)