Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Zhongchuan Town, Huining County, Baiyin City in later generations had no administrative establishment at this time. It was under the jurisdiction of the Xixia and Nanjun Divisions.

The landform of the Loess Plateau and the semi-arid continental climate are not very livable.

But among the rolling mountains, this place is relatively open and flat, which is already very precious to the people who live here.

A Tubo tribe lives here, and the production status is half farming and half pastoral.

These are probably Tubo-ized Han people, and their language and customs still retain the characteristics of the Han people in the Tang Dynasty.

There are very few young people in the tribe, most of them are old, weak, women and children, because the young people have been drafted to fight. The people who stayed behind in the tribe did not know that their sons, husbands, and fathers had become prisoners of Yang Zhi, and many of them died in Kalochuan.

On a sunny morning, children are herding sheep, and the elderly and women are busy.

A few half-year-old children who were herding sheep watched the army coming out of the mountains and drove the sheep home alertly and habitually.

Brother Richard stopped and looked up at the sky. The sunlight was so dazzling.

He broke out with eight or nine thousand elite troops. The casualties were not serious, and there are still about seven thousand left.

The days of eating raw flesh and blood did not last long. When they escaped, they could grill horse meat and eat it. Although the entire army is exhausted and there are many sick people, there are basically no major problems.

It's just that more than half of the war horse was eaten, and a lot of armor was discarded, making it difficult to regain combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

"I'm out of the mountains, I'll take you to eat mutton!" The unshaven Brother Richard turned to the elite soldiers with a smile.

The demoralized army suddenly regained its spirit.

They rushed out like wolves and tigers and snatched the sheep when they saw them. They also rushed into the houses of the Tibetan people and forced them to hand over their food - some people didn't want to eat meat because they were tired of eating horse meat and now they just wanted to add some carbohydrates.

The tribal chief is an old man. For a small border tribe like this, the chief's family is not wealthy.

He did not dare to neglect, and tried his best to provide food for hospitality. With tears in his eyes, he said: "Your Majesty, the harvest has not been good in the past few years, and you have to pay taxes to the army and serve in the army. The young people of the clan have not returned yet. If those sheep don't How are you going to spend the winter this year?"

Brother Richard said casually: "I won't eat your food for free. When I return to Xingqing Mansion, I will send someone to bring some food."

The old chief hesitated to speak. He looked at the soldiers killing sheep in the distance and remained in a dazed silence for a long time.

When Brother Richard collected some millet and prepared to leave, the old chief finally couldn't help but ask: "A few days ago, the young men in the clan were recruited by the Henan Army Division. The previous rule was to draw one out of four, but this time it was four. Ding draws three, I wonder when they can come back?"

"I'll come back after the battle." Brother Richard answered vaguely.

Barren land, broken tribes, old chiefs, a gust of wind blowing across the Loess Plateau, the whistling wind is like an elegy.

The next day, the old, weak, women and children watched the army leave.

They didn't dare to cry until the soldiers were far away. There is very little food and livestock left, and the young members of the clan have not returned from fighting. How will they survive this winter?

After more than twenty days, the young men finally came back.

There were nearly four hundred people when they were recruited, but now there are only a little over a hundred left, and they are empty-handed and without weapons.

The simple leather armor and swords and guns passed down from their ancestors were all confiscated by the Ming army.

"Where is your brother?" the old chief asked his second son.

The son lowered his head, not daring to look at his father, and replied with a loud voice: "Brother is gone."

The old chief pointed at the others: "Those who didn't come back, are they all gone?"

The son nodded.

In normal battles, only one of the four tribes is drawn. Even if the entire army is wiped out, each tribe can continue to live and multiply.

This time, the Nanjun Division was surrounded, and the situation was too urgent. Not only was the Gansu Military Division recruiting troops like crazy, the officers stationed in Jisang by the Xiliang Prefecture were also recruiting in areas under the jurisdiction of the Southern Army.

And the closer it is to the Nanjun Division, the more ruthless the recruitment will be. This tribe will be directly drawn three times by the fourth group.

The old chief asked again: "Did you lose the battle?"

The son said: "If we lose, we will lose hundreds of thousands."

"What can we do? The people are gone and the food is gone." The old chief sat slumped on the ground.

The son asked: "Why is there no food?"

The old chief told the story in detail, and all the young Tibetan men who had been deliberately released became furious.

They relayed the Ming army's policy and said they could contact Governor Hehuang.

The old chief asked in surprise: "Song Bing is really that good at fighting?"

"They were not soldiers of the Song Dynasty, but now they were soldiers of the Ming Dynasty," the son explained. "The Han people changed their emperors, and the Song Dynasty was changed to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty troops were blessed by ghosts and gods, and their magical cannons could hit several miles away, and the generals' armor also blocked them. I can’t help it. The Great Xia Kingdom suffered a defeat and will be destroyed by the Ming Kingdom sooner or later.”

The old chief asked: "The Ming Dynasty asked us to contact Governor Hehuang, but it wants us to surrender to rebel? Will the rebels be given food?"

The son shook his head: "He didn't say he wanted us to rebel. He was probably acting as an internal agent. He usually spreads some news and then defected in future wars. He didn't say whether we would be given food or not. He only said that there would be heavy rewards for destroying Daxia. But..."

"But what?" asked the old chief.

The son said: "But women can be exchanged for grain. The Ming Dynasty recruited many young men and placed them in the Kalochuan Valley to cultivate. Most of them are single. If the ministries send women there, one woman can be exchanged for two stones. grain."

"Sent to Kalachuan?" the old chief asked.

The son said: "Send it wherever it is closest. It is best to go to Xiguanpu. You can exchange the woman for food by sending her to Xiguanpu."

The old chief has been forced to do nothing. If he cannot get food, many tribesmen will starve to death this year.

After the war this time, there were many widows in the tribe. There were also widows in the past wars, and they were basically adopted by the husband's brothers.

It is better to send the widows out in exchange for food, which can not only exchange for food to continue the tribe, but also make those widows live a better life.

In the face of group survival, don't talk about morality!

…

News of the defeat on the front line first reached the Gansu Military Division, then the Xishou Military Division and the Jingsai Military Division.

When Brother Richard robbed tribes all the way and returned to Yingli (Zhongwei City) with his elite troops, even the leader of the Xixia Kingdom received the battle report.

In Xixia, people are panicked.

Li Renzhong, who was originally a sworn enemy of Brother Richard, advised the Emperor of Xixia: "Your Majesty, you must not deprive the King of Jin of his military power, otherwise there will be great chaos in the country. Hearing that the King of Jin broke out with thousands of elites, he held His troops are already the cornerstone of the country, and he must be allowed to continue to lead troops to guard against tribal rebellions."

"He abandoned the army and fled. Is it possible that he had no merit but no fault?" Li Qianshun asked.

Li Renzhong said: "There are serious mistakes, but he can be demoted and demoted, but his military power cannot be removed. In this way, firstly, he can show his majesty, secondly, he can stabilize the hearts of the army and the people, and thirdly, he can make the King of Jin feel grateful."

Li Qianshun thought about it carefully, nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Li Renzhong added: "Your Majesty can take the opportunity to promote some of your own people to the civil service in the DPRK. Your Majesty can also take the opportunity to appoint some confidants for the military supervisors in each department."

"Qing Zhen is the pillar of the country," Li Qianshun said. "The Prime Minister has been defeated and died in the Henan Army. It is better for Ai Qing to succeed as the Prime Minister."

Li Renzhong declined politely and said: "Your Majesty, my qualifications are still young and my moral character is insufficient. I may not be qualified for the position of Prime Minister."

Li Qianshun said: "If your beloved is not qualified, who else can be the prime minister of the country? Don't say more about this matter, I have already decided. News from the Han people came from Lanzhou, saying that the two countries can negotiate peace, and Daxia must return all the lands they occupied last year .What do you think, Aiqing?"

"Our army has lost its troops and generals, and its vitality has been greatly weakened. The Henan Army Division is also gone," Li Renzhong said. "The top priority is to rebuild the Henan Army Division and build a new city in Jisang (Gulang) as the Henan Army Division." Station. Otherwise, once the Han soldiers come to kill, they can go straight to Liangzhou (Wuwei)."

Liangzhou is the legal capital of Xixia and a key node on the Silk Road. This is the most important place for Xixia.

Li Renzhong added: "Tens of thousands of Jin King's troops were captured, and the Xishou Army has been depleted of troops. Those lands recaptured last year will definitely not be able to defend against the Ming army in the Tiandu area. Of course, they can be returned there, but other places still need to be restored." talk."

What this guy means is that there are not many soldiers left in the Xishou Army anyway, and they will definitely not be able to defend it even if they want to. It is better to just return Huizhou (Jingyuan) to the Ming Dynasty.

But other places don’t want to give it.

In other words, we need to negotiate to recover some losses before giving back.

In fact, as long as Xixia returns to the state, it will be very beneficial to Ming Dynasty. From now on, if Xixia wants to send troops again, it must first capture Huizhou and then follow the Yellow River to attack Lanzhou.

Li Qianshun's mood is indescribable and can be described as a mixture of emotions.

This frontline defeat was beneficial to his domestic rule. Brother Richard's prestige has been greatly reduced since then, and he can no longer coerce the emperor. Li Qianshun can take the opportunity to regain control of the court, and even place confidants in various military departments at will.

But the defeat was too complete, with more than 100,000 people lost.

Those are not only soldiers, but also population resources. When not fighting, they can farm, herd, and pay taxes!

Li Qianshun said doubtfully: "I really can't figure out how many Ming troops came. How could our Daxia army be completely defeated? The Gansu Military Department sent a message saying that the Ming army has divine cannons and divine crossbows. The divine cannons can fire iron weapons as big as fists." Cannons, strong city walls cannot withstand their power; divine crossbows can fire iron arrows larger than peas, and can penetrate even heavy armor. They won't just talk about military and national affairs, right?"

Li Renzhong said: "It's probably true, otherwise they wouldn't have been defeated so miserably. The Han people have many skilled craftsmen who can make extraordinary weapons. The Zhu family was able to replace the Zhao family, perhaps because of the power of the divine cannon and the divine crossbow. In the future, we should send out Make it carefully and see if you can imitate it.”

Li Qianshun shook his head and said: "I think the Han people must be more prepared. The Song Dynasty's divine arm bow cannot be imitated even now, let alone the Ming Dynasty's divine cannon and divine crossbow."

"Since the Ming Kingdom is strong, your Majesty can send envoys to the Jin Kingdom," Li Renzhong said. "In the past, the Jin people mostly negotiated with the King of Jin, but later it was your majesty who had diplomatic relations with the Jin Kingdom. Just follow the story of the Xia, Song, and Liao Dynasties, the Ming Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom We have good relations with the Jin State. If the Jin people come to kill us, we will turn to the Ming State. If the Ming State comes to kill us, we will turn to the Jin State for help."

Li Qianshun praised: "Ai Qing's words are extremely true."