Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Yinzhou City, the temporary residence of Xiangyou Army Division (Dangcha Town, Hengshan District, Yulin City).

A Khitan soldier came to report: "Du Tong, there is a group of Han troops outside Yinchuan City (former Yongle City of the Song Dynasty). They said they wanted to discuss with Du Tong face to face, and they also sent a secret letter of fire paint."

Xiao Heda took the letter, drew a knife and opened the seal of the fire paint. There was only one sentence written on the letter: The envoy of Yelu Dashi has arrived in Lanzhou.

Xiao Heda gently put down the letter and said to the soldiers: "Let them come over."

Yang Yizhong was appointed as the leader of Mizhi Village by Liu Yanqing. He was the closest to the Xixia Walled City, so he was naturally sent to contact them.

After passing Yinchuan City and walking forty miles along the Wuding River, you will reach Yinzhou City where Xiao Heda garrisoned.

Yang Yizhong marched out with more than a hundred sergeants, and when he arrived outside Yinzhou City, he was ordered to hand over his weapons.

"Are you afraid of this person?" Yang Yizhong refused to obey and instead laughed at the other person for being timid.

It's not because Yang Yizhong is courageous, but because Ma Kuo has already sent a letter stating that Yang Yizhong knows that Xiao Heda will not kill him.

Sure enough, after the city defenders informed him, Xiao Heda quickly allowed him to lead troops into the city.

After meeting, Xiao Heda asked directly: "Yelü Dashi's envoy is in Lanzhou?"

Yang Yizhong said: "I passed by Lanzhou a while ago and beat up Li Renli. He was in a hurry to return to the Uyghurs. He must have left by now, but he left you a personal letter."

"Where's the letter?" Xiao Heda asked.

Yang Yizhong handed over the letter with a smile.

The letter was written by Xiao Weili in Khitan script. It mainly elaborated on the reasons why Yelu Dashi betrayed Emperor Tianzuo and the details of how he led 200 cavalry to flee to Mobei to become independent.

It involves a large number of Mobei tribes and the situation of the Liao Kingdom's Northwest Road Recruitment Division. Xiao Heda can confirm that this letter is not a forgery.

Xiao Weili also said that if Xixia was willing to attack the Jin Kingdom, Xiao Heda would continue to command troops in Xixia. If Xixia still has an affair with the Jin Kingdom, Xiao Heda can temporarily lead his troops to surrender and wait for Yelu Dashi to kill him before returning to Daliao.

Xiao Heda's face seemed calm and he asked: "Just send the message directly. Why do you want to bring troops here?"

Yang Yizhong said: "Such an important letter might cause an accident if it is handed over to the Xixia soldiers."

"Is this a rift?" Xiao Heda made the matter clear directly, "My wife and children are still in Xiazhou. Although that is where I am stationed, the generals who defend the city are party members. If I rebel in Yinzhou , my wife and children will be captured, I’m afraid I won’t be able to obey my orders.”

Yang Yizhong said: "It's only two hundred miles from Yinzhou to Xiazhou. The soldiers guarding the city there have always been under the control of the general. Why doesn't the general lead his troops to kill back, seize the city of Xiazhou, and control both Yinzhou and Xiazhou? Dedicated to the Emperor of Heaven."

Xiao Heda sneered: "Xiazhou is the land of Longxing in Daxia, and the Dangxiang tribes are all over it. If I lead troops to kill it, the Dangxiang generals under my command will not obey my orders. Before I can attack the city, my generals will attack the city. There was a mutiny.”

Yang Yizhong said: "The general was ordered by the Lord of Liao to escort the princess of Liao to Xixia to get married. Now not only the princess of Liao is dead, but also the prince of Xixia who was born to the princess. The mother and son died in unknown ways. As a person who protects his relatives, the general has already disgraced himself to his mother country, and his private life is already in danger. Does the general still have to sacrifice his life for Xixia?"

"You should go back first, and let me think twice about this matter." Xiao Heda said.

"Farewell!" Yang Yizhong turned and left.

Xiao Heda was indeed the general who protected his relatives in the Liao Kingdom, with more than a thousand soldiers protecting his relatives.

He was in an extremely embarrassing situation. The princess and her son were dead, and their deaths were quite bizarre. The more than a thousand soldiers he brought from Liao to protect his family had already married and had children in Xixia.

Moreover, many of the soldiers were over forty, and some were even fifty.

When they fought for Xixia, some of them died in the battle, and many of those who survived retired from the army and asked their sons to take over the army. Only those who were promoted to generals remained in the army.

The descendants of these Liao soldiers who protected their relatives, all whose biological mothers were Xixia people, were they really willing to follow their rebellion?

After the fall of the Liao Kingdom, many Khitans fled to Xixia and joined Xiao Heda. These Khitan soldiers who had taken refuge in recent years were more loyal to Xiao Heda, and had conflicts of interest with the descendants of the Protector Army due to their promotions.

Also, Xiazhou is the core territory of the party members, and rebellion here will inevitably lead to a crazy counterattack.

However, the Ming army arrogantly sent people to deliver the message. The local supervisor was Li Qianshun's people. With the Ming army's deliberate spreading, it is estimated that the Xixia monarchs and ministers will get the news soon.

This is putting Xiao Heda on the fire!

And Xiao Heda allowed Yang Yizhong to come and go as he pleased, which had already made his attitude clear. He even deliberately expressed his attitude to Xixia monarchs and ministers - he doubted the cause of the death of the princess and her son, and was extremely dissatisfied with Xixia's backing of Liao's money!

After thinking about it, Xiao Heda wrote a letter to the leader Li Qianshun, claiming that he wanted to stay in Yinzhou permanently and could never return this place to the Han people. He wanted to defend the exit of Hengshan for Xixia, and asked the king to send someone to escort his wife and children to the front line. Their whole family would defend the border for Xixia at the risk of their lives.

This eight-hundred-mile urgent letter was delivered to Li Qianshun.

After Li Qianshun read Xiao Heda's letter, he seemed weak and sent eunuchs to summon Li Renzhong and Brother Richard to see him.

After reading the content of the letter, Li Renzhong analyzed: "Xiao Heda was forced to protect himself. He did not dare to betray Daxia, but he was also afraid that his majesty would suspect him of being disloyal, and he even took the opportunity to express his dissatisfaction. This person It can no longer be used, but it cannot be forced, otherwise he will definitely lead the army to defect. If he defectes, a big gap will be left in Hengshan, and the Ming army will most likely send troops to attack Xiazhou."

Brother Richard also took the letter and read it, and said angrily: "I have told you that this person cannot be reused. Your Majesty insists on making him the commander of the Xiangyou Army. The Xiangyou Army is the main force in the Hengshan direction, so we can only do it first." Stabilize Xiao Heda, and he will send his wife and children there after he asks for them. But the families of his sergeants must not be let go, and they cannot leave Xiazhou even a step!"

"Xiao Heda is only concerned about the short term, and we have to worry about how to deal with the Jin Kingdom in the long term," Li Renzhong said. "Yelü Dashi has united all the tribes in Mobei, and now it has formed an alliance with the Ming Kingdom. Can the Jin Kingdom really withstand attacks from both sides? If the Jin Kingdom in the future After the destruction, Yelu Dashi regained the lost territory of the Liao Kingdom. We once betrayed the alliance with Yelu Dashi. Will he unite with the Ming Kingdom to attack our Daxia?"

Brother Richard shook his head: "Once the Kingdom of Jin falls, there will be a dispute between Ming and Liao. Yelu Dashi and Prince Zhu are both talented and strategic people, and they are likely to compete with each other for the land of Youyun. By then, maybe I, Daxia, can have both sides. "

Li Renzhong asked: "Is it possible that Prince Zhu gave up the land of Youyun in exchange for Yelu Dashi and watched the Ming Dynasty attack Daxia?"

Brother Richard thought for a while and said, "It's very possible."

Li Renzhong added: "There were also Gaochang Uighur envoys passing through Lanzhou. Ming Dynasty planned to alienate Xiao Heda. Could it be that the Ming Dynasty also conspired with the Gaochang Uighurs?"

Brother Richard was silent.

Today's Gaochang Uighurs used to have the core of their rule in Ganzhou. They fought with Xixia for more than 30 years and were expelled to Turpan by Xixia's force.

Although the Gaochang Uighurs later recognized Liao as their father and Song as their uncle, they also treated Xixia as father and brother, and they had a very harmonious relationship with each other. But both sides know that once they seize the opportunity, they will definitely kill each other.

Today, Xixia has been trapped in a siege network.

To the south are the Yellow-headed Uighurs who are dependent on the Ming Dynasty, to the west are the Gaochang Uighurs who have a feud with each other, to the east is the Ming Dynasty China that will never stop fighting, and to the north is the Jin Kingdom whose diplomatic relations have deteriorated (the Jin Kingdom tore up the territorial agreement). Farther north, there were Yelu Dashi who hated them to the core, and Xiao Heda, who was right next to Xiazhou and had defected at some unknown time.

If you make the slightest mistake, your life and your country will be destroyed.

"What should we do?" Li Qianshun was worried.

Li Renzhong said: "Ever since we sent troops to regain the lost territory last year, the Ming government has been investigating the Qingbai salt in Yanzhou very severely. Anyone caught smuggling Qingbai salt will be executed immediately in the worst case, or exiled to Hehuang in the least case. The Han people are no longer Dare to smuggle. The salt cannot be sold, the tax revenue is huge, and the people in the border areas are complaining. If this continues, in a year and a half at most, the border tribes will seek refuge with the Ming Kingdom."

The Ming Dynasty banned the smuggling of green and white salt. The reason why it was effective was because Xixia invaded Chinese land.

Because the main force of smuggling was the frontier army officers and soldiers, and Xixia's siege of cities, territories, killings and looting caused heavy losses to the frontier army officers and generals. Those who were killed were killed, those who lost their positions lost their positions, and all of them lost their territory and even their troops. How the hell could they engage in smuggling with Xixia?

Xixia conquered a lot of territory and took away a lot of people and goods, but the salt business was no longer possible!

"In addition to green and white salt, silk, tea and other goods are also prohibited from being sold to the two prefectures of Gansu, and commercial taxes on the Silk Road have been sharply reduced," Li Renzhong said. "Although Han merchants have grievances, they can still survive, but we can't. We cannot survive for long, and we must resume trade as soon as possible. If we are unable to negotiate peace, we can only take advantage of the Yellow-headed Uighurs, and all the goods from Han Dynasty will be diverted to the territory of the Yellow-headed Uighurs."

Brother Richard said: "Let's talk about peace first. Whatever the Ming Dynasty wants to negotiate, we will agree to it no matter how harsh it is. I think there will definitely be a war between the Jin Kingdom and the Ming Kingdom next year, and it will still be a big war. Let's quickly rest for a year and find the right position next year. We will send troops when the time comes. If the Jin State is defeated, we will surrender to the Ming State and take the opportunity to seize the Eight Halls. If the Ming State is defeated, we will surrender to the Jin State and seize the opportunity to seize Hengshan and Hehuang."

Li Renzhong thought about it and nodded: "This is the only way. Daxia's power is declining day by day, so we must adapt to the times and not have a head-on confrontation with Jin and Ming."

Brother Richard said sternly: "No matter which country wins, when they start fighting, immediately send troops to deal with Xiao Heda!"

Li Qianshun said: "If he takes action, he will definitely defect to the Ming Dynasty."

Brother Richard said: "As long as we quickly mobilize the army to suppress him and get ahead of the victory between Jin and Ming, we don't have to worry about which country he will defect to when the time comes!"

Ma Kuo alienated the monarchs and ministers of Xixia, causing Xiao Heda to rebel at any time, and this was the biggest result. But when the war was about to be avoided, Xixia suddenly sent troops to help. They must first deal with Xiao Heda before they dared to attack the Ming Dynasty.