Chapter 45 second quarter

Li Xian, whose name is Zifan, was born in Xiangfu, Kaifeng. He entered the palace as a eunuch during the Renzong period.Shenzong carried out reforms and adopted an active policy of opening borders in the military, and Li Xian also ushered in the opportunity to show his talents.Zhao Xu sent him to take charge of Yongxing and Taiyuan Fulu (official name, one member of all the roads, mostly three classes of envoys and internal servants, responsible for reporting the border situation of each road).During his tenure, Li Xian advised the emperor on many occasions on local conditions and the future military strategy of the empire, which was well received by the emperor's approval and common sense.

From the fourth year of Xining (AD 1071), Zhao Xu served as Wang Shao's chief general, and Li Xian served as the supervisor.In the sixth year of Xining, Wang Li's army acquired He (the seat of the government in the southwest of Linxia City, Gansu), Tao (the seat of the government in Lintan County, Gansu), Min (the seat of the government in Min County, Gansu), and Dang (the seat of the government in Tang, Gansu). Chang County), Qi (where the government is located in today's Menyuan County, Qinghai Province) and other prefectures included most of the Hehuang area into the territory of the Song Empire.

After recovering Hehuang, Li Xian was promoted to be the envoy of Dongran Academy, and the official of Imperial Medicine Academy. Afterwards, Li Xian continued to be active in the northwest frontier, captured Kenuo City, broke the siege of Hezhou, was defeated and forced to surrender the Muzheng tribe, and wiped out the Qiang chieftain Longjibu tribe.Li Xian's report card in the northwest is quite excellent, and his official position has been promoted again and again. In the ninth year of Xining (AD 1076), he had achieved the highest official position that Xuanqing envoy, the eunuch, could do.

The imperial court used troops against Xixia for years, and finances were tight for a time. Zhao Xu ordered Li Xian to also manage Xihe Road's finances.Eunuch Li is good at fighting wars, and he is also good at managing money. He once saved six-tenths of redundant expenses, and his political achievements are outstanding. And Li Xian's famous work was the Western Expedition in the fourth year of Yuanfeng (1081 AD).During Yuanfeng's Western Expedition, Li Xian independently served as one of the commanders of the Five Route Army Corps, leading Xihe and Qin Feng soldiers to approach the northeast.Li Xianjun won consecutive battles, first conquered Xishi City, and then conquered Kangu City, a fortress where the Xixia people had accumulated a large amount of strategic materials.After a series of victories, the city of Lanzhou was built, and a nail was inserted deep into the territory of the Xixia people. The Xixia people attacked several times during the construction of the city, but were repelled by Li Xian.

After the completion of Lanzhou City, Li Xian left General Li Hao to garrison and continue to lead his troops towards Tiandu Mountain.Because Li Xian's army was too strong, the Empress Dowager Liang of Xixia ordered all the ministries to abandon the city and hold on to the mountains and rivers, but they were still defeated one by one by Li Xian.Li Xian defeated Yuzang Yingchengsi, the great chief of the Wang family, at Quwu Mountain at the eastern end of the Qilian Mountains, and forced Yuzang Yingchengsi to surrender. Finally, he went straight to Nanmou Palace, the extremely luxurious palace built by Zhao Deming in Tiandu Mountain, and sent him to the palace. burnt.The famous Xixia general Ren Duo Lingding led an army to rescue Nanmu. Li Xian fought Ren Duo Lingding in Labuchuan, defeated Ren Duo Lingding, and beheaded thousands of people.Then Li Xian sent his troops to Mandingchuan, where he defeated Wei Ming's commanding army.

During Yuanfeng's western expedition, the five armies and three armies returned in a disastrous defeat. Although the record of the Zhongji Department was brilliant, but later due to the weather, the losses were also great. The Du Lixian Department traveled thousands of miles, beheaded tens of thousands, built Lanzhou City, and destroyed Nanmou Palace, no one in Xixia could stop it for a while. After Yuanfeng's Western Expedition, Li Xian was promoted to be the Envoy of the Palace of Fengjingfu, the Empress of Wuxin Army, the envoy of Jingyuan Road Economic Strategy Appeasement System, and Zhilanzhou. After the successive deaths of Wang Shao and Zhong Er, he became the most prestigious in the empire. and military talents.

Too bad he's just a eunuch. The literati of the empire have always been afraid of eunuchs, and they are also afraid of generals who have too much prestige and meritorious service. As for eunuchs who can fight and make great achievements, their fear is directly transformed into fear.From the first day Li Xian led the army to fight, the voice of criticism about him has never stopped. In the ninth year of Xining, Annan (now Vietnam) rebelled and captured Lianzhou, Qinzhou and other places.Zhao Xu began to prepare to use Zhao Yu, who was in charge of Tianzhang Pavilion, as the envoy of Annan Road, and Li Xian as the deputy envoy of the imperial edict, leading troops to quell the chaos.

The emperor ordered him to meet strong opposition from the civil servants.They said that the rebellion in Annan, a barbarian place, was a minor disaster, but Li Xian's exploiting the opportunity was a great disaster. Let Eunuch Li go out to fight, it is better to give the Annan people those barren lands where no rabbits or grass grow. Under the strong opposition of everyone, Zhao Xu had no choice but to cancel the appointment. In the end, Guo Kui, the envoy of Xuanhui South Court, was appointed as the envoy for Annan's operation strategy, and Zhao Xuan was the deputy, and sent troops to conquer.

Li Xian failed to go to Annan, Zhao Xu continued to send him to Qinfeng and Xihe, the generals of the northwest, to do things, and all the generals of the two routes listened to him.As soon as this order came out, it caused another wave of waves. Censor Zhongcheng Deng Runfu, Censor Zhou Yin, Cai Chengxi, Peng Ru and others wrote letters one after another. How could an eunuch hold such great military power?They all said to Zhao Xu, Your Majesty, have you forgotten Yang Sixu and Yu Chaoen from the Tang Dynasty? Zhao Xu was not persuaded this time and insisted on his appointment. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (AD 1082), the Northern Song Empire was hit hard in Yongle City in the northwest, and 200,000 soldiers and horses were wiped out. One goal is Lanzhou City built by Li Xian.In February and June of the sixth year of Yuanfeng (AD 1083), the Xixia people led hundreds of thousands of troops (the last time was called 800,000) to storm Lanzhou for ten days and nights. deterred.Li Xian spread the news of repelling the Xixia people to Tokyo, but the civil servants in the court said that it is so great to defend a Lanzhou, and it is worth reporting to ask for credit.Yushi Zhongcheng Liu Zhi even asked the emperor to depose Li Gonggong, so that he would not make trouble in the northwest and anger the party members.

So when the boss Zhao Xu who supported him died, Li Xian's spring ended.After the new emperor Zhezong Zhaoxu came to power, Li Xian began to be demoted one after another, first to the deputy director of Yongxing Army Road, then to Xuanzhou Observation Envoy, and then to General Youqianniuwei.The literati of the empire neither wanted him to fight in the northwest to disturb the allies, but also felt that his return to Tokyo was an eyesore, so they found him a good place-Chenzhou. The place where the famous general Di Qing died unjustly, Eunuch Li naturally understood what the literati meant.

In the end, Li Xian, like Di Qing, died of illness in Chenzhou. The most funny thing is the evaluation of Li Xian's life in "Song History·Li Xian Biography", saying that he "Xian regards the middleman as a general, although he can expand the land and surrender the enemy, he will not harm the people, and will eventually bring trouble to China." Since we can expand the land and surrender to the enemy, how can we do nothing to harm the people and eventually bring trouble to China?The logic of the historians is very understandable. It can only be said that eunuchs who can fight are themselves a kind of sin in the eyes of imperial literati.