Chapter 14 Four wolf smoke rises in the northwest

The border troubles of the Song Dynasty not only came from Khitan in the north, but also from Xixia.Since Li Deming took over the power of Li Jiqian, Xixia has tried to reconcile with Song Ting. The reason why he did this is because he accepted the advice of his father Li Jiqian, saying that he had fought and killed Da Song for more than 20 years, relying on Da Song It is really not a way to rob Song to make a living. If he wants to live a safe life, the best way is to repair with Song and get some subsidies from Song every year, which is more affordable. After Song and Liao signed the "Chanyuan Alliance", Li Deming felt even more pressure from the Song court. Without the support of the powerful Liao Kingdom, Xixia's life was even more difficult, so "peace talks" were put on the agenda .

Zhao Song Emperor Zhao Heng did not want to fight, so he gave Li Deming, who was willing to become a minister, very generous treatment. He was awarded Li Deming's Dingnan Army Jiedushi and Xiping King, and he also allocated 10,000 taels of silver and 10,000 pieces of silk to them every year in the name of "gift". , 20,000 guan coins, 20,000 catties of tea, and open the border market, so that the people on the border can trade in goods and exchange what they need. After the conclusion of the peace agreement, Li Deming really did not continue to be an enemy of Song Dynasty. He turned his development direction to the west, attacked the Uighurs in the west, and attacked Tubo in the south. It took more than 20 years before and after to seize the Ganliang area. Xianshun led his troops to join, and initially pacified a large area of ​​the Hexi Corridor. Of course, Xixia also paid a great price.

Li Deming was very shrewd. He dealt with Song and Khitan like a businessman, proclaimed his vassal to Khitan, and asked Zhao Song for rewards with the help of Khitan's power. his request. In order to win over Li Deming, Liao Xingzong not only married the princess to Li Deming's son Yuan Hao, but also named him King Xia. The Song Dynasty was not far behind, and also named Li Deming King Xia.Li Deming became the treasure that the two sides competed for, and his value rose all the way. At this time, Li Deming had occupied the vast areas of Xia, You, Yin, Hui, Sui, Jing, Ling, Yan, Sheng, Wei, Ding, Yonghe, Gan, Liang, Gua, Sha, Su and other states. Yumen is bounded to the west, Xiaoguan is connected to the south, and the desert is controlled to the north." Its strength is much stronger than that of Li Jiqian's era.

The increase in strength brought about an expansion of ambition, and he began to dream of being an emperor, imitating the appearance of the emperor of the Central Plains in his usual ostentation.He also built the capital in Huaiyuan Town, Lingzhou (now Yinchuan, Ningxia) in the fourth year of Tianxi (1020), and officially established the capital. Li Deming's preparations for proclaiming himself emperor had not been completed, and he died of illness in October of the first year of Ming Dao (1032). After Li Deming's death, his son Yuan Hao appeared on the stage. The appearance of Yuan Hao was a nightmare for the people of Song Dynasty and Xixia.

Yuan Hao has been very smart since he was a child, and he likes to read. He is not only proficient in Tibetan and Chinese, but also proficient in Buddhism. However, he did not do good deeds and accumulate virtues because of his proficiency in Buddhism. see through.When Li Deming was alive, Yuan Hao had repeatedly persuaded his father to oppose the Song Dynasty.Li Deming warned that the years of war in Western Xia made the people's lives very difficult. After surrendering to the Song Dynasty, they lived a life of rich clothes and fine food, and the people also got rest and recuperation.This is all the favor of Song Ting, so don't have the idea of ​​betraying Song Ting.

Yuan Hao was not convinced, saying that wearing animal skins to herd cattle and sheep was the custom of the nation, and there was no need to wear silk and satin from the Song Dynasty.A man who was born a hero should create his own empire, and should not be willing to be a slave of the Song court just to wear a brocade suit. But after all, the power is still in the hands of Li Deming, although Yuan Hao disagrees with his father's point of view, there is no way to change his father's decision.This situation continued until Li Deming died, and it did not change. After Li Deming died, Yuan Hao succeeded to the throne.

The Song and Khitan countries were busy, and the Song court sent envoy Yang Ji to Xixia, canonized him to inherit the Xiping throne, and granted him the post of envoy of the Dingnan Army, and the observation envoy of Xia, Yin, Sui, Jing, You and other states. .Khitan sent envoys to canonize him as King Xia. Yuan Hao has both sides, he never refuses anyone who comes, and he gets benefits from both sides. After Yuan Hao seized the title, he immediately started the process of becoming emperor.He imitated the Zhao Song system, such as setting up the Zhongshu in the central government to manage the administration, the privy to manage the military, the three divisions (the Ministry of Households, Duzhi, Yantie) to manage the finances, the Yushitai to manage the supervision and impeachment, and the Mokan Division to manage the inspection and promotion of officials. etc.It can be seen from this that Yuan Hao is not conservative, as long as it is something he thinks is advanced, he is willing to learn.

After the establishment of the new management system, Yuan Hao imitated the practices of the Han people and reformed the old mechanism.In short, as long as it is beneficial to Xixia's development, he will copy it all, and he doesn't care what others say.Then there is the rectification of the army and the training of soldiers. Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.The goal is one, to accumulate strength and prepare to rebel against the Song Dynasty. After two years, Yuan Hao's preparations were almost done.In the first year of Jingyou (1034), he started to act. This year, Yuan Hao personally led the Xixia cavalry to attack Gyeongju. In addition to looting all the property in Gyeongju city, he also indulged the soldiers to rape women and then massacred the city.After conquering Qingzhou, he crossed the border of Song and Xia with lightning speed, attacked cities and villages, and won several battles in a row, which made the Song army feel terrified. Even the crying children heard that When Xixia soldiers came, they were so frightened that they stopped crying.

Zhao Zhen also wanted to maintain the peace of the border through appeasement, and issued an imperial edict to appease Yuan Hao and let Yuan Hao concurrently serve as Zhongshu Ling.His approach is exactly the same as Emperor Taizong's restraint policy. The patience of the emperors of the Song Dynasty was better than that of others. Not only could they endure others peeing on top of their heads, but they would also send some property to them so that they could rest their anger and just say what they wanted. As long as you don't wield a knife and stick a stick. The emperor of the Song Dynasty was able to respect his ancestors, and Yuan Hao was not bad. He also learned the cunning of his grandfather Li Jiqian vividly.On the surface, he pretended to accept the gift from Emperor Song, but secretly sent his general Su Nu'er to attack Tubo with 25,000 elite soldiers.

Tubo was originally a powerful country in the Western Regions, but later surrendered to the Song court. Emperor Zhao Song appointed Jiaosiluo, the chief of the Tubo tribe, as the general of Ningyuan and the training envoy of the Aizhou regiment.Yuan Hao has long had the ambition to annex Uyghur and Tubo, and dominate the western frontier. When Jiao Siluo learned that Xixia soldiers were coming, he planned to lead Su Nuer's troops into a dangerous place, and then surrounded them on all sides, closing the door and beating the dogs.The Xixia soldiers were almost wiped out, and the main general Su Nuer was also captured alive by the Tubo people.

Yuan Hao learned that the former army was defeated and the main general was captured. He personally led the troops to attack Tubo, captured Maoerniu City, besieged Zongge, Daixingling and other cities, but was finally defeated by Tubo and led the remnants back. Jiao Siluo sent someone to report victory to Emperor Zhao Song, and Zhao Zhen issued an edict ordering him to be promoted to the rear of the Baoshun Army. After Yuan Hao failed to attack Tubo, he took a short rest and then turned to attack Huihe.Having seized Gua, Sha, Su and other states, Xixia's territory is getting bigger and bigger, and its momentum is getting stronger and stronger. When it comes to the gradual prosperity of Xixia, there are two people who have to be mentioned, because these two people have played a vital role in the rise of Xixia. There were two scholars in Huazhou, one surnamed Zhang and the other surnamed Wu. Although they were full of knowledge, they failed the imperial examinations repeatedly. In a fit of anger, the two traveled together outside the Great Wall.When they learned that Yuan Hao was powerful in the western frontier, they thought of Xixia to find a job.In order to create a sensational effect, the two of them worked together and re-named themselves, borrowing the two characters Yuan Hao, the one whose surname was Zhang was called Zhang Yuan, and the one whose surname was Wu was called Wu Hao. After the two had a new name, they went to Lingzhou together. After arriving in Lingzhou, it was difficult to see Yuan Hao because they were not familiar with the place. Once they made up their minds, they entered a restaurant in the downtown area and ordered a table of delicious food. He took five catties of inferior liquor, punched the order, and drank booze.After drinking and eating, I asked the store for a pen and wrote "Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao are here for a visit" on the wall of the hotel. The word Yuan Hao is the name of the Xixia king, which violates the taboo of the Xixia people. In addition, they scribbled in public, which attracted the attention of the Xixia people.The inspecting Xixia soldiers unceremoniously tied the two of them with a rope and sent them to the government. In fact, this is exactly what the two scholars wanted. Yuan Hao heard that the two scholars had acted so boldly, and angrily reprimanded: "About entering the country, since you have arrived in Xixia, you have to ask about the rules here. How dare you offend my name? Are you tired of work?" Not only were Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao not as scared as Yuan Hao imagined, but they sneered and said, "You don't even care about the surname your ancestors left you, why do you care about your own name?" It turned out that Yuan Hao's original surname was Li, his grandfather was Li Jiqian, and his father's name was Li Deming. After surrendering to Zhao Song, Emperor Zhao Song gave them the national surname, Zhao.Therefore, Yuan Hao should be Li Yuanhao, but his name is Zhao Yuanhao. Yuan Hao froze on the spot after hearing this, but he was a generation of heroes after all, and immediately realized that these two people had come prepared, he went down to the hall to untie them personally, gave them a seat, and humbly asked them for advice on how to govern the country. Yuan Hao left Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao for a long talk, and felt that the two were really extraordinary, so he immediately appointed them high officials. Not long after, Yuan Hao even sent someone to secretly bring their families to Xixia. The wealth Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao dreamed of was not obtained in Zhao Song, but finally obtained in the northwest border.From then on, they completely sold themselves to Xixia.He tried his best to help Xixia establish rules and regulations, formulate major policies and plans to invade the Song Dynasty. It is said in history that "Xia people think they are the mastermind, and there are more than two people to guide them when they build a country and invade the invaders." Although what happened to Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao makes people regret, but they took refuge in a foreign race, vented their personal resentment at the cost of a country and a nation's disaster, betrayed their ancestors, defected to the enemy and treason, they are national scum. With the help of the two, Yuan Hao became even more powerful, and his power became stronger day by day. In October of the first year of Baoyuan (1038), Yuan Hao changed Lingzhou to Xingzhou and Xiping Mansion to Xingqing Mansion.Set up sixteen divisions to deal with state affairs.Set up twelve supervisory divisions, and assign chiefs of various ministries to divide the army into jurisdiction. Xia has an army of 500,000 troops, which are deployed on all sides.Yuan Hao also created his own Xixia script, which resembles the official script of Chinese characters. Yuan Hao was about to attack the Song Dynasty. His uncle Shan Yu advised him not to betray the Song Dynasty, but Yuan Hao not only refused to listen, but scolded his uncle.Shan Yu took his wife and children to Song Dynasty.Guo Quan, governor of Yanzhou in Song Dynasty, took Shan Yu back to Xixia, and Yuan Hao brutally killed his uncle's family.It seems that Yuan Hao is determined to oppose Song Dynasty. Yuan Hao first sent envoys to submit a statement to Song Ting, hoping that Song Ting would recognize the legal status of the Great Xia Kingdom. Song Ting could not tolerate Yuan Hao's splitting, even though it was only a formal unification of the world before. After Zhao Zhen received Yuan Hao's seal, he immediately held a meeting for the ministers to discuss.At the meeting, many people advocated the use of force to question Yuan Haoxing and suppress this separatist. An admonisher named Wu Yu proposed a plan to slow down the army. He believed that recognizing Yuan Hao's status was nothing more than a false name. We are prepared to break openly, which is called playing hard to get. Zhao Zhen didn't seem to be able to swallow this breath. He disagreed with Wu Yu's strategy of playing hard to get. Not only did he not recognize the founding of Xixia, but he also issued an edict to revoke all the official titles that were granted to Yuan Hao in the past. This is just to show Song Ting's attitude. As Yuan Hao himself is the emperor, does he still care about the official positions such as Jiedu Envoy and Wang Jue bestowed by Song Ting? It's easy to show your attitude, but it's a bit difficult to take any action against Yuan Hao.Because for many years, the Song court did not rectify its military equipment at all, so that "the temple has no counselors, and the border has no brave generals; the generals do not know how to fight, and the soldiers do not know how to fight; the equipment is rotten, and the city is ruined."Such an army is a bit powerless to even defend the border and resist the invasion of foreign enemies, let alone send troops to Xixia to teach Yuan Hao who is far away in the west. Since the problem cannot be solved by force, economic measures must be taken to impose sanctions.Zhao Zhen ordered to stop the trade with Xixia, trying to crush Xixia economically.At the same time, they also publicly offered a reward, promising that whoever has the ability to capture and kill Yuan Hao will let him be the envoy of the Dingnan Army. This cannot but be said to be the sorrow of the Song Dynasty. In order to prevent Xixia from invading, Zhao Zhen ordered Xia Song of Zhiyongxing Army to serve as the appeasement envoy of Jingyuan and Qinfeng Road, and Fan Yong of Zhiyanzhou and the appeasement envoy of Yanyan and Huanqing Road. The two jointly managed Xiazhou. Knowing the Privy Council, Wang Deyong asked to lead his troops to the west to teach Yuan Hao a lesson. Zhao Zhen's reason for not agreeing to Wang De's use of the Western Expedition is absurd, because of Wang De's appearance.It is said that Wang Deyong looks mighty and vigorous, and looks exactly like Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and Wang Deyong is very good at running the army, so he is deeply loved by soldiers.Because of this, someone whispered in Zhao Zhen's ears and lit will-o'-the-wisps, saying that Wang Deyong should not stay in the Privy Council, let alone be in charge of the military.Zhao Zhen listened to the slander, not only did not allow Wang Deyong to lead troops to the west, but also demoted him to the governor of Suizhou, and changed him to Xiaguan Yunheng Tongyun to inform the Privy Council. The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty had no other skills, but they knew how to fight in the nest.A group of courtiers fighting each other and a cowardly and incompetent emperor together can't do great things at all. In November of the second year of Baoyuan (1039), that is, the second year after Yuan Hao proclaimed himself emperor, this hero in the west finally launched a war against Song. Northwest smoke rose. Yuan Hao sent troops to fight against the Song Dynasty this time, not only did he not get any benefits, but he was defeated by a little-known little man.Such a thing happened not only to Yuan Hao, but also to Emperor Zhao Song and those civil and military ministers who stayed in Bianliang and talked about it. That's what happened. Yuan Hao led an army of 80,000 to attack the Security Army, and they were invincible all the way. When the Xixia Army came near a place called Anyuan Village, a small group of Song troops rushed out from the mountain in front to fight, at most only three or four thousand soldiers. The Xixia army didn't pay attention to this small group of Song troops at all, and Yuan Hao didn't care, and ordered the former army to kill this small group of Song troops.Unexpectedly, just after the confrontation, a general wearing hair and sword and wearing a golden mask suddenly rushed out of the Song army formation. He didn't know whether he was a man or a ghost, a demon or a fairy. The golden-haired general of the Song army rushed into Xia's formation first, cutting and killing anyone he met, like a tiger in a herd of sheep, unstoppable, the Xia soldiers panicked, and even Yuan Hao couldn't deal with it. The human-like monster fled hastily amidst the disintegrated army. The tiger general in the Song army was the patrol commander, who later became famous all over the world and was regarded by Zhao Zhen as Di Qing of the Great Wall. Di Qing was born in Hexi. He was brave and good at fighting. At first, he served as a cavalry officer, Sanzhi, and went west with the army.He usually has a habit of fighting, that is, wearing a copper mask and long hair.He felt that appearing in front of the enemy with such an image could act as a deterrent to the enemy.In folk novels, it is said that Di Qing has immortal skills, but it is actually nonsense. Today, Di Qing is a patrol commander in the Security Army.He came to defend against the enemy under the order of Lu Shouqin, the leader of the Security Army.He had only a few thousand soldiers under his command, and after a battle, Yuan Hao's tens of thousands of troops fled in panic. When the news of the security army's victory reached the capital, Zhao Zhen originally wanted to summon Di Qing and ask him about the strategy of defending the frontier. Later, due to the urgency of the war, it was difficult for Di Qing to leave the front line, so he asked him to draw a battle map and send it to the capital. Yuan Hao didn't get any benefits in the battle with the security army, so he gathered another 30,000 soldiers and horses to attack Taipingzhai, but was hit head-on by the Song army. In addition to killing and wounding hundreds of soldiers, a middle-level general was also killed. .The Xixia army lost troops and generals, and returned in defeat again. In the Battle of the Security Army, the Song Army relied on Di Qing's surprise soldiers to frighten the Xixia Army back. In the Battle of Taipingzhai, the Song Army relied on the cover of the city defense and fought a defensive battle, winning by luck.Small beatings, victory or defeat have no effect on the battle situation.But there was an illusion in the Song army, thinking that the Xixia army was nothing more than that, and a kind of underestimation of the enemy quietly spread in the Song army.This paved the way for the subsequent losing streak. Yuan Hao didn't care about these small defeats, because his attack was originally a test, and he used the strategy of fire detection.