Chapter 2 Make full preparations for the founding of the country

In the first section, the young master shows off his talents and grasps both the economy and the military.

The spring sky is clear and the clouds are smoke-free, so desolate that one can only meet a guest.

If you cook green rice, you will have a good appearance, if you drink it, the blue tail will be the same.

Jinpinwen It rains on the apricot branches, and snow rolls in the wind under the Tangli tree.

Thinking about the past makes me sad, and I can't bear to look back at He Landong.

After Li Jiqian's death, his son Li Deming inherited the position of the Jiedushi of the Dingnan Army. Li Deming's mother Yeli was an extraordinary woman. According to historical records, Li Deming was not only good at strategizing, but also knowledgeable about astronomy and geography. Li Deming's son Li Yuanhao established Xixia

country, but the foundation was laid by Li Jiqian and Li Deming. In fact, after the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Li was given the surname Zhao because of his military exploits. It was not until Li Yuanhao founded the country that he changed it back to Li. For convenience, we still simply call Li Deming's surname Li. Li Jiqianlin

When he died, he left his last words, asking his son to keep writing letters to surrender to the Song Dynasty. If he was not allowed to do so, he would continue to write letters. He also left him several mature and prudent ministers.

At the same time, the year Li Jiqian died was also the year when the relationship between Song and Liao experienced a great turning point. The Khitan invaded the Northern Song Dynasty many times, and Song Zhenzong also led many personal expeditions. However, the long-term war made both sides tired, and finally the two sides reached a reconciliation.

The Song Dynasty gave annual coins to the Liao Kingdom every year, and the two sides would not invade each other. Song Zhenzong and Liao Shengzong were called brothers. This was the Chanyuan Alliance.

Although the signing of this humiliating contract caused a great insult to dignity and huge economic losses to the Song Dynasty, through this contract, both parties came out of the war, especially the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty had been invaded by the Liao Kingdom for many years.

Already exhausted, now we can finally take a breath and free up our hands to deal with the northwest Dangxiang tribe. In this way, the policy of uniting Liao and resisting the Song Dynasty established during Li Jiqian's era must be adjusted. Not only external changes, but also internal strife within Dangxiang. Li Jiqian's

When he was in power, the main way to expand his power was to form alliances with large clans from other tribes through marriage. After his strength increased, he brutally attacked those tribes and ethnic groups that did not want their teams to come to his side. In this way, Li Jiqian

It was then stable and developed to a certain extent, and later it was able to capture Yinzhou and occupy Lingzhou.

However, in the current situation, the relationship between Song and Liao is uncertain, and the young master has just succeeded to the throne. The party members are full of doubts and feel that the future is bleak. At this time, Li Deming needs to make some adjustments.

At this time, the Song Dynasty took advantage of the situation and took the initiative to send people to win over the hesitant party tribes, causing many unsteady party tribes to surrender to the Song Dynasty. The dual turbulence of the external and internal situations caused Li Deming to face a severe situation just after he came to power.

In fact, at this time, the Li family of Xiazhou had been at war with the Song Dynasty for more than 20 years during the Li Jiqian period, which had exhausted the strength of the tribe. Many people could no longer afford to eat, were facing hardships in life, and the tribal economy was on the verge of collapse.

Based on all these factors, Li Deming planned to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.

When Li Jiqian was still alive, he suggested that Li Deming should first maintain the relationship with the Liao State. Because at this time, there was a strong threat to the Li family in Xiazhou. If it could not be backed by the powerful military strength of the Liao State in the north, then Li Deming would

It was difficult to survive. The first thing Li Deming did after taking power was to go to Liao for the funeral, hoping to stabilize the situation in the rear by maintaining the dependence relationship with the Liao Kingdom.

Moreover, only after Li Deming regained the support of the Liao State could he make the Dangxiang tribes who were in a wait-and-see attitude concentrate on working with him. In fact, the fact that the Liao State was forced to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty was only a stopgap measure. They knew that they would definitely face difficulties with the Song Dynasty in the future.

Therefore, they continued to support some forces in the Central Plains to contain the Song Dynasty. In 1005 AD, the Liao State conferred Li Deming as the Jiedu Envoy of the Dingnan Army and the King of Xiping.

After regaining the support of the Liao Kingdom, Li Deming immediately began to carry out revenge against Tubo. I think back then, the Dangxiang tribe was driven from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the Loess Plateau by Tubo. Coupled with the current revenge for killing his father, of course there are more

In order to expand his own strength, Li Deming took revenge and prepared to start a war against Tubo.

The Tubo people knew that after the young leader of the Dangxiang clan succeeded to the throne, they were sure to be the first target to attack. So on the one hand, they sent envoys to the Song Dynasty to meet Song Zhenzong and asked the Song Dynasty to send troops to help them destroy Dangxiang. On the other hand, they also mobilized troops

Ma stepped up preparations for war. The Tubo people also took advantage of Li Jiqian's critical illness to win over two parties to the tribe. In fact, these two parties deliberately surrendered to Poluo, and then looked for opportunities to avenge Li Jiqian. They also secretly contacted other members of the Dangxiang tribe.

The tribe and Li Deming sent troops to attack Tubo. On the other hand, they also sent people to secretly tell Pan Luozhi, the leader of Tubo, that Li Deming was going to send troops to attack.

Pan Luo only believed their words and dared to come to discuss countermeasures with the leaders of the two tribes with only a few hundred followers. As soon as Pan Luo entered the tent, he was killed by the party members. After Pan Luo died, Xi

During the Liang Dynasty, the Tibetans elected Pan Luozhi's younger brother as their leader. This Tibetans continued to oppose the Dangxiang people, but at this time, the strength of the Tibetans had greatly weakened.

Not long after Li Deming came to power, he first maintained the relationship with the Liao Kingdom, and then eliminated his feud. So he immediately established a high prestige within Dangxiang. In this way, the restless tribes within Dangxiang also

They did not dare to act rashly, and other tribes in the northwest did not dare to underestimate Dangxiang. Completing these two things meant that the Dangxiang people had increased their leverage in negotiating peace with the Song Dynasty. After discussing with his assistant ministers, Li Deming decided to make peace with the Song Dynasty.

The time has come.

In 1005 AD, Song Zhenzong discussed Li Deming's request for peace with the ministers. Some military generals believed that the Li family in Xiazhou had occupied the northwest for a long time, and they had many soldiers and horses, so they might as well take this opportunity.

Eliminate them to prevent them from becoming future troubles. Most ministers also agree with this statement.

However, since the Chanyuan Alliance in the Song Dynasty, Song Zhenzong has adopted a conservative strategy. Not only for the Liao Kingdom, but also for the Manchus in the northwest. His idea was to maintain peace as long as possible and let them develop on their own, without the Song Dynasty intervening.

.So after Song Zhenzong had this idea in mind, after several negotiations between the two parties, the Song Dynasty first promised to grant Li Deming an official title, and then opened the salt ban in the northwest region. Finally, the Song Dynasty stated that as long as Xixia took the initiative to surrender to the Song Dynasty, and stated

No more intrusion on the border, and other conditions are easily negotiable.

In 1006 AD, the Song Dynasty and Xixia finally signed a contract. The Song Dynasty conferred many official positions on Li Deming and rewarded them with a lot of property.

Li Deming's strategy was called relying on the Liao and Song Dynasties. This policy brought a long-term peaceful environment to the Xiazhou area. And by reaching a contract with the Song Dynasty, Xixia could often get many benefits from the Song Dynasty. From then on, the Xia Dynasty

The economy of the prefecture region was restored and developed, and people's lives were greatly improved. At this time, Li Deming promptly adjusted his strategic deployment and focused his main efforts on the west.

In order to better stabilize the internal situation, Li Deming also re-adjusted the central governing body within Xixia. He established a new group of officials, more than half of whom had Han surnames. This also illustrates Li Deming's respect for Han intellectuals.

The importance given to Xixia will give it more impetus for its future development.

After Li Deming reached the contract with the Song Dynasty, he carefully analyzed the situation in the west. At that time, there were two main forces in the west, one was the Tubo Liuguhun tribe entrenched in Xiliang, and the other was the Ganzhou Uighur tribe.

The Uighurs, also known as the Uighurs, are the ancestors of the Uighurs in Xinjiang today. They were at their most powerful during the Tang Dynasty, and gradually declined during the Five Dynasties. By the Song Dynasty, the Uighurs were divided into four parts, among which they were entrenched in Ganzhou.

The Uighurs in China are the most powerful, and they have a powerful army. Moreover, Ganzhou is very close to Xiazhou, so the Uighurs bear the brunt and become Li Deming’s first target. Ganzhou is a place with rich water and grass, suitable for farming.

Grazing, so the products are rich, especially good horses. Moreover, Ganzhou is also the only way for trade between the Western Region countries and the Song Dynasty. As early as the period of Li Jiqian, troops were sent to harass the Ganzhou Uighurs many times. The Uighurs united with the Song Dynasty

In this way, he actively cooperated with the Song Dynasty to attack party items, and thus won himself a living space.

In order to seize this place, Li Deming attacked Ganzhou Uighur mercenaries many times. The first mercenary attack was in 1008 AD. Because this was the first time, Li Deming first sent thousands of cavalry to make a tentative attack.

The next time the Uighurs in Ganzhou successfully defeated the Dangxiang people. Not long after, Li Deming sent an army to attack the Hun tribe in Liugu of Tubo first, hoping to capture Xiliang first and then attack Ganzhou.

After the Dangxiang army arrived in Tubo, they found that there was a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. Then they turned to attack the Ganzhou Uighurs. The Ganzhou Uighurs had already set up an ambush after getting the news. The Dangxiang army successfully entered the ambush circle, and this army was defeated by the Ganzhou Uighurs.

They were all wiped out, and only the general managed to escape.

Not long after, Li Deming personally led an army to attack Ganzhou. Due to the tight defense of Ganzhou, Li Deming suffered another defeat. In the second month, a severe drought occurred in the northwest region, and Li Deming had to ask for food from the Song Dynasty. Not only did the Song Dynasty not give him

The Song Dynasty wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune. After being rejected by the Song Dynasty, Li Deming gave up the idea of ​​asking for food. It can be seen that their situation at that time was not

Not very critical.

The Dangxiang people repeatedly attacked the Uighurs but failed. According to their custom, they felt it was a shame not to take revenge. So in 1009 AD, Li Deming sent a large army to attack the Uighurs again. This time the war lasted for more than two months, and in the end the Dangxiang people were defeated.

The failure is the end.

Li Deming was unwilling to fail. In December of the same year, he personally led an army of 30,000 people to conquer the country. However, according to historical records, Li Deming saw a strange phenomenon on the march. Because Li Deming was proficient in astronomy and saw stars during the day, he thought this was very ominous, so he

He retreated halfway.

Divination occupies an important position in the social life of Dangxiang. The purpose of ancient divination is to predict good and bad luck and solve difficult problems. There are four methods: "Zhi Bo Jiao", which is to use mugwort to burn the sheep blade, and use the cracked bones on the blade to

The lines are used to judge good and bad luck; "calculation", breaking bamboos on the ground to find the number, counting the number to determine good and bad luck, similar to the Han people's folding curtain grass divination: "cursing the sheep", that is, bringing in a sheep at night, burning incense and praying,

Burn a grain fire in the wild and slaughter the sheep the next morning. If the intestines and stomach are clear, it is good luck. If the sheep has blood in the heart, it is bad luck: "The arrow strikes the string". Use the arrow shaft to hit the bow string and listen to the sound to predict the outcome of the war and the arrival of the enemy.

Period. The use of earthly branches in divination to calculate the day may be influenced by Han culture. The Dangxiang people avoided dark days when fighting and focused on single days. After defeating the battle, they returned to the place every three days and captured people and horses or tied straw and buried them in the ground.

, everyone shot them with arrows to express their salvation for the dead, which was called "killing ghosts and summoning souls".

Li Deming defeated the Uighurs five times in a row, and his strength was greatly affected. He believed that the Uighurs were very powerful and the army's combat effectiveness was also very strong. So he decided not to fight head-on, and wanted to interrupt the battle between Ganzhou and Ganzhou.

The Song Dynasty used the method of contact to weaken the power of the Ganzhou Uighurs.

Li Deming asked Liangzhou garrison Su Shouxin to cut off the envoy road between Ganzhou and the Song Dynasty. However, Su Shouxin died not long after, and without Li Deming's appointment, Su Shouxin's son Luo Ma inherited the throne without authorization.

His subordinates expressed dissatisfaction with his father's position, and disagreements arose within the Liangzhou garrison. The Ganzhou Uighurs took this opportunity to attack Liangzhou, which is called stealing chicken but losing rice. After that, Li Deming made many attempts to recapture Liangzhou.

But none of them succeeded.

It was not until 1028 AD that Li Deming sent his son Li Yuanhao to command 30,000 elite troops to raid Ganzhou and successfully captured Ganzhou. After the Dangxiang people occupied Ganzhou, they took advantage of the favorable geographical location to control the entire northwest tribe.

Purpose. Some ethnic minority tribes in the northwest took the initiative to lead their tribes to seek refuge with Li Deming.

After taking Ganzhou, Li Deming could concentrate on dealing with Tubo. At that time, Li Deming killed the Tubo leader Pan Luozhi and took advantage of the situation to capture Liangzhou. Pan Luozhi's son entangled the Tibetan tribes and recaptured Liangzhou.

In 1011 AD, in order to isolate the Liuguhun tribe of Tubo, Li Deming sent General Su Shouxin to lead an army of 30,000 to attack the Xiangdan tribe of Western Tibet. As a result, they encountered joint resistance from all Tibetan tribes, and the party's army suffered another defeat.

In 1115 AD, Li Deming requested the Song Dynasty to lift the salt ban. The Song Dynasty agreed to his request, but stated that Xixia must send protons to the court. However, Li Deming did not agree to this condition, and the Song Dynasty continued to implement the salt ban policy.

Li Deming used troops against Ganzhou and Liangzhou for 25 years, paying a heavy price, realizing his father's strategic vision, and laying the foundation for his subsequent march south to invade the Song Dynasty.

Xixia captured the two states of Gansu and Liang, and initially conquered Hexi, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Xixia Kingdom in the future.

During Li Deming's reign, he maintained a relatively stable relationship with the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty. He devoted his main energy to dealing with the Uighurs in Ganzhou and the Liuguhun tribe of Tubo, and vigorously developed the economy internally.

Later, a tribe from Tubo surrendered to the Liao Kingdom. The Khitan asked Li Deming to borrow a road, but he was refused. So, the Liao Kingdom used this as an excuse, and Li Deming did not pay tribute to the Liao Kingdom for a long time, so the Liao Kingdom led the five people in anger.

An army of 100,000 harassed the Xixia border. Li Deming personally attacked and repelled the Khitans.

The Liao State was worried that Xixia would become its enemy, so it took the initiative to send people to make peace with Xixia. Xixia did not want to be an enemy of the Liao State, and the two sides reached a reconciliation.

Xixia also maintained a good relationship with the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty general Zhang Xi was only eighteen years old and was already famous in the northwest region.

A short story: The fast pace of the city makes people in it so busy that they spin like a top. Just find a friend and ask him how he is doing, and the answer will be one word: "Busy!"

It seems that "busy" has become the norm for urbanites. Rice is expensive and living in the city is not easy. Those who have temporarily settled down as house slaves and those who have not yet become house slaves are exhausted all day long. Those who bid farewell to the life of house slaves may be

Car slaves, car slaves. Even if they have entered a well-off family, they cannot be in a hurry. In order to pay various expenses, many people make themselves like those little mice who keep spinning in small iron cages.

, no matter how fast I pedal and how hard I work, I wake up the next morning and find that I am still trapped in the cage. In the busy life, my life is filled with things that do not belong to me, but I have to run for it.

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We can be very busy, but we must be busy in a worthwhile way. Being as busy as a headless fly in Xinjiang has no practical meaning except to prove that we are alive. It is best for us to know why we are busy every day.

A person without goals is like a rudderless ship floating on the sea, drifting with the current. The ship either runs aground, is knocked shallow, or is caught in a whirlpool and spins in circles. Living in confusion is the reason why many people fall into difficulties in life.
To be continued...