Visions are inevitable when an emperor is born, and Yelu Abaoji, who was born on the grassland, is no exception. It is said that his mother dreamed that a sun entered her belly and she became pregnant. When he was born, the room was filled with divine light and fragrance.

Yelu Abaoji also performed very extraordinary after he was born. He could talk for a hundred days and even had the ability to predict the future. Such a person will naturally be extraordinary when he grows up. He is tall and strong, and he is naturally unambiguous in fighting. Soon

He sat down to be the general manager of military and state affairs.

Later, they became brothers with Li Keyong of Hedong and made an appointment to deal with Zhu Wen, but because there was no profit to be made, Yelu Abaoji concentrated on punishing Liu Rengong of Youzhou. Li Keyong hated him so much that before his death, he asked his son Li Cunxu to make the "Three Arrows Oath"

"Revenge against Yelu Abaoji."

It is a pity that the Li family and his son failed to do so. Yelu Abaoji successfully became the khan of the Grassland Alliance. However, Yelu Abaoji was not satisfied because the Khitan khans were not inherited but elected. Yelu Abaoji wanted his descendants for generations to come.

He wanted to be the emperor because he wanted to control the world.

In the second year of Zhenming in the Later Liang Dynasty, Yelu Abaoji officially proclaimed himself emperor, established the Khitan Kingdom, and made Beijing its capital. He built an imperial city, formulated laws, promulgated official ranks, and even built a Confucius Temple, making it look impressive.

When Yelu Baoji was in power, his main focus was still on the grasslands, constantly annexing various ministries and integrating internal resources. After his son Yelu Deguang came to the throne, he had the ability to get involved in the Central Plains.

Youdao has a tiger father but no dog son, Yelu Deguang is very capable, and with Shi Jingtang as a filial son and grandson, the Khitan easily obtained the sixteen states of Yanyun, and later destroyed Jin in one fell swoop and invaded Kaifeng, and at the same time changed the name of the country

Then came the Liao Kingdom.

Unfortunately, Yelu Deguang did not succeed in Kaifeng for long before he was driven back to the grassland. This Khitan hero eventually fell ill and died on the way. Therefore, the throne did not have time to be passed on to his son, and he ended up taking advantage of his powerful nephew.

Yelu Ruan. So it is not unreasonable for Chai Rong to rush back to Kaifeng in a hurry after he became seriously ill.

Although Yelu Ruan was not as capable as his grandfather and uncle, he was still a competent emperor. Unfortunately, he was killed by a traitor after less than five years of being emperor. Yelv Shulu, the son of Yelv Deguang, took the opportunity to kill the traitor and then ascended the throne as the new emperor.

of the emperor.

Yelu Shulu was extremely cruel, but he neither harmed the people nor punished his ministers. Instead, he preferred to torture his personal servants. Many of his servants were frequently killed, and even their family members were not spared.

Another problem of his was that he was addicted to alcohol and lethargy, and he was given the title of "Sleeping King", which naturally led to the neglect of government affairs. Encountering such an emperor, the Liao Kingdom had to change its national policy and change from active attack to passive defense against the Central Plains regime.

At the same time, the rebellion in the Liao Kingdom continued. This gave the Later Zhou Dynasty an opportunity to develop and expand, and Chai Rong's Northern Expedition was launched.

Yelv Shulu had probably heard of Chai Rong's name in his sleep. Knowing that Chai Rong was leading an army to attack, Yelu Shulu finally woke up and hurriedly led 150,000 elite troops to Youzhou and stationed troops on the side of Yanshan Mountain.

.

During this period of time, Yelu Shulu didn't even drink. He got up early every day to deal with military affairs and braced himself for a showdown with Chai Rong.

Unexpectedly, Chai Rong withdrew his troops again when he arrived at Youzhou. Yelu Shulu breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his life of drinking, killing, and sleeping. He only waited for a while before the situation became stable before withdrawing his troops back to the grassland. As for

He had no intention of taking back the three states and three passes occupied by the Zhou Kingdom.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In Yelu Shulu's big tent, crackling whips and violent screams could be heard from time to time. You don't need to look to know that the emperor is having fun again. Don't think twice, he just likes to kill people who don't like it.

Just a valet.

Brother Yelvxiu was irritated when he heard this, so he left the tent and took people to patrol the area. After walking for a while, he saw a few soldiers escorting a man over. He came to Brother Yelvxiu and reported: "Wei Shi, we are in the camp.

We arrested a man while patrolling outside. He said that he was a slave of the Shaowa tribe and that he had something important to report to the army. When we asked him, he refused to tell us and insisted on meeting the big shot."

Brother Yelvxiu looked at the slave and said, "I am Brother Yelvxiu, the guard of the palace army. If you have any important matters, just tell me."

Although he has yet to shine in the battle between Song and Liao, Brother Yelu Xiu has already distinguished himself in pacifying the civil strife in Liao and is deeply trusted by the emperor. He is appointed as a bodyguard in the emperor's army.

This slave seemed to have heard of Brother Yelvxiu’s reputation. He raised his head and said, “You really are Brother Yelvxiu!”

If a commoner came up to Xu Xian and asked, "Are you really Xu Xian?" Xu Lang would immediately give him a big mouth. Khitan people are not that particular. It is not a big deal to call him by his first name, even if the other person is a slave.

"Yes, if there's anything urgent, just tell me!"

"Okay, my name is Sun Zhonggou and I am a slave of Shaowa tribe. Three days ago, a Zhou army broke into our tribe. They not only killed all the people but also robbed cattle and sheep. The villain escaped by luck and finally found the army to report the military intelligence.

.”

Xu Xian felt that Sun Zhonggou was very suspicious, so he asked Qian Wanwan to kill him on the way. Unexpectedly, Qian Wanwan was useless and was deceived by Sun Zhonggou and ran away.

Sun Zhonggou, who was lucky enough to survive, did not find a place to hide. Instead, he found out where the army was and came over eager to report the news. He was truly worthy of his name.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped. A Khitan soldier said: "That's nonsense. The army is near Yanshan, and there are scouts all over Youzhou. Could it be that the Zhou soldiers could fly over our heads?"

Sun Zhonggou covered his face and said: "Everything the villain said is true, I would never dare to talk nonsense."

Brother Yelvxiu asked in a deep voice: "How many Zhou troops are there? Do you know who is leading them?"

Sun Zhonggou thought for a while and replied: "There are about five to six thousand people. The leader seems to be named Xu. By the way, those people all have a red scarf tied on their arms!"

Brother Yelu Xiu had a thick eyebrow, "Xu Xian? Red Scarf Capital?"

The two countries of Zhou and Liao were enemies, and they had to send spies to each other. They knew about the military and political affairs and various characters of the enemy countries. As a confidant of the emperor, Brother Yeluxiu had his own way to understand this information.

As for Xu Xian, a new general of the Zhou Kingdom, Brother Yelu Xiu had certainly heard of the reputation of the Red Scarf Capital, so he immediately believed Sun Zhong's nonsense, "How did five or six thousand men and horses arrive on the grassland without making a sound?"

?Where are they now?"

"The last time I saw them, they were more than a hundred miles north of Yanshan Mountain. As for how they got to the grassland, I don't know."

"Only more than a hundred miles away from Yanshan Mountain?" Brother Yeluxiu was shocked, but he put his heart back in his stomach in a flash. The enemy army totaled five or six thousand people, even if it was only twenty miles away from Yanshan Mountain, it would be useless. If Zhou Guo didn't

If we withdraw our troops, that's a different matter.

No matter what, this is a big deal and needs to be reported to the emperor immediately. He just turned around and took two steps when he heard a familiar voice behind him shouting: "Xun Ning! Xun Ning, stay!"

Xun Ning is the name of brother Yelu Xiu. People who usually call him this name are Khitan aristocrats who are more sinicized. You don't need to look at this voice to know that it is Xiao Siwen, who is staying in Nanjing. When he turned around, he saw Xiao Siwen walking towards him quickly.

Xiao Siwen's reputation is not very famous, but his daughter Xiao Chuo is a famous figure in history, and she is also the Empress Dowager Xiao who served as regent.

Xiao Siwen was a top aristocrat in the Liao Kingdom. His wife was the daughter of Yelu Deguang, and his uncle was Xiao Dilu, the Prime Minister of the Liao Kingdom. Compared with other Khitan people who were good at conquering and fighting, Xiao Siwen was better at writing, ink, classics and history.

His aides also said that he was not a talented general.

Facts have proved that those aides had a good vision. Facing Zhou's army, Xiao Siwen cowered last year and retreated again and again this year, from the Hutuo River to the Yongding River. He refused to obey the soldiers' enthusiastic invitations to fight. In this battle

Nothing was accomplished in the war.

After Yelu Shulu came to Youzhou, he scolded Xiao Siwen and sent him back to continue to defend the front line. Seeing Xiao Siwen coming suddenly, Brother Yeluxiu couldn't help but feel frightened and asked: "Why did the Taiwei come to the Central Army?

Could it be that the Zhou army has come back again?"

Xiao Siwen said: "That's not true, but things are more important. Look at this!"

As he spoke, he handed a note to Brother Yeluxiu. Brother Yeluxiu took the note and brought it to the torch and quickly scanned it. He saw that it read, "The State of Zhou sent more than ten thousand fine cavalry to sneak into the grassland in order to cooperate with the Zhou army in a pincer attack."

Our army."

Brother Yelvxiu asked: "The Taiwei has arranged detailed operations among the Zhou army?"

Xiao Siwen smiled and said: "Xiao Siwen did not arrange any details among the Zhou army."

"Oh, then who tipped off the Taiwei?"

Xiao Siwen replied with a playful look on his face: "I'm afraid Xun Ning doesn't believe it. The person who reported the message to me was Zhou Jun. They went to a certain camp to shoot arrows to send a message, but they were caught. Xun Ning still doesn't understand? There is such a thing as internal fighting.

The Han people are better at it than we are."

"Haha..." Brother Yeluxiu laughed loudly, "This is true!"

Xiao Siwen said again: "When I got the news, I rushed over quickly, but you didn't seem surprised. Could it be that you already knew about it?"

Brother Yelvxiu said: "I just learned about it, and I haven't had time to inform Your Majesty yet. But I know more than the Taiwei, and there are some discrepancies."

"Oh, tell me."

"As far as I know, this Zhou army only has five or six thousand people. It is a red scarf capital affiliated to the Zhou Dynasty Palace. The leader is named Xu Xian, who is the military governor of the Henghai Navy..."

Someone behind Xiao Siwen asked softly: "Uncle, are you talking about Xu Xian who can compose music and lyrics?"

Brother Yelu Xiu took a closer look and saw a person coming out from behind Xiao Siwen. She was a six or seven-year-old girl. Her eyes were like paint, her cheeks were round, her nose was beautiful and her mouth was beautiful.

Although she spoke standard Khitan dialect, she was dressed as a Han Chinese, with a pair of buns on her head, a waist-length skirt and a knee-length skirt, a red cloak behind her, and a pair of small skirts under her feet.

She wore leather boots and held a small riding crop in her hand, showing a certain amount of heroism in her delicacy.

"Ah! Why is Yanyan here?"

There is no doubt that the little girl is the Empress Dowager Xiao, and Yanyan is her maiden name. Brother Yelvxiu is from the royal family, and Xiao Siwen is a relative. Brother Yelvxiu once followed Xiao Siwen's uncle Xiao Dilu to suppress the rebellion, and the two parties are very familiar with each other. Although Brother Yelvxiu

He is very young. If we look at him in terms of seniority, Xiao Siwen and his wife would call him uncle.

Xiao Yanyan was not afraid at all and replied sternly: "My mother asked me to go out of the city to deliver food and a change of clothes to my father. She also asked me to watch my father finish the meal. Who knew that my father could not wait to leave after getting military information? I had no choice.

I will follow what my good mother told me."

"If she hadn't been a burden, I would have come faster. The matter is urgent and we should go see His Majesty as soon as possible."

Xiao Yanyan seemed to have heard something terrible, "I won't go!"

"If you don't want to go, just stand here and don't run around."

Xiao Yanyan then said, "Uncle, haven't you told me yet that the Xu Xian you are talking about is the one who can compose music and lyrics?"

"Oh, Yanyan, don't call me uncle again. We are not Han people and we don't have so many messy rules. You guessed it right. The Xu Xian I mentioned is the person who can compose music and lyrics. Now he has sneaked into the grassland.

Come on, they are preparing to attack us."

Xiao Yanyan held her pink fist and said, "Then can you capture him and send him to my house as a slave, and let him compose music and lyrics for my mother and sister every day."

"Haha..., Yanyan, don't worry, as long as he has one breath left, he will be sent to your home regardless of whether his hands or feet are broken."
To be continued...