Chapter 955: After the Liao people worked hard, they could no longer straighten their backs in front of King Yan!
Yunnei Prefecture.
This place is the westernmost state of the Liao Kingdom, located on the dividing line between the Liao Kingdom and Xixia.
The land is barren and the population is sparse. Since Xixia has been submissive to Liao in recent years, there are no heavy troops stationed there.
But recently, two armies appeared in Yunnei Prefecture, confronting each other from a distance.
On one side is the Yongning Army of the Yan State. After arriving, they began to set up camp and overhaul the fortress.
On the other side, judging from the white clothes in the center, we can tell that they are the Xixia Army and are direct descendants of the high-level officials.
The Dangxiang people were Shangbai, and Xixia called themselves Dabai Gaoguo and Dabai Shangguo. Those who wore white as military uniforms were all regular troops. At this time, it was the Central Guards that pressed on the border of Liao Kingdom.
The Central Guards of Xixia has always been composed of three parts. One is the "Six Bans in the Imperial Garden", which are composed of people who are good at riding and shooting, selected from the chiefs and powerful sons of various tribes, to serve as the emperor's bodyguards.
Around five thousand, this was actually a hostage army, serving as "hostages" in front of the emperor, allowing the Xixia king to control various ministries.
The second is the "iron cavalry", that is, the iron kites, which number three thousand and are composed of brave men selected from the entire army. They are heavy armored cavalry.
The third is the capital guard force, which is similar to the imperial army in the capital. It has a number of 20,000 to 30,000 people. It is well-equipped and has 70,000 supporting personnel, that is, it is served by military servants. Compared with the first two troops, the number of personnel is sparse.
This detachment is the main force of the Central Guards.
At this time, in addition to the troops left behind in the capital, the king of Xixia drove to the border with him, bringing with him 2,000 banzhi, 2,000 iron kites, 10,000 elite guards of the capital and 15,000 people to support them, a mighty 30,000 people
, it’s not shabby to say it’s shabby.
Li Qianshun stood on the central chariot, his face expressionless and quite dignified.
But judging from his appearance, the Xixia monarch, who was only twenty-five years old, was actually quite old and aged. He looked as if he was nearly forty years old. It was obvious how he was living his life.
It is not surprising that this man ascended the throne at the age of three and was the dictator of his mother's party. He continued to be a puppet until the death of his mother's family and took over the government at the age of sixteen. However, this was not his own ability. It was the mother's party who fought against the Song Dynasty and suffered repeated defeats.
After arousing domestic indignation, he was finally overthrown, and his mother, the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang, was also poisoned by envoys sent by Yelu Hongji.
Li Qianshun had to humblely sue for peace from Song Dynasty, and at the same time ask for marriage from Liao Dynasty to consolidate the relationship between Liao and Xia through marriage. Yelu Hongji did not allow it at first. It was not until Emperor Tianzuo succeeded to the throne that he made the daughter of the clan a princess and married her to
Xixia.
Relying on political dependence on the Liao State and adopting a conciliatory policy towards the Song Dynasty militarily, Li Qianshun ordered the shaky Xixia to gain a firm foothold and began to work hard to govern. However, for the next ten years or so, he was still beaten by the Song army until the Jurchens established the country.
Only then did they begin to reverse the decline, and then they took advantage of both sides and reaped the benefits.
But in this world, his backer is gone.
As early as when the Liao army failed to move south, lost Yanyun, could not enter Yanmen Pass, and detoured in despair, Emperor Tianzuo cut a piece of land from Xixia. Li Qianshun was so angry that he almost turned against him, but in the end he did not.
dare.
Now the Liao Kingdom has no time to take care of itself, and the land it invaded back then was easily taken back by Xixia. In the past, this would have been a joy, but at this time Li Qianshun only felt horrified.
Because if the Liao Dynasty was completely destroyed and Xixia had no backing, if the Yan State continued the strategy of the former Song Dynasty and used troops against him, how could it resist it?
So when Wanyan Zongwang, the son of Wanyan Aguda, came to see him as an envoy, Li Qianshun received him covertly but warmly and agreed to the Jin Kingdom's invitation.
But when he actually led his army to the border line and saw the formation set up by the Yan army, his eyes again filled with deep worry. He endured it again and again, and finally sighed.
A woman in gorgeous clothes came to her side. She was the princess of Liao and now the queen of Xixia: "Why do you sigh, Your Majesty? Liao and Xia have been allies for many generations, but now they are at war again. They share the same hatred and cannot be shaken!"
Li Qianshun looked at his wife: "I know you are anxious, but right now you cannot be anxious..."
The queen frowned: "My concubine is not in a hurry. In fact, Yan and Jin are at war in Liaodong. The Xi clan is plotting rebellion. We can't wait to send troops quickly to help the Lord of Liao quell the rebellion. How can we miss this opportunity?"
Li Qianshun said calmly: "I also want to do this, but the Lord of Liao has not moved to Beijing so far. If he had shown the bravery and heroism of the past when he went south to conquer personally, I know that Gao Guo would have sent troops to follow!"
This statement is very ironic. It refers to the fact that Emperor Tianzuo jumped up and down when he shouldn't have behaved, and went on a personal expedition, ruining the situation. Now it was the Emperor of Liao who needed to step in to quell the chaos, but instead he hunkered down in Beijing and waited to die.
The queen, who was born as a princess of the Liao Kingdom, obviously couldn't hear this comment, and her face was solemn: "Has your Majesty forgotten the kindness of the Liao Kingdom to the Xia Kingdom?"
Li Qianshun slowly clenched his hands in his sleeves and said in a calm tone: "Of course I have not forgotten it, and I am willing to advance and retreat with the Liao Dynasty. Otherwise, why would you come here? I just hope that the Lord of the Liao Dynasty can cheer up, calm down the chaos, and maintain the friendship between the two countries. Live forever!”
The queen's expression softened, and she urged the troops to send out a few more words before bowing and leaving.
She didn't realize that the moment she turned to leave, her husband's eyes became very cold.
The son of Li Qianshun, the princess of Daliao, has been established as the prince of Xixia. Historically, the mother and son have always had a deep affection for the Liao Kingdom. After Xixia chose to abandon the Liao Kingdom and formed an alliance with the Jin Dynasty, the prince became filled with grief and anger, and perished in the Liao Dynasty. Later, she died of sorrow and anger at the age of seventeen. The queen hurt her beloved son and died young. She was worried about the demise of her motherland and was angry at Li Qianshun's ruthlessness, so she also went on a hunger strike and died.
Historically, the two had been husband and wife for twenty years and had a deep relationship. Li Qianshun was very sad about the death of his wife and son and did not establish another queen for more than ten years. But now they have only been married for four or five years. Emperor Tian Zuo had sex before Things like that seriously affected the relationship between husband and wife, and the relationship was neither salty nor weak. At this time, seeing the queen disregarding the interests of Xixia and only thinking about saving the Liao Kingdom, she was very dissatisfied.
However, Li Qianshun did not have a direct attack, because he also hoped to use this marriage relationship to benefit from the demise of the Liao Kingdom, and the queen with her elbows turned outward was temporarily tolerable.
The most important thing is military strength.
Instructing Ban Zhi to pass on the order, a burly young official quickly came behind him and saluted: "My brother, I pay homage to your Majesty!"
Li Qianshun's attitude was different again: "No courtesy!"
This is his younger brother Richard, who was awarded the title of King of Jin and is currently a military general.
After the power of his relatives was wiped out, Li Qianshun adopted the method of controlling power by dividing the royal family. Most of the powerful ministers in the court were of royal blood, but some positions were left for foreigners, and Cha Ge, as The trusted younger brother holds the most critical military power.
Regarding this person, Li Qianshun didn't beat around the bush and asked directly: "With my Royal Highness coming in person, will the local situation change?"
Brother Cha answered very straightforwardly: "Since the Hengshan Qiang surrendered to the Yan, the tribes had many disloyal intentions, and the supervisory army was out of control and demanded excessively. Now that His Majesty is here in person, he has restrained himself a lot. Except for the Xiangyou Army, Jianing Army, and Jingsai Army, the three Department, the others are still unwilling to listen, let alone fight with Yan."
Li Ganshun said: "The Xiangqing Army and the Shenyong Army don't listen either?"
Brother Cha said: "If you ask for military rations, if you don't give them military rations, you won't send troops..."
Actually making such an exorbitant request, Li Qianshun pursed his lips and finally asked: "Where are the captured troops from each department?"
Brother Cha said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about this. The army of capturing the living has been desolate, and they cannot afford to cause trouble!"
Li Qianshun smiled bitterly: "This is not good news..."
In addition to the central guard army, Xixia also had local armies and capture armies.
When Li Yuanhao founded the country, he divided the country into left and right wings, and each wing was divided into six local military districts. Each district had a military supervisory department responsible for commanding the army in the region. Each military supervisory department was modeled after the Song Dynasty, with military numbers and fixed military numbers. Stations, such as Xiangqing Army, Shenyong Army, Henan Army, Chaoshun Army, Gansu Army, etc.
Among these armies, the Xiangqing Army and the Shenyong Army have the highest status, with a full strength of 100,000. The total number of troops under the supervision of the Military Supervision Department nationwide is approximately 500,000.
In fact, although the system is very similar to that of the Song Dynasty, Xixia has its own national conditions. The army still uses tribes as the basic organizational unit. When sending troops to fight, the chiefs of each tribe are summoned with silver medals and given face-to-face combat tasks. The tribal leaders then command all tribes. army to participate in the war.
The problem now is that since the decline of Xixia, the tribal leaders are unwilling to participate in the war.
After all, we have not won a battle in these years. In the past, we could kill Song people, seize weapons, steal armor, and trade with each other to get good things. All ministries actively participated, but now they are defeated, and the Xixia court was not responsible for providing ordnance and food. , all soldiers bring their own, who would be willing to come?
Li Qianshun: Only when you come can I win the battle!
Tribal Chief: You won the battle, so we came!
Stuck in a loop...
Of course, we can't rely entirely on these ordinary soldiers, so there is another capture army, composed of elite cavalry selected by the leaders of each tribe, with a total of 100,000 people. As the name suggests, the purpose is to capture the enemy soldiers alive and make them slaves. This army is in competition with the Northern Song Dynasty army. During the battle, he played an important role and killed many Song people.
The result was also useless.
Because the old enemy, the Western Army, was still guarding the border, they couldn't catch anyone at all.
In the past, when the Central Plains dynasties changed dynasties, the surrounding foreigners could benefit and take advantage of them. However, this time the Liao Kingdom was beaten to the point where it could not take care of itself. There were no replacements at the border. They were still familiar faces who knew everything about them.
After the Western Army was dedicated to the Anxi Army, its mental outlook became better and better, its weapons and ammunition were significantly improved, and its food did not rely entirely on forts and farms. It had to live frugally, with supplies from the court and its own meat.
Xixia couldn't even match the Song Dynasty's version of the Western Army, let alone this strengthened elite. They were beaten to the point where they couldn't find the north, and the capture army was also destroyed.
Li Qianshun took a deep breath: "So, the only soldiers I can use now are the Central Guards?"
Cha Ge comforted him: "Your Majesty, don't worry. The Central Guards are still strong. Once the Yan army invades, the tribes from all over the country will rise up to resist. They don't trust the Han people."
Li Qianshun smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I don't believe the Han people because the Song Dynasty did not sincerely give them benefits. This King of Yan is much more powerful. I still don't understand why the Hengshan Qiang defected to Yan. If this tribe can live well in Yan territory, Yes, everything is different!”
Brother Cha gritted his teeth: "In this case, we cannot stop at the border between the two countries!"
Li Ganshun said: "You also advocate for going to war?"
Cha Ge said: "If we cannot profit from the Liao Kingdom, we in Xixia may be in danger of subjugation..."
Li Qianshun's gaze became firm: "Yes, we must go to war and make a profit in order to unite all the ministries and allow Xixia to regain its strength. How are you going to deal with the enemy?"
Cha Ge said: "The Yan army is mainly infantry. There is no natural and favorable terrain here, and there is no city to rely on. With only the camps and fortresses they built, they can use light cavalry to detour and attack from both sides!"
Li Qianshun asked: "What are the chances of winning?"
Brother Cha hesitated for a moment. He had just observed the Yan army's military appearance and calmly analyzed: "It should be half of it. The Jin people can compete with the Yan army so far only because of the superiority of cavalry. Our army is not weak to the Jin people!"
However, Li Qianshun's expression changed: "With the cavalry and the capital guards, we only have half the chance of winning? If our army loses this battle, I will have no choice but to return to the capital and linger. Is there a more reliable way?"
Brother Cha shook his head slightly: "The Yan army is much stronger than the Song army. Fortunately, there are few cavalry, so our army only has half a chance of winning. I really don't dare to exaggerate..."
Li Qianshun fell silent.
It's not that he is afraid, but that the 30,000 troops who came with him now have already eliminated all the direct troops that can be used except for guarding the capital and other important places. On the contrary, the opposite side is just an ordinary army of the Yan army.
For Li Qianshun, he could not accept even a tragic victory, let alone a defeat, because the Yan army could quickly bring in another army, but Xixia did not have the qualifications at all.
After a while, Li Qianshun asked: "Can we force peace with war?"
Brother Cha grinded his teeth and whispered: "Brother, please do your best!"
"I have to send an envoy, let's find out first!"
Since he was prepared to leave an escape route for peace talks, it was necessary to send envoys. Li Qianshun recruited a Han official to go to the opponent's military camp as an envoy, using both soft and hard tactics to ascertain intelligence.
The hard part is, naturally, as an in-law and ally of the Liao Kingdom, questioning why the other party appears on the land of the Liao Kingdom for no reason.
In terms of softness, as long as it can get benefits, Xixia can be as soft as possible.
However, after the envoy returned to the military camp, the first reply he brought made Li Qianshun dumbfounded: "They said that Yunnei Prefecture is the land of Yan State? It has been ceded?"
The envoy explained: "It was the work of my younger brother King Yelu Dezhong. In order to repay the Yan army for driving away the gold thieves, he leased many states and counties to the Yan state and became the prefectures..."
Li Qianshun thought of Shi Jingtang of the Later Jin Dynasty who ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. He did not expect that now the situation would turn and it would be the Liao Kingdom's turn to cede territory to the Central Plains Dynasty. But in this case, wouldn't Yelv Dezhong be attacked by domestic groups? And, losing power and humiliating the country is too shameful...
Soon he realized something was wrong: "Lented to Yan State...what does this mean?"
The envoy said: "The leased territory is not permanent, and the Liao Kingdom can take it back in the future, but the territory rented now is also the Yan territory... The Huyan commander warned our army not to set foot on the Yan territory, otherwise we will bear the consequences. Don’t say you didn’t predict what you said!”