More than 20 days ago, when the Zhou Dynasty and Jurchen troops advanced towards Nanjing Road and Zhongjing Road in a pincer attack from the north and south, the Liao court made a major decision. Prime Minister Han Yanshou proposed to Yelu Zongyuan that he should go to Daliao
The major tribes they belonged to lobbied and persuaded them to send tribal troops to fight for the imperial court, because the imperial court was in danger.
In fact, many people within the Daliao court were very skeptical about this. They believed that at this time, once the tribal leaders knew that the situation had deteriorated to this point, not only would they not send out help, but they would take the opportunity to make trouble and make the situation worse.
It became even more out of control.
But Han Yanshou insisted on his own point of view. He believed that at this time, the leaders of the major tribes would not do this. Because the Liao Dynasty was also their interests. Once the Liao Dynasty fell, the Jurchens and the Great Zhou Dynasty would divide the country of the Liao Dynasty, and the tribes would also
There would be no place to stand. Based on Han Yanshou's understanding of the northern tribes of Daliao over the years, he knew that these people would never sit idly by and do nothing. Only the crisis of national annihilation can make them realize that they must unite.
Yelu Zongyuan supported Han Yanshou's point of view. He agreed with Han Yanshou to give it a try. He believed in Han Yanshou's judgment. Because among the officials of the Liao Dynasty, who best understood the mentality of these tribal leaders?
If reputation could persuade them to turn back, it would be anyone but Han Yanshou.
Han Yanshou was ordered to face the danger and embarked on a journey to Shangjing Road to integrate the opinions of the large and small tribes and persuade them to form a coalition to fight for the imperial court. Han Yanshou was already over seventy years old, but he spent four days and four nights regardless of his old age.
It was time to arrive at Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing. On the way, he sent Feiyu messengers to summon the leaders of dozens of northern tribes, including Dadanjiu tribe, Damili tribe, Meiliji tribe, Chazhaci tribe, etc., to come to Linhuang.
If Yelu Zongyuan issued such a call, none of these tribal leaders would come. However, if it were Han Yanshou, these people would be in a different state of mind. Han Yanshou was a highly virtuous and respected person in the Liao Kingdom.
When Yelu Zongyuan usurped the throne and the domestic nobles were shouting and killing each other, it was Han Yanshou's mediation that eliminated the civil strife in the Liao Dynasty. This shows Han Yanshou's reputation in the Liao Dynasty.
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It can be said that without Han Yanshou as the prime minister of Daliao, the prestige of Yelv Zongyuan would not be enough to stabilize the power in Daliao, and the Liao Kingdom would also inevitably experience a war.
Three days after Han Yanshou arrived at Linhuang Mansion, leaders of the Dadan Nine Tribes, Damili Tribes, Meili Ji Tribes and other large and small tribes also arrived one after another. Of course, there were also some who were not given face and could not make it. After all, the territory of Daliao was vast and the western desert was Gobi.
It's far away and it's impossible to arrive in a short time. But for Han Yanshou, more than ten out of ten powerful tribes have arrived, which is enough.
Han Yanshou did not hide anything. He told the leaders without reservation that the Jurchens had advanced to Zhongjing Road and were approaching Dading Prefecture, and that three hundred thousand troops had captured Zhuozhou and forcibly crossed the Sanggan River to approach Xijin Prefecture. Han Yanshou told the leaders
They, this time Daliao was really in danger of annihilation. Dazhou and the Jurchens joined forces to launch a war of annihilation against Daliao, rather than a simple attack. Daliao was already in danger and urgently needed reinforcements.
In fact, the tribal leaders had already heard some news, but they did not expect that the situation had become so bad. Many tribal leaders had already formed an alliance in private. This time they came to Huang Mansion to use Han Yanshou's mouth to inform the Yelu Sect.
Yuan proposed some conditions, otherwise he would raise troops to rebel against him, but he did not expect to hear such shocking news. The leaders were shocked and had different opinions. Some said that their strength was meager and the tribe's troops were irregular.
The soldiers and horses are small in number and poorly equipped, so it may be difficult to achieve anything. Some people directly said that they had already gained face by not raising troops to rebel against Yelu Zongyuan, and it was absolutely impossible that they actually wanted to help Yelv Zongyuan.
Han Yanshou was not angry. He told everyone that his trip was not to force everyone to send troops, and he would not blame them if they were unwilling to contribute. However, he wanted to make it clear to the leaders that the eggs would never be intact when the nest was overturned. The situation
He wanted to make it clear to the leaders. Even if everyone was unwilling to send troops, they must be prepared to fight against the Zhou Dynasty and Jurchen soldiers and horses, because once the imperial troops were defeated, the Zhou Dynasty and Jurchen armies would capture the two capitals and attack directly.
After going to Beijing, each tribe had to consider whether to surrender or fight. Whether to take advantage of the fact that the imperial army still has 700,000 to 800,000 men and still have the strength to fight a battle, or to deal with the coalition forces of Zhou and Jurchen alone later.
It is an issue that must be considered by tribal leaders.
The tribal leaders are not fools. In fact, the answer to this question is obvious. It is extremely unwise to wait for the imperial court to fall and the Jurchen army and the Zhou soldiers to attack their territory. The Liao people never
The Jurchens and the Zhou people looked down upon them, let alone becoming prisoners of their subordinates and living their lives at their mercy. The leader of the Jurchens, Wanyan Aguda, was not a kind person. They were barbarians and surrendered to him.
It would be better to surrender to Yelu Zongyuan. Although Yelu Zongyuan is unpopular, he is a member of the Daliao royal family after all. Although his means of seizing the throne are despicable, he himself is still qualified to inherit the throne. He is not the emperor.
No qualifications, just despicable means.
Han Yanshou promptly offered two tempting conditions. One of the conditions was a promise on behalf of Yelu Zongyuan that as long as the tribes sent troops to help, the horses, manpower and materials forcibly collected from the court in the future would be greatly reduced. The second was that
In terms of power, each tribe was given greater autonomy. In the past, in order to weaken the power of the tribes, the imperial court assigned officials to stationed in the areas under the jurisdiction of the tribes and stationed soldiers and horses here to supervise. Without the permission of the imperial court, the tribes would not be able to do many things on their own.
Exclusively. But now the promise given by Han Yanshou is that the tribal leaders will be authorized by the imperial court to become local military envoys with administrative military division jurisdiction. The imperial court will no longer station troops, but will allow the tribes to form local troops, and the imperial court will also provide food and salary.
of supply
answer.
These two conditions are simply extremely tempting. This actually gives the major tribes the right to autonomy, which is basically the concept of a country within a country. Within the jurisdiction of their respective tribes, they are like monarchs.
With existence, you can do whatever you want. If there are still people who don’t understand its value under such conditions, it’s probably because they have no brains.
Before coming, Han Yanshou privately asked Yelu Zongyuan to allow him to persuade the tribes on such terms. Yelu Zongyuan almost fell out at that time. This was a move that seriously weakened the centralization of his emperor's power. These tribes became a country within a country, and their power
It is unbelievable that the imperial court would allow them to openly raise troops and even give them money and food to take advantage of them. Yelu Zongyuan almost called Han Yanshou an old fool. But Han Yanshou made Yelu Zongyuan angry with just one sentence.
extinguished.
"If you want to take something, you must give it to you first. At extraordinary times, do extraordinary things. Power was given by the emperor, and the emperor can take it back."
Han Yanshou's calm words calmed down Yelu Zongyuan. Yes, if you don't feed them fat meat at this time, how can you make them send troops? Of course, there is a truth that there are no eggs left after the nest is overturned.
, but the great principles alone may seem hollow. Once generous conditions are added, I am afraid that they will not send troops. After the situation calms down, isn't it a matter of my own imperial edict to rectify them? As long as the Jurchens and Dazhou are defeated by themselves,
Do I still care about those dozens of tribes, big and small? Why bother worrying about everything at this moment.
Under such conditions, what should the tribal leaders have to hesitate? Almost all of them expressed their intention to coexist and die with Daliao. So, in just five days, a group of local tribal private soldiers and temporarily recruited Qing
The tribal coalition composed of strong herdsmen was assembled in Linhuang Mansion. Although the equipment of this troop horse was extremely crude, these troop horses composed of nomadic people were full cavalry troops, and they were not like the large soldiers and horses.
The people in other parts of Liao lost their tradition of being good at riding and shooting in the process of being assimilated by the Zhou Dynasty over a hundred years. The characteristics of these tribal cavalry who are good at riding and shooting, strong and brave have not changed much. To some extent.
Generally speaking, this is the original appearance of the Liao cavalry.
Han Yanshou led this cavalry coalition with a strength of 150,000 and composed of 27 tribes. They set off overnight and went straight to the Dading Mansion in Zhongjing. Because according to previous discussions, this cavalry army was to be thrown into the battlefield of Zhongjing Road.
On top of that, cooperate with Yelu Zongyuan's superior troops to fight against the Jurchens. As for the battlefield of Jijin Mansion, Han Desui can only hold on for the time being. The Jurchens are the thorn in their side, and they must be dealt with first, and the weak Zhou soldiers and horses can be turned back.
There is nothing to worry about. Moreover, Han Desui, the Privy Councilor of the Southern Privy Council, should be able to defend Xijin Mansion and hold back the troops of the Zhou Dynasty.
However, as soon as Han Yanshou led his army to Raozhou, he received an urgent order from Yelu Zongyuan. Han Yanshou also learned about the fact that Yelu Zongyuan dug a dam to block the Jurchen army, and also learned that the Jurchen army escaped unscathed.
Han Yanshou was so angry that he almost vomited blood. Yelu Zongyuan was too stupid and too afraid of the Jurchens. So what if the Xingzhong Mansion was lost? As long as it could shrink to the area around Dading Mansion, its own military strength would be much greater than that of the Jurchens.
In addition to the fact that he led the 150,000 coalition troops to arrive, the total number of horses and infantry is at least three times that of the Jurchens. He should seek a decisive battle and annihilate the Jurchens in one fell swoop. However, he decided to order to defend Xingzhong Mansion.
It led to the destruction of more than 100,000 cavalry led by Yelucai, and even forced him to issue an order to dig a dam and release floods. This move will definitely add another black mark to his already bad reputation. It is chilling.
By doing so, he will inevitably alienate himself even more, and the consequences of this will inevitably appear soon.
However, although he was extremely angry, this was not the time to be angry. Yelv Zongyuan issued a sober order in his urgent decree. He asked Han Yanshou to lead the coalition forces to reinforce Han Desui's Xijin Mansion, because although the flood did not wipe out the Jurchen army,
But it is obviously impossible for the Jurchen army to advance eastward in a short period of time. Their supply route was cut off by the flood, and the dry food they carried should have been exhausted. Without the supply point that Xingzhong Prefecture relied on, it is absolutely impossible for them to move eastward in a short period of time.
Within the time limit, he marched westward to Dading Prefecture. Yelv Zongyuan asked Han Yanshou to immediately lead the army to reinforce Xijin Prefecture, where a battle was about to begin. Yelv Zongyuan asked him and Han Desui to use superior forces to deal with the siege troops of the Zhou Dynasty and save the immediate crisis.
Yelu Zongyuan's decree was so timely, or it seemed that his energy was not exhausted yet. When the tribal coalition forces arrived at Xijin Mansion, Xijin Mansion was in danger of breaking the city, and they arrived at the right time.
In time, the coalition cavalry detoured to the east and west sides of the city, surpassing the retreat of Zhou's troops and horses, and reversed the already inevitable defeat.
The victory of this battle also brought the Liao Kingdom back to life from the disaster.
…
Lin Jue and others returned to the territory of the Zhou Dynasty more than ten days later. When passing through Zhuozhou, Lin Jue and others discovered that the city of Zhuozhou had been captured by the Liao people again. In other words, the troops of the Zhou Dynasty voluntarily abandoned Zhuozhou, because
After experiencing a great defeat, it was meaningless to occupy Zhuozhou. Zhuozhou broke into the territory of the Liao Kingdom. It was impossible to hold on to the city. Unless you wanted to continue to organize an army to launch a new expedition to the north, you must occupy the Sanggan River.
ferry, Zhuozhou had to defend the city. At this moment, it was obviously impossible to organize another Northern Expedition.
Lin Jue's heart was heavy. He knew what the current situation meant. The consequences of the defeat of the Zhou Dynasty were not difficult to predict. The Jurchen army could not support itself alone, and Wanyan Agu's ambition to destroy the Liao Dynasty was probably going to be shattered.
The Jurchens' hundreds of thousands of troops cannot destroy the Liao Kingdom alone. After the war in Jinfu is over, the Liao people will mobilize a large army to go to Zhongjing Road for reinforcements. If Wanyan Aguda is not a madman, he will withdraw his troops immediately.
Next, it’s time for revenge. It’s still unclear whether the Liao people will take revenge on the Jurchens or the Zhou Dynasty first. But with Yelu Zongyuan’s temper, how could he let it go? Whether it was the Jurchens or the Zhou Dynasty,
Even the Great Zhou might not be able to withstand Yelu Zongyuan's wrath. The Great Zhou still seemed to have a large number of soldiers and horses, but after the defeat of 300,000 elite soldiers, their combat effectiveness was also exposed. Even if the elites are like this, those border town challengers
The remaining soldiers are probably just paper decorations. It is unrealistic to expect them to go to war with the Liao people.
There was no point in staying here anymore, so Lin Jue decided to take everyone back to Funiu Mountain. Now that the situation was in chaos, he had to go back to the mountain to discuss with Guo Kun and others, and the Luoyan Army had to be prepared.
Just as Lin Jue expected, after learning about the defeat of the Zhou soldiers and horses in the Battle of Xijin Mansion, Wanyan Agu chose to immediately withdraw to Tokyo Road. On the morning of letting Lin Jue go, the Jurchen army retaliated
After sweeping through Ande Prefecture and massacring thousands of Liao soldiers and civilians, they did not advance westward according to the previous plan, but turned their horses and retreated to the direction of Liaoyang. Wanyan Aguda was extremely unwilling, but helpless, he stalled
They made an incompetent ally. The 300,000-strong army only reached the gates of Xijin Prefecture and then returned in defeat. Wanyan Aguda did not expect that Zhou's soldiers and horses were so incompetent.
Although he was furious in his heart, he could only accept this result. Moreover, the problems he would face next were extremely serious. If the Liao people concentrated their forces to attack him, he was afraid that he would be beaten back to his original shape and return to the Changbai Mountains.
Being a savage. Therefore, it is your duty to retreat as early as possible, arrange defenses as early as possible, and consolidate the large areas of Tokyo Road you occupy. There is no use in complaining about others.
…
The summer in Bianliang City, the capital city of the Great Zhou Dynasty, will never be forgotten by anyone who has experienced it. The heat cannot be described in words. Just at that time, the people on the streets in the city were already panting and sweating from the heat.
The beads kept rolling down, and they kept cursing the damn weather.
The ladies of wealthy families were hiding in the shade of the garden pavilion, drinking ice-cold soup while complaining sweetly about the extremely hot weather this year. However, they ignored the maids who were fanning beside them, but their clothes were already soaked with sweat.
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The morning court had just dispersed, and the civil and military officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty were pouring out from the steps at the entrance of the main hall. Usually, when the court meeting with hundreds of people dispersed, the officials would be like a group of water ducks, chatting and laughing,
Even if it is gossip, you should make a few jokes. The most relaxing time is when you go to court. However, since the defeat of the 300,000 Northern Expeditionary Army led by Yang Jun, all civil and military officials have been trapped in it, no matter whether they are in the upper court or the lower court.
Deathly silence.
Today, not only were all the officials in San Dynasty silent, but they also had a look of grief, anger and shame on their faces. They were hunched over and walking in a hurry, as if they couldn't look at others and were trying to escape.
He quickly left the main hall behind him.
Just now, the Zhou court made a decision on one matter, which was to agree on the conditions for re-negotiating peace with the Liao people. The conditions were humiliating and difficult for everyone present to accept, but they had to accept them in the end.
Because of this, they felt humiliated and uncomfortable, so they left the hall as if running away. Subconsciously, they seemed to feel that the faster they left the hall, the easier they would be to get rid of the relationship with this humiliating peace negotiation terms.
He will not become a sinner of Dazhou.
After the news of Yang Jun's defeat reached the capital, Guo Xu was so shocked that he wet his pants. He was not prepared for such a result. When the army came to Jinfu, Guo Xu thought that the Liao Kingdom was already over.
They even planned to prepare an order for Yang Jun to attack Jingdao eastward after capturing Xijin Mansion, and seize Dading Mansion before the Jurchens. If he takes it, it will be his own, so as not to have to compete with the Jurchens to share the territory. The Great Zhou Dynasty
It is necessary to analyze the three capitals of Jinfu, Datong Prefecture and Dading Prefecture. This is the essence of the Liao Kingdom. These three capitals include the most prosperous area and nearly half of the population of the Liao Kingdom. The remaining
Those barren wastelands and deserts will be left to the Jurchens.
Before he woke up from his dream, reality hit like an icy storm. The dream of carving up the Liao Kingdom turned into a nightmare for the Liao people to fight back. Guo Xu was completely stunned.
The next news came one after another, without any suspense, the Liao people began their revenge. Han Desui, the Privy Councilor of the Southern Privy Council of the Liao Kingdom, who had been named the King of the Southern Privy Council, assembled 150,000 troops and troops on the border. According to detailed investigation
According to reports, a large number of Liao troops are gathering from Zhongjing Road towards the northeastern border of Zhou Dynasty. There is no doubt that the Liao people will launch their revenge and launch a large-scale attack on Zhou Dynasty.
The current literal strength of the Zhou Dynasty is more than one million, including 400,000 Xiang troops in the northeast, 250,000 Xiang troops in the northwest and Xixia in the northwest, and more than 200,000 forbidden troops in the capital. It seems that they are capable of fighting.
.However, things are not that simple.
The Forbidden Army cannot move, they have to guard the capital. The Northwest Army guards Xixia, and water far away cannot quench the thirst nearby, so it is impossible to count on. The only thing that can be counted on is the 400,000 border troops on the border. It sounds like these 400,000 are a huge number.
, but in fact, Guo Xu and the core officials of the imperial court knew that these 400,000 soldiers and horses were useless. They were all soldiers and horses left over by Yang Jun, and their combat effectiveness was extremely limited.
What's even more disgusting is that in order to support Yang Jun's 300,000-strong army in his northern expedition, the imperial court used almost all available resources. Money, food, equipment, chariots and horses, craftsmen, supplies, etc., all the treasures were on
Yang Jun's Northern Expedition army was attacked. But after all this was in vain, what could be used to resist the Liao people's revenge? Relying on these 400,000 soldiers and horses with no combat effectiveness and no combat supplies? That is absolutely impossible.
Guo Xu had already taken a risk. It had exhausted all his courage. This time, he refused to do it. In addition, Prime Minister Lu Zhongtian also believed that he could not fight the Liao people anymore. If this continued, the Zhou Dynasty would be in danger of subjugation.
.So, Guo Xu finally decided to send an envoy to the Liao Kingdom to ask for a meeting with Yelu Zongyuan and negotiate peace with them.
