The reason why small tribes often defected from Xixia and Liao to the Song Dynasty was because they could not stand the similar harsh policies of Xixia and Liao.
The Liao Kingdom was just overbearing. Even if their decrees were harsh, they were not so severe as to force people to death.
But Xixia's government decrees were truly vicious.
It can drive people to death alive.
In Xixia, only pure Party people can live and thrive, and the rest can only be squeezed.
Kou Ji was not surprised that Xixia was poor. What surprised him was the vision and smell of Lieutenant Zhejia.
From the time he arrived in the northwest until now, he has never said that he wanted to fight with the Xixia people.
He only said that he would break out of the Great Wall.
Based on his words, Lieutenant Zhejia Military Academy judged that he was going to fight Xixia.
It shows that his sense of smell and vision are very keen.
Kou Ji said to the lieutenant of the Zhejia Military Academy: "It is true that Xixia is poor, but the nobles of Xixia are not poor. The reason why the people of Xixia are poor is because most of the money in Xixia is concentrated in the hands of the nobles of Xixia.
Let’s just focus on the Xixia nobles.
Besides, if we can’t make any money from Xixia, then we will divide the land.
Although 60% of Xixia's prosperous territory was plundered by the Song Dynasty, 40% was still there.
Forty percent of the rich territory is worth a fierce battle."
When the Lieutenant Zhejia Military Academy heard this, he smiled bitterly, but said nothing more.
Only Kou Ji dared to say these words, and only Kou Ji dared to do such things. If it had been anyone else, his head would have been chopped off long ago.
When Kou Ji saw that the Zhejia Military Academy Captain had stopped talking, he ordered him and Wang Kai: "Since Liu Qi and the others have chased out of Linzhou City, the territories occupied by the Liao people outside Linzhou City must have been captured by them.
.
Those places used to belong to Xixia. After the Liao people occupied them, they were eager to attack the Song Dynasty. They must not have managed them well.
The two of you lead the soldiers and horses over and sweep away the people in those territories.
Anyone who refuses to obey the control of the Song Dynasty can be killed first and then punished.
If you encounter Xixia soldiers and horses, don't start a fight with them first.
After we have completely driven away the Liao people, we can then settle the accounts with the Xixia people."
Wang Kai and the Zhejia Military Colonel looked at each other and nodded in unison.
The two rested in the temporary camp for a night, and the next day they led their troops out of Linzhou City to sweep the territory outside Linzhou City.
Those territories were the roads given by the Xixia people to the Liao people.
Now that the Liao people were defeated by the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty counterattacked and naturally wanted to occupy those territories.
Kou Ji had promised the soldiers who had fought in Quyechuan before that he would allocate land to them after this battle, and he could not break his promise.
The troops led by Wang Kai and Zhejia Military Academy Lieutenant were not many, but it was easy to sweep through the Xixia territories that had been trampled upon by the Liao people.
Just three days.
Wang Kai and Lieutenant Zhe Jiajun led their troops and swept away the territory from outside Linzhou City to the front line of the Great Wall in Yinzhou.
During this period, Xixia soldiers and horses appeared near these territories.
But after they saw Wang Kai and Lieutenant Zhejia's military commander in a deadly fight, they retreated decisively.
After Wang Kai and Lieutenant Zhejia Military Academy cleared the southwest territory outside Linzhou City, they began to sweep the northeastern territory outside Linzhou City.
Gao Chugong, Liu Qi, and Guo Yi returned to Linzhou City dejectedly as they raided the northeastern territory outside Linzhou City.
The three people entered Kou Ji's Chinese army tent like eggplants beaten by frost.
Seeing this, Kou Ji frowned slightly and asked, "Didn't you catch up?"
"Why……"
Gao Chugong sighed and said nothing.
Liu Qi and Guo Yi naturally did not dare to treat Kou Ji with Gao Chugong's attitude.
Liu Qi replied with a grimace: "Returning to Kou Jinglue, I didn't catch up..."
Kou Ji frowned even more, "You three, leading nearly ten thousand people, chased for three days and three nights, but still failed to catch up with Xiao Xiaomu. Could it be that Xiao Xiaomu's life should not be cut off?"
Guo Yi shook his head, "That's not true..."
Kou Ji was stunned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Guo Yi said frankly: "Although we did not catch up with Xiao Xiaomu, Xiao Xiaomu is dead."
Kou Ji was even more stunned and asked doubtfully: "You didn't catch up with Xiao Xiaomu, but Xiao Xiaomu died? Did he commit suicide?"
When Guo Yi heard this, a hint of bitterness appeared on his face.
Kou Ji said dissatisfiedly: "Can you please finish it all at once without hesitation?"
Seeing that Kou Ji was angry, Guo Yi quickly reported: "The three of us chased Xiao Xiaomu for three days and three nights until we reached Dongsheng County."
Speaking of this, Guo Yi paused and said with a bitter look on his face: "Seeing Xiao Xiaomu leading people to escape into Dongsheng County, we were ready to stop the pursuit. But we didn't expect that Xiao Xiaomu led people to Dongsheng County not long after
, a gunshot rang out in Dongsheng County.
Before we could figure out the situation, we saw that the Liao flag on top of Dongsheng County was knocked down, and a Song flag was propped up.
I sent someone to investigate and found out.
As early as a few days ago, Liu Gongshi led his men to conquer Dongsheng County, disguised himself as Liao people, and took up residence in Dongsheng County.
After Xiao Xiaomu led his people to escape into Dongsheng County, he immediately surrounded Xiao Xiaomu and the Liao deserters with his troops, and then shot Xiao Xiaomu to death.
All the Liao officials and generals who fled with Xiao Xiaomu were also captured by Liu Gongshi."
When Kou Ji heard this, he finally understood why the three people looked bitter.
The three of them led people around day and night for several days, but in the end they took advantage of Liu Heng, who was waiting for the chance. Of course, they looked bitter.
Kou Ji sighed slightly: "Liu Heng is lucky..."
Gao Chuang Gong and the other three looked at each other, the bitterness on their faces became even stronger.
Isn't this just a stroke of luck?
They fought hard for so long with the Liao people and pursued them for so long. In the end, Liu Heng easily captured Xiao Xiaomu's head.
He obviously contributed the least, but he easily took away the most abundant credit.
Kou Ji saw Gao Chuanggong and the others were languid, so he smiled lightly and said: "With Liu Heng's status, it is useless to ask for so much credit. One Xiao Xiaomu's head is enough to obtain all the titles he wants.
The rest is of little use in his name."
When Gao Chugong, Liu Qi, and Guo Yi heard this, their eyes widened instantly.
From what Kou Ji said, it seemed that he wanted to share the credit privately.
Xiao Xiaomu's head was beheaded by Liu Heng himself, so they couldn't remember it.
But they can think about the other important ministers who accompanied the Liao army, such as Huang Pian.
Although the heads of those people are not as precious as Xiao Xiaomu's.
But it's easy to help them climb the ladder of promotion.
"what would you like?"
Gao Chugong spoke decisively.
Benefit exchange is not uncommon in the circles of the powerful.
Koji is willing to share those credits with them, so he naturally wants to gain certain benefits.
If there is no benefit, why should we share it with them?
As an old powerful person, Gao Chugong naturally understands the rules of the powerful circle.
The Gong family in Gao has a great cause and is very grand. They can come up with some things that Kou Ji wants.
Liu Qi and Guo Yi could not.
Not only were they poor, their official positions were also very low, and they were unable to get what Kou Ji wanted.
The two of them heard Gao Chugong's words and understood that Kou Ji had taken the credit and needed to exchange it for benefits. The hope that had just appeared on their faces instantly turned into disappointment.
Faced with Gao Chugong's question, Kou Ji said with a smile: "It's not what I want, but what Liu Heng wants. The credit belongs to Liu Heng, not to me. At most, when I was reporting to the court,
It's just some tampering with the credit book.
Liu Heng has the final say on how to divide the credit."
Hearing this, Gao Chuanggong pondered for a moment and said, "The heads of Huang Pian and others are not worth a big price. If Liu Heng is willing to give up Xiao Xiaomu's head, I will do it at any cost."
Kou Ji was stunned for a moment, feeling that Gao Chuanggong was thinking nonsense.
Unless Liu Heng was crazy, it would be impossible for him to give Xiao Xiaomu's head to someone else.
Xiao Xiaomu was not only the leading general of the Liao Kingdom, but also the uncle and king of the Liao Kingdom.
His status is very high.
It would be easy to trade his head with the court for a dukedom.
Since the death of Liu E, the titles of the Liu family have been completely reduced.
The Liu family now urgently needs a title to stabilize the Liu family's position in Bianjing City.
Under such circumstances, how could Liu Heng hand over Xiao Xiaomu's head to others?
"After Liu Heng arrives in Linzhou City, you can talk to Liu Heng about this matter."
Kou Ji did not make the decision for Liu Heng.
Gao Chugong heard Kou Ji's words and nodded slowly.
The second day when Gao Chugong, Liu Qi and others returned to Linzhou City.
Liu Heng led hundreds of people and escorted Huang Pian and others to Linzhou City.
After Liu Heng met Kou Ji, he was not in a hurry to show his merits, but urged Kou Ji to send manpower to Ningbian Prefecture.
Inside the Chinese military tent.
After Liu Heng saluted, he said to Kou Ji: "Fourth brother, although Ningbian Prefecture and Dongsheng County have been captured, the defense line is too long. Someone needs to be in charge. Someone needs to lead the prisoners and soldiers to build some defenses against the Liao people."
Walled City.”
Most of the cities and villages in the Liao Kingdom were left over from the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties.
It's not that the Liao people didn't have the ability to build a pass, it's just that they couldn't do it.
The Liao people mainly relied on cavalry and built strongholds, which not only did not help the Liao soldiers and horses in combat, but also restricted the cavalry combat.
Therefore, the Liao people did not build fortresses in Ningbian Prefecture and Dongsheng County.
The army of the Song Dynasty was mainly infantry, so it was natural to build fortresses to station troops and defend against powerful enemies.
Kou Ji heard Liu Heng's words, thought for a while and said: "Originally, I planned to let Minghao take charge of Linzhou City, but since you have won Ningbian Prefecture and Dongsheng County, let him go to Ningbian Prefecture to take charge.
I will write a transfer order in a while and send someone to deliver it to him so that he can rush to Yongbyon Prefecture as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Liu Heng nodded slowly.
Although he had not been in contact with Ming Hao for a long time, he had also heard about Ming Hao's deeds of establishing a military order and building a stockade in Quyechuan.
We also know that Minghao was very efficient when building the stockade.
Minghao's talent happened to be the one most lacking in Yongbyon Prefecture and Dongsheng County.
If he goes to Ningbian Prefecture and Dongsheng County to sit on the front line, he does not need to worry about the Liao people taking back the territory he has worked so hard to conquer.
After Kou Ji finished telling Liu Heng what he was worried about, he smiled and said to Liu Heng, "You got a big deal this time."
Liu Heng heard this and said with a smile: "There are more than one advantages..."
Liu Heng's trip north can be said to be a bargain at every turn.
In order to win the battle on the banks of Quyechuan, Xiao Xiaomu brought most of his troops to Quyechuan, leaving very few troops in Baode, Ningbian Prefecture, and Dongsheng County.
Liu Heng led 20,000 troops to conquer these three places. It was like entering an uninhabited territory, and he easily captured Baode, Ningbian Prefecture, and Dongsheng County.
It can be said that these three places are no different from those picked up.
In addition, Liu Heng also blocked Xiao Xiaomu's northward escape and took Xiao Xiaomu's big fish into his hands.
The reason why Liu Heng stayed in Dongsheng County after conquering Dongsheng County and pretended to be a Liao man.
It was not that I was waiting for Xiao Xiaomu intentionally.
His main purpose was to cut off the Liao people's retreat and wait for the Liao people's defeat, so as to catch the turtle in the urn.
But he didn't expect that instead of catching a turtle, he caught a group of koi carp.
The harvest was huge, beyond his expectation.
Kou Ji smiled at Liu Heng and said, "I will write a memorial about your achievements and submit it to the officials, but before that, I have something to discuss with you."
Liu Heng said with a bright smile: "What fourth brother wants to say is sharing the credit for profit?"
Kou Ji was slightly stunned, "Has Gao Chugong sent someone to contact you?"
Liu Heng didn't hide anything, he nodded slowly and said: "He wants Xiao Xiaomu's head, I can make any conditions."
Kou Ji curled his lips and said: "He is really big-hearted..."
Liu Heng nodded slowly, "That's why I didn't agree..."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said, "Even if you agree, I won't agree. Even if you give Xiao Xiaomu's head to him, if I don't transfer the head to his name, the court will not recognize this merit.
The official family promised me the military and political power in the northwest, and I have the final say in everything in the northwest.
I say whose credit is credited to whose credit it is."
Liu Heng smiled and nodded.
Kou Ji stared at Liu Heng and said, "Xiao Xiaomu's head cannot be given to others, but you can give away some of the other heads."
Liu Heng nodded and smiled: "That's what I meant."
Kou Ji was slightly stunned and said unexpectedly: "Why do you have the idea of giving up the head?"
Liu Heng smiled and said: "My butt is too small to bear such a big contribution."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "As long as I help you, you can suppress it."
Liu Heng shook his head and said: "In this war against the Liao people, I think I got the most credit, but in fact I paid the least. If you take all the credit, you will be hated by others.
Although they can't do anything to me.
But the public opinion will have a big impact on me.
I am a servant of the official family, so I should not have a good reputation, let alone be dazzling in front of others.
Once I shine too brightly, it will be difficult to stay with the official family.
I can't stay with the officials any longer, and all my merits are of little use.
One Xiao Xiaomu's head is enough for me to get some of the rewards I want.
No matter how much credit you have, it is just the icing on the cake.
It didn't help me much.
If you keep it in my hands, you will only be rewarded with tens of thousands of copper coins.
But if you give it to others, it is a ladder for promotion.
They share my merits and get promoted through my merits.
When I need their help in the future, they will naturally not refuse."