The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

The Xining Army captured Huangzhou and Kuozhou almost without a fight, as well as the Jishi Army's Hexi territory.

Not to mention Huangzhou, Kuozhou was even worse than Huangzhou, with only [-] soldiers guarding the city. As soon as the army arrived, the magistrate of Kuozhou directly ordered the city gates to be opened, and he walked out of the city to surrender in three steps.

This is different from fighting Xixia. Even though you know you can't defend it, you still have to fight bloody and vow to live or die with the city.

At the moment, it is their own business, the old Zhao family. The magistrate of Kuozhou is not interested in fighting. There is a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides and they cannot fight again. Anyway, the imperial edict does not say that the King of Qin is rebelling. It only says that if there are guilty, the states will arrest him. If he can't be captured, he will surrender. Okay, we can't let the Western troops kill each other.

Tokyo, Imperial City Enfukugong Palace.

"What?" Emperor Daojun stood up abruptly after the examination, and looked at He Li in front of him with wide eyes. He Li was not very old. He was the top scorer in the imperial examination of Qin Hui's class, and Qin Hui was the second place.

His promotion speed was even faster than that of Qin Hui. After briefly serving as a Beijing official for two years, he worked his way up to Suining Prefecture, Taizhou Prefecture, and Fengxiang Prefecture. Now, at the age of less than forty, he is appointed as a member of the Privy Council with Tongzhi. The second in command after Tong Guan.

Tong Guan left Beijing to conquer the Liao Kingdom. The Privy Council and the domestic military were all managed by He Li. He was sweating now and said politely: "The official family, Xihe Road and the west of the Yellow River were all occupied by the King of Qin. Now the King of Qin has occupied it." Guard the river."

"What an evil obstacle, what an evil obstacle!" Emperor Daojun waved his sleeves and knocked over all the utensils on the case, and cursed: "I want to regain the old land of Houshan, the homeland of Youyan, and build unparalleled achievements, but this evil obstacle comes to cause trouble for me and take advantage of the situation. , has ulterior motives, what does he want to do? I think he is really rebelling!"

He Li said: "Officials, even if King Qin really rebels, we can only endure it at the moment, and we can't make a big show of it and tell the world."

Emperor Daojun said angrily: "Why don't you tell me? I want everyone in the world to know that this evil obstacle is treasonous and arrogant. In the past, it was all hypocrisy to cover up. But now the true colors are revealed. He wants to steal the sacred weapon of Sheji. Everyone can take it. !”

He Li's mouth twitched when he heard the word "wolf ambition". It seemed that the official was really angry and confused, and he could even say such a thing.

"Guan family, this must not be done!" He Li hurriedly dissuaded him: "Guan family, now the army is marching north to attack Liao Dynasty. It is a tense time. Everyone in the court and the people in the country are worried and need to be reassured. The soldiers at the front are also worried. We must be focused on killing the enemy. If the news of King Qin's rebellion spreads, I am afraid there will be an uproar immediately. The people's morale will be unstable, and the military morale... is even more afraid of being shaken!"

"This..." Emperor Daojun froze immediately after hearing this. How could he not know the truth? It was not mentioned in the previous imperial edict. On the one hand, it was because of his own pride. It was too embarrassing for his son to rebel. On the other hand, They were worried about affecting the war going north to conquer Liao.

"This villain really knows how to choose his time!" Emperor Daojun was so angry that he slapped the table in front of him: "He has planned it long ago, he has planned it long ago!"

"The officials..." He Li bent down and said: "We thought that if it had been discussed before, but now the Liao army has entered the Xijin Mansion, the main task should be to recover Yanyun. As long as the King of Qin... temporarily If we don’t cross the Yellow River with our troops, we’ll wait and see its movements until the Western Army comes back.”

"But what if this criminal is so mad that he steps across the Yellow River?" Emperor Daojun shouted loudly, which frightened Zhang Di who was at the door and hurriedly closed the palace door.

"If King Qin really crosses the Yellow River and attacks the other half of Xihe Road, he will definitely take advantage of the fire. The officials should immediately dispatch local forbidden troops from all over the south to encircle Xihe. Then they will tell the world about the ten major sins of King Qin. Accusing him of disregarding the overall situation, causing trouble to the country, and intending to prevent the imperial court from regaining the homeland of China. The whole country should work together to suppress it. I think when the time comes, the people of Li will definitely share the same hatred. As thousands of people pointed out, the King of Qin will not last long!"

When Emperor Daojun heard this, his face became uncertain: "Why don't you call back the Western Army?"

"Officials, the Western Army cannot be summoned. If the war in the north becomes tense, once it is recalled, even in part, all the previous achievements may be wasted. And if we really capture the sixteen states, we must heavily garrison them. Otherwise, otherwise... The Jin Kingdom covets it and secretly Having wrong thoughts will be detrimental to our Song Dynasty!"

Emperor Daojun frowned and said, "Can't the Imperial Guards be moved too?"

He Li said: "Officials, part of the Imperial Guards were originally stationed in Hebei, and then King Yun would take command and lead the elite to Liao. The rest must be left to defend the capital and must not be moved!"

Emperor Daojun glanced at him: "Then you just have to watch your second son take up half of Xihe?"

He Li said: "If it's only half of Xihe, it won't be a big deal at the moment. Apart from Xining, only Huangzhou is prosperous in Hexi. Kuozhou was originally a military state, not as good as a county in the Central Plains. If King Qin stopped here, he would probably be If they want to rely on the Yellow River to establish a separate government, the officials only need to wait for Yanyun to be pacified, and then look back and worry about it slowly."

Emperor Daojun hummed: "Slowly care about it, slowly care about it, he has rebelled, how can I have the intention to care about it slowly with him."

He Li said cautiously: "The official family, I guess, the King of Qin may not attack this side of the Yellow River."

"Why did your beloved say this?" Emperor Daojun asked in confusion.

"If the King of Qin really planned to go all the way east, cross the Yellow River, and descend to Qinfeng, he should have raised a rebellion flag by now and spread the word to the world. But as far as I know, no such thing has happened."

"You don't understand this evil obstacle." Emperor Daojun said calmly: "This evil obstacle is the best at playing tricks and tricks to steal the city and seize the city land. I will now issue an imperial edict to Xizhou Tongpan, giving him a hint not to be deceived by this evil obstacle, and also telling him to pay close attention to the movements in Hexi, and report immediately if this evil obstacle attempts to cross the Yellow River."

"Yes, the officials are wise!" He Li said hurriedly.

Huangzhou, Zhizhou Yamen.

Zhao Tan sat on the chair and squinted at the two people kneeling on the ground. One was Xin Shuxian and the other was Yu Wenshu, the magistrate of Huangzhou.

Yu Wenshu lowered his head and said nothing. He had nothing to say. No matter how stupid he was at this moment, he knew that Yao Pingzhong must have secretly taken refuge with Zhao Tao. Otherwise, he would have led the army out of the city without moving a sword or a gun. , especially when he left, he destroyed all the east city gates, and after crossing the Yellow River, not a single ship came back.

Now that Yao Pingzhong has taken refuge, it is hard to say what happened to Yao Gu. If Yao Gu also takes refuge in Zhao Tao, then something big will happen in the northwest.

Yu Wenshu lowered his head and pondered in his mind, while Xin Shuxian next to him held his head high: "His Royal Highness the King of Qin occupied Xining and captured Huangzhou. Could it be that he really wants to dig up the foundation of the Song Dynasty and raise troops to rebel?"

Zhao Tong sneered: "Are you still using me to dig it? If I don't take action, this Xihe will soon become your Xin family's."

"If you want to incriminate yourself, why bother? The King of Qin is making such slanderous remarks!" Xin Shuxian immediately said angrily: "I have been a soldier all my life. I have been loyal to the monarch and loved the people. I have never done anything deviant. If the King of Qin looks at me If you don't like it, you can kill it, but you must not tarnish my reputation for life!"

"Qing Ming?" Zhao Tong looked at him and shook his head. He had nothing to say. People are changing. There are countless examples of dragon slayers becoming dragons since ancient times. Xin Shuxian is no exception. Some of them are not qualified enough. After all, their official positions are not high enough and their power is not great enough. They are limited to Xihe.

Zhao Tong did not intend to kill him. Although he did not win over the Xin family, the Xin family brothers were currently leading troops in the Liao Kingdom. If he killed all the Xin family members on his side, the Xin family brothers on the other side would cause trouble on the battlefield and would have a negative impact on Zheng Liao. The war was not going well, and although he had left the court at the moment, he would naturally still side with the Song Dynasty regarding the Yanyun matter, although the Song Dynasty might not be able to recapture the Sixteen Prefectures, or even hold them.

Zhao Tong sighed slightly, waved to the side, and someone immediately came over and took the two of them down.

Then he summoned the generals for a meeting, then went to the top of the city for a lookout. After giving a detailed explanation, he returned to Xining Prefecture the next day.

Immediately, he began to reorganize his troops, train new troops, sent teams to set up tight defenses on the banks of the Yellow River, and then discussed the attack on Xixia.

The sign of Xining Zhizhou Prefecture has now been removed and replaced with the name of Generalissimo Division. Zhao Tong took the post of Generalissimo himself and changed the original Zhizhou Hall inside into a meeting hall.At this time, there were more than a dozen people in the hall, including the governor and deputy governor of the Longyou Protectorate, the chief officers and adjutants of the three military divisions, and the commanders and deputy commanders of the armies below.

Zhao Tong pointed to a military picture on the wall and said, "Take a closer look and express your opinions. If you have any ideas, discuss them."

Everyone came forward to watch, some of whom knew about Xixia's situation before, and some who only heard of its name but knew nothing about it, but they all looked at the picture seriously.

This picture was hand-drawn by Zhao Tong himself. It is different from ordinary military pictures and is more detailed and easy to understand.

Today, Xixia has sixteen states and four prefectures. The capital is Xingqing Prefecture, and the other three prefectures are Xuanhua Prefecture, Xiping Prefecture and Xiliang Prefecture.

However, the states in Xixia are different from those in the Song Dynasty. The states along the border are called military divisions, especially the places where they meet Jingyuan, Huanqing, and Fuyan in the Great Song Dynasty. The military divisions are densely packed and heavily guarded.

On the Xihe side, there is only Zhuoluo and Nanjunsi, there is Gaizhu City in front, and Roulang Mountain below.

As for the Xixia Military Division, which is two thousand miles away from Longyou, they are all far away. After all, the junction here is extremely difficult to walk. The gravel mountain desert is difficult to use troops. Once you cross into the opponent's area, it will be difficult to go back. .

The military system of Xixia is also different from that of the Song Dynasty. After Li Yuanhao became emperor, he divided the entire territory of Xixia into left and right wings. The five defense zones were the five armies. They had the Army Command Department and the Economic Strategy Department. The military command system was roughly divided into three layers. , the first floor is the Privy Council, the second floor is the Economic and Strategy Department, the Military Command Department and the Palace Front Department, and the third floor is the Military Supervision Department.

There are twelve military supervisory departments in total, which are similar to the military structure of the Song Dynasty. Each military supervisory department is composed of the commander-in-chief, deputy commander-in-chief, military supervisor, and subordinate commanders, trainers, and left and right guards, etc., who are responsible for garrison affairs. .

The initial strength of the Xixia Kingdom was about 15, but now it is said to be 30. According to the information from the Privy Council of the Song Dynasty, the real elite soldiers were only more than 8, and the rest were permanent troops, or the old, weak, sick and disabled.

The most elite among them are the 5000 imperial guards of Xingqing Mansion, which belong to the central army. This part of the army includes six squadrons of Zhisu Guards and three thousand iron kites, as well as Lingzhou and Xiang who guard the south of Xingqing Mansion. The Qingjian Military Division defends the right wing in the north of Xingqing Mansion and the Chaoshun Supervision Military Division.

The commander-in-chief of this central legion, who also commanded the army and suppressed the Yatou, was the brother-in-law of the Western Xia Emperor Li Qianshun, King Jin Dynasty Richard Brother.

Brother Richard is a man of great fortitude, power and strategy, and has military acumen. He can shoot a three-stone bow, use a horse weighing hundreds of kilograms, shoot heavy armor through a hole, and instantly take the enemy's head. It's no problem.

Moreover, this man once helped the Tubo tribes to fight against the Song Dynasty, reformed the iron kite marching method, and defeated the Song army in Tong'an City. Xi Commander Liu Fa, who was the most famous general at the time, died in this battle. It can be said that he died in this battle. Died at the hands of Brother Richard.

This battle made Brother Richard famous, and he was known as the Military God of Xixia. He was heard even in the Uighurs and Liao Dynasties.

At this time, Zhao Tong said: "When the Song and Jin Dynasties destroyed the Liao Dynasty, Emperor Tianzuo would definitely ask Li Qianshun for help. However, Xixia has always been treacherous and double-dealing. It is absolutely impossible to send troops to aid the Liao Dynasty, but..."

Everyone turned to listen at this moment, and Zhao Tong continued: "But according to Li Qianshun's virtue, it is very likely that he will take this opportunity to sneak attack on the Song Dynasty!"

Everyone took a breath when they heard this, and Liu Suiyun said: "The prince is right. Although the feud between Song and Xia has subsided in recent years, how could Li Qianshun let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?"

Lu Junyi wondered: "With the Song and Jin alliance now, isn't Li Qianshun afraid of attacking Xia after destroying Liao?"

Zhao Tong shook his head and smiled, and Liu Suiyun also laughed. Lu Junyi became more and more puzzled and said: "These subordinates don't understand political affairs, so the prince should not be dumbfounded."

Zhao Tong nodded and his eyes fell on General Lu. General Lu seemed to be thinking about something at this time and was completely unaware of Zhao Tong's gaze.

"Deputy Commander Lu!" Zhao Tong said.

"Ah, Your Majesty..." Lu will wake up from his thoughts and say hurriedly.

"Tell me, is Xixia afraid that the Song and Jin alliance will attack Xia?"

"This..." General Lu frowned and said, "I'm probably not afraid. There are few people in the Jin Kingdom. Even if the Liao Kingdom is destroyed, it will be difficult to occupy them all. Otherwise, they will not agree to the alliance with the Song Dynasty. It would be great if they directly take over the entire Liao Kingdom." , if Xixia can understand this, I am afraid they will not be afraid, because it is impossible for the Jin Kingdom to agree to the Song Dynasty to attack Xia."

Zhao Tong nodded and looked at everyone: "That's it. After the Liao Dynasty was destroyed, the Jin Kingdom couldn't digest the huge territory and grassland in a short time. How could it bother to conquer mountainous areas like Xixia? As for the Song Dynasty... After Most of the Liao emperors had exhausted armies, and in the past their victory or defeat was unpredictable, but now that their armies are exhausted, Li Qianshun is no longer afraid."

After he finished speaking, he stood up, walked to the map, and lightly traced his fingers on the lines representing the five northwest roads: "If you are Li Qianshun, once you are ready to attack the Song Dynasty, which road should you choose?"

There was silence in the meeting hall for a moment, and then Yang Zhi's slightly trembling voice sounded: "It can't...it can't be Xihe, right?"

"It looks like Xihe to me!" Zhang Xian also said.

"It must be Xihe!" Xu Ning, who had always been taciturn, said.

"It's Xihe!" Du Bo said: "Other places are relatively close to the Liao Dynasty and the capital of the Song Dynasty. Only Xihe is the farthest. Once Xihe is attacked, it will take a long time for the Western Army to return reinforcements. If I were Li Qianshun, I would definitely choose Xihe to attack."

Zhao Tong smiled and glanced at Liu Suiyun. Liu Suiyun also laughed and said to everyone: "What you all said is right, it's Xihe!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone started talking. General Lu walked to the map, looked up and down for a few seconds, and said in shock: "Lanzhou, Lanzhou is the city closest to the border of Xixia, and Lanzhou has always been prosperous in commerce. If Xixia comes, We will definitely launch a sneak attack on Lanzhou nearby!"

"Yes, other states and cities are far away from the border. If you rush here, it is difficult to cover your tracks. You can no longer talk about sneak attacks and lose the opportunity. What's more, going deep alone is not in line with Xixia's usual tactics!" Zhao Tong nodded! .

"Your Majesty, is this Lanzhou?" At this time, Luda grabbed a tendril under his chin and said, "Lanzhou is on the other side of the Yellow River and is not under our control."

"We are not guarding Lanzhou. Lanzhou is protected by the Xihe River. General Lu does not need to be anxious." Liu Suiyun said with a smile.

"That's right, brother, why are you so anxious? We won't go to the other side of the Yellow River for the time being." Shi Jin also said.

Zhao Tong stood up again at this time, walked to the side of General Lu, stretched his hand to the opposite side of Lanzhou, and said slowly: "If Xixia crosses the Yellow River to attack Lanzhou, they will inevitably dispatch Zhuo Luo and Nanjunsi's troops, then we will... …”

His finger slid upwards and stopped at Xixia Zhuoluo and Nanjunsi: "Let's sneak attack Gaizhu City in front of Junsi!"

(End of this chapter)