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

The first year of Jingkang of the Song Dynasty and the eighth year of Yuande of the Western Xia Dynasty.

On the first day of September, the last emperor of the Western Xia Dynasty, Weiming Qianshun, was captured in Helan Mountain. Later, Zhao Tao announced the incident to the world and once again declared the demise of the Western Xia Dynasty.

On the eighth day of September of the same year, King Wei Mingcha Ge of Jin proclaimed himself emperor in Lingzhou, with the reign name Dayou, and was known as Eastern Xia in history.

Brother Richard had to proclaim himself emperor at this moment. If he didn't proclaim himself emperor, the Great Xia Kingdom would really be completely destroyed, because there was no emperor, so why would it be called the Baigao Great Xia Kingdom?

Zhao Tong did not pay too much attention to Brother Richard's actions. He only increased his troops to defend the front line of Lingzhou to make it difficult for the opponent to make further progress, and then began to pacify the west and north.

In the following more than half a month, the army was invincible and invincible. It successively captured Jingsai Army, Gansu Army, Heishui Town Yan Army, Baimaqiang Town Army, Heishan Weifu Army, Tiande Army and other places.

By the beginning of October, except for the Xiping Military Division where Yumen Pass was located in the west, and several military divisions occupied by Brother Richard in the east, all the rest of the area had been wiped out.

To the west, the Xiping Military Division, where Yumen Pass is located, is too far away. It is the farthest point from Xingqing, so it is difficult to attack. Moreover, after the Xingzhou City was defeated, this military division stood up on its own and changed its banner. Summer.

Zhao Tong sent someone to send a message to recruit him to surrender. If the other party understands the intention, it would be fine. If not, then we will start to argue. By then, the troops and horses here will be destroyed, and no generals or leaders will be left alive!

Brother Richard occupies half of the Xiangqing Army. There are also three places in the rear, namely Jianing Army, Xiangyou Army, and Zuoxiang Shenyong Army. In addition, Xihe Road across the Yellow River also occupies half of the area. .

However, these areas are not large. They are originally border defenses. The areas are densely divided and the geography is small. It is no different from the western and northern parts. One military division occupies a large area.

Moreover, although Brother Richard has control over these places, he actually does not have many men at his disposal. Those military departments are already empty, and he entered Lingzhou with a defeated army. He can only gather 30,000 to 40,000 people at most. Counting the soldiers occupying Xihe Road on the other side of the Yellow River, he could only count 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses in his hands at the moment. He had no chance of winning against the Xingqing Mansion at this time.

At this time, Zhao Zhuju was stationed in Xingzhou, pacifying the northwest, accepting surrenders and recruiting troops. He already had nearly 200,000 people under his command, far more than Brother Richard could compare with.

When the army was small, it was still possible to kill the opponent and retreat. Now that there are more soldiers, it is only a matter of time to defeat the opponent.

What's more, all the strategic resources of Xixia were originally near Xingqing Mansion, or extended to the west. If Xingqing Mansion blocked the opposite side and blocked it from the middle, not letting any of the Lingzhou side go, over time, several of Brother Richard's hands would The Military Supervisory Department will be almost trapped, and there is no place to add many things.

Therefore, Zhao Tong is not in a hurry. Whether he attacks Lingzhou or not, the opponent will not be able to escape the path of destruction.

He was currently in Xingzhou City, directing large-scale production.

The land in Hexi is rich in resources, especially around the Helan Mountains in the west. It can have everything, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, gold, iron, kerosene, oil, salt, etc. The original Xixia country alone could not use them all.

The war preparation materials that Zhao Tong was worried about at the beginning have been perfectly solved at this moment.

There is no shortage of iron ore, and armor and weapons can be crafted without restraint.

There is no shortage of war horses. The Hexi horses have become so majestic that even the Song Dynasty came to buy them.

There is no shortage of wood, charcoal, and coal, and various minerals can be smelted and various utensils made.

There is no shortage of grain and livestock, which can support the army and feed the people, and there is still plenty.

There is no shortage of salt. Dozens of salt lakes can never be mined or eaten up.

This land in Hexi can completely form a closed loop to survive, so Dangxiang has always defended it, and Li Yuanhao founded the country, all because of this condition.

At this moment, around Xingzhou City, especially at the foot of Helan Mountain, there are countless workshops of various kinds, spreading dozens of miles away. Big smoke pipes are emitting strong heat, rising straight into the sky and floating up to Helan, creating a bustling production scene.

Zhao Tong walked around the workshop at the foot of the mountain and spent half a day. Finally, he didn't rest when he returned to the city and went to the Crystal Workshop to watch.

Nowadays, the Xixia Palace is deserted. He has dismissed all the concubines, eunuchs, and slaves, and divided the palace into two parts, the front for discussing military affairs, and the back for temporary residence.

He built a crystal workshop and set it up in the front palace to secretly manufacture telescopes. Crystal was also produced here in Helan Mountain, so there was no shortage of materials. Telescopes were extremely useful on the battlefield. He didn't have time to polish the creation himself, so he hired reliable craftsmen. , divided the manufacturing of the telescope into three steps, and the craftsmen were divided into three groups to build them one by one.

This separate construction can ensure that the craftsmanship of the telescope will not be leaked in the short term, but it will be difficult to say after a long time. After all, there are victories and defeats on the battlefield, and it is inevitable that the enemy will capture it and copy it after research.

But it can't be said how long it will take. The situation in the world is no longer good, and things are always moving forward and developing. If it takes too long, then Zhao Tong won't care anymore.

Without cutting tools, cutting crystal is very laborious and can only be done bit by bit with saws and polishes. Although the workshop has been established for some time, in fact, not a single telescope has been produced. Zhao Tong asked for batch manufacturing, so it will be fine if it is not produced. , there are dozens of them coming out together, it doesn’t hurt to go slower.

He watched it for a long time, supervising and guiding some details. Originally, this thing was not too complicated. It was just because he had never touched it before that the craftsmen got stuck in some places. With a little guidance, he immediately knew how to do it.

Then he left the crystal workshop and returned to the back of the palace. The Western Xia Palace was decorated with splendid decorations and jewels everywhere, but it was actually not that big. It was not even as big as the palace before the Great Song Dynasty in Tokyo.

The imperial palace before the Song Dynasty was known as the smallest palace in history. From the top of the fan tower, you can see the working scenes in the palace. This time, Emperor Daojun built the Yanfu Palace Complex, which made it more spacious.

The Xixia Palace is not as big as the Song Palace. Although it is the best place in Xingzhou, it is nothing in the Central Plains. Apart from being luxurious and extravagant, it is not grand and open at all.

When they arrived at the back, they saw Yuan Ying playing swordsmanship in front of a small hall. She was holding Li Huangzhu's Qiushui Changtian Sword. Although the sword came into contact with Mo Xie's sword at the time, the damage was not serious, so Zhao Tong took it away with him. , and upon his return, he rewarded Yuan Ying directly.

Yuan Ying was ecstatic after getting the sword. This Qiushui Changtian Sword was the sword that did not hide Qiushui back then. It has been used by the leader of the Zizi Sect since then and has become the status symbol of the leader of the Zizai Sect.

Zhao Tong saw that she couldn't put it down, and his eyes no longer looked at the big gun barrel. Naturally, his face turned dark. However, Yuan Ying had another excuse, saying, "Master, you asked me to practice shooting, but you didn't even pass down a precious gun to me. I still have an ordinary red tassel gun." In the fight with Li Huangzhu, the barrel of the gun was broken. Not to mention how dangerous and embarrassing it was, my disciple, I am now getting this sword that is as sharp as clay, and I am very happy. Why are you not happy?

When Zhao Tong heard this, he walked away with a flick of his sleeves. Where could he have a treasured gun for Twenty-eight? Wang Yanzhang's black gun was a horse weapon, and it was an iron gun. It couldn't be used as a big gun, and she couldn't use it for Yuan Ying.

Treasure guns such as large gun shafts are very rare. They are even rarer than swords that are as sharp as iron. Because this kind of gun requires the method of collapsing bullets, the gun shaft cannot be made of metal. It can only be made of precious wood and bamboo. However, precious wood and bamboo are available. It goes without saying how rare it is, at least Zhao Tong has never seen the same thing in these years. At this time, he saw Yuan Ying dancing with his sword. It was as beautiful as a pear tree, and the sky was full of jade. However, there were many flaws in the moves, and there was no powerful and brilliant move.

Zhao Tong knew that she had created this all by herself, because she had sworn before that she would never use the swordsmanship she learned in the Yuan family, and she had no other way to learn swordsmanship. Since she claimed to be highly talented in swordsmanship, she just made it up on her own. .

Although Zhao Tong looked at it for a long time, it looks good, but it cannot be called swordsmanship. It should be called sword dance more appropriately. However, this traitor does have some talent in swordsmanship. Some of his moves slightly reveal some special sharp shapes. If he can catch it and study it carefully, he can also Can draw parallels and create some powerful moves.

But this traitor didn't realize it, and he didn't know what part of his performance was good or whether it was just like a joke. He fought all the way and took a hundred moves before he stopped.

"Master, am I good at swordsmanship?" Yuan Ying asked breathlessly.

Zhao Tong crossed his chest with one hand and touched his chin with the other. He didn't speak for a long time.

"I forgot that master doesn't know swordsmanship..." Yuan Ying wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled proudly: "Master doesn't know swordsmanship, so naturally he can't tell whether his disciple's swordsmanship is good or bad."

Zhao Tong twitched the corner of his mouth, snorted coldly, turned around and left. This traitor is now a little lawless. He even dares to tease his master. He has no respect for elders and younger ones. He is clearly an uncivilized wild monkey!

Back in the study, Zhao Tong wrote a few military orders and passed them on, all about Li Qianshun.

Li Qianshun is now imprisoned in Xingzhou Heavenly Prison. He must die and must not be kept.

However, you can't kill him casually with swords. You must give him a decent death. No matter what aspect you consider, it is necessary to let Li Qianshun die decently.

After all, he has the body of a king and the title of emperor, and he also has to rule the whole Dangxiang clan. Although there is not much resistance from everywhere at the moment, it would be bad if there is too much backlash due to the way Li Qianshun died.

As for the crimes and other crimes, they have been listed long ago. General Lu personally wrote a pen and listed Li Qianshun's fourteen major crimes, which are directly catching up with the ancient tyrants of the faint emperors. There is a sense of competition for glory. In fact, Li Qianshun, as the ruler of a remote place, His status cannot be compared with those of the unified emperors. This can be regarded as the last glory in this life.

Zhao Tong issued the military orders one by one, and the next day he announced the whole territory of Xixia, listing Li Qianshun's several major crimes, and then gave him three cups of poisonous wine. He kept the whole body and buried it in the ancestral tomb of the Xixia royal family at the east foot of Helan Mountain. It was given to this Xia. The life of the last emperor has come to an end, and it can be considered a decent funeral.

However, even so, various places in Xixia were still shaken. Some of the dynasty's remnants stirred up trouble and started fighting. Even Lingzhou responded by sending troops to harass the Xingqing border. Arrows were flying and they fired for a long time.

However, these were quickly suppressed, arresting and killing, which happened to uproot some of the opposition forces hidden among the people in the city and execute them all.

Then it eased for a while, the weather started to get cold, and winter was about to enter, so Zhao Tong issued two edicts one after another.

The first step is to change Xixia to the land of Qin. This land of Qin is not the state of Qin, but Zhao Tao named it after the King of Qin. It means it is a fiefdom, and he specifically emphasizes that this place has been owned by Qin since ancient times.

The second step is to change the Xixia Imperial Palace to the Qin Palace. All future edicts issued will be in the name of the Qin Palace. The Qin Palace is the highest military and political institution at the moment, and the orders of the Qin Palace are the final orders in all places below.

After finishing these things, while it was still snowing, they began to mobilize the army to march eastward and attack Lingzhou where brother Richard was.

The weather is already cold now. If it snows, it will be difficult to fight again. Zhao Tong does not want to delay the war until next year. At this time, the territory occupied has been stabilized and the military and political reforms have been completed. Then he will take advantage of the severe cold to pacify it in one fell swoop. A few places to the east.

He divided his generals and horses into three groups, with an army of 100,000 in the middle group. Du Bo took command and attacked Lingzhou.

The 10,000-strong South Route Army, led by Zhang Xian and five generals including Hu Yanzhuo and Huang Xin, passed through the Jingsai Army Division and went up to seize the Jianing Army Division.

The 40,000-strong North Route Army, led by General Lu and more than a dozen generals including Yang Zhi, Shi Jin, Qin Ming, and others, went north to bypass the Xiangqing Army and raid the Xiangyou Army Division and Zuoxiang Shenwu Army Division.

In this way, the northern and southern armies not only cooperated with the Chinese army to capture the city, but also went around the rear of Lingzhou to block Brother Richard's retreat. Especially the northern army, with many soldiers and generals, completely blocked Brother Richard's escape route.

In this way, once Lingzhou falls, Brother Richard will only have two options: retreat and flee north. If the military division behind is occupied and the army in the north is blocked, then Brother Richard will have no choice but to fight to the death and be captured.

On October 21, the first year of Jingkang in the Song Dynasty, the Hexi Plateau ushered in the first snow of winter.

The snowflakes were not big, light and thin. In front of Lingzhou City, corpses were strewn on the ground, and blood was frozen on the ground. The city gate was open, and the original door leaf had been broken and scattered on the ground.

Although Lingzhou Jiancheng is said to be the second largest city in Xixia, its actual city defense is not weaker than that of Xingzhou, which is the first. Before Xingzhou was built as a capital, Lingzhou was the highest city in Hexi.

Du Bo led the army in the middle route and fought bloody battles, regardless of losses, and finally captured this important city before the heavy snow blocked the road. By this time, General Lu's troops on the north route and Zhang Xian's troops on the south route had already captured those military divisions.

The city of Lingzhou was broken, and Brother Richard had no place to escape. Looking around, there were enemy troops in front, and there was no way to retreat. The south was trapped, and there was no way to go to the north. With despair, he vomited three mouthfuls of blood in the palace of Emperor Dayou, and then poisoned him to death. He killed Queen Feng Miaoyin and then killed himself with a sword.

After receiving the news in Xingzhou, Zhao Tong issued several edicts to strengthen border defenses, eliminate hidden enemy troops in the city, and conduct patrols to prevent chaos in the remaining Xixia deployments. A full half month passed, and all the land east of Xingqing Prefecture was stabilized. , this time also ushered in the second snow in Hexi.

In the Xingzhou Imperial Palace, which is now called Qin Palace, Zhao Tao stood in front of the original Great Sun Palace and looked at the snow with his hands folded. Next to him, General Lu reported on the military situation in various places.

At this moment, except for the Xiping Military Division where Yumen Pass is located, the entire Xixia has been controlled. While the various places seem to be peaceful, in fact, some undercurrents are beginning to surge.

After all, there are many people in the party, and now that they are being unified, there will always be people who are dissatisfied.

After listening to General Lu's report, Zhao Tong was silent for a long time and said calmly: "According to this king's decree, people in the Qin Dynasty have Han hair and keep their hair in Han style. As long as there are those who shave their heads in the Western Xia style, shave their heads and tie them in braids, Arrest him and question him...if he keeps his hair, he will keep his head; if he shaves his head, he will behead him!"

(End of this chapter)