Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Wu Lahaicheng, the headquarters of Weifu Military Division, is more than 600 miles away from Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Xixia.

If you encounter a major military situation, you can ride to death and receive it in two days at most.

The news spread in Xingqing Mansion, and Xixia civil and military officials panicked.

This is Xixia's most vulnerable period!

The century-long Song-Xia war caused the Xixia economy to collapse. Corruption is rampant in the country, and natural and man-made disasters continue. Even if there is no invasion from foreign enemies, many tribes want to rebel. The famous general Richard Brother is already old, but he can't find a general who can turn the tide.

Moreover, the new king has not yet consolidated his power after taking the throne.

The person who really brought Xixia into its heyday was the current new king, the fifteen-year-old Li Renxiao.

In history, he endured the death of Brother Richard and executed Ren Dejing. He interfered in politics with the help of two powerful ministers, enacting new laws, conducting imperial examinations, promoting culture and education, taking back power, reforming the tax system, minting coins, encouraging farmers to grow mulberry trees, and building water conservancy... Created the Xixia governance.

But these are all things for later. What Lee In-hyo has inherited now is a mess!

Li Renxiao looked very flustered and asked: "My uncle has just returned from Luoyang. What does Emperor Zhu think? Does he want to seize some territory, or is he deliberately trying to destroy me, Daxia?"

Cao Tuan told the truth:

"I really don't understand the thoughts of the kings and ministers of the Ming Dynasty. But the public opinion in Luoyang, especially the scholars, is divided into two factions. One faction thinks that it is enough to conquer the barbarians and all the nations to come to court, while the other faction is making trouble To restore the territory of the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

"The latter occupy the mainstream of public opinion, and their number is particularly large. They even like poetry and hate lyrics, and they must learn from the prosperous Tang Dynasty when writing poetry. Some radical scholars have great hopes of becoming Jinshi, but they go to the martial arts (military academy)."

"The civil servants are clamoring to destroy our country, Great Xia!"

Li Renzhong, the Prime Minister of the State, said: "We should send another envoy to Luoyang to question Emperor Zhu why he went against his promise and attacked the subordinate country!"

Brother Richard sneered: "Even if the envoy scolds Emperor Zhu, can he scold the enemy troops in the north away? Now we should think about how to retreat from the enemy."

Li Renxiao said: "The King of Jin is our famous general in Daxia. I also ask the King of Jin to lead the army to defend against the enemy."

Brother Richard stopped answering.

He is indeed old. He has not been riding much in the past two years, and fat has grown on his waist, abdomen and thighs. On the other hand, more and more houses were built, and there were dozens of concubines in the family. As long as he gave him enough money, he could help arrange for his promotion.

Li Renxiao asked Ren Dejing again: "If Ren Qing is in charge of the firearms camp, is there any way to retreat from the enemy?"

Ren Dejing served in the border state of the Northern Song Dynasty for several years, and he was indeed knowledgeable about military affairs. But it's okay for him to put down the rebellion, but it's sheer nonsense to unite the troops to resist the Ming army.

Ren Dejing politely excused himself: "Weifu Army Division's war is mainly based on cavalry, and the firearms battalion in my hands is of little use."

The scene cooled down.

Li Renzhong was so angry that he asked, "How can the King of Jin be willing to lead his troops to fight?"

Brother Richard said: "I want to take away Iron Harrier. I will deploy the troops of Qiangzhen Military Division and Chaoshun Military Division. Zhenyan Military Division will immediately send troops to rescue Wu Lahaicheng."

Li Renxiao said quickly: "Yes, yes, as long as we can defeat the enemy, everything will be in accordance with King Jin."

Brother Richard added: "Other military commanders must not act arbitrarily. They must make preparations in advance and gather towards the border. Emperor Zhu will definitely launch a large-scale invasion next year!"

Li Renzhong asked: "The King of Jin asked the Zhenyan Army to rescue Wu Lahaicheng?"

"Yes, we can only save Wu Lahai City now," Brother Richard said, "Tiande Military City will definitely not be able to be rescued. By the time I gather my troops to kill them, Tiande Military City will be gone long ago."

…

Li Renxiao, the leader of the Xixia Kingdom, ordered the Qiangzhen Military Division and the Chaoshun Military Division to immediately gather troops.

The military division of Baimaqiang Town is located in the north of Alxa Left Banner, where there are many salt ponds where salt can be mined.

The right side of Chaoshun Military Division is located at Keyi Gate in the northwest of Yinchuan City.

Brother Richard led three thousand iron kites to set off and rushed to Xingzhou to station and urge them. He ordered the two military commanders to quickly gather troops.

Drawing small groups to gather troops is the next step, but where will the food and grass needed for the army come from?

Xixia implemented a system of soldiers for all people, and military warehouses were set up in each state capital. Under normal circumstances, just get food from the military warehouse. The problem is that Xixia is not normal now.

There was a famine in the past two years, so we had to provide food relief from the military warehouse.

As a result, due to bureaucratic corruption, the victims did not receive much relief food, and most of it went into the pockets of corrupt officials.

Now that there is a war, there is a huge shortage of military rations, so we can only collect food from Xingqing Mansion and surrounding areas.

After finally gathering the food, Brother Richard led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses northward. Before he could reach Wu Lahai City, Xixia started to catch fire in the backyard.

The first person to rebel was not Xiao Heda or the Mu brothers.

But...the two Dangxiang tribes in the northwest of the Xixia capital!

Dingzhou was called Tianzhou in the Tang Dynasty. As the name suggests, the land there was fertile and very suitable for farming. There are also mountainous grasslands and forests, where wood can be harvested and livestock can be grazed.

The farmland and pasture there are mostly occupied by the Dangxiang tribe.

Some Dangxiang tribes rarely graze their animals and rely mainly on growing food for their livelihood. But it happened to be very close to the capital, and it was a grain-producing area, so it had to pay for every increase in taxes. Moreover, it is also very close to the Chaoshun Military Division. This time, a large amount of grain has been collected so that it can be transported to Brother Richard's army nearby.

In addition, Brother Richard and his cronies have been frantically occupying land in recent years, and the land annexation in Dingzhou and Jingzhou is particularly serious.

In order to resist the Shaanxi army of the Ming Dynasty next year, Li Renxiao also ordered the states to draw troops and send them to the front line after the beginning of spring.

A variety of factors combined, and the powder keg was finally detonated.

There are four major Dangxiang tribes in Dingzhou, which existed before the founding of Xixia. They are the Mianzhen tribe, the Kunlang tribe, the Fu'er tribe, and the Xiao'a'er tribe.

Now, two of the four tribes in Dingzhou have rebelled.

The Yanlang tribe and the Fuer tribe rose up in Dingzhou!

The Mian'an tribe was the strongest, and many officials in Dingzhou came from this tribe. They were vested interests, so they would not join the rebellion, but would take the initiative to help the court suppress it.

But the two rebellious tribes could not survive, and they burst out with amazing fighting power, beating the Mian'an tribe into hiding in the city and not daring to come out.

The two tribes looted the countryside in Dingzhou, and turned their troops southward, heading towards Xingqingfu, the capital of the Western Xia Kingdom.

The fifteen-year-old Li Renxiao was completely panicked and asked anxiously: "With the King of Jin away, who in the court can quell the rebellion?"

Ren Dejing was in charge of the firearms camp. He did not dare to fight the Ming army, but he was confident that he could quell the domestic rebellion. He immediately stood up and said: "I am willing to share your worries!"

Li Renxiao was like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw: "Okay, Ren Qing will lead the troops to the battle!"

Ren Dejing felt that the firearms troops were too few, so he recruited soldiers from Xingqing Prefecture, Jingzhou, and Huaizhou, and barely gathered 10,000 troops before going north to quell the rebellion.

Firearms are firearms after all, and Ren Dejing won the battle.

The two tribes of Yanlang and Fuer fled in defeat, and took their tribesmen to hide in the mountains and defend.

Just when Ren Dejing was planning to continue his troops and wipe out all the remnants of the two tribes, another tribe in Jingzhou rebelled!

The reasons for the rebellion were similar, but the direct cause was related to Ren Dejing.

Ren Dejing's previous positions were the Defense Commissioner of Jingzhou and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Jingzhou. The Defense Commissioner was only responsible for military affairs, while the Commander-in-Chief could also handle some civil affairs. Ren Dejing was squeezing the people out of Jingzhou. This time, when he led troops to quell the rebellion, Ren Dejing also collected grain from Jingzhou, and the people of Jingzhou finally couldn't bear it.

This uprising was even bigger, and even spread to the farther Weizhou, and the Dangxiang tribes such as Dabin and Maiqing rebelled one after another.

Unfortunately, the rebels of each department were scattered and could not form a joint force.

Ren Dejing gave up annihilating the remnants of the two armies of Yanlang and Fuer, and hurriedly returned to the south to quell the rebellion. If he didn't go back, the rebels would have hit the capital.

Within a few months, Ren Dejing defeated three rebel forces, and Li Renxiao promoted him crazily.

However, after Ren Dejing withdrew his troops, the remnants of the two armies of Yanlang and Fuer in Dingzhou immediately revived.

And in the battle, a leader of the rebels appeared.

This man's name is Duo'e, and he is a small chieftain of the Dangxiang tribe. He is young and strong, brave, and extremely intelligent, and can win people's hearts.

Duo E said to the two nobles hiding in the mountains: "Winter is coming soon. If we stay in the mountains, we will only freeze to death or starve to death. If we go down the mountain and go home, we will be killed by the soldiers. Either way is a dead end!"

A noble asked: "How can we survive?"

Duo E said: "I went to Xiazhou and Shizhou two years ago. The disaster victims there fled to the Ming Dynasty and were given land and food. I also heard that Emperor Zhu was the reincarnation of Bodhisattva, who came down to earth to save people from suffering. The Tanguts and the Han people are different races. If Emperor Zhu was not the reincarnation of Bodhisattva, why would he help our Tangut disaster victims?"

"I also heard that Emperor Zhu couldn't bear to see the poor suffer, and officials who dared to be greedy for a stone of rice would be beheaded. Over the years, Emperor Zhu killed hundreds of corrupt officials and exiled thousands of corrupt officials. Now all the officials left in the Ming Dynasty are good officials."

"Do you want to stay here and be killed by corrupt officials, or follow me to Emperor Zhu?"

Everyone was a little unconvinced.

They were exploited by corrupt Xixia officials every year, and they no longer believed that there were any good officials in the world.

Moreover, the Xixia emperor was a Dangxiang, and they were also Dangxiang. Their own people were oppressed so much, how could they get a good result if they changed to an emperor of a different race?

Seeing that everyone did not believe him, Duo E said, "If you go to Emperor Zhu, you can still survive. Staying here means waiting for death. If you hide in the mountains, you will die. If you go down the mountains, you will also die. You can choose for yourself!"

Everyone started to quarrel, and after arguing, they found that they could only go to Ming.

But the Shaanxi border of Ming was too far away from Dingzhou, Xixia, and there were large areas of desert and mountains in the middle.

Duo E said: "Kill all the way! Among the four tribes in Dingzhou, Xiao Afu'er is the weakest. They dare not rebel with us. This time they also suffered and were robbed by Ren Dejing's soldiers. After we go down the mountain, we will immediately go to Xiao Afu'er. Whether it is forced or persuaded, let them go together to strengthen their strength. Then we will bypass Shengwei City. If the city sends troops, we will fight. If the city does not send troops, we will leave. Loot and rob along the way and pass through the desert!"

A noble said: "The desert is not easy to walk."

"You can go. I know two ways to cross the desert!" Duo E said.

In desperation, everyone was persuaded by Duo E.

They took the elderly, weak women and children down the mountain and went straight to the territory of Xiao Afu'er.

The chief of Xiao Afu'er was unwilling to rebel together, but he shared the same hatred with the two tribes, so he took out the remaining little food to entertain them.

While eating, Duo E suddenly jumped up with a knife, controlled the chief of Xiao Afu'er, and forced his entire tribe to rebel and surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

Since Ren Dejing's army was in the south, they swaggered around outside Shengwei City, looted the people of the Mian'an tribe in the villages outside the city, and released all the slaves of the Mian'an tribe.

Some slaves were captured Han people, and some were simply robbed from Xixia.

Duo'e had already released the slaves of his tribe. He said to the newly rescued slaves in front of him: "You can escape on your own, or you can follow me to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. Those who are willing to follow me, all stand by the river."

Everyone walked to the river.

The chief of the Mian'an tribe stood on the top of the city, looking at the rebels outside the city with great anger.

Suddenly, a merchant came to see him and was brought to the chief of the Mian'an tribe. He said, "General, I have some friendship with the bandit chief, maybe I can persuade him to surrender."

The chief of the Mian'an tribe shook his head, "He will never surrender."

The merchant smiled and said, "You can lie to him and say that there is food and grass in a certain place, and the general will lead the army to set up an ambush there."

"That's a good idea," the chief of the Mian'an tribe asked, "Where are you from? Which tribe do you belong to?"

The merchant replied, "My ancestral home is in Baichi City. I have moved to Yanzhou City for two generations. Now I don't belong to any tribe. The Longzhou general sent people to transport cloth and tea to Yanzhou. I can eat some Ming country products and transport them to Dingzhou to make a little money. I just transported a batch of them this year and sold them, and then I encountered the rebellion of the two tribes in Dingzhou, and I didn't have time to bring the money back to Yanzhou."

The chief of the Mian'an tribe sent someone to inquire, and it turned out that they were engaged in long-distance trade, and they also rented houses for a long time to store goods and money.

After some discussion, the chief of the Mian'e tribe seized the merchant's money.

The merchant only brought a few confidants with him and quietly caught up with Duo'e's troops. He was soon tied up as a spy.

When he saw Duo'e, the merchant immediately revealed his identity: "A few years ago, I took a Chinese name called Zhu Baicheng, the same surname as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I am from the Tibetan ethnic group, but my ancestors are actually Han people. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty said that people like us should recognize our ancestors. My wife and children are all in Lanzhou, where there is a Shaanxi Intelligence Office under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of War. Do you understand what I said, leader?"

Duo'e asked suspiciously: "Are you Emperor Zhu's man?"

Zhu Baicheng said: "I only took my confidants out of the city. The guys and money in the city were seized by the Dingzhou governor. He set up an ambush at Luotuo Port and asked me to lead you there. Don't walk around. You should bypass Luotuo Port and cross the desert and mountains to Xiazhou. Xiao Heda in Xiazhou has secretly surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. He will welcome you to join forces."

Duo'e hesitated.

Zhu Baicheng said: "I will stay with the leader. If I lie and cheat, the leader will kill me with a knife."

Duo'e suddenly put on a smiling face and opened his arms to hug: "Why would I doubt you? I was going to surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"

The next day, Duo'e sent a group of cavalry to burn, kill and loot in the direction of Luotuo Port, but the real main force went in the opposite direction.

Until they reached the edge of the desert, they stopped to wait for the cavalry to return, and then plunged into the desert.

After crossing the desert, they raided Huangyangping on the edge of the desert. They robbed livestock, released slaves, and marched northeast with great fanfare, but rushed to the southwest at night.

Then they raided Anqingze (Wushen Banner) and came to Wangting Town with the spoils.

"Don't burn, kill and loot here, it's already Xiao Heda's territory!" Zhu Baicheng reminded.

Outside Xiazhou City, Xiao Heda came out to greet them in person, smiling and saying, "Good boy, you actually brought so many people from the desert."

The core of Duo'e's subordinates is the three tribes, as well as the slaves rescued along the way, and some scattered herdsmen. Including the elderly, the weak, women and children, there are more than 10,000 people.

Zhu Baicheng said, "General Xiao, the Ming Dynasty has sent troops to the Weifu Army, and Hengshan will fight in the spring. You only need to raise troops to defend this winter, and in the spring you can join forces with the Ming Dynasty troops to attack the Xiangyou Army."

"What to defend? You must take the initiative to send troops to seize the Xiazhou Iron and Steel Works!" Xiao Heda said with a grim face.

He has suffered enough resentment over the years and can't wait to defect.

Xiazhou Iron and Steel Works is the largest iron and steel smelting institution in Western Xia. It used to be under the jurisdiction of Xiao Heda, but it was taken away by Richard's cronies a few years ago.

Capturing Xiazhou Iron and Steel Works can get a lot of weapons and armor!