In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

On October 11th, the eighth year of Qingli in the Song Dynasty, Di Qing had already appeared in Hanhai.

It is not the vast sea of ​​Lake Baikal, but recorded in "History of the Western Xia Dynasty" as the swampland south of Lingzhou, east of the later Luoshan National Nature Reserve.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a river here called Lingzhouchuan, which was a tributary of the Yellow River. To the north was the Lingyan Platform, also known as the Hedong Sand District.

Di Qing was on horseback. He captured Pule City in the morning, and Yaode City was to the north.

He looked to the northeast, which was a vast sea of ​​sand. Reddish yellow sand spread across the entire horizon. Except for a few plants, the Gobi Desert seemed lifeless.

The northwest region had already shown signs of desertification as early as the Han Dynasty, and a huge desert had formed during the Northern Wei Dynasty.

However, according to the "Book of Wei", "The 800-mile road from Chenzhen to the fertile fields is sandy and deep, making it difficult for light vehicles to travel. The carts carrying the valley are only twenty stones, and every time they wade into the deep sand, they will be stranded."

Although there was sand obstruction at that time, it was still possible to drive, which shows that the desert area was not large and it was not a vast area. By the Song Dynasty, desertification was already quite serious, and by later generations, it was already the Mu Us Desert.

The howling north wind blew, the sun seemed to have disappeared, and the thin and thick clouds were floating, making the world a slightly cloudy day, but there was no rain or snow.

The Song troops behind Di Qing were all wearing cotton-padded clothes and riding on horseback. They formed a neat, long snake formation and headed towards Yaode City in the north.

At the same time, in the east direction of Yanzhou, Ren Fu of Yanyan Road had already conquered Yanzhou and was heading this way.

If we include Gao Jixuan, who had already captured Yingli at this time, the Song army on Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road, and Fuyan Road had completely completed the siege offensive against Xingqing Prefecture in the north.

"Report!"

At this moment, a pair of scouts came back quickly.

The scout captain came to Di Qing, dismounted from his horse, knelt down on one knee and said, "Commander, there is a Western bandit in front of you who wants to see you."

"who?"

"Say he's the leader of the Yeli clan."

"Let them come over."

Di Qing narrowed his eyes, then pointed to a nearby hill and said, "Invite them to the hill over there."

The hill is about two miles away from the Song army, and the terrain is relatively high, so you can see the surrounding situation.

If the Yeli clan finds out that the Song army is going to harm them, they can escape immediately.

Even though Di Qing didn't know what the other party wanted to do, this was considered a kind of kindness he showed to the other party.

Because when the other party comes, there are two situations.

One is to negotiate for peace, hoping that the Song Dynasty will let Xixia go.

This is obviously meaningless. The Song Dynasty must destroy Xixia and seize the entire northwest.

The second is to ask for submission and negotiate early to get a good price.

It is naturally best to subjugate the enemy without fighting. If it is the second option, Di Qing does not mind giving the other party courtesy.

Di Qing then led dozens of personal guards and galloped towards the hills in the distance.

He reached the top of the slope and saw from a distance a small group of people galloping towards him.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the foot of the hillside under the guidance of the scouts.

Then they all stayed at the bottom of the slope, and a middle-aged man slowly came to the slope with his horse's belly under his arms.

The distance between the two sides is less than ten feet.

The man took off his felt hat, bent down and saluted, "Ye Liwuwei has met Marshal Di."

He spoke Chinese.

Xixia aristocrats basically all speak Chinese.

"General Yeli is polite."

Di Qing replied, and then asked: "I wonder what the general is here for?"

"Is Marshal Di coming to attack our Xia Kingdom this time?"

Yeli Wuwei asked back.

"General, why do you need to ask questions knowingly?"

Di Qing laughed and said: "Yuan Hao is stubborn and militaristic. He has repeatedly violated our borders and invaded our territory of the Song Dynasty. Are we allowed to invade and not allowed to fight back?"

Yeli Wuwei was silent for a moment and asked: "I don't know how the Song Dynasty will arrange for us."

"Those who are willing to surrender from now on are all Song people. In the Tang Dynasty, wasn't your party also a Tang people? As for you, the court will make its own decision."

Di Qing said: "You Yeli clan were deceived by Yuan Hao. Since you are not a master of Ming Dynasty, why didn't you surrender as soon as possible?"

Yeli Wuwei was obviously not satisfied with this answer.

Because he wanted to ask what would the nobles do if the Nori clan surrendered?

The Yeli clan naturally hopes to continue to be a powerful person, be canonized by the Song Dynasty court, and then become the rulers of the northwest for generations.

It's like the ancestors of Li Yuanhao's family were the military governors of the late Tang Dynasty. They were first canonized by the Tang Dynasty, then by the Later Zhou Dynasty in the late Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and then by the Great Song Dynasty in the early Song Dynasty.

Finally, it has now annexed the entire northwest step by step, until Li Yuanhao had a strong army and strong horses, and he took advantage of the situation and proclaimed himself emperor.

But Di Qing meant that he couldn't make the decision, and the court should decide their future.

This undoubtedly prevented Yeli Wuwei from getting the answer he wanted.

Because as far as he knew, the ethnic minority dignitaries who surrendered to the Song Dynasty would receive good treatment.

For example, he moved to Bianliang, the imperial city of the Song Dynasty, was rewarded with some property and a mansion, and then served in the third government office.

But although they are said to be nobles, they actually have no power and power. They are only nobles in name.

Compared with being free in the northwest and becoming the ruler of the tribe and even the entire northwest region, this reward, which is no different from protons and imprisonment, certainly cannot satisfy them.

So Yeli Wuwei said after a moment of silence: "Please let Marshal Di know that we, the Yeli clan, are willing to submit, but if the Song Dynasty court cannot properly settle us, we are afraid that the people will not accept it."

"I wonder what kind of reward you want?"

Di Qing asked.

"We, the Yeli clan, hope to be conferred by the Song Dynasty court and become the governor of Xingzhou, Dingzhou, Jingzhou, Huaizhou, and Lingzhou."

Yeli Wuwei said.

"Hehe."

His words made Di Qing laugh.

These places are actually the Ningxia Plain, which is the Shizuishan City, Yinchuan City, Lingwu City, and Wuzhong City in later generations.

It is also the population, agriculture, animal husbandry and economic center of the entire northwest region.

And the Helan Mountains are rich in minerals, and there is no shortage of salt, iron and other industries.

Li Jiqian seized Lingzhou from the Song Dynasty, and then slowly developed and finally annexed the entire northwest.

Therefore, if this place is given to the Yeli clan, I am afraid that another Li family will inevitably appear in the future.

"What I want to tell the general is that whether the court will confer titles on you is one thing, and whether it will not confer titles is another."

Facing the lion's mouth of Yeli clan, Di Qing's face slowly cooled down, and he said: "If you surrender and the court agrees to your request, I have nothing to say. But if you resist stubbornly and use this to threaten the court, then I can only tell you that you are making a wrong idea."

After that, he raised his right hand behind him and said: "Even when Yuan Hao was at his strongest, what would happen to me when he faced the Song Dynasty? Didn't he still abandon his armor and flee in embarrassment? In the end, he died."

"If you don't surrender, then the Song Dynasty will come to take you. As for your fate at that time, whether you die or become a prisoner, that's another matter!"

Di Qing's voice was as loud as thunder, and his eyes were as sharp as lightning as he stared at Yeli Wuwei, which shocked him.

Yes.

Negotiations require capital.

If Xixia still has the possibility of fighting, or defeating the Song Dynasty, then everyone can sit at the negotiation table.

But if they can directly send troops to destroy Xixia, what qualifications do they have to negotiate with them?

So the essence of this matter is actually whoever has the bigger fist has the right.

In the past, the Li family had been operating for three generations, slowly encroaching on the entire northwest from Yinzhou, and the army was strong, so the Song court could only recognize them with a pinch of the nose.

Now Xixia is declining and internally divided, and the Song Dynasty is more than ten times stronger than before?

Offense and defense are changing, so there is no need to care about their ideas.

In other words.

They are now surrendering, and the Song Dynasty is happy, so they will reward them something.

As for what specific rewards are purely based on the mood of the Song Dynasty emperor. If he is in a good mood, he may really reward them with a piece of land.

If he is in a bad mood, maybe he will just move them to Bianliang and let them be a rich man without power.

But if they resist stubbornly, it is hard to say.

They will die and their clan will be destroyed.

Or they will be beaten and migrate their clan and flee to the more desolate north.

By then, the situation is still unknown.

Yeli Wuwei was silent for a long time.

Their Yeli clan was the second largest tribe after the Weiming clan.

Li Jiqian married a woman from the Yeli clan and then united the troops of the two major forces, which enabled him to dominate the northwest.

Later, a woman from the Yeli family married Li Yuanhao and gave birth to Li Ninglingge, which established the status of the Yeli family.

Originally, everything was fine. Yeli Renrong was an important official of the Western Xia Dynasty and the creator of the Western Xia language and culture. The brothers Yeli Wangrong and Yeli Yuqi were also the best generals.

The Yeli family has always been the second largest family in the Western Xia Dynasty.

But this situation did not last until Li Yuanhao became more and more crazy in recent years.

Due to frequent failures in the war against the Song Dynasty, various tribes and families became increasingly disgusted with Li Yuanhao's policy towards the Song Dynasty, which led Li Yuanhao to blame all this on the poor performance of the Yeli brothers in the war, so he killed the two Yeli brothers, abolished the Queen of Yeli, and even robbed Yeli Yuqi's wife, Mo Zang.

Li Yuanhao originally thought that using the Yeli family as a scapegoat could calm the internal conflicts, but he obviously underestimated the severity of the internal conflicts in Xixia.

Putting the blame on the Yeli brothers and killing them not only did not bring internal unity, but made everyone feel insecure.

After all, the Yeli brothers were so loyal and were killed, so what about the others?

So the Yeli tribe raised their arms and called for action, and then many tribes responded, and Li Yuanhao ended up jumping into the river and committing suicide.

Now the Yeli tribe and their Weiming tribe have completely broken up.

The Yeli family can no longer unite with the Weiming family led by Weining Lingge.

In this case, if the Song Dynasty attacks, they will only have two results.

One is to resist, and then die and the clan will be destroyed.

The other is to surrender and be saved.

Obviously, the clan was completely disappointed with the Weiming clan, and in order to continue the tribe, they would choose the second option and let Yeli Wuwei come to contact the Song army.

But it is obvious that they really have no capital and ability to negotiate with the Song Dynasty and ask for more benefits.

After a long silence, Yeli Wuwei finally spoke with difficulty: "General Di, we are willing to surrender, but we hope that the Song Dynasty court can put aside the past grudges and properly settle us."

Di Qing nodded and said: "Don't worry, my Song Dynasty is a country of etiquette and justice in China. As long as you sincerely surrender, you will not be treated unfairly. I will report your request to the court, but whether the court is willing to agree depends on the emperor's opinion."

In fact, it basically depends on Zhao Jun's opinion. If Zhao Jun disagrees, Zhao Zhen's visit will be in vain.

But when we are marching and fighting abroad, we must save some face for His Majesty.

Otherwise, if outsiders heard about it, they would think that the Song Dynasty was a time when treacherous and powerful ministers were in power and the emperor was like a puppet.

"good!"

Yeli Wuwei said: "We Yeli clan now possess Lingzhou and Shunzhou, and we are willing to give them away."

"In this case, I hope you can follow my command."

Di Qing nodded.

Of course, he couldn't believe it all. What if they passed by and were attacked by the Yeli clan and the Weiming clan in a sneak attack?

Although they were not afraid of being attacked by surprise, when Xixia had already fallen apart and the resistance was very small, they were attacked and caused casualties, which obviously proved Di Qing's incompetence.

So there is nothing wrong with being careful.

Di Qing planned to arrange for the Yeli tribes to be stationed dispersedly around the city, and then the Song army would also be stationed nearby.

This will prevent too much concentration and being attacked by a sneak attack, which will lead to too much confusion. Secondly, it will also be able to keep an eye on the opponent and be cautious, so as to be foolproof.

"good."

Yeli Wuwei agreed, then bowed again and said: "Then I will take my leave first."

"Well"

Di Qing was about to nod and say yes, but suddenly he remembered something, so he stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, General Yeli."

"Does the commander have any other instructions?"

Yeli Wuwei asked.

"Do you know where the Cao family who returned to the Yijun is now?"

Di Qing asked.

The Cao family of the Guiyi Army?

Yeli Wuwei thought for a while and said, "What did the commander ask them to do?"

"You just have to tell me where they are."

Di Qing said.

"Twelve years ago, the country's Wei Ming Yuanhao attacked Gua and Shazhou, but Cao Xianshun was defeated. Finally, he led thousands of cavalry to surrender to Wei Ming Yuanhao."

Yeli Wuwei said: "In recent years, he has followed Wei Ming Yuanhao in the north and south, and more than half of the tribe has suffered casualties. When we attacked Xingqing Mansion, the Cao family was also defeated by us. Maybe Cao Xianshun had died in the army, or he had followed Weiming Yuanhao died in Dingzhou, or he surrendered to Weining Lingge, but I don’t know where exactly.”

After Li Yuanhao forced the Yeli tribe to rebel, many tribes loyal to Li Yuanhao followed him at first.

For example, the Weiming tribe, the Cao family's Guiyi army, etc.

But it didn't take long for Li Yuanhao to be unable to hold on as more and more tribes rebelled.

The coalition forces broke through Xingqing Mansion, and Li Yuanhao took the remaining troops and fled north to Dingzhou. As a result, Weining Lingge rebelled again on the bank of the Yellow River north of Dingzhou.

Li Yuanhao betrayed his relatives and became desperate, and finally committed suicide by drowning himself in a river.

Afterwards, with the death of Li Yuanhao, the other tribes dispersed on their own, and the Yeli tribe occupied Xingqing Mansion and the city south of Xingqing Mansion.

The Weiming tribe was led by Weining Lingge, and with the support of some ministers, they went south to fight with the Yeli tribe.

Without the help of other major tribes, the Yeli tribe fell into a disadvantage and was finally forced to withdraw from Xingqing Mansion. Naturally, they did not know what happened to Cao Xianshun who ran away with Li Yuanhao.

"That's it."

Di Qing was inevitably a little disappointed to learn that Cao Xianshun's life and death were unknown.

Seeing that his expression was not very good, Yeli Wuwei suddenly remembered something and said: "But when we first broke through Xingqing Mansion, we captured some people who returned to the rebel army. Now they are imprisoned. Maybe the commander can ask ”

"good!"

When Di Qing heard this, he calmed down, nodded slightly and said, "Then set off immediately to Lingzhou!"