Xianxia version of Water Margin

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Hengshan is located in the north of Shaanxi and west of the central part of Yulin. It stretches for more than a thousand miles and has a dangerous terrain. It is named after the main peak of the Hengshan Mountains in the territory. The Hengshan Mountains start from the Liupan Mountains, sweep across the Western Xia, and go east into Shaanxi, passing near the Great Wall, and end at the bank of the Yellow River. There are layers of mountains and peaks, steep and rugged. There are more than 8,000 large mountaintops in the territory. Hengshan is majestic and beautiful.

During the Yuanfeng period of the Song Dynasty, the famous general Zhong Yan said: "Hengshan stretches for thousands of miles, with many horses and suitable for farming."

Hengshan was originally the frontier base for the Western Xia to attack the Zhao Song Dynasty. The two countries also used Hengshan as the dividing line. Generally speaking, the north of Hengshan belonged to the Western Xia, and the south belonged to the Song Dynasty.

At the beginning, since Song Zhenzong gave Hengshan and Ling and Xia states to Li Deming, the Dangxiang people really had the foundation for establishing a country.

It can be said that without Hengshan, there would be no Xixia. The importance of Hengshan to Xixia is mainly reflected in several aspects:

1. The Hengshan area is not only mountainous, but also rich in water power. The rivers of Wuding, Dali, Tuyan, Baima and others crisscross, making Hengshan the most fertile place in Xixia besides Lingzhou, Liangzhou and Suzhou. Its animal husbandry and agriculture are very developed, and it is the main grain-supplying area for Xixia to attack the Zhao Song Dynasty.

2. The tea mountain and Lulu mountain in the east of Hengshan are the main production areas of salt and iron in Xixia.

3. The Hengshan Qiang, who have lived in the Hengshan area for generations, are an important source of soldiers for Xixia. They are brave and good at fighting, and are the best in Xixia.

4. Hengshan is steep and difficult to attack. After Xixia built more than 300 forts in the mountainous areas of Hengshan, Hengshan became the first and most insurmountable obstacle for the Song army to advance northward to Lingzhou. Relying on the dangers of Hengshan, Xixia directly blocked the transportation route from Tianshui to Datong of the Zhao Song Dynasty. At the same time, after the Xixia army gathered in Hengshan, the long Song-Xia border could become its breakthrough target at any time and anywhere. Before the Qingli army surge, the Zhao Song Dynasty was in a mess in the four northwest routes, not only because of poor mobility, but also because the Xixia occupied the favorable terrain of Hengshan.

Simply put, Hengshan is as important to Xixia as the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun to the Liao Dynasty. It can attack and defend, and it is also an important agricultural and economic base.

The Zhao Song Dynasty, which lost Hengshan, was also extremely passive in strategy. The prefectures and counties of Fu, Yan, Huan, Qing, Jing, Yuan, Qin, and Long were always under the threat of the Xixia army. Due to poor mobility and unfavorable rescue, the Zhao Song Dynasty could only divide its troops to garrison. In this way, the Xixia army was given the opportunity to defeat them one by one. The three defeats of the Song army in Sanchuankou, Haoshuichuan, and Dingchuanzhai were all caused by Li Yuanhao's use of mobility to surround the minority with more troops.

In terms of offense, the passivity of the Song army was even more obvious. After losing Hengshan, a natural front-line supply base, the Song army could only rely on civilians to carry food across the 700-mile vast sea for supplies when attacking Xixia. Once the logistics support was not available, they could only retreat without fighting.

"If we can get Hengshan and Tiandu, it will also be an extraordinary achievement. The imperial court is often trapped by the westerners when they go out of the border, because they enter the desert land, and after seven or eight stages to Lingzhou, there is no water or grass, and no people. Before they see the enemy, our army is trapped. Although the westerners have already crossed the sand stains, they are in their territory. They often gather troops and food in Hengshan, and are trapped to break through the border. If they enter our territory a little, they will definitely gain something. This is why the westerners often benefit."

Zeng Bu's words during the Yuanfu period of Zhezong undoubtedly fully reveal the importance of Hengshan to the strategic initiative between Song and Xia.

In other words, whoever owns Hengshan can be invincible.

After Zhao Ji ascended the throne, he appointed Tong Guan to lead the six border affairs of Yongxing, Fuyan, Huanqing, Qinfeng, Jingyuan, and Xihe.

Tong Guan, who was a disciple of Li Xian, continued to implement the strategy of shallow attack and garrison, and gradually nibbled at Hengshan.

In April of the first year of Xuanhe, Tong Guan, with Zhong Shidao and Liu Zhongwu as generals, led the troops of Fuyan and Huanqing out of Xiaoguan and attacked Hengshan. The Western Xia army was defeated, the elite field troops were annihilated, and Hengshan was completely captured by the Song army. Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Li Xian and Zhang Yu planted the seeds, and finally Tong Guan reaped the fruits during the Huizong Dynasty. The Hengshan strategy of the Zhao Song Dynasty was a perfect success.

From Fan and Han's initial proposal, to the large-scale attack on Xia in the Yuanfeng year, to Li Xian's construction in the dangerous place, it was finally further improved by Zhang Yu to shallow attack and construction during the Zhezong year.

This decades-long strategic evolution, every improvement was an adjustment and correction made by the Song army after paying a painful price, and it finally proved that the Hengshan strategy after continuous improvement was a devastating blow to the Western Xia again and again.

After the defeat of Xuanhe, Xixia was on the verge of extinction. Although the core areas such as Lingxia were not damaged, the loss of Hengshan had completely deprived Xixia of its geographical advantages and strategic initiative. The Song army, which could attack and defend, only needed to work harder to enter Xingqing Prefecture.

Unfortunately, Yelu Yanxi later threatened to send troops, causing the Zhao Song Dynasty to temporarily give up the recovery of Xixia.

This also strengthened the determination of Zhao Ji and Tong Guan to unite with Jin to destroy Liao and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

In addition, the four major bandit uprisings broke out to divide the territory of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

The Zhao Song Dynasty lost the mountains and rivers in the north, and the Yuan Empire took over Shaanxi.

In this process, Xixia took the opportunity to completely take back their lifeline Hengshan area, and also occupied a lot of territory that originally belonged to the Zhao Song Dynasty.

——At the same time when Jiang Hongfei destroyed the Song Dynasty, the war between Song and Xia broke out again. In this last war between the Zhao Song Dynasty and the Xixia Dynasty, the Song army lost troops and territory and retreated step by step.

Although the Western Xia Dynasty was strong, it had a small territory and limited national strength, and posed no fatal threat to the Yuan Empire. However, the Jin Kingdom was completely different. It was Jiang Hongfei's biggest concern.

Therefore, Jiang Hongfei returned to Yanjing to deal with the Jin Kingdom personally, and asked Qiao Daoqing, Han Shizhong, Wu Jie, Zhe Keqiu, Yelu Dashi, Yue Fei and others to completely recover Shaanxi while defending the Western Xia Dynasty.

Shaanxi was originally a place with strong soldiers and horses in the Zhao Song Dynasty, and it was not so easy to conquer. However, the Zhao Song Dynasty transferred all the elite troops in Shaanxi to the southeast to quell the rebellion, and asked Fan Zhixu to take the remaining Western Army out of Shaanxi to rescue the king. In addition, the command system was chaotic. Under the design of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Shaanxi had troops from the six administrative pacification offices in Shaanxi and troops from the Hedong administrative envoy. In addition, Wang Shu, the administrative pacification envoy of Fuyan Road, who acted as the Shaanxi administrative envoy, had no prestige and it was difficult for him to command the other five Song armies.

Therefore, after crossing the Yellow River, the Yuan army took only one month to capture the East City of Yan'an Prefecture, Fengxiang Prefecture, Chang'an, Qinzhou and other places, and defeated the main forces of the three Jinglüe Anfu Si of Fuyan, Yongxing Army, and Qinfeng.

Then, after occupying Qinzhou, the Yuan army went west along the Wei River, captured Xizhou and Gongzhou, and then continued to move westward, sweeping across the six routes of Shaanxi.

The folk customs of Shaanxi are indeed fierce.

Although the main force of the Western Army is no longer in Shaanxi, people from all over Shaanxi responded to the call of the Jinglüe Anfu Si of Fuyan Road and rose up to fight against the Yuan army. Several righteous armies led by Meng Di, Zhong Qian, Zhang Mian, Zhang Jian, Bai Bao, and Li Jin all have strong forces.

Some rebel armies also cooperated with the Jinglüe Anfu Si of Fuyan Road, and almost took Tongzhou and Shanzhou from the hands of the Yuan army when the Yuan army was empty.

Tongzhou is located on the north bank of the Weishui River east of Chang'an. Since the terrain on the south bank of the Wei River is narrow and it is difficult to deploy heavy troops, Tongzhou has become an important town for attacking or defending Chang'an. Not only that, it is also an important support point for the defense system of Tongguan and Pujinguan. If the Song army controls Tongzhou, the connection between the Yuan army in Chang'an and the Yuan army in Tongguan and Pujinguan will be cut off. Shanzhou can also cut off the direct traffic between the Yuan army in Shaanxi and the Yuan army in Henan.

If Shan and Tongzhou are recaptured by the Song army, the retreat of the Yuan army will be cut off.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Yue Fei led a large army to arrive, reinforced Tongzhou and Shanzhou, and repelled a group of rebels in Shaanxi.

After the rear was free of worries, Wu Jie and Yelu Dashi stayed to garrison and obtained the land of Shaanxi, Qiao Daoqing and Han Shizhong continued to attack Fengxiang, and then Han Shizhong led a division of the army to recapture Jingyuan Road.

After the Yuan Empire had taken over the six routes of Shaanxi, Jiang Hongfei sent Qiu Xun to serve as the prefect of Jingzhao, Zhe Keqiu concurrently as the prefect of Yan'an, Tang Chong, who was personally recruited by Jiang Hongfei to surrender, to serve as the prefect of Qingyang, Wang Shu, who had surrendered not long ago, to serve as the prefect of Fengxiang, Qiao Daoqing personally led the five states of Wei, Jing, Yuan, Xi'an, Hui, the three armies of Deshun, Zhen, Rong, Huaide, and Yelu Dashi personally led the four states of Xihe, Langkuo.

Jiang Hongfei's order to these six people was to recruit the righteous army in Shaanxi and govern the six routes of Shaanxi.

Soon, the Yuan Empire launched a vigorous public trial, land distribution, and grain distribution in the six routes of Shaanxi, eliminating the ruling foundation of the Zhao Song Dynasty in Shaanxi.

At the same time, Jiang Hongfei sent people to Shaanxi to transport five million shi of grain, set up porridge stations, and treat the people.

Maybe it was because of the prosperity of the country, and God was helping Jiang Hongfei.

Just when the Yuan Empire was winning the hearts of the people of Shaanxi, the old enemy of the people of Shaanxi, Xixia, suddenly invaded Shaanxi.

The Yuan army stood up and fought with Xixia without giving up an inch of land.

This made the people of Shaanxi see that the Yuan Empire had the ability to protect them.

Gradually, more and more people in Shaanxi chose to support the Yuan Empire.

And many rebel armies accepted the Yuan Empire's amnesty under the high positions and generous salaries given by the Yuan Empire, and resisted the invasion of Xixia together with the Yuan army.

Qiao Daoqing and others studied the Zhao Song Dynasty's Hengshan strategy, mainly because of the insistence of Han Shizhong and Wu Jie, two generals from the Western Army. Of course, more importantly, this was supported by Jiang Hongfei. In short, the Yuan Empire decided to copy the Zhao Song Dynasty's Hengshan strategy, that is, to implement the strategy of shallow attack and garrison, and nibble away at Hengshan step by step.

The difference is that Jiang Hongfei used Qiao Daoqing, Han Shizhong, Wu Jie, Zhe Keqiu, Yelu Dashi, Yue Fei and others to be responsible for one direction each, and they took every step carefully...

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Pan Xianfei was very proud. Zhao Gou didn't visit her for many times, and she gave birth to a son for Zhao Gou.

Zhao Gou originally had five daughters, and he wanted a son but never got one.

In this world, not having a son is almost the same as not having offspring, especially for an emperor.

Now, Zhao Gou finally got what he wanted. Zhao Gou, who was extremely happy, pardoned the world, although he did not have much territory at that time.

How much did Zhao Gou love this son, Zhao Bing?

When Zhao Bing was only three months old, Zhao Gou could not wait to appoint him as the Junior Guardian, the Jiedushi of Jiqing Army, and the Duke of Wei.

The Jianjie that many people dreamed of throughout the ages was easily obtained by this baby who was less than 100 days old.

Moreover, Zhao Gou was still looking for an opportunity to make Zhao Bing the crown prince.

Concubine Pan was also rewarded by Zhao Gou for giving birth to Zhao Bing. It is no exaggeration to say that even the dog in Concubine Pan's house was rewarded by Zhao Gou.

As for Zhao Gou's five daughters, concubines, and his parents, who were they?

Zhao Gou seemed to have completely forgotten them.

Zhao Gou may have forgotten that Zhao Huan ordered him to gather the troops of the Zhao Song Dynasty and led them to rescue the emperor, but he defended himself with troops and hesitated to move forward, watching his parents, concubines, five daughters, and all relatives being captured by Jiang Hongfei, and then watching them being taken to the north by Jiang Hongfei, and watching Jiang Hongfei play with his mother and all his concubines.

And when the Zhao Song Dynasty lost its power and humiliated the country, Zhao Gou married Pan, lived a comfortable life, and even let Pan give birth to a son.

This is too shameless.

The attendant Wei Fumin wrote to Zhao Gou, saying that you have not rescued Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, your concubines, daughters, and clansmen, and you have not recovered an inch of the homeland of the Zhao Song Dynasty. How can you be so shameless? You should abstain from sex and be determined to avenge your hatred. When you eat delicacies, you should think about those who were taken to the north by Jiang Hongfei who might be starving; when you wear the dragon robe, think about them who might be freezing. You must always remember that most of the country and society built by your ancestors are in the hands of the enemy, and the people are still suffering. You should not build palaces, eat delicious food, wear good clothes, reduce the number of women in the palace, rebuke singing and dancing, and put an end to all extravagance and waste. Even if you hold a suburban ceremony, don't play music to celebrate. Only when you rescue all the people taken to the north by Jiang Hongfei can you restore these rituals. You must be filial and sincere, and let the people of the world see your determination to revive the Zhao Song Dynasty. In this way, more and more people will come to serve you, and you can restore the Zhao Song Dynasty.

That's right.

Wei Fumin and others wanted Zhao Gou to be Goujian, the King of Yue, to make Zhao Gou sleep on straw and taste gall, to make Zhao Gou suffer in his heart and starve in his body, and to restore the Zhao Song Dynasty.

It must be said that Wei Fumin and others had good intentions and pointed Zhao Gou on the right path.

Don't forget that Zhao Gou in this world did not have Queen Meng to endorse him.

——Jiang Hongfei would not make the same mistake as the Jin people. As soon as he entered Bianliang City, he sent someone to take Queen Meng to his harem, and later took her to Yanjing.

Although there is an imperial edict from Zhao Ji, it depends on how it is interpreted.

After all, according to the etiquette of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji was not qualified to pass the throne to Zhao Gou, only Zhao Huan was qualified.

In other words, Zhao Gou's throne was not as legitimate as in history.

In this case, if Zhao Gou wants to sit firmly on the throne, he must show the proper attitude, so that he can be recognized and followed by the world.

But Zhao Gou didn't think so. After seeing the advice given to him by Wei Fumin and others, he was very angry. He felt that these ministers were very bad. They were PUAing him and wanted him to save Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, Zhao Chen and others.

"If they come back, who will be the emperor?"

"Also, if they don't come back for a day, do I have to be abstinent and be an ascetic monk?"

"I am not a puppet, why should I listen to your orders?!!!"

Based on these psychological factors, Zhao Gou turned a deaf ear to the suggestions of Wei Fumin and others.

Not only that, Zhao Gou was also studying how to abolish Tong Guan, completely seize Jiangnan, and then take root there, never to return to the Central Plains.

After hearing about this, Li Qingzhao, who was far away in Jiang Hongfei's harem, wrote a poem to satirize Zhao Gou:

The eternal romance of the Eight Songs Tower, the mountains and rivers are left to future generations to worry about. The water connects the southern country for three thousand miles, and the air pressure is overwhelming the states in the south of the Yangtze River.

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