Two. Strategies
6. Liaoxia's conspiracy
In the fourth year of the Qingli calendar, in May, the Shannan Party, who lived in Shangjing Road in Liao, defected and returned to Xixia.
The Liao army crossed the border to Bailang Mountain and killed more than a thousand people.
Then the commander of the Liao army led more than a thousand cavalry around the White Wolf Mountain and chased them to the Uga River, in an attempt to eradicate the grass.
The Shannan Party's various departments fought against each other, and they resisted desperately and were about to be slaughtered.
Song Dun, the general of the Western Xia Weifu Military Department, suddenly led the army to kill, repelled the cavalry of Liao, and rescued all the Shannan Party.
Liaoxia had a feud. Half a month later, the emperor of Liao, Yelu Zongzhen, sent messengers to question Yuan Hao, the lord of Xixia, and asked him to explain why he shielded the Shannan Party. If he did not return the rest to Liao for disposal within two months, Liao would meet each other.
In August, Yuan Hao wrote back to Yelu Zongzhen and told him that Xixia now has 10,000 muskets, and the Liao army will be defeated if it dares to invade.
At the same time, Liao Guo was equipped with an musket team with more than 5,000 people, which was still used to guard Shangjinglin Huangfu.
The muskets of Liao and Xixia all came from the Song Dynasty. Most of the credit was attributed to the merchants of the Song Dynasty, and a small part of the credit was attributed to the detailed work of the two countries lurking in the Song Dynasty.
The musket was first leaked by a Jianghu person named Boss Ma. Later, in the process of the exchange between Song and Liao, Liao got more information about the muskets of the Song Dynasty.
Xixia businessmen who have been doing business in Nanjing Road in Liao Province all year also soon learned about this matter. Half a year later, they dedicated a high-priced musket bought in Song Dynasty to Yuan Hao, the lord of the country, and was valued by Yuan Hao. Since then, they have been traveling to and going in the hinterland of Songxia with pearl agate and other expensive luxury goods in the Song Dynasty. Collect information about the manufacture of muskets.
Half a year later, Yuan Hao used the strength of the whole country to build a ten-thousand-person musket team. This musket team is another strong brigade in Xixia after the Tielin Army, and its combat strength is not under the garrison.
In the same year, September.
Liao's army increased 100,000 troops. Under the leadership of the general Xiao Hui**, he entered more than 400 miles in the hinterland of Xixia, and the two sides fought under Helan Mountain.
Yuan Hao's captured army met the enemy head-on. The musket team was deployed on the right wing, and the iron forest army was hidden in the musket array.
The barbarians and the Po Xi army are restrained on the left.
The war lasted for more than a month, and the two sides suffered casualties, but the firearm team of the Xixia Army caused a heavy blow to the Liaoning army.
In October, Yuan Hao used the musket team so well that he actually figured out the musket platoon shooting method and position combat method!
In the middle of the year, he defeated Liao in the Tailan Oasis area and captured Xiao Hu, the emperor's son-in-law of Liao.
A few months later, in the spring of the fifth year of the lunar calendar, Liaoxia unexpectedly shook hands and exchanged prisoners on Xijing Road in Liaoguo.
Liao sent Prime Minister Liu Liufu, and Xixia sent the national teacher Zhang Yuan.
The two sides set up a huge felt tent in the border area and talked for more than a month before leaving mysteriously.
Since then, there have been more and more conflicts on the border between Song Liao and Song Xia, so that there have been big fights, siege and land every day.
7. Borders are in chaos
Five years after the celebration, the border pass suddenly changed
The Song Dynasty suffered from the enemy on both sides, and the number of casualties of soldiers at the border increased sharply, and the rescue report sent to Beijing every day flew like snowflakes.
The post stations and daily guests in various states and counties are full, receiving thousands of fast-horse messengers who travel to and from various places, and tens of thousands of passing troops.
The national fortune of the Song Dynasty became extremely fragile at that moment, and it seemed that even a storm would destroy it.
Bianliang Jingshi,
After half a month of quarrel, the main war faction led by Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu prevailed. The former Privy Council, Lord Xia, was kicked out of the Privy Council and demoted to the envoy of Guangnan East Road. The successor is Yan Shu, the minister of the Ministry of Ceremonies, Lord Yan, and the father-in-law of Fubi.
At this time, Empress Cao, who listened to the government, had to make a difficult decision and authorized cabinet ministers Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Wen Yanbo, Ouyang Xiu, Yu Jing and others to prepare for the battle. In this battle, the Song Dynasty needed to use the strength of the whole country to resist the enemy.
So far, the foot of Langshan Mountain in Bianliang Xiangfuhuangzhuang has been busy day and night, and the team of transporting military weapons stretches for thousands of miles and continues to the border areas, and even the states and counties to enrich the military strength of the city.
8. Cabinet countermeasures
In the sixth year of the lunar calendar, the third year of His Majesty Renzong's immortal tour.
Wang De, a veteran of the Song Dynasty, sat in the Hejian Mansion and commanded the battlefield against Liaoning in the north.
The court then sent Wang Su, a member of the military department, and Quan Bin, a supervisor, to the northern Hejianfu to support the north.
Fan Zhongyan had made the worst plan and won the unanimous approval of the cabinet ministers. Empress Cao also nodded.
If Wang De is defeated in the north and let the Liao soldiers break through Zhending Mansion, Fan Zhongyan will order all the prefectures and counties in the north to dig all rivers, embankments and coasts, break the kettle and sink the boat, annihilate the whole Hebei East Road, and turn the north into a sea and Tianze country, a vast ocean.
Reject the state of Liaoning thousands of miles away.
9. Letter from Su Su
In the fourth year of the lunar calendar, Emperor Renzong died. Zhao Ze had a hunch that something big was going to happen.
Sure enough, a week later, Su Su sent an urgent letter from Zhan Zhao and his wife. In the letter, she told Zhao Ze that the court had a strong fight because of the heir to the throne. Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Wang Su, Yu Jing, Fan Zhen and others jointly wrote a letter to request the establishment of the crown prince.
However, the edict of Renzong is very clear that the child of Empress Cao is the crown prince!
However, it will take about half a year for the child in Queen Cao's womb to be born. It is unknown whether it is a man or a woman. How to register it?
Huyuan Ouyang Xiu and others believe that the country cannot be without a king for a day. If the outside knows that the new funeral of Emperor Renzong will be in chaos, the world will be in chaos. Therefore, he strongly strives to choose one of the six vassal kings with children to enter the throne.
A large and small imperial historian also waved the flag and shouted, supporting the suggestions of Ouyang Xiu and others.
However, Fan Zhongyan, who participated in the political affairs, objected, and Han Qi, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, also objected. They believe that they should make a conclusion according to the edict of Emperor Renzong and wait for Empress Cao to give birth to a child. If Longzi should naturally take over Dabao, the princess will have to give up and choose one of the heirs from the sons of the vassal king.
There are often twists and turns in the competition for the country.
The Privy Councillor Yan Shu unexpectedly proposed to let Zhao Yuanyan, the 80-year-old king of the town, take over the throne. Not only that, he also found his supporters, Zhou Xun and Liu Yuanyu; Liang Jian, a Taiwanese admonitioner, and Chen Ronggu, the governor of the palace; Chen Ronggu, the prime minister of the palace.
In the end, even Taishi Pang Ji had to rush back to Beijing to participate in the decision-making.
Later, Empress Cao gave a step. She took Zhao Shu, the grandson of Zhao Yuanfen, the younger brother of Zhenzong, the son of Zhao Yunrang, the king of Pu'anyi, into the palace, and temporarily appointed him as the prince of the East Palace. She listened to the government and participated in the court until the child was born.
In February of the fifth year of the lunar calendar, Empress Cao gave birth to a dragon, named Zhao Yu. ( Note: 'Xu' read 'xu', Zhao Yu is the future Shenzong)