On May 17 of the ninth year of Yuan You, the Liao Dynasty.

Liao Lord Yelu Hongji looked at Yelu Renxian kneeling under his jade steps with a resentful face, and said sharply: "Just a complete face department, I will give you 100,000 skin rooms, but you have been defeated again and again, and even the Huanglong Mansion has been occupied!" How many times have I suffered such a great humiliation since the Khitan Leather Room became an army?! At this point, Yelu Hongji became more and more angry, and jumped out from behind the imperial case, and kicked Yeluren to the ground first.

Yeluren was first a few talented generals in the Great Liao, and after quelling Yelu Chongyuan's rebellion, he was crowned Shangfu and King of Song, which can be described as a high and powerful position. Seeing him being humiliated like this at the court meeting, His Royal Highness's ministers were all miserable. It's just that he peeked at the Liao lord Yelu Hongji's eyes were red and angry, and no one dared to come out to advise.

But it was Yelu Renxian himself who was honest and loyal, and I saw him hurriedly kneel down and say in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, if you can't crack the Jurchens' firearms, please ...... ......Speaking of this, Yeluren couldn't help sweating, and his Adam's apple rolled up and down twice, and he spit out two words with difficulty. "Move the capital!"

As soon as Yeluren said this, Yeluhongji was immediately dumbfounded. Before he could wake up, Xiao Shisan, the inspector in front of the palace, had already come out and reprimanded: "Bold! Your Majesty, the king of the Song Dynasty, Yeluren, first shook the hearts of the army and should be punished heavily! ”

However, Yelu Renxian has very high qualifications, and others are afraid of this favored Xiao Shisan, but Yelu Renxian is not afraid, but he replied with a straight face: "The old minister was defeated and humiliated, His Majesty wanted to fight and kill, and the old minister had nothing to say." However, the firearms of the Wanyan Department are indeed good, and the old minister suffers first, if he does not report it truthfully, is it not a bully? ”

Although Yelu Hongji believed in sycophants, he also knew that Yeluren was indeed capable of using soldiers. When Yelu Hongji's father Liao Xingzong invaded Western Xia, Yelu Renxian had been persuaded bitterly. Liao Xingzong refused to accept the advice, and finally ended in defeat. Based on this alone, we can know Yelurenxian's talent and inability to be a man. The relocation of the capital shook the national unity, and even if Yelu Hongji no longer liked Yeluren's upright character, he had to ask the situation first to understand the situation. "Is that a firearm really that powerful?"

"Exactly!" Yeluren nodded heavily, "That firearm can wear iron armor within a hundred steps, and ordinary shields can't guard against it at all." ”

"Are they inexhaustible in their firearms?" Yelu Hongji asked again.

"The Jurchens lined up the soldiers who used firearms in three rows and took turns shooting, and the servant army was indeed unable to resist." Jeruren said first. Even some of the clever servant armies, although they did not understand the Jurchen language, knew when they could advance, when to pounce, and when to flee after listening to the orders a few times. When they went into battle, they trembled and fled at the sound of flintlock muskets. If it was fought several times, the morale of the soldiers of Daliao had already dropped to the freezing point. Yeluren first endured these words and did not say them.

The servant army has always played the role of cannon fodder in the Great Liao military system, and the servant army's lack of combat power was expected by Yelu Hongji. Hearing Yelu Renxian say this, he only gritted his teeth and said, "We still have the Iron Rider of the Leather Room!" Can their guns be faster than our horses? ”

I saw that Yeluren was silent for a while, and suddenly wept and said, "That's true, Your Majesty!" The rate of fire of the flintlock pistol is beyond the reach of horsepower, and our leather room army has suffered heavy losses! "Yeluren was old in the military formation, and it was heartbreaking to think of the damage to the leather room army." What's more, the Jurchens also have cavalry, and they are not inferior to my leather room with excellent equipment! ”

"Even if they are well-armed, cavalry against cavalry, will we lose the leather room?" Yelu Hongji exclaimed.

Yeluren cried first: "Your Majesty, the leather room has already lost a lot of brothers before it engages with the Jurchen cavalry, and its morale is insufficient, so how can it fight?" What's more, what's more...... The Jurchen is not satisfied with 10,000, and it is invincible! ”

When Yelu Hongji saw that Yelu Ren first blocked him with the words of Emperor Tai/Zu, he immediately stopped talking, and stood in place helplessly, with a faint cold sweat on his forehead.

Yeluren first bowed down at the foot of the stairs and kowtowed repeatedly, and said in a mournful voice: "Your Majesty, now that the Jurchens have taken down the Huanglong Mansion, the momentum is like a rainbow. There is no danger in Huanglong Mansion since Shangjing, if you can't resist the Jurchen's firearms, you won't be able to save it sooner or later! It is not a pity for the old minister to die, I implore His Majesty to make a quick decision, it is too late, I am afraid it will be too late! ”

On this day, Yelu Hongji didn't know how he returned to the harem. The ministers in the palace had their own opinions, and in the end, they didn't come up with one or two. Jelu Hongji asked, "Who has the means to break the enemy?" But no one dared to speak.

Seeing that his throne was in jeopardy, Yelu Hongji had no intention of having fun with Concubine Mu, so he just hid in the queen's palace and scolded the ministers for being incompetent, misleading the country and the king. Xiao Guanyin refilled Yelu Hongji with tea three times in a row, and when he saw that he finally put out the fire, he stepped forward and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, that Jurchen has always been barbaric, why did he come from so many powerful instruments?" Behind them, there must be someone playing tricks! "The Liao State is different from the Great Song Dynasty, and the descendant Xiao clan also has the right to ask about politics, which is to make suggestions and recommend talents for Yelu Hongji's governance, but it is also Xiao Guanyin's responsibility as the queen.

With such a simple truth, how could Yelu Hongji not understand, and immediately gritted his teeth and said: "It's those shameless Song Jun!" It was the flintlock pistols and knives and arrows that the Song army provided to the Jurchens! Although the Great Liao and the Song Dynasty had long had an alliance to live in harmony and non-aggression, the Liao State has always played that double standard very well. The soldiers of the Liao State went to the Song Dynasty to fight grain grass, that is, I am poor, I am justified, and the Song Dynasty was unkind to the Song Dynasty to defend the country and resist it, and it was necessary to send an envoy to Bianjing to ask the Song Dynasty emperor for an explanation. This time, the Song Dynasty provided weapons to the Jurchens to instigate the Jurchens to embarrass with the Great Liao, in the eyes of the Liao lord Yelu Hongji, it was naturally the shamelessness of the Song people! But this time, Yelu Hongji could no longer afford the idea of going to the Song Dynasty to discuss the law. The only flintlock pistol in the hands of the Jurchens is already so good, in case the emperor of the Song Dynasty wants to use the flintlock pistol and artillery to explain to Da Liao, but what can he do?

"Our Daliao and the Song Dynasty have been in harmony for a long time, and it is common for the ministers to be unfamiliar with the military of the Song Dynasty. His Majesty should not blame too much, lest he chill the loyalty of the ministers. Xiao Guanyin persuaded softly again, "The concubine thinks that the top priority is to find someone capable to crack the flintlock pistol." ”

"Is this still up to you?" Yelu Hongji was anxious and angry, and he never had a good tone. "I have asked several times in the court, and none of the civil and military forces in the Manchu Dynasty can share my worries!"

Xiao Guanyin didn't care, only gently pressed the back of Yelu Hongji's hand and said slowly: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten someone?" ”

Yelu Hongji suddenly turned his head to look at his wife, pondered for a moment and said in a low voice: "You mean...... "Xiao Feng!" The name immediately came to Yeluhongji's mind. This person returned to Daliao from the Song Dynasty and knew the firearms of the Song State well. Wanyan Jurchen intended to rebel, and he also warned him in advance. "I'm afraid that he will not serve the Great Song Dynasty because of his heart!" Yelu Hongji recalled Xiao Feng's exhortation that day, and naturally remembered that he was not inferior at that time.

Xiao Guanyin just smiled when he heard this, and said softly: "There is a rebellious character of the Feng disciple, but if he is not loyal to Da Liao or His Majesty, the concubine will never believe it!" He was now in the East Palace, and His Majesty had summoned him for questioning. If he refuses to be loyal, ask His Majesty to kill him! ”

Yelu Hongji saw that such a delicate female streamer as Xiao Guanyin said such cruel words, and immediately asked in his heart, "He is your cousin, are you willing to do it?" ”

I saw Xiao Guanyin looking at Yelu Hongji affectionately, and said word for word: "Husband and wife are one." No matter how close the younger brother is, where can he kiss his husband? ”

"Good! Good! Xiao Guanyin's words were really intimate, Yelu sighed twice and couldn't help but hug Xiao Guanyin Zhi and laughed with satisfaction, and immediately ordered the chamberlain to go to Prince Xuan and Xiao Feng to meet.

After a while, the prince and Xiao Feng saw Yelu Hongji in the queen's palace.

Xiao Feng has lived in the East Palace for the past two months, and the prince has shared the affairs of the court with him, but he also knows a lot about the current predicament of Da Liao. In March this year, Yelu Yixin obtained the seal of "General Pingnan" and led 100,000 troops to attack the Great Song Dynasty Hejian Mansion. At the beginning of April, Yelu Yixin swore an oath to go on the expedition. But on the tenth day after Yelu Yixin set out on the expedition, the Shengfan Wanyan Department under the rule of Da Liao led the 12 Jurchen troops to rebel, and claimed to have 300,000 armor. The Jurchens were barbaric and ferocious, and they conquered Changchun Prefecture in less than ten days, and the Hui tribe surrendered on their knees. Yelu Hongji arranged for Yelu Yixin to go to the Great Song Dynasty, and the rear was the void. After getting this news, he hurriedly worshiped Yeluren, the king of the Song Dynasty, as a general, and cobbled together 100,000 horses to exterminate the Jurchens. Yeluren first led his troops to engage the Jurchens in Changchun Prefecture, but was defeated by the flintlock pistol and suffered a heavy defeat. In the following month, Yeluren fought and retreated, and finally even the Huanglong Mansion was taken by the Jurchens. Huanglongfu is an important economic and military town of Daliao, and the whole country was shaken when Huanglongfu was seized. Yeluren first knew that the matter was important, so he ordered the army to garrison Tongzhou, and he himself hurried back to Shangjing, asking for help and persuading Yelu Hongji to be mentally prepared to move the capital.

At this time, seeing Yelu Hongji asking him for advice after Yan Jurchen raised troops, Xiao Feng was silent for a while, and a sense of ridiculousness floated in his heart for no reason. In the first thirty years of his life, if he heard that there was a fire in the backyard of Da Liao, he would definitely drink with his beggar brothers to celebrate. Who would have thought that one day, he would be used by Yelu Hongji and give advice to Da Liao? The crown prince Yelujun didn't know Xiao Feng's complicated and indistinguishable thoughts, he was afraid that Xiao Feng would say, "I knew today, why bother in the first place?" Such words made Jeluhongki evil, and he hurriedly glanced at him.

Fortunately, although Xiao Feng can't observe words and feelings, he is also a big-hearted person. He did not hold a grudge against Yelu Hongji for being reprimanded by the rod, but quickly collected his thoughts and comforted his righteous brother with kind words. "Your Majesty, the Wanyan Department raised troops in a hurry, and the other tribes under the rule of Da Liao did not echo, so it can be seen that the general trend is still in Your Majesty, so there is no need to worry too much. Although the Jurchens claim to have 300,000 armor, most of them are exaggerated in the opinion of micro-ministers. Among the twelve Jurchen tribes, the Wanyan tribe is already extremely strong, with only 40,000 or 50,000 people, and the entire Jurchen tribe has a population of only four or five hundred thousand at most, and the number of elite soldiers and strong generals is already the limit. The so-called single force is lonely, they relied on the advantage of firearms to take down several cities in two months, and it was already the end of the crossbow to hit the Huanglong Mansion. At this time, His Majesty must not move the capital lightly, but should stabilize the situation and send a large army to exterminate this thief. ”

Of course, Yelu Hongji did not want to move the capital. Moving the capital sounds good, but in fact it is an escape. As the Emperor of Da Liao, how could he lose this face? Now seeing that Xiao Feng also opposes the relocation of the capital, he immediately nodded and said: "The matter of moving the capital is very important, I see that Yeluren was frightened by the Jurchens first!" ”

Yelu Renxian's ability, Xiao Feng is not familiar with it, and it is not easy to comment indiscriminately. He only knew that the elite soldiers of Da Liao had actually been taken by Yelu Yixin to attack Hejian Mansion, and most of the 100,000 horses led by Yelu Renxian were filled with servant troops. And the combat power of the servant army does not need to be mentioned. "Now that the Jurchens are coming, the minister thinks that the attack on the Great Song Dynasty can only be delayed. I don't know if His Majesty has ever recalled the king of the North Courtyard? ”

Speaking of this, Yelu Hongji's face became even worse, and he only said hatefully: "I ordered Yixin to lead the troops back, but he only pushed back a lot, and said that it was difficult to transfer the army, and it was also a battle for the veterans of the division to be transferred back. Speaking of which, I will only ask for food, hateful! ”

Xiao Feng was silent again when he heard this. In all fairness, there is nothing wrong with Jeruethin's words. The mobilization of 100,000 soldiers and horses is really not a trivial matter, the so-called three armies did not move the grain and grass first, originally Yelu Yixin rushed to Hejian Mansion with 100,000 troops, as long as the war can be plundered, do not worry about no food. But now he has to rush back to fight the Jurchens by holy orders, and all the way back is a place with great Liao, and there is not enough grain and grass, so let Yelu Yixin lead the army to plunder his own people? What's more, the army is running all the way, and naturally it also needs to reward silver to boost morale. However, Yelu Yixin has always been cunning, does he still have the intention of fearing the Jurchens when he shirks it like this? This is not a big deal. "Except for the soldiers under the command of the King of the Northern Courtyard and the King of Song, do I have no elite soldiers in Daliao?"

"There are millions of elite soldiers in Daliao!" Seeing Xiao Feng questioning the military strength of the Great Liao, Yelu Hongji immediately glared at him and retorted loudly. However, after saying this, he couldn't help but sigh again. "A thousand armies are easy to get, but one will be hard to find! If you want to break the Jurchen, you must first break the flintlock pistol! ”

Xiao Feng also thought deeply of this, and immediately said: "The flintlock pistol is very powerful, but there is only one weakness: it takes an extremely long time to change bullets. The only way to break the flintlock pistol is to seize the opportunity of the enemy to change bullets and attack in a big way. ”

But Yelu Hongji shook his head in discouragement. "The Jurchens lined up the soldiers who used firearms in three rows and took turns shooting, but this method did not work!"

"What about the flank attack of the leather chamber cavalry?" Xiao Feng asked again.

"The Jurchens also have cavalry!" Yeluhonki still shook his head.

"If you don't wait for the Jurchen guns to line up and attack first?"

"The Jurchens are accustomed to climbing mountains and wading through rivers, they are all elite soldiers, and they are not slow to move."

"Is it feasible to defend the city?"

"The Jurchens can also take a detour elsewhere and make the entire grassland noisy, and all the tribes will have different hearts!"

This doesn't work, that doesn't work, Xiao Feng couldn't help but sigh heavily, only sighing in his heart that Murong Fu's helper really chose the right place. I saw him gritting his teeth and said in a deep voice: "Then the only way to use a chariot array, a heavy crossbow/bow and a trebuchet!" ”

“…… Learn from Song Jun? Yelukhunkich said.

Xiao Feng nodded, and said with an unpredictable expression: "In the way of the other, give back to the other." ”

"In the way of the other, give back to the other?" Yelu Hongji pondered in his heart, and suddenly got up and stroked his palms and laughed. "Wonderful! Wonderful! Xiao Feng, the king of the Southern Courtyard, listens to the order! I named you the 'General of Quelling the Rebellion', and led 50,000 troops to Tongzhou immediately to take over the military affairs, exterminate the Jurchen Ministry, and bring the heads of Wanyan and Libu to see me! ”

Yelu Hongji's words fell, and Xiao Guanyin and Yelu Jun stared at Xiao Feng nervously at the same time.

I saw Xiao Feng stunned for a long time, and finally sighed lightly, landed on one knee and said loudly: "Minister's decree, long live, long live, long live!" "Xiao Feng has lived in the East Palace for more than two months, and he knows very well the rights and obligations between the monarch and the minister. What's more, if he didn't want to accept the order, Xiao Guanyin would never give him the antidote.

"As for that Yelu Renxian, he has been defeated repeatedly and alarmist......" Speaking of the incompetent Yelu Renxian, Yelu Hongji was immediately full of disgust.

Xiao Guanyin and Yelu Jun saw that Yelu Hongji's expression was wrong, and they seemed to want to condemn Yelu Renxian, so they hurriedly said in unison: "Your Majesty / Father, the King of Song is familiar with the Jurchen combat power, why don't you make him a deputy general for the king of the Southern Courtyard, and make the merit for the crime!" ”

Yelu Hongji was in a good mood when he had a solution to the flintlock pistol, but he didn't care when he saw the queen and the prince defending Xiao Feng together, and only smiled at Xiao Feng: "Brother Xian, you see, my beloved wife and son are so trustworthy to you!" ”

Although Xiao Feng is no longer the rookie of officialdom who knows nothing, he is still at a loss for the profound ways of "angering and resentment". Hearing Yelu Hongji's words, he was only expressionless and ignorant, not to mention what kind of loyalty he said sweetly.

Yelu Hongji got along with Xiao Feng for a year, and gradually figured out his temperament, but he didn't think it was wrong, and only continued: "The king of the Southern Courtyard has a heavy responsibility, so he will leave the palace today to prepare!" ”

"Thank you!" Xiao Feng immediately knelt down to thank him when he heard this, but this sentence was much more sincere than shouting "Long live".