In August of the fourth year of the Northern Han Dynasty, the Hunan Lang soldiers went south, attacked the puppet Chu king Ma Xichong, who usurped power and seized the throne, and Xu Wei, the commander of Tanzhou, and other generals, fought in Yiyang, defeated and retreated, and lost thousands of troops.

Ma Xichong, the puppet king of Chu, was originally a subordinate general who supported the upper position, had no virtue and talent, and caused prostitution, trapped in Changsha arrogant soldiers and difficult to control, and was afraid of the persecution of the Lang soldiers, afraid of being victimized, and the axe was added, and the secret guest general was sent to invite troops to the Tang Dynasty.

Ma Xicao, the king of Hengshan, who was also popular with the audience and occupied Hengzhou to watch Changsha, also asked for help from the Southern Tang Dynasty, hoping to ask him for help to retake Tanzhou.

The Ma brothers, who have been on the table, have added another one to the name of the teacher, and there is no better time. This time, the commander of the Tang Army, Bian Hao, who had already been instructed by the Tang Lord, was 30,000 soldiers from Yuanzhou, Xiqu Changsha.

The Tang army sent a force to pass through Liling on the fifth day, and Ma Xichong, the puppet king of Chu, heard the news and immediately sent an envoy to the army. Ten days and close to Changsha, Ma Xichong immediately sent a note to the Tang camp to surrender to life, since he led the Hunan generals in front of the city, looking at the dust and defeated, the side pickaxe accepted, the Tang army was able to roll the armor and enter Changsha City, without losing a single soldier.

Next, Bian Ho issued a document proclaiming Ma's crime, and sent troops and horses to be stationed in various states. When there was a famine in Hunan, Bian Hao ordered a large number of Ma's cangsu relief, and the Chu people, who were in dire straits, were greatly happy, and did not resist the entry and occupation of the Tang army.

Therefore, the side pickaxe enters Chu, the momentum is like a broken bamboo, the wind is invincible, and the anointed land is full of its hands. The land of Lingnan is temporarily unreachable, but Langzhou in the north and Hengzhou in the south are close at hand, and they issued a message to appease and send troops to deter them, hoping that they would surrender. What is more important is to count the military merits, count the gains, and report the merits to Jinling.

At the same time that Bian Hao swept Hunan, Liu Renzhen, the deputy envoy of Wuchang Jiedu in the Southern Tang Dynasty, also led thousands of sailors to take Yuezhou.

The good news came one after another, and the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who were far away in Jinling couldn't help but be overjoyed with the news of Hunan's "pacification". The great cause of fame has been accomplished, the Tang lord Li Jing is comfortable, and a banquet is set up in the Tang Palace's turtle * hall, and hundreds of officials congratulate him, singing and dancing.

Seeing that the land of Hunan was really so easy, Li Jing, who was originally trembling and suspicious, immediately stood up, his body straightened, and his voice was loud. The courteous official said that since the Tang lord ascended the throne, he has not tasted the ancestral temple, so he asked, Li Jing only replied with one word: I am one family in the world, and then thank you.

Counseling the doctor Wei Cen to serve the banquet said: "The minister travels to Yuancheng, enjoys its terroir, and His Majesty determines the Central Plains, and begs Wei Bo to make an envoy." Li Jing Xu Zhi.

In one fell swoop, it seems that the whole world can be decided, and the arrogant change of the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty is somewhat unexpected by others.

In this piece of praise for virtue, it is not that no one sees the hidden worries in between.

The living man Gao Yuan said: "I take advantage of the chaos, and it is very easy to take. Look at the talents of the generals, but I am afraid that it is difficult to hear! ”

Situ Zhishi Li Jianxun said: "Woe to it! ”

As for Han Xizai, he almost burst into tears, reminding Li Jing that when he was strictly ordered to be in Chu, he should be cautious and vigilant, act cautiously with self-love, and take the old thing of "Pingmin" as a warning to prevent Chu from gaining and losing.

It's just that in this environment of universal celebration, how can such a strange remark get Li Jing's attention and make him unhappy. In such a situation, it was Feng Yansi, who probably recalled the embarrassment of destroying Fujian and not being able to defend it, and losing all the blessings and rich springs, and also made suggestions to Li Jing, but he was only tactful.

Only then did Li Jing issue an edict, rewarding the Pingchu Tang Army at the same time, and at the same time, he gave a message. In order to seek stability in Hunan, all the people of the Ma clan were moved to Jinling and surrendered.

After the Tang army seized Chu and swept Hunan, the dark clouds that had been condensed over the north for a long time were finally about to rain.

Since the beginning of autumn, the Khitan army on the front line of Tan and Ji has intensified their intrusion into Youzhou and its southern vast areas, looting grain and killing people.

In order to deal with this, the king of Yan sent thousands of cavalry under his rule, riding against riding, maneuvering against maneuvering, and fighting with the Khitan cavalry trembling between Yan and the land. The Han army was not spared, and the Cang and Hebei lines were also its key attack areas, and on the orders of the imperial court, He Fujin, the commander of the northern defense line, also ordered the commanders to send cavalry to fight.

In the midst of the cruel sword and sword, the people of various states risked life and death to grab the corn. Both the Han army and the Yan army paid a lot of casualties, and only then did they escort and grab some of the food, and the damage to the officials and civilians was not small.

Of course, the Khitans did not get much benefit, and the losses were also quite a lot. In the month-long battle, the Han army and the Yan soldiers were rare to abandon everything and unite against the enemy, with a very resolute will to resist and cruel means. Ma Quanyi and Li Yun of the Han Army, and Zhao Sijuan of Yan Bing are famous.

Zhao Sijuan has a rebellious personality, is unkind, killing, and hostile to the Han court, but he still played some role in the battle against the Khitan. led the thorn face capital under his command, killed more than 700 Khitan cavalry before and after, and none of them were captured, and also really staged a wave of "Zhuangzhi hungry Hulu meat", and then bluntly said that the "Hu smell" was too heavy. made the Khitan soldiers near and far shocked when they heard Zhao.

But no matter what, the purpose of the Khitan attack was basically achieved.

At the beginning of September, the Khitan Emperor Yelu Ruan summoned 100,000 internal and external soldiers and horses, and officially launched the southern expedition from Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing. Due to the long-term controversy with the Khitan nobles, even if the army was finally mobilized, it was forcibly passed by Yelu Ruan.

Therefore, from the beginning of the southward movement of the troops, there was a discordant atmosphere between the Khitan army. The nobles and even the ordinary soldiers complained that even with the mobility of the Liao army, the marching speed was extremely slow. Yelu Ruan urged all his troops to march into the army several times, but with little success, so that in the end, driven by the royal tent army, the speed was raised.

By the end of September, 100,000 Khitan troops arrived at the border of Wende County, Wuzhou, and camped in the west of Wende, Huoshendian, away from Youzhou City, but more than 200 miles.

An army of 100,000 people, more than ten miles around the camp tent, people shouted and neighed, and the leather room army firmly protected the royal tent. The Liao lord Yelu Ruan was temporarily stationed here, intending to reorganize the army and stabilize people's hearts. What he has seen and heard along the way, he also felt that something was wrong, the leather room army is a pro-army of the imperial tent, it has always been elite, and the military discipline is strict, he is not worried, but he is worried about the soldiers who are called to come, and they really need to be appeased.

On the day of the fire god lake, Yelu Ruan ordered to build an altar of earth, and led the whole army to pay tribute to his father, Yelu Bei, the king of Dongdan, hoping to bless the smooth southern expedition. This is not a good choice, if it is Taizu Yelu Abaoji or Taizong Yelu Deguang, it may still have some effect. However, after the operation, it seems that it is barely stable.

A middle-aged general with a bitter face and dressed in aristocratic armor rode a horse and galloped through the huge camp of the southern expedition. His eyes swept around, and fell on the surrounding Southern Expedition soldiers, and the original worry in his eyes was obviously aggravated.

This person's name is Yelu Wuzhi, a Khitan minister, who played a major role in the peace negotiation between Yelu Ruan and the Empress Dowager Shulu's mother and son in the "Crossing Covenant" a few years ago, which enabled the Khitan regime to transition smoothly.

After Yelu Ruan ascended the throne, he recited his merits and talents, and he also used them more and more. This time, with the position of the right leather room, he accompanied the southern expedition.

However, at this time, Yeluwu was full of worries and worries, and his worries came from these Khitan soldiers who were on the expedition.

He still remembers that when he was young, when he went out with Taizu, all the soldiers were happy when they heard the battle, cheered with joy, and sharpened their armor, lest they fall behind. Even when Taizong was in the south, he swept the Central Plains in the south, and he was very active.

But now, depending on the location, they are all at a loss, uncertain, and even worse, complaining. This gap between them, as a person with vision and wisdom, can be deeply experienced by Yelu Wuqua.

Since the time of Taizong Yelu Deguang, to now, the Khitan people have been fighting for nearly ten years, and all the tribes have been trapped here, and the national strength has been greatly damaged. In the battle of destroying the Jin Dynasty that year, the battle of Luancheng was defeated and lost, and the army was defeated, which caused great damage to the Khitan army.

The empire on the steppe, unlike the Central Plains, is far inferior to the agrarian civilization in terms of recovery ability. That is, with the Bohai Sea and Dahanzhou County along the Great Wall as a supplement, in the past few years, the strength of the Khitan has been restored to its current level.

Under such circumstances, in Yeluwu's view, the most important thing is to recuperate, recuperate, appease the people, and alleviate internal contradictions. It is really not the work of a wise man to rashly move troops and start a sword fight again, especially such a large army.

The contradiction between the emperor and the domestic aristocracy became deeper and deeper due to his governance, and the nobles and even the people were reluctant to fight. Internal discord, the army has no fighting spirit, since ancient times, there has never been a military spirit that can win the war.

Although Yelu Wuzhi can understand some of Yelu Ruan's thoughts and considerations, he is not optimistic about this southern expedition.

In Yeluwu's view, this is almost a gamble, a gamble related to the fortune of the country and a huge bet. success, profits may not be satisfactory; If you lose, the general trend will go away.

And the enemy this time, the Han who occupies the Central Plains and Hebei, is obviously not so easy to deal with. Their emperor was still the commander of the "defeat of Luancheng" at the beginning, and he was not unprepared, in Younan, built many fortresses, deployed a large number of Han troops, and with his national strength, it was not impossible to mobilize two or three hundred thousand troops.

The march dragged on, and the best opportunity to attack had been missed. Although Yelu'an has greatly disturbed the northern region of the Han Dynasty, this year's Han Dynasty is not as good as the previous two years, natural disasters continue, it is conceivable that in southern Hebei and the Central Plains, a large amount of grain is afraid that it has already been put into storage, and it will soon be turned into military food, turning the Han Dynasty into the confidence to send troops.

There is also the Yan army that occupies Youzhou, which is also a hard bone, the Khitan people have owned its city for ten years, and they know it well to expand and strengthen it, and to strengthen it. There is such a nail in the throat, after the engagement, how to deal with it?

Other than that......

More and more unfavorable factors swirled in his mind, and Yelu subconsciously sped up, almost rushing to the top.

Although he knew that he might still not be able to persuade him, he still planned to make another statement to His Majesty the Emperor. Now, it's too late to stop.