Chapter Fifty-Six: Repeat Offenders of the Great Plundering of Western Xia

The roaring Yellow River flows down the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, crosses the Loess Plateau and turns a corner under the majestic Helan Mountain, creating the vast and rich Xixia River, nurturing a hard-working and brave party nation.

The Yellow River in the world is rich in Xixia. Relying on their own wisdom and hands, the party members made full use of the favorable conditions of the Yellow River to turn the barren Gobi Desert into a beautiful and rich land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River.

The two banks of the Yellow River become an oasis, and the green mountains and green waters see sheep and cattle; Red, blue, black and white are all over the place, and the young man and girl are racing in Hangzhou. This thousand-year-old beautiful picture has attracted countless heroes to bend their waists. The aristocrats of the party took this wonderful homeland under their rule and established an independent kingdom. Li Yuanhao said that the emperor and queen Western Xia were more fertile, and the neighboring Song, Liao, and Jin were salivating, and the battles continued year after year. A few years later, there was another new desert star Mongolia. From then on, a good life no longer existed for the Tangut people, and it became an impossible luxury to survive.

This is the turn of spring and summer in the Year of the Tiger, the border town of the Western Xia Kingdom - Lijili Village (Shizui Mountain), it is the season when thousands of trees compete for spring, flowers are in full bloom, and the boys and girls are happy to catch butterflies and bees in the fields of seedlings and elephants. Suddenly, from the northern desert, a group of soldiers and horses, armed with scimitars, pounced like tigers and wolves eating food.

After a few days of hard work, men were killed, women were robbed, camels, cattle and sheep and supplies were plundered in the Wuhai, Jilantai and Pingluo areas centered on Lijili Village (Shizuishan).

This was the first time to conquer Western Xia since the establishment of the Mongol state at the turn of the spring and summer of 1206, and it was also the first stop of Genghis Khan's conquest. Fortunately, at this time, although Genghis Khan established the goal of conquering Western Xia first and then destroying the Jin Kingdom in order to take revenge, he currently has ambitions but no strength. To some extent, the war against Western Xia was to plunder more financial resources, horses, cattle and sheep, and of course, women, to enrich and strengthen their national power. The excuse was that the Western Xia Kingdom had taken in the enemy prince Xiankun, and the party members had to pay the price.

Genghis Khan is very clear about the comparison of troops, at present, Genghis Khan in addition to the regular army of more than 100,000 people, plus the nomads can participate in the war, there are only about 200,000 horses, if you want to directly find the Jin people to take revenge, to deal with millions of gold soldiers, it is the relationship between eggs and stones, not to mention the Western Xia Kingdom.

For the reasons mentioned in the previous chapter, it is necessary to first subdue the Western Xia, and then to the Kingdom of Jin. As far as Western Xia is concerned, there are more than 700,000 soldiers and horses, and the disparity in troops is also very large, and it is impossible to win a battle in one battle. Therefore, Genghis Khan had to carry out strategic accumulation in the form of plundering property and horses as the main battle. The so-called first or several raids on Western Xia are limited, mainly looting, looting and leaving, grabbing once to damage the national strength of Western Xia, and increasing the strength of Mongolia once. Wait until the national strength is equal, and then subdue the Western Xia in one fell swoop. This led to Genghis Khan's seven guerrilla wars against Western Xia.

After the Mongols captured several towns in Western Xia, the news reached the ears of Li An'an, who usurped the throne in Western Xia. At this time, the Western Xia Dynasty was rotten and was no longer the regime established by the party aristocracy. The court was full of lust and intrigue all day long, and did not pay enough attention to the attack and robbery of Mongolia, which to some extent cooperated with Mongolia's guerrilla strategic measures to strengthen its own strength and consume the national strength of Western Xia.

The Western Xia Kingdom has a superior geographical environment and unique natural resources, and was originally a land of fresh wind and wealth. As early as the Tang Dynasty when the Huangchao rebellion, Tuoba Sigong, a descendant of Shuofang Dangxiang, led his troops to support the rebellion, established a great achievement, and was named the Duke of Xia by the Son of Heaven of the Tang Dynasty, and gave the surname Li, known as Xiazhou. When it reached Li Yuanhao, the territory was expanded and the land was abundant. At this time, it was the time when Song Liao and Song Jin were facing off from the north and south. Li Yuanhao took the opportunity to establish the country and proclaim himself emperor, named the country "Daxia", and called himself "Baishangguo", Song Liaojin called it "Hexi", and Liaojin called the party "Tanggu".

The Western Xia Kingdom is located in the south of Mongolia, bordering the Kereh and Naiman tribes. The national capital was located in Xingqing Mansion (now Yinchuan City, Ningxia). Its territory extends from the Yellow River in the east, Yumen Pass in the west, Xiaoguan Pass in the south, and the desert in the north.

The capital has the Yellow River in the east and Helan Mountain in the west as a barrier, which is a treasure land of feng shui. There are more than 70 vertical and horizontal canals such as the Yellow River bend, Tanglai canal, Hanyuan canal, etc., which lead the Yellow River into the plain, and the irrigation is very convenient. Leaving the world Yellow River rich Xixia name.

The Hexi Corridor is also particularly suitable for farming. Hetao and outside the river Yinshan, Hexi Liangzhou, ancient weak water area, grass green water fertilizer, especially suitable for grazing, has always had "Liangzhou grazing in the world" said.

In the territory of Western Xia, many ethnic groups live together, including Dangxiang, Han, Uighur, Tubo, Tata (Datan) and so on. Although the population is small, the economy is quite developed, and the country is rich and the people are strong. The history is called "its land and grains"; Animal husbandry is famous for its abundance of camels, sheep and horses; The handicraft industry is quite developed, and the weaving felt, weapons, ceramics, and printing industries are booming; The blanket woven from camel hair is of excellent quality and is still the best in the country. At that time, Marco Polo was praised as: the most beautiful and best carpet in the world.

When Western Xia was prosperous, it had as many as 700,000 regular troops, including 500,000 troops in the 12th Army and 100,000 captured troops; There were 25,000 garrisons in the capital and nearly 100,000 local troops. During the time of Song Shenzong, in the war letter to the Song generals in Western Xia, he threatened: "Mention 10,000 li, and bring hundreds of thousands of armor." "There are many soldiers and generals, coupled with the favorable terrain of "Xiangshan with rivers", which is enough to resist the neighboring powers, and the Song, Liao, and Jin Cheng are in a strong position.

At that time, the Western Xia dynasty took advantage of the contradictions between Song Liao and Song Jin, and adopted the basic national policy of flexible response and survival in the cracks. Therefore, it retains its own special status in the competition between the two major powers of the North and the South.

The Han culture of the party nobles was very high, so the Western Xia culture was very prosperous. However, in the Western Xia Dynasty, "the family of Shilu was high in luxury", and advocated Buddhism, built temples everywhere, wasted property, and the people complained. There were many contradictions and frequent fights within the court.

At this time, it was the establishment of Mongolia in the north, and Genghis Khan had just exterminated the Tuma tribe and rewarded the soldiers to go on the expedition again.

Genghis Khan led his troops to attack the border castle of Western Xia, Lijili Village, destroyed the city walls, plundered its property, and then broke through more than a dozen cities, robbed all the livestock and women, killed all the men, and got countless camels, sheep and horses and goods to return to Helin, and the first attack on Western Xia for the purpose of plundering ended.

The Mongol army's first invasion did not attract the attention of the Western Xia court, who saw Genghis Khan as a thief, merely repairing the ruined city. Again, the focus was on the infighting in the court.

The reigning Emperor Renxiao was extravagant, abolished the original queen Ma Shou'er, and set up the young and beautiful Luo Qi as the queen. Luo Qi was originally a Uighur woman, with a charming and charming appearance, at the age of twenty-one, in the cardamom years, Emperor Renxiao was close to the age of sixties, and could not withstand Luo Qi's three nights of sleep, and died on the dragon bed. The crown prince Huanzong Chunyou ascended the throne, and Luo Qi was named the queen mother.

In fact, when Renzong was alive, Luo Qi repeatedly slandered that he wanted to abolish the prince, but was stopped by the minister. If the deposition failed, he was afraid that the prince would be the emperor and it would be unfavorable to him, so Luo Qi seduced the prince with sex. Although the prince said that he had always held a grudge against Luo Qi for taking the throne of the queen mother, he did not dare to offend Luo Qi, but he just catered to her in every way and never got close to her.

Luo Qi thought that it was impossible for a man to be unmoved by her beauty, but the prince refused to be thousands of miles away, and she realized that the prince would be her enemy for a long time and would be inseparable. Then he turned around and took refuge in the powerful imperial uncle Zhenyi County King Li An'an. The ambitious Li An'an coveted the throne for more than a day or two, suffering from his own strength not enough to shake the imperial power. Queen Luo Qi took the initiative to come to the door, and she was naturally happy to get a beauty and imperial power, and the two of them looked at each other and slept in secret. After the death of Emperor Renxiao, the two became even more unscrupulous, authoritarian and controlled state affairs.

The new emperor's power was already weak, and it was difficult to compete with the two major forces of Luo Qi and Li An'an, who had been dictatorial for a long time. But he was eager for revenge, and he wanted to find an opportunity to abolish the queen mother and make his mother the queen mother. If you are in a hurry, you can't eat hot tofu. After discussing with several confidant ministers within a few days of taking office, Huan Zong openly criticized Empress Dowager Luo for interfering in politics in the court and wanted to punish the queen who was abolished.

Don't you know that Li Hean and Empress Dowager Luo are looking for an opportunity to abolish him, and there is no excuse. It's a good thing, the opportunity has finally arrived. Before the new emperor finished speaking, the Empress Dowager Luo, who was hidden behind the curtain, coughed, and the imperial uncle Li An'an stood up. The ministers were stunned by this sudden situation, and their faces were frightened and at a loss. Hengzong was about to be angry, and the Empress Dowager Luo wore a phoenix crown, dressed in court clothes, and held a filial piety stick, and came out of the back curtain.

Hengzong saw that the Empress Dowager Luo was holding the filial piety staff of the royal family to beat the unconscious monarch and Li Min, and couldn't help but tremble, and left the dragon chair, knelt down to worship the filial piety stick, and said urgently: "Long live the queen mother!" ”

When the ministers saw that the emperor had admitted defeat, they also bowed to the mountain and shouted: "Long live the queen!" Hooray! ”

Seeing that everyone was convinced, Luo Qi moved to the dragon chair and signaled the eunuch Yu Dakui to announce the decree.

The eunuch Yu Dakui was the eyeliner that Empress Dowager Luo placed beside Hengzong, in addition to monitoring Hengzong's actions and dealings with ministers, he could also kill Emperor Heng when necessary. Yu Dakui brushed the dust on his shoulder, opened the imperial jade paper, and shouted in a sissy voice:

"The Empress Dowager's decree: Emperor Hengzong is pure, with mediocre talents, extravagant and promiscuous, ignoring the government and politics, and being in the company of traitorous ministers, wanting to kill the Queen Mother, and deserving of the crime. The Queen Mother was merciful, abolished him as a concubine, sent back to Xinjiang, and never allowed to enter the court. Relevant traitors, dismiss their officials and punish the nine clans. He established the auxiliary minister of the imperial uncle Li An'an as the emperor. Chin this! ”

After the Queen Mother's decree was read, the court was suddenly silent. Someone had already come over and took off the crown of Emperor Heng and buckled it on Li An'an's head. Emperor Heng trembled and kowtowed in thanks. was taken off the royal robe by the palace guards and escorted out of the palace, and the ministers knelt on the ground and were scared like sugar. A few people secretly glanced at Emperor Hengzong's sad back, tears overflowing from the corners of their eyes.

Li An'an of Zhenyi County got his wish, got the beauty and sat on the dragon chair, which was beautiful. Empress Dowager Luo Qi said angrily: "Why don't you come to your dragon seat to accept the court?" ”

Li An'an looked at the beautiful Empress Dowager Luo and was ecstatic, jumped onto the dragon chair, looked at the ministers with both eyes, coughed proudly twice, and sat down solidly. Hooray! Long live the Queen Mother! ”

Li An'an said with great interest: "Wait for the future, don't call the queen mother again, I will crown Luo Qi as the queen!" ”

The ministers had not yet eased up in the original amazement, and when they heard Li An'an say this, they almost didn't faint, and they were at a loss on the ground, Li An'an was helpless, and slapped the dragon chair and shouted: "Don't you give a salute to the queen?" ”

The ministers took care of a lot, and a few more loudly shouted: "The queen is a thousand years old!" Chichitose! ”

The Queen Mother never thought that Li An'an would suddenly make the private relationship between the two people public, and she also lowered herself by a level, from the Queen Mother directly to the Queen. I was shocked, I couldn't touch my face for a while, my face was red, I glanced at Li An'an, the raw rice was made into cooked rice, and I couldn't do it if I didn't follow it, so I threw the filial piety stick and said: "Thank the emperor for your grace!" ”

At this time, a eunuch had already placed a phoenix chair next to the emperor Li An'an, and Li An'an pulled Luo Qi to sit down beside him, and signaled: "Zhong Aiqing is flat, from now on Luo Qi will be my queen, ruling the harem, and the mother of the world!" ”

The ministers didn't know that their legs were numb after kneeling for too long, but they still felt ridiculous, and they all stood on the ground without moving. Luo Qi also felt very bored, and pretended to smile and said: "Zhong Aiqing is flat!" ”

The hundreds of officials supported each other and had just stood up, and there was a report from the Malays: Mongol soldiers and horses had plundered more than a dozen castles and villages and towns in the north, and horses, camels, cattle and sheep, supplies and women were plundered.

There was a panic and noise in the court, Li An'an had just sat on the dragon chair, and before it was warm, he was very angry. Looking at the appearance of the hundred officials, he was even more angry, and slapped the case and said: "What are you panicking, it's just a few little thieves!" ”

Empress Luo said on the side: "I heard that the Mongols rob women, slaughter men, eat human flesh, and drink human blood. ”

Li An'an said with a smile: "The Tartars of the steppe, a few wild horses, how can they be compared to our army of 700,000. Scared to death, he didn't dare to invade my powerful Western Xia Kingdom, which neither Song nor Jin dared to invade. They can't live anymore, they just grab something to satisfy their hunger. We can strengthen the city walls and send more people to the border. Zhong Aiqing doesn't need to panic, just do what you have to do. ”

The first tentative attack, the Western Xia did not have any reaction, Genghis Khan smiled proudly at Kuduan Balahe and Mu Huali: "It seems that these stupid camels of the Western Xia can't take care of us, and they don't take us seriously." Haha......"

Mu Huali said with a smile: "In this way, we only need two or three years, and after launching a few local small battles, we can overwhelm the territory with a large army and subdue the Western Xia." ”

Genghis Khan smiled approvingly: "Not bad! In two or three years, I can get back half of the national strength of Western Xia. Then you can destroy him in one fell swoop. ”

Kuduan Barahe pondered for a moment and said, "It seems that the Great Khan's plan to expand the country's power can be implemented gradually, this is a gradual process, and it is not a matter of one or two days. Taking advantage of this gap, I want to go on a trip at the end, I don't know if it's possible? ”

"Haha......" Genghis Khan looked at Muhua Li and said, "The old general can't sit still, then I'll send a team of soldiers and horses with you." Shandong is not very peaceful, we must pay attention to safety, the road is far away, and I hope that the old general will triumph as soon as possible! ”

Kuoduan Barahe thanked him: "Thank you for your concern, take your hand, presumably the head of the road at the mound will give face, the Great Khan is good." ”

Genghis Khan led his people to send Kuduan Barahe away. Immediately deploy several generals to carry out large-scale plundering through the Tengger Desert in three ways to the Phoenix Mountain, Zhongwei, and Hexi Corridors of the Western Xia Kingdom.

In this way, the great plundering of the Western Xia Kingdom lasted four times in three years. The mediocre and corrupt dynasty of the Western Xia Kingdom was still committed to internal strife, eliminating dissidents, replacing all the generals and hundreds of officials, and sealing Luo Yukun, the father of Empress Luo Qi, as the prime minister of the country, monopolized the government.

After Li An'an usurped the throne, he didn't think about the government, except for Yelang's arrogance, which was a luxury. established the queen mother Luo Qi as the queen, but made her princess Yang Jun the imperial concubine, but fortunately, her son Chengzhen was made the crown prince.

Li An'an did not pay attention to the great plundering of Mongolia at all, but put on a big show and built a palace and imperial tomb. At the foot of Helan Mountain, a luxurious emperor's mausoleum was built, which was no less luxurious than the imperial palace. The emperor built the emperor's mausoleum, and the kings also built the king's mausoleum. The luxurious Xixia Mausoleum, which stretches for dozens of kilometers at the foot of Helan Mountain, has mobilized tens of thousands of migrant workers, consuming not only manpower, but also material resources.

Build the mausoleum with soybean and cypress juice and mud, ram layer by layer, carve beams and paint buildings, the mausoleum is more than 30 meters high, sulfur glazed gold tile, majestic and magnificent. It is called the Tomb of the Dead of Western Xia (Tomb of the Western Xia King), which consumed a lot of the national strength of Western Xia.

Emperor Xiangdi Li An'an took the lead in building the royal tomb and took half of the national strength, coupled with the five great raids of the Mongols, the Western Xia Kingdom was basically a building on the beach.

This created a good opportunity for Genghis Khan to launch a sixth offensive and completely conquer this once glorious kingdom and realize his strategic intentions. At the turn of the summer and autumn of 1209, Genghis Khan convened a hundred officials to prepare to personally lead a large army to wage a large-scale war against Western Xia. At this moment, two teams of men and horses from the Gilligis Kingdom in the northwest entered the territory of Mongolia, and Genghis Khan and his generals were very surprised and ordered to prepare for battle.