After passing through Fengzhou, all the way north, the arable land became less and less, and the grassland became more and more, and slowly entered the core area of the Khitan origin. It is still a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry, but the proportion of agriculture is getting smaller and smaller, and animal husbandry is gradually becoming the main way of life.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the stretching grassland and knew in his heart that the army had slowly entered one of the largest grasslands in the world. If I am not mistaken, this is probably the Inner Mongolia region of later generations, along several rivers, forming a vast grassland. The barbarians of the northern steppes went south, and if they went west, they would occupy the meanders and the corridor west of the river, and if they went east, they would occupy here. With the backing here, continue to attack the Central Plains.

The Ming Dynasty was finally defeated by the Later Jin, and one reason was that it was conquered by the Manchu rulers all the way to the foot of Yan Mountain. After that, the Ming Dynasty was in a situation of being passively beaten, and it was difficult to defend it if it did not attack here. There are thieves for a thousand days, where is the reason for a thousand days to prevent thieves?

For the stability of the Central Plains, it is necessary to occupy Hexi, Hequ and this area, so as to have a stable border defense and keep the invading barbarians out.

After occupying Linhuang Mansion, starting from Hequ Road, building a railway across Yinshan, all the way to the east. Go to the bottom of the Great Khingan Mountains, choose a suitable location, cross the Great Khingan Mountains, and repair all the way to Tokyo Road. This railway is completed, and as long as there is no particularly big mess in the Central Plains, this place will be calmed down. For nomads, railways are a weapon. Once they are repaired, they lose the depth and time to develop and grow.

After the Huanghe Stone Bridge, it is the Changle County of Rao Prefecture of Khitan. Khitan officials were already waiting outside the city to welcome the Song Dynasty army into the city.

Looking at the Khitan people who greeted him outside the city, Wang Kai whispered to Du Zhongxiao: "Taiwei, it's almost time to Linhuang Mansion, why don't the Khitans stop resisting?" Fengzhou or our army arrived at the city, and they raised the city and surrendered. Now Raozhou came out early before we arrived. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Khitan has no soldiers, what are they still fighting?" The 20,000 Khitan troops in Dading Mansion in front of him are the last Khitan troops. Linhuang Mansion said that there were nearly 10,000 people, and it was the place where the Khitan started, and how many people could go to the battlefield, but it was uncertain. ”

Wang Kai and Zhao Zi nodded. I knew in my heart that the Song army easily captured Dadingfu, so that the Khitans finally understood that defeat was inevitable. Now all localities only see when the Song army will arrive, and there is no intention of resisting.

This also made Du Zhongxiao feel a lot of emotion. After all, nomads are different from Han Chinese. The nomads were fierce and unusually fierce. As they occupy more and more places, more and more people are enrolled, and more and more other forces join them, often sweeping everything like a torrent. The Central Plains regime, on the other hand, was cautious when it first emerged. Han has the siege of Baideng, Tang has the alliance of Weishui, and only when the strength is stable can the surrounding areas be suppressed. And when the country and the nation are in danger, the Han people often do everything they can to maneuver, and people with lofty ideals rise to the peak, looking for an opportunity to get out of the crisis. And these nomads don't have that resilience. The country is ruined, and a large number of people surrender to find a way to survive in the new era.

Its rise is also vigorous, and its death is also sudden, this sentence is more suitable for the nomadic regime.

When they arrived at the city gate, Zhizhou and a group of officials and leaders came to pay their respects. Du Zhongxiao led the army and entered Raozhou. After entering the state office, a celebration banquet was set up, and after drinking wine with everyone, they went back to rest.

Du Zhongxiao was very cautious. Although everything is going well now, the Khitan is about to fall, so it is better to be careful in everything. The army was stationed around the city, and the scouts were widely distributed within thirty miles, and no accidents were allowed.

When I woke up, it was late at night. Du Zhongxiao walked into the yard, looking at the stars in the sky, and the wind blowing in his face was cool and fresh, and he was in a good mood for a while. Let the soldier take a chair, Du Zhongxiao sat in the courtyard, thinking about his own thoughts.

After Raozhou, more than 200 miles to the north is Linhuang Mansion, and it will take four or five days to arrive. According to the news from the front, the Khitan did not gather any more troops, and the noble princes of Linhuang Mansion did not flee, as if they had accepted the arrangement of fate.

Yelu Hongji was arrested, and now the Linhuang Mansion is in charge of the Khitan Empress Dowager Xiao Tzuli, as well as the Empress Xiao Guanyin. In Du Zhongxiao's impression, the name Xiao Guanyin is special, and he must have heard of it in his previous life, although he doesn't know why. In the last battle, he faced two women, which made Du Zhongxiao feel a little weird. However, in Khitan this is normal. The emperor is young, or for other reasons, it is normal for the empress dowager to be in charge.

The Khitan was composed of the imperial family and the descendants, the power of the descendants was very large, and to some extent the empress dowager was not weaker than the emperor, unlike the Song dynasty. The Song Dynasty was ruled by Empress Dowager Liu only when the current emperor was young, and he did not have the support of his own family behind him. Strictly speaking, the Empress Dowager Liu is very different from the Empress Dowager of the Khitan. The empress dowager of the Khitan even sometimes deposed the emperor.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao shook his head. He also didn't know why the Khitan didn't elect a new emperor under the auspices of the Queen Mother after Yelu Hongji was arrested. But this has always been like this, just waiting for the Song army to come and be broken by each one.

In this way, where is the need for an army of 100,000? Fifty thousand people were enough to destroy the Khitan.

Looking at the stars in the sky, Du Zhongxiao was blowing a cool breeze, and he was a little distracted for a while.

Now the destruction of the Khitan is not a problem, the question is what to do after the destruction. In a big rage, he killed all the Khitans, the Xi people who attached to the Khitans, and even the Han people who fled here, just thinking about it. It's not that it can't be done, in fact, the Jurchens and the Mongols who followed closely behind were all on a killing spree. The Western Xia was gone, and the party, as a nation, finally ceased to exist. Even the Jurchens were gone, and the entire nation disappeared after the Mongols destroyed the Jin. It can be done, but it doesn't work.

The Mongols exterminated the Dangxiang and the Jurchens, so what happened in the end? It was not for the later alliance with the Manchus, and it was not for the different situation in New China later, and it was difficult for the Mongols to continue to gain a foothold in the steppe. Unlike these nomads, the Han people rely on blindly killing people, just changing ethnic groups on the grassland, and how much benefit does it have for themselves.

For the Central Plains Dynasty and the Han people, what is needed is the long-term peace and stability of this area, and no longer become a springboard for attacking the Central Plains. As for what kind of people are nomadic here, it doesn't matter. Even if it is replaced by Han Chinese, it will be different after a few hundred years. The Central Plains is weakened, and the peoples here will inevitably invade the Central Plains. If they don't do that, people from other places come and do it.

Sighing softly, Du Zhongxiao stood up and paced alone.

Repairing the railway here is only a condition, and there should be other supporting measures. To be precise, in this steppe, a unified regime is no longer allowed. There can only be one unified regime to which they are allegiated, and that is the Central Plains Dynasty.

In the past, during the Han and Tang dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty settled the internal migration ethnic groups in these places, and it basically didn't care. It is nothing more than enveloping them, as a fence for the Central Plains. Now it seems that this is not appropriate. Let them go their own way, and once the conditions are right, they will sit big and become a scourge.

What's the solution? Du Zhongxiao thought about it for a long time, and finally felt that the method of the Qing Dynasty was the most suitable. Reducing the nomadic range of the various nomadic peoples, and dividing them into flags, is like the counties in the interior. As long as the place is stable, everything else can be solved.

During the chaotic period, the various tribes of the steppe were numerous, and they generally did not belong to each other. At the right time, great big people appeared to unite these tribes. As long as the Central Plains Dynasty is strong, the tribes here will be completely separated, and they will not be allowed to merge into one clan again, and they will not be allowed to annex each other again. Even if necessary, they can be mobilized to serve the Central Plains, which is a long-term solution.

After destroying the Khitan, the Song Dynasty had the strength and the energy to do this. In particular, the construction of the railroad will completely divide the tribes. After the intervention of the Central Plains Dynasty, it was difficult for the nomads to reunify again. The grassland is free from war, and there is a channel for the import of raw materials in peacetime, perhaps, it will be different in the future.