(2-in-1)

More than 20 days ago, when the Great Zhou and Jurchen soldiers and horses advanced into Nanjing Road and Zhongjing Road in a north-south attack, the Liao court made a major decision. Prime Minister Han Yanshou proposed to Yelu Zongyuan, and he wanted to go to the major tribes of Daliao to lobby and persuade them to send tribal soldiers and horses to fight for the imperial court, because the imperial court had reached a critical moment.

In fact, many people in the Great Liao court were very skeptical of this, and they believed that at such a time, once those tribal leaders knew that the situation had deteriorated to this point, not only would they not send people to help, but would take the opportunity to make the situation even more out of control.

But Han Yanshou insisted on his opinion, he believed that at such a time, the leaders of the major tribes would not do this. Because the Great Liao is also where their interests lie, once the Great Liao is overthrown, the Jurchens and the Great Zhou divide the Great Liao, and the tribes will have no place to stand. With Han Yanshou's understanding of the northern tribes of Daliao for many years, he knew that these people would never sit idly by. Only the crisis of national annihilation can make them realize that they must be united.

Yelu Zongyuan supported Han Yanshou's point of view, he agreed with Han Yanshou to give it a try, and he believed in Han Yanshou's judgment. Because if there is anyone among the ministers of Da Liao who knows the mentality of these tribal leaders best, and who has the most prestige to persuade them to turn back, there is no one else except Han Yanshou.

Han Yanshou was ordered to go to Shangjing Province to integrate the opinions of the large and small tribes and persuade them to form a coalition to fight for the imperial court. Han Yanshou was already over seventy years old, but despite his old age, it took him four days and four nights to rush to Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing. On the way, he sent a Feiyu messenger to summon the leaders of dozens of northern tribes of all sizes, such as the Dadan Nine Tribes, the Dami Li Division, the Meili Urgent Division, and the Chazha Thorn Division, to gather in Linhuang Mansion. If Yelu Zongyuan issued such a summons, I am afraid that none of these tribal leaders would come. However, if it is Han Yanshou, these people are in a different state of mind. Han Yanshou is a highly respected person in the Great Liao Kingdom, when Yelu Zongyuan usurped the throne and the nobles in the country shouted and shouted and killed, it was Han Yanshou who mediated that a civil strife in the Great Liao was eliminated. This shows Han Yanshou's prestige in Daliao.

It can be said that without Han Yanshou as the prime minister of the Great Liao, the prestige of Yelu Zongyuan would not be enough to stabilize the domestic forces of the Great Liao, and the Liao State would inevitably experience a war.

Three days after Han Yanshou arrived in Linhuang Mansion, the leaders of the Dadan Nine Divisions, the Damili Division, the Meili Tribe, and other large and small tribes also arrived one after another. Of course, there are also those who do not give face and cannot catch up, after all, the territory of Daliao is vast, and the western desert Gobi is far away in the sky, so it is impossible to arrive in a short time. But for Han Yanshou, seven or eight out of ten powerful tribes came, which was enough.

Han Yanshou did not hide it, he told the leaders without reservation that the Jurchens had advanced into Zhongjing Road and approached Dading Mansion, and that the 300,000 troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty had seized Zhuozhou and forcibly crossed the Sanggan River to reach Xijin Mansion. Han Yanshou told them that this time Da Liao was really in danger of destroying the country. The Great Zhou and the Jurchens joined forces to launch a war of annihilation against the Great Liao, not a simple attack, and the Great Liao was already in danger and urgently needed reinforcements.

The tribal leaders had already heard the news, but they didn't expect the situation to be so bad. Originally, there were still many tribal leaders who had already concluded an alliance in private, and this time they came to the Huang Mansion to put forward some conditions to Yelu Zongyuan through Han Yanshou's mouth, otherwise they would raise troops against him, but they didn't expect to hear such shocking news. The leaders were stunned and disagreed. Some say that their strength is meager, and the tribal soldiers and horses are irregular soldiers and horses, with small numbers and poor equipment, and it is difficult to do anything. Some said bluntly that they had already given face if they didn't raise an army against Yelu Zongyuan, and it was absolutely impossible to help Yelu Zongyuan.

Han Yanshou was not angry, he told everyone that he was not forcing everyone to send troops on this trip, and he would not blame them for their reluctance to help. But there is no end to the eggs under the nest, and he wants to make it clear to the leaders. He had to make the situation clear to the leaders. Even if everyone is reluctant to send troops, they must be prepared to fight with the Great Zhou and the Jurchen soldiers and horses, because once the imperial court soldiers and horses are defeated, the Great Zhou and Jurchen armies will capture the two capitals and go straight to Beijing. The tribes would then have to consider whether to surrender or fight. Whether to take advantage of the fact that the imperial army still has seven or eight hundred thousand at this time, and there is still a strength to fight, or whether to deal with the combined forces of the Great Zhou and Jurchen alone afterwards is a question that must be considered by the tribal leaders.

Tribal leaders are not fools either, and the answer to this question is obvious. Waiting for the court to fall, the Jurchen army and the Great Zhou soldiers and horses to fight on their territory is an extremely unwise approach. The Liao people have never taken the Jurchens and the Great Zhou people seriously, let alone become prisoners of their subordinates and live on their noses. The Jurchen leader Wanyan Agu is not a kind person, they are barbarians, and if they submit to him, it is better to surrender to Yelu Zongyuan. Although Yelu Zongyuan is unpopular, he is the Great Liao Imperial Family after all, and although his means of seizing the throne are despicable, he himself is still qualified to inherit the throne. It's not that he is unqualified to be an emperor, but that his means are despicable.

Han Yanshou threw out two tempting conditions in a timely manner, one of which was to promise on behalf of Yelu Zongyuan that as long as the tribe sent troops to help, the horses, manpower and materials forcibly requisitioned to the imperial court in the future would be greatly reduced. The second is to give the tribes greater autonomy in terms of power. In the past, in order to weaken the power of the tribes, the imperial court appointed officials to be stationed in the areas under the jurisdiction of the tribes, and sent soldiers and horses to be stationed here to supervise. But now Han Yanshou promised that the tribal leader would be appointed by the imperial court to become the local jiedu envoy with the jurisdiction of the administrative military division, and the imperial court would no longer garrison the army, but allow the tribe to form local soldiers and horses, and the imperial court would also give the supply of food and salary.

These two conditions are simply tempting, and this is actually the right to give autonomy to the major tribes, which is basically the concept of a state within a state. Within the confines of their respective tribes, they exist like monarchs and can do whatever they want. If there are still people who don't understand the value of such conditions, it is unless they have no brains.

Before coming, Han Yanshou privately begged Yelu Zongyuan to allow him to persuade the tribes on such terms. Yelu Zongyuan almost turned his face at that time. This was a move that severely weakened the centralization of power by his emperor, and it was inconceivable that these tribes would become a state within a state, and that the imperial court would allow them to openly raise troops and even give them money and food. Yelu Zongyuan almost scolded Han Yanshou for being old and confused. But Han Yanshou only said a word to extinguish Yelu Zongyuan's anger.

"If you want to take it, you must first take it. Extraordinary moments, extraordinary things. The power was given by the emperor, and the emperor could also take it back. ”

Han Yanshou's faint words calmed down Yelu Zongyuan. Yes, if you don't feed them fat meat at this time, how can you let them send troops? Of course, it is necessary to say that there is a great reason for the eggs under the nest, but I am afraid that the big reason alone will seem empty, and once the rich conditions are added, I am afraid that they will not send troops. When the situation calms down, isn't it a matter of my own decree to rectify them? As long as the Jurchens and Great Zhou are defeated by themselves, do they still care about those dozens of tribes, big and small? Why bother at this moment.

Under such conditions, the tribal leaders had nothing to hesitate, and almost all of them said that they wanted to live and die with Da Liao. So, in just five days, a tribal coalition composed of local tribal private soldiers and temporarily conscripted young herdsmen was assembled in Linhuang Mansion. Although the equipment of this soldier and horse is extremely rudimentary, these soldiers and horses composed of nomadic people are a full cavalry soldier and horse, and they are not like the people in other parts of the Great Liao, who have lost their tradition of being good at riding and archery in the process of being assimilated by the Great Zhou for a hundred years, and the characteristics of these tribal cavalry who are good at riding and shooting have not changed much. To a certain extent, this is the original appearance of the Liao cavalry.

Han Yanshou led this cavalry coalition army of 150,000 people and composed of 27 tribes set off overnight and went straight to Dading Mansion in Zhongjing. Because according to the previous discussion, this soldier and horse will be thrown into the battlefield of Zhongjing Province and cooperate with the superior forces in the hands of Yelu Zongyuan to fight against the Jurchens. As for the battlefield of Xijin Mansion, it can only be held on by Han Desui for the time being. The Jurchens are the henchmen, and the Jurchens must be solved first, and there is no need to worry about the weak Great Zhou soldiers and horses. Moreover, Han Desui, the privy envoy of the Southern Privy Council, should have the ability to hold the Xijin Mansion and drag the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou.

However, as soon as Han Yanshou led his army to Raozhou, he received an urgent order from Yelu Zongyuan. Han Yanshou also learned of the fact that Yelu Zongyuan dug a dam to block the Jurchen army, and even more learned the news that the Jurchen army escaped from the flood range unscathed. Han Yanshou almost vomited blood in anger, Yelu Zongyuan was too stupid and too afraid of the Jurchens. What if Xingzhong Mansion is lost? As long as they can shrink in the area of Dadingfu, their own troops are much larger than those of the Jurchens. Coupled with the arrival of the 150,000 coalition troops led by himself, the total number of horse infantry was at least three times that of the Jurchens, and he could seek a decisive battle and annihilate the Jurchens in one fell swoop. But he wanted to order to defend Xingzhong Mansion, which led to the destruction of more than 100,000 cavalry led by Yelucai. So much so that he was forced to give the order to dig a dam and discharge the floodwater. The move is bound to add another black touch to his already bad reputation. It's chilling. In doing so, he would surely make himself even more betrayal, and the consequences of this would soon be revealed.

But as angry as he is, now is not the time to be angry. Yelu Zongyuan issued a sober order in an urgent order, he asked Han Yanshou to lead the coalition army to reinforce Han Desui's Xijin Mansion, because although the flood did not annihilate the Jurchen army, it was obviously impossible for the Jurchen army to advance eastward in a short time. Their supply routes were cut off by the floods, and the dry rations they were carrying should have run out. Without the supply point of Xingzhong Mansion as a support, it is absolutely impossible for them to enter Dading Mansion in a short period of time. Yelu Zongyuan asked Han Yanshou to immediately lead the army to reinforce Xijin Mansion, where the great war was about to start, Yelu Zongyuan asked him and Han Desui to solve the siege of the Great Zhou with superior forces and save the current crisis.

Yelu Zongyuan's will was so timely, or it seemed that his qi was not exhausted, when the tribal alliance army arrived in Xijin Mansion, Xijin Mansion was facing the danger of breaking the city, and the time for them to arrive was just in time. The cavalry of the coalition army detoured to the east and west sides of the city, overtaking the rear road of the Great Zhou soldiers and horses, and reversing the already inevitable defeat.

And the victory of this battle also brought the Liao State back to life in the catastrophe of annihilation.

……

Lin Jue and the others returned to the territory of Dazhou more than ten days later. When passing through the territory of Zhuozhou, Lin Jue and others found that Zhuozhou City had been reconquered by the Liao. In other words, the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou took the initiative to give up Zhuozhou, because after the great defeat, it was meaningless to occupy Zhuozhou. Zhuozhou broke into the territory of Liao, and it was impossible to hold this city, unless it was to continue to organize a large army to carry out a new expedition to the north, then it was necessary to occupy the crossing of the Sanggan River, and Zhuozhou had the need to defend the city. And at this moment, it is obviously impossible to organize another Northern Expedition.

Lin Jue's heart was heavy, and he knew what the current situation meant. The consequences of the defeat of the Great Zhou are not difficult to predict. The Jurchen army is difficult to support alone, and Wanyan Aguda's ambition to destroy Liao is afraid that it will be shattered. With the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Jurchens, it was impossible to destroy the Liao State alone. At the end of the war in Xijin Province, the Liao people will mobilize a large army to go to Zhongjing Province for reinforcements, and if Wanyan Aguda is not a madman, he will immediately withdraw his troops.

Then came the time for revenge. Whether the Liao people want to take revenge on the Jurchens or the Great Zhou first is still unknown. But with Yelu Zongyuan's temperament, how could he be willing to give up. Whether it is the Jurchen or the Great Zhou, I am afraid it will be difficult to withstand the wrath of Yelu Zongyuan. The Great Zhou still seemed to have a large number of soldiers and horses, but after the defeat of the 300,000 elite soldiers, their combat effectiveness was also exposed. The elite is still like this, and the remaining soldiers picked by those border towns are afraid that they are just papier-mâché decorations. It is unrealistic to expect them to go to war with the Liao.

It no longer makes much sense to stay here, so Lin Jue decided to take everyone back to Funiu Mountain. Now that the situation is in chaos, he must go back to the mountain to discuss with Guo Kun and others, and the Luoyan Army must be prepared.

As Lin Jue expected, after learning the news of the defeat of the Great Zhou soldiers and horses in the Battle of Xijin Mansion, Wanyan Agu chose to withdraw to Tokyo Road immediately. On the morning of the day Lin Jue was released, the Jurchen army retaliated and swept through Andezhou, slaughtering thousands of Liao soldiers and civilians, and then did not advance westward according to the previous plan, but turned around and retreated to the direction of Liaoyang. Wanyan Agu was extremely unwilling in his heart, but helplessly, he put on an incompetent ally. The 300,000-strong army only attacked the city of Xijin Mansion and returned defeated. The soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou were so incompetent, which Wanyan Aguda did not expect at all.

Although he was angry in his heart, he could only accept this result. And the problems he will face next are extremely serious. If the Liao people concentrate their forces to attack themselves, they are afraid that they will be beaten back to their original form, and they will have to return to Changbai Mountain to be savages. Therefore, it is my duty to retreat as soon as possible, to arrange defenses as soon as possible, and to consolidate the large territory of Tokyo Province that I occupy. There is no use in complaining about others.

……

In July, the summer of Bianliang City, the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, will not be forgotten by all those who have experienced it, and the heat cannot be described in words. In just a few moments, the people on the streets of the city were already panting hotly, and beads of sweat were rolling down. Constantly cursing the hellish weather.

The ladies and ladies of the wealthy families hid in the shade of the garden pavilion, drinking cold soup while complaining about the extraordinarily hot weather this year. But ignoring the servants who fanned beside them, they were already sweating through their clothes.

The early dynasty had just dispersed, and the civil and military officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty were pouring out from the steps at the entrance of the main hall. Usually, when the court of hundreds of people dispersed, the officials were like a flock of ducks, laughing and talking, even if it was gossip, they would have to joke a few words. The next pilgrimage is the most relaxing time. However, since the defeat of the 300,000 Northern Expeditionary Army led by Yang Jun, whether it is the upper or lower dynasties, the civil and military officials have fallen into a deathly silence.

Today, the officials of the scattered dynasty are not only silent, but also have a look of grief and shame on their faces. They hunched over and hurried away, as if they couldn't face others, and they quickly left the hall behind them one by one.

Just now, the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty decided on one thing, that is, to agree to the conditions for re-negotiating peace with the Liao people. And that condition was humiliating, a condition that was difficult for everyone present to accept, but ultimately had to accept. Because of this, they felt humiliated and uncomfortable, and they left the main hall as if they were fleeing. Subconsciously, it seems that the sooner I leave this hall, the more I will be able to get rid of the relationship with this humiliating peace negotiation clause. will not become a sinner in the Great Zhou.

After the news of Yang Jun's defeat reached the capital, Guo Xu was so shocked that he was so frightened that he was going to pee his pants. He was not prepared for such an outcome. When the army approached Xijin Mansion, Guo Xu once thought that the Liao State had gone over, and he was even ready to plan for Yang Jun to attack Zhongjing Dao after capturing Xijin Mansion, and take Dading Mansion before the Jurchens. If you occupy it, it will be your own, so as not to divide the territory with the Jurchens when you get it. The Great Zhou Dynasty is about to analyze the three capitals of Jinfu, Datong Mansion and Dading Mansion, which is the essence of the territory of Liao. These three capitals included the richest regions and nearly half of the population of the Liao Kingdom, and the rest of the barren wasteland deserts were given to the Jurchens.

The dream has not yet woken up, but the reality has hit like an icy storm. The dream of carving up the Liao State turned into a nightmare for the Liao people to fight back. Guo Xu was stupid.

The next news came one after another, without any suspense, and the Liao people began their revenge. Han De, the privy envoy of the Southern Privy Council of Liao, who had been named the king of the Southern Court, gathered 150,000 soldiers and horses to the border. According to the detailed report, a large number of Liao soldiers and horses are gathering from Zhongjing Road to the northeastern border of the Great Zhou. There was no doubt that the Liao were about to launch their revenge and launch a large-scale attack on the Great Zhou.

The Great Zhou now literally has more than 100,000 troops, 400,000 Xiang soldiers in the northeast, and 250,000 Xiang troops in the northwest and Western Xia. There are still more than 200,000 forbidden troops in the capital. It looks like there's a fight. However, it's not that simple.

The forbidden army cannot move, they have to guard the capital. The Northwest Army guarded Western Xia, and it was difficult to quench the thirst of the near by far water, which could not be counted on. The only thing to count on is the 400,000 frontier troops on the border. It sounds like this 400,000 is a huge number, but in fact, Guo Xu and the core officials of the imperial court all know that these 400,000 soldiers and horses are all crooked melons and cracked dates that are not usable. They are all soldiers and horses that were picked by Yang Jun, and their combat effectiveness is extremely limited.

What's even more disgusting is that in order to support Yang Jun's 300,000-strong army to the north, the imperial court used almost all the resources it could use. Money, grain, equipment, chariots and horses, craftsmen, materials, etc., all the treasures were pressed on Yang Jun's Northern Expedition army. But after all this is in vain, what will be used to resist the revenge of the Liao? Relying on these 400,000 soldiers and horses with no combat effectiveness and no war materials? That's absolutely impossible.

Guo Xu has already taken a risk. That had exhausted all his guts. This time, he wouldn't do it. In addition, Prime Minister Lu Zhongtian also thought that he could not fight with the Liao, and if he continued to fight like this, there was a risk that the Great Zhou would lose the country. So, Guo Xu finally decided to send an envoy to Liao to ask for Yelu Zongyuan to negotiate peace with them.