Xiao Xuan, the Empress Dowager of the Great Liao Khitan Kingdom, stood under the canopy umbrella with her soul; looked solemnly at the Khitan warriors who had erected a temporary bridge on the north bank of the Wei River and were beaten back again and again, and only felt a burst of sadness in his heart.

Didn't God let Yan Yan destroy the Song? Do you want to block the 30,000 brave and skilled Khitan athletes here? Here is only the Wei River, not the Yellow River, breaking through the Wei River to Liyangjin on the north bank of the Yellow River; Crossing the pontoon bridge laid on the Yellow River to reach Baimajin on the north bank, the army could drive straight into Bianliang.

At that time, Zhao Heng, the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, would also be escorted to the north as a prisoner like the Later Jin Emperor Shi Chonggui.

Xiao Sui thought in his heart, only to see that the bridge-building death squad organized by Xiao Tart Rin and Yelu Nugua was once again beaten by the fire guns, bows and arrows, sky-shaking thunder and stone throwers in the hands of the people, and the pontoon bridge thrown into the water was also pulled by the Song army's iron hook.

Han Derang, the king of Wenzhong, who was standing on Xiao Sui's side, said: "Yan Mei can't do this, why can't we if the people of the Southern Dynasty can mobilize the people; There will be brave men under the reward! ”

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Xiao glanced at Han Derang and said happily: "Brother Han is right!" ”

Empress Dowager Xiao said and turned to the Liao Shengzong Yelu Longxu beside her and said: "Xu'er, your father said that the people of the Southern Dynasty can mobilize the people, why can't we; Arrange for a few generals to immediately go to the homes of nearby people to investigate and ask for ways to cross the river! ”

Yelu Longxu looked behind the scenes and said, "The child obeys! Let's arrange it here! ”

Liao Shengzong Yelu Longxu was 32 years old at the time, and he had reached the age of pro-government, but Empress Dowager Xiao was still not very relieved; This southern expedition is still rushed by her.

Empress Dowager Xiao is a rare woman, such a woman will always have her uniqueness; She has been brilliant since she was a child, and she is so beautiful that she has captivated the city and the country; The beauty of women is capital, but beautiful women do not necessarily have political talents like Empress Dowager Xiao.

Xiao Sui was born in a Khitan aristocratic family, and was selected as a concubine by Jingzong at the age of 16. At the age of 30, Jing Zong died and was honored as the Empress Dowager of Chengtian.

In 983 AD, Jingzong died of illness and was succeeded by his 12-year-old son Yelu Longxu as Liao Shengzong; And the military affairs are under the orders of the queen.

Xiao Xuan, who was 30 years old at the time, decisively appointed several important ministers such as the wise Han Derang, the military talent Yelu Xiezhen and Yelu Xiuge to important positions in case of the Northern Song Dynasty. All expectations.

After Xiao Xuan became the concubine of Liao Jingzong at the age of 16, she helped Jingzong deal with state affairs; If there is any important military matter, the ministers of all ethnic groups will be convened to discuss and finally make a decision after taking into account the opinions of all parties.

Xiao Xuan's decision Liao Jingzong only listened to the report at most, saying that if he "knew", he would count; No intervention will be made.

With Xiao Xuan's efforts, the Liao military has become stronger and stronger, and the political and economic situation has also been on the right track.

As a woman, it is admirable that Xiao Sui can achieve so much in history; But at that time, there was still controversy about her personally, with two positive and negative evaluations.

And because of her iron wrist and some political means, her evaluation is polarized.

Xiao Xuan's private life is also quite outrageous, and there are actually only two men in her life.

One is Liao Jingzong, and the other is Han Derang, a political and military talent who was with her later.

The Song people's "Khitan National Chronicles" criticized Xiao Xuan a lot, a generation of heroes Xiao Xuan was sick, but he was more than on the front line in every battle; The long-term fatigue of working for the country led to her dying at the age of 57.

From ancient times to the present, both the empress and the male emperor have been because of one thing, and intemperance will also lead to a shortening of their lifespan.

"Acquired forbearance, vicious and murderous, witty, good at controlling left and right, ministers have more lethal power." This is the evaluation of Xiao Xuan by Liao historians.

It is actually normal for such polarization to occur, from the perspective of the Liao people themselves; Empress Dowager Xiao was, of course, a wise leader who led them into a strong and prosperous state.

But from the perspective of the Song people, Empress Dowager Xiao is an enemy who invades her motherland and kills the people.

As depicted in the story of the Yang family, Empress Dowager Xiao is a provoking war; Led the dominatrix who led the army of tigers and wolves to fight against the Northern Song Dynasty against the sixteen states of Yanyun.

To be fair, Empress Dowager Xiao's political achievements and dedication to the Liao State are absolutely unquestionable; She is an excellent female politician, a female military strategist, and an extremely wise woman; A leader who has made a significant contribution to his country.

The two husbands of the Empress Dowager Xiao's life, in addition to Liao Jingzong, also have a Han husband, that is, Han Derang, who assisted the Empress Dowager Xiao in getting rid of maladministration and governing the country.

Before Empress Dowager Xiao married Liao Jingzong, she was actually engaged to Han Derang; But later, her father supported Liao Jingzong to succeed to the throne, Xiao Sui was quickly admitted to the palace and became a concubine, and was directly named the queen, and the marriage contract between Xiao Xuan and Han Derang was nullified as a matter of course.

After Liao Jingzong's death, Xiao Xuan fell in love with Han Derang's political and military talents; So I remembered the marriage contract of the year and decided to remarry Han Derang.

She said to Han Derang privately: "I once promised to marry you, and I wish to be harmonious; Be the king's grapefruit, that is, your son. ”

Since then, Han Derang and Empress Dowager Xiao have been in the same car and in the same vein; Han Derang daily in and out of the curtain of Empress Dowager Xiao, and Han Derang became his father in the Liao Shengzong; The two lived like husband and wife in this way.

The traditional customs of the Liao State are different from those of the Central Plains, and the relationship between Xiao Xuan and Han Derang is reasonable in his eyes; So there was no opposition from anyone.

But it is worth mentioning that in order to occupy Han Derang, Empress Dowager Xiao secretly sent someone to kill Han Derang's wife Li; If you think about it, Empress Dowager Xiao, who is so strong and ambitious, will not be a junior, so this matter is logical.

And this time, Empress Dowager Xiao sent 200,000 troops to leave 30,000 to surround Suicheng by Amo Ability, and along the way, she divided a part of Zhending, Daimyo, Shanzhou, and Handan, and personally led 30,000 Tielin troops to attack Bianjing is a plan agreed with Han Derang.

The reason for this trip was Xiao Xuan's hired national teacher Amo Ability, who also escorted Xue Shisan's granddaughter Xue Jin'er to Liao.

and Xiao Tzuxian, Zhang Shiyong, Zhou Hanhe, Hu Hanzhi, Zhang Zongmang, and Shi Yida rushed back at the same time; This made Xiao Xuan extremely excited.

In order to sit in the Central Plains, Xiao Xuan must get rid of the prime minister Kou Zhun who insisted on resisting Liao; And the cornerstone of Prime Minister Kou Zhun is Xue Shisan and his granddaughter Xue Jin'er, and the grandfather and grandson are on Xiao Xuan's death list.

The 31 cavalry captains sent out by Xiao Xuan only escaped back, Xiao Tzuxian, Zhang Shiyong, Zhou Hanhe, and Hu Hanzhi, and Xue Shisan and Xue Jin'er were not successfully assassinated.

However, the east is not bright and the west is bright, Xiao Tzu first 31 cavalry captain did not assassinate Xue Jin'er, who was actually captured by Ah Mo and escorted to the Liao Kingdom.

What Xiao Sui didn't expect was that Xue Shisan's disciples Zhang Zongmang and Shi Yida actually defected to Liao.

did not believe in Zhang Zongmang and Shi Yuda's return to the Empress Dowager Xiao, but the two said that they wanted to kill him because they were jealous of Zheng Shuang and poisoned him, but they did not succeed; I wanted to defect to Western Xia, but Western Xia couldn't become a climate, so I defected to Emperor Chengtian.

When Zhang Zongmang and Shi Yida said this, Xiao Xuan seemed to believe it a little; But he still secretly instructed Xiao Tzu to monitor the two first......