An army was marching between the peaks and valleys of the Yokoyama.

Standing in the middle of the line, you can't see the head forward, and you can't see the tail backwards. There are tens of thousands of people. The front army has stepped into the valley at the southern foot of Hengshan, while the rear army is still in the depths of Yunshan.

Liang Yi, the minister of the Western Xia Kingdom, was buried in this team. Riding a Hexi horse, wearing a felt hat decorated with gold flowers, a round-necked robe with purple flowers and narrow sleeves, and a gold belt tied around his waist, although he was a Han Chinese, he was completely the attire of a party noble.

Liang Yibury is the younger brother of the current Empress Dowager of Western Xia, that is, the uncle of the Western Xia lord Bingchang. Although he deliberately grew a beard, it still couldn't hide his age. His brother-in-law, Yizong Liangzuo, had just turned one year old when he ascended the throne as the youngest son of Jingzong Yuanhao. He was a vulture for 20 years [Note 1], because he was hit by an arrow in the process of conquering Dashun City, and died of arrow sores three years ago, when he was only 21 years old.

Although Liang is older than Liang Zuo, he is only a few years older, and he is only thirty this year, and Liang Yi is only twenty-nine. This pair of overly young siblings are now in control of the state politics of the Western Xia, the Liang family is in the dynasty with the empress dowager, and Liang Yibury is the minister of state. Their Han identity is the main reason why they can sit in two positions.

In other words, other parties and clans would never have such good luck. Yeli's family and no collector's family, these two party tycoons who have produced two queens respectively, were eradicated by Yuan Hao and Liang Zuo before and after because they were too strong. And because of the identity of the Han people, no one would worry that they would be able to seek the country and usurp the throne, but after the death of Liang Zuo, they got the support of the clans, and the wealthy families were restrained, and they also acquiesced in their status.

However, the Liang sisters and brothers are not able to sit back and relax, if they can't satisfy those wealthy families who can't fill their desires, the Liang sisters and brothers will not be able to sit steadily.

Only half of the national budget of the Western Xia Kingdom can rely on self-production. Most of the remaining shortfall had to be made up by the Song people's annual gifts, and about 200,000 pieces of silver silk per year were an income that could not be lost for the Western Xia. But the gifts are often given to the subordinates, and they are not enough to fill the shortfall, and the rest is to be plundered. Therefore, the Western Xia inevitably had to use troops every year, and when the property was grabbed, he would write to Tokyo to sue for peace, and still take the New Year's gift.

But since the new monarch of the Eastern Dynasty ascended the throne, this set of tricks has become more and more difficult. Liang Yibury sighed, the tigers and wolves under his feet were waiting, even if he was in a high position, he couldn't sleep well. The enemy he faced became more and more tough, and he had suffered several defeats in the past two years, especially in the battle of Suide City, and the eight walled forts that had been built at great cost were all broken in one day, making him a lot of sneering in the court.

This time, Liang Yibu led the army south, and he was also forced to play a preemptive idea. Guo Kui, who was originally his opponent, was replaced by Shaanxi Xuanfu Han Jiang, and the leader was the adventurous planter, and the Dongren's movements in Hengshan were getting bigger and bigger, and this hand was stuck on the neck of Dabai Gaoguo. If there is no reaction, Hengshan will be difficult to protect, and Yinxia will be lost.

"Suide ......" Liang Yizhu whispered to the place where he broke his halberd and sank into the sand, the Song people had this city on the bank of the Wuding River, which was equivalent to having a solid stronghold in Hengshan. Not only did the defense line of the Yanyan Road extend greatly to the north, but it also deterred the surrounding Tibetan tribes. According to Liang Yiburi's knowledge, there have been more and more secret exchanges between the Tibetan and Song people at the southern foot of Hengshan.

Hengshan cannot afford to lose, and if Hengshan is lost, Yinxia will not be able to keep it. Without Yinxia, how can the name of this Great Xia Kingdom be maintained? Therefore, Liang Yibury made up his mind to build a city on the bank of the Wuding River north of Suide. The eight forts built at the beginning were attached to Suide City, so they were conquered in one day. This time, he planned to build the city again, and he planned to stay away from Suide City. Sixty miles north of Suide City, there is a good place for building a city - Luowu.

Although the Song people were also preparing to build a city in Luowu, compared to Suide, the plan to build a city by leaping sixty miles north was too ridiculous, and the Song people had never built such a precedent in the past.

However, Luo Wu is indeed an important place for soldiers, located in the north of Funing Ancient County in the Tang Dynasty, a place called Dishui Cliff. The cliff is steep, more than ten zhang above the ground, there was originally a small village, as the use of the beacon. When Liang Yizhu built a fort in Suide last year, he also considered this place. However, because he was worried that he would provoke discussion in the country by retreating sixty miles from Suide City, he dispelled this idea. Who would have thought that things would come full circle after the worst event, and the location of the walled city would still be set at Luo Wu after all.

It's just that it's not so easy to build a city in Luowu. The habitual sound of attacking the east and the west is indispensable, and if the Song army does not contain the other roads, the supported Yan Yan Road will definitely send the main force in the middle of the road to destroy the plan to build the city. And Liang Yi buried all the army in the country to escort Luo Wucheng.

The eastern side of the Kansai edge is four roads, and the west side is not easy to attack. Qin Feng has Guo Kui in charge, and Jing Yuan Cai Ting presiding. Although Liang Yi's army was claimed to be 300,000 to the outside world, and he actually used 110,000 troops, he never wanted to gnaw hard bones. Qin Feng and Jingyuan will send partial divisions to contain them, and the main force is still placed on Dashun City at the junction of Huanqing and Yanyan.

Liang Yibury once claimed to have controlled 500,000 in the country in front of the ministers of the Eastern Dynasty, but in fact, there were only 150,000 or 60,000 troops that could be used at any time. The so-called 500,000 is the number of men in the country from 16 to 60, and the last time it was mobilized, the national strength could not be restored in a year or two. At present, the 110,000 army is already most of the strength of the Western Xia Kingdom, and even if it is an important place in Xingling, there are only 350,000 soldiers left to defend.

The burden on Liang Yi's shoulders was so heavy that he couldn't even support it, and once he failed, it would be a catastrophe. After dividing the city building army and several partial divisions, he took him south to attack Dashun City, still more than 60,000. And the wings on his side are also the most elite sanitation iron riders in the country.

In Xingqing Mansion, the elite guards of the Son of Heaven are divided into two parts: six straight classes and iron horses.

The members of the sixth class of the Suwei Palace, Tai Ban are the sons of nobles who are good at arching horses among the wealthy families in the country, and they have the intention of strengthening the connection between the lord of the country and the wealthy clans, and they also have the element of being a hostage. There are a total of 5,000 people, and unless the Son of Heaven personally recruits them, they will never be dispatched.

The iron horsemen who traveled by the Son of Sanitation were carefully selected from the iron harriers of the major military supervision divisions. The total number is three thousand, divided into ten divisions, which is equivalent to ten commanders of the Song people, and is the most elite among the cavalry. followed Yuan Hao to conquer the south and the north, and made outstanding achievements. This time, Liang Yibu led troops to invade the south, and his sister asked him to bring out five 1,500 cavalry.

After turning a corner on the mountain road, there are still mountains in front of you. Seeing the winding mountain road winding into the valley, the long human dragon made Liang Yizhu a little impetuous, "How far is it from White Leopard City?" ”

"Back to Xianggong, there are still sixty miles." After Liang Yi buried half a horse, a party nobleman immediately replied flatteringly.

"Sixty miles ......" Liang Yibury looked up at the sky before he handed over noon. Before nightfall, he should be able to rush to White Leopard City, "I don't know what happened to Dashun City?" ”

He said: "There is a Dora privy presiding, and you can rest assured." ”

The team where Liang Yi is buried belongs to the Chinese army that went to war. And the eight thousand iron harriers, who had already arrived in White Leopard City yesterday as a striker, should start breaking through the defense line of Dashun City in batches today, and burn and loot in its rear.

And in the southeast, there is also a team of 10,000 people, rushing to Jintang City. Jin Tang and the white leopard are not far from Dashun City, like a pincer, tightly clamping the Song people's Dashun City defense line. Today, Liang Yibu arrived in White Leopard City, and tomorrow he can continue to go south. With Liang Yibury presiding, the two cities of Jintang and White Leopard sent troops at the same time, and the soldiers pointed directly at Dashun City. When he attracted the Song army on both the Yan and Huanqing roads, Luo Wu would be able to start building safely.

The mountain wind suddenly rose, and the dust and dirt split the heads and covered the faces, fascinating the eyes of the people and horses, and also blowing the sound of hunting and hunting with military flags.

Liang Yi was buried in the mountain wind and felt a chill. Although September has not yet arrived, it is already cool in autumn in the depths of Yokoyama. Seeing this, she hurriedly handed over a cloak. The cloak is fur and there is a pendant on the back, and Liang Yibury does not like this kind of party-style clothing. Every time he saw the outfit of the envoy of the Song people, his eyes were full of envy.

But Liang Yibury knows very well that no matter how much he likes the Han family's uniforms and etiquette, he can't show it outside. Although Yizong had earlier set out to implement Han rituals in the court, when the Liang siblings began to preside over state affairs, they immediately abolished Han rituals and replaced them with Fan rituals because they were Han Chinese.

In the Western Xia Kingdom, there have always been two opposing voices: Sinicization and Fanhua. Deepening sinicization will only weaken the combat effectiveness of the party members, just like Emperor Jingzong [Li Yuanhao] said in his early years, exchanging cattle and sheep for useless silk porcelain will damage the national strength in vain. But the civilization of the Han people far surpassed that of the party, and their life, clothing and entertainment made every party nobleman envious. Even though Jingzong tried his best to promote the Fan rites and rituals, he himself wore Han costumes in private, and Yizong admired Han things even more. There are two sons of heaven as examples, and the nobles below are all eager for the costumes and utensils of the Song people.

But Liang Yi buried the Han people in charge of the government, but he couldn't learn to do it. No matter how many Han clothes Yuan Hao and Liang Zuo wear, they can't get rid of the inner part of the party. However, the Han identity of the Liang siblings will make them have to stand on the side of the party clearly, so as not to be regarded as outliers.

This is really tiring, Liang Yi thought, but if he can stabilize his position, even if Ru Mao drinks blood, he will not care. However, the top priority is to win the current war, and he has already arranged it in Yanyan, Huanqing, Jingyuan, Qin Feng, and even Hedong. It's just that suddenly, his face changed again, and he thought of a place he had neglected, and further west of Qinzhou, there was a hidden danger that made him uneasy.

Liang Yibury hurriedly said to Gang Meng: "Gang Meng, you quickly send someone to find Yu Zang Huama, pass on the order of the prime minister, let him beware of Hehuang, and not be negligent!" ”

Note 1: The title of the Son of Heaven in the Dangxiang language is the Son of Heaven in Hanyi.