In the spring of the third year of Jianyan, the two armies of Song and Xia broke out in the west of Xiazhou City, Li Yanqing led 100,000 troops to annihilate 30,000 Western Xia troops, and the main general Li Chage only led less than 1,000 people to flee north in panic, this battle made the elite of the Western Xia army lost, Li Yanqing ordered Wu Jiezhen to guard Xiazhou, and he continued to lead 120,000 troops to the west to kill the hinterland of Western Xia.

At the same time, Liu Tao, the envoy of the Xihe Road, led 30,000 troops from the West Route to Huizhou and crossed the Yellow River from Huizhou into the Hexi Corridor.

The Hexi Corridor was one of the most unstable territories in the Western Xia, and due to the brutal exploitation of the Western Xia, the Qiang, Tibetans and Uighurs living in the Hexi Corridor constantly rose up to fight, but they were always ruthlessly suppressed by the Western Xia army.

At most, Xixia deployed 100,000 troops in the Hexi Corridor, and set up two military divisions in Gansu and Xiping, but the national strength was not enough, and it could not raise so many troops, and the garrison also shrank again and again, becoming 20,000 people today, commanded by Yingting, the governor of the Gansu Military Division.

Walking for a few days, Liu Tao's army was stationed in the west of Lingbo Mountain to rest, Liu Tao's mission this time was not as simple as defeating the Xia army in Hexi and seizing the Hexi Corridor, he also needed to politically contact the Qiang, Tubo and Uighurs living in the Hexi Corridor, so that they could attach themselves to the Song Dynasty and become the people of the Great Song Dynasty.

The Tibetans were only a minority in the Hexi Corridor, with only a few tribes, and the Uighurs lived mainly in Suzhou, Guazhou, and Shazhou in the north, while Ganzhou and Liangzhou in the south were the territory of the Qiang, and the first thing Liu Tao wanted to recover was the Qiang.

The Qiang people have been attached to the Central Plains Dynasty since ancient times, and it is not difficult to recover the Qiang people, the key is interests, what kind of benefits did the Song Dynasty give to the Qiang people, of course, there are party members brutally exploiting and brutally suppressing the front, the Qiang people are still relatively easy to meet, and will not ask for too many conditions.

After the army was stationed, Liu Tao stood in front of the big tent and looked into the distance, on the left was the endless grassland, the green grass, the sky seemed to be washed by water, and the white clouds floated in the sky, and the flocks of sheep on the ground were equally white, which made Liu Tao feel relaxed and happy.

The grassland where they were stationed was the pasture of a small Qiang tribe, and the Song army's Qiu Wuwu won the trust of the Qiang people, and they took the initiative to send their clansmen north to help the Song army find out the movements of the Western Xia army.

At this time, a group of small black dots appeared in the distance, judging from the posture of riding a horse, it looked a bit like a cavalry, but there was no scout warning, it should not be an enemy, Liu Tao ordered his son Liu Ziyu to say: "Go and see!" ”

Liu Ziyu immediately turned over his horse and greeted him with more than 100 cavalry, and in a moment, he galloped from afar with more than 100 cavalry, led by a big man, who was Tuoba Lu, the chief of Huizhou of the Black Party Xiang.

When Li Yanqing's war mobilization order was promulgated, he immediately took the initiative to ask for help, willing to serve Li Yanqing in front of the saddle, but Li Yanqing took a fancy to Tuoba Lu's other role and contacted Hexi for the Song army.

Hei Dangxiang was originally a Qiang people, and Tuoba Lu was a big border smuggler, who traveled back and forth between Hexi and the Great Song Dynasty, took care of the interests of countless people, and also met countless people, so to speak, every sheep in the Hexi Corridor knew him.

"Liu Jingluo, it's too late to come back next!" Tuoba Lu jumped off his horse and saluted.

Liu Tao liked this bold black man very much, so he smiled and waved his hand, "We have just arrived, and the camp tent has just been set up!" ”

He looked at the two stout middle-aged men next to him, seeing that they were dressed, they should be Qiang, and asked with a smile: "These two are .......?"

"They are the two big chiefs of the Qiang people in Liangzhou, in fact, a pair of brothers, one is called Nian Sister Mountain, and the other is called Nian Sister Chong, and they came to meet Liu Jingluo."

The two Qiang chieftains stepped forward and knelt down and saluted, "I'll wait for the Qiang people to meet Liu Jingluo!" "The Qiang people are actually fluent in Chinese.

Of course, Liu Tao knows that the two largest Qiang tribes in the Hexi Corridor, one is called Sister Nian, which is distributed in Liangzhou, and the other is called Sister Le, which is distributed in Ganzhou, and Sister Nian's department is divided into Sister Bei Nian and Sister Nan Nian, which seems to be the tribe of these two people.

He hurriedly helped the two of them up, and said with a smile: "Two chiefs, please get up quickly!" ”

Since the other party is willing to come to see him, then the matter is easy to discuss, Liu Tao said with great interest: "The two chiefs, please sit in the big tent!" ”

Everyone walked into the big tent and sat down, Liu Tao followed the local customs, let the soldiers go to **, they exchanged a few words, and quickly entered the topic, this Sister Nian and the two brothers are actually here to ask for help.

The Western Xia court was forcibly levied millions of sheep by the Jin state, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the party departments and refused to pay taxes, and the court saw that it would not be able to pay military expenses, so it turned the financial gap on the heads of the various ethnic groups in Hexi.

Nian Sister's Department had to pay last year's taxes this month, but the result suddenly tripled, and they immediately rebelled, and were brutally suppressed by the Western Xia army, killing thousands of people.

If it weren't for the Song army's sudden northern expedition, Nianjie's troops would have been almost wiped out, so when Tuoba Lu found them, they hit it off, as long as the Song army helped them get rid of the cruel oppression of the Tanguts, they were willing to be loyal to the Great Song.

Of course, Liu Tao couldn't ask for this request, he led the army to take Hexi, and a battle with the Hexi Xixia army was inevitable, defeated the Xixia army, and won the loyalty of the Qiang people, which was originally his task.

Of course, Liu Tao considered the ideal state, which was for everyone to work together and send troops to fight together, so that they would have a greater chance of defeating the Western Xia army and could form a fighting friendship.

Liu Tao pondered for a while and said: "Since I want to take Hexi, of course I want to fight with the Western Xia army, I hope that several of us will join forces and take the Song army as the main body to completely annihilate the Western Xia army in Hexi." ”

Sister Nian and the brothers glanced at each other, and the elder brother Sister Nian said to Liu Tao: "We are all willing to send troops and food, but our Sister Nian has just been killed by more than 3,000 samurai, and there are only 2,000 samurai who can go to the battlefield, so I'm afraid it won't play a role." ”

"There are not many soldiers, the key is to participate, I also said just now, with the Song Army as the main body, of course, we are the main force, and I hope that Sister Le in Ganzhou can also participate, I wonder if the two of you can contact me for me?"

Nian Jieshan nodded, "Sister Le's department, like us, was also oppressed very badly, they were suppressed once at the beginning of the year, and the old chief was killed, as long as they were summoned by the envoy, they will definitely send troops, and this matter is on us." ”

"How many troops do they have?" Liu Tao asked.

"They can send about 3,000 people."

Tuoba Lu next to him patted his chest and said: "Counting our black party item, I will go back and propose it to the big chief, and our black party item can also produce three thousand cavalry." ”

This is the eight thousand cavalry, and he is more sure of defeating Liu Tao of the Western Xia army, so he nodded, "Then act separately, I hope that within five days, the army can be gathered." ”

At this time, Sister Nian Chong asked a few more words, and Sister Nian translated it, "My brother said, go and talk to Sister Le, they will definitely ask, how much is the tax after taking refuge in the Song Dynasty, how should we answer?" ”

"How many are you now?"

"We now have to pay taxes for both men and women, only children under the age of ten are exempt from taxes, twenty sheep a year for men, ten sheep for women, and one camel for every ten people, which is equivalent to half of the annual property."

Liu Tao shook his head, "If you are attached to the Song Dynasty, you will be tax-free for the first three years, and if you encounter a catastrophe, you can also be tax-free, if you are raising horses for the imperial court, you will not only be tax-free but also have a good reward, as far as ordinary herdsmen are concerned, each family has five sheep per year." ”

The two were pleasantly surprised, "Is this true?" ”

Tuoba Lu next to him smiled: "Of course it's true, this is how we pay taxes in the black party, our tribe raises horses for the Jingzhao army, not a single sheep has to pay, and there is a subsidy of three buckets of rice per person per month, and the cultivated war horses can also get an income of five yuan per horse when they are delivered." ”

The two rubbed their hands excitedly, stood up and said, "Let's go to Ganzhou!" ”

Everyone said goodbye and left, Liu Ziyu walked into the big tent and said with a smile: "Father has gained a lot today!" ”

Liu Tao smiled slightly: "It's indeed a bit unexpected, no wonder Li Dutong told me that this Tuoba Lu is very capable, and sure enough, it didn't disappoint me." ”

"Did Father consider bringing the Uighurs in as well?"

"I've thought about it, but I'm afraid it's too late in time, the Uighurs are in Suzhou, this coming and going, plus negotiations, will take at least half a month, but I'm afraid the Qiang people will be too late."

Liu Ziyu thought for a while and said: "The 20,000 Western Xia troops came from Ganzhou not so quickly, and even if they came, they might not fight immediately, we can march the opposite, and when they kill here, we are already in Liangzhou, so I estimate that the cavalry can arrive." ”

Liu Tao nodded, "This is a good way, we can turn around and go to the big fight." ”