Chapter 671: Khitan Messenger

Of course, it's not that you're thankless just to contribute. Since I am in the center of the courtesy, I will take care of you in terms of the saints, so you can only prepare for war with peace of mind. In addition, according to the information I have received, it is very likely that the official family will issue an edict to confer on you the king of the county again in the near future, which is a move to "take care of the face of the imperial court", and you can no longer shirk it.

Xu Wei looked at it and put the letter away. The title of county king is the highest honor that the ministers of the Song Dynasty can obtain when they are alive, although there are also ministers who are knighted, but all of them are posthumously gifted, such as the seven kings of the Southern Song Dynasty in the original history. But Xu Wei is different from others, he doesn't care much about these false names, it doesn't matter if the county king is not the county king, the important thing is to find an opportunity to give Wan Qian to nòng. With this guy, Sichuan's affairs can't get around him no matter what, and it's very troublesome. If Shaanxi is a pair of iron fists, then Sichuan is a pair of big tuǐ. There is an iron fist in the air, and without the support of the big tuǐ, how can you fight?

Although he has become the highest military and political governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and has the right to act cheaply, the imperial court has taken Wan Qian to his side, which is tantamount to surveillance. But this matter is not urgent, let's wait for it.

In any case, the sixth brother made the second phase, of course, it is a good thing for himself. Those on the side don't dare to hope that at least there are people in the court who are good officials. The most important thing is that his ideas and ideas are the same as his own, and he belongs to the main battle faction, and in this regard, there is no contradiction. I just don't know, can he do it to the point of the third uncle?

In the blink of an eye, in the ninth year of Jianwu, this era name has been used for a long time, and the emperor has no intention of changing it. It seems that the Zhao official family is determined not to take the usual path.

Since the recovery of the whole of Shaanxi, the Western Army has not had any major battles, and has been recuperating and training strictly. In order not to increase the financial burden, and at the same time to avoid unnecessary worries, Xu Wei ordered the Western Army to stop the expansion. Therefore, now the six Jinglu pacification divisions of Yanyan, Yongxing, Jingyuan, Huanqing, Xihe, and Qinfeng have controlled the regular army of 200,000.

Here, there are more than 40,000 horse infantry troops on Rujingyuan Road and Xihe Road, which have strong troops. There are few such as Yongxing Shuaisi, only more than 20,000 soldiers, and Qin Feng Shuaisi, who is personally in charge of Xu Wei, is only more than 30,000 paces. However, the strength of the Western Army cannot be measured only by the regular army, because under the rule of Shaanxi, there are tens of thousands of soldiers whose combat strength is not inferior to that of the regular army, and the number of township soldiers of the paramilitary army is even greater. This is also one of the reasons why Xu Wei stopped the expansion of Zhulu Shuaisi.

Although he stopped expanding his ranks, Xu Wei did not leave anything else behind. For example, the research and development equipment, the equipment developed by the "Shaanxi Metropolitan Academy" in Longzhou was highly praised by the soldiers, especially the "Weiyuan Cannon", which was regarded as an artifact for attacking and defending the city. However, Qin Fengjun did not think so, because they were equipped with new firearms, assault rifles and flying artillery.

After continuous improvement, the latest flying artillery can hit more than 120 steps, and when the cannon is fired, the iron cannonball roars out of the barrel, which is indestructible; The assault rifle was lengthened with a barrel and had a thicker chamber than the barrel to fill with more gunpowder, and the shè was more than eighty paces. It has been proved that within a distance of fifty paces, the assault rifle can penetrate any armor other than the "infantry armor". This will be a very threatening weapon for enemy light cavalry, which often goes into battle without armor.

Xu Wei's cavalry, more than 3,000 cavalry, was equipped with assault rifles, forming a powerful combat force. Because of the rapid development of cavalry, the role of heavy infantry was obviously weakened, in view of this, Qin Fengjun abandoned the heavy armor weighing up to 70 catties and replaced it with lighter armor to improve mobility and flexibility.

In addition to Qin Fengjun, Xu Wei also began to equip other Western armies with firearms. Such as earth-shattering thunder, thunder arrows, etc. He even planned to set up a large-scale institute in Sichuan to manufacture cold weapons, while the Shaanxi Metropolitan Institute was responsible for the development and manufacture of firearms. But because Wan Qiaoduo disagreed, he could only give up for the time being.

The Western Army is fiercely marching and waiting for an even greater victory......

In February of the ninth year of Jianwu, Xu Wei received news from the border that the Western Xia, led by Ren Dejing, the commander of the Jingzhou capital, mobilized more than 70,000 soldiers and horses to encircle and suppress Xiao Heda. Soon, Xiao Heda himself also reported the news to Xu Wei, hoping that Shaanxi would pay close attention to the changes in the current situation.

To make it clear, I just hope that Xu Wei will stare at the point, in case I can't bear it, I have to ask the Western Army to come forward to settle it. It's just that it is obviously unreasonable to ask for help before this battle has started, if you are like this, what will the Western Army do to support you?

Xu Wei replied to him, steady and steady, don't seek a quick victory, you can drag him and consume him, and it will be done. After all, there is my Western Army by the side, and the Xia Army has to defend me while attacking you, which is enough for them.

Xiao Heda did exactly that. After Ren Dejing sent troops, he went straight to Xiazhou, and left Yanzhou Youzhou in the southwest of Xiazhou alone. It's not that he doesn't want to care, but because these two states are too close to the Huanqing army, Liu Guangshi rebuilt the ancient Wuyan Fort, so the Xia army did not dare to move lightly, so he concentrated his forces on the Xia Prefecture guarded by Xiao Heda.

Xiao Heda was almost secretly plotted by Ren Dejing last time, so he was cautious this time. Ren Dejing's army entered Xiazhou City, and he couldn't come out. Xiazhou was built very early, and the city has been operated for several generations and is very strong. Ren Dejing commanded the army to attack the city, and the battle was not down for seven days!

At this time, Huanqing Shuai Liu Guangshi ordered the front-line troops to make a feint offensive posture, Ren Dejing looked at it, thinking that the Western Army was going to copy his rear road, and hurriedly retreated. As soon as he retreated, the Western Army retreated. Just came and went for more than a month, and the Xia army was disheartened and demoralized.

When Xiao Heda saw it, he thought that the opportunity had come. Then he led the army out of the city and found a decisive battle in Rendejing. The two armies fought at the fork in the road, from noon to evening, regardless of victory or defeat. The Hengshan Bu Bazi under Ren Dejing is an elite infantry army that can be on par with the Western Army, and he is extremely tenacious and fierce. And Xiao Heda's Khitan army was not vegetarian, and under the encouragement of the ideal of recovering the country, they fought hard. In the evening, the sky was dark, and I don't know who picked the head, shouting that the western army is coming, the western army is coming. Xia Jun was shocked, and Ren Dejing had no choice but to retreat.

After this battle, he wrote to Li Renxiao, the lord of Xia, that if the problem of the Western Army was not solved, Xiao Heda would not be able to peace. In fact, Xiao Heda is not a matter at all, the problem is all on the Western Army.

But what can Li Renxiao, the young master, do? Originally, he expected the Jurchens to stand up for him, but after the Jin army captured Fengzhou, he suffered a setback in Fuzhou and regrouped, but he was still defeated by the Yan Yan army and had withdrawn to Yanyun. So, he replied to his grandfather, "Do your best."

At this time, Ren Dejing had a thought. He believes that between the party and Shaanxi, there was no need to go to this step. Xu Wei had constantly shown good intentions to the Western Xia and used various measures to improve bilateral relations. But because of the Jurchens, the two sides fought each other, and the current situation was created.

The Western Army defeated the Jin Army and recovered all of Shaanxi, and its morale was like a rainbow. Next, we must march to Hedong and recover our homeland. They are now in control of the Hengshan line, choking the Western Xia life, if this problem is not solved, the future of Great Xia is worried. It is better to abandon the vassal relationship with the Jin State, and instead form an alliance with the Song Dynasty to obtain Xu Wei's understanding. make him give up his support for Xiao Heda. In this way, the pattern of the world is that Song, Xia, and Yelu Dashi are tripartite, and they are strong against the Jurchens, and I am afraid that no one can help anyone.

However, when he put forward this suggestion, Li Renxiao was a little tempted. Because Xu Wei's attitude was really good before, he opened the border, set up a field, and exchanged envoys when there was nothing to do, exchanged greetings, and gave some gifts, he really wanted to have a good relationship with Daxia.

It's just that because of the Jurchens, they turned their faces. If you turn to an alliance with Song at this time, the urgent need can be solved, but what about later? His worries were also the worries of the ministers of Western Xia, and Chage, the king of Jin, who controlled the government, clearly expressed his opposition. It's just that these people are against it, but they can't come up with a better way. Who told the party to be unlucky, all natural disasters have happened!

March, Renduoquan City.

Since Yao Pingzhong led the Xihe Army, under the personal supervision of Xu Wei, to recover Renduoquan City, on the one hand, he sent officers to serve as the city lord and garrisoned the border with elite soldiers. On the other hand, the Tibetan heroes are still used to govern the localities. After the Yi Shenglong was attached, he performed well, and he was good at soothing his subordinates, so that he could live and work in peace and contentment. Together with the guards of Renduoquan City, he checked the household registration and organized and trained the soldiers, which was very active. If you are not active, you can't do anything, not to mention that the Western Army is next to him, and his eldest son is still an officer with Xu Shumi.

The station of the Yi Shengzhilong is not far from Renduoquan City, and there are nearly a thousand Tubo and Qiang people gathered around. After the opening of Chūn, the climate warmed up and everything recovered. On the grassland, herds of cattle and sheep are leisurely walking and grazing under the care of the shepherds. The sky is blue, the wind is mild, the sun is beautiful, and occasionally you can hear a few words of the shepherd's singing, the tone is high, and the sound is heard in all directions.

A snow-white horse rushed down from a high place, the horse's long braids fluttered, and the clothes fluttered, and when you looked closely, it turned out to be a woman. But her spirit is not inferior to any man. Dressed in a robe, leather boots, with a knife at his waist and a bow in his saddle, he had rushed into the camp in the blink of an eye.

When the shepherd saw it in the distance, he sang loudly. If Xu Wei lived in the era, he would have sung "Gesang huā on the grassland".

The woman's steed came to a halt in front of a tall round tent, and she jumped down very neatly, flicked her pigtails, and told the warrior in front of the tent to lead her horse, and then lifted the curtain and stepped in.

"Abala." When the woman had entered the tent, she cried out aloud.

The tower-like burly Qiang Han in the tent is the Yi Shengren Dragon, and the woman who called him is the white Madava who gave Xu Wei's sweat and blood to the horse.

"Huh?" The Yi Shengren Dragon was looking at something, but did not look up.

"When will my brother come back?" Bai Madava came to her father's side and asked with some displeasure.

"It's hard to say." The Yi Born Dragon still had its head down.

"Is that captain not letting him go?" Bai Madava asked again.

Hearing this, Yi Shenglong put down the matter in his hand, raised his head and said, "Although your brother said that he was an officer in front of Taiwei Xu, he was actually taken hostage, and he was afraid that we would rebel again. So, as long as we're okay, your brother will be safe. As for returning it, I don't know how long it will take. ”

As he was talking, a general broke into the tent and said loudly: "Chief, we have captured a group of strongmen and seized dozens of good horses, gold, silver and jewelry!" ”

The Yi Shenglong is not surprised, this is a common thing. casually asked, "Have you ever asked?" Who is it? ”

"I don't know, I can't understand the language, I can't understand." That will be loud.

Can't make sense of words? This sentence attracted the attention of the Yi Shengren Dragon, if the other party is also a Tubo, then there is no language barrier. If you are a party member, you should know a little bit about it. But he said that he couldn't understand words, where did he come from?

"You go and bring it, I'll ask myself." Yi Shenglong commanded.

"If you can't understand words, then you are not a Tubo person, and you shouldn't be a party member, but where did you come from?" Bai Ma Dawa said suspiciously.

Yi Shenglong shook his head, but guessed in his heart, there are dozens of horses, could it be a caravan? After a while, with a burst of shouting, several people were escorted into the tent. Looking at their clothes, the Yi Shenglong was also a little familiar, and several of them were not very old, between thirty and forty. After looking at it carefully, he asked in Qiang, "Who are you?" Where did it come from? Where are you going? ”

Among the other parties, one of them crackled and talked for a while, obviously a little anxious, and gestured while talking. But the language he spoke, Yi Shenglong couldn't understand at all.

After a while, Yi Shengzhilong gave up the idea of communicating and asking, because it was basically playing the piano to the cow. Then he said to Baimadawa: "Go and call a few people who have walked in all directions, and see if you can understand what he is saying." ”

Before Bai Ma Dawa could respond, the other party had already been pleasantly surprised: "Do you speak Chinese?" ”

Yi Shengzhilong spoke Chinese to his daughter, and now this person also speaks Chinese, of course, he is not very fluent, and he is very stiff, but the meaning is understood.

"Will you too?" The Yi Shenglong was even more unexpected.

"A little bit of it." The man nodded, and then, without waiting for the other party to ask again, he had already introduced himself, "We are all merchants, and we will come here to do business this time." ”

"Merchant?" The dragon of the Yi life is not good at paste. "As a merchant, what kind of goods are you selling? I have heard that you have weapons, horses, gold and silver, but you have not seen any goods. ”

The other side did not change: "We carry gold and silver precisely to buy goods. ”

The Yi Shenglong stared at him, "Where are you from?" Where are you going? ”

"We are from the Khitan Kingdom, doing business with the Dangxiang and the Song people, and there is no definite whereabouts." The man replied.

Regarding Yelu Dashi's rebuilding of the Liao State in the Western Regions, Yi Shengzhilong had only heard about it, but he didn't know about it. And he was not interested in wondering, and since he had asked, he waved his hand and said, "Leave all the things behind, and the horse can be returned to you, where did you come from, and where do you go back?" ”

The other party was anxious when he heard this, and the other said: "The Khitan people have been in constant contact with the Western Xia, and our Tianzhi Emperor and the Xia Lord also have a lot of friendship, please ......."

Yi Shenglong didn't wait for him to finish laughing: "Director Xia can't reach me. ”

"You're not a party member?" The other party asked in surprise. Yi Shenglong smiled and did not answer.

"That should be the Tubo people, this is the boundary of Xiliang Mansion, why can't Lord Xia control you?" The other party broke the casserole and asked to the end.

Yi Shenglong waved his hand and said impatiently: "Now this place is surnamed Song, go ahead, if you provoke me, the horse will not be returned, you will all be dragged to be slaves." ”

"Surname Song?" The man was amazed, and after exchanging glances with several of his companions, they all laughed.

They laughed, but the Yi Shengren Dragon was angry and shouted, "What are you laughing at? Someone, give me ......"

"Wait!" The other party also snorted. "Do you know Xu Wei?"

Hearing him mention Xu Wei, the Yi Sheng's dragon eye beads turned and asked rhetorically, "Do you know who Xu Wei is?" ”

"Naturally! The governor of Shaanxi in the Southern Dynasty, the commander of the Western Army. The other party replied.

Yi Shenglong thought for a moment, waved his hand and said, "That's it, since you know Taiwei Xu, I won't embarrass you, take the horse, give you some food, let's go!" ”

"I'm afraid I can't go." The other party laughed. "To tell you the truth, I am the envoy of the Khitan lord, and this trip is to go to Shaanxi to meet with Xu Taiwei."

The Yi Shenglong will be suspicious, and hummed: "Now I don't want to be a captain, but I will change to crisp honey." ”

"No matter what we do, as long as he is still the governor of Shaanxi, we will go to him." That's humane.

Yi Shenglong stared at him: "How do I know if what you said is true or false?" You want to worship Xu Shumi, what are you doing? ”

"I'm afraid this is not what you should ask, I saw Xu, Xu Shumi, I know by myself." Since the other party knows that this place has been returned to the Great Song Dynasty, he naturally does not need to spend more saliva with a local Haoqiang, and he can directly say it to Xu Shumi if he has something to say.

Yi Shenglong thought darkly, if it is really a messenger, I want to worship Xu Shumi, if I stop it, I can't afford to bear the guilt. It's better to return the things to them and take them to Renduoquan City to see what the city lord says.

As soon as he thought of this, he didn't pay attention to the other party, but instructed the samurai: "Take these few down, return them to them, and send them to Rinduoquan Castle, and ask the city lord to decide." ”

When the other party heard this, he was a little anxious and said: "Time is urgent, we must see Xu Shumi as soon as possible!" ”

"Then I can't help you, Xu Shumi can see you if you want to? I'm a patrol inspector, and I can't see him all year round. The Yi Born Dragon snorted, and when he finished speaking, he escorted the guards out of the way.

The Khitan people can only admit that they are unlucky, and when they encounter such a bullshit and don't understand the Yi people, it is really reasonable and unclear. Fortunately, he still knows a few words of Chinese, otherwise he wouldn't have died in vain today?

After the Khitans left, Bai Ma Dawa suddenly said: "Abala, these people are going to see Xu Wei, why don't you let your daughter escort them?" It just so happens that I can also meet my brother. ”

"You? How can you, a woman, do this? Yi Shenglong smiled.

"How not? When I got over there and saw Xu Wei, I said a few good words, and maybe I put my brother back. Bai Ma Dawa said seriously.

Although the Yi Shengren Dragon still smiled and shook his head, his heart moved. The eldest son was taken hostage, and he didn't have a chance to see him on weekdays. It's better to really send a son, nominally responsible for sending the Khitan envoy, and by the way, also visit the eldest son. At the same time, prepare more gifts for Xu Shumi, as soon as he is happy, maybe he will really put his son back. It's just that, with her daughter's character, I'm afraid she has to go with her!