The fourth of the legendary Li Jiqian - the portrait of the ancestors

In the first year of Song Yongxi (984), the Song army sent a fine work to discover Li Jiqian's hiding place.

In October, Yin Xian and Cao Guangshi, two experienced Great Song generals, repeatedly grinded the special topography of the earth, and then formulated a set of practical combat plans, equipping the troops with pampas and straw shoes, and setting the direction of attack in the swamps, which was an undefended area for Li Jiqian. Therefore, when the Song army moved, he did not notice it at all. At that time, they also caught up with the absence of Zhang Pu, Li Daxin and others, and were still invading the places occupied by the Song army everywhere and plundering the materials for the winter.

Late one night this month, Yin Xian and Cao Guangshi led thousands of elite horsemen to cross the swamp and smash into Jinze, taking Li Jiqian by surprise and almost becoming a prisoner. Fortunately, Li Jichong was clever and pulled him to run away quickly. As a result, Li Jiqian suffered heavy losses in this battle, his subordinates were beheaded more than 500 ranks, more than 400 camp tents were burned, and more than 10,000 sheep, horses, and weapons were lost. Li Jiqian's old mother and wife all fell into the hands of Song Jun. This battle can be said to be the most painful defeat suffered by Li Jiqian. Moreover, the land is completely exposed, and it can no longer be hidden there, which means that the base area has been lost.

After Li Jiqian escaped from Jinze, he took the remnants of the defeated army to hide in Tibet, avoiding the encirclement and suppression of the Song army. Due to Li Jichong's contact with the Qiang clan everywhere in the previous stage and looking for old relations, finally in December, with the help of the Yeli clan of the party, Li Jiqian led a team to enter Huangyangping (now southwest of Wushenqi, Inner Mongolia). The Yeli family and the Li family have always been good friends, and Li Jiqian is allowed to develop here. "Recruit the crowd and revive the troops."

This time, he will give overall consideration to building a consolidated base area and unite all the major families of the party.

What Li Jiqian relied on at this time was his background and his strong will and determination to restore the country.

Therefore, when he appeared in front of these party clans, he first took out a portrait - it was a portrait of his ancestor Li Sizhong.

Why hang up the portrait of Li Sizhong, here we have to talk about Li Sizhong and Li Sigong brothers.

Speaking of Li Sizhong, we have to start with Li Sigong.

In the first year of Guangming (880), the Huangchao peasant rebel army captured Chang'an, the capital division, and Tang Xizong fled to Chengdu and embarked on the road of Tang Xuanzong. Tang Xizong called on all sections to send troops to quell the rebellion!

At that time, the Fengxiang Festival of the Tang Dynasty made Zheng Zhen think about how to suppress Huangchao and recover the Li family. He got the "cheap plan" of "defending the thief in the east, soothing Zhufan in the west, entangled in the road, and reluctantly building the great honor". With this, Zheng Zheng also became the central figure of the Tang army in the northwest of Chang'an to resist the Great Qi regime (the regime established by the Huangchao rebel army).

And when Zheng Jin spread the three armies and the beginning of the army Qin Wang, the first to respond to Zheng Jin's call, among the envoys of the Zhu Fang Jiedu of the Qin King, there was a team from the Pingxia Department, and the leader of this team was named Tuoba Sigong.

It was this man who really opened up the history of Western Xia.

Tuoba Sigong is the grandson of Tuoba Qianhui, the assassin of Xiazhou. Tuoba Sigong was born in the strongest Pingxia department of the party.

After the rebellion of Anshi in the Tang Dynasty, the national prestige was greatly reduced, and east of Tongguan, he no longer obeyed the king's orders and killed himself. The outbreak of the Wang Xianzhi and Huangchao uprisings was the last force in the Tang Dynasty.

At the beginning of the Huangchao Uprising, the military connection between the Tang Dynasty and Hexi ceased to exist. At this time, in the last year of Tang Xiantong (783 AD), that is, two years before the Huangchao Uprising began, Tuoba Sigong, who was a general of Xiazhou, entangled the clansmen and ran to Youzhou (now in the territory of Etuoke Qianqi, Inner Mongolia), entrenched in the city, called himself the history of the assassin, and began his journey of expanding his territory.

In December of the first year of Guangming (880 AD), Huang Chao led his army to attack Chang'an, and Li Yi fled to Chengdu in a hurry. Tuoba Sigong responded to Zheng Zheng's call to raise the king of soldiers. Other Jiedu envoys also raised the banner of King Qin and gathered in Guanzhong in order to exterminate the Yellow Nest.

In March of the first year of Tang Zhonghe (881 AD), Tuoba Sigong waved the banner of King Qin, collected tens of thousands of Huxia soldiers and horses, and first came to Juzhou (now Fuxian County, Shaanxi) to meet with Li Xiaochang, the envoy of Yanyan Jiedu, spread the word to the world, and made an appointment to fight against thieves. Tang Xizong looked at it in Chengdu at this time and was very moved. At this time, the original Xia Sui Silver Festival made Zhuge Shuang be surrendered by Zhu Wen, the general of Huangchao, and Tang Xizong named Tuoba Sigong as the general of Zuo Wuwei, and the right Xia Sui Silver Festival to do things. After Tuoba Sigong was sealed, he marched into Chang'an and fought against Huangchao. It's a pity that the initial battle was unfavorable and the army was defeated.

But there was no major damage in this defeat, and Tuoba Sigong entered the Tun martial arts. Combined with the Tang Army, Tang Hongfu, Wang Chongrong, Cheng Zongchu, Wang Chucun and other troops peeped into Chang'an City.

In order to avoid the edge of the Tang army, Huang Chao decided to withdraw from Chang'an first, Cheng Zongchu greedy for merit and entered Chang'an alone, and plundered in the city, as a result, Huang Chao's army killed a "return horse gun", and Cheng Zongchu suffered defeat in a panic. Tuoba Sigong, who got the news, led troops to reinforcements, but fought a battle with the Huangchao army at Wangqiao, and the result was "unfavorable and many dead and wounded". Then he and Li Xiaochang retreated to Dongwei Bridge and prepared to attack Chang'an again. But Jingyuan Jiedu caused Cheng Zongchu to lose his life. And the person who worked with Tuoba Sigong in Wang Qiao was the "third son of Zhu Zhu" who was born in the "fire" and personally destroyed the Tang Dynasty for three hundred years in the future - Zhu Wen.

In August, Tang Xizong issued an edict and officially appointed Tuoba Sigong as the envoy of Xia Suijie, with jurisdiction over Xiazhou, Suizhou (now Suide, Shaanxi), Yinzhou, Youzhou, and Jingzhou (now Mizhi, Shaanxi).

The significance of this matter is not limited to this, in the past, the territory of the Qiang people was a temporary residence arranged by the Li dynasty, and it could be moved by the imperial court at any time. But now it's a feudal land, and you can have it forever. This place was called the "Five Prefectures of Determination" by later generations.

However, Tuoba Sigong still couldn't beat Zhu Wen. In September, the two armies fought at Dongwei Bridge, led by Tuoba Sigong's younger brother Tuoba Sizhong, that is, the second eldest of the Tuoba family, Tuoba Sigong's compatriot brother. He is a very brave person, rushed to the front first, and when he came up, he shot the iron sparrow on the Dongwei Bridge with an arrow, which really frightened Huang Chaojun, and there was a lot of momentum when Zhang Fei scared off the Dangyang Bridge. But Zhu Wen and Shang Rang came up with a plan to lure the enemy into the depths, and Tuoba Sizhong really hit the plan and "died in battle".

Li Sizhong died a very heroic death, and he was a hero worshiped by all party departments.

Li Jiqian is his direct descendant. At this time, Li Jiqian hung his portrait when the various tribal chiefs gathered.

The statue of the ancestor hung up, and Li Jiqian gritted his teeth and said nothing. Then, two lines of tears flowed silently down his cheeks.

Since the occupation of the Li family, Xiazhou has ended the life of the Dangxiang and Qiang tribes, developed agricultural production, and has great favors to all the tribes under its jurisdiction, "the Rong people do not forget the Li family", which is felt by the Song Dynasty in the far Central Plains. In other words, the Li family in Xiazhou has a very high prestige among the party departments. At the same time, because the Qiang people believe in the shamanism of primitive tribes, in the process of transformation from Tuoba to Li, they continue to have a "noble race" way of thinking, and the mentality of worshiping your ancestors and influence is very strong, whether it is "Tuoba" or "Li" are the noble bloodlines worshiped and admired by all departments of the party, and Li Sizhong is undoubtedly the first hero they worship. coupled with Li Jiqian's excellent performance, "everyone in Rong is crying". Everyone cried.

Li Sizhong, that is the hero who followed Li Sigong's "King Qin" to spill blood on the battlefield, was almost the first idol to worship among the party and the subordinates. Think about the majesty of the ancestors back then, and then look at the tragic situation now, can those tribal leaders not cry.

Li Jiqian seized this opportunity, wiped a handful of tears, and said loudly: "Our Li family has been in charge of Xiazhou for generations, and Xiazhou is the Xiazhou of our party members. For the Central Plains Dynasty, he did his best, sacrificing many athletes to help them attack the Northern Han Dynasty. But now the Emperor of the Zhao family took advantage of the conflict between our buddies and took it away from us. Since you have not forgotten the kindness of your ancestors, are you willing to work with me to take back the inheritance of your ancestors? ”

These fanatical idolaters, who were now in a state of fever, immersed in distant glories and dreams, replied excitedly, "Yes!" ”

This method of using the prestige of the ancestors, publicizing the restoration of the ancestral industry, and winning over the hearts of the people really worked, and the result was that "the clan account was slightly annexed."

The Dangxiang Tuoba clan has been mixed in the northwest for hundreds of years, and is the boss of the eight departments of the party, and is the glory and idol of the Dangxiang Qiang people. Most of the party members in the northwest regard themselves as members of the Li clan and "use the Li clan for their kindness." In addition, the Xiazhou regime established by the Tuoba family has existed for hundreds of years and has always been recognized by the Central Plains Dynasty, even the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. But now, Zhao Guangyi did not remember the old feelings of "Xiazhou is not inferior to the Song Dynasty", and took advantage of the fire to rob and seize the power of Xiazhou in the name of "mediation", which is morally unreasonable, so all party members have a strong sense of emotional identification with Li Jiqian's anti-Song behavior, and they have attached themselves to him.

Of course, it is not enough to only have agitated feelings, but must bring tangible benefits to the people. The public opinion propaganda has gone up, and the originator of real interests has followed, so that he feels that life is more nourishing under your hands than under the hands of the Song Dynasty. Only in this way, only in this way will those party members and subordinates really work hard for you, fight the country, and seize the ancestral industry. Now the emperor of the Zhao family is "buying people's hearts" in the silver and summer realms, such as buying the war horses raised by the party at a high price, which has won many party members. Of course, Li Jiqian also took action, and his eyes were set on another important product of the party - salt.

There are two major salt ponds in Xiazhou, which are in Yanzhou and Lingzhou. The green salt and white salt produced here are "cheap and sweet", and the cost performance far exceeds that of Shanxi's salt solution. Therefore, the residents of the Song-Xia border in Shaanxi in the Song Dynasty were willing to buy these two kinds of salt, so they bartered with the party and exchanged grain for salt, which became the most important means of trading for the party people in addition to the "tribute horse" transaction. After Li Jiqian left Jinze, the Zhao dynasty carried out an economic blockade of the Song-Xia border in order to cut off Li Jiqian's economic source and protect Shanxi's salt solution, and ordered that "grain along the border is not allowed to cross Hexi, and green salt in Hexi is not allowed to cross the border to sell mane, and the offender will not be punished with many offenders", that is, smuggling salt must be killed-this trick is ruthless enough. The aim was to ban border trade and cut off the source of food for the Dangxiang Qiang people. After the salt ban was implemented for several months, the result was that "the westerners were in great difficulty, and the familiar households along the border had no way to make a living", and the Qiang people in this area fell into an extremely severe existential crisis, and all the party departments were red-eyed and wanted to fight with the Song Dynasty. In order to force the Song Dynasty to lift the economic blockade, he united with the leaders of 44 party Xiangqiang and led more than 13,000 cavalry to enter Shichang Town, Huanzhou, the Song Dynasty.

This news was reported to the Bianjing Imperial Court, which caused a debate in the imperial court about the two opinions of the border trade "strictly prohibited" and "banned". "The people regard food as the sky", whoever solves the food problem will capture the hearts of the people. In this move, Li Jiqian not only won back the due economic interests for the party and the people, but also won the hearts of the people.

If Li Jiqian's two actions basically controlled the situation in Xiazhou from the overall situation, his later actions that made people "envious, jealous and hateful" really strengthened his own strength.

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