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Chapter 44: The Stone of Jerod

Kedun City, Liao Dynasty Northwest Road to recruit the Yamen

Outside in the snow, the biting cold wind howls like a ghost; In the dim and gloomy room, huge butter torches were blazing.

Suddenly, only a "boom" was heard, and the closed wooden window was blown open by the blizzard, and the wind outside the house immediately swept in with snowflakes, and the flames writhed wildly, pulling the shadow of the man sitting in the house crookedly, like a ghost.

-- The cold wind struck suddenly, and even though he was wrapped in a sumptuous mink fur, Yelu Dashi still shivered, so he had to get up and close the window again, and then move a heavy cabinet to block the window panel, and then sat back in the firelight, and frowned with a brush.

Although he had already set up a yamen in the city of Kedun at this time, he divided the officials. Helplessly, although Mobei has been governed by the Liao State for a hundred years, the atmosphere of culture and education is still weak. Literate people who are coarse and illiterate are even rarer than the finest horses, and many trivial official affairs are still only handled by him, the Khitan Hanlin.

And what made him even more lamentable was the current accumulation and military strength of Kedun City.

“…… There were 80,000 military horses, 500 palace tent soldiers, 10,000 tribal soldiers, 200 pairs of iron armor, 3,000 pairs of leather armor, and the stock of grain and straw could be supported for two months...... Alas, I am a dignified Liao, and I used to have a territory of thousands of miles, but now I have been reduced to only this little bit of family foundation? How can you still compete with the Jinren? ”

-- Since the Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi was defeated and captured two years ago, the broken and collapsed edifice of the Liao State has only been left with the lone army of Yelu Dashi in the remote north of the desert, and the lonely city of Kedun City, the headquarters of the Northwest Road.

In the past, when the Liao State was in its heyday, its territory had reached Beihai (Lake Baikal), encompassing the entire Mobei steppe, and set up the Northwest Road Recruitment Division, the Wugu Enemy Martyrs Unified Army Division, etc., to control the various ethnic groups in Mobei. By the end of the Liao Dynasty, the Khitans' control over the Mobei ethnic group had been greatly weakened, and the Wugu enemy Lietong Military Division had existed in name only, but the native nomads in this place had not yet formed a unified climate, and only some local and unstable tribal alliances had emerged. Relying on the little prestige of the Khitan people in the past, Yelu Dashi can barely deter the Mobei tribes and keep the city of Kedun alive.

But the problem is that if he wants to rely on the manpower and material resources of Mobei to confront the Jin State that crisscrosses the Central Plains, it will be like a mantis arm as a car.

-- For the hegemons who once rose such as the Xiongnu and the Turks, and since ancient times, all the people were soldiers, and the nomads in Mobei, who were known as "100,000 people who controlled the strings", the Khitans were still on guard and restricted Cheng Dù above the Jurchens. Since the founding of the country, they have tried to limit the import of iron and salt into the grasslands, forcing them to hunt with stones and skeletons to sharpen arrowheads, in order to weaken the military power of these nomads. At this time, most of the tribes in Mobei were extremely poor, and even if they were tribal leaders, they might not be able to have a pair of iron armor. If ordinary people can get an iron pot, they can already be called rich.

In the era of the Liao State's strength, this harsh policy effectively weakened the fighting power of the steppe nomads, and even if there were occasional rebellions, they were all in a spiral and perishing. But when the five capitals of Daliao were all lost, and only a corner of the city of Kedun remained, it became a huge obstacle to Yelu Dashi's rearmament - although they were also extremely mobile cavalry, how could these unproductive militiamen in Mobei, who wore leather robes and shot bone arrows, beat the ironclad heavy cavalry of the Jin people?

If it is said that repelling the Jin soldiers and restoring the homeland is only a long-term plan, we can wait for the opportunity slowly and then think of a way. The blizzard led the white disaster of the steppe in front of him, which caused the weak regime of Yelu Dashi to almost collapse on its own, a large number of livestock were frozen to death in the wind and snow, and the gap in food supply was further widened. There were also many warriors who froze to death, which made Yelu Dashi feel heartbroken.

As an important town in the northwest of the Liao Dynasty and a front-line military base for the suppression of grassland rebellions, the treasury of Keduncheng has always been very rich. However, in the Jurchen war to destroy the Liao, although the city of Kedun has not been disturbed by the Jin soldiers, the garrison army, grazing horses and hoarded baggage have been called by the Liao army many times.

As a last resort, Yelu Dashi had dismissed most of the nomadic cavalry of the northern desert tribe that had been assembled earlier, and let them return to their own tribes to eat, in order to relieve the pressure on the food and fuel supply in the city of Kedun. But in the city of Kedun at present, there is still a lack of iron ingots, medicine, cloth, salt, and food...... Even the fuel for heating is not enough. Although the only remaining grain and livestock in the treasury are enough for the soldiers and civilians of the city to eat this winter, how should they survive the spring famine season in the future?

As soon as he thought that these clever women could not be in great trouble for cooking without rice, Yelu Dashi was so worried that he wanted to turn around. But even if he scratched his scalp, he would not be able to conjure up grain and iron tools out of thin air - grain and salt could be found to organize caravans after the beginning of spring and procure some from the Tanguts. But something like iron, which could enhance the potential for war, was not allowed to be sold on a large scale to the steppes even in Western Xia......

Moreover, the grasslands have always been poor and barren, and even if the Western Xia opens the ban, he doesn't have much gold and silver money in his hands at the moment.

As time went on, it seemed that the grease had burned out, and the light of the butter torches began to dim. Yelu Dashi rubbed his eyes and dropped the account book, and was about to light another torch, but he noticed that the storm that had been howling outside before, and he didn't know when it was silent.

He immediately turned and removed the cabinet, pushed open the window panel, and immediately a bright sun fell down, almost dazzling his eyes.

…… This is...... The snow has stopped? Thank goodness for that.

Looking at the clear blue sky with white clouds, Yelu Dashi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief although he felt a little confused about the sudden change in the weather. The brilliant sunshine that was rare in winter fell on him, and it made Yelu Dashi feel much warmer. He was about to move the desk to the window and work in the sun, when he suddenly heard a burst of music coming from afar.

Music?!

In this cold winter month when the wind and snow are raging? And it's not a holiday?! Someone actually played music?!!

-- A border military town like Kedun City is not a big city of the level of Bianliang and Yanjing, and there is no pastime for singing and singing at night. Even if he is the lord of a city, Yelu Dashi will not get a group of musicians and singers to play music and have fun.

Not to mention that after such a snowstorm just now, the soldiers and civilians of the city are hungry and cold, the people's hearts are scattered, and the future is uncertain.

So, in confusion, Jerodashi leaned through the window and looked around, but nothing was there. I even suspected that there was something wrong with my ears. But the melodious and elegant music is getting clearer and clearer, and the more you listen to it, the more beautiful it becomes, just like fairy music...... It wasn't until he saw the commotion on the city walls, and saw the inhabitants pouring out of their houses to look up at the sky, that he turned his attention to the high clouds, and finally had a harvest:

A magnificent, gorgeous, indescribably luxurious palace, floating out of the clouds while playing music in the distance!

The gilded roof tiles and carp statues are shining with golden light, and auspicious clouds float around the palace, adding a bit of fairy charm.

-- What a shock! How magnificent! What a soul-stirring experience! How incredible!

"Heavenly Palace! Immortal! The soldiers and civilians in the city who saw this scene couldn't help but think of these two terms.

Seeing such a shocking vision from the sky, the residents of all ethnic groups in this city all knelt down in unison, prostrate on the ground, chanting words, and praying for the immortals in the heavenly palace to bless them. And Yelu Dashi was also hesitating whether to kneel down...... However, at this time, the music of the "Heavenly Palace" above his head stopped abruptly, and a somewhat hoarse voice rang out:

“…… Quiet! Quiet! The real person Guo Jing of the Great Song Dynasty is here! I am here to escort the coffin of the emperor of your country! Where is the ruler of this place? ”