The first face-to-face meeting between Xiao Han and Nineteen did not yield results, and the differences between the two sides were too great. However, the first time they came into contact with each other, no one thought that they could negotiate things.

Yelu Deguang read Xiao Han's recital twice, transferred it to the imperial brother Yelu Honggu, and asked, "Third brother, what do you think of this matter?"

After more than 40 years of the rise of the Khitan tribe under the leadership of the Great Sage Emperor Lietian Emperor Yelu Abaoji (Note 1), Taizu conquered Xi (Note 2), Wugu (Note 3), Heichezi Murwei (Note 4), Tatar (Note 5), Uighurs (Note 6), and the Bohai Kingdom (Note 7). By supporting Shi Jingjiao, Yelu Deguang defeated the old enemy Hou Tang and obtained the sixteen states of Yanyun, and the Khitan has become the world's leading power from some scattered tribes in the northeast grassland.

Even since the founding of the state of Taizu Yelu Abaoji (Note 8), it has been 30 years since then. Yelu Abaoji laid a huge territory for the Khitan, bordering the mighty Hanhai in the east, the vast Western Regions in the west, the barren ice fields in the north, and the Great Wall in the south.

After the death of Yelu Abaoji, at the suggestion of the Empress Dowager Shu Luping, the ministers elected Yelu Deguang to inherit the throne.

Yelu Deguang did not live up to the expectations of the ministers and clansmen, inherited the will of Yelu Abaoji, ran the Khitan like an iron bucket, and took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to seize the sixteen states of Yanyun, which were vital to the Khitan. And according to the custom, two complete sets of official systems in the north and south were designated, namely the northern official system and the southern official system, so that the national strength of the Khitan became stronger and stronger, and the army was strong, and it was the best in the world.

Invaded the Central Plains twice, although they all returned, but unlike the scene of the Central Plains due to the war and the people's lack of livelihood, and the heavy casualties, the vitality of the Khitan was not greatly damaged, and it was not touched at all, on the contrary, a large amount of property looted from Henan and Hebei, and the population supplemented the lack of Khitan, but the morale was frustrated.

Yelu Honggu, also known as Yelu Lihu, is Yelu Deguang's younger brother and the third son of the Empress Dowager Shu Luping. At the strong request of Shu Luping, in the fifth year of Tianxian (Note 9), Yelu Deguang established Yelu Li Hu as the emperor's younger brother and concurrently served as the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses.

This means that if anything happens to Yelu Deguang, it is not surprising that Yelu Honggu will be the next Khitan emperor.

Sometimes, Yelu Deguang suspects that the reason why the queen mother Shu Luping suggested that he instead of the then crown prince and his eldest brother Yelu Bei inherit the throne was that he was planning for Yelu Honggu, because Yelu Honggu was only sixteen years old at that time, and he was too young to deter the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty and the major tribes.

Yelu Honggu is Yelu Honggu, as long as the queen mother likes it, his son is not very competitive anyway, even if he sits on the throne, he will inevitably be pulled down. The only decent Yelu Tiande is too feminine and has no royal appearance. If you can't be an emperor, it's not bad to be a prince of peace. (The author of the previous article mistakenly believes that Yelu Tiande is the third son of Yelu Abaoji, but in fact he is the third son of Yelu Deguang. ）

If Yelu Tiande must become the emperor in the future, it depends on whether he has the ability to do so, the Khitans are like a pack of wolves, and only the strongest wolves in the wolf pack are qualified to sit in the position of wolf king.

Yelu Deguang often comforted himself in this way, the prestige of the queen mother was too great, and the power was too heavy, even he had scruples and did not dare to act rashly.

Is it so easy for a woman who is ruthless enough to cut off her right hand and force a group of old ministers to accompany the emperor to the funeral?

After reading Xiao Han's recital, Yelu Honggu threw it on the ground and scolded loudly: "Xiao Han's old thing, is it old and confused? Do you need to talk about this kind of thing? When did we Khitans fight a battle that did not take advantage? That person named Leng Yuxuan was also a little bolder, and he actually dared to mention such conditions to my dignified Khitan.

Second brother, give me 100,000 soldiers and horses, and I will go and bring the head of the man surnamed Du to you. ”

Yelu Deguang frowned slightly, Yelu Honggu is actually not suitable to be an emperor, brave is brave, but brave and unplanned, always likes to charge into battle to show off, thinking that this can prove his ability. He didn't know that he was the prince of the Khitan, the emperor's younger brother, and it was nothing if he killed the other party, even if it was thousands or tens of thousands of people, as long as the other party killed him, the Khitan would be defeated.

Moreover, Yelu Honggu lacked a pair of discerning eyes, and he didn't see that in the song, Xiao Han was actually secretly praising the young man named Leng Yuxuan. Fearless in the face of danger, reasonable and responsible, and has a good grasp of the current situation, such a person is rare in the Khitan court. Xiao Han was persuading him to collect Leng Yuxuan for his own use as much as possible, if he couldn't, then such a person couldn't stay.

The Central Plains is really full of talents, Wu, there is a Li Fengyun, who has repeatedly defeated the Khitan army. Now there is another Leng Yuxuan in Wen, not to mention Sang Weihan, Feng Dao and others in the older generation.

Why can't there be a single person like this among the Khitans? Could it be that the Khitans are really stupider than the Central Plains? If there are such a group of civil servants and military generals among the Khitans, how can the Central Plains be able to stop the iron hooves of the grassland men?

"Second brother, do you have something to say, agree or disagree?" When Yelu Deguang was in his trance, he heard Yelu Honggu stomp his feet and urge.

Yelu Deguang smiled slightly, of course he would not hand over the 100,000 army to Yelu Honggu, he was able to become the emperor in the first place, wasn't it because he had a heavy army? Otherwise, he may not be the opponent of his eldest brother Yelu Bei, in any case, at that time, Yelu Bei was the real crown prince and the heir to the Khitan throne.

If he rashly handed over the 100,000 army to Yelu Honggu, and he had the support of the queen mother behind him, God knows what would happen, and it was not only the Central Plains people who did it, but in the grassland, this kind of thing happened much more frequently than the Central Plains.

"Third brother, don't be impatient!" Yelu Deguang calmed Yelu Honggu, "This is a national war, and the victory or defeat of this battle is more related to the survival and decline of my Khitan, so I must be cautious, I will personally lead the army and conquer the Central Plains three times." But the Khitan can't be left without someone to control the overall situation, the queen mother is getting older and older, many things are beyond her strength, and many things need you to stabilize people's hearts.

There is a saying in the Central Plains, it is called fighting tiger brothers, and fathers and sons go into battle. At this critical moment, who else can I trust but you and the queen mother? Who has the ability to help me take care of the Khitan's back road?"

Yelu Honggu's heart was warm when he said this, but he couldn't go into battle to kill the enemy, he was somewhat unwilling, and complained: "I, the world's soldiers and horses, have been in vain to fight the marshal, and there are not a few opportunities to really go to the battlefield." ”

Yelu Deguang laughed: "What's the hurry, the world is so big, you have to fight!" and changed the topic: "Judging from this note, Du Chongwei has already seen through Zhao Yanshou's plan to deceive him, and it seems unlikely that he wants to lure him to Youzhou or Yizhou." ”

"Then, second brother, how are you going to fight this battle?" Yelu Honggu did not dwell on the matter of leading troops to the battle, and raised his head and asked.

"Since he won't come, then I'll have to fight out. Yelu Deguang struck his fist on the map spread on the table, and the place where the fist landed was the location of Yizhou protruding from the Jin Kingdom, which threatened the safety of Youzhou.

Note 1: The Great Sage Daming God Lietian Emperor is the honorific title of the ministers and the subject countries after the death of Yelu Abaoji, and Taizu is his temple name. As for Yelu Abaoji, there has already been a note above (see note 1 in chapter 74). Due to the death of the country, the plot will then be transferred to the territory of Liao, and some introductions and foreshadowing will be made in advance of the situation in Liao.

Friends who have read through me should understand that before a major event happens, I will do some foreshadowing, and the people who have appeared before often mean that they will be repeated later. There is no such thing as an isolated person or an isolated thing.

Note 2: Xi: the northern part of present-day Hebei.

Note 3: Wugu: It is generally centered on Haile River (now Hailar River), including the Ergun River and the area east of Hulun Lake.

Note 4: Heichezi Murowei: southeast of Hulun Lake in present-day eastern Inner Mongolia.

Note 5: Tatar: In the Tang Dynasty, it referred to the Tatar department in the east of the Mongolian Plateau

Note 6: Uighurs: Roughly in the present Xinjiang generation

Note 7: Bohai State: A regime dominated by the Tatar people, whose scope corresponds to present-day northeastern China, northeastern the Korean Peninsula, and part of the Russian Far East.

Note 8: Yelu Abaoji ascended the throne in 916 A.D. and proclaimed the founding of the state.

Note 9: In the fifth year of Tianxian, that is, in 930 A.D.

Note 10: Shu Luping was a member of the Uighur (i.e., Uighur) Shulu Division, after the death of Yelu Abaoji, a group of old ministers in view of her prestige and ruthless methods, worried that she would interfere in political affairs, forced her to be martyred for Yelu Abaoji, who knew that Shu Luping actually cut off his right hand in public, shocked the ministers, replaced himself with his right hand for Yelu Abaoji's funeral, and forced a group of old ministers who opposed her to be martyred, and got rid of her opponents.