Chapter 1,701 A succession of virtues

On the northwest road to recruit the Secretary, in the city of Ketun, Yelu Tobojia was covered in blood and looked at the continuous Tatar tents under the city.

When Taizu of the Liao Dynasty returned from the Western Expedition to the Uighurs, he blocked various tribes from joining the army along the way and established a loose territorial relationship with the Liao Kingdom.

For more than twenty years after that, various tribes rebelled and the grassland remained in turmoil.

In the 21st year of Liao Tonghe's reign, Xiao Taifei and Xiao Taolin sent 30,000 troops, determined to conquer Zubu and solve the problem of northern Xinjiang in one fell swoop.

That battle greatly increased the prestige of the Liao Kingdom and won a complete victory. Afterwards, the Liao Kingdom built Kedun City on the grassland, which was later renamed Zhenzhou. It also built Weizhou and Zhaozhou to the west of Zhenzhou, and selected more than 20,000 tribes.

The troops were stationed in cavalry and sent to the Bohai Sea. Nuzhi and the Han people were exiled and more than 700 households were relocated to guard three places, and the Northwest Road Recruitment Division was established.

This land is three thousand miles away from Shangjing, with the Twuna River and the Ulugu River flowing through it. It has many lakes, rich water and grass, and is both arable and grazing.

Daliao once implemented cruel and effective grassland rule here, and gradually increased its standing army to 50,000, suppressing the Tatar tribes for nearly a hundred years.

Kedun City is an important military town. The city walls are made of rammed earth. Each of the four walls is 200 feet long. There are six horse sides in the north and south, ten horse sides in the east and west. There is a turret at each corner. The city is three feet high.

As long as they have enough soldiers and food, the past grassland tribes cannot attack at all.

Yelu Tobojia looked at the two thick smoke rising under the horizon in the distance, which were in the direction of Weizhou and Zhaozhou.

Weizhou is a city that trades with the grasslands and collects tribute; Zhaozhou is an administrative city where officials and craftsmen live in groups.

Now these two cities have been destroyed by the angry war of the Tatars.

According to the broken soldiers who escaped from the two cities, the Tatars now have strong soldiers and horses. Their largest unit, Jubu, even has 5,000 heavy cavalry! 30,000 light armor! The war horses are all covered with gold and iron!

Their bows and arrows are several feet long and uniform in standard. The arrows are two inches long and have three small feathers.

That is the armor-breaking awl of the Song Dynasty! A strong bow matched with that kind of arrow, the bow power is as strong as two stones and four buckets!

In the first battle, Yelutoboga suffered a big loss. The Tatars used such bows and arrows to shoot from below the city, causing serious losses to their defenders.

The Tatars are very skilled in archery. Men who can survive to adulthood on the grasslands are all very strong and fierce. With such bows and arrows, they are even more powerful.

The rumble of war drums sounded outside the city, and two heavily armored teams walked out from the front of the formation. Behind them were countless light soldiers with leather armor and iron helmets, and holding strange scimitars.

The most terrifying thing was that a strange vehicle rolled out between the two teams. On both sides of the vehicle were pine pillars, wrapped with hemp rope, and a thick wooden arm stretched out from the middle.

In the middle of the vehicle are three thick javelins.

If Su You was here, he would know that this was the kind of crossbow that was installed on the Erlin tribe's ship, and was now taught to the Tatars by the Han "Master" who came to the Tatar tribe.

The javelin is not for shooting people, but for shooting at the earth wall. It can replace the wooden ladder for climbing, allowing the warriors to climb first.

Yelu Tuopjia's heart felt as if he had fallen into an abyss. He knew how Weizhou and Zhaozhou fell.

He drew out his long sword and said: "All armies, listen to your orders, this battle will be fought to the death!"

Lieutenant General Xiao Lugu also drew his long sword: "Fight with the commander to the bitter end!"

"Nonsense!" Yelu Tobojia kicked him down: "Follow the scouts out of the city, go to the capital quickly, and tell His Majesty that the Tatar rebellion is huge, has a strong military, and is well-organized. It must not be taken lightly!"

Xiao Lugu hugged Yelu Tuopujia's thigh and cried: "The east side has been cut off by Ugu and the enemy force. Even if the general leaves the city, it will be unlucky. Why don't you and the commander stick to Kedun City and wait for Xiao Guli's attack?"

Reinforcements!”

"There are still some ridiculous reinforcements! There hasn't been a word from Xiao Guli so far, so I'm afraid it's going to be a disaster!"

After speaking, he slapped Xiao Lugu's helmet randomly with his sword: "There is no news from the east, I'm afraid it has been blocked by the Tatars, but you must send the news to His Majesty no matter what!"

"Tell your majesty, the Tatars have heavy cavalry! They have three-gun crossbows! What Daliao has to face is no longer a pile of scattered savages! Go quickly! This is a military order!"

Xiao Lugu wiped away his tears, finally let go and ran towards the city.

Yelutopga shouted: "You must live! Go to His Majesty and tell the news, otherwise I will be a ghost and I will not be able to spare you!"

Surrounding three towers and one tower, the Tatars' siege was quite methodical this time.

By the time Xiao Lugu led dozens of horsemen and rushed out of the city from the unencircled side, the thunderous sound of giant crossbows releasing their strings and the roar of Tatars ascending the city could be heard behind them.

…

Wuzi, who resisted Bu's rebellion, captured the three cities of Weizhou, Zhaozhou and Zhenzhou.

Jeddah massacred the 50,000 Liao army of the Recruiting Division on the northwest route, and led the nine Tatar tribes around the former Recruiting Division to go to Tallan City to form an alliance with Magusu and Menggantulak.

Afterwards, the troops were divided into three groups. Jeddah's divination army took the northern route and attacked Jingbian City along the Luqu River.

In the middle, Magusu and Haritaugao attacked the pastureland of their original tribes, Taizhou to the west of Yuerluo.

On the south road, Menggentulak broke through the Langhe River, and the troops were directed towards the Liao Kingdom and went to Beijing!

Jingbian City was Manzhouli in later generations; to the east of Taizhou was the Changchunzhou grain base; to Beijing was Linhuang Mansion, the capital of the Liao Kingdom!

The three places were the key points for the Liao Kingdom to defend the Tatars, relying on Jinshan Mountain, which was later known as the Daxinganling Mountains.

Once it is broken through, the Khitan clan's Longxing hinterland will face the mad slaughter of the Tatars!

This strategy was designed by Master Qu.

Jeddah, the strongest, attacks Jingbian City, the weakest; Magusu, the weakest, threatens Changchunzhou, which the Liao people will inevitably defend with heavy troops; and Menggentulak, whose military strength is not weak, will contain the large number of Liao troops going to Beijing and Zhongjing.

The army is unable to send reinforcements.

The upper horse can defeat the lower horse, which is the traditional strategy of the Central Plains military strategists.

Yelu Hongji finally couldn't sit still. While ordering the Khitan troops and horses to go around to put out the fire, he also ordered the southern states to prepare weapons, money and food. At the same time, he sent a message to the women in the east, asking them to join the king's army in the eastward expedition to wipe out the rebellion.

…

The northwest of the Liao Kingdom was ablaze with blood and fire, but the Song Dynasty was peaceful and peaceful.

The holidays are just around the corner, and this year’s festival will definitely be extremely lively.

Because there are so many good things happening this year.

The emperor got married, Zhang Xueshi took over the Three Kingdoms in the Western Regions, and the imperial court released the world's accumulated debts.

The good things are not over yet. On Xinmao in the twelfth month, we will go to the Jingling Palace; on Renchen, we will enjoy the Imperial Ancestral Temple; and on Guisi, we will worship heaven and earth on the circular hill.

The imperial court was extremely grand, and later a general amnesty was granted to the whole world, and all the ministers from home and abroad extended their favors.

There are also benefits for the common people. In addition to freeing their accumulated debts, they can also pay off the wine, salt and silkworms in the world.

The first two have long existed in name only, but without an explicit order from the imperial court, there is still room for manipulation at the local level.

Now that the edict has been issued, if the local officials dare to act randomly again, the censor will initiate impeachment.

In addition to these, the imperial court also issued an edict at the same time that people who had relatives who were bereaved should be exempted from corvee by being exempted from doing so.

This is because the court now has sufficient money for service, and service has become a job that the people are happy to do. Therefore, if there is a funeral in the family, the court deliberately exempts it out of consideration of human nature.

In fact, there were not many beneficiaries, but the impact was huge. The Song Dynasty always took the word "benevolence and filial piety" very seriously.

After Zhao Xu led his ministers to watch the harvest in September, everyone knew that the day for His Majesty to take charge was getting closer.

However, Zhao Xu did not show any eagerness. Instead, he left all the memorials urging him to take charge of the government, and at the same time issued an edict, once again stating that the two palaces were one.

He also specially issued an order to reward filial sons reported by prefectures and counties all over the world, emphasizing that the Song Dynasty governed the world with benevolence and filial piety.

Even though Gao Taotao repeatedly stopped him, Zhao Xu still ordered his disciples to give King Xu Hao and King Jing Bo sword shoes to go to the palace.

There is another thing that can also explain Zhao Xu's attitude. Before the festival, Dasu held a gathering, including three of the four sons of the Su family, and everyone wrote poems with the title of Yuan Day.

The song Qin Guan composed was actually not very good, but it was appreciated by Zhao Xu.

When I took the photo, I was facing the cold weather in the east, and I suddenly felt that the weather in the Central Plains was vast.

Heaven gives the same order to both palaces, and does not teach spring and year to have their own beginnings.

The Spring Festival in the eighth year of Yuanyou was rather strange, because the first day and the beginning of spring were on the same day. Su You could only complain that God had deprived him of his holiday, but Qin Guan used this intention and praised it in his poem as a gift from God. The blessing of "two palaces with the same command".

This flattery was so exquisite that Zhao Xu was indeed "overjoyed" and even went to the Hanlin Academy to praise it.

Yi Si, Liang Tao again reported: "The former emperor's ministers mostly used talents to advance, and they can be reused for a while, and they are entrusted with the name of another capital, starting with the whole."

This is another attempt to figure out the holy will.

There was always an emperor and a courtier. After Zhao Xu came to power, there would definitely be a major change of blood in the court. Liang Tao's intention was to allow those ministers who had been reused by the late emperor and the empress dowager to be given preferential treatment.

The implication was that Zhao Xu was reminded that it was time to change the team.

Likewise, the memorial was retained by Zhao Xu.

In Jiashen, an edict more important than the release of the world's accumulated debts was issued: "The court officials, clan members, high-ranking officials, and the observation envoys and above are each allowed to occupy ten hectares of Yongye land. The remaining officials and households are willing to use their land and houses for the enjoyment of their ancestors. Those who paid for the sacrifices were also graded, and the officials gave them official records and corrected their tax records."

This is another great virtue policy.

Yongye Field is the name given in the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, under the military merit system, there were twenty acres of Yongye Field in Dingkou. The rest of the land must be obtained through military merit.

After the owner's death, except for the Yongye land, which can be inherited by his children and grandchildren, the rest of the rewarded land will be taken back by the state and redistributed.
Chapter completed!