Xiazhou is located in the east of the Xixia Kingdom, with the vast Hengshan Mountains to the south and the vast Mu Us Desert to the north. On the other side of the Hengshan Mountains is the Suide Army of the Song Dynasty.
Xiazhou City is located on the north bank of Dingshui, with ample water resources. There is also the largest iron mine in Xixia nearby. The iron smelting center of Xixia is in Xiazhou.
The commander of the Xiazhou army was Khitan Xiao Heda. More than twenty years ago, the young Xiao Heda came to Xixia as the captain of the guard of Princess Anguo. He never returned to his homeland of Liao Kingdom, but the Khitan cavalry under him changed. A few rounds.
At its peak, Xiao Heda had as many as 30,000 troops. However, in the past two years, Li Qianshun used various excuses to drain away many of his troops. He only had more than 15,000 troops left. Although it was smaller than At its peak, it was less than half, but Li Qianshun was still extremely afraid of him and was still doing everything possible to weaken him.
The vast land of Xixia was covered with heavy snow, and Xiazhou became a snowy world. This morning, a camel caravan slowly walked into Xiazhou City.
This caravan was a barbarian caravan on the Hexi Corridor. They went to Qinzhou, bought a batch of high-quality leather boots in Jichuan County, Qinzhou, and sold them to Xixia. The leather boots in Jichuan County, Qinzhou were from the past. The leather boots of Ganquanbao are very famous and very popular in Xixia. In Qinzhou, they cost three guan per pair, but in Xixia they can be sold for as high as eight guan per pair. A single trip can cost several thousand guan. profit.
Of course, the caravan not only sells leather boots, they also sell other specialties of Qinzhou, such as Qinzhou ceramics, and the recently popular Qinzhou coal in Xixia, which is honeycomb briquettes and briquettes, as well as special coal stoves, fire tongs and other items.
In just one year, briquettes and briquettes have become popular in Qinzhou and Gongzhou due to their convenience and practicality, and soon spread abroad. The first was Xixia. Xixia was also extremely short of fuel. A businessman shipped a batch of briquettes. I went to Xixia with Briquettes and it became very popular and became the first choice for families in Xixia city.
This Hu caravan also had a relatively secret mission. They were entrusted with delivering a personal letter from Chen Qing to Xiao Heda, the commander of the Xiazhou army.
Xiao Heda is about forty years old. He is powerful and strong, with sharp arrow skills and excellent martial arts. He has five sons, all of whom are highly skilled in martial arts. They are known as the Five Tigers of Xiazhou. They control their father's 15,000 troops. , Xiao Heda's two sons-in-law were also Khitan people and were quite talented and learned. The eldest son-in-law Yelu Jinfeng managed the government affairs of Xiazhou for him, and the second son-in-law Ximu Na was his military adviser and advised him.
It was with the help of his five sons and two sons-in-law that Xiao Heda firmly controlled Xiazhou. Li Qianshun wanted to get rid of him, but was unable to move him.
Xiao Heda, closely guarded by hundreds of cavalry, had just returned to the castle from the military camp. At this time, his second son-in-law Xi Muna came up to him and said: "Father-in-law, there is an important situation!"
Xiao Heda frowned, "What's the important situation?"
Xi Muna glanced around, and Xiao Heda nodded, "Let's talk about it after we enter the castle!"
Xiao Heda's mansion is a castle located in the southwest corner of Xiazhou City. It covers an area of 1,500 acres and is surrounded by a wide river. The castle is tall and solid. It can be said to be a city within a city. Five thousand Khitan cavalry and their families live there. In the castle.
Xiao Heda came to the lobby, and Xi Muna took out a letter and presented it to him, "This is a letter sent by someone from Chen Qing. It is his personal letter."
"Chen Qing?"
Xiao Heda's eyes widened, of course he knew Chen Qing, why would Chen Qing find him?
"Who sent the letter?"
"My father-in-law is a Qiang caravan from Zhangye. My son-in-law has repeatedly inquired. They just went to Qinzhou to purchase a batch of goods, and then came to Xiazhou to do business. By the way, they brought this letter to Chen Qing."
Xiao Heda looked at the envelope and saw that it was in Chinese. He knew that the governor of Xihe Road in the Song Dynasty was under the control of Chen Qing and the commander of the Liao Dynasty, Xiao Heda, was under the control.
The title "Chief Commander of Daliao" deeply hurt him. Where does the Kingdom of Daliao still exist?
After a while, he opened the letter and read it again. His eyes widened and his expression became extremely shocked.
Xi Mu Na had never seen his father-in-law look so surprised. He asked cautiously: "Father-in-law, what did Chen Qing say in the letter?"
Xiao Heda waved his hand, "Go and find Yelu Jinfeng, and we'll talk together."
Xi Muna knew that something big must have happened, so he hurried out.
Not long after, Xi Muna and his eldest son-in-law Yelu hurried over. By this time, Xiao Heda had recovered from the extreme shock, but he was still a little distracted and paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his hands.
When he saw his two sons-in-law walking into the lobby, he waved his hand for them to sit down.
Xiao Heda sighed, "I never dreamed that Yelu Dashi would actually rebuild Daliao in the Western Regions."
The two sons-in-law looked at each other, and Xi Mu asked anxiously: "Did Chen Qing say that in the letter?"
"Exactly!"
"But how could Chen Qing know?"
Xiao Heda shook his head, "I don't know the details. Maybe he heard it from a businessman from the Western Regions, but I know that Yelu Dashi led his army to the west, but I didn't expect that he could rebuild Daliao. I only regret that I didn't
can be a part of it.”
Rebuilding the Liao Dynasty is a great cause that every Khitan people dream of, and Xiao Heda is no exception. At this moment, his heart is filled with passion, and he can't wait to lead his army to the Western Regions immediately.
Yelu Jinfeng was very steady. He asked slowly: "Chen Qing must have other intentions when writing to his father-in-law!"
Xiao Heda smiled bitterly and said: "He invited me to join in the great cause of destroying Xixia together!"
"Nonsense!"
Yelu Jinfeng said coldly: "He wants us to rebel and relieve him of the pressure. The army from Lanzhou is pressing down on the border. I don't think he can hold on any longer!"
Xiao Heda knew that the eldest son-in-law saw the problem more thoroughly, and his idea was probably right. He and Chen Qing had never interacted with each other. He came to him now, obviously wanting to take advantage of him.
"What do Jin Feng think I should do?"
Yelu Jinfeng thought for a while and said: "I think my father-in-law should make it clear to the emperor to eliminate the misunderstanding. I am worried that Chen Qing will deliberately drive a wedge between us and the Xixia people. Maybe he will also write a letter to the emperor saying that we intend to rebel.
, my father-in-law simply handed this letter to the emperor to show his innocence!"
"Absolutely not!"
Xi Muna objected: "If Yelv Dashi had not founded the country, we could talk to Li Qianshun, but since Yelv Dashi has rebuilt the Liao Dynasty, Li Qianshun will definitely regard us as a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh, and will definitely do everything possible to eradicate us. We will
Telling Li Qianshun this letter is tantamount to giving him the handle. Regardless of whether we colluded with Chen Qing or not, he will definitely accuse us of secretly colluding with Chen Qing, and he will have an excuse to send troops to destroy us."
Yelu Jinfeng retorted: "If Chen Qing told the emperor that he had colluded with us, wouldn't it be the same thing? The emperor could also find an excuse to destroy us."
"So this is the plan!"
Xi Muna said categorically: "It has nothing to do with whether we colluded with Chen Qing or not. The root cause is that Li Qianshun wants to destroy us. Once he knows that Yelu Dashi is rebuilding Daliao in the Western Regions, he will only speed up the pace of destroying us."
Xiao Heda was completely convinced by his second son-in-law. The second son-in-law was right. The root cause was that Li Qianshun wanted to destroy him. He must not tell Li Qianshun about this and let Li Qianshun use it as an excuse to destroy himself.
Xiao Heda walked around for a few times with his hands behind his back. He made up his mind and said to his two sons-in-law: "I have decided to send people to the Western Regions after next spring to contact Yelu Dashi. I must not be absent when Daliao is restored!"
Yelu Jinfeng said with some reluctance: "But the Western Region is so vast, how do you know where Yelu Dashi will restore the country?"
Xiao Heda pointed to the letter and said: "Chen Qing drew a map in the letter. I probably know where the Xin Liao Kingdom is."
He turned back to Xi Mu and said: "I want to write a reply to Chen Qing to reject his suggestion and thank him for telling me about the restoration of Daliao. You arrange for two capable men to ride camels to Qinzhou to I deliver the letter."