"I have met His Excellency Li Yuanshuai. I am Yelu Youshang, whose nickname is Boqiang."
"Boqiang doesn't need to be polite."
Li Xia saw that the young man in front of him was polite, so he said something polite and asked: "Your surname is Yelu, are you a descendant of the Liao Dynasty?"
"The tenth generation grandson of King Dan of Liaodong, my ancestor served as an official in Dongping during the Jin Dynasty, so I taught at Dongping Academy and later studied under Mr. Lu Zhai."
"Yao Sui and Yan Fu are classmates with you?"
"I was a classmate with Yan Zijing." Yelu Youshang said, "Zijing died early, which is a pity."
"What a pity." Li Xia said.
When Yan Fu's body was hung up in the Chongyang Temple in Kaifeng, he had not left and took a look.
I can’t say I feel guilty, but it’s not easy to cultivate a scholar in the North, and I do feel it’s a pity.
The two exchanged some pleasantries.
Yelu You was only twenty-five years old. Although he was a descendant of Khitan, his appearance and speech were elegant, and he was more polite and polite than ordinary scholars.
Li Xia asked in a casual tone: "You studied under Xu Heng, but you came here under the orders of Lian Xixian?"
"Yes, when Duke Lian was in Jingzhao Mansion, he often discussed the ways of governing the world with his mentor. It was also Lord Lian who begged his mentor to serve as the Imperial Prince of Jingzhao Mansion, to promote culture and education."
"It seems that the academic atmosphere at your place is very harmonious?" Li Xia asked casually.
Yelu Youshang had never paid attention to this problem before and asked doubtfully: "What do you think is wrong?"
At this point, he felt a little anxious and said: "My mentor said that 'the sound of chanting can be heard outside like gold and stone', and Mr. Lian said that 'culture and education are the fundamental plan of the country', so they should be harmonious."
After talking to this point, Li Xia squinted his eyes and could already feel Yelu Youshang's concern for northern culture and education.
In recent years, we have seen that among the northerners, whether they are descendants of the Han, Khitan, Jurchen, Shatuo, or Xianbei, regardless of their literary and military skills, as long as they are Confucian scholars, they are all trying to save each other.
As Zhang Wenjing said back then, her father saved one great scholar after another, such as Yuan Haowen, Zhao Fu, Hao Jing, Wang E, Jingxuan... These great scholars also tried hard to preserve their pitiful cultural heritage in the flames of war.
This context is too pitiful to tolerate the Northerners' intrigues.
I have seen the relationship between Lian Xixian and Xu Heng, and then I have seen the relationship between Jia Sidao and Wu Qian, they have reached the point of fighting each other.
"Since Lian Xixian asked you to come, if you want to surrender to me, please come back."
"I'm not here to recruit you, but..."
Li Xia didn't give him a chance to be a lobbyist and interrupted: "Are you here to ask me for surrender?"
When Yelu Youshang heard the words, he paused for a moment and said: "Your troops entered Longxi and did not harm the people at all. You can be called a teacher of benevolence and righteousness. Mr. Lian was deeply touched and wanted to make a three-part agreement with you."
"If he fights or doesn't fight, he will be too verbose."
Yelu Youshang acted as if he had not heard anything and said: "Now that the two sides are fighting in Longxi with benevolent and righteous troops, can we make an agreement that if the Mongolian rebels from Ganzhou, Tubo and other places invade, we should immediately cease the war and defeat the foreign invaders together."
Li Xia asked: "Brother Ali? Are they 'rebels' or 'foreign invaders'?"
"To us, Brother Ali is a rebel. To you, he is a foreign invader."
"Lian Xixian made a good calculation." Li Xia said calmly: "Afraid that Brother Alibu will come down from the Jinghe River and prevent Guanzhong from fully attacking me? But Brother Alibu is your biggest enemy, not mine."
"That's right." Yelu Youshang admitted frankly and said: "Now that your Excellency is taking Longxi, although Duke Lian is worried, he is not angry. The one who is worried is Brother Ali."
"Why should I care about you?"
"To the north of Longxi, the terrain is flat and broad, so you must be on guard." Yelu Youshang said: "I dare to say one more thing. Your Excellency once said, 'Brother Ali Bu sincerely admires the majesty of the Han family.' This sentence greatly hurt the hearts of the people in the north.
"
"Why should we be serious? Since Brother Ali is the enemy of Kublai Khan, the enemy of my enemy may be my friend..."
"Friend?" Yelu Youshang bowed to the ground and said: "I'm afraid you don't know Brother Ali Bu. This man deeply hates the Han system. He regards the people of the Central Plains as cattle and sheep and slaughters them at will. If his troops and horses are allowed to enter Longxi,
Today he defeats you and me, and tomorrow he will turn the butcher's knife around and teach the people of Guanlong that they will not survive even one out of ten."
He took a step forward, his eyes sincere and sincere.
"The internal fighting in Mongolia has always been fierce. As early as when the Jin Dynasty was destroyed, there was a dispute between adhering to Mongolian tradition or practicing Han law. And what is Mongolian tradition? It was just a big plunder. Ali Buge thought that the vastness of the world could never be plundered and there was no need to govern it. He
Slaughter all the people wherever they go, and turn them into grasslands and pastures for the Mongols to graze. Mr. Lian said frankly from the bottom of his heart, Brother Alibu will never be your friend..."
Li Xia raised his hand to interrupt and said, "You don't have to say anything, I understand what you mean."
"I'm afraid you still think that Brother Ali is nothing to be afraid of..."
"Don't worry, I understand."
Li Xia interrupted Yelu Youshang again and said, "I have far more principles than you."
…
In Li Xia's view, the battle between Song and Mongolia can be roughly divided into three stages: Meng Gong, Yu Jie, and Lu Wende.
Meng Gong defeated the Mongolian army many times, but he still had the ambition to recover. When Yu Jie defended Shu, he could only defend the mountain city.
What is the difference between Yu Jie and Meng Gong?
The vitality of Sichuan and Shu was greatly damaged.
Before Yu Jie took office, 12 million people in Sichuan and Sichuan had been massacred.
Even if Yu Jie is a god, he cannot achieve the results of Meng Gong. As for Li Xia, he has caught up with the great changes in Mongolia, and the timing is different.
All other conditions can be created, but only population. Without a hundred years of hard work, Sichuan and Shu would not be able to recover.
This is the consequence of allowing the Mongolian troops who "stick to tradition" to enter the country.
Looking at the internal strife in Mongolia, Brother Alibaba was far less talented and strategic than Kublai Khan.
But this does not mean that Li Xia helps Ali Bu Ge defeat Kublai Khan, and it will be easier to deal with Ali Bu Ge.
On the contrary, if Kublai Khan wins, Li Xia may still have a chance to defeat Kublai Khan; but if Ali fails to win, it will be even harder for Li Xia to resist the Mongols.
Because if Kublai Khan wins, it means that the Mongolian iron hoof will have to stop and conquer while governing. If it stops, it will have to sit on the ground and divide the wealth, and it will be divided.
The northern Han people spent more than 20 years of hard work, which happened to help the Mongolian Sinicization faction gain one-fifth of the power, and they fought internally with the traditional faction, and then the huge empire fell into pieces.
If Ali cannot win, he will be preventing and delaying this split.
When Mongolia's "tradition" triumphed, the Mongols continued to think that the vast world could never be plundered, and they continued to plunder, and the Mongolian iron hoofs continued.
This principle is wrong, but the butcher's knife does not ask whether it is right or wrong.
Li Xia didn't have the Great Wall or the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. As long as the Mongolian army marched straight into it once, the Central Plains would be devastated, and they would lose a hundred years of vitality and the possibility of victory.
He had to make good use of the efforts of the Northerners for more than 20 years, and then wrest the support of the Northerners from Kublai Khan.
Rather than hoping for help from a crazy butcher.
To put it simply, Li Xia thought Kublai Khan was bad, but Ali was even worse.
Kublai Khan was able to defeat Ali Bu Ge in terms of personal ability and win the throne, but Ali Bu Ge was characterized by his ability to destroy Li Xia through massacre. Li Xia could only defeat Kublai Khan by robbing the hearts of the Central Plains.
Strength and weakness are not simple numerical values, the trend of strength and weakness is fluid.
Politics and war are very subtle things, not simply one plus one equals two.
So now, it is not Brother Ali who is helping to resist Kublai Khan, but Kublai Khan who is helping to resist Brother Ali.
The former is selfish, the selfish desire to be king and emperor; the latter is the public heart, the public heart to protect the world.
This is not hypocritical, but in politics and war we must clearly understand the relationship between the enemy and ourselves, who is the real enemy, and who is the real target that can be won over.
…
"I understand what Yeom Xixian wants to tell me."
Li Xia looked at Yelu Youshang, saw clearly the anxiety in his eyes, and spoke calmly.
"I have fought against you many times, fought many battles, and had many personal grudges. It seems that we are enemies. But I have never been in contact with Ali Buge. Hunduhai once invited me to fight Wang Liangchen together.
They seem to be my friends."
Yelu Youshang said anxiously: "Hunduhai is definitely not sincere to your Excellency..."
"Don't worry, listen to me." Li Xia said: "Whether we are friends or enemies depends not on the number of personal grievances, but on... the cultural form. People who only know how to burn, kill and rob will never be my friends, I know. On the contrary.
It is you who can support me one day."
"Support your Excellency?" Yelu Youshang was slightly stunned and said: "Your Excellency, I am afraid that you are not enough to ensure peace in the world."
After saying this, he realized that he had lost his composure because of Li Xia's arrogance, and said again: "Lian Gong is sent down to tell you that the current situation is at this point. Your Majesty is holding back Ali Buge's brutal army and is in great danger. If your Excellency is on fire,
If you add more oil, you may cause fire and burn yourself to death."
"Don't worry, I understand." Li Xia said: "I said, I want to do better than Kublai Khan, not worse than him. Kublai Khan dares to betray the Mongolian tradition. It would be too much for me to still ally with Ali.
It hurts the hearts of the people in the north."
"This is exactly the reason." Yelu Youshang was overjoyed. He bowed to the ground and said, "Your Excellency has not joined forces with Hunduhai. Duke Lian admires you very much."
"He doesn't deserve it."
Yelu Youshang was stunned for a moment and lost his sense again.
Li Xia said: "He talks about advocating Hanization while succumbing to the Mongolian butcher knife. He is not worthy of respecting me for this matter. But I hope that one day, he can truly practice Han law. At that time, I will respect him."
"Your Excellency...it's too..."
"Because I have no regrets." Li Xia said.
Yelu Youshang couldn't grasp the direction of the conversation for a moment, so he said bluntly: "Your Excellency, have you agreed to Lian Gong's invitation?"
"I'm just saying that I understand what he means. But I think Kublai Khan can be forced again. If I win Guanzhong, Kublai Khan can barely beat Ali Buge."
Yelu Youshang hesitated for a moment, thought for a while, and responded: "Well, Mr. Lian is willing to use your strengths to see if you have the ability to seize Guanzhong."
"Okay. If the Mongolian army comes from Tubo and Ganzhou invades Longxi, you must make a truce with me; if the Mongolian army comes from Jingyuan to attack the key points, I will not take advantage of others' danger."
"Thank you Li Shuai!"
Yelu Youshang bowed once again, then raised his head to look at Li Xia, as if observing his expression carefully, and said slowly.
"Since the teachers of benevolence and righteousness are fighting against each other, if you take Guanzhong, please continue to do nothing in Qiu; and if we take Hanzhong, the same will happen."
Li Xia's expression did not change at all.
~~
It wasn't until after sending Yelu Youshang away that Li Xia pulled out the map of Hanzhong and frowned in thought.
He would rather bring only 8,000 people to Longxi instead of deploying more troops from Shu, just to ensure stability in the rear.
Indeed, Lin Zi once led 3,000 men from Hanzhong and went with Xu Kui's troops at Dashan Pass to block Liu Heima, but it only lasted ten days. Now, 3,000 troops have returned to Hanzhong, as well as troops stationed at various passes.
Lian Xixian takes Hanzhong?
Where to go?
Don’t worry about the Qishan Road that must pass through Longxi. There are four other roads in total——
It is best to go to Chencang Road, but Xu Kui leads 3,000 troops to garrison Dashan Pass;
Baoxie Road is dilapidated. Although it has been repaired since the Tang and Song Dynasties, it is no longer as easy to walk as it used to be. There is also Xiegu Pass, and Song He led 2,000 troops to garrison it;
The Tangluo Road was the most dangerous and almost impassable. However, considering that Wanyan Liang had divided the road to attack the Song Dynasty, he sent troops to the Tangluo Road and also deployed a thousand defenders at Luogu Pass.
The Ziwu Road is the longest and is also difficult and dangerous. Yang Ben led 2,000 men to garrison at Ziwu Pass.
Li Xia thought about it and concluded that Lian Xixian was taking too much risk by sending troops no matter what.
"What are you taking Hanzhong for? Is it a test? Is it a threat? Or is it to mess with my mind?"