The north wind blows and the white grass breaks on the ground, and the sky is full of snow in August.
In August, some people set out from Tianchi and returned east to Chang'an.
The team will pass through Gaochang, Lop Nur, Yumen Pass, cross the Hexi Corridor, and arrive at Liupan Mountain to set up the palace of the new generation of Mongolian Khans before continuing their march.
The journey home is long and the desert is vast.
The Yellow River is halfway there.
After crossing the Yellow River, we are still far away from Chang'an.
…
During the same period of time, there was also a detailed map that was often displayed.
Although the map is large, it cannot see the nine bends of the Yellow River. Not to mention the eight thousand miles of clouds and moons to the north and west of the Yellow River.
On the fine rice paper, thin thick ink outlines half of the country, with bright colors.
Hanzhong is in the northwest corner.
Someone pointed his finger at Xiangyang, walked up the Han River, and tapped the word "Hanzhong" lightly, looking a little anxious.
"Are you sure? Li Xia is really not in Chang'an?"
"Definitely not. In May, our spies stationed in Chang'an noticed something was wrong. At that time, they had not heard any news about Li Xia's travel for a month, but they were not sure yet..."
Jia Sidao frowned impatiently.
It takes two months for news to come and go between Chang'an and Lin'an. Officials at all levels are very slow in doing things, which makes him obviously much lagging behind others in terms of information.
This delay is reflected in the fact that the news that Kublai Khan changed the name of his country to "Dayuan" was told to Jia Sidao by envoys from Dayuan, not spies from the north.
It’s not Jia Sidao’s fault.
In the early years, the intelligence of the Song Dynasty was very good. Yue Fei used spies to get rid of Liu Yu; Han Shizhong defeated the enemy with death; there were also figures like Yu Wenxuzhong and Hong Hao;
The picture of Zhang Jin is filled with the number of enemy soldiers and cavalry, the place where they garrisoned Xu, and the names of their generals.
Unfortunately, now, the north and the south have been divided for a long time. Not only are the espionage reports useless, but no one from the north is willing to pass on information to the Song court anymore.
Sending some southerners to the north, only Li Xia's group can come back...
In mid-May, Kublai Khan sent an envoy to see Jia Sidao and did not discuss the matter of the yearly coins agreed upon in Ezhou.
He didn't say anything after being deceived. The Mongolian master finally suffered a secret loss in front of Jia Pingzhang and accepted his defeat.
The two sides agreed that the Song army would send troops to Sichuan and Shu to cooperate with the Yuan Dynasty to attack Li Xia.
Having said that, Jia Sidao still had no intention of keeping his promise.
In his eyes, Kublai Khan was a barbarian. Since he had been deceived once, why not deceive him a second time?
Li Xia has not yet openly rebelled. The imperial court cooperates with foreign enemies to attack his vassal town, which is unjust and unjust. But the imperial court must retake Sichuan, Shu and Hanzhong.
Without the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it would be equivalent to the emperor putting his neck under the sword of the rebels.
The best way is to wait for Li Xia to start a war with Kublai Khan, send troops into Sichuan and Shu, and take over Li Xia's power.
There are many situations, the best one is-Li Xia is dead.
…
"Ping Zhanggong, based on the information we have received so far, we infer that Li Xia probably went to the Western Regions..."
Jia Sidao was a little confused when he heard "Western Regions". He glanced at the map and didn't know how far it was.
"Yuan Ting got the news of Li Xia's departure earlier than we did, so there must be some arrangements..."
Each of these words made Jia Sidao feel unhappy.
"What the Yuan court has to do is very simple. Take the opportunity to kill Li Xia and send troops to attack Guanzhong. Ping Zhanggong please see that when Li Xia is in power, all the civil and military officials will be leaderless. Facing the Yuan army's offensive, they will be unable to support them and can only turn to
Imperial Court. Gao Changshou, Zhang Hongdao will be moved when he thinks of the Imperial Court’s order calling them to be raised in the south of the Yangtze River..."
"You have a beautiful thought." Jia Sidao finally spoke, scratching his chin, not knowing who he was mocking, and scolding lightly: "Every time, I get drunk."
"Ya Xing, Ping Zhanggong is talking about Ya Xing."
"Oh, keep talking."
"Even if Gao Changshou is present, Zhang Hongdao couldn't figure it out for a while. Marshal Lu is ready to support Hanzhong's fight against the Yuan Dynasty at any time..."
The staff analyzed everything in an orderly manner.
Jia Sidao didn't like to hear it.
He knew very well that although these plans sounded colorful, in fact, their success or failure was in the hands of others.
Only when Li Xia dies can everything planned by these idiots be realized.
If he really wanted to make a difference, he had to personally take command, Jia Sidao, sit on the front line and stabilize the southwest border for the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop.
"Although the situation in Chang'an is not easy to detect, we can observe the movement of the Yuan army to judge. The Yuan army was defeated last year. If it dares to start a war this year, it means that Li Xia is in danger..."
Listening to these analyses, Jia Sidao thought about the scene when he first heard about Li Xia's return from Kaifeng in the fourth year of Xingchang.
That man was blessed with good fortune, so how could he die?
When I looked up, I saw Gui Hepu hurriedly turning from the front hall.
"What's the matter?"
"Alang, urgent message from Xiangyang."
Everyone in the hall was stunned for a moment, watching the letter being opened by Jia Sidao.
But Jia Sidao narrowed his eyes.
He grooms himself well every day, with shiny hair and powdered face. He looks very young and radiant from a distance, but when he squints, he actually has very deep eye lines.
Because of his eye lines, he looked a little miserable.
After pondering for a while and regaining his composure, he spoke in a frivolous tone.
"Dong Wenbing has received the news that Li Xia is dead and has begun to attack Tongguan."
"..."
Everyone in the hall was not overjoyed, and everyone seemed very cautious.
The Song Dynasty once united with Jin to destroy Liao and Mongolia to destroy Jin. This is true.
It seems that these scholar-bureaucrats are all fools, but only by being in it can you know the helplessness. At least when they joined forces to destroy the gold, they had already realized that this was another problem.
What should we do? The Kingdom of Jin wants to compensate Song Dynasty.
In fact, Jia Sidao has already thought through it. He understands that no matter what choice he makes in troubled times, it is wrong. Yesterday, it did not matter whether it was Lianjin or Lianmeng. Today, whether it was Lianyuan or Lianli Xia, it was all useless.
Only strengthening national strength is the right way.
Therefore, his goal this time is just to take back Hanzhong, Sichuan, and try to regain the power left by Li Xia.
Have to be cautious.
Jia Sidao thought about it and finally said slowly: "You think if I go there personally..."
"No, Mr. Pingzhang! The court cannot live without Mr. Pingzhang."
"I have made up my mind, and let's prepare. Once the Yuan army breaks through Tongguan, we will set off immediately."
"Ping Zhanggong..."
Jia Sidao said no more, turned around and left the hall.
…
"died?"
Walking up the tall building alone, Jia Sidao looked at the West Lake in the distance with doubts in his eyes.
"I arranged to assassinate you again and again, but you died so easily in the Western Region?"
After all, he didn't want to believe the news of Li Xia's death so simply.
But Dong Wenbing, the dignified commander-in-chief of Dayuan, will not get false news, right?
The Central Plains’ rich heritage and Mongolia’s national strength should not make such a clumsy mistake.
After thinking about it, Jia Sidao suddenly thought: "Isn't it intentional?"
Someone deliberately deceived Dong Wenbing, or Dong Wenbing deliberately deceived his subordinates, or even deceived the Song Dynasty into sending troops?
But why?
No, the Mongols wouldn't bother with this, and the Yuan Dynasty wouldn't need to use this method to deal with Li Xia, and they wouldn't be in a hurry.
After dispelling the sudden strange thoughts in his mind, Jia Sidao couldn't think of any other possibility and sneered.
"You are really dead, a good death, a good death."
He raised his hands and straightened his sleeves, wanting to drink and have fun to celebrate, or write a poem to celebrate, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly lost interest.
In the end, Jia Sidao only read one line of poetry from his predecessors.
"I want to offer sacrifices to you, but I am crying at the end of the world... I want to offer sacrifices to you, I suspect you are here."
~~
Until mid-September.
At Liupan Mountain, someone is offering sacrifices.
"Only because of strong perseverance, there are creatures flying in the air. Only because of evildoers, I ask you to come forward to guard..."
"Saint Sulede worships you, the Holy Son of Heaven, Genghis Khan..."
Li Xia was on a high platform far away, looking at the thin figure in white robe with his arms folded.
It was Xilijihan dressed as a lost neighbor princess, leading the kings in worship.
He also discovered that Shi Lin and Duo Siman looked very similar, the same age, the same eyes, and the same stubbornness when they occasionally lost their temper.
Just as he was thinking about this, a fast horse arrived at the Liupanshan Palace. The messenger met Wu Ze first.
Wu Ze hurried to see Li Xia.
"Your Majesty! Urgent report from Chang'an..."
Li Xia took the letter and read it, frowned slightly, but remained very calm and said: "Don't panic, it's late."
"Yes." Wu Ze finally calmed down and continued to watch the memorial ceremony in the distance.
There was a lookout tube in his arms. When he lifted it up, he did not look at "Xili Jihan" like Li Xia, but at the old shaman at the top.
His heart trembled inexplicably, and Wu Ze suddenly felt a chill on his back, and couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, can I ask, did that old shaman really poison Xiliji to death?"
"No." Li Xia said casually: "Xili Jihan is still alive and is offering sacrifices..."