In Liao Ze, water birds gather in large numbers, and cattle and sheep roam wild.
Yelu Shilu stood by the lake and looked at the figure reflected in the water silently.
Once upon a time, he loved this land with abundant water and grass and thought it was a gift from God. The Khitan people could fish, hunt, graze and even grow millet here, which provided abundant food and expanded the tribe's population.
Compared with them here, the lives of the Kuhaha people in the west are much harder.
The grassland is dry and rainless, and the number of livestock that can be fed is limited. The terrain is endless and flat, and there are no mountains and forests to provide wild products and prey. The rivers are short, the water is not abundant, the lakes and seas are few, and there is not much fishing.
In addition to the Central Plains, the Kansai region is gradually declining. The Western Regions and Helong are fragmented into one, and the people are uneasy. Business travelers are more willing to take the northern grassland, directly to Hedong, Youzhou, Bohai and Khitan to trade. The bitter merchants in the west are taxing Income dropped sharply and craftsmen became increasingly scarce. They were no longer comparable to the Khitan - Guandong was rich and Hebei was densely populated. The Khitan traded with them and their income increased greatly. They were even able to learn more and strengthen their own strength.
"Liaoze is the foundation of Khitan, and now someone is going to kick in the door and come in." Yelv Shilu was very upset, agitated and angry, and even the chiefs of the Xiren Ahui tribe who were surrounding him were a little nervous. disturbed.
"Shilu, Abaoji is too arrogant. It's not enough to teach him a lesson. Do you want to bring disaster to Babu a second time?" Yeluhadi snorted coldly, looked at the large reeds sprouting from the swamp, and said: "If such a good land is taken away by the Xia people, how long will it take to get it back?"
"How arrogant was Lu Long's army during the reign of Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty? Haven't we all endured it? The Han people will make mistakes on their own. The land behind the mountains goes back and forth, sometimes to the Central Plains, sometimes to the grasslands. There is no fixed number. This is God's arrangement. We Just wait patiently." Yelu Shilu was not angry when he heard this and replied.
He and Jiadi are brothers and have a very good relationship. Back then, the two brothers jointly planned to kill a handful of Guzhi and jointly held the power of the Tribunal. Later Shilu became Yu Yue and was the general commander of the Eight Tribunals. It will be a good time to do this when we are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense and Li Jinjie.
It's a pity that Abaoji made great achievements in conquering the tribes from all directions. Shilu also admired his nephew and cultivated him vigorously. Therefore, Abaoji took away the position of Yilijin of the Duici tribe and now he is also the Khan of the Eight tribes. The retinue officer can no longer be shaken.
It is obvious that Haidi has complaints against Shilu and Abaoji.
In the power struggle, no one is right or wrong, and there is no telling who he deserves or who he feels sorry for. The bottom line is that he is unhappy that a junior like Abaoji is standing over him, and he will complain whenever he gets the chance.
"Wait? I'm afraid I can't wait. You have also seen that when the Xia people marched to Liuhe, how easy it would be to leave? A Huibu, these losers, dare not fight, so what do you expect?" Yeluhadi asked.
The Liuhe River is the Yisun River in later generations, and the location of the Changxia Palace is the Mulan Paddock and Saihan Dam in later generations. There are thousands of miles of pine forests, rivers, lakes, swamps, and lush grasslands.
Geographically speaking, this place is actually part of Liaoze. In the era when Liaoze had not yet experienced large-scale desertification, there was no problem with grazing, fishing or hunting here, even with cultivated land. Of course, the degradation of Liaoze may have
Due to the large-scale reclamation of wasteland in the Liao Dynasty, reduced rainfall may also be an important reason.
In the early years of the former Tang Dynasty, this place was undoubtedly the pastureland of the Xi people, because the Mo Dou Army City and the Eastern Army Guard City were both to the south and west. The Liuhe River should be the default national boundary between the Tang and Xi people. Now the Xia people
They crossed the border and advanced a big step to the northeast. The six tribes of the Ahui tribe were so weak that they did not dare to start a war with the Xia people. They ran away and asked the eight Khitan tribes for help.
The strategy may be correct, but this cowardly behavior makes people feel depressed. Why are you so timid? People are robbing you of your pasture!
"It's not the fault of Ah Huibu." Yelv Shilu looked at the group of scoffers with comforting eyes and said, "A lot of their strength has been taken away by Abaoji. It's normal that they don't dare to fight."
Historically, during the Liao Kingdom, the Xi people were good at infantry warfare, and the Xi people's infantry was also very famous. In the Battle of Junziguan, they defeated the Imperial Army of the Northern Song Dynasty head-on, and their combat effectiveness was good compared to that of the Song army. Therefore, Abaoji formed an infantry army. In addition to using a large number of Han people,
In addition to the Bohai people, we also recruited a lot of Liubu Xi's elite, Ah Hui
Since the troops moved south a few years ago, because they are located on the border and have heavy defense tasks, they have been redeployed less, but the loss of personnel has been huge, and Shi Lu knows this.
"They are all excuses." Yeluha didn't know this, but he was just venting his emotions. He didn't want to argue with Shilu too much. He just listened to him say: "Now that the Xia people are coming, just tell me what to do.
?Does Abaoji still want to attack Liaonan?"
"Why do you have such a big opinion against Abaoji?" Shilu frowned, looked at Haidi and said, "Abaoji is a man of great wisdom, you shouldn't doubt him."
"Abaoji was good in the past, but in the past two years he has become a bit crazy." Jiadi sneered: "How can he compete with Shao Shude? What kind of capital does he have, and what kind of capital does the Eight Divisions of Khitan have? Can they compare? Go to the Central Plains to get benefits, get
What? Li Keyong is still weak and lost the land behind the mountain, but now he has spit it out too? If we continue to fight, people will die every year and we will suffer losses every year. How long can we keep fighting?"
Shi Lu's brows furrowed even more and he said, "Are you drunk too much? Is Abaoji going to have trouble with Shao Shude now? It's obviously the Xia people who bullied him at the door. He can't do it without fighting."
"Huh! That's easy to say. There were rumors back then that you and Mother Yan were having an affair. Abaoji is your biological son, right?" Haidi looked sarcastic.
The veins on Yelu Shilu's forehead were exposed, and his hand had already grasped the handle of the knife. Yelu Shilu kept sneering and did not give in at all.
The followers stepped forward one after another, pulled the two people apart, and tried to persuade them.
Shilu took a deep breath, calmed down, and said angrily: "Haidi, are you quarreling with me?" "I am selfless and considerate of the Dieci tribe and the eight Khitan tribes." Jiadi protested.
Said: "In my opinion, it is better to send the 'Fengguo Khitan Seal' given by the Tang court to Luoyang and replace it with the official seal of the Xia Dynasty. In this way, a military disaster may be eliminated. The Khan also agreed to this matter, Shi Lu,
What do you think? You might as well make it clear now."
Hearing the word "Khan", Shi Lu's heart moved and he knew that things were not that simple.
"Haidi, you are a member of the Yelv clan. Don't forget where your roots are." Shi Lu had murderous intentions in his heart, but his face remained unchanged and his voice remained as calm as possible.
"Don't think you are so selfless." He continued to taunt: "Brother Hua ran away and has not been caught yet. You know better than me what happened."
Shi Lu laughed angrily.
He is actually a very face-conscious person. His concubine having an affair with his son may not be a big deal to ordinary people on the grassland, but Shi Lu is Yu Yue. If he changes to a Han official position, that is, he is the prime minister, it is still very embarrassing to talk about.
Yes, it also has a certain impact on prestige.
It is precisely because of this that Brother Hua fled in a hurry with Hua Gu, because he knew that his father might really kill someone. In order to cover up the family scandal, Abaoji would also help his uncle take care of his cousin.
But Shi Lu finally relented. When he sent people to hunt him down, he was given the secret instructions, raised the butcher knife high, and then lowered it gently. Otherwise, a fool like Brother Hua wanted to escape?
This was originally a secret in his heart, but now it was revealed in public by Jiadi, which made Shi Lu more determined to kill him.
Of course, he also knows that Judi is not someone who can be manipulated by others. He still has a certain prestige in the Duici Department and has many cronies. If he wants to move him, he must make long-term plans and wait for the opportunity.
Perhaps, we need to discuss it with Abaoji. His prestige is high enough and he has strong power at his disposal. His wife, Yue Liduo, also has many clever ideas, and she may be able to find a good way to avoid damaging the foundation of Duying Department.
"What? Shilu, do you want to kill me?" Yeluhadi glanced at him and took two steps back. The cronies behind him became nervous and drew their weapons one after another.
Seeing this, Shi Lu's guards also drew their weapons and stared at him with eager eyes.
The Xi people from the Ah Hui Department were dumbfounded. Why did the noble people from the Die La Department start a fight if they disagreed with each other?
"Put them all away!" Yelu Shilu shouted, and the guards immediately put away their weapons, but did not disperse.
"Hadi, tell me the truth, do you want to choose Khan?" Shilu asked, looking directly into Hadi's eyes.
Khan Dejin was horrified after hearing about the defeat of the Khitans in the Western Expedition. He was already in poor health, and now he was in even worse shape.
He collapsed badly. Every winter, he could only lie on the couch and go out for a walk when the weather warmed up. Grassland people are not as disciplined as those in the Central Plains. A sick tiger cannot control a pack of wolves. Since last winter,
Rumors spread in the city of Yaonan Khan that the Eight Tribes were going to re-elect the Khan - the Khan of the Tribal Alliance was originally elected for three years, and he was often replaced in the past. However, in recent decades, the Khan has been tacitly
If he dies, he will be automatically re-elected until his death.
There is no clear statement that the Babu Khan must be a person from the Yaonan clan, but it was just acquiesced in the past. Just like the Babu Yili Jin, there is no explicit stipulation that only a person from the Yelu clan can be the Khan.
Theoretically, anyone can be a khan, and anyone can be a Yili Jin. However, in the past hundred years or so, for the two most important positions of the tribal alliance, everyone has followed the convention and defaulted to the Yaonan clan and the Yelv clan.
No one questioned it.
Yelu Shilu suspected that Jiadi was crazy and wanted to elect a khan.
"Humph! I'm not the one who wants to be Khan, I'm afraid there's someone else?" Yelvhadi turned his sarcasm to the highest level and continued: "Last year, Abao attacked the Bohai Sea and captured a lot of people. Everyone praised him.
.Aren’t many people boasting that only Abaoji is suitable to rule the eight tribes, and is he suitable to be a khan?"
It turns out that the problem lies here. Shi Lu suddenly realized that he had never liked Abaoji. This rumor probably made him very excited. He had endured it for a long time and finally broke out today.
Abaoji once told him that the eight tribes of Khitan were too loose to fight against the Xia people. He suggested learning from the Tubo people, establishing writing and systems, and promoting the code of laws of each tribe, with wings, ten thousand households, one thousand households, one hundred households, etc.
He established military and civilian positions, took over tribal power, and created a unified army.
Tribes were governed by tribal laws, while Han people and Bohai people were governed by Central Plains laws. This was also an effective method practiced by the Tubo people in Helong and the Western Regions.
They captured the two towns of Hexi and Longyou in the Tang State, absorbed Han officials, and the Han generals entered the political power, organized armies of various ethnic groups, and were able to conquer and fight well. They once reached far places in the west, and also conquered Chang'an in the east, which proved to be effective.
Only by learning from the Tubo could the Khitan retain a glimmer of hope of making a comeback in the battle with the Xia people. Shilu agreed with Abaoji in principle, but also felt that this matter was very difficult because it involved the ownership of the Khan position.
With the Xia people watching eagerly, suddenly attacking the Yaonan clan would easily make people lose heart, and the risk would be too great.
Abaoji was also helpless.
After some discussion, the uncle and nephew decided that they could not act rashly for the time being. What Abaoji has to do now is to continue to accumulate reputation, strengthen the strength of the Diela tribe and brotherly and friendly tribes, and let more people support him.
After the Xia people occupied southern Liaoning, while consolidating their foundation, they continued to move northward and occupied Liaoyang, Xincheng, Fushun and other places. They colluded with the Bohai people and were very arrogant.
Especially the scene when Liu Wei's troops entered Liaoyang greatly shocked the Khitan people. Tens of thousands of cavalry and thousands of infantry were helpless, and it was a shame and humiliation for them to rush all the way into Liaoyang City. If these people could be eliminated, it would indeed greatly improve the situation.
Boosting Abaoji's prestige is more useful than attacking the Bohai Kingdom.
Unfortunately, the Xia people seemed to be aware of the crisis in southern Liaoning, and began to hoard supplies, cattle and sheep, build cities, and gather troops on the edge of Liaoze.
With the army pressing down on the situation, the interior was still in a mess, and Shi Lu's mood was already extremely gloomy.