At the end of September, the autumn air was crisp and clear in the Monan grassland, and a grand party was being held beside the Yuanyang berth.
The Khitans from Liaohe, the Xi people from Rao Leshui, the Nüzhi from Donghai, and the Xijiasi people from Jinshan all sent people to participate in the conference.
Tens of thousands of cavalrymen from all ethnic groups competed in horsemanship and archery beside Yuanyang Park, and they looked very happy.
From a practical point of view, this is indeed a rare moment of joy for the grassland ethnic groups, mainly the Khitan people.
Because more than a year ago, the Khitan emperor rode into the Central Plains with 60,000 people. When he came back, he was just a piece of bacon.
Sixty thousand cavalry went south, but only fifteen thousand came back, and most of their armor was lost. It was a heavy loss.
At that time, everyone thought that the Khitans were about to be doomed, and rebellions broke out one after another in various tribes, making people panic.
At this critical moment, the Han emperor in the south suddenly stopped moving, giving the Khitans a chance to breathe.
The Han emperor was so stupid! Everyone thought so.
This is also an important reason why people of all ethnic groups in the grassland are still willing to participate in the burning ceremony held by the Khitan people after they suffered such a huge defeat.
In their opinion, the Han emperor could not even seize such a good opportunity, and he must have been greedy for pleasure after winning the war.
There are many such examples on the grassland, and without exception, they all lost their positions and lives.
What's more, the Khitans also occupied the Sixteen Yanyun Prefectures in the Han Dynasty.
For the Central Plains, these places are natural barriers, but for the grassland peoples, the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun is the most prosperous place they can see. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the richest place in the world.
Of course, there would also be occasional merchants who would tell them that Han Dynasty further south from Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures was even more prosperous.
But at this time, the herdsmen on the grassland will shake their heads violently, thinking that you are lying.
There are as many people in the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun as ants on the ground. They have grown food that can feed everyone on the grassland, weaved cloth and brocade that can cover the entire land, and can smelt enough for a tribe of a hundred people in one day.
Required ironware.
How can there be any place in the world that is richer than the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Therefore, limited by their narrow vision and limited imagination by being too poor, the brave herdsmen, big and small khans, and chiefs on the grasslands still regard the Khitan as an extremely powerful existence.
Thousands of armors plus the wealthy Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, isn’t this powerful?
And when Liu Zhiyuan led two thousand Hedong cavalry to Yuanyangbo, the atmosphere reached its climax.
Under the introduction of the new Daliao Emperor Yelu Ruan, Liu Zhiyuan became the Northern King of the Han people.
In comparison, they are the left and right wise kings of the Huns and the left and right Yehu of the Turks!
After saying this, everyone understood that it turned out that the Han people were also engaged in internal strife, and even people of the level of virtuous kings came to ask for our help.
He also promised that once we go south, everyone will be able to live in a warm and prosperous land, and we will no longer have to experience white disasters and black disasters every year.
After knowing this information, even the tribal leaders on the grassland started singing and dancing in front of Yelu Ruan.
This is no longer the Great Khitan. It is clearly the Great Khitan that is providing benefits to the men on our grasslands!
Go south! Go to Han'er's territory and grab a handful!
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Liu Zhiyuan's tent was erected to the west of Yuanyangbo, on a hill more than three miles northeast of Liangcheng County, Inner Mongolia.
The terrain here is slightly higher and you can overlook the venue around Yuanyangbo. The address was chosen by Yelu Ruan himself to highlight Liu Zhiyuan's status.
At this time, Liu Zhiyuan, who had gray beard and hair, stood on the hilltop and looked at the various grassland ethnic groups dancing in the mountains beside the mandarin duck, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart.
Although Liu Zhiyuan's ethnic origin is very doubtful, he is probably a mixture of Shatuo, Han, Tuyuhun and Kunlunnu.
But this does not prevent Liu Zhiyuan from thinking that he is a Han. He even thinks that he is a descendant of the Han clan.
Therefore, seeing the excitement of these grassland peoples, Liu Zhiyuan felt very uncomfortable.
Back then, he was one of Shi Jingtang's generals who was most opposed to the cession of Yanyun's Sixteenth Prefecture, but today he is going to follow Shi Jingtang's old path.
"I think back on the old days, when I was a general under Emperor Gaozu, and I once urged him not to lose money to the Khitan people.
Unexpectedly, I have embarked on this road today, and now I know how helpless Emperor Gaozu was in the past."
Liu Zhiyuan knew that what he said was inappropriate, but he still couldn't help but said it to his confidants Bai Wenke, Su Fengji, Shi Hongzhao and others.
Bai Wenke was speechless, but Su Fengji raised his hand and said: "How can Jin Emperor Gaozu compare with the king now? In the past, the Jin State wanted to seek help from Khitan, and ceded territory and claimed the title of son.
But today, Your Majesty, I am here to visit the uncle of the Khitan Emperor, and it is we who have preserved their Liao Kingdom."
Although Shi Hongzhao didn't want to see Su Fengji, he still felt that what this man said made sense. He looked at Liu Zhiyuan, pointed to the various powerful chiefs beside the Yuanyang Park and said carelessly.
"Your Majesty, can you worry about this generation of Northern captives? I really wish that there would be more of them, because compared to the Hexi soldiers, this generation has nothing to worry about! After killing Prince Shaoming, there is plenty of time to deal with them slowly."
Originally, Shi Hongzhao was comforting Liu Zhiyuan, but Liu Zhiyuan felt a sudden change in his heart, because he knew very well that Shi Jingtang was thinking the same way as Shi Hongzhao is now, but what was the result?
However, Liu Zhiyuan would not say this out loud. If he did say it, people's hearts would be shattered.
You, the king, have lost all confidence. Why do the people below follow you to fight for life and death?
So Liu Zhiyuan pretended to be heroic and laughed loudly, "What Huayuan said is that as long as Zhang Zhao is killed, these northern captives are of no use.
When the time comes, our monarchs and ministers will regain Yanyun, drive out the Huru in the north, and pacify Tang and Shu in the south. Just like the story of the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, Huayuan should be the Marquis of Wen of Ruyin."
Marquis Wen of Ruyin is Liu Bang's younger brother Xia Houying. When Liu Zhiyuan said this, he was claiming to be the emperor of the Han Dynasty!
He could only think so, because Liu Zhiyuan was not young at this time.
Later generations saw that Liu Zhiyuan served as Shi Jingtang's subordinate, and established the Later Han Dynasty a few years after Shi Jingtang's death, so there will be an illusion that Liu Zhiyuan is the next generation of Shi Jingtang.
But in fact, Liu Zhiyuan is only five years younger than Shi Jingtang. He was born in the second year of Qianning of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty, that is, 895 AD. He is already fifty-one years old this year, which is enough than Zhang Zhao, who was born in the second year of Qianhua of Liang Dynasty (912).
He is seventeen years older.
The founder of history, Liu Bang, who he regarded as his ancestor, was already fifty-four years old when he founded the Han Dynasty. The others were all very young, so Liu Zhiyuan often used the title of Han Gaozu to encourage himself.
Of course, no one would tell Liu Zhiyuan at this time that the age of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty has always been controversial.
What is generally recognized at this time is Yan Shigu's research. According to this research, Liu Bang was only forty-five years old when he founded the Western Han Dynasty.
Liu Zhiyuan knows that his age is a weakness, and others naturally know it too, but they are not as profound as him.
In addition to Zhang Zhao, this person also includes Yelu Ruan, who invited Liu Zhiyuan to go north and planned to call Liu Zhiyuan his uncle.
Yelu Ruan's life was full of ups and downs.
When he was born, he was the eldest grandson of the ascended emperor Yelu Abaoji, and his future was bright.
But soon, his father Yelvbei was displeased by his grandmother Shuluping, and he lost the throne he had obtained.
Later, the situation became more and more unfavorable. Not to mention the throne, even the position of King Dongdan could hardly be maintained.
And just when he was in the most difficult time, his father Yelvbei couldn't bear the pressure and actually abandoned their mother and son and ran away to the Central Plains.
This is so scary! Yelu Ruan and her son were immediately embarrassed. Are there intact eggs under the overturned nest?
Fortunately, my uncle Yelu Deguang wanted to show off his face and felt that it would not look good on his face to force his brother away, so he respected Yelu Ruan very much and wanted to use this method to show the world that he was not the one who forced his brother away.
However, Yelu Ruan finally lost the protection of his father and was taken by his uncle who was full of desire to perform. You can imagine how uncomfortable he was.
Later, turmoil broke out in the Central Plains, and his father Yelu Bei died. Yelu Ruan followed the army into Tokyo City, thinking of burying his father and leaving, but he found that his younger sister Yelu Abli had disappeared.
In order to find his little sister, he even lived in the Central Plains for several years. Finally he found out that her little sister had gone to Hexi. After many delays, when he returned to Khitan, the political atmosphere was different again.
At this time, his father was dead, and his uncle Yelu Deguang's status was completely stable, and he no longer had to pretend to him. Yelu Ruan's status dropped sharply, and his life became more difficult.
When the Khitan army entered the Central Plains again, Yelu Ruan risked his life to please his uncle Yelu Deguang.
Well! Then I met another uncle and brother-in-law, Shaoming Zhang Tianzi, in Yangqu outside Luoyang City.
The Iron Pigeon Army led by Yelu Ruan ran into the 800 elite Hanshan Duma Infantry Army commanded by Barbarian Bear and Dondup.
This is the confidant of Emperor Shaoming who started his career! He is equipped with divine arm bow, cloth-covered iron armor, pear-shaped spear, and Hexi Pegasus.
Damn it! This battle is almost like hitting an iron plate.
Yelu Ruan finally survived by losing his armor and horse and crawling into the depths of Beimang Mountain using his hands and feet.
Then, Yelu Ruan became even more unpopular and was assigned to the rear army.
Fortunately, Yelu Ruan escaped the pursuit of the Hexi Cavalry and successfully returned north to Youzhou under the protection of Yelu Wuzhi and others.
at last...?
In the end, he was naturally elected as the Khitan Emperor by everyone, because the more than ten thousand riders who came back knew what they were about to face?
That is the mother and son Shulu Ping and Yelu Lihu from Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo.
There were two mothers and two children. After the death of her husband Yelu Abaoji, the mother wanted to bury all the close officials of Yelu Abaoji in order to gain power.
He is a super ruthless person who can cut off his own wrist in front of everyone after being provoked.
The son, on the other hand, is full of muscles and often kills people for entertainment. Even the cruel Khitan people can't stand it. He is a brainless and reckless man.
Who knows if the emperor died in the Southern Dynasty this time, will the Queen Mother and her son be buried in the emperor's stead?
Therefore, as soon as they arrived in Youzhou, after everyone organized their troops and horses a little, they elected Yelu Ruan as the emperor and vowed to hold each other tightly for a way out.
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Of course Shu Luping refused to do it, so Zhang Zhao did not fight, and the two groups of Khitan people had a big battle outside Gubeikou.
However, the Khitan soldiers and horses brought by Yelu Lihu were frightened that the country was about to be destroyed and they wanted to fight among themselves, so they refused to fight to the death.
On the contrary, everyone who returned to the north had no way out. If they lost, they would be dead. In desperation, they broke out with extremely strong fighting power.
The Han people in the land of Yanyun were also afraid of Yelu Lihu's reputation for cruelty, and were afraid that the Khitans from Liao would kill and retaliate in Yanyun after the victory, so they also supported the people returning to the north.
As a result, there was no suspense in the battle. The 15,000 men assembled by Yelu, Li and Hu were easily defeated by the 8,000 cavalry behind Yelu Ruan.
Yelu Lihu threw off his helmet and took off his armor. Under the desperate protection of his entourage, he crossed the Baoqiu River (in Jixian County, Tianjin) in embarrassment and ran back to Liaoyang.
Since then, Shuluping and her son have basically lost the power to bargain. However, because Shuluping still controls the family records of everyone in Youzhou, everyone is afraid that she will suddenly go crazy, so they do not dare to force her.
The final turning point came from Liu Zhiyuan. After Liu Zhiyuan met Yelu Ruan in Dingzhou, the two sides quickly came together because of their confrontation with Zhang Zhao.
At the Dingzhou meeting, Yelu Ruan agreed to release 40,000 Tuyuhun tribesmen north of Yinshan Mountain to Hedong.
Liu Zhiyuan released six thousand cavalry from the Gaosong tribe and returned to Yanyun, which greatly strengthened Yelu Ruan's strength.
This became the key to overcoming Shuluping's inner defense. Because of the alliance with Liu Zhiyuan, Yelu Ruan gained the allegiance of 6,000 people from the Gaosong tribe. With the big gift package sent by Yelu Lihu, Yelu Ruan nominally controlled
The strength of the army reached 30,000 cavalry.
This is almost the last force of the Khitans, and with the stability of the rear, they are already in an invincible position in internal competition. Even the Khitans in Liao are not willing to confront Yelu Ruan anymore.
Therefore, under persecution from both inside and outside, Shuluping could only give up the last resistance that sent the Khitan people into the abyss and announced his agreement to Yelu Ruan's succession under the persuasion of Liu Zhiyuan's envoy and Yelu's house master.
After all, it was the foundation she and Yelu Abaoji built together. Although Shuluping was very cruel to herself and others, she still couldn't make up her mind to destroy this foundation.
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In the Khitan emperor's tent in Yuanyangbo, Yelu Wuzhi and Gao Song were persuading Yelu Ruan.
Because of this alliance, Yelu Ruan not only called Liu Zhiyuan his uncle, but also gave up Shuozhou and Yingzhou among the Sixteen Yanyun Prefectures to Liu Zhiyuan, so that Liu Zhiyuan could gain the reputation of taking back the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
For Yelu Ruan, who had just ascended the throne, although Daliao had just been defeated by Zhou and even the emperor died in the battle, it was still one of the most powerful countries in the world.
As soon as he ascended the throne, he did not expand an inch of the land. Instead, he had to give up Shuo and Ying two states, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Therefore, no matter how much Yelu Wuzhi tried to persuade him, Yelu Ruan never made it clear that he was willing to do this.
Yelvuzhi, who was thirsty, saw that talking for a long time had no effect, so he could only look at Gao Song on the side and motioned for him to come forward and persuade him.
The six thousand cavalry commanded by Gao Song were almost the only ones among the Khitans who were not severely beaten by Zhang Zhao, so their combat effectiveness was considerable. As the leader of these six thousand men, Gao Song's words were naturally not light.
However, Gao Song was not prepared to analyze the general trend of the world from the perspective of Yelu Wuzhi, but he asked Yelu Ruan with a smile.
"Your Majesty, does he know where Liu Zhiyuan's fatal weakness is?"
Seeing that Yelu Ruan finally had something new to talk about, he no longer remained silent. He answered directly without thinking.
"Of course, the population in Hedong is insufficient and the output is not abundant. In Daibei, where the Li family rose in the past years, the warriors in Hedong have suffered too much in the past twenty years, and they can no longer bear the heavy responsibility of controlling the Central Plains again."
Yelu Ruan said it categorically, because not only had he thought about these things himself, but also the personal staff around him had told him a lot, even Yelu Housekeeper had said so.
But Gao Song shook his head, "Liu Zhiyuan's most fatal weakness is not the decline of the Daibei and Hedong warrior groups.
And because he is fifty-one years old this year, the King of Peking is seven years older than Emperor Taizong.
Before I returned to Your Majesty, he tried every possible means to recruit me, so I observed this person at close range."
Hearing this, Yelu Ruan couldn't wait any longer, "Teacher, please tell me, what do you think of Liu Zhiyuan?"
Gao Song made a calm gesture and said slowly: "I discovered that although Liu Zhiyuan held a high position, due to his low status when he was young, he could only fight bravely. Therefore, he suffered a lot, and he still remains today.
There are many hidden diseases.
After Emperor Shao of the Southern Kingdom took control of the Central Plains, he spent most of the night sighing and worrying. He also had to appease various places and compete for Hebei, so he had little food and many things to do.
Your Majesty, do you think this is a symbol of longevity?"
"You mean, Liu Zhiyuan is not going to die soon?" Yelu Ruan was so excited that he stood up and started walking back and forth.
"I also discovered that since Liu Zhiyuan had his third son, Liu Chengxun, ten years ago, Liu Zhiyuan has had no children, and even his concubine had no one to take care of ten years ago. His physical decline is evident.
I even guessed that Liu Zhiyuan has become inhumane. How can he live for another five years like this?"
After listening to Gao Song's words, Yelu Ruan finally calmed down, and Yelu Wuzi also looked at Gao Song with bright eyes.
"At this time of life and death, Tai Tu, please speak freely. If you have any good ideas, you might as well speak out."
When Gao Song saw a top Khitan noble like Yelu Wuzhi, he finally asked him for advice, and his face showed a look of satisfaction inadvertently.
He is from Bohai. Without two brushes, how could he let these Khitan people regard him as one of their own?
"From my perspective, Zhou Lord Shao Ming's son has achieved great success. If he can divide his empire across the river with Shao Ming's son this time, it will be considered a victory. After that, there will definitely be a confrontation between the north and the south.
Our great Khitan occupies the grassland. If we can annex the east of Hedong and replace the people in the north, then we will be qualified to compete with Zhou.
Afterwards, by uniting with Shu, Tang and other countries, we can at least create a situation like the Tuoba Northern Dynasty.
To achieve this goal, we must be indistinguishable from Liu Zhiyuan's Hedong forces.
I suggest that your majesty not only call Liu Zhiyuan uncle, but also treat him as an uncle, and win over more soldiers and generals from Hedong.
The eldest son of the King of Peiping is sick, and the second and third sons are young. Once the landslide collapses, who can control the overall situation of the alliance between the two countries?"
Yelu Ruan listened with rapt attention and was completely absorbed in it. After a long while, he took a deep breath, as if he had just returned to reality, and he hammered the table hard.
"Okay! For the sake of the world of Daliao, I, Yelu Ruan, will endure the humiliation and bear the burden for a while!"
However, while Yelu Ruan and his ministers were discussing in the tent, more than a dozen Chigas knights broke into the cell set up by the Khitans.
They rescued a strong man who was beaten to pieces.
Although the strong man was covered in injuries, he was in good spirits. He looked at the people who came to save him and said.
"You have done a good job. The noble Khan Yinli is our Great Khan. These Khitans are just the defeated generals of the Great Khan. We cannot be traitors.
The betrayal of Tusage and the others will definitely be punished by the Khan.
Their tribe will have no corn to eat, no tea to drink, and no iron tools to use.
This is a God-given opportunity for our Naiman tribe. Let’s go to the south and report Tusage and others to the Great Khan.”