It's not that Shuluping didn't know the dangers of taking out the yellow umbrella and the white oxtail banner that symbolizes the Lord of the grassland, on the contrary, she knew it very well.
But she still wanted to give it a try, to see if she could use the power of her broken-armed queen mother and the tiger skin of the Great Khitan Kingdom, which was no longer useful, to save the Khitan's last face.
There is no way! After two consecutive emperors were killed on the battlefield, the power of the Khitan has been greatly reduced.
Without showing a little bit of strength to a certain extent, the Khitan Kingdom simply cannot survive.
Prairie peoples don't talk about loyalty, and hugging one's own thighs is the eternal truth in the north of the Great Wall.
When the Huns were strong, everyone would listen to the Xiongnu Chanyu. When the Turks rose, the Turkic Khans would be our heaven. In the past, when the Khitan was strong, the Khitan emperor was the lord of the grassland.
In the same way, if the emperor of the Central Plains can dominate the grasslands, he will also become the heroic emperor and Khan of Heaven who is followed by everyone on the grasslands.
In addition to maintaining the last "tiger skin" of the Khitan, Shu Luping had another idea. She wanted to use this method to test Zhang Yan's bottom line.
Shulu Ping couldn't bear to part with it! This Great Khitan Kingdom was actually established by her and Yelu Abaoji.
During the rebellion among his brothers, Yelu Abaoji couldn't do anything to his brothers and wanted to keep them open. It was Shulu Ping who took the initiative to kill them all to avoid future troubles. From then on, the position of Khitan Khan was changed from a rotational system to a new one.
Patrimonial.
Designing to trap and kill hundreds of other chiefs of the seven tribes and their followers, Yelu Abaoji unified the eight tribes and became the real master of the Khitan. It was also when Yelu Abaoji hesitated that Shuluping personally ordered the sword and axemen to general the seven tribes.
The chief was cut into two pieces.
It can be said that without Shulu Ping, Yelu Abaoji would not have been able to unify the eight Khitan tribes and become the Khitan emperor.
Because although Yelu Abaoji was talented and broad-minded, he lacked the ruthlessness to eradicate the weeds, and Shulu Ping helped him complete this ruthlessness.
But today, his son Yelu Deguang and his grandson Yelu Ruan were killed in battle one after another. After tens of thousands of people in the palace tent and the Shan army were wiped out, for the sixty-eight-year-old Shuluping, it was actually almost as good as death.
The glorious country he built with his own hands turned into nothing in the end. Not everyone has the ability to bear this, so Shu Luping came today to avenge his death.
If Zhang Gao kills her, then those tribesmen who are still hesitating and reluctant to flee to Jingbian City (Manzhouli) and re-enter the deep mountains and forests and the north of the desert will know what to do.
If Zhang Gao did not kill her, it would prove that the strategy of Emperor Shao Ming was to first unite the south and then the north, and then unite the Central Plains before moving north like Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Then, in the ten years it took Zhang Zhou to unify the south,
This is the last chance for the Great Khitan.
However, Shuluping, who had been calculating all the way, never expected that she would be hit in the head before she saw Zhang Gao.
Amidst the thunderous sound of horse hoofbeats, a slightly fat general wearing silver-white Zhou Dynasty cloth-covered iron armor came to the five hundred cavalry escorting Shulu Ping.
"I heard that the Khitans always took over immediately, and a certain Zhao Kuangyin came to ask for advice!"
The Khitan people looked at each other, and Han Kuangsi rode out, "This is the carriage of the Empress Dowager of Liao Dynasty. How dare you, a little cavalry general, to stop it? Is this how the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty received his aunt, the Empress Dowager?"
"Hmph!" Zhao Kuangyin snorted coldly, "You are just a Northern barbarian, acting like a beast, but you still dare to call yourself the Northern Dynasty. What a treason!"
After saying this, Zhao Kuangyin drew his bow and shot. With a bang, it hit the wooden pole of Shulu Ping Daguan.
Of course, I won't shoot it off at once, because the big banner is very thick, and it's not a matter of cutting it off with a knife.
However, the significance of the great banner is unusual. The Khitan people were already prepared for the challenge from Zhang and Zhou warriors, so they placed the great banner in the middle army, at least 120 or 30 steps away from Zhao Kuangyin. However, they did not expect that Zhao Kuangyin was such a good shot.
It hit the big banner directly.
At that moment, the next Khitan warrior will fly out of the Khitan formation, holding a hard bow and still shouting, 'Kill you Bian bandit!' The bow and arrow in his hand have been shot three times in a row.
Zhao Kuangyin held the tip of his horse spear and shook it twice, knocking down one of the arrows. The other two arrows were directly inserted into his chest, but they failed to break through the armor and did not penetrate deeply into the flesh.
Seeing this, the Khitan brave general put down his hard bow, held a horse in one hand, and ran towards him holding a small round shield in the other. The small round shield was to prevent Zhao Kuangyin from drawing his bow and shooting him.
However, Zhao Kuangyin did not take off the hard bow at his side, but instead accelerated towards him. Khitan Yong felt relieved and was about to throw away his small buckler and fight with Zhao Kuangyin's horse, but he did not prevent his horse from suddenly screaming and directly
He fell off his horse.
It turned out that Zhao Kuangyin had a crossbow placed on the side of his horse that could be fired with his feet. When he charged, he stepped on the crossbow and the crossbow bolt flew out, knocking over the Khitan general's horse.
Seeing the opponent fall to the ground in front of him, Zhao Kuangyin shouted loudly, rushed over to the horse to check, and knocked the horse out of Khitan Yong's hand.
At the same time, Zhao Kuangyin's horse passed by with its mouth open, howling, and its right rear hoof flicked like a spring.
With a thud, the hoofs of a war horse weighing more than a thousand kilograms were not very light. The Khitan general, who was sitting on the ground, was kicked so hard that his head tilted and his back was knocked off. He twitched like a man and fell to the dust.
middle.
Zhao Kuangyin rode his horse back again, grabbed the Khitan general like a dead dog with his hand, and everyone burst into cheers.
Seeing Zhao Kuangyin's meritorious service, another general suddenly flew out from the front of the formation.
He is not wearing Zhang Zhou's cloth-covered armor, but a set of iron armor with two breast shields that is very rich in the style of the Five Dynasties.
On his head was a helmet with a doudon collar, and his whole body was covered like an iron man, leaving only a pair of eyes. The war horse was also fully equipped.
"I am Zhang Yuanhui of Xingzhou. Is there anyone from the North who dares to go out? If not, just cut off the big banner yourself!"
Zhang Yuanhui was a brave general discovered by Zhang Zhi in Taiyuan City. He was guarding Liu Chong when he surrendered. He was dark and strong, with unruly eyes, and naturally showed a fierce temperament.
When Zhang Hao asked for his name, he immediately laughed. If there was any brave general in the Northern Han Dynasty in history, besides Yang Jiye and Yang Wudi, it was Zhang Yuanhui.
But this man is a bit tragic. In the Battle of Gaoping in history, he led 300 armored cavalry from the Northern Han Dynasty's left army to fight, and directly defeated the Zhou army's right army. The Zhou army was defeated, and Guo Rong, who was in front of the light cavalry, was in danger.
among.
Originally, the defeat of the Later Zhou Dynasty was a foregone conclusion, but who knew that Zhao Kuangyin rose up at the critical moment and withstood the attack of the Northern Han Army.
Liu Chong, the leader of the Northern Han Dynasty, could not see clearly that the Northern Han army had lost its spirit, and forced Zhang Yuanhui to fight. As a result, he was extremely unlucky because his horse slipped and could not get up, so he was beheaded by the Zhou army.
Of course, when it comes to Zhang Yan, Zhang Yuanhui can certainly avoid the fate in history.
And because Zhang Zhou lacks toy armored cavalry generals, since Li Ruotai retreated to the second line, it can be said that there are almost no armored cavalry generals who can take the lead. Zhang Yuanhui's future is bright.
With such a terrifying cavalry commander coming out, naturally there would be no unknown person among the Khitan people. A member of the Yelu family, with the same number of men and horses, rode out slowly.
The two people's eyes met, and they coincidentally started to raise the speed of the war horses to the highest speed at twenty paces. The two giant steel beasts, which were over half a ton, suddenly crossed each other.
Zhang Yuanhui shouted loudly, and even with a weight of two to three hundred kilograms, he made quite light movements on the horse. He took the initiative to turn slightly sideways and used his waist and ribs to meet the spear thrust of the Khitan armor cavalry.
There was a stabbing sound and the sound of metal being scratched. It turned out that there was an iron piece with several layers of brocade on the waist and ribs of Zhang Yuanhui's armor.
He took the initiative to face the enemy sideways. When the enemy's spear came into contact with the piece of iron, the brocade silk that would be quickly pierced would direct the force in another direction, and then the tip of the spear would scratch across the side of the smooth iron plate.
Although at least half of the force will still hit Zhang Yuanhui, it will undoubtedly be reduced a lot.
But at the same time, Zhang Yuanhui, who was holding a gun in his left hand, hit the Khitan armored cavalry in the chest.
Unlike Central Asian nail guns with detachable gun heads, and broken gun shafts represented by Polish Hussars, Chinese armored cavalry stabbing requires more skills, because Chinese lances are long-bladed guns that need to be pierced first and then hit.
Drag cutting.
In an instant, two horses passed by each other. After the long blade suddenly hit the enemy knight, the spear head first penetrated deeply into the chest of the enemy armored knight, and then relied on the terrifying impact of the war horse and the dragging and cutting of the blade.
Ability, suddenly cut open a large piece of the armor leaf on the chest of the Khitan Armor Cavalry.
The scene was quite brutal. It happened almost instantly. People in the distance could only see a burst of blood mist coming out of the chest of the Khitan armored knight, and then he fell softly.
Tremendous cheers suddenly rang out, Zhang Yuanhui turned his horse around and rode back to the main formation, without even touching the enemy on the ground.
Zhao Kuangyin and others hurried over to take care of him. After taking off the bag, he discovered that Zhang Yuanhui was sweating heavily on his head and his face was pale.
It turned out that this Khitan cavalry general was no idler. Although Zhang Yuanhui used real 'technology and hard work', he still had problems with his ribs.
As for the Khitan Armored Cavalry, there is no need to touch up the weapon at all. An object exceeding half a ton accelerates and collides with it. As long as it is hit head-on, half of the life will be lost even if it is not killed.
After winning both battles, the Khitan formation was so frightened that no one dared to step out of the formation.
But Lin Renzhao was a brave man. Seeing this situation, after he rode his horse out of the battle, he jumped up and down in the middle, patted the horse's butt, and drove his mount away.
He only carried two spears, one long and one short, and a bow. His armor only pierced half of his body. He just stood with his feet spread apart in a figure eight shape.
How arrogant! Lin Renzhao stepped on the chest of the still groaning Khitan cavalry general, and gently adjusted the leather jacket on his head. He didn't even wear an iron helmet.
All the Khitans were irritated, and they all looked at a tall and strong Khitan with a long hair.
Shulu Ping also stood up under the Huang Luogai umbrella. He was her great-nephew and was known to be brave.
"Xiao Jingangnu, kill that Bian bandit and strengthen the reputation of our great Khitan."
Xiao Jingangnu put on the iron armor in front of everyone's attention, and ran out from the Khitan military formation with a black iron hammer in his left hand roaring.
At sixty steps, the two drew their bows at the same time. Xiao Jingangnu fired two arrows in a row. One arrow hit Lin Renzhao's chest, but the force was not strong. It was even bounced away. The arrow flew over Lin Renzhao's head.
Lin Renzhao also struck twice in a row. One arrow hit Xiao Jingangnu's neck, causing Xiao Jingangnu to stagger. Another arrow hit Xiao Jingangnu's face armor.
With a clang, Xiao Jingangnu swung his head and couldn't help but scream in pain. When he saw that the two people's archery skills were not at the same level, he threw away the hard bow with a roar, holding a black iron hammer in his left hand and a short-handled ax in his right hand.
He rushed over directly.
Lin Renzhao stood still and suddenly took out a copper-tied iron-backed bow with a large tension from his back. When Xiao Jingangnu saw it, he lost his mind and ran even faster.
Lin Renzhao shouted loudly, and fired the one-stone-five super bow to the full moon. The arrow was like a shooting star, and the arrow shaft shook rapidly, like a poisonous snake that had come alive, running out at high speed while trembling.
With a popping sound, Xiao Jingangnu's body shook violently. He paused for a few seconds and let out an extremely painful scream. Then he threw away the hatchet in his hand, endured the severe pain, broke the arrow shaft, and launched again.
Charged.
"You're not even dead!" Lin Renzhao blinked, shook his aching arm, and charged forward with two iron spears, one long and one short.
Xiao Jingangnu, who had just broken the arrow shaft, had no time to pick up the hatchet. Lin Renzhao rushed in front of him, and the spear suddenly stabbed out. Xiao Jingangnu took advantage of the situation and dodged, trying to get closer with a single hammer blow.
gun.
Unexpectedly, Lin Renzhao's stabbing was fake, and the beating was real. Xiao Jingangnu couldn't avoid it, and was hit in the waist and ribs with a gunshot. The pain made him grimace and his feet suddenly shuddered.
Lin Renzhao took the opportunity to take two steps back and stabbed out with his spear again. Xiao Jingangnu thought that Lin Renzhao was repeating his old tricks and focused on guarding against the beating, but he was shot in the chest.
But this attack also inspired his final ferocity, and then Xiao Jingangnu did not avoid the stab wound and rushed towards Lin Renzhao.
But he didn't know that this was Lin Renzhao's intention.
As soon as Xiao Jingangnu rushed closer, Lin Renzhao hit him with a black hammer, suddenly let go of the spear and accelerated closer. Then he grabbed Xiao Jingangnu's right hand with his left hand, and pointed the short steel spear held in his right hand at Xiao Jingangnu.
The slave's chest was stabbed seven or eight times with a short arrow.
It turned out that the arrow still broke through the armor, but Xiao Jingangnu suppressed the pain. However, this time, Lin Renzhao stabbed one place continuously with a short steel spear, and soon he could no longer hold on.
His huge body shook with Lin Renzhao's thrusts, blood spattered from his chest, and his thick thighs could no longer support his body. He fell softly under Lin Renzhao's hold.
Shuluping watched all this in pain. In just half a cup of tea, she lost three warriors who were against a hundred enemies.
Sure enough, she was right. The luck between the Khitans and China has been reversed. The king's Qi is in the south, and the Holy Lord is about to appear in the Central Plains.
Seeing that no one of the Khitan people dared to come forward, Xue Guizhong rode his horse to the front of the Khitan formation and shouted loudly at Shu Luping.
"According to the emperor's edict, the Khitan master is ordered to go to Huangluo to cover the umbrella, collect the white oxtail banner, and walk to see him."
Such an arrogant attitude immediately angered all the Khitan people. They had become accustomed to it in the past ten years, especially the later Jin Dynasty's strong influence on the Central Plains in the past few years. The yellow luogai umbrella and the large banner were symbols of the Khitan imperial power.
Anger broke out like a tsunami, and all the Khitan people roared and rushed toward the Zhou army.
Then, it was like they were slapped against the stiffest cliff.
Who is the twenty-three-member Zhou Jiang on the opposite side?
That was carefully collected by Saint Zhang from south to north.
There are Yang Ye and Zhang Yuanhui, the brave generals of the Northern Han Dynasty in history.
There were Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Shenqi, the founders of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty.
There is Lin Renzhao, the last Optimus Prime of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
There are also Zhang Cheng, Xue Guizhong and others who were discovered by Zhang Yan himself.
At almost this time and space, the young generation of warriors are already fully armed here. Each of them leads more than ten military schools. How can four to five hundred Khitans be their opponents.
In less than a cup of tea, the Khitan offensive came to a halt. They lost dozens of people, and both men and horses on the battlefield were groaning in pain.
Shu Luping stood on the carriage under the yellow umbrella, holding the edge of the carriage tightly with his left hand, so that his fingers all turned white, and his already old face looked even paler.
The last thing she wanted to see happened. Zhang Yan would not go out to attack now, but he would not sit back and watch the Khitan regain its power.
This was to allow the Khitan to continue to be king outside the Great Wall, but at the same time to push the Khitan's face into the mud, so that everyone could see that the Khitan was a clay Bodhisattva who had not yet molded his golden body.
"Stop! Stop everyone! The Ai family is willing to walk to see Emperor Shaoming!"
Shu Luping shouted in pain, since Zhang Yan must lose face to the Khitan people, there is no need to let these warriors who can go back alive bleed any more. It is also good to keep them here to suppress Bohai. The Jurchens' resistance is also good
.
Zhao Kuangyin wiped a handful of blood from the horse's shaft, looked at his comrades beside him and grinned, "The captive queen is so happy, why did she lose dozens of people?"
Wang Quanbin, Lin Renzhao and others burst out laughing when they heard this.
At this time, Lu Yin, who was from Zhongshu Tian Keshe, came on horseback, followed by a cart pulled by a camel.
"The Holy Emperor has an order, and Shu Luping must meet us in a camel cart."
Everyone burst into laughter again, and the joke about Yelu Deguang running away on a camel in Bai Tuanwei Village, Yangcheng, had spread everywhere.
Shulu Ping's face was livid and she almost fainted, but the Khitan soldiers behind her no longer had the courage to step forward. They all lowered their heads and numbly dealt with their wounds or rescued their relatives.
Seeing that the Khitan people did not dare to resist, the generals rushed forward and smashed the Khitan people's yellow umbrellas and white ox-tail banners to pieces.
Then the Khitan guards who separated Shuluping were driven toward Zhang Gao as if they were holding her hostage by the broken-armed queen mother.
In his high spirits, he felt a strong sense of pride for Zhang Zhou and even for his identity as a Han Chinese.
....
But when they arrived at the palace built by Beian Prefecture Government Office, Zhang Gao didn't say anything to Shu Luping.
When Shuluping stiffened his neck and refused to bow down, Zhang Gao smiled and exempted Shuluping from kneeling down.
"Auntie, you are fine. Are you still in good health?" Zhang Hao looked at Shu Luping with a smile.
Shulu Ping glanced at Zhang Yan several times coldly, then glanced at Zhang Zhou's elite soldiers and generals in the room, and suddenly let out a long sigh.
"You are indeed a wise master. My son did not lose unjustly. It is difficult for the emperor to worry about it. I can eat and sleep. It is not a big problem to live for another thirty years."
Zhang Gao poured a bowl of wine himself and ordered his servant to deliver it to Shulu Ping's table, "That's good. When I conquer the south, I will definitely invite my aunt to Tokyo to see the scenery of the Central Plains."
Shuluping took the wine bowl with his remaining left hand, raised his head and drank it, with a hint of resentment appearing on his face.
"It seems that the Emperor is going south first and then north. I will lead my millions of great Khitan athletes to wait for the Emperor in Mobei."
"Hahaha!" Zhang Hao laughed a few times, "Auntie has misunderstood. Mobei has been the territory of nomadic people like you since ancient times.
Western Liaoning was abandoned long before the Yan rebels invaded China, and it has not belonged to China for two hundred years. I actually have no intention of launching another eastern expedition against Goguryeo like we did during the Sui and Tang Dynasties."
Shu Luping was not moved by Zhang Yan's words at all, and there was no expression of belief on his face.
"I'm just an old woman from outside the Great Wall. I haven't seen much of the market. I can't understand what the emperor is saying."
"It is reasonable for my aunt not to believe it. In fact, I told Brother Deguang when we were by the Hun River in the past that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun have been a barrier to the Han Dynasty since ancient times.
Without the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures in China, it would be like a person missing an arm. No matter who is the emperor of the Central Plains, he will definitely use all his strength to regain it. The Khitans cannot occupy the Han land for a long time.
It's a pity that my brother Deguang didn't take my younger brother's words to heart at all. He not only wanted to be the sixteen states of Yanyun, but also wanted to be the lord of the Central Plains. Now that he is dead, no one else can blame him."
Shu Luping even sneered in his heart, "According to what the emperor said, if my son does not enter the Central Plains, he will not die, and the soldiers and horses from Hexi will not enter the pass?"
Zhang Hao nodded, "If my brother Deguang can return the Sixteenth State of Yanyun, he will definitely be able to continue to be the Lord Beyond the Wall with great glory.
We have been fighting for hundreds of years, and the Khitan will return to the Khitan, and the Chinese people will return to the Chinese people. Isn't this bad?"
Shu Luping still didn't believe what Zhang Yan said, because she herself was the ruler of a country and knew that such words were completely unbelievable.
However, Zhang Yan's words spoke to Shuluping's heart, because in the past, she was very opposed to Yelu Deguang going south, and even did not recommend occupying Yanyun for a long time.
Before Yelv Deguang went south, Shulu Ping even said to him: "Although you have obtained the land of Han, you cannot live in it. If you fall by the wayside, what regrets will you have?"
Seeing that Shuluping was speechless, Zhang Gao stopped talking. Instead, he ordered the wine and food to be served, and began to entertain Shuluping and the Khitan nobles who came as envoys.
At the banquet, Zhang Yan spoke in a kind tone, always had a smile on his face, and frequently invited drinks. Although the Zhou army generals looked fierce and dissatisfied, Zhang Yan, the emperor, seemed to really think so.
When the wine was full, Shulu Ping watched with cold eyes and saw that Zhou's generals were becoming more and more dissatisfied, and some even began to make provocations.
However, the civil servants around the Zhou Lord kept praising them, boasting that it was the benevolent Lord Zhou who eliminated the war and did not seek to conquer Haidong. This was because he would not repeat the mistakes of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty who returned without success.
Shuluping was calculating the truth and falsehood in his mind, when suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside the house, and there was also the sound of the collision of weapons.
A group of Khitan nobles were immediately frightened out of their wits. Shuluping also stood up suddenly, looking straight at Zhang Gao.
I saw a very embarrassed look on Zhang Hao's face, which alternated between red and white, then suddenly disappeared, and his eyes suddenly became much more restrained.
He stared dimly at Murong Nobunaga, who was wearing a moon-white robe beside him, and then glanced at the surrounding generals.
The air froze for a while, and after a while, Murong Nobunaga walked out. The footsteps outside sounded again and gradually faded away.
The Khitan people suddenly felt relieved, and then the drums and music started to play loudly, and Zhang Gao began to invite everyone to the banquet with a sullen expression.
Shuluping felt a wave of excitement in her heart, and then a wave of ecstasy surged into her heart. She suddenly felt that she might have found the reason why Zhang Yan did not attack outside the Great Wall.
That's because of warriors!
At this time, the warriors regarded it as commonplace and committed crimes even more excessively than the Khitans.
I heard that Zhang Zhi had been working hard to weaken the power of generals in the Southern Dynasties, and even wanted to abolish Jiedushi. Now it seems to be true.
Moreover, it has touched upon the core interests of the warriors. The conflict between the civil and military factions of Zhang and Zhou was already great. He did not leave the fortress in order to suppress the continued expansion of the power of the warriors within.
Zhang Gao inadvertently glanced at Shuluping, and Shuluping happened to look at Zhang Gao as well. The two of them quickly averted their eyes with ulterior motives.
Shu Luping was still thinking that he had discovered Zhang Zhou's big secret.
Zhang Hao also sneered in his heart, I have already acted to this extent, but I still can't deceive you?
Not only did I want to conquer Goguryeo like in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, I also had to go to Japan.
Now, let the Khitans continue to manage Liaodong and Liaoxi well, and Zhang Hao can just wait for a few years to pick peaches.
Although the Khitans would definitely have gathered their resources further north in these years in order to avoid being raided by Zhang Zhou.
But that would be great!
Wouldn't it be better to wait until the Khitan people have developed the entire Greater Khingan Mountains before picking peaches?
This is how I used the British Empire when I led it. I rarely developed colonies and waited until others had developed them before grabbing them, which would save trouble.