After defeating Wei Sheng, Chao Yong left Shi Wengong, Guan Sheng, Hua Rong, Qin and Ming 40,000 men to clear out Tian Hu's remaining forces, and returned to Tokyo with Wu Song's 10,000 troops and horses.
Just one day away from Weisheng, they received news that Zhe Keqiu led his troops to raid and captured Taiyuan. After Daliang sent troops to Hedong, the Zhe family sent troops to capture Lanzhou, and then marched eastward to attack Xianzhou, intending to attack Hedong.
It looked like they had captured all the prefectures in the north. When Chao Yong led his troops to the east of Hedong and Tian Hu focused all his attention on the south, Zhe Keqiu suddenly led his troops south and captured Taiyuan.
Although Taiyuan Prefecture is an important place in the east of Hedong, Tian Hu did not pay too much attention to it after taking it. He just regarded Taiyuan as a source of money and food, and plundered it, which made the people of Taiyuan boil with resentment. After the Zhejia Army invaded Taiyuan, the soldiers and civilians in the city began to do what they wanted.
In response, Tian Hu's 20,000 soldiers and horses were also wiped out by the Zhe family army who had experienced hundreds of battles.
Obviously, the Zhejia army was following Chao Yong's instructions and worked hard, but they did not want to consume too much of their troops. Otherwise, after capturing Lanzhou, they should go south to attack Taiyuan, and then threaten to win. Marching eastward to attack Xianzhou, although
It was also to seize the city occupied by Tian Hu, but it was also suspected of conserving strength for errands.
Therefore, Chao Yong just wrote to the court, asking Feng Zhe to be the deputy commander-in-chief of Hedong and Guan Sheng to be the commander-in-chief of Hedong.
Guan Sheng was born in Hedong, and with the help of Xuanzan, Hao Siwen, Baodushan Tang Bin, Wen Zhongrong, and Cui Ye, it was enough to suppress the situation in Hedong. However, after the others wiped out the remaining forces of Tian Hu, Chao Yong also returned to another
There is an appointment.
The prince's personal soldiers escorting the Xixia prisoners were faster than Chao Yong and his party, but they did not go directly to Tokyo, but waited for the prince in Yangwu.
After the two groups reunited, they headed for Tokyo.
The scale of welcoming the crown prince's triumphant return was unprecedented. Chao Yong led 10,000 troops and horses, escorting Li Renai and Yelu Nanxian. Dozens of Xixia royal family marched to Kyoto, and there were dozens of vehicles loaded with rare treasures plundered by the Xixia dynasties.
The queue for the car and the teacher was not long, but the queue to greet them was endless.
The Emperor of Liang ordered that, except for the left and right ministers, who were involved in political affairs, all the remaining officials in the capital should go out ten miles from the city to greet him.
In fact, there is no need for the emperor to issue an order. Which official in Tokyo does not want to please the popular prince. Although thousands of officials go out to welcome them, the prince may not be able to see them. Even if he sees them, he may not be able to remember them, but if they
If you don't go, there's no guarantee that someone else will accidentally tell the truth in front of the prince at any time. Or the prince and prime minister can hold a boat and won't hold grudges, but there are all the prince's confidants in the court, and these people may not be let go.
People who are disrespectful to the prince.
The officials alone lined up for nearly a mile, which shows that there were many officials in Tokyo. This was because Daliang had streamlined many officials in the Song Dynasty. However, there were already many functional departments in Tokyo and they were in charge of national affairs. The number of officials in the city was far from ordinary cities.
Comparable.
Behind them are the elders in the city who came to welcome them. In the past, officials would also find some squires in the city, and some old people in the city who were over 60 years old to show off, but the number would not be very large. If there were too many, the censor would impeach.
The people will also have complaints.
Because the overall life span is not high, the elderly after reaching the age of sixty have been treasures in all dynasties. Many emperors have invited the elderly to the palace and held a longevity banquet or something to show their civility. The world is peaceful and the people are healthy.
Only in prosperous times will there be so many old people. As long as you live to be sixty years old, the court will give you some rewards. Even if you live in poverty, you no longer have to worry about food and clothing. And many times, you will be invited by local officials to represent the city.
The people greet their superiors. If your clothes are worn out, local officials will put you into some new but not extravagant clothes.
But this time, the people in the city queued directly into the city from ten miles away. Moreover, the Tokyo officials did not organize them. All the people came out of the city spontaneously, hoping to see the prince's heroic appearance in advance.
Decades after the founding of Xixia, it harmed Shaanxi for decades. Although the Song Dynasty also achieved many victories against Xixia, it seemed that Xixia was about to be destroyed several times, but every time it failed, although sometimes it was because of pressure from the Liao State, but
Most of the time, there was a problem with the Song Dynasty's own soldiers and horses, or there was a problem with the Song Dynasty court. So Xixia could only let Xixia plunder the people of Shaanxi again and again. Although the people of the Central Plains were not oppressed by the Xixia soldiers and horses, they had to pay for it.
Sui coins. No matter how much they are, Sui coins are a shame to the people of the Central Plains.
Once upon a time, everyone in the world was looking forward to destroying Xixia, but this wish made them wait generation after generation. The emperors of the Song Dynasty also worked hard for it generation after generation, but as emperors passed away one generation after another, Xixia was passed down from generation to generation.
Go on. Even so, the emperor of the Song Dynasty was not willing to fully trust the generals of the border army and let the generals of the border army do their best. That might destroy Xixia, but it might also lead to a situation where the tail was too strong to be defeated, repeating the history of yellow robes and military generals usurping the throne. This was also the history of the Song Dynasty.
The thing the emperor is most wary of.
Daliang destroyed the Song Dynasty, and Xixia sent troops to invade the border. People originally thought that Xixia might take the opportunity to invade Shaanxi, and even invade the west of Beijing and harass the capital. Just like Tubo in the Tang Dynasty, they often sent troops to invade.
But no one expected that after Chao Yong led troops to reinforce Xixia, he would win with less. He first defeated the army of Xixia Jin King Chage, and then defeated the army of Xixia leader Li Qianshun. He also captured Li Qianshun alive, and then beheaded him in public.
The first demonstration showed Daliang's domineering attitude.
In fact, Chao Yong led troops to attack Cha Ge and Li Qianshun. The strength of both sides was almost the same. Cha Ge and Li Qianshun's troops were already in the suppression army. Deshun's army had lost nearly half, with only 100,000 troops left. However, Chao Yong's troops
There were also 90,000 soldiers and horses. If Cha Ge and Li Qianshun joined forces, it can be said that Chao Yong defeated the many with less, but they were defeated by Chao Yong one by one, so it can be said that they were just two battles of equal strength.
However, when Cha Ge and Li Qianshun led the army, they claimed that each route had 200,000 troops. Most people thought that since the Western Army asked for help, it would be overwhelmed by the Xixia troops. The Xixia troops were basically preserved.
Complete, which means that the prince defeated 400,000 soldiers and horses.
Daliang did not say that the prince defeated 400,000 soldiers and horses, but he also did not say how many soldiers and horses were defeated. He only said that he defeated Cha Ge and Li Qianshun's troops. One is because it is impossible to estimate the remaining troops of Cha Ge and Li Qianshun, and the other is not necessarily
He has no intention of continuing to put the prince on a pedestal.
However, the imperial court did not miss the rewards from the Western Army, so many people still calculated from the rewards from the imperial court how many Xixia soldiers and horses Liu Zhongwu led his troops to kill and wounded, and then knew how many Xixia soldiers and horses the prince defeated. But no one
What is doubtful is that Chao Yong defeated the Xixia elite, not the cannon fodder of the young master.
The 100,000 soldiers and horses of Chage killed by Liu Zhongwu are absolutely incomparable to the 100,000 Xixia soldiers and horses defeated by the prince. Therefore, people who are truly informed or uninformed admire the prince's record of defeating the armies of Chage and Li Qianshun.
When everyone thought that Chao Yong was already comparable to the famous generals of the past dynasties, Chao Yong once again did something that shocked everyone. He led a surprise attack of five thousand people and entered Xixia. He broke through Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Xixia, and then led
With 50,000 soldiers and horses, Xixia was destroyed, completing the task that hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in the Song Dynasty could not complete for several generations.
From then on, the Han people no longer needed to "reward" Xixia coins, and the people of Shaanxi no longer needed to be plundered by Xixia soldiers and horses.
After this battle, the backbone of the Han people straightened up again.
As soon as the news of the fall of Xixia came, the envoys from the Liao Kingdom rushed over. In the past, the envoys from the Liao Kingdom came to the Central Plains mostly to discuss increasing the annual coins and extorting the Han people. But Daliang never promised to give the Liao coins, let alone
The prince had previously defeated the Liao army.
The Liao Kingdom did not dare to extort money from Daliang. Just as the people guessed, the envoys sent by the Liao Kingdom were not to extort money from Daliang, but to discuss the border between the two countries. The two countries agreed to be brothers and non-aggression.
Of course, this brotherly country is not a brotherly country like the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty in the past. The Chanyuan Alliance made the two countries a brotherly country, but the subsequent conditions are all beneficial to the Liao Kingdom.
The two sides took the Baigou River as the national boundary. From then on, any thieves or fugitives who crossed the boundary were not allowed to stay with each other. The civil servants of the Song Dynasty were afraid of war. They were afraid of military exploits and fear of war. Under their constraints, the Song army could not cross the boundary.
However, the soldiers and horses of the Liao Kingdom often came across the border to raid the grass valley. Many times, these Liao soldiers who came to raid the grass valley would fall into an ambush by the Song army. At this time, the Liao Kingdom could say that these Liao soldiers were fugitive thieves who crossed the border.
According to the covenant, the Song Dynasty could not detain them. They could only hand them back to the Liao State for punishment. But after returning, the Liao State would naturally not punish these Liao soldiers as real thieves. Therefore, many times the Song soldiers had no choice but to find that
The thieves who were once handed over to the Liao Kingdom came again.
In the cities along the border between the two dynasties, everything is as usual, and no city gods are allowed to be built. Neither side can build cities or forts on the border, just like neither side can research nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in later generations, so as not to trigger a military competition. On the surface, it seems
Fair. But if you think about it carefully, there is no doubt that the Liao Kingdom benefits from this, and the Song Dynasty suffers. The Liao Kingdom is strong with its iron cavalry, while the Song Dynasty is strong with strong bows, crossbows, and cities. When the two countries fight, most of them
At that time, the Liao Kingdom invaded, and the Song Dynasty could only rely on cities and strong bows and crossbows to hold on. Without the ability to build cities, the Song Dynasty's combat effectiveness was reduced by half, and it was more conducive to the Liao Kingdom's invasion.
The Song Dynasty rewards the Liao Kingdom with 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk every year, which are delivered to Xiongzhou. Needless to say, although this is nominally the Song Dynasty's reward to the Liao Kingdom, it is actually a naked robbery.
.
The two sides set up forays at the border and carried out mutual trade. It seemed fair, but the Liao State's demand for the Central Plains' goods was greater than the Central Plains' demand for the Liao's things. The Liao State would never sell the war horses that the Han people wanted most.
Song Dynasty.
This time the Liao envoys came to Beijing, and the well-informed people in the capital first noticed it from the carriages and horses on which the Liao envoys loaded gifts. In the past, the Liao envoys would also bring some gifts to the emperor of the Song Dynasty, but they were all symbolic.
There were not many things. But this time, the number of carriages and horses that the Liao envoys used to carry gifts stretched for several miles, even more than the number of carriages and horses that the Song Dynasty used to give Liao coins.
The Liao Kingdom was not as wealthy as the Song Dynasty, and it did not have as much money as the Song Dynasty. However, the Liao Kingdom also had many specialties, which could be sold at very high prices when brought to Tokyo.
Sure enough, the Liao envoy was frightened by the achievements of the Prince of Liang in annihilating Xixia. Baba came to ask for an alliance to prevent the Prince of Liang from leading his troops north to annihilate the Liao Kingdom. He did not dare to think about the previous Sui coins and only wanted to form an alliance on an equal footing.
Non-aggression.
After the prince defeated the invading troops of the Liao Kingdom, the Liao Kingdom sent envoys to the prince to seek peace and make a covenant of non-aggression. Because they were still at war with the Jin Kingdom in the north, they did not dare to start another war with Daliang, who could defeat them. .But the prince ruthlessly rejected them, so they had to divide their troops to guard Nanjing Road to prevent Daliang from suddenly sending troops north to seize the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
After Yelu Yanxi's personal expedition to the Central Plains failed, the Liao Kingdom was debating about sending people to sue Daliang for peace. However, Yelu Yanxi still placed his hope in Xixia and wanted to see if Xixia could defeat Daliang. Even if Daliang defeated Xixia, the Central Plains There are still Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Tong Guan to contain them. They don't have to worry that Daliang will immediately send troops north to seize the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
However, the prince of Daliang defeated the armies of Chage and Li Qianshun with the force of autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and then led his troops to destroy Xixia, captured the core Xingling and Yinxia areas of Xixia, and conquered many Dangxiang tribes.
The whole Liao Kingdom could no longer sit still. Daliang showed its strong military power, and there was no suspense about unifying the Central Plains. Their spies in the Central Plains also got the news. The cities in various places that did not belong to Daliang surrendered one after another, and the people of the Central Plains wanted to return home. .Coupled with the fact that Daliang subdued all the Dangxiang ministries and obtained a lot of cavalry, he already had the strength to seize the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. He could send his troops north or east at any time to seize the Nanjing Road or Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom.
Of the five roads in the Liao Kingdom, there are only three roads left in the Liao Kingdom: Nanjing, Xijing, and Shangjing Road. Most of the territory in the Shangjing Road is where tribes in the grassland live, and they are not under the real rule of the Liao Kingdom. It is not the source of the Liao Kingdom's money and food. Yan Yun Shi There are countless cultivated lands in the six states, and there are also countless Han people who know how to cultivate. This is the land where the Liao Kingdom has a lot of money and food.
The Liao Kingdom did not dare to imagine the situation without Nanjing Road and Xijing Road, but they also did not dare to send troops to threaten Daliang. They could only send envoys to Daliang to sue for peace, hoping to persuade Daliang to let Liao continue to keep Yan. Yun Liuzhou. Resistance to the Kingdom of Jin.
However, Emperor Liang ruthlessly rejected Liao's request for an alliance, even though Liao was willing to pay tribute every year and lease the sixteen states of Yanyun.
When Daliang officials deliberately spread the word about the purpose of the Liao envoys going south, the people in Tokyo walked much straighter. Everyone felt proud.
After the fall of the Song Dynasty and the rise of Daliang, the Han people were no longer allowed to be bullied by others. No envoy from any country could lead his entourage on a rampage in Tokyo, and then blackmail the Han people with the scimitar on his waist. All foreign envoys must comply with regulations after entering Tokyo. Well behaved, Daliang is not afraid of war. The lives of the people are more valuable than the lives of foreign officials. Foreign envoys who hurt the people in the city, no matter what official position they hold in their country, will be punished according to the laws of Daliang. Instead of being punished by foreign envoys On the grounds that the people had frightened their horses, they beat them up. No envoys dared to go to the main hall to threaten the emperor with war. On the contrary, they wanted to beg the emperor of Liang not to send troops against them.
When people think about it, this kind of thing only happened when the Tang and Han dynasties were at their peak, and Daliang was so majestic just after the founding of the country. There is no doubt that it will surpass the Tang and Han dynasties.
Daliang's civil and military skills are also unprecedented. It can be said that civil governance is not governance. Daliang has exempted all corvee and agricultural taxes. Daliang's income is commercial tax and public tax. Of course, most of them are corrupt officials captured through war and harming the people. The property of a wealthy family. It can be said that most of Daliang's civil affairs were based on martial arts, and Daliang's martial arts was undoubtedly created by the prince of Daliang.
Coupled with the prince's series of extraordinary deeds, everyone believed that the prince was a god who came down to earth. The purpose of the prince's descent was to save the people of the world and establish a strong dynasty. Of course, in their thinking, the people of the world were the people of the Central Plains, and the establishment of a dynasty must also be for this purpose.
It was established by the Han people. But this is not wrong at all. Although Chao Yong did not exterminate the Dangxiang people, but gave them great tolerance, he also wanted to slowly assimilate them and turn them into Han people.
Therefore, after the news spread that the prince's teachers and court officials were out to greet the prince, the people in the city went out of the city to welcome the prince, in order to see the prince who was descended from the gods earlier.
The people outside the city also came early and stood on both sides of the official road to greet the prince. The people on the three floors inside and three outside also gave the soldiers who ensured the prince's safety a headache, but the emperor had a decree and there was no need to drive them away.
The people, so the people were able to wait for the prince on the roadside.
Finally, the prince's dragon flag appeared on the official road in the distance, and then slowly approached.
The prince did not disappoint everyone. He rode a black horse at the front. No one cleared the way, and there were no personal guards on both sides. Only the soldiers on both sides of the official road maintained order.
Yu Baosi, the dangerous god who was nearly ten feet tall, held the prince's four-clawed golden dragon flag with one hand and followed behind the horse, followed by the prince's personal soldiers. Behind him were the carriages escorting Li Renai and Yelu Nanxian.
On this day when the Han people were showing off their power, Li Renai, mother and son were quietly hiding in the carriage, licking their wounds.
Chao Yong dismounted his horse at the place where hundreds of officials greeted him, performed a simple ceremony, and then mounted his horse again and headed for the city.
All the officials followed and followed the prince to the city, preparing to attend the celebration ceremony held by the palace for the prince.
Chao Yong rode his horse all the way, waving to the people on both sides from time to time, always keeping a warm smile on his face, and not deliberately maintaining dignity.
But in the eyes of the people, the prince who took the lead was a god descended from heaven, and every move he made was so magical.
After Chao Yong passed by, the people on both sides of the road also followed the prince to the city. Not only to see the prince more, but also to go to Xuande Tower to ask for a glass of celebration wine.
This celebration ceremony can be said to be a universal celebration. Not only was there an imperial banquet in the palace, but people also prepared drinks in front of Xuande Tower. As long as you queued up in front of Xuande Tower, you could have a glass of imperial wine.