Poor Family Chapter 953

  Chapter 953 The Battle to Destroy the Nation (7)

In the spring of the third year of Jianyan, a battle broke out between the Song and Xia armies west of Xiazhou City. Li Yanqing led an army of 100,000 to wipe out 30,000 Xixia troops. The elite was lost, Li Yanqing ordered Wu Jie to guard Xiazhou, and he continued to lead an army of 120,000 to march westward, killing the hinterland of Xixia.

  At the same time, Liu Wei, the envoy of the Xihe Road Economic Strategy, led the 30,000 West Route Army northward to Huizhou, crossed the Yellow River from Huizhou, and entered the Hexi Corridor.

  The Hexi Corridor is the most unstable territory in Xixia. Due to the cruel exploitation of Xixia, the Qiang people, Tubo and Uighurs living in the Hexi Corridor continued to fight, but they were always suppressed mercilessly by the Xixia army.

At most, Xixia deployed 100,000 troops in the Hexi Corridor, and set up two military divisions in Gansu and Xiping. However, the national strength was not good enough to support so many troops, and the garrison also shrank again and again, becoming today's 20,000 people. Commander-in-chief Ying Ting, the governor of the Military Division.

After walking for several days, Liu Kai's army rested in the west of Lingbo Mountain. Liu Kai's task this time was not as simple as defeating the Hexi Xixia Army and seizing the Hexi Corridor. He also needed to contact people living in the Hexi Corridor politically Qiang people, Tubo people and Uighur people, let them attach to the Song Dynasty and become the people of the Great Song Dynasty.

The Tubo people are only a minority in the Hexi Corridor, and there are only a few tribes. The Uighurs mainly live in Suzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou in the north, while Ganzhou and Liangzhou in the south are the territory of the Qiang people. Liu Kai first wants to recover Those are the Qiang people.

The Qiang people have been attached to the Central Plains Dynasty since ancient times, and it is not difficult to regain the Qiang people. The key is the benefits. What kind of benefits the Song Dynasty gave the Qiang people? Will ask too much condition.

After the army was stationed, Liu Kai stood in front of the big tent and looked into the distance. On the left was the endless grassland, green grass, and the sky was as blue as if it had been washed by water. There were white clouds floating in the sky, which were as white as the patches on the ground. The flocks of sheep reflect each other brilliantly, which makes Liu Kai feel relaxed and happy.

  The prairie where they were stationed was the pasture of a small Qiang tribe. The Song Army's Qiu Wuzhen won the trust of the Qiang people. They took the initiative to send their tribe north to help the Song Army inquire about the Xixia Army.

  At this time, a group of small black dots appeared in the distance. Judging from the riding posture, they looked a bit like cavalry, but there were no scouts to warn them, so they should not be the enemy. Liu Kai then told his son Liu Ziyu: "Go and see!"

  Liu Ziyu immediately got on his horse and greeted him with more than a hundred cavalrymen. After a while, he brought more than a hundred cavalrymen and galloped from afar. The leading man was Tuobalu, the chief of Huizhou of the Black Party.

Ever since Tuobalu offered his cold-forged armor, he has embraced Li Yanqing's thigh completely. When Li Yanqing's war mobilization order was issued, he immediately volunteered to serve Li Yanqing, but Li Yanqing took a fancy to it. Another role of Tuobalu was to contact Hexi for the Song army.

Hei Dang Xiang was originally a Qiang people, and Tuoba Lu was a big border smuggler, traveling between Hexi and Da Song, taking care of the interests of countless people, and getting to know countless people, it can be said that every one on the Hexi Corridor All the sheep know him.

   "Liu Jinglue, I'm late!" Tuoba Lu jumped off his horse and saluted.

  Liu Wei liked this bold black man very much, so he smiled and waved his hands, "We have just arrived, and the tents have just been set up!"

  He looked at the two tall middle-aged men next to him, and seeing their attire, they should be Qiang people, and asked with a smile, "Are these two?"

   "They are the two great chiefs of the Liangzhou Qiang people. In fact, they are a pair of brothers, one is called Nian Jieshan and the other is called Nian Jiechong. They came here to meet Liu Jinglue."

  Two Qiang chiefs knelt down and saluted, "I'll wait for the Qiang people to meet Liu Jinglue!" The leading Qiang could speak fluent Chinese.

Of course Liu Kai knows that the two largest Qiang tribes in the Hexi Corridor, one is called Nianjie, which is distributed in Liangzhou, and the other is called Lejie, which is distributed in Ganzhou, and Nianjie is divided into Beinianjie and Nannian. Sister, it seems that this is the tribe of these two people.

  He hurriedly helped the two of them up, and said with a smile: "The two chiefs please get up quickly!"

  Since the other party is willing to come to see me, then things will be easy to talk about, Liu Kai said again with great interest: "The two chiefs please sit in the big tent!"

  Everyone went into the big tent and sat down, Liu Kai went to do as the Romans did, and let the soldiers go to the bed, they exchanged a few words, and soon got to the point, the sister Nian and the brothers actually came to ask for help.

  The Western Xia court was confiscated by Jin Guoqiang with millions of sheep, which aroused dissatisfaction among the party and ministries, and refused to pay taxes. Seeing that the court would not be able to pay for the military, it shifted the financial gap to the various ethnic groups in Hexi.

  Sister Nian had to pay last year's tax this month, but it suddenly tripled. They rebelled immediately and were brutally suppressed by the Xixia army, killing thousands of people.

  If it wasn't for the Song army's sudden northward march, Nianjie's tribe would have been wiped out, so when Tuobalu found them, they hit it off. As long as the Song army helped them get rid of the cruel oppression of the Xixia people, they were willing to serve the Song Dynasty.

   Of course Liu Kai couldn't wish for this request. He led his army to take Hexi, and a battle with the Xixia army in Hexi was inevitable. He defeated the Xixia army and won the loyalty of the Qiang people. This was his mission in the first place.

  Of course, Liu Kai considered the most ideal state, that is, everyone would work together and send troops to fight together. This way, the chances of defeating the Xixia Army would be greater, and they would also be able to form a fighting friendship.

  Liu Wei pondered for a while and said: "Since I want to take Hexi, of course I have to fight the Xixia army. I hope that the few of us will join forces to wipe out the Xixia army in Hexi with the Song army as the main body."

Nianjie and his brother looked at each other, and the elder brother Nianjieshan said to Liu Kai: "We are all willing to send troops and supplies, but our Nianjie's department has just killed more than 3,000 warriors, and there are only 2,000 warriors who can go to the battlefield. I'm afraid it won't work."

"There are not many soldiers, the key lies in participation. As I said just now, the Song army is the main force, and of course we are the main force. In addition, I hope that the Le sisters in Ganzhou can also participate. I wonder if the two of you can contact me for me? "

Nian Jieshan nodded, "Sister Le, like us, was oppressed terribly. They were suppressed once at the beginning of the year, and the old chief was killed. As long as they are summoned, they will definitely send troops. This matter It's up to us."

   "How many troops do they have?" Liu Kai asked.

   "They can produce about 3,000 people."

  Beside Tuobalu patted his chest and said: "Including our black party item, I will go back and propose to the chief, and our black party item can also send 3,000 cavalry."

   This is eight thousand cavalry, and he is more sure of defeating the Xixia Army Liu Wei, so he nodded, "Then split up and act, I hope that within five days, the army can gather."

  At this time, Sister Nian Chong asked a few more questions, and Sister Nian Shan translated, "My brother said, go talk to Sister Le, and they will definitely ask how much the tax will be after taking refuge in the Song Dynasty. How should we answer?"

   "How many are you now?"

"Now we have to pay taxes for both men and women. Only children under the age of ten can be exempted from tax. Men have 20 sheep and women have 10 sheep per year. In addition, every ten people have to pay one camel, which is equivalent to half of the annual property. "

Liu Kai shook his head, "If you are attached to the Song Dynasty, you will be exempted from tax for the first three years, and you can also be exempted from tax if you encounter a catastrophe. If you raise horses for the imperial court, you will not only be exempt from tax but also get generous rewards. As far as ordinary herdsmen are concerned, each family has five sheep per year. .”

  The two were very pleasantly surprised, "Is this true?"

Tuoba Lu smiled and said: "Of course it is true. Our black party pays taxes like this. Our tribe raises horses for the Jingzhao Army. We don't have to pay a single sheep. Each person also has three buckets of rice per month as a subsidy. When the horses are delivered, they can also get five pennies per horse."

  The two were so excited that they rubbed their hands together, stood up and said, "Let's go to Ganzhou now!"

   Everyone said goodbye and left, Liu Ziyu walked into the big tent and said with a smile: "Father has gained a lot today!"

  Liu Wei smiled and said: "It's really unexpected. No wonder Li Dutong told me that this Tuobalu is very capable. As expected, I was not disappointed."

   "Did Father consider bringing the Uyghurs in?"

   "I've considered it, but I'm afraid it's too late. The Uyghurs are in Suzhou. It will take at least half a month to come and go, plus negotiations, but I'm worried that even the Qiang people may be too late."

Liu Ziyu thought for a while and said: "The 20,000 Xixia army did not come here so fast from Ganzhou. Even if they come, they may not fight immediately. We can march in the opposite direction. When they kill here, we are already in Liangzhou. In this way, we It is estimated that the cavalry can arrive."

  Liu Kai nodded, "This is a good way, we can turn around and take a big fight."

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end