Prime Minister

Chapter 1199 The Yellow Bird is Behind (Part 2 of 1)

Chapter 1199 The Yellow Bird is Behind (Two Updates in One)

Within ten days of the golden medal being delivered from the front line, Cai Bian's city map had been delivered to the officials in the capital.

After reviewing the city map, the emperor and the two government officials were all pleasantly surprised.

The Song army unexpectedly attacked and built the Zhenwujun City, but the Dangxiang did not react at all and watched the Song army easily build the city at the crucial point of the war between the two countries.

Could it be that the Dangxiang rulers and their ministers have collectively lost their minds?

This meant that the Song army won a great victory for nothing, seizing nearly 100 li of Dangxiang territory, greatly shortening the straight-line distance between the Song army and Liangzhou.

This unexpected surprise made everyone from the emperor down overjoyed, and they were only one step away from conquering Liangzhou.

Recovering the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties and reopening the Western Regions seemed just around the corner.

Just take this last step forward.

Liangzhou Liangzhou, is this where the Song Dynasty’s revival lies?

However, it is different from the official's joy and complacency.

Zhang Yue looked at the city map, but his face was twitching slightly.

Originally, he only wanted Cai Bian to build one fortress, but he actually built three for himself.

The total cost was as high as 500,000 strings of cash.

Zhang Yue felt dizzy from time to time. He turned the knife inward and asked Cai Bian, Sun Lu, and Fan Yu to deal with the corruption in Xihe Road, but they could only collect less than one million strings of cash.

Cai Bian actually spent half of it on himself in one go.

How can Prime Minister Zhang Yue continue to work if he spends money like this? Where will he find the money to fill this hole of yours?

It’s not your money anyway, right?

Nowadays, except for Hebei and Shaanxi, the baojia system has been abolished in all regions, and the baojia system has been changed to the archer system, where local volunteers are recruited to train as archers. This does not save much money.

This Cai Bian has absolutely no financial discipline at all.

Zhang Yue said solemnly: "Your Majesty is right. Cai Bian has done a great job. Judging from the city map, this is a complete formation. The situation is fully taken care of here."

"Even if the Tangut army of several hundred thousand comes to attack, we can still defend it."

It’s just that this strategy is too expensive. Zhang Yueshi couldn’t help but swear in his heart.

The emperor said: "It is your brilliant strategy to attack the city from the shallow side and build the city. It is also under your guidance that Cai Bian has made such a great contribution."

Zhang Yue smiled bitterly when he heard this. Forget it, forget it. Since we are here now, this is a crucial battle to capture Liangzhou. No matter how big the investment is, it is worth it. We must not fail at the last moment.

Barry is only half of 90.

Zeng Xiaokuan, who had returned to the court after his mourning period to assume the important post of Deputy Privy Councilor, guessed the emperor's intention and said, "Your Majesty, now that the Zhenwu Army City has been built, it is time to seize Liangzhou!"

"Your Majesty, this is not feasible for the time being!" Zhang Yue said.

Feng Jing, who was standing by, asked, "It is important to advance quickly. The Tanguts have seen through our intention to attack Liangzhou. We cannot hold out for long."

"Your Majesty, the court has repeatedly said that it will attack Liangzhou, but in the end it has delayed its move. Don't you know that time is running out?"

Zhang Yue knew that Feng Jing was trying to put pressure on him.

The Liangzhou campaign was repeatedly stopped, which made people feel slow. Decision-making is more important than strategy.

Zhang Yue pointed at the map and said, "Your Majesty, the Tanguts have been slow to act, which really surprises me. Without knowing the Tanguts' intentions, we must not attack Liangzhou with all our forces. We must first understand the Tanguts' intentions before we can attack Liangzhou!"

The official asked, "What's the plan?"

Zhang Yue slid his finger upwards on the map, pointing to a place called "Renduquan City" on the map.

……

Within a few years, Aligu traveled across the three states of Sha, Gua and Gan, and successively defeated the Gansu Military Supervisory Office of the Dangxiang Ganzhou and the Xiping Military Supervisory Office of Guazhou.

Now Aligu was in the big tent, meeting with the Song envoy Tong Guan.

Aligu immediately set up a banquet, roasted a large lamb, and called a dozen Hu girls to sing and dance under the tent. Tong Guan's entourage also served him with fine wine and meat.

Aligu looked at Tong Guan and laughed, "Tong has been here for many years, and his face has become red, more like us Qingtang people."

Tong Guan smiled and said, "When in Rome, follow the local customs. I am here to meet the governor on the order of the emperor! I have a generous gift to present to you."

After Tong Guan finished speaking, he ordered his men to present the gift list. Aligu was overjoyed after reading the gift list, but his face showed no expression. Instead, he said, "Such a generous gift, I'm afraid it's not from my uncle, the emperor. What else do you want me, Aligu, to do?"

"I'd like to let the governor know. I don't mean to cause any trouble. I just heard that the governor seemed to want to take Renduoquan City, so I came to ask you?"

Aligu asked, "Why? Did my uncle, the emperor, also want to take this?"

Tong Guan said: "That's right. If the governor doesn't take it, we will take it."

Aligu said: "It was agreed at the beginning that since I have taken over Guazhou and Shazhou, you Han people should just take Liangzhou by the right way."

Tong Guan said: "Renduoquan City is the place where the Renduo clan started their business. I am afraid it is not easy to take it. Our governor is worried that the governor cannot take it, so he wants to take it himself."

Aligu laughed when he heard this and said, "Don't worry about this."

After Tong Guan stood up and left, Aligu summoned his chiefs to discuss the matter.

When hearing that they were going to take Renduoquan City, a chieftain objected, "Renduoquan City is guarded by Renduo's trusted veteran soldiers. We should not provoke them."

Aligu scolded, "Now the Song people are building the city of Gugulong City, clearly intending to take Liangzhou in the north."

"Now that Song is strong and Dangxiang is weak, we should take advantage of the situation to seize Renduoquan City, and then take Sha, Gua, Gan, and Yizhou. This way, we will have the foundation for independence."

"We men should have lofty ambitions, and we should not be content to live under someone else's roof."

Aligu stood up, and the chieftains on both sides were in awe of his momentum. In fact, many of the Qingtang leaders who followed Aligu from Bianjing had lost their ambition to make progress since they had a foothold.

Only Aligu remained diligent and determined to accomplish something great from beginning to end.

After saying this, Aligu led his troops to march north.

Aligu was quite ambitious, as he had been victorious in every battle since he started his army. Now he divided the Tatar and Uighur troops into five armies and stationed them north of Qinghai.

When attacking Shazhou, Guazhou and Ganzhou, he also took in the Uighurs from Xizhou and a part of the Uighurs from Ganzhou to surrender. He then divided his army into three armies and stationed them in Guazhou and Shazhou. Now he could be said to have a strong military force.

When Aligu led the Eighth Army and was about to arrive at the city of Renduoquan, he saw towering peaks in the north, with snow on the tops of the mountains that never melted all year round. The mountains nearby were undulating, and the snow at the foot of the mountains melted into the Haomen River.

The Renduoquan City is located in this river valley.

Aligu looked at the mountains and ridges, holding a horse whip, and said to the chiefs on both sides: "With such mountains and rivers, are we the only ones who are worried that the Han people will snatch this land from us? They usually only know how to farm on the plains below the mountains. If they want to sleep peacefully, they have to please us."

All the chiefs agreed.

Aligu had been in Bianjing for many years, and he had worked very hard to learn Chinese system and Chinese studies. Now he also had several Han advisers around him, who told him that with the national strength of the Han people, they could only maintain the Liangzhou line to the west and north, and it would be very difficult to go further west and north.

After a day's rest, the army set out the next day, but there was heavy fog that day.

Aligu was riding on his horse when he suddenly heard the sound of an arrow breaking through the fog.

Aligu, who had many years of military experience, immediately dismounted from his horse. A moment later, his horse was hit by several arrows and fell dead.

Soon, shouts of killing were heard everywhere, and hundreds of horsemen rushed out from the fog, holding bows and arrows in their hands and shooting as they ran, then switched to swords and guns after advancing.

Aligu's 20,000-plus troops were advancing through the mountains and rivers, but they were divided into eight armies. They did not expect that the Renduo tribe would dare to come out of the city to attack, nor did they expect that they would bypass the vanguard or attack the rear army, but instead went straight to the central army where Aligu was.

The Renduo tribe had only a few hundred people, but they were unstoppable in the surprise attack.

In the thick fog, the sound of weapons clashing could be heard constantly, and people were cursing at each other in their respective foreign languages.

Aligu's troops were in a mess, and they were completely confused by the attack of the elite. The attacking Renduo tribe were all wearing armor, but Aligu's men were only wearing fur coats, and even if they had armor, they didn't have time to put it on.

This was a one-sided massacre.

However, Aligu was not afraid of danger and put on the armor with the help of his attendants. While putting on the armor, he smashed the head of a Renduo warrior with a heavy axe.

Aligu put on his armor, changed his horse, and rushed out with a gold-inlaid Tibetan spear in his hand.

In the thick fog, Aligu stabbed with his spear and knocked down several Renduo warriors. Finally, under his leadership, they repelled the Renduo ambush.

But Aligu was also furious when he saw that he was seriously injured.

The next day, Aligu led his army to the city of Renduoquan and surrounded the city.

……

Liangzhou City.

Renduoyaiding, a famous Dangxiang general and commander of the right wing, looked solemn when he heard that Aligu had led his army to surround Renduoquan City.

Although Liang Yibu's appointment as prime minister meant that the Liang family regained military power, King Li Bingchang was extremely wary of him.

He still relied heavily on the father and son Renduoyating to balance the Liang family's military power. He also appointed Renduoyating's brother Renduo Chuqing as Chief Censor, giving the Renduo family an additional foundation in the court.

When he learned that a city was being built in the Song Dynasty in Gugulong City (Zhenwujun City), Renduoyading sneered.

He knew the situation here. Gugulong City (Yongdeng County) was extremely far away from Lanzhou and Miaochuan City, and it would be very difficult to provide support with the power of Xihe Road in the Song Dynasty.

He abandoned this place on purpose.

Later, when the Song army marched from Miaochuan and Nanzongzhai to build Gugulongcheng, the guards reported to Renduoyading in surprise. Renduoyading confidently said to his guards: "I deliberately left this disease block for the Han people."

Renduo Yading explained to his subordinates: "If the Han army garrisons too many troops here, it will waste money and food. If they garrison too few, we will eat them up."

When the Song army had been building the city for more than ten days, Renduoyading led light cavalry to investigate the progress of the Song army's city construction. He was shocked to see that the Song army had built three cities in one breath right under his nose.

After seeing that the Song army was ready for battle and had mobilized tens of thousands of civilians, Renduoyading realized that he was wrong. He was very wrong. He had greatly underestimated the Song army's current logistical supply capabilities.

He said to his attendants: "The Han people have occupied Huangzhou for only a few years, but they have easily mobilized tens of thousands of local people to serve them."

"The Han people do have the means to win over people's hearts. It seems that Qingtang can no longer be owned by the Great Bai Gao Kingdom."

After returning from the exploration of Gugulongcheng, Renduoyading wrote a letter to the king Li Bingchang overnight, saying that the Han people had established a firm foothold in Qingtang and were very popular, and the Qingtang tribe had been completely integrated into the Song people. If this continued, even Liangzhou would not be able to be saved within a year. Now the only way out for the Dangxiang was to ally with Liao to resist Song.

After writing the letter, Renduo Yading looked at the big bow hanging on the wall and said with emotion: "I have fought for many years and always believed that the one with the strongest soldiers and horses is the king. Now I know whether the people are on my side or not."

He had been fighting with the Song people all his life. He was never afraid of what the Song people did on the battlefield, but was afraid of their methods outside the battlefield.

Although Li Bingchang agreed to ask for help from the Liao Kingdom, Renduoyading still fell seriously ill.

No one in Liangzhou city knew what was going on, except his son Renduo Baozhong, who knew why his father was seriously ill and couldn't help but worry.

Renduo Yading was seriously ill for a month before he got a little better, but at this time he learned that Aligu had surrounded Renduoquan City.

The Renduoquan City is only ten miles away from the Gugulong City. It is not only the birthplace of the Renduo clan, but also a very important place for the Dangxiang in Liangzhou.

Now that Gugulong City has been lost, if Renduoquan City is lost as well, the situation in Liangzhou will be even more dangerous.

Aligu had eight armies, while Renduoquan City had only three thousand people.

Ren Duoyading remained silent.

His sons, Nita Baozhong and Nita Xizhong, both volunteered to fight.

"If Renduoquan City is not saved, the people's hearts will be lost. What's more, many people in the city are from my Renduo family." Renduo Xizhong said.

Renduo Yading closed his eyes for a while and said, "With Aligu here, it doesn't matter whether we save him or not."

Renduo Baozhong said: "Now the people in Liangzhou are restless. Dongchao has already built a city in Gugulong. If we continue to watch Renduoquan City fall, Liangzhou City may not be able to be defended. Please ask father to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible."

Renduoyading said: "I ordered people to dig deep cellars in Liangzhou City as a strategy for long-term defense. At the same time, I implemented a strategy of clearing the fields near Liangzhou and wrote a letter to the king asking him to send another envoy to beg Liao to send troops to rescue."

"There is no other solution. Now we can only wait and see."

The two sons were surprised to see how disappointed Renduoyading was with his prediction of the situation. They had never seen their father like this in their decades of military service.

Although the Song army now has an advantage over the Dangxiang army, it suffers from long supply lines and poor logistics. The Dangxiang side still has the advantage of geographical location.

But Renduoyading's silence and worried look made the two brothers very worried.

Renduo Xizhong said: "Father, Renduoquan City must be saved. I will lead an army to rescue it alone!"

Renduo Yading knew that it was unreasonable not to save him, so he immediately said to Renduo Xizhong: "Go!"

After receiving the order, Renduo Xizhong immediately ordered his troops to set off.

Upon hearing this, Nita Baozhong sighed and said, "Father, why don't you let me go?"

Renduo Yading said: "Liangzhou can't do without you."

……

The war horses snorted and seemed restless, while the cavalrymen of the Aligu Army galloped left and right, carrying human heads with their spears.

Renduo Xizhong was quite annoyed when he saw this scene.

He glanced at the hills in the distance and saw Aligu, who was looking at him with his arms folded across his chest and a ferocious sneer on his face.

He mounted his horse again and led 500 cavalrymen to charge at the enemy, while Aligu also sent out 1,000 cavalrymen to charge.

The cavalry of both sides drew their lances, long spears, broadswords and other weapons. After charging, the two sides crossed each other. The riders fell off their horses one after another, leaving corpses on the ground.

In terms of cavalry combat, Nida Xizhong's men would definitely have the upper hand, but the enemy had more men and horses.

The empty war horses licked their previous masters. After the casualties, Aligu on the hill did not show any emotion, but ordered his own soldiers to replenish the ranks.

Seeing this scene, Renduo Xizhong gritted his teeth and knew that he could not save Renduoquan City.

After days of hard fighting, Renduo Xizhong had already exhausted all his strength. He immediately turned his horse and said to his followers: "Go!"

Aligu on the hill said, "It's not that easy to leave now!"

Aligu stretched out his hand and lit the firewood on his left and right. Upon hearing the news, his subordinates who were watching from a distant hill immediately led their cavalry to intercept Renduo Xizhong on his way back.

On May 10, Renduo Xizhong, the son of Renduo Yading, tried to rescue Renduoquan City but failed, and died in battle. His subordinates fought desperately to grab his body and return.

Afterwards, Aligu returned to besiege the city of Renduoquan.

The army attacked the city wave after wave like a tide, and after ten days of bloody fighting they finally broke through a gap today.

Aligu's soldiers rushed in like a tide. The Renduo tribe on the city wall knew that they would be doomed if the city was breached, so they shot arrows at them.

The two most courageous generals under Aligu, one holding an iron spear and the other holding a sword and shield, led the troops to attack, killing the Renduo army on the gap and forcing them to retreat step by step. When the city was about to be broken, a gong suddenly sounded behind them to retreat.

When the two generals were about to ask Aligu about some unknown reason, they saw flags like a forest in the mountains in the distance, and countless soldiers were marching towards them.

But Aligu gnashed his teeth and said, "From today on, the kindness between me, Aligu, and the Song people will be wiped out!"

After saying this, Aligu mounted his horse and retreated.

The soldiers also hastily evacuated from Renduoquan City. The defenders in the city did not know why, and only realized what was going on when they saw countless Song soldiers wearing Fanyang hats appearing on the hillsides and valleys.

Wang Shan, the governor of Xihe Road, and the military supervisor Cai Bian led nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses out of Nanzong Village and arrived here.

When Wang Shan saw Aligu withdraw his troops, he smiled and said to his attendants, "Aligu is so polite that he will generously give the city to us after we have conquered it."

Cai Bian said: "All is fair in war. What should we do with this city?

Wang Shan said: "We can persuade them to surrender. We can give them a chance to live."

Half an hour later, all the soldiers and horses in Renduoquan City surrendered to the Song Dynasty.

Wang Shan wanted to turn against the enemy and kill the prisoners, but was stopped by Cai Bian.

Finally, these people were sent to Qinzhou for resettlement.

……

Upon hearing that Renduoquan City and Gugulong City had been lost one after another, Li Bingchang was very angry and appointed the royal family member Weiming Amai to replace Renduo Yading as the commander of the right wing.

Renduo Chuqing, the Chief Censor of Western Xia and the younger brother of Renduo Yading, saw that Li Bingchang was suspicious. Because he had asked the Western Xia ruler for the position of commanding troops but was denied, he felt resentful and took the initiative to contact Shen Kuo, the governor of Jingyuan Road, to request surrender.

Finally, Ren Duo Chuqing led nearly a thousand people from his family and tribe to leave Xia and flee to Song.

At the same time, Renduo Chuqing also presented three hundred taels of gold, as well as crowns, robes, treasures, saddles, embroidered dragon tents and other items given by the King of Western Xia.

The emperor was overjoyed and immediately issued an edict to appoint Ren Duochuqing as the training envoy of Ganzhou and the inspector of Youxiang Zhuolu.

Wu Mingge, the governor of Liangzhou of the Dangxiang clan, and his brother Wu Mingshan saw that the Song army had captured two cities in succession and was approaching Liangzhou. They were afraid that the Renduo clan would gather troops, so under the instigation of Cao Zhongshou, the governor of the Guiyi army, they led hundreds of soldiers and horses to surrender to the Song Dynasty and presented a shield and seal as a tribute.

The following month, several more Dangxiang leaders surrendered, bringing with them hundreds or even thousands of surrendered tribesmen.

At the same time, they also brought a lot of camels, cattle, sheep, horses, etc.

Seeing that more and more people were surrendering, Wang Hou simply organized all the surrendered Dangxiang troops from Xihe Road into a patrol squad.

His name was Dangxiangzhi.

There were Dangxiang people, Han people, Qingtang tribe, and a small number of Uighurs and Tatars in the Dangxiang tribe, all of whom surrendered from the Dangxiang.

This is also what the Song Dynasty learned from the Dangxiang people. The Dangxiang people always used the surrendered people as the vanguard when attacking the Song Dynasty. Now the Song Dynasty also uses the surrendered people as the vanguard when attacking the Dangxiang.

Between May and June, the foreign tribes near Liangzhou rushed to surrender to the Song Dynasty. Although Renduo Yading tried his best to stop them, it was of no avail.