manynovel Chapter 1221: The Tangut Affairs
Chapter 1221: The Tangut Affairs
Chapter 1221: The Tangut Affairs
The Dangxiang tribe's proposal to move the capital to avoid the attack of the Song army was opposed by many powerful people.
Li Bingchang felt that what the old minister said made sense. The Song army's shallow attack and construction method was to advance around Xingling Prefecture. First, they advanced from Xihe Road to Liangzhou, then from Jingyuan Road to Lingzhou, and finally from Hengshan to capture the five states of Dingnan.
However, as long as the center of gravity of the Dangxiang moved north to Dingzhou, the Song army's plan to destroy the Dangxiang state through construction would take several more years.
If they moved to Keyi Gate, the Song army would be out of reach.
However, Dingzhou is too desolate and far inferior to Xingzhou.
Not to mention Keyimen.
For most people, it is impossible to give up the comfortable life now in order to deal with future dangers.
The plan to move the capital was opposed by Liang Yibu and other ministers.
The old minister continued to argue: "After Emperor Taizong (Li Deming) conquered Dingzhou, he built Shengwei City and named it after my clan. He planned to use it as a retreat to the north in case Xingling failed to defend it."
"As for Keyi Gate, there is a 70,000-strong army stationed at the Right Wing Chaoshun Army Supervisor!"
No one was willing.
Li Bingchang had some thoughts, and in fact it was not a bad idea to move the capital. He could leave some of his court officials in Xingzhou.
A general asked: "Apart from moving the capital, is there really no other way to defeat the Song people's advance?"
"There's no way. We know clearly that the next step for the Song people is to build a city to Mingsha, but there's nothing we can do." Weiming Amai was also considered a famous general among the Dangxiang royal family, but he was also helpless.
"Even General Renduo, who was in Liangzhou, couldn't cope with it. The Song people did this. They built camps every few dozen miles and advanced step by step! Liangzhou City was lost in this way."
The generals sighed that the Song army never took the initiative to attack, but built forts all the way under your noses, forcing you to attack me. The Song army was clearly attacking but won the battle through defense.
The most important thing is that with every victory in a defensive battle, a large number of new troops of the Song Army were trained and accumulated experience.
It is incomparable to the disastrous defeat in the two-pronged expedition against Xia, in which almost the entire army was annihilated and a large number of veteran and elite soldiers were killed.
Even with such an ordinary fighting method, the Dangxiang people had no idea what to do. After conquering Liangzhou, they pushed forward from Jingyuan Road to Mingsha and finally captured Lingzhou. After conquering Jingyuan Road, they pushed forward from Hengshan, and the Dangxiang people were really destroyed.
The Dangxiang rulers and their ministers knew clearly from top to bottom that the Song army was going to do this next, but they were helpless in the face of such tactics.
At this time, the Hanlin scholar Li Qing said: "There is another way, to negotiate peace with Song!"
The ministers suddenly fell silent upon hearing this. Liang Yibu directly rebuked Li Qing, "How dare you propose peace again?"
Li Qing asked in return: "Apart from this road, is there any other way?"
The two men started arguing in front of all the ministers.
Many of the ministers below could see that after the fall of Liangzhou City, Li Qing and Liang Yibu did not resolve their grievances because of the national crisis, but instead their disputes became more intense.
As a result, the Dangxiang tribe was already divided internally before the Song Dynasty even attacked.
The Tanguts as a whole face a conflict between the tribal system and the centralized power. When things are going well, they can make up for their weaknesses by learning from each other's strengths, but when things go downhill, it causes party strife and infighting.
With the loss of Liangzhou, even the leaders of various tribes began to become restless.
Li Qing talked about peace with the Song Dynasty, and many leaders secretly agreed.
Queen Mother Liang remained silent throughout the discussion, and the crowd dispersed after discussing for a while without reaching any conclusion.
Li Bingchang summoned Li Qing to come in and asked, "What did you say in the court regarding the peace talks with Song Dynasty? Have you made any progress?"
Li Qing said: "Your Majesty, I have been secretly communicating with the envoys of the Song Dynasty."
Li Bingchang said: "I promised you this, of course I know."
Li Qing said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the conditions offered by the Song Dynasty this time are that as long as Your Majesty removes the title of King, the two families can live in peace. In addition, there are rewards, and every year, enough gold, silver, and silk are given as a gift for the title of King. These are in addition to the annual tribute."
Strip away the title? This would indeed be a humiliation for the Dangxiang, but they could tell the Song Dynasty that it was stripped away, while internally they could still maintain the emperor's ceremonial guards.
The only thing he had to do was to remain a subject when he met envoys from the Song Dynasty and when he met the emperor of the Song Dynasty.
This is what Li Deming did at the beginning.
Li Bingchang felt that this condition was acceptable, but the domestic pressure would be great, as it would be like truly bowing to the Song Dynasty. This would not be a good thing for the Dangxiang people who would later harbor resentment towards the Song Dynasty.
Li Bingchang asked back: "Do you think it is credible?"
Li Qing said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the Song Dynasty took Liangzhou in order to connect with the Western Regions. Now that the tribute route to the Western Regions has been opened, I don't think they will make things difficult for us. As for the title, I think this matter should not be pursued with these red tapes. It is better than ceding land and exempting annual tribute."
Li Bingchang knew that this was not credible, but he also felt that he could give peace talks a try, delaying the situation for three to five years, allowing the country to recover or waiting for some unexpected events to happen in the Song Dynasty.
So he said: "I also want to negotiate, but I am worried that the Song people will go back on their word."
Li Qing said: "I can ask the Liao Dynasty to act as a middleman. If one of the two families regrets it in the future, the Liao Dynasty will come forward to destroy them together!"
Li Bingchang said: "That's one way."
Li Qing said: "Our dynasty is negotiating peace with the Song Dynasty on the surface, but in fact it is fully leaning towards the Liao Dynasty. At the same time, I think the matter of moving to Dingzhou mentioned just now does have its reasons."
Li Bingchang said: "But the Prime Minister is against it, and I can do nothing about it."
Li Qing said: "The royal family has repeatedly obstructed Your Majesty..."
Li Bingchang said: "I am also not strong enough, otherwise..."
The king and his minister sighed deeply.
Li Qing said: "Your Majesty, your enemies are inside the court, not outside. Now we can prepare for a rainy day. First, upgrade Dingzhou to a prefecture and build a new capital there. If the Song army really goes out of Huluchuan and takes Lingzhou, it won't be too late for us to move the capital to Dingzhou."
Li Bingchang heard this and said, "You are indeed far-sighted."
While the two were talking, Li Bingchang's expression calmed down a little. At this time, someone reported that Aligu led his army to attack Guazhou and Shazhou.
The Tangut garrisons of the two states asked Li Bingchang for reinforcements. Li Bingchang read the letter for a long time and couldn't help but sigh.
Although the officers and soldiers were determined to hold out and wait for help, once Liangzhou was lost, he could not send a single soldier.
Li Bingchang hammered the pillar with his hand and sighed: "It is because of me that the loyal and righteous people are discouraged and the land west of the Yellow River is falling apart!"
Li Bing often thought of his ancestors Li Yuanhao and Li Deming, who were so brave and heroic. Could it be that the Tangut state would perish when it fell into his hands?
Li Bingchang learned from his mistakes and realized that once Liangzhou was lost, the Dangxiang rule in the entire Hexi region would collapse.
He could only order his men to do some superficial work, and rushed to Guashaxuan and other places with various imperial edicts of promotion and advancement, telling the garrisons to be loyal to the king. The court would treat them well. But he thought that at the same time, Aligu was leading his army north, full of ambition, intending to take over the entire Hexi Corridor, and he felt heartbroken.
At this time, someone reported that the Liao envoys had arrived in Dangxiang territory and were less than thirty miles away from Xingqing Prefecture.
What Li Bingchang didn't know was that the Liao envoy was on his way to Xingqing Prefecture with poisoned wine personally given by the Liao ruler Yelu Hongji.