Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 744
Not long after, Yelu Hongtai, Yelu Hongji's brother, also rushed to the palace. At this time, Xiao Weixin had already arrived first.

Although Yelu Hongtai lost Jinzhou, Yelu Hongji did not blame him. The iron fire thunder used by the Song army, even the Liaoyang Mansion heard the explosion and saw the flames far away, which shows how violent the explosion was.

No matter how strong the city is, it can't withstand such an explosion, but Yelu Hongtai led his army to fight the Song army all night, and almost wiped out all the soldiers. This kind of spirit is commendable.

Yelu Hongji believed that Yelu Hongtai's merits and demerits were equal, and he was not held accountable.

Hearing that Shangjing was harassed by the Lieshan tribe, Yelu Hongtai immediately said: "We must go back to help Shangjing. We should withdraw northward immediately without hesitation."

Yelu Hongji glanced at Xiao Weixin next to him and said: "The Privy Councilor thinks this is Fan Ning's scheme, saying that the Lishan tribe harassed Shangjing, and the purpose is to force us to retreat to Shangjing."

Yelu Hongtai shook his head and said: "Of course I know that this is Fan Ning's scheme, but it is a Yang scheme, and the facts are clearly laid out in front of us. We only saw the Lieshan tribe raiding Shangjing, the Naiman tribe and Dadan What about the Liao army? They betrayed the Liao army in Datong Prefecture, and stopped paying taxes at the beginning of the year. Wouldn’t they come to take advantage of the fire? Actually, I’m not worried about them, but the Song army. If 20 Song troops attack Shangjing from the north, then what to do?"

Xiao Weixin became anxious, and said loudly: "Withdrawing the troops and going back to Shangjing now is to give up Liaoyang Mansion!"

"But Shangjing is our real capital. It is the residence of the royal family, the seat of the imperial court, and the power center of Daliao. If Tokyo is lost, we can regain it. But if Shangjing is lost, Daliao will be destroyed. Which is more important? Heavy, don't the privy envoys not understand?"

Xiao Weixin argued: "Song army's sending troops to Beijing is just a guess, an unfounded situation, but Fan Ning's main force is right under our noses. Tokyo Road."

Yelu Hongtai sighed and said, "Most of the Tokyo Road has been lost. In fact, we only have Liaoyang City left. If the Song Army blows the gate of the city with iron fire and thunder, will we be able to defend it?"

At this moment, Yelu Hongji, who had been standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back, said, "You all step back first! I need to think about it again."

Xiao Weixin retreated, and Yelu Hongtai came back after a circle, and said to the emperor Yelu Hongji in a low voice: "The emperor does not stand in danger. Once the Liaoyang mansion is surrounded by the Song army, your majesty's safety will be in danger. I am worried." Shangjing will find an excuse to establish a new emperor, so I advised the emperor to return to Shangjing immediately before the Song army surrounded Liaoyang City."

Yelu Hongji was said to be on his mind, especially when Shangjing took the opportunity to establish a new emperor, it hit the nail on the head.

After a long silence, Yelu Hongji nodded, and he was finally persuaded.

That night, before the Song army crossed the river, Yelu Hongji named Xiao Weixin the king of Qi, participated in political affairs, and appointed him as the left guard in Tokyo, leading an army of 11 to guard Liaoyang mansion.

Yelu Hongji and his brother Yelu Hongtai led the [-] cavalry of the Emperor's Guards to leave Liaoyang Mansion, and rushed to Shangjing overnight, and took away the [-] cavalry who stayed in Tongzhou in Tongzhou, and the [-] army returned to Shangjing.

Fan Ning was woken up by soldiers at night. The Song Army deployed thousands of scouts around the Liaoyang Mansion. Once there was a change in the Liaoyang Mansion, they would immediately spread the news to the Song Army's temporary camp on the west bank of the Liao River.

While getting dressed, Fanning asked, "How many troops are going north?"

"About [-]. According to the news from the scouts, they are all elite cavalry."

Fan Ning hurried to the big tent, at this time, Cao Shi and Chong Er also arrived.

As soon as Cao Shi entered the big tent, he said anxiously: "His Royal Highness, beware of Yelu Hongji's deceit. He pretended to retreat like last time, but in the end he stepped into a trap."

Fan Ning nodded with a smile, "Thank you for reminding me, I will consider this possibility."

Zhong Er also asked: "What should your Highness do next?"

Fan Ning said indifferently: "The thing to do now is to stand still. I am creating an opportunity for the scouts of the Liaoyang Mansion to go out of the city. On the other hand, I can also know whether the [-] troops are really returning to the capital, or are they setting up traps?"

Chong Er nodded in relief, "Your Highness is so cautious, Song Jun will be invincible."

Yelu Hongji led [-] elite cavalry to retreat northward, but hundreds of thousands of Song troops were still stationed on the west bank of Liaoyang, and were not in a hurry to cross the river to Liaoyang Mansion.

At present, there are only 10 troops left in Liaoyang City, including 10,000 veterans and [-] recruits, and about [-] people. There are only [-]+ stones left in grain and [-] dans of fodder. The food supply in the city is very tight. As it was approaching, people in the city were panicked, and many people asked to leave Liaoyang Mansion.

There is a restaurant near the east gate of Liaoyang called Baishan Restaurant.

Baishan restaurant also operates inns, which is a characteristic of the Liao Kingdom. Because the store area is generally large, taverns will also run foot shops.

The shopkeeper's surname is Cui, and his name is Cui Wenxiu. He claims to be a Korean, and the food and drinks in the tavern are also Korean characteristics. Therefore, Liaoyang City has always thought that Baishan Restaurant is a restaurant run by Koreans.

But in fact, Baishan Restaurant is the intelligence center set up by the Song Army in Liaoyang Prefecture. After Yelv Yixin's fake son Wang Shan was arrested, the Liao Army once hunted down the Song Army situation scouts in the capital, and the five intelligence points set up by the Song Army in Liaoyang City were cancelled. Four, now only Baishan Restaurant is left.

These two days, Cui Wenxiu was a little anxious. He had a lot of important information that he couldn't send out. The Liaoyang Mansion strictly prohibited the people from feeding eagles and pigeons, and the Liao Army banned the people in the city from going out half a month ago. His information has been unable to be sent out.

At noon, there was a sudden commotion on the street, many people were running and shouting in the street, Cui Wenxiu was surprised, so she ordered a clerk to inquire about the news.

Not long after, the clerk rushed back to report, "Speak to the shopkeeper, the Liao army is preparing to move the people out, it seems that only this afternoon."

Cui Wenxiu was overjoyed, and immediately called a confidant, who was also a local spy of the Song Army. He gave him a few careful instructions, and then handed him a letter, asking him to evacuate Liaoyang City immediately with his family.

Xiao Weixin was deeply aware of the shortage of food in the city. In order to reduce food consumption and meet the large number of people's request to evacuate, he finally ordered that the east gate be opened for only half a day.

For a time, the city of Liaoyang was full of chickens and dogs, and 10,000+ people rushed from all directions to the east gate, crowding the east gate.

Most of the families went to other counties to take refuge in other counties with soft and few clothes, and came back after the war was over, but there were also many big families who drove ox carts, which were full of various belongings, and the carts were blocked. Half of the exits were opened, causing the people to go out of the city crowded.

In just one hour, tens of thousands of people who were about to leave the city had already crowded the streets. The soldiers originally wanted to check, but there were too many people leaving the city, so they had to give up.

Nearly [-] people rushed out of the city one by one with their families and families.

That night, Fan Ning met a spy who had sneaked out of the city in the big tent.

The spy was the clerk of Baishan Tavern, and he handed Cui Xiucheng's letter to Fan Ning.

Fan Ning took a rough look at the letter, and then handed the letter to Chong Er and Cao Shi. He asked the spies, "It says in the letter that the Liao Army recruited [-] soldiers by force. I want to know the details. How did these [-] soldiers Who are they? How's their morale? How's their training? How's their equipment?"

"His Royal Highness, we have seen with our own eyes how the army recruited these [-] soldiers. First of all, they are all Khitans, but some of these Khitans are businessmen, some are buddies, and some are farmers outside the city. They are all very ordinary. The common people, who did not want to join the army to fight, were all forcibly taken to the barracks, which can be described as full of complaints.

Now that Yelu Hongji led the army to flee back to Shangjing, the people of Liaoyang Prefecture were in turmoil and their morale was low. These new troops had never seen them train, and there was no place for training in Liaoyang City. The barracks were very small. After half of the barracks was occupied by the palace, the soldiers couldn't even live there. "

"What about the equipment?"

Zhong Er asked, "How about the equipment of these new troops?"

"It's all leather armor. There is a shortage of pig iron in the Liao Kingdom. The trading of pig iron is strictly prohibited in the market. Three families can only share one kitchen knife. It is said that only iron can be used for war knives and spears, and the old leather armor is used for armor."

Fanning asked some more questions, and asked the spies to be taken down to rest.

He said to Zhong Er and Cao Shi: "The Liao Kingdom has obviously reached the edge of the cliff. The Dongdong Road is the most important source of tax revenue for the Liao Kingdom. The tribes in the grassland will no longer pay tribute to the Liao Kingdom. As long as we occupy the Dongdong Road, the financial resources of the Liao Kingdom will be exhausted. , the grain will not continue, and within half a year, the Liao Kingdom will completely collapse, we must use patience to fight this final battle."

Cao Shi sighed: "Half a year ago, everyone thought that the Liao Kingdom had been revived with full blood. In just a few short months, the Liao Kingdom has been beaten back to its original form."

Fan Ning said with a smile: "The interior of the Liao Kingdom has been completely corrupted. The people have betrayed their relatives, and they will collapse at the first touch. How can they be resurrected with full blood? At most, it is just a flashback. As long as we look at the problem from the perspective of national strength, it will be very clear."

"Your Highness, what shall we do now?" Zhong Er asked.

Fan Ning smiled faintly, "Of course it is to surround Liaoyang City, let's see how I can take Liaoyang without hurting any soldiers."

(End of this chapter)