The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Three messengers from the Liao Kingdom stood in the big tent belching drunkenly. The gifts they brought were placed in the middle of the big tent. The seals of the three big wooden barrels had been opened, and the pungent smell of kerosene filled the tent.

Yeluzong really read Xia Guo's reply, Xia's tone was gentle, he expressed regret for his previous provocative words, but he didn't speak ill.

"...Since your country doesn't want to retreat, I have to fight with you. After the snowstorm, my cavalry will launch an attack. Then we will know who will die. When I heard that your army is short of fuel for fire, the soldiers camp After a few days of fire, the weather is so cold that even if your army is brave, it will be difficult to survive the harsh winter with firewood for warmth. Sending charcoal in the snow is a virtue of human beings. Our country of benevolence and righteousness cannot just watch your soldiers freeze to death, but who taught you? Are you and I a hostile country? Although there is a heart to help each other, there is no reason to help each other. Let the messenger of your army bring back three barrels of kerosene as a gift, and a fox fur cloak for His Majesty to keep warm. Please accept it "I hope His Majesty the Emperor will take care of your body, eat enough and stay warm, and you must wait until the day when you and my army will fight each other, and don't freeze to death."

Yeluzong's sincerity was like a boulder falling into water, it sank straight to the bottom of the valley, he put down the letter paper, walked to the fire oil barrel, ordered someone to scoop out a few spoonfuls and put them in a copper basin, lit the fire, but saw a light blue flame rising, The whole tent instantly warmed up.

Although the tent is warmer, the heart is colder. [

"Your Majesty, this is indeed high-quality kerosene. It is very expensive and difficult to refine. Xia people will use this as fuel for heating? I don't believe it." Zhang Jian shook his head.

Yeluzong really looked at the three drunken messengers and shouted: "Have you ever noticed the situation in the camp of the Xia people? What do the Xia people eat? What do they use for heating?"

A messenger hiccupped, shook his head and said, "You guys, how can you not pay attention to this? The Xia people were indeed tortured by the severe cold a few days ago, and many people died; but what I have heard is that they never But Duncheng brought fuel and a large amount of beef and mutton, and it was dinner time when I was walking around the Xia people's tents. I passed dozens of camps, and they were full of hot pots, wine and meat, and they were all burned in this kind of fire and oil brazier. , it’s not cold at all, their lives are much more comfortable than ours.”

Yeluzong really yelled: "Stop talking nonsense, where do they get wine and meat to eat? The Xia people can't even supply food and grass, why are they talking about wine and meat?"

The three quickly knelt down and said: "I've seen it with my own eyes, and I'm just reporting the facts, I don't dare to make up random things."

Zhang Jian said: "Your Majesty, maybe the Xia people played a show for them to deceive me, Daliao; but the old minister thinks that it is very difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, so it's fine if it's fake, but if it's true, our army will fight with them." It will be a big loss if it goes on like this. This is in the territory of Xia Kingdom. They rely on Ketun City and use the power of the whole country. It is indeed possible to fully supply the army with food, grass and fuel. When the snow fills the air, luck will arrive."

Yeluzong really frowned and said nothing, the expression on his face was extremely tangled, he understood that if the other party was in danger of food and clothing, spending it with them would be a dead end, they even need to attack, they just need to wait for their own army to starve to death and freeze to death , After the army's morale is slack, it will be self-defeating.

"Brother Emperor, I don't understand, where did the Xia people get the fire oil? We have been dealing with the Xia people for so many years, and we have never heard of any news that the Xia country can produce fire oil. From my point of view, it must be Xia. People are bluffing, trying to scare us into retreating." Yelu Zhongyuan stepped forward and said loudly.

Yeluzong frowned, stepped forward and looked around the three large wooden barrels, saw a palm-sized square fire mark on the outside of the barrel belly, and suddenly asked: "Where is 'Suji Baoshan Huoyou Valley'? Xia Does the country own this place?"

"Suji Baoshan Huoyou Valley?" All the generals were stunned for a moment, and they were silent for a while. From the top of Bianliang to the officials and down to the people, a kind of cake-shaped charcoal is burned in winter. The minister asked and learned that it was a kind of coal called Suji Baoshan coal cake. It is Su Jin, the envoy of the Northwest Fourth Route of the Song State, you see, the name on this fire sign has the words Su Ji Baoshan, it must be from the same family, it seems that the fire oil came from the Song State."

All the ministers were shocked, these words were like a blow to the head, and everyone was dizzy. It is absolutely impossible for Song people to trade with Xia people for extremely important strategic materials such as kerosene. They are all materials controlled by the government, and smuggling is impossible. Impossible; but since there is fire oil from Song State in Xia State's army, it can only show that Xia State's strategic materials, food, grass and fuel are secretly supplied by Song State, and the fire sign on the oil barrel is exposed the truth of the matter.

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Jian's voice trembled a little: "Su Jin is the Northern General of Song Guozhen, and also the commander of the Song Army who originally agreed to cooperate with our Daliao in the north-south attack. The Song people betrayed their trust and secretly colluded with the Xia people. Now that even important materials such as kerosene are supplied to Xia Guo, this is obviously a plan to drive away wolves and tigers. This is to drive the Xia people and my Daliao to fight to the death at the cost of food and grass materials. It is not difficult to explain why Xia Jun has enough wine and meat to use kerosene as fuel, but fortunately they do not understand the magical function of kerosene, and it is indeed wasteful to use it for heating, but even so, we must not spend it with it."

A courier staggered and exhaled a breath of alcohol and said, "Yes, you guys are really envious when you see Song soldiers wearing fur underwear and eating and drinking wine and meat. If there is a fight , how can we fight?"

Yeluzong really slammed the table and shouted: "Pull these three dogs out and chop them up, and order you to deliver the letter. You should be neither arrogant nor humble, but the Xia people poured a few cups of yellow soup and you are confused." , and also revealed that "the situation in our big army camp is known to the Xia army, this is a meticulous trip, come here, cut off the heads of three people, and hang them on the flagpole for public display."

The three soldiers who delivered the letter were so frightened that they suddenly became sober from the drunkenness. They all knelt down and howled and begged for mercy.

Yeluzong was really angry, and he shouted angrily: "What should I do now? You asked me to pretend to refuse to test and respond, but now it's self-defeating. Xia Jun has decided to fight me to the death. The people of Song secretly supported supplies, and Xia Jun's food, grass and fuel Enough, but I can’t bear it anymore, it seems that I can only fight to the death?”

Zhang Jian said: "Don't be upset, your majesty, now that we have learned of the Song people's plan to gobble up tigers, we must not fight this battle, otherwise we will be fooled by the Song people; the best policy now is to withdraw our troops as soon as possible. , taking advantage of the snowstorm to pull out the stronghold overnight and retreat to the north of Helan Mountain, as long as there is one night, we can retreat at least forty miles away, and even if the Xia people know about it, they will not be able to catch up."

"Master Zhang, this is a dangerous move. Once the army withdraws, it will be overwhelming. If the Xia army takes advantage of the opportunity to attack, it will be difficult to organize a counterattack. It is dangerous." Xiao Hui shook his head slightly.

"The old minister doesn't know the danger, but the old minister is sure of it, because the Xia people sent letters before and proposed to withdraw their troops. The old minister analyzed that they must have understood the tricks of the Song people. They didn't want to lose their main force. It's just inconvenient. Just to make it clear; if they find out and chase after them, regardless of the unfavorable pursuit on a snowy night, even if they catch up, how can we win after we fight desperately? Therefore, the old minister thinks that they will turn a blind eye even if they know Close one eye, bluff at most, never come to fight desperately, both sides retreat without using weapons, not only my Daliao idea, but also the Xia people's idea."[

Xiao Hui thought for a while and said, "Zhang Shangfu's analysis is reasonable, but in order to ensure His Majesty's safety, I suggest ordering the imperial guards to escort His Majesty first, and at the same time, prepare for the enemy's surprise attack after the change of the front army and the end of the army."

Yelu Zongzhen sighed and said: "It's a big taboo to attack soldiers from far away, not to mention the cunning of the Song people, you can't be an alliance with them at all. It is my responsibility to go out and return in defeat."

The crowd persuaded: "Your Majesty, why should you blame yourself? Under such circumstances, it is indeed the best policy to retreat completely. The country that betrays its trust can calmly punish it."

Yeluzong really gritted his teeth and said: "I, Yeluzong, really swear here that I will be at odds with the people of Song Dynasty from now on. After the hun, the army will gather at the front line of Bazhou. I will send my army south and go straight to Bianliang. I will personally catch Zhao Zhen and ask Ask him why he dared to betray me, the people of Song Dynasty will pay a heavy price for this."

All the ministers said in unison: "The ministers and others are willing to follow His Majesty to conquer the Song Kingdom."

Yeluzong really sneered, and said in a loud voice: "Come here, send a letter to the summer camp for me. I agree with their suggestion. Thank you for the gift. As soon as the wind and snow stop, the two armies will start fighting, and there will be no end to death!"

Novel Network