I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 485 A big defeat is worse than a miserable defeat! We must lose meaningfully and valuable

July 20th, afternoon.

In the imperial palace of Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Western Xia.

The seven-and-a-half-year-old Xixia King Li Liangzuo sat on the throne, glancing at Mo Zang behind the curtain next to him.

Seeing that Mo Zang didn't look at him, his body softened and he leaned back in the chair to relax.

After sitting there for nearly an hour, he couldn't stand it anymore.

But he didn't dare to leave his seat without Zang's order.

The current Western Xia court.

He, as the king, is just a figurehead and has to ask for permission even to urinate.

"Cough cough!"

As soon as Mo Zang coughed, Li Liangzuo immediately sat up straight and looked down.

And below.

A group of Tangut nobles stood on both sides.

Or squint.

Or looking down at the boots.

Or fiddling with a belt inlaid with agate.

He just refused to look at the Western Xia Prime Minister, Mo Zang Epang, who was standing in the middle and looking around.

Mo Zang Epang's face turned pale.

After taking a deep breath, he rolled up his sleeves and began to speak again.

"Don't you have any sense of urgency? The Song army is invading Hehuang, advancing a hundred miles a day, and will soon control the entire Hehuang area. Once they control Hehuang, it will be like losing an arm for us, and we may suffer a large-scale invasion by the Song army at any time!"

"I have ordered Weiming Xude to set up defenses along the Yellow River. Regardless of whether the Song army's goal this time is to attack Zhuolao City or not, we cannot allow them to completely occupy Hehuang. This battle must be fought!"

"But the court is short of money and food!"

"Now is the time for you all to contribute to Xixia. Once the country is destroyed, we will have nothing!"

……

Mo Zang Epang was spitting all over the place and looked anxious.

But these summoned Tangut nobles still looked calm and not in a hurry at all.

Mo Zang Epang had deceived them many times with this tactic of "the country is about to collapse and there is a lack of money and food."

They were all tired of listening!

At present, the Western Xia treasury is indeed short of money and food, but it has not been completely emptied.

These Tangut nobles.

It is still uncertain whether the Song army is coming to destroy Xia.

If the Song Dynasty only wanted to occupy Hehuang.

Maybe they will withdraw after fighting a battle on the banks of the Yellow River, which won't cost too much money and food.

More or.

If the Zuosiluo tribe or the Liao Kingdom got involved, it might also prevent the Song Dynasty from attacking Western Xia.

The possibility of an all-out war is not great.

They have their plans.

If all the money and grain were handed over to the court, Mei Zang Epang would definitely not return them.

They didn't want to enrich the imperial court and weaken themselves.

If the family assets are emptied, Mei Zang Epang will deal with them.

Unless they thought that the Song Dynasty really wanted to destroy Western Xia, they would not make any major efforts.

After Mo Zang Epang had been shouting for nearly a quarter of an hour, an old Dangxiang nobleman stood up.

"Prime Minister, our money and grain are not private property. If you don't have more, you can collect some and we will make a list later."

This was a common practice among the Tangut nobles.

Their money and food were also earned from the imperial court.

Now that the Song Dynasty is attacking, they naturally have to give up some.

But only a little.

They are only likely to give their all when their lives are threatened.

"I'm counting on you all!" Mo Zang Epang bowed to everyone.

He also knew that these old foxes would not give their all, but if he could take advantage of this crisis and ask for as much as he could, he would get more.

Mo Zang Epang has already sent people to contact the Zuosiluo tribe and the Liao Kingdom. Although Xixia has a bad relationship with the Zuosiluo and Liao Kingdom, they are currently in a relationship of lips and teeth, and he believes that the other party will not take no action.

Then the Tangut nobles left.

Mo Zang Epang glared at Mo Zang and said, "If you keep silent in the future, you won't have to rule the country from behind the curtain anymore!"

"What do I, a woman, know? You didn't tell me. If I were to speak up for you, couldn't you have done it on your own?" Mei Zang retorted.

After saying that, she took Li Liangzuo away.

At present, the conflict between the brother and sister is getting deeper and deeper.

In order to gain power, Mo Zang Epang restricted the freedom of Mo Zang and Li Liangzuo.

Mo Zang was very dissatisfied and did not say a word today.

She said nothing.

It means that what Mo Zang Epang said were all his own thoughts and could not represent the King of Western Xia.

As a result, some Dangxiang nobles would become even more hostile to this powerful prime minister.

Mei Zang Epang will have more and more enemies.

Once Li Liangzuo grows up, the one who will suffer the most will definitely be Mei Zang Epang.

at this time.

Mo Zang Epang's guards handed over two letters from Wei Ming Xu De.

On the cover of one letter it was written: Anyone may read it; on the cover of another letter it was written: For the Prime Minister to read alone.

"What are you trying to be mysterious about?" Mei Zang Epang said impatiently.

When he ordered Weiming Xude to leave the city and guard the Yellow River, he had already treated him as a dead man.

Facing Di Qing's 50,000-strong army, Wei Ming Xude had almost no chance of winning.

If he died on the battlefield, Mei Zang Epang would give him a good reputation.

If he was defeated and returned to the city, Mo Zang Epang would kill him without hesitation to establish his authority and make him take the blame.

Weiming Xude and the more than 20,000 soldiers under his command have only one role.

That is delaying time.

Mo Zang Epang had already planned it out clearly.

If the Song Dynasty did not attack the Xixia Zhuola City after it gained the Yellow River region, he would tolerate the Song Dynasty stationing troops in Hehuang instead of devoting all its national strength to a life-and-death battle.

If the Song Dynasty attacked Zhuolao City, he would defend it to the death and wait for the reactions of Zuosilo and Liao. He must not let the Song army enter, otherwise Western Xia would be in real danger of destruction.

immediately.

Mo Zang Epang opened the first letter first.

The content of the first letter was relatively simple.

These were the bold words of the Weiming Xude brothers who expressed their determination to fight to the death against the Song army and never let the Song army cross the Yellow River and lay siege to the city.

After he opened the second letter, he was stunned for a moment.

Then, with a look of ecstasy on his face, he murmured, "This plan works! This plan works!"

Weiming Xude said in the letter:

It is difficult to defeat Song in the battle along the Yellow River, so it is better to admit defeat.

A narrow defeat is worse than a big defeat, and a big defeat is worse than a miserable defeat.

If they could suffer a crushing defeat, it would create the illusion that the Song Dynasty was about to launch a full-scale attack on Western Xia, and Mo Zang Epang would have sufficient reasons to demand money and food from the Tangut nobles.

Those Dangxiang nobles did not love Western Xia, but they cherished their lives.

When they learn of the bravery of the Song army, they will certainly donate a large amount of money and food to supplement military supplies.

Wei Mingxu was willing to use a tragic defeat to make this defeat meaningful and valuable.

He also said that this battle would ruin his reputation for life.

He pleaded that after the battle, Mo Zang Epang could protect their brothers' safety, transfer them away from the border, and promise them idle positions with generous salaries.

Mei Zang E Pang had an excited look on his face.

This is the best opportunity to transfer the money and food of the Tangut nobles into his own hands.

He hoped that the Liao Kingdom or Zuo Si Luo would unite with him to fight against the Song Dynasty, so that the Song Dynasty would not dare to launch a full-scale attack on Western Xia.

This way.

Western Xia was not in danger of collapse, and Mo Zang Epang was able to make a huge fortune.

This was exactly what he had been longing for, the most ideal situation in his mind.

Mo Zang Epang looked outside the hall, and suddenly began to look forward to seeing Di Qing leading the army and appearing on the banks of the Yellow River.

(End of this chapter)