People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 348 Strange Caravan
In April of the sixth year of Qingli, Li Yuanhao left the Liao-Xia border and returned to Xingqing Mansion in Yinchuan the next day after forming an alliance with Yelu Zongzhen.

After all, Yelu Zongzhen was the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty, and his words and deeds were watched by countless people, so there must be a legitimate reason for traveling.

The emperor of the Liao Kingdom especially liked to hunt everywhere, and hunting westward on the Monan Grassland was the best excuse.

Li Yuanhao is different. As the king of Xixia, although he is also a giant, Xixia Elementary School does not have so many things to deal with. He often leads his troops to fight or hunt.

Therefore, it is normal to leave Xingqing Mansion for a day or two occasionally to visit other places.

As long as they leave Yinchuan, they can get rid of the large army, rush to the border with a small number of cavalry, keep a low profile, and return quickly, thereby avoiding being noticed by Song spies and discovering the conspiracy between them.

Therefore, Li Yuanhao's slight disappearance for a day or two did not arouse the suspicion of the Song Dynasty in Xixia, and their alliance ended smoothly.

After agreeing on the strategy, Li Yuanhao quickly started taking action.

At the end of April, he began to lead part of the army and marched towards the majestic Qishan Mountains with the necessary supplies.

He had already prepared to take action against Qingtang at the beginning of the year. Weapons and equipment, food and grass supplies, route planning and other things were also ready, and he could take action immediately.

However, Li Yuanhao planned to attack Qingtang this time and completely destroy Qingtang, so the troops he led were all elite men, and they actually allowed him to successfully cross Qishan.

The soldiers of Xixia crossed Xiguan and went down the steep mountain road. The approximate location was the section from Sunan County to Qilian County on G213 in later generations. The road conditions were very poor in ancient times.

It's the midsummer season of May, and herds of bison and wild horses are running wild on the vast grasslands. There seem to be wolves peering out from further afield. Among the swaying green grass, it seems to be a rich and beautiful land that no one has cultivated.

In fact it is.

The altitude of this place is more than 3,000 meters, and the climate is extremely harsh. It often snows heavily even in midsummer. Therefore, it has been an inaccessible place since ancient times.

Tuyuhun Road is the southern route of the Silk Road, also known as "Henan Road". There are two specific routes.

At this moment, in the vast wilderness, teams of camels were walking on the green grass-covered Gobi Desert carrying a large amount of supplies and trade goods. In the distance, there is a small tribe of Caotou Data, which is trading with this caravan.

On the contrary, less than a hundred kilometers to the southwest is Hala Lake, the second largest lake in Qinghai in later generations. A minority ethnic group called Caotou Data lived nearby. Moreover, this is also the Hehuang Corridor, also known as the only place that the ancient Tuyuhun Road must pass.

The vast Qishan Mountains are majestic and vast, with towering mountains reaching into the clouds. Even if spring has turned to summer, the majestic mountains are still covered with white snow.

Moreover, in addition to the high altitude and bad climate, there are mountains and wild animals everywhere. In later generations, this place was a beautiful tourist destination, but in the backward ancient society, this was the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that was full of dangers.

Although Qilian County is to the southeast, there was no G213 National Highway in the Song Dynasty. The southeast was now covered with rolling hills and mountains, the road was rugged and difficult to navigate, and there was no human habitation for hundreds of miles.

The most difficult part of climbing over Qishan Mountain is actually not to climb to the mountain ridge with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, but to walk down the steep cliff. When you get to the bottom of the mountain, you will find an open valley. Looking around, you will see a hilly green field covered with green grass. .

Until the rise of Xixia in the Song Dynasty, Xixia did not allow the Song Dynasty to trade with the Western Regions, so it once again cut off the Hexi Corridor. Therefore, merchants from the Western Regions were forced to re-take the very dangerous Hehuang Corridor and chose to cross the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the Western Regions to Qingtang to trade with the Song Dynasty.

The only problem was that they had to climb mountains and their cannons couldn't carry them, so they had to choose cold weapons and rely on horses and legs to climb the mountains.

The other road leads from Ruoqiang County through the Altun Mountains, into the vast Gobi desert of what was to become the Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and finally reaches Fuqi City on the shores of Qinghai Lake.

The place where they were located was the ravine on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains south of Golmud City, Qinghai Province in later generations. To the northwest, it was called Yiniugou. To the southeast, there was Yiniugou Township, named after the common sight of bison.

One goes from Dunhuang to the south, passes through Subei Mongolian Autonomous County, and then goes southeast across Hala Lake to reach Fuqi City on the west bank of Qinghai Lake, which later became the Gonghe County area of ​​Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province.

Only Li Yuanhao knew that this place seemed like a paradise, but it was actually full of dangers. It is safer all year round, but summer is slightly safer. Other times, it's like hell.

Although some casualties inevitably occurred during this process, such as deaths from falls, injuries, and even hypoxia caused by crossing high-altitude areas, which caused various reactions among the soldiers, after nearly a month of trekking, they finally got off the ground. The mountain ridge.

Li Yuanhao finally crossed Qishan Mountain and did not stay any longer. Taking advantage of the good weather this year, he headed southwest.

The Hehuang Corridor prospered due to the blockage of the Hexi Corridor during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Hexi Corridor was opened again and gradually fell into disuse.

The items of trade are naturally cattle, sheep and horse products that are common among grassland peoples. Now the price of war horses sold to the Song Dynasty has dropped a lot. However, people in the Song Dynasty liked dried beef, mutton and wool very much. It was the best choice to buy it from the grassland people at a low price and then sell it to the people in the Song Dynasty in Qingtang or Lanzhou.

The trade between the two parties was very smooth, and Caotou Data also needed merchants from the Western Regions to bring tea and ironware back from the Song Dynasty, so they have always maintained a friendly and mutually supportive relationship. They helped merchants from the Western Regions lead the way and replenish supplies. Merchants helped them bring back the goods they needed.

Just when the caravan was exchanging supplies with the familiar Caotou Data tribe and starting again, they suddenly noticed a dark army in the distant wilderness like a black cloud, rushing towards them. .

The Gobi Desert has many hills that obscure the view. But the Data tribe will place an observation deck on the top of the mountain to prevent wolves from attacking herdsmen, or enemies from attacking their tribe.

Coupled with the galloping horse hooves, the speed here conveyed a message - a huge team was approaching rapidly.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The desolate horn resounded across half of the sky.

The brave Data tribe mounted their horses one after another and prepared to form a formation to meet the enemy.

Even the merchants in the caravan took out their weapons from the trucks - since ancient times, the caravan has never been a good enemy, and sometimes the caravan is even a gang of bandits. When they encounter a single or small number of fat sheep, they can easily Killings and looting of property are also common.

But they obviously underestimated how powerful the invading enemy was. In less than an hour, the Data tribe with 5,000 people and the huge caravan of more than 400 people quickly turned into a mass of people all over the ground. corpse.

Li Yuanhao was riding on horseback, his white cloak fluttering in the wind. He stood on the hillside and watched the battle below calm down. He was very satisfied with the efficiency of his soldiers.

Then he waved his hand and shouted: "Go down here, put on caravan clothes and pretend to be a merchant."

"Yes."

The messengers under his command immediately went to convey the military order.

Nowadays, due to the reopening of the Hexi Corridor, the prosperity of merchants on Henan Road cannot be said to have plummeted, but it is much less prosperous than it once was.

After all, compared to the traditional Silk Road that took the Yumen Pass to Xiliang Prefecture, the Hehuang Corridor was not only a long way round, but also much more dangerous.

However, many businessmen continue to follow this path.

the reason is simple.

Taking the Henan Road is one less layer of exploitation in Xixia, and there is no need to pay taxes here in Xixia. The second and most direct reason is that Xixia merchants from the Western Regions are not allowed to trade directly with the Song people, but can only buy and sell in Xixia Xingqing Mansion.

The result of this is that merchants from the Western Regions can only buy tea, porcelain, silk and ironware in Xixia, and the goods can only be sold to Xixia merchants at low prices. There is an extra middleman in the middle, which reduces a lot of profits, which makes the merchants in the Western Regions quite dissatisfied.

On the other hand, if you go to Qingtang, Song people are also doing business in Xining, Huangzhou, Lanzhou and other places. They can do business directly with Song merchants, and they only need to pay a small tax to Zusiluo for each transaction.

Therefore, in consideration of profits, there are still many businessmen who continue to take the risk on the Hehuang Ancient Road, which has laid the foundation for Qingtang's commercial prosperity.

So in the next half month, Li Yuanhao robbed and killed several caravans, leaving a few alive after each killing, asking them about the origins of the caravans and the items they sold, and then disguised themselves as merchants and set off to Qingtang one after another.

By June, Li Yuanhao had sent almost six teams and had more than 3,000 internal agents in Qingtang City.

June 3rd, Qingtang City.

As the later Xining City, Qingtang City was built between valleys, surrounded by small hills with a maximum height of only a few hundred meters. The vast Huangshui flowed through the east bank of the city, raising a group of Tubo children.

This city is extremely majestic. It was built in 1034 AD, the first year of Jingyou. It covers an area of ​​ miles. From the ruins excavated in later generations, it can be seen that the outer city has a blue brick structure, like the Great Wall, and the middle There is also a dividing wall, which divides the city into east and west.

Xicheng is the residence of the Zunsiluo regime. There are palaces where Zunsiluo lived, houses of nobles from various Tubo tribes, and various criss-crossing streets and residential buildings. The Tibetan people coming and going all wore Song clothes, as if they were no different from the Han people.

Dongcheng is a place of prosperous commerce, with merchants from the Western Regions and Han people from the Song Dynasty. There are even Arab merchants in Central Asia, Qashmira merchants in Pakistan, and Gizini merchants in Afghanistan.

The fertile fields outside the city are lush and fertile, with not only vast pastures but also dense farmland beside the river, forming a unique culture that combines nomadic herding with farming.

At the moment, the Lord of Qingtang, Xiu Siluo, is patrolling the city. The 1032-year-old Xiu Siluo spent the first half of his life being manipulated and acted as a puppet. It was not until the first year of Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, that is, AD, that he finally regained it. gained power.

After taking office, he operated in Qingtang for fourteen years. He adopted a pro-Song and anti-Xia policy, and received support from the Song Dynasty. He finally defeated Xixia in the Battle of Zongge River, and the Qingtang regime prospered from then on.

Moreover, thanks to the increasingly powerful Song Dynasty in recent years, the Song Dynasty was also very satisfied with the pro-Song attitude of the Song Dynasty, so it never stopped supporting the Song Dynasty. There were even more than 30 cannons in the city, all of which were gifts from the Song Dynasty. Their.

"Father, this cannon is so majestic."

The fifteen-year-old third son Dong Xiang followed his father on a tour of the city. He stood on the top of the city and stroked the steel cannon, feeling extremely happy.

He had tried firing several times, and the power frightened him, the future heir of Qingtang.

"It's a pity that the Song Dynasty only gave us fifty gates, and it was only through my father's begging that we got it. This leaves us with less than ten gates in Lanzhou and Huangzhou. How can we resist the Xixia attack?"

After being overjoyed, Dong Fei was dissatisfied.

He was dissatisfied with the stinginess of the Song people, and was even more dissatisfied with his father for leaning so close to the Song people, even to the point of groveling, which made him feel unhappy as a proud descendant of Tubo Zanpu.

However, Zunsiluo glared at him fiercely and said, "Dong Felt, don't talk nonsense anymore."

"He's the father!"

Dong Xiang didn't have any scruples in speaking, so he talked back to Gu Siluo.

Zuosiluo felt a headache and could only say: "Do you know how much this artillery costs?"

"How many?"

Dong Felt asked casually.

"It costs more than 500 guan just to build this cannon, and that's not counting other expenses. With the ammunition and transportation to Qingtang, a cannon is worth a thousand guan!"

Zusiluo said patiently: "The Song people can give us fifty gates, which is equivalent to giving us fifty thousand guan for free. With such a great friendship, what else can we be dissatisfied with?"

"Anyway, people in the Song Dynasty have money, so why not give them to a few more families."

Dong Felt muttered.

Zuosiluo looked at his son and almost burst out of anger. He wanted to slap him, but in the end he endured it.

There was no way, even though Dong Zhan was the third eldest son, he was the only son by his side.

Among Zusiluo's three sons, the eldest Xiangzhan was born to his ex-wife Li. Li's father was Li Lizun, the Tubo Lunbu. Lunbu meant the Tubo prime minister. Li Lizun had always regarded Zusiluo as a puppet.

Therefore, when Susiluo gradually gained power, he broke with the Li family. Li took Xisiluo's eldest son, Xiangxiang, to leave Hehuang and took the tribe to Juqugu Valley, which later became Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. , surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and is now the training envoy of the Dengzhou regiment of the Song Dynasty.

The second son, Mo Yejiao, was also born to Li Lizun's daughter. So Sisiluo was forced to marry Li Lizun's two daughters. The elder Li was the father of Blind Felt, and the younger Li was the father of Mo Yejiao. Among them, Mr. Li was once imprisoned by Ji Siluo, but was rescued by Mo Yejiao, and left Hehuang with his tribe.

Therefore, the eldest son and the second son both had a bad relationship with Zusiluo because of their mother, so naturally they could not inherit Qingtang. The third son, Dong Feang, was born to his current wife Qiao, and was also the only son around Zuosiluo. He became Qingtang. The Lord is inevitable.

This means that Zunsiluo cannot educate him through beatings and scoldings. He is now fifteen years old and is in the rebellious stage. If he runs out of Qingtang like his two brothers after being beaten and scolded, then Zunsiluo will have no heir. I just have to endure it.

But what Zusiluo must have never imagined is that precisely because he failed to educate Dong Feang well, he later overturned his pro-Song policy, turned against the Song Dynasty, and finally broke out a war.

But that was originally a matter of history.

At this moment, history changes drastically.

Just as the father and son were arguing, they suddenly heard another caravan coming from the distance at some point, following the ancient road in the northwest, slowly heading towards Qingtang City.

Standing on the north wall of Xicheng and looking out, Zusiluo realized that it was not unusual for a caravan to appear in the northwest.

But when he looked at the caravan, he frowned involuntarily.

This team.

It's a bit unusually big.

(End of this chapter)