The prince is more stable

Chapter 230: City Gate Establishes Authority
Empress Dowager Liang's carriage was on its way to Xiazhou.

Empress Dowager Liang did not object to the peace talks. She even hoped to end the war as soon as possible more than the Song Dynasty.

When the rhythm of the war was out of control and many things happening on the battlefield were beyond her expectations, Empress Dowager Liang keenly felt that the situation was unfavorable and must end immediately.

An army of 300,000 is a full-scale attack. If they are defeated, not only will Queen Mother Liang lose her position, but the entire Liang family will die. The civil and military officials below will definitely overthrow her, and after the overthrow, the Liang family will definitely not have a good ending.

War and politics are often mutually causal, and failure in war will definitely determine the political landscape.

So on the way to Xiazhou, Empress Dowager Liang was actually quite anxious.

After the capital was captured by the Song army, they showed no mercy at all. They killed, burned, raped, looted, and did all kinds of unscrupulous things in the city.

The fall of the capital was an almost devastating blow to the Xixia monarchs, ministers and dignitaries.

Most of the noble mansions that were broken into by the Song army were the homes of important officials and generals of Western Xia. Empress Dowager Liang could not even imagine how much evil the Song army had done to the families of these officials and generals after breaking into their homes.

Because the capital was destroyed, there were signs of instability in the Western Xia army. Not only was the morale of the army severely hit, but the civil and military officials who accompanied the expedition were even more anxious. They could not deal with the Song army, but they had accumulated deep dissatisfaction with Queen Dowager Liang, the instigator of the war.

Faced with internal and external troubles, Empress Dowager Liang knew very well that if she did not end the war, her situation would be very dangerous.

There was something else that made her even more uneasy.

A few days ago, envoys from the Liao Kingdom arrived in Hongzhou under the banner of mediating the war between Song and Xia.

Empress Dowager Liang met with Xiao Guangjing. Facing the envoy from the superior country, Empress Dowager Liang was very respectful. Of course, Xiao Guangjing was not rude either, and he handled the conversation with Empress Dowager Liang in a very appropriate manner.

But what made Empress Dowager Liang uneasy was that Xiao Guangjing's words were quite biased towards this war.

However, he favored the State of Song.

Liao and Xia were originally allies. The Western Xia Kingdom was established with the support of the Liao Kingdom in order to balance the Song Dynasty. Logically, no matter what happened, the Liao Kingdom should help its relatives and not the outsiders, and stand on the side of the Western Xia without any discrimination. The two countries joined forces to put pressure on the Song Kingdom.

However, Xiao Guangjing's attitude really made Empress Dowager Liang feel heavy-hearted.

At this moment, Empress Dowager Liang's carriage and Xiao Guangjing's mount were running side by side. Empress Dowager Liang lifted a corner of the pearl curtain of the carriage and looked at Xiao Guangjing who was riding on a horse beside the carriage. She saw that his face was calm, his lips were tightly pursed, and there was an unfathomable light in his eyes.

Empress Dowager Liang stared at him carefully for a long time before lowering the pearl curtain.

Her worries became even heavier, and she suddenly had a premonition that it was hard to predict whether this trip to Xiazhou would be good or bad.

Sitting in the imperial carriage, Empress Dowager Liang gritted her teeth secretly.

In the peace talks with the State of Song, we should be neither humble nor arrogant, and fight for every inch of land.

Her bottom line was very clear: the two countries must stop fighting, and the cities and territories of Western Xia must not be lost, otherwise she would not be able to explain to the civil and military officials of Western Xia.

While he was lost in thought, a palace maid outside the imperial carriage whispered, "Empress Dowager, we have arrived at Xiazhou City."

Empress Dowager Liang hummed in agreement within the imperial carriage and said calmly, "Can Zhang Yu and Zhao Xiaoqian go out of the city to welcome the emperor?"

The palace maid outside was silent for a moment, then said, "No one is waiting outside the city to welcome you."

Empress Dowager Liang's eyebrows immediately raised: "How dare Song Guoan be so rude!"

In theory, both sides were representatives of the peace talks, their status equals. However, in reality, one side was the Queen Mother, the other was a minister of the Song Emperor, with a different status. The Song Dynasty even failed to observe basic diplomatic etiquette and did not leave the city to welcome the Queen Mother of Western Xia.

Lifting the pearl curtain, Queen Dowager Liang looked at the city gate of Xiazhou in the distance and saw that there was indeed no one outside the city gate. Only the city gate was open. Two rows of Song soldiers were standing lazily outside the gate on duty. There was nothing else.

Empress Dowager Liang had a cold expression on her face and her eyes were blazing as she glared at the city gate.

After a long while, Empress Dowager Liang forcefully lowered the pearl curtain and said, "Order the vanguard to ride into the city!"

After a pause, Empress Dowager Liang continued, "Ride your horses and charge in, and teach the Song people a lesson!"

Xiao Guangjing, who had been riding alongside Empress Dowager Liang, frowned and said, "Empress Dowager, I urge you to reconsider your actions. As far as I know, Zhao Xiaoqian is in Xiazhou City. He is not one to suffer any loss. Your Majesty's order is indeed a bit impulsive."

Empress Dowager Liang smiled coldly, "Since we are negotiating, we must first establish our authority. Otherwise, how can I speak? The Liao envoy is worrying too much."

Xiao Guangjing also smiled.

If you are willing to die, shouldn't I be willing to bury you?

Anyway, the ones who died were not warriors of the Liao Dynasty, so it’s up to you.

Xiao Guangjing fell silent, but he tightened his reins with his right hand and deliberately fell behind the team. He had seen the Song Dynasty's muskets firsthand, and now that Empress Dowager Liang was looking to stir up trouble, Xiao Guangjing didn't want to be implicated. Those weapons had a long range, and it would be a great injustice for a Liao envoy to be injured by a stray bullet.

A moment later, a cavalry unit of a thousand men from Western Xia assembled. Under the command of the commander, when they were one mile away from the city gate, the cavalry formed an offensive formation and suddenly launched a charge towards the city gate.

The rumbling of horse hooves was like a sudden downpour. The Song army soldiers guarding outside the city gate saw a dark cloud of cavalry rushing towards the city gate, and they hurriedly turned around and ran into the city gate.

Inside the gate of Xiazhou City, Zhong Jianzhong and the soldiers of the Longwei Camp stood quietly in their armor.

As the Song army on duty ran into the city, Zhong Jianzhong's face flashed with admiration, and he murmured, "The Duke's foresight is as accurate as a god. The Xixia thieves will indeed not settle down. Fortunately, the Duke made arrangements in advance. Otherwise, before the peace talks even begin, our Great Song Dynasty would have lost face."

The sound of horse hooves outside the city grew closer, and Zhong Jianzhong suddenly shouted, "Order! Musketeers, form up outside the city corridor. Anyone entering the city without dismounting will be killed on the spot!"

The generals and soldiers responded loudly and quickly formed a battle formation.

A thousand-man cavalry unit of Western Xia had just rushed into the city. The leading commander was about to laugh and mock the incompetence of the Song army, but after passing through the dark city gate corridor, as soon as his eyes became bright, he heard a loud shout.

"First row, let go!"

"Second row, let go!"

There was a burst of thunderous gunfire, and all the cavalry in the front, including the Xixia commander, were knocked off their horses. Some fell to the ground without a sound, and some held their heads and howled in pain.

The cavalry was in chaos all of a sudden. The horses under them were so frightened that they stood up, and many cavalrymen jumped off their horses and fled. For a moment, some were screaming, some were running for their lives, some were being trampled, and the whole corridor was crowded with people. It was a mess.

The soldiers of the Dragon Guard Battalion remained in formation. Following Zhong Jianzhong's instructions, they calmly crouched, fired, and stood up to reload, repeating the process over and over again...

In a short while, most of the thousand-man cavalry sent by Empress Dowager Liang were killed or wounded, and the remaining three or four hundred people fled back in panic.

This result shocked Empress Dowager Liang so much that she didn't care about her manners, lifted the pearl curtain and stood on the shaft of the imperial carriage, staring in amazement at the scene of people and horses falling to the ground in front of her. The shock in her heart was beyond words.

This was the first time she witnessed the power of Song Dynasty's firearms, which was a one-sided crushing of the Western Xia cavalry.

Thinking about the idea of ​​establishing authority over the State of Song just now, it seemed so ridiculous now.

Who is establishing authority over whom?
Xiao Guangjing rode his horse slowly to catch up, looking at Empress Dowager Liang standing on the shaft of the carriage, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

If Song's new firearms were so easy to deal with, would I willingly become a spy for Song?

With firearms that even the Liao Kingdom couldn't deal with, do you, Xixia, think you're strong enough?

Empress Dowager Liang stood on the shaft of the carriage, her face turning pale and blue, and the light in her eyes was dim and unclear, like anger and fear.

Before entering the city and the two sides met, the situation was at a stalemate.

Empress Dowager Liang and her entourage stood quietly outside the city gate, neither knowing whether to advance nor retreat.

After a long time, Zhong Jianzhong rode slowly out of the city gate on his horse and rode alone towards Empress Dowager Liang's carriage, but there was no fear on his face.

As they approached Empress Dowager Liang's vanguard cavalry, Zhong Jianzhong reined in the reins and shouted, "By order of Marshal Zhang and the Duke of the County, I welcome Empress Dowager Liang of Western Xia and the Liao envoys into the city. Please!"

He spoke calmly and fearlessly, but did not mention a word about the massacre inside the city gate, as if it had never happened.

After saying this, Zhong Jianzhong turned his horse and headed towards the city gate, regardless of Empress Dowager Liang's reaction.

My message has been delivered. Whether you go in or not, or whether you dare to go in or not, is your business.

Beside the imperial carriage, Xiao Guangjing squeezed his horse's belly, spurred his horse to catch up with Zhong Jianzhong, and said with a sneer, "What's there to be afraid of? Queen Mother, I'm going into the city."

Empress Dowager Liang stared at Xiao Guangjing's back with complicated eyes, thinking secretly that the Liao emperor was good at judging people after all. This Liao envoy was really brave and dared to enter the city surrounded by heavy troops alone. This boy... is extraordinary!
At this moment, Xiao Guangjing was riding on a horse, but he didn't know that Empress Dowager Liang had such a high opinion of him.

If I knew this, I would probably be ashamed to explain.

You are really too kind. It’s not that I’m brave, it’s just that... I am actually in the same group with the Song people.

Under the arrow embrasures of the Xiazhou city wall, Zhao Xiaoqian squatted quietly, revealing his eyes to observe everything happening outside the city.

Seeing that Empress Dowager Liang had no reaction, and Xiao Guangjing was riding alone like a lone hero, following Zhong Jianzhong into the city in a tragic but heroic manner, Zhao Xiaoqian frowned, turned around and sat down on the bluestone bricks on the top of the city wall.

"Keso! I've been tricked by this guy again!" Zhao Xiaoqian gritted his teeth.

The two countries are negotiating, and you are trying to establish your authority and compete with each other. Are you trying to establish yourself as a brave and fearless person?
Who the hell taught you that?

(End of this chapter)