The prince is more stable

Chapter 958 has been read and cannot be read back
Throughout history, wars launched by the Central Plains dynasties against foreign powers, whether righteous or evil, have always followed an ironclad rule: they must be justified in the name of justice.

Only when a righteous army goes to war can it be considered legitimate and just, and only then will the world recognize the necessity and righteousness of this war.

The Song Dynasty today is no exception.

Before the army set off, the imperial court was already busy. The Ministry of Rites was busy drafting proclamations, the Council of State Affairs was busy preparing provisions and weapons, and the Privy Council was busy mobilizing troops.

After discussing the matter with several important officials, Zhao Xiaoqian issued a declaration of war that afternoon.

The edict detailed the atrocities committed by the Western Xia against the northwestern border of the Song Dynasty over the decades since its founding, including raids and plundering. It then went on to discuss the illegitimacy of the Western Xia's founding, stating that the Western Xia was an illegal usurper.

Li Sigong, the founding emperor of Western Xia, was a leader of the Tangut people at the end of the Tang Dynasty. He was granted the surname "Li" by the Tang emperor for his effective suppression of the Huang Chao Rebellion and was also granted five prefectures in the northwest.

The emperor's bestowal of a surname gave the Tangut people ample confidence, and they gradually became defiant of the central dynasty's orders. Eventually, Li Yuanhao formally proclaimed himself emperor, breaking away from the original Song dynasty's territory and establishing an independent state.

This process was illegal; in the eyes of the Song Dynasty, it was called "usurpation."

In his declaration of war, Zhao Xiaoqian listed a long list of grudges and past conflicts between Western Xia and the Song Dynasty. Finally, in the name of the Central Plains Celestial Empire, he declared that the Song Dynasty should raise a mighty army to punish the disobedient Western Xia.

As war is about to begin, all officials, soldiers, and civilians within the Great Song Dynasty must unite to fight the enemy and must not have any objections to this war; those who violate this rule will be punished.

On the night the declaration of war was proclaimed to the world, outside Yanfu Palace, an official knelt for a long time, kowtowing repeatedly, his hands raised high above his head, stubbornly holding a letter from the Western Xia state.

The kneeling official was not a Song official, but an envoy from Western Xia stationed in Bianjing (Kaifeng) of the Song Dynasty, named Li Huaisi.

Li Huaisi was a member of the Western Xia royal family. In fact, he was the cousin of Li Qianshun, the ruler of Western Xia. When Zhao Xiaoqian and Xiao Guangjing conspired to poison Empress Dowager Xiao Liang and quickly enthroned the young Li Qianshun, Li Huaisi was also present when the Song army stormed into the Western Xia army camp and took control of Li Qianshun.

Among the Western Xia officials who supported Li Qianshun, he was the first to openly pledge his loyalty. He was also the one who suggested to Li Qianshun that they negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty, first stop the war and withdraw their troops, and make great compromises and concessions to the Song Dynasty, thus prompting the Song Dynasty to sign the most advantageous peace treaty terms since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Li Qianshun made a huge compromise, heeding Li Huaisi's advice, and returned to the capital of Western Xia to begin a bloody purge of the remaining forces left by Empress Dowager Liang. He spent a year eliminating all the hidden dangers in the court, and then adopted a strategic defensive national policy, and Western Xia entered a period of dormancy.

Li Huaisi was involved in the formulation of the basic national policies of Western Xia in recent years. It can be said that he was one of Li Qianshun's most trusted ministers.

After Zhao Xiaoqian ascended the throne, Li Qianshun, the ruler of Western Xia, sensed something was amiss and immediately ordered Li Huaisi to go to the Song Dynasty as an envoy of Western Xia to reside in Bianjing, to relay news from the Song court, and to make judgments and suggestions.

However, Li Huaisi made a mistake while stationed in Bianjing.

This mistake is fatal.

When Zhao Xiaoqian ascended the throne, he summoned the envoys of the Liao and Western Xia dynasties to inquire about the annual tribute payments of the Song Dynasty and demanded an explanation from the two countries.

The Liao Kingdom gave a very positive explanation. After all, the Liao Kingdom had been badly beaten in the previous two years, and they knew very well that Zhao Xiaoqian would not bring up the annual tribute without a reason. Once he started talking about it, it meant that this newly enthroned Song emperor wanted to cause trouble.

The Liao Kingdom would not give Zhao Xiaoqian any chance to cause trouble, and immediately sent Xiao Fengxian as an envoy to communicate with the Song Dynasty about returning the annual tribute.

Although Zhao Xiaoqian and Xiao Fengxian, the Liao traitors, devised several wicked schemes, on the surface, the Liao Kingdom responded quite positively. Later, following Xiao Fengxian's advice, Yelü Yanxi killed a group of corrupt Liao officials, amassed a considerable amount of wealth, and began preparations to return the annual tribute to the Song Dynasty.

The Western Xia envoys reacted very differently to the same topic of returning tribute.

Xixia chose not to reply after reading the message.

It is now unclear whether this negative response was due to the suggestion of the envoy Li Huaisi or Li Qianshun's personal decision.

Of course, there are also some undeniable objective facts. Since the third year of Shaosheng, Western Xia has frequently suffered from natural disasters, resulting in poor harvests and the deaths of large numbers of cattle and sheep from plague. In the past two years, the taxes collected by Western Xia have been pitifully small. The young ruler, Li Qianshun, is so worried that he has lost a large bald patch.

Later, when Zhao Xiaoqian ascended the throne, he demanded that the Western Xia return the annual tribute on the very day of his coronation. This was like adding insult to injury for the already impoverished Western Xia.

Since ascending the throne, Li Qianshun has been considered a wise ruler. He rarely made foolish decisions. In fact, in recent years he has adopted a strategic defensive policy, focused on developing the domestic economy of Western Xia, and waited to restore the country's strength, attempting to make Western Xia great again.

As fate would have it, what was originally intended to be a low-profile endeavor turned into a miserable existence.

The main reason is that the Western Xia was aggressive in the past. When natural disasters occurred, they would follow the example of the Liao army and invade the territory of the Song Dynasty to raid and plunder the border people of the Song Dynasty. This can be regarded as a kind of subsidy for the people and herdsmen in the country.

However, the military of the Song Dynasty was no longer what it used to be. The 200,000 Song border troops in the northwest were now equipped with firearms, and the northwest border commander Zhang Jie patrolled the border on horseback, always eyeing the Western Xia with covetous intent.

Under such circumstances, Li Qianshun should be thankful that the Song Dynasty did not take the initiative to invade the Western Xia. How could the Western Xia dare to invade the Song Dynasty's border even slightly?
Unable to plunder or seize resources, the Western Xia lost its subsidies and naturally declined further and further after encountering natural disasters.

When Zhao Xiaoqian proposed returning the annual tribute, Li Qianshun was utterly shocked. The annual tribute wasn't actually that much; the Song Dynasty had sent no more than one or two million strings of cash to Western Xia over the years. Although Western Xia's national strength hadn't been great in recent years, it could still barely afford to pay it if it gritted its teeth.

What Li Qianshun was more concerned about was the strong signal that Zhao Xiaoqian, the newly enthroned emperor of the Song Dynasty, was sending to the Western Xia Kingdom.

On the day of his coronation, the emperor of the Song Dynasty bluntly demanded tribute in front of his ministers, demonstrating that he must have adopted a very assertive approach in diplomacy.

This time they're demanding tribute, what about next time?

Li Qianshun did not want such extortionate demands to become a habit in Song Dynasty diplomacy, with people asking for things every now and then. Western Xia was already a poor country, and who could tolerate this?

After much deliberation, Li Qianshun finally made a decision: he would not reply to the message.

This decision ultimately brought about the annihilation of the Western Xia Dynasty.

Of course, strictly speaking, the annihilation of Western Xia was not entirely caused by Li Qianshun's decision. In fact, once the Song Dynasty became militarily strong, the destruction of Liao and Xia was only a matter of time and opportunity.

Even if the Western Xia remained obedient and law-abiding, Zhao Xiaoqian's determination to destroy the Western Xia would not change in the slightest. His ambition to unify the world would not be spared just because someone or some country was docile and law-abiding.

Unifying the world was the mission of the Song emperor.

Li Qianshun's failure to reply to read the message merely provided the Song Dynasty with an excuse to launch a military campaign.

Today, the Song emperor suddenly issued a declaration of war against Western Xia, and the heart of Li Huaisi, the envoy of Western Xia, finally died of anxiety.

The atmosphere in Bianjing was tense during this period. Various government offices were making preparations in full swing. Li Huaisi sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly inquired everywhere. However, many officials remained tight-lipped. Finally, Li Huaisi learned that the Song Dynasty might launch a military campaign against the Western Xia.

This news terrified Li Huaisi. After sending an urgent memorial to Li Qianshun, he repeatedly requested an audience with the Emperor of the Song Dynasty through the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial, following normal procedures.

As a result, the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial ignored his request or made excuses. Li Huaisi sent out a lot of money as bribes, but the usually greedy Song Dynasty officials did not dare to accept a single penny this time and simply sent him away hastily.

Li Huaisi knew the situation was dire; the annihilation of the nation was imminent. Yet, he had nowhere to turn for help. No matter how much money he spent or how many connections he used, he could not get a single glimpse of the Song emperor.

Until today, when the Song emperor issued a declaration of war, Li Huaisi finally lost all hope and despair.

When the nation is on the verge of collapse, what will become of its subjects?

Outside Yanfu Palace, Li Huaisi held the imperial edict in his hands and kowtowed repeatedly to the tightly closed palace gates, his forehead bleeding profusely, yet he continued his actions without stopping.

Just as Li Huaisi's consciousness began to fade and he felt he might die outside the Song Palace that day, a eunuch led a royal physician to rush over. The physician examined him, bandaged his forehead, and fed him ginseng soup and tonics, which helped Li Huaisi regain consciousness.

The young eunuch stood before him, his expression arrogant, not even looking at him, but rather staring at him through his nostrils.

"By imperial decree, the Western Xia envoy Li Huaisi is summoned to the Wende Hall for an audience."

After the eunuch finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the palace gate. Li Huaisi was overjoyed and dared not delay. He endured the sharp pain in his forehead and followed behind the eunuch, not daring to fall behind even a step.

Wende Hall was a place within Yanfu Palace where small court assemblies were held or foreign envoys were received.

Emperor Zhao Xiaoqian usually convened his ministers for discussions in the Funing Hall. However, the ministers who could enter the Funing Hall were of relatively high status and were highly valued and trusted by Emperor Zhao Xiaoqian. Otherwise, ordinary ministers would not have the honor of entering the Funing Hall.

Inside the Wende Hall, Li Huaisi knelt down on both knees and prostrated himself before Zhao Xiaoqian in a full-body worship.

Zhao Xiaoqian was initially nonchalant, munching on snacks, when he glanced over and noticed that the foreign official's head was wrapped in a thick white cloth, making his head appear very bloated.

Zhao Xiaoqian was immediately taken aback, then turned to look at Zheng Chunhe beside him.

"Didn't I just summon the envoy from the Western Xia Kingdom? Why have you summoned the envoy from India?"

Looking Li Huaisi up and down, Zhao Xiaoqian asked cautiously, "Third Brother? Is that you, Third Brother?...Are you and Exhaust Pipe happy after your marriage?"

Zheng Chunhe opened his mouth in astonishment, about to explain, when Li Huaisi, kneeling on the ground, cried out in grief and indignation.

"Li Huaisi, the envoy of the vassal state of Western Xia, pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)