You have truly caused me great suffering!

Chapter 88 Ancestors' Spirits
A sky full of stars, and a bright moon.

Tents dotted the riverbank, and the faint sound of flutes drifted through the air.

Chen Shao, accompanied by a few personal guards, toured the camp and personally assigned some scouts and sentries.

Downstream from the Hongliu River lies the famous Wuding River.

As I walked to the banks of the Hongwuding River, I looked up and gazed at the sky in a daze.

Pitiful are the bones by the Wuding River, still the dream of a woman in her boudoir!

For thousands of years, the stars and the full moon, just as they are today, have shone upon countless generations of soldiers on their journeys.

How many of them perished on the frontier, dying by the Wuding River? Just thirty years ago, during the Battle of Yongle City, the Western Xia cut off the water supply, causing tens of thousands of Song soldiers to die of thirst.

Qin Shiming Moon and Han Shiguan, Wanli Long March people have not returned.

An indescribable emotion suddenly filled my chest. After the chaos of the Five Barbarian Invasions, the Battle of Yuanshui saved the Han dynasty from extinction and led to its revival and reclaim of the Central Plains.

Centuries after the Tang Dynasty, the Han Dynasty declined, and the Five Dynasties rose again. By the time our dynasty was established, Yan and Yun had long been in the hands of foreign tribes.

Later, the Tangut people in the northwest seized power, and the Central Plains civilization struggled to maintain its position on both sides. The Song emperors of successive dynasties did their best, but they could neither subdue Youyan nor pacify the northwest.

That kind of majestic power that once dominated other ethnic groups has not been seen for many years.

Now, an even more ferocious Jurchen has risen! On the northern grasslands, there is also a scattered group of nomadic tribes, gathering strength in preparation for their rise.

After the Jurchens, it was the Mongols who rose to power one after another, barbaric and ferocious, taking turns to rule the Central Plains.

Enslavement, slaughter, humiliation.
He was determined to succeed. Before he had the strength, Chen Shao often thought that he should do his best and if things didn't go well, he should hide in Jiangnan to avoid trouble.

Now that he actually has tens of thousands of troops, he has long since put that idea out of his mind.

Looking at the shimmering moonlight on the Wuding River, Chen Shao drew his sword, held it upright in front of him, and silently prayed: Heaven and Earth, may the spirits of my ancestors remain and bless me to achieve my goal!

Dong Dahu looked at his employer with some confusion and asked in a low voice, "Employer?"

Chen Shao sheathed his sword and waved his hand, saying, "It's nothing."

Da Hu, who was close to him, laughed and said, "You startled me! What were you doing just now, Master?"

"I've summoned a deity."

The guards exchanged glances, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Chen Shao did not go to Yinzhou, but instead chose to travel upstream along the river to the vicinity of Xiazhou.

Along the way, he ordered the construction of fortified villages and sent people to contact various tribes and the Qiang people, agreeing to rebel against the Xia together.

Many tribes adopted a wait-and-see attitude, while some, having been exploited too severely by the Western Xia, especially during the five-year war, chose to join Chen Shao.

Of course, there were also some die-hard tribes, especially the six tribes of the Yeli tribe, which was the largest source of soldiers for the Western Xia Wild Warriors.

The Yeli tribe has always been linked to the Li imperial family through marriage, and is the second largest tribe in Western Xia after the Tuoba Li clan.

They would naturally not surrender; according to previous intelligence, they had at least 50,000 troops.

The hatred between the Yeli and the Song Dynasty has a long history. In order to fight against the Song Dynasty, they even created the Six Prefectures Tribes. In the past, many of these tribes were sworn enemies and had been fighting each other for hundreds of years in the Yanzhou and Xiazhou areas.

Later, during the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods, the Han Chinese dynasties continued to expand into the Hetao-Longdong region, forcing the scattered Dangxiang tribes to abandon their long-standing feuds and form an alliance to resist the westward advance of the Han Chinese.

The original homelands of the six tribes (from Qingyang to Yanzhou) were right in the eye of the Song army's offensive (Huanqing Road and Fuyan Road), and no single tribe could withstand the attack.

So they chose to unite, and in order to let go of their original hatred, they even invented a common ancestor, "Zargo".

The tribal chiefs gathered together and discussed the matter for several days. They then declared that all tribes were descendants of "Zargo, the White Yak Mountain God," and regularly held blood oath ceremonies (slaughtering yaks and drinking their blood) to strengthen their shared identity.

They inscribed the covenant between the six tribes on bronze plates, somewhat similar to the Three Laws, which were also three agreements:

When the Han Chinese invaded, the proportion of troops contributed by each ethnic group was as follows: Yeli tribe contributed 30%, Wangli tribe 20%, Fangdang tribe 20%, and the remaining tribes contributed a total of 10%.
The spoils of war were distributed according to the number of soldiers deployed (livestock went to the nomadic tribes, and ironware went to the agricultural tribes).
The entire clan of the traitors were reduced to slavery.

They were badly defeated by the Song Dynasty, and the two sides were filled with deep hatred. In order to get rid of their dependence on the Song Dynasty, they even came up with a salt-for-grain exchange, grain-for-horse feed, and horses-for-salt transport, forming a self-sufficient economic circle.

Later, the Li clan surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and the Fang clan fled north. The alliance of the six prefectures basically collapsed, but after the Yeli tribe grew powerful, it continued to hate the Song Dynasty.

After Chen Shao captured Xia Prefecture, his biggest enemy was actually the Western Xia Dangxiang Yeli tribe.

When the army was halfway there, Chen Shao and Han Shizhong sat upright on their horses.

They stared intently at a winding, shallow river that stretched before them. On the other side of the river were some fortified villages. Although the crenellations of the fortified villages were crowded with a dense mass of people, not a single sound could be heard.

These people did not want to get involved in the Song-Xia war, but every time the Song people came to attack, they were the first to be hit and suffered the most casualties.

Seeing that the Song people were coming again, these people had no choice but to gather together to resist. Rows of infantrymen, their armor disheveled, formed a crooked formation and stood ready for battle.

After beheading Li Yaozong, Dongyang Sheng in Youzhou loudly proclaimed to Chen Shao, "General, these are all Han Chinese strongmen and the men of the Mi Qin clan."

Chen Shao had also heard that there was a large area of ​​land in the southern part of Xia Prefecture that was very suitable for farming.

The local Han people gradually gathered here. Although Mi Qinshi was listed among the eight tribes of the Dangxiang, he never entered the core of the Western Xia power.

In their interactions with the Han people, they were gradually assimilated and fell in love with farming. These people used the fertile land beneath their feet to supply the vast majority of the grain for the Xia Prefecture area.

They just wanted to farm quietly, so every time they saw the Song army arrive, they felt much the same way the Han people on the border felt when they saw barbarian invasions and plunder.

Chen Shao watched quietly for a while, then asked, "Can we talk?"

Han Shizhong looked at the people and horses on the opposite bank. They did not have the fierce temperament of other tribes. Behind them were thousands of chaotic laborers and auxiliary soldiers. Many of the powerful families had brought all their belongings from the fortified village.

Some were holding rakes, some were holding hoes, and some were simply holding wooden sticks.

These men were poorly equipped and lacked discipline and fighting spirit. They were a makeshift army, a mere patchwork of troops. The soldiers, dressed in tattered and disheveled clothes, had struggled quite a bit just to form a simple horizontal line.

In the past, when the Western Army encountered such an enemy, they would most likely go in and loot to replenish their supplies.

After looting, they would burn down the houses, because these people were like cockroaches that could never be killed; they would soon reappear, multiply, and provide food and taxes for the Western Xia.
"The general wants to talk to them?"

Chen Shao smiled, pointed with his riding whip at the vast, fertile land and the villages, and said, "This land will eventually need to be cultivated by someone."

Han Shizhong suddenly realized that this time, unlike the previous actions of the Western Army, his group was now going to completely occupy this land.

After changing the angle, the group of people looked much better.

The grain produced on this land in the future might become my own rations when I go to war. These hardworking and persevering farmers are truly a group of excellent and obedient people.

He nodded and said, "General, you have a brilliant idea. I don't think these people will be very loyal to Western Xia."

Chen Shao said, "Whoever wins, they'll help! Tomorrow we'll fight the Western Xia people right here. If we win, their loyalty to Western Xia will crumble."

This group of people seemed to be just ordinary folks who were willing to pay taxes to any dynasty as long as they could make a living.

Chen Shao was all too familiar with this kind of person. He had read history books, and this kind of person had never changed, not even a thousand years before or a thousand years after.
Chen Shao estimated that the troops from Xia Prefecture should be coming out soon. Although some of them were going to support Yin Prefecture, the rest should be more than his own.

The tough battles to come will mostly be concentrated around Xiazhou. He is prepared for a long stalemate, and even for a push using fortified positions.

Dongyang Sheng, who was standing nearby, heard this and said with his hands clasped, "General, I have some connections with these people and am willing to persuade them to surrender."

Chen Shao nodded. "You can go there, but don't rush back. Just tell them to stay on the other side and watch us fight the Xia traitors. Let them decide for themselves who the new masters of this land are."

Dongyang Sheng nodded, and with several dozen personal guards, he found a small boat by the river and prepared to cross.

The soldiers on the fortress all changed their expressions drastically when suddenly an arrow was shot at them.

The arrow was so light that it lost its power by the time it got close and fell into the water.

Dongyang Sheng yelled, "Zhang Pao Tou, watch out! Don't let your men shoot randomly! If you even get a scratch, I won't let you off the hook!"

This place is located between Youzhou and Xiazhou, and even closer to Youzhou City.

Dongyang Sheng was originally an important general in Youzhou, and also came from a powerful local family, so he held a very high position.

One local tyrant, looking the most terrified, slapped a soldier beside him and cursed, "Damn it, who told you to shoot indiscriminately!"

"Boss, it wasn't me," the soldier said, sounding aggrieved.

Before she could finish speaking, another slap landed on her face. "I knew it wasn't you! This is just to slap you!"

When Dongyang Sheng reached the shore, he personally went down to greet the men and stammered, "Congratulations, General, on your promotion and change of allegiance. These Song people look quite robust."

Dongyang Sheng laughed and scolded, "Stop talking nonsense. This time, the one who came is the Grand Marshal of the Great Song Dynasty, the Grand Marshal of the Dingnan Army, who has been appointed by imperial decree. He's here and he's not leaving. You know what happened in Youzhou. Now this territory belongs to you Han people again. Your good days have come. Hurry up and pack your things, and come with me to the camp. Maybe you'll even become a prefect in the future. Wouldn't that bring glory to your ancestors?"

Zhang Paotou laughed and said, "General, you're joking. Most of the people who came with me are family members and able-bodied men from the village. If they were to die, I wouldn't be able to live a life of wealth and honor in the future. I'd be left a widow just to farm!"

"After I go back, I don't know how many people will point fingers at me and curse me behind my back."

"Please trouble you, General, to tell the military commander that we will pay our taxes and grain on time and in full when the harvest season arrives. We hope he will be lenient."

Dongyang Sheng laughed and waved his hand, saying, "If you want to protect yourself, go back! What future do you have guarding your earthen village? What kind of world is this? If you don't seize this opportunity to climb up and become someone who controls the life and death of a region, do you want to wait until the world is at peace and a mere county official will make you bow down? Zhang Paotou, we are old acquaintances. I even rested my horse in your fortified village when I was leading troops. We naturally have a relationship. Would I harm you?"

He then pointed in the direction of Xiazhou: "This city of Xiazhou is the most important place for the Dingnan Army. You know that we have been fighting for five years. Is there enough millet in the city to last a year? In these chaotic times, do you still have to pay grain to Xiazhou City to ensure safety on both sides?"

Zhang Paotou, whose thoughts had been exposed, scratched his forehead and remained silent, but in his heart he was thinking that the Song people were incompetent, coming and going.

When did we truly gain a foothold?

Dongyang Sheng continued, "As long as you come, not to mention anything else, there are seven or eight hundred sets of good armor, thousands of fine swords, spears, lances, bows, crossbows, and arrows, and countless others, all available for you to choose from."

"I'm not afraid to tell you, we were all originally the ones who suggested attacking, but the commander is kind-hearted and specially sent me to persuade him to surrender. Don't be ungrateful."

Zhang Paotou sighed inwardly, "If you surrender to these people, I'm afraid that if you run away in the future, the Dangxiang people in Xiazhou City will let it go."
This could very well lead to the extermination of our entire clan.

Chen Shao's task for Dongyang Sheng was to tell these people to watch him fight a battle with the Xiazhou troops, and then decide which side they should submit to.

However, Dongyang Sheng was a newly surrendered general, eager to make a name for himself, so he kept pressuring them, hoping that they would surrender directly, which would be a great achievement.

Unfortunately, these people were too timid. Zhang Paotou laughed and said, "General, go to the village and rest. This matter is too big. I will go back and gather everyone to discuss it together."

(End of this chapter)