White-robed Minister

Chapter 179-0177 [The First Year of the Xining Era Has Arrived]

Lanzhou was in the hands of the Western Xia at this time, but this was the limit of the Western Xia's expansion.

Just a few dozen miles away lies the territory of Mu Zheng, the chieftain of the Tibetan Empire.

In recent years, Li Liangzuo had been fighting against various Tibetan tribes. Dong Zhan, the Tibetan chieftain of Qingtang (Xining), was able to hold out for the time being, but Mu Zheng, who was adjacent to Lanzhou, was defeated and forced to submit to Western Xia.

Of course, it was only a nominal allegiance; in reality, Mu Zheng was never very obedient.

That winter, Li Liangzuo passed away, and envoys from Western Xia arrived despite the snow.

Mu Zheng's stronghold was in Kangubao, located a few miles southeast of what would later become Yuzhong County. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Western Xia army failed to conquer it despite several attempts.

"You want me to send troops out in the spring?"

Mu Zheng responded coldly to the Western Xia envoy: "What benefit would I gain after sending troops?"

The envoy said, "Our Great Xia will send troops to directly attack Qin Prefecture. Your Majesty, please cooperate by sending troops to attack Guwei Village. Guwei Village has few troops, and Qin Prefecture is being held back by our army. Your Majesty can take this opportunity to capture it and strengthen your power."

"I understand, I will send troops," Mu Zheng readily agreed.

Historically, this guy never sent any troops.

First, Han Qi brought in Yang Wenguang, who built a fortified city in the valley to block the Western Xia army. Without the cooperation of the Western Xia army, Mu Zheng feared that if he led his troops alone, it would provoke a counterattack from the Qin Prefecture army.

Secondly, to attack Guwei Village, one must pass through Yu Longke's territory. Yu Longke is Mu Zheng's brother-in-law. Even if Mu Zheng conquers Guwei Village, his territory will not be contiguous, and his relationship with his brother-in-law will become increasingly tense.

But now, Xu Lai's activities in Guwei Village have prematurely alerted Mu Zheng. This guy might actually send troops!

After sending the Western Xia envoy away, Mu Zheng summoned his brother-in-law, Xia Yao.

"I've heard that the Song envoy (Wang Shao) has been visiting the chieftains of various eastern tribes for the past two or three months," Mu Zheng questioned. "Does your brother (Yu Longke) intend to pledge allegiance to the Song?"

The blind man said, "Absolutely not!"

Mu Zheng was still unaware that Li Liangzuo was dead. He said to Xia Yao, "After the spring, the Xia Kingdom will send troops to attack Qin Prefecture. Go and tell Yu Longke to cooperate in attacking Guwei Village."

"Yes!" Blind Medicine accepted the order.

Mu Zheng didn't want to go to war with the Song Dynasty, or even seize Guwei Village. But what he didn't want to see even more was his brother-in-law, Yu Longke, getting too close to the Song Dynasty. Only when his brother-in-law clashed with the Song Dynasty would Mu Zheng feel secure in his rear.

Why did you two agree to a marriage?

At the time, Mu Zheng was resisting the Western Xia army and was afraid that Yu Longke would retaliate against him, so he married Yu Longke's sister. He also took Yu Longke's brother, Xia Yao, hostage to his side!

In recent years, Xia Yao has behaved unusually submissively, quickly gaining Mu Zheng's trust and transforming from a hostage into a strategist.

In the dead of winter, Xia Yao led a few cavalrymen through the snow to deliver a message to his brother, Yu Longke.

Yu Longke's stronghold was located near Guwei Village.

"You want me to send troops to Guwei Village? He's dreaming." Yu Longke sneered, already guessing Mu Zheng's plan.

The blind man said, "Mu Zheng was defeated by the Western Xia and forced to submit. Now that the Western Xia has stopped attacking him, Mu Zheng is temporarily safe in the west and will inevitably want to expand eastward. If you, brother, go to war with the Song Dynasty, Mu Zheng will certainly be very happy. If your strength is weakened, Mu Zheng will not only not help you, but will also take the opportunity to annex you!"

"Of course I know that principle," Yu Longke said.

With only a small garrison at Guwei Village, and it being right next to Yu Longke's stronghold, he could take it down in no time if he wanted to.

The question is, what should we do after we take Guwei Village?

The Song Dynasty will definitely retaliate. Once Yu Longke suffers too many losses, his brother-in-law Mu Zheng will immediately attack. At that time, Yu Longke will inevitably be attacked from both sides, and will either be destroyed by the Song Dynasty or by his own brother-in-law.

Yu Longke said to his younger brother, "Go back and tell Mu Zheng that I will definitely send troops. Song Guotai is bullying us; she actually promoted Guwei Village to Tongyuan Army, clearly intending to annex us!"

The blind man asked, "What should we do, brother, if the Song soldiers attack?"

"We'll see when the time comes," Yu Longke said, also feeling a headache coming on.

Caught between the Song Dynasty on one side and Mu Zheng on the other, Yu Longke truly didn't know what to do.

After resting for two days, Xiaoyao rushed back to report to Muzheng.

The blind man is quite interesting.

Historically, when Mu Zheng sent him to defend the city, he wholeheartedly defended it. After the defeat, he surrendered to Wang Shao and then fought sincerely for the Song Dynasty. He also advised Jing Sili not to rashly send troops, but after his earnest advice failed, Xia Yao served as the vanguard of the Song army and died in battle.

This man died fighting for the Song Dynasty!

By the way, for some reason, the brothers Yu Longke and Xia Yao idolize Bao Zheng. After surrendering to the Song Dynasty, the elder brother changed his name to Bao Shun, and the younger brother changed his name to Bao Yue.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, Xu Lai spent the holiday in Guwei Village.

Although Cai Kang did not provide him with manpower for the time being, he continued to send grain and cloth over.

Xu Lai rewarded the soldiers of Moxia with grain and cloth as New Year's gifts. At the same time, he ordered the fortified villages within the Tongyuan Army territory, especially those around Ningyuan Village, to transport timber after the spring.

The valleys in that area were full of trees, and Zhang Shouyue was in charge of collecting and transporting timber.

The illicit salt trade had already begun long ago.

The timber was for building trading posts and expanding the trade of various goods. The military commanders of each village, both for official and personal reasons, had to obey orders to cut down trees!

After the heavy snow subsided, Xu Lai patrolled the village, his feet sinking into the snow.

Thirty years ago, the population here was much larger than it is now. But most of them were old bachelors, and people would run away every year. Even some shops in the village were abandoned because the owners died.

"Who goes there!" shouted the guards on the stockade wall.

"We are Qiang people, and we want to see a high-ranking Han official!"

"Wait a moment."

Xu Lai and Wang Shao received Yu Longke's envoy inside the village.

The envoy said, "Our king says that after the spring, the Xia Kingdom will send troops to attack Qin Prefecture. Mu Zheng also requests that our king send troops to attack this place. Please, Song Kingdom, make preparations as soon as possible."

"I understand, thank you for bringing the news," Xu said. "I have prepared some silk and a few jars of fine wine. Take them back to Yu Longke and tell him that I am willing to befriend him."

After dismissing the messenger, Xu Lai and Wang Shao looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wang Shao suggested, "Quickly write a letter to Minister Cai and tell him to make preparations as soon as possible!"

"I know," Xu Lai nodded.

In fact, Cai Kang had already taken precautions.

After sending the letter to Cai Kang, Xu Lai asked, "Yu Longke actually sent someone to deliver this message. What is he really thinking?"

Wang Shao analyzed, "I have already contacted him twice. This person wants to maintain the status quo, neither going to war with the Song Dynasty nor with Mu Zheng. Because no matter who he goes to war with, it will benefit the other side."

"So, he won't easily side with either side?" Xu Lai asked.

"Yes!" Wang Shao nodded.

History has changed. Xu Lai and Wang Shao arrived at Guwei Village ahead of time, and Yu Longke faced a different situation, making it impossible to easily persuade him to submit.

We need to put pressure on him!

The fourth year of the Zhiping era passed, and the first year of the Xining era arrived.

The Western Xia army did not come to Qin Prefecture. Nor did the Qiang soldiers under Mu Zheng and Yu Longke.

Everything seemed very calm, and Cai Kang's prepared army never encountered the enemy.

News of Li Liangzuo's death had already spread throughout Western Xia, and Empress Dowager Liang, wanting to establish her authority through warfare, had not yet ordered the restoration of the old Dangxiang system. Surprisingly, Western Xia generals along the Lanzhou front refused to attack the Song army in Qinzhou, citing unusual activity related to the wooden divination.

The Western Xia Dynasty is in trouble!

A young empress dowager, a child emperor, powerful relatives of the empress, and generals on the front lines with differing intentions.

Some of the Western Xia generals remained inactive, some advanced slowly, and some stopped halfway through their campaigns.

The situation on the Song Dynasty side is also quite interesting.

It was discovered that the Western Xia was mobilizing troops across the board, and most civil officials from the central government to the local level still wanted to resolve the issue through diplomacy.

First, the emperor and his chief ministers, unable to withstand the pressure from the Privy Council and the censors, ordered Guo Kui to abandon the newly conquered Suizhou.

The reason given was utterly absurd: "Our nation's territory spans thousands of miles; how can we contend with dogs and sheep for even an inch of land?"

Before Guo Kui even arrived at the front line in Suizhou, the civil official Jia Kui arbitrarily expelled the Weiming Mountain tribe and reported that the foreign tribes who had submitted to the Song Dynasty had fled.

Wei Mingshan was completely bewildered. He had been tricked by Zhong E and forced to surrender to the Song Dynasty. He himself had become an official in the Song Dynasty, but his followers had been expelled by the Song Dynasty—what kind of nonsense was this?

When Guo Kui arrived, Zhao Li, the chief scribe, said, "Suizhou City must not be abandoned. We should recall the tribesmen from Weiming Mountain. Otherwise, even without the Western Xia troops coming, those tribesmen will become a border threat!"

Guo Kui followed Zhao Li's advice.

Upon finally arriving in Shaanxi, Han Qi sent Liu Hang to order Guo Kui: "Do not supply the Weiming Mountain tribe with provisions, nor pursue their followers. If the Western Xia attacks the Weiming Mountain tribe, do not go to their aid."

Guo Kui, seething with anger, said to Liu Hang, "If we do this, the Weiming Mountain troops will definitely collapse, and the Western Xia army can directly attack Suizhou!"

Han Qi was persuaded by Guo Kui and agreed to provide provisions for those followers.

Guo Kui acted immediately, selecting two thousand able-bodied men to form an army and rewarding all the followers with barren land. However, of the more than twenty thousand who had initially submitted to the Song Dynasty, this series of chaotic actions had reduced them to just over ten thousand.

Meanwhile, Zhong E, who had taken control of Suizhou without authorization, was stripped of his official position and placed under house arrest. When the court sent people to investigate, Zhong E burned the secret edict, insisting that it was not ordered by the emperor.

When Zhao Xu learned of Zhong E's act of burning the secret edict, he was deeply moved and decided to give him a good position in the future.

But he can't be reused now because he's terrified.

Reports of unusual movements by the Western Xia army were circulating throughout the Northwest front, clearly indicating the start of a full-scale war.

Zhao Xu, who had just turned twenty, had never seen anything like this before.

Zhao Xu had long forgotten about territorial expansion; he only wanted to get the Western Xia to stop their attacks and for the Privy Council and the censors to shut up.

This little emperor is really unreliable.

However, the proposal for the Sichuan-Shaanxi tea-horse trade was approved by the court officials under the impetus of Xu Lai, Cai Kang, and Gong Dingchen.

Since no one knows when the war will end, and there will definitely be a shortage of horses, it is a good opportunity to purchase warhorses from Qinzhou to replenish the supply.

Several of Xu Lai's Tongyuan Army subordinates also arrived one after another.

These appointments were extremely difficult to obtain. Many civil servants, upon learning they were to be sent to the front lines, feigned illness to avoid going. Some even resigned to return home, saying they needed to take care of their parents, and thus gained a reputation for filial piety.

The civil officials who accepted the appointment were all fearless, essentially serving as an automatic screening process. This was good news for Xu Lai.

Xu Lai's border trade market opened under these circumstances.

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