White-robed Minister

Chapter 216-0214 [The People of the Qiang Tribes Yearn for the Song Dynasty]

Xu Lai then met with Xia Saqiding: "Do you dare to disguise yourself and sneak back to Kangubao? If you can win over the Qiang tribes in Kangubao and the Lanzhou area, Kangubao and the surrounding plains, mountains, valleys, and the Qiang people there will all be yours."

This was a promise to bestow half of the territory of Yuzhong County, which would later become known as Xia Saqi Ding's father and son.

"This—" Of course, Xiao Saqiding wouldn't dare. He had finally escaped, how could he possibly walk right into a trap?

Xu Lai said, "You've been under house arrest by Dong Zhan for too long and don't know what's been going on these past few years. A few years ago, the Western Xia moved the Baotai Military Command to Lanzhou and attacked Mu Zheng's Kangu Fort (Yuzhong) year after year, making the local people miserable. The Qiang people under Mu Zheng's rule have also suffered a lot of looting and killing by the Western Xia."

"Now that Mu Zheng has been forced to move away from Kangubao, the Western Xia's exploitation of the Qiang people has become increasingly severe. In particular, in order to win over the Dangxiang nobles, Empress Dowager Liang ordered the full restoration of the old Dangxiang system. The senior generals of the Baotai Military Command have moved their respective troops here, seized the most fertile land in Lanzhou, and turned the Qiang people into their own serfs."

"This spring, many Qiang people struggled to survive, and several thousand of them came to seek refuge with the Song Dynasty. Even the Qiang tribal leaders were swayed by my envoy's words."

Upon hearing this, Xia Saqi Ding began to seriously consider the feasibility of heading north.

Aside from being the eldest grandson of the previous king, he now has nothing. If he doesn't take the risk, even if he surrenders to the Song Dynasty, he will only be able to live a life of poverty from now on.

Without much hesitation, Xiao Saqiding gritted his teeth and said, "I'll give it a try!"

A few days later, Xia Saqi Ding disguised himself and mingled with the smuggling team heading north.

Although the Song Dynasty was at war with Mu Zheng and also at war with the Western Xia (neither fighting nor making peace), all parties were secretly engaged in smuggling trade.

There are always daring merchants who dare to transport goods to enemy territory for sale. Kangubao is particularly safe; the Western Xia recently intercepted and killed border residents, but it didn't affect Muzheng's territory.

The smuggling caravan that Xia Saqiding followed used donkeys and horses to carry tea, cloth, iron pots, paper and other goods, heading north along the river valley, and finally crossing a mountain ridge to reach Kanguchuan.

Although it was smuggling, when passing through the border fortresses of the Song Dynasty, one had to honestly pay the toll.

On the hill south of Kangubao, there is an outpost set up by the enemy.

Han Chinese merchants, transporting goods here, greeted the soldiers at the outpost warmly. They casually gave the soldiers two bolts of linen, which made the officers at the outpost happy to let them pass.

It was as if the two sides had always been coexisting peacefully and were never at war.

When smuggling merchants arrived at Kangu Fort, the garrison commander actually hosted a banquet for them.

The spy mingled in the caravan whispered to Xia Saqiding, "This man is Li Duqizhan, Mu Zheng's uncle. After Mu Zheng moved away, Kangu Fort became his territory."

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Xia Saqi Ding nodded and said, "I know Li Duqi Zhan. When Mu Zheng's father fled to Kangubao alone, he was able to gain a foothold in this area by marrying Li Duqi Zhan's sister."

The spy said, "Mu Zheng and his uncle had a lot of unpleasantness over the years. It wasn't until he moved away from Kangu Fort and gave this land to his uncle that Li Du Ke Zhan reconciled with him."

After thinking for a moment, Xia Saqiding confidently declared, "This man can be persuaded to surrender!"

The spy said, "We have considered trying to persuade him to surrender, but after all, he is Mu Zheng's uncle. Moreover, this place is very close to Lanzhou, and Li Dukezhan, relying on the presence of the Western Xia army, believes he is safe and is certain that the Song army will not dare to march north. Furthermore, if he were to surrender to the Song, Western Xia might be the first to attack him. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to persuade him to surrender."

"I'll give it a try," said Xiao Saqi Ding, deciding to take a gamble.

Even if he loses the bet, the other party is unlikely to kill him because he has the blood of the Tibetan emperor.

After the banquet ended, the head merchant who had escorted the goods had left, but the spy and the charlatan remained.

Li Duke dismissed his attendants and said to them, "I knew there were spies in the caravan, but I never exposed them. You shouldn't have exposed yourselves like this, and I will not surrender to the Song Dynasty. Leave now, or I will kill you."

The spy and the blind man exchanged a glance, both seeing the joy in each other's eyes.

Knowing they were spies, they didn't kill them directly, nor did they capture them and hand them over to Mu Zheng or Xixia; they simply ordered them to leave immediately.

Li Dukzhan is leaving himself a way out!

He is unwilling to submit to the Song Dynasty now, simply because his territory is right next to Lanzhou, and he is afraid that rashly submitting would provoke the Western Xia army.

Historically, Mu Zheng was repeatedly defeated by Wang Shao, and Li Du Ke Zhan took the opportunity to launch a rebellion, attempting to annex his nephew Mu Zheng's territory, but was killed by his own nephew.

This guy doesn't need anyone to turn him against him. If Mu Zheng suffers another defeat, he'll launch his own attack on Mu Zheng!

Sensing Li Dukzhan's ulterior motives, Xia Saqiding no longer held back: "Does Chief Li know who I am?"

Li Dukzhan observed carefully, but after looking for a long time, he still couldn't recognize it.

Xia Saqiding laughed and said, "I am Mu Zheng's cousin and the eldest grandson of the previous Zanpu, Xia Saqiding."

"Is this just empty talk?"

Li Dukezhan was horrified: "How did you end up here? Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng have put a bounty on your head!"

Xia Saqi Ding said, "I have already submitted to the Great Song Dynasty."

"You want to persuade me to surrender?" Li Dukezhan shook his head repeatedly. "My territory is too close to Western Xia. If I surrender to Song, I will be attacked by Western Xia immediately."

The charlatan said, "I'm not asking you to surrender immediately. You can surrender when the Song army comes. Moreover, if you surrender then, it will be considered that you voluntarily submitted, and the Song emperor will surely reward you handsomely."

Li Dukezhan inquired, "When will the Song Dynasty send troops?"

Xiao Saqiding replied, "I don't know. It could be this year, it could be next year, or it could be another two years. Chief Li just needs to wait patiently."

Li Dukzhan began to consider the matter in his mind, feeling that this was not a bad idea.

His territory bordered Lanzhou and Xizhou, allowing him to trade with both the Western Xia and the Song Dynasty simultaneously. It served as a transit point for smuggling, making him practically a sitting duck.

There's no need to decide who to align with now; it's best for all parties to remain in a standoff, while he tries to please both sides and profit from trade.

If his nephew Mu Zheng suffers another defeat, he will swallow up Mu Zheng's territory as well.

If the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty go to war, he will side with whoever has the upper hand. If the situation reverses later, he can simply switch sides again.

perfect!

He then inquired about the strength of the Western Xia forces.

Li Dukezhan unabashedly revealed intelligence: "The Baotai Military Command of Western Xia has less than two thousand troops defending Lanzhou, but can quickly gather five or six thousand soldiers. If they want to gather more troops, it will take time, at least a month."

The hapless man asked again, "How many troops can the Baotai military command gather in about forty days?"

Li Dukzhan thought for a moment and guessed, "At least twenty or thirty thousand."

"Who are these troops?" Xia Saqiding continued to ask.

Li Dukezhan said, "The Dangxiang soldiers number at most four or five thousand, and the Qiang soldiers in the river valley may number six or seven thousand. The rest are soldiers from various ethnic groups in the northern and surrounding mountainous areas. If you are not afraid of death, you can try to contact those Qiang leaders; they are not living a very good life right now."

This guy hadn't even submitted to the Song Dynasty yet, but he already gave a detailed account of the situation of the Western Xia army in Lanzhou, and even encouraged Xia Saqiding to go and persuade the Qiang tribe.

Anyway, he disliked Western Xia and was happy to see the Song Dynasty beat Western Xia.

He actually had no old grudges against the Song Dynasty. After Xu Lai recaptured Xizhou, he could even act as a middleman to make money. The money Li Duke had earned in the past few months was equivalent to his income over several years in the past.

Emotionally, Li Dukezhan was close to the Song Dynasty.

Of course, if the Song army suffered a major defeat one day, he would not hesitate to surrender to the Western Xia.

The Zanpu bloodline in Xiasaqiding really worked its magic among the Qiang people.

Purely by bloodline, Mu Zheng is the true heir to the throne (eldest grandson). Xia Saqi Ding is weaker; he is the son of the second son, and by age, he is the eldest grandson.

After leaving Kangubao, Xia Saqiding surprisingly followed Li Duqizhan's caravan and went directly to Lanzhou to conduct trade.

Because he had been under house arrest for many years, none of the Qiang people recognized him and thought he was Li Dukezhan's confidant.

This man swaggered over to visit the leaders of various Qiang tribes, first testing their attitudes with words and leading them to complain about the oppression of the Dangxiang nobles, and then revealing his identity to offer them amnesty.

Not a single person tried to take credit for him!

The Qiang leaders under the rule of the Western Xia all shared similar attitudes. They were willing to surrender to the Song Dynasty as long as the Song army held the upper hand.

This has been proven in history.

At that time, the Song Dynasty launched a five-pronged attack on the Western Xia, and the commander of this route was the eunuch Li Xian. After Li Xian defeated the 20,000-strong Western Xia army, the various Qiang tribes defected and submitted to him, and Lanzhou was easily captured.

Of all the areas along the Western Xia border, Lanzhou was actually the easiest to attack, with countless Qiang people waiting for the Song Dynasty to invade. But the prerequisite was to defeat the Western Xia army and achieve a decisive victory in the first battle, giving the Qiang leaders hope!

Two months later, Xia Saqiding returned to Xizhou and reported the situation in detail to Xu Lai.

Xu Lai was delighted upon hearing this, which further strengthened his resolve to send troops to Lanzhou.

He said to Xia Saqiding, "I have already reported to the court and requested the emperor to bestow upon you the surname Zhao. As long as we capture Kangu Fort, that place will be your territory. As for Li Dukezhan, if he is willing to submit, I will arrange for him to go to another place."

The hapless man immediately knelt and kowtowed, "I swear to serve the Great Song Dynasty to the death, I swear to serve Lord Xu to the death!"

Xu Lai immediately rewarded him with generous wealth and also gave the three of them the house where his two sons were temporarily staying. Xia Saqiding was even more delighted and said that when the war came, he would be willing to risk his life to persuade them to surrender on the battlefield.

Xu Lai comforted them again and invited the father and his two sons to his home for dinner. When these guys saw Dingxiang, they even knelt down and bowed.

After entrusting the affairs of Xizhou to Wang Shao and others, Xu Lai set off for Qinzhou. He wanted to personally discuss the battle plan with Cai Ting and also to work with Zhang Heng to determine the issue of supplies.

Xu Lai didn't know how to deploy troops; his main job was to formulate strategies, stabilize the overall situation, ensure logistics, and win over various forces, both internal and external. He was also responsible for uniting the civil and military officials of Qin Fengxihe Road into a cohesive force.

This trip back to Qinzhou also allows him to visit Pianpian and Yu'er, as he hasn't been able to reunite with his wife and children for a long time.

He received a letter from home some time ago, informing him that Yu'er's baby had been born safely.