MTL - Poor Family-v2 Chapter 968 The War of Destroying the Nation (22)
Chapter 968 The Battle to Destroy the Nation (22)
After only two days, the limelight of the Western Xia campaign began to turn. Lv Yihao, Fan Zongyin, and Huang Qianshan took the lead to launch it. Nearly a hundred officials signed it. A petition against the demise of Western Xia was circulated in the court. Their reasons were very It is clear that the Song Dynasty is a country of benevolence and righteousness. After suffering the pain of destroying the country by Jin soldiers, he escaped to Lin'an by chance and saved the country. How could he pass the pain of destroying the country on to others.
What he said was righteous and awe-inspiring, but it aroused the sympathy of many ministers. For a while, they demanded a peace, and the voices against the destruction of the country became stronger and stronger in the court. The streets and alleys of the city were full of rumors, and soon the Caifeng Envoy reported several widely circulated prophecies to the court. They joined forces with the court's opposition to destroying the country, and exerted tremendous pressure on the emperor Zhao Gou.
"This is deceiving people!"
Fan Zhixu slapped the table hard, and said angrily: "We must strictly investigate the source of the rumors, and severely punish those who spread rumors to confuse the public!"
Beside Gao Shen said worriedly: "This kind of prophecy is not terrible, what is terrible is the manipulator behind it."
"What do you mean by that?" Fan Zhixu turned and looked at Gao Shen.
Gao Shen sneered and said: "Don't Mr. Fan think that the folk prophecy and the court's petition are in harmony with each other?"
Fan Zhixu remained silent. As long as this matter is exposed, the forces behind it will surface. They can mobilize hundreds of officials to petition, especially Lu Yihao and Fan Zongyin. The manipulator behind this will not be the Supreme Emperor. There are others.
Moreover, the Supreme Emperor has done so clearly, which is actually a clear opposition to the demise of Xixia, and the selfish desire for power has overwhelmed the national interest.
Fan Zhixu said in a deep voice: "Let's go to the officials. This matter is related to Song's vital interests, and they must not let them mess around!"
Gao Shen also agreed with Fan Zhixu's idea, and the two immediately went to the Imperial Study Room of Chui Gong Palace.
After waiting for a while outside the imperial study, an **** came out with a smile and said, "The officials invite the two gentlemen to come in!"
The two walked into the imperial study room, and saw the emperor Zhao Gou standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back, looking out the window in silence, the two looked at each other the same way, and went forward to salute, "See Your Majesty!"
After a while, Zhao Gou sighed and said, "The two gentlemen came here for the Xixia matter?"
"Exactly!"
Fan Zhixu said: "We have always believed that Xixia is the great trouble of the Song Dynasty for a century, and now it is finally time to eliminate the serious trouble of confidantes. At this time, we must not be soft-hearted and act like a woman."
Zhao Gou turned around and took a memorial from the table, and handed it to Fan Zhixu, "This is Zhu Xianggong's letter to me. He suggested that Song and Xia should negotiate first. If the negotiation fails, it will not be too late to launch a military operation!"
Fan Zhixu was taken aback, why did Zhu Xianggong turn to the Supreme Emperor again?
Zhao Gou said lightly: "This should be Zhu Xianggong's consistent position! Compromise in the middle, and neither will offend."
Gao Shen said from the side: "Your Majesty, this time is not a middle ground. Once the negotiations between Song and Xia, it means that the country cannot be destroyed. Xixia will most likely agree to all the conditions of the Song Dynasty. What should we do then? Go back and forth, Or withdraw troops from Xixia?"
"Gao Xianggong is right. There is absolutely no possibility of negotiation on the Xixia matter. We must seize this opportunity to destroy the country, otherwise we will regret it in the future, and our descendants will not forgive us!"
Zhao Gou was silent for a moment, "Father wrote me a letter, he went to the ancestral temple to ask for a signature, and the ancestors gave him the answer that benevolence and righteousness come first."
Zhao Gou took the yellow wooden stick dedicated to the ancestral temple on the table and handed it to the two, "Look for yourself!"
Sure enough, there are four big characters on the signature: "benevolence and righteousness first", and there is a note at the back: when people destroy the country's heirs, people also destroy them. , but dare not say that he is desecrating the ancestral temple, who dares to say such a thing?
"Father, based on this lottery, wants me to accept the request of my ancestors, stop destroying the country immediately, and start negotiations with Xixia. I can't bear the pressure!"
At this time, Gao Shen said: "Your Majesty, my humble minister has a plan to achieve both."
Zhao Gou was refreshed, and hurriedly said: "Mr. Gao, please tell me, what is the best way to achieve both?"
Gao Shen smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty will officially issue an order to suspend the attack on Xingqing Mansion, and at the same time send negotiators to Xixia, and then His Majesty will send a secret decree to Li Yanqing to attack Xixia immediately. To go to Xixia, you must go to Bashu, In Guanzhong, it will take 20 days at the earliest, and when the negotiating envoy arrives in Xixia, Xixia has already destroyed the country."
This is indeed a good way, it depends on whether Li Yanqing can destroy Xixia in the shortest time.
Zhao Gou thought about it and said: "I'm afraid my father will also ask Zhen Feige to send a letter to Li Yanqing."
"It's simple, it's just that Li Yanqing didn't receive the pigeon letter. It's normal for the pigeon letter to be lost in such a remote place."
Fan Zhixu added with a smile from the side: "To make them have nothing to say, just play tricks at the Bashu pigeon letter transfer station, so that they don't receive this letter, and of course Xixia can't receive it either."
The three discussed for a while, and immediately formed a complete plan.
Zhao Gou then issued an order to suspend the attack on Xingqing Mansion, and suggested that Song and Xia parties hold peace talks, and appointed Gao Shen as the official negotiator, and Fan Zongyin as the negotiating deputy envoy, and immediately set off for Xixia with a dozen ministers.
At the same time, Li Yanqing was secretly ordered to attack Xixia immediately.
Early the next morning, under Lu Yihao's suggestion, Zhao Gou wrote another letter, ordering the Privy Council to send it to Xixia immediately by pigeon letter.
But just the day before, Fan Zhixu also secretly ordered Wei Jing, the prefect of Chengdu, in the form of a letter of pigeons, to intercept the emperor's letter sent by the Privy Council in advance, so that the Chengdu pigeon letter transfer station did not receive the letter.
But Zhao Gou still underestimated his father, Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji was a treacherous and cunning man. He understood Zhao Gou's intentions and wasted time on the road. He immediately asked Qin Hui to send his letter to Qin Hui by means of a carrier pigeon, so that Qin Hui, who was patrolling the northwest Qin Hui immediately rushed to Xixia to prevent Li Yanqing from attacking Xingqing Mansion.
All of a sudden, letters of pigeons were flying, and a race against time to destroy and save the country was being staged.
But whether it is Zhao Gou's destruction of the country or Zhao Ji's salvation of the country, it is actually meaningless. The real initiative is in the hands of Li Yanqing, and the final fate of Xixia is also in the hands of Li Yanqing. Even if Zhao Gou succumbed to his father in the end Li Yanqing had no choice but to ask Li Yanqing to stop attacking Xixia, but Li Yanqing would not accept it. As the saying goes, the general is out, and the emperor's order is not accepted. He completely controls the rhythm of the war and the outcome of the war according to his own will.
Li Yanqing will never give Xixia any more chances.
On the second day after Li Yanqing's negotiations with Xixia broke down, he sent cavalry to shoot letter arrows to the city, and issued an ultimatum to Li Qianshun, the king of Xixia, asking them to leave the city and surrender within three days, otherwise the Song army would go into the city and confiscate it. All of their properties cannot guarantee the lives of Xixia monarchs and their families.
In a blink of an eye, three days passed, and Xixia remained silent without any reply, but under the arrangement of Brother Li Cha, Xingzhou City was intensively carrying out various defense arrangements. They demolished the houses and took big stones as stones , Cut off the beams of the house into rolling logs, and recruited various weapons and pig iron from the people, recruited various craftsmen, and went all out to build various weapons and heavy trebuchets.
But Li Yanqing will not give Xixia time to prepare for the war. After three days, the war will officially kick off.
Li Yanqing still chose to attack the city at night because his soldiers had undergone long-term night combat training. During this period, his soldiers also actively conducted adaptive night combat training, that is, to adapt to the terrain and climate of Xixia, but It is mainly to adapt to the Xixia architectural style and city structure.
Fifty thousand soldiers trained at night in Lingzhou City. Lingzhou City was built in imitation of Xingzhou City. The streets and alleys and the structure of houses were very similar to Xingzhou City. The nearly ten days of actual combat training made the Song Army achieve great success. Ideal training effect.
As night fell, the Song Army camp slowly opened, and groups of soldiers wearing iron helmets and armor came out of the camp neatly. They held short spears and shields, and they walked neatly and smoothly in rows of ten people. Powerful, after the 5,000 troops had finished walking, a huge object appeared. This is the super-giant trebuchet of the Song Army. One hundred soldiers can move it.
Ten ultra-giant trebuchets lined up in a long line, and thirty bulls were pulling them down to make them move slowly. There were mighty soldiers in front and behind, shouting slogans constantly, and the low horn sounded in the line. Constantly being blown, urging the soldiers to move forward.
Li Yanqing invested 80,000 troops to participate in tonight's decisive battle. As the 80,000 troops marched towards Xingqing City several miles away, the final battle against Xixia finally kicked off.
(end of this chapter)
