Section 3: The Collapse of Xiazhou Local Government and Li Jiqian’s Choice

In the first year of Baoyuan's reign, Xixia rebelled, and the emperor ordered generals to march to the army.

In the second year, Meng Chunguo invaded, and all the people in Gaonu City were Di and Qiang.

The troops from Wuyuan rushed to the enemy and fought day and night without stopping.

The horse is too lazy to be a strong prisoner, even though it is strong with a sharp weapon.

The defeat of the second division was self-inflicted. It was not planned by Langmiao.

The imperial court also selected Yi Jing Lue and the director of Xian Jun Wu in the Three Acts.

Either take Li Kui to prepare a border strategy, or you want to go out of Shuofang in five ways.

In mid-summer, the people carried bows and arrows, and in winter, they carried donkeys and grain.

The officers and soldiers invaded the fortress again before they advanced. How could they be so mad as to kill the general with a flag?

Then the soldiers were made more depressed, hoping to make them courageous when facing obstacles.

I would like to help you paint traces that are far away, turning to the west to look at the desolate sky.

A word from a common man can be of great help, and the wind will send the wings of birds flying.

It is advisable to use sharp animals to protect the city walls and to pass on the supplies to the passing merchants first.

Stay safe and don't chase them, and you will get trapped. There will be small conflicts in the situation.

For example, the skin of mosquitoes and flies does not cause serious damage to the muscles and blood.

Although these words are small, they can go a long way, but fortunately, I will not forget them if I adopt them.

Sincerely knowing that the public concern is as tragic as it is, the Holy Emperor listens and agrees with the emperor.

Didn't we go through the years at that time, and all the towns were still in Luliang?

Nowadays, the eagles and dogs are not brave enough, so they are afraid to gallop.

Let's wait until the moment of delay to encourage ruthless soldiers, but in the final stage, we should not do our best to defeat the dead.

In 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny, and the emperor took over the power of the Later Zhou Dynasty and established the Song Dynasty, with its capital in Kaifeng, Henan, known as the Northern Song Dynasty in history. After Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, the first thing he did was to cut off the separatist forces in various places, because he He was well aware of the harm caused by local separatism. After Li Yiyin heard about it, he hurriedly sent an envoy to the court to express his congratulations. In order to avoid the taboo of the emperor's father's name, he also changed his name to Li Yixing. This incident made Song Taizu very happy.

In March of this year, the Northern Han Dynasty united with some ethnic minority tribes in Daibei to attack the border of the Song Dynasty. Song Taizu ordered all the vassal towns to raise troops together. Li Yixing was also ordered to raise troops to attack the Northern Han Dynasty. They worked together to push back the Northern Han Dynasty. Li Yixing knew that the Song Dynasty lacked Li Yixing took the initiative to donate 300 good horses to the Song Dynasty, which made Song Taizu very happy. In a short period of time, Song Taizu was overjoyed twice. This was the political brilliance of Li Yixing. In order to reward him, Song Taizu Someone also specially ordered a jade belt for Li Yixing. Li Yixing was very encouraged when he received this jade belt. In the early years of the Song Dynasty, it laid a solid foundation for the friendly relations between the Han people and the Dangxiang people.

The Dangxiang tribe became the object of competition between the Northern Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, but the Northern Han emperor sent envoys many times to seduce him with huge profits, but Li Yixing never agreed. In 967 AD, Yixing passed away, and Song Taizu paid a special tribute to the court to express his condolences. On the third day, he was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Master and King of Xia. He also let his son Li Guangrui take over his official position and became the new military governor of the Dingnan Army.

In 968 AD, a Fan rebellion broke out in Xiazhou. After Song Taizu learned of the situation, he immediately sent a large army to help Xiazhou quell the rebellion. The rebellion in Xiazhou was soon quelled. Li Guangrui was very grateful to Song Taizu and wrote a special letter to express his gratitude. AD In 970, a rebellion broke out among the Qiang people in Suizhou. Li Pilu, the son of the governor of Suizhou, put down the rebellion. Li Guangrui made a special report to the court, and Song Taizu named Li Pilu the governor of Suizhou.

In 972 AD, Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty released his military power over a cup of wine, and all military commanders from all over the country and the military governors of the feudal towns were deprived of their military power. After Li Guangrui learned about this, he felt panic and uneasiness. So he had to take the initiative to write to the court and request to go to the court, but he did not get it. allow.

In 975 AD, the Northern Han Dynasty sent troops to attack Xiazhou again, and Li Guangrui drove the Northern Han Dynasty away. However, the emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty did not give up and sent people many times to recruit Li Guangrui to surrender, but he was rejected by Li Guangrui all the time. Emperor Liu Jiyuan of the Northern Han Dynasty was furious.

, sent tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to attack Yinzhou. Li Guangrui reported these situations to the court, and Song Taizu sent five armies to attack the Northern Han Dynasty. On the other hand, he was also very satisfied with Li Guangrui's actions. Li Guangrui and the Song Dynasty soldiers and horses attacked the Northern Han Dynasty together.

The local government of Xiazhou captured several border passes and captured a large amount of property, cattle and sheep, all of which were presented to the imperial court.

In 976 AD, Song Taizu died suddenly. Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, also known as Song Taizong. In order to avoid the emperor's taboo, Li Guangrui had to change his name to Li Kerui. In order to commend the local government of Xiazhou for attacking the Northern Han Dynasty, Song Taizong

For his contribution in the process, Li Kerui was conferred the title of Li Kerui again. During the more than ten years that Yao Neibin, the governor of Gyeongju, was in office, the local tribes were afraid of his bravery, so the territory was very stable and there was no rebellion. However, Yao Neibin died in 977 AD.

, after his death, the Fan tribe began to make moves.

Once, the Tibetan tribe robbed a tribute team passing by, and the imperial court sent a large army to attack Xiazhou. Li Kerui was very frightened. He first captured all the Tibetan chiefs who had robbed him, and then personally apologized and took away the looted items.

Returned. Song Taizong forgave them. In March of the second year, Li Kerui passed away, and Song Taizong deeply regretted his death. His son Li Jiyun inherited the position of Jiedushi of the Dingnan Army, and Song Taizong also paid tribute to him.

Two days.

In 979 AD, Song Taizong personally conquered the Northern Han Dynasty. Li Jiyun took the initiative to request to lead an army to assist the Northern Song army. Song Taizong agreed to his request. In this battle, Li Jiyun made another outstanding military exploit.

But in 980 AD, Li Jijun passed away. At this time, his son was still young, so his younger brother Li Jipeng succeeded him. However, many people in the family expressed dissatisfaction with his succession. It didn't take long for Li Keyuan to succeed.

The brothers rebelled. The rebellion was put down in a short period of time, but because of this incident, the Li family became more popular.

Li Jipeng became the heir to the Xiazhou local government. The first person to express his dissatisfaction was his uncle Li Kewen. Li Kewen took the initiative to write to the court and told Song Taizong that his succession was not in line with the tradition of the Dangxiang clan. Many people said

He was dissatisfied, fearing that this matter would cause chaos in the clan. After receiving this memorial, Song Taizong also attached great importance to it, and issued an edict to let Li Jipeng enter the court, and then let Li Kewen be in charge of Xiazhou. Li Jipeng had to listen to Song Taizong,

He brought his family to Kaifeng. Song Taizong was also very happy, received their family with grand etiquette, and then rewarded them with a lot of property. From then on, they lived in Kaifeng.

Not long after, Song Taizong ordered Li Kewen to bring his family to Kaifeng. Li Kewen had to listen. Entering the court this time was equivalent to giving up the power and territory in his hands, but he still agreed. Song Dynasty still agreed.

Taizong also ordered Li Kexian, the governor of Suizhou, to come to court, but Li Kexian was unwilling to go, and Song Taizong didn't want to start the war lightly, so he sent a lobbyist to persuade him to surrender.

After some persuasion by the envoy sent, Li Kexian finally had no choice but to agree to go to Kaifeng with him. The leaders of the old Li family gathered in Kaifeng, and Song Taizong's goal was finally achieved. He just wanted to seize the military power from them in this way.

Song Taizong wanted to keep them all in Kaifeng, but not long after Li Kewen came to Kaifeng, a great chaos broke out among the Xiazhou Party Departments, and the imperial court sent troops to suppress it. But this was not an option after all, so Song Taizong had to let Li Kewen serve as Xiazhou again

Commander, go and appease the Dangxiang people.

These actions of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty undoubtedly intensified the conflict between the Han people and the Dangxiang people. Originally, not only did the Party School people not have any rebellions, but they also helped the Central Plains Dynasty put down rebellions many times. However, the emperors of the Song Dynasty all wanted to centralize power.

Eliminate the separatist forces in various places. That's why Song Taizong wanted to take over Xiazhou in this bloodless way. However, the local Dangxiang tribesmen refused to accept it and began to rebel. It was also during this period that many rebels rebelled against the tribe.

Ambitious people rose up to resist the Song Dynasty one after another, and the leader among them was Li Jiqian. From then on, Li Jiqian led his tribe to start a protracted struggle against the Song Dynasty in the northwest border area of ​​the Song Dynasty.

Li Jiqian was born in 963 AD in Yinzhou. His father was Li Keyan, the history of Yinzhou defense at that time, and a member of the Pingxia tribe of the Dangxiang tribe. Tuoba Sizhong, who died to help the Tang Dynasty suppress the Huangchao uprising, was Li Jiqian's great ancestor.

Li Jiqian was able to ride a horse and shoot arrows when he was very young. Everyone thought that this child would have a future. When he was 12 years old, he led a dozen of his followers to go hunting. Suddenly a tiger sprang out. The child behaved like

He was very calm. He was not afraid. On the contrary, the followers around him were very scared. He asked the followers around him to step aside, then he climbed up a tree, bent his bow and arrow, and hit the tiger's eye. Not long after, this

The tiger died. Because of this incident, Li Jiqian became a famous hero in his clan at a very young age.

At that time, Li Guangrui, the governor of the Dingnan Army, admired Li Jiqian's talents very much and gave him an official position in charge of the affairs of the ethnic minority tribes in the territory. Later, Li Jipeng was forced to donate land to the court. Most of the Dangxiang people were concerned about this incident.

Expressed dissatisfaction. Among them, the most dissatisfied was Li Jipeng's younger brother Li Jiqian, who expressed strong resistance to this incident.

The vigorous Li Jiqian discussed with his younger brother Li Jichong and a Han counselor that if we were manipulated by the Song Dynasty, the Xiazhou local government that our ancestors had finally established would gradually collapse. How could we

Seeing this happening, Li Jiqian expressed that he would rather die than surrender.

However, the Han counselors around him disagreed with him and believed that if he tried to kill the fish with eggs and destroy the net, he would not only be useless in the end, but also speed up the destruction of the local power of Xiazhou. It would be better to move north, contact the local wealthy families, and resist the Song Dynasty together.

Li Jiqian adopted his suggestion. He falsely claimed that his wet nurse had passed away and he wanted to go out of the city for burial. Then he took advantage of the funeral to hide the weapons in the funeral car. Li Jiqian took his cronies and tribesmen out of the city and fled Yinzhou.

, came to the Bayannaoer Lake area in the northeast of the Otok Banner of the Yike Zhao League in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and used this place as a base. From then on, he began a long journey to revive the Xiazhou regime.

After Li Jiqian came to this place, the first thing he thought about was how to unify the party and various ministries. Because the Dangxiang tribe was still at the core of the Tuoba tribe at that time, he considered how to expand his power. Li Jiqian used his great ancestor Tuoba tribe to

Basi Sizhong's portrait began to promote to the tribe how brave the ancestors of his nation were and what great military exploits he had made. After his propaganda, many people began to believe in him and joined his force.

In 982 AD, Li Jiqian, who had achieved little success, wanted to lead his men to recapture Xiazhou. However, due to their low strength, they still suffered a disastrous defeat. Li Jiqian had to lead his men back to the original place. Only then did he realize

Until his ability could not compete with the Song Dynasty. Later, the imperial court wanted to appoint Li Jipeng as Zhang Dejun's military envoy. Li Jiqian took this opportunity to express that he would neither invade the Song Dynasty nor become a rebellious minister. Song Taizong sent

The envoy originally wanted to take the opportunity to kill Li Jiqian, but his plan failed and he had to return secretly.

Although Li Jiqian pretended to surrender to the Song Dynasty, he never stopped invading the borders of the Song Dynasty. He led his troops to invade the Yin and Xia states many times. The Song Dynasty sent a large army to protect the Yin and Xia states. Li Jiqian set up an ambush and prepared for a fight.

A beautiful battle. As a result, the battle failed again and he was surrounded by the Song Dynasty. If Li Jizhong hadn't sent reinforcements to rescue him, Li Jiqian would have died here. After Li Jiqian escaped, he was still unwilling to give up and fought with the Song Dynasty again.

After several battles, he was defeated repeatedly. As a result, it was his repeated defeats that finally made him successful. Seeing that he could not achieve anything, the Song Dynasty paid less attention to him.

After resting, Li Jiqian continued to accumulate strength, and soon he had more than 20,000 troops gathered around him. At that time, the Song Dynasty issued an order, which was a great benefit to the Dangxiang people. If they moved inland, they would be exempted from three

Years of corvee service. Many people under Li Jiqian began to waver. In order to enhance the cohesion, Li Jiqian decided to launch a war to enhance the cohesion of the nation.

After some planning with his men, Li Jiqian decided to gather troops to attack Youzhou first, but the attack was defeated by the Song army again.

Although Li Jiqian failed many times, it had the support of the Dangxiang tribes scattered throughout the northwest, so it was able to accumulate strength and make a comeback repeatedly. On the one hand, Li Jiqian sent his younger brother to join other tribes of the Dangxiang tribe, but he did not expect that the effect this time was unexpected.

good.

First, the chief of the Mewei tribe led Nanshan to gradually come to join Li Jiqian. Li Jiqian's strength suddenly grew a lot, and he became restless again, and assembled tens of thousands of cavalry to attack Wangting Town. Because the local defenders did not prepare enough

preparation, so this was Li Jiqian's first victory against the Song Dynasty. Although this battle did not achieve much success, it greatly boosted the morale of the Dangxiang tribe and also attracted the attention of the Song Dynasty to Li Jiqian.

Soon, the local defenders of the Song Dynasty figured out Li Jiqian's exact location. Li Jiqian suffered heavy losses in this battle and lost countless cattle, sheep and weapons. Li Jiqian and his brother abandoned the army and fled. This battle

It can be said to be the most disastrous defeat that Li Jiqian suffered.

After suffering this defeat, Li Jiqian became more aware of the fighting power of the Song Dynasty. He had no choice but to use guerrilla warfare to avoid the main force of the Song army. On the one hand, he also actively looked for new bases. Finally, he found a settlement in Huangyangping in northern Xiazhou.

After resting in this place, his strength slowly recovered.

Since the Li family in Xiazhou has been in the local area for a long time, their prestige is very high. Moreover, Li Jiqian also launched a slogan to revive Xiaye. Li Jiqian decided to unite with the big clans of the Dangxiang clan. He also took the initiative to request marriage from the big clans of other tribes.

, and soon he won the support of many leaders of the big clans. Li Jiqian integrated the forces of various tribes through marriage, which can be regarded as an unprecedented method.

Of course, there were also many people who were unwilling to submit to Li Jiqian, and Li Jiqian began to brutally conquer these people. Li Jiqian gradually unified Xiazhou as the center, the northeast to Fuzhou, Linzhou, and the southwest to the current Gansu Ring Road and Ningxia Plains.

The prefecture area extends from the west to the foot of the Helan Mountains on both sides of the Yellow River, and to the north reaches most of the party-oriented tribes at the northern end of the Yellow River Hetao Plain.

After so many wars with the Song Dynasty, although Li Jiqian did not get much advantage in the previous wars, it increased his experience in fighting against the Song Dynasty. After his summary, and the fact that the Dangxiang clan must avenge their grievances

personality, and the hatred that his wife and children were captured by the Song army last time, so he thought about how to take revenge every day. At that time, there was a Dangxiang tribe in Yinzhou City who requested to move inward but was rejected, so they began to rebel. Li Jiqian arrested

Seize this opportunity and unite with that tribe to attack Yinzhou.

But Li Jiqian knew very well the ability of Song Dynasty general Cao Guangshi. If he used ordinary fighting methods, he would hardly be Cao Guangshi's opponent. So he wrote a letter to Cao Guangshi, which is the so-called asking for directions. The content of the letter was that he had been in the army for many years.

Living in the north, the conditions there are not good and it is difficult to survive. Do you allow me to surrender? The letter also agreed to ask Cao Guangshi to come to Jialuchuan to accept the surrender.
To be continued...