The army stayed outside Jiangzhou City for a while and had been waiting for Yang Wenguang and Zhe Weizhong.

Finally, in late October, he waited for Yang Wenguang and Zhe Weizhong, and the rebel leader Mr. Xin was also accompanied by the rebel leader.

After the two introduced it, they found out that Mr. Xin was actually a young man in his twenties. His original name was Xin Zan. His ancestral home was in Xiongzhou. Later, he moved to Datong with his father and became an official. The reason why he did not disclose his name was to avoid exposure.

After meeting, Xin Zan spoke well and could see that he had read many books, but his words and deeds were not as enthusiastic as Xie Linjiang, but gave people a sense of perseverance and decisiveness.

After all, they were people who grew up in war-torn places in the north, Liao, Jin and Jing, fighting in those areas.

After meeting, Li Xingzhou had a very good impression of him, but he felt that the name seemed... somewhat familiar.

In addition, it was a wave of dividends brought to the people of Jiangzhou by the army stationed outside the city.

After all, everyone has a lot of money in their pockets when they come back from the front line.

Li Xingzhou has nothing to wander around in Jiangzhou. He has managed Jiangzhou and is very familiar with it. Even if there have been changes in recent years, there is no newness. Instead, Pu Chaling is full of curiosity about everything.

Li Xingzhou was fine anyway, so he took her around and was expecting Jin's surprise in the southern city.

The hardships in the north are there, and with years of war, it is impossible to develop peacefully.

There were two completely different views on ancient China. Some people believed that the Chinese were the real fighting nation, and there was war almost all year round and there was no stop.

Some people think, how is it possible? It is obviously very peaceful and there is no war.

In fact, the reason is very simple, because most of the time in history, China has a large land area and a large strategic depth, which leads to the inland and the mainland, especially in the southern region, being able to enjoy peace and develop its economy even if the border is fighting every day.

Just like Jingguo, Kaiyuan, Ningjiang Prefecture and other places have been peaceful for hundreds of years, and generations have not known what war is.

Is the overall peace of Kejing Country?

Of course not. The frontiers had constant frictions with the Liao Kingdom, and there were small fusses every now and then. Apart from these frictions, Jing Kingdom, Xia Kingdom, Liao Kingdom, Baiyi, and Jiaozhi have fought wars for hundreds of years. There are hundreds of battles, and on average, there are a large and large battle every year.

But do the people in Jiangzhou have feelings? Do the people in Kaiyuan have feelings?

No, they still live a peaceful and stable life overall.

Inside, it is because of the great integration of nations, the unity of the world, and the unity of values.

Otherwise, like the north today, even if it can form a large-scale and unified country, and protect internal development with the outside world, no one can do it, and it will not last long.

The reason is that all ethnic groups and tribes are numerous, religious beliefs and values ​​are messy, and they cannot form a community of interests. They can only attack and fight each other in an interlaced manner. Economic and cultural prosperity cannot be produced in this environment.

In fact, the decline of the Mongol Empire had elements that were not strong enough in mainstream cultural values, and it still accounted for a large part.

The rise of Mongolia is unprecedented and is a miracle in the history of human wars. Mongolia also declines very rapidly. One of the important reasons is that its culture and values ​​are not strong enough. Even if it conquers and controls an area by force, it will be quickly assimilated by local religions and cultures.

It’s okay in the East, with relatively unified values ​​and the most magical way for the Mongolian Khanate in Central Asia, Arabia, Eastern Europe and other places to fight religious wars themselves because of disagreement of faith!

If Temujin came alive, he would be laughed to death by his funny descendants. After all, Temujin could advance so smoothly, and the most important thing was that he allowed religion to have his own.

The concept of "we are destiny" in Chinese civilization culture is subtle and deeply rooted in people's hearts, which invisibly creates a stable environment for the people behind.

As people often say, it’s not that there is no darkness in this world, but that someone is carrying the burden on you, and this sentence is appropriately used in Jingguo today.

The people in the depths of the country have had hundreds of years of prosperity and tranquility, but in fact, there have been a hundred years of friction and fighting on the border.

Pu Chaling didn't understand this situation, so she was probably surprised. In recent years, Jing Kingdom had been fighting almost all wars, suppressing rebellions, fighting the remnants of the Northern Han Dynasty, fighting the Liao Kingdom, and fighting the Jin Kingdom, why can the cities in the country still be so prosperous and peaceful?

After Li Xingzhou's guidance and temptation, Pu Chaling finally put down his psychological burden and dared to meet people openly, even telling him about the past.

She was like a curious baby, full of curiosity about all the prosperity of Jiangzhou. Officials and the people were also curious about her at the beginning. The spread of things was too wide. Such gossip discussions after dinner were even similar to various good news in the north.

Gradually, his reputation grew day by day, and his beauty became more and more fortunate, and he was even praised as the world's number one beauty. After all, the fact that the Crown Prince of Jingguo forced to demand people when he was discussing peace with the Jin Kingdom was enough to prove his beauty.

In addition to the various arguments that add fuel to the fire, it is even more amazing. The people who are talking about books and shouting in the brothels and wine shops have added many short stories to her, such as when she was a child, she was enjoying flowers in the garden, and colorful butterflies fell on her, and the principle is wrong to treat her as a flower, etc.

Li Xingzhou was stunned by the story. This story was like a farmer saying: "The emperor must have used a golden hoe for farming."

Just where her house is, it is snowy all year round, and there is no leisure and elegant.

Pu Chaling is indeed beautiful, but you have to consider your condition at that time. It’s like a hungry man who has been hungry for three days, and whatever he eats is delicious.

Even though Pu Chaling is beautiful, she can only say that each has its own merits.

However, Pu Chaling herself was very shy when she heard it. She learned very quickly. Now she took him out. Even if the people of Jiangzhou said the Chinese accents, she could hear the carelessness clearly.

......

Originally, Yang Wenguang and Zhe Weizhong were about to enter Beijing after they arrived, but unexpected people came again, including the messenger of Xia Kingdom and He Xu's caravan.

He Xu felt guilty when he saw him in the courtyard. The envoy of Xia Kingdom next to him wanted to speak, but Li Xingzhou didn't give him a chance: "Take the envoy down to rest, and if you have anything to say tomorrow." Then he turned around and entered the house.

The envoy of Xia Kingdom was anxious and was taken away.

Li Xingzhou understood what the envoy wanted to say, but he was just to just defend the caravan that detained Jingguo, but he would rather listen to his own people say this first.

.........

"As soon as we entered the territory of Xia, we felt something was wrong, and we always felt that someone was staring at it..." "One night in Xiachu, we were camping in the wild. When we woke up in the middle of the night, we found a fire on the opposite mountain. At first, we didn't pay attention, and we thought we were both sleeping in the wind and had only a few people staring at it.

But this happened for several nights. One morning, brothers went out to facilitate their convenience. I found a burning fire behind the camping mountain...

At that time, I was sure that we might have been targeted. Our caravan is famous in the north and has many people. There are also soldiers in the new army. Ordinary bandits dare not provoke them. At that time, I felt that it might be related to Xia State...

After thinking about it for two days, I felt that I couldn’t take risks, so I wanted to slow down and walk more, bypass Xia Kingdom from the west and head north, and then walk in the desert without getting entangled with Xia Kingdom..."

He Xu looked angry and said what they had experienced in chronological order. Li Xingzhou listened quietly in the room, and Wei Yubai happened to be there.

Ever since he snatched Pu Chaling from the Jin Kingdom, Wei Yubai has come to him from time to time to "talk about things", and what he says is big and small, and sometimes even argues, affecting his love and love.

Li Xingzhou is sometimes irritable, but he is not stupid if he doesn't send her away. Wei Yubai and Ah Jiao Shiyu have a good relationship, and they are even the best with Qi Fang. If she can't pass the test, it will be difficult for her to coax the leader at home when she goes back.

On the other hand, He Xu continued to talk.

"I took them with me to take a detour from Shilijing to Xiaguo, and then cross the river north, not along Longzhou, Niuxinting, Yinzhou...

But unexpectedly, we were surrounded by thousands of cavalry as soon as we arrived at the valley west of Shilijing. By the way, we were distinguished guests of Jingguo, and Xiaguo mainly invited us to visit Xiazhou!"

He Xu was very angry when he said this: "At first we were polite and refused, but they didn't give him a chance at all. He said that he would not go north and no one would think of leaving the valley! It was not an invitation at all, but a threat!

In desperation, we had to follow them north and take the lead in the Xixia officers who originally said to go to Xiazhou, but in the end we went to Xingqing!”

Xiazhou is a very important state in the east of Xia State, located in the west of Yinzhou and Yongle City, and is separated by a tributary of the river.

Xingqing Prefecture is further west, on the west bank of the Yellow River, and on the edge of Jiancheng Yellow River, it is the capital of Xia Kingdom.

"What afterwards, did anyone injure or not kill them?" Li Xingzhou frowned.

"No, when I arrived at Xingqing Mansion, the people in the canyon were very polite to me. They arranged food, drink, and stayed, but they were not allowed to leave." He Xu was very angry, but he couldn't feel angry. After all, the Xia people politely regarded them as guests of honor, with delicious food, accommodation and entertainment.

Li Xingzhou put down the teacup and basically ruled out the possibility of Xia Guo's intention to find money.

This kind of interception and killing of caravans is not uncommon in history. The fuse of Temujin's first expedition to the West was that local officials had the intention to intercept and kill the Mongolian caravans.

But if the people of Xia want to make money, they will do it at Shilijing. Why do they have such twists and turns? In addition to their attitude towards He Xu and others, Li Xingzhou guessed that Xia Guo had already found out that He Xu was not an ordinary businessman, but his confidant.

I also know the transaction between Jingguo and the BMongols. After all, there are so many horses every time, they can't cover them up.

The Xia people knew that they were still detaining He Xu and others, but Li Xingzhou could already guess 70% or 80% of what they were thinking.

Maybe I wanted to seize He Xu, the confidant, to consolidate my relationship with the Jin Kingdom in the future.

The battle between Jin and Jing was still unclear, and the army had just moved north. Many people were not optimistic about Jingguo, thinking that Jingguo would either lose or return without success. The Jin army was strong and waited for work, and the chance of victory was great.

Seeing this attitude, Xixia was obviously ready to get rid of Jingguo at any time and stand on the side of Jinguo. He Xu and others were the letters they prepared for the vote.

In history, the Western Xia also resolutely united with the Jin Kingdom. At first, they joined the Jin Dynasty to resist the Song Dynasty, but later they joined the Jin Dynasty to resist the Mongolians, and finally they were slaughtered by the Mongols.

Geographically speaking, it was a smarter way for the Western Xia to choose the Jin Dynasty. The Song and Mongolia all bordered more and had many disputes with the Western Xia Dynasty, while the Jin Dynasty had few borders. The strategic focus was still on the east side and was not interested in the west.

It means "to get along with far and near", which is a clever approach. Unfortunately, they did not expect that the weak Mongolians could fight later.

And for Li Xingzhou today, Xia Guo is also impossible to let go.

The first step of Jingguo is to protect himself and eliminate external threats.

For this step, Li Xingzhou has summarized and done three major things over the years.

First, we focus on business, in order to obtain a lot of wealth to send troops in the short term.

The second is to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, so that the north has danger to defend, and no longer be naked.

The third is to destroy the Jin Kingdom, the most powerful enemy in the north.

After you stabilize yourself, you should think about how to "go out" and radiate your influence outward.

The first step has been completed by the way, that is, to recover Liaodong. The Liaodong Plain is a large horse farm, which can greatly strengthen the national strength of Jingguo. The Bohai Sea coast is a major city, which can deter the north from two directions, and the influence radiation in the east is enough.

The second step is the Hetao area!

The Hetao area was one of the strategic bases for the Han Dynasty to attack the Huns in the north. Simply put, it was the area in the shape of "Ji" in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. There was a plump water and grassland, and the animal husbandry industry was developed. The north could directly threaten the grasslands in the desert, which was a strategic location.

Now that the Hetao area is in the hands of Xixia, Jingguo once wanted to take it back, but the military service ended with a defeat.

The third step is the Hexi Corridor. On both sides of the Hexi Corridor are the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau. The Yumen Pass connects the Western Regions and is also a strategic location for the Han Dynasty to manage the Western Regions.

Now it is also in the hands of Xia Kingdom...

Li Xingzhou shook his head in his heart. Xia Guo would have to deal with it sooner or later. He was short of an excuse, but now Xia Guo has given all the excuses himself.

He thought that Xia State is easier to fight than Jin State, and as soon as Xia State is weaker than Jin State, and its population is even more incomparable.

Secondly, the Jin Kingdom could only play a role when the Navy attacked Liaodong, while the Xia Kingdom was completely different!
To be continued...