Chapter 2176: Shizong Chronicles 44: Storms over Mobei, the Khitan's Fall

While the empire's hundred-thousand-strong army was grinding down Dian and Qian with the patience of water wearing through stone, a tale of iron horses and golden spears was unfolding simultaneously on the vast, boundless northern frontier.

The threat of Mobei to the empire was like the threat that northern nomadic civilizations had posed to southern agrarian civilizations for a thousand years and more—except that in the present age of the Great Han Empire, the leading role on this northern stage had been taken up by the Naiman Jin Kingdom.

Ever since the eighth year of Pingkang, when at the White Waters Assembly he was "bullied" by Kangzong, submitted to Liu Wenpeng, and was forced into a peace agreement with the Khitan of Mobei, the Jin Kingdom and its sovereign, Sun Khan Liu Jin, had completely reoriented their strategy for national rejuvenation—no longer raiding southward against the Han, but making the unification of Mobei their first priority.

Liu Jin's "three-step" strategy was, in truth, the instinct of a steppe overlord, but whether it could succeed still depended on the overall strategic environment; with the southern Han Empire standing peerless and alone, it would be very difficult to pull off.

Setting aside the rest, even the first step—destroying the Khitan—would be very difficult to achieve under normal circumstances. The only sliver of opportunity Liu Jin could find was the unexpected early death of Kangzong, which threw the Han Empire's succession into upheaval.

Otherwise, had Liu Jin dared to break the agreement and march east, even with Kangzong on the throne, it would not have been tolerated. Only when the empire's Emperor was replaced by Liu Wenji did the constraints on the Mobei steppe weaken dramatically.

Not to mention those three years of Duangong, when Liu Wenji was mostly lying low, busy consolidating his imperial position and buying people's loyalty; even after entering the Jianlong era, in the early years his main energy went to reshaping imperial authority and rectifying accumulated ills.

Although he did send old ministers and old generals like Murong Dechen north to Shanyang and Monan to take up posts and conduct tours of inspection, it was merely a matter of routine, maintaining an appearance. Of course, a very important point was that Liu Wenji's Khitan bloodline was always a weakness used to constrain him, criticize him, and even attack him, which also made him cautious—even hesitant to act for fear of harming the vase—when facing Mobei affairs.

After leading the Jin Kingdom through roughly two years of recuperation, Liu Jin marched east in the autumn of the second year of Duangong, beginning his all-out annexation of the Khitan. Over the past half-century, the Naiman and the Khitan, as the two great overlords of Mobei, had been in a state of ebb and flow between the two rivals.

The original Naiman were merely a group of benighted barbarian tribes roaming the eastern regions of the Jinshan Mountains; it was only during the great Han–Liao war that they were brought a glimmer of civilization by the Han Empire's expeditionary army. The tribal confederation that gradually formed later was a mark of evolution, but the Naiman's true rise began only after Liu Jin, honored as "Sun Khan," personally took power.

Although the imperial house always denied it, and Prince Wei Liu Min never admitted it either, in the early formation of the Naiman tribal confederation, Liu Jin's identity as "son of Liu Min"—the "imperial bloodline" of the Han Empire flowing through his veins—played a very significant role, holding great importance for the unification and integration of the various Naiman tribes.

After Liu Jin came of age and took power, he carried out many advanced institutional reforms among the Naiman, drawing extensively from Han culture and institutions, learning and borrowing from them. Combined with the rivalry against the Khitan of Mobei, driven by internal and external forces, there gradually formed the Naiman Jin Kingdom—occupying half of Mobei, commanding a hundred tribes, fielding a hundred thousand bowmen, half-nomadic, half-slaveholding, and transitioning toward a feudal dynasty.

As for the Khitan of Mobei, although they had maintained military superiority over the Naiman for decades, they had long been in a difficult military-political environment—squeezed from the south and northeast by the Han Empire, and harassed from the northeast by the Mongol Shiwei.

And with the departure of the older generation of Khitan elites, the newly grown batch could only be described as "each crab smaller than the last"—unable to inherit the achievements and glory of their predecessors, they could barely even hold onto the little plot of land before their eyes.

At the same time, although the Khitan had been beaten down by the Han Empire from a "Liao Empire" into "Mobei Khitan," and had subsequently degenerated back into a nomadic production-and-life state through their own self-castration, they still maintained the arrogance of a "superior state" when facing the other tribes of Mobei, especially their vassal tribes and miscellaneous barbarians.

With Emperor Shizu's "tolerance" toward the Khitan in the late Kaibao period, the improvement of bilateral relations, and the strengthening of economic exchange, the fine wines, silks, and exquisite trinkets coming from the southern empire gradually corroded the Khitan high echelons...

Arrogance, corruption, and decadence—for a nomadic people, these were all fatal errors. Only, when the pressure from that behemoth of an empire to the south lessened, relying on the accumulated legacy of their ancestors, and with the Khitan king Yelu Longxu managing to bind his subjects and tribes together through his long reign, the rule of the Mobei Khitan could still be propped up.

Only, as time passed and the Khitan's own internal problems and class contradictions grew ever more severe, that support became increasingly strained.

On the other hand, the Mobei Khitan not only had to face external threats from the Naiman and the Shiwei, but also faced a serious problem of population loss. To the south, the Shanyang and Monan regions administered by the Han Empire were growing increasingly prosperous, with thriving animal husbandry, numerous cattle and sheep, and even richer pastures—highly attractive to the many Khitan tribes of Mobei. Some chose to harass and plunder; others went south to submit.

To the northeast was the Raole Kingdom, whose king, Liu Xin, possessed dual bloodlines of the Great Han imperial house and the Khitan royal house. Of course, for these nomadic peoples beyond the northern frontier, talk of bloodlines was still too abstract; what mattered was the psychological pull of admiring strength and pursuing advantage.

The Monan region was fine, but it was too close to the Han Empire, and moreover, there was no longer any space for Mobei tribes there. The Raole Kingdom was different—as one of the first batch of enfeoffed kingdoms personally designated by Emperor Shizu, from the perspective of steppe tribes, its conditions were not bad at all. It possessed vast stretches of fine water and pasture, and land conditions highly suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

Moreover, unlike Andong, which was perpetually suspected by the court, the Raole Kingdom had always maintained a close and amicable relationship with the court, with tight connections, and had long received the court's support and assistance, both overt and covert.

Add to that the fact that Liu Xin's own caliber was not low—though he had no reputation for excellence and had not established any illustrious achievements, through his years of kingship and governance he had gradually explored and summarized a set of state-governance rules that integrated Han legal systems with local conditions.

Back then, when Emperor Shizu passed away and the various princes went to the capital for mourning, his good brother Liu Ye gave him some sound advice, which he heeded, and he began a sustained policy of attracting and recruiting population from the Mobei region.

For the tribes of Mobei, even just the lower taxes and tributes of the Raole Kingdom made them willing to go; moreover, they could obtain pastures and water sources from the Xingguo royal court, and also gain the Raole Kingdom's protection.

Starting in the early Yongxi period, people migrated east and south from under the Mobei Khitan's jurisdiction to submit to the Raole Kingdom. The Mobei Khitan naturally tried to stop this, at one point triggering unrest. It was only after Yelu Longxu convened the great nobles and tribal chiefs at the royal court, carried out a round of tax reduction mobilization to lighten the burden on tribal subjects, and established strict military control in the hilly regions along the western edge of the Greater Khingan fold belt that the population outflow to the Raole Kingdom was truly brought under control.

But even so, over time, the Raole Kingdom had still plucked nearly a hundred thousand people from the Mobei Khitan, greatly making up for its own population shortfall and advancing Raole's development. But the blood of the Mobei Khitan, over the long years, was nearly drained dry.

By the Jianlong era, although the Mobei Khitan was still an overlord of the Mobei steppe, its decline and decay were visible to the naked eye—especially when compared with the rising momentum of the Naiman Jin Kingdom, it appeared all the more shabby by comparison.

A multitude of internal and external factors led to the result that when Liu Jin marched east with his invading army, the Mobei Khitan's resistance only grew more and more feeble. By mid-autumn of the third year of Jianlong, the Mobei Khitan had fallen into complete collapse; the Khitan's rule over the vast steppes of Mobei and its many tribes was thoroughly overthrown.

This "Liao–Jin War" lasted four years. That it could hold out so long was thanks to Yelu Longxu's desperate perseverance—but even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice, and the Yelu Longxu of this time and space could not even be called a clever housewife.

Nevertheless, Yelu Longxu did not betray the dignity of the "Great Khitan King." Though the Jin army's blades were fierce, and the Jin king Liu Jin was cunning, resourceful, brave, and skilled in battle, from beginning to end Yelu Longxu never softened or yielded, steadfastly and resolutely leading the Khitan army to fight against them.

Over those four years, the two sides fought dozens of battles of varying sizes in the water-rich, grass-lush lands of Mobei, but only two battles were of decisive significance. The first occurred in the autumn of the first year of Jianlong, when Liu Jin, after pacifying the many tribes of the Khitan west of Mount Wugu, personally led fifty thousand of the Jin Kingdom's main forces eastward to do battle with an eighty-thousand-strong Khitan army in the upper reaches of the Tula River.

In that battle, Yelu Longxu personally led, concentrating the realm's elite troops and staking the fate of the dynasty, intending to settle the Naiman in a single decisive engagement. Yelu Longxu had grown up in an atmosphere of internal strife, external threats, and extreme oppression; the Battle of the Tula River nearly brought out all the boldness and ferocity of his life. When the decisive battle began, he even personally led the Pishi Army in the charge.

Unfortunately, the Khitan army of today was an army that had lost the courage and daring of its former days and had become indistinguishable from the common crowd. As the Khitan king, though Yelu Longxu mustered all his strength, the effect he could produce was limited.

The Jin soldiers were different—not only were they strictly trained and bound by Liu Jin's harsh military law, they also possessed the spirit and vigor of a nation on the rise. Especially the five thousand White Tiger Army—once they charged, they could often shatter the Khitan army without much effort.

Setting aside the initial probing and skirmishing, the true decisive battle lasted less than a single day before ending in a great defeat for the Khitan army. Yelu Longxu led the remnants in a desperate flight eastward, while the Jin Kingdom seized the momentum to pursue eastward and brought the central regions of Mobei under its control.

After the Battle of the Tula River, the Khitan never recovered, losing their entire western frontier. The Jin Kingdom achieved a complete victory, taking the most solid step toward unifying Mobei. However, over the next half year or so, Liu Jin did not choose to press the advantage and push east to completely annex the Khitan.

First, because after prolonged campaigning, the soldiers were exhausted, and under Khitan counterattacks they had also suffered several thousand casualties; the newly conquered lands and tribes also needed to be reorganized and drilled, bound to the Jin Kingdom's war chariot.

Second, Liu Jin still needed to see how the Han Empire to the south would react. Though Liu Jin was arrogant and even somewhat reckless, he was still relatively cautious in his attitude toward the Han Empire—at least he understood in his heart that even for matters as distant as Mobei, the Han Empire's attitude was equally crucial.

And the Great Han court's reaction was quite satisfactory to Liu Jin. After all, Emperor Liu Wenji at the time was busy consolidating power and establishing authority, busy with sweeping reforms of corrupt practices, and busy resolving and managing relations with the various enfeoffed kingdoms.

As for Mobei, they merely expressed concern. Upon hearing of the Khitan's disastrous defeat at the hands of the Naiman, they were surprised, but far from feeling the threat of the Jin Kingdom. Of course, in the Shanyang and Monan regions, there were some men of foresight who felt considerable anxiety, and there was no shortage of those who reported warnings to the court, but it did not attract sufficient attention. It was not that the entire court was benighted—it was simply a matter of priorities. They even adopted a dismissive attitude toward Yelu Longxu's memorials begging the court for aid.

When the Han Empire did nothing, Liu Jin's boldness grew. In the summer of the second year of Jianlong, he again raised elite troops for an eastern campaign. This time, seventy thousand cavalry rode two thousand li in a lightning strike, heading straight for Jingbian City, where the Khitan royal court was located.

In this battle, Liu Jin came on fiercely, clearly intending to settle Mobei in one stroke, but in the end he failed at the final step. He had underestimated Yelu Longxu's persistence—scorching the earth, fortifying the city, and defending from within. Moreover, although Jingbian City was not particularly large, after years of Khitan management, it was by no means something a bunch of cavalry could simply overrun. And the Jin cavalry, lacking experience against fortified cities, truly found themselves at a loss.

Of course, the most critical point was that the Raole Kingdom to the south could no longer sit still. Liu Xin had been closely watching the development of the Mobei war. Seeing the Khitan decline and the Naiman Jin Kingdom's towering ambition, Liu Xin felt as if thorns were pricking his back even from over a thousand li away.

So, while Liu Jin was racking his brains over the difficulty of taking Jingbian City, Raole King Liu Xin dispatched thirty thousand cavalry northward to render assistance. As soon as the Raole army marched out, the Khitan's crisis immediately eased. To give them confidence, the Raole army even specially sent out death-defying volunteers who risked their lives to deliver news of the reinforcements.

Of course, before setting out, Liu Xin had given specific instructions: lifting the siege was enough—do not fight to the death with the Jin. And on Liu Jin's side, he was not yet prepared to tear face with Raole, or rather, with the Great Han behind Raole.

With both sides' strategic objectives differing and both having their reservations, naturally no major battle broke out. However, though there was no large-scale fighting, there were still a few small-scale clashes involving several thousand men. In the end, although the Raole army had better equipment, compared to the more crazed and savage Jin soldiers, they were actually a notch weaker in momentum.

Both were hunting-and-riding armies, but one had been hardened by years of constant warfare and bound by harsh military law; compared to the Raole army, which suffered from the same "peace sickness," the Jin Kingdom's army held a genuine edge in actual combat effectiveness. There was no need to mince words on this point.

However, as time passed—with the formidable walls of Jingbian ahead and the "Raole soldiers" stabbing from behind—although the Jin army maintained its strong initiative, Liu Jin ultimately chose to withdraw voluntarily after besieging the city for two months.

Though the first attack on Jingbian City was unsuccessful, for the Jin Kingdom it was not entirely without gains. First, the Khitan's strength further shrank, leaving them barely clinging to life around the Great Marsh;

Second, the problem of the Jin army's weakness in siege warfare was exposed to Liu Jin ahead of time. After all, in previous campaigns, the small cities scattered across Mobei would often surrender on their own as soon as the main army arrived, and the steppe tribes had no habit of defending cities to the death;

Finally, after the skirmishes with the Raole Kingdom, Liu Jin discovered that although the Han people's army was not weak, it was also not as powerful as he had imagined. After all, it was an army that had not seen major warfare in decades; even with excellent equipment, it was not invincible. Although the Raole soldiers could not fully represent the Great Han army, this enlightening discovery still greatly boosted Liu Jin's confidence in dealing with the Han.

Only half a year after the first Battle of Jingbian, Liu Jin again raised a great army for an eastern campaign. This time, he had made thorough preparations, including for siege warfare. Most critically, it was the third year of Jianlong, and Raole King Liu Xin had been summoned by the Great Han Emperor Liu Wenji to the Eastern Capital for a grand conference.

It was precisely by seizing this "heaven-sent opportunity" that Liu Jin acted decisively. After a series of skirmishes that went down as easily as drinking water, he again surrounded Jingbian City with his army and resolutely launched a full-scale assault.

On the Raole side, with their king absent, they dared not rashly dispatch troops to the rescue. And this time, Yelu Longxu could not withstand the immense pressure. After fifteen days, Jingbian City fell, the defenders surrendered, and Yelu Longxu took his own life with a blade, drawing a full stop to "a hundred years of Khitan."

Of course, at the moment of the Khitan state's destruction, Raole still reaped considerable benefits—at the very least, in the final wave alone, over thirty thousand Khitan tribespeople came south with their cattle, sheep, and horses to submit to the Raole Kingdom. Population and livestock were always the most precious wealth.

But when Raole King Liu Xin returned to Xingguo and faced this windfall of riches, he could not be happy at all—he even cursed inwardly, because looking north to the western side of the Khingan Mountains, the lush "Hulunbuir Great Steppe" had already been completely swallowed by Liu Jin.

The Naiman Jin Kingdom—a "castrated version" of a Mobei dynasty—was rising steadily. It was also from the third year of Jianlong that the war between the Jin Kingdom and the Raole Kingdom began. But a semi-unified Mobei regime, led by a wolf-king like Liu Jin, had a rising momentum that no single Raole Kingdom could block.

Raole King Liu Xin reported to the court in the fourth, fifth, and seventh years of Jianlong respectively, setting forth the threat of the Jin Kingdom and hoping the court would dispatch troops to destroy it. But he never received a positive response—only some military supplies and material aid to support Raole in dealing with the Jin.

It was not until the eighth year of Jianlong, after the Andong Kingdom had been suppressed, that the court finally freed up its hands to turn its gaze to Mobei—and by that time, the Jin Kingdom was already very difficult to deal with......