Chapter 1073: Zhihe Peace Treaty

Xingzhou, in the palace city.

"Prime Minister, the war situation at the front is unfavorable, and we are retreating steadily. Wang Yan, the thief of Yanzhou, is really difficult to deal with. According to the report from the front, there are already Xia people joining the army in the army led by Zhong E. Since the war started two months ago, we have designed to surround and kill them several times, but our plans have failed repeatedly. Zhong E took the bait and must flee south, Wang Yan holds ten thousand troops to respond, and has other troops to cut off our retreat, making us in a dilemma."

"Yes, Prime Minister, now it is internal and external troubles, and it is difficult to support both sides..."

A group of ministers spoke in agreement, all very urgent.

The one called Prime Minister was naturally Mozang Epang, who now held the power of Western Xia. He was already over fifty years old, and having enjoyed high status and great wealth for a long time, he had become fat, but sitting there, with his thick beard, broad shoulders, and ferocious gaze that chose people to eat, all indicated that he was once a strong man, now a violent man, and was in the middle of an outbreak.

He was indeed a ruthless man.

After Li Yuanhao finished beating the Great Song, but was forced to stop the war due to the Liao's participation, he began to toss the country, and also naturally began to enjoy everything after the great victory—arrogance, indulgence, cruelty.

Mozang Epang seized this opportunity. At that time, he had already been promoted by Li Yuanhao to Prime Minister, and could be called holding the power of the government, but he lived in fear. So he incited Li Yuanhao's crown prince Ninglingge to poison Li Yuanhao, and he used the name of poisoning the monarch and father to rectify Ninglingge to death, and supported his sister Mozang's son Li Liangzuo to the throne, which was the little emperor now.

From this, Mozang Epang truly controlled the power of Western Xia, wantonly excluding dissidents, exploiting and looting up and down, and still sending troops out to scare the Great Song to engage in extortion, and life was still very happy.

But scaring was scaring, he didn't want to really fight. But the situation changed too fast, and Wang Yan was not joking, saying fight and fight, and fighting so fiercely. He had dealt with the Great Song too much, but this Great Song made him strange and also made him afraid.

He was afraid, so he had to make others more afraid.

So after listening to the ministers' report, Mozang Epang angrily threw the exquisite celadon Jianzhan from the Great Song, which accurately landed on the head of one of them, with a thud, smashing it quite solidly. It bounced from the head to the ground, and then shattered with a crack.

The sound of the Jianzhan shattering made the other ministers tremble...

Immediately after, Mozang Epang's angry voice sounded: "How is the war situation, I don't know? Need you to talk nonsense? Now, I want you to say a way, how to deal with the Song thieves, how to deal with the Wang thieves, how to win, not let you talk nonsense!"

In the empty hall, Mozang Epang's angry shout echoed, and the Western Xia big shots sitting there, who would tremble if they were released, were trembling, and no one answered.

"Speak, are you all dumb?"

After another silence, someone said: "The situation of this battle is clear today. If we fight again, we will definitely be defeated and the country will perish. For the current plan, there is only one way, only to unite with the Khitan. However, the Khitan lord is afraid that he will not be long, and it is a time of internal trouble, so he may not be willing to send troops to attack Song. Therefore, only heavy money can be rewarded, and the Khitan will take action to force the Song court to stop the war and seek peace."

Mozang Epang pondered for a long time and sighed: "Just do it, you discuss it, take a charter, and you will go to Khitan. Act quickly, or things will change."

So he made some deployments, arranged for troop increases and grain transport, and other personnel issues, etc., and the meeting lasted for most of the day before the Western Xia ministers dispersed.

They had thought for more than two months, and they still hadn't figured out why the Song court suddenly became awesome. They naturally knew that the key to the problem was Wang Yan. But they couldn't figure out how Wang Yan could be so powerful, governing politics, fighting wars, civil and military, all proficient.

All their actions regarding the war on the east line ended in failure.

They sent out a large army to surround and intercept in the large area of Youzhou and Xiazhou, and they even used cavalry to fight infantry, but it was useless. If it were cavalry, they would encounter cavalry, constantly harassing them.

If they divided their troops, they would eventually encounter encirclement, from people to horses to soldiers, nothing would be left. If they didn't divide their troops, the cavalry's mobility advantage couldn't be deployed, and for the troops led by Zhong E, who operated in units of hundreds or thousands, it was no threat. They might even be counter-encircled.

If it were infantry, it would be even worse. Their infantry couldn't beat the opposite side. The most dangerous battle was when they were marching, and the reinforcements were less than twenty miles away, they had a head-on field battle of over ten thousand people, and ran away after fighting.

If they dared to send troops to bypass the rear, directly insert into Bao'an Army, and attack Yanzhou, they would encounter tenacious resistance, and Zhong E would also appear in the first time, cutting off their retreat and forming an encirclement.

When they found that there were actually a large number of Xia people selling their lives in the Song army, they cursed Wang Yan for being stupid, while secretly sending people to join the army, save their lives and be captured by the Song army, and after being escorted to the rear, go to incite the people to rebel.

But it was a pity that it was of no use at all, but instead was reported by the Western Xia people, caught and specially cared for. Because those who could be incited had all been caught to work, they couldn't even eat enough, had to be beaten every day, and had to do heavy work. Ten or twenty deaths a day were few. And those Western Xia people who could move freely were all people who had actually received benefits and listened to the preaching, so how could they want to rebel?

The people are not literate, have no knowledge, but they are not stupid. When Li Yuanhao rebelled and established the country, he also promised benefits to these people, but they didn't see anything. The Great Song came and caught all the officials who bullied them, some were directly beheaded in public, and some were working outside, and they all saw it. Who was good to them, how could they not be clear...

When they racked their brains to target Wang Yan and Zhong E to no avail, the Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing on the west line were also mature and prudent, and their purpose was not to be defeated, using troops very steadily, and even if they made mistakes, there would be no big mistakes. Even if the generals at the front line pointlessly sacrificed the lives of over ten thousand soldiers and lost relatively key battles, there was a large margin for error.

So they completely understood that this battle was going to be lost, and then they started to want to end the battle as soon as possible. After all, supporting a war that they knew was going to be lost endlessly was too desperate. With so many military expenditures, it would be better for everyone to share it and put it in their pockets...

The Loess Plateau belongs to the temperate continental monsoon climate, with high temperature and rain in summer, and cold and dry in winter. After fighting for more than four months, it is now autumn, which is the interval between winter and summer. So it takes into account the characteristics of winter and summer, hot during the day, cold at night, and the rain is also torrential.

This day was just heavy rain, in the temporary office of Xiazhou, Wang Yan was eating shabu-shabu mutton and drinking Huadiao wine. Outside the window, the rain was pouring, and it was quite cold. Inside the window, because of the stove, it was very warm. Eating alone, self-entertaining.

A burst of rapid footsteps stepping on the rain sounded, Xiao Dongliang walked in with wind and rain, disturbing the hot air rising from the hot pot.

"Master, Master, Lord Fan sent a letter."

"Eat together."

"Thank you, Master." Xiao Dongliang laughed, handed the letter over, then got his own bowl and chopsticks, skillfully matched the seasoning, poured a plate of meat into the pot, sat on a small stool, bit his chopsticks and waited for the meat to cook...

Wang Yan shook his head with a laugh, took a sip of wine, only then did he open the envelope, shook out the letter and read it, then smiled, put the letter back, clamped the envelope with two fingers, threw it back to the office desk behind him with a swoosh, and only then summoned a minor official to send someone to send it out. Only then did he take Xiao Dongliang and others out to pick up people...

"Long time no see, Zi Yan." Before Wang Yan could speak, Fan Zhongyan laughed and greeted him first.

"Seen Lord Fan." Wang Yan nodded, and looked at the old man with a wide frame and a thin body who followed Fan Zhongyan, "Seen Lord Di."

Di Qing smiled and nodded: "I have long heard of Prefect Wang's great name. Seeing it today, it is truly imposing and extraordinary."

"Lord Di is over-praising. Lord Fan, Lord Di, let's go in and talk."

Fan Zhongyan shook his head, walked first with his hands behind his back: "I sat in the carriage for the whole way, and I was in a hurry, and my people were about to fall apart. Let's walk."

"That's fine." Di Qing happily followed.

Immediately, he and Wang Yan followed Fan Zhongyan on the left and right, falling slightly behind.

"Does Zi Yan know why I came here?"

"Naturally, the student is hated by people and dogs, and no one wants to come to find trouble for the student. Lord Fan has a close relationship with the student and once commanded the war here, so he is the only choice."

Fan Zhongyan nodded and smiled: "How can I be different from you, a person hated by people and dogs."

"It's different. After this battle, Lord Fan will definitely be restored to the prime ministership. I am afraid that the student will not be able to leave for a short time."

"Is the confidence so sufficient?"

"Must win!"

Wang Yan didn't say the words of defeat, and there was no need to say them. If he lost, neither Fan Zhongyan nor he, Wang Yan, would have a good end, which was also one of the additional conditions for sending Fan Zhongyan here. Of course, this was an additional condition.

After all, as Wang Yan said, if it weren't for Fan Zhongyan coming, others would have been handled by Wang Yan before they even waited for the war to be defeated, which was really scary.

Di Qing nodded on the side: "I have read the battle report. Prefect Wang used troops quickly, fought a surprise attack, and the troops led by Zhong E were all elites with powerful combat power. The rest of the troops didn't seek victory, but only sought not to be defeated. With the twenty thousand troops in the hands of Prefect Wang and Zhong E, although they cannot destroy Xia, they can obtain a large piece of land. It is just that it is not a feint, but a real fight. If their two families come to attack, my Great Song is in danger."

"It's just a matter of vertical and horizontal alliances." Wang Yan laughed, "Yelu Zongzhen is about to die, but it is the end of the crossbow, the national strength is not as good as Yelu Longxu's time, and the internal friction is serious, so he must not dare to send troops to invade. It must be a feint, not worth worrying about. My Great Song is used to sending money, but this time it is not us who send it, it should be Western Xia sending money."

Fan Zhongyan shook his head: "The variables are unknown, so don't be happy too early."

A group of people sat down in the temporary office and drank tea. Fan Zhongyan directly talked about serious matters: "Is there anything I can help with?"

"I want the command of the Yanzhou army."

"Yes. Now the grain and grass for the Yanzhou army are transported by your people, so it is reasonable for you to command them. However, your caution is correct; you didn't reach out in advance, otherwise the trouble would be huge."

Wang Yan could kidnap a Zhong E, because he was a civil official, his official position was high, and he had the power of the garrison troops, and he chose Qingjian to start, so any border general had to act according to the urgency of the situation. Since he couldn't stop Wang Yan from raising troops, he could only follow and strengthen his strength.

But for the troops in other places, Wang Yan didn't go there, but directly commanded the imperial guards without the order of his superiors, which was a huge problem.

But Fan Zhongyan was right; he was in charge of the logistical supply of Yanzhou's military forces. The materials sent from other places were distributed in Yanzhou, and escorted by Yanzhou officials and militia, ensuring efficient operation.

"I naturally know, and I didn't even mention it to Cheng Kan." Wang Yan nodded with a laugh.

Fan Zhongyan laughed; he naturally knew about Old Cheng, who was miserable.

"How do you plan to fight this battle?"

"If there are no changes, then keep fighting. I am not prepared to stop. Lord Fan, Lord Di, do you know that before the war, I had less than two thousand cavalry? Now, more than a month later, it is nearly five thousand. At the beginning, the army led by Zhong E was less than seventeen thousand, and now it has reached twenty thousand. Most of them are Western Xia surrendered soldiers and people. After fighting for a long time, they are all elites."

"Dare to use Western Xia people? Not afraid of being harmed by them?"

"Lord Di, my subordinates treat them the same as my Han people. Every family has been allocated land. If my Great Song is defeated, they will have nothing. Fighting for others to get promoted and get rich, and fighting for their own family to get more land—they all understand this truth, so how can they not use their lives?"

This belongs to political work. Wang Yan's goal is to drag. The Great Song definitely can't drag, and Western Xia can't drag even more. But with Fan Zhongyan's arrival, his power is greater, and he can drag as he fights, and his power will become greater and greater. After all, he now commands a total of over fifty thousand troops in Yanzhou, and controls the government affairs of Yanz, Sui, and Xia, so he naturally hopes that it will be a long-term battle.

If he fights for another year, he dares to drag the Northern Liao to fight together, fighting until the sky is dark and the earth is dark.

"I have one thing I don't understand, and I hope Prefect Wang can solve it."

"Lord Di, why be polite? Just say it."

Di Qing asked puzzledly: "I observe the current war situation, the general trend is with me, in Yanzhou, and in you, Prefect Wang. Other places don't seek victory, but only seek not to be defeated, containing the enemy's troops can win, and can fight steadily and surely, and can also have gains. In such a situation, Prefect Wang memorialized to transfer me here to command military affairs, but why?"

This was the first meeting between Wang Yan and Di Qing, and they had never had any intersection before. Wang Yan also subconsciously diagnosed him; his body was good and he could live for a few more years. But Di Qing's death date was less than two years away, obviously depressed by civil officials and died of depression.

Wang Yan asked with a laugh: "Does Lord Di really not know?"

"I really don't know."

Seeing Wang Yan looking at himself, Fan Zhongyan laughed and shook his head: "Along the way, Han Chen didn't ask."

Wang Yan nodded and said to Di Qing, who had a confused face: "Naturally, it is to save Lord Di."

Hearing Wang Yan's words, Di Qing was stunned for a moment, and then fell into a long silence, really very silent.

He had gone from a criminal to the Privy Commissioner today, becoming a military prime minister, naturally having wisdom. He had long felt that his situation was very bad. If it weren't for Nong Zhigao's rebellion before, his trouble would have already come.

This time he was transferred to Western Xia, he was a bit lucky, lucky that he had avoided danger again. He naturally understood that military men could only reveal their value in war.

But he didn't think that Wang Yan was just to save him, so he let him come...

Seeing him silent, Wang Yan laughed: "My dynasty has always valued civil officials over military ones. Lord Di, as a criminal, has reached the position of Privy Commissioner and is loved by military generals. No matter where you go, local military generals will respond when they see Lord Di. If there is any more merit, how to arrange Lord Di? I am afraid that it must be a king of a different surname. I see Lord Di like this, and I should understand his own situation."