Chapter 153: Confronting the Western Xia (I)

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Xixia is a dynasty established in Chinese history with the Dangxiang tribe as the main body. It established its capital Xingqing Prefecture (now Yinchuan, Ningxia). Its founder was the Dangxiang tribe Li Yuanhao (the father of Li Ganshun). The Dangxiang tribe was originally a branch of the Qiang tribe, and its residence was in the area of ​​the Yellow River Qu in the southeast of Qinghai.

From the end of the Tang Dynasty, through the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, the Dangxiang Tuoba clan ruled the five prefectures centered on Xiazhou as the governor of the Central Plains dynasty.

Through the hard work of two generations of Li Jiqian (Li Ganshun's great-grandfather) and Li Deming (Li Ganshun's grandfather), he implemented the strategy of relying on Liao and Song, and developed westward to occupy Xiliang Prefecture, Ganzhou, Guazhou and other prefectures, controlled the Hexi Corridor, laying a solid foundation for Li Yuanhao's title of emperor and founding the country.

In the ninth year of Tiansheng in the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, Li Deming died, Li Yuanhao succeeded to the throne, no longer accepted the title, and called himself the Emperor Qing.

Subsequently, Li Yuanhao implemented a series of reforms such as changing hairstyles, customizing clothing, making texts, simplifying etiquette, and establishing official systems. He promoted Xingzhou to Xingqing Prefecture, expanded the palace city, and prepared to establish a country and become emperor.

In the first year of Jingyou of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, he began to continuously launch offensives against Song, defeating the Song army in Fuzhou, Huanzhou, Qingzhou and other places.

In the first year of Baoyuan in the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, Yuan Hao officially became emperor and changed the Yuan Dynasty to the first year of Yanzuo. The country was named Daxia, known in history as Xixia.

The territory of Xixia is bordered by the Yellow River in the east, Yumen Pass in the west, Xiao Pass in the south, and Da Desert in the north.

When Li Ganshun was in power, he was under 22 prefectures, including Ningxia and northern Shaanxi, northwestern Gansu, northeastern Qinghai and some areas of Inner Mongolia.

The political system of Xixia was greatly influenced by the Song Dynasty, and the establishment of the official system basically imitated the Northern Song Dynasty.

The central administrative agencies include: Secretariat, Privy Council, Sansi Department, Censorate, Kaifeng Prefecture, Yiwei Department, Guanjian Department, Acceptance Department, Farmland Department, Qunmusi Department, Feilong Academy, Mokan Department, Wensi Academy, Fanxue Department, Sinology Department, etc.

The local administrative system is divided into two levels: state and county, and sometimes counties and prefectures are set up in special political centers and key military and national defense areas.

With Li Qiushui's painstaking arrangements, Hangu disciples have entered most of the administrative institutions and formed a large force in Xixia.

The disciples of Hangu are already in high positions and have great influence in the Censorate, Kaifeng Prefecture, Farmland Department, Privy Council, Sansi Department and other departments.

The military system of Xixia was developed based on the tribal military system of Dangxiang and was absorbed by the Song system.

The Privy Council is the highest military ruling institution in the Western Xia, with various departments under it.

The Hangu disciples have infiltrated the army over the past few years and seized the main control of the Central Guards and the control of some of the Capture Army and the local army.

The disciples of Hangu seized the positions of the leader of the Proton Army, the deputy commander of the Emperor's Guard and the two deputy generals of the Beijing Garrison, and arranged their subordinates to enter the management level. The Hengxiao general controlled the middle-level first-level official position, and could basically control these three troops.

The Proton Army has a population of about 5,000. It is a garrison unit composed of the children of the rich and well-known archers, responsible for defending the emperor's safety. It is known that the sixth squad in the Imperial Siege were directly divided into three guards.

Because of Li Qiushui's special identity, the Hangu disciples who entered this army all came in the name of Li Qiushui's distant relatives. Therefore, these disciples have improved rapidly due to Li Qiushui.

The Emperor of Xixia had three thousand trusted guards, and was composed of strong and brave men selected from the various armies in the territory. They were all heavily armored cavalry, divided into ten teams, each with 300 people, and fought with the emperor.

Because most of Hangu disciples came from the First Class Hall and those who entered from other channels were skilled in martial arts, the emperor believed in the guards and had a large number of Hangu disciples.

The Xixia Jingcheng area also housed a well-trained garrison force, with a total of 25,000 people and excellent equipment, and was the main force of the Central Guards.

Because of the criticality of this force, Yu Xuyu focused on the deployment of personnel in this team and quietly took away control of this force.

The number of soldiers captured about 100,000 was an elite army of Xixia.

The main task is to undertake tough attacks and mobile combat.

This is named after capturing the enemy's army as slaves in battle.

The local army in Xixia was under the jurisdiction of various military supervisors, with a total of 500,000 people, and the military branches were mainly cavalry and infantry.

The military service system of Xixia is a system of military service for all people. Except for lawsuits, they do not leave production in normal times and participate in battles in wartime.

The Dangxiang people were originally mainly engaged in animal husbandry and hunting. By learning the advanced agricultural production technology of the Han people, the agricultural economy developed rapidly.

By the time the founding of the Western Xia Dynasty, agricultural production had become the main social and economic sector of the Western Xia Dynasty.

After the founding of the Western Xia Dynasty, Jingzong Li Yuanhao attached more importance to the development of agricultural production, vigorously built water conservancy projects, and personally presided over the construction of the irrigation canal from Qingtongxia to Pingluo. It is known as Haowangqu or Liwangqu. After the Xingqing Prefecture and Lingzhou area, it has always been the main base for grain production in Xixia.

While developing agriculture, Xixia also attaches great importance to animal husbandry production.

The state specially set up a group herdsmanship department to be responsible for the management of animal husbandry.

The livestock areas in Xixia are mainly distributed in the north of Hengshan and the Hexi Corridor. The livestock shepherds are mainly sheep, horses, camels, cattle, as well as donkeys, mules, pigs, etc.

Due to the development of agriculture and animal husbandry and the rapid increase in social productivity, handicraft production and commercial trade in Xixia also developed rapidly.

The handicraft production of Xixia, such as smelting, salt harvesting, salt making, bricks and tiles, ceramics, textiles, papermaking, printing, brewing, gold, silver and wood making, also has a certain scale and level.

Under the advocacy of the Western Xia rulers, the Dangxiang tribe was a nation that received more Han culture at the same time.It can be said that the core of Western Xia culture is Confucian culture.

The king of Xixia Kingdom, Li Ganshun, was suddenly assassinated. Li Qiushui was furious when he heard the news. He went to Xixia in person and sent a master of Yipintang to investigate secretly, and found out that the behind-the-scenes planner of the assassin was Wang's brother Li Ganli.

It turned out that the struggle for reserves in the Western Xia Kingdom was becoming increasingly fierce at this time. The eldest prince Li Feng and his younger brother Li Ganli Pei set up forces and squeezed each other, and the contradictions had become public.

Just before Li Ganshun decided to make Li Feng the crown prince, Li Ganli hired a large sum of money to hire a master, and when Li Ganshun visited Li Wangqu for inspection, he succeeded in assassination.

As the general of the Capturing Sheng Army, Li Ganli had close confidants all over the local military supervisory department. After the assassination was successful, he led the Capturing Sheng Army to Beijing.

After Yu Xuyu received the news, he immediately ordered the disciples of Hangu not to act rashly and preserve their strength.

Therefore, the troops controlled by Hangu disciples sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight.

The number of troops controlled by Li Feng was far inferior to Li Ganli, so he lost in this political game and Li Feng was killed.

After Li Qiushui entered the capital, he secretly found out the truth. He was ambushed when he entered the palace for assassination. He suffered internal injuries and escaped from the palace and recovered from the stronghold outside the city.

Seeing the opportunity coming, Yu Xuyu took the excuse of Li Ganshun's revenge and ordered Kang Guangling to lead 500,000 Khitan elite soldiers to the Northern Army, Duan Yu led 100,000 Dali elite soldiers, 50,000 Tubo elite soldiers, and 100,000 Chinese southwest army, a total of 250,000 soldiers to the Southern Army. He led 400,000 Chinese heavy troops to the Central Army, a total of 1.1 million troops to attack Xixia.

Li Ganli's nickname is Lai Fu, and his mother is Wei Mu, the concubine Qing.

Ambitious, unresolute, resourceful, meticulous, and meticulous in Western Xia's expansion in recent years.

He led the Dangxiang cavalry to attack Ganzhou City successfully, and expanded the territory to capture the city. After his triumphant victory, he was highly appreciated by his father.

However, because Li Ganshun was supported by Li Qiushui back then, Li Qiushui used his supreme light skills and pretended to be Guanyin at night to descend to earth. He fooled Li Yuanhao and succeeded in helping Li Ganshun become the king of Xixia.

Li Ganli is not tall and looks very similar to a person hidden in the painting. Since he was young, he has been dressed in strange clothes and likes to wear long-sleeved red clothes and a high black crown, which makes people look very proud.

He can be regarded as a generalist, well-versed in Buddhist principles, proficient in Chinese characters, and often studies law and military books.

He is both wise and brave, and is a rare political talent with calm and cruel logical thinking.

He is indeed better than his brother Li Ganshun and nephew Li Feng.

After Yuanhao founded the country, Li Ganli repeatedly advised his father to expand abroad.Yuan Hao said: We have been in war for a long time, and the country is exhausted. Now we are dressed in brocade and dressed in a beautiful place. Why do we have to fight in the east and the west, and lose our men?

Li Ganli said: Wearing and fur, and keeping things in the pastor is our custom.When a hero is alive, he should seek great achievements, so why bother with meticulous matters!

The wolf's ambition is evident.

After Li Ganli ascended the throne, he worked hard to govern the government and strictly controlled the various ministries of the Party.

At the same time, we will give both kindness and power to win over generals from the Hangu disciples.

These disciples followed Xu Yu's instructions and pleaded with him, and gradually gained the trust of Li Ganli.