The enmity between the Song and Xia dynasties has a long history. Since the reign of Emperor Renzong, the Tangut people have risen to power. This small country in the northwest of the Song Dynasty was like a sharp bone stuck in the throat of the Song Dynasty.

The Western Army, the strongest field force in the Song Dynasty, was established specifically to counter the Tanguts.

The mighty Song Dynasty, throughout its history, experienced five campaigns against the Xia Dynasty across several generations!

However, the Tanguts survived for another hundred years until the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.

This small country, with a total population of no more than 3 million, couldn't even compare to the population of Jingdong Road in the Song Dynasty.

But it truly caused headaches for generations of the Song Dynasty.

Some have speculated that if the Tangut people, who seemed invincible, hadn't emerged in the mid-Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty might not have had a bloated army, saving a significant amount of military expenditure and perhaps even acquiring vast tracts of land for horse breeding.

In later battles against the Liao, Jin, and even the Mongols, they wouldn't have been so passive, and history might even have been rewritten.

But this is precisely the place that is impossible to kill no matter how hard you try, and it has also led to a whole host of problems.

Moreover, the most fatal flaw is that the Tanguts are a small country with a crazy mentality and a crazy pocket.

Mentally, they have always believed that they cannot follow Han etiquette, otherwise they will be Sinicized and conquered.

They were always broke, desperately poor, and when they went crazy, they would head south to rob.

But they also knew they were weak, and the Song Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, so they promoted the policy of universal conscription!

The King of Li was spreading propaganda throughout the country that we must regularly raid that incredibly wealthy country to the south! Otherwise, we will starve to death!

Each time they send troops, they wield tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, bringing all their possessions to fight you!

After we finish this, as long as the Great Song proposes peace and gives us some tribute, plus the things I've plundered, my domestic economy and finances can recover for more than ten years!

Moreover, there were two extreme factions within the Tangut: the Li clan, which was the so-called royal family of the Tanguts, and the Liang clan, which was the so-called imperial family.

These two tribes often fought each other, and one of their most important tactics was to wage wars against foreign powers to establish their military prestige, thereby gaining domestic authority and control over the country.

Empress Dowager Liang was like that back then.

In fact, before Emperor Shenzong, the Song Dynasty was always on the defensive in its wars against the Tanguts. Fortunately, Fan Zhongyan had left behind a strong army in the northwest, which has been passed down ever since.

The five-pronged attack on Xia during the reign of Emperor Shenzong also ended in failure. Emperor Shenzong was so enraged upon hearing the news that he died of illness not long afterward.

However, it must be said that since then, the Song Dynasty's war against the Tanguts has seen a turning point.

In particular, the opening of the border during the Xining era and Wang Shao's grand strategic deployment against the Tanguts, including the establishment of the Xihe Road, posed a threat to the western front of the Tanguts, creating a pincer movement from the east and west.

Later, Tong Guan and Zhong Shidao, building on the work of their predecessors, breached Hengshan, the bulwark of the Tangut state, causing the Tanguts to completely lose their southern defenses.

The heartland of the Tangut people was exposed to the sharp blade of the Song Dynasty.

As Zhong Shidao said, the Hengshan region was still under the control of the Song Dynasty. Although Richard had sent 300,000 troops deep into Huanzhou City, he was actually attacked from both sides and dared not go too far.

Once the Song Dynasty adopted a scorched-earth policy, the Tanguts would run out of supplies and financial resources to support the war, and Richard would naturally have to withdraw his troops.

At this point, the Song Dynasty can finally teach Richard a lesson.

In previous years, even if the Tangut troops withdrew, they would remain safe and sound, and might even eventually negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty and gain benefits.

The Li family did indeed have such a wishful plan. Richard dealt a heavy blow, and then the Song and Xia went to war. Afterwards, the ministers in the Song court began to argue and calculate the costs, feeling that if the war continued, the Song would lose money, and it would be better to give them a little money and let them go.

What? My Great Song Dynasty is rich beyond measure, how could it be poor?

No imperial court can cast them!

If there are no paper money (jiaozi), we can print as many as we can!

This way, not only would we have money to give to the Tanguts, but we could also be praised by later keyboard warriors as the richest dynasty in China!

But clearly, this time, the Tanguts' wishful thinking backfired.

The current Song emperor is an extremely brutal and tyrannical man. Peace talks are out of the question, and you can forget about gaining any benefits. He can destroy you, and he will not give you a chance to breathe.

You Tanguts are barefoot and have nothing to fear from those wearing shoes.

But Zhao Huan often has intermittent brain farts. When he gets angry, he'll smash up the palace in Xingqing Prefecture if he doesn't want to lose.

Sure enough, just ten days after Zhao Huan arrived in Qinzhou, the entire Qinzhou was like a machine running at high speed.

The emperor himself tirelessly proclaimed his conquest and destruction of Xia in Qin Prefecture. The refugees who had fled from the north, upon hearing that the emperor was personally leading the campaign, were filled with resentment because their homes, which they had painstakingly built, had been destroyed by the Dangxiang. In an instant, their anger was ignited by the emperor's iron will and brutality.

It is already the dead of winter in Qin Prefecture, but the entire city is like a giant furnace, burning with the passion of countless soldiers and civilians.

Since entering the Northwest, apart from getting two and a half hours of sleep and eating normally each day, Zhao Huan has spent all his time constantly inspecting the army.

Wherever the emperor's carriage passed, shouts rose like a torrent of water.

Zhao Huan wanted to ensure that every member of his army maintained a high fighting spirit, and he wanted this army to inspire the entire Northwest.

Not only Zhao Huan himself was personally inspecting the army.

The official gazette of the Song Dynasty also published content that incited hatred every day, and also provided a profound description of the tragic state of Huanqing Road.

This situation was spreading rapidly in Xihe Road, Qinfeng Road, Yongxingjun Road, and Jingyuan Road. The entire public opinion system in the northwest of the Song Dynasty was operating at high speed, conveying the emperor's iron will.

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