"Are you Weiming Heda?"
On April 22nd, in the afternoon, with a gust of breeze, Zhao Jiu met Xiao Heda at the intersection outside Jintang City of Baoan Army. But whether intentionally or unintentionally, he used a rather awkward address when he came up.
"Foreign ministers pay their respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty."
At this time, Xiao Heda, who came forward with several attendants and several Tangut tribe leaders, no longer had the rebellious attitude he had in Hengshan before, but bowed down obediently, and then bowed his head to explain. "To let your majesty know that since the foreign minister has rebelled, I will also restore my original surname. Now I am called Xiao Heda again... The surname Weiming was taken because I was deceived by the thief Li Ganshun in Xiazhou in the past."
"General Xiao, you have endured humiliation and worked hard. Get up now." Zhao Jiu stopped his horse and followed the advice. "However, as the saying goes, Duke Zhou feared rumors. When Wang Mang was humble and had not usurped the throne... At that time, Li Ganshun was so humble to the Khitan. If the Khitan had not saved him several times, the Western Xia would have perished during the reign of Emperor Zhezong... Who would have thought that he would see the situation was not good and abandon the Khitan and follow the Golden Dog? Following the Golden Dog would have been fine, but he even killed his wife of several decades and his own flesh and blood. Is he still a human being? I can only say that it is no wonder that General Xiao was deceived in the past, and it is no wonder that General Xiao rebelled today."
Xiao Heda stood up alone. He only had time to glance at the famous dragon flag fluttering in the summer breeze behind Emperor Zhao. Before he thought much, he heard these words. Then, the general, who was so majestic, had red eyes. He didn't know whether he was pretending or expressing his true feelings.
It’s hard to say.
Logically speaking, Xiao Heda was Princess Nanxian's attendant, and he and Princess Nanxian and her son shared the same fate, so it was natural for them to have some feelings for each other.
However, seeing that this person did not rebel when Western Xia completely sided with the Jin Dynasty, and did not rebel when Princess Nanxian and her son died one after another, he rebelled only when he heard that Yelu Dashi and the Song Dynasty were attacking Western Xia together. It could be said that it was only after the death of Princess Nanxian that he felt that the status of them, the Khitan ministers, in Western Xia had plummeted. Xiao Heda himself was even more dissatisfied with the fact that his power in Hengshan area was being occupied by the Western Xia nation, so he gradually began to have the intention of rebelling.
Of course, to put it another way, since there was no hope of a successful resistance at that time, it was possible that they endured for a while, and it is hard to say that they were just doing it for their own wealth and power.
With this thought, Zhao Jiu looked down at this man and laughed in public again: "General Xiao, I see that you are a righteous and brave minister, and you have made great contributions this time. You are also a minister without a master in a fallen country, and I love you very much... I want to invite you to be the commander of the imperial guards, what do you think?"
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere around them inevitably became subtle:
Firstly, they had originally thought that the important matters would be discussed after entering the city, but they did not expect Emperor Zhao to be so straightforward and release them directly without a few words when they met on the road; secondly, everyone who was following the imperial carriage at this time knew that the commander of the imperial guard was definitely an assignment with great power and responsibility, and Emperor Zhao was sincere despite his coercion.
Therefore, the civil and military officials around looked at each other, but finally their eyes were fixed on Xiao Heda who had just stood up.
Xiao Heda, whose weapons had been confiscated in advance, was also sweating profusely.
It's okay to sweat profusely at this time. It's late April and the weather is already very hot. Moreover, Xiao Heda has been riding a horse from Hongzhou and has been working hard for most of the day. He is very tired, so sweating is a natural thing... But sweating is sweating. The official has asked a question and has given you such a good mission, so you have to answer, right?
"I am ashamed." Xiao Heda Khan said a lot, but finally he had to face the enemy. "I am a Khitan, and King Dashi has allied with Your Majesty, so I should naturally belong to Liao..."
"That's right." Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking about something, and continued to ask questions on horseback. "But have you ever thought about it? What I promised to Dashilinya were the six counties in Hexi, plus the four military divisions of Heishui, Heishan, Baima, and Youxiang, and the seven states of Hengshan, which are all the territory of the Song Dynasty in terms of emotion, reason, agreement, and reality... Therefore, if you want to return to Liao, I have nothing to say, but Xiazhou, where you have lived for twenty years, will be led by this Hu Caosi; the more than 10,000 local soldiers in Xiazhou under your command will also be sent by Wu Dutong of the Imperial Camp Rear Army... Are you actually going to abandon the foundation of twenty years and return to Liao?"
Xiao Heda was not only sweating profusely, but his face also looked terrified. At this moment, he was in a dilemma whether to respond or not.
If he agreed, it would mean that he would have to give up the more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Xiazhou, as well as the tens of thousands of Khitan tribes who fled to Xiazhou to seek refuge with him after the demise of the Liao Dynasty; if he did not agree, it would mean that the emperor in front of him could turn against him at any time, and an emperor who turned against him could kill him, the so-called famous general of Xiazhou, at any time... God has mercy on him, what is a fart in front of a Chinese emperor? Especially at this time, his son and the army were left in Hongzhou, surrounded by Wu Jie's 20,000 imperial camp troops, and he himself came to the emperor almost alone.
"Xiao Qing?" Zhao Jiu finally became a little impatient and urged him half a sentence.
And as he said this, I don't know if it was an illusion, but several fully armed generals behind the official moved forward half a step at the same time, causing a group of armored cavalry to move forward half a step as well.
"Foreign ministers should return to Liao." Forced into a corner, Xiao Heda gritted his teeth and fought back. He was still trying to find the best solution with a fluke mentality, relying on the alliance between Yelu Dashi and the man before him. "But the tens of thousands of Khitan tribes in Xiazhou and the Khitan soldiers in the army, please be magnanimous and allow me to take them to Hexi..."
"They are my people, why should they move with you?" Zhao Jiu immediately turned hostile, obviously having already made up his mind. "Is Xiao Qing a little too proud of himself?"
Xiao Heda's heart sank.
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