Luojiao is Fu County in later generations, which is less than 100 kilometers away from Yanzhou. The knights rode at full speed for a day and a night, passing through fortresses and cities such as Fushi, Ganquan, and Diaoyin along the way. They changed horses but not people. On the second day, Fan Zhongyan got the news.
After reading this intelligence and the analysis of Guo Quan and Li Wei, Lao Fan hesitated for a moment, then immediately reorganized his troops and set out for Yanzhou in person.
In fact, from a God's perspective, Guo Quan and Li Wei were foolish, causing the Song Dynasty to lose a key strategic figure who had defected from the enemy. But from their perspective, it was also human nature to suspect that there was a trick.
Even Fan Zhongyan was a little hesitant because Zhao Jun had never told him about this matter. In other words, this matter happened beyond Fan Zhongyan's expectations, and he had to judge for himself whether it was true or false.
But what made Old Fan better than Guo Quan and Li Wei was that he wasn't foolish enough to make a hasty decision right away. Instead, he would wait and see what the situation was like. Furthermore, although Zhao Jun hadn't told him about this incident, he hadn't mentioned any instances of high-ranking Xixia traitors feigning surrender during the Song-Xia War.
This means that apart from Li Shibin being tricked into falsely surrendering, even if Shan Yu Weiliang falsely surrendered and was accepted by them, it should not have caused any serious consequences.
So with this idea in mind, Fan Zhongyan decided to observe the situation first before making a decision.
Soon a large group of soldiers gathered and quickly headed north to Yanzhou.
Three days later, when Fan Zhongyan arrived in Yanzhou with his army, Guo Quan and Li Wei had already captured Shan Yu Weiliang and his family alive, not in Yanzhou, but in Long'an Village north of Yanzhou.
Shan Yu Weiliang was almost pissed off to death by these two talented people. He had just escaped from the wolf's den and now he was in the tiger's den again.
Fortunately, Fan Zhongyan arrived in time.
Historically, Long'an Village was built by Di Qing under the command of Pang Ji in the early years of the Qingli period. However, Fan Zhongyan came to the northwest in advance. Looking down at the terrain of Long'an Mountain, he thought that it was a good place to build a village wall and set up a camp, so he asked Wang De to use it to build the wall.
Compared with Di Qing, the veteran Wang Deyong is very experienced. With his careful construction, Long'an Village is now as impregnable as a city.
The wall stretched for a mile from the foot of the mountain, and behind it were numerous fortresses, watchtowers, and barracks. Taking advantage of Long'an Mountain's commanding height and the clear water (Yanhe River) flowing at its foot, the advantageous terrain made this place a solid barrier to resist the Western Xia attack.
In the tent behind Long'an Village, Fan Zhongyan personally met Shan Yu Weiliang. When he saw Shan Yu Weiliang, he believed it 80%.
Because the other party defected with all his family members, including his wife and children. If the Song army accepted him, his family would definitely be placed in the rear. If he surrendered falsely, once the incident was discovered, the whole family would suffer.
Unless Shan Yu Weiliang is a ruthless person who is willing to kill his entire family in order to pretend to surrender, otherwise, the credibility is still very high.
So when Shan Yu Weiliang was brought in, tied up, Fan Zhongyan immediately stood up, glared at Guo Quan, and said, "General Shan Yu is willing to turn from evil to good. He is a man of broad mind. The Song Dynasty should have the magnanimity to accept him. How can you be so disrespectful? This is absolutely unreasonable!"
As he said that, he walked over and untied Shan Yu Weiliang himself.
Guo Quan and Li Wei were still a little dissatisfied and opened their mouths to say something, but when they saw Fan Zhongyan's serious expression, they finally swallowed their words back.
Prime Minister Fan governs the northwest and has been fully authorized by the government to appoint and dismiss all officials. If you really make him unhappy, he will directly report to the court to dismiss them, and then there will be no place to seek justice.
These words were obviously said to Shan Yu Weiliang, to appease him and to express the sincerity of the Song Dynasty.
Shan Yuweiliang's expression softened considerably, and he said, "I've long heard that Mr. Fan is a sensible man. Seeing him today, I can see he's indeed the case. I admire him."
He spoke Chinese. Most of the Dangxiang nobles could speak Chinese. Even in the Liao Dynasty today, although Khitan is still one of the official languages, Chinese has long been popular among the upper class of the Liao Dynasty. Those nobles can even write poetry and are more Chinese than the Han people.
Fan Zhongyan untied the rope for him, then took Shan Yu Weiliang's hand and sat down at the table with him. He said with a smile, "General, you have come to surrender with all your heart. Our Song Dynasty is a vast and open sea, so how could we not treat you with courtesy? I hope you will not blame me for my men's momentary confusion."
This statement made Shan Yuweiliang feel much better. He also smiled and said, "The barbarians outside admire the customs of the Central Plains. I have always advised the king that China is a vast country with many soldiers. Guanzhong is rich, and Huanqing and Fuyan are strategically located on the borders. If these cities are fully prepared for attack and defense, our archery and horsemanship will be useless, and our cattle and sheep will have nothing to sell. We will be trapped for a year or two. It is better to remain a vassal and enjoy the generous gifts every year. It is a blessing for the country. What a pity!"
He sighed as he said this.
Fan Zhongyan said, "Yuan Hao is arrogant and cares little for his people, nor does he respect the will of his superiors. He will be punished by Heaven. Your generosity and willingness to turn from evil to good are a sign of Heaven's blessing upon the Dangxiang people. If Yuan Hao is defeated, you will still need to work hard to shoulder the responsibility of reviving the Dangxiang cause."
This is another hint to Shan Yu Weiliang that if Li Yuanhao really becomes emperor, the Song Dynasty will inevitably send troops in the future, and he will support Shan Yu Weiliang.
In fact, in a sense, from the perspective of the Dangxiang people, Shan Yu Weiliang is a traitor.
But as the saying goes, a country that is small but does not humble itself, has little strength but does not fear the strong, is rude but insults its big neighbors, is greedy and stubborn but does not make good friends is doomed to perish.
If there wasn't such a huge disparity in power, who would want to be a traitor?
So when Shan Yuweiliang heard Fan Zhongyan's words, he was grateful and sighed, "It is a blessing for Song and Daxia that Song has Lord Fan guarding the northwest."
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