For example, in the fourth year of Tianxi in the Song Dynasty and the ninth year of Kaitai in the Liao Dynasty, in 1020 AD, Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelu Longxu, returned to Shangjing Road from Zhongjing Road in the name of hunting and headed west to Zhenzhou.
Shangjing Road borders Western Xia. When Yelu Longxu was halfway there, he suddenly mobilized 500,000 troops and marched directly from the Inner Mongolia grasslands to the Western Xia border.
That battle frightened Li Deming so much that he immediately went to resist in person and finally fought to the death to repel Yelu Longxu.
Therefore, the Liao emperor's wandering between several capitals sometimes implied a threat. If he stayed in Nanjing, he might attack the Song Dynasty. If he stayed in Shangjing, he might attack Western Xia.
This form is called "Four Seasons Nabo".
However, in recent years, Yelu Zongzhen mainly lived in Zhongjing Dading Prefecture. It was not because he wanted to invade the Song Dynasty, but because Dading Prefecture was the most suitable for the Liao Kingdom's rule.
From here, heading west past Datong Prefecture, you're very close to Western Xia. Going south to Nanjing Road, you're very close to the Song Dynasty. To the east is Dongjing Liaoyang Prefecture, which could deter Goryeo and the Jurchen tribes of Changbai Mountain. Going north, you can return to Shangjing.
It can be said that except for the inability to radiate to the Greater Khingan Range in the northeast and the Mongolian grasslands in the northwest for a period of time, the Liao Dynasty's main enemies, the Song Dynasty, the Xia Dynasty and the increasingly rising Jurchens, can all be deterred.
The Western Xia envoys set out in March and after a long journey of more than a thousand kilometers, they finally arrived in Dading Prefecture. Like Kaifeng, Dading Prefecture was divided into the outer city, the inner city and the imperial palace.
However, in terms of overall scale, Dading Prefecture is still far behind Kaifeng Prefecture.
Zhang Yuan rode a horse and entered from the outer city gate. Led by the Liao envoy's official, he walked through the straight street and arrived at the Deyang Gate of the inner city. Then he met the Liao's reception personnel outside the Liao Imperial Palace.
Yelu Zongzhen attached great importance to this meeting and sent Yelu Ren, the son of the Southern Prime Minister Yelu Guiyin and his favorite minister, the Northern Lin Ya, to come first.
After the two sides met, they unloaded their weapons, including the grenade, which was taken away by the Liao people, and only then were they able to enter the palace.
Soon Zhang Yuan met Yelu Zongzhen in the Liao imperial palace.
He is only 23 years old this year, 6 years younger than Zhao Zhen and 13 years younger than Li Yuanhao. He is wearing traditional Liao Dynasty costumes. Although he is not very old, his eyes are full of majesty.
"I, your humble servant Zhang Yuan, pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty!"
Zhang Yuan went up and knelt on one knee. He spoke Chinese and used the Xixia etiquette, but he called himself a minor official of a lower country. He completely forgot that Li Yuanhao had sent letters to Liao and Song respectively, asking both sides to recognize his equality.
no way.
If Li Yuanhao had attacked the Song Dynasty first and then the Liao Dynasty as in history, it would have been possible.
But now, Zhang Yuan doesn’t dare to do that.
Yelu Zongzhen lazily lay in his chair, glanced at Zhang Yuan below, and responded with a sneer in Chinese: "Oh? I remember a while ago, Li Yuanhao wrote to me, saying that he founded the country of Xia and proclaimed himself emperor. Why is he calling himself Xiaguo now?"
Since both sides spoke Chinese, there was no communication barrier.
The main reason is that both the Western Xia and Liao dynasties were deeply influenced by China, especially the Liao dynasty, which often compared itself to the orthodox lineage of Yan and Huang.
Although they were a Khitan nation, they admired the style of the Han and Tang dynasties, so they adopted Chinese as the official language. Just like in Western Xia, almost all the nobles could speak Chinese.
Zhang Yuan was not panicked when he heard about Yelu Zongzhen's duties.
Because Zhang Yuan had actually discussed this issue with Li Yuanhao, they both knew that Yelu Zongzhen would definitely take action, so they naturally came up with a countermeasure.
Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "Emperors are also different. Your Majesty of the Great Liao is the emperor of the upper country, and my lord is the emperor of the lower country."
"hehe."
Yelu Zongzhen laughed heartily and said, "Li Yuanhao led an army to attack the south, but was defeated by the Song State and fled in disgrace. It is said that he himself almost died at the hands of the Song army. Is he worthy of being emperor?"
Zhang Yuan's expression changed slightly, and then he argued, "It's not that my lord is incapable of defeating the Song Kingdom. I just didn't expect the Song Kingdom's firearms to be so powerful. Moreover, when His Majesty the Emperor Shengzong led 500,000 troops to attack Daxia, they were repelled by the late Emperor of Xia. Doesn't this prove the strength of Daxia's troops?"
This made Yelu Zongzhen immediately furious, and he shouted, "You bastard, aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
"Of course I am afraid."
Zhang Yuan was actually certain that Yelu Zongzhen would not kill him, because once he saw the power of the grenade, he would definitely ally with the Western Xia. So he said confidently, "But before you kill me, I would like to ask Your Majesty, what should we do if the Song State becomes stronger, stops sending envoys to pay tribute, and even launches a northern expedition to recapture Yanyun?"
"snort!"
Yelu Zongzhen sneered and said, "Give them some courage."
"It certainly wasn't possible before, but now that the Song Dynasty has firearms, I'm afraid the Liao Kingdom may not be a match for the Song Dynasty."
Zhang Yuan said, "My lord suddenly encountered this thing on the battlefield and was caught off guard, leading to his defeat. If the Liao lord doesn't believe me, he can choose a parade ground and conduct a public demonstration. After seeing the power of this thing, I think the Liao lord will naturally make up his mind."
In fact, Li Yuanhao had sent someone to tell Yelu Zongzhen about the matter of grenades before. He heard that this thing was the nemesis of cavalry. It was extremely powerful. The explosion could make a huge noise, and the splashing fragments could injure horses, making the war horses frightened and scattered, causing the army to be defeated. Yelu Zongzhen was very curious.
After all, the Liao Kingdom was also a nation of horsemen, and its formidable strength depended on its cavalry. If a cavalry nemesis truly emerged, then Yelu Zongzhen would have to consider whether to invade the Song Dynasty in the south to prevent the Song army from equipping large numbers of troops and threatening Liao territory.
"Okay, I'd like to see it."
Yelu Zongzhen said.
At that moment, everyone left the palace and headed north to the parade ground outside the city.
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