Without the Iron Wolf Army, Zhao Huan might have ended up drinking tea in the Mongol camp. Even if the Song Dynasty refused to exchange Xixia for their emperor, it would likely have to pay tens of millions of taels of silver and then sign a non-aggression pact.
In that case, even if Zhao Huan was sent back to Bianjing, his prestige would have plummeted, and it would have been impossible to eliminate the threat from the grasslands. If the Mongols were allowed to recuperate for a few more decades, they might grow stronger and become another Jurchen.
Hebule vomited blood in the camp, and destroyed our Mongol Empire. The Mongol cavalry swept across the northern desert, but never suffered such a defeat.
Dali in the southwest was weak, Tubo was duplicitous, and the situation in the northeast was even more critical. Although Yue Fei's troops did not take the initiative to attack, they were able to defend the northeast impenetrably.
As for Goryeo, let alone Li Ziqian, who was beaten to a pulp by Liang Bufan of Yue Fei's army in Liuhe Town, he retreated to his own country and was in a mess.
Even worse, divisions began to form within Goryeo. Many princes and nobles began to openly oppose Li Ziqian, intending to restore the throne and bring back their former king, Wang Kai, Princess Yanran's father.
Li Ziqian also sensed that many generals from various factions gradually became dissatisfied with him and began to secretly disobey him.
At this time, in the capital of Goryeo, Kaesong, the Grand Secretary, the Minister of the Interior, and the Minister of State, Tuo Junjing, began to contact various departments to plot a rebellion.
Tuo Junjing was a famous general in Goryeo with a large number of troops under his command. After Li Ziqian usurped the throne, he was marginalized and suppressed at every turn. In addition, Li Ziqian's expedition against Song Dynasty failed, so Tuo Junjing thought that his opportunity had come.
In reality, Tuo Junjing was also forced into this situation. He had already felt the pressure from Li Ziqian. Li Ziqian had always wanted to find an opportunity to kill him, but fortunately, he had planned it in advance and had been claiming to be sick in the camp, which prevented Li Ziqian from having the opportunity to harm him.
At this moment, Tuo Junjing joined forces with the Privy Councilor, the Deputy Commander of the Palace Front Office and others to discuss how to murder Li Ziqian and bring back Wang Kai.
Both Goryeo and Jurchen copied the Song Dynasty's system of official posts. Goryeo also had the Privy Council and the Three Departments.
On this day, Li Ziqian was attending court in the palace. He killed the prime minister Li Younan because Li Younan did not carry out the imperial edict he issued to depose the king.
The so-called order to destroy the king was to destroy all the ancestral temples and royal relatives of the previous emperor's Wang family.
The imperial tomb of the former king Wang Kai was dug up, the ancestral temple was demolished, all the male descendants of the Wang family were buried alive, and the female ones were sent to the official kilns to be prostitutes.
Li Younan resolutely refused to carry out such horrific and brutal suppression. Li Ziqian was furious: "Drag Li Younan out and tore him apart!"
As a result, none of the ministers dared to object anymore, and thus a massive bloody massacre against the Wang royal family began.
The situation in Western Xia is basically stable. Except for the northwestern desert, the entire Western Xia is now the territory of the Song Dynasty.
The conflict between the Mongols and Xia, coupled with the current war between the Song and the Mongols, has reduced the population of Western Xia by one-third. Even the former capital of Xingqing Prefecture has become desolate and deserted. The once glorious Western Xia Dynasty has fallen into decline and eventually disappeared.
Zhao Huan was now in charge of Xingqing Prefecture. He held Li Sisi's hand and looked at the former Xixia Royal Palace. Li Sisi looked at the palace that had long since changed and couldn't help but burst into tears.
Her former boudoir has now become dilapidated. Li Sisi prefers weapons over red clothes. Her room was once filled with bows, swords, deerskins and mink fur. She was a princess who loved martial arts.
Now the things in her room are long gone. After the Mongols occupied the palace, they looted all the valuables here. Except for the walls, there is nothing left in the room that can be remembered.
Zhao Huan couldn't help but sigh. Xixia had been completely wiped off the map. Later, as the Han people migrated westward, the ethnic groups were integrated and the spirit of civilization conquered the land. At that time, Xixia had completely become an inseparable part of the Song Dynasty.
The expedition was nowhere in sight, and Zhao Huan had been in Western Xia for over a year when Li Sisi gave birth to a daughter. On the contrary, news came from Bianjing that Nangong Lian'er had given Zhao Huan a son.
In fact, Zhao Huan hoped that Nangong Lian'er could give him a daughter, but it didn't happen. However, he also liked a son.
Li Sisi's daughter Zhao Huan was named Zhao Linger, and Nanjing Lian'er's son was named Zhao Zhan.
The situation in Goryeo had already reached Zhao Huan in Xingqing Prefecture, Western Xia. Princess Yanran also saw the report and fainted several times.
After waking up, Princess Yanran pleaded bitterly: "Your Majesty, please save my royal family. I will serve you like a slave. Please send troops to save Goryeo."
Zhao Huan could not resist the woman's pleading, and the situation in Western Xia was stable, so he could take advantage of this opportunity to go north and deal with the Mongolian troops in Goryeo and Heilongjiang.
Although the army had just recovered the Western Xia territory, it was in urgent need of rest. Since Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire was still struggling to survive, it would be better to take this opportunity to recapture Heilongjiang, lead the cavalry in a full-scale invasion of the grasslands, and defeat Kublai Khan once and for all.
However, Zhao Huan still had to pretend about this matter. The more reluctant he was, the more grateful Princess Yanran would be to him.
"Princess Yanran, you are making things difficult for me. You should know that the army has just recaptured Western Xia, and my Song Dynasty has no ability to go north again." Zhao Huan looked helpless.
In fact, Princess Yanran also knew that this was unlikely. How could the emperor ignore opposition and conquer Goryeo in order to save Goryeo?
Unexpectedly, Zhao Huan changed the subject: "But since you have married me, I will definitely make the decision for you. Even if millions of people curse me, I have decided to personally lead the army to attack Goryeo. Princess, don't worry, I will go to Goryeo with you and tear off Li Ziqian's head to use as a chamber pot."
Princess Yanran was stunned. She just wanted to find someone to cry to about her sorrow. She was so shocked that she was speechless when she heard that Zhao Huan actually agreed to send troops to personally attack Goryeo.
Zhao Huan boasted eloquently, "You are my woman, and I will never let my woman be harmed. Look at Li Sisi, didn't I ask her for revenge?"
Therefore, the army did not prepare to return to the capital. Zhao Huan decided to make a decisive move and divided his troops into two groups. Zhu Qing and Kang Huojian led the troops from the Western Xia border straight into the Mongolian grasslands and attacked Hebule's base camp.
Zhao Huan and Wang Zongchu turned north and joined forces with Yue Fei to attack the Lin Heng line and Heilongjiang in the northeast.
War broke out again, and the army advanced cautiously along the Linheng line. This time, Zhao Huan had learned his lesson, having suffered a loss before, and dared not act rashly again. The army fought the Mongol army step by step along the Linhuang line. Now, the main force of the Mongol army could no longer be found along the Linheng line.
Hebule's circles grew wider and wider, and he had begun to fight on the grasslands. It was on the grasslands that the Mongolian cavalry truly let loose. The cavalry's mobility still surprised Zhao Huan. They wandered around for half a month and couldn't find the main force of the Mongolian army.
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