Chapter 92 Xixia
Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin watched tens of thousands of Song army elites die in battle, and his heart was bleeding. These were the elite soldiers of the Song army!

Zhao Guangmei was also in a sad mood: "Brother, tens of thousands of soldiers died again this time. Previously, the Eastern Route Army of Yongxi's Northern Expedition also suffered tens of thousands of casualties and countless defeated soldiers. These were all elite soldiers. After all this, how many elite soldiers do we have left in the Song Dynasty?"

The grass-roots officers and soldiers who participated in these battles all had certain combat experience, and there were even some veteran generals (grassroots). The soldiers had also fought in wars and had their own set of experiences in combat. After two consecutive losses, how many would be left?
Zhao Kuangyin had been marching and fighting for many years, so he naturally understood very well: "Even for the remaining people, their morale may have been lost." After these two disastrous defeats, how much morale did the remaining soldiers have?

Hmm? He suddenly realized, "Then why did they focus on domestic affairs later? Could it be that they didn't dare to fight after these consecutive defeats?"

If that were true, it would be really unlucky! After a few failures, you don't dare to fight anymore? How many people in history dared to say that they or their subordinates could win every battle without any defeat? Most people have wins and losses, but by taking one step at a time, they can eventually achieve their strategic goals.

Zhao Kuangyin curled his lips. However, someone like Zhao Guangyi, who wanted to achieve the final result in one battle, would indeed become afraid of the enemy after several defeats, haha.

Liao Dynasty, the fifth year of Tonghe.

Someone in the court seemed to remember something: "He Lingtu, I seem to remember it."

Another minister was very interested and obviously knew something about it: "I also know this person. Such a person who is greedy for merit and reckless is indeed rare and is still fresh in people's memory."

Many people burst into laughter, and some people did not quite understand the matter and hurriedly asked their colleagues.

It turned out that during this battle, their general Yelu Xiu'ge had written a letter to He Lingtu, which said, "I have committed a crime against the Khitan and want to surrender to the Song Dynasty." When He Lingtu saw the letter, he was overjoyed, thinking that he had finally gotten the great merit he wanted. So he took his soldiers to Yelu Xiu'ge's camp to meet him. As a result, all his soldiers were killed by Yelu Xiu'ge's soldiers and he was captured.

"So that's how it is! It's really ridiculous." After hearing this, people who didn't know him also felt that this person was really unique and really ridiculous.

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched the Song Dynasty lose another battle and could only sigh: "The Song army lost all its elite troops and lost all its fighting spirit. After that, there were few cases of active attacks on the Liao Kingdom..."

His sons nodded, and Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "If you defend the interior and weaken the exterior without improving the military, and only care about literature, even if you have abundant wealth and many talented people, it will be difficult to achieve anything."

"So!" Zhu Yuanzhang stared at his obedient sons and said in a serious tone, "Everything depends on the word balance! Don't praise it just because you think it's not a big threat. That's a joke. The so-called small impact is just because it's small in scale and power."

Seeing that his sons were nodding seriously and looking like they were learning something, he turned around and continued watching.

Behind him, Zhu Bo quietly asked Zhu Biao: "Brother, I read in a book that there was also a Jingsai Army that defeated the Liao Army."

Zhu Biao also whispered back: "Indeed, but did you read the rest carefully?" Seeing Zhu Bai's puzzled face, he continued: "In the Battle of Tanghe, the Jingsai Army defeated the Liao Army, so the border generals took the Jingsai horses and divided them under their command for self-defense."

"That is to say, the Jingsai Army was divided up and given to various border generals, and they kept them by their side as their own guards! There is no Jingsai Army anymore!" Zhu Di also came over and said in a low voice.

"Ah——" Zhu Bai was a little depressed.

[The Yongxi Northern Expedition was the largest battle between Song and Liao, and was also Zhao Guangyi's last effort to recover Yanyun.

This disastrous defeat had a huge negative impact on the entire Song Dynasty. From then on, everyone from the emperor to the subjects and soldiers were extremely afraid of the Liao army and developed an uncontrollable fear of the Liao.

From then on, the Song Dynasty completely gave up the idea of ​​using force to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and became conservative and introverted. Zhao Guangyi also gradually turned to focusing on the internal affairs - the basic national policy of defending the interior and weakening the exterior.

This is reflected in border warfare, where the previous proactive attacks and strategic offensives have been transformed into strategic defense and holding of fortresses, completely turning into a defensive position.

How to defend? The passive defense of "killing the enemy when they come and not chasing them when they leave" and "driving them away and stopping when they reach the border" was carried forward, which indeed defended the border of the Song Dynasty. But in the long run, it was not the right choice for the Song Dynasty.

The basic principle and purpose of all wars is to preserve oneself and destroy the enemy. On the whole, destroying the enemy takes priority over preserving oneself. Only by destroying the enemy more thoroughly can one truly preserve oneself.

The Song Dynasty held the border in the defensive battle, but if it failed to destroy the attacking Liao army to a certain extent, it could not be considered a complete victory.

Qin Dynasty.

"Preserve yourself and destroy the enemy." The First Emperor silently recited this sentence, recalling the entire war process of the Qin Dynasty since the Kingdom period, which continued to march eastward. Perhaps one or two wars did not directly destroy the enemy, but they were all preparations for the subsequent destruction. The several battles of Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an during the Kingdom period, demonstrated this sentence vividly - every time it was to destroy the enemy.

Ying Zheng also agreed with this statement. If it is not for destroying the enemy, what is the meaning of war? And if you don't destroy the enemy, how can you protect yourself? The enemy will not let you go just because you don't attack actively.

If the Qin Dynasty had adopted a passive defense approach like the Song Dynasty, never taking the initiative to attack or even to pursue and kill the enemy, the Qin Dynasty would have been destroyed by an unknown country long ago.

After all, it was a time of great strife, where the strong would become stronger and the weak would perish!

Moreover, even in political struggles that usually do not directly involve the use of force, the goal is to eliminate the enemy and preserve oneself.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang had a deep understanding of this sentence, or a personal experience: "If we fail to destroy the enemy, what is the difference between us and failure?"

Failure to strangle the enemy as much as possible when there is still strength to spare or the opportunity is right will inevitably bring bad consequences. Who knows, the overthrow of the country, defeat and death in the future may be caused by this!
That’s right, he was mocking Xiang Yu. If he had killed himself at that time, there would have been no Chu-Han Contention in the future, and there would have been no Chu-Han Empire surrounded by enemies on all sides!
Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth at the Huns: Just wait, if Naigong's generation is not good enough, there are still future generations. As long as the Han Dynasty exists, I will not let you go!
Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che's eyes sparkled. These words really suited his taste! After all, he was the one who advocated taking the initiative to attack the Huns, and now, he has achieved remarkable results.

After crossing Yanzhi Mountain, how could the Huns harass the border and harm the Han people?
He suddenly thought of an idea: "I think that in the future, as long as we have the strength to spare, we should take the initiative to attack. It would be best if we can keep the enemy out of the country and not harass the Han Dynasty in the slightest."

Huo Qubing's eyes sparkled as he agreed: "Your Majesty, I think so too! Our Han Dynasty is strong and we should take the initiative to send troops to destroy the Huns. Those grasslands should also belong to the Han Dynasty!" Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Zhao Guangyi glanced at his ministers and asked, "What do you think I should do about the Liao Kingdom?"

The ministers looked at each other. After years of adjustments by Zhao Guangyi, those standing here were basically people who obeyed him and naturally understood his thoughts very well.

At the same time, by this time, the Song Dynasty had been implementing a defensive policy for several years, and everyone had become accustomed to not taking the initiative and not having to worry about military affairs, and were not very willing to change.

So, an official said: "The sage's actions are carefully considered. It is better to win without fighting than to win every battle. For border affairs, as long as there are suitable generals, and then reinforce the barriers and dig deep trenches, we can conserve our energy and stay at ease. Isn't this the best? Moreover, the people are just resting and recuperating, and the time is short, and the people are the foundation. The sage first focuses on the basics and then seeks the end, so that the country is stable to resist the enemy. Yao and Shun did the same!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, another official also advised: "That's right. The emperor loves the people and always thinks about the people, so he doesn't talk about mobilizing troops lightly. As long as the emperor can stabilize the people's hearts and make the people know your majesty's intentions and appreciate your majesty's grace, it will be a great benevolent policy! And when the emperor implements benevolent policies and stabilizes the people, then barbarians like the Liao Kingdom will seek benefits and avoid harm, and naturally submit to the emperor!"

There were several other Song Dynasty emperors who, like the later Zhao Guangyi, claimed to have "benevolent policies". After all, even with the passage of time, the Song Dynasty's "fear of Liao" was still not cured, and many times it was the peace faction that could prevail in the court.

Although sometimes, the peace faction will turn into the surrender faction.

[In short, Zhao Guangyi gradually turned his attention to domestic affairs and planned to concentrate on internal affairs.

In the second year of Chunhua, he also said to his ministers: "If the country has no external worries, it must have internal troubles. External worries are nothing more than border issues, which can all be prevented. However, if treacherous and evil are the cause of internal troubles, it is deeply frightening. The emperor must always be careful about this."

This passage not only shows his own governing philosophy, but also laid the foundation for the overall political program of the later Song Dynasty - external worries are "nothing more" than border issues and can all be prevented, while internal troubles are "deeply frightening."

Of course, not to mention foreign affairs, internal troubles do require an emperor to deal with them seriously, but are the internal troubles in the eyes of the emperors really the real internal troubles of the Song Dynasty?

Let’s return to Zhao Guangyi’s governing philosophy.

In fact, in terms of "external worries", in addition to the Liao Dynasty, there were also Western Xia and Jiaozhi who hit him hard. 】

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"External worries are generally only border issues, but this is the most important thing!" Zhao Guangmei didn't know what to say to Zhao Guangyi's self-righteousness, "Where is Xixia? Could it be the Xiazhou Li family?"

"That should be the case, but didn't the Li family surrender to the Song Dynasty? Previously, the Jiedushi Li Yixing (originally named Li Yiyin, changed to Xing to avoid taboos) and Li Guangrui sent troops to help attack the Northern Han Dynasty and sent back all the captives."

Zhao Kuangyin felt that he had underestimated Zhao Guangyi. He did not expect that he would not only suffer a crushing defeat against the Liao, but also cause the independence of the Xiazhou Li family. Did he think that the Song Dynasty did not have enough external worries?
As for that sentence, even if you were beaten so hard that you dared not to deal with the border and wanted to retreat to deal with domestic affairs, you could not say that! Once this sentence was said, those who were unwilling to change later had a basis to rely on.

What did the emperors who used to focus on domestic affairs and put border affairs aside say? Basically, they all followed the same pattern: first deal with domestic affairs, and then border affairs can be better - but why do you just say that foreign worries are greater than border affairs? Don't you plan to leave any room for maneuver?
Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

Prince Zhu of Jin was somewhat lamenting: "The emperors of the Song Dynasty did focus on internal troubles, but either they didn't find the right internal troubles, or they found the right ones but didn't touch the root of the problem. Some of them solved one internal trouble and then created a new one..."

"That's right, especially after the factional strife emerged." Zhu Biao also replied. The brothers discussed it quietly among themselves without disturbing their father.

[Let’s talk about Western Xia first.]

The Western Xia were a tribe of the Tanguts, which had been constantly annexing China during the Tang dynasty. The most powerful tribe migrated to Xiazhou, and was called the Pingxia tribe. The Tang dynasty basically implemented a system of control for this type of foreign tribes, granting the tribal leaders official titles such as prefects and governors.

At this time, the Pingxia tribe was still an ordinary, relatively powerful subordinate of the Tang Dynasty.

It was not until the end of the Tang Dynasty that Huang Chao rebelled. At that time, the leader of the Pingxia tribe and the governor of Youzhou, Tuoba Sigong, personally led troops to assist the court in suppressing Huang Chao. As a result, Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty appointed him as the General of the Left Guard and the Acting Jiedushi of Xia Suiyin. After the rebellion was quelled, he was named Duke of Xia and given the surname Li. Later, the area he ruled was renamed "Dingnan Army".

At this point, the Li family of Xiazhou ruled over five states: Xia, Yin, Sui, You, and Jing, which were later called the "Five States of Dingnan".

The Li family had governed and conquered the five states for several generations, and their influence was deep, and the people were quite supportive of them.

When Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin founded the Song Dynasty, Li Yiyin, the sixth governor of Dingnan, immediately sent a letter to pay tribute, and Zhao Kuangyin also recognized his separatist status as governor of Dingnan Army and King of Xiping. After Li Yiyin died, his son Li Guangrui succeeded him, and during this period, they maintained good relations with the Song Dynasty.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"It seems that the problem occurred after Li Guangrui's death." Zhao Defang concluded that, after all, during the reigns of Li Yixing and his son Li Guangrui, Dingnan maintained a good relationship with the Song Dynasty. The only suspense was the unknown attitude of the new governor after Li Guangrui's death.

"In fact, the Dingnan Five States have been constantly trying to expand their power," Zhao Kuangyin gave another perspective. "Although they have always been submissive and willing to send troops to help me attack the Northern Han, they are also taking the opportunity to improve their own strength. In this way, it is only a matter of time before their power expands. Whether it can be properly handled depends on the level of the emperor and the court at that time."

However, I don’t know how Zhao Guangyi managed to allow the five states of Dingnan to split away and become an independent country.

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Every time we talk about the early years of the Song Dynasty, we can always get a glimpse of the situation and problems of the late Tang Dynasty. This time is no exception.

"Emperor Xizong of Tang... let's not talk about him." He was a foolish and hedonistic king in his last years. He started an uprising - Huang Chao. From the sound of his surname, it doesn't sound like he came from a famous family, so his name was very similar to the peasant uprising.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin said: "I think the Huang Chao uprising is probably not an isolated case. Several uprisings are related to the subsequent separatist regimes, but the court itself cannot escape responsibility."

Peasant uprisings were basically related to survival, and most of them were caused by excessive taxation. Fang Xuanling said, "I think the court must have levied excessive taxation, which is a man-made disaster. If it is supplemented by natural disasters, disputes will inevitably arise." He paused and talked about the issue of separatist regimes. "As for the separatist regimes, it is probably because the court's finances had problems since the establishment of the separatist regimes. Afterwards, it failed to adopt the right approach and instead embarked on the path of plundering the people."

"I never thought that my descendants would completely oppress the people." Li Shimin covered his face and sighed. He had always firmly advocated the importance of "people" and put his words into practice. Even if the emperors who came after him could not love the people from the bottom of their hearts, they should not oppress them excessively just to consolidate their foundation.

(End of this chapter)