Volume 4 Chapter 74: Gift
"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 Qianshun 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 Qianshun 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.
"Your Majesty!" At this moment, a civil official suddenly reined in his horse and spoke with a serious expression. It was Zheng Zhichang, the central government official. "I think that Xiao Heda has his own army and is waiting for a price to sell it. He regards his subordinates and fellow tribesmen as his private property and uses them to commit crimes. This kind of behavior must not be allowed to continue. He should be executed to set things right!"
Xiao Heda was dumbfounded... He didn't know how he had offended this unknown Song minister. But soon, the Xiazhou commander realized that he had not offended this person, but the Zhao Song official himself, because when the Zhao Song official heard the advice, he nodded without even thinking.
What caught Xiao Heda off guard next was that as the official nodded slightly, several strong armored soldiers dismounted and rushed over. Dozens of armored cavalrymen circled around and surrounded him, actually taking him down directly, even with a gag and ropes prepared.
At this time, Xiao Heda completely abandoned his lucky mentality and felt cold in his heart.
God have mercy on him. Xiao Heda knew the authority of an emperor and that he was just an ant in front of him, but after dealing with Li Qianshun for a long time, he still developed some bad habits, so that he just remembered now that the Emperor of Zhao Song in front of him was an emperor on horseback who could kill military governors like Liu Guangshi and de facto governors like Du Chong with his own hands, and could even shoot at Wanyan Loushi face to face!
If we have a disagreement at this moment and really want to kill him, I'm afraid I'll just kill him right away.
But as soon as he came up, his mouth was blocked and his hands and feet were tied. He couldn't even regret and beg for mercy... The yellow earth beneath him was obviously the burial place of him, Xiao Heda.
"Your Majesty!" Just as Xiao Heda was gagged and dragged to the periphery, a commoner who had been kneeling on the ground suddenly raised his head and spoke to Emperor Zhao in Chinese, almost stuttering. "You, you shouldn't have killed General Xiao!"
Several leaders of the Hengshan Dangxiang tribe who were dressed in gorgeous clothes but knelt down and dared not look up, the civil and military ministers who were accompanying the emperor, the officers and soldiers, and Emperor Zhao himself were all stunned for a moment, and the soldiers who were holding Xiao Heda also stopped suddenly at Yang Yizhong's signal... The fork in the road outside Jintang City seemed to have fallen into a kind of fragmented silence.
Only the fluttering sound of the dragon flag reminded everyone that time was still passing.
"Why can't I kill Xiao Heda?" Zhao Jiu suddenly laughed. "Why can't I kill a military leader who disobeys me and wants to take my people away? Just because you are his attendant, he is your boss or benefactor?"
"Your Majesty!" The man's face was red and sweat was pouring down. He kowtowed several times before he managed to speak. "Although I am an attendant of General Xiao, I am also the head of Youzhou Feilongyuan and a subject of Your Majesty... I am speaking as a subject of Your Majesty... I want to say that Your Majesty's killing of this man is illegal! It is unreasonable!"
Zhao Jiu laughed even more, and most of the civil and military officials around him laughed along.
Amidst the laughter, this person, that is, Ah Hua, began to speak fluently: "Your Majesty, under such circumstances, the seven states of Hengshan are destined to be your prefectures, and the people, officials, tribes, and soldiers of the seven states are all destined to be your subjects... However, the seven states have been separated for a hundred years, and their sudden return will inevitably cause unrest among the people. In order to win back the people's hearts, Your Majesty must not only talk about laws and morality, but also be lenient... Xiao Heda has chosen to be a foreign minister, but he is still greedy. This is of course his fault, but he has been in Xiazhou for twenty years after all, and the people are attached to him. Killing him at this time may cause some stupid people to misunderstand and have inappropriate thoughts. Please make a wise decision, Your Majesty."
Zhao Jiu nodded with a smile and looked at Hu Yin who hadn't smiled yet.
Besides, this drama was arranged and discussed quickly with Hu Yin, Lu Benzhong, Yang Yizhong and others after Zhao Jiu received the report from Wu Jie on the road... After all, let's not talk about the military matters of this trip for now. Just to say that how to deal with the various tribes in the newly recovered land has been recorded and discussed in advance... As for the Dangxiang people, of course they must be absorbed, won over, digested and used, but as for the Khitans in the Hengshan area, there is only one use for them at this time, that is to quickly control them and use them as a trump card that has a considerable clamping effect on Yelu Dashi.
It is self-evident what tens of thousands of Khitans meant to Yelu Dashi's Western Liao regime at that time.
In order to control these tribes, of course their leaders must be separated from them, but they can only be separated from them, as it is not easy to break the alliance.
In fact, even if the Tangut man didn't say it just now, according to the plan, Hu Yin would have stood up to stop him, and then suggested saving Xiao Heda's life and sending him to Yelu Dashi in time to remind the latter not to be indecisive.
But no one expected that a Dangxiang man, who was either a loyal and righteous person or had long seen through the policy direction of the Zhao Song court, would suddenly appear and disrupt the situation... Of course, although it was called disruption, the effect was actually better.
At least we can appease the Dangxiang people at the same time, which saves us a lot of trouble.
Back to the present, after exchanging glances with Emperor Zhao, Hu Yin, who had been robbed of a big role, finally reined in his horse and asked the Dangxiang man in a serious tone in front of the imperial carriage: "What's your name?"
"Ahua."
"No last name?"
"My ancestors were from the Xifeng clan..."
"What is the job of the head of Feilongyuan?"
"The person in charge of raising military horses in the state."
"What's your origin?"
"I am from the Dangxiang tribe in Hengshan, under the jurisdiction of Longzhou."
"Have you ever been to school?"
"I studied for two or three years."
"How big is your tribe?"
"There are more than a hundred men and women..."
After Hu Yin finished asking, he turned around and bowed, "Your Majesty, I request that this person temporarily take charge of the Hongzhou Tongpan. I also request that Your Majesty listen to this person's advice and let Xiao Heda return to Liao to stop his unreasonable thoughts and preserve his loyalty."
Emperor Zhao still followed suit and nodded directly. Ah Hua was so surprised that instead of thanking him, he collapsed to the ground, feeling that his shirt was completely wet.
And Zhao Jiu didn't care about it, but got off his horse directly. He didn't mind the strong smell on the other person, but helped the man up from the ground with his own hands, and said something like if it weren't for you, he would have almost made a big mistake.
This caused people like Lu Benzhong and Zheng Zhichang to sigh with emotion and they almost wrote poems to praise it.
After Emperor Zhao had appeased this local Tangut typical person according to the established procedures, he relaxed when he realized that his scheduled performance had already exceeded the plan because of this person's cooperation, and he immediately got on his horse and headed for Jintang City.
However, just as he was about to leave, he saw the imperial guards dragging the disheveled Xiao Heda over, untying him and chewing him. Suddenly, he felt a little evil in his heart... Of course , this was also a warning to Yelu Dashi, who had just returned to the interior of the country... He immediately turned his head and said:
"Does Xiao Qing hate me?"
Xiao Heda shook his head repeatedly, tears streaming down his face: "I was blinded by greed just now and made a big mistake. Now I am only grateful for your majesty's leniency..."
"That being said, I still feel a little ashamed." Zhao Jiu got on his horse and shook his head. "How do you think this is? I'm going to give Ah Hua the surname Zhao, and I'm also going to give you the surname Zhao as compensation. I hope that when you come to Dashilinya's side in the future, you can contribute to the friendship between the two countries like Yu Du... How do you think?"
The people around were stunned, shocked and suspicious. Of course, Zhao Ahua quickly bowed down to express his gratitude.
Xiao Heda pursed his lips in response, but only pursed his lips, and then he knelt down on the spot with Ah Hua: "I am terrified and ashamed, but I dare not refuse. I respectfully accept the surname of the Song Dynasty."
Zhao Jiu nodded, then led the crowd on horseback and left... and Xiao... Weiming... Zhao Heda, naturally, along with the newly appointed Hongzhou Tongpan Zhao Ahua and others, were surrounded by the army and moved into Jintang City.
Just like that, on the 23rd, the Youzhou defenders, led by Weiming Yunge and Weiming Renli, abandoned the city and fled west.
The next day, Wu Jie launched a massive attack on Yanzhou. At the same time, Yue Fei received new intelligence from Huanzhou, informing him that Yelu Dashi was likely to go north to Houtao, and that Li Qianshun and his son might also be in Houtao.
Upon hearing the information, Zhao Jiu did not hesitate and sent Zhao Heda out directly. He had the latter, under the protection of some imperial guards, take a letter signed by Emperor Zhao himself, and go from Yanzhou to Xingqing Prefecture, and then head north to Houtao.
That day was April 24th.
At this time, the main force of Weiming Chago had successfully joined forces with the advance force in Lingzhou; Huo Nu heard that the dragon flag of the Zhao Song official appeared from behind the Song army's front line, and suddenly launched an attack on the Song army; and on this day, the Khitan vanguard had successfully arrived at Houtao, and successfully joined forces with the previous subordinate army in Yinshan, that is, the Mongolian tribes led by Yelu Yanshan.
On the same day, the Jurchen vanguard Wanyan Zhehe arrived at Dongsheng Prefecture, the upper right turning point of the Yellow River, and entered the outermost area of the Hetao.
Compared to the small battlefield episode between Zhao Heda and Zhao Ahua, this war is still far from the end... annihilation battle, repulsion battle, pursuit battle, encounter battle... Because, on a battlefield involving hundreds of thousands of people and the gains and losses of a dozen states and counties, someone will always be responsible for the bloodshed, death and failure.
