Hu Long exhaled a mouthful of strong wine, showed the bottom of the bowl to Wei Ziling in the gauze tent without changing his expression, and said with a smile: "I am a poor man but I am not talented. Fortunately, I didn't make a fool of myself."
Wei Ziling's cold voice came from inside the gauze tent: "You are so awesome, but you also have some skills. Since you can drink this bowl of fine wine from me, all the past affairs will be wiped out."
Hu Long cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much."
The monarchs and ministers of the Liao Kingdom who were watching may not be able to see the mystery contained in this bowl of wine, but they could hear the vague respect for Hu Long in Wei Ziling's words, and their eyes looked a little different when they looked at Hu Long again.
After Hu Yuan retreated, Tong Guan stepped forward to salute Emperor Yelu Yanxi of Liao Dynasty and handed over his credentials.
After Yelu Yanxi received the credentials, he read them briefly and put them on his desk. He sneered and said, "Since your emperor of the Song Dynasty repeatedly affirmed the brotherly alliance between Song and Liao in the credentials, why did he only send some weapons this time?" Armor, but refuse to send a large army to help our country conquer the rebellion?"
Tong Guan was an old and cunning man. He had prepared a plan in his mind to deal with various problems, and immediately replied calmly: "Your Majesty has learned clearly that your country has raised 700,000 troops to conquer the Jurchen savages. It can be said that it is the most powerful thing in the world. We, the officials of the Song Dynasty, sent foreign ministers and soldiers. At this point, it is just a gift to wish His Majesty success. If we really send troops for reinforcements, wouldn’t we be doubting the Liao’s combat capabilities?”
Yelu Yanxi didn't know whether he was really confused or pretending to be confused. Hearing this, he immediately turned from anger to joy and laughed loudly and said: "The Emperor of the Song Dynasty is indeed a smart man who knows what is interesting. Please give me a seat!"
At that time, a domestic servant from Liao came forward and led Tong Guan and others to sit down in the tent.
Immediately, someone else brought wine and food, which were placed on several tables in front of everyone.
Tong Guan showed the same skill as when he served Zhao Ji, and frequently raised his glass to toast Yelu Yanxi. He kept flattering words in his mouth, just like the Yellow River flooding out of control.
Although there are quite a few sycophantic ministers in the Liao Dynasty nowadays, they are less influenced by the rich and romantic culture of China for thousands of years. Their rhetoric and methods are a bit simple and crude, far from being as good as Tong Guan's ability to transform things into rain and moisturize things. Invisible heat.
When Yelu Yanxi heard this, she smiled happily and felt happy. Unknowingly, her glass was dry, and her level of drunkenness rose from three to four points to six or seven points.
There were certainly some knowledgeable and loyal ministers in the tent who were dedicated to the country. Seeing that their emperor was so gullible and greedy and had no sense of restraint, they all secretly shook their heads and felt depressed.
Just as the guests and hosts above were enjoying themselves and the wine was flowing, and everyone below had their own thoughts and calculations, two people suddenly barged in without notice, shouting and worshiping in front of Yelu Yanxi: " Your Majesty, something bad has happened, the vanguard army has been defeated!"
Hearing this howl, there was an instant silence in the tent.
Yelu Yanxi, who was holding the wine bowl, was stunned for a moment. His slightly dizzy head finally tried to figure out what the other party was talking about. His originally red face suddenly turned pale, and then he viciously threw the wine bowl at one of them. , said angrily: "Xiao Hudu, Yelu Zhangnu, early this morning I ordered you to lead 20,000 elite troops to cross the Duck River to stop the Jurchen vanguard. It's not even sunset yet, how can we be defeated?"
The two vanguard officers, who were in utter embarrassment and whose faces were full of smoke, both looked at each other for a long time. In the end, the general Xiao Hudu, who was hit by the wine bowl, replied with a bitter face:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the defeat of this battle was due to the fact that the Jurchen vanguard, Wanyan Nianhan, was too cunning and used a small number of troops to pretend that the army was marching slowly. As early as last night, the main force of the vanguard sneaked to the other side of the Duck River to ambush, taking advantage of the fact that our army was vulnerable When Kanduhe's foothold was not stable, he suddenly started to revolt, and then..."
"fart!"
Yelu Yanxi cursed loudly regardless of his status as emperor.
"Even with the Jurchens' tricks, the vanguard army only numbered 3,000. How could your 20,000 elite soldiers be defeated so easily? I ask you, how many men and horses were lost in this battle?"
Xiao Hudu's forehead was covered with cold sweat. After opening his mouth several times, he finally lowered his head and answered: "I am waiting for the death penalty. Except for a dozen of my own soldiers, the entire army was wiped out on the other side."
Yelu Yanxi almost spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot. He glared at the two people who were kneeling on the ground with blazing eyes and did not dare to raise their heads. He shouted sternly: "Even if there are 20,000 pigs, there is no reason for people to catch them clean! But you guys You have led good soldiers. Come here, drag these two losers out of the camp gate to rectify the law, and hang your head to give orders to the three armies to serve as a warning to others!"
"Your Majesty, spare your life!"
Xiao Hudu and Yeluzhang's slave souls flew to the sky, kowtowed hurriedly like pounding garlic and begged for mercy.
They had quite a lot of support in the court. At that time, many civil and military officials from both sides came out to prostrate themselves and intercede on their behalf, which made the whole golden tent full of people.
Yelu Yanxi originally didn't have much opinion. After listening to everyone's advice, his mind became a little loose.
Later, the privy envoy Xiao Fengxian and other important ministers also came out to plead for the two men. Yelu Yanxi finally gave up his intention to kill the generals and establish his power, and only gave up the two men with forty military sticks.
After dealing with the matter, Yelu Yanxi was no longer interested in drinking and having fun. At that time, he ordered the main force of the Chinese army to rest for another night and cross the river to fight the Jurchens early tomorrow morning to eliminate this disaster in one fell swoop.
There was no talk that night, and on the next day, the Liao army's 150,000-strong army marched towards the Yajiang River, while the rest of the troops stayed behind to support them.
Although the number of Liao soldiers and horses this time is claimed to be 700,000, the real elite is the 150,000 Chinese Army under the personal command of Yelu Yanxi. The rest are mostly baggage troops, servant troops, etc. It is okay to use them to build up their momentum and put them on the battlefield. The top will only be in disarray.
Tong Guan obtained Yelu Yanxi's order in advance and was convicted to go out with the Chinese army in order to take the opportunity to observe the strength of the Jurchen army.
Of course, only a few people who entered the central army last night can accompany the army. The three thousand Song troops must still stay in the rear, under the supervision of the Liao army.
The army marched eastward and arrived at the Duck River in only half a day.
With the lesson of the vanguard army's disastrous defeat, Yelu Yanxi gained experience and sent a large number of sentries to cross the river for reconnaissance. After confirming that the Jurchens had not set up an ambush again, they ordered the army to cross the river in sequence.
This move actually earned him a lot of compliments such as "Using soldiers like a god" and "Sun Wu is reincarnated". Naturally, among them, Tong Guan's few words are the most relevant.
At this moment, the Liao army's sentry cavalry had already discovered that the main force of 20,000 Jurchens was already waiting ten miles away. Yelu Yanxi immediately ordered the army to rest for a while after crossing the river, and then continued to march unhurriedly, shouting to the left and right, corresponding to the front and back.
Not long after, the Liao army arrived at the battlefield that the Jurchen army had chosen in advance. All troops prepared their formations in an orderly manner to prevent the other party from raiding.
Yelu Yanxi already had the intention of annihilating all the Jurchen clan, so he skipped the steps of declaring power and denunciation in front of the formation and directly ordered the army to attack.
Accompanied by earth-shattering war drums and flags waving in the wind, all parts of the Liao army pressed forward, and their offensive was like the roaring waves of an angry sea crashing on the shore.
On one side of the Jurchen army, Wanyan Aguda, who was also the charioteer himself, was commanding the central army. However, the 20,000 troops took the defensive position first and defended an army formation like a copper wall. Despite the enemy's repeated attacks, wave after wave, they could only It can knock itself apart and break into thousands of piles of snow.
Hu Yuan watched carefully behind Tong Guan and saw that the Jurchen army was indeed very strange. Any soldier had extraordinary courage. He wielded heavy weapons such as maces and caltrops with roaring sounds, killing those who rushed forward. The Liao soldiers were like slaughtering chickens and dogs.
Seeing that it was impossible to attack by force, Yelu Yanxi consulted the important ministers around him and sent a team of elite masters, including Xiao Weimo, a great master, to try to break through and open up the situation.
Unexpectedly, on the Jurchen side, Wanyan Aguda, who has become the leader of a country, personally came up with a group of brothers and nephews, and all of them showed unparalleled courage. Wanyan Aguda could even fight with Xiao Weimo. Evenly matched.
Yelu Yanxi saw that his own momentum was in danger of weakening and being exhausted, and that the enemy was becoming more and more courageous in fighting and even turning from defense to attack. He was extremely anxious and immediately turned his horse's head to a huge and gorgeous carriage behind him. , asked Wei Ziling in the car for help.
