Cars rattled, horses rustled, and pedestrians carried bows and arrows at their waists.
The long cold winter in Mobei has finally passed, and it’s time for everything to revive and spring returns to the earth. However, the spring in Mobei is really incomparable with the warm spring in Yanjing. Even at noon when the temperature is the highest in the day, the strong cold wind blows on the face, and it still feels like a knife. If it comes at night, the temperature will drop to near freezing point from time to time...it's really cold!
No matter how cold the weather is, these exiles from the Liao dynasty who have left their homes, their warm and wealthy hometown, and their comfortable and comfortable life, still have to follow their great king Yelu Dashi, braving the howling cold wind, leaving their winter camps and embarking on the journey. The journey of migration.
Of course, they were not migrating to Central Asia to open up a new world, but moving from the leeward camp where they spent the winter to the spring pastures.
Now Yelu Dashi and his followers do not live in Kedun City, Zhenzhou all year round. In fact, Kedun City is just a fortress used to defend during wartime. You can't live there all year round, because there is no food... The climate in Mobei is dry and cold, and even the Kedun City area with rich water and grass cannot support the nearly 20,000 households who follow Yelu Dashi.
This is nearly 20,000 households, more than 150,000 people! If you include the herds they depend on for survival, that's millions of mouths! How can the little turf around Koden City be enough to eat?
Therefore, Yelu Dashi, who was born in Shangjing City of Daliao Dynasty and grew up in Xijin Prefecture of Nanjing, Daliao Dynasty, was a literary talent, passed the Jinshi, and was able to recite poems and write essays in Chinese, and now he has become a king of the grasslands.
The bright silk robe had not been worn for who knows how long, and now it was just wrapped in a thick leather robe to keep out the cold. The fair and elegant face is now full of lines and old skin carved by the wind and snow in Mobei. Coupled with a messy beard, it looks particularly vicissitudes of life.
However, his body and spirit are still strong! Even the destruction of his country and his family could not defeat him, so what does the wind and snow in the north of the Great Wall mean?
Although Yelu Dashi's followers have now become a nomadic tribe, they have not given up their dream of regaining their homeland and restoring the former glory of Daliao.
It is precisely because of this dream that 150,000 people traveled thousands of miles to gather around Dashi, not afraid of hardships and bitter cold, and would not change until death.
In order to realize this unattainable dream, Yelu Dashi and his followers not only had to move by water and grass, but also continued to launch wars during the migration process to attack those around them who disobeyed Yelu Dashi, the great king of the Liao Kingdom (now known as Dashi). Emperor, but the Zubu and Tatar tribes called the King of Liao Kingdom).
These tribes were all rebellious when the Liao Kingdom was still strong. Otherwise, Daliao would not have stationed 20,000 troops around Kedun City in Zhenzhou for a long time, and declared that they could not be transferred away under any circumstances (in fact, they were transferred anyway) Many, otherwise Dashi would not have less than 20,000 households). Now that Liao has become such a mess, why do these people still obey Yelu Dashi, the fallen king of Liao?
Therefore, in the past two years, except for the winter, Yelu Dashi could only sit still, and in the other three seasons, it was inevitable to fight with the Tatars and Zuzhu people.
Although the fighting skills of his subordinates have improved a lot due to frequent practice, Dashi's prestige has gradually been established in the central Mobei Grassland.
However, frequent fighting has brought an insurmountable "supply chain crisis" to Yelu Dashi and his men. Yelu Dashi's tribe now has no stable source of iron! And war is inevitable and consumes iron!
Due to the "Iron Ban on the Grasslands" that Daliao had implemented for more than a hundred years, and because the mining and handicraft industries on the grasslands were very backward and could not produce iron tools at all, there was always a shortage of iron on the grasslands.
Although the Liao Dynasty has collapsed, the Jurchens who replaced it are still working hard to maintain the "Iron Ban on the Grassland". The Dabai Gao Kingdom, which originally relied on the support of the Liao Dynasty to survive the fierce attack of the Song Dynasty, also turned against the Jurchens after taking refuge in the Jurchens. , refused to export iron to the grassland.
In this case, the iron weapons under Dashi's command will inevitably be damaged, and the more they are beaten, the less they will be. If they continue to be consumed like this, Dashi's elite soldiers will not be able to fight against the fortune tellers and Tatars. maintain an absolute advantage in the war!
Just when Yelu Dashi was worried about the iron supply crisis, some good news came from Duncheng that made Dashi unexpected... The man who went to Dabai Gao Kingdom with Princess Chengan was still in Dabai The mission sent by Xiao Heda, who had become rich in Gaoguo, arrived in Ketun City last winter.
Xiao Heda's envoy also brought shocking news: Dabai Gaoguo suffered a disastrous defeat in a war with the Song Dynasty, and Xiao Heda seized the opportunity to switch sides, and now he became the destiny of the Song Dynasty. The Southern Army's Jiedushi envoy took over the three states of Xia, Yin, and You, as well as the land of the Heishan Army!
This is really a bit of a mystery!
The territory of Yelu Dashi and the territory of Heishan Military Division are only separated by the desert next door... and Xia, Yin, and Youzhou have iron mines and iron mills. Although the output is limited, they can always spread out a little bit. ?
Besides, didn’t Xiao Heda defect to the Song Dynasty? The Song Dynasty is full of iron! If you can get the iron tools of the Song Dynasty through Xiao Heda... then the Yelu Dashi will be awesome!
In less than three years, his army will soon turn all the seven states and eighteen tribes in the central and western Mobei Grassland into part of Daliao, and the number of tribes directly under the Dashi headquarters will reach 40,000 or even 50,000 households!
With this basic base, it is possible for Yelu Dashi to further unify the various grassland tribes, then ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, and then go south to fight the golden thieves... The combined population of the various grassland tribes is comparable to that of Jurchens and Bohai people. The total is even more!
Moreover, the grassland ministries are very mobile and can mobilize a large number of troops to attack areas where the Jurchens are weak... This is really promising!
Just when I was thinking about being happy, there was a rush of horse hooves in front of me. Yelu Dashi looked up and saw the flag flying on the head of Kedun City from a distance.
It turned out that before he knew it, his team had arrived near Kedun City... It seemed that they would see Xiao Heda's envoy soon!
"Your Majesty, the envoy from Taishi Xiao (Khitan people call Jiedushi Taishi) is here!"
Yelu Dashi heard the voice of Xiao Uuli, who was staying on the northwest road of Kedun City, calling for Xiao Uuli. This Xiao Uuli was Yelu Dashi's most confidant general. He had followed Dashi as early as when he moved to Nanjing Road in the Liao Kingdom. Now he is He is a general in his own right.
When Dashi led his tribe to migrate nomadically, Xiao Orila led a small number of troops to stay at the large stronghold of Kedun City!
Unexpectedly, he personally brought Xiao Heda's envoy out of the city today... This must be some great news.
Yelu Dashi thought of this and hurriedly rode up to meet him. He soon saw Xiao Orila, and also found a very familiar face next to him - that was Yelu Yujian's face!
"Yelu Yujian?" Yelu Dashi couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw this fellow clan member, "Aren't you already dead? Why are you here in Kedun City again?"
yes!
Yelu Yujian is dead! Yelv Dashi heard this from the Khitan patriots who defected from the gold thieves more than once - Yu Jian was killed by Zhao Kai, the King of Yun of the Song Dynasty, when he followed Wanyan Zonghan to invade the Hedong Road of the Song Dynasty! The Jin Kingdom gave him a grand burial... and invited many eminent monks to transcend him. His soul should have been transcended to the Western Paradise. How could he come back now?
Yelu Yujian also saw Yelu Dashi - they were both famous people, and Yujian was Yelu Yanxi's brother-in-law, and he was recognized as a clan leader.
Not to mention Yelu Dashi, a famous nerd! He was the only one in the Khitan clan to be a Jinshi, and it was even more difficult to be a Lin Ya (equivalent to a Hanlin) after becoming a Jinshi. This shows that Dashi's Jinshi is genuine and not a result of cheating. Such a figure was the object of ridicule for many people in Beijing back then - Yelu, a good man, did not practice martial arts and lead troops, but chose to be a scholar and a minister. It was simply an insult to the family tradition!
But who would have thought that none of those Yelu who practiced martial arts and led troops would be able to support the crisis in Daliao, and many of them, like Yu Jian, rebelled against the country and surrendered to the enemy. As long as Yelu Dashi, a nerd, only has high aspirations, is not afraid of hardships and dangers, and does it despite knowing that he cannot do it, he still becomes the hope of Daliao.
When Yeluyu saw Dashi, he did not dare to exchange courtesy with him anymore. Instead, he turned over and dismounted, bowed respectfully, and then said: "Yu Jian, a minister of the three surnames, is now an official envoy of the Song Dynasty. He originally met with the Liao Dynasty." His Majesty the King!" As he spoke, he took out another scroll and raised it high, "I present my credential, and I would like to ask your Majesty to take a look at it."
His posture as the envoy of the Song Dynasty is a bit low... But there is nothing he can do about it. How can he, a boneless Yelu, have the face to pretend to be an angel from the kingdom when he sees Yelu Dashi?
"Did you defect to the Song Dynasty?" Yelu Dashi reached out to take the letter of credence, unfolded it, and saw the disgusting thin gold body. "This is Zhao Ji... no, is it Zhao Kai's handwriting?"
Speaking of Zhao Kai's name, Yelu Dashi's face looked a little better. The "Number One Scholar" of the Song Dynasty was the person he always wanted to make friends with when he was a Ci official. I didn’t expect this person to be such a character!
"That's right," Yu Jian said, "He is now an official of the Song Dynasty... From what Ju Benguan has seen, this man is also a hero of the Central Plains, no less than the king. If the king can practice with him, he will definitely win in the future. We can destroy the Jurchens, and then the two dynasties will stand side by side, one in the south and the other in the north!"
"One south and one north?" Yelu Dashi asked coldly, "Who owns the land of Yanyun?"
Yelu Yujian smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, the general trend of the world has changed, and it has become unfavorable to the Northern Dynasty, let alone the grassland... So it will be difficult for us to take back the land of Yanyun!"
"Change?" Yelu Dashi snorted, "Why did he change? If he really wants to benefit the Southern Dynasty, why should he join forces with us? He can just beat out the Jurchens himself!"
